Just a week ago and when I did my (very late) notice-of-PUD post, I said the year had got off to a rocky start and commented on the beginning of the Year of the Tiger. Well, that year and month have been roaring. And not in a good way, either. I am with the world watching events unfold in Eastern Europe. I am going to nail my colours to the mast: I do not believe in war. All I can think about are the ordinary people - on both sides - and who really have no say in the conflict. They are the real victims. I feel for them. I fear for them.

Dutch parents of friends of ours return to Holland later this week. They arrived seven weeks ago, in peace. They return home, in trepidation and to a continent with a war that seems to be escalating by the hour. The generous human to human gestures that are filling some of the social media feeds, both fill me with hope and give me cold shivers.

I feel enormously privileged and grateful in our bubble that has kept us safe from disease and, I hope, forever, from war. And, in The Husband's case, another war.

Now that I've got that of my chest, it's down to business: my usual delegations to redfish that participated in this month's edition of #HivePUD.

For those not familiar with what I do each month after Power Up Day, I delegate 100 Hive to 3 participating accounts.

Why I do this?

As I always say:

It's a combination of paying it forward and walking the talk. I remember what it's like to be a redfish and I remain forever grateful to the folk who supported me in those steemy early and confusing days on the blockchain. That's not to say I'm an expert now. I most definitely am not and my relative "success" on the Hive blockchain has been a combination of trial and error (quite a lot!) as well as learning by osmosis. A lot of all three...and at the risk of repeating myself, the help of good folk who cared enough to look out for noobs.

Nearly five years ago, when I started my cryptoblogging journey onboarding and support initiatives were few and far between. I am delighted that there are now several and I'm thrilled to be able to play a little role in helping people to hang around on Hive.

March Power Up Day

If you don't know what happens on Hive Power Up Day and how accounts stand to gain, read @traciyork's Power Up Day post and join next month?

A reminder about my delegations - if you didn't follow the link...

Each month, I set aside 300 HP that I delegate an equal share among three accounts that meet the basic Power Up Day Criteria.

In my case, though, and given my focus on redfish, the accounts must also be -

• 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.
• a reputation of less than 61
• not more than 500 HP in their accounts before they power up - both on the first of the month

Qualifying accounts for March

This month, when Traci sent through the list, she said -

is this the longest list I've ever sent you? Spoiled for choice yet again!

She was right. There were 20 accounts on the list and that met the basic criteria. A record. I went through their posts for February, and applied my additional criteria -

• have at least two qualifying posts since the previous power up day, i.e. since January; and that the posts do have 200 words or more (in English - because I'd like to be able to engage...) and exclude posts for Power Up Day, and Actifit.

So, when all's said and done -

This month, of the original 20, only eight (8) accounts met all the criteria. Two of these are from qualifying Silver Bloggers, and consistent with my commitment, a delegation goes to them. In one case, and remaining boringly consistent keeping my promises, it's a second consecutive delegation and which proves what I always say about lightening potentially striking twice.

The remaining six account names, I pasted into the nifty online random pick thingy so that it's objective and not me making the decision:

The results

March Delegations

But that's not all

Remember that in addition to the delegations, @rayt2, @frittro and @tengolotodo have all been added to my fanbase and receive a daily 100% upvote (when my mana remains above 90%); I also ask @ginabot to notify me each time they post. If I have an opportunity, I pop over and have a gander and occasionally weigh in on whatever the post may be about. Oh, and if I've got less than 90% mana, I will manually upvote.

A last word - or two

Thanks as always to @traciyork, @victoriabsb and @hivebuzz for all the hard work they do each month - and around the blockchain, generally.

Thanks too, to @doze for the super Hive graphics that he develops and shares for us all to use. Do check out his posts and perhaps drop by and show some Hive love.

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 by clicking on the logo.

Original artwork: @artywink

• lastly, graphics are created using partly my own photographs, images available freely available on @hive.blog and Canva.