The birth of my Blog

I've been considering doing a blog to go along with my website - Donegal Genealogy Resources - for a while now..........maybe some people would be interested in how it got it's start back in 1998............and maybe some would be interested in what I'm up to on a daily (or semi daily) basis, when it comes to answering queries, updating the website and adding new content.
So? Where did it start and why?
It all started when I wanted a good way to organise my research - I had folders of stuff and piles of papers and books, but it took so long to find anything................I discovered how to at least get a start on a website through Freepages, part of Rootsweb.com - I was subscribed to a couple of Donegal Lists at the time and they led me to this website thingy...............I got to work and in short order, there were pages on Gartan parish townlands and some in Templecrone - specifically Stramore and Augullies, where my gr gr grandparents were from.
As time went on, I collected more and more records to do with those parishes - civil, church, land and maps - pretty much anything I could lay my hands on. They included info on not only my places of interest, but of surrounding townlands and parishes................what to do? They were in the public domain, I had them, and if I was to do nothing with them, they would end up on a shelf to gather dust! Figuring that others would be having as hard a time as I was, accessing records, I got to work transcribing the records I thought could be of help to other people.
Soon after I started adding those new records, people were contacting me and offering their transcriptions of records, as well as photographs, passenger lists and information on various families.
The rest they say, is history - from a start of a few pages, the website now has close to 2,800!
And, the people I have 'met'! Berni at the Donegal County Library, Bernie in Momeen, Bernie in Derry, Meg in Bartlesville (love that name!), Cass in the US, Angela in Glasgow, Len in Australia, Boyd near Lifford, Margaret in Laghy, Muriel in Church Hill, PJ in Gweedore, Michael in the US, Michael in Derry.................and sadly, I've lost a few really lovely people -
John 'Sean' O'Donnell (RIP 2008)
James (Jim) Doran (RIP 2008)
Jack Herron (RIP 2010)
So that's a bit of background................the rest of my posts will be on my daily doings with the website!