Monday, July 11, 2011

Granny Miller RIP

I am posting here to report the death of my wife's website www.homesteadgardenandpantry.com.

While Granny Miller the person is alive and well, "Granny Miller" the small farm blog has bit the dust. We were going to run it out to the end of 2011 then archive it, but Mrs. accidentally killed the site trying to delete some spam. In doing so, she hacked her own site. The files are literally deleted and the folks at Go Daddy cannot revive her. Their advice was hire a web consultant, which is a lot of trouble for a two-bit blog. As this is our busy time of year, a full obituary will follow.

47 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh no! We loved it all!

Thanks so much

Herrick Kimball said...

Richard & Katherine,

To invest so much effort and so many hours of your lives into such a wonderful blog, and then lose it has to be an incredibly heartbreaking experience. I am sorry, for not only your loss, but for the loss of so much down-to-earth information and inspiration. Your internet presence will be greatly missed. I hope you can regroup and come back at a later date. Or, maybe you will find that life without blogging is not only possible but fuller and richer. That may well be the case. In any event, I will miss Granny Miller and wish you both the very best.

Anonymous said...

Wow. I have looked to "Granny" for a few years and printed many helpful articles and how-to's from the site. I am glad I printed what I did, and sad that the info is lost!! Take care and please tell her THANK YOU!! She touched so many lives.
Dawn K from Florida

Dave said...

I had only recently discovered 'Granny', and I was looking forward to reading more in depth come the (slightly) less busy winter months. I hope something will survive, and I hope that perhaps we can still have some connection through the Midland Agrarian. (perhaps reviving it?) I will be moving to the Slippery Rock Area, (not far, I think, and a slightly less familiar climate to me). I was looking forward to the insights you both seemed to provide. I wish you all the best, and I hope some connection can be maintained. Many folks will miss you'uns. Thank You.

Unknown said...

you are invited to follow my blog

Rick Saenz said...

Richard,

You can recover at least some of the posts to the weblog at the Wayback Machine. Click on this link and it'll show you a list of the pages it saved at some point in the past.

Anonymous said...

Dear Richard and Katherine,
So sorry to hear of this wonderful website gone. Thank you for the time and love you put into it. I will miss the American Home Canning which has been so helpful this year.
Our family has been doing the many things you have talked about this year. It has helped to see how things are really done and not just talked about.
We were going to put your info on a USB just before the web was to end so we could get all of your experience.
God bless you both and family.

The Midland Agrarian said...

Thanks to all of you for the kind words. As close readers know, we were going to end the blog in 2012 anyway, but we were going to archive it. I was mistaken about Go Daddy, it was Justhost who said that we needed a web consultant. We are going to let it stay dead, rather than invest in reconstructing it.

It was a fun project and we were happy to help other people. I am also grateful that the Web allowed us to make contact with folks like you Herrick and Rick S. However, my wife has always been an introvert. As granny miller was getting over 1,000 subscribers, she started wondering if she was writing to help people or whether it was becoming more narcissistic.

As we both read and discuss the ideas of Neil Postman and my friend T David Gordon, we are also wondering about the place of electronic media in our lives. We have not had TV for years and have recently been discussing whether we Internet in the house as well.
On the other hand, I have been contemplating another blogging project.

Dave, If you get to the Slippery Rock Area, please email me
midlandagrarian at gmail. I can connect you with lots of local food folks.

Bee said...

I am so bummed! Not that I want to lay on the guilt trip:) but I really enjoyed learning so much from you. It isnt narcissistic, as you mentioned, to help people learn of another way of life that many do not know much about. But I understand not wanting to put money into trying to retrieve any of the blog.

I wish you much happiness and enjoyment in all of your future endeavors.

Anonymous said...

What an incredible loss.

Anonymous said...

I am going to miss both of you and your blogs. I learned about canning and took up beekeeping and Appleseed because of you.

jamie said...

Hello. Ive been trying to find her blog ,now I know why I cant find it, I started canning because she was so much of a help to me. I bought the stove she had on the back porch. My question was what button do you canning on High, med, low.. Iam going to miss her site .. Iam in Florida and there is no site for help.. I really loved her site I looked forward to every post. My health is failing and she gave me a way of forgetting my pain.. Please tell her I hope she gets it up and running again. I so wanted to live like her and enveryed her way of life , I really looked up to her .. Thank you ,jamie

jamie said...

Hello. Iam going to miss your blogs I so followed them, I love and envey the way of life you have ,, I bought the cook stove you had on your back porch and I am wondering what setting you canned on High , med, low,Iam in florida. and There is no where else to go for answers. Thank you . jamie

Belinda said...

I for one will sincerely miss the Granny Miller website. The pictures of her pantry were so great to look at and very encouraging. We will miss her!

Becky said...

I, too, was a devoted reader of "Granny Miller", and will miss the blog very much.

I'm so glad to hear that the person behind the blog is alive and well.

Elaine Carey Goble said...

I feel like I've lost a 'best friend'. I loved everything I found on your site and looked forward to each new post. 'Granny Miller' you
will be greatly missed! Thanks for
taking the time to 'bring us all along' for a enchanting and educational journey - blessings you and Mr.

Elaine Carey-Goble
Mountain View Farms
Ellijay, GA

Anonymous said...

I'm reminded of advice given to me while working on my MS thesis; "Backup, backup, backup; always at least 3 copies, 2 on-site and 1 offsite (but still under your physical control)". It's now a routine part of my life and has saved me more than once.

Sorry for the loss of the data. I'd been watching the countdown clock and had planned on saving some of the info on my vacation.

Anonymous said...

NO!! Ack! I was just coming to her site to look something up and when it wouldn't load, I googled Granny Miller Agrarian. Bummer! Such a wealth of knowledge gone bye bye into cyber heaven. :( I loved your blog. Thanks for all the good stuff that was on there. I can remember some of it, so that's good!

God bless,
Jenny Jack

Linda J. said...

What a sad day. I have sent many young canners to your site for information. You will be missed!
It was a wonderful run and I'm so thankful that you took the time and effort to do this for so many years. You have enriched the lives of many.
Thanks for everything!
Grace and Peace,

Carrie O'Connor said...

I, too, miss it! Thanks for all your hard work, dedication and hours, Granny. I had only started reading your information, and I was fascinated. I'm just going to have to check out similar sites. Take care of yourself!

Carrie

Anonymous said...

I am in shock! This is a great loss to myself and so many others. I didn't comment all that often, but was a regular reader. It's such a shame that you weren't able to archive the material. Many thanks to your wife for her years of service to the agrarian community.

DaveM said...

I am so thankful for what you provided and so sad for our loss. I'm not very religious or any other cause for that matter. I love my wife and kids and am just trying to make it in this tough society. I am "C" if you ever (read "The Forgotten Man".

Thanks again for all you have contributed to my life/learning.

Dave

vpofcvi@gmail.com

Thistle said...

I am so sorry to see Granny Miller go! Wish that I had saved more of her information. She was a real treasure trove of information for those of us less versed in the skills of rural home making. Thank you for sharing your expertise with us, Granny.
With a heavy heart
Laurie

Thistle said...

I am so sorry to see her go! Wish that I had saved more of the information that she published online. She was a treasure trove of information for those of us less versed in rural homemaking/living.
With a heavy heart I bid you rarewell.

Maria said...

I am very sorry to hear that. Your wife was a source of knowledge the equal of which I have not found elsewhere. Thanks to her experiments with preserving eggs in water glass this year she may have revived a dying art. I understand you both not wanting to invest time in reviving a blog you were planning on closing anyhow. Just know you will be missed, Katherine, and if you ever decide to blog again we will be happy to see you back.

Sue said...

Oh, no! I've learned so much from Granny's blog. I'll miss it so much. Thank you for all the knowledge I've gained through her blog.

deafnsmart said...

Richard and Granny Miller;

I greatly miss your website; it really was one of a kind!! I hope she will write a book someday soon.

Thanks for everything.

Desert Cat said...

Richard and Katherine,
It took me a while to check here for news, but now I know what happened.

I had some email correspondence with Katherine about republishing some of her stuff with attribution, and so I set an archiving program to work saving her articles. I have not yet gone through the files, but it is possible the program was able to save most if not all the site before it crashed.

Drop me a note via email if you are interested, and I can burn the files onto DVD to send you if you want them for your own archival purposes or to restart the site sometime in the future.

james at desertcat dot net

Anonymous said...

I often think about all the information and images that are "virtual" and not really in our own control, now that we've all recorded our lives and our information via the Internet. Like so many intangibles, it can be gone in an instant. Ironic that the woman who is prepared to be self sufficient till Kingdom comes, doesn't have her wisdom in publishable form. I for one would like to see it in a book. Folks would pay silver for it, I believe.

Thought you'd be itching to post something about Ron Paul's win in Iowa....
Vermont Gardener

The Midland Agrarian said...

James @ desert Cat,
If you did not get my email, let me know.

Vermont Gardener,
The part about the woman prepped to Kingdom Come not having her stuff in publishable form made me laugh! Thanks.

She did it as a free gift to help other, and never worried too much about it. She did keep many of her photos on a hard drive.

Jayde said...

I miss Granny Miller's site. She helped me with my canning skills. I had never canned before I came to her site. I'm really sad to see it's gone.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry to see your site bite the dust. I hope your wife will start a new blog and continue writing. She had such great tips. So disappointed because I just found her blog a few months ago.

Marinco said...

I am sorry to see the info gone. I wish you all the best. I did get a calendar this year from you all with some nice pictures and interesting quotes. I am hoping you put it out again next year. May God bless you and keep you safe from harm.

Anonymous said...

I am so sad to hear this! I have been trying to find her blog for a few days now and just now found this update....thank you both for all your time..I hope we hear from your wife from time to time on your blog!

Anonymous said...

This is indeed a distressing discovery. I too could not find the blog and just now found out why. You and Katherine have been such a help and encouragement for so many. The comments posted here are a witness to that. That said, let me add my many thanks for you sharing all of your incredible knowledge with so many. I pray you both will be extremely blessed from all the sacrifices you have made in order to help so many become more self-sufficient in their lives. Thank you both so very much.

Anonymous said...

Will you still be offering Early Butler corn seed this year?

Anonymous said...

Hi. I just went to youtube to watch some of Granny Miller's canning videos and found that the account was closed. So sad to see that. I know the data for the website was lost, but it was such a shame to not have those videos to refer to anymore; seemed odd to close the account since the videos were being hosted by youtube (not like they were any work to maintain). You could have set them to make leaving comments unavailable. Such a shame they're gone.

Cheers,

John

Anonymous said...

I am beyond sad to see Granny's website gone. I think you need to make this a matter of prayer at your house, because I believe that the information you are offering is worth more than gold right now. Yesterday, in our local newspaper, there was a feature article about how a small grocery store that burned down and had to rebuild, is looking to hire a HANDFUL of people to help work at the new store. Most of the people who worked there before the fire are going to come back, but not all. Over 450 people showed up for a chance to have a job interview!! 450!!!! At a grocery store, for a minimum wage job!!!!! And this is in an area in Central Illinois that should have a million jobs available! Times are hard, and the clouds on our financial horizon are darkening. Please tell Katherine that she is not on the scene right now by accident; God may very well be using her to meet the needs of many, many people around her, whose lives she is touching in ways she will never fully know. Tell her to read the story of Esther again in the Old Testament.....perhaps God has your Katerine on the scene right now "for such a time as this". PLEASE start the website again!!!

KDiddy said...

Will you please ask your lovely wife if she still has the poem about husband & wife trees? I love that poem & was incredibly sad to see that her sight was gone!!! If she has it, or knows it, could you please, please post it for me? I would love to get it written down...its the most beautiful marriage poem I've ever read! Thank you so much. Kelly

KDiddy said...

Will you please ask your lovely wife if she still has or knows the poem about husband & wife trees? It is my favorite writing on marriage & I was incredibly disappointed to see it gone! I would love to let my husband read that poem, if it would be at all possible for you to post it. Thanks so much! Kelly

The Midland Agrarian said...

Kelly,
The husband and wife trees reference was not a poem, but an essay my wife wrote based on a pen and ink sketch by Eric Sloane. I am truly sorry, but it is lost. The only thing I can remember is that they stand the winds and weather better together than either would alone.

Anonymous said...

Will you be offering Early Butler corn again?

The Midland Agrarian said...

Howdy anonymous,
It is doubtful I will have Early Butler seed to spare this year.
I got behind on cultivation and from looking at the fodder corn I have cut for cattle thus far, the Deer have beat me to harvest.

Debbie said...

I been trying to figure out what happened to the blog. So sorry to hear that it "died". I really wish that I would have saved the information, especially the recipes. Would anyone be willing to share any they have saved? I was fairly new to the sight, discovered it on a cold and snowy day. I made the broccoli soup and yeast rolls that very day. Yummy. I appreciate all of the work that went into the blog and will be forever grateful for the information I was able to learn. You have no idea how much you will be missed.

Anonymous said...

I bought a house with the same cook stove and if it weren't for this website I'm not sure I would have ever learned to use it properly. (It needed to be cleaned first which was nicely explained. Sorry the website is down:( But thank you for all the good meals we've had since!~AD

basicliving@backtobasicliving.com said...

I've had some personal issues in the past year, and have not been on line much. Today I decided I needed to find out where the heck Granny Miller has been. I am so sad to read the website bit the dust :( Katherine is such an amazing woman with so much knowledge and I've been privileged to learn so much from her over the years. She's always been so generous with her knowledge and time. The GOP nomination season has kept her in the forefront of my mind. But she's always in my thoughts when I can, garden, or do anything around here. What a blessing she has been to me. Thank you both for all you share and do!

The Midland Agrarian said...

Thanks! hope all thrives on your homestead in the new year. I always enjoy reading about your homestead projects.