Writing again... hurray! And Halloween decorations!

Got my mojove back... (or possibly the muse that had left due to the pandemic and has finally decided it was time to return?). Anyway, it makes me happy to be 'back in the grove' (and about three-forth of the way finished the sequel to "Time After Time").  

I realize that this may be on no interest to many of you, but to those who write, sketch, paint, sew, or get lost in other crafts - you know how time simply slips away when you are involved in a project. It's as if this dimension doesn't exist... (and you are lost in your own little world). 

Then for whatever reason, the muse/motivation/originality  abruptly disappears. Some call it writer's block... (and I'm sure there are other names for it). Personally at this point I would call it Covid-itis... too many other things on my mind. 

But now it has hesitantly returned. I hope it stays as it gives me pleasant motivation for the day... and a chance to finish something I'd started.  

With the virus ramping up again and the election right around the corner, I really need something to keep my mind occupied. Perhaps the 'powers that be'... sent the muse back to me to save my sanity. Whatever... I'm grateful.

I've actually had a fairly pleasant week; Skyped with my grand daughter (got to see her new puppy up close and personal) Zoomed with a dear friend, and thanks to the technical knowledge of my grandson - was able to visit a friend's island on Animal Crossing... and she was able to fly to mine. We ran around the islands together meeting other islanders and going inside their homes. It was fun.

Unfortunately I don't have any great insights to give to other retirees who may be reading this. This isn't that type of informative  or inspirational blog... although I do enjoy reading those. This is just an occasional insight into my own life that by sharing (for years in  journals and now on a blog) has always been of great benefit to my psychological self. 

And before I close I do have to show you a pic of the Halloween decorations that one of our neighbors did. He does this every year and it's always fabulous. This is the one he's done this year in front of his house.

Halloween castle built in front of neighbor's house 2020

It is amazing... last year it was a Halloween ship that took up the whole front of his lawn. 

Halloween ship 2019

I really hope you are having a good weekend. The weather has gotten cooler here... mornings have been in the 40's and 50's - nice! We've had a little rain, but not much. All in all, we are learning to be content with life as it is. Perhaps this is a good thing. 

Hugs,

Rian

(ps: trying a new recipe for chicken spaghetti today. Will let you know how it turns out.)

a rainy Monday morning...

Back in 2002 when Rose was still and inside/outside cat, she enjoyed the heck out of teasing Molly (who we only allowed outside then when we were out with her).  As you can see in the above picture, Rose is laying in the bird feeder taunting Molly. Molly was incensed, hissing and fussing and thoroughly put out.  Not long after that, Rose broke her leg (either got it caught on a fence or by a dog - Vet wasn't sure) but from then on, she became an 'inside' only cat.

BTW, today is DH's birthday!  Yes, our birthdays are just 9 days apart. I made him his 'birthday breakfast' which consisted of eggs over easy, grits, Canadian bacon, and whole wheat toast...  not terribly exciting, but we went out to The Original Pancake House this weekend and he got Strawberry Crepes there.  We don't have anything special planned.  Kids may drop by this evening for Birthday Cake (DH wanted a Central Market Cheesecake, so we went and picked one up a little while ago).

The weather has been great yesterday and today... drizzling and cool... in the lower 70's.  It won't last but we're enjoying it while we can.

I 'organized' all my knitting and crochet yesterday - putting various types of yarn together in boxes, tools and instructions together, and active and inactive projects.  This is something I've been meaning to do.  For a while it was scattered about several rooms and shelves.  Now at least it's all together.  I have only 2 projects active at this time - a baby blanket that is a little over half complete and a large 100 percent cotton dish towel that I had started a while back, left it, and have now resumed. It is also almost done. (I have this thing for dish towels.  I like them made of a certain material and I like to have an abundance of clean ones about - ???)

Have been reading some of my old writings, but so far the muse is still 'on vacation' and no stories are spinning around in my head.  This could be a good thing as sometimes my head is so full of 'stuff' that it gets a bit confusing in there.  But the thing is... when I'm immersed in a project like writing a story, it's kind of like an adrenaline rush... and it's very addictive (but in a good way).

Speaking of addictive...

back on track...

OK, my day of feeling unfulfilled is over and I've decided to see about starting writing again.  I haven't had my writing muse visit in some time, so I'm going to jump start myself by re-reading some of my old stories.

These are just stories that pop into my head from time to time and I write them down... some are short, some are fairly long.  Anyway, I thought I'd invite you to read along (if you're so inclined... not a problem if you're not as I've not a lot of time to read any really long blogs myself).  But again, I could use the feedback.  However, I do realize that these are not up to professional writer standards... just scenarios that take on a life of their own inside my head.

I'm going to start with "Whisperings".  It's a semi-science fiction story about a higher life form infiltrating our world in a compassionate long term process for the ultimate good of man-kind.  It's written in 4 parts - none of which are very long.

And for those who do not wish to read my ramblings, I'll post some more pictures of things that interest me and may be of interest to you.

The first are pictures from one of my favorite watercolor books "Drawing Closer" by Carolyn Blish:

and a few pages from her book...

I would love to be able to watercolor like this. The third painting is my favorite as there's something about how gulls land that fascinates me... (you really need to click on these pictures and see them larger to appreciate them).


Next is just a few of Ann Purser's cozy mysteries that I enjoy reading.  These pictured are the Ivy Beasley series (3).  At the moment I'm almost finished the Lois Meade series (about 12).

And lastly... I'm posting a picture that a friend posted on Facebook recently that I thought was amazing...

Wow!