WHEN I FIRST BEGAN THIS BLOG in December 2008, I looked at my site stats obsessively. It was exciting to watch them grow in those early, heady days. Now I rarely look, but WordPress still helpfully provides a battery of statistics. Most popular search terms is always amusing. In the past 24 hours, for instance, people have come to casaCARA seeking information on London rowhouse bathroom, nineteenth century tenant farmers cottage, best gardens in Japan, palm beach italian renaissance, plants for windy rooftop, far rockaway vintage hotels, colonial farmsteads, and best places to see in lanzarote. I’m glad to be an archive of such random and varied subject matter. I hope they found what they were looking for, and will maybe even come back some time.
But the most revealing stat, the one that tells me what I should be doing more of (if only I would listen), is top posts of the year. “Evergreens,” they’re called in the magazine biz. They’re some of my favorites posts, too. If you’d like to re-visit them, or check them out for the first time, links to my Top Ten posts of 2011 are below.
Thanks, everyone, for your readership and support over the past year. Onward to 2012!
Garden Voyeur: The Barefoot Contessa’s Garden
Foolproof Plants for Brooklyn Backyards
Monticello Yellow + Orange Options
The East End’s Early English Houses
Why I love Philadelphia, Part 3 : Trinity Houses
casaCARA 
Thanks for the chance to catch up on posts I missed! Now surveying my salon-style wall of pictures with newly critical eyes. (Damn you!)
Also, I contend that the shade gardening column makes it look way too easy. Proof: my backyard, where all those plants have come and gone.
My question re the Top 10: What do all those columns have in common? Seems like a random bunch of topics, tho all interesting in their own way.
Love seeing the “before” picture of the bungalow I bought almost a year ago. Will have to get Cara out there soon for some “after” shots, since people enjoyed the Far Rockaway post.
Your right, Barbara, these posts don’t seem to have a connecting thread, other than Cara’s eye and voice, which I think are what brings people to this blog. You never know what she’s been looking at and thinking about.
That’s “You’re right, Barbara.” Would have let it slide but I am losing patience with the your for you’re thing….
BP, I’ll help you with your garden, come spring (though it is one of the more challenging city gardens I’ve seen — 10 minutes per day of direct sunlight, in high summer?). GAP, can’t wait to get out to Rockaway and see your home improvements. Re the Top Ten, I see a common thread: they’re all about old houses, inside or out. Historic architecture, interior design (in vintage buildings), gardens behind old houses! I try to hew pretty closely to my sub-title: “Old Houses for Fun and Profit.” In the case of this group, it’s ‘Fun,’ but I’ve also blogged a lot about managing rental property and investing in vintage real estate. You won’t find me writing here about the last movie I saw, my swing dance lessons, or my efforts to lose 10 pounds.