Winter Snow is Coming? It's Already Here

I love snow. I’ve said that many times.  But the recent storm has outdone itself. It started Sunday evening.  I shoveled the steps and a walkway for the dogs

And went to bed.

Monday brought a surprising amount of snow.  I had put the garbage can out the night before and the snow was deep enough to cause a problem getting it back up the driveway. Snow was past the bottom of the doors and I spent much of Monday shoveling the steps and walkway for the dogs.  The snow was coming down so heavy that 30 minutes after I shoveled, the trench would be filled again. The dogs were not happy. Unless forced, they would not have left the steps.

To keep snow from getting too deep. We cleaned off the cars and shoveled snow throughout the day. We were proud of ourselves for staying ahead of the snowfall. We went to sleep expecting a fairly normal Tuesday.

But instead of the planned relaxing day of stretches, breakfast, and a day devoted to writing, we woke to snow deep enough to prevent opening the doors and snow literally up to our car’s doorhandles.

One of my favorite fantasies is curling up in front of a roaring fire, drinking hot chocolate, and napping or reading.  Just enjoying the snow. While I have seen a lot of snow and drank a lot of hot chocolate, I have never fulfilled the rest of this fantasy.  Today was not to be the day to live this dream.

Instead, we spent the day shoveling snow and brushing the snow off cars.  Lest you think this was easy, remember that the snow was up to the doorhandles.  And some genius decided to use a snow blower that threw THAT snow onto our car.

We didn’t shovel every moment, but my muscles would debate that.   We shoveled enough that coming inside and using ICE PACKS on our backs was necessary. We had scraped and shoveled the driveway to the street.  And driven over patches of snow to get our car near the end.

As evening fell. I went outside to survey our progress.  The city trucks had made a couple of passes and our driveway was blocked by a wall of snow and ice we could not possibly drive over. Snow had slid off the overhang and covered a good part of the area we had shoveled with 3-5 inches of snow.

At this point, I had the choice of crying or watching a few episodes of my current favorite TV show. To quote Scarlet O’Hara, “after all, tomorrow is another day.”

New Year, New Books!

Everyone likes free books, don’t they? I sure do. Actually, I LOVE books, even the ones I actually buy but free books just make me happy.

The event below contains 36 books and samples of all genres.

Books Galore!

“Hot and Dirty Books” is a Kindle Unlimited promotion. Take a chance on new authors and new steamy books and series’ starters.

To check them out just click on the pictures! Enjoy, and let me know if you find anything you like!

My Empowerment Garden

I’m not much of a gardener. In fact, I hate gardening, indoor and outdoor. The irony is that I love flowers so I do keep trying.

Over the years, it’s seemed that despite my brown thumb and hatred of dirt and bugs, some plants seem to thrive in my yard and in my house. The fuchsia below has been close to death many times but just when I’m about to call it over, it blooms. Isn’t it beautiful? It looks like a painting.

Here is a ZZPlant that my sister gave me ions ago. Originally, there was one stalk. What you see here is what is left after making two additional full pots. I’m convinced this thing cannot be killed. I call it my “little shop of horror plant”.

Here’s one more example, a Peace Lily. My partner and I found it about a decade ago in a discount rack of nearly dead flowers, for less than a buck.

My philosophy of gardening, much like the philosophy I use when it comes to my lawn, is “grow if you want to”. I’ll give the grass and flowers a good shot with water and sunlight as appropriate but in the end, it’s up to them. For my lawn, this has resulted in a mini nature reserve at the foot of my yard. For my flowers, it means some stick around and others don’t. But they are welcome to grow if they want to.

Oh, Look! Presents!

From time to time I have the opportunity to point my readers and followers to a few new authors and a few new books. In honor of the holidays, I have a slew of them!

Click on the pictures and ENJOY!

The books here represent a variety of genres.

Gifts of the (Covid-19) Season

For most of my adulthood, I’ve had a vision of the holidays. Picture this: Sitting in front of a fireplace, looking out of a large (well-insulated) picture window as it snows. On the coffee table is a bowl of popcorn, my mug of hot chocolate (overloaded with marshmallows), and my book. My partner and I spend days on end reading, snuggled with each other, our dogs, and our favorite comfy throws.

What’s your holiday fantasy?

We’ve gotten close in some years, but the days have always been so hectic. As odd as it sounds, this year we’re going to finally do it. The odd and fragile year has give us the gift of time. The gifts of a slower pace and opportunity to focus on our true priorities. Health, happiness, serenity, and love. Oh—and there’s a snow storm coming.

We’re taking advantage of these gifts. I wish you the same.

Weathering the Weather

Wise County, Va.

Admittedly, I have a love/hate relationship with the weather. I cherish the scents and sounds of the ocean, so I appreciate the summer’s warm, sunny days at the beach—as long as it isn’t too warm. I love the smells and scenery of the fall, although the days are often dreary, especially when the leaves turn from colorful to brown. And the winter…Oh, it’s so frustrating.

I do love the snow. It’s so beautiful as it comes down and when it lands. I have an ongoing fantasy of sitting on the sofa with warm fuzzy socks and a cup of cocoa or coffee, holiday music on the stereo and my beloved snuggling next to me, watching the snow fall. Thankfully, I’ve been able to turn it into a reality from time to time. We also love putting on winter duds and sitting on a bench with a thermos of hot chocolate or taking slow walks down our street to take in the view.

Wise County, Va.

Unfortunately, my partner and I both spent years driving in winter weather, in deep snow and ice. I remember nights of white-knuckled fear trying to make my way home from work, seeing numerous cars spun off to the side of the road or in ditches. We’ve both also had too many close calls to count. Even glorious, rejuvenating winter has its downsides.

Then there is spring. Not too cold. Not too hot. Flowers in bloom. Sunny and enough warmth to enjoy the outdoors. Oh wait…It’s also allergy season. And when we’re fortunate, lots of rain.

I suppose the lesson is that I—all of us—have to appreciate both sides of the coin. After all, we don’t get flowers without rain and pollen. And we don’t get snow to enjoy without snow to drive in.

I have my hot chocolate ready. Bring it on.

We Go All In.

Between the two of us, my partner and have 40+ masks. We’ve collected them since March starting with two a friend sweetly dropped off to us. She knew we didn’t have any so she asked her mom to make them. Soon we heard that masks have to be washed after each use—we needed more. That was fine, since information was changing about which material and what thickness worked best. Ultimately, we began searching out masks we simply liked.

One could say we have a tendency to go all in.

Nothing like the sound of music on vinyl.

When we decide to embark on a new exercise plan, we buy all the equipment we could possibly need and new outfits. (You can’t exercise without the right clothes, right?) One weekend we watched The Blacklist with James Spader, fell in love, and bought every movie he’d ever made. We watched The Masked Singer and rushed to iTunes to buy Jesse McCartney’s live albums. Many years ago, I saw Prince in concert and IMMEDIATELY had to have his entire catalogue. Then I had to find everything in multiple formats and collect every magazine that had him on the cover. We all know where things went from there.

We do have fun, from time to time, putting all our energy into something. The only downside is that sometimes, looking back on our quests, we wonder things like, “NOW what do we do with this stuff?”

What kinds of things tempt you to go all in?

Reach Out for Something New

Not too long ago, I was feeling sorry for myself. It all felt like too much, more than I could bear. Maybe some of you can relate. It occurred to me that there are three possible outcomes to the end of the pandemic. I will either come out of this exactly the same (in which case I will have wasted a year or more of my life), I can come out of this worse for wear (and who knows how bad “worse” can be), or I can emerge better than I was before.

I’m choosing the latter.

Vegetable Stew. Yummy.

To this end, I’ve recommitted to eating better. Considering current events, it seems prudent to eat less meat. I’m not ready to go full on vegan. I’m still going to eat dairy, for now.

I’ve been hunting for recipes that are filling but meatless. One meal I particularly like is Vegetarian Stew. It has corn and potatoes and zucchini and tomatoes, among other veggies. With a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, it was delicious. Let me know if you want the recipe.

I’ve also tried my hand at crocheting. I used to crochet—a long time ago. All I ever managed to create were scarves. But look! Fingerless gloves.

Before you start to critique my effort, I already know they’re full of flaws. But when I look at them, I see sheer perfection. I’ll get better with practice.

One thing I still need to add to my process of change is something calming. Peaceful. Reflective. I’m not sure what that will look like. I do need to read more. I love reading but it’s one of those things I don’t often make time to do. I’m not good at journaling. Maybe listening to music? Meditation? There is something appealing about both of those options. That being said, I’m open to suggestions.

I wonder if I will be successful.

In a song, Prince wrote, “It’s time to reach out for something new. That means you, too.” I think it’s my time to change. I’m going to give it my best shot.

Grateful.

This is the next-to-last week for my summer CSA. Every week my partner and I put on our masks and head to a local farm to pick up our share of fruits and vegetables. The farm also has a small farm stand, so also pick up other essentials, like local cheese, bread, eggs, beef (locally raised and processed), and chips—and as you can see in the back right of the picture, sometimes also apple fritters.

The farm stand requires masks and social distancing, and usually has only a handful of people anyway. This little local business has enabled us to always have fresh food during a period when we didn’t think we could because grocery shopping was too risky for us. I am grateful for them.

In this crazy, scary time, it’s hard to appreciate the things that aren’t so crazy. I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude, and reminding myself to consciously be grateful. I am ever so grateful for my partner. I’m grateful for my skilled and understanding doctor. I’m grateful for my employer, and the care it is taking to make sure we’re safe and enabling me to have money to pay my bills.

And I appreciative of my readers who have been on this writing journey with me. Cheyenne also sends his gratitude. Along with a proposition, of course.

What are you grateful for?

Time to Change Things Up

I am currently slogging my way through Camp NanoWriMo and bemoaning the fact that I did not get a single word written during Camp Nano in April.  The self -flagellation reminds me that if I had only done the work in April I would be doing rewrites and edits instead of staring at a blank screen, trying to figure out what my outline notes meant.

Another worry for me has been nicknamed the Covid-15.  That’s the fifteen pounds the average person gained in the first months of sheltering in place.  I’d previously worked very hard to eat healthy meals, drink water, and exercise.  But with the quarantine, the lethargy that affected my writing also affected my healthy habits.  Months of sitting at a desk, followed by sitting on the sofa, and topped off by sitting at the dinner table, well, let’s just say I developed a fear of weighing myself.  Eventually I had to face the fact that some of my clothes were uncomfortably tight. 

I forced myself to the scales and was relieved to learn I’d only gained six pounds. It was still too much.  Even worse was the result of sitting.  Walking to the end of the driveway a couple of times a day just didn’t do the trick

My reasoning, such that it was, was that I deserved a break from work and good habits because it helped deal with the stress and worry of Covid-19.  Things would be back to normal by summer.

Obviously, that hasn’t happened.  Parts of the country reopened to devastating results, so the quarantine continues, at least in my state. My family continues to practice social distancing and #stayingathome. 

I’ve come to the conclusion that the next leg of the pandemic can’t be the same as the first four months.  I have set goals and planned baby steps for walking and exercising more, I’ve swapped my cola for water (most of the time), ceased eating so many carbs, and exchanged frozen veggies for fresh. 

I’m also creeping my way through Camp Nano.  I may not hit my goal,  but I am writing every day.  Those are great starts.

Now that things have lasted longer than we’d hoped, is there anything you’re going to do differently?

CSA and Me

Scientists and epidemiologists insist, pretty much across the board, that the pandemic isn’t over and I trust science. I understand that the more people who #stayhome the greater our chance of eliminating the virus. Or at least buying us time until there is a treatment or a vaccine. Consequently, I’m not going anywhere—for the most part.

I’ve had to take the dogs to the vet. I’ve had to go to renew my license. And I took a drive around the block for curbside pickup of a couple of Cafe Mochas because my partner was going a little stir crazy. I wore lined masks for every outing, kept interactions brief, kept an appropriate social distance, and only left the house for necessities. Starting this week, however, I have to pick up my CSA.

My bounty for Week 1. Yum!

CSA. Community Supported Agriculture. This is a program that supports local farms. You buy “shares”, which gives the farm money to buy seeds and other supplies in advance of the season. In return, you get a “share” of the farm’s yield.

I am now obligated to go out into the world every week to pick up my farm shares. A part of me wonders what the heck I was thinking. My partner and I buy into CSAs because we support local farming, largely because I know the vital role they play in our food chain. I think corporate farming is a bad idea, but I’ll save that for another post. (In case you’re interested, this is a pretty good article.)

It’s a risk, I know, going out every week. But sometimes, you have to take risks, or as my mother would have said, “put your money where your mouth is”.

Huh. I just realized that I’m doing that quite literally.

It's Okay. It is.

A cup of tea…and a moment of peace.

There are so many unimaginable things going on around us today. It is difficult to take it all in, let alone focus on it for extended periods of time. It saddens me to know that several of my friends feel guilty about not being able to watch the news all day, or go to every rally, or even stay on FaceBook and chat with their friends about world events.

But it’s okay. It really is. You don’t have to overload yourself with news to the point of hopelessness or stress. You DESERVE to binge-watch Cloak & Dagger and lose yourself in their quest. You are WORTHY of the respite that comes from taking a long walk, or sitting in nature watching the birds. And you are entitled to give your self a break, make a cup of tea (or the beverage of your choice) and escape inside a book.

So take a step back from the insanity and find a few new reads. Here are some free (or pretty cheap). Just click on the picture.

Be well.

Myth and Magic, Free EBooks for Fantasy Lovers

Sexy Short Reads, EBooks $4.99 and Below

Welcome to My World, free fantasy and SciFi EBooks