Mother Nature

Tuesday we held a local election in my county. I was the precinct chief in charge of my polling place when I realized we were experiencing an earthquake. I had never been in one and was totally taken off guard. I ultimately made the decision to evacuate the building. I was unable to get in touch with the powers that be because the cell towers went down. It was on me what to do. Everyone was unhurt, though one of my officers had a panic attack. No damage to the building. No damage to my home.

A little bit interesting:  Two weeks before the earthquake, I switched Homeowners' Insurance companies. The new one offered earthquake coverage. We don't get earthquakes, but it was inexpensive, so I opted in. Little did I know...

Have you experienced an earthquake? What did you do? What would you do differently next time?

Creating a meditation space

Not everyone has space to give over a complete room for meditation, but have you considered turning a corner of one quiet room into a spot for meditation? A spot that reflects the state you are aiming for, such as clarity of mind, clarity of thought and space, a still mind and tranquillity.

Ensure family and friends know this is your space and your meditation time is yours to enjoy without interruption or distractions.

A tall order, certainly, but not impossible.

Subdued lighting is best, and less distracting. You may wish to have a small table on which to place items that mean something to you and will help you with your meditations. If you enjoy them, consider lighting incense sticks and or candles. After all, you may even want to use a candle to meditate with!

Establishing a meditation space is also helpful in maintaining the incentive to commit to regular meditation.

American Curl

www.free-pet-wallpapers.com

This kitty went from a stray to a pedigree. It originated in 1981 as a natural genetic mutation and is now recognized by all cat associations.
American Curls are people pleasers. They are affectionate without being a nuisance. Got young ones? This cat is good with children. It likes to ride on your shoulder and play fetch. The Curl like most cats is curious, if not downright nosy. American Curls normally do well with other pets.
A little side note of interest about their ears. They aren't born with curled back ears. They arrive into the world with ears that look like any other kittens. Between one and seven days they plump up and curl backwards.
Curls have a medium build with a tail that's wide at the base and tapers. These cats weigh in at anywhere between seven and eleven pounds. They can be long or short haired with fine silky coats. Their fur can be any color or pattern and are non matting.
Because of tipping backward the ears need to be gently handled so that the cartilage isn't damaged. They are prone to ear infections. But overall are healthy cats.
If you are interested in this breed of cats, please remember you find any breed including American Curls at petfinder.com, in rescues and kill shelters. Save a life: adopt.

Sempervivium

Some plants seem to come in and out of favor, becoming old-fashioned only to be rediscovered. One such plant is the Sempervivum tectorum or by its common names either houseleek, or hens and chicks. They used to be present in everyone's garden and many remain in tribute to their hardiness as their name suggests: semper meaning always and vivum live.

The species name tectorum comes from 'of the roof,' for they have grown on tile roofs of houses for over 2,000 years in their native regions of southern Europe. It was claimed Zeus gave man houseleeks to protect his home against lighting and fire, and that centuries later Charlemagne in his conviction of that belief, ordered it grown on every roof. Don't know this for certain, perhaps they're just legends.

Sempervivum are listed in one of my herbals. The leaves have an astringent quality and the inner juice rubbed on irritated skin can relieve burns, insect bites and other itches. Their taste doesn't recommend them for any culinary purpose, and there is no proven method of preserving them.

For many years they have languished, overlooked in neglected garden nooks and crannies while newer more exciting plants took the spotlight. A few years ago they became very popular for use in 'living wreaths,' but are more commonly grown in almost any type of container from worn out shoes to elegant urns. Their interest as garden plants rekindled as gardeners sought plants with easy upkeep. Sempervivum certainly provides that, along with a unique form that provides a geometrical dimension and a fine soft blue-green color that makes them a stand out among dozens of leafy mounding type groundcovers.

The flat rosettes of overlapping thick, fleshy leaves seem architectural in arrangement, and the abundant offshoots (the chicks) easily root providing many new plants. Given time a hens and chicks plant will form a low mat in even extremely difficult garden locations. A relative of Sedum, Sempervivum like fast draining soils, full sun or partial shade, survive drought and neglect, and succeed just about everywhere except boggy soil.

These evergreen succulents come from the Alps and Pyrenees mountains in Europe and are hardy to zone four. The flowers are more interesting than beautiful, notable for growing long rope-like stems covered in scale leaves and hold their small flowers in thready, coarse bunches. After flowering the rosette dies, so don't feel bad about pulling it out and giving the chicks a chance to grow on.

Many interesting cultivars are available changing the color spectrum of the plant a little, and more nurseries are carrying Sempervivum, so look for new ones to become available. Other species are not reliably hardy to zone four, but will survive in dish gardens where they can be stored in warmer locations during winter. Sempervivum arachnoideum or the cobweb houseleek is one to try.

A moment of silence

This is the third time I've tried to post. Hopefully it all won't come through.

I was notified of a friends death last evening. This woman at one time was like a mother to me. A stern disciplinarian but I learned so much from her.I'll always be grateful for our time together

I met her in a chat room in 1995. We were editors together at now long defunct publishing companies and in 2001 we, along with two others formed Wings ePress.

She will be missed.

Rest in peace,Lorraine Stephens

BJ

Older Heroes and Their Ladies

As an author I am always dealing with characters and their personalities, but lately, my heroes are getting much older. I could say this is because I'm getting older LOL and that would probably be part of it. I've always liked older men so having an older hero doesn't bother me--but does it bother my readers???

I'm serious. Do you like reading about more mature men and their ladies? Mature in my mind would place them in their 50 to 60's.

Any input you could give would be wonderful. I keep fighting with myself on this point and it is really screwing with my muse.

Help!

Jewel

Crock Pot Quality

How long do your Crock Pots last?

I have one my grandmother gave to my mother in the 1970's, and Mom passed it on to me. It heats quickly and cooks quickly.

I bought a large oval Crock Pot about five years ago, large enough for a whole chicken.  The handle broke off of the glass lid when I was removing it. No injuries, thank goodness. I have repurposed the green crock as a water feature on my deck. Just perfect for the small pump I had.

I also have a tiny little Crock Pot that is fondue sized. The crock will not come out of the outer element. I have to wipe it clean, and no matter how thorough I am, I'm never convinced it's as clean as it could be.

Hiking Scotland - the Blackwater

The hiking in the Highlands of Scotland is a magnificent experience.

We were there a couple years ago, hiking for two weeks in the Highlands and Islands. This is the Blackwater River on the Isle of Skye. As you can see, the water is all peaty...hence the Blackwater.

Not much else going on today. I hope your week is lovely and those of you on the East Coast - watch out for that storm! Julia

Pitbull VS Kitten(Real Love Real Fights)

If you haven't seen this yet, I recommend taking a minute. Its so cute and gave me a whole new perspective on pits.

An extraordinary common weed

Common Milkweed. The name says it all. It's common, found everywhere. The leaves and stems bleed milky sap when broken, and most gardeners malign the poor plant as a weed. Most attitudes about common milkweed say shoot it with Round Up and be done! (That won't be too effective as this is a taproot plant and several applications are necessary.) The pretty, orange-flowered cousin, Butterflyweed, made its way into gardens, but common milkweed is too rampant to be welcomed in the well-behaved environs of most gardens.
   
Both plants are from the genus Asclepias. A name derived from asklepios, the Greek god of healing. Perhaps named because milkweed has been used to treat everything from warts to pleurisy, cancer to backache, and everything in between. It has even been used as a contraceptive. Long ago, if you had a disease or injury, milkweed was thought to cure it. That's quite a record for a plant poisonous to livestock. The milky sap is the poison culprit, and each milkweed species' poison strength varies. Most animals won't eat it unless there is nothing else left to graze, and there are cases of milkweed poison causing death.

Common milkweed is Asclepias syriaca. Linneaus, who gave most plants their botanical named, erroneous thought milkweed came from Syria in the Middle East.
   
Milkweeds are beautiful, well-adapted native wildflowers throughout much of the United States. They have one very important function. They are the only host plant for the monarch butterfly larvae. These large white, black and yellow striped caterpillars with their black horn-antenna on both the front and back ends eat milkweed leaves non-stop. While eating the leaves the caterpillars consume the glycosides that make the plant poisonous. These chemicals then make the caterpillar unpalatable to its predators.

Common milkweed is not as showy as butterflyweed, but it is sweetly scented -- very similar to vanilla. The plant has a strong structural look, standing upright on one strong three to five foot stem with large, long, ovate leaves. Several flower umbels with a hundred or so flowers form near perfect globes during the last half of summer. The flowers appear dusty pink to dark pink sometimes fading to a soft buff yellow.

If you look closely at one flower you will see a most unusual structure shaped like an hourglass. Five colored sepals bend or reflex backward from the middle of the hourglass. The upward facing structure consists of a hood of five united petals surrounding five horns that bend inward to a central stigma with a distinct waxy appearance.

After blooming the plant develops long spindle-shaped pods that when ripe, break open and release seeds attached to down skirts. Only three or four flowers in an umbel are fertilized and form pods, but each pod will contain 200 seeds. The seeds float through the air to new locations, staying viable for up to three years in most soils. The woody pods remain on the stems. and are often used in dried flower arrangements.

While the plant causes problems in crop fields, milkweed has positive attributes never commercially developed. The milky sap forms a latex rubber and the seeds contain triglyceride oil. The down makes an insulating material and has been used in flotation devices and to stuff pillows. Fibers from the stems and seed down have been woven into textiles, made into paper, and twisted into cords and ropes. Flowers have been used to make wine.

Perhaps common milkweed is like common man: abundant, talented, contradictory and under appreciated.

Spirit Within Me

I wrote the book Band Of Angels with one goal in mind. Ridding my body of a spirit!

One early spring morning we were notified by a friend that his sister drowned in Hawaii while scuba diving. I had met this vivacious woman only once, but in support and love for our friend, we drove several hours to attend her funeral.

Something unbelievable happened at that funeral. When I offered condolences to the grief stricken husband, I touched him and powerful images swept into my mind. I witnessed this man kill his wife. The day passed and by the time we reached home, I'd convinced myself that my writers muse was working overtime.

That night, I awoke my husband as I sobbed out her story of deceit and murder. Only it wasn't me telling the story, it was her.

This went on for months. She begged me in dreams to tell her brother the story of her death. I was apprehensive to do this as I thought I was losing my mind and feared everyone would think this as well! Finally, I contacted a psychic and met with her by telephone. She instructed me to write a book and get it into the hands of the spirits brother AND whatever happened, never contact the police because my life would be in danger as well.

It took two years for me to write Band Of Angels. During that time a constant battle raged within me as I fought the spirit. She was determined to have me call her brother, but I didn't want to become a spirit as well.

There is a happy ending to this story. The murderous husband has not had a happy life, and the spirit within me faded...most of the time.  I offer my readers a book of fiction peppered with truths.

Can you separate fact from fiction?

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/41245

Like Christmas in August!

Couldn't resist! Yeah, I know, I usually talk about hiking and the outdoors, but what could be more outdoor-ish than potatoes???

I dug these from a single corner. I planted purple, Yukon gold and red bliss. I cannot tell you how many I've already harvested - and we don't even really eat potatoes.

This is the first time I've ever grown potatoes. Knowing how productive these plants are, I'll probably plant half the number of seed potatoes next year.
I have to say - this is so cool!

Check back later!

I'll post this afternoon. Sorry - busy morning! Julia

Body Scan Meditation

In cases of pain and muscle tension, science shows that accepting sensations is more effective than trying to control them.

You can use meditation to help yourself become more attuned to your body.  It may not be quite the same as having someone else giving you a massage, but in time, you will discover you are automatically so in tune with your body,  you will be in a position, if not to prevent, certainly to ease any discomfort or pain you are feeling by tuning in before the pain runs out of control.

This is best done when lying down.  Breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose. Feel your abdomen move outwards as your diaphragm contracts and draws air into your lungs. Your chest should not rise noticeably.

While breathing slowly, direct attention to your left foot. Feel your foot. Curl your toes once to fix your awareness to it. Now relax...

As you breathe in through your nostrils, slowly scan your left leg from foot to knee, and up through your thigh.

As you breathe out, trace your leg down to your foot. Do this 3 times, then take your mind off your breath and remain with your foot.

Feel the sensations in your foot. Simply become aware of them. Scan your left lower leg. Accept any tension or discomfort. Scan slowly, up through your thigh now.

If thoughts appear, that's fine. Gently come back to your breath, and shift awareness over to your right foot.

And repeat the process. Scan for any sensation in your foot... calf... Thigh... Simply accept all sensations and feel what happens. Relax...

Now focus on your stomach. Feel it rising as you breathe in. Sinking as you exhale. Your heart rate will slow in tune with your slower breathing. This is normal. Stay focussed on your stomach, your breath... up and down. Become aware of sensations. Relax...

Follow the same procedure with your left hand and arm as you did with your leg. You may clench your fist at first to really direct your awareness to your left hand. Breathe...

Now scan up along the length of your arm, to your chest. Then down your right arm to your right hand. Remain there. Breathe. Sense and scan. Relax...

Come back up to your chest. Continue scanning up along your neck and to your face. Gently clench your jaws and release. Feel the sensations in your jaws, your throat. Breathe and scan. Feel how the back of your head rests against the floor.

Scan the top of your head. Relax...

Now detach from all body parts. Breathe... Feel how everything is connected, resting gently on the floor. Just breathe, let any sensation come to you. Accept it as a part of you. Return to your breathing.

Just breathe for a minute and feel/listen to what your body is feeling, what your body is trying to tell you.

Then, when you are ready, sit up slowly.

Helen The Deaf and Blind Baby Raccoon

I saw this post at Kim'Dehn's blog awhile back and enjoyed it so much that I asked her if she'd consider posting it here. She graciously agreed:

August, 2011

Helen, the Deaf and Blind Baby Raccoon

I love critters. I’ve shared my life with dogs and cats and birds and fish…but critters like raccoons and possums make me physically weak. My sister says I channel Ellie Mae Clampett. I take that as a compliment.

I have provided food and water for critters in my current home since 2007 when the Mid-South temps soared over 100 for several weeks. The raccoons were out at noon drinking the stray cats water and food. I put out a kiddie pool and scattered dog kibble along the wood line behind my home. They’ve been coming ever since.

On June 21st I discovered a blind and deaf baby raccoon. I noticed her eating with intense concentration long after her mom and siblings left. I went out to check on her, and was shocked that I was able to get close enough to take photos without a zoom lens. She never indicated she knew I was there. And I wasn’t deliberately quiet.

It was clear she recognized my smell as I was out there with food and changed the pool water every day. However, when my husband went to see her, she felt her way into the woods, to a tree where she climbed as she had been taught. She went up perhaps two feet, not high enough to protect her from danger. As we are dog less and kid less, I didn’t fear for her safety during the day. At night, you never know what hungry animal may happen along.

What would Ellie Mae do? Well. She’d ask Pa if she could keep the little critter, and surely Jed would say, yes! Unfortunately I’m overwhelmed with indoor cats and outdoor cats, not to mention my husband’s patience could snap any moment.

Fast forward two weeks.

I named her “Helen” as in Keller. Every day I’d see her by the kiddie pool, eating kibble. Alone. The size of a basketball, she would have been easy pickings for a dog or whatever to kill her. The morning a stray yellow lab appeared to eat the kibble, I knew time was running out.

I called Petra of Mississippi Wildlife Rehabilitation. I barely got the words ‘blind and deaf baby’ out of my mouth when she asked if I had the baby trapped. Well, no. I have enough cats to know what goes into their mouths comes out their bottoms. I wasn’t going to catch Helen until I knew I could hand her off immediately.

A live trap would not work on Helen. I would catch every member of her family before she accidentally stumbled into the trap. Petra suggested I drop a blanket over Helen, sweep her up and put her in a box, then call her.

Uh…too simple. Which meant I had to put my own sweet spin on catching her.

I didn’t like the idea of using a blanket. I have never caught an animal that way. I prefer luring into a baited live trap or cage and slapping the door shut. It worked many times on the wildest of stray cats, so that was the route I would take.

I found a large box, an old blanket, gloves (I’m no fool) and was making two peanut butter sandwiches (Helen loved peanut butter) when my husband called. I told him what I had planned for the day. He made a scoffing sound. “What?” I demanded.

“It’s not going to be as simple as you make it sound,” he said. “Its never simple with you. There is always a bigger story.”

I got huffy. Not everything I do with cats and critters ends with a bigger story. We agreed to disagree and hung up, with Ray saying he couldn’t wait to hear the bigger story, and me sticking my tongue out at my cell phone.

It didn’t take long before Helen appeared with her family. I waited until the others returned to the woods, then grabbed the box, gloves, sandwiches and a plastic lid from a storage box. I walked right up to Helen and set the box on end so she would walk into it. Then, Gidget decided to help.

Gidget is a year-old ex-stray and has watched her father, Jesse the Wonder Cat, smack raccoons when they try to grab his dinner. I’ve seen Gidget copy her dad, so I didn’t want her around when I trapped Helen. As it happened, Helen smelled Gidget and became frightened. She backed into the woods, and climbed a pathetic 2 feet up a tree.

I went back inside to wait for Helen to return. When she did, I put Gidget in the laundry room. I also said a prayer that I would be smart about trapping Helen. I didn’t want to frighten her. Imagine being deaf and blind, and suddenly something grabs you!

Helen sat in the middle of the kibble munching happily. She always had a perpetually happy smile on her face. A happy, blind and deaf baby raccoon that smiles and loves peanut butter sandwiches. I would never forget her.

I set the box between Helen and the woods, and baited it with a sandwich. I slipped a small bite under her nose. She went right for it, nibbling off tiny pieces. I gave her a really small portion, but it took her like, ten minutes to eat it. Meanwhile I’m standing over her, baking in the sun, itchy from the flies buzzing around the damp kibble and Helen, taking her sweet time eating.

When she finished, she picked up another piece of kibble. My patience thinned. I was ready for both Helen and me to get on with our lives. But then she smelled more peanut butter and headed for the box, only to stop and sniff the strange object, and back away. I held my breath. Please! I thought. And she walked in, part way. Ahhh, the power of peanut butter.

While she worked on the sandwich, I applied the plastic lid to nudge her further in, and at the same time tipped the box up on end. Helen toppled into the bottom and before she could make a sound, I had the lid taped shut. Yep. I used two strips of tape designed for sealing storage boxes. It had to be good stuff. My husband doesn’t buy cheap-o crap.

I called Petra, who cheered, and we agreed to meet half way. I released Gidget from the laundry room, and then placed the box with Helen in the backseat of my car. She road quietly for ten minutes. I could hear her smacking her lips. Then…she finished.

The box with the happy smiling deaf and blind baby raccoon began to shake. I had one eye on the road and one eye on the box, not easy to do unless you’re Marty Feldman. I was thankfully on a Mississippi backwoods highway with nary a car in sight. Very thankful when I turned around for a third time and saw Helen stick her nose out of the box top.

Looked like Ray’s comment that I always had a bigger story was about to come true. Which pissed me off! Yeah, I had taped the box shut. Two whole pieces! Dirty rotten cheap-o tape. Ray’s tape! I had something to blame him for!

Feeling much better, I pulled over and shook the box, thinking Helen would huddle quietly in the bottom for the rest of the drive. Nope! She ramped it up. Deaf and blind. Yes! Raccoon with claws? Damn straight!

I finally flipped the box upside down, with the cheapo-taped top against the seat, hoping Helen would sit on it quietly and I could drive and…

Nope! She dug at the bottom with power-tool-like claws.

Ruh roh!

I had a flash of déjà vu, taking me back fifteen years. And yes, it was one of those ‘bigger stories’ Ray mentioned. I had thought the feral cat I was taking to be neutered was safely locked in my cat carrier…except he kept head-butting the door and actually punched it out so that I found myself driving with a feral cat head-butting my windshield less than a foot away.

With visions of that dancing in my head, I threw my purse on top of Helen’s box, and held it down with one hand while driving like a demon for my exit. The box rocked and rolled. I tapped on it, hoping to…not scare her, rather…communicate. Yes! My tapping was me spelling w-a-t-e-r to Helen, assuring her she didn’t need to panic cuz I was doing enough of that for both of us.

I prayed my exit was coming up. It was! I prayed Petra would be pulling into the gas station at the same time as me. And she did.

Clearly Petra thought I had everything under control. I guess my wild eyes and shriek about Helen wanting out of the box NOW gave Petra pause. Instead she tossed aside her paperwork and opened the car door. Helen’s arm reached out from the box’s crap-o taped bottom (formerly top.) Petra pushed the paw back inside. Helen then punched her nose out the hole she had chewed in the box’s top (formerly bottom.) I think I yelped. Not sure. Everything went black for a second.

When I came to, Petra had a small pet carrier and a yellow bath towel. She opened the top and peered down at Helen. She then dropped the towel into the box and scooped my raccoon up like they had been made for each other. I watched with envy while Petra held Helen up to inspect her. Helen hung limp like a rag doll. Nothing like the boxed maniac terrorizing me down I-69.

“She has no eyes,” Petra finally said. “There is nothing there.”

I felt bad for thinking of Helen as a maniac. She didn’t have eyes!

Petra determined Helen was 3 months old, and was amazed she had lived that long. I wasn’t. Helen had been born to the right raccoon mom who, generations before her, had set up camp in the woods behind my house. Helen didn’t have to go far from her bed to get food and water. Ideal in every way to nurture a baby raccoon with birth defects.

I donated to Helen’s care, and Petra and I hugged twice. I was teary driving home, relieved Helen would be safe from harm. Relieved there are Petra’s out there to devote their every waking moments to critters in desperate need. Relieved I wouldn’t have to worry about the helpless little basketball of fluff groping her way around my yard.

Before we parted, Petra told me she currently had 20-some raccoons in her care, one of which had a broken leg. Clearly God put Petra in my path. Who better to take Helen than someone totally devoted to the species?

Interested in learning more about Kimberley Dehn?

Find her at: www.kimberly-dehn.com

Who Can Resist a Garden's Allure?

Even if you don't particularly want to make a garden or take care of one, gardens are usually considered places everyone likes to visit, places of beauty and tranquility -- places to encourage relaxation, thought, and respite from life's stresses.

Have you ever considered, though, garden settings in our literature? Have you ever noticed how many gardens appear in poetry and fiction? It seems as though as man's cultivation of gardens developed from prehistory our literary history also became steeped in garden settings. During our long written discourse the garden setting has been used as a powerful analogy for God, procreation, mysticism, life, nature, magic, or women.

There are many reasons for gardens holding such an impressive position in fiction, probably because gardens were an important source for food and medicine, and represented man's growing power over fickle nature. So in some ways even our acres of fields planted in corn, barley, or wheat can be considered 'garden' settings, but we usually think of growing vegetables, herbs, or flowers as gardens, and the purely ornamental garden is the most mystic and beautiful of settings.

The Garden of Eden in the Bible and the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon in Persia come quickly to mind, but there are many more. You can probably think of many fairy tales and myths with garden settings, and most historical novels mention herb gardens, maze gardens, fountain gardens, or even 'parks' designed by landscape designers--even the Egyptians designed ornamental gardens. They all create a mental image for the reader, a 'real' place where imagination and experience fill in the voids. Imagine the Gardens of Versailles and see where your mind takes you. Write fantasy? It is a well know fact fairies and goblins and other mythical creatures inhabit gardens.

So as you read or write in the future, perhaps you will consider the garden setting and its purpose as a setting. I often write science fiction space operas, and each one mentions a garden influenced from memories of the biodome, as do most of my other fantasy and romance books.

Here are a few titles tied to garden settings through setting or tile you might want to check out: The Merchant's Tale by Chaucer; Rappaccini's Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne; The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (One of my favorites!); The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde; The Tales of Peter Cottontail by Beatrix Potter; Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (considered non-fiction). Gardens run the gauntlet of genres from children's fiction to science fiction and everything in between.

If my meanderings have made you think of a story with a garden setting, please leave a comment on it. Thanks.

My new fantasy release this month is an anthology, Legend's Cipher.
What would you do – spy on others so you could publicly betray their secrets, or expose a secret that you believed would destroy you?

A PARANORMAL EXPERIENCE

As a young girl, I didn't understand seeing shadow people or 'knowing' who was at the other end of the telephone before my mother answered. This was natural to me, but not to my family. They said I had a wonderful imagination. I believe it was the only way they could live with me.

I didn't have to study in high school either, which freaked-out my parents. Take History for instance. My study of a chapter was reading through the material. When the time came for a test, all I had to do was close my eyes and up popped the page in my mind. I could see the picture, the bold heading then find the answer in the paragraph below. I wish I could do that now as an adult, but regretfully, I don't. All of this jelled into what I call my psychic awareness.

There are times when I feel normal. But other times, not so much. That's where I'm at right now.

I lived in an old 4 story hotel converted into apartments. I've only moved to a different town for three months. I didn't realize the price I paid to live and work there as apartment manager. When your environment swirls with ectoplasm, you become accustomed to it.

My sister still lives in that building. She laughed off my tales until this week. We'd been out of town shopping and I helped her carry her treasures to her third floor apartment. As soon as we walked into the lobby, I heard my name whispered and felt chills crawl up my spine. I quickly said a short prayer and surrounded myself in a circle of protective light.

On the elevator as we rose to the third floor, the atmosphere became heavy as pudding and I found it difficult to breathe. How had I lived in this place for six years? As we exited the elevator, I told my sister that someone was following us and she just shook her head in disbelief.

The hallway toward our designation is chock-full of tall windows with thick ledges. My sister, the plant queen, has them filled with potted-plants in every shape and size. As we neared a Jade plant, I commented how beautiful it was when suddenly, it rose from the window sill, and flew to the middle of the hall, landing at our feet! Sis couldn't deny that one. She stood there her eyes huge and her mouth agape. I had the feeling she believed me.

I helped get the groceries in the fridge was anxious to head home. I asked my sister if she would walk with me to the elevator, but she wouldn't budge from her apartment. I considered taking the stairs, but my experiences going that direction pointed me down the hallway. Thankfully, the atmosphere had cleared and I got out of the building as quickly as I could.

It took 45 minutes to get home to the town where I now live and when I got there, my youngest sister called me. Seems sister number 2 (I'm sister number one of three) called sister number 3 reporting the paranormal event. The consensus was? If my sis two hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it.

Finally!

Jewel is Enjoying Summer

Hi everyone :) I'm going to take a break this week and enjoy my family.

Hope you are all taking a breath of this beautiful summer.

See you next week.

Cleaning Stainless Steel Appliances

Do you have any stainless steel appliances? I don't know why they call them stainless because they so easily look smudged and stained. As our kitchen appliances have worn out, I've insisted on replacing them with stainless steel for resale value. Not that I can imagine anybody would want to buy our house in the foreseeable future with the way the real estate market is. And we have no pressing need to move.

Anyhow, we have a dishwasher, range and refrigerator in stainless steel now. The instrutions say not to use any harsh cleaner, nothing but water or mild dishwashing soap. Guess what? Water and mild dishwashing soap don't remove, grease, grime, grit or fingerprints!

So I Googled stainless steel appliance cleaners and found fab reviews for a cleaner that was included as a sample with some lucky purchases. I didn't get any samples. Anyhow, it apparently isn't sold in stores, because I tried Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart and Giant. So I bought another brand, with the same active ingredient, mineral oil, and it works. More or less. Well, it works, but I have to rub and rub and rub really hard.

Tough Tuesday.

Me on Jalapeno Grande. Just got back. Life has been weird and sad these past few days. Someone I love died unexpectedly so as you can imagine, I've been, well, more or less distraught. He was a very close friend.

I'm better today. I know I'll have good days and bad days over the next few months. I've decided the best thing to do is remember him as he looked the day I met him, smiling, robust, full of life and love.

As my husband says, everybody dies. I guess my friend was the one person who was so much larger than life he'd never, ever leave.
Happier post next week. Julia

Mindfullness



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Today’s meditation is simple and will take as long or as little time as you care to give it. It may seem strange to call this week’s reflection, meditation, but that is precisely what it is.

Most of the time we are so focused on our daily demands we forget to stop and look around.  Both at the things that intrigue and fascinate us as well as those that irritate and anger us.  They are parts of the whole, different sides of the coin-of-life, if you like, but they are the aspects that make up our lives.

It is how we treat those two sides that makes the difference!  You get to choose how you react to everything that happens to you. Doing nothing at all, is, at some level, still a choice you have come to.

So what is this meditation?

Every day this week allot a period of time when you will deliberately notice everything that is going on in your life and how you react to it.  You may start the first day by giving yourself ten minutes and increase the time factor by a chosen amount each following day.

But this is not enough.  Make notes of your feelings, even if it is a couple of trigger words that will recall those feelings and events.  At the end of each day, take time out to study what you have written and decide whether you could have handled things differently.

At the end of the week you will be pleasantly surprised by the changes in your reactions to both positive and negative events.  To the positive you may find yourself opening up more, enjoying them more, taking that extra second to smile at the girl at the cash till in the grocery store/supermarket, for instance.  That smile may be all it takes to turn her day from bad to better.

As for the negative responses, you may find yourself, in hindsight, wondering why you got so screwed up by the event, and determine that next time you’ll take time out to breathe deeply, suck it up and go on your way.  Perhaps the event is one you cannot ignore.  Still, the amount of energy you put into your reaction determines whether you take yourself further down, or you give yourself permission to cuss and swear for thirty seconds, before dealing with the negativity the best way you can.

In the latter event, you then have the personal satisfaction of knowing that the antagonist has not stolen your personal power away from you.  And that in turn strengthens you both inwardly and on the outside.

I’m not claiming here, that you’ll serenely override all the negativity that comes into your life, but you will strengthen with each setback because you know you have given yourself permission to vent, but NOT to wallow.

Adversity and advantage--you will experience them both. But with the help of one, you will overcome the other more easily.

Cats, Cats, Cats, has gone to the dogs....

More Signs of Intelligence

In my second post here at Night Writers, Considering Aliens... Like Trees, I mentioned that I thought plants are intelligent, just in a different way we don't necessarily recognize. Yet, I am always amazed by what I learn about plants (and animals, too). Here is another instance.

Strange flower! Echo chamber leaves!

Two scientists, Dr. Ralph Simon of the University of Ulm in Germany, and Dr. Marc Holderied of the University of Bristol in England, recently discovered a plant pollinated by bats that grows saucer shaped leaves, or echo beacons, above the flowers to direct a species of long-tongued bats to the flowers. It seems the plants are rare and often distant in locations, even hidden by the foliage of other plants, but these beacons allow the bats to find them twice as fast, increasing their chances of pollination. Drs. Simon and Holderied  wrote about their findings last week.

Now, if that isn't enough to make you considered the intelligence of plants, another report shows a carnivorous pitcher plant found in Borneo that attracts bats with its alluring scent. Does it eat the woolly bats that visit? No. It only traps insects to digest, but bats often perch on the rim of the 'pitcher' part of the plant's flower, and while perched, the bats poop into the pitcher. Yep. The plant gathers fertilizer (nitrogen) in the form of bat guano. The more successful the plant is as a bat toilet, the richer its leaves are in nitrogen.

Isn't the world a wonderfully amazing place?

A Summer Treat

     Wow, it’s hot out! 105 in Wyoming! The forecast warns us it will be this way for a few days more.

     I have a summer dilemma which is; bring a Birthday Cake to a party for a family member. Ugh.

     I drag out my 3 ring binder where I keep all my much loved recipes. Some are my mom’s and grandma’s favorites passed on to me. After a while of looking at cakes that leave me uninspired, I stumble upon a cardboard back to a cake mix box stuffed into a plastic page sleeve. It’s a recipe for Lemon Lime Poke Cake. Visions of refrigerated lemon cake with ribbons of cool lime Jell-O and a fluffy, chilled pudding-like topping waft over me. This is it! 

     Off I go to the only grocery store in town sweltering in the car because the store is only 5 blocks away and the a/c won’t have time to replace the hot air with cool air. Have you figured out that I really don’t like broiling in the summer? You’ll hear me complain of -30 in the winter and blizzards, too. Nothing pleases me below 65 degrees and above 75 but that’s for other posts.

     This is a very easy recipe. Bake cake in a 9x11 dish. Cool. Poke rows of holes, evenly spaced, in the cake with the handle of a spoon to make an opening for the Jello. Prepare Jello following the quick method so the Jello is slightly thickened. Follow directions on instant pudding box and when done fold in the Cool Whip. Use mixture for frosting cake. Place in refrigerator to keep cool. That’s it. Easy, huh?

(Ingredients for your own Poke Cake listed below)
(This works with any flavor cake and jello)

1 cake mix, lemon
1 Lg box lime Jell-O
1 Lg box vanilla instant pudding mix
1 regular size container Cool Whip

     As I look around the store, I find NO lemon cake mix and NO Lime Jello not even small boxes. Nothing. It makes me wonder if everyone in town has a copy of this recipe! I don’t want any other flavor. My taste buds are set for lemon-lime.

     I have to go out of town. At least I’ll get cooled off driving 27 miles one way to the closest town with a big chain grocery store.

     I call hubby on my cell to ask if he wants to go with me. Nope. Not in this scorching heat was my answer. 

     So off I go. It was fun singing along to 60s music with the a/c blowing out the vents as I drove along the front range of the mountains. 

     Once at the store I planned a quick trip in and out. I’d be on my way home in minutes. That was the thought before I found a bunch of stuff to buy. Since I’m at a store with many more choices than our hometown store I spend over $100 dollars. 2 hours from the time I left, I arrive home. Of course, I call hubby to help me drag in the food. He teases me by saying, “That’s gonna be some cake.”  As he grasps the watermelon and a bag of cantaloupe he laughs all the way to the kitchen.

     Waking at five o’clock the next morning isn’t high on my exciting things to do list, but a necessary evil if I expect to use the oven and live in my apartment. There isn’t an apartment in this tiny town that has central air, so a window a/c unit does fine—but can’t hold its own against an oven!

     Within an hour my cake is finished. It’s quite easy to assemble, but darn, small town life on the frontier of Wyoming sometimes is a challenge. One thing’s for sure, I won’t have to go out of town grocery shopping this weekend. LOL.

     Oh yes! The birthday party was a success but the house where it was located didn’t even have a window a/c. Ugh. The cool Poke Cake was a hit though!

WORDS OF LOVE by Jewel Adams

Wow, it has been a lot of fun sharing Words of Love with everyone. I want to thank all of you for your comments and interest.

I was going to go over marketing your book and I will, but I thought it would be nice to open the discussion in a different way.

Did you get to read Bev Haynes' article on her early experiences with ebooks and the covers? If not take a peek Juding an ebook by its Cover :) Ebooks were uncharted territories back then. Hmm, 'back then', my goodness but it wasn't that long ago, say at the most 10 to 15 years since we stepped into the ebook world. Many of us on the net were the true pioneers of the digital book era. The excitement rose over putting your books out there in an ebook format, to figuring out how to get it to the reader and how to find the reader. Everything was new, from the format that delivered the books, to the romance genres and sub-genres that found new life in ebooks.

Yes, even the readers were new. We promoted and it wasn't easy, no one had stepped into the ebook arena more than the author. Readers could reach out and touch the authors through chats, blog tours, contest, forum boards, etc.. Here we were as authors trying to figure out how to promote our treasures. It is still one of the most difficult parts of being an author. At least the reader pool is no longer just a hand full of brave souls.

I mean it when I say "new", we all stepped into this huge playing field with no one to guide us, there were no books to show you how to make an ebook, no template to follow, but there sure were the nay-sayers!

Oh yes, my ears still ring with all the critics yelling across the net - 'Ebooks, bah humbug!' And that is saying it nicely lol. We were a determined group let me tell you. It wasn't easy to stand up to the leaders in the publishing world and defy the publishing norm.

Romance genres were and are the main thrust of the ebook revolution. Not only did ebooks open the doors to genres within romance, but we created new ones. We stood our ground, even when facing the front runners of romance publishing. The fact the recognition criteria within our own genre for "publishing a romance book" kept changing, and it is still a chameleon to this day didn't stop us. For all the whoop-la against us they didn't squash the ebook wave.

There are still die-hard print published authors and their support groups, but in reality do they really matter? I bet they will be just as thrilled when their book hits Kindle :) Just take a look at the main page of all the book stores on the net. Seems to be an awful lot of big publishers out there promoting the newest ebook release.

Is the closing of a major bookstore chain the result of ebooks and their prominence in the book market? Over the start of ebooks many of us took on more than just writing books to promoting them and publishing them. We needed control where there was nothing. Many kudos to all those authors that stepped deeper into the romance ebook market.

As an author you need to take the time and think about the ebook progress. All the nay-sayers never stopped the ebook tidal wave. It is an exciting ride and one, I hope you will take that jump into the ebook publishing world!

Money Saving Tips

I have been hot on the personal finacial bandwagon this summer. We finally refinanced our old 10 year ARM to a fixed rate mortgage which we'll pay off in ten years. Yippee! Once you hit 45, it's time to get real and start paying your mortgage off so you will own your home before you retire.

As much as I love eBooks, and am addicted to my NOOK Color, my frugal inner budget baby told me to sample recently published personal finance books on NOOK, then order the paperback and hardcover books from my local library. I devoured them.

I had taken a personal finance course at a community college in the ahem, 80's. I still have the binder, and refer to it from time to time. But the American economy has grown and changed, that I felt I needed up-to-date thinking. There were some experts I found more sensible than others, mostly because of my modest risk taking need, and how much I guard my dollars. There were major categories that they all seemed to agree on. So I put those items at the forefront of my brain, trying to assimilate as much as I can into my family budget.

Refinance done, check.

I also called the customer retention department of my TV, Internet and Phone company, told them there are other companies out there wanting my business and what could they do for me? The suave young man 'rebundled' me and my bill will be $20 a less per month for  a year. Not a huge savings, but that's $240 of found money, and it only cost me five minutes on the phone.

I didn't even realize there was such a thing as a customer retention department. Thank you financial expert books.

This week I've begun the time consuming, brain challenging search for auto and home insurance quotes. I was freaked out at first to do an online auto insurance quote and with just my name, address and birth date, they instantly pulled up the vehicles I insure. Big brother and all that. After filling out a few different online forms at different companies, I grew to love the ones with the public information. It was annoying putting in all the car info myself (we have four, because our adult children are still living with us, going to school and on our policy). 

If only we could get an apples to apples quote, but alas, it's like shopping for a new mattress. They all have different options, and you can't get a black and white comparison. Hopefully we'll make a decision this week.

Are you doing anything different in your budget this summer?

Today I was in the garden reading Manuscript Makeover when I came across the heading 'Power Position' in one chapter. Contrary to the author's expectation, I no longer concentrated on her words, but found myself thinking about this week's meditation.

So far we have chosen either a method of meditation or a subject to meditate on.  In other words we have controlled our meditations.

Today I am giving you--quite literaly-- a blank canvas to meditate on. 

But first I'd like to offer some advice. Humans are, to a large extent, guided by their senses, and that means audio, visual, sentient and olfactory and this meditation will invoke your predominant sense.
Please accept what you receive, and at the end of this meditation please write down what you get. 
It is likely you will understand the messsage within the meditation, but if you don't there will come a time/incident when something will trigger you back to this meditation and any notes you make now may be relevant at this later time.

When you are ready, calm and center yourself as you always do, and then imagine you are in front of a blank canvas.

You may feel the need to fill the canvs yourself, that's fine. 
Allow your inner creative self take over for as long as needs be.
When you are finished study the result and tune into your emotions and note how you feel.
Take time to understand the message from what is in front of you.
And when you are ready return to the present and write down whatever comes to you without stopping to edit. 
Write until you have finished befoe you read over it.

For those of you who prefer to watch the blank canvas to see what come--a bit like witching a cinema screen--
Take note of what you see, hear, sense, or feel, then 'listen' with your 'inner ear' to what is being conveyed to you.
When the impressions cease and you are ready to return to the present, please write down, without interruption, everything you experieced during this meditation.
If when you read it back, it makes no sense, don't be disappointed, know the message will reveal itself at the right time.

There are multi puroses to this meditation.

a) Trust in your inner self/instincts not to control the contents of the meditation.
b) Possibly discovering your dominant sense from/upon which many of your attitudes shape your impressions of the world and people around you.
c) Acceptance that at a subconsious level your brain is receiving and interpreting messages and informtion all the time. 
d) by offering the blank screen/canvas your subconsious has the chance to connect with you aon alevel neither of you have used before.  So instead of using the accepted 10% of your brain's conscious output, you are harnessing that inner % at a time of your choosing, but without chaining the connections with conscious controls.