Hello again! It's been a while...
I stopped blogging about 8 months ago.
So, I'm reintroducing myself to those I lost contact with and introducing myself to all of you who have since kindly followed me.
I joined Steemit in October 2016 at @johnjgeddes suggestion. He's my husband and thought it would be a great platform for me to share my photography and he also encouraged me to write.
My short time on Steemit was a positive experience. During that time, I met a lot of extraordinary people from different walks of life, different interests and beliefs and found myself becoming more open and curious about life outside my four walls.

I'm a fairly private person though, a tad shy—although I can come out of my shell when I meet people who are "kindred". At first, I wanted to be incognito, hence the @countrygirl username and the pretence of not knowing @johnjgeddes (that was a little more than awkward!)
Talking about myself is as difficult as sitting through a job interview and being asked how I might describe my strengths and weaknesses. It seems forced and artificial. My strengths are in my weaknesses–I'm perfectly imperfekt in every way. No, John, I am not Mary Poppins!
However…
... the basics...
I'm a mom, a grandmother and a wife. I love to laugh, share life stories, photographs, travels, hikes, music interests, cooking, decorating and gardening tips. Oh and I love dogs. Cats are okay “ish”. They seem to gravitate to me, but it’s not entirely reciprocal.
Also I'm a stranger in a strange land (whatever does that mean anyway?)
It will take time for me to relearn the Steemit rules and the new lingo.
Please be patient with me as I rebuild Steem Power so I can generously upvote some of the great content being posted on Steemit.
I look forward to saying hello again to the people I followed and to meeting new Steemians as well.
nice post . . continue to post like this one. I follow u and upvote u . .. i hope u also do the same for me. thanks
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@dmitrywong/a-love-that-never-fails-based-on-true-story
Well, you sure had me fooled... :D
Welcome back, again! I had no idea you were married to John...
Heck, I knew that you knew one another, because he had told me that he was helping you power down and cash out after you had left...
I did not know that you were his muse! :O
Good to know! You seem to power much of his writing! ;)
In any case, it has been a very pleasant surprise to find you "back in the neighborhood," and I look forward to hearing lots more from ya' ;)
😄😇😄
![@creatr](https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmWvzuqZ51DoiSjXXf8bukb7JeeVV1eAJJhGBkDiYc8ajj/creatr_ap.gif)
I understood you guessed, or that John informed you.
Sorry if this troubled you. The purpose for being "incognito" is that our son was a member on Steemit too. I didn't want people to upvote the "spouse" or "mom".
I have no voting power anymore (to speak of). It feels awkward. So the best support I can offer for a time is encouragement.
I might tell about my journey of late although I hesitate after the difficult post I scribbled to your friend. The grief surprised me.
Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts @creatr. I sincerely appreciated it.
Hey, @countrygirl, no worries, and no apologies necessary at all!
We all do what we need to. In any case, now you know that my votes, interaction, and support had absolutely nothing to do with John, right? ;)
I myself attempt to be "incognitio" here on Steemit because some of the topics and issues I write about are pretty edgy. Often, my ideas - especially political and religious - are so far from "mainstream" that they could potentially be embarrassing to (particularly) my spouse.
You have always been an encouragement, as has John. I've been "in and out" of Ryan's blog, but the times I've been paying attention I have truly appreciated the music he has connected me with.
And I would love to hear of your journey of late. My life has become quite difficult in the last several months, and I'd appreciate your prayers. I am in dire need of some combination of an uptick in my enterprise - sales and marketing issues - and some good design/engineering/technical consulting gigs. Since your departure (about 8 months ago?) I've become very open on Steemit about my product and about my day job.
There was a very short span of time where I thought that my writing on Steemit had reached a level of following and support that I might be able to focus entirely on it... Hahahahahaha... That vanished. Steemit is still quite a mystery to me, with respect to the fickle nature of supporting votes. I will say that I've been very pleased to see a strong upward trend in John's rewards.
In any case, as always, my intention is to be here "for the long haul" because of the potential archival properties of the Steemit blockchain.
Well, there I go, writing a book again... :D
The bottom line is that it's been a very pleasant surprise to find you "back in the neighborhood." :) :D
I'd be happy to pray for you. I've got you @creatr.
I miss your allegorical tales.....I remember those from way back.
The way I see your purpose on here is one of a mentor. You quietly go about encouraging this person, upholding that one with a word in season– also, putting people of like mind together so no one is left alone. Like a busy ant :)
Steemit is definitely a mystery to me too. I kind of get the deer in head lights look and zone out when I hear about aspects of bitcoins, votes, whales, minnows etc. I don't get it most times. Quality vs quantity and who makes money and who doesn't. Makes my head spin.
John is doing well. I'm happy for him. He's worked very hard for years and years, shyly sharing his work. He's building some confidence on this platform. It wasn't long ago that we were doing book /meet the author tables at farmers markets, book clubs and fairs. I should post a picture - but he probably won't let me.
Thanks for staying with me. 😇
Thank you, friend, for praying. It means much to me.
Thanks also for your kindly encouraging words. :)
I can picture you and John in the marketplace. It's a nice picture in my mind. I long for a true marketplace without the ever-present thugs that make it distressing.
Cryptocurrencies are part of my hope to, if ever, be able to retire, or at least not to starve in our old age. Though I'm no expert, if I can ever help remove some of the mystery for you, please let me know.
Really happy you are back, continue the good work!!
@scout-adventures
Thank you. I haven't had an opportunity to meet you before....am following. I see you are a fellow photographer. Maybe we'll meet up in one of the many challenges.
meep
Hello, welcome back :O)
Meesterboom! Thanks for the warm welcome. Good to see you too.
I am glad you are back, is always nice to see an 'old' face as it were :0)
Welcome back! I also took a break from steemit for a while. You'll get your momentum again - so long as you stay active! I'll keep my eyes out for your posts ☺
Thanks! It's good to know someone else took a break. But I, unfortunately drained my wallet so I need to start all over again, again.
I checked out some of your latest posts....you are so talented :)
How do you get the emojis to work?
Thank you for your compliment!
Since I use a laptop (instead of a tablet or smartphone) most of the time to make my posts, I use alt codes. There aren't alt codes for every emoji, just the older ones. There's a good explanation of how to use them here.
Thanks again, see you around @countrygirl! ☺
Oh, I remember those alt codes from my PC!! I have a Mac now and those commands don't work for me on it. Boo. But I did figure out another way....as if emojis are that important...they are 🤓
I found a web site and simply cut and paste. So much easier. I too use a laptop btw. My phone is too small - I don't know how other people do it.
Cool, glad to hear you've got it figured out ☺
Welcome back!!
thanks @daveks :)
Look who's here ^^ Countrygirl, Let me welcome you to Steemit. Hope you gonna have fun with our community. Feel free to follow me @rightuppercorner Have a great time @rightuppercorner
Thank you! Are you the official welcome wagon? Great job.
Welcome back @countrygirl! Good to see you blogging again! Keep up all the great work!
Thank you. You too. I just saw your name come up on another site and I remembered you. We'll cross paths for sure!
Welcome back!
Thanks! I'm sure our paths will cross soon :)
Hey! Welcome back to Steemit. Glad you’re on board again. Hope you have a good time.
Thank you. I am sure I'll have fun meeting up with old friends and meeting new ones, hopefully.