diff --git a/do_backup_knucles.sh b/do_backup_knucles.sh
index d53fd51..a4baa01 100755
--- a/do_backup_knucles.sh
+++ b/do_backup_knucles.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 #!/usr/bin/bash
 
+echo ""
+echo "======================="
+echo "starting backup"
+date
+
 source ~/.restic-env
-~/restic_many.py backup --resticbin /home/restic/bin/restic
\ No newline at end of file
+~/restic_many.py backup --resticbin /home/restic/bin/restic
diff --git a/do_backup_tartarus.sh b/do_backup_tartarus.sh
index 287f0d0..d1e5600 100755
--- a/do_backup_tartarus.sh
+++ b/do_backup_tartarus.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/local/bin/bash
 
+echo ""
+echo "======================="
+echo "starting backup"
+date
+
 # simple check for zfs pool being online
 if zpool list | grep -q depths.*ONLINE
 then
@@ -10,4 +15,4 @@ else
 fi
 
 source ~/.restic-env
-python3.6 ~/restic-backups/restic_many.py backup
\ No newline at end of file
+python3.6 ~/restic-backups/restic_many.py backup