Had a lovely (and easiest yet) upgrade to dasBlog 1.6, thank Omar.  I used the Upgrade Zip file that is up on GotDotNet.

Not only is this version faster it also added an Archive feature.  Look in the left bar under Navigation, there's a 'Archives' section with Monthly Archives for all my content.  Don't forget the Search box also!

Note: The upgrade zip is missing the FreeTextBox CodeHighlightDefinitions.xml so I stole it from Omar directly.