They say luck come in three’s, I say my lucky day started when I joined this platform three years ago on 13 July 2017, a lucky Thursday the 13th for me!
I've met the most amazing people and been able to do what I really love doing, and that is experimenting in the kitchen by joining Hive foodie challenges and sharing the stories behind the food with friends and fellow foodies, so I will be telling you a little about that part of my journey here on Hive.
THE VALUE OF CHALLENGES
An edit to my post at this point - why do I enjoy challenges?
It's not about winning as such, although that is a bonus of course, but it's all about interaction between contestants and those who follow those tags, and this to me is the real value of challenges.
This is something newbies should really consider as these are the places where your posts will get read and you will meet kindred spirits.
SANDWICH CONTEST
One of the first food challenges I joined was 
COOK WITH US
Then along came another close-knit foodie community under the banner of 
FRUITS AND VEGGIES MONDAY
Another really great theme is the weekly FruitsAndVeggiesMonday plant-based food challenge run by the queen of Vegan cookery 
QURATOR'S HIVE TOP CHEF!
Qurator always is on the ball with many exciting ventures that I cannot even keep up with, but one that I'm really enjoying currently is the Tuesday cookery contest with a new theme each week, so a big thank you to that team for the hard work that goes into putting up so many varied challenges and for the amazing support and encouragement.
NATURAL MEDICINE
I enjoy sharing posts on natural healing and food as medicine through the @NaturalMedicine community whose amazing curators encourage and educate us on matters relating to wellness and mindfull living and also challenge us to think outside the box and delve a little deeper inside ourselves.
Do pop in there as you are sure to find good advice especially now that health care and building up the immune system is vitally important.
TRAVEL BLOGS
Then there are those happy wanderers who take us to places we’ve never heard of through communities like @TravelFeed, @HaveYouBeenHere, #WednesdayWalk. I really enjoy sharing my local travels here with the added bonus that those memories can be pinned on a map called 
SAVING GRACE
My blogging here started about a year post retirement at the urging of my son 
I honestly believe this been my saving grace, especially since this horrid Virus came and turned our world upside down; ably aided by politicians who have in many instances mishandled the whole epidemic, I have to add!
DISCARDED BY THE CORPORATE WORLD
So I'll start at the very beginning; I had a happy and fulfilling career as a GIS Techie with fabulous workmates but when I reached a certain age, the corporate world discarded me and I had to leave that all behind; I was not charmed!
Fortunately I had started setting up our little BnB called Lily's Cottage about six months prior to retirement and must say that this has been the best job ever!
What I saw as just a pastime, has turned into a successful little business with us receiving guests from all spheres - leisure, conference as well as business guests. We had to expand and turned one wing of our home into a studio unit.
Then Coronavirus hit our shores and our government went into a hard lockdown with the entire country coming to a standstill.
We had to cancel bookings and had no BnB income for just on three months, but still had overheads that did not disappear!
HIVE TO THE RESCUE DURING COVID19 LOCKDOWN
This is where my almost three years of blogging on this blockchain (and the previous unmentionable) really came to the rescue as I needed the extra cash.
Hive happened at just the right time as I could cash out my hard earned crypto from the unmentionable blockchain, even though I really wanted to convert it to Hive, BUT there were holes to be filled in our budget so I even had to cash in some Hive for a couple of weeks!
I had no idea how to convert this crypto to hard cash but my fellow South African friends came to the rescue with advice but I was still stumped until 
The timing could not have been more perfect as at the end of the thirteen weeks our lockdown was relaxed somewhat and we could once again host business guests under strict guidelines by the Tourism and Health Department who can pop in to inspect our premises at any time, so we had to invest in all kinds of stuff - a non-contact thermometer, foot and elbow operated sanitizer dispensers as well as PPE's, but at least life is getting back to a new normal as our business guests are slowly returning as well.
THREE YEAR BIRTHDAY
My three years blogging has been a lifesaver for sure, and I am now thankfully able to build up my Hive Power again.
My friend Gina who knows everybody’s business, whispered in my ear that 
A huge thank you to all my friends, the people who run challenges as well as our curators who do a sterling job of encouraging us.
I must say this new-found pastime has become a passion and I always look forward to the response once I’ve posted, and I must say that it feels like winning the lottery when I wake up to loads of comments or a nice fat upvote on a post.
KNIGHTS IN SHINING ARMOUR
There are many knights in shining armour around here, some encouraging silently and then some who've become real good friends and I will not mention names as I may leave someone out, but you all know who you are!
A huge thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Hearing that people have enjoyed reading a post one has put your heart and soul into, is the most amazing feeling; quite addictive I must admit!
This platform is filled with many bizzy beez all working hard on growing Hive and helping each other out, a rarity in the world we live in today!
I appreciate each and every one of you amazing people and communities like 
Thank you for stopping by
