Settling Into Retirement

Bernice Connell Leave a comment
Photo Credit: Jill Wellington

It has been a couple of months since my last days of paid work but my working norm of being frantic to get things done has has just begun to ease up. I was eager to get at some big housekeeping jobs that had never reached priority status before retirement. As gratifying as it was to make progress on these chores, I realized I was tackling the jobs like I had a deadline. Having now steam-cleaned most surfaces in the house, emptied drawers and closets and purged a couple of truckloads of trash to the dump and donations to the usual organizations, it is time to shift gears.

Read more

Barbed Wire Benefits

Donna Judy Curtin 1 Comment

A few weeks back, I got a text,

“Coopers hurt. Can you check him out when you get home?”

Cooper had a deep and dangerous puncture, high up inside his back leg. It tracked into his groin and was only a breath away from puncturing his abdomen. It could have been life threatening. Considering our walking track and their playground is our zig-zagging forested trails through our maple sugar bush, I surmised Cooper must have snagged a branch in the wrong spot, at the wrong moment. Read more

All Hallow’s Eve

Seana Moorhead Leave a comment
Image by esudroff from Pixabay

Hallowe’en’s origins date back over 2000 years to the Celts when they celebrated the end of the summer, the completion of the harvest and the start of the winter season. Have you realized that this ancient holiday is the mid-point between the fall’s equinox and the winter solstice?  It is a time when you begin to truly feel the change of light and shorter days.

Samhain, the name of the Celtic festival, was celebrated for three days around the end of October. It was believed to be a time when the boundary between the living and dead was thin and ghosts from the dead could cross over for a short time. Celtic priests used the night to make predictions about the future and had huge bonfires as part of the celebrations. The Celts would dress in costumes to ward off the evil ghosts who might kidnap them.

Read more

Writers’ Summer Camp with 13 Strangers

Lori Twining 4 Comments
Lori Twining ~ Camp Zeke

Several decades ago, before I even had a steady boyfriend, I had this weird habit of flipping through bridal magazines, dreaming about the perfect wedding, the over-the-top Royal Princess taffeta ballgown, the jovial bridal party, and spending the most romantic honeymoon hiking through the Poconos Mountains in Pennsylvania. 

That never happened for me. 

I mean, I did have a wedding–in fact, I had TWO beautiful weddings to two different people, with incredible velvet and satin dresses, and cool-but-not-that-funny bridal parties, but I never experienced the thrill of hiking through the Poconos Mountains… until this past weekend. A part of my old daydream finally did come true, slightly skewed from the original fantasy. 

Read more

Life Happens, Keep Writing

Diane Ferguson Leave a comment
Eden Mills Writers’ Festival: Pathway to Publication with James Gordon, Barbara Kyle and Jean Mills

Before writing a blog, I review my past blogs to make sure I’m not repeating myself too much, and to assess where I was at and where I thought I was going. My last blog was August 28th and I was all set with my “MFA course”, personalized for a student of one: me. Now it’s a month later and have I made any progress?

Fortunately, I kept my plan flexible, I can adapt what I’m working on as life happens. the truth is, I’ve hardly been home in the past month. Labour Day weekend was spent moving my daughter to Ottawa for school. I was also determined to attend the Eden Mills Writers Festival this year. I hadn’t been in about 20 years! But as an almost empty-nester, and the threat of covid fading (not to mention this is an outdoor festival), and a workshop with Gail Anderson-Dargatz, my former mentor—I wanted to make sure I attended. Read more

It’s Too Late

Kelly Babcock 1 Comment

Is It Though?

Smart cat. Smarter than I.

A while ago I began a novel about a cat, and its friends, other cats, who do extraordinary things. It’s been a while since I have visited with those words, with those cats.

One of the things I’ve done in this life to support myself was blog writing. Not this blog, this pays only in satisfaction, though that should never be considered a negative or nil income. Read more

The Joy of Creative Solitude

Lori Twining 1 Comment
Lori Twining ~ Sensational Sunset, Halls Island

Being surrounded by noise all day makes it challenging to be creative. By noise, I mean people talking, children crying, dogs barking, brakes screeching, horns honking, music blaring, cell phones ringing, notifications pinging… it never stops. Your heart beats faster and faster until your blood pressure is through the roof and your anxiety level is sitting at the maximum setting. 

As a writer, how can you find a quiet moment to squeeze out a line or two of a bestselling novel if you can’t even hear yourself think? Most of us can’t find large blocks of uninterrupted time to create, so finding creative solitude is essential. Everyone needs a little space and time to be in the moment, to find their happy place, where they can take a break from the chaos, close their eyes, be clear-headed, and wallow in the silence.

I finally found that perfect place of creative solitude, where you can be mindful and make intentional decisions to find the answers you didn’t even know you were asking the questions for. Let me tell you a little bit about it. 

Read more