Changes to the website!
Mark and Lara at GoWeb1 do all the work on my website and I would be absolutely lost without them. They are not only talented computer and website people, they are also very good at explaining everything to me in simple terms that I can understand. Without them, there would be no website!
My husband, Cleon, will tell you I am never satisfied with how furniture is arranged in our rooms and every few months, he will come home and find an entirely new living room. He is right about that. All of a sudden it will occur to me that the furniture would look ever so much better if only arranged in just this way….. and so I move everything around. And I have a feeling whatever it is within me that wants to move furniture to change how a room appears and feels, is also working within me when it comes to this website because once again, I have changed things.
Change #1: There is no more Public Forum. From the first day I opened this website, this forum has been difficult to use. I did think we made changes that made it easier and I never quite understood why it was difficult for some of you to use. But I can tell you, I got an earful from some of my friends that it was and continued to be. I had hoped for more dialogue between birders as to what was being seen and questions asked and answered and that just never happened. I had to check it every day because from time to time there was spam – which I removed as soon as I saw it. This space took my time and vigilance, but really was not being used by you. So, I decided to eliminate it. However, that does not mean I do not want to hear from you – I do! If you have something to share with me – a sighting, an observation, a photo, a video – please send it to me at this email address which is posted in several places on the website: lindahendricksspence@birdingbeyondthefieldguide.com.
Change #2: On the website menu, Articles I have Written has been changed to Everything Bird!. If you click on Everything Bird!, you will see the articles are now grouped under topics. If you click on the article, you will see there is a date of the month and day it was posted – but not the year. The parameters of this website will not allow the year to be added, but I will go through the articles and add the year to each one manually – it will appear at the top of each one. That will not happen overnight, but it will happen – slowly.
Change #3: Landscaping and Gardening for Birds and all Wildlife. This is a new addition to the menu and is a work in progress. The articles will start appearing probably in July. Cleon and I are travelling right now (more about this in my next blog) and I will not start to work on this until we get home.
Why did I add this? I am a gardener and always have been. I truly think it is part of my genetic code. After a big upheaval in my mid-life, I took this interest seriously, went back to school, and got the credentials needed to earn a living in that area. I became a Certified Horticulturist and a Registered Nurseryman in Pennsylvania. I worked at a garden center that also had a landscaping service. One of my jobs was designing gardens for home owners and I truly loved that. I tried to make each garden individual to the owner with colors and textures that drew them. I wanted them to look out their windows, gaze out over their gardens, and just feel the tension and anxiety ease. To be able to walk out to their gardens and smell the aromas, fell the softness of petals and new growth, and to see living creatures thriving. And then I taught them how to take care of everything.
When I moved to Illinois, I continued by designing and then helping to plant the over 2000 sq. ft. formal garden at the Nature Center at Rock Springs in central Illinois. All the plants in this large garden are native to central Illinois. I still head up the gardening team that maintains it. I truly love this work and I am good at it. I am hopeless when it comes to computers and technology, but I am great in a garden – we all have our strengths and weaknesses, right? So I would like to share my knowledge and experience with all of you who have a yard and want to attract birds, butterflies, moths, and beneficial insects. Make your yard a sanctuary for all living creatures. Gardens are a place for learning about relationships between all living things, for relaxation, for developing muscles. I think a garden answers everything! I will let you know through this blog when this section is up and running – right now, I am aiming for July.
Before fall arrives in late September, there will be a few more changes to this website, but for now, I think this is enough. And once again, if you would like to get in touch with me about this website, anything bird, or anything garden, please email me at lindahendricksspence@birdingbeyondthefieldguide.com