Thank you for taking the time to respond to the Reader Survey - quite a few of you took the time and it really meant a lot.

This blog is a strange little niche of wonderful in my life however; there are a couple of unfortunate realities. Real Talk. This blog costs me a fair amount of money every year. I pay to keep my domain name, I pay to host with Squarespace (which I don't regret) and at times I've paid to have a custom designed blog. Secondly, this blog takes up more time than I care to admit. If I was working a traditional job, had children or sheesh, even more of a social life, I'd struggle to find the time.

Second dose of Real Talk: considering the financial output and the amount of time I spend on the blog I'm sometimes really disappointed in myself for not working on growing my audience. This is an issue that I'm personally divided right down the middle on. This blog doesn't help me sell anything, market anything or support any part of a business. This blog doesn't inherently appeal to a large group of people. This blog is casual - there is no posting schedule, no content geared toward SEO (search engine optimization), no carefully curated Pinterest boards designed to generate traffic - you get the idea. If I wanted to increase my readership I'd need to do these things. When I really think about what I personally love about this blog it is the fact that it's organic. I write what feels good when it feels good. I try not to worry about it when I get overly busy or preoccupied. There you have it...the right down the middle...work on growing or just let it be.

The Reader Survey was really interesting so I thought I'd share my findings! I had 18 Survey takers. I'll admit I wished I got more takers but, those who took it were a super diverse bunch!

Question One confirmed what I already knew. Most of you have been reading for a long time. I love that you've all seen the ups and the downs. You've also seen five different vessels! It also confirmed that I could try a little harder to spread the Nautie word.

You are a loyal bunch! I can't tell you how many blogs I read that I don't bother with for every post. If I get behind sometimes I just 'mark them all as read' and start fresh. Thanks for taking the time to keep up! Smooches.

This told me something I didn't know. A fair amount of you are using Facebook. I'll try harder to update Facebook more frequently when blog posting might be a little slower.

Many of you took the time to drop me a note letting me know you do comment! I have to confess I'm a big blog reader but am not a big commenter. Most times I don't comment because I don't feel I have anything relevant to say. This question was part of a survey that I modeled mine after. I thought it was a good one because, ideally, commenting helps build a community. I love the idea of community in the interwebz. So many of us spend a fair amount of time surfing the web. If we are going to preserve the concept of interpersonal relationships community building is essential.

The responses to this question blew my mind. I thought 'raw, real and personal' was gonna get the cold shoulder. It was the winner! I am usually mortified when I hit publish on posts where I talk about crying at the bar, meowing, or not being able to find a job. I whim and wah and general question myself when I put it all out there - apparently you guys really like that - good to know. The answers to this question also told me that there's is a little something for everyone here. The answers were pretty well divided.

Thank you for spending time with me here in this lovely little corner of the Internet!

To the owner of Jasper, you will soon get a little somethin' somethin' in your mailbox!

The Reader Survey is now closed. Thank you all for participating!