wordless wednesday

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a bit of blog befuddlement

Many thanks to everyone who left a comment about commenting.

I've been wandering around backstage in my own blog, trying to find the source of the problem. I've learned a couple of things, but nothing related to the issue.

So far the only possible clue is that comments may not be posting from phones - 

two readers have now mentioned that.

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I'm relieved to know that there are no ads appearing on Comptonia!

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About the ads that have recently been showing up on the Feedly page, here is an example using my own blog post list. I hope the screenshot will be legible - as always, left-click to embiggen.

To be clear: I'm not seeing these ads on the actual blogs - just prominently displayed on the Feedly list of posts for each blog.

One of these things is not like the others...

 

Here's another example.

Ads disguised as blog posts:

Well, that's enough about the mysteries of the internet for one day.

Onward to something I understand: today's Daily Markmaking.

A detail of the base of the massive red oak on the Upper West Side,
surrounded by stones and snow.

I hope your week is off to a grand start!

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three quick questions

This is a blog housekeeping post, and I'd really appreciate your help. I'll add a few unrelated images, just for entertainment value.

Two people have told me in recent weeks that they have left a comment on the blog but that it didn't appear. I've checked the spam filter, but the comments were not there. I checked my settings, and there shouldn't be anything preventing anyone from leaving a comment. The only thing I can think of, is if I was editing a post and republishing it at the same moment someone was trying to leave a comment, which I suppose is possible but not very likely. Not sure what else I can do, but I at least want to ask: has anyone else had a problem posting a comment here? If so, and if you can't leave a comment on this post either, could you please take a moment to email me and let me know? And if any other bloggers have had this happen on their own blogs, how did you fix it? It's very alienating to have one's comments "rejected" on a blog, and I don't want that to happen to anyone on Comptonia. I love our conversations. No blog is an island!

Second question: I use an ad blocker on my laptop, so I avoid seeing a lot of ads but recently Feedly - the reader where I see updates of all the blogs I follow on a single page - has begun throwing an ad into the posting list of every blog. It is disconcerting, to say the least, since the format of the ad is exactly the same as that of a blog post. It is not as annoying as pop-up windows on blogs, but it's unpleasant, and it may be time for a change. Can anyone recommend a simple reader they use to track all the blogs they follow?

Oh, one more question, speaking of ads and pop-up windows. I recently read a comment on another person's blog which complained - rather rudely, I thought - about the kind of advertisements appearing on that blog. It occurs to me that some of us may have ads showing up on our blogs that we didn't put there and - in my case, with the ad-blocking app - don't even know are there. Could someone tell me if you ever see ads or pop-up windows on Comptonia? I find pop-up windows very irritating, as they generally obscure what I'm trying to read, and they often "invite" me, over and over again, to subscribe to a blog I already follow. If there's anything like this on Comptonia, I did not put it there, and if I can't get rid of it I'll have to look into changing platforms.

Thanks for your help! I want to keep Comptonia a welcoming and pleasant place. Anything else would be...

 bananas!

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thankful thursday

Part of the Junco flock having breakfast

Yesterday was a long, tiring day. There was an hour of driving to a medical appointment. Sitting. Standing. More driving. Errands on the way home, and chores in the dark before collapsing into bed. It was a good thing I did the Daily Markmaking in the morning - the little birds, above - because I couldn't have made much more than a thumbprint last night.

But it was also a great day. I got a lot of good information from the new doctor, and a relieved mind from the second opinion which was the reason for the appointment.

There was a stop on the way home at the Fitchburg Art Museum, which I used to visit often but hadn't seen in years because of the driving. I renewed my long-expired membership and also my acquaintance with many old friends in the Ancient Egypt permanent exhibition, and paintings by the museum's founder, Eleanor Norcross. It was a simply splendid way to spend some time. It felt like a celebration.

I get a lot of practice at feeling thankful, every day. In the words of Johnny Mercer, I tend to "accentuate the positive." It's not something I strive to do, it's just the way I live. But yesterday was exceptionally fine by any standard. And I was so very thankful that I didn't need to go anywhere this morning - except out to the paddocks and barns. A lovely, lazy Thursday morning!

Tonight's markmaking effort:

And here comes the weekend! I hope you all have a good one.

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wednesday wip

The work in progress had a brief hiccup a few days ago, only because math is not my favorite subject. Fortunately I discovered my little miscalculation before knitting an extra acre of garter stitch.

Just a temporary setback.

This Shetland yarn is delightfully "sticky" - in knitters' parlance, the texture is such that a strand of this yarn will lightly grip another strand - so it was quite easy to get 144 live stitches back on the needle: they just sat there nicely, waiting to be picked up. Unlike my usual teeny sock stitches, which disappear into themselves the moment the working yarn is pulled out.

 That same sticky quality also makes joining the yarn quite simple. The first step is opening the two plies at the end of each yarn to be joined, and cutting an inch or so from one ply on each end.

One ply on each end to be trimmed,

which reduces the thickness of the joined section.

Next, cross the single plies, fold them back onto themselves, add a few drops of water, and roll the join briskly between palms.

I didn't get a picture of this step because it takes both hands and I was being careful. If anyone is baffled by my description and needs to see it, let me know and I'll set up a couple of shots with demo yarn.

Result.

Onward with the third skein of yarn!

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