A Quiet Corner of a Busy World
A few years ago, my workplace gave me a comprehensive assessment (the Pro-D assessment) based on nine key career values. The assessment ranks the career values against themselves in three areas, mission, competency, and style. I found it extremely accurate and insightful! Recently, I revisited the assessment results, but with my writing work in mind. [...]
True sweater weather has come early this year! Where I live in Virginia, it is rare for us to get snow before Christmas. So far, we've had two good snow days and another is forecasted tomorrow. We're not even 12 days into December yet! I tend to get cold easily, but sweaters layered over a [...]
Honestly, I think the answer to that question keeps shifting. When I started this blog almost six years ago, its main purpose was to share my home renovation projects. Then as the renovation work settled, it became more of an outlet for my writing, occasionally fiction or poetry, but most often non-fiction essay or personal [...]
For those of you who are artists, have you ever found a certain supply that made you think, "I'm going to have to save this for something special"? Maybe you hold onto it much longer than necessary, waiting until the perfect inspiration comes along? Or waiting for your skill to be perfected to do justice [...]
Shall we go back another decade? We have made it to the "aughts"! This series started when in early 2024, my mom and I made "greatest haul of all" at an estate sale. I have previously shown you clothing from the 1920s and 1910s (additionally there were many "newer" items from the 30s-60s). The oldest [...]
This summer, I participated in a summer book chain of sorts. Participants received an advance reader copy of a new middle grade fantasy book Beyond the Far Horizon, by mail. We had a week to read it and then pass it on to the next person on the list. In return, we were asked to [...]
Happy fall! Autumn calls for warm colors and layers and maybe a little bit of whimsy. I got this checked woven fabric at a yard sale last year and had to find a pattern that suited it. The colors were perfect for fall, so I decided a versatile garment for fall weather would be best. [...]
As I've mentioned, this summer was probably the busiest summer season I've ever had. Because of this, I was not able to work on as many creative projects as I usually would. However, there was one little project I had been thinking about for a while. A year or so ago, my brother gave me [...]
And then it was on, further north! We had one day for sightseeing in Edinburgh. Our Air B&B was in an old Georgian row house on Scotland Street (of Alexander McCall Smith fame). The three flights of steps up to the flat were steep and worn! Air B&B stairs! The Writer's Museum Sir Walter Scott [...]
It rained today and is still a bit overcast here. Time to get a cup of tea and enjoy a bit of England! Last year, on my dream trip to England, I had initially tried to get to the Lake District. After calculating the travel time, I realized it made more sense to stay in [...]
Welcome To The Carriage House 