Heel low:
Guess whose back!
My sincere apologies for leaving you in the dark as to my whereabouts and may be wondering if all was OK. Since the move up to FNQ life has been beyond hectic with so much to do and so little time including nearly losing our 9 year old cat to kidney stones; after two weeks in veterinary care he is now home which would not have been the case if we had listened to the local Vet who wanted us to euthanize on day 2.
Chookens are doing great!
Anyways, things have settled a little and I will now hopefully have time to catch up with everyone and learn how the 'new site' works.
I missed you!
No apologies required... you are missed but loved more for keeping your own show on the up and up. True friends know
me time for the persons they love keep the persons they love healthy & well!
Life, happiness for having chooks, and keeping precious ones alive is way more important than worrying about what is going on here in a virtual environment. LOL
Same ol', same ol...and more!
Stocking up, adding a few more improvements and always making time to click (& post) moments in time to spread the joy.
Basically I miss the old site. This one alienates people. We use to be able to see who was online easier; sure there is a little green triangle on your avatar but many of us use to hide that we were online too! The most painful part for me is the limit of ten files (which are photos for me) per post. It was not abnormal to have me post 30 or more photos in a single post! It
never happened if there is no picture and I write 1,000's of words already...imagine being robbed of the ability of posting photos and having to describe in words these photos? We are busy enjoying our life here in Pear-A-Dice...30 or more photos ARE the norm...because that was what had happened since my last post. I get busy and click but when I invest time to stop and catch up...I find the ten file max TEDIOUS & hurtful...and with my advancing age, it is harder to stay focussed as the technical difficulties make me have to pay attention to the method instead of the artistic flow of creation.
I love my real life, I love to capture small glimpses of it, I love to write before I bust open...a way to drain and empty so one can work at filling up all over again with the beautiful blessings that transpire living life. The new format completely cramps my style and takes what should be a joyous endeavour and cheapens it to counting files (heaven forbid I have 11 photos to explain a day away with--do you drop a click or make a post for one more or...
).
My very family genetics make me creative (a Viking Gypsy...who could predict that outcome's destiny!) and the tedium of ten files per post might work for an average person but there is nothing average whatsoever in my life. Rules are meant to be bent to near breaking...so you know the limits constricting the boundaries. Don't go there...it is a waste of time because it gets ruined but lessons are not remembered unless there is taint with the sweet.
Usually when I post, I have a billion things roaring thru my mind to remember to mention and to have to stop, count how many "files" and work out which set of constrictions applies and what order becomes crippling to the creative and artistic side of what writing and capturing photos is all about. Crippling.
I have always admired and upheld the human right to be able to create and excel in what inspiration you are blessed in being born with. Art is flamboyant, impulsive, dynamic, and is rarely a characteristic that completely adheres to set rules. Conforming stifles excellence. Persons that choose to conform get all out of form when confronted with questions like Rick asks..."says who?", "what rules?", because "I can & will go elsewhere, thanks!" He takes his bat and ball and plays in his own field if constrictions cripple creativity. When was the last time you saw a grain elevator chook coop like his very first chicken house? People build coops to contain & maintain birds, people who build coops to inspire the imagination, express virtues of "yes you can!" and human fantasies of a better enjoyable world...those ones are in categories not even set yet. For every 99 coops, there is 1 Taj Mahal to blow the world's socks off. I choose the one percent over mainstream dulldrums.
1, 2, 3, 4...how do I take these maximum of ten files and make the photos flow to the story line...keep it fun, not tedious, unclinical like you are doing a scientific dissection...here is the patient, their heart, the arteries...1, 2, 3, 4...don't go over ten or you'll have to cut one (can't stop the bleeding now) or make a new post that is disjointed and...yeh...BORING!
I have been mulling over one day dropping this and yes, going mugmag though I abhor mugmag hiddiously horribly--grading a person by outward features, degrading a gender based on outward appearances rots me to the core of humanity and makes those that instigated & support this worthless scum to the human race. I am far above that but stooping to that level may transpire given the great good you can achieve using that platform (there are worthy ones in those masses blind to any other medium)...I have not had to choose that venue yet...but may.
It is a better marketing tool one does have to admit and I am the first to say change takes effort, time and resources...not many embrace change readily. I will likely have Dorpers I need to find good homes for, as my heritage potato varieties continue to grow & prosper, seed potatoes are likely, maybe puppies, maybe Kunekunes (as our geriatric beasties pass on and open up room for that piggy pork adventure!), and then I have a huge order of new poultry stocks that I will be importing new year. So to keep the gene pools healthy and preserved, marketing our extras may become reality. Your selection process is only as good as the numbers you have to choose from and we prefer keeping back only the top 3 percent in poultry. I can always meat out the excess but that does not alot to pass on the genetics of those meaty and eggy progeny. We are to eat our livestock and poultry to save them, but if all I ever send forward is dead proteins and veg...it does nothing to ensure the survival of the stocks to keep making more of the same for others. Sharing!
I feel smothered (technical stupidness of the hoops you are expected to take in stride--old dog
, fights new tricks) and isolated with the new format. Past my beloved old faithful persons that post here & have conversations with, I have no idea who the audience is any more, so now I post to satisfy MY expectations of the thread which includes my vocal readership...my friends here (or are they fiends?).
I use to be able to scroll down and see the latest posts and choose a topic to go view or even post on. They replaced that longer format with a side box on the right side there with five recent posts but I rarely notice it because that is where I recall all these videos & ads pop up to annoy me. My thread is meant to bring joy and happiness in sharing Pear-A-Dice, not bog me the author down with tedious formalities and strict follow these rules or... Yeh.
Change in the winds...perhaps...I'll continue to struggle over the tedium until I choose a way to fix the problems which will have to work themselves in with our busy adventures in reality. Nothing comes before the real world, my dependents, family, & my beloved friends.
I guess I am feeling nostalgic for the good old days and continue to hate the new format.
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
