I have a new little granddaughter I can’t wait to meet! Two of her older brothers had a stomach bug last weekend, so I’m working hard on her quilt so that I can take it to her when we visit. Each of my grandchildren has a quilt or blanket that I’ve made for them or that we’ve made together. I make these so that someday, when I am gone, my grandchildren will have a piece of the past that binds us together.
Magnolia May (“Noli”) is welcomed by her sister Saylor Reese and brothers Beckham Cash, River Dawson, and Sawyer Wilson, and her three labs – Boone, Sky, and Eli. Plus, she has a family tree full of aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents ready to dress her in all the pinkest outfits and lacy bows.
Quilt
Today, I stitched squares
Forever, you’ll remember
These arms full of love
Noli’s Quilt Layout PatternBeckham’s quiltSawyer’s QuiltRiver’s QuiltSaylor’s QuiltMaking Aidan’s blanket together (we went shopping for his fabric together so he could choose)So they remember
Special thanks to Two Writing Teachers for investing in teacher writers
At the end of each month, (or beginning), I review my yearly goals and spend some time reflecting on how I’m doing in living the life I want to live ~ a way of becoming my own accountability partner and having frequent check-ins to evaluate my progress. I’m still in the process of revising some of my goals as I encounter successes…..and setbacks. I’ve worked on learning new photography techniques, and that knowledge is being put to great use for my nephew’s new dog business website (success!), but it’s hard to travel Route 66 with all its burgers and fries, coneydogs and shakes….and great desserts….without gaining weight (setback!). So new goals have asterisks for the month of July, when I will report on them in a few weeks. For the month of June, here’s my goal reflection:
Category
Goals
My Progress
Literature
*Read for Sarah Donovan’s Book Group
Send out Postcards
Blog Daily
* Write at least 2 chapters for writing group’s book
Ethicalela.com has a new book group! First Book: Healer of the Water Monster by Brian Young (https://shorturl.at/coAHN
I continue to send out postcards – I would estimate about 30 this month alone, with travel along Route 66!
I continue to blog daily, and the daily writing and reflecting is a wonderful habit for me. I don’t feel complete without some form of daily writing,
My writing group is writing a series of new books, and I will spend time writing chapters for these in July.
Creativity
Improve blog photos
*Make a rag quilt for a new grandbaby
*Create Shutterfly Route 66
My nephew asked me to make photos for his new business website, so maybe the new techniques I’m learning mean that I’m improving in photography!
I am having a new grandbaby this month, so a new quilt will be on the month’s menu!
I’ll create a canvas or two, along with a photo book using our Route 66 photos! (Oh, and I got creative with spray paint, too – graffiti is fun!).
Spirituality
Tune in to church
Pray!
Keep OLW priority
We will tune in to church by radio or YouTube and catch up with services missed while on the road traveling.
My car is still my prayer chamber for daily prayer, but I’m shifting it to the shower for summer, since sometimes I my habits change when I’m off contract at work for the summer. I’m still keeping my OLW my priority: pray!
Reflection
Write family stories
Spend time tracking goals each month
I’ll be sharing more family stories through small moment experiences along Route 66 in the coming days.
I’m tracking goals, revising, and considering some new categories as I look at my goal table.
Self-Improvement
*Reach top of weight range
This is a setback for me this month. Part of May and all of June was not a good one for weight. I’ve gained back about a third of the weight I had lost, and I need to transition to Weight Watchers point counting, which has been the plan since starting Optavia. I need to make the shift for July – and stay out of the retro diners with burgers, fries, and shakes.
Gratitude
Devote blog days to counting blessings
The gratitude category was strong for the month of June. At every turn of the corner along Route 66, I realized the beauty and wonder of our great nation and its history. I shared the amazing experience of travel with Briar’s brother and his wife this month. I also visited one of my children last month in Kentucky and will visit another one this month in South Carolina. Life is good!
Experience
Embrace Slow Travel
Focus on the Outdoors
While I covered a lot of distance in the month of June with road trips through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico (NINE states in ONE month!), the pacing was relaxed. I didn’t try to do too much in one place – – I enjoyed the moments! I visited Dunbar Cave State Park in Tennessee, Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Texas, and Sandia Peak in New Mexico to enjoy the outdoors and the grand views of nature and experience time in the great outdoors. I’ve been way far up and way far down on landforms and in goals, but it just goes to show that the peaks and the valleys can both be beautiful places that give us unique views!
Dr. Leilya Pitre of Ponchatoula, Louisiana is our host for today’s Open Write. She brings us a short form, the sevenling, which you can read about here.
Foxgloves at Gibbs Gardens in Ball Ground, Georgia
Foxglove Funeral for a Grandson
Foxglove bells chime joy, bring smiles on Mother’s Day in Georgia, painting gardens in blush colors: the female womb blooms
Foxglove bells toll grief, stir longing on Mother’s Day in Kentucky: a petal flips, a cradle rocks in heaven ~ the female soul cries
empty arms mourning a baby not born
Foxglove in Kentucky, symbolizing a baby in heaven
Just some of my writing friends, NCTE, Anaheim, CA November 2023
Today’s host at the Open Write is Jessica from Arkansas, who inspires us to write about our friends using borrowed lines from friendship songs. You can read her full prompt here.
I can’t think of a better way to kick off any month than celebrating friendship. Jessica’s invitation to search songs was just what my heart needed this morning, and for me, no one touches my heart like The Divine Miss M. Here’s to all of my friends who are writers – all of you, using a line or two from Wind Beneath My Wings
A Haiku for YOU
you, fellow writer, are the wind beneath my wings cheers to friends with pens!
did I ever tell (forgive me if I haven’t) you, you’re my hero?
We’re ready to begin packing for our Route 66 trip later this month. I’m counting down the days, planning as I go so that our trip has a better chance of fewer hiccups.
Today I’m adding pre-addressed mailing labels and a roll of postcard stamps to my list. Whenever I travel, I love sending postcards, but I often find it time-consuming to address postcards and write them while on the road. A few years ago, I began purchasing blank mailing labels and addressing them ahead of time, and throwing in a roll of postcard stamps and a couple of pens in a Ziploc bag each time I travel (I also roll my pens with several layers of Duck Tape, using the barrel as the tape core just in case we need to repair something). This stays in my backpack so that if a store sells postcards, I can purchase them right there, write a quick message, stamp and label them, and ask if they have any outgoing mail. I did this in record time in Luckenbach, Texas in February 2022 so that I could get the Luckenbach postmark from their tiny post office rather than mailing them from a different location later.
Addressing labels at home before the trip saves a lot of time!
It makes sending mail from the road more efficient, and I like to send the grandchildren postcards so that they can see where we are in the world and learn a little history of the places we visit. Perhaps, too, they’ll catch a case of travel fever and we’ll be able to take them to a couple of places that spark their interest.
My love of travel hacks started years ago when I read on Pinterest that I should travel with my makeup and moisturizer in contact lens cases, and I realized that if I found ways of scaling back, I could travel with nothing but a carry-on bag. The hardest part is deciding which pair of shoes to take.
Other than pens rolled in Duck Tape, makeup in contact lens cases, and pre-addressed mailing labels, what are some of your favorite travel hacks? I can use all the handy tips you’re willing to share in the comments.
Any good goal system has to be periodically updated, which is why I revisit my goals at the end of each month. Sometimes I feel myself slipping, and sometimes I reach goals and then move away from them and have to re-establish them and strive to reach them again. Keeping them in my sight throughout the year is a dance – – whether two steps forward and one step back or one step forward and two steps back, I keep the momentum when I devote some time each month to thinking about making things happen. Because a goal without a plan, as they say, is just a dream.
Here’s what is happening this month:
Category
Goals
My Progress
Literature
Shift from Read Around the USA to reading with Sarah Donovan’s Ethicalela book group, which begins in August – My goal is to co-host April with Fran Haley and host next July alone, unless someone wants to join in and be a partner.
Continue to Blog Daily – I’m considering moving to a weekly blog, but I’m undecided as yet.
Signed up to host the book groups – Ada Limon’s The Hurting Kind poetry for April 2024and The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart for July 2024.
Ordered the first two books in the yearly reading series.
I have blogged daily this month.
Creativity
Improve blog photos
Indulge in photo excursions
I’ve been reading tips on improving photography from websites like Audubon, and using the tips to apply to my photos.
I’ve been taking my camera on my outings, and I always keep it handy on the way up or down the driveway, since so much wildlife lives right there.
Spirituality
Tune in to church Pray! Keep OLW priority
We have tuned in to the First Baptist Church of YouTube through the month and listened to Dad as he has preached in different locations as pulpit supply.
I’ve prayed my way to work most days, and I’m keeping prayer as my priority – we have so many blessings that can never be thanked for enough.
Reflection
Write family stories Spend time tracking goals each month
I haven’t been writing as many family stories as I should be writing. I have been tracking my goals, though.
Self-Improvement
Reach top of weight range
Maintain Weight
I reached the top of my goal weight range and tried maintaining, but I failed to maintain. Now I’m back to needing to lose 10 pounds, and I’m going to try it with Weight Watchers instead of Optavia this time, since I find it more sustainable. Plus, I need a banana every day of my life for potassium – – not allowed on Optavia. Thankfully, a lot of weight has not been gained. I just need to reel it in. Maintenance is the harder goal of losing and keeping it off.
Gratitude
Devote blog days to counting blessings
I still devote blog days to counting my blessings. It helps to look ahead on the calendar and anticipate days like birthdays and other celebrations, like Marshall and Selena’s anniversary at the end of May and Beckham’s birthday at the beginning.
Experience
Embrace Slow Travel
Focus on the Outdoors
Add birding in at least three new counties for June – I currently have official counts for four Georgia counties.
We are indeed embracing slow travel as we take more camper trips. Instead of planning a cruise or a trip overseas this summer, we are opting to drive Route 66 (half of it) at an enjoyable pace, stopping to see the sights. We leave at the end of June for this with Briar’s brother and his wife, so we can share the driving and go at our own pace.
We’ve been spending more time outdoors at home and away – spiffing up the yard, savoring campsites. Spring is the ultimate time to get outdoors! I’m even trying a few new plants to see if I can keep them alive.
I have officially posted birding counts for Pike, Harris, Washington, and Cherokee counties in Georgia. My goal is to stop along the way home when we are at campsites and get at least three new counties by the end of June.
Many moons ago, I taught with a colleague who drank coffee from the most unique mug I’d ever seen. Aside from her coffee mug in the shape of a Zoom lens that proclaimed her love of photography and led to conversations about her sideline photography business, she had one even more intriguing, but she only drank from it during the winter time.
The mug had no handle. Instead, it had a nestled crook, much like a ceramic mitten. It was made of pottery, and she called it her handwarmer mug. My English classroom at the high school had erratic heating and cooling. I’d sweat and shiver in the same class period all year long, so I made a mental note to pick up a handwarmer mug the next time I saw one.
Trouble is, I never saw one.
I forgot to share it as a gift idea for all those Christmases that have come and gone.
Imagine my surprise when we stopped in to have a glass of wine in Ball Ground, Georgia at the Feather’s Edge Winery, where there is an art gallery connected to the tasting room. There on a display shelf was a sign proclaiming The Original Hand-Warmer Mug, and several variations of pottery mugs to choose from – and there were mugs for right hand mug holders and left-hand mug holders. You slip your hand into the crook of the mug on the side of your handedness and nestle your other hand around the mug on the opposite side. These are made by Clay in Motion Pottery Studio.
Instant warmth! Rustic beauty! Inviting aromas, inspiring the desire to put on a sweatshirt and sit by the fire in a pair of woolen socks, watching snowflakes pile up on the windowsill of a woodland cabin.
Oh, yes. Winter has just finally finished all its antics, but already there is the promise of the next one waiting in these spectacular mugs, where visions of campfires outside the Little Guy Max are also taking center stage in my daydreams.
I came across a fascinating Facebook post this week on one of my camping groups. A Girl Camper member stated she needed a rainy day hobby and invited others to share what they enjoyed doing. There are currently 687 responses, but for a rainy day wish, the feedback was phenomenal. I wanted to share the ideas that were posted as a list post today. I won’t name people, since the group is private, but these ideas are completely credited to the girl campers of the world, who are a creative and adventurous bunch!
read
crochet
knit
sew
plan the next camping trip
macro photography
watercolours
embroidery
draw
journal
listen to the wind
listen to music
listen to audiobooks
diamond painting
nap
make leather items
play video games
adult coloring books
play the ukelele
color with gel pens
paint rocks to leave for the next camper
scrapbooking
sudoku
crossword
dot painting on rocks
color by number
paint by number
quilting
canning
people watching
jigsaw puzzles
cross stitch
make jewelry
watch old movies
plastic canvas stitching
make knit hats to sell
write your life story
loom knit
make wind/sun catchers
sew towel golf cart seat covers
Play Yahtzee, Uno, Scrabble Go
Play guitar
paint notecards
needlepoint
board games
card games
fish
drink and collect wine corks
word finds
Chuzzle on my phone
bedazzle my clothes
paint scenes where we are camped
Bead Christmas ornaments
make car air fresheners
make cups, tshirts, wooden signs
singing
study bird identification books
study flower identification books
study foreign language on Duolingo
play solitaire
plan menus
reorganize the camper, clean cabinets
make mosaics with old costume jewelry
listen to podcasts
work on Lego sets
play cribbage
watch a Netflix series
make a camper or log cabin from wine corks
shop at local thrift stores
try new makeupn techniques
plein air painting
cook something new
meditate
yoga
latch hook
dance
walk in the rain
fire writing (pyrography)
go out to eat
make knee blankets to donate to the nursing home
zentangling
neurographic art to destress from andrea.nelson.art on TikTok
play indoor bowling
write letters to friends
whittle/woodcarve
organize digital photos
spinning wheels (wool) with travel spinner
train the dog
macrame
paper crafts (origami)
make gel prints from leaves and flowers
go to a local winery
make cotton loop pot holders to give away to fellow campers
catch up on work
geocaching in the drizzle
wire wrap stones
make tinctures with essential oils
Bible Study
daydream
pray
song writing
poetry writing
surf the web
work on Geneaolgy
look for a dog to rescue
English Paper Piecing
Pedicure
Manicure
Facial
stained glass
make doll clothes
make buntings
bullet journaling
rug matting
clean a cupboard
brush the cat or dog
Tjhoko painting
make tags with rubber stamps
mandala painting on garden bricks
update your blog
visit a museum
listen to the rain
look at magazines
crochet a temperature blanket
make paper beads
punch needle rugs
put a wood model together
brew a big pot of coffee and drink it
weaving loom
art abandonment – something for the next camper left behind
make decals on the Silhouette machine
press flowers
make bookmarks
call someone to talk
text people to say you’re thinking of them
There’s simply no way to be bored when you’re camping in the rain!
We were camping at Dames Ferry in Georgia this weekend when our 3 Schnoodles became captivated with the ducks flitting about in the waters of Lake Juliette. The stargazer window over the bed of our Little Guy Max never fails to hold wonder - whether stars or ducks, whether night or morning. There is always an exciting world to behold outside that window!
Move Over, Stargazers!
duckgazer window
curious schnoodles camping
flop-eared wonderment
Today, I've written a riddle-type poem (Haiku two lines short of a Haiku sonnet), open-ended, to invite readers to title this poem AND to add two seven-syllable lines to the end to make it a true Haiku sonnet if you wish. I'll add my title after the photo at the bottom so you can see what my initial title was. It's subject to change :).
never have I met
anyone who on first taste
liked its bitterness
sipping piping hot
aromatic wakefulness
swallowing its truth
ah, but sip by sip
its addiction is for real~
can’t live without it!
A lavender latte from my local coffee shop, where I’ll be reading poetry tonight – YAAAY!A book of poetry
The title I initially landed on was Coffee and Poetry – original, I know! Perhaps you can figure out a better title for this poem! Leave ideas in the comments, please.
Common Threads 