The 7 X 7 Link Award goes to .....Incoming Bytes!

The prestigious 7x7 Link Award

Here at Incoming Bytes  on a recent post, a curious  comment  was received  that included the question: 
" Where is your 7x7 ? " 


'Huh?  You mean my 4x4?  My rusty old Jeep?  Out in the yard ' I thought to myself.  VERY rusty, too, ...but nothing a nice shiny Ford  2012 F150 4x4 couldn't fix.  Oops...a little digression there.


  "Pssst...you won the 7"x7" !


I thought it might have been just another crank comment except for the fact that the "Pssst"  was from Red herself.   That's Ann Marie Dwyer --to those that don't already recognize her as the prolific, quintessential blogger at M3.   
It being just after  New Years,  and all,  --which is getting awfully close  to April Fool's Day if you hang around celebrating long enough, it immediately caused seven degrees of paranoia  suspicion  and an automatically-elevated eyebrow,  I hastened to gulp some searing-hot coffee just in case.  Wake up, man!   Destiny awaits!  Was it the really the 7x7   --would that be the big lottery, finally, the Super 7? 
Red is known to have a sense of  humor.   

Finally seeing a picture of the  7x7  with stars  and fireworks on it. but no wheels or dollar signs,  I was  even more paranoid  suspicious, what would stars and fireworks have to do with April Fool's Day --that wasn't even here yet? 


Alert readers, you can understand my predicament! Not being  any better informed,  we shifted  into default mode, put the pedal to the metal, palpitating and researching 7x7's,   49'ers ,  7/7's  and 1/7ths, just in case.  
Heavy research. Big time stuff.  Internet mayhem.  Scrambling. Google and such.


Now everyone is aware  of that  help-you-escape-from-anything mode  --4x4,--  find'em, grind'em,  pure  gas-sucking power.  It allows you to muddle, dawdle,  diddle,  and doodle, wandering aimlessly through the deepest muck and doodoo  research  with the greatest of ease.  We  didn't waste any time.  
Be it known that we're fearless (unless the ruts are deep and full of water and alligators )so,  roaring and grinning  with much bravado, 4x4 asked Red :  
"What's that?"   
Whoever said men can't ask directions was right, but we ask for information shamelessly  if we have absolutely no other choice, it's dark outside, and nobody's looking.  I digress. 
We soon found out.
It turned out  that Ann Marie Dwyer of M3  ( that would still  be Red   of Mommas MoneyMatters, ) had generously  presented this  award to Incoming Bytes  at the end of December, a whole  week ago,--  that being  pretty close to being  back in the good old days. 
Back in those days, it turns out, I was still in the dark ages.  The lights were out. I missed that all-important enlightening post in M3.  No matter. 
Hopefully, I was forgiven. Maybe.
I told you Red has a sense of humour. 



In spite light of that revelation, inexplicable as it was, I  accepted the 7X7 Link Award complete with  all  associated honor and fame that inevitably accompanies such prestigious awards.   
I immediately discovered that with fame,  lies certain responsibilities .  
I found out I have to actually DO stuff,  the most important of which 
 is to always thank the presenter prodigiously.
I  therefore wish to officially thank Ann Marie Dwyer,  a.k.a. Red,  since it is humbling --and a great honor to be presented a prestigious  award by a wonderful writer, prolific blogger,  helpful mentor, and famous person, --even if she's on a well-deserved vacation.


Here's the whole list of other stuff  in no specific stuffing order:

• Thank the nominator  ( I did that already, but thanks again, Red!  )
•  Tell a Secret.  Any real secret will do. Do you stick gum on your bedpost overnight? Do you keep Twinkies in your desk drawer?  Got any sexy vices that are interesting? 
• Post the 7x7 Link Award in a highly visible location like a Side-bar to enable bragging rights .  Put it someplace where it can be admired!
•  Share Seven (yes, SEVEN )  of your blog posts complete with links.  *Hint: Links that actually work are helpful to your loyal readers.  
• Nominate Seven NEW bloggers  (Yes, SEVEN)  that should receive this award. They should be bloggers that actually do good  stuff.
• Advise all 7 new winners that they are winners and now have 49 MORE things to do.   (Get that?  7x7 =49,  I knew that research would pay big dividends...hm.....now if I can just find the  6 lucky numbers.....)

So,  first of all,  the secret....they call them secrets because you don't really  want to tell them but  for this award,  'ya gotta.  Use small type. Maybe nobody will notice.
  I'm guessing nobody knows this secret--  I often  type   sdrow  words backwards whilst minding my own business.  I can also backspace at 120wpm, error-free. 


Seven Blog Posts:  These are some favourites, for various undisclosed reasons....

1. Most beautiful piece: The Age of Light
2. Most helpful piece:  The trouble With Word Mills: Writers Beware
3. Most comical piece:  The Ball and Chain Approach might Work for THEM too....
4. Most popular piece: North America...Rent this Idea !
5. Most controversial piece: EU Bans Canadian Seal Products but Condones Bullfights, Atrocities, and Hypocrisy
6. Most Surprisingly Successful piece: Sometimes Life Becomes a Legend of Glory
7. Most Underrated piece: Reinventing Energy:  the Rossi E-Cat

 I hope everyone likes the recommended blog posts! 

Now, happily,  I  get to   nominate present     this award to the following Seven wonderful bloggers --who  also get the 7x7 Link Award --complete with all 49 benefits.  ..(a.k.a. '49 more things to do" and stuff.)


The New 7x7 Link Awards go to:

1. Mandy's Pages    Amanda Dcosta may have been away on holidays, for a month,  but her peaceful approach to life, her incredible faith and skilful blogging has  much merit.  Mandy's Pages has almost become a sanctuary to read, a place to reflect.  The brilliant Eastern star is shining in the sky over Oman once more. Mandy's pages was previously recommended ! 
2. Just Camping Out    Jim Bessey's  blog on camping, relaxing and enjoying the great outdoors induces both peace of mind, encourages pleasant memories of past camping trips, and stimulates future summer plans.   Just Camping Out  is full of  interesting camping stuff.  Check it out, you'll see why We like camping better!  
3. Glory's Garden     Glory Lennon keeps gardens alive year around--out in the yard in the summer,-- and helps them grow in our minds in the winter.  If Glory's  not gardening, she's spinning novels  or teaching crafts!   Entertaining and highly recommended! 
4. Lala Musings       Rachel Howells has a unique voice in her blog that keeps you coming back. Insightful, cutting, and at times, hilarious.  A great read and  Highly recommended!
5. A Heep of Everything    Alexandra Heep  has an interesting way of  analyzing everything, ---heaps of life.   Alexandra also writes " A Heep of NASCAR.  Both of these blogs were previously highly recommended !
6. Freelancing and More    Doreen Martel's fab blog site on the business of writing is a 'must read' for anyone in the business.  If you're interested in learning the ropes about the intricacies  of writing successfully, Doreen's advice is  highly recommended !  By the way, while you're at it, check out Doreen's brand  new  web site  http://noscamworkathome.biz/.  You may be glad you did !
7. Poetic Parfait    Christy Birmingham's  *new blog Poetic Parfait is looking  at poetry and music  with  refreshing, open eyes and her unique insight.    *A relatively new blog,-- with a promising new approach!   ** By the way, watch for *Silver Drops*   in the next few days!  Hm...that sounds familiar, the poetic neck is on the line, and you'll see why!                                                                                                                     Tune in and help the new 7x7 Link Award winners enjoy their recommendations too!    Thanks again, Red!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Never Underestimate Glorious Flower Power

Flower power.  It's not the sixties,  this isn't Woodstock or San Francisco, and  we're not hippies or flower-children, but I admire flowers anyway.  I admire people who admire flowers too, whether they wear them in their hair or not.    I always have, and always will.
Flower people are good people.  That's one of the reasons we should never underestimate glorious flower power.

At Incoming Bytes we observe the unusual.  Strange things at times. Surprising things. Unexpected things.   It continues to surprise me how little we actually know about  flowering plants that seem to exist only to beautify our surroundings.

Some seem to be quite set in their ways, inevitably soothing our souls, but flowering the same way every year, in the same place, at the same time in the season.  Some grow quickly.  There are tiny blossoms and huge ones. Some seem to take forever to bloom, only to have the blossoms fade immediately. Some taste good and others smell terrible.

Some flowers follow the sun too.  Sunflowers do, vast fields of sunflowers inevitably have every flower blossom   facing and following  the sun with unbelievable, powerfully  unspoken,  but  precise, delicate and elegant choreography.  Ask Alex, she'll tell you.  Alexandra Heep is the Sunflower power expert, you'll quickly find out why in her fascinating blog  'aheepofsunflowers' 
Maybe Alex can even tell  us why this sunflower is so unique!

                              A Beautiful, Unique Sunflower               photo credit (c)  Wendy L. Kukkee

She'll probably tell us there are a gazillion species of sunflowers.  No matter;  flowers really are glorious.

It's not only sunflowers that surprise either. Flowers are no less than amazing at times.
 
Are flowers powerful because they exist only to make us happy? Check out this Morning Glory, -- it looks like someone in that flower turned on the light just for us, or was it  switched on to showcase  the magnificent, tiny dew-drop jewels decorating her person?  Perhaps this is the real source of flower-power.

                       Morning Glory and her Light                                    (c) r.a.kukkee 2011

That's not all.    This  special Morning Glory has done something else that is no less than amazing.   She  survived no fewer than three major frosts, the last one being some -6C,  which is 21F, and no matter which  temperature scale you choose, that's  frozen- frozen, half-inch-ice-on-the-bucket frozen,  --and  too cold for delicate FLOWERS....or is it?

We took pity on the sad, frozen thing out on the deck, carried her --um...., rolled her by plant-ambulance complete with huge flowerpot-- into the house.  She sat for a couple of days looking dejected, rejected and pathetic, so we  picked off the many frozen- dead leaves, stuck some sticks into the pot for support,  and stood her back up.   
Flower power.  This is how she rewarded us. Perhaps only our gardening zeitgeist, our own Glory Lennon can explain this one....

      Frozen Morning Glory in all her Glory                             (c) r.a.kukkee 2011

 Doesn't that beat all?  The magnificent come-back flower-power kid is not only blossoming, and her vines are growing and climbing ever higher, ever faster.                 Glorious flower power at it's best.  

Remember the powerful light in the single blossom? Maybe there IS a bigger power source available here than we recognize. Perhaps each one of those blossoms  now has it's own 400 watt bulb in it.  That must be it.  Flower power.   Food for thought. Food for beautiful people. Food for people I admire.  Flower people. 



That's my story and I'm sticking to it.