I was walking in town with Red and a woman came up to me on the street and introduced herself, she said, “I just want to tell you something, I read your blog every day and it makes my crazy, I just don’t like it.” This was an unusual greeting in my small town, and I asked her why she didn’t like it, and she said. “you’re always talking about what you think. You think this and you think that, it gets to me.”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that, so I asked her why she read the blog every day if it bothers her and she doesn’t want to hear all of my many thoughts. “I don’t know,” she said, “maybe I need to be bothered and your thoughts annoy me less than some others.” I took it as a compliment, sort of, I never think everybody is going to like what I say or do, what would be the point of that? A blog is a relatively new thing in our world and my relationship with my readers is very different than the relationships writers used to have with readers. I love the blog,  am very connected to this community, and I am always working to keep it up to date. So today, some new things to share with you.

– My name is finally up on the masthead right below bedlamfarm.com. I never thought to do it until an artist friend, Leslie Parke asked me why it wasn’t there. It ought to be there, and now it is. My name on my blog, finally. That feels good.

– The blog is now smart phone friendly. Those of you reading it on your smartphones have noticed – many of you have e-mailed me – that the blog is easier to access on a tablet or smartphone, the graphics made for thumbs not fingers. Thanks for the appreciation, by year’s end, half of the blog’s subscribers and readers will be reading it on a smartphone.

– Credit cards. By the end of week, there will be credit card buttons up on the subscription page along with Paypal. This will make it easier for subscribers who don’t have Paypal or don’t with to use it, it is a major step in the evolution of the blog. The blog is no longer an appendage to my work, it is my work. A friend said he was surprised by the frequency of posts and photos on the blog, how do you do it? It’s my work, I said, I work as hard as you do in your job. He never saw the blog as serious work, some people still don’t. I do. You can subscribe to the blog for $3 a month – a new addition for the financially pressed – for $5 a month, for $60 a year. I am not accepting contributions and donations thanks, the blog is not a charitable enterprise or a noble cause, it is just my work.

The blog remains free to those of you who can’t afford to pay for it or don’t wish to. Some point in the coming year, access to the content will be limited. It will be free for a day or a week, and that will continue, but to get the full range of content, people will have to subscribe. This used to bother me until I understood that writers need to be paid for their work like everyone else. Now I like it a lot.

I also want to share that I am working on another e-book original, “Love And Light From Bedlam Farm,” a color collection of some of my photographs – the dogs, the donkeys, landscapes, chickens, cats, sunrises, farmscapes. They will be sold digitally only, the price is not yet determined. I chose the photos I love the most and that got the most response – some are heartwarming, some are inspiring, I think, some are just plain fun. I’ll also be doing podcasts in the fall on a regular schedule.

So stay tuned. I’ll keep you posted on the credit cards. The buttons will go up  a day or so before they are working. Big move for my blog, for my life. These changes, this blog, the photos, they are all important and expensive. I am grateful to be paid for my work.