Email from WordPress this morning

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Just as we were packing the car and getting ready for the Peak District, Selma’s Fairyphone vibrated heavily on the rooftop of our Volvo, and Siri just managed to rescue it in time. “It’s an email from the WordPress.com team. We did pay the yearly subscription, didn’t we?“
“Yes, we did“, Dina-Hanne said, “let’s get on with it. Where are your fairy rucksacks?”

Gerade als wir unser Auto packen für unsere Fahrt in den Peak District, klingelt Selmas Feenphone vom Aufdringlichsten und vibriert auf dem Autodach. Siri kann es gerade noch vorm Absturz retten. “Das ist eine E-Mail vom WordPress-Team. Haben wir etwa vergessen, unser jährliches Abo zu bezahlen?”
“Nee, längst bezahlt“, sagt Hanne-Dina ärgerlich. “Und nun macht mal zu mit euren Feenrucksäcken!”

“Don’t you want to read what WordPress wrote?”
“Just read it for us, please“
WordPress writes:
“Hi Fab Four, Congrats, we love your writing and want to share it with the world.
We’ve selected your post (In Praise of Laziness – Why Staying at Home Might Make You a Better Photographer) for Freshly Pressed, a showcase where we feature editors’ picks and community favorites on WordPress.com.
We are thrilled to share your post with our wider audience.
Your post will appear at wordpress.com/discover/, where members of the WordPress.com community can read, comment, like your post, and subscribe to your site to get notified whenever you publish new content.
Thank you for being part of the biggest and best community of bloggers around the world. We’re proud to be the platform that makes your voice heard.“

“Wollt ihr nicht wissen, was WordPress schrieb?”
“Lies es uns doch einfach vor, bitte.”
WordPress schreibt:
“Hi Fab Four, Gratulation, wir lieben Euren Text und wollen ihn mit der Welt teilen.
Wir suchten Eure Post aus (In Praise of Laziness – Why Staying at Home Might Make You a Better Photographer) als ‘Fresly Pressed’, eine Plattform, auf der wir die Empfehlungen der Redaktion und die Favoriten der Community von WordPress vorstellen.
Wir freuen uns überaus, Euren Beitrag mit einem großen Publikum zu teilen.
Eure Post wird in wordpress.com/discover/ erscheinen, wo alle Mitglieder der WordPress Community ihn lesen, kommentieren und liken können. Hier können sie auch Euren Blog abonnieren.
Herzlichen Dank, dass du Teil der größten und besten Blogger-Community weltweit bist. Wir sind stolz, die Plattform zu sein, die deiner Stimme Gehör verschafft.“


Now we can enjoy our little holiday (despite the rain), and with a clear conscience, we don’t need to blog while on holiday. We’ll be signing off until 1st March. Bye for now!
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Nun können wir unseren kleinen Urlaub genießen (trotz des Regens) und guten Gewissens eine Blogpause während unseres Urlaubs einlegen. Wir melden uns bis zum ersten März ab. Tschüss
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

© text and illustrations, Hanne Siebers & Klausbernd Vollmar, Cley next the Sea, 2026

162 thoughts

  3. Well done, FAB FOUR! Congratulations! Have an especially good holiday!

    PS. When I saw the logo above I thought it looked very like the logo on the front of your camper van, or do I need new reading glasses?

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • Dear Darlene

      Thank you very much 🙏 🙏.
      We are sure we’ll have a great holiday. We have been in this hotel before and liked it very much.

      Keep well
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you, dear Audrey. We make our little holiday wonderful.

      Hanne has her nature there. She’ll go on the search for the mountain hare. Kb will sit in front of the fire, reading with a drink. And there are little villages around we’ll visit. We have been there before.

      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    • Thank you very much, dear Joan 🙏 🙏

      It’s raining here as well.
      We’ll have a great holiday. We know that place and the hotel as well. Hanne want to see the British mountain hare. I want to see interesting books. That’s all doable.

      ❤ ❤ With lots of love ❤ ❤
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Liebe Silberdistel

      Habe ganz herzlichen Dank 🙏 🙏

      Wir freuen uns sehr auf die paar Tage in einem bequemen Hotel und in den Bergen. Morgen früh geht es los. Das Auto ist gepackt, Kb putzt gerade noch die Schuhe und Siri und Selma packen geheimnisvolle Überraschungen ein.

      Liebe Grüße vom Meer
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  25. Great news, dear Friends.
    I read that WordPress has started to curate special blogs again from February 2026 and you are already freshly presses again! Well done!
    Have a lovely holiday in the Peak District. I look forward too hearing more about Hanne’s adventures with the mountain hares and your evening out with the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester. I’m so envious, they are brilliant!
    We’ll be in touch, talk soon.
    Kram
    Annalena xx

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • Our dear friend Annalena

      It will be a great holiday. There is something for everyone: nature and especially mountain hares for Hanne, the magnificent Halle orchestra for culture, and relaxing for the soul. And even shopping in the style of time ;-). We are very much looking forward to it.

      With lots of love ❤ ❤
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Thanks a lot, dear Jane.

      Tomorrow morning we’ll start. The car is already packed, and we are excitedly looking forward to it.

      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  29. Congratulations and well-deserved! 🎉 👏 This is great news and it’s exciting that your post and blog will reach even more readers! Wishing you all a wonderful break – who knows, the rain might even cease … for some snow and sunshine! ☀️

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Annika

      We just came back from the Peak District. We were lucky and had really lots of snow and sun for a couple of days.

      With lots of love from the sea
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  36. My dear, dear friends, The Fab Four of Cley!! I am beyond excited to hear this news. I agree with WordPress! You are amazing. I smiled at the timing of it all, just as you were packing the car and heading off on holiday. There’s something rather perfect about being featured and then giving yourself permission to step away for a while.

    Enjoy the Peak District, rain and all. If you find yourselves anywhere near Wordsworth country, you’ll be walking in very resonant footsteps. We visited several years ago, and it was one of those places where the landscape and the poetry seem to speak to each other. I remember feeling as though I was walking alongside the Poet and his sister, a quiet, unforgettable experience. Sending much hugs and love!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  41. Dear friends,

    I’m thrilled to see you get this recognition, huge gratulations from the far North!

    I love reading your posts. Have a wonderful holiday and enjoy the weather whatever it will be. I heard from Annalena that you’re going to Manchester and the Hallé symphonic orchestra, what a treat! I hope Dina-Hanne will find the elusive mountain hare and that you’ll show us her great photos soon.

    Ha det bra.
    Klem
    Per Magnus xx

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Per Magnus

      We had a great holiday, snow and sun at the beginning, and later some rain. Then we browsed bookshops and came home with masses of books.

      The Hallé Orchestra was a special treat at the end of our holiday.

      Now we are back in Cley, the sun is shining, it’s like spring.
      With lots of love

      Ha det
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Hi Ule

      wir hatten Glück, zu Beginn gab’s feinsten Schnee und Sonnenschein, die letzten Tage regnete es. Das machte aber nichts, denn da besuchten wir Buchhandlungen und Bibliotheken.

      Vielen Dank
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  58. How splendid! Those of us who’ve appreciated your posts for years will be happy to welcome a crowd of new readers and commenters. I’m suddenly thinking of my grandmother, who favored the old expression about cream rising to the top!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  60. Be prepared to be swamped. Way back when WP and I were relatively new to blogging, I got a similar message that WP wanted to share a post I had written on Burning Man mutant vehicles. it took me a couple of days to respond to all of the comments. Congratulations!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dear Ute

      Thanks a lot.
      We are just back from a great holiday. In the beginning lots of snow and sunshine, and at the end rain. Then we browsed bookshops.

      Love from the sea
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  64. I’m not going to comment with my congratulations – which I feel are well due – because then you would be obliged to acknowledge when you are trying to go on holidays and have a digital break … although, maybe not an ENTIRE digital break because I imagine the camera is digital, because it has been a long time since most of us used film, although I did sell my last 35mm SLR film camera to a dealer who even went to the great bother of letting me know who bought it … which was a Uni student studying film and design and something or other. ANYWAY. This is the longest ‘non-comment’ I have ever written, so I guess I will just go ahead and congratulate you and hope you have a wonderful holiday even if you do feel compelled to acknowledge my non-comment.
    (After a day of one technological mishap after another, I’m feeling a little fuzzed out in the head. Light relief is in order.)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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