writer’s studio

Tweets and Ribbets Abound at the Zen Writing Cottage

Posted by Barbara Techel

Tweets and Ribbets Abound at the Zen Writing Cottage

I’m so excited to share with you that the robin eggs have hatched!  These two fuzzies came into the world on Wednesday, June 23.  When I posted a photo of the eggs two weeks ago, there were four, but only two made it.

robin nest 2016

Their nest is right outside one of my windows in my writing cottage, so I see the mama coming and going all day as she takes care of her precious little ones. I also put up a short video of the little ones on my Facebook page if you want to check it out.

frog

And the tree frogs are back too!  I just love these little guys (and gals!). They are like little surprises when you come upon them. They can be quite sneaky and all of a sudden, there they are. They always bring a smile to my face. Two summers ago we had two around almost the whole summer. I called them Mr. and Mrs. Green Jeans.  This little guy was on my front porch, while this little gal below joined me for lunch one day on the deck.

frog 2

Oh! How I love summer!  New life abounds and old friends have returned. And time to brew some sun tea!

sun tea

Well, friends, I hope your weekend is a good one and you experience many small and big joys as the summer days unfold.

 Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.

Spring Time at the Zen Writing Cottage

Posted by Barbara Techel

Spring Time at the Zen Writing Cottage

It’s what I imagined when I dreamed about a little space of my own over nine years ago. A room where I could feel like I was part of the world, separate from our house, yet secluded with lots of silence except for the rustling of the leaves blowing in the wind and birds chirping or splashing in the bird bath. And a place where my dachshund could snore away the day while I did my writing. First Frankie, then Joey, and now Gidget have been my faithful companions in my 10 x 12 cottage off the southeast end of our deck.

With our new landscaping, now in place for about a month and the plants really beginning to bloom and come to life, has brought with it new life also. Last Saturday I watched as a Robin built this nest in the limelight hydrangea tree right outside the front east window of my cottage. Complete with streamers as you can see in this photo below!  Isn’t she so talented?

robin nest 2016 3

And then I watched for the eggs to appear. And each day a new one.  Right now there are four eggs in the nest as you can see. I’m not sure if she will lay any more. But I’m so excited to watch as they progress and soon little fuzzy heads will be peaking over the top.

While I was writing this post I looked to the left of my writing desk where I have another long window and two finches were happily eating their breakfast.  These are the moments that make up a life full of simple pleasures. The moments I can’t ever get enough of. The moments that fill me with gratitude.

IMG_2706

Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.

And this is Why I Write. A Heartfelt Note from Reader, Patti.

Posted by Barbara Techel

IMG_1555

Life as a writer can be lonely at times. Though I do love spending quite a bit of time alone there is on occasion when I wonder if anyone is out there reading blogs anymore. And then every now and then I’ll get a note from a reader that really makes my heart sing.

It was in 2007 when I started my blog to write about my love of the human-animal bond. It has now evolved into so much more and it’s like coming home to myself every time I sit down to write on my laptop.

One of my goals in writing is to inspire and encourage others to live a creative and meaningful life by sharing what that looks like for me.

When writing about ones life it can be a fine balance of what to share and what not to share. While I wish to share all the good, I also write about when things aren’t good too — though I try my best to look for a teaching in each situation that seems hard.

And the rewards of writing are that this is the way in which I take what is inside me and give it breath. And the other reward is hearing from readers.

Like today on this beautiful, sunny, Friday morning, I open my email to find this sweet note from Patti:

I am so grateful for your daily posts. On my darkest days, you seem to give me hope. You brighten my days and have opened my eyes to so many things, I might otherwise have missed. 

Thank you from the depths of my heart for being the person you are! I so admire you!

Thank you, Patti for taking time to send me this beautiful note. As I said in my response back to her, this is music to a writers ears. Though I feel like I’m in a place in my life where I can’t not not write, notes like this from readers truly mean so much to me.

So to change the subject a bit now, I promised to share the new landscaping with you. Here is a sneak peek of the east side of my writing cottage in the above photo.

Now I know there isn’t much color yet, but these are all new plants that will need time to establish themselves. Though I was told by Kathy from Willow Acres that I will see blooms on my roses on the west side of the deck in just a few days!  Woot!

In this space next to my writing cottage is a honeysuckle plant I’ve had for two years. The tree in the center is a limelight hydrangea and the shrubs with pink are Dark Horse Weigela, while I believe the other two perennials are Shasta daisies.

And just to give you an idea of the huge improvement, here is a photo of what it looked like before.

I feel on cloud nine with all the new plant life around me topped off today with the kind note from Patti. It’s these simple pleasures in life that are the air that I want to always breathe. Because when I do they fill me up with so much joy.

Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.