Covered in Projects

The last couple of weeks and the next few weeks ahead are busy times for me.  Not in a whirlwind, unfocused way, rather this is an engaged, concentrated, set to work on projects both old and new kind of way. 

I continue to compile stories for the memoir that now (I am excited to report) has a working title: “Visions of My Life: My Mother’s Memory Book.” In addition, I am writing new poetry that I plan to publish as a collection.  As many of you are aware, writing, like reading can take over your life.

Speaking of reading, my Kindle is overflowing with so many books to read that at one time I would have stacked in an uneven pile on my bedside table. While I still love the feel of a book in my hand, I have to admit that my Kindle is very convenient and less messy. Like my laptop, my Kindle is a daily companion.

I am working on several projects for the coming warm weather of spring and summer.  Last year I accumulated a quite large collection of clay pots and trays that I am painting and decorating. As all of these were previously used they need a good cleaning and then have to have 2-3 coats of sealer applied before I can start with the painting.  Also, I picked up a few old wooden bird houses and feeders from garage sales last year. Some of these need minor repair, and all of them need cleaning, and sanding before I can begin to paint and decorate them. These projects cover my work counter, which is a good thing because when work is in front of me I have more incentive to get it done.

The next few weeks will find me working outside for a couple of hours each day.  The yard and the porch need a good cleaning out and I am sure the winter months added some repair work.  I will need to get help with some of this work, as my wrist will not take too much pressure since I crushed it a few years ago. I want to get an herb garden growing this year. Some of the herbs from a previous garden still come up every year, but not very many and these need some care.  I generally start plants from seed and begin them in the house.  The flats are ready to go, so I only have to wait for the final frost to come and go. Our days here are in the 40s but our nights still drop below freezing, so planting won’t begin for at least a couple of weeks.

I still have a backlog of tables and chairs to refinish and decorate along with some empty frames to fill with patterns for the ongoing Ode to the Quilt project. I have to admit that I  did not do much of this work over the past winter. In fact, I was very lax in the art department.  Winter makes me lazy.

Well, that’s about it for this post. Thanks so much for stopping by. ~Yvonne~

Marching Into Spring

It is difficult to express the extent of my happiness that the month of February is behind us for another year.  Although it is the shortest of calendar months, I always feel that it is the longest in time. For me, this squeezed in month of days feels like an entire month of Mondays.

While March still brings cold weather and snow, it also brings the first day of spring.  More than the first day of January, the twenty or twenty-first day of March gives me a feeling of a new year. Spring is a time of new beginnings. The earth awakens from its long winter’s sleep to stretch and sigh, and yes, occasionally it hits the snooze alarm. While that is sometimes frustrating, we must remember that it is only a snooze.  With spring comes the song of birds from the very tiny to the larger geese, ducks, and swans.  They build their nests in preparation for raising new families. The trees begin to dress in tiny buds along their stems, like pulling on their undergarments before they deck out to full dress.  The longer days shed sun to warm the earth and flowers pop their heads out of the rich soil to add color to the awakening world.  Snow gives way to snow and melts the ice of ponds and streams. Wind raises waves across the lake and brings winter’s deadfall that will feed the fire of summer’s bonfires along with the larger logs that will serve as new seats where we will sit watch the sailboats skim the edge of the horizon.

Yes, March brings spring with the promise of new beginnings, of new hope, and new goals. It is my time to celebrate!

Thanks for stopping by ~Yvonne~

Free Spirits aren't Still (Final Revision)

This is a final revision of a poem I wrote some years ago. I pull it out every so often and revise it, however, I was never quite satisfied with it. This version is the final revision, and I feel very good with the outcome. So, here it is, I hope you enjoy it...

Free Spirits Aren't Still

Life day to day

Does not lend to us;

It just molds us

Into everyone else.

It kills our spirit

And it makes us forget.

But we will never forget;

We tell ourselves, "don't"

For if we have not yet,

Then we know that we won't,

As we strive to remember

That free spirits aren't still.

Some don't forget

But yet become bitter

They resent all they've gained, 

Much accomplished in vain,

Allowing them nothing

Within their realized dream.

They lose hold of their center  

And cannot get back.            

That won't happen to us;

We will never lose track.

Though we talk everyday

To reveal through words

That we dare not say.

Yet, we give it our best,

Always fearing the worst.

While we yearn for the sun,

To live our life everyday,

And, we armor ourselves;

For we know what life is…

Always easier said, than done.

Moves need to be made;

We believe it’s our time.

It’s a feeling we get,

It wears on our minds,

And it makes us aware.

So we prepare for the change,

And we hope it comes soon.

For there's much more than this

And we need to have room,

For it's just not enough

To simply exist.

Yet, we are here right now,

And now that we are,

Will we be here forever? 

Always so close

Yet so far?

Yes, time takes its turns

And our life's seasons change.

When we sense we're alone,

We tend to cling to each other.

And as life moves us along,

We don't dare look down,

As we remind to remember

Free spirits aren't still.

Peering Through the Knothole

Peering through the knothole

I see the light of day

Shining silver along

Bright vertical lines

To crease the grains

From black to grey.

Peering through the knothole

I see the world outside

In the circle of a pinpoint

That illuminates

And brings new life

To the vacant darkness

Of my small and lowly cave.

My Thoughts on "The Casual Vacancy" by J. K. Rowling

After much anticipation, I finally acquired a copy of “The Casual Vacancy” by J. K.Rowling.  During my wait, I avoided reading any reviews or comments about the book, as I did not want to have any outside influence cloud my view or spoil my reading. Having read Rowling’s Harry Potter series, I expected to get lost in the story and to meet and connect to new characters.  However, that was not the case. This is not to say that the book was not good, rather it was not what I expected.

I would not label it as an epic novel, per-say.  Instead, I would label this book more as a social/political view of a small community, which falls into social and political chaos after the sudden death of Councillor Barry Fairbrother. At first, it is difficult to keep the characters in the story straight as to who’s who. In fact, I was tempted to make a list of the characters with notes as to how each relates to the other. As well, I found it difficult to connect to the characters as I would in most novels, as there is no real individual background story told for any of them. All of the characters are depicted within the context of a short time period, beginning with the death of Barry Fairbrother and ending with the election of a new Councillor. However, that is not to say that the characters are not brutally realistic in their actions and the outcomes of their actions.

Overall, this book is an intelligent, artful, creative, and sometimes comical read. I would expect to see it listed academically as assigned reading, particularly in a class dealing with the Social Sciences.  Now that I have read the novel once through, I know what to expect.   It is worth reading, and worth reading again.

Thanks for stopping by. ~Yvonne~

Restoration

I come to sit

            In the Sacred Circle.

In solitude

            I seek, I meditate,

I explore my Soul

            To eradicate

The structures within

            That seek to restrict

The path set before me.

In my mind’s eye I wander

Through the past

Of vast wastelands

To seek the old bones

That feel smooth to the touch,

Yet, are solid as stone.

Though bleached white with time,

They send shadowed reflection,

Like faint ripples that shimmer

To seem silver in sand.

I set to the task

            To gather together

Each piece important

            To the whole.

I lay them bare before me

            Building from the beginning

To complete the circle,

            To restore the old life

To regain the new.

            For in the continuing circle

There is no end.

Living with Word Addiction

I freely admit it: I am addicted to words.  I think most of us who write have the same addiction to one extent or another. Words have power and the more words we know, then the more power we have as writers. The two most important references in my writer’s toolbox are a dictionary and a thesaurus.  I could not write without them. However, my addiction to words goes beyond the norm.

My infatuation with words started early in life and began with my learning to read. I read everything I found that had words, from books to magazines to comic books. It is true that I did not understand all I read, and there were many times when I came across words that I could not readily sound out to pronounce. My parents, whom I suspect were weary of my spelling out words for them to pronounce and give definitions, added a dictionary to my bookshelf when I was around six years-old. It was not a child’s dictionary; rather it was a regular grown-up Webster’s Dictionary. After bestowing me with this fascinating tome of words, if I attempted to spell out a word for their appraisal, their answer to me was, “Go and look it up in your dictionary.”

Eventually, I began to keep notebooks of words and their definitions, and later, when I discovered the thesaurus, I added their synonyms. Eventually, I transferred the words in the notebooks to index cards, with words on one side and their definitions and synonyms listed on the other side. I still do this, and yes, I admit that hoarding words is a weird obsession. However, I find that as a writer it is an obsession with an advantage as words inspire more words, which eventually lead to prose and verse and before you know it, you are writing essays, articles, poems and even novels.  

And so, dear friends, I do not apologize for my word addiction, and I do not foresee a rehabilitation program in my future. However, I feel that you, my readers, should have forewarning that anyone could acquire this obsession.  There are millions of words out there in the open just waiting to drag you into their world and there is no escape…

Keep on reading; keep on writing and thanks for stopping by. ~Yvonne~