Spring Summer Delays

Like most writers, I'm preparing for the summer with family, writing, deadlines, and traveling. I'm also very busy with my yard and home, which I have in common with Claire and Leona, AT THE EDGE and FOR HER EYES ONLY respectively.

Tempest, a "rolling stone" is far too busy and on the move to tend a yard, much less a garden. So today, Claire and Leona are on my discussion menu. Let's listen in to their phone call....
****

Claire: We've had snow and delays, but I just can't wait for the scents of my roses and for my herb garden. How's your patio plans coming along, Leona?

Leona: Backbreaking, that's how. Here in Lexington, KY we're all into the Preakness and parties and I had hoped to have a special event at my shop. Tempest designed some great charms for bracelets. They're a numbered selection, but not one of a kind. I'd wanted to feature them in an Event close to the Preakness. But my backyard is all torn up right now, bricks stacked everywhere.

Claire: Tempest sent me the charms. I thought I might work something into my handbag designs. She's designing some for purse pulls, too. The motifs should sell well for you.

Leona: Yes, they will. On the matter of herbs, I did go out and get some sweet basil. I love to snip it into pasta salads. My chive pot is blooming, so I've got to use some of that pretty soon. I just wish I had more time.

Claire: Mom had a great herb garden. Remember all those fresh scents mixed with the salt air on the coast. I really miss that sometimes.

Leona: And the roses. The size of plates. And the fish markets. Are you still walking at night?

Claire: I am. I love the night sounds, the deer rustling in the underbrush. We have wild roses here, you know. There's really nothing like a clear Big Sky country night.

Leona: I loved it there with you. Too bad we can't stay closer together, but then that old psychic thing, you know.

Claire: We could with Mom or Tempest around. They settle us. I'm too receptive to anything and you're getting very strong.... Okay, you're too quiet and that means you know that you're feeling something and you're scared. I am, too.

Leona: We'll get through this, Claire. We've gotten through everything before....
****

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Midwest Storms

It started with a low rumble. With thunderstorm season upon the Midwest, I instantly was on my feet, disconnecting my computers.

That was at 5:30 this morning, 5/2/08. Minutes later the storm hit in fury. 70 miles an hour winds, one huge pop and the electricity was out.
With a flashlight in hand, I grabbed my purse, which held my cell phone. Misouri's tornado season started in January, the usual in mid-March. Those high winds could mean a tornado. We'd already seen devastation and floods and other tornados, but still, here came another round.
I have a packed emergency basket for tornadoes, which includes batteries, water, candles, whatever, and I grabbed that, keeping it close.
With high winds, lighted candles can be dangerous--if it is actually a tornado. So I sat in the dark, waiting for the time to grab my basket and head for the basement.. Cell phone calls began coming in from family. Was I all right?
Sure. Let's not talk, I'm low on battery. Call you later....
The storm gradually eased to a few pops and rumbles. Now my subsidivion is too quiet, electric garage doors firmly closed, waiting for "juice" to open them. Nothing would taste better than fresh brewed coffee, but lukewarm served. I thought briefly about manually opening my garage door, and driving for fresh. But another pop of very close lightning killed that idea. T-storms can be deceptive beasts, easing away and then leaping back with a fury.
Gradually, the storm did move on. The efficient news-team reports on my battery radio ran to scattered damage, roads closed, whole regions out of electricity, people slowly returning to work, just a little late.
Still without electricity, I heated a cup of coffee on my aromatherapy burner, not the best tasting brew, but fine under the circumstances. A few candles are burning now in the twlight and soon they won't be needed.
As I stood on my front porch, I could see the electric crews working through different transformers, checking to see which was the right one. In emergencies, these guys are heroes, working in adverse and dangerous conditions, out there doing their jobs.
According to the radio, limbs are blocking the roads and some workers will be late. One school, the buses already in route, has cancelled, the children to be returned home.
When you're a working mother with school age children, this is something you don't want--young children returned to home base, when you are needed at your paying job.
Personaly, I think a working mother, be it a single mother or not, is one of the most stressful jobs.
With Mother's Day almost here, I raise my coffee cup to you, working mothers....
***

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These are Missouri redbuds, fresh from all the rains. The whole blooms are famous--Dogwoods. The Ozark hills are turning green now, the pretty new lime green and these colors really stand out. Wild plums have already bloomed. The redbuds are especially pretty, a whole tree of hot pink blooms.

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Interview with Triplet Claire

Claire of AT THE EDGE, Cait London's psychic triplet trilogy dropped in to say "hi" today. She's agreed to post here at Daily or Not. Introducing Claire...


Q: So, Claire. What have you been doing lately?
A: I've been all tied up in my fall collection of handbags. Leona is pushing me to see them first. She's going to have to wait until the whole collection is ready to ship. Just a little sisterly torment that I'm really enjoying. Of course, I drop a few hints to her now and then, just to keep her on her toes.

Q: Leona's story, FOR HER EYES ONLY, comes out this fall, October, right? Tempest's is out right now, A STRANGER'S TOUCH. I've been following her story and what's happening in her life. She's getting really great reviews.
A: Yes, she is. She's also working on a new design especially for Leona's Timeless Vintage boutique in Lexington, KY.

Q: Do you think Tempest and Leona might drop in and say a few words, too?
A: I think they'd like that.

Q: I'm dying to know more about your fall collection, but could you say a few words about what's in Timeless Vintage now?
A: Well, you know that while I do some custom designs, Leona's shop is really is the only outlet that I ship to regularly. It's worked out well, having a sister in the new-vintage look business. The fall collection has more evening clutches now, a little glitz for the holiday parties. I also designed some practical totes for those who work during the day and want a snazzy place to keep their laptops. Red is popular right now and 'Go-4-It' may really be a hit, a one of a kind. Whoever buys that will also get a small cosmetic case and coin case to match. There's also a little ring to attach keys so they won't be lost. I designed several bags for the working woman, but some smaller versions for dress and evening. 'Zipper' has lots of zipped pockets, 'Button Me' lots of buttons, but with magnetic closures to make it easy. I did the cutest diaper bag with a spotted pony motif for one of Leona's favorite customers, and one for a customer whose daughter is placing in dressage. It takes months to put a collection together, and it's very difficult to keep my creative juices focused on the project at large. I have a sketch book filled with ideas. There's nothing like an appreciative little note from someone who loves their 'Claire's Bags'.

Q: Ah. Keeping it all in the family, right?
A: Family, that's what it's all about. You asked about my designs. They're all my work, from start to finish. I usually pick a theme, like my Matador bag, or more glitzy like Date Night. 'Claire's Bags' are all my own work from start to finish. Totes, hobos, clutches, they're all my designs.

Q: I hope I'm not asking for any well-kept secrets, but how do you get your ideas? The themes you use to create your bags?
A: (Smiles) As an empath, I have to be careful--more guarded when around people, and that's why I live rurally in Montana ... but generally, I take in what's happening around me, or how I feel. It's much like Cait London does when she gets a story idea and builds it into a book. You'd know about that, wouldn't you, Cait?

Q: I do try. :) But wait, this is about you, right? So, you have your own studio, and create your work there and then ship 'Claire's Bags' to Leona in Lexington. I can't wait to have Tempest drop in and see what she's working on.
A: As a sculptor, she can be creating anything. She created the twin Rottweilers outside my house, you know. She thought I needed the protection, since I live far down an isolated country road. She's always been so protective and so has Leona. You haven't lived until you're the youngest of 2 older sisters, but I love them.

Q: I saw those. Really scary and lifelike. She creates very unique pieces for your family, doesn't she?
A: I love her work. She does a lot of Celtic designs for us, that hummingbird in my kitchen window and then she came up with some unique doorknobs. Beautiful work. Leona won't wear the usual stuff, but she will wear the family brooch and that makes us all feel more connected and protected. Since Tempest's gift is in her hands--she can tell the history of an object, just by holding it. But she can also tell somethingof the people who held it, and that isn't always good, especially if they have illnesses, or are ... well, less than desirable people.

Q: I'll ask her about her special designs when she visits. I've heard that she wears gloves to protect her 'psychic' hands.
A: She has to and has quite the glove collection. You should see the gorgeous long evening gloves she uses, especially for her showings. She's a mover, constantly on the run. But she has a special affinity for you and I'm certain she'll take time to drop in and chat.

Q: Thank you. I love her, too. Could you tell a little about how it feels to be one of triplets, especially psychic triplets?
A: Mm. Where to start...you know that we would really prefer to be normal women, leading normal lives, but we can't--because of our ... gifts, right? Psychic connections aren't easy to understand, and then we're connected by birth, too, a double-connect, rather triple-connect. Our mother is a world famous psychic, Greer Aisling. You've heard of her? She sometimes works with finding lost children, or helps with disappearances. She can help with a murder scene--oh, I could never do that--but she can only tell what happens up to the point of death. Thank goodness none of us are mediums for the dead. But living together, anywhere in near proximity is a real problem as we are so well connected.

Q: I can only imagine. It would be like having another voice or emotion within your own. That could make for a lack of privacy, doesn't it?
A: You've got that right. I live in Montana, Tempest is all over the place, and Leona is in Kentucky. We can get together for short times and that works, especially if we have a 'leveler' like Mom or Tempest, too sometimes, because she can move between us more easily.

Q: Your abilities--gifts, or curses as your sisters sometimes call them--were inherited from your mother?
A: It happens that way, passing through the generations. Our particular strain comes down from Aisling, a Celtic Seer.

Q: How interesting. And that is why Tempest's designs for your family have Celtic influence?
A: Yes. Mother took Aisling as her professional name some time ago--to protect us. We were already gathering attention from the media and she didn't want to expose us to spotlight-seekers. But Aisling has influenced all of our lives. Each one of us has one of her gifts. Leona may have more. But Tempest leans toward our Viking inheritance--you know that Aisling was captured by raiding Vikings, rather one chieftain.... I really must go, but I'd love to come back.

Q: Please do. Thank you for dropping in. What a delight you are.
A: Thanks for inviting me. See you next time...bye.
Oh, just a tip. Try to remember when you talk to my sisters, and maybe our mother, that we're all very different. Sometimes people think that triplets are all like one person. But Tempest and Leona are very different from me. In some ways :)

Cait: I'll keep that in mind.:)

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Springtime

Today, I took quite a long drive, leaving in the early morning. The air was crisp and cool, the sunshine bright and all that new spring green was gorgeous...

The drive took me down into Arkansas rolling hills, much of the highway on curving ridges. The scope of the green fields, up and down the hills was absolutely breathtaking.

Breakfast at a small country cafe was just perfect before starting the drive back again. I almost wanted to stay outside and putter in my yard, which really needs it now. But instead I came into work and to blog throughout the day at http://ridingwiththetopdown.blogspot.com

I enjoy blogging. I enjoy driving. I enjoy working outside. Such choices. :) But then, I'm enjoying my birthday month quite royally.

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CORRECTION

Update: I'll be blogging at A Slice of Orange, April 22.

But the rest of the schedule holds true.

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Blogging on Toes or Self-Talk

First of all, I've been promoting my psychic triplets, and have little time to answer all the great Happy Birthday wishes coming my way. I think you now, all you thoughtful people, and especially you Aries girls :)

Mark your calendars! I'm blogging this week at Riding with the Top Down, April 16. I'm also blogging on the same date at A Slice of Orange, about Things I Wish I'd Known. I hope you can come to both. Right now, I am looking writing for Top. I'm running through a list of selections, maybe you can help me decide...


Yesterday, I had a little drive to attend a writers meeting, and then go on to my book signing for A STRANGER'S TOUCH. I like to listen to podcasts while I am traveling in the distance at all. There are a number of great podcasts on writing and promotion, and the ideas were flowing. One podcast was on Self-Talk, or coaching yourself through a difficult situation. I liked this topic, done in an interview with a shy writer, who is having to get out and promote her books. Very interesting topic, since many writers are reclusive and find going public very difficult. When we write, we're in our little nest. Then suddenly to promote our books, we' re amid all different kinds of situations. Self-Talk is a very interesting topic to me, since I do it all the time. I use a lot of affirmations, including the visual of The Little Train That Could, choo-chooing up that hill.

Mm. Maybe I'd better not continue with this dialogue, because I might want to write it. On the other hand there is the intrigue Inc. subject of Toes. I've been working on Toes idea for quite some time, and don't know how I'm going to bundle it. A blog may be just the place to start.

I was talking to Wilson about toes the other day. Remember Wilson? The pumpkin who is sitting in my bread bowl right now, watching television? To do Toes, I'll need to do some graphic work, and that takes time. So it's a toss up whether I am going to write about Self-Talk or Toes. What do you think?

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