A-n-d they'r-r-r-e OFF!

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Up and down the street, the Ornamental Pears are in full bloom. Even the dandelions are flowering. It’s another beautiful sunny day. A bit nippy though. I opened the window and have a knit throw over my lap and fingerless gloves on while I type. But this morning's local weather report shows a spring monsoon is about to settle in (SW Ohio) for the next week or so. And I've so enjoyed having the windows open!
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I am so grateful to my neighbor for her help in feeding the birds. She is quite able to keep her feeder filled to the brim. I, on the other hand, am no longer able to do so. Instead, I fill the trough with a few scoopfuls of seed, and then sprinkle another few upon the ground, along with the planter-turned-feeder [by accidental proxy] that’s right under the front window. I’m also quite thankful two of neighborhood strays are no longer attacking my birds. Yes! When they’re at my feeders, they’re MY BIRDS! It was quite disheartening last fall, when the mottled tiger cat killed one of the Red-wingeds.
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I was downstairs, in the living room, when I heard the ruckus and scream just outside the window. I rose up from the couch, as fast as I could, and went to see what happened. There, crumpled and writhing on the ground, laid a male Red-winged Blackbird. Blood oozed from a wound to his head. I hurried outside whispering, “Oh no! NO!” I’m not so much mad at the cat. He did only what stray cats do. But MOST of us, keep our cats INSIDE.
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I bent forward and picked up the seemingly small bird. He made no protest. His life force quietly ebbed. Blood trailed across my fingers from the mortal wound. And little by little, his head lowered until his coal-black beak rested gently upon the palm of my hand. He took his last breath, and I felt the beat of his heart— stop. I would hear him sing his arrival at the feeders, no more.
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This season, there are three male Red-wingeds that, well— though one is a Juvenal; his yellow band is still small and a faded yellow, where one is, the other two are not far behind. And I always know when they are here. Their song is quite bold.
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And what, as you might be inclined to ask, is my nail file doing on the floor? Well, 1) I relegated that file, many years ago now, to my design tools drawer. It's quite handy at cleaning up rough edges on man-made beads. And 2) After leaving it out, on top of the work table, Lucy targeted it as the perfect cat toy. Go figure! She carries it around, upstairs and back down, crying like she's just caught one of those rabbit-fur mousies. But what's most special is when she brings it around to the back of the desk and gifts it next to me.

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I'm reminded of the time I stood in the cat aisle of one of the large pet store chains, looking at the wall of cat toys. A very nice woman walked up beside me and said, "I just got a cat. I've never had a cat before. What kind of toys do they like?" I laughed and replied, "Probably nothing you're going to find here!" I then proceeded to help pick out a few basic toys.

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I polished up two poems, yesterday, and sent them off; out into the big wide world. I cannot hold their hands any longer. I also cannot but fret. Will they hold their own? Will they make new friends and/or influence lots of people? Or will they return from their grand adventure with nary a word? No story to tell. Leaving me to wonder where I went wrong?

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Can't worry on that now!
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As for what I can accomplish today? Tuesday's post was rather long, and the time it took to flesh out took a toll on my back. Yesterday I tried to catch up on some reading; blog posts, etc. And today's post is running longer than I first intended. So, I need to take a break from this chair this afternoon. I need to get my legs up and head back. I will NOT be back up here this evening.
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But. After sorting through all of those files last week, I pulled out a few folders and topics to focus on, i.e., notes of my recent experience with bean sprouting; three Diary of a Prisoner blog entries [When Last I Saw Him, Honoring the Dead, & The Day the Music Died]; and yes, I’m actually still considering Script Frenzy. I’m not going to sweat missing the first day out of the gate. But I pulled all of my notes, research, and storyboard cards. Everything is ready. Except for loading Final Draft. I'm not going to sweat that one either!

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So, that should keep me busy on the couch for a while. That and the following.

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For the month of April:

• This article rekindled my interest in the Day at the Marsh picture book proposal. [Thank you, Lea, for the Tweet & Follow] Lots of CDs to sort through.
• Script Frenzy--REMEMBRANCE
• Tuesday’s Tips & Friday Five Favorites
• My annual Earth Day Letter [which still has me- Oy! I'm totally clueless. I don't have the first word yet.]
• How Would You Live blog post [an email this morning, went a long way in reviving this one]
• Renewal Journal blog post
• Update Pearls of Wisdom
• Edit Blogger Bio
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Non-writing-related:

• With my next trip to grocery, I’m going to experiment with dehydrating onions and celery. [This relates to another article/blog post, i.e., bean sprouting]
• Work on building a website for a friend.
• Need to finish the small handbag that I designed last year.

That’s aLOT for me!!!! It's not all going to happen. But this gives me a plan, at least, from which to work. I'd better go.

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Blessings,

The Friday Five Favorites of March 27th

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After several days of rain there is a beautiful sunrise filtering in through my studio office window. With the return of Spring, the sun [weather permitting], is now in perfect view.
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Yesterday afternoon I peered through said window to find the first of the Clan Redwing females, had finally arrived at the feeders. Though they generally dine among the ground feeders, it was good to see her there. She holds her own amid the Grackles, Cowbirds, and Starlings.
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As for today, they're all out there. Clan Sparrow and the Mourning Doves. My BetweenOnes-- the Cardinals. The Grackles, the Brown-headed Cowbirds [still males only], the Starlings, and the Redwings. I have the window up and my ears are filled with their chirps and squawks and whistles. There is also the sing-song from Clan Robin.
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Since I’m trusting the day will come when I garner a more regular readership, this is my shameless ploy to reap that reward.
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The plan is to publish that which relates to the craft of writing, like: my current favorite website finds; weblogs; or specific Blog Posts of the Week. They may also feature five favorite authors or tweeters, or the helpfullest of hints. Look for formidable quotes or excerpts; books and/or reviews. Links to online interviews or favorite letters of news. But! Since this is my blog, I may opt (on the occasionalist of times) to share five photos, or projects, or interests of mine.
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That is somewhat the case with today’s introductory contribution. These are five of my favorite videos. Some were sent to me by friends, and some I found, happily, on my own. Why these? Because! What with all the bad news, bad weather, bad health, and the like, I thought I’d ration out a few heartwarming smiles.
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So, at the risk of coming across like a segment on Ellen, here are this week’s five favorite videos.
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OBLIGATORY WARNING: There may be a few heartfelt tears to be shed as well.

#1-- Cat Man Do?
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It’s the paw tapping the face that resonated with me. My first cat used to do that when he wanted me to, Wake up! These days, Lucy will sit in front of me, but not directly in front of the monitor, and try to gather up my attention. While I’m still keying, she'll reach with her right front paw and tap tap, ever so lightly, on the left side [cheek] of my face. Her claws are lethal, and I don't feel a one.
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#2-- A Wonderful Reunion
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If you haven’t already seen it, this article explains it best.

"But it may be something more: the indelible image of a creature that could kill a man in seconds behaving like a pussycat with two men it obviously loves, smack in the middle of the African bush."

I say we can make a lasting impression upon one another, cross-species, and goes toward proving we are indeed all related.

A related video & Wikipedia

#3-- What the ... ?
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Well--- This one just speaks for itself. Let me know how many times YOU hit the Replay button!

#4-- Playing in the Sprinkler
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Could this one make you feel any better? A happy accident, this one. I don't remember what I was looking for on YouTube when I found it, but whoever posted it initially could NOT have picked a better song. For me, it’s the sharing of worlds, and one person caring enough to share it with those who have no other way to experience such a moment. And I was truly grateful for such a find.
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#5-- English Opera
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I watched this on GMA, one morning, and ended up in tears. This shy and seemingly unassuming man, walked out on that stage and bravely showed the world exactly who he truly is. Dreams do indeed come true!

Have a wonderful weekend, Everyone!

Blessings,

A Little of This, and a Little of That

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It was another beautiful spring morning until the sunrise became criss-crossed with heavy trails that eventually overcame the Sun. Clear blue skies seem rare these days. On a cheerier note-- along with the return of the Clan Robin, the Grackles, Cowbirds, and Redwing Blackbirds are all back as well. And one interesting thing to note, as goes the Cowbirds and Redwings, I've seen only the males. But, the feeders [with my neighbor is still helping] are teaming with activity.

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Some of you will remember the Slide proposal I posted the first week or so of January [which has since been pulled off into the Draft folder], for a children's picture book: A Day at the Marsh. Well, I opened that file and keyed the text into a Word.doc for further fleshing out. I also need to go through my photo CDs to collect the required images; both for the subsequent manuscript and future submissions and queries. Reading through Top Ten Writing Mistakes Made By New Children’s Writers helped to steer me toward [aside from keeping up with my blogs], what project to focus on next. While I still monitor my BP, I can go through the CDs and photos while on the couch. And though I’m practicing a new stitch, my knitting can wait.

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There is also the fact that Script Frenzy begins April 1st. I very much enjoyed the process of scriptwriting, but failed to finish Remembrance, in 2007. I have my Final Draft software out and ready to install, I just need to make the commitment and follow through. I would like to see a complete first draft. I can decide what to do with it later.

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I’ve got a few hand-written notes on the results of one of my NON-writing-related goals for 2009. While offline I worked with sprouting lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans and split peas. Though the split peas have since been relegated to future soups, the other three worked wonderfully well. A post on all of this will likely be found in my Quill of the Heart blog.

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To close, here are a few photos of a recent sewing project; again, done while off line. I came to the point where I needed a case to properly store my knitting needles. The only thing is, it just wasn’t something that was going to fit into my limited budget anytime soon.

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So, I pulled out a couple of fat quarters of this Victorian print flannel [from my quilting stash], and went about designing a case. I didn’t have a zipper [another something I simply could not afford], so I looked through my hatboxes of laces and trims and found this silk frog closure, and dyed it in a coffee bath. I believe, though, I'm going to remove the fire-polished crystal drop; as it detracts somewhat from the closure.

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Here's a look at the inside pockets. The small one, upper left, is for row and stitch counters. The gussetted one holds my circulars. And those to the right, pretty much speak for themselves.

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It took a few weeks to accomplish; what with not being able to sit so long at either the table and/or the sewing machine. But I’m quite happy with the end result. Enjoy!

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This is it for today. I need to give my back a break from this chair.

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Blessings,