Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Pained, Unexplained, and Reclaimed

A dainty, red anemone, surrounded by clumpy clusters of mullein.

Hello everyone, it's been a while, huh?
Thank you so much for your sweet emails;
they are cyber rays of sunshine in my inbox!


There are a few reasons for this uncharacteristic
 quietness. Aside from the melancholy of missing 
Liberty and family back home, and being plagued by
 what seems to be a now chronic, achy head and neck, 
on Saturday morning, I discovered, quite by accident,
 that one of my posts was missing! After being 
overcome with shock and nausea, I wondered, 
had my little blog been broken into?!


 I couldn't believe my eyes! Instantly, a trying
 triathlon of shaky reactions went off like a shotgun!
First, my heart started racing, then it passed the
 baton over to my blood pressure, which of course, 
tried to beat its own record, and in doing so, sent my
 entire nervous system way over its emotional finish line!

 

Let me backtrack, and retrace my footsteps, to fill you in:
I needed to pick a recording of mine for a project I am
 working on, (more on that later this month). Having featured a
 few songs on Poppy View, I remembered a valentine's 
day post I wrote last year called, 'The Nature of Love'
which starts with a poem and ends with a duet, written 
by the Barenaked Ladies called, 'Call and Answer'.
 Do you remember it? 

One of the images on the missing post, found on Google.

The poem is a mini memoir of the journey that my husband and I have been on so far, the birth of our daughter, and a few other details of our relationship. When I went to view the post, the contents of another post that I had published a week before, came up! In other words, 'The Nature of Love', had been deleted and replaced with 'Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love!', so that there were now doubles of the latter. Was this a glitch in the system, or had Poppy View been hacked?


I can't tell you how hurt, angry and frustrated I felt. Not
only was my poem missing, but also all the wonderful
accompanying images which I had searched hours for,
  as well. Of course, I immediately began to wonder how
 many other posts had been affected, but because I
 haven't had the time to check each one, I still don't know! 


The next day, when I related to Liberty what had happened,
she was appalled, and promised to track down the post,
 even though I told her it was useless; I had already tried
 and had given up. It had disappeared; vanished into thin 
cyberspace air, as if it had never existed at all.


After a night of tossing and turning, I woke up to an email from Liberty, whose subject line, alone, made me burst into tears; this time, happy ones. Once again, I couldn't believe my eyes:

 'I FOUND IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!', it read. 
 
I just sat there, staring at the excitement of her exclamation marks, and pictured her typing them, knowing that her mother would be elated and relieved. And I was, but more importantly, I was grateful for my loving and caring daughter, who was on a mission to save her mama's other baby, namely, this little blog, and its offspring of posts, comprised of poems, pics, and ditties, one of which had gone missing, but in the end, was found, safe and sound, thanks to the expertise of its big 'sister'!
Heart image: Google

How, did she do it? Well, just as Libby, herself, was almost ready to throw in the towel, she remembered a website that she had learned about in an internet seminar she had attended in Athens, called 'Wayback Machine'. In her words,

''It takes snapshots of sites just the way they looked on that certain day.
 Your blog was one of the sites that it took shots of!!! It includes 455 billion sites!
 Isn't this amazing??? It's there, just like it was on the day you posted it!!!''

 WOW!!!
There it was, in its original state, complete with poem,
 pics, and song; actually, an identical photograph of the entire page, that is, from the header I had up at that time, to the five posts I had programmed to appear on each page, and finally all the way down to the 'Powered by Blogger' footer, at the bottom!


Friends, I still can't explain what happened to the 'The Nature of Love', but I do know that love and dedication was what it took to bring my post back to where it belongs, thanks to my daughter. For those of you who have had the misfortune of losing a post, or even scarier, an entire blog, please check out this site. Who knows? You, too, may be blissfully surprised to find a snapshot of your own sweet 'baby', there!

Thanks for visiting!

66 comments:

  1. I can imagine the worry Poppy and am so glad your daughter was able to find the missing post. It feels like such an invasion when we think that our blogs have been tampered with. Thank you for posting the link to the solution. Who knows when another of us might need it?!

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  2. I'm so glad your daughter was able to find your post. I've had things disappear on my blog as well, but once I log out and log back on, they usually reappear. Blogger can be quirky. Have a great day, Heather

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  3. Hello Poppy, I love the heart shaped images and your daughter is lovely.. I am so happy for you..your post was found and your daughter was a hero.. I wonder sometimes what would we do without our children.. Thanks for sharing the link and website.. Have a great evening and a happy week ahead!

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  4. Strange things happen in blogland.I once wanted to delete a post of mine, I deleted it, nevertheless it always reappears as image in "You might also like"! The text is missing but I wouldn't see the picture either! Anyway, everything is ok for you now and the anemone against the blue sky is pure poetry!
    Olympia

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  5. What a strange story! I am glad you found! I really wonder how one is safe enough on blogland!AriadnefromGreece!

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  6. Wow...what an awesome story! Your sweet daughter is one smart cookie...and she is very beautiful as well! What is the purpose of this website to do such a thing? Well, regardless of the why, I'm just glad she was able to find it! I love how you have presented the lovely poppy in the vase so many different ways....just stunning! Have a good rest of the week :)

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  7. Wow, Poppy how scary. I don't know what I would do if something happened to my blog. It did disappear only for a few minutes and it was a lifetime to me. Glad your daughter remembered that site and found it.

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  8. Also to be reminded that ANYTHING that was EVER put on the net lives forever....even the bad and ugly, so it is important to be careful.

    Cannot say how happy I am your beautiful and smart, clever daughter was able to locate your missing post.

    I am sorry you have been feeling poorly, go treat yourself to a nice therapeutic massage and go get a facial, you'll be good as new!

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  9. I went to that site back when I lost the 1500 posts back in 2013. Didn't find much. I'm glad your daughter was able to find yours.
    Brenda

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  10. How strange! Great detective work by Liberty! Thanks for sharing those lovely photos of such a pretty flower. I hope you feel better soon, Poppy. Cheers

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  11. Oh my goodness how frightening for you. I am so glad that your daughter could come to the rescue for you and sort things out. It is really scary when something happens to your blog, I know!, so I feel your pain and worry too. I hope that this never happens again! xx

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  12. How horrible, and how wonderful your daughter found your post! I can imagine how you panicked since now knowing how much work you put in to it. I remember the panic I felt when my blog was hacked....it was horrifying! So glad this worked out for your and for the site info.

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  13. Oh my dear Poppy, how scary. I am so happy that your daughter found it for you. It's like you have been violated and it's not a good feeling. Like someone breaking into your home.
    I hope by now that you are feeling better and everything is in order.
    Have a wonderful weekend coming up.
    Hugs
    Mary

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  14. How insane is that!! Wow....yah, for daughters who fight for the cause...love that!!
    Why do these hackers want the posts we labour over anyway? So much I don't get about this whole thing...but it sure is a fun way to meet like minded friends.

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  15. Wow Poppy! I can imagine your anxiety level must have skyrocketed! We spend so much time putting together posts that it would be terrible to lose even one...especially one like you described that has sentimental value and meaning.

    Your Liberty is a treasure for sure! How sweet of her to do that for you. Now I hope you changed your password? Does Blogger have a plugin you can use to stop hackers in their tracks?

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  16. Yeah for Liberty. She is beautiful and looks just like you. It's amazing how you can retrieve things. I would have been upset as well. You have such beautiful posts. I love your new banner. It's hard missing your kids. I know that all too well. Hugs

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  17. Poppy, I'm flabbergasted, but confused. I don't understand how they manage to do this and it just be gone. I hate that this happened and caused you this anxiety. I don't even begin to understand how Liberty accomplished finding it but am thankful your multitalented daughter did. And yes, just to know that she understood how upset you would be and put those hours in searching, all to help her dear mother. That's priceless!

    These photos here are spectacular! All your posts are far too lovely to have a single one lost. I hope your sleep tonight was more restful because of sweet and beautiful Liberty.

    Love to you both,
    Dewena

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  18. Great detective work by Liberty. She is not only beautiful but bright also. I recall a blogger having similar difficulties a couple of years ago and today I sent her a link to your blog.
    I am so happy and I hope you are feeling better and in good health

    Helenxx

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  19. I could just feel the heartache and emotional upset that such a thing put you through Poppy - so devastating to think that such hard work had just disappeared! What a miracle that your daughter found your original post - I can imagine the joy and relief that you felt at that moment! Your posts always are so original, beautiful, and unique, and always a real joy to pop over here and see what is in your "view" today! I am rejoicing with you that all is well that ends well!!!!!!! ... and your daughter LIberty has such radiant beauty. I know you must really miss her!

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  20. I'm so happy your beautiful daughter found your post, Poppy! That is such a frustrating thing to have happened. Your photos are beautiful as always. I hope you are feeling better. Take care!

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  21. Hello Poppy,

    We have long since stopped trying to work out the vagaries of Blogger. It really does seem to have a mind of its own, sometimes. Indeed, we wonder if it could be persuaded to write the blog posts for us and answer the comments too! Whatever, we are delighted that you are reunited with your long lost post.

    It is quite true that one's posts do become very a very personal record if one's life and the times. When one has gone to so much trouble to collect images together and write about them, the last thing one wants is for them to disappear.

    But, needless to say, that a young person could come to your rescue. How do they know about such things? In our school days if we ever could not get a piece of equipment to work, a pupil would always leap to the rescue. Hurray!

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  22. I'm so happy for you that your daughter found the post!
    I don't know if you tried going to the area that shows all your posts, but you can do a search in the box up in the upper right hand corner. Try typing in the title of the post or a few words that may bring it up. I wonder if somehow the post got posted with an incorrect date and is just buried in there somewhere.
    I hope you are feeling better- stress can do weird things to a person!

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  23. I am scratching my head about your missing post...I still don't understand it...but hooray for Liberty finding it for you! I am so sorry to hear that you've been dealing with head and neck pain. I'm sending you gentle hugs and love from across the big pond for your healing.

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  24. Poppy - An amazing tale on so many levels. I have often wondered about some of the sites that my stats page shows me as having visited a certain blog post. . .I wonder why they are there and what they have done to it, and what a reader might find if they do a search. . .many I know are just bots doing stat runs or whatever they do. I sometimes click the link to the post, fearing what might show up -- an appliance store, for example -- but have always just seen the original post. This does make me wonder again. And I have been thinking of changing the look of my blog, but I fear losing it in the blogosphere out there if I - the 'techno dino' start tampering with its innner workings. Glad to know I might be able to find it even if I did cause its obliteration! Glad everything is better - hey, and that photo series with this post is beautiful! Hugs, J.

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  25. oh my own poppy.
    i had no idea you are still in such pain. i thought it was a temporary thing. now it is worrying.
    and being in constant pain is a stress that affects EVERYTHING. oh poppy.
    and then to go through that with your blog.
    i know your feelings a little.
    when the captain switched over all the posts on 'the cozy minimalist' blog i had for awhile...
    it kept the posts and added them to 'peanut on the table' ... but ... i LOST every single picture on those posts. all the ones of my jacob. i like to visit those often. it keeps him close. and now they're gone. i could hunt them all up again and try to re-do the posts... but i found out once... in word press if i do any changes after the post is published... it starts going crazy with the subscriptions.
    one woman wrote and SCREAMED at me! she had gotten about 16 notices. OHMYGOSH!
    i had changed 'tags' on 16 different posts. i apologized and stopped immediately. think of all the people i was driving crazy! at least she let me know. so... i have a bunch of posts with literally NO pictures now. only those from the cozy minimalist. i'm so heartened that you have liberty to help you! and she did it all on her own. simply because she LOVES YOU so much!!!
    nothing is more wonderful than to be a mother and daughter close ... no matter the miles ...
    the distance by love is the measurement of a heartbeat.
    i love you too! xoxo♥

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  26. What an odd occurrence! What a smart and loving daughter! So glad Liberty found the post. Makes you wonder what really happened, doesn't it?
    I hope your achy head finds some relief soon. Your anemone photos are just lovely!

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  27. I know that can be scary! And I well know the panic that ensues. Thank goodness your daughter found it. I'm familiar with that site and it's a godsend for just this kind of thing. So happy everything is okay again.

    xo
    Claudia

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  28. Oh Poppy, what a horrible experience! I can well imagine the panic. Your daughter sounds like a sweetheart {just like you} and she cetainly saved the day! :)

    I am so happy everything is okay. Hugs to you!

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  29. I hate it when things become broken and add the confusion to try to fix it, then it is downright maddening- glad it worked out for you . Was the blog or post hacked?

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  30. Your dauhter is so clever: you must be so relieved to have found that post. I visited the website you mentionned and it was very weird to see screencaptures of my blog!

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  31. What a kind and smart daughter to help you out! So happy it all worked out, hope you are feeling better. I get so upset when technology doesn't work the way it's supposed to b/c I feel so inadequate to figure any of it out. Here's one area where our children are smarter than we!
    Beautiful pictures Poppy.

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  32. Poppy,
    Such a strange and baffling occurrence and for someone such as myself, it truly does not make any tangible sense, although I must say just one week ago some strange events were happening on my blog and I was fearful I had been hacked. I have McAfee as my security system-however between my husband and myself we ran various scans and whatever was-is no more.
    I am thankful for your sweet Liberty, for this "daughter to the rescue," mission! She is a gem.
    I am so sorry you are not feeling well, I do hope you are resting, drinking plenty of H-2O and practicing quiet and calm thinking. So amazing to me that this journey seems to get more challenging rather than easier...hum...guess that is why there really and truly are very few sweet old ladies!
    Take care my dear,
    Love,
    Jemma

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  33. Scary that your blog might have been hacked, but how wonderful that Liberty knew just what to do.

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  34. Hello dear Poppy, good to hear that Liberty found your missing post. Must have took her hours to fit d out what happened to it. Well, anyhow I am so relieved and happy for you. I am not computer savvy myself, and I sometimes can't figure out my blog. But I guess I just have to keep trying and learn as I go along.
    Hope you have a good weekend dear.

    Hugs,
    Aida

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  35. Wow, how incredible, I didn't know this could happen at all, and how amazing that your wonderful daughter found it. Sorry to hear that you are feeling under the weather, and then had the added stress of a missing post. I hope you're taking it easy and enjoying some sunny weather.

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  36. Wow! WOW! This is great to hear. You have a wonderful daughter who will go to great lengths to make her dear mom happy. You know how lucky you are. I'm so glad that such an important post to you has been recovered and is safe and sound. I hope you are feeling better, and that this little glitch brightened your day more than ruined it. Happy weekend Poppy!
    Wendy

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  37. I remember that post and am glad that she found it for you! :)

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  38. I didnt know this could happen...really strange and scary!
    Have a happy weekend now, take it easy Olympia...
    Love,
    Titti

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  39. What a sweetheart of a daughter :)

    It's a little creepy that a post went missing though. I hope nothing else is missing.

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  40. Thank you for joining my blog - that way i found yours! Sounds so lovely living in Crete - surrouned by nature and ocea! Great that your post was found again - blogging is an adventure! Have a happy sunday!

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  41. Hi Poppy, I'm just catching up on your blog and I'm sorry for the ups and downs you're having lately. What a relief it must have been when Liberty found your post. I would have been very upset too. I remember that post and it really was lovely. I'm glad it has been reinstated as it was. Hope you're having a good weekend.

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  42. What a wonderful daughter!!
    I do know your feeling of sickness from loosing something you have poured your heart and soul into and posted.
    When working on my masters, I lost a paper that I had been working on alllllllll day!! this was back before I learned to back up and save every 30 minutes!!
    So glad that your posting was found!!

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  43. Also - LOVELY Poppy pictures - especially with the shrine in the background!! So much time taken arranging your poppy in the vase!!

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  44. Well that was a friendly reminder that everything we post stays on the internets forever!!!! I am glad that your daughter is a clever lady who was able to help you find your post. I hope we get to see your poem and post soon. Take care, Poppy.

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  45. Well, how amazing. and lucky for you that you have such a clever daughter. I will check this site out,although I am glad to say that so far I have not been hacked. What a weird and nasty thing to do. Wayback Machine - what a great title for a program.

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  46. Poppy, I read your post and gasped a bit. I know the sadness of losing something special. When my site was hacked, I thought all of my precious work was gone forever, a kind friend helped me to recover it all. Your daughter is your lucky charm...and a smart one at that! :)

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  47. Your daughter is a dear...she knew how much this mattered to you. That's love and blood!

    I've missed you but I thought it was me. I hope to get around more often.

    Jane xx

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  48. Such a wonderful ending to a scary situation....

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  49. This got me worried too, but thanks for the happy ending! And for the link to wayback Machine.

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  50. Goodness Poppy, this is a bizarre thing to have happened. I'm glad the post was found but it doesn't explain what went wrong.
    I've had posts and photos hijacked and didn't know until another blogger found some of hers, mine and another woman's. Through proper channels that nasty, sneaky blogger was shut down.
    We're open to who knows what in Bogland aren't we?
    Thanks for linking to Mosaic Monday, rest easy now. :-)

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  51. What a scary and unpleasant story, but fortunately with a happy ending!!
    Thank you for the link to Wayback Machine.
    Lovely photos, as always!

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  52. Oh my gosh I had no idea this could happen, tho I do remember someone once saying that they'd lost their blog. Oh thank goodness for your brilliant daughter. I wonder if there's a way to prevent this happening at all. If not it's good to know about that website to reclaim. Eek! Gives me a headache and heartache even ti think about losing my posts.

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  53. Wow those kids of ours, aren't they gorgeous?! We bring them into the world and they need all our care, love and attention and then at some point in time, roles start to blend and they start being the clever ones... Then they start running faster than you and beating you at tennis ....and then it's pay back time when they can start with the important things in life like making dinner, picking you up from a night out and finding your lost blog!!!!
    Wonderful post Poppy, hugs all round to you and your daughter!
    Love that photo of the heart shaped flowers.
    Wren x

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  54. So sorry for all the distress this caused you, but so glad your daughter was able to retrieve the post. I wonder what happened? This makes us all realize we are vulnerable... Your photos here are beautiful, thanks for sharing them with us Poppy!

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  55. Thanks for sharing your story Poppy. I love the last images of the lovely wild flowers against your beautiful Cretan landscape and sky.

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  56. I am so glad your wonderful daughter found your post Poppy. I love the bright colours and beautiful images I have been discovering here, I do hope it all stays safe and sound. Jane xx ps. Thank you for popping by!

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  57. That's very scary that you lost your post and absolutely wonderful that your daughter knew how to find a copy!

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  58. Whoosh! Thankful the Liberty found it for you, but I can only begin to imagine how you felt. I have had some things go missing and at one point unable to even access my own account, my own blog and it was an awful less than 24 hours, but we spend so much time pouring our hearts, thoughts and energy into these personal life shares and then if we KNOW it was there and then now it is NOT there, that would be a horrendous feeling. I am very happy that it turned out well for you. Hugs and blessings that your head and neck get better soon. We all love our Poppy~

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  59. What a relief! I'm glad this horror ended well for you. Your writing is so beautiful it would be such a shame to lose any of it.
    Amalia
    xo

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  60. So sorry this happened, but thanks so much for the link to see if anything was recovered. I have lost a post from time to time, no idea why, and there have been other nefarious incidents. Glad to see you back, as I always love to look at your beautiful part of the world.

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  61. Wow Poppy, I can't believe that happened to you. It is so great that your daughter found the post for you. I never heard anything like that ever happening. Thanks for giving us the site. I hope this week will be better for you. Take care and thanks for stopping by. I love all those pretty photos!
    Julie xo

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  62. Cyberspace can be fickle sometimes. What a relief that you got it all straightened out:)

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  63. My goodness Poppy, I did not know that could happen. I remember that post, it was my favorite VDay post, I even played it for my husband to watch. Sometimes I think BLOGGER moves in strange ways. I loose my list of blogs that I follow sometimes for days at a time. Every week or two I have to straighten something out that just vanishes off of my blog. It is good to have a child that is computer savvy to help at times like this. You are blessed with a lovely and smart daughter to help you out (My son fixes my computer problems for me). I do hope you are feeling better, I will be praying for you to get better as soon as possible. I will be catching up on your posts over the next week.

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  64. What a strange thing to have happened, Poppy. It's wonderful that your clever daughter was able to save the day!

    Karen

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  65. Very great post. I simply stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your weblog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing on your feed and I am hoping you write again very soon!

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  66. Nice post, things explained in details. Thank You.

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Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I really appreciate hearing from all of you! Have a great day!