writing life

A Mix of Emotions

Posted by Barbara Techel

A Mix of Emotions

Happy Monday, Friends!

I just had to take another peek in the Robin nest today to see how the little ones are doing. They hatched last week Wednesday and I’m simply amazed at how fast they have grown since then. Almost double in size!  Whoa!

I’m utterly enjoying watching this new life take shape right outside the east side of my writing cottage window where these little darlings reside in the limelight Hydrangea tree that was just planted in May.

At the same time, I’m feeling some sadness that soon enough they will be leaving the nest. I have to admit that I didn’t know how long before that happens. I had to do a Google search. The result in my search tells me that baby Robin’s typically leave home around two weeks after they have hatched.

So I’m trying not to think about that day of them leaving that is right around the corner and instead just enjoy the time they are here.

And this has me relating this to my manuscript, Wisdom Found in the Pause. After checking in again this morning with my editor, she has promised I will have it no later than tomorrow morning.

I’ve had so many emotions around the writing of this, my second memoir, and the many stages I’ve walked through with it. It took me three years of fits and starts to get it to where I could feel comfortable in handing it over to an editor, which I did in mid-February.

I never anticipated having to have waited this long for it to return. Oh the thoughts that have run amok in my mind at times! It certainly has been a practice in patience and trusting in faith once again. While I believe the timing of much of anything is up to the Universe, I also do believe one must do their due diligence in following up on where things are at.

While I’m happy to know I will have my manuscript back in hand again, I’m also feeling anxious about it. While I want to work on it again and get it to the next step, it comes with trepidation, too. But I also know this is all part of the process of being a writer – and really a part of life and all the little steps we take to where we need to get to next.

Just like those little birds outside my window – all the stages they too have gone through. Soon they will take flight and no doubt with fits and starts too. But soon enough they will be flying off on their own and out into the world– and who knows where it will take them!

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My Zen Writing Cottage. Phase Two Begins – Nine Years Later.

Posted by Barbara Techel

My Zen Writing Cottage. Phase Two Begins - Nine Years Later.

You know the saying, “Good things come to those who wait?”

It was late summer 2007 when my dear John built me my writing cottage. A place of my own, off the corner of our deck. My private sanctuary to listen to the birds, write, feel connected to the world, or just a quiet place where I can think or just be.

The world turned upside down in 2008 when the economy sunk to an all time low. We were so scared, like many, that we may lose so many of the things we worked so hard for – John’s construction business or our home, or both.

We had to make some difficult decisions regarding our retirement savings, but we couldn’t risk losing the home we had come to love so dearly- our safe haven.

This also meant any landscaping we wanted to do, plus a white picket fence I wanted around my writing cottage, had to be put on hold.

It didn’t matter. We had a roof over our heads. We learned to cut even more from our personal overhead expense and from the construction business overhead. And we knew we were so much better off than many. We had nothing to complain about. We would do what we needed to survive.

Though there was much uncertainty and at times scary, we grew by leaps and bounds. Our determination and love grew stronger. We were a team and planned to stay one, no matter what.

And today as I sit in my writing cottage, the Pandora radio station playing Tuscany instrumental music, the wind blowing a brisk breeze for May, the sun shining, and the birds a flutter outside my window, Gidget curled up on the wicker chair next to me, I give thanks for the life I have.

Just outside the long five foot windows of my writing cottage, my heart smiles as John puts skirting around the bottom of my cottage. And this week if all goes as scheduled, the landscaping with an English garden theme will begin.

The long wait, though frustrating at times, has made it all the sweeter. And oh, how I look forward to the warm days ahead to see the flowers blooming all around me as a warm breeze will soon blow through the open windows too– and I shall be sitting here in complete bliss inside this sacred space that means the world to me.

And I picture myself a bit like Tasha Tudor, who loved to walk around her flowers for a little break in her day, a corgi or two in the lead.

Tasha Tudor

I do believe I just might think I’ve died and gone to heaven!

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SNEAK PEEK: My Writing Cottage Featured in “She Sheds – A Treasure Trove of Women’s Creative Spaces”

Posted by Barbara Techel
SNEAK PEEK: My Writing Cottage Featured in "She Sheds - A Treasure Trove of Women's Creative Spaces"
Sneak Peek of Cover with my Story Featured Inside

I’m excited to share with you the cover of the She Shed book my story and “She Shed,” a.k.a. my zen writing cottage and Joyful Paws headquarters, is featured in!

I’m still trying to work out the logistics of offering copies for sale for those interested. The publisher is out of Australia so I’m looking for a cost effective way to get copies here.

But I can hardly stand the wait to see this book which will be out May 2016.

If you think you might be interested in purchasing a signed copy of the book from me, please let me know in the comments section below.

I can’t promise yet if I can make this happen — but I am working on seeing if it can be done.  Stay tuned!

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