A Contemplative Life

The short row of stitches directly under the lower safety pin are those done SLOWLY with my left hand. In sewing, book publishing, and everyday life.... I considered this post a few days ago when I was happily appliqueing by hand Lucy Boston (LB) blocks. Since then my right shoulder has asserted its right to be cranky, and I don't know for how long this will be the case. Hence, perseverance now applies to waiting out troublesome joints, being fully aware that what will be most certainly will be. Ahem. Anyways.... I pondered this post while hand-stitching a project I truly had no idea would come to fruition. Perhaps this entry is also about being faithful to one's inner spirit, or Spirit, depending on your beliefs. Either way, being faithful, obedient even (now there's an idea to spark blog post musings....) to what calls upon your heart is EXTREMELY VITAL. It's why I have books available for readers, why a Lucy Boston quilt in an altered form continues to evolve (as ear...

Good morning my chickens! All photos from today. Subject to change at the whim of said chickens and the lessening morning light.... Amid books and quilts and laundry, etc, are the chickens. These chickens were my husband's idea, to which I acquiesced after how many chicken videos, lol. Feeding them in the morning is my job, which blends easily for how early I get up, yet the mornings aren't as bright as previously. Consequently the chickens don't get their feeder in the coop until it's light enough for me to head outside and deliver it. Yet they're not the wee babes of earlier in summer, HAH! They're quite, um, large. Eleven weeks old yesterday, they prance around the run like they've always had possession of it. They strut around the coop as if forever calling it home. They race to the wall above the roost in the evenings, jockeying for position along the boards my husband placed there so we'd not have to rescue another one of them the way we did Owl Ch...

There's a full moon under all that glow. And yes, a little star to the left. Keep an eye on that star in the next picture! It's been a longish day. I was up early, but I got to enjoy the moon, although snapping a decent picture of said moon is a crapshoot and today, well.... It's an okay shot, and a few minutes later I went outside again with a different phone that didn't give me anything better, lol. And now it's ten hours later, and I just finished formatting Home and Far Away: The Enran Chronicles Book Four , which might be one of my all times fave novels I have written. And not to get too distanced from Straight to the Heart , but man, I am one lucky writer to have crafted such tender yet witty tales. That I considered myself lucky doesn't begin to explain how I feel about this craft. I'd say blessed is a far better adjective, as it's solely by God's grace that I write anything, including this post. But some people aren't comfortable with ble...

It's always a PLEASURE to announce a new release! Straight to the Heart: The Hawk Book Three continues the saga of Eric and Lynne Snyder, as well as their best friends Sam and Renee Ahern. Add Stanford Taylor, Laurie Abrams and newcomer Marek Jaworski to the mix and this women's fiction/magical realism/historical fiction drama proffers joy, intrigue, and heartbreak all in a tightly knit 90K. And best of all, it's FREE! (Unless you get it on Amazon; then it's ninety-nine cents.) Set in spring of 1962, Lynne and Eric are about to realize their biggest dream, as parenthood knocks on their door. This thrill isn't theirs alone; Renee and Sam share in their exuberance, until Sam's sister Frannie makes a startling announcement. Meanwhile, Seth's continuing status in Minnesota stirs concern in his cousin Laurie, who doesn't believe Seth is being fully honest. As Eric and Lynne draw closer to their new pastor Marek Jaworski, truths surface about that man's p...

One finished side block, another underway. Despite beginning to stitch edge pieces to Mandolin blocks, other edge pieces remain left to hew together. Sometimes it feels like hewing, lol, but I am grateful to have underway the joining process for said quilt! Which, as these things occasionally go, might not take as long as I thought because when sewing blocks, be they half or quarter-sized, all those little and large pieces need to be attached in a whole, of sorts, half or quarter element notwithstanding. But drawing all those blocks into a WHOLE is merely stitching edges to one another. And yeah, that's some hefty handsewing, but not quite as much as I thought previously. So that means this Mandolin quilt top *could* be completed before the end of the year. Which if you'd asked me a few days ago, I'd have shaken my head, smirking. Next year fer shure, I'd have smiled. Future Me is smiling, I see her almost breaking into giggles. Not sure over what, but something has her...

It's been a summer of chickens, of guests and revisions. And a summer of the marine layer. I nearly added marine layer to the previous post of things which you never dream . Lol. I certainly didn't anticipate a marine layer figuring so significantly in my life. Mostly due to not realizing that living along the California coast would occur, nor how some summers that heavy cloud bank claims said coast without thought to those who call the coastal area home. But yeah, the marine layer wins again this morning. It's just about time to feed the chickens, 6.20 a.m. currently. If the marine layer wasn't so pushy, I'd get up from the sofa, put on sweats and a hoodie, then collect their feeder, walking to the coop, admiring planets still visible; Venus and Jupiter have decorated the morning sky most of the month, Mercury appearing along the eastern edge, thrilling me completely. Today the marine layer barged in before I spotted the smallest planet in our solar system, blottin...

Yesterday's block is now firmly adhered in place. Considered as I hand-applique Lucy Boston blocks early in the morning. (Or, lol, raising chickens.) I always wanted to write fiction. From my early teens that consideration never wavered. I proclaim that because this post is about enjoying things I hadn't previously pondered, hoped for, pined over. These things are very different. Like quilting, lol. And of course those chicks, who conveniently posed in a makeshift group yesterday afternoon for my husband. Owning chickens was NOT on my list of Wanna Do's, let me make that perfectly clear. Owl in the forefront, Camilla to the left behind her, the rest of the pullets poking about the grass. But the sewing, oh my goodness! I can't fathom my life without that treat, as dear to me as crafting novels. Initially I started sewing by machine, then came English paper piecing, and now Kawandi-inspired projects. Like treasure from heaven are these methods of fashioning various items...