Road trip

Yesterday we made the trip down to visit the in-laws. Beautiful sunshine at home, clouding over as we travelled south.

The kids are busy on Saturday mornings so this was an afternoon journey. Despite expectations to the contrary the traffic wasn't too bad, although to be fair I did snooze through the worst bits. If you can manage to stay awake on long car journeys I salute you. I can't. At least not when it's a well-known route. When we're exploring new places and seeing new things I'm all over it. When I know where I'm going I'm out like a light after 15 minutes on a motorway. Is that just me?

Anyway, a few hours and a comfort stop later we arrived for a 3-night stay. I hadn't realised quite how quiet things could be at home without my voice until I had this bad dose of laryngitis. It's continuing here, with an extremely hushed evening meal. The only conversation seemed to be about how people missed my conversation. Funny how you can get talked about, and not to, when you're sitting right there. It felt a little like going to my own funeral!

The upside of not talking is time to concentrate on being creative. Since meeting Lucy of Attic 24 at Black Sheep Wools a little while back I've had a pack of wool and her neat ripple pattern just waiting for a break between projects. This is that time, and I'm so excited to finally be making a start. When I explained to Lucy how new I am to crochet (7 weeks now) and the very few projects I've done (3 hats, a blanket, a scarf and a multitude of granny squares) and the stitches I've used (although I've learnt through YouTube with US terminology) she reassured me that I'd be able to handle the blanket pattern. She said it was quite a nice one to get into a rhythm with, and she was not wrong.

When the pattern said chain 213 my heart sank a little. The chaining is easy but I find that working that first row into the chain is so fiddly. It wasn't too bad in the end, and now I'm into the rows of pattern I'm absolutely loving it. I managed 6 rows yesterday, so 3 beautifully wavy bands of colour are ready and waiting to be added to this morning. Doesn't it just make your heart feel happy to see a project start to take shape?!

I'm working on this while I'm here, I'm in the middle of a quilt project at home, and I've got a writing day retreat next weekend to really get to grips with an idea and wrestle into shape, so this Easter break I am all about creativity.

I hope you're able to find time to feed your soul and be creative.

It's not quitting...

I started NaPoWriMo in order to make myself write something every day. Poems don't have to be long, and I really like the feeling of actually completing something, so it was the perfect choice.

In just 5 days I've had something of a revelation.

I do enjoy writing poetry. Sometimes it is the perfect way to express a thought, a feeling, a moment. Sometimes it helps me to kick-start a writing habit that has a tendency to stall through longer projects. Sometimes it just makes me happy.

Poetry clearly needs to go on a diet though, because it has a huge butt. But.

The trouble is I have a passion. A passion project if you will. It sits in the back of my mind and on several notebook pages and paper scraps. It's in pieces, story shards, and from time to time I try to find the words to glue them together. It can't  make up its mind whether it's a book or a script but it is definitely a something, and I'm going back to it today.

So thank you NaPoWriMo, you've got me scribbling daily and I'm grateful for that. I'll look in on you from time to time when the blank pages feel overwhelming and I need a prompt to get me writing again.

5 times when quitting isn't quitting.

1. It did its job.
Hurrah! If it's done what you needed it to do then celebrate the achievement.

2. It didn't work.
Not everything works for everyone. Not everybody gets the same result with the same action. If you find it just doesn't suit you then move on and find something that does.

3. You found a better way.
In the midst of trying to stick to a way of doing things did you stumble across an alternative that works better for you? Fantastic!

4. It's distracting you from your real purpose.
You started it because you thought it would help you move towards a goal but it actually takes up your time and energy that could be more effectively directed. No harm, no foul. Refocus. You've got this.

5. Emergency!
Life happens. We all have our Chicken Licken moments when the sky is falling in.  Don't beat yourself up if things get in the way of your progress. An enforced break does not mean that you have to give up on your dreams. Take a breath and get back to it!

Something sad

Day 4, and I'm having my usual reaction to the prompt.

Actually no, I'm having a real pushback against this one. Something sad? I don't believe in spreading doom and gloom.

Ok.

Something sad without emotive language.

Alone

Yesterday's cold tea half-fills a green mug.
A book lies face down, open,
Its spine marking a memory of pages read
and those that will never be seen.

The clock ticks away seconds,
Chimes the hours with no-one now to hear.
This morning's post sits on the mat
But it will not be read.

Photographs line the walls;
Loved ones, holidays, weddings and parties.
Signs of a life lived fully
And with love.

She slumps in the chair,
Eyes half closed. Glassy.
No breath disturbs the air.
All is quiet.

Time

I suppose at least this one has got me thinking. NaPoWriMo Day 3 - something that happens over any appreciable length of time. Yep, it's got me thinking that I should've participated in Camp Nano instead.

Maybe it's just that immediate I-have-no-thoughts reaction to a difficult question. I think I'll have to let this one steep awhile. I'll be back.

Perennial

I saw you in the bright days
Standing tall
Blue brighter than the sky

I watched as cold winds curled you
And you retreated
From the too-short days and bitter nights

Endless waiting
No sign
Nothing to show a life in stasis

Each day bare

Empty

I stopped watching for you
Stopped expecting
Stopped

Other friendships formed
Dancing yellow in the brightening breeze
I had forgotten you

Until you sent a message
Tentative
Tender

A promise

I will see you again

-×-

That delphinium was truly beautiful last summer. It's currently romping away in its pot by the door and I'm just hoping we don't get a nasty cold spell to upset it.

That's me done for today. I'm off to be creative in other ways. Happy writing!

Day 2

So what do you do when a prompt doesn't spark any feeling of creativity?

For me this is what day 2 feels like.

Yes, the prompts are optional. Yes, I could write something else instead. I'm not going to though. I'm going to take that Day 2 prompt and make myself write something.

Personally, participating in NaPoWriMo is less about the poetry produced than it is about putting pen to paper on a daily basis. It really helps to accept that everything is a very rough first draft, and to know that it doesn't have to be 1,666 words a day to keep on schedule.

"But shouldn't this be fun?" I hear you ask. Of course it should, but for me (and, I suspect, for many of us) there is another purpose: that of creating some kind of writerly discipline. Writing every day sometimes feels like the impossible dream when life is so full of, well, life.  Writing when it feels hard is just not an option on a time limit, but that is precisely what needs to change.

So, you want something ending in a question?

Blank

Type tiptoes hesitantly across the page
Then scurries backwards to the start line.

Blink

Blink Blank

Blink

I can wait all day
The watching cursor insists.

Blink

Blink

Anythingjusttoshutitup

Words spew onto the screen
Only to be deleted
Moments later.

More unwriting than writing done.

Will an idea ever come?

NaPoWriMo

I wasn't going to join in with NaPoWriMo but the prompt for day 1 was a little too tempting. If you're playing along too, have fun!

My instructions:

To Make a Quilt

Pieces
Cut smaller
And smaller still,
Remnants of past lives.
Damp shorts covered in sand,
Swirling party dress, sparkling in the light,
That crazy shirt you wore the night we met;
Snippets of memories
You can hold in your hand for a moment
Or more.

Stitch them together with the thread of life,
Join seconds to minutes and hours to make a day,
Use a quarter inch seam,
Press to the dark side
So it doesn't spoil the light.

Arrange your days
In a vibrant pattern
To create the larger blocks of months and years.
No waste.
No scrap too small.

Now that piecing is complete it's time to baste, quilt and bind.
Wrap yourself in your creation.
Make it beautiful.

Hitting 50

When your significant other has a significant birthday you want to make it special for them. When mine hit 50 I just wanted to stop him becoming a grumpy old man.

Seriously, the moaning and groaning about getting old started long before the birthday itself was in sight. To counter the depressing attitude to the passing of time I decided to give him something to look forward to. I'd heard of the 50 things idea when a radio presenter was given 50 things to do in his 50th year by his listeners and colleagues. How fabulous! We could keep him busy with almost 1 "thing" each week and he would see his 50th birthday as a positive.

A word to the wise - if you decide to do this, curate your list of 50 things very carefully. Here are my top tips for creating the gift that keeps on giving:

1 Make it personal
Fill the list with 50 things that actually mean something to the recipient. It could involve trying something they've always wanted to do, visiting a place that has special meaning for them, or indulging themselves with time for a favourite activity.

2 Get help
Ask friends or family for ideas, but only those who will keep it under their hat. You want it to be a surprise. My husband knew he was getting a list of things to do but had no idea what they would be. His work colleagues suggested stress-busting activities like mountain biking and yoga, and his dad proposed a trip to a home game of his current favourite football team. (I say current favourite because he finds them exciting and frustrating in equal measure and often ends the season saying he needs to give up supporting them.)

3 Add a challenge or 2
No, I don't mean bungee jumping! Not unless it's something they've always wanted to do. This is supposed to give them joy, not scare them to death. For him this was little things like 'eat a doughnut' and 'spend a day doing nothing' (seriously, the man can't sit still!) which took him slightly out of his comfort zone but were always intended to be positive experiences.

4 Add it up!
Although I did make sure that most of the things were either free or of minimal cost I didn't actually sit down and work out how much the whole list would cost. Admittedly the expenditure is spread out over the year, but it can all mount up if you're not careful. Visits to the opera and to castles, football, an 80's concert and Harry Potter World all cost something, and they won't be doing them on their own.

5 Timing is everything
Do keep in mind that you want to fit these things into a year. Yes, it only averages out at around 1 a week but it may not always be possible to fit everything in with other commitments. Some of his didn't take up extra time, like the doughnut thing and being vegetarian for a month, but some, like hiking up Snowdon, require setting aside some time. As it happens his 50 things will roll on into his 51st year, but he will just get to enjoy it all for longer.

6 Link it up
Try to link some of the activities if you can. Visiting Harry Potter World and drinking butter beer were clearly going to be done on the same day. Going camping and making smores can definitely overlap.

7 Do it together
I tried to include things that could be done together, either as a family experience or as a couple. He went to the football with his sister, and my mum will be teaching him to knit. He'll play chess with our son, our daughter will teach him to play a different tune on the piano (he knows only one) and he'll be mountain biking with friends from work.

8 Do some good
I added a couple of things for others. 'Give blood' is a good one, as is 'perform a random act of kindness' which was actually one of his favourites and made him keen to keep doing it.

9 Keep it positive
Use the list to encourage them to spend time doing things they love but perhaps don't prioritise in their busy life. Let them learn a new skill or try something they've always wanted to do. Don't make it pressured, don't make it hectic, don't cause them stress. Remember, this is a gift!

10 Make memories
Give them a notebook to keep a diary of doing their 50 things, take pictures, make videos, create a scrapbook. However you choose to record it give them a year to remember and make that milestone birthday a really happy one!

Have you done something different to mark a milestone birthday?
What would you put in a list of 50 things?

xXx