I walked by a planter growing an Elephant Feed plant. Two quail wooshed out like jets taking off. I scared them away. This planter has been home to a nest before and there were a dozen quail eggs in it two years ago. I peeked in the planter and saw two eggs. Later in the day, I had to take another look and there were four quail eggs!
The main issue is to not make the parents uncomfortable. That means I must stay away as much as possible. But the location of the planter is an issue.
This planter is in front of the gate to our garbage and recycling bins. If you want to read more about me getting written up and pink-slipped over recycling, you can find that post HERE.
I stressed out momma and papa quail a few times because I had to take out trash and recycling. I noticed the egg count has stopped at four. I decided to move my recycling into the garage. With a steady flow of Amazon packages coming daily, I tend to recycle a lot! But I talked over the garbage bin with hubby and we decided to leave it where it is. It’s going to be hotter than 90 degrees this weekend and that could end up being a smelly problem to have inside our garage. With our HOA, it’s not like I can move the trash to a new location without getting a fine.
So here’s to me not needing to use the garbage bin more than a few times a week.
UPDATE: Now we have five eggs!
We’re hoping the eggs will turn into these guys:
I remember telling a good friend that I had a dozen quail eggs in a nest two years ago. She asked me when I was going to harvest and eat them!
Have a great weekend!
What plans do you have for this beautiful March weekend?
Thanks to the amazing and compassionate Vicki from Victoria Ponders for nominating me along with 10 other bloggers for the “Sunshine Blogger Award.” This award was started by Kimberly Vargas Agnese. I usually avoid such things, but I found the questions intriguing and Vicki’s answers so thoughtful.
So here it goes:
What is your morning routine?
I follow Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way” which grounds me for the day. I begin with three pages of journaling. Then I listen to a Bible reading on my phone and pray for an ever increasing list of friends and family members. After that (or before if the weather is too hot) I walk three miles. I’ve been doing this consistently for 10 years. If there’s a day when I can’t do my morning routine, I feel out of sorts.
What is your favorite season? Why?
Definitely summer followed by Spring. I have the best memories growing up in the Pacific Northwest in summer, which is such a beautiful season there. Raising my kids, we’d spend summer in Laguna Beach. Now we go to Santa Barbara for a few weeks up to a month. I love the water, yet live in the desert, so I look forward to being by the ocean all year long.
What is your favorite childhood memory?
Being with family on our boat in the summer. Enjoying fishing, digging clams and catching Dungeness crab with our mom cooking seafood on the boat within minutes of being caught.
Who or what has been your most unlikely teacher?
My kids. They taught me how to appreciate being present in the moment with them. Also, not to worry over things I cannot control.
Who or what are you most proud of?
Again, my kids. They are loving, kind adults and a joy to be with.
What is something that surprises people about you?
How outdoorsy my childhood was thanks to mom and dad. I took a fly tying class and Power Squadron boating safety class with them. I picked Chanterelle mushrooms, fished for salmon, rockfish, and trout, dug razor clams and little necks and caught Dungeness crabs — enjoying Western Washington state’s lifestyle.
What motivated you to start blogging?
A fellow swim mom who read my children’s stories and YA manuscripts. She loved to read blogs when I knew nothing about blogging. She encouraged me to start bleuwater.me, which then opened doors to writing a weekly sports parenting column for SwimSwam, a swimming website with more than 8 million views per month. I wrote that column for more than five years.
What forms of entertainment do you enjoy the most?
I have always been a reader since I was a young child. I enjoy finding a new author. It’s like finding a gem. I’ll know there will be more good books to read. I also enjoy being outdoors, walking, hiking and taking pictures.
If you are a book reader, do you prefer a paper copy or a digital copy?
Paper copies. I prefer paperbacks, because I feel less guilty about turning down the corners. Also, they are less expensive, easier to carry and read than hard bound books. My arms don’t get tired with paperbacks!
What’s your favorite music genre, and who is your favorite singer?
I like rock and roll from the 1970s and 1980s which were my high school and college days. I have Sirius set to 1970s in my car and I love to sing along to old favorites. My favorite singer is Don McLean from “American Pie” because my mom listened to him nonstop in the 1970s. She was a Coloratura Soprano and music major. She loved McLean’s voice and poetic lyrics. Listening to his songs brings me closer to memories of Mom.
What societal causes do you care about the most?
Currently, my focus is helping sex trafficked victims in the Phoenix area. Phoenix is one of the nation’s hubs of sex trafficking — and our country is the first or second purchaser of children for sex in the world. Today, I’m visiting The Phoenix Dream Center, which is a residential facility that provides a safe, secure home complete with medical, mental health, and career training, to help victims return to a “normal” life. They are having a ribbon cutting for a new kitchen which my women’s group fundraised to purchase all the appliances. I’ll also be donating clothes after Spring cleaning my closet. I’ve volunteered in my community for different causes since college.
Don’t worry if you’ve already been tagged or if you’d prefer not to do this. I’m taking a page from Vicki and using most of the questions she asked and have thrown in a few new ones:
Here are the guidelines from Kimberly about the “Sunshine Blogger Award”:
• Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog. • Thank the person who nominated you. • Provide a link to your nominator’s blog. • Answer your nominators’ questions:
What is your morning routine?
What is your favorite season? Why?
What is your favorite childhood memory?
Who or what has been your most unlikely teacher?
What is your favorite meal that you would never get tired of and why?
What is something that surprises people about you?
What motivated you to start blogging?
Would you rather spend a quiet evening at home or out with friends or a party? Why?
If you are a book reader, do you prefer a paper copy or a digital copy?
What’s your favorite music genre, and who is your favorite singer?
What societal causes do you care about the most?
• Nominate up to 11 bloggers. • Ask your nominees 11 questions. • Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts.
Have you heard about this trend? You don’t have to be a writer. You don’t have to be an artist or an illustrator. You don’t need technical skills. But you can make money self-publishing children’s books on Amazon!
It’s called a side hustle. I talked to my kids about it and they said it’s a “thing” right now. They said there are numerous books, seminars, podcasts and youtubes that tell you how to make passive income with AI generated children’s books on Amazon. They’re unaware if anyone is making money selling children’s books, or if it’s the people pitching the “how to” deals who are increasing their monthly incomes.
I guess having a degree in journalism, a career in public relations, writing for magazines, newspapers and having a weekly column and blogging isn’t necessary to become a published author. I can toss my dog-eared “Strunk & White” good-bye.
I have written children’s stories and had small successes being published in children’s magazines, the LA Times, and even included in a text book by Houghton Mifflin. I won a couple competitions for children’s stories including children’s fiction for Writer’s Digest. I got a contract from a small book publisher — and biggest mistake in my writing career — I turned it down! Oh my. If I could only turn back time.
Now I understand my years of work is all for naught. Anyone can do it. And apparently they can make a living at it. And guess what else? It only takes minutes to create a book, thanks to ChatGPT and AI.
Check it out for yourself. Google something like “Make money with AI children books on Amazon.” You’ll find too many websites and youtubes to count that will give you all the secrets of success.
I wonder how this new AI trend will effect writers’ careers and book publishing? I know many of my blogger friends are writers and have either self-published, used traditional publishers — or hybrid. With a flood of AI books on the market, how do you think it will affect writing careers? Do you think people are making money at this?
Please share your thoughts on selling AI children’s books on Amazon.
Here’s a shout out to my published author-blogging friends — in no particular order:
I took this photo the other morning as the sun began peaking over the horizon in our backyard. I don’t know why it took a blueish tint, but I kind of like it.
I’m not doing New Year’s Resolution this year. I have some ideas of what I’d like to do. They are closer to goals than resolutions, but more in the germination stage of seedlings.
I went for a walk the other morning with a neighbor. She said she and her husband are focusing on health for 2025. I told her that’s something my husband and I are doing, too. I’m sure it’s a reflection of what I wrote in What Would You Do? last Monday. (If you missed this post, please take a look.)
Another idea I thought of the other night, after waking up every two hours for some unknown reason, was putting together a list of classics. When I can’t sleep, I turn on podcasts. (I have headphones that rest around my neck. Connecting them to my laptop via bluetooth, I don’t wake up my husband.)
I thought it would be better for me to listen to classic literature, rather than current podcasts. I’m not giving up podcasts, just when I’m trying to sleep. The podcasts obviously aren’t working.
I looked online for lists of classics and discovered that I have read a lot of them through school and life. Ones like “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “East of Eden,” “Secret Garden,” “Pride and Prejudice” and “The Great Gatsby.” Also, “Jane Eyre,” “Brave New World,” “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and “The Iliad.” And the list goes on.
I discovered two that sparked my interest that I have never read. Well, more than two, but I decided to start with:
“In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote.
I’ve always wanted to read this because Dill in “To Kill a Mockingbird” is based on Capote.
The other book I chose is John Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charley in Search of America.”
Here’s the description from Amazon: “With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. Along the way he reflects on the American character, racial hostility, the particular form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and the unexpected kindness of strangers.”
Who wouldn’t want to join Steinbeck and Charley on a road trip across America?
What are your favorite classic books?
What classics would you like to read that you haven’t yet?
Olive the cat gives me the look that it’s time to eat.
Thank you to all my fellow bloggers who I follow as well as friends who follow me. Every day, I get joy from reading your posts. I love interacting with you through comments. I realize that is part of what I look forward to every morning.
It’s a bit of sanity in an ever changing, crazy world.
Most of the blogs I read are positive and you share recipes, birds, deer, pets, and relationships with your loved ones. Each of you has a unique personality. You add to the structure and fabric of my days.
Thank you!
Here’s a bit of joy in a video of Olive watching quail through the window:
This is a photo of a diver from Jolyn’s website. Jolyn creates swimsuits designed for athletes.
FIRST THING:
Three coincidences happened over the weekend within one hour.
I was talking to our guests about Jolyn swimsuits after my friend asked about the Jolyn stickers on my Hydroflask.
I explained that when my daughter was in high school, Jolyn hit the scene in Southern California. Jolyn was immediately popular because the suits don’t come off in the ocean or swimming in the pool — yet they added some fashion flair. My daughter said their stickers were popular with her age group. Swimmers put the stickers on their water bottles, placed at the end of their lanes during swim practice. That was great advertising for Jolyn.
The minute that conversation was over, I was pinged a Jolyn ad on my iphone.
(My stickers on my Hydroflask came from birthday swimsuits from daughter. I asked her to order suits with their biggest behind coverage possible. I love my Jolyns.)
Next, my friend was baking my husband a belated birthday cake. We were all four talking about his age (which I won’t disclose.) Ping. My iphone sent me an article on how to celebrate a birthday of that particular age.
The final iphone thing was after I pointed out these two coincidences. The friend’s hubby said, “They are listening to your conversations. You need to turn off certain things on you iphone.”
Ping. Article popped up, “What Apple doesn’t want you to turn off.”
Those three things happened within one hour.
Coincidence? Or Not? What are your thoughts?
SECOND THING:
A text I received from my son. He introduced me to Wordle over a year ago and taught me his formula.
I texted this back at him:
Notice they are identical except my squares are black. It’s not a coincidence. If you want to know the formula, I’ll let you know.
THIRD THING:
This is a potato I discovered this weekend. I wanted to share it with Mama Lava from Mama Lava’s Back Porch.
This month she is posting 28 days of love that include uplifting messages, scripture and hearts she has found in nature. I wanted to post this potato on her blog, but WP wouldn’t let me place an image in her comments.
Do you know how to place images in comments? If so, please share.
What are your thoughts about my things posted above?
Shout out to Brian from HotM and Writing from the Heart with Brian for a story Wednesday about the emotions of taking his youngest to college. It reminded me of a post I wrote about saying good-bye:
First I wrote about 7 tips for parents on Move-In Day. At the end I wrote: “I made it through the day without tears–mostly. It was a long, busy and tiring day. When my husband and I stopped for lunch — alone — and I realized that we were truly alone — the tears ran down my cheeks. I wiped them off and prepared myself for battle for the next stop at Target. When, it’s time to say good-bye — well, I’ll tell you how that goes another time.”
Kat during our 6th trip to Target
So, how did it go when we said good-bye?
We had planned to stay until Sunday. Move-In day had been Thursday. We wanted to be around for a few days in case she needed us. She wanted us there on Thursday, but by Friday — not so much. It began to make sense for us to leave. We didn’t want to hang out and wait to see if she wanted us around. It didn’t make us feel good and we weren’t enjoying ourselves exploring the city that much. We had a long drive ahead of us, too. So we went out for an early morning walk and talked about how we’d let her know that we felt it was time to leave.
She texted us at 7 a.m. Saturday.
text from Kat
Okie dokie.
It was time to say good-bye. We walked over to her dorm. I took a deep breath. I said a prayer to be strong.
“Do not cry. I can do this,” I repeated in my head.
She opened the door, I wanted to say something profound and loving. Something she’d remember — but I said nothing. My husband said a few things and I nodded my head.
I opened my mouth, my voice cracked and wavered. At this point I cannot remember what I was trying to say.
“Mom! Mom! Stop it!” she said. “Don’t!”
She held my face in her hands, like I was the child. “It’s going to be okay.”
A view during our walk on campus
Tip: Make it short and quick.
Bill and I walked out of her room into the bright cool air that is Utah. We walked all over campus for two hours and I felt much better — amazed at what a strong beautiful woman we had raised.
Sage Point dorms at U of U, the athlete housing for Winter Olympics 2002.
Here’s an update:
What tips do you have for saying good-bye to your loved ones — whether it’s college or pre-school?
