Today is as cold, cloudy and murky as a day in March, even though it is nearly the end of May. Today would also be my parents wedding anniversary, if they were still alive. I remember them with love.
Today I was treated to a delicious lunch by a young friend who is now half way through college at UC Berkeley. She has matured into a young woman and looks so professional. She also sounds so professional. It was a joy to share time with her.
I realized that I haven't blogged recently even though I have taken pictures and planned posts. A combination of excessive arthritis pain and reading too much is part of my excuse.
Reading posts on Facebook is a time-consumer. Still, I learn quite a bit from what my friends post and then go dive into Internet research to learn more. Maybe some of those planned posts will materialize here, after all.
Reading novels is also time-consuming. I have just finished the best-selling tome, Roses. Not sure I can honestly say that I liked it, but I was certainly drawn into it and heartened to see that the author is seventy-one and that it is pretty much her first novel. This gives me hope that I might finish something yet.
Lately, with the monthly gift of a bag full of library books arriving like clockwork, I have been finding myself asking writer's questions about the the books I read. Does a series grow from one book or is it planned to begin with? Maybe it will work out better as a series if it is planned that way from the beginning and I have one manuscript that, with a great deal of revision, might become the first book in a series.
Readers seem to like multi-generational sagas. I am one of them. I have a multi-generational saga to finish. Reading Leila Meacham's story of how she started Roses only to put it away and pull it out again then repeat that cycle until she sat down to finish it, I am heartened. Maybe today will be the beginning of the end of writer's block for me and the start of starting over.
Certainly today is a good one to plan for a nice cup of hot chocolate later to take the chill off of me. It will feel good all the way from the tip of my nose to the tip of my oh so cold toes to warm up.
I am grateful for the day and for the roses blooming outside my office window.
Showing posts with label cold weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cold weather. Show all posts
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Fall for Sure
It was 59 degrees inside my house when I got up this morning. The electric blanket had quit doing the job--for some reason the newer blankets take their cue from the ambient temperature of the air above them rather than from the control setting. Probably will have to break down and learn to use that other technology that I insisted to my late father that we had to have when we put in the "new" furnace--eleven years ago. That is the programmable thermostat. The one year I used it though, I hated it. It came on way too early, went off too early in the evening and I had to keep remembering to reset it anyway in between, just as I do now. Still it did keep the furnace from coming on at night and blowing 60 degree air at me.
It is time to bake bread and make soup--warm the kitchen with the cooking projects and be comforted by "hot cooked food"--an expression of Papa's that I love. I do wish that I had a winter garden and hope to have one next year.
Rain is on the horizon, but this is the fourth week in a row that we have had that forecast and we haven't had much more than enough drizzle to dampen the ground. We would give thanks for a good soaking rain or three or four.
The sun is definitely at a lower angle these days and I find myself counting the days until the winter solstice and then the light will come again. It is a good time for drawing in and being grateful for home and hearth--which I surely am.
Very hard to believe that next week is already Thanksgiving. (Sorry about the typos that I just corrected.
It is time to bake bread and make soup--warm the kitchen with the cooking projects and be comforted by "hot cooked food"--an expression of Papa's that I love. I do wish that I had a winter garden and hope to have one next year.
Rain is on the horizon, but this is the fourth week in a row that we have had that forecast and we haven't had much more than enough drizzle to dampen the ground. We would give thanks for a good soaking rain or three or four.
The sun is definitely at a lower angle these days and I find myself counting the days until the winter solstice and then the light will come again. It is a good time for drawing in and being grateful for home and hearth--which I surely am.
Very hard to believe that next week is already Thanksgiving. (Sorry about the typos that I just corrected.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Sunday in October
The weather has taken a winterish turn. Overcast and damp, it could be any time of day and much more deeply into winter than it is on this second October Sunday. We are waiting the arrival of a storm. While we are desperately in need of rain, we aren't in need of the wind that is supposed to accompany it. This is always a little scary. The first goodly storm of the season tends to run off since the earth is hard packed and dry from all the baking summer sun. In addition, the power lines are dusty and the rain seems to have the effect of causing this dust to turn to muck and the power lines to short. I hope that we will get the good effects and the bad will be minimized. May the trees stand tall and the power stay on.
Time to remember where I put my long underwear shirts after no longer needing them for the year back in June. Time to hand wash all the hand knitted things that I should have washed by now when the weather was warmer! (I am a champion procrastinator.)
Good weather for baking though and for soup. I will use up all those cans and boxes of soup. (It feels almost as strange to say boxes as it does to pour the soup out of them, but that is a definite advance in technology! No more can openers. No more depending on power to open the cans, either, come to think of it. My hands will no longer work a hand opener.)
Yesterday I made a small batch of booklover's sachets. I love the smell of the patchouli, rosemary and cloves mixed together. So yummy. And no calories. (I should invent a chocolate and vanilla potpourri, but that would make me want to bake.)
Pictures to take, that should have been taken yesterday--when the light was better. Natural light is always better.
Still, it is Sunday. Time to relax and pray, give thanks and count my blessings. I am grateful today that the hot weather is behind us and that when I look at my Etsy shop I see that some of my items have been viewed many times. I wonder, what to do to convert the views to clicks?
Prayers for all my family and friends--and viewers and readers. May your day be truly blessed. (That underlined for was originally a typo--I thought for and typed to. Guess I shouldn't blog on only one cup of coffee. Yes, proofreading would help too.
Time to remember where I put my long underwear shirts after no longer needing them for the year back in June. Time to hand wash all the hand knitted things that I should have washed by now when the weather was warmer! (I am a champion procrastinator.)
Good weather for baking though and for soup. I will use up all those cans and boxes of soup. (It feels almost as strange to say boxes as it does to pour the soup out of them, but that is a definite advance in technology! No more can openers. No more depending on power to open the cans, either, come to think of it. My hands will no longer work a hand opener.)
Yesterday I made a small batch of booklover's sachets. I love the smell of the patchouli, rosemary and cloves mixed together. So yummy. And no calories. (I should invent a chocolate and vanilla potpourri, but that would make me want to bake.)
Pictures to take, that should have been taken yesterday--when the light was better. Natural light is always better.
Still, it is Sunday. Time to relax and pray, give thanks and count my blessings. I am grateful today that the hot weather is behind us and that when I look at my Etsy shop I see that some of my items have been viewed many times. I wonder, what to do to convert the views to clicks?
Prayers for all my family and friends--and viewers and readers. May your day be truly blessed. (That underlined for was originally a typo--I thought for and typed to. Guess I shouldn't blog on only one cup of coffee. Yes, proofreading would help too.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Will it Ever be Cool Again?
It feels like it will never be cool again. The fog, which I love, seems to be sulking somewhere out to sea and our beautiful sea breeze along with it. Natural air conditioning is much nicer and less costly than artificial air, but for the last few days as the temperature soared to 97 degrees, I have wished that I could just flip a switch.
I console myself with the knowledge that in two weeks it will be fall--except that fall is our warmest season, at least at the beginning.
Of course, I love fall for the holidays and because it signals new beginnings, this year even more than usually because of the election.
Meanwhile, the tomatoes and basil that I posted about on Tuesday have continued to grow. The tomatoes seem to be growing exponentially. One day, I thought they seemed bigger in the evening than they were in the morning. Unlike corn in the Midwest that can be heard growing, they aren't making any sound, just quietly filling their grow bags. The roses are thriving too. As long as they have plenty of water, they seem to like the heat.
The days are getting shorter and we will be turning our attention to indoor activities. Soon it will be time for holiday preparations. Summer's heat will be a haze of the past. I will be glad for that, even as I dream of next summer's garden.
Grateful that the fog is supposedly on the way and that the weather will moderate, I hope to post more regularly next week.
I console myself with the knowledge that in two weeks it will be fall--except that fall is our warmest season, at least at the beginning.
Of course, I love fall for the holidays and because it signals new beginnings, this year even more than usually because of the election.
Meanwhile, the tomatoes and basil that I posted about on Tuesday have continued to grow. The tomatoes seem to be growing exponentially. One day, I thought they seemed bigger in the evening than they were in the morning. Unlike corn in the Midwest that can be heard growing, they aren't making any sound, just quietly filling their grow bags. The roses are thriving too. As long as they have plenty of water, they seem to like the heat.
The days are getting shorter and we will be turning our attention to indoor activities. Soon it will be time for holiday preparations. Summer's heat will be a haze of the past. I will be glad for that, even as I dream of next summer's garden.
Grateful that the fog is supposedly on the way and that the weather will moderate, I hope to post more regularly next week.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Wednesday, Mittag
Mittag, the middle of the week. I always begin the new week on Monday feeling as if I have a huge, luxurious stretch of new time ahead of me. Time for new beginnings, new projects, new deadlines, finishing old ones. By Wednesday I am starting to feel harried, there isn't enough time, I'm not going to get it all done. Yesterday I was hit by the cold weather hanging on and a case of winter blahs so that the post-polio syndrome surfaced to the top and I ached all over and couldn't ignore the aches; was cold and shivery and couldn't get warm and just gave up and napped and curled up in warm places--which is not where the computers live.
valentine designs need to be finished on CP, publicizing needs to be done, mushrooms need to be sauteed and frozen for later use, the dishes and laundry need doing. I can take my pick! None of them appeal, but there is at least a long list to choose from.
Monday night I discovered that I was editing the wrong file from my novel. Carefully, lovingly editing the file that was not the last edition. So now there is that to take care of too.
The Amaryllis now has two full-bloom flowers and two buds. Very pretty and delicate.
Some advice to young newlyweds came into my mind as I began this post--so it seems that the bloom is off the rose, prune and nurture the bush that it may re-bloom. I see my roses in my mind's eye, sitting out in the cold now, looking quite forlorn. They need pruning and when it warms up a bit, feeding. They were glorious last year after attention was given them. I think it is a good analogy. I will pass it on.
valentine designs need to be finished on CP, publicizing needs to be done, mushrooms need to be sauteed and frozen for later use, the dishes and laundry need doing. I can take my pick! None of them appeal, but there is at least a long list to choose from.
Monday night I discovered that I was editing the wrong file from my novel. Carefully, lovingly editing the file that was not the last edition. So now there is that to take care of too.
The Amaryllis now has two full-bloom flowers and two buds. Very pretty and delicate.
Some advice to young newlyweds came into my mind as I began this post--so it seems that the bloom is off the rose, prune and nurture the bush that it may re-bloom. I see my roses in my mind's eye, sitting out in the cold now, looking quite forlorn. They need pruning and when it warms up a bit, feeding. They were glorious last year after attention was given them. I think it is a good analogy. I will pass it on.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Cold, Cold and More Cold
The news is full of stories of snow on the hills. The Santa Cruz Mountains have snow. The East Bay hills have snow. Mount Hamilton and so it goes. The pictures on the news and on the new tv (so beautiful) are gorgeous. Cold and snow are getting old. I long for spring.
My new amaryllis is about to bloom on the counter. She thinks its spring! It is hard to tell if this is going to be one flower or two. Watching a plant like this grow is awe inspiring and hopeful. It will not be winter forever, even though right now it feels like it will be. The daffodils have buds, but fortunately are waiting for the weather to warm up.
Briefly the poinsettia sat outside--Christmas is over and I thought it time to reclaim the counter space--and then I realized how cold it was so she came back in and lends her splash of brilliant color to my space. I appreciate this especially in the mornings when I first wake up and look out and see this beautiful color.
Today I worked with my Mary Kay business, filling two orders to mail and I am so grateful. February's bills will be paid. Praise God and on to working on March!
We have new products that I know are going to be fun to share with people--mineral powder foundation with a special, beautiful brush and new lipsticks. Perfect for this spring. Just a little money will go a long way to revitalize last year's clothes, which will seem new anyway after all the winter scarves and boots and coats are put away.
Today I also looked at an unfinished writing project and couldn't believe how long that one has been waiting for me to come tend it. Maybe 2008 is going to be the year of finishing unfinished projects. More about that later, if I begin to make progress.
My new amaryllis is about to bloom on the counter. She thinks its spring! It is hard to tell if this is going to be one flower or two. Watching a plant like this grow is awe inspiring and hopeful. It will not be winter forever, even though right now it feels like it will be. The daffodils have buds, but fortunately are waiting for the weather to warm up.
Briefly the poinsettia sat outside--Christmas is over and I thought it time to reclaim the counter space--and then I realized how cold it was so she came back in and lends her splash of brilliant color to my space. I appreciate this especially in the mornings when I first wake up and look out and see this beautiful color.
Today I worked with my Mary Kay business, filling two orders to mail and I am so grateful. February's bills will be paid. Praise God and on to working on March!
We have new products that I know are going to be fun to share with people--mineral powder foundation with a special, beautiful brush and new lipsticks. Perfect for this spring. Just a little money will go a long way to revitalize last year's clothes, which will seem new anyway after all the winter scarves and boots and coats are put away.
Today I also looked at an unfinished writing project and couldn't believe how long that one has been waiting for me to come tend it. Maybe 2008 is going to be the year of finishing unfinished projects. More about that later, if I begin to make progress.
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