We are leaving

At least for a while.  Not forever, but we need to escape some habits.  We think...  We hope to see you all again someday.  Things are just not going right...

Twofer Tuesday

A post-dinner nap... 

Comment Failures

TBT here:  We are having trouble commenting on blogs.  Yes, I have mentioned it before, but it seems to be getting even worse.

I am getting to my wit's end about this.

In this past week, I have tried both Firefox and Safari.  That doesn't seem to help.  I have been ruthlessly cleaning my computer of old files (some small some large).  I have gone through and uninstalled old and unused applications.  I have used 2 different software programs that search for viruses, malware, and advertisement-oriented commercial cookies.  I defragmented the disk.  I searched for unauthorized incoming and outgoing traffic while I wasn't actively using the computer.

I am not having the slightest problem with the computer otherwise.  As far as I can tell, my Mac computer is operating perfectly.

Meanwhile, I have noticed that my number of comments (though not visitors) to Mark's Mews is dropping.  A year or 2 ago, I was getting 30 comments and 80 visitors per day.  It went to 20 comments and 30 visitors.  Lately, it is 10 comments and 20 visitors.

This could of course be for many reasons.  Fewer people visiting blogs, we are getting boring, or (what concerns me most) many of YOU are also not getting comments through and are not recognized as visiting.

I'm not sure what to do.  I have about 70 blogs on my reading list.  I try to visit everyone at least once a week (about a 1/3 every other day).  Tonight, of the first 10 I visited (and I always comment), only 2 comments showed up when I checked back an hour later.  And it wasn't that they were blogs that are moderated in real time (I moderate too, but only for comments 3 days or older).  And I get email acknowledgement of comments to be moderated.  And even THEN, I have been checking my blogger dashboard for comments waiting for moderation or considered spam.

The only thing I can think of to do next is to hook up my Windows 10 computer to the internet (it is currently a stand alone computer for "safe" use).  But that would mean updating 2 year's worth of software, buying anti-virus software (not currently needed since it is offline in all ways), and creating new bookmarks (since I wouldn't want to copy ANYTHING from the Mac "just in case").

So my questions are:

How many of you are having the same general problems with commenting?

Have you found a way to fix it?

Is it different on a Mac or a Windows?

What browser works best for you?

How would you feel if I emailed you (being unable to reliably leave comments directly)?

If we can't fix our commenting problems, would you still visit us?

Is the blogging world falling apart (is the comment-failure problem widespread or just me or a few of us).

There used to be streaming chat.  That faded away.  Then there were discussion boards (still working fine).  Blogs worked great until a couple years ago.

I'm never been on Facebook, Twitter, etc, and with the complaints I see, don't want to be.

So, anything anyone can suggest based on current experiences would sure be appreciated.

  ........................

I just learned something.  If you have "embedded" as a choice in your comment settings, it may be causing problems for visitors using a Mac.

Here's how you find out:

Go to your Settings selection and look for something like "Posts and Comments".

Under "Comments" you will see "Comments Location".  Next to that is a box with several choices like "embedded, full page, popup window, and hide".  If you have "embedded", I think that is what is stopping Apple Mac users!

If you change that setting to "popup window", I think that will fix things for we Mac users.

You can also look at the 2 settings below that; "Who Can Comment?" and "Comment Moderation".

The first is anyone, google accounts, and only members of this blog.  I suspect the last is a bad choice.  The first allows EVERYONE (and you might want to be careful).  The "google account" means most of us.  A friend set up a google account just to comment on blogs and so far as we can tell, means little beyond on that even if you don't like Google.

"Comment Moderation" decides how old a comment has to be before it requires you to personally allow the comment to be posted automatically.  I have my setting on 7 days.  That means comments from friends on old posts aren't likely to get ignored, but some of those scammers who post ads on really old posts get detected (usually).

I hate to ask friends to struggle through changes in their settings, but I think it is their settings that are keeping my posts from showing.  I THINK it is the "embedded" setting that is causing the problem.  It DOES seem to me that "embedded" comments (where the comments show immediately below the post) are the ones I have troubles with AND that the "pop up" comment windows always seem to work.

And only because Mac and Windows don't get along well.

SO, if anyone tries that, let me know and I will send a test comment to assure "Pop Up Windows" works.  It COULD solve a problem many of us have had AND it could result in more comments and visitors...

Hoping for good news...

Mark

Silly Saturday

MARLEY:   I used ta love napping unner the chair tent, so TBT set up another one on the old chair.  I havent used it yet.

But the chair is between our trees.  And I was up high on a tree and decided ta jump down in the tent...

It looked more solid than it is!  In fact, I almost bounced off the chair when the tent collapsed onto the cusion.  Silly me!

Flashback Friday

AYLA:  Seven years ago this week, I was watching over my 2 younger fursibs.  It was a peaceful time...

Then Marley decided ta move up one level and Iza took HIS spot.  They seemed all calm, so I decided ta take a nap myself.

 It was good ta all be tagether family-like.

Garden Tour Thursday

IZA:  Well, it isnt so much of a "tour" today, since most of my our flowers look about the same as last time.  But there was a PROJECT I would like ta show.  TBT found all these pansies in 12-packs at Lowe's and decided he wanted a large plot of them fer "Winter-watching" and some fer pots on the deck.

So he bought 5 packs of those and brought them out yesserday ta plant them.  Which OF COURSE requires my help.  Iffen I dont get him started right, nothing will go well.

So I made sure he had his radio on (music keeps him soothed).

And I checked the flowers to make sure they smelled healthy.  They did...

This is what the spot looked like "before".  Corn grew there (badly) and weeds grew after he pulled the corn up.

But after pulling all the weeds and digging up the soil, it looked real nice. 

I'll let TBT describe the rest cuz I got bored and he took out some equipment I dont like ta be around.

TBT:  Thank you Iza, you got me started well!  OK, so I used a small electric tiller to loosen the soil about 6" deep.  Those things do really well in bare ground.  Avoid grass and vines and long roots though; those wrap around the blades and take a lot of work to remove. 

But it was nice soft fluffy soil afterwards.  I even pit down a piece of old plywood to spread my weight as I planted.

I had diagrammed a plan that had yellow and purple pansies around the outside and red ones in my middle.  I'm a bit geometric...  Because the spot was angled, I had rows of 9, 8, 7, 6, and 5.

I even made a 1"x2" board (the the picture above) a few years ago with markings on each side to show 6", 9", 12" and 16" spacings.  But look carefully at the back row; I planted 10 instead of 9 plants.  I only realized that at the 2nd row and didn't feel like re-doing them.  It threw the pattern off slightly, but I'm pretty sure the Gardening Gods won't hurl lightening at me in punishment.  It just means that there are 2 yellow pansies extra close.

The labels said to space them 8-10" apart; I spaced them 12".  Well, it is rich soil so they will grow larger, and I like to see individual plants rather than a carpet of them.  The center of the planting is red pansies.  The results were good.

There is a reason I got better grades in school in Geometry than Algebra...  Anyway, now that they are in the good soil, they should grow quickly.  I'll scratch in some slow-release organic fertilizer soon and then put folded newspaper between the plants and cover it with bark mulch to keep the weeds down.  I sure don't want to have to weed the bed in January!

Iza and I hope to show you lots of new flowers from there in a few weeks...

Now I'll return the post back to Iza...

IZA:  OK, now that we have seen all the new flowers, lets have SNACKS!  I picked them out this time.  We have some chopped Bacon, some Chickie shreds, and NIP!  TBT is going to harvest most of our stems to dry in the basement in a couple weeks (ta get us through the Winter), so we are enjoying the last of the fresh stuff while we can.

Thanks so much fer coming on the Garden Tour!

Womancat Wensday

IZA:  I love any box anywhere.  So when TBT dropped a box in the basement, I hopped right in...

I wasn't happy, though, when I saw Ayla up on the ladder (staring at me), so I turned on my lasers to warn her not to pounce.  

And the lasers werked of course.  She hopped down and went upstairs.  I have the best lasers in the house. 

Im still not sure why TBT, Marley, and Ayla laff when they see me in my favorite boxes though...

Twofer Tuesday

MARLEY:  Iza and I share TBTs lap more and more often recently.  Ya do things and ya get more used ta them, ya know? 

TBT says we are crushing his knees.  Its 24 pounds with both of us.  But that's HIS problem.  Quite frankly, if Ayla joined us with her 6.2 pounds extra, *I* would be pleased.

He did come up with a slight help.  He rolled up a towel and stuck it unner his knee to help balance our (very appropriate) weights.  Hey, whatever keeps him from moving while we are enjoying the lap is fine with us.

Mancat Monday

MARLEY:  I like sleeping in the drawer lately.  But it was a bit of a squeeze getting in all comfy last night!  TBT claimed the laundry was a bit damp so he needed the drawers open.

In itself, that dint bother me.  But I DID have ta push my way in a bit. 

Actually, I wasnt there when he went to bed.  But he woke up later (missing my presence near him in the bed no doubt) and looked around afore spying where I was.  He said it was OK ta be in there, so I stayed.

I would have gotten out iffen he had asked.  Im a good mancat...  But Im glad he said staying was OK.  I stayed there all night.