For all of you summer-lovin’, warm-weather, sunshine types … good on ya. I love you to pieces and am thrilled to see you so happy during these months.
See this picture? Yeah … I ran out with my camera to capture a photograph of a bale of hay being pooped out the back of the machine and … whoops. Humidity change. Air-conditioning to high humidity. Diane doesn’t love it and her camera isn’t fond either. I missed the pooping picture, too. Just. Wrong.
I am a late fall through early spring type of a gal. All of that cold, dark, dreary, windy, stormy weather? Yeah … hello, bring it on and make me happy. I am so productive during those months.
Not so much during these few months of summer. I do exactly what I have to do to meet deadlines and that’s about it. Somehow it feels as if the sun sucks out my creative brain and replaces it with an automaton. I can accomplish all sorts of things that require me to work with my hands (except cleaning – there isn’t any time in the year that becomes top of mind for me).
You’d think that I would have figured this all out by now and be okay with my seasonal behavior. It’s not like I haven’t paid attention to this for decades. But I still hold out hope that I can overcome me. Nope.
Now, the truth is, I’ve been busy. My sister, Carol, teaches fifth grade and I have been making things for her classroom all summer. From sewing and quilting checkers game boards for her kids to play with during indoor recess-time (you know, that dark, dreary, windy, stormy stuff), to first day treat bags, cutting vinyl letters for desks and colorful card stock letters for bulletin boards, I’ve been making ALL the classroom accessories I can. Let me tell you – if you have creativity pouring out of you with nowhere to put it, you can always adopt a classroom. There’s just something pretty wonderful about making days brighter for kids and a teacher. They have no idea who I am, other than Carol’s sister. I don’t need them to know – I just need them to smile.
I can’t encourage you enough to work with teachers. They need lots of love! Okay, we all need lots of love, I know that, but teachers are shaping future generations and I believe in what they do.
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So, THIS showed up at the post office this week. Wild Alaska Chaga tea bags. Chaga is a mushroom that grows on birch trees. Yeah, yeah … pretty sure that since it’s sold as a healthy tea, it isn’t going to give me any of those mind-bending trips. Rats. No, wait.
Anyway, I have no idea who sent it to me or why. I haven’t brewed any yet, but it smells good. I’ll let you know.
If you sent it, thank you.
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The cats are still adorable. Grey is my sweet girl, Earl is my little (not-so-little) love, TB is my spicy pill. I just adore this picture of Earl and TB. TB is long-suffering, Earl just wants to be close. He jumped up, jammed his face into TB’s side, and closed his eyes. So content.
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Here is another picture of my meadow and the hay-maker. I love that this happened. Mowing is awesome, but mowing for hay? So cool. Still disappointed I didn’t get a picture of it pooping out the big, round bale. Haha. I’m such a city girl out here in the country.
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The next newsletter will come out on Wednesday (always on the 25th of the month). Who, other than Polly, should I write about in the vignette? Just a name, no story ideas. Those come from the character. I can’t help it if they don’t do what you or I want them to do on command.
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It’s becoming crunch time for Book 23. I need to get this thing beaten into submission so it flows out of my brain. No more summer-brain for Diane. September 25th is the publication date and it will come at me whether I’m ready or not. I’d better be ready.
