January's fiery start didn't calm down until last week. So, perhaps my choice of banner image was a way of forcing it to burn itself out. That said, I do expect a hectic February - more of that - perhaps - as things unfold.

A February digression

This month I reach a significant chronological milestone in my life. Like last year, when I used all twos associated with my birthday (and the year) to guide me in what I powered up each month, this year, I am going to do something similar. If I can. This will largely be influenced by the extent to which I am able to leave my liquid Hive to grow where it is. This month is the first in over a year, that I've not powered down. As, however, things in my day job (and ahem, fourth career) are not quite as settled as I'd like, I am still going to retain liquidity in case I need some emergency funding.

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?

So this year, sixes are significant and as I did for January, this, and subsequent power ups for 2023 will include at least one 6 (six).

And here's proof of today's:

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.

I blog to the Hive blockchain using a number of decentralised appplications.

• 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.