Hollyhocks and Humble Pie

Whoa- how time flies

2009-06-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe I have abandoned this blog for so long- Feb 2008 was the last entry. My life has taken an unbelievable, incredibly awesome 360 degree turn from then!

Most importantly- and most expensively, we have moved to a townhouse in Hartland- a charming little village - a place I always wanted to live. How awesome is that! We have a three level townhouse in a charming little expanse of townhouses in a large subdivision that boasts condos, apartments, townhouses and single family homes. But the best part of all is the overwhelming abundance of trails, sidewalks , parks and lakes within a very short drive- most within a decent walk!

Second most expensive on the new list is my new puppy Jazz. That is her picture on the front there. We are currently taking classes in Agility and K9 disc and having a blast!! Today I was visiting one of our favorite "parks". For awhile I was working with my puppy on focus issues and mostly trying to break her of the habit of chasing birds. It went pretty well. She did take off after a Robin, but promptly turnd around and came back when Id told her to "leave it" We both were taken back when we came around the corner of the building and saw what looked like a coyote standing under a tree. A second look assured me that it was a life size cutout of a coyote. Interesting?!

I feel blessed to be able to make these choices, especially in these hard times! And I am eternally grateful for these opportunities to have some of my dreams come true. With gratitue and faith I look forward to reaching them all!

Febuary 2008

2008-02-10T07:20:00.000-08:00

This has been a Wisconsin winter:

Snow, snow, snow- 64 inches thus far with about two months to go. Wednesday, we had 16 inches of snow in 24 hours- Thursday, Friday cloudy- Saturday, three inches of snow. Snow plowers are having a boon year. Many have reached their contracted limits for plowing per event. This moves them into the realm of charging by inch rather than event.

Followed by cold. According to the groundhog- at least the one here in Wisconsin (the Pennsylvania hog always disagrees wih our little beauty) we are on our way to spring. But today the winds are gusting up to 45 mph . The sun is shinning, so with the wind and the beautifully clear blue skies it is a nippy -35 degrees outside. To put a finer point on this little icicle, that means that exposed skin can freeze in a scant couple minutes of exposure. Course, that is with the wind chill figured in. The true temp is a balmy -5. Much better as your rosy red checks have a few more minutes before becoming ice cubes.

Global warming? My Grandma told me that the weather seems to go around in a 25 year cycle. I remember one week when my son was 2 or 3 years old . I was working at the hospital and it was wind chilling around 45 below zero. My car would not start but one man who had gotten his van started was shuttling people home. I was able to get home, but was unable to get my son from the sitter's house. They could not get a vehicle started either so my son spent three days with the sitter before it got warm enough to get my car running. My son is now 28 years old.

Today's round of frigidness , however, appears to be temporary as we are supposed to warm up and send the winds back to wherever it is they go- up to 35 degrees above zero tomorrow. And more snow.

Welcome Billie Williams

2008-01-14T06:25:00.000-08:00

I would like to welcome Billie Williams to my blogspot as a part of her Blog tour. Please enjoy my spot and the interview she has done for me. Please visit Billie's blog as she has a preview of her novel and many more delicious tidbits to share!

What has been your greatest inspiration for your writing?

The greatest inspiration for my writing would have to be all the great books I have read over the years, as well as the wonderful authors I have met in the various lists and groups I belong to the best of which, I would have to say is, the Word Mage Group. [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Word_Mage] So much so I dedicated my latest book Small Town Secrets to them.
Your life? The greatest inspiration in my life has been my mother and my sisters and brother, and my husband Tom. They have shaped who I am. They have always supported me and my dreams. Our adventures together have been wide and varied, like the shifting sands in a dessert we’ve built some mountains, we’ve worn some away but we always had each other.

What is the most important thing you hope to accomplish in your life?

I guess if I could do anything important it would be to make life a little easier for someone else. To inspire as I have been inspired, to be lifted up as I have been, and to leave a legacy that my children will be proud to say ‘hey, that’s my mom that did that.’

Who was your best mentor?

All my life it was my mother. Since she died in 1996 I’ve had a huge hole in my life that no one could ever fill, but there are people who have become very important to me, Janet Elaine Smith is at the top of that list – if I need a coach or mentor – she is there through thick or thin. But there are others who are there for me that I count also as mentor/friends – Tom, Pee Wee, Joyce, Ron, Gayle, Pat, Babs, Cora, Linda, Laura, Brenda, Veldy(Bradley), Carol. I owe a lot to these tried and true friends as well.

What would be your advice to new writers?

I have gotten so much good advice along the way but in nearly every case I have heard – Read, read widely, read everything even if it isn’t a favorite genre – read everything from cereal boxes (you never know what you can learn from them) read autobiographies for inspiration, read, read, read. And then turn around and write, write, write. Write every day, write through the mud to get to the pearl inside. Write like the wind gusty and wild, peaceful and balmy, strong and steady, in spurts and gusts. But Write every single day – writer’s write wannabies want to have written.

www.billiewilliams.com
http://printedwords.blogspot.com
http://onewomansgarden.blogspot.com

Relationships

2007-08-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

Feathers

The brilliant Peacocks fate is sealed
sprightly winds carry feathers afield
coloring each a different shade-
that which the Peacock's tear drops bade.
Singularily bright
coming together in Peacocks delight.

Misunderstood

The dance began in truest form:
A waltz perhaps
in quarter time-
maybe a foxtrot
light and quick?

But daylight shows where truth does lie-
For certain, the tango flew right by.

The Journey

Kindling

spits, spurts

Coaxing the flame to life.

The wind

teases,vexes

Bursts into a roaring tango.

The embers

hot, glowing

Comforts this weary traveler.

Saying Goodbye

isn't easy
even when it is necessary
or inevitable
or someone pulls the rug out
from under your heart.

Saying goodbye
isn't easy.

Fat cats - not the political kind

2007-07-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

Our cat, Sassy, is overweight. In our ongoing attempts to be good caretakers and ward off the ASPCA, we have tried several weight reduction tools for him: diet foods of all type and variety, forced exercise, the remote control mouse and severe food rationing. The only thing that really had any effect was the introduction of a very active Border Collie /Husky mix that competes with Sassy for his food and loves to play tag. However, Sassy has developed a fondness for dog food and that is an even bigger problem.

It's not like you could take a cat to the park and let him get some exercise- believe me- cats hate collars and leashes. With Sassy, whenever we put the collar and leash on him, he falls over as if his legs cannot bear the weight. In his case, though, there might be some validity to that. Oh, I suppose I could have trained my cat to cooperate if I had started at an earlier age, but seriously, I did not think weight would be an issue for a cat. I fed him doctor recommended food at the recommend daily allowance and have even cut back from that. Fresh water is always available and I have a fairly decent sized apartment. My daughter suggested we put him on our treadmill. That lasted about 5 seconds. ( No animals were harmed in this sequence) And still Sassy's tummy touches the floor.

And then we found the laser pointer. That fat old cat that resists any other form of activity will chase the laser dot for 5 minutes at a time, a long time for a cat( I believe cats are ADHD). And then he will resume the chase five minutes later, like he had never seen the thing before. Five minutes five times a day is nearly the recommended 30 minutes activity per day recommended by the surgeon general ( should be good for cats too?) and has resulted in getting Sassy's tummy off the floor. Hallelujah

And the icing on the cake is that it is great fun to watch!

A Little Whimsy

2007-07-17T19:20:00.000-07:00

Hissing kitty

The big fat hissing Kitty
growled long and low
"Watch out there
silly doggy
or I'll get
your nosey nose".

But Doggy didn’t listen
to what Kitty hissed and spat.
Pawing at him,
picking at
the big fat
spitting cat.

Finally fat Kitty sneared
"You’ve pushed me much too far-"
Lashing out
with razor claws
gave Doggie's nose
a brand new scar.

dmm

Returning from Kuwait

2007-07-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

My son has returned to the states today after 12 months in Kuwait doing convoy escort in Iraq. This was from earlier when he was still overseas:

A Whisper from Wisconsin

What to write-
A prayer for my son over seas?
An ode to exhaustion, apprehension?
A stanza of fear, anger, rage?

Or perhaps the quiet of the night
Waking from frightful dreams
Unable to rest my head again.

What can I say
That a million other mothers
haven’t said, felt, cried?

But this is MY son
And the tears fall, fears grow
My heart seems to be on hold.

So I pray
Go on living day to day
Like a million other moms .

- Dawn

My daughter says this blog is boring...

2007-07-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

But what does she know?

She was 14 on the 14th. Her Golden birthday. Happy Birthday, boo boo

Several years ago- I think she was 10- she told me a cute story. When she was little we had a
B & W tv. She told me that she thought the outside world beyond our town was B & W like on the tv. Apparently we were in Oz and the rest of the world was Kansas.

Today I was cleaning cukes. I had used the potatoe peeler and stripped off most of the peel. I was slicing them when she came into the kitchen. She said: "Wow, those are cool cucumbers with those green stripes on them, where did you get those?"

What does she know?

Why Hollyhocks and Humble Pie

2007-07-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

Hollyhocks and Humble Pie

I love Hollyhocks and as I was trying to think of what to name this I was staring out the window at the forty or so of the tall colorful soldiers waving in the wind along my picture window. A moving rainbow of fuchsia's and yellows, pinks, and one red so deep and rich they call it black.

But why Humble Pie- two reason: First, my poetic nature/muse sent it right along with the HH and it truly does sound great together. Secondly, humble pie is good food for the soul.