I have tried for quite some time to save my blog so that I could print it out. I managed to save a pdf file but the photos are chopped in two, some on one page some on the next. Blogspot gives some direction on how to export the blog but whether it is because I am on a mac it doesn't seem to work.
You may wonder why I find it important to save the diary of my garden. I think it has to do with an interest in genealogy. I have so few records written by my ancestors. No diaries or letters and few photographs. Just three cards composed and written by my 2 great grandfather. Someone had the foresight to save them. I have, for several years, been tracing my family tree and am now in the process of writing up the history of each family. How wonderful it would have been to have something written by them. Instead, I can only guess at their lives from public records, hearsay and my own memories. I will pass on what I have found to my children along with stories of my life. As gardening has been such a big part of my life and recently keeping a blog, it would be nice to pass on something in print.
So I searched the internet and came up with blog 2 print. After some trial and error (it does not work on Safari) I successfully downloaded straight from blogspot and was able to look at how the finished book would look. A dedication can be added at the front and comments can be included or excluded. Here is a sample page.
I managed to find a coupon on line which reduced the cost. What gardener can't resist a new gardening book or two!
That is too cool! Thanks for letting us know about this, Jenny. How many posts could you fit in one book, and how much time did you spend formatting it?
ReplyDeleteI put the whole of 2008 on one book and the first 5 months of 2009 on the second. By coincidence only 87 and 86 pages. I didn't do comments as they resulted in doubling the cost. Imagine what yours would be.
ReplyDeleteIt downloads directly from your blog. You can write a dedication 300 characters if I remember. That takes a bit of work. You have no control over how they set it up but you can preview. You can also specify from which date to which.
I've also looked into how to print some of my blog in book form, but couldn't decide what to download. I will have to check out the service you used.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to family records, we are fortunate that both of my grandmothers thought to write down the family history as they knew it, so our family tree is fairly completely. My maternal grandmother also wrote diaries in the 20's and I have copies of those from 1925-1927. I "blogged" those online for three years, day by day, and it was a great way for me and some of my relatives and others to get to know my grandmother better and get a feel for what her life was like. Perhaps you've seen the link to this in my sidebar? www.ruthcampbellsmith.blogspot.com
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Hi carol- yes, I have looked at the diaries. You are so lucky to have them. There is no one left for me to ask about the family although we did get my mother on tape a few years before she died. Now I keep thinking of questions I should have asked her. It is quite amazing what you find out when you start searching the records. It is really thrilling to find new pieces of information.
ReplyDeleteYou can download a section of your blog just to see what it will look like. The book appears and you can turn the pages and see if you like it. No commitment at that point.
What a good idea. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the family history. I know I waited too long to get all the stories I wanted.
Jenny — this is great. Thanks for your efforts in finding a way to do this. We are interested in at least doing a print record of the Wednesday posts that are the history of our garden. We have a photo album detailing the first garden but it would be nice to have the words in a real book format. We are on a mac and also use Safari so this is all very useful info.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about family history. It is only with my parents gone that I realize how many holes there are that will never be filled. I did find an on-line source for whole scanned pages of the local paper in the town where most of my family lived and was able to get print stories about a few events my mom mentioned about her grandfather. But that is only because he was a policeman; otherwise most folks did not appear in news stories in the late 19th or early 20th century.
That is awesome as so pretty. I never imagined that could be done in such a professional way. Wow, now the memory is preserved. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLinda- Few of us seem interested when we are young. I realize this now with terrible regret. I would also love to tell my father what I have found out about his ancestors back to the 1600s. what a surprise he would have.
ReplyDeleteMs Wis- I used firefox to do the job and it worked perfectly. I don't know if you could just pick out dates. In fact I think maybe you can only specify from one date to another. I have found stuff in the newspapers too, and the asylum!
Cynthia- It certainly is great to know it will not be lost in the "great out there"
What a fabulous find and thanks so much for sharing. Maybe since my one year blogging anniversary is coming up I should treat myself! I do believe you will be able to share a vital part of yourself with your family through your printed blog. You're smart to think of this.
ReplyDeleteJenny, very impressive. What a gift you have now for your children. Thanks for sharing that with us.
ReplyDeleteLast night I was just reading a young family's blog and wondering if they could print it as a book - (both pictures and writing was so beautiful). How excited I was to see your gorgeous books! thanks for the link; I'll definitely be checking it out! Mary Beth
ReplyDeleteLove it- I have often looked at this for my parenting blog. What a fun thing it would be to pass down to my children- or very embarrassing - I can't decide which!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jenny - never knew such a thing existed and every once in awhile I've wondered whether there was a way to print out my blog. Right now it's hard to imagine any future generations being interested, but you never know!
ReplyDeleteI looked at your English garden post but when the blue poppy appeared, looking so beautiful, I was afraid to read any more and become even more discontented with this appalling Austin summer. May have to swear off looking at cooler-climate flowers until we get some real rain.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Jean- Good idea for a gift. look for a coupon. My books were about $38 each
ReplyDeleteGet grounded- I have already found it useful to look back at the previous year. Some surprises there I might add.
Mary Beth- If it is on one of the 3 popular blogs it's a breeze to download and look at it.
Bonnie- I'm sure when they get to my age they will love it.
Annie- I came home from England with great eagerness only to be met with 100 degree horrors. I know I can't do what they do over there because of the climate but it's OK to have a go. Sometimes they work. more shade is what I need!
The books are such a great idea. I did look into this before, but that was a couple of years ago. I guess they've made it easier now. I'll have to do some more research!
ReplyDeleteI too wish my ancestors would have written something on family history. I've been involved in genealogy research for 10 years now, and have found hundreds of ancestors through much research. I've traveled to several states to meet first, second and third cousins, and picked up even more info and photos. I've even paid a research firm to compile records of my ancestors from Switzerland. Those go back to 1570, thanks to church documents.
I was motivated by an anonymous quote that I found compelling:
"I hear ethereal whispers, persuasive, soft and still.
Daughter, if you don't remember us,
who will?
`Anonymous
Aiyana
Lancashire Rose -- You can't imagine my excitement when I read your post about printing the blog. I am a writer and love books -- paper, ink, the whole thing and have wanted to do this for a long time. Thank you for sharing this with us. I co understand your desire to "capture" it for posterity. I am also an avid scrapbooker - which allows me to use my design and writing backgrounds. And my husband just started building our family tree with ancestry.com -- if you haven't been there, they will fill in gaps for you by searching records. It's amazing.
ReplyDeleteAiyana- I love the quote and I may just use it at the start of my book. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteDiana- We are getting to the end of our research now. We have been up to Salt Lake City for a week every summer, to the LDS Family History Library. they have more records there than you could ever imagine. Much easier than going to England.
Wow - thanks for this great information! I've only just started blogging, so I've got a long way to go before I have anything worth keeping, but I certainly *would* like to keep it. I'm going to look into this service. I'm on a Mac at home too, so it's nice to find something that's compatible.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea. It is a beautiful book. Nice of you to think forward like that. I often wish I had written material from my grandmother who was a gardener.
ReplyDelete