I said at the beginning of December, 2022 seems to have been a whirlwind, and it finished off the same way. In less than 48 hours, two of The Husband's family arrived, at either very short, or no notice. The cousin, we've not seen for about 15 years and the sister, since last Christmas. Blame it not on Covid but rather, diametrically opposed personalities with very little in common other than some shared genetics. It is what it is and we've both made peace with that this is our shared experience with our respective blood families. So, if this is your experience, you are not alone. If it is not, treasure what you have. You are blessed.
A New Year's digression
In my usual pre-HivePUD post, I said -
I end 2022 with a sense of greater abundance than I've ended the last few.
I mentioned in November , that my gig work is picking up and has good prospects. I did not stop working over what is usually our summer holidays with a very good client meeting last week. However, I am happily unexpectedly relinquishing one of my short term accommodation clients. I had intended doing this later in the year, and having it ramped forward about three months was, to say the least, rather startling.
That my real day job client meeting went well, and has resulted in more work, is a godsend. However, and despite the relief, because I wasn't quite ready for losing one of my other gigs, I'm going to powering up only a portion of my liquid Hive. I shall also probably continue hedging my bets and start another power down so that I have a little liquid nest egg.
After the last three years, despite this sense of abundance, if I've learned anything, it's that life is a steady stream of curved balls and I need to be prepared to smack them out of the park.
I begin 2023 with not expectations. Am I hopeful? I'd like to be, but after so many disappointments, I'm not allowing myself this privilege. This way, 2023 simply cannot be a disappointment.
Back to Hive Power Up Day business
In my usual Power Up Day ahead post the I confirmed the power of three (Silver Blogging Women) is a thing. Although the other two have been woman down for part of this month (they're ok, thanks for asking), we plan for it to continue for the foreseeable future.
As a reminder:
The Power of Three
From July 2022 - three qualifying redfish that meet my our criteria and the basic PUD criteria (read about it here and below) will get delegations of:
300 HP for 21 days
Each of us will (@lizelle, @coquicoin (herself a recipient of one of my delegations) and me (@fionasfavourites)) will delegate 100HP to the winning accounts for three weeks (21 days).
Hive Power Up Day
For more about why we power up on the first of each month, check out this post from the awesomesauce @traciyork who pulls it all together.
Why I - and now my fellow collaborators - do this
We all have great empathy for noobs and redfish, and that's what lies behind this contribution to #HivePUD. Here's the rundown:
After all the numbers are done and official winners announced -
We delegate 900 HP, shared equally - that's 300HP per account - among three accounts that meet the basic Power Up Day Criteria as well as these additional criteria. They must:
- be less than 6 months old
- have at least two qualifying posts since the previous power up day.
Posts that qualify must have 200 words or more and exclude posts for Power Up Day, and Actifit.
As a reminder, the reason I added the second criterion is because -
Hive is a social blockchain: it's for socialising, ruminating and just generally hanging out.- have a reputation of less than 61
- have not more than 500 HP in their accounts before they power up - both on the first of the month
What if no accounts qualify?
As I always say, I don't make decisions on my own, so if, as has happened in the past, there are "slim pickings", I will be working via Traci with the @ocd team to make selections and will keep an eye out for those accounts that fall into the Silver Bloggers' league and who have joined that community. If there are no Silver Bloggers who meet the criteria, we will look for accounts that have been identified either as part of the @lovesniper curation initiative or as part of @zakludick's Hive Classroom of 2022. We will also, because of our declared bias, look for accounts that are either subscribers to the Silver Bloggers Community, or who fit that profile.
Of course, that's not all
Remember that in addition to the delegations, these accounts are added to my fanbase and receive a daily 100% upvote (if my voting power is still more than 90%; if it's not, I do try to pop over, but RL sometimes gets in the way). This is also why I ask @ginabot to notify me each time they post. If I have an opportunity, I pop over, have a gander and occasionally weigh in on whatever the post may be about. If you haven't had a vote, I then give a manual vote.
Remember, too -
Lightening does strike twice:
If you participate in this #hivepud and you still meet the criteria, you will go into this month's pot again, and stand another chance to receive a second delegation. It's happened before. I promise.
I have you powered up today? Have you?
Last year, twos yes, 2's, were significant. This year I reach another milestone, and to mark that, each power up will include at least one 6 (six).
And here's proof of my first power up of 2023:
May the New Year be kind to us all.
Until next time, be well
Fiona
The Sandbag House
McGregor, South Africa
Photo: Selma
Post script
If this post might seem familiar, it's because I'm doing two things:
- re-vamping old recipes. As I do this, I am adding them in a file format that you can download and print. If you download recipes, buy me a coffee. Or better yet, a glass of wine....?
- and "re-capturing" nearly two years' worth of posts.
- From Wordpress, I use the Exxp Wordpress plugin. If this rocks your socks, click here or on on the image below to sign up.
- Join Hive using this link and then join us in the Silver Bloggers' community.
Original artwork: @artywink
- lastly, graphics are created using partly my own photographs, images available freely available on @hive.blog and Canva.