Inkpots n’ Quills

Write On to Build On

2012-01-17T15:44:00.000-06:00

I am back tapping at the keys, adding more words to my WIP. The one I was working on before I threw all my energy into my family cookbook, 'The Food We Were Raised On'. (shameless plug, check it out)

For the past few weeks I dithered....not a word or idea could be found floating around in the head. Then I took the bull by the horns and joined this group. And !VOILA! Words....why...because I am accountable. Accountable every single day. I log into the group and tell my fellow Write On to Build On partners exactly how many words I have managed to tap out on my keyboard each and every day. This is just what I need.....I need to be accountable. I finished the cookbook because I had a deadline. I am now feeling quite confident about finishing my WIP. An added bonus is the amazing support and encouragement of each member. I am making a point of following the group mantra:

"This group was founded on 01/10/2012 to motivate us to write. Any day we don't write, we'll owe $1 to the charity Build On. We can check our totals every three months to see how we've done and make our donation. Besides posting we keep a personal account of the days we don't write. Writing a rough draft or editing counts, as does working on short stories, vignettes, and flash fiction. We post and make a comment thread of our daily progress at the end of each day. "

This wonderful idea is the brain child of Theresa Milstein of

Theresa's Tales of Teaching Tribulations and Typing Teen Texts

and

Fellow coordinator Lydia King of The Word is My Oyster

Our charity can be found at:
http://www.buildon.org/our-programs/

Since joining this group I owe $1.00 to Build On but I have also added a whopping 1984 words to my current and ongoing WIP! WOW thanks Theresa and Lydia... you are STARS in my book...well not actually in my book..........

You know what I mean!

A Book, A REAL Book!

2011-12-28T16:25:00.000-06:00

The Food We Were Raised On

Well here it is, the project I evasively mentioned here! The writing project I actually finished!!

I wrote this cookbook for my children. A keepsake of sorts, but friends and family members who encouraged me throughout the process and helped with the endless edits thought it worthy of a larger audience. Since it is a collection of family recipes, photographs and the memories associated with them, I wondered how interesting it could possibly be to anyone beyond family. But then I thought why not? Why not give my little cookbook an airing and see where the chips (hehehe) may fall.

When I finally held the finished product in my hands the sleepless nights, frustrations, multiple swear words and hours of editing seemed to melt from memory. A Book, a REAL Book...... I chanted like a three year old with giddy excitement!

Can you see the silly big grin stretching from ear to ear!

The Food We Were Raised On can be found on the self-publishing site Blurb.

Let me know what you think.

It's A Launch Party for Janice Horton's....Reaching for the Stars

2011-12-14T12:20:00.000-06:00

Wish I Was Here!!!!!

The beautiful village of Mougins, France. My dream retreat for writing and all things creative. Strolling to the cafe overlooking the valley and the mountains in the distance. Drinking in the scenery while sipping a cool glass of wine and chatting with fellow Mougins residents. Sauntering down the narrow cobbled streets with artist galleries tucked away at every corner and in little alcoves; allowing inspiration and beauty engulf and replenish me.

Ahhh how I wish!!!!

It's Launch Day for Janice Horton's

‘Wish I Was Here...’ and

She's Holding a Blog & Twitter Party!

Reaching for the Stars is now available on Amazon.UK or Amazon.Com for Kindle at the special launch price of just 95p or $1.40. I have my copy!!!!

Peruse other Party Bloggers Wishfulness Here!

Enjoy!!!

Ideas Come A Poppin

2011-12-13T14:01:00.002-06:00

As I said in this earlier post I actually finished a project. Not my WIP but a Christmas project. What a thrilling feeling that is. I had come to a standstill with my current WIP and wondered if I had it in me, the ability to finish anything that is.

Like most I have been very busy with Christmas preparations. Not a time conducive to the flowing of creative ideas for a stalled WIP. But yesterday I actually got the urge to look at my WIP and add some notes. Ideas just sort of popped into my head. No prompting, forcing, mulling or stressing, just pop and there they were, ideas. These new ideas are now written on post-it notes and attached to printed pages of said WIP. I feel like I am getting back in the zone. My completed Christmas project has made me realize, I do actually have it in me to finish a work. I am so excited, I am feeling enthusiastic and my fingers are eager to get back to the keyboard with my fresh new ideas.

I hit a road block awhile back, stalled and in frustration stashed the offending WIP under the bed. I am not a descriptive writer; it does not come naturally to me. I am more of a character inter-action sort of writer. When reading I have a tendency to get bored and skip over long descriptives, anxious to get back to character action. Proof of the ‘You write what you read’ mantra. Still some descriptives are necessary. The story cannot be conversation from beginning to end, now can it!?!

I have learned so much from my recent BETA reading. A big thank you to Nicole Zoltack, Where Fantasy & Love Take Flight and Sherry Chaisson Auger, Sherry Auger for that. I have a better understanding of gauging chapters, what I need to develop and what might be best left alone. A big huge 'Thank You,' fellow blogger/writer friends.

And on that note I will say...have a wonderful Tuesday all!

Mother Nature Glistens

2011-12-10T08:03:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday we got our first substantial snowfall. Like all first snowfalls it had a magical, mystical aura. The glistening white glow swathed the earth and instilled a calming silence. It truly is the Winter Wonderland of song and postcard.

We went to visit our daughter after the snowfall. The beauty on the drive was captivating. I was surprised and delighted to spot a flock of wild turkey, easily seen against the whiteness of the fields. Hawks could be seen perched on branches of trees dressed only in white. Deer braved hunters and moseyed out into the openness, making for a picture perfect winter scene! I was afraid to look away in case I missed some other wondrous sight.

Yes, the first snowfall is filled with enchantment. Mother Nature dressed in glorious spellbinding beauty.

Of course I will have something else to say in a month or two….but for now, I am enchanted with the beauty and peacefulness Mother Nature has showered on us.

I Did It!!! Yes I Did!

2011-11-30T21:03:00.001-06:00

I apologise bloggie friends for my lack of presence lately….I hope to get around to your blogs over the next few days and catch up on the goings on in bloggerland! I have been so out of touch it feels like I have just emerged from the outer edges of the universe. But hey, I did it. Believe it or not I finished a project.

I was only lamenting a short while ago on the multiple unfinished projects stashed under the bed (here) …so to speak!

I know many of you who took on NaNo may be shaking your heads thinking, What is she going on about! For me this is a major achievement. I Finished a writing project.

The idea for this project began to formulate in my mind’s eye last summer. I outlined what I wanted to include and how I wanted it to look. I ran my idea past my friend Libby as we sipped wine at her kitchen table. I often have what I consider to be wonderful ideas until I voice them. More often than not they fall flat and with a splat! I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged by Libby’s enthusiastic reaction. A thought just occurred to me ….could it have been the wine…..No! No! Banish that thought from your head. Banish it I say!

On my return to Wisconsin in September I began my project in earnest. The past month has been exhausting, frustrating and exhilarating. I enjoyed the process, the ups, the downs, the sleepless nights and the nights filled with dreams of being chased by words and pages. But when I pressed the publish button a feeling of lightness flooded over me. Accomplishment and lightness. I did it!

Memories of Winter Afternoons

2011-11-14T15:04:00.004-06:00

If on cold winter afternoons when I arrived home from school the aroma of freshly baked scones filled the house I knew…. it was movie afternoon. I loved movie afternoons. The films were broadcast on “The Early Show” from 4:30PM to 6PM. If a film ran longer than 90 minutes, it was shown over two afternoons. Mom loved films and kept a watchful eye on the schedule.

Siobhan, Trisha and I settled ourselves on the sofa Mom covered earlier with a brown blanket. Then Mom joined us in the sitting room with a tray holding a pot of tea, four cups and scones stacked high on a plate, topped with melting butter and jam. Movie afternoons were the only time we were allowed to eat in the sitting room. A real treat.

Easter week, we watched films every afternoon. Mom, Siobhan, Trisha and I sat together sipping tea and savouring scones watching ‘Quo Vadis,’ ‘The Robe,’ ‘King of Kings’ and many others.

The smell of freshly baked scones always brings me back to those cozy winter afternoons in our sitting room.

Projects, Projects Everywhere!

2011-11-02T14:05:00.002-05:00

Is it the first Wednesday of November already? That means it's time to add another installment to Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group. It seems like the first Wednesday of October was only yesterday and I subjected bloggie friends to major whinging and whining about my writerly insecurities.

This month instead of whinging I will air my most shameful writerly secret. Here it is, I have way too many unfinished projects stashed under the bed. Five to be exact. Yes, you read right....Five. Are you tsking at me and shaking your head.

I have a tendency to stumble and fall when trying to incorporate descriptives to a story. A weakness of mine. Or as with my latest unfinished project when I tried to write a love scene. I wrote the scene, but was very unhappy with it…so off I toddled to Eason’s/Borders and bought multiple books I felt confident were bursting at the seams with love scenes. My postman was also very busy delivering the many tomes I ordered online. Just as a side note…..my arms are a few inches longer from carting the many shop purchases home. The postman's biceps also showed noticeable improvement! Now that I think of it, shouldn't he be thanking me?!?

So I read and read and read. This proved quite a helpful exercise, “but”….isn’t there always a “but?” I had this brainwave for Christmas presents. It is writing of sorts if you class creating a keepsake as writing. Which I am doing, because it makes me feel better! I really can’t go into detail as those on the receiving end of this project may be lurking. It is taking much longer than I thought it would. I need to have it completed within the next two weeks, so it will be printed in time. This is proving to be hair pulling pressure.

I decided to take my friend Jim Lawn’s advice and publish my project with Blurb. Jim published his, "The Book of Silence," in Blurb and was very pleased with the results. "The Book of Silence," is filled with beautiful photographs taken in the Dungarvan locality. Check out Jim’s Website and peruse his other works.

Do you have any waiting to be finished projects stashed under the bed. How many? Do tell….

Penmanship and the Green Stick Fracture

2011-10-27T08:32:00.003-05:00

My fourth grade year in St. Gertrude’s Catholic School, Chicago, was memorable to say the least. It was the year I won a city wide penmanship contest.

I removed the silver cap from my speckled, cobalt blue fountain pen and wrote the required two page story in my very best handwriting. I filled the pages with word swirls of perfect portion. The lines of each letter flawless, clear and fluid. I began each word with the pen poised on the page and didn’t lift the nib until the word was finished. The blue ink seamles, not a blot or break throughout the word. I loved writing with my silver capped, speckled, cobalt fountain pen. It felt so comfortable, an extension of my hand. The words seemed to write themselves.

People who have been subjected to my handwriting may be shocked to learn this little titbit. My penmanship did not live up to this early perfection for very long. You see before I received my award for said contest I had a little accident.

The weather had turned wintery as it tends to do in Chicago. St. Gertrude’s winter policy required students to change their outdoor shoes/boots in the lower entrance area before proceeding up the steps to the classrooms. This was to avoid tracking wet and snow on the very highly polished floors. Have you ever noticed the love Nuns have for highly polished floors? Anyway, I changed my shoes and headed up the first flight of steps. Someone who hadn’t changed their shoes left a thin skin of ice on the top step for me to slip on. And slip on it I did, fallling down the full flight of steps. My right hand took the brunt of the fall. It hit every single step on the way down in an effort to protect my face.

Half an hour later my mother and I were sitting in the doctor's examination room. X-rays were taken and I was diagnosed with a ‘Green Stick Fracture.’ I was in a cast for the next 6 weeks. The glory days of perfect penmanship were over!

What brought this long ago story of woe to mind. Husband, who was on a train trip returned home last night with a present. A beautiful ruby red fountain pen. I uncapped the pen and put the nib to paper. It felt perfect in my hand. The ink glided across the page with an ease that reminded me of my silver capped, speckled cobalt fountain pen. Sadly my penmanship never again reached the dizzy heights of perfection. The‘Green Stick Fracture’ did not heal properly.

We went back to the doctor 6 weeks later to have the cast removed. On examination the doctor informed my mother the wrist had not fused properly. He wanted to break it again and reset it. My mother looked at him as if he had two heads, she grabbed our coats, hustled me out of his office, loudly pronouncing him to be a quack! A reaction that was perfectly justifiable.

That is another story.......this story is about the pen.
I will leave it at that. J

Congratulations Niamh!!!!!

2011-10-19T09:52:00.001-05:00

Niamh Boyce has a poem published in the Boyne Berries 10 collection. *YAY* Niamh!!!!

Niamh's poem is a retelling of the myth of Oisin and the original Niamh. It is from Niamh's point of view. I just happen to love this Irish myth. This is a beautifully produced edition, with poems, prose, photographs and original art work.

You can purchase this beautifully produced edition, with poems, prose, photographs and original art work HERE.

A sample of the wonderful artwork included by Elena Duff

Congratulations Niamh and well done. Another publishing accolade for this very talented writer.

Niamh embarked on a writing break, Monday, 10/17. She is plotting and outlining a new novel. Don't let that stop your paying a visit to her blog, Words A Day, which is filled with wonderful, thought provoking gems.

Pop over to Words A Day without delay and enjoy Niamh's beautiful blog and talent.

And a Big Loud Bualadh Bos!

Congratulations Theresa

2011-10-07T09:14:00.002-05:00

A big *Congratulations* to my friend Theresa Milstein. Her short story "Allured" is included in the YA "Fangtales" anthology.

Editorial Review and Product Description:

An anthology of vampire tales specifically with teen readers in mind, this gripping read has both new and established authors who will take readers on a mind-bending adventure of dark horror.

Fangtales can be purchased at Barnes and Noble and/or Amazon

Don't delay....get your copy NOW!

Oh and stop over at Theresa's at Theresa's Tales of Teaching Tribulations and Typing Teen Texts to say Hi and don't forget to make a note of her blog tour shcedule.

A big huge ginormous obnoxiously loud bualadh bos Theresa!!!!

Where's the Light Switch

2011-10-05T14:51:00.002-05:00

Dry Dock
with James Rafferty and Jennifer Tinsley

My writing and I are in a very dark hallway at the moment and though frantically searching, I can't seem to find the light switch. I have been stumbling around in this dark hallway for way to long. So long in fact, I can no longer determine which direction to turn.

I love writing, I love reading, but it seems I am unable to do both at the same time. Does anyone else suffer from this affliction. If I am caught up in the world created by the book I am reading, I am unable to create my own worlds. I recently decided to read a number of Historical Fictions to sharpen my writing, paying particular attention to description. I have a tendency to focus on people, not their surroundings. Well the exercise seems to have backfired. The only sharpening going on is the sharpening of pencils.

I marvel when I read all the doings of other writers/bloggers. How do you fit it all in? Writing, reading, blogging, blog reading, querying, family, work, dinner, house cleaning, ironing, eating, sleeping etc. It makes the head of this "Trying to be Writer" spin!!! And believe me that is not a pretty site!
The result, I wonder at my ability to write at all. If I truly was a writer, wouldn't I be able to fit it all in. Even this post about being insecure is causing me major stress due to the return of what I refer to as Brain Freeze! Brain Freeze is when one searches around in ones head and only sees darkness....blankness! Not a paragraph, sentence or word floating around in there anywhere. Just a black hallway.

So what to do....All I can think to do is wait and hope. I also need to stop pacing and freaking out.

YIKES and HELP!

Watching Willow Watts Launch Party!

2011-09-14T17:00:00.001-05:00

It's the 'If I Could be Anyone, I'd Be'....Launch Party for Talli Roland's "Watching Willow Watts," Kindle Edition is available on Amazon UK for £1.71, or on Amazon.com for $2.99. The Paperback will be available in November.

Pop in and join the fun!

*Kindle Edition Available on Amazon, September 14, 2011*

So If I could be anyone.....who would I be. Well that is a hard question to answer, because I am in awe of so many strong women in history. But today I chose Granuaile/Grace O'Malley, Queen of Connaught. Also known as the Pirate Queen!

Shaun Davey's Granuaile

Granuaile was born in 1530 with the sea in her blood. She was the only child of Eoghan Dubhdara Ó Máille, a seafaring chieftan and his wife Maeve One day Granuaile decided she wanted to join her father on his sailing expedition but Dubhdara told her sailing was only for boys and men. She cropped her hair, dressed in boy's clothes and stowed onto her father's ship. This proved a fortunate move for her father because the ship was attacked and she jumped an attacker trying to sneek up behind Dubhdara, saving his life.

During her lifetime she sailed to many ports including Spain, Portugal, Scotland and Ulster for trade. She was notorious for taxing and raiding ships that had the misfortune to stray into the waters she deemed hers. Hence the Pirate label.

Granuaile was widowed twice. She divorced her third husband in accordance with Brehon Law. She gave birth to a son on board ship as it was being attacked by Turks. Her crew were being defeated and one very foolish Turk dared to enter her cabin demanding she surrender. She quickly dispatched him, went up on deck, rallied her crew and won the day. (Beware of sword welding, pistol toting Irish women!)

Wikipedia

Her most daring feat was steering her galleon up the Thames and into London for an audience with Elizabeth Tudor. Granuaile spoke many languages but not English. Elizabeth did not speak Irish. She conversed with Elizabeth in Latin, much to Elizabeth's surprise as the Irish were regarded by the English as uneducated, uncivilized ruffians. Granuaile secured the release of her sons from the prison of the English Governor Bingham. It is also noted that Granuaile did not bow to Elizabeth as she did not recognise Elizabeth as Queen of Ireland, only of England..

Granuaile the Stuff of Legends!!!

The Door Swung Open

2011-09-08T11:20:00.000-05:00

Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “The door swung open” These four words will be included in the word count.

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), use the same beginning words and end with the words: "the door swung shut." (also included in the word count)

The door swung open. Bobby nudged Linda in the ribs.

“Go on, I dare you.”

“What” she asked.

“I dare you to go in there,” Bobby said.

“I will not. She could be inside.”

“You are such a girl,” Bobby retorted.

“I am not! What if she catches us inside?”

” No chicken, I saw her go out in that puke coloured bulb hat she always wears..”

Linda thought it was one thing to run into the overgrown garden, they had been doing that forever. When Mrs. Posener saw us, she would shout and shake her broom at us. That sent us running out of her wilderness shrieking with laughter.

“I dare You to do it.”

“I dared you first.”

“Okay, but you better come with me.”

Linda grabbed Bobby’s sleeve. They moved towards the open door. Fear gripped Linda’s stomach. It was turning cartwheels and her heart was pounding. They moved through the door. Suddenly Bobby turned around, his mouth fell open but no sound came out. Linda’s eyes followed his outstretched arm. In the shadows Linda saw the puke coloured blub hat on top of the shapeless body.

“Mrs. Posenor,” Linda and Bobby shrieked.

The door swung shut.

The End

YAY I did it! I was sure for awhile there this one was going to defeat me!!!

It’s KarenG's Second Annual Labour Day Blog BBQ!

2011-09-03T08:29:00.000-05:00

Yes bloggie friends it has been a whole year since we partied at KarenG's first Labour Day Blog BBQ. Can you believe it. A whole year!!!

If you haven't already, be sure to stop over at Karen’s, Coming Down From the Mountain: A Writers Blog, you won't be sorry. Sample fine food and drink at Karen's second annual Labour Day Blog BBQ . Meet new bloggers and have a good time.

I am bringing Couscous Salad to the party. Made this salad for the BBQ I held for family and friends the day after my son's wedding this past June. It was a big hit. Hope you enjoy it. What are you bringing? Can’t wait to sample it.

Source: hunts.com

Couscous Salad

1cup of uncooked Couscous

1 tin of Diced Petite Tomatoes drained

2cups chopped English Cucumbers

2tblsp. Fresh Lemon Juice

2tblsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2tblsp. Fresh Basil chopped

2tblsp. Fresh Italian Parsley chopped

1tblsp. Fresh Mint chopped

½ tsp. Kosher Salt

¼ tsp. Ground Black Pepper

Prepare the couscous and set aside to cool. Combine all the other ingredients in a medium bowl. Add cooled couscous and toss to combine. Viola….Couscous Salad, couldn’t be easier!

Don’t forget now pop over to Karen’s Coming Down From the Mountain: A Writers Blog, and join in the fun. Look forward to seeing you there.

Finally Getting Around To Things!

2011-08-31T17:00:00.029-05:00

Well Bloggie Friends, it is with big red face, I hang my head in shame. Many months ago I was given these beautiful awards.

Thank you Munir

Munir of Focus bestowed Inkpots n' Qulls with the KREATIV Blog award on May 6. Yes you read right, MAY !!! But worse again Deirda of A Story Book World graciously gave me this Beautiful Mommy Writer award April 9. Yes it was this year….for all those guffawing in the background!!! Please visit Munir and Deirda. Please she begs Shamefacedly!!!!

Thank you Deirda

Are those of you who know me personally and those who have been following Inkpots n’ Quills for any length of time shaking heads and tisking at me? You know I do eventually get around to things. Really I do, EVENTUALLY!

Take for instance the book reviews I promised to post on Amazon and Goodreads for Bloggie Pals, Talli Roland “Watching Willow Watts” and Kathryn Brown “Discovery at Rosehill”. Yes, I finally sat my you know what down on the chair and threatened the little voice in my head not to open its mouth until the reviews were written. Little voice likes to tell me I am useless at writing reviews. It also tells me I am useless at critiquing. Little voice is a pain in the you know what. Anyway I got the reviews written and sighed a huge sigh of relief. Hopefully little voice is not right and my reviews don't embarrass Bloggie pals Talli and Kathryn or myself. Fingers Crossed!

I was spurred on by Beth Groundwater's post, “Feeling Uncomfortable” on InkSpot. This post got me thinking. I do feel very uncomfortable writing reviews and critiquing. So I am delighted to say, last night I took one huge leap out of my comfort zone. Thank you Beth Groundwater for that kick in the you know what.

Now onto the KREATIV Blogger award. The rules are to tell you five facts about myself, so here it goes,

1. Well you already know the first fact. Not very timely

2. I have a slight problem with perfection. It alludes me.

3. I am a hat and shoe person. Wardrobe is overflowing with hats and shoes. I definately need a bigger wardrobe!

4. I am also a major book person. Every room in my house has an overflowing bookcase or two and then of course there are the stacks of books beside my bed, under my bed and on the bedside table that will not fit into the bedroom bookcase!

5. When I am feeling sad or down Husband who hates bookstores asks if I would like to go to Borders for a few hours. I am bereft at the moment.....because our Borders is closing down.....

Well there you have. Now I am to pass this award onto five other KREATIV Bloggers. Are you joking me? Really only five????

1. Theresa @ Substitute Teacher’s Saga
2. Len @ Conversations with Self
3. Catherine @ Dispatches from the Deise

4. Jules @ Trying to Get Over the Rainbow

5. Maire @ Maire Rue Writes

Whew!

Getting Back To It!

2011-08-27T11:32:00.000-05:00

This morning I sat in front of a blank screen and wondered what to write. I have been doing this a lot lately. Seems my writing mojo has mojoed out!!! Well not totally. I am working on a story. Blank Screen Syndrome took hold when I attempted to write a love scene. My first! When I finished the scene, I was taken aback at how trite it sounded.

I decided there was nothing for it but to go to the book store and buy a few historical novels and read as objectively as possible with blue highlighter at the ready. The results, I now have books with blue streaks all over the place. I uncapped blue highlighter number two, last night. It just occurred to me as I rifled through the pages of said books, maybe I should have used different coloured highlighters for different reference topics. HeyHo! Not always so quick on the uptake.

There are a few things to get to today. First and foremost, I want to give Talli Roland a rip roaring “bualadh bos”! I had the privilege of reading the ARC of “Watching Willow Watts” Talli’s latest novel. It was a brilliant read. I loved, loved, loved Willow Watts! Keep an eye out for this one!

Next is the third Crusade led by Rachael Harrie is about to begin. I took part in last year’s Crusade and have signed up for this one too. It is a great opportunity to network with and meet new blogger/writers. Looking forward to see you on the Crusade!

Episode Three - The Final Chapter

2011-08-06T05:56:00.000-05:00

Once settled in my new seat and kindle turned off….. You cannot read a kindle during take-off and landing, very frustrating. (note to self, bring something to read for take-off and landing in future!). The plane pulled away from the gate to join the queue for take-off. Fifteen minutes later we were still sitting in the queue not having moved an inch. Pilot came on over the intercom, introduced himself and his cabin crew and informed us we would be off shortly.

Fifteen minutes later, now keep in mind Kindle is still off and I have read the flight magazine from cover to cover. The pilot made another announcement. Take-off was delayed due to a storm coming from the south directly in our flight path and we should be off within the next twenty minutes or so. Kindle was pulled out of seat pocket.

The intercom crackled. I was engrossed in my kindle reading and surprised how quickly the twenty minutes passed. In fact it hadn’t and the pilot sounded slightly frustrated. “I am sorry ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we will be here a bit longer, there is another storm heading into our flight path from the north.” The sound of shuffling in seats filled the air. I shrugged, gave my new aisle neighbour a small smile and silently thanked the Gods of all denominations for inspiring me to change seats with tall disgruntled woman’s husband and returned to my kindle.

Two hours later, the now familiar voice of the pilot filled the cabin. “I am afraid there is some bad news Ladies and Gentlemen. Take off has been delayed due to a tornado moving into our flight path. There is no need to panic, we are perfectly safe. Please remain seated with your seat belts on. “

Two minutes later the captain was gracing us with another update. “The tower has been evacuated due to a tornado. It will take at least half an hour for the tower crew to be up and running again once the all clear is given. Hopefully we will be underway before we hit the deadline for legal flying hours under the flight time limitation regulations. I will keep you posted on any further developments.”

Thoughts of what will I do if the flight is cancelled, swirled. I looked all around me, this flight was filled to capacity, or at least it looked that way from my vantage point. There was only one flight to Dublin each day. I chided myself to stop worrying about that, and think what will this involve….collecting my bag, organizing a hotel, getting to the hotel, getting back to the airport from said as yet unidentified hotel.

Then the plane started to sway. It swayed left and then right and back again. There were inward gasps all around me. It seemed the plane was doing a little dance, back and forth. Yes, I was sitting on an airplane in the middle of a runway that was being tossed to and fro by a tornado!

“I am afraid this crew is running out of time Ladies and Gentlemen. If we are not off the ground within the next thirty minutes, we are out of legal flying time.”

The flight attendants started handing out meal trays. They were one row away from me….I was starving. It was now close to 10PM and I hadn’t eaten since I left Minneapolis. There was a scuttle of movement. Flight attendants were darting up the aisles and down the aisles. Trays were clanging as they were being whipped back onto the carts. My stomach was flapping at my ribs with the hunger and now even the prospect of food was to be cruelly denied me.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the tower is manned, and our crew has voted to continue with the flight, even though we are just minutes away from our legal flying hour limit. Please fasten your seat belts. Cabin Crew prepare for take-off.”

There was a resounding round of applause. Everyone was glad to be finally moving. We were in the air within minutes. Over three hours later than our scheduled time, but a relief washed over me. I was not going to have to contend with sorting out accommodation in Chicago. All I had to contend with now, was how was I going to get from Dublin to Waterford. The bus I was supposed to be taking would be well gone by the time I landed in Dublin.

The pilot made another announcement once we were at cruising altitude thanking and congratulating the crew for their professionalism, and again everyone gave a warm and very appreciative applause. Once the meal was served, the pilot made the same announcement; I only half-heartily clapped at congratulatory speech number three. On landing in Dublin, pilot reiterated his praise for the wonderful selfless crew and how very grateful we the passengers should all be. This fourth self-congratulatory speech annoyed me and so I did not clap. It was just one too many “How great are we” speeches for me to stomach.

And so ends the saga of my journey. But hey there is always the return trip!

Episode Two!

2011-08-02T09:34:00.001-05:00

This summer has not gone according to plan. The first indication of plans going awry was the the Hair Barrett incident. Ahhh I hear you say….worse can happen, get over it. I agree but as I indicated in Episode One, there is more, much more.

I sat at the gate waiting to board the flight to Chicago O’Hare where my transatlantic flight was departing at 18:45. On arrival at the Domestic Terminal in O’Hare all I had to do was make my way to the International Terminal by monorail. I had allowed myself plenty of time, three and a half hours to be exact.

According to my boarding pass, boarding for the Chicago flight was to begin at 14:45. I looked up from my kindle and checked the time. It was 14:50 and no sign of the plane at the gate. A muffled, barely understandable announcement came over the intercom informing all, the flight was delayed due to bad weather out of Chicago.

An hour later the flight finally arrived and all passengers were assured the turn around would be done as quickly as possible. By the time the flight took off I was down to one and three quarter hours lag time between flights. I didn’t panic though! No I didn’t….I ordered a glass of wine inhaled it to ease my rising panic and then proceeded to gulp it!!!!

Of course on arrival, my flight docked into the furthest gate out in Terminal One. Thankfully my bag had been checked through. I grabbed my carry on and sprinted towards the monorail.

On reaching the International Terminal the queue deemed perusing the Duty Free out of the question. I removed my hair barrette and joined the queue. I sailed through security this time….things were looking up!

I checked the monitor for my gate and to my dismay discovered it was at the furthest end of the International Terminal. Oh well, at least I was getting plenty of exercise. According to my calculations, I had walked at least five miles so far.

I groaned inwardly when I rounded the corner and caught my first glimpse of the gate area. It was packed. Not a seat to be had. Oh well, I told myself, there was only twenty minutes to boarding.

Did you think I was going to tell you boarding was delayed? Well it wasn’t! Boarding began right on the button. I got to my seat, put my bag in the overhead and settled in. I always book a left side aisle seat as close to an exit as possible.

A sudden uncomfortable crowded feeling came over me. I looked up from my kindle to discover a very tall woman hovering over me, glaring. “You are in my husband’s seat,” she said. “No,” I replied, "This is my seat." Between the jigs and the reels, I asked to see her husband’s ticket. His seat was one row behind in the centre. I got up from my seat to allow very tall disgruntled muttering woman into her window seat. I realized as the disgruntled muttering continued this was going to be a very uncomfortable seven hours!

I looked behind me and saw very tall disgruntled woman’s husband sitting in the centre aisle seat. I reached back and tapped him, “Would you like to switch seats once the head count is done?” He nodded in reply. I got the impression from his half hearted nod, he would have preferred to stay in his assigned seat. I on the other hand decided better him beside very tall disgruntled woman, than me!

There is a third episode to this saga. If my broadband stays with me long enough, I hope to get it posted by the end of the week. Fingers Crossed!!!!

Episode One!

2011-07-05T08:12:00.000-05:00

Offending Hair Barrette

On Wednesday I will be at home in Ireland for two weeks. As per usual, my journey turned into a stranger than fiction drama of assorted delays.

The day was sunny when I left the house at 10AM. The drive to Minneapolis airport went without a hitch. Boarding pass in hand….getting the bag check went like a breeze. Husband left me in the security queue. TSA passport examiner looked at my passport, I smiled and he scowled. He proceeded to scan my passport with his little flashlight thingy and looked at me again. Maybe I should stop smiling was the thought that ran through my mind. Finally he waved me on. Whew!

I began the removal of shoes, cardigan, laptop, etc. and walked over to the friendly looking white haired TSA man. With a friendly smile he beckoned me to walk through the metal detector. Horror upon horror, red lights began flashing and the whirring of a siren silenced the hum of chatter as all looked in my direction. Nice grandfatherly TSA man said, “Do you have keys or change in your pockets?” “No” I replied. “Maybe it is your watch or earrings. Why don’t you remove them?” I did as requested and walked through the metal detector once more full of confidence, sure this time I would pass through without incident. Not a chance! Red lights flashing, buzzer shrilling through the air and Grandfatherly TSA man beckoned me back again. “Maybe it is your cross and chain” he decided. I went back to the rolling assembly line and put my cross and chain into another one of the little bowls. I walked through the now intimidating metal detector holding my breath. Why…well maybe breathing was setting the damn thing off. Nope it wasn’t the breathing. I really hate that sound!!!!

Grandfatherly TSA man looked at me sympathetically bringing his walkie- talkie up to his mouth and requested a female agent for a search. The female TSA Agent looked me up and down as she donned her white plastic gloves, asking if I had a metal hip or knee… and then if I agreed to a body pat down. Well I thought to myself…do I have a choice! “If you must,” was my reply. Sure what else could I say! She patted me down the front as other passengers passed by craning their necks to get a good look at this suspicious traveller. Finally she moved around to my back. “Oh,” she said, “It must have been your hair barrette that set the detector off. Of course you had a man at the station you came through…he wouldn’t have noticed that!” I wondered why if she had discovered the culprit she continued the pat down. Giving a small nervous little giggle I replied, “I totally forgot about that. I will make sure to remove it at the next airport.” Pat down finished, she wished me a pleasant journey. I walked barefoot over to the multiple bowls containing my belongings and began putting myself back together.

Oh there is more to this journey, much more……

A Perfect Day!

2011-06-30T04:08:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I decided enough was enough! I needed to get back to my writing and blogging routine. The planned two week break turned into a month. How did that happen????

The frenzy that was wedding preparations is over. The never ending ’to-do’ list that dominated my days and nights for weeks, months sits abandoned. The deadline date to finish all the glaring hit you in the face unfinished projects around and in the house has passed. The wedding is over and my batteries needed some serious re-charging. Exhaustion had became my constant friend.

The only words falling from my lips for the past month were, “What’s next on the list.” But this morning I woke up with words that needed to be put down on paper. The first morning this has happened since the frenzy took hold. To be honest I was getting a bit worried words had abandoned me. I have gone to the new post page on more than one occasion in an attempt to get back to the blogging world and all I did was stare at the blank screen.

Today I decided even if I couldn’t come up with something clever, interesting or entertaining I would post anyway and let the comments fall where they may.

Anyway, the wedding was wonderful. The glowing bride was the picture of happiness. The groom was handsome and attentive, as he waited expectantly for the love of his life to join him at the top of the aisle. The Sun enveloped them in shimmering light as they exchanged vows of love and commitment. A red tailed hawk was spotted flying overhead by my brother-in-law, an added blessing.

Mr. and Mrs.

This mother spent the whole day trying to suppress the constant barrage of tears. There were tears of pride. There were tears for the bygone days of young motherhood. There were tears for joy as I looked at my son’s face and saw his happiness. There were more tears as I watched my other three children walk down the aisle to support their brother and welcome his choice of partner with warm smiles and nods of encouragement into our family. Then there were the uncontrollable tears when my youngest son (best man) stood up beside his older brother and told all gathered that his brother was his hero. The person he has looked up to all his life. Yep….that brought on the ugly tears. Professional make-up how are you!!!!…..well it seemed like a good idea that morning.

I promised to post a photo of my “Hat”. Well this is the best I could find. There are very few photographs of me smiling. My face is taunt, lip biting and almost stern looking in most of them. Maybe I should have just let the tears flow…..professional make-up be darned.

LS, Me and the Hat

PS It's good to be back!

Taking a Break

2011-05-26T09:38:00.000-05:00

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!!!!!!!!!

2011-05-17T09:30:00.002-05:00

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!

2011-05-10T07:00:00.001-05:00

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

2011-05-02T23:06:00.034-05:00

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!

Join the Blog Hop

2011-05-02T10:13:00.000-05:00

Z is for

2011-04-30T07:00:00.002-05:00

is for

ZZZZZZ's

It's finally here! 'Z'. I made it! The finale of the A-Z Challenge.
!ZOUNDS!

I started the A-Z Challenge with Zest. I Zipped from A to B with Zeal. Traveling to a Zillion Zappy blogs reading Zazzy posts.

Zounds again bloggie friends the time has come to take a break and indulge in a Zakuska of Zabaglione or some such!

Yes this Challenge has been Zappy but to tell you truth I am Zonked.

Spring Break Nashville....over and out!

Can I sleep now!

Y is for

2011-04-29T07:00:00.002-05:00

is for

Yay!

I made it to 'Y' But what now????

Yep! Mista Yella!

What will I Yap about today! I could subject you to Yarling about the way my three wheeled week old bag Yawed as I Yomped it from the terminal to the not so ‘short-term’ car park! I could tell you how I Yikkered when Minneapolis's frigid air hit me on exiting the warmth of the terminal. The shock causing me to Yex and Yex and Yex some more.

Or I could say, I hope you enjoyed the reminiscing’s of my Spring Break in Nashville.

And now it is time for me to Yede to bed.
Yawn! Until 'Z' time.

X is for

2011-04-28T08:53:00.000-05:00

is for

X-tra, X-tra

read all about it!

Spring Break in Nashville (con't)

The night before I left Nashville, I attended the Opening Night of University School of Nashville's (USN) stellar production of Neil Simon's, Brighton Beach Memoirs.

Miss H is the eldest of LS's (Little Sister) three daughters. She is an active member of USN's High School Student Theatre Guild and holds the position of Guild Secretary. The USN Student Theatre Guild is solely student run, from Freshmen to Seniors all dedicated to promoting theatre with student produced plays throughout the school year.

Brighton Beach Memoirs is a two act play that takes place in one set designed and constructed by Miss H's fellow Guild members. The play consisted of seven cast members. Set in Brighton Beach, NY in 1937 an extended family play out rising tensions induced by grief, cramped living space and loss of income.

Miss H did a wonderful job portraying Nora Morton, the teenage daughter of a widowed mother, living in her aunt and uncle's home. Nora grabbles with feelings of displacement, an interloper with no privacy in the cramped living space. She expresses all the angst of a young woman frustrated by her mother's lack of ingenuity and strength of character to forge a life and find a place to call their own.

Miss H is a graduating Senior and the week I spent in Nashville was a week froth with nervous tension for her. This performance in Brighton Beach Memoirs was her last in USN and she was anxiously waiting for replies to her University applications. She received many acceptance letters, but it wasn't until the day after I left she received the ONE. Acceptance into the University of her dreams.

The World is your Oyster Miss H. Go out there and grab it!

W is for

2011-04-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

is for

Wheels

Spring Break in Nashville(con't)

This is another bag story.

I don't think I told you way back in ‘B’, the night before my departure to Nashville, I discovered the zip to my suitcase was broken. I had to make an emergency trip to the shop for a new one. I found and purchased a suitcase and matching laptop bag. Since I was a small child I dreamt of owning a full set of matching luggage. Alas….I have yet to realize that dream. But I digress back to ‘W’

Infamous Bag

This tale of Woe unfolds enroute from Warm and sunny Nashville to the Winter Wilds of Wisconsin. There were no unmerciful queues to deal with, my bag was checked in a timely fashion and I actually got on the flight I had booked. Whew!

Th flight arrived in Minneapolis on time. Met Husband waiting in the baggage claim area. We made our way to the carousel were we Waited and Waited some more because as usual my bag is one of the last to appear. Husband sighs…..his short term parking fee has just increased by three dollars.

Husband pulls Week old bag off the carousel and it keels over! I grab the handle to straighten it and it keels over again. On closer examination I notice a Wheel is missing. When my bag and I parted ways in Nashville it had four Wheels. On arrival in Minneapolis it had three. I insisted on reporting the missing Wheel. Husband looked at the time and sighed with resignation. Parking fee was about to take another hike.

I queued to lodge my complaint at the baggage desk. Who do you think I come face to face with. The Airline Desk Lady who checked me in on 'A'. As I relayed my tale of Woe I wondered if she remembered me. She came out from behind her desk and examined my three Wheeled Week old bag.
"I'm sorry we don't cover damaged luggage. The best I can do is give you a $50 voucher," she said.

What a nice Airline Desk Lady!

V is for

2011-04-26T07:00:00.013-05:00

is for

Venue

The Tennessee Performing Arts Centre is known as the TPAC. The TPAC is located in the James K. Polk Cultural Center at 505 Deaderick Street in downtown Nashville. A large building spanning over two floors which includes three theatres and the Tennessee State Museum.

LS (Little Sister) and I saw the Broadway musical, “In the Heights” at the TPAC. While queuing for a glass of wine after collecting our tickets, I studied the posters of upcoming Broadway shows with growing envy. ‘Les Miserables,’ ‘Rain the Tribute to the Beatles,’ ‘Wicked’ and ‘The Colour Purple’ to name but a few. Performances by the resident Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera, and Tennessee Repertory Theatre were also being touted. It was too much for this theatre enthusiast to bear!!! A rather large gulp of wine was required!

U is for

2011-04-25T07:13:00.000-05:00

is for

Utinam

(earnest wish or desire)

It is my Utinam you have enjoyed my A-Z Urbanology of Nashville. Whew! I was Unsure I could pull off the 'U'!

The end of this Challenge is in sight. Only five more nights of being chased by letters in my dreams. It has been fun, it has been hard and it has been a Challenge. My Usual blogging schedule prior to the Challenge was weekly and at times I found that Challenging.

I am very grateful to LS (Little Sister) and family for making my time in Nashville so enjoyable and Unforgettable. Blowing kisses and sending hugs!!!

Thank you to all my followers, Old and New! Your comments have been most appreciated. To the people I follow, who did not participate in the A-Z Challenge, my apologies if I have been remiss of late. Please don't judge me Ungrateful. The scale of this Challenge was Unexpected.

A big Thank You to my friend Theresa of Substitute Teacher’s Saga who when I was at my wits end on 'N' came through for me, suggesting Nashville. Why didn't I think of that! Thank you Theresa.

I hope you have found my Nashville musings Utile.

Onward and Upward.....Tomorrow is 'V' Day and I do have something to say!

T is for

2011-04-23T13:25:00.000-05:00

is for

Miss T

Spring Break in Nashville (con't)

Miss T is LS’s (Little Sister) second daughter, the middle child. Miss T is a girl of few words. She goes about her business with a quiet efficiency. She has a calm self-assured way about her.

Miss T is a well-rounded young lady with varied interests. She plays saxophone in her high school band. She is involved in all aspects of school theatre and is also a member of the school dance team. Both performing and competing.

In March Miss T was one of thirteen girls chosen from the Nashville chapter of Act Like a GRRRL to perform at the inaugural gala of Día Internacional de las Mujeres in San Jose, Costa Rica. The Act Like a GRRRL program's focus is to empower women and girls worldwide through writing and performing.

Miss T is also an avid horsewoman. She participates in Nashville’s National and County 4-H Horse shows. She has a bounty of multi-coloured ribbons heralding her skill and talent.

Yesterday, April Twenty-first, Miss T the Twentieth letter in my A-Z Challenge turned Fifteen.

Happy Birthday Sunshine!

S is for

2011-04-22T07:00:00.063-05:00

is for

Social Graces

Spring Break in Nashville (con't)

Social Graces is one of the many speciality shops I perused while in Nashville. It is located in Hillsboro Village just a few doors down from Fido’s. (See post for letter F) The name of the shop alone made it a must stop shop.

I ambled from one display to the next, oohing and awing at the selection of stationary, note cards, invitations, soaps and candles. But it was the assortment of seals and sealing wax that caught my eye and my interest. I have a weakness for seals and sealing wax that is only second to my weakness for books.

My Social Graces Purchase

There was a basket full of seal rings to choose from. I combed through the letters of the alphabet and images on the interchangeable seal plates, giddy as a child given free range in a sweet shop. I thought my heart would burst with excitement when I came across a seal plate with the image of a parchment scroll and quill pen. I couldn't buy all the plates I singled out and eventually narrowed my choices down to two. Now I had to choose one, but which one? The letter 'A' or yes you guessed it, the parchment scroll and quill.

I hovered over that basket debating which one to choose for so long the staff began casting suspicious glances in my direction. My solution, stop deliberating and purchase Both!!!

I just love this type of shop!

Social Graces is located on
1704 21st Ave S,
Nashville, TN 37212

R is for

2011-04-21T07:00:00.002-05:00

is for

Radnor Lake

Spring Break in Nashville (con't)

Radnor Lake State Park is a 1200+ acre Natural Reserve in the heart of Nashville. LS (Little Sister) and I stopped at Radnor twice during my stay, walking two of the four trails. One all around the 85 acre lake and the other a paved road that runs along the lake. The paved road closed to cars is a pedestrian walkway only. All four of the trails are now open having been repaired from the havoc wrecked by the Floods of last spring .

This is a beautiful park teeming with wildlife. On our first walk we spotted a wild turkey strutting in the woods and turtles sunning on rocks at the lakes edge. There were beaver dams sprinkled about the lake, but I didn't spot any. The trees gnarled branches still bare, but birdsong filled the air announcing the arrival of Spring.

Walking Trail around the Lake.Wikipedia photo

A Visitor's Centre houses historical photographs, displays and an informative video on the history of the Park's construction by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company in 1914.

There was a trail LS ~~threatened~~ promised to take me on, Ganier Ridge Trail, but alas we ran out of time. Whew! LS's glee describing the "Ridge" made me wonder if the desire to bring me on this trail was peppered with a touch of LS Revenge!

Radnor Lake, Wikipedia photo

Radnor Lake is a favorite spot of LS and family and it is easy to see why. An all year round beautiful spot abundant with wildlife right in the centre of the city.

Q is for

2011-04-20T07:00:00.014-05:00

is for

Queue

Spring Break in Nashville (con't)

My trip to Nashville was littered with Queues. Most of the Queues were good, exciting even. Some were stressful, others boring but none were of the pull my hair out what am I doing in this Queue variety. So now I will regale you with my Q of Queues.

It all started in the airport. Queue one was to check in. Queue two was to remove my shoes, belts etc. and have a body scan. I Queued for a cup of coffee and to board the plane. Once on the plane and in the air there was the Queue for the Loo...I decided that Queue was not for me. Aircraft Loos, YUCK! I did join the Queue to exit the aircraft though. As a side note, why do people jump up from their seats the second the plane comes to halt? After all they are going nowhere for at least another five minutes.

The fun and exciting Queues started at Fido's for Sunday Brunch. When I saw the length of Fido's Queue, I thought I would fade away from hunger before it was my turn to give my order. LS assured me this Queue moved along very smartly. I was pleasantly surprised at the efficient and quick moving Queue. There was no time for fading!

There was the Queue outside Vanderbilt waiting for the doors to open for the Picoult book signing. LS and I Queued to purchase books and then Queued for the book signing.

The next Queue, outside the Station House waiting for the doors to open to see the Doyle and Debbie show. After that we joined a small Queue waiting to be escorted to our table in The Patterson House.

I Queued in a Nashville Borders, where LS and I perused and purchased multiple books. She has the same weakness for books I do. Must be genetics!

I joined the Ticket-Pick-Up Queue at the TPAC for In the Heights and from that Queue I headed straight to the liquid refreshment Queue for what turned out to be an extremely large glass of wine. Really....it was nearly half a bottle! At the intermission after all that wine, there was the inevitable Queue in the ladies.

There were the usual shop Queues and then it was back to the pesky airport Queues.

Whew! That was some Q-ing. Hope I didn't lose you along the way.

More Nashville tomorrow in 'R'.

P is for

2011-04-19T07:00:00.032-05:00

is for

Picoult

Jodi Picoult

Spring Break in Nashville (con't)

As I mentioned on 'J' day, I saw Jodi Picoult in Nashville. She was on tour with her new novel Sing You Home. So what can I tell you, I haven't already?

A CD is included with the book. The songs reflect the feelings Zoe, Picoult's main character experiences throughout the book. Ellen Wilber collaborated with and wrote the music for Picoult's lyrics. This collaboration produced a CD of melodic and emotional folk songs.

The talk ended with Ellen Wilber taking to the stage with guitar in hand and performing three tracks from the CD. One clear voice, accompanied by one lone guitar.

All that was left, was the actual book signing. People queued up and waited their turn. Helpers walked up and down along the line with yellow post-it pads asking who you wanted your personalized book made out to. I earmarked my copy of Sing You Home for my daughter Ciolagh. Post-it note lady wrote out as I spelled C, I, O, L, A, G, H. Raising an eyebrow she gave me a quizzical look before moving onto the person behind me.

It was finally my turn. I moved to the table opening the book to the Post-it page. Jodi Picoult looked at the post-it note and said, “Oh Key-la is it?” I was dumbfounded! She had pronounced my daughter’s name properly. She didn’t massacre it with the usual See-O-lag. All I could do was nod my head. Words deserted me. Seeing my shock as she passed the book to Ellen Wilber, Jodi added, “I have spent time in Ireland.” My eloquent and profound reply was, “Oh.” And so ended my incredibly articulate and informative verbal exchange with Jodi Picoult in Nashville.

O is for

2011-04-18T07:00:00.001-05:00

is for

Oragious

(stormy)

When I arrived in Nashville the weather was heavenly. The high 70's low 80's. (25*C approx.)

I had been forewarned, so my case was brimming with sleeveless tops, capri pants and flip-flops. The only wintery outfit was the one designated for traveling.

The Infamous March Blizzard hit Northern Wisconsin the day after I arrived in Nashville. I sat with a smug smile in my sleeveless top, capris pants and flip-flops as husband bemoaned Oragious weather. Sub degree temperatures and more than six inches of snow.

A few days later my smug smile was replaced with chattering teeth. Oragious weather hit Nashville. No, not sub-degree temps or six inches of snow, but after the high 70's and low 80's the mid 40's sure as H. E. Hockey Sticks felt cold. Especially for one whose suitcase was brimming with sleeveless tops and capri pants. A raid on LS's wardrobe was the only course of action open to me. That or pneumonia.

I decided not to interrupt my Nashville jaunt with pneumonia. Pneumonia would just have to wait until my return to Wisconsin.

N is for

2011-04-16T07:00:00.008-05:00

is for

Nashville

Spring Break in Nashville (con't)

That fooled you!!

I have been to Nashville many times visiting LS and family. If they didn't live there, I can honestly say, Nashville never would have made my 'Must' visit list. Why? Because Nashville mean't Country Music. It is known as Music City, after all. I am not a fan of Country Music. I don't hate Country Music. I just have a low threshold for it.

Over the course of my visits to LS and family, Nashville has pleasantly surprised me. It has so much to offer. Little walk about villages, theatre, comedy, jazz bands, blues bands, wonderful restaurants, scenic parks, boutiques and shops stocked with the quirky and interesting. Ohhh and Hats!

Did I mention Nashville is also home to the Grand Ole Opry? Just in case anyone didn't know that!

Well what are you waiting for.......

As a side note, I just discovered The Green Restaurant Association has two Nashville eateries on its list.
Tayst Restaurant & Wine Bar with a 3 Star rating located on 2100 21st Ave South and The Mad Platter with a 2 Star rating located at 1239 6th Ave North.
I haven’t sampled their offerings. If you happen to stop at either of them, would love to hear your thoughts.
‘O’ for Monday

M is for

2011-04-15T07:00:00.002-05:00

is for

Mimosa

My other favorite room in LS's (Little Sister) new house (besides the afore mentioned kitchen) is the screened-in back porch.

LS's favorite spot in Mexico is Akumal also known as "The Place of Turtles". This is highlighted in the warm ocean blues of the upholstery and throw pillows of orange, red and cream stripes. The art that adorns the walls and the brightly striped Mexican hammock that gently sways in the breeze.

This serene spot conjures up lazy days in that far away place. A favorite hang-out for contemplation, reading and/or watching the very entertaining antics of new puppy Poppy. This is where we chatted and sipped our Mimosas. Yes plural!

L is for

2011-04-14T07:00:00.047-05:00

is for

Legacy

Spring Break in Nashville, con't

On Tuesday night after The Doyle and Debbie show, LS and B-I-L thought a trip to The Patterson House for bite to eat was in order.

The Patterson House is a ritzy speak-easy named after Tennessee governor Malcolm R. Patterson, who vetoed statewide prohibition in 1909. It is a house hidden in plain view, located on 1711 Division Street, a quiet road off Music Row.

The Patterson House

As you open the ordinary door of The Patterson House and cross the threshold, its speak-easy Legacy gently whispers. You step into a small foyer with a greeter, a whiskey barrel, tin ceilings and large mirrors. Heavy green curtains separate you from the bar. The speak-easy atmosphere is heightened by dimmed lights, patina wallpaper and built-in bookcases. The focus of the room is the massive bar manned by expert bartenders, who shake, rattle and roll those cocktail shakers.

Once seated we perused the menu. The hardest decision was now at hand. Which cocktail to choose. LS suggested I try the El Diablo, made with Lunazul Reposado Tequila, Lemon, House Made Ginger Syrup and Briottet Cassis. The El Diablo is one of The Patterson House top five cocktails. It is now my all time Number One!

Next came the Tapas menu. So many choices, Tater Tots with Horseradish and Dill Crème Fraiche, Black-Eyed Pea Hummus, Bacon Deviled Eggs, Shrimp Corndogs with Curried Ketchup and Mini Burgers. Again I turned to LS and B-I-L. Everything sounded delicious. B-I-L ordered the Shrimp Corndogs, Bacon Deviled Eggs and Mini Burgers. My mouth waters at the memory. The Patterson House is a must stop when in Nashville.

Books and Cocktails!

K is for

2011-04-13T07:00:00.133-05:00

is for

Miss K

Spring Break in Nashville con't

You have all meet Miss K in G for Godchild. Miss K is the youngest of LS's (Little Sister) three daughters.

Miss K is a very talented, active little miss. She sings in the children's choir, she plays camogie on her school team and she is a dedicated piano player. She practiced her piano for close to forty five minutes a day, while I was there. And let me tell you it was music to my ears. She is also one awesome smoothie creator.

Below is my office mousepad. A self-portairt of Miss K . She painted this for me a number of years ago. She also gave me a beautiful self portrait apron that same year. Vincent, watch your back!

What a Cutie!

Miss K

J is for

2011-04-12T07:00:00.013-05:00

is for

Jodi Picoult

Spring Break in Nashville con't

On Sunday, March 20th Jodi Picoult appeared at the Langford Auditorium in Vanderbilt University. It was a free and open to the public book signing. And I was there!

Before entering the Auditorium, the University bookstore had set-up an area where copies of Ms. Picoult's new release, Sing Me Home was available for purchase, along with all her previous titles. I purchased Sing Me Home and Nineteen Minutes.

We had been informed that Ms. Picoult would sign only two books per person. One personalized copy of Sing Me Home and sign one copy of any other of her titles. Once LS and I had made our purchases we found ourselves seats.

Jodi Picoult opened by reading an excerpt from her new novel. Then she explained while researching and writing the book that explores Gay Rights, her 17 year old son wrote an essay on being gay for a college application.

A portion of the proceeds from book sales at this event were donated to The Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center for Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences. The Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center specializes in ear, nose, and throat diseases, and communication disorders such as hearing, speech, language, and voice problems. Picoult has a vested in this facility. Her younger son has been treated here.

Check back for more on the Letter "P"

I is for

2011-04-11T06:46:00.003-05:00

is for

"IN THE HEIGHTS"

Spring Break in Nashville (con’t.)

Little Sister booked tickets to the musical "IN THE HEIGHTS." What a treat. If you thought Nashville was only the centre for Country Music you would be wrong…..dead wrong.

"IN THE HEIGHTS" ran on Broadway for three years and won four Tony Awards. It played its final Broadway performance on January 9, 2011. The final tour performance was April 3, 2011.

"IN THE HEIGHTS," tour performance in Nashville just happened to be the same week of my Spring Break visit.

"This lively musical’s score includes rap, hip-hop, salsa and merengue. Similar in feel to traditional musicals like Fiddler on the Roof, painting a portrait of a community that is experiencing internal growing pains while the outside world closes in."

"IN THE HEIGHTS" was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda while in his sophomore year at Wesleyan University. It is the story of a vibrant multicultural neighbourhood, narrated by the cafe con leche-selling Usnavi. Camilla and Kevin Rosario struggle to make ends meet running a gypsy cab service, while dreaming of bigger things for their daughter Nina, a freshman at Stanford University. Meanwhile Nina and her parents’ African-American employee, Benny, have fallen for each other despite her parents’ protestations, and she’s running out of cash to stay in college. Then there’s Usnavi’s lottery-loving surrogate grandmother, Abuela Claudia; his ambitious but debt-burdened crush, Vanessa; and his cousin, Sonny, a wannabe ladies’ man."

H is for Hat

2011-04-09T07:00:00.009-05:00

Spring Break in Nashville (con’t.)

I decided before I left the Northern Wilds of Wisconsin that Nashville was the place for me to shop for an outfit for my son's wedding. On previous visits to Nashville I noticed the shops had a wonderful selection of day dresses, evening wear etc. Oh and Hats. Northern Wisconsin not so good!

Shopping is not one of LS’s (Little Sister) favorite past times but she graciously indulged me and took me around to a number of little boutiques. I love boutiques. It reminded me of day tripping in Ireland. Actually for one small moment I thought I was perusing the boutiques and interesting little shops in Cork or Waterford! Until a salesperson spoke, the accent was a dead giveaway!

There are so many little and interesting shops to gush about....But this is H for Hat, so I am going to focus.

Our last shop stop was The Cotton Mill, in Green Hills. I walked into this shop and I saw hats. Heaven! A bounty of Hats and dresses. There were too many dresses to my liking. My flexible friend groaned. Sadly I had to go into elimination mode. I put on my Simon Cowell face.

The time had come for a Hat. After all that was my main mission. I tried on a variety of Hats. Loved them all.....LS informed very Helpful salesperson Brittany, she had never known an event in my life when a Hat wasn't involved. Adding our mission, an Ascot type Hat. Brittany didn't blink an eye...so we presumed she got our meaning.

After finding the perfect Hat I realized I had a problem. How to get Hat and dress back to Northern Wisconsin in all its perfect glory. Wonderful Brittany, suggested shipping. My dilemma solved, my flexible friend exhausted and in shock, I exited The Cotton Mill one Happy little future Mother-in-Law shopper!

Hat and dress arrived at my door a few days later in a HUGE box. Enclosed with foam and bubble wrapped Hat and tissue wrapped dress was a lovely note card from Brittany, professing her delight that I had found the perfect Hat for #3's wedding.

Some of my life in hats:

Child #1 (son)

Child #2 (daughter)

Child #3 (son)

LS, MS and me

Child #4 (son)

LS wedding

G is for

2011-04-08T07:00:00.058-05:00

is for

Godchild

Spring Break in Nashville (con’t.)

Little Sister's youngest daughter is my 11year old Godchild. She met me at the airport with her Dad and first thing I noticed was how tall she has grown. She has sprung up like a weed. I got a glimpse of the beautiful woman waiting to emerge from the cutie little girl.

The second thing I noticed, Godchild donned many of the wearable things I have given her over the past year or so. That made my heart smile.

Godchild gave up her bedroom for my six day stay. Each morning I heard her opening the bedroom door and thought she was trying to sneak in, to get something from her room. I didn't want her to think she had distrubed me, so I pretended to be asleep.

On the fourth morning she peeked her head around the door but didn't come in, quietly closing the door behind her. I sat up in the bed and began working on my laptop. A few minutes later she arrived back holding a glass in her hand and a big smile flashed across her face. "I thought you might like a morning smoothie?" she said shyly.

Later I discovered Godchild had brought a smoothie up to me every morning. When she thought I was asleep, she didn't want to wake me.

But on morning four LS told disappointed Godchild to go back and leave the glass on the bedside table that way I would have the smoothie when I woke up.

Godchild wasn't trying to slip into the room for forgotten socks after all. She was being a sweetheart and bringing me a glass of deliciousness each morning before she left for school.

Who's the lucky Godmother then???!!!!

F is for.....

2011-04-07T07:00:00.003-05:00

is for

FIDO'S

Spring Break in Nashville (con’t.)

Fido's is Little Sister's (LS) favorite coffee shop/restaurant. It is located in Hillsboro Village a short five minute walk from LS's new house. While in Nashville it became my favorite haunt too. I had the good fortune to sample many tasty treats.

My first visit to Fido's was after Mass for Sunday brunch. I ordered the Veggie Scramble with wheat toast and salsa. It was mouthwatering good. Needless to say after breakfast Fido's had a new fan.

When you order your food at Fido's you are given one of those card stands to place on your table. In other places the card is usually a number. In Fido's the cards feature a photo and small blurb about a dog. Dog owners supply photos and quirky/cute information about their much loved pooches. Some dogs featured are available for adoption. I loved reading these cards. The photos always made me go Ahhhhh! Isn't this one just too cute for words!!!!

So bloggie friends when you go to Nashville, a stop at Fido's for delicious food and coffee is a must. Oh and don't forget to say a big 'Howdy" to LS. No doubt she will be sitting in the corner sipping her Chai Latte!

I also sampled the featured Pecan Salad and the Grilled Salmon. Both are to die for too!

Fido's Nashville.

E is for Envy

2011-04-06T07:00:00.056-05:00

Spring Break in Nashville (con’t.)

When I first walked into Little Sister’s (LS) kitchen in her new “Green” house and saw the wonderful stove and counter work space, I could feel myself going green around the gills with Envy. LOL! “Green” House, "Green" with Envy……sometimes I just crack myself up! Back to Envy! This is one serious kitchen with workspace and storage galore.

LS, the scientist is very conscious of global warming and the effects it is having on our planet. As a result she is totally dedicated to ecology. Hence the “Green/Leed” house.

LS and B-I-L shed major blood, sweat and tears during the building process of their new home. It took not the projected months but years for this dream to become a reality. Knowing the anguish she/they suffered, all I can say is the finished product was worth it all. It is Exquisite. They are truly living their convictions. Unlike so many, (ahem me!) LS put her money where her mouth is. She and B-I-L are true to their beliefs. I wish I had the strength to step out of the box and go for it the way she did. Do you hear another ‘little’ touch of Envy.

Let me get back to that stove………

Look at it……

Go on admit it…. You're feeling it too! A little twinge of that Green Eyed Monster: Envy

D is for.......

2011-04-05T07:00:00.005-05:00

During my stay in Nashville my Sister and Brother-in-Law brought me to see the Doyle and Debbie Show at the Station Inn. What a laugh. I laughed so hard my sides hurt. My face ached and my hands were red raw from clapping. This is a riotous sublime parody on Country Western duos, the battle of the sexes and cliched lowbrow Southern culture. A rip roaring romp of "policital incorrectness"

Once my ears had become accustomed to the exaggerated southern twang and I realized the majority of script was in song the laughter started. There was so much happening on stage. It was a job to catch everything. My head was moving from one face to the next, like ping ball following. The facial expressions were entertainment in themselves. The sidekick/back-up musician sat behind Doyle and Debbie and lent his facial expressions and telling shrugs to the mix. It was one romping good belly laugh from beginning to end.

My sister spent most of the day repeatedly telling me, I might find this show on the rude/crude side. When we emerged from the Station Inn she nervously asked what I thought. I told her it was one of the funniest comedy shows I had ever seen. One I am sure I would need to see a number of times more to catch all the nuances. She was visibly relieved.

If you are in Nashville on a Tuesday at 7PM , be sure to check The Station Inn's calendar for confirmation Doyle and Debbie are appearing. And if they are, get yourself down there for one hilarious show.

Thanks Sis!

C is for Clock

2011-04-04T07:00:00.002-05:00

You would think after the many times I have done this I would be more careful. But alas, it seems this lesson is too often forgotten.

I finished sorting what to put into the suitcase and then taking things out again. My bag was packed and boarding pass printed. My laptop, kindle and mobile phone sat all charged up and ready to go. It was nearly midnight and I had an early start in the morning.

I had it all figured out. Flight at 9AM….an hour and a half to get to the airport. Be there an hour before flight time. To give myself a little wiggle room, leaving the house by 6:15AM seemed sensible. So, I set my Clock for 5AM. Plenty of time for a shower; primping hair; putting on makeup and a leisurely breakfast.

On the morning of departure I woke with a start. I looked at the alarm Clock and the neon green numbers screamed 6:00AM. I bolted out of the bed, grabbed my clothes and headed for the shower, cursing myself under my breath. Yes I had done it again….I had set the Clock to 5:00 alright….5:00PM!!!

I ran the brush through my hair and slapped on some moisturizer as I raced down the stairs. Husband had coffee in the travel mugs and a few biscuits in his hand. We got out the door at 6:20 breathless but miraculously only 5 minutes behind schedule.

B is for Baggage

2011-04-02T07:00:00.007-05:00

My stomach churning I grabbed my Bag and ran as fast as my little legs could carry me through the doors of the airport departure area. I located a Delta person…

”I was told by curbside man I had to check-in here. Something about special handling?”

“There's the line,” he said.

“I have been queuing outside for over an hour. My flight leaves in half an hour,” hysteria creeping into my voice.

He beckoned for another more senior Delta person who ushered me to the front of the queue where I waited some more. Finally after what seemed like hours, but in fact was only minutes my Bag was being weighed. There were no questions about dogs or animals this time.

“Your Bag won’t get on this flight,” Delta lady said sympathetically.

“So what do I do now?" I replied with resignation.

Well, Delta lady proceeded to schedule me onto another flight, free of charge. So my 9AM flight became a 4:50PM flight. There is so much more to this story, but you have so many A-Zers to follow, so I will skip to the end of the Bag saga.

On arriving in Nashville I made my way to Baggage claim and received a call from Husband. Delta contacted him and said my Bag was not on my flight and to check with Baggage services.

Wondering how Bag could not be on the same flight as me…..I mean really….

Guess what, Bag made the original 9AM flight after all. Bag had been sitting in the lonely Nashville Baggage room with all the other unclaimed or lost Bags for 8 hours, while I sat in Minneapolis waiting for my rescheduled flight.

What can one say only Bleedy H E Hockey Sticks! Excuse my French! :)

Hope to "C" you Monday.

A is for Airport

2011-04-01T07:00:00.005-05:00

Saturday morning I pulled up to the Delta curbside check-in at Minneapolis Airport in what should have been plenty of time. I had checked myself and my suitcase in the night before. Can you guess where this is going?

When I arrived I was taken aback by the queues at both curbside kiosks. They were long, extremely long. So I decided in my ultimate wisdom to go inside. BIG MISTAKE! The queue inside snaked the full length of the delta area. I rushed back outside to the kiosk queues. I discovered as I queued that the reason for the humongous crowds was spring break.

It was 7:30AM. Freezing out and yet trickles of sweat ran down the middle of my back. Curbside check-in man was very friendly, chit chatting away to everyone as I scanned my watch every half second, hopping from one foot to the other.

I finally reached the chatty curbside check-in man and showed him the boarding pass, clutched in my hand. He took my bag weighed it and clocked in numbers and letters on the screen keyboard.

"Sorry Mam, I can't check you in here."

"Why," I whined.

"Don't know Mam, says special items here. Have you a dog or something?"

Now he was weighing my only bag. A zipped and TSA locked bag....
Where the HE hockey sticks could I possibly have a dog or something!

"You will have to go inside Mam, I can't help you. Next!"

Tune in tomorrow for B !

Remember Me

2011-03-31T06:47:00.002-05:00

Well hello there! You may have noticed my absence from blog writing and reading for the last, let me see..... Oh my, has it really been three weeks?!?! It seems I took a longer Spring Break than I realized. Time flies!

Six days of my three week blogging hiatus was spent in Nashville. I basked in the warmth of family and sunshine, while another blizzard roared in Northern Wisconsin. I read a few books and discovered for me reading books and writing are not compatible. Hopefully I am not unique in this respect.

I also found myself paying attention to the nuances of the authours characters and descriptive. I kept my nifty yellow and pink highlighters at the ready for the words that portrayed emotions and situations perfectly. So now I have three books with splashes of yellow and slashes of pink throughout.

Now I am all geared up for the A-Z Challenge. I am dedicating the A-Z Challenge to my six wonderful and very eventful days in Nashville. I hope you will tune in.

P.S. I missed the last Crusader Challenge too. Hanging my head...down in the mouth etc. etc. etc.

Tears, Tears And More Tears!

2011-03-11T06:29:00.004-06:00

For results of 300 Follower Give Away scroll to end of post.

Photo taken from this Source

I don't usually address politics or current affairs on Inkpots n' Quills.  But for the past few weeks my life has been overtaken by politics. Every time I came to the page, pen was determined to address my political agnst. The result, I posted/wrote nothing at all. That is not working for me. Sorry! I hope I do not offend, no offense is intended or meant.

You see, I am one of those villainous State Workers in Wisconsin. I am not going to go into the financial ramifications of Walker's Budget Bill. All working and unemployed middle class people are hurting financially. But Walker's original Budget Bill deprives my classification of medical insurance and retirement benefits. What have Republican politicians against healthy citizens?   He (Walker) supposedly rescinded that portion of his bill, but can I or anyone else believe him. Recent events makes me think not.

This appalled State Worker of Wisconsin is not a union member.  My classification did not afford me the choice of union membership, much to my disappointment. But let me tell you after the shenanigans at Madison's Capital building on Wednesday night, restrictions or no, Thursday saw me seeking out a union to join and if that is still not possible I will contribute to one. I am sickened by Walker's blatant Union busting tactics cloaked in the guise of budget.

According to Scott Walker, there are the haves and the have nots and State workers, the likes of me fall into his "haves" category. Imagine my shock as I mulled over this stunning revelation.

"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Japan has been hit by a massive 8.9 Earthquake followed by devastating Tsunami waves and the aftershocks continue. The death toll numbers increase with each news sound bite. As I type the Tsunami waves heads for Hawaii. The Americas are bracing for its arrival. Low lying Chile is also in its path. My heart and my prayers go out to all who have been ravaged by this cataclysm and all those bracing for it.

Is there anything we in the blogsphere can do? Are there any bloggers out there affected by this disaster?
Is there anything we as a community or I as an individual can do?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I hate to finish on this sad note so I will direct you over to Talli Roland's. It is the last day of her Big Book Giveaway marking Publication Week of her book, "The Hating Game" Congratulations to all the wonderful winners. Great Giveaway Tallie and a big *bualadh bos*!

And now to Winners of my 300 Follower Give Away. I didn't have any cute little nieces and nephews to draw the names this time. But I found this wonderful site called "The Hat." Find the download for this program here . I had such a great time shuffling and shuffling. Such laughing I had. Yes my life is that sad!!! LOL.

Anyway this is how the names came out:
1. Shallee @ Shallee McArthur
2. Margo Benson @ Margo Benson
3. Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow
4. Niamh @ Words A Day

And Mr. 300 is Nick Thomas @ Along These Lines.

There are three signed copies of Talli Roland's "The Hating Game" and two Amazon Gift Cards to be allotted. Please let me know your preference by email or in the comments. (ormondann at gmail dot com) First Come etc. etc.

I wish I could give all the wonderful followers of Inkpots n' Quills a token of my appreciation. But this Wisconsin State Worker must live in reality. So, all I can offer my lovely blog supporters is a *Huge, Gigantic, Foot Stomping Bualadh Bos*

10, 9, 8..........

2011-02-28T12:00:00.003-06:00

300 GiveAway

I can't believe it, I passed the 200 follower mark in record time. One minute I had 167 followers and the next time I looked I had 210. This debunked my plan for a 200 follower giveaway. (says she with an afraid to be overly pleased grin on her face). Of course my follower number increase is due to the very wonderful Crusade I signed up for. I must give credit where credit is due. So a major THANK YOU to my fellow Crusaders. I hope you all enjoy your visits to Inkpots n' Quills as much as I have enjoyed meeting you.

The sword welding Rachael Harrie at Rach Writes the Crusader Organizer is holding a follower celebration at the moment too. Pop over and have a gander.

Talli Roland has graciously agreed to send me three signed copies of "The Hating Game" which will be released on March 9. One copy will go to follower 300. Oh and Tallie is holding a "Hating Game" launch week with a Mega Bookosity give away. Great books in the offing there!

Names will be drawn from follower commenters on posts until March 9, for the other two copies and two Amazon Gift Cards.

I can't say Thank you enough for following Inkpots n' Quills. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on my posts. Your support and encouragement is greatly appreciated.

You are STARS! Yes you are!

I'm a Stylish Blogger, Yes I Am!

2011-02-25T16:40:00.001-06:00

I have received this Stylyish Blogger Award from

Catherine at Dispatches of the Deise,

Gen of Living on Earth

and Trisha of Words + Stuff

OhThank you, Thank you and Thank you again!

Image thanks to Goggle Images.

Big silly grin on face, feeling delighted with myself etc. etc.

The Rules of this award are:

1. Link to the person/persons who bestowed me with this lovely award. Thank you ladies! Three great blogger friends. If you don't follow them, well what are you waiting for!

2. Tell you seven things about myself. hemmm, can I think of seven things, now there's a challenge.

3. Pass the award to three other people...Only three, now that is tough! Methinks this rule was made to be broken!

Seven Things About Myself:

1. I love history. Especially the life stories of Women in history.

2. On the history note, Anne Boleyn has intrigued me since my pre-teens. I think I have a copy of just about everything written about her.

3. I do get annoyed at interpretations of Anne and have been known to fire the offending book across the room. Case in Point "The Other Boleyn Girl" How totally historically incorrect! Reluctantly stepping off my soapbox.

4. I am the oldest in my family. Younger siblings may describe me as the bossiest. I beg to differ.

5. I love to knit. I made two little matinee coats for "Little Sir" (a post introducing Little Sir)

6. I also enjoy cooking. I have a major collection of cookbooks and yet I buy more. I love reading them.

7. Let's see can I think of an adventure.....When I was 19 I wanted to go to Dublin for the weekend. But I missed the train so I went outside the train station, stood at the side of the Dublin road, put my thumb out and hitched. A very nice young Scottish man in a blue car stopped and to my delight was heading to Dublin.

The time seemed to fly by as we chatted about this, that and everything. Before I knew it we were driving down the main street of Naas. He said he needed to stop for dinner and very generously asked if I would join him. I hesitated wondering if this was against hitching protocol. My next thought was did I have enough money to pay for a meal in this posh hotel. I need not have worried though because he treated me to a lovely three course dinner in the beautiful Victorian dining room of Lawlors Hotel. After dinner he ordered two glasses of Cointreau and set them alight. I was very impressed by his obvious sophistication. As we neared Dublin I thought he would drop me on O'Connell Bridge and head for his Holyhead ferry, but he drove me to the door of my friend's house in Glenageary. He declined the offered cup of tea afraid if he delayed he would miss the ferry. Such a gentleman. His name did I hear you ask? During the journey to Dublin I learned much about this Scotsman. The one of the little details I seemed to miss was his name!
Still kicking myself over that one.

So there you have it. Seven things you might or might not want to know about me.

And the award goes to:
1. Brigid @ sort of writing

2. Barbara @ From My Kitchen Table

3. Olive @ Write Olive

4. Niamh @ Words a Day

5. Theresa @ Substitute Teacher’s Saga

6. Old Kitty @ Ten lives and second chances

7. Len @ Conversations with Self

8. Mary @ Máire Rua Writes

9. Mise @ Pretty Far West

10. Aine @ Áine Tierney

Just a few of my favorite Stylish Blogger buddies!
Be sure to visit them.

I would like to Welcome all the Crusaders and new followers to Inkpots n' Quills. *waving* My follower numbers have soared so quickly, I can barely keep up. I aplologize to those I have not returned the follow, but your blog is not linked to your profile and I have been unable to find you. Sorry! :(

A Shark of a Story

2011-02-23T10:27:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Google Images.

Today is the big reveal.. The truth about my First Crusader Challenge story.

I have always loved the sea and did compete in sailing competitions around Southern Ireland in a GP 14 named "Rubber Duck" I think the word fuliguline reminded me of this little experience.

The boat did in fact capsize into a school of Basking Sharks. Basking sharks are often seen traveling in larger schools of up to a 100 or more. I swear there were hundreds of them!

I was indeed wearing the thick Atlantic Ocean grade insulated wetsuit. Which I was told after the fact was a good thing or my skin could have been ripped to ribbons due to the basking sharks skin with its large dermal dentacles (denticle" translates to "small tooth). Basking shark skin is very rough and scratchy because it is covered in MILLIONS of scales like tiny shark teeth!

The Basking Sharks sheer size and power must be respected. They are HUGE! They have two dorsal fins. The larger one is to the front of the shark and smaller one towards the tail end. Scary!

What I did not do was turn the boat to the wind and sail away leaving my not so Knight in Shining Armour behind. It is what I wanted to do, but didn't. That could qualify as my good characteristic or my bad one. Depends on the day. My sailing days were numbered after this experience.

Jemi you were right! Well done.

Now you all know a little something about Basking Sharks. Blogging is so informative don't you think!

Crusaders Challenge

2011-02-21T11:15:00.008-06:00

Rachel at Rac Writes has set The First Crusader Challenge:
So I must tell you in 300 words or less:

· one secret
· one lie
· one interesting quirk
· one annoying habit
· one of my better character traits, and
· one of one favourite things in the whole world.

And I must include the words, “bloviate,” “fuliguline,” “rabbit,” and “blade”. No this is not a joke. After looking up the words the following story came to mind. I hope you enjoy it more than I did!
Oh and don't forget to check out the other Crusaders who have taken on the Challenge here!

When I was young I sailed the seas like fuliguline. I competed in races around the south of Ireland in a GP14, the “Rubber Duck.” When the races were over my fellow sailing competitors gathered in the pub and would bloviate on the day’s events. There were many a tall tale and a boisterous sing song. I had no fear of the seas. I relished the wind and sea spray in my face, the exhilaration of hanging out the side of the boat as the wind caught the sails and the spinnaker. My head just brushing the waves until that fateful day. It was the three point harbour race. We were ahead by a hair as we rounded the Black Rock. The sail flapped, the boat keeled as we tried to tack. But alas it was not to be and the boat capsized. He landed on the Black Rock; I landed in the water and tried to disentangle myself from the ropes. I turned and that is when I saw them. Sharks fins just a few feet away. I felt like a rabbit trapped in a foxes den.

“Grab the boat and turn it over,” he shouted at me.

“ Sharks,” I screamed back at him, “Sharks! “

“Grab the ropes and turn the boat,” he shouted. “They won’t hurt you, they are only Basking Shark, they only eat plankton.”

One of the large barnacled bodies passed right by me. Thankfully I was wearing my Atlantic Ocean wetsuit or my skin would have been cut to ribbons. I righted the boat and managed to climb in.

“Now,” he said, “Ease her over here.”

I looked at him and if I had a blade I would have run him through.

Turning the boat into the wind, “Swim,” I said, “After all they are only Basking Shark, and they won’t hurt you.”

Something about this tale isn’t strictly true, can you guess what it is? Will reveal the little fib on Wednesday, 2/23. Ooops went ten words over! HeyHo!

Nicole Ducleroir's ~ Bernard Pivot Blogfest

2011-02-16T07:41:00.004-06:00

The other particapants taking part in Nicole's Blogfest can be found at One Significant Moment!
Thanks Nicole.

1. What is your favorite word?
    I love the word Chivalry. It conjures days of mists and dreams.

2. What is your least favorite word?
   Torture. My body aches in sympathy

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
    Classical music, a beautiful painting, a sunny spring day, a walk by the sea.

4. What turns you off?
    Blaring televisions, constant interruptions and sometimes guilt about what I should be doing   instead.

5. What is your favorite curse word?
   Shite.......excuse my French!

6. What sound or noise do you love?
   The sound of a child's laughter. I also love the sound of the sea waves breaking on the shore.      Very soothing to the soul.

7. What sound or noise do you hate?
The sound of crunching or nails running down nylon shower curtains. The old type of nylon/vinyl curtains. When I was young I became very ill and an ambulance was called but the doctor felt I was too ill to move. He ripped the shower curtain off the bath rail and wrapped me up in it and submerged me into a bath of freezing cold water and ice to bring down the deadly fever.

My children when they cried with pain.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
When I was in secondary school I wanted to be an Archaeologist. Make great and historic discoveries then write a memoir detailing all my wonderful and exciting discoveries and experiences.

9. What profession would you not like to do? I would hate to be a nurse. I have a phobic fear of needles. It is a bit embarrassing really at my age but there you go!

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Welcome! Let me hold the Gate for you!

To my fellow Crusaders, I am just surfacing from a nasty bout of flu. I plan to visit you all soon.

Move Over Eleanor of Aquitaine.

2011-02-08T08:51:00.000-06:00

I have taken the plunge and joined Rachael Harrie's Second Writers' Platform Building Crusade. What about you? Have you signed up yet? I am so excited at the prospect of meeting new writers and gleening all your wonderful Platform building tips!

Eleanor of Aquitaine enters Constantinople, 1147 A.D.
Illustration from Women Warlords, Tim Newark, Blanford Press, UK, 1989

He's Here!!!!

2011-02-03T13:00:00.001-06:00

Little Sir has arrived!!!! He is the gorgeous little man in my arms. Little Sir is my First Grandchild and the Son of my Beautiful Girl. What a day we all had on Ireland’s first day of Spring and St. Brigid’s Day. February First now also has the auspicious honour of being Little Sir's birthday.

When I got home from the hospital and finally crawled into my bed, tears began to flow. Again! I lay there wondering where these tears were coming from. Little Sir was safely delivered and my Beautiful Girl was looking relaxed and content when I left her. I was surprised I still had tears left in me. I cried for two hours straight in the hospital as My Girl's labour intensified. Pacing the hallway, staring out the window watching the steam puffs from the frigid air rise from the footpaths below. Trying to repress the unrelenting urge to burst into the Labour and Delivery room to rescue her. I pulled one tissue after another from the box in a frenzy until it was empty. I chewed the inside of my lower lip raw with all the nervous biting.

I pondered on the reason for these tears, streaming down my cheeks. Were they tears of excitement, delight and happiness. Or maybe tears of relief tinged with tiredness. I wondered if they were the uncried tears from the potpourri of emotions I experienced throughout the day. I had gotten very little sleep the night before, constantly checking my mobile and listening for the telephone. I fell asleep before I fixed on the cause. I still don’t know the reason for these particular tears but on waking up yesterday morning I was filled with a sense that all was right with the world. I couldn’t wait to get in the car and motor off down the road to see my Beautiful Girl and Little Sir.

This morning when I got up, I started to write a poem about the newest addition to my heart. Now, I am no Katharine Tynan, Ahem! so I have no idea what possessed me. The poem is at the, oh no don't like that, need to find another word and cross that out, phase....but I am sure it will get there. Finished I mean.

So anything exciting happening in your world this week?

P.S. If this post seems slightly incoherent it might have something to do with my giddiness...
Please except my apologies.

I'm A Nana In Waiting....But I'm A Mother First

2011-01-28T16:30:00.002-06:00

Daughter's Baby Shower

I sit here not knowing how to express or articulate the myriad of contradictory emotions whirling around within me. I am happy, anxious, excited, worried, giddy, nervous and impatient to name but a few. No wonder I am exhausted! The reason for this mish-mash of emotions, my Baby Girl is on the verge of delivering her first child. My first grandchild! From today on I will refer to first grandchild as Little Sir on this blog.

Last week Husband and I went out to dinner with the very happy, proud expectant parents. Daughter beamed with the healthy glow of expectant motherhood. Conversation naturally turned to the upcoming event and Father-to-Be turned to me and asked, “Are you excited!?!” I was a bit taken back by the question. I stuttered a bit and stammered my affirmative reply. Father-to-Be looked a bit disappointed by my stammering response. I attempted a redo, but alas it was too late.

So why the insipid reaction to said question. I will tell you why. I am excited my Girl will very soon experience the sheer joy and bliss of a child of her own. I can’t wait for her to experience the endless well of love that will be unleashed in her when she holds Little Sir in her arms the very first time. I am also giddy with excitement over the prospect of a baby in the family again. I love babies! Some would say I am addicted to babies! So why the hesitation…… Well as a mother I have an inherent need to protect my offspring. I know this will spill over onto Little Sir....but he is not here yet!

So let’s start with Labour. I would do this for my Girl if I could. But since I can’t I have been bombarding Heaven’s Pearly Gates with fervent prayers and novenas! Asking, well begging actually that her labour be as easy as possible. Hopefully God has been paying attention to the gnashing of my teeth.

We are going to be at the hospital with Daughter. Husband asked me if I was going to be able to watch Daughter in labour without crying. I threw him a Tundra stare in response. Don't tell him, but you know he might be right.

The labour is not my only concern. I worry about how the ground will sift beneath her, when she arrives home with Little Sir and the weight, the enormity of responsibility takes hold. I remember peering into the Moses basket at my first Little Sir and my whole body shaking with fright. What if I did something wrong. I know my Girl is not me. She is a very capable, confident young woman, but still I worry. I want to wrap her up in a bubble of love and protect her from the anguish she will feel if Little Sir suffers from colic and she spends hours pacing the floor unable to ease his discomfort. Or the tears she will shed as he wails due to that awful scalding teething rash on his bum. When he has his first sniffle or runs a fever and she is beside herself as to how to soothe him.

And later when Little Sir decides it is time to walk on his own two feet and topples over or careens into the corner of some piece of furniture. And later again when she brings him to school and he wails as she pries her coat tails from his little hands with a breaking heart. Or maybe Little Sir will turn with a grin and wave her goodbye and her heart will break because he doesn’t need her all that much anymore.

This is why I hesitated when answering Father-to-Be’s question. Because in my heart Daughter is still my Baby Girl and protecting her has been my mission since that wondrous day I first held her in my arms.

Purging the Clutter

2011-01-24T06:00:00.003-06:00

Husband returned a few days ago from a two week trip to Ireland. There were some plumbing problems in our Irish home caused by the unusual inclement weather that needed attention. So flights were booked and off he went.

The house was quiet after his departure, yet lacked serenity. I was unable to put my finger on the cause of the uncomfortable, stressed aura that surrounded me. Putting on the kettle…because this is what I do when deliberating about most everything. With tea in hand I walked from room to room trying to determine the reason for this atmosphere of unease. It obviously wasn’t husband. After two mugs of tea and two visits to each room, inspecting closets, cupboards, refrigerator and drawers I came to the conclusion that house was burdened, weighed down and moaning under the clutter collected over the past months.

I was shocked at the volume of unorganized stacks of paper stashed in just about every corner. I gathered all the paper piles and placed them on the kitchen table. The purging had begun. Seven hours later I had wadded through the mountain of paper. I shredded four binfuls, sorted, filed or recycled the rest. My next area of attack was the refrigerator and freezer. Best before dates were carefully scrutinized. As I tossed things into the bin my surroundings began to feel lighter. I emptied the freezer finding things at the bottom I was hard pressed to identify. Deciding this was one mystery I had no desire to unravel, the unidentified frozen objects joined past best before dates in the bin. Now the freezer is neat tidy and all its contents are identifiable and usable.

My next target was the pantry. Again best before dates were examined. I am not a stringent best before dater. Call me cynical because I consider these dates a marketing ploy. I am meticulous about dairy product dates though. All except yogurt that is. After all what is yogurt? Getting back to the purging. The pantry was now sorted. Each shelf had its theme and all products on the shelf were repackaged if needed, sealed and labeled. Closets, drawers, sideboards etc. were all subjected to the same. After two weeks of moving through the house like a bat out of hell, filling the rubbish and recycling bins along with boxes and sacks for Goodwill I took a breath and put the kettle on. With mug of tea in hand I moved through the house to observe my handiwork. To my surprise and slight disappointment everything looked the same. I had to open doors and drawers to see the results of my efforts. The house looked the same and yet it felt lighter. As I moved quietly from room to room sipping my tea I was sure I could hear the house say thank you. Then husband arrived home and the dining room table once again sagged under travel debris. I began to feel restless and uncomfortable again. Thankfully the table was cleared within two days and calmness restored.

There is still much purging that needs to be done. I didn’t have the time or the energy to tackle the basement. But it is on my list.

Not A Dumbell In Sight

2011-01-11T06:00:00.001-06:00

Thank you Google Images

The New Year is moving along as time has a habit of doing and here it is week two of 2011. How did that happen? I have no idea where the first eleven days of January went!

Today marks the end of the Fiction Writing Class I started 12 weeks ago. As I was in the throes of this class I wondered what madness possessed me to take it on. I had assignments due every week which was good. A schedule to produce is much needed in my world. BUT isn’t there always a BUT! As I was saying but there were two major family holidays and two less major ones requiring organization thrown amongst the mix. Halloween and New Years (the less major ones), Thanksgiving and Christmas (the major ones). Now some of you might feel Halloween and New Years are also major holidays but…..there is that word again…It depends on how on you qualify a “Major Holiday.” For me hours of shopping, food planning, cooking and a limp exhausted plastic card are the criteria for a “Major Holiday.” So my point, well I stressed out over the holidays and I stressed out over the writing assignments. Today I realized just how stressed I was because today I am relaxed. So what did I do, I went looking for another writing class. I kid you not.

Friends of mine told me about this wonderful place called the Loft in Minneapolis. I went to the Loft website and as I was perusing it I came across a wonderful list of New Year’s resolutions. Resolutions that are not daunting or setting one up for a fall. Best of all there is not a single dumbell in sight!!!

12 Literary Resolutions for 2011

January: Read a classic that has always been on your list. I’ve never read Virginia Woolf— embarrassing, yes. January is the time to conquer this hole in my education.

February: Write for at least 15 minutes every day. Take away the pressure and swear you’ll never show anyone this new work. You’ve heard it before, I’ll tell you again. Just get it flowing. Conquer the blank page. This is a short month. You can do it. If fifteen minutes turns into an hour, send yourself a valentine.

March: Go to at least two author readings at your local book store, library, or literary center. If your community does not have authors passing through, you can watch a reading online. After hearing from the author, read the book.

April: Celebrate the foolish. Find some of the best humor writing and see what makes you laugh out loud. “Right ho!” You can never go wrong with P.G. Wodehouse. Then, give yourself a humor writing assignment. After you make someone laugh from a quip or joke, try to write it down. Can you capture spoken humor in the written form?

May: Spend the month rereading your old work. I have a half-written novel waiting patiently for me on my computer. Why does this scare me so much to go back and read it? Read fragments, half-finished essays, and rejected work. Invite one piece back into your life for revisions, and a second chance.

June: Get an anthology of poetry and read the same poem twice every day—once in the morning, and once at night. Does coming back to it in the evening change it? Take June to think about language—what draws you in, what bores you?

July: Spend two hours a week working on one long piece. This could be a rescued piece discovered in May or something new. Take off the pressure: tell yourself just one month.

August: Reread your favorite book from childhood. Why did that book make such an impression on you? I often wonder if it is a coincidence that I fell madly in love with Robin Hood at the age of 11 and as an adult became a professional fundraiser.

September: Submit. Submit to your dream of being a writer. Submit your work to a contest, a local newspaper, a literary journal.

October: Read a best-selling mystery. What can you learn from a well-paced page turner?

November: Jump on the NaNoWriMo bandwagon and try to write a novel in a month. NaNoWriMo offers plenty of online resources and many communities have meet-ups. The Loft offers a weekend novel writing conference to offer inspiration in early November. Ahem! Don't know about this one???

December: Buy books, give books, talk about books, and spread your love of literature throughout the holidays.

"In one painless year, you’ve become an active participant in the literary community. You’ve read a classic, you’ve created new work, and you’ve heard new work, you’ve supported authors and not once were you encouraged to get more exercise or cut back on sweets and alcohol."
Jocelyn Hale, the Loft’s Executive Director.

I love these resolutions; well all except November…

Thanksgiving people, Major Holiday!

Wishing all my blogging/writerly friends a very Happy and Prosperous 2011.

May all your publishing dreams come true!!!

Christmas Nostalgia

2010-12-21T06:00:00.002-06:00

Christmas Eve, Ring Co. Waterford

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. When the children were young the house buzzed with excitement. The first indication that Christmas was approaching came with the making of the Christmas pudding. As I began measuring one aromatic ingredient after another the children pulled chairs up to the counter and watched in fascination. Once all the pudding ingredients were in the bowl, it was time to stir and wish. This was done with such concentrated determination. Each in turn with eyes closed tightly moved the wooden spoon around the bowl and made their wish. Children wishing on the Christmas pudding is as old a tradition as pudding itself.

Daughter's hands visible in bowl. Notice sugar in Child #3's hair!

A few weeks later it was time to make the snowball cookies. A recipe handed down by my mother. Chairs were once more pulled around the counter as I beat the butter and sugar into a soft creamy batter. While the snowballs were baking four large bowls were filled with icing sugar. Aprons were fastened on and the children sat anxiously waiting for the oven timer to buzz. The signal for fun to begin. I placed the hot butterballs into the first bowl of sugar for tossing and passing along. If I was lucky only a dozen snowballs would myseriously disappear in the process. No-one could explain this mysterious disappearance. "Mr. Nobody" a regular visitor in our house was blamed. But I had my supisions as I observed the mischievous sugar mustached grins looking back at me!

Husband, Firstborn, Child #3, Daughter's best friend & Daughter
Decorating the tree in Ring, Co. Waterford

The Sunday nearest December 8 was designated for decorating. Once Sunday lunch was over, snowball cookies, chocolate covered marshmallows and chocolate covered Kimberly biscuits were arranged on a Christmas Cookie plate, placed on the Christmas tray with glasses, a litre bottle of Cidona along with glasses of sherry, for mom and dad. Children waited anxiously for the tray to arrive. This signaled the decorating was to begin. Each year at least one ornament met its end and this too became part of the ritual. With the decorating done we would sit and watch the taped video of the Late Late Toy Show that had aired the night before. Christmas was now just around the corner.

I sit here now with a longing in my heart and tears brimming my eyes remembering these sweet moments. The years flew by way too quickly. My children are now all grown. But all is not lost! My daughter is expecting her first child in February.....so in a few short years I will have another mischievous sugar mustached grin looking back at me.

I would like to thank you for reading, commenting and following my blog. Your support and encouragement has meant the world to me this past year.

My warmest wishes to you and your family for a very Merry, Peaceful and Happy Christmas.

Be Jolly By Golly Blogfest

2010-12-20T06:00:00.001-06:00

Stockings all hung in a row!

What a fun way to celebrate! Thanks to Jen at Unedited and Melissa at Through the Looking Glass for this Christmas Cheer Blogfest. I have collected a number of wonderful recipes already and the day is only beginning! Stop over at Jen's and Melissa's and catch a glimpse of bloggers beautiful Christmas decorations and discover new holiday recipes.

Husband's Snow Village

Child Number 3 is placing the angel on the "Ring Tree." This tree travelled with us from Ring, Co Waterford, Ireland. It has its own special ornaments some of which also travelled from Ring.

It bears the Children's school and homemade decorations.

Ring Tree

Firstborn is putting the finishing touches to our second tree. In previous years this tree took pride of place in the dining room......but our family is expanding so it has been designated to the family room. I have to say it is looking very much at home in its new corner.

Family Room Tree

Onto food.......

We have a number of traditional Christmas foods. But the fare with rituals or stories attached (some of which will be revealed in next post) are the Christmas Pudding, Trifle and Snowball Cookies. Snowball cookies were a family affair. Children donned aprons in the futile attempt to reduce the mess. A large bowl of icing sugar was placed in front of each child to toss and coat the delicate butterballs. These powdered sugar treats were brought out during tree decorating, the exchange of Christmas presents on Christmas Eve and were the treats left out for Santa. This recipe is my Mom's given to her by her best friend from our time in Chicago eons ago. That's as much as I am going to say about that except thank you Mom and Betty Issac for giving us and our children this wonderful fun tradition.

Snowball Cookies
Cream 8 ounces of butter and 1 ounce of icing sugar
Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 Tablespoon of water
8 ounces of sifted flour and mix well
add 2 ounces of nuts (optional)
Form small balls and place in fridge until firm
Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet in a slow oven. 300*F/150*C for 20 minutes or until golden brown
While hot roll in icing sugar. Makes 3 dozen.

When dinner is finished and my work is done, I love to sit curled up in front of the fire and sip a creamy topped Irish Coffee.

Irish Coffee
1 tsp of sugar
Powers Irish Whiskey
2/3 cup of coffee
Heavy cream, lightly whipped

Preheat the glass with hot water. Dump the water out and add the hot coffee with the teaspoon of sugar and stir. Add the Power's or any other Irish whiskey you might have, and top with the whipping cream. Pour the cream over the back of a spoon so it doesn't sink. Dark coffee's are best for this recipe.

Enjoy!!!!

And It Snowed, And It Snowed!

2010-12-13T06:00:00.003-06:00

Did someone say snow?

At nine o’clock on Friday night the snow began to fall, twenty-two inches of it. As you might imagine our weekend was spent drinking tea, hugging the fire and shoveling. Well I wasn’t shoveling. Thank God for small mercies. That task was left to Husband and the snow blower. Thankfully the children had the foresight to give their father a snow blower for his birthday two years ago. But even with the snow blower it was arduous work. Pushing that snow blower through the first five inches of snow wasn’t too bad. I even braved the elements to take a photo. Once the driveway and paths were cleared a bowl of porridge, toast and a pot of piping hot tea seemed in proper order. A quick look out the window, when breakfast was over produced a groan from Husband. So much snow had fallen it looked like the driveway and the path had never been cleared. Husband donned his partially dried coat, boots and gloves and headed out to battle the snow accumulation with his new best and constant friend the snow blower. Pushing the snow blower through the next five inches proved a bit more difficult and took longer. This became the routine of our day with two more forays outdoors. Son telephoned to inquire if he could use Husband’s snow blower. A short time later Son arrived and Husband helped load the snow blower into Son’s truck. At some point during this effort Father and Son bonded resulting in Husband offering to help dig out Son’s driveway and path. En route they stopped to pull people out of ditches and help others dig their cars out from under the snow. Husband arrived home three or four hours later red faced and breathless. Hot whiskeys by the fire were the next order of business.

It snowed throughout the night. In the early hours of Sunday morning, the city plows made their way down our road. This meant all the snow from the road was pushed into the entrance of our driveway. Packed heavy ton weight snow. With a sigh of resignation, Husband once again donned the winter gear hanging over chairs to dry in front of the kitchen and mudroom heat registers. An hour later I turned on the 24/7 weather channel to learn the temperatures were dangerously low. Getting Husband’s attention over the roar of the snow blower to warn him was a chore in itself. When he finally looked in my direction I gestured for him to come in. I did not relish the thought of trying to navigate snow laden roads on the way to an emergency room due to frostbitten digits. I related the warnings and asked that he not stay out for long intervals. Clearing the paths and driveway took up the rest of the day. There was nothing for it but to make a hot chili and some homemade New Zealand beer bread for dinner. I made it extra hot. Lip throbbing hot according to Husband, which didn’t deter him from refilling his bowl! So that was our weekend. Everyone I have spoken to has a similar tale. A weekend revolving around keeping up with clearing the snow. Thankfully neither we nor any of our family or friends lost power, there is always a silver lining. But I can’t end this tale on the silver lining, because in the early hours of this (Monday) morning the plows came down our road again. Pushing more snow into the entrance of our driveway and every other driveway on the street. Guess what Husband was doing at 4:30 this morning!

Comforts

2010-12-07T22:35:00.002-06:00

Last Sunday I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. Actually I felt very sluggish and deflated dissolving into tears at the slightest provocation. But the grocery shopping had to be done. Husband said he would drive me as he needed to get another one of his bargain basement haircuts. I was relieved because there is nothing like driving in snow to put the heart crosswise in me.

Husband pulled up to the doors of Festival asking how long I would be. Tears began to spill down my cheeks. Why this simple inquiry reduced me to tears is beyond explanation…..I managed to say “half an hour if I’m lucky, an hour if I’m not,” to a very bewildered looking husband!

I moved through the fruit and vegetable section struggling to keep the tear flow under control. I quickly went up one aisle and down another until I came to the shampoo/cleanser aisle. I slowed down because I needed some cleanser. Casting a glance along the shelves searching for Ponds a blue jar caught my eye. I stopped right in front of the blue jars stacked on the shelf and felt a little smile threaten to supplant the tears. The big white letters on the blue jar read “NOXZEMA”. I have not seen or maybe just not noticed a jar of Noxzema in years. The white letters on that blue jar plummeted me back in time. I was a small child watching my mother open her jar of Noxzema and rub the white cream all over her face and neck and then dab a smidgen onto my cheeks and nose. Well what do you think I did….I grabbed one of those blue jars and placed it gently into my cart. Not with the rest of the groceries…Oh no….it was carefully placed in the child seat.

When I got home I sorted out my pantry and put the shopping away. I began to feel a bit light headed and chilled. I just couldn’t get warm. Was I coming down with the flu. I discovered I had a fever of 102. My weepyness was now explained. Whew! For a while there I thought I was losing my grip! I decided the best place for me was bed. Grabbing my Noxzema jar I headed up the stairs. I opened the jar, held it under my nose and breathed in the scent. There is no way to describe the Noxzema smell, it has its own distinct scent in the same way Vicks does. The very mention of Vicks and one can smell the vapours. Well I smeared a big glob of that cream all over my face and neck. Closing my eyes I felt soothed by the scent and the tingling sensation on my skin. The overwhelming emotions that had gripped me washed away as I rinsed the Noxzema from my face.

Most people assuage their well-being with “Comfort Foods.” It seems I am not one of those people. I have discovered to my surprise my well-being is soothed by “Comfort Scents.” Which begs me to wonder what other little mysteries am I hiding from myself???

Talli Roland's "The Hating Game"

2010-12-01T10:17:00.000-06:00

Talli Roland's "The Hating Game" Kindle edition is now available on Amazon. Help make Talli'e debut novel soar on the Amazon bestseller list at Amazon and Amazon.co.uk by spreading the word today!

A delightful read. I was gripped instantly! Anxious to find out what trials and tribulations where in store for Mattie Johns with the turning of each page.

A very cleverly written book filled with witty sarcasm and just the right amount of tenderness. I read this book in three sittings. I recommend "The Hating Game" to anyone!!! Talli Roland is an author to watch.

Writing Assignment

2010-11-16T05:00:00.019-06:00

I wrote this scene for my writing class this morning. The premise of the assignment was to flesh out a scene from a list of verbs that one person or animal can do to another person or animal and then randomly assigning words like “boy,” “girl,” “man,” “woman,” “dog,” “cat,” etc. to the left and right of the verb.
I chose man loves girl from the list.

He scans the hall searching for his wife among the crowd. He catches sight of her face looking anxiously towards the door. She smiles with relief when she sees him. Pulling his coat off he quickly makes his way up the aisle to the front row where she is waiting for him. The musty odour of soggy wool permeates through the hall. The sounds of people shifting in their seats, coughing, sneezing and clearing their throats fills the air. He settles into the seat beside her just as the lights in the hall begin to dim.

“I didn’t think you were going to make it,” she whispers

“Traffic,” he replied

“Did you bring your camera,” she asked.

“Oh no! I left it in the car,” he said, running his fingers through his hair.

“It’s okay, I brought mine.”

"Was Amy nervous?"

"Once I told her you would be here she seemed fine."

The hum of hushed voices and polite laughter is silenced by the darkness.
A sliver of light is visible through the gapping curtain. The silence is shattered by a microphone voice from behind the curtain.

“Is this thing on?”

Laughter ripples through the hall. The principal appears through the gapping curtain microphone in hand and welcomes the parents, grandparents and family members to this years Christmas concert production. She steps back behind the curtain to the sound of pounding feet on the stage. The curtain opens in short jerking spurts to the claps of the anxious and expectant audience. The band begins to play under the supervision and direction of the band teacher. The concert is underway.

The chorus sing and the band play a selection of popular Christmas songs. Parents are bopping up and down in their seats and making their way towards the stage with cameras to capture and record another milestone event in their child’s life.

The band and chorus fall silent as a piano is pushed onto the stage. A young man rushes out and places a microphone at the centre of the stage. The principal walks out and announces a special treat for the audience, a young soloist who possess the voice of an angel the music department discovered purely by accident. The principal lowers the microphone and backs off the stage with arm outstretched by way of introduction.

Amy walks across the stage taking her position in front of the microphone. He reaches over and takes his wife’s hand in his and gives it a little squeeze. Tears of pride and love pool in his eyes. He wills the nerves and stage fright he knows Amy is feeling to ease. The band teacher sits behind the piano and begins to play the first chords of Pie Jesu.

She scans the hall looking for her parents. Finding them her eyes lock onto his. She clears her throat takes a step back from the microphone, takes a deep breath, opens her mouth and the hall resounds with the sweet and pure timbre of her voice. He holds her in his eyes until the last note. The silence is shattered by the sudden crash of chairs being pushed back. The audience is on their feet clapping and shouting for more. She bobs a curtsey and blows a kiss towards her parents and with a nervous little giggle runs off the stage.

If I Were......

2010-11-09T18:00:00.007-06:00

When I stopped over at Rainy Day Wanderer for a bit of a visit I found this great list. I thought it was fun and so decided to take a leaf from the The Words Crafter's post. Pop over and check out her very interesting list.

-If I were a season, I would be autumn
- If I were a month, I would be September
- If I were a day of the week, I would be Friday
- If I were a time of day, I would be twilight
- If I were a planet, I would be Neptune
- If I were a direction, I would be East

- If I were a tree, I would be a Cherry Blossom
- If I were a flower, I would be a lily
- If I were a fruit, I would be a peach
- If I were a land animal, I would be a horse
- If I were a sea animal, I would be a dolphin
- If I were a bird, I would be a dove

- If I were a piece of furniture, I would be a sofa
- If I were a liquid, I would be water
- If I were a stone, I would be pearl
- If I were a tool, I would be a hammer
- If I were a kind of weather, I would be stormy

- If I were a musical instrument, I would be a piano
- If I were a color, I would be royal blue
- If I were a facial expression, I would be a smile
- If I were an emotion, I would be uncertainty
- If I were a sound, I would be lapping waves
- If I were an element, I would be water
- If I were a car, I would be a 1920 Stutz Bearcat.

- If I were a food, I would be Black Forest Gateaux

- If I were a place, I would be Florence
- If I were a flavor, I would be cherry
- If I were a scent, I would be lavender
- If I were an object, I would be a Degas painting
- If I were a body part, I would be an eye
- If I were a song, I would be Tapestry by Carol King
- If I were a pair of shoes, I would be a pair of heels

- If I were transportation, I would be a horse drawn carriage
- If I were a fairy tale, I would be The Little Mermaid
- If I were a holiday, I would be Christmas

- If I were a novel, I would be Tale of Two Cities
- If I were a movie, I would be Gone With The Wind

All About the Zip and the Geese

2010-11-04T20:30:00.002-05:00

The voice on the radio this morning told me it was only 31degrees outside and I didn’t doubt him for a second. I felt the chill in the air as I moved about the kitchen filling the kettle in anticipation of my first and favorite cuppa of the day. Once breakfast was finished I went in search of my down lined winter coat that had been stashed in the storage wardrobe last spring . Once I located my coat I next rummaged through the winter hat and glove drawer. I eventually found my woolly ruby red cap and gloves. The voice on the radio warned me and I was taking the warning seriously.

I struggled with the zipper on my coat for a good five minutes. The coat is in perfect condition but the zip….well the zip is temperamental to say the least. It is a nylon zip, need I say more. The worst kind in my estimation. It likes to split from the bottom as I zip it up. I struggle to re-zip by forcing the zipper down and starting over again. I tug and I pull. I huff and I puff. It can take many attempts and usually does especially when I am pressed for time and rushing for work. This morning to vent the frustration welling up in me, I cursed the zipper and gave up. With the zip separated half way up, I resorted to snapping the snaps and out the door I went.

The sky this morning was a wonderful soft blue and nearly cloudless, expect for one lone cotton puff that seemed to gently glide by. The air was crisp as promised by the voice on the radio. My exhales visible bringing to mind smoke signals from old black and white movies and that’s when I heard it. The first time this season! The honking sounds of Wild Geese and flying in formation directly overhead. I don’t know if this is early or late for the geese but a silly thought crossed my mind. Had they heard the voice on the radio this morning? I shivered slightly as a gust of wind caught my breathe. Shoving my hands into the pockets I pulled my down lined winter coat closer into my body.

So the geese have decided it is time to get out of town. I looked after them longingly thinking there go some pretty smart birds. The sight of the geese overhead flying out of town heralds the impending arrival of winter. I wish I could pick up and fly off to avoid the approaching winter. How I would love to head for warmer climes. My restless spirit once more coming to the fore. My mother often told me she thought I had gypsy blood flowing in my veins as I was only happy when packing a suitcase. I smile at the memory as I make my way across campus. The honking of the geese fills the air as I dream of flying away.

I look with envy at the geese as they fly off into the horizon. They are free to go. To migrate away from the bitterness of the coming winter. While I will spend the next months struggling with the annoying nylon zip in my down lined winter coat. Oh but to soar free. I look up towards the sky again as the geese fly further away and the sound of the honking fades in the distance with each step I take. And then I hear it, the clack, clack, clicking of my coat’s zipper separating again. I look wistfully at the geese. With a deep sigh I resign myself to being earth bound in my down lined winter coat with the temperamental and very annoying nylon zip.

Jack's Mr. Pumpkin

2010-10-29T12:33:00.001-05:00

This is a story I wrote when my youngest child was five.

He turns 21 this week.

It was a tragic end to Jack’s day. Someone had taken his pumpkin, smashed the remains and scattered them just a couple yards from the front door. We all knew it was Jack’s from the tell tale pink and green florescent pieces. Jack sobbed his little heart out.

“Why did they do that Mommy, why my Mr. Pumpkin?”

How was I to explain to my tired, overwrought five year old why fate in the disguise of Halloween pranksters had picked his pumpkin for this sorry end?

Earlier that day I brought the children to the shop, pumpkin hunting. We looked over the specimens that remained and finally each of the children made their choice. Jack and his three older siblings chatted excitedly as they planned their carving strategies. The minute we arrived home they scrambled for crayons and paper. Each design of prospective faces set off a chorus of, “What do you think of this one Mom?” I scrutinized the drawings carefully and then made the only pronouncement a mother can in this situation, “That is just wonderful! So Original!” Designs finally decided on, it was time to clean, scrape and carve the pumpkins into the proposed masterpieces. The older children got right to the job at hand. Tops were cut off their pumpkins and insides scraped out. After cutting the top off Jack’s pumpkin, I handed him a scraper. He put his little hand into the pumpkin and his face screwed up into a knot. His big blue eyes disappeared as his button nose scrunched up into his forehead. His beautiful bow mouth stretched straight across his face as he roared, “YUK! YUK!” With disgust he turned to me and said,” You do it Mommy!” Well I suppose that’s what mothers are for, the Yuk jobs. Once cleaned, Jack drew the face he wanted carved on his pumpkin. It was a very interesting face, with two large oblong eyebrows, round eyes, an upside triangle nose and a lopsided grin. On reflection, it was quite an endearing face. I think it was the mischievous grin.

The pumpkins carved, the time had come to add drama with paint. Jack loved to paint. He watched with wide eyed delight as I placed the paints on the table. With a soft chuckle he hugged his pumpkin and said, “I’m going to make you the bestest pumpkin in the whole wide world.”

As the children painted I got the camera. Any mother worth her salt knows these are the precious moments. They stood with brushes poised waiting for picture taking to cease so they could proceed with phase two of their artistic creations. Ten minutes later everyone was finished painting, everyone except Jack. He was busily painting every inch of “Mr. Pumpkin.” When Mr. Pumpkin’s identity magically emerged, I do not know.

The finished creations were placed on the front steps for display. The time had come for costume assembly and creativity on my part with face paint. Once decked out they rushed about excitedly trying to find the trick or treat bags bought the week previous and put in the proverbial safe place. Bags found and in hand they raced out the door and I breathlessly tried to catch up. They knocked on doors for the next two hours stopping only because their bags had become too heavy.

The treats we had for callers had dwindled down to a few tootsie rolls. It was nearly 8PM and there was a knock at the door. I gave the three young teenagers the last of our goodies and apologized to them for the rather thin pickings. They let me know in no uncertain terms that they were not amused.

I closed the door, turned to the children saying, “I hope you weren’t rude like that and remembered to say thank you to people.”

They assured me they had thanked everyone, even the person that gave them a toothbrush.

It had been a long and exciting night. but the time had come to remove costumes, wash off face paint and get ready for bed. The children wanted to bring in their pumpkins before going to bed. This is when we discovered to Jack’s horror and mine that “Mr. Pumpkin” was missing. Oldest son spotted “Mr. Pumpkin’s” remains scattered on the road. Jack was inconsolable. Finally to settle him I promised first thing after school the next day we would go to the shops and buy a new, “Mr. Pumpkin.”

I spent the night tossing and turning hoping I would be able to keep the promise I made to my five year old. There had been so few pumpkins available earlier that day.

The next day I collected Jack from school and we began our great pumpkin expedition. We tried shop after shop, but no pumpkins. I was just about to give up when we passed a garden shop and there sitting outside the door I spotted at least a dozen pumpkins. I felt like I had found the pot of gold at the end a rainbow. I sighed a huge sigh of relief as I pointed them out to Jack. Before I had the keys out of the ignition Jack was at the door of the shop weighed down by his new “Mr. Pumpkin”

The shop owner was a friendly elderly man who looking at my son asked, “Well young man, what’s your name?” “Jack,” he replied, “and this is Mr. Pumpkin.” The shop owner laughed turning to me and said, “Aren’t they wonderful at this age!”

Agreeing I then asked him “How much?” Looking at my son he said, “Jack, you can have Mr. Pumpkin. You brought a little ray of sunshine into my day. Enjoy.” I thanked the man profusely. Jack sang and chatted to his new Mr. Pumpkin the whole way home.

Once home the carving and painting ritual was repeated. The new pumpkin was now a bonafide “Mr. Pumpkin.” Jack insisted this “Mr. Pumpkin” be kept in his room where no harm could come to him. Weeks passed and as “Mr. Pumpkin” withered, Jack began to lose interest. We were able to move “Mr. Pumpkin” who began to smell a bit offside, outside. He was placed by the backdoor and there he sat until after Christmas. I just hadn’t the heart to remove him. I had grown attached to the old boy!

My scanner is not working so I was unable to post the actually photos of that Halloween or of Mr. Pumpkin I & II. But rest assured I do have them, buckets of them!

The Face in the Mirror

2010-10-25T05:52:00.002-05:00

John Ormond, 23 (Dad)

I had a profound conversation with my Father a long time ago. The sentiment he expressed with a wistful sadness resonated deep within me. Our conversation had taken a philosophic turn about life and he said,
“You know Ann, when I look in the mirror I don’t know the old man face looking back at me.”

With a sigh he continued, “And when I realize the old man face is me, I am shocked because the face I expect to see is 23. Inside my face is 23."

I looked into his eyes and was surprised because for a split second I caught a glimpse my Father's 23 year old inner self.

I hadn’t reached the stage in my life where I did not recognize the face in the mirror nor had I experienced shock at the reflection looking back at me. But I understood the sentiment he was trying to convey. It seemed a truth to me. Once I heard it my being knew it. I was deeply moved as he struggled to reconcile his inner self image with the outer appearance time had dealt him. My father was about the age I am now when we had this conversation.

The reason this is on my mind, well I recently looked into the mirror and guess what, I gasped at the old lady face looking back at me. I had to look deeply into her eyes before I saw myself. In my mind’s eye I am the 30 year old woman my father confided his struggle in that day.

I began wondering why the reflection I expected to see was my 30 year old self. Was it because at this time in my life, I had my beautiful children, full of life and vibrant around me? Was it because I lived in my dream house and when I closed the front door against the world each night I felt safe and contented? Was it because this was the decade of my life when all the planets seemed to align. I was young, healthy, with a wonderful husband, four beautiful, healthy children and a life filled with possibilities. This led me to speculate about my father’s age of contentment and endless possibilities. Was it 23?

Dad & me at 30

At times I grapple with age, but I don’t give it over much thought. Except of course on those occasions I don’t recognize the face in the mirror looking back at me. When it does happen though, that moment, that split second of not recognizing self is not quite as shocking or distressing as it might have been, because my Father forewarned me. He had prepared me

Ever since that conversation when I look at an elderly man or woman, I immediately wonder what face is in their mind’s eye. Sometimes I cringe when the elderly are patronized, because I know in their mind's eye they are not the feeble bodies, gnarled hands and worn faces the world sees. They are not that face in mirror. And if you look closely…very closely and deeply into their eyes you might get lucky and catch a glimpse of their inner self.

When you look in the mirror what face do you expect to see?

Just Put One Foot In Front of the Other

2010-10-18T07:08:00.004-05:00

My business cards have arrived. Aren't they pretty. I love them. You may notice the blank space under my name, where a title should be. I toyed with the idea of having "Writer" printed below my name, but I felt that would be presumptuous of me. I know…. my friend, Theresa of Substitute Teacher’s Saga is always saying if you write, you are a writer and I agree with her. Really I do! But that didn't stop me with big red face, gingerly hitting the backspace key six times. Maybe by the time I order the next batch I will have published something and feel justified in declaring myself, "Writer."

Why did I get business cards you may ask? I attended a writers’ workshop this summer. Are you fed-up of hearing about this workshop? Anyway at workshops end and before my fellow students and I went our separate ways addresses were exchanged. Actually business cards were exchanged by all but me. I handed out little bits of paper with my email and blog address scrawled across them. So I had a light bulb moment. Why not get my own business cards. I know, a bit slow on the uptake, but better late than never! Right?

Now I am wondering who does one give undeclared “Writer” status business cards to. Last Saturday night, I gave one to a couple, husband and I met while out for a meal. Needless to say I had indulged in a glass of wine at dinner or I would never have been so bold. But what I am going to do with the other 199!!!! I suppose I could put one in with the Christmas cards. But that strikes me as a bit cheeky. Sort of like....hey look at me and my beautiful fancy business cards. Well, I guess it is either that or indulge in 199 glasses of wine.

The other thing I want to ramble on and bore you with is my purchase of Sketcher Shape-Ups! I made this bold online purchase last spring. I was delighted when the rather large box arrived in the post. Ripping open the box I pulled out the Shape-Ups that promised me a tighter, shapelier backside and good legs. Included in the box I was surprised to discover was a booklet and DVD. Did Sketchers think I needed a DVD to instruct me on walking I muttered to myself? I tossed the DVD aside, after all I learned this skill eons ago.

I have walked miles in my Sketcher Shape-Ups. And to date, neither my backside, nor my legs appear to be any shapelier. In fact they look much as they always have, shapeless and flabby. Is it possible I have been walking incorrectly all these years? Doesn’t one just put one foot in front of the other. Is there some other way to walk I am not privy to. I suppose I should go on a search for the discarded DVD and find out.