Taking a Break



Engagement Party, Ireland 8/10
Dilin & Katie

 Having lost a few followers I thought it might be a good idea to pop in and let you know....I have not fallen off  the blogsphere cliff. I am taking a small bit of a break.

The reason for this break?  In five days, family members begin arriving from Nashville, TN and Co. Waterford, Ireland for my son's wedding.  The past week has been spent trying to get the garden in some sort of usable state.  Due to the winter that refused to loosen its grip well into May everything is sooo far behind.  Then there are those pesky half finished jobs in the house that went unnoticed until last week.  Funny how that happens! 

I will be back in regular blog mode in about two weeks.  Do pop back in a few weeks....even if it is only to see the'HAT'.

PS Hope this works...Blogger has been very unsettled lately!!!  Fingers crossed.

Ohhh My Aching Back!!!!!!!!!

How did you spend your weekend? I spent mine digging in the dirt. I have 17 days to transform the mess I call my garden into a Garden of Eden before my son's wedding. Yesterday it felt like I was fighting a losing battle. Where did all those weed trees come from and how did they manage to sprout up when all the plants that cost me a kings ransom didn’t survive the ravishes of winter or haven't had the courage to break ground yet.

Last night, even though the day was lovely, sun shining with temperatures in the high 60’s there was a frost advisory. In a panic I ran out of the house to bring in or cover newly purchased young plants. While stretching to reach the hanging baskets, one slipped out of my grasp and narrowly missed my head..but did splatter all over the patio. First casualty of my rescue mission. I shoved the potting soil back into the basket and plopped the flowers very unceremoniously back into the basket. I have yet to check the poor basket to see how much damage has been done. Hopefully I can salvage it.

Next I grabbed the very large and very heavy wooden barrel. I planted the barrel with an assortment of vividly coloured pansies only a few hours earlier. The barrel stood a few feet from the back door. I grabbed it with both hands and with a grunt heaved it up and headed for the back door. Just as I stepped over the threshold of the back door, I lost my footing…did I mention the barrel was quite heavy.  I became distracted as I tried to right myself, not wanting to land on the floor. The basket suddenly felt much lighter. It was then I noticed I was holding an empty barrel. Yes indeed Bloggie friends the bottom had fallen out of the barrel. All the soil and the now not so pretty pansies lay in a large splat on my mudroom floor. Unladylike words spilled my lips and filled the air as I went in search of a new pot to replace the bottomless barrel.

Next hurdle was to get down on my knees to retrieve and re-pot the soil and pansies.…not an easy feat after three days of major weed pulling dragging, digging and raking. I was moving like the newly discovered Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz.

I wonder if the frost would have done as much damage to my plants……….

Hard To Let Go!

A strange thing happened to me some months ago. I experienced a waking dream, a vision of sorts. In this dream/vision I saw a lovely young woman in a beautiful blue silk gown dancing at a ball. I felt her...for a split second in this strangest of waking dreams I was her. I had the oddest feeling I was glimpsing a fragment of my own distant past through the haze of time. Her name was whispered in my ear. I felt the need to write her story and yet I hadn't a clue what her story was. Only that glimpse.




I put pen to paper and slowly words began to fill a page and then another and another. Other characters in this young woman’s story began to take shape. The story begins with a tragedy in her young life. A close and loving relationship with her father is revealed and the loving relationship between her parents. There is animosity between her father and her paternal grandfather. Her grandfather’s distain and unmitigated rudeness towards her mother unfolds. Quietly standing in the background is her grandmother. The woman married to this rude incorrigible man. She is a woman of quiet grace and dignity who unconsciously commands the attention of all when she enters a room. Despite the many trials and tribulations in her life, she maintains integrity of spirit unlike her husband.


About five thousand words into the story the grandmother emerges and dominates. For some reason her story unfolds before my eyes with ease. For a while I was oblivious to the fact this story was veering away from my original MC.  Her story began to fade as I unconciously moved in a new direction.  When I realized I was losing my beloved Main Character I put the story aside in frustration.

Last week it occurred to me maybe this story is indeed about the grandmother. Maybe I should stop resisting and scrap the first couple thousand words. Did you ever have a character in your head and have her opt out on you?

An A-Z Survivor

Thank you Elizabeth!

Thank you to Arlee Bird @ Tossing It Out  the A-Z Guru

and co-hosts:

 

Jeffrey Beesler @ World of the Scribe
Alex J. Cavanaugh @ Alex J. Cavanaugh
Jen Daiker @ Unedited
Candace Ganger @ The Misadventures in Candyland
Karen J Gowen @ Coming Down the Mountain
Talli Roland @ Talli Roland
Stephen Tremp @  Breakthrough Blogs

A big Thank You to Elizabeth Mueller  who graciously bestowed this wonderful award on all who finished the A-Z .  I love it. The Laughing Zebra!!! I am wondering though Why is this Zebra laughing... never mind.  Maybe it's best I don't know. 

The Summing Up:
 I discovered very early in the A-Z process, writing a post everyday was not the only Challenge. Attempting to get around to all the blogs participating was another Challenge. After the first week, I gave up on that. There were just not enough hours in the day and the night for that matter.  I decided to keep to the blogs I followed before the Challenge began, the ones I discovered in that first week and then anyone who stopped by and left a comment here.

Many a night letters of the alphabet hounded my dreams, chasing me as I attempted to hide and escape them.  Now that April is past I am looking forward to alphabet-less dreams.

I met many new, wonderful and interesting bloggers.  I read insightful posts, humourous posts and  posts dealing with serious issues.  I learned many new words and collected some terrific recipes. So many I had to purchase a new recipe book. I was pleasantly surprised when I received emails from bloggers in response to comments I had left.  It took me a few days to figure out how that was done. I felt like a bit of an eejit when I discovered all you did was click reply!!!! Well we can't all be Einsteins!

I would like to thank all my followers, new and old for all your support and encouragement as I muddled along from A to Z.   Ta!

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