A Contemplative Life

September carries significance for me, birthdays of those I deeply love alongside the loss of my brother Joe, who took his life twenty-nine years ago. These joys and sorrows are carefully balanced within my heart, many for whom I pray. Last year I wrote a post about Suicide Prevention Awareness Month . Again it's that time of year. I don't know why autumn was chosen to highlight it, but I certainly feel it, as my niece took her life in October of 2019. She was about the same age as my brother when he died, not sure what that means in the grand scheme, other than those in their mid-twenties, with so much ahead of them, slip away to a place which I pray is far more peaceful than the realm they left. 988 is the number to call or text if you need help. For veterans, call 988 and press 1 to connect with counselors who understand your experiences. We want to love you here and now. Yet, I understand that sense of despair, feeling one's existence holds no purpose; when I was I fi...

18 June 2006, probably American Mother's Day, lol. Enjoying a spot of afternoon tea before writing reared its amazing head. Twenty years of crafting fiction that is. Ahem.... I feel like Future Me, writing this post. Then suddenly.... I am Future Me. Whoa! It's twenty years since my eldest daughter mentioned a writing gig, not a competition, but a collection of those who dream of crafting fiction. And I'm standing beside Past Me, watching as the future unfolds. I see her excitement. Curiosity. Uncertainty. Which quickly turns into unbridled thrill, bordering on zeal, as a plot emerges as though out of thin air. But many notes are made, character sketches too, as November is less than two months away. Two months that aren't only prep time, but the last two autumnal months Past Me and family will live in Britain. Not only does Past Me begin to write her first novel, she starts to unplug, albeit slowly, from an idyllic life in England. Twenty years on from 2006 saw A LOT O...

My Lavender quilt-in-progress.... How now, suddenly, my heart is drawn to the Lavender EPP quilt when not long ago I didn't think I'd ever finish it. (And now that translates to other things, like certain novel series, Enran ahem....) Over five years ago I started basting shapes for Jodi Godfrey's Lavender quilt . It's from her book The Seedling Quilts , and in Godfrey's pattern, the EPP is surrounded by negative space. I first made the pattern with her Seeding Quilt sampler and I FELL IN LOVE with it, once I understood it. That took a while, staring at this beautiful design but not quite able to get my head around it. Then it was yet another English paper pieced quilt I just HAD TO MAKE. Several of those over the years, lol, but I've completed some. Yet for all my initial love of Lavender, other shinies overtook it. Shunted it to the end of the queue. Demoted it into a tote that despite being feet away from where I sit at night to stitch, it might as well hav...

During a lovely chat with like-minded friends this afternoon, I was hit hard but kindly with the sense that telling stories is truly my destined.... It's not a job and I used called in the title. It's my manner of using a God-given skill to touch as many hearts as its supposed to. Not that lately I've been pondering why I write or its intended audience. Sometimes the pings on our hearts and souls are merely to remind us then and there what we're doing that might seem unimportant to us or others does carry weight, have meaning, own a purpose. And to know that within my soul meant a lot to me, means much right now, why I'm typing this entry. I don't know if it's related to the story I'm revising, but certainly The Deadfern Miracles possesses a deeper layer than the tagline I came up with yesterday: A love story about miracles, marriages, best friends, second chances, and grace. Grace figures heavily, yet receives last billing. That's probably becaus...

Finished yesterday afternoon! Sweetness in Shell Rummel's Traverse fabric from her Daybreak collection. This project was far less painful than I imagined. The last time I made curtains was in 2014 for the house my youngest daughter was then living at, and those drapes were produced with the barest of sewing essentials; a machine, an iron and ironing board, tape measure, scissors, pins, um.... Certainly no ample table or cutting mat or rotary cutter. Which might not sound like much, but believe me, they made a big difference this time. My husband recalls me saying, "I am never again sewing curtains!" I don't remember that, which is good because if I did, I wouldn't have made these. Of which I am so pleased, especially since I didn't even think about matching up the waves when choosing the fabric. I simply had plenty, though I ordered and used more, and I LOVE the print, and.... I learned that in future curtain/drapery construction I won't pick prints that ...

Making soup on an initially damp day while anticipating revisions. That was yesterday's morning weather, much the same today without the overt drizzle. Again I made soup, split pea, same as yesterday. Not that I ADORE pea soup, though I do enjoy it. Merely that yesterday's batch went in the freezer and today's is in the fridge, and will last the next couple of days. What's different is that today is still cloudy. That's one beauty of living on the North Coast; how weather alters from day to day. Yes we most often begin with the marine layer, but when the sunshine emerges, and for how long, can't be predicted, and that's not taking into account the microclimates depending on how close one resides to the actual ocean/bay. Point in case: Yesterday it was almost RAINING, so heavy was the mist! Perfect weather for soup, as it felt like October and not the end of August. However by ten a.m. the sun was nudging its kind way through the clouds and by noon it was as ...