Six Years on the Hive Blockchain

13/07/2017 was the beginning of my exciting journey into the blogosphere, a whole new world called the blockchain. I had no clue what that word meant but encouraged by my son, I immediately joined, and very soon became hooked on ~~Steemit~~ Hive.
I actually suffer severe withdrawal symptoms when I cannot blog for some reason or other, and I'm not kidding when I say this!

Back then, there were no communities, so I was basically on my own, a little redfish swimming all by myself in a big ocean, although I think I was called a plankton back then. Can anyone correct me there?

I loved blogging, and was thrilled when someone stopped by for a proper conversation; the rewards were irrelevant.
Naturally, the bonus was waking up in the morning, or logging on at the end of the day and seeing my post earnings had grown substantially by an upvote from bigger accounts.

Little did I know that one day those rewards would become a life-saver, as they did during the horrid Covid lockdowns when our BnB income dried up.

I chuckle to myself when I remember how afraid I was of joining Discord as I would be exposed as a Crypto-Illiterate! How wrong was I, soon learnt this was the go-to place for questions, to gain knowledge, and get to know the community.

Thanks go to @hivebuzz for keeping tabs on my milestones, I would totally have forgotten about my sixth Hive birthday if they did not nudge me.
However, I'm still two days late in writing my birthday post, as there have been two major CURVEBALLS thrown my way, which also kept me away from Hive.

^{^{Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash}}

My blockchain journey took off with food; specifically, Sandwiches, I kid you not - yes a weekly sandwich contest by the Manwich Maker @jaybird, that ran non-stop for 100 weeks!

There were many foodie contests where I met some wonderful kindred spirits. The very best chef on Hive has to be @carolynstahl who keeps on producing the most amazing dishes, beautifully presented, with a nice little story attached.

Food blogging is very time-consuming, believe it or not, but also super-satisfying. I was hooked as the kitchen is my favourite playground, but had to slow down when our BnB became too busy, and I had to start cooking dinners for young students who only eat run-of-the-mill hearty meals and so my experimenting in the kitchen started waning.
When my Mom became ill and needed constant caring, playing in the kitchen came to a dead halt!

I would love to tag everyone who has been part of my journey, it is a very VERY long list, but I have to make mention a very special old friend who encouraged and inspired me right at the beginning, and that is the very kind author @ericvancewalton!

Getting to know dear Mr. @pinmapple who has joined me on many trips around South Africa, has been another fabulous experience, and a great place to store my travel journeys.

Stained glass windows.jpg
I tried to cram some snippets of my Hive journey into this image

During difficult times, such as now, Hive has become a place where I can offload some of life's burdens, as I find it helps me focus, and kind of dilutes the problem.

Hubby is currently being prepped for coronary bypass graft surgery, to take place on Monday. It's been a stressful couple of weeks, knowing something serious is up, and a long week in hospital waiting for the outcome.
I however do feel more confident after my nephew, who is in medicine, told me he's heard very good things about the surgeon and that he is much sought-after by cardiologists for this procedure.

Having to postpone our trip has been a huge disappointment, but you do not play with matters of the heart!

My head, and shoulder, have not been in the right space to spend much time here on Hive, hence the late birthday post!

The most challenging thing I took on, was starting the Silver Bloggers Community, which took up a lot of my time.
I however have an awesome team in @fionasfavourites, @mondoshawan, @coquicoin, and @tengolotodo, and could never have grown the community without them!

Two other blockchain friends who advised right at the outset were @livinguktaiwan, and @papilloncharity, so a big thank you to both of them!

My latest little babe, Hive Thrifted is slow in taking off, but I plan to revamp her soon to make it easier for Hivers to turn their pre-loved attic finds into Hive or HBD, or having the opportunity to buy gorgeous vintage and contemporary preloved goods, using Hive or HBD straight from their wallet!

Finally, thank you one and all who I have crossed paths with here, it's been an awesome and happy six years on Hive, and I hope to have many many more!

^{Photo by Clarinta on Unsplash}