Well here we are on the 27th of February, one more day for this month before we head into March and hopefully more springlike weather. Last night a thunderstorm came thru, and even though not much rain fell, it was comforting to know that it did come down as rain and not snow.

Lots going on this week, whether I get a lot done or not remains to be seen. Spent some more time working on Divi on a site and there are a few hiccups still. I have an idea of what the issue is, but not sure if it’s something I am able to do or not. Which had me lying and bed and thinking, does it really matter?

I came here to blog, to converse, to be with others who also like to blog. I feel like I am getting further and further away from that when I try and putter around with customizing. I do however want to have some working knowledge on how things work, how it can be done, but to be truthful if I got the message, nope that is it, all you can do, I wouldn’t cry about it.

I feel like I am on the cusp of so many different things, and I am waiting. Whether to go forward, backwards, or head off completely in another direction. That’s life for you, it can never make up it’s mind so you can. But then it can’t make up it’s mind til you do. It’s a vicious cycle.

Hey it’s Monday again, time for some more music…

I did a little experimenting with my site yesterday to see a little bit more what all Divi can do or can’t do, or what I want I would like it to do and it refuses to do. So at the moment things on my site are a bit mixed up and later on today, tomorrow, or sometime this week I will set about redoing it and indulging in a little more in experimenting. Well, as long as I don’t break anything else.

The page looks okay, nothing great, not excited about it, but it was fun to try out a few things. The animated title, kinda fun, kinda interesting, kinda annoying. It will go. The colors, background, a quick stick up for something, are a bit blah, but it’s just a test. A test I think I should probably be studying for, or at least watching the videos when they are suggested for help. But it’s much more fun to “wing it” and press buttons and ask oneself, “I wonder what this does”.

I was quite proud that I had somewhat of a cohesive site up until clicking on the menu. Some links worked,some just took me back to my site. Clicking on blogs, took me nowhere. It’s all there though, somewhere lost in the Matrix. It’s what happens when you have a choice between the red or the blue pill. Or in this case, Divi or the default theme.

I gave up early on it to leave for another day, and realized what I need to do is to first decide on a template design and then go forward from there. Somethings I tried to add showed up okay when added in their little boxes, but failed to work when saved. I found some of the column choices limited in Divi, but then I have only scratched the surface. I think my next try will be to look at the different choices they already have, and try to customize one of them, other then trying to build it all from scratch right off the bat in Divi. Again, maybe if I bothered to watch a video or two might help.

Lying in bed last night, I got to thinking, if only I knew someone who did comics. They should do a running strip on the trials of the Matrix, also known as the WordPress dashboard. Morty, OhNo, and Tripod are forced to figure out all the coding and system before the Nonsequentials eat their way thru your blog site and making it go sadly wonky. Then they get to visit the Oreo who gives them all a pat on the head and a cookie, and Civatar is saved from awkward, wonky websites.

(And now another test….will this blog entry show in it’s entirety, or will it behave as the others and go nowhere? If it gets lost, I will switch things back so hopefully it shows up).

It’s hard to believe how fast the month is going, I’m all for a quick, short month that will get us closer to spring. It’s amazing what a difference a couple of 50 degree days can make. The large snowfall we had last week is quickly becoming a distant memory. There are still patches of it, here and there, but it’s slowly being sucked back into the earth.

The geese have been flying, one hears them, before one sees them. I haven’t seen or heard the robins yet, but they should be here any day now. I guess I need to just spend more time being aware of what is going on around me outside. It’s a quick in and out til the weather becomes more cooperative. It’s tempting to get out there to start doing some clean up, but leaving the old vegetation gives coverage for those bouncing temps, seeds for the birds, and protection for beneficial insects.

I’m ready, and yet I am not ready for spring. I bounce back and forth on plans, plants, gardens, projects, and when I think I have it all figured out, a monkey wrench gets thrown in for good measure. It will all work out, and if it doesn’t, it’s on to a different plan. Unfortunately all of my plans are expensive. I plan for one thing, only to readjust those plans. Did I mention my furnace went out right before the big snow storm? Yep, of course it would. The guy came out, looked it over, took down the serial numbers, etc, etc. and said he would try and find the parts needed. If he can’t, a new furnace is in my future. More juggling of plans and that check book.

For a Monday, it’s rather quiet. I don’t hear much going on except the distant rumble of a train, a few birds, and the soft scratching at the back door. The feral cat is ready for breakfast. He is becoming less and less feral every day. Amazing what some food and kindness can do for an animal, and for people too.

I haven’t forgotten, it’s Music Monday. Feel free to post a favorite tune and tune out the rest of the world and it’s responsibilities for a moment.

Wishing you all a day of chocolatey goodness! …(I’m calling dibs on the caramels!)

Over on our old blogging site, we use to do a theme of posting music on Mondays. Seeing as this is Valentine’s week, I thought a good theme for today would be music that included the word “love”. Getting your thinking caps on and join in the fun of posting a favorite song that has love in the title or the lyrics, I’m not picky.

It’s Sunday, that is my excuse, I will try to think of another excuse for all of the other days that I am lazy.

Suzi prodded me a bit to write a blog, it’s been awhile, so I guess you can blame her for my meanderings today.

There isn’t much to report today from the land of corn. It’s a quiet day, the sun is shining, temps are pretty decent for the middle of February. Hard to believe that spring is only 36 days away. And yet, it is hard to believe spring is still 36 days away. Anticipation or lack of it will skew one’s viewpoint on anything.

Today is the Super Bowl. I won’t be watching or caring who wins. But, by all means feel free to give a shout out to who you are rooting for and if it will be a day of all things football for you. Just make sure to share the nachos, chicken wings, or pizza you will be imbibing in, I’ll pass on the beer. I never acquired a taste for it.

In two days it will be Valentine’s day. Did you remember to get your significant other something special? Are you even participating? Or are you like me and will be waiting for the day after sales on discounted chocolate? I remember in the past we did a romance week on the blogs one year. Not sure if anyone is up to doing any themes or challenges on here? It’s been a bit quiet, but I know some are still mourning the loss of Shmoozezone, some have responsibilities and can’t be on-line all day or for hours at a time. But I will put the thought out there about maybe doing some of the old challenges we did to garner more blog postings.

Whatever your day brings, I hope it is a good one. And Suzi..I will try and do better on the blogging!

Over on our old website of Shmoozezone, we use to do a lot of theme stuff and one of them being, a “Two for Tuesday” where bloggers posted pictures, graphics, memes, jokes, basically anything that had some commonality in the two items. I could post a thousand garden pics of the theme, but I will save that for my “We dig dirt” garden group. (Another reason for groups, to spare those with no interest in all things related to plants).

I have posted this pic before, but it always gives me a chuckle, and it’s still relevant today as when I took the picture. The same cast of characters live around here or are frequent guests and so far they all do their own thing and get along. Except for the neighbors dog, the dog is never welcomed by them no matter how much he tries to be a freeloader and grab a quick lunch.

Two for Tuesday…..two yellow cats… One by the bench on the left hand side of the picture, and one yellow cat looking in the window of the door as I took the pic. Also a guest, trying his best to blend in and pretend to be a cat as well.

With any new place there is going to be a lot of growing pains. So much of all of it is starting from scratch. People get use to what they always knew before and then when things change, it’s hard. Things don’t work the same way, things don’t look the same way, things don’t respond in the same way as they did on the old place or site.

I realize for some people, who aren’t here every day or came “late to the party”, they aren’t aware of the changes being made, the updates being done and the discussions that went on previously in the activity feed, on blogs, on the forums, etc. Case in point, the latest drama about the group “We Dig Dirt” that a new privacy plug-in was installed. It’s already been explained on the activity feed so I won’t repeat all of that conversation.

But, if there is some lingering questions on the group “We Dig Dirt” itself, I will give you some background of what the group is, hopes to be, what I envision for it.

It is a group for gardeners, nature lovers, people who enjoy the outdoors and basically playing in the dirt. I hope to have members share what they grow, what their interests are, such as flowers, perennials, houseplants, landscaping, etc. I hope to have members post pics of their gardens, what they are growing, give tips on what works for them. I hope to have general discussions on what works for them in their growing zone and what doesn’t.

I hope to have members give reviews on places they purchase their seeds or plants from, if they grow organically and their favorite seed sources for those organic non-gmo seeds. I hope to have members show the progress of their gardens, the fruits of their labors, the trials and tribulations they face, if it be weather, insects invasions, soil conditions, or a struggle with squirrels and raccoons who love the sweet corn, almost as much as they do.

I hope that the group gives tips, gives information, gives inspiration, and encouragement. I have it set as a private by invitation only group in that some members don’t like to post a lot of things to the whole world, especially when it comes to their own personal property, or if some of their pics have family members in them.

I’ve read the notice one gets when trying to view the group site. I did not find it offensive. It wasn’t, nor did it contribute to making this site appear “toxic” or invoke “the devil”. It merely stated you didn’t have access to the site and to contact an administrator if you felt there was an error. One received a similar message on our old Shmoozezone site if you tried to log in or view and wasn’t a member.

There is no need to get excited, though I am touched that so many people seem to have gained an interest in gardening. You are welcome to make your own group sites, you are welcome to just write your blogs on gardening. One positive thing about having the privacy plug-in and getting everything worked out and in place, is that you won’t have an activity feed inundated with a barrage of all things garden related. Which I am sure is a relief to some as it isn’t a main interest of theirs. That is what groups is all about, people of like minded interests.

So, I made a group, that led to a site for the group. I planted a seed to watch something grow.

Like a garden, time and circumstances will determine what is the end result.

Here we are, now starting the month of February. It was a relief to see January go, and hopefully February will move along quickly so we can finally get closer to warmer weather and spring.

It hasn’t been a bad winter, it hasn’t really been a long winter, it’s just been a season of confinement and limitations that we pretty much have all been dealing with for the last couple of years. Hopefully most have been unscathed by sickness or difficulties. I keep poking around here and don’t feel like I am accomplishing much. It’s hard to actually sit down and have the time to commit to really delving into a lot of stuff. I guess when one gets right down to it, what does each person view this place as and then go from there.

I have several sites on here. I made a couple of new groups the other day and made sites for them since groups are limiting in posting. Right now they are just basically skeleton sites. None of the sparkle or added accessories to pretty up the place like a new set of curtains. At the moment, they don’t really need all of that, they are still forming in my head of what they are going to be, what they will include, and morph into.

When I first joined up on Shmoozezone, it was fun to see what all could be done on our pages with the customization. Over time, for me, it lost a lot of it’s appeal when it became glitchy for me and half the time wouldn’t upload graphics or pics for me. One day it would work perfectly, then for days, it would be cranky and temperamental. So I never really got exited to do much with it. Over here we have a lot of options, the first one being which builder to use, then the layout, etc, etc. A lot to figure out, and part of me is okay with what I have already for my site and for my Quasi site. I don’t really feel a need to redecorate for every holiday or month, or theme. But then, I am one of those people who doesn’t like to rearrange furniture constantly. Move it around once, and you pretty much know what is the best layout. It’s not quite that simple here, but I more or less have the same attitude. I’ll keep tinkering, but there may be nothing earth shattering or all that interesting to many.

For some, this place is a place to just decorate and design and just constantly change, like trying on new outfits. For some this place will just be a place to gather thoughts and put them together into a bit of a journal entry. For some this place will be a combination of both with leanings toward sparseness or overindulgence, in words, or by design.

I think there is just a part of me that doesn’t want to make a huge commitment, and perhaps that isn’t the best choice of words. Sometimes it’s hard to put into words just what you want to convey. I was on Shmoozezone earlier, read some posts, went back and read some older posts, and it dredged up a lot of emotions. I think there is a part of me that is holding back a little on this place because of it. One can’t change the past, and can one really change the future when the same people are the players? I don’t know.

For now though, I will trudge on and continue to write long rambling blogs of little importance, to be read or not read, makes no difference. I might stick in a graphic or photo here or there or I might not even bother. This place will be whatever you make of it. Much like friendships and relationships, it is what you put into it.

I’ll include a graphic or two, just to not make this blog seem so bare. Consider it a temporary covering until I get those new curtains.

For Suzi….and Dio…I’m sure toads could be substituted for the sausages. Let us know how it turns out!