Vacation Time

After careful consideration, I've decided to take a break so I can focus on other things this week. See you next Sunday!

Winter’s Child – Part 4

*note: I changed the wife’s name from Janice to Margaret because there were already too many “J” names in the story.*


Despite the fact that his hip was only fractured and not broken, Joseph did not bounce back from his injury the way he expected to. He did his rehab exercises only reluctantly and when his assessment came it was determined that it was inadvisable for him to live alone.

James was a little taken aback at how long the waiting lists for a spot in a nursing home were. After many discussions and much cajoling, Margaret reluctantly agreed that Joseph could stay with them, but only until a place in a nursing home came up. James put his father’s name down on every waiting list in the area.

“Thank you,” he told his wife the night before he brought his father home.

“Joseph and I might not see eye to eye,” she said with a sigh. “But it’s the right thing to do. He’s family. And it’s only going to be for a few weeks, right?”

But not a week later she was already regretting her easy agreement. They’d moved his favorite armchair into their living room, near the fireplace, and he sat there day in and day out like he was the king. Despite the fact he was supposed to keep mobile, if he needed anything he had Margaret fetch it for him, or sometimes his grandson, James Joseph Preston III, better known as Joey.

“I tried to suggest he was perfectly capable of coming to the table and having lunch with Joey and I today, and he just about took my head off,” Margaret told James as they were getting ready for bed one night. “You’d think I suggesting he go on a ten mile hike.”

“The problem is, you’re too nice,” James told her, kissing her on the head. “You need to be tougher with him.”

“I know, I know. But it’s not like I can threaten him with a swat on the behind like I do with Joey.”

They shared a laugh.

“How’s Joey taking to sharing the attention with his grandpa?”

Margaret snorted. “No worries there. They’re like peas in a pod, those two. Joseph likes to talk, and Joey likes to listen to his stories. I just wish the pair of them wouldn’t take them so seriously.”

“I know,” James said with a sigh. “I’ll have a talk with him.”

“Which one?” Margaret asked with a crooked smile. “No, don’t bother. It won’t be for much longer, right?”

“Right,” James agreed, mentally crossing his fingers.

Another week went by. Margaret tried to be a little firmer when it came to getting Joseph up and moving around, and though he grumbled a great deal, he was now eating lunch at the table with her and Joey. And if he wanted something and she was busy, she would tell him he was perfectly capable of getting it himself. Often, if it was something simple, he’d get Joey to do it instead, but Joey didn’t seem to mind so she’d let it go.

But the stories he told over and over again were beginning to grate on her nerves.

“Beware the children of Winter,” Joseph said in a sonorous voice. “They'll lure you away through the snow and steal your soul.”

“That’s enough!” Margaret snapped. “You keep filling his head with that nonsense and he won’t sleep a wink tonight.”

“Nonsense! Nonsense?” Joseph’s voice rose and he rapped his cane on the floor. “And what would you be knowin’ about it, you being city-bred and all?”

Margaret sighed. She should have known better. “I’m sorry,” she said contritely. “But Joey’s only four, and he’s very impressionable.”

“He’s old enough to understand what’s what,” Joseph insisted.

“Whatever,” she said with a sigh. “Just please tone it down a bit. I’ll be in my office if you need anything.”

Joseph waited until she left the room. “Our ancestors was the first to settle this here mountain, and was the first to set eyes on the others.”

“The others?” Joey asked. He sat at his grandfather's feet, enraptured as always by his tales.

“Winter's children,” the old man said. He spat and made a sign against evil.

With his mother safely out of the room, Joey did his best to imitate him.

“Lord knows where they come from, or how long they've been on this mountain, but one thing fer sure — they ain't human.”

Joey climbed up onto his grandfather's lap. “What do they look like?”

“They look like little devils, 'cept they's white. And they's ice if they touch you.”

“Like Jack Frost,” Joey prompted.

“Aye. And they lure men to their deaths in the snow.”

“But not us, right Grandpa? We’re too smart for ‘em.”

“Aye, that’s right, boy.”

Joey snuggled closer. “When I’m bigger, I’m gonna help you hunt ‘em.”

“When you’re bigger,” Joseph agreed.

“An’ when we catch one, we’ll be famous.”

“Aye, that we will.”

Tricube Verse Form

If you thought Haiku were easy, let me introduce you to the Tricube. It’s not shorter than a Haiku, the Haiku being 17 syllables and the Tricube being 27, but it's way more fun. This form was first introduced by the American poet, Phillip Larrea. You can find him on Facebook, and his books of poetry on Amazon.

Anyway . . . in mathematical terms, the Tricube is 3 x 3 x 3. In the author’s own words: I created this form to limit myself, primarily. I allow myself three stanzas, three lines per stanza and three syllables per line to get it done, so three ‘cubed’.

Here are the rules of the Tricube to follow:
Each tricube is made of three stanzas.
Each stanza has three lines.
Each line has three syllables.

There are no rules for rhyme, meter, or subject matter and you don’t even have to use punctuation if you don’t want to. Just three, three, and three. That’s all there is to it. You can’t get much easier than that, right?

That being said, I have seen Tricubes made with three 1-syllable words in each line; two 1-syllable words and one 2-syllable words; and Mr. Larrea himself has written them using a single 3-syllable word in a line:

TriCube
by Phillip Larrea

Don’t swallow
the whole pie.
Just a bite.

Platitudes
amplified—
Certitude.

What is left
is not right.
But remains.

Have fun with this form by putting your own spin on it – try making it rhyme, start every line with the same letter or word, or end each verse with the same word. Use single syllable words, or a combination – like I did. Go ahead, give it a try!


Strawberry Picking

the field seems
to stretch out
forever

row upon
row of sweet
strawberries

just waiting
for someone
to pick them



Words

it is hard
to use just
one word at

a time when
I want to
use them all

but I write
them one by
one by one

When Plans Go Awry

When things go awry, if they are mostly an inconvenience to you or a threat to your ego, instead of getting furious, can you laugh? Sometimes the even the best-laid plans, the most carefully planned events can turn out quite differently than planned.
— James Martin

It's sometimes too easy to point fingers when circumstances dramatically go awry, but as an addict, I'm ultimately responsible for my own decisions, no matter how benign or tragic the consequences.
— Moby

Is it dangerous to plan too much? Yes, we all need to plan, to have a plan, but life goes on regardless of our plans and we know only too well what happens to so many of the best laid plans of mice and men!
— Leslie W.P. Garland

Despite the fact that I was still house-sitting halfway through Tuesday, I had figured on getting my plan of action worked out last week so I could finally get myself back on track.

I should have known better. *sigh*

It was another one of those weeks where I felt like I was really busy, but I didn’t get all that much done, blog posts aside. That’s just the way it goes sometimes I guess.

I had a frustrating time with my cell phone last week. I seriously regret getting this phone in the first place – it’s given me nothing but problems. But my service provider was upgrading their service and I was kind of forced to upgrade my phone. I was talked into this phone by a fast-talking saleswoman, so it’s really my own fault. As soon as it’s paid off I will do my research before deciding on a new phone – no salesperson will be involved. I might even switch service providers.

And then my car went on the fritz again. I had this sensor lighting up my dashboard with warnings about the four-wheel drive and ABS brakes. This happened on the weekend, but fortunately the dealership was able to take it in first thing in the morning. Still, the back and forth took time out of my schedule that I wasn’t counting on.

After I was home again there were a few errands to run for my elderly father-in-law, and a out of town trip to Fabricland to buy the rest of the material for the ballgown I’m making the granddaughter for the Father/Daughter Ball. The theme this year is disco, and she sent me a picture of a dress with an asymmetrical, long bodice out of this glittery material, with an underskirt of netting with a regular hem. She requested sequins, so I found some blue (her favorite colour) sequin encrusted material for the top part and rainbow chiffon for the underskirt.

The weather turned sticky and overcast, which kind of tanked my energy, and Friday I took the daughter and granddaughter on an impulsive road trip to a fancy garden center close to Toronto. Many plants were purchased, for a fairy garden as well as a hanging basket, and though there were regrets over the amount of money spent, there was no question of putting any of the plants back.

So not only did I not get back on track last week, I wasn’t even aboard the train.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

WORDAGE REPORT

THE WEEK IN REVIEW
The word to describe last week would have to be – confusing.

There was a lot of back and forth between the two households, but surprisingly enough, I accomplished less in my own home than in my daughter’s. But still, I got my blog posts done with time to spare, but not much else.

My plan for the week was to not only get my blog posts done early, I was supposed to get the blog posts for this week done early so I’d have guilt free time to work on the granddaughter’s dress. Plus we have a holiday weekend coming up and it would be nice not to have to worry about blogging. But of course that didn’t happen.

Still no new words outside of the blogs, but as I was driving my granddaughter home from her guitar lesson, I was struck by an idea of how to fix my very first NaNo, Driving Into Forever. The big problem I have with that story is that I don’t like the main character. I find her boring. And if I find her boring, you can bet any readers will too. But I think I’ve figured out a way to make this character more interesting. Too bad I had neither the time nor the energy to work on it last week.

The weather has turned muggy and overcast, the two things that really sap my energy. And I’ve looked at the forecast for the week ahead and it’s not looking promising. There’s only one day showing sun next week so it’s not boding well for productivity.

NEW WORDS:
2325+827+380+906=4,438
UP 519 – words from last week

I’m not surprised. I did a little better, word-wise, on all my blog posts. And I found a better picture to illustrate Winter’s Child. While the poem I included in the introduction was the basis for the idea for the story, that picture was what I based the actual winter’s child on.

I feel like I was better organized when I was at the daughter’s and that’s something I’d like to try and recapture this week. But I don’t think it’s going to happen because I only have a couple of weeks until the Father/Daughter ball and I really need to focus on getting the granddaughter’s dress finished. So once again it’s going to be blog posts with nothing else.

My writing mojo seems to be in short supply since I got back home. My enthusiasm has waned a great deal lately. Of course some of that could be the change in weather, but the rest – sheer mental cotton candy.

Goals For Next Week:
Find a workable routine to generate more words.

EDITING:
0 hours

I may not be any closer to editing Elemental Spirit, but I have a few ideas for editing Driving Into Forever. It occurs to me though, if I can get myself organized, I should be able to work on both of them. How’s that for being ambitious?

Goal For Next Week:
Figure out the prophecy; get editing Elemental Spirit.

POETRY:
Last week’s form turned out to be a little trickier than it looked when I picked it, and I really struggled with the example. But I muddled through, and the poem turned out better than I thought it would. It still took forever to write though.

There was a poetry gathering in the park last week that I was not looking forward to because the mosquitos are really bad this year. I guess others felt the same, because it was a small turn-out. I dowsed my clothes and chair, and even my Tilley hat, with Deep Woods Off and went anyway.

I wrote a somewhat fluffy poem for June’s poemwork – quick and easy – and I had time to spare to fix my poem for last month. Still isn’t quite what I hoped for, but it’s much better.

Goal For Next Week:
Find another new poetry form to share.

CRAFTING:
Well . . . that was a bust. Did not get a chance to set up my baker’s rack, nor did I get the loot from the stash sale organized. I did hem four pairs of pants for my father-in-law, and I was given two more that are going to require machine hemming, so they’re going to have to wait until I get the granddaughter’s ball gown done.

I did start the picture square on my sampler, and then when I was at the stitch-in at the library I decided the stem and leaves of the flowers would look better in two strands, so I started picking it all out. Saturday was grey and miserable, so I watched another few episodes of The Witcher while I finished picking what I had done.

I started the stems again, still didn’t like what I was doing, and picked it out again. Then I decided I’d be better off doing the flowers first, so I started them figuring I could use a different stitch for the outline to define the petals.

Well, that didn’t work so I ended up picking that stitching out as well. Using two strands, I outlined the center petals in a slightly different shade of the colour and finally, that seems to be working. What a pain in the butt!

I did get up to Fabricland for the netting for the granddaughter’s dress. Actually, I got some navy blue netting that matches the satin I was going to use for the lining, and they had rainbow coloured chiffon on sale that would look cool with the blue sequins. I still don’t have a clue how I’m going to sew a zipper into the sequin encrusted fabric though.

Goal For Next Week:
Get working on the granddaughter’s dress.

WHAT I’M READING:
My Kindle got a good workout while I was house sitting, but I’ve slowed down again. However, I have read Justice for Mackenzie, Justice for Mickie, and just started Justice for Corrie in the Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes series by Susan Stoker.

Goal For Next Week:
Keep up the good reading habits.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

I don’t even want to think about all the stuff I need to get done this week.

The daughter (and granddaughter) and I went to a big garden center on Friday, and I need to get the plants planted ASAP. The granddaughter and I picked out some plants for our fairy garden, and the overflow is going to go in a hanging basket (that I had to go out and buy) which will hang from a shepherd’s crook . . . somewhere.

I am really trying to get ahead on my blog posts so that when things come up unexpectedly, as they often do during the summer, I won’t be staying up extra late to get them done. Despite my good intentions, it didn’t happen last week, although I have picked out my poetry form already.

The priority for the next couple of weeks, however, is going to be the granddaughter’s dress for the Father/Daughter ball. It’s in two weeks. Last year I started a couple of months in advance – I have no idea what happened to me this year. It’s not going to be as complicated as last year’s dress, but it still requires a lot of planning. I was given a picture of what she wanted, and told she likes sequins. But I like a challenge, and this one will certainly be that.

Track? What track? Every time I think I’m getting closer to getting back on that track, it’s washed out by a flood or a landslide or something. Maybe one day . . .

Winter’s Child – Part 3

James was packing up his briefcase in preparation for leaving when the phone on his desk began to ring. He stared at it, debating about whether to pick it up or not. It was already well past time he was supposed to leave, but maybe Janice wanted him to pick something up on the way home. Giving a sigh, he answered it.

“James Preston,” he said crisply.

“Mr. Preston, this is Our Lady of Mercy Hospital calling. I need to inform you that your father was admitted just a short time ago – you were listed as his emergency contact.”

“Emergency?” James sat up straight in his chair. “What kind of emergency? Is he going to be all right?”

“Your father has had a fall and suffered several injuries. We need you—”

“I’ll be right there,” James said, and hung up on her.

Throwing the rest of his things into his briefcase, he left his office at a fast clip, ignoring anyone who tried to stop him for a chat. As he sped across town to the hospital, he wondered how bad it was. He should have waited to get more details from the nurse.

His father wasn’t getting any younger, and the cabin he where he lived, the same one James had grown up in, was pretty isolated. James worried about him living all alone out there – worried that something like this would happen. How long had his father been laying injured before he was found? If it had been winter, instead of fall, Joseph might have died of exposure before anyone knew he was hurt.

Finally, James reached the hospital and hurried inside. He was directed from one desk to another, and finally handed a clipboard with several forms.

“Please take a seat fill these out,” the nurse told him.

“What about my father? How badly is he hurt, can I see him?”

“The doctor will be right out to speak to you. Meanwhile, please fill out these forms.”

“Look, just tell me—”

“Mr. Preston?”

James turned to face the tall, thin woman dressed in plain blue scrubs.

“I’m Doctor Maynard. Why don’t we have a seat over here?” She steered him towards the waiting area.

“How’s my father?”

“Your father is a lucky man. Apparently, he slipped off his front porch, and was found by a delivery man. He’s suffered several abrasions, a slight blow to the head, and a fracture to his hip.”

“You call that lucky?”

She looked at him soberly. “I was told his home is somewhat isolated. If the courier service hadn’t been scheduled to make a delivery today, who knows how long it might have been before he was found.”

“You’re right, of course,” James said. “Can I see him?”

“He’s down in x-ray right now. The x-rays will tell us how bad the hip is, whether it can be repaired or will need to be replaced.”

The doctor touched his arm in sympathy. “Mr. Preston, in either case your father’s recovery will take weeks, probably months. And he is not going to be able to go back home to do it. You’ll need to start thinking now about an extended care facility or nursing home for him.”

“Could he stay with us?”

She hesitated. “After his initial recovery and time spent in our rehab facility we can do an assessment. To be perfectly honest, he’s going to need a lot of care. You might want to give it careful consideration and speak with his occupational therapist before deciding on anything.”

James nodded. “Can I see him before he goes into surgery?”

Again, the doctor hesitated. “You can, but bear in mind he’s under sedation. He may say things he doesn’t really mean.”

Things like ranting about how even though the leaves were still on the trees it was one of winter’s children that pushed him down his steps. James waited patiently in the waiting room until an orderly took him to where his father was waiting for surgery.

James felt a chill as he looked down at his father. He had always seemed bigger than life, now he seemed old and frail, and so small laying on the gurney. For all their differences, he really did love his father.

Joseph’s eyes opened. Blearily, he looked at James. “Guess I’ve gone and done it this time,” he said in a rasping whisper.

“You’re going to be fine,” James told him. “They said it’s a fracture, not a break, and they can stick you together again with some screws.”

“Should have fixed that step when I had the chance. Had a box of my books coming and I didn’t want to miss it. You make sure to take them inside for me, would you? There’s rain coming.”

“I thought you only predicted snow,” James teased.

Joseph’s laugh was more of a bark. “Just make sure those books are safe boy.”

“I will,” James promised, as a pair of orderlies wheeled his father away.

He sighed. Winter’s children. Even now there was no getting away from them. Having been assured that, barring complication, the surgery would take at least two hours, James left the hospital to go rescue his father’s precious books.

The Roundabout

This form was developed by Sara Diane Doyle (former Poet Laureate for Poetic Asides, a feature in Writer’s Digest) and her student David Edwards. It’s 20 lines long, broken up into four quatrains (five line verses). What I find most interesting about this poem is that the creators describe it as having four, five line verses, and yet the examples they shared both had five, four line verses.

I’m actually grateful to others who have embraced this form, because while the original authors shared the rhyme scheme and advised that the Roundabout can be on any subject, they only vaguely referred to a repeating line, and failed to mention which line repeats.

The premise of the poem is that the rhyme scheme should come full circle (hence the name). It’s written in a series of four quatrains (five line verses). The first line is a tetrameter (8 syllables), the second line is trimeter (6 syllables), the third and four lines are dimeter (4 syllables), and the fifth line is a repeat of line two of the same stanza.

The rhyme scheme is: abccb bcddc cdaad dabba. As you can see, there are only four rhymes in the entire poem.

Schematic:

xxxxxxxa
xxxxxb
xxxc
xxxc
xxxxxb(repeated)

xxxxxxxb
xxxxxc
xxxd
xxxd
xxxxxc(repeated)

xxxxxxxc
xxxxxd
xxxa
xxxa
xxxxxd(repeated)

xxxxxxxd
xxxxxa
xxxb
xxxb
xxxxxa(repeated)

This form is a bit of a challenge. I have to admit I struggled with my example. Even now I’m not entirely happy with what I came up with, but it is what it is.


Summer

The morning sun slanting sideways
starting the dawn refrain
birds wait to sing
then taking wing
starting the dawn refrain.

Summertime is here once again
after waiting all year
the flowers bloom
the insects zoom
after waiting all year.

The humidity rises here
with heat that can entomb
horizon haze
meets my gaze
with heat that can entomb.

I think it is safe to assume
the summer sun will blaze
and once again
without restrain
the summer sun will blaze.

Stay in the Light

Every day you spend drifting away from your goals is a waste not only of that day, but also of the additional day it takes to regain lost ground.
—Ralph Marston

Without dreams and goals, there is no living, only merely existing, and that is not why we are here.
—Mark Twain

I believe in the saying, ‘If you aim at nothing, you’re going to hit nothing.’ So if you don’t set goals, then you have nowhere to go.
—Taylor Lautner

It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.
—Benjamin E. Mays

I was on the way home from a therapy appointment after having had a bit of a break-thru, and the radio started playing “Stay in the Light,” by Honeymoon Suite. I took that as a sign – the words: Stay in the light, keep your target in sight really spoke to me. They became a kind of mantra.

I was thinking about this the other day, and then I wondered, what good does staying in the light do if you don’t really have a target? I was thinking, of course of my writing and how I didn’t really have a target, or goal.

Then I started thinking about it some more and I realized that’s not entirely true. I do have goals. I want to finish Elemental Spirit, I want to put out a poetry anthology, I want to write things other than blog posts, I want to finish my unfinished novels . . .

Most impossible goals can be met simply by breaking them down into bite-size chunks, writing them down, believing them, and going full speed ahead as if they were routine.
—Don Lancaster

Well, first of all, I wouldn’t exactly call editing a book an impossible goal. And breaking it down doesn’t exactly work either – I mean, you either edit or you don’t. There’s really nothing else to it.

I don’t know what it is, but for some reason, when I think of “keeping my target in sight” I don’t feel like I have one. So then I thought, maybe I need some help setting some goals.

Let’s start with a definition. A goal is something you want to achieve. Pretty basic, but there it is in a nutshell. It is not an objective, objectives are the steps taken to reach a goal. Nor is it a resolution, resolutions are a decision to do or not do something. The goal is what you want to achieve.

Setting specific, challenging goals leads to increased performance, persistence, and motivation. It helps us take a step back and really understand what’s important. Some would say, it’s the first step towards creating a life full of meaning. It gives you something to aspire to, acknowledging what you want out of life. It puts you in control of your future.

There are many different kinds of goals: 1. Short term – goals that can be achieved quickly – within a few days or weeks. 2. Long term – goals that require more time – months, maybe even years. 3. Personal goals – goals related you a person’s health, relationships, or hobbies. 4. Professional goals – goals related to someone’s career and skill development. 5. Financial goals – goals related to paying off a debt, investing, saving for retirement. 6. Academic goals – goals related to someone’s education, such as learning a new skill 7. Social goals – goals related to making new friends, attending social functions, networking.

Whatever kind of goals you make, they should be meaningful to you and fill you with pride when you meet them. Your personal goals should not be dependent on other people and they shouldn’t be reliant on external forces you have no control over. If your goal is based on something outside of your control, you have no control on whether or not you achieve that goal.

I think where I’ve gone wrong is the fact that all the research I’ve done has shown me that it’s not enough to just have goals or set them, you have to have a plan of action in place for achieving them. You also have to figure out what’s needed to reach your goal, and set a time frame for it.

In other words, I don’t just need goals, I need a plan of action. This is going to require some serious thought, but hopefully it’ll be time well spent. And in the end, I really will be able to stay in the light.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

WORDAGE REPORT

THE WEEK IN REVIEW
I can’t think of a word to describe last week. My brain is mush.

I had a strong beginning (like always). After struggling with my Sunday post, when I was writing Monday’s post I had a sudden idea for this Sunday’s (today’s) post. So I had the first half of it written early in the week. Got my poetry post done early too.

However, starting on Wednesday I began house/dog sitting for my daughter while she and her family are in Halifax (Nova Scotia) and I gotta tell you, this is weirder than snake shoes. She only lives a short distance from me and if she only had cats it would just be a matter of going over and feeding them every day. Maybe spend a little time keeping them company.

But the dog needs to be let out, and at night or when no one’s home he stays in his crate. And I suppose technically, because he’d be in the crate anyway, I could have slept at home, but that just wouldn’t feel right to me.

It took a couple of days to settle into a workable routine. Thursday I had a bunch of obligations concerning my father-in-law, and Friday I had to work around grocery shopping (I had to go to four different stores before I found the FIL’s Bud Zero), so those days in particular were a wee bit stressful. But the rest of my time was okay.

The installment for Winter’s Child almost didn’t happen because of my stress level on Thursday, but I think the story is going in the direction I want it to. I got extra reading in – the daughter doesn’t have network TV and I didn’t bother streaming anything until Saturday night. LOL

I also got a little extra stitching in and some journalling. I would have liked to have liked to have got more writing in, but going back and forth between two homes was a little distracting.

But, only three more days and then I can get back to working on a routine. And you want to know something funny? This dividing my time between two households has made me appreciate having a routine more. I’m actually looking forward to buckling down to working one out for every day.

NEW WORDS:
2185+638+339+757=3,919
DOWN 17 – words from last week

Well that’s not bad at all, is it? I may not have added extra words, but I did manage to be a little more consistent. Most of my blog posts were up a few words, but the installment for Winter’s Child was actually down by about 100 words. I do like to try to keep my installments consistent in word counts, but they’re basically a single scene and it is what it is.

I actually did get some office time in on Monday and Tuesday, but those were the only two days. Having no network TV to watch was a little disconcerting because I’m used to having something mindless on when I’m writing in the living room. With the streaming service I’m usually watching something I want to pay attention to, which is fine for stitching, not so much for writing.

I will admit that I found the daughter’s house less distracting to work in than at home. That’s not to say I got any more writing in at her place, but it showed me what I could be doing with my time.

Goals For Next Week:
Find a workable routine to generate more words.

EDITING:
0 hours

Well, I may not have made any progress with actual editing, but I feel like I’m moving closer to it. I think future progress will greatly depend on coming up with that routine I keep talking about, and spending more time in my office.

Goal For Next Week:
Figure out the prophecy; get editing Elemental Spirit.

POETRY:
I picked out last week’s form early to give myself time to do some research on it, and it’s a good thing I did, because information was hard to come by. I had the inventor’s name and the bare bones of the form. Four different sites I checked had the exact same information. Through sheer doggedness, I uncovered the author’s obituary, which offered a little more insight into her life, but nothing else about the form.

I did not make it to the poetry reading last week – see above mention about dog sitting. But this week there is a poetry gathering. It feels like a long time since we’ve been together.

Goal For Next Week:
Find another new poetry form to share. Do poemwork for Wednesday.

CRAFTING:
I finally got my baker’s rack! The father-in-law paid some movers to, well, move it. It took three of them to get that sucker off the truck and up the stairs. It fits perfectly in the space I had for it, just as I knew it would. And the bottom shelves fold up, which makes it handy because the middle shelf is the perfect height if I want to use it as a work table. All I need is a stool to sit on.

Tuesday was the Annual General Meeting for the stitchery group. It was held at a local golf course and included lunch and a stash sale, as well as the meeting. Despite my best intentions, I came away with three (shopping) bags of loot from the stash sale. *sigh*

However, it wasn’t all for me. The granddaughter mentioned she’d like to learn to sew this summer. So one of the things I nabbed was a brand new sewing box. I’m going to fill it with sewing accessories, and if she keeps up with the sewing for the summer, the box will be hers to keep.

AND there were two blanket sized lengths of arctic fleece that ended up in my bags too. All they need is an edging of blanket stitch and they’re perfect for throw blankets. I figured it would be the perfect first sewing project for her. She can take her pick – she can do one, and I’ll do the other.

Not much actual stitching during the week, until I brought my stitchery bag over to the daughter’s. Then I made some progress on my sampler while watching the Witcher.

I’m actually looking forward to going back home and going through my loot from the stash sale, and getting my baker’s rack set up. AND something to look forward to later in the year, I signed up for a stitchery retreat, my first one.

Goal For Next Week:
Continue with my sampler; go to Fabricland for the netting for the granddaughter’s dress.

WHAT I’M READING:
I haven’t made any more progress in One Dark Window, by Rachel Gillig. *shrugs* I left it at home while I’m at the daughter’s, but I did bring my Kindle with me.

I finished Bride Protector SEAL, which is book #2 in the Brotherhood Protector series, by Elle James, and read Montana D-Force, the next one in the series. I must be in a military/lawman frame of mind, because I’ve started Justice for Mackenzie, the first in the Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes series by Susan Stoker.

Goal For Next Week:
Keep up the good reading habits.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

I have three more days of house/dog sitting, and then it’s back home full time. While it will be nice to get back to all my stuff, I have to admit the distractions were fewer here. However, one thing I will NOT miss are the mosquitos. The daughter has a row of giant fir trees along her fence, and apparently mosquitos love pine.

That being said, being outside with the dog so much has given me a better appreciation for the great outdoors. Maybe when I get back home I’ll start spending a couple of hours a day either writing or stitching outside.

My baker’s rack was delivered and it looks beautiful in its designated spot. I even bought some small plastic bins for the craft stuff I’d like to keep on it. So one of the first things on my list for when I get back home is to start sorting out stuff to keep on it. I mean, what’s the point of a massive rack if you can’t fill it with stuff, right?

I fell off the list wagon while at my daughter’s, so that’s another thing I have to get back to. But Monday and Tuesday I sat at my desk in my office to update my journals — maybe that’s something else I should be doing on a regular basis.

Despite the upheaval of being kind of away from home for a week, I actually feel like that track I fell off of is getting a bit closer again. I guess only time will tell.