About

Do you like my profile picture? It’s the head of a winged angel found in a local cemetery…

My name is Sammi Cox and I love to write and make things.

I live in the UK and find an immense amount of inspiration in the British countryside.  Other sources of inspiration and interest include: history, archaeology, geography, geology, religion, spirituality, folklore, myths and legends, fairytales, and the occult.  I am fascinated by the tarot and have made a poor attempt to start a tarot deck collection.  My book collection, on the other hand, is huge.  I write book reviews on my other blog, Sammi Loves Books.

One day I hope to be a traditionally-published author.  However, until that day I am more than happy to muddle my way along this writing journey, self-publishing a story here and there and submitting my work to magazines, journals and anthologies as I try to improve my craft and widen my knowledge.  At the end of 2017, my collection of flash fiction inspired by paganism and the seasons, One Turn of The Wheel, was published by Three Drops Press.  In 2018, my historical fantasy novel, Oathbreaker was shortlisted by Wattpad for The Wattys 2018.

When I am not writing, I am often reading or making things – knitting, crocheting and baking, usually.  When I am not doing any of those, I am probably out in the natural world, listening to music or watching a film.

My self-published stories can be found and read for free via my Smashword author page and my Wattpad profile.

If you have a spare minute or two, and have had the chance to read one of my stories, please let me know if you’ve enjoyed by rating it, leaving a comment or writing a review.  Feedback and encouragement is always welcome!

Thanks for taking the time to visit.

78 thoughts on “About”

  5. Pingback: Holiday Takeover – MelindaKucsera.com

  6. Hey Sammi Scribbles,

    I recall once taking a ride on the back of a wildly flapping Crow seeking a path to warm Welsh Cakes fresh on the griddle cooling on the windowsill. This morning I was carried airborne by Raven’s 12 to your site – those homeless scarecrows and rapscallions inhabiting the poetry at Gallybloggers – to thank you for sharing your time and good company over the weekend reading through our humble wares. Your support is most welcome and gratefully appreciated.

    Spending a little time here at Dewin’s suggestion, we seem to have a rising star’s blog site to now visit and reflect upon. Thank you, your work is highly imaginative, your stories always full of surprise and shifting shadows. We Raven’s enjoy the shade, the dusk and the dawn, and hiding in the silhouette of trees in bright sunlight. Your blog is a pleasure to read and a safe haven to rest awhile. We were at Sue Dreamwalker’s site the other morning having feasted on her poem Ravens and Dragons and slept in a branch until dawn. Perhaps we might do the same here, find a nearby tree and wait for sunrise to crow a little before departing for home.

    Should fair fortune prevail and a poem be exchanged for a cup of coffee by a homeless person, please feel free to pass it on to Gallybloggers. Dewin Nefol has left contact details on the site for contributions. All we ask is the name of the person contributing – their street name, or author name, or better still their scarecrow name – and the name of the town or city they are from.

    Thank you again Sammi Scribbles for visiting Gallybloggers. Your company will always be welcome in our green and pleasant field.

    Until next time…take care, enjoy a wonderful week.

    Namaste 🙂

    DN and Raven’s 12

    https://bwbachandtheraven.wordpress.com/

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    • Hey Dewin and Raven’s 12 🙂

      You’re so very welcome. I thoroughly enjoyed what I read and am looking forward to reading more 🙂

      From what I have seen so far, it’s an amazing, empowering project and as I read the first handful of poems yesterday I couldn’t help but be inspired and moved by such talent.

      Wishing you all the Brightest of Blessings! 🙂

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  7. Good morning Sammi,

    Kind words of encouragement stated with sincerity are music to our ears. You are very considerate Sammi and your praise most welcome…it will put smiles on dials and slices of warmth back into tired hearts. Thank you, I’ll be sure to ensure your comments reach their destinations, eventually….Raven’s 12 come and go with complete absence of either an agenda or a plan and contact with them is always a little random, but kind views are being passed onto to one and all, and their appreciation shines in their eyes. It’s wonderful to see a little happiness lift the veil of grey just an inch or two.

    We do like the word empowering for it highlights the ultimate intention of Raven’s 12 and Gallybloggers: to provide a small space with opportunity for the Homeless to share their creative voice with the wider world and in so doing provide a little purpose to promote/elevate self-esteem, encourage self-reflection, and give presence to thoughts that may have been a long time inside of them. It is surprising how quickly the people I have met will open up to me when encouraged by a little trust, conversation, kindness and sweet coffee. I have heard stories taking me to higher places and those that have pulled me into darkness like I have never before imagined, such is the range of their life experiences lived at extreme ends of the same spectrum. I am left reeling, fleeing, flying, or smiling, there is never any middle ground. I like the displacement of that, the deviation from the norm, the way it leaves me unsettled, disquieted, stirred. Their stories are profound reminders of their plight and suffering and real measure of the depth and wonder of truly wonderful people: there are some fascinating characters to be enthralled by.

    It costs nothing to ask how a Homeless person is when passing them by in City streets, doorways and alleyways, and only £1.50 for a coffee to exchange for a poem. I think it a fair deal for both parties, but the true worth of our minimal participation in their lives is priceless. To leave a smile on the face of someone who sometimes forgets how to smile is heart-warming and personally effecting. Our participation leaves us changed as well inside as people….I feel humbled by them as human beings, appreciative to them for their time and company, and ever more grateful for the simple life I have chosen, the good health I am blessed with thus far, and the love and friendship of family. Everything else above and beyond that pales into insignificance and seems irrelevant somehow, as if the constructs we put in place once we have stability are but a veneer on what is already beautiful wood beneath.

    Thank you for visiting Sammi, you’ll always be welcome. If you wander by again, and we hope you do, bring your notebook and we’ll hang a while waxing lyrically and admiring the scenery and passing clouds with poetic words. Until then we shall bid thee farewell and make haste under cover of night to arrive in he land of Red Dragons before dawn.

    Wishing you brightest blessings and a week full of wonder.

    Namaste 🙂

    DN and Raven’s 12

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    • Hey Dewin and Raven’s 12 🙂

      Empowering was the first word that came to mind when I read your email about this project. And, as I began reading the poems, I quickly learned how powerful were the words they contained and the images they conjured. A number brought a tear to my eye (Torn is one which still lingers 😦 ) So yes, empowering describes it perfectly. Humbling, too.

      I’m pleased that Raven’s 12 are enjoying sharing their poems. I’m certainly enjoying reading them. To see the clouds lifting, if even for a moment or two, must be a joy to see. And rewarding for you, Dewin, knowing that you’ve helped to bring it about – though I know that’s not why you do it, it’s just an wonderful by-product 🙂 To read your thoughts on it, one can easily see how you’ve been inspired 🙂

      Wishing you all the Brightest of Blessings. Take care one and all 🙂

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  8. Hey Sammi,

    Thank you for further delineating your thoughts, and the understanding with which you do so.

    Torn is a very moving poem and when first hearing of the back-story, We were also left feeling a sense of loss. It was not just the words written, which are effecting in themselves, but more the sudden realisation of how precious is the worth of something as opposed to the value of an object. The author had items stolen and destroyed whilst they slept including their poetry notebook. When one has so little, to have taken something of such intrinsic worth is heart breaking. They will feel empowered by having been mentioned specifically here by you Sammi, grateful indeed that a caring soul shared a moment to hear them cry. Thank you so much 🙂

    All at Raven’s 12 who have contributed warm with appreciation at the interest and encouragement people have shown. They are truly delighted to be so well thought of and always very grateful for all readership and comments. Dewin’s participation was in response to the bequest of a fellow called Jason, a Homeless man living within his City. He and Jason thought Gallybloggers would be an attractive proposition for one and all. As Dewin, I have been rewarded many times over with friendship, miles of smiles and insights into life I would never have imagined. Raven’s 12 are amongst some of the most inspiring people I know, and I feel really privileged to have been welcomed into a small circle and trusted with their crafted words. Jason has yet to write for Gallybloggers but I hope he will do so shortly, the Blog needs Ragger Man 🙂

    Thanking you again Sammi. We’ll look forward to sharing your company again soon. Until then, happy scribbling, best wishes with continued writing success. (Did you ever push on with the novel? 🙂 )

    Take care in allways.

    DN and Raven’s 12

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    • Hey Dewin,

      Stories like this just serve as reminders that there is both cruelty and beauty in the world, just not in equal measure, and those who deserve one are often given more of the other 😦 It’s heartbreaking.

      As for the novel, it’s in its final read through at the moment. After that I’ll be searching out a few readers to have a look through it to see if it has any merit in it. The very idea terrifies me lol 🙂

      Hope you are having a great week, and wishing you the brightest of blessings for the coming weekend 🙂

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      • Hey Sammi,

        It is indeed on occasion a heat-breaking world that appears to be unending in its suffering at the hands of greed.

        Great news about the novel! Very pleased to hear of such superb progress…you must be delighted? 🙂 Many congratulations on getting this far, it’s a superb achievement. Proof readers should be honest, sincere and unmerciful. It is the only way to get the level of response that you need. Friends shouldn’t apply for the job.

        And you too Sammi, enjoy the latter half of the week. I hope it brings whatever you wish for.

        Take care.

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Dewin 🙂

        I hope this Friday evening finds you well. Welcome to the weekend! 🙂

        Greed, indifference and lack of compassion – they all have a lot to answer for 😦

        Delighted and terrified and amazed – this one project seems to have been going on for a long time and I’m getting to the stage where I think I’ll be happy to soon draw a line underneath it. I have so many projects that are waiting to be finished – and I am starting more all the time…It will be nice to move on to something new 🙂

        Yes, friends on the whole do not make the best critics. I’ve a few who I adore because they have the strength of character to be brutally honest with me when I need it. I myself lack that trait, though I came across a free writing course that starts on Monday where one of the things covered is critiquing. I’ve just completed two courses via that platform (one on archaeology and another on Ancient Rome) and they were fantastic, so perhaps the creative writing course is just what I need at this time 🙂

        Wishing you the Brightest of Blessings for a Blessedly Bright Weekend! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Sammi,

        Thank you, I’m fine. How you doing? Imagine you are pleased to see the weekend? Have you enjoyed your week?

        Long-term projects hang with us don’t they? The Muse, she works a mind so hard and relentlessly. You have done so well to hold on to it love it and nurture it…it is a labour of love from opening word to last mark on the page. I am so pleased you decided to push on with it…I recall small l reservations from past comments we’ve shared here. I trust you have/are emerging from the experience wiser and more confident of your skill-set and ability? I always said you had a writer’s name 🙂

        I trust your friends will enrich the book with their views and thoughts. You still retain full control and can implement or reject the notions and ideas of others. Be bold, you always knew the proof reading was coming! Good luck and sincere best wishes.

        So you enjoyed the critiquing classes. I think it really worth while to engage with that…not only does it support your own ‘investigation’ into your work, but allows you to read and comprehend material on different levels and with differing perspectives. I recall Sindy shared some of her college work with me, and I found a basic understanding through reading her work. Archaeology and Ancient Rome…now there’s a complimentary pairing to disappear into….both I imagine a fascination for you….so much depth for exploration and digging. I wish you well in using and applying your learning.

        Warm wishes for a wonderful weekend. Take care of you and the felidae. I hope they are well.

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Dewin,

        I hope your weekend treated you well. I am fine, thank you for asking. And the cats are too. True to form, they are both curled up asleep at this moment, though no doubt, it won’t be long before they wake and start demanding cuddles. It’s a hard life Lol

        Long-term projects hang with us and haunt us, as you know well with your Merlin poem. They tend to have a presence all their own. How is the final chapter coming along?

        I recall you saying I had a writers name. Which, I think, is one of the nicest things you can say to a writer 😀 Hopefully, it’s fate then that I manage to become an established writer lol I’ll keep my fingers crossed all the same though, just in case.

        Wishing you the brightest blessings for the coming week, and on through the bank holiday weekend 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  9. Hey Sammi,

    Thank you for the reply and accompanying smiles. It’s great to hear all is well with you and also with the moggies. Asleep as always? Hmmm, you know it a ploy to lull you into a false sense of security before mischief-mongering. I read a wonderfully humorous blog post today regarding the Writer’s Pet. Actually it’s a job description for a Writer’s ‘familiar’…may I share it with you here?

    https://blondewritemore.com/2017/04/24/job-description-the-writers-pet/?c=28953#comment-28953

    Long-term projects…a double edged sword, at once a bane as much a passion, it is a beast to be slain through guile and cunning and outright show of force! I think you have done a far better job than I at maintaining momentum. Thank you for asking, the poem is pretty much done, last edits to do, and still the artwork outstanding. I have been spending a lot of time, effort and energy supporting Gallybloggers and making new friends across WP, particularly groups of people in Canada of all places. Wonderful people and all of them gifted writers with sharp quills, intellects and wit. The closing chapter of the Merlin post will happen soon, I hope!

    Fate, kismet, destiny, call it what you will, you were born to write and flutter your feather! Hard work, crossed fingers, tenacity and determination are already your bed-fellows, your name the signature that empowers them all.

    I just had a quick peek at your name meaning….I thought the following name meaning quite charming: Samantha, of English and Hebrew origin, most accurately means “God Heard”. In Aramaic, it means “Listener”. In Greek, it may mean “Flower”. (www.babynamewizard.com/baby-name/girl/samantha)

    Thank you for brightest blessings and best wishes for my week. I have a feeling I may just need them! And you Sammi, have a wonderful week with wishes fulfilled and dreams coming true. Take care of you and the moggies, and one and all.

    Namaste 🙂

    DN

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Hey Dewin,

      I checked out the link. So funny! I’m going to print off a copy for Bast and Khepri so they can learn what is expected of them! Lol 🙂

      Not entirely sure about the whole “maintaining momentum” thing. This particular project (which I’ve now completed the final edit for – I hope!) is nearly five years old! And for a good long while, I didn’t even look at it, let alone work on it! Lol

      My! It sounds like you’ve been busy. Looking forward to the closing chapter of the poem – can’t wait to read it 🙂

      When I usually come across my name meaning all it says is “the feminine version of Samuel” so to learn it also means ‘listener’ and ‘flower’ is quite enchanting. It’s given me a different perspective on myself…

      Wishing you the Brightest of Blessings! Enjoy your week!

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  10. Hey Sammi,

    On the back of the ‘Writer’s Pet’ wanted post, have the moggies been motivated to pick up their game any? 🙂

    One wonders how a fuller appreciation of your name might influence your work? Perhaps a poem under the title, ‘The Listening Flower’ would get the ball rolling? I’ll leave you decide.

    Hoping all is well Sammi and your evening providing the necessary chill to take the edge off the day. Have a great week!

    Namaste 🙂

    DN

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    • Hey Dewin!

      How are you? I hope you are well, and that your Woden’s Day is not as wet as mine!

      Have the cats picked up their game? You must be joking! It’s still the same “We’re the boss, we’re in charge, now give us treats and cuddles before it’s time for another catnap!” And, if I ignore them and try to get on with my writing (which is nearly impossible), they proceed to lay across my work, as if it’s the most comfortable blanket in all the world and not paper and notebooks at all, and then fall asleep.

      That’s a great title for a poem. I will certainly have to give it a go, though quite off the cuff, I’m even sure where to begin lol It probably doesn’t help that currently I’m stuck in “ghost-story-writing” mood, which doesn’t really mesh well with what I think of “The Listening Flower” lol 🙂

      Wishing you bright blessings for a great week 🙂

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      • Hey Sammi,

        It seems we are both bound to the home by adverse soggy weather. Woeful wet Woden has unleashed his fury here as well and all is drowning under a layer of rushing water. The moat is back around the flats and for all intents and purposes I am stuck in the highest room in the tallest tower once again waiting for a dry spell to escape the castle. Oh the joys of UK weather! 🙂

        You always write with such affection about your moggies and I do enjoy picturing the scene unfolding in your home. I recall past comments of cake theft and other felidae naughtiness that only adds to the picture now forming in my mind. How you must love them for them to feel so free to be around you. It’s quite charming to know you have such a symbiotic relationship with them. Little doubt they assist and aide your work despite your playful misgivings of them…they adore you that’s why they cannot keep away. I still wish I had a little kitty all of my own, but the time is not right at the moment to contemplate ownership. I am getting itchy feet again and a hungering to move. I’ve no idea where I want to go only that I feel stirred to do so and it really wouldn’t be fair on a little furball to up-sticks whilst they are settling into a new home. It’ll be my 50th address when I go. I am tramp at heart.

        So you are back in ghost-writing mode and teasing dark tendrils of night into chilling words of a shivering story. You do the ghost-theme, and the macabre, so well. I enjoyed The Love Spell: the mention of plunging a knife into the visitors chest sent a chill up my spine! Good luck with the writing, I hope the ink is flowing nicely. As to The Listening Flower and being in ghost-mode…it could always be a Black Rose or a flower associated with death or light and dark rather than a flower cast in brilliant sunshine? http://www.flowermeaning.com/flower-of-death/

        The Listening Flower is a good title, one that expands in every which way with a little thought and imagination. I might even have a go at writing something myself.

        Well, I’ll leave you to the enjoyment of two grimalkins and an evening cosy dry and warm. Best wishes with the writing! 🙂

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Dewin,

        I always said I would never become a crazy cat lady but it just sort of crept up on me lol. One day I hope to add a dog or two to the menagerie, but that won’t be any time soon, I think.

        50th address? You are a wandering soul 🙂 I can see why now is not a great time to get a cat; moving with them is stressful for everyone. But I hope you get one when you are ready and settled wherever it is your itchy feet lead you to 🙂

        I’m so glad you enjoyed The Love Spell. I was pleased with the way that story came together, quickly and off-the-cuff. I’ve been challenging myself this month to post a post every day and I’m finding it a bit of a struggle (two of the posts this week have been a day late – oops), and The Love Spell was just one of those stories that wrote itself without requiring too much input from me lol 🙂

        I hadn’t considered flowers that have dark connotations – perhaps they would reflect my personality better than a sun-loving sunflower or a bright, exuberant daisy 😀 I’ll have to check out the link. But, yes, you should have a go at writing something under the title of The Listening Flower. After all, you were inspired to come up with it. My own poem currently stands at three lines long…Hopefully you will have better luck, but then almost everything you write is poetry 🙂

        Enjoy your evening, and Brightest Blessings for coming weekend 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Sammi,

        As the words of the singer/songwriter Seal suggest, we’d never survive this world unless we get a little crazy! I am therefore happy to hear you accepted a literal translation of his words and enjoy abstraction and dislocation of thought. There are many who would pay handsomely for a vial of craziness…indeed it was not that long ago historically when certain of the greatest poets and writers would frequent opium dens in a bid to obtain the illusive dream-state. Thankfully, the presence of two adoring cats provides much the same influence; such is the magic of grimalkins.

        As for dogs…hmm, as much as I dearly love all animals, dogs are not really my cup of tea, they are too demanding and far too reliant on their owner for my liking whereas cats just do their own thing and seek us out when they feel we need their loving attention, which is by far more congenial to ease of living without obligation and responsibility interrupting the flow of life. I’ll wish you well when deciding that time is right for dog-ownership for you. What breed might you consider?

        Yep, my 50th address: almost one new location for each year of my life. My friend tells me I am too old to perpetuate my transient ways and should consider settling into some form of quiet domesticity and enjoying the stability of more traditional living. I am mindful of their words and consider them occasionally but remain unconvinced at this time, imagining it would feel similarly to caging a raptor. (lol) As to where I’ll head next…who can say quite where the wind will carry me and lay me down: that in itself is one the pleasures to always be revealed when drifting. I go where it is intended and meet who I am destined to meet along the way: all will be players on the stage of my life, and me an added extra in theirs. Let the story unfold!

        The Love Spell was enjoyed thank you, as too other posts posted as part of your self-imposed challenge, which is quite a feat in itself, and one I wish you well with. You must have a bottomless well of ideas to draw on…would that be your well or the moggies? Sometimes the best material we write is that which flows unimpeded by over thinking the text and letting it surprise us.

        You wrote: ‘I hadn’t considered flowers that have dark connotations – perhaps they would reflect my personality better than a sun-loving sunflower or a bright, exuberant daisy.’ Really Sammi or is that just a red herring and a veil to be worn by a writer? Personally, I imagine you to be someone who shines in both Moonlight and Sunlight and enjoys inspiration at opposite ends of the same spectrum. Quite a gift you are blessed with Sammi C.

        I may yet have a go at writing a line or two under the title The Listening Flower and fluttering the feather…I haven’t written anything since finishing the Merlin poem and really should if only to climb out of the narrative structure and embrace something different. You are very kind with your comments, thank you…it was definition of your name that actually gave rise to the title rather than it having been plucked from my brow…a mutual sharing of magic perhaps?

        Friday was thankfully rain free and adorned with a little warmth and sunshine. I am hoping that will last for a couple of days yet so that we all might endeavour to venture for adventure beyond confining castle walls and watery moats. I trust you will enjoy your two days of freedom away from whatever it is you might do Monday to Friday?

        Take care of you and the two crazy grimalkins!

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Dewin,

        I hope this week finds you well. Sorry for the delay in replying…it’s just been one of those weeks lol. I imagine that you are enjoying the sunshine and warm, dry weather currently gracing the UK?

        I always got the impression that there was something kind of restive mixed in with the craziness of opium dens, unlike the moggy-induced craziness I am *blessed* with lol. Even though I have the two cats, everyone around me describes me as a dog person. My friends and family were very surprised when I got Bast and Khepri, and I think to a certain extent, so was I. But, they are irreplaceable and because of that I know in my heart that I am unlikely to have more cats, unless something drastic happens. As to dog breeds, as a family we’ve had all kinds of spaniels, so I do have a soft spot for spaniels, but then I’m a fan of pretty much any kind of big dog, especially if they’ve got a hint of wolf in them. I’ll just have to see what the future brings, and perhaps what dogs need rehoming in my area when I feel the time is right.

        It’s great to hear how eager you are to embrace change and the next chapter. There is something exciting and fresh about moving, whether its just moving home or moving to somewhere new entirely. A new page, full of possibilities. And also, to have no firm ideas as to where, again, that also holds a freshness free of expectations, that I had not considered before and reinforces the idea that anything is possible. So, I wish you well as destiny unfolds, and as you wander wherever and meet whoever you will. 🙂

        As to a bottomless well of ideas…I think I have the problem of often being too inspired and having too many ideas, instead of being able to concentrate on whatever it is I’m supposed to be working on at that moment. That’s why my computer, phone and notebooks are full of half-finished projects lol

        So have you been scribbling away at a poem or two? Or perhaps a story. I remember you once mentioned that you had an idea for a sci-fi novel…

        Wishing you the Brightest of Blessings for the rest of the week, Dewin. Take care!

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Sammi,

        Ah, so you’ve had a busy week and been kept away from WP whilst endeavouring elsewhere…I wondered where you had disappeared off to. You sound happy, so I imagine all is well and your busy week successful. That’s great to hear. Indeed the weather has been warm, sunny and bright and brought smiles and good cheer to one and all…no doubt it eased your week as it did for most. I am still curious to know what you do between Monday and Friday jobwise, but I guess it’s your business and not mine to enquire.

        So you may be seeking a large dog with a spot of wolf included in the mix uh? Well that makes sense to me, I too couldn’t entertain the prospect of a yappy lappy little breed of dog (however charmingly cute) and if I had to choose would go for something bigger. I’ve been the owner of a Samoyed in the past, a beautiful and wonderfully passive breed of dog, so very gentle and sincere. They are however high maintenance what with all the bathing, brushing, grooming and specialist feed. I also took charge of a mixed breed dog one summer whilst at university….a Lurcher crossed with heaven only knows what other breed/s…called Taz, short for Tasmanian Devil. He lived up to his name and reputation, being totally mad, un-trainable, and as gently wild as one could imagine. He was so very loving. I recall he had a large perfect circle of black fur on his back, and so I called him Plato, which he answered to without hesitation. Taz arrived one morning around 6am after having scaled fences, walked across shed roofs, tightrope walked the tops of walls and broken into our student house through a window accidently left open downstairs. I awoke to his licks on my face and a furry paw pinning down each shoulder. I adored him from the outset and looked after him for three months with the owners permission. They worked extended hours and would leave Taz tied up outside in their garden for the duration of their 12 hour day. Needless to say, come the end of Summer I was devastated at seeing him go, knowing I’d never see him again as his owner was moving to Liverpool. I think about him a lot and hope he is well, happy and looked after properly. He was a dear friend. Shortly after Taz left, I was visited by the most exquisite black cat I have ever known who lived several doors down on the same row of terrace housing as I. She was oil-slick blue/black with emerald eyes and a lovingly affectionate temperament. She pretty much moved in with me for the remainder of my student year, and when she wasn’t in the house, she’d wait on the wall outside and fairly leap into my arms every time I saw her, often ignoring her owner to come and have a cutch with me instead. It felt wonderful to be so loved unconditionally. The curious aspect to all of this was that she appeared soon after I started to read a book called the Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings, which features a talking black cat with emerald eyes who leads the hero on a quest to reclaim a book of magic.

        I also recall the day I left the student house and had borrowed a car from my friend to journey with my possessions to Bedfordshire. It was a very stormy rain-drenched day, with high winds and low visibility. I’d parked outside the house to load up, and prior to leaving made the usual checks of the car to make sure all was in order, including checking oil and water levels. Having conducted all necessary checks I started the car and was about to set off, when the black cat jumped onto the hood of the car (during a thunderstorm) and refused to leave. Three of four times I got out of the car and gave her a cuddle as I set her down on a neighbours wall only to have her return to the bonnet of the car and stay there. On the last occasion I carried her to the wall I noticed that the bonnet locking mechanism bonnet was not properly engaged. I closed the bonnet securely and having one last cuddle with the cat drove away unimpeded. What is perhaps more curious still, is that whilst crossing the Severn Bridge a car some 200 meters ahead suddenly swerved violently across two lanes of traffic to collide with the safety railings after the bonnet blew open and obscured the drivers view. Of course, my mind raced to the events just prior to my leaving the house and the actions of that loving cat, who quite possibly saved my life. Amazing uh? It’s a true story without embellishment or lie.

        Transience does bring fresh opportunity, fresh sights and sounds, and the promise of paths crossing others. I do believe that all meetings between people are destined to happen and that chance serves no purpose. We meet who we are intended to meet and go where we are intended to go. I’ve no idea where i’ll head next, or where the call of the wild takes me. I know only that it’ll be purposeful on some deeper level and bring me into contact with those I am meant to meet. Invariably those people are not there for me, but I am meant to be there for them. Ce la vie as they say here in Wales 🙂

        As to being inspired Sammi, surely it’s far better to have half-written stories than to have none at all! At least you then have opportunity at a later date to return and finish rather than starting afresh each time.

        As for me, no I’ve not done any writing at all or considered any poems of late. My focus is on other matters at the moment….the writing is there to return to when it’s right to do so. I feel detached from any specific intention to write or do any art at this time. Perhaps that is something that will change in the near future, who knows. The sci-fi novel has a very vague blue-print but that is all, I’ve not progressed that either. I am apathetic at this time regards writing and don’t have the motivation. I wish you better luck and continued enjoyment.

        3am and I’m heading for Zzzzz, so will bid thee a good morning and catch up next time. Until then enjoy the sunshine. Take care.

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Dewin!

        How are you? I hope you are well and enjoying your bank holiday weekend 🙂

        I’m sorry I didn’t answer your question. I hope you’re not offended. Only, I’m a very private person and don’t feel able to post such “real life” things like that here on the blog for all the world to see, alongside everything else. That’s just the way I am. I hope you understand?

        Samoyeds are beautiful dogs, and Taz sounds like he was an amazing creature. No wonder you missed him when his owner took him to Liverpool. The black cat with emerald eyes…sounds like another amazing creature, and one that saved your life. I believe your story, wholeheartedly. Animals are so perceptive and aware and they can pick up on things that humans can’t or miss. And for her to be so determined to let you know something wasn’t right with the car…what a blessing 🙂

        “those people are not there for me, but I am meant to be there for them” – That’s a great way to view things, a very selfless way to view things. Something quite out of place in this modern world where many people are only looking out for themselves. You are so very kind 🙂

        That is very true, and I do try to return to unfinished projects, if I can, but sometimes it can be harder to pick up the dropped threads of a story than to start a new one. Or perhaps, that’s just my excuse, to allow myself to indulge in my liking for new tales and poems 🙂

        “My focus is on other matters at the moment” – I don’t know if this was to read as ominous as I read it, but I hope it’s not and that all is well with you and yours 🙂

        Posting comments on here at 3am – when do you sleep??? lol 🙂

        Always wishing you the Brightest of Blessings 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  11. Hey Sammi,

    Stirred by the merry chirp of songbirds and warmed by a flush of humid air, Sunday evening arrives to commence a new week but not end an extended weekend. Three days of bliss away from the coal-face…what a shame it doesn’t happen every week!

    How ya doing Sammi C? Hoping you’ve enjoyed Saturday and Sunday and will enjoy bank holiday Monday just as much. Regards your privacy, no I’m not offended at all, ’tis your business what is revealed and what you choose to hold close…curiosity always gets the better of me….it’s like when your posts change from ‘I’ to ‘we’….it just makes me wonder that’s all. There’s never a need to apologise to me…blogging friendships are built on firmer foundations than that 🙂

    Pleased to know you appreciated and accepted the truth in the story about the cat…being an animal lover yourself, and sensitive to the world intuited and not seen, I had reason to suspect you’d discern truth at the heart of the tale. No doubt you too would be able to relate to similar moments when animals and pets brought magic into your life and/or prompted you towards new discovery for yourself. Animals have that power because unlike the majority of human beings they have the capacity to give and receive love unconditionally. It is what truly separates them from us.

    I’m not sure it’s solely kindness that impels me to strive to be selfless, it’s more a sense of duty and responsibility driven by an innate desire to always want to help. It’s what all good wizards do, isn’t it? People tell me that I can sometimes be a little intense in how I go about helping….but I never involve myself un-necessarily or with any expectation for friendship o be reciprocated. It is normal for people I encounter to be distrusting of me, for many judge me either by their own standards or by experiences they have had previously. Love in whatever form it takes is not a common commodity in this world and people still distrust those who try to help and support. I am one of those people in life who is wholly independent and can survive for extended periods without requiring help or support, and I think people are distrusting of those that live and breathe outside of their traditional world view. To many I am an ‘outsider’, and people fear difference.

    Have you ever read ‘The Greatest Miracle In The World’ by OG Mandino? It is a small book I first read back in 1977 and returned to again in 1993 when the sequel ‘The Return of the Ragpicker’ was published. I think of these two books as finest treasures, and they have travelled with me for nigh on 80% of my life. I think there are other titles in the set, but I have never encountered those as yet. Perhaps one day they will find a way onto my bookshelf.

    I hear what you say about returning to unfinished stories, and acknowledge the fact one ‘moves on’ in ones thinking to become inspired or appreciative of something new. Returning can be problematic, and yet somewhere within what once was is often something that has been forgotten, a small seed still to be watered, nurtured and grown. Writing ahead in the Merlin poem for example meant that I had to back-pedal when thinking of images, and I found it very difficult indeed to occupy the same space in my thoughts to that which was present at time of writing months ago. I imagine many writers feel similarly to you, especially those who like yourself are inundated with ideas and constantly motivated to express what is current.

    “My focus is on other matters at the moment” – I don’t know if this was to read as ominous as I read it, but I hope it’s not and that all is well with you and yours I hope all will be well as well! I don’t mind idle distractions but when something kind of takes over my thinking I feel threatened by being so un-necessarily distracted. Suffice to say I have a loathing for selfishness and ignorance, and a considerable dislike of ego-centric behaviour and blatant disrespect. Should I start writing again shortly, then you’ll know that all is well….and if I don’t, then you’ll know that distraction prevails. Fingers crossed for the former.

    I am a wizard Sammi, and we keep very strange hours because time is not ours alone to decide what to do with it. The best magik occurs during the wee small hours when the Earth stills momentarily on the turn of another new day.

    Thank you as always for brightest blessings and best wishes. They are entirely reciprocated and added to with a dizzy dash of good luck and fair fortune! Take care of you and the Grimalkins.

    Namaste 🙂

    DN

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    • Hey Dewin,

      I hope you are well and the start to your week has been an enchanting one.

      So you’ve noticed that my posts change from “I” to “we”…how very perceptive of you 🙂 I’m not sure anyone else has yet lol You’re far too observant! Of course, when I say “we”, it is the royal “we” I’m referring to 😉

      So you’re the Mary Poppins of the wizarding world 😉 Moving from place to place, helping people as you go. It might be a sense of duty and responsibility that drives you to help others, but I can’t help but see that in terms of kindness too. I can see why others might question your motives as it is very rare to find people willing to do something for nothing. Let’s hope that in time, the world will become a more compassionate, kinder place, filled with more people who are willing to help those who need it out of a sense of responsibility. I can see why you were moved to start gallybloggers 🙂

      I’ve never come across “The Greatest Miracle in the World” before. It certainly sounds interesting. And to have had such a book for so long (and to be able to recall when you first read it and then returned to it) it must mean a lot to you. I’m now wondering if I’ve had any books for 80% of my life…I suppose first I would have to work out how old I would have been 80% of my life ago and go from there…lol

      Wishing your the brightest of blessings for the rest of the week 🙂

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      • Good morning to you, the cats and the royal ‘we’ 🙂

        Thank you for replying as you do and for adding a little enchantment to the early part of my week. I do enjoy our discussions, our banter and our exchanges very much.

        The Mary Poppins of the wizarding world lol 🙂 That’s an awesome phrase. I’d contest its validity if not for the outsized umbrella I own that I have used once or twice, in a moment of youthful exuberance, to catch high winds and see just how far I could run and leap! I am not alone in my endeavours to help, many millions of socially minded and caring people do far more than I all over the world, and no doubt to far better effect than I as well. But there is as you say room for everyone to do more than live without compassion and kindness for their fellow man. I think we all carry the responsibility to be kind and supportive citizens, and all should share to some small degree a willingness to help those less fortunate than ourselves. I am no different to anyone else, but I am very sensitive to the needs of others, and to doing what I can with the meagre resources I have to offer help and support where it is needed. My involvement with Gallybloggers was motivated by a desire and a willingness to support, and makes best use of the limited resources I have at my disposal. My income is not sufficient so as to be able to afford financial contribution and donation, so I adopted a different role instead, and in so doing I can help a little, and I can participate in the lives of the Homeless, even with small effect, and encourage them to express and share with me their thoughts. Just to be a friend is sometimes sufficient to help initiate change or encourage trust back into lives where love and trust no longer really exist. And to be honest with you, it takes no effort to just sit and talk with someone and share a cup of tea costing 50p. What is returned is worth far more than money ever could be and to me this is what is more important in life. People have worth not value.

        Regards the book I mentioned…I recall the details clearly because it was my 10th year and I was due to start senior school at the end of it, and really didn’t want to go to the school I was expected to attend. I used to go the local library very regularly at that time, both to borrow books and to sit for long periods reading. The library would advertise new titles and have provide new letters on new releases or books that had received good reviews. It was one of these leaflets that referenced the book I mention and has me raiding the piggy-bank for money to buy it. Not sure why it appealed, maybe because it was the smallest book I had ever seen but had the biggest title I had ever known! maybe it was because I wanted a miracle so as not to have attend the school I had to attend. Either way, I managed to get a copy and loved the story of this mysterious stranger who brought wisdom, love and friendship with him to those he would meet and change lives before then departing in a puff of smoke. I found it a magical book and made promise to myself to keep it as a treasure. It is one of only a few items that I have held onto since childhood and I treasure it still. The other book mentioned, acquired in 1993…well there is a story there to be told as well, but not one I will share here, as I too have certain secrets to keep just for me. Had I been more attentive to its contents my life would have been very different to the way it turned out. But I was young and foolish and perused a different end only to discover years later what I should have considered then. We live and we learn as they say.

        Well I have no idea how old you are, and won’t dare ask for fearing of receiving a short reply written in capital letters and containing exclamation marks lol 🙂 But I doubt that you that old that you can’t remember your own age or remember what treasures you have hidden away from childhood days. My mum retains bits and pieces appertaining to my formative years, as too my sister, but I have very few possessions from that time I choose to keep. I hope you’ll fare better than I in that regard and find many more keep-sakes and memorable items than I. I guess because I have moved so many times over the years I have either cast-off or lost many items yet I’ve few memories remaining to suggest I had any real attachment to those items. I’m just grateful for the books and one or two other bits ‘n’ pieces that I own and still enjoy.

        Perhaps you’ll come across a trinket or treasure from a long time ago and share it here or in a story one day. A little bit of reminiscing never did anyone any harm, and it’d be good to add a snippet of detail to you Sammi without revealing the enjoyable mystery that is you. 🙂

        Thank you for best wishes for the remainder of the week. I trust you will also be blessed with good fortune, happiness and luck! 🙂

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

        Liked by 1 person

      • Good evening, Dewin!

        How are you on this warm, sunny, summery evening? Well, I hope. 🙂 I also enjoy our discussions, banter and our exchanges very much. They add a dash of enchantment to the week. 🙂

        I’m so glad you liked the Mary Poppins comment. I was a little worried when I posted the reply; not everyone gets my sense of humour.

        Thanks for sharing your story with me. Libraries were special places; they’re not quite the same today. I visited one I used to frequent as a child a few years ago and was dismayed to see that there were far fewer books, the stacks having made way for computers. I know they provide a very valuable service, don’t get me wrong, but I was disappointed as I had gone in there for books. But there is limited space and limited resources, and computer access is probably more important today because so much is done online.

        I don’t expect you to share your secrets with me after my little “I’m a very private person” tantrum. lol Life looks very different when we’re young, and pivotal moments don’t necessarily appear as consequential as they ought. It reminds me of another discussion we had a few weeks ago about how one notices opportunities…

        “Well I have no idea how old you are, and won’t dare ask for fearing of receiving a short reply written in capital letters and containing exclamation marks lol” This had me in stitches. A couple of books on my shelves have been with me for a long time, and plenty have their own tales wrapped up with them. My copy of The Lord of the Rings, which I had from aged 10 – it is completely battered and falling to pieces, it’s been read so many time. I have read it at least once a year since then. Also I have a volume of Daphne du Maurier stories (Jamaica Inn, Frenchman’s Creek, Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel) that I was given around the same time, and which I love too, especially Jamaica Inn. Another book series that comes to mind is the Earth’s Children books by Jean Auel. It was my first summer at university and I walked into one of the bookshops in Aberystwyth and just saw this display of four books with the most amazing covers. I didn’t even read the back, just picked up a copy of each book in the series and bought them. I just knew I would love them, and this tied in to when I first realised that I actually wanted to be a writer, as a job. Up until this point, I had written only for myself, and that summer I sat down and wrote my first *complete* novel. I might have to see if I can dig it out just to compare to how I write now and see how far I’ve come…

        Brightest Blessings, Dewin. Have a great Friday! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  12. Good morning Sammi 🙂

    Welcome to a bright and wonderfully sunny Monday morning and another new week bursting with anticipation to reveal its course and your destiny to you. I trust you (all) are well and thriving in beautiful warm weather: and with summers fervent promise paused ready waiting on the horizon. Some say it will be a sizzling summer so my fingers are crossed hoping such a notion will manifest.

    Thank you so much for a fun filled response. I enjoy our chats and sharing a smile as much as you, it’s enchanting. I enjoy too the snippets and insights into your moulding as an authoress: your love of writing fantasy, witchcraft and magic particularly. The stories we read, especially during our early years, and the books we were drawn to (and are still regularly drawn to) can be more influential than we might imagine. The characters, their stories, even their personal life situations find some small way to linger within us don’t they? Your battered, dog-eared highly treasured copy of LofTR for example (read since age 10, awww)…one of the greatest stories ever told: what keeps you going back to its thumbed much loved pages? What is the single impelling reason you repeatedly read it? What is the magic you find there? Who is your favourite female character? (Me I like Éowyn…her quiet steely strength, her depth of passion, he honest heart, her simplicity and vulnerability: she is a very human character to relate to…perhaps an anchor of some kind to the wildness of adventure.)

    The Jean Auel books are largely a mystery to me and I don’t recall ever having read the stories you cite. I do however recall seeing the book covers before and indeed on many occasions pausing to browse the images further. Certainly a prolific author! I am a great admirer of good fantasy art and certain of the covers are excellent…the panoramic visions and landscapes are especially hypnotic. Growing up in the 70’s there was a lot of fantasy artwork around, or at least it seemed that way at the time, and I grew quickly to like the work of artists like Jim Burns, Tim White, and Boris Vallejo. I still collect the odd book when funds allow but mainly my viewing is now online…digital rendering having replaced the mastery of intricate painting and spray-gun art. I will seek to acquire a copy of something by Jean Auel…perhaps you can recommend a title to be a good first port of call when exploring this new author. I have credits on Audible to treat myself to an audio copy, and will let you know what I think. Thank you.

    Certain books seem to mark landmark occasions in our life and appear to us when time is right for them to do so. I like the coincidence of your Aberystwyth book-shop story…you starting out at university seeking academic qualification when all along you harboured the writer inside you. Do you think in hindsight you’d have benefited more by taking a ‘Creative Writing’ degree instead of the one you did? Would it have made any difference to you had you done so? Perhaps it is an academic question to ask when you completed the writing of a novel in one summer! Good grief Charlie Brown, as Snoopy once said, that is an amazing achievement. (It took me 9 months to write the 10,000 words for the dissertation never mind writing a novel in 7 or 8 weeks!) Indeed you must dig it out of the archives Sammi and contemplate the change in your writing. It would be a fascinating and revealing exercise and without doubt fabulously rewarding. 🙂

    You wrote: ‘I just knew I would love them, and this tied in to when I first realised that I actually wanted to be a writer, as a job.’ Have you been successful in achieving your dream? I’m not probing, but would love to know you have been and still are living the dream! 🙂

    My apologies for a tardy reply. I’ve been off-line recently pursuing thoughts with the Merlin poem. Concluding the first story left a little hollow of sorts within me – a space once filled with the poem emptied when the last line was written – and personal time was needed to find something certain to fill it with. By the way, thanks for liking ‘Buckle Down’ (I’ve now added 7 Nations) Writing as Jake Sweeny (an artful scrounger lol) will open up all sorts of merry mischief making (in the nicest possible way of course) and offer opportunity to delineate storylines and tangible tales Master Scribe may have omitted or choose not to include in the final tale. A third person perspective is also a new toy for me to play about with, so it offers a challenge of sorts as well. Jake Sweeny is a ‘scrounger’…his business not dissimilar to that of James Garner’s character in The Great Escape, but I want him to be far darker and a little more mysterious than our Jim, after-all he is inhabiting a totally different world, one clung to the edge of darkness.

    A passing last thought. I have sticking keys on my computer keyboard and have been making frequent spelling errors wherever I tread. I thought at first I was losing the plot and the ability to spell (never been a strength of mine anyway) but it seems it was keyboard error all along. I can breath again safe in the knowing I was not fading away. Which begs the question, “Is it better to burn out than fade away?”

    On which note, I will fade away into the dawn and leave you to enjoy your toast or cereals. Have a wonderful day and a fantastic week. Take care.

    Namaste 🙂

    DN

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    • Hey Dewin!

      How are you? Hope you’re well. Are you enjoying this blisteringly hot weather? You’re fingers are crossed for a sizzling summer? I’m praying for winter to arrive after the summer solstice passes lol 🙂 Ok, perhaps that’s an exaggeration, but lots of sunshine at a few degrees cooler and I will be a happy bunny 🙂

      Why do I keep rereading Lord of the Rings? Ooo, there are so many reasons! Because it’s magnificent. Because each time I read it I noticed something I have missed before or have forgotten and that makes it almost new again. Because the characters are wonderful. Because many of the locations are captivating. Because I feel like I’m there, living the story. I often wonder if I could only visit one place in Middle Earth where would it be? Or meet one character, who would I chose? My favourite female character would also be Eowyn; she is strong, powerful, compassionate, clever and a warrior and exists in a space where others try to limit her (out of love for her), yet she overcomes. I agree, she is a very human character to relate to.

      Some of the Jean Auel covers are amazing – my favourites are the ones that have the Palaeolithic-style art on them. The Palaeolithic is one of the eras I find most interesting. First, I would check out some spoiler-free reviews of Auel’s books to see if they might interest you, as opinion on them is quite divided (a little like marmite) from what I can gather on goodreads. I wouldn’t want you to waste your audible credits on my recommendation if it turns out you would hate these books! If you do decide that they sound interesting, I would suggest you start with the first book, The Clan of the Cave Bear. I would definitely be interested to hear what you think to it 🙂

      Would I have benefitted from taking a creative writing degree? I don’t think so, and I wouldn’t change my geography degree for anything. I’m not even sure I would have done well on that sort of course. And this way, I at least got to develop my own voice and style, free of the restrictions of people saying you should do it this way or that would be better. Whether this is the right approach or not, I don’t know. I know my grammar could be better but I look at it this way: I can teach myself to fix some of it and the rest, well, if I ever get a novel accepted and published, the publisher will pay someone else to worry about that 🙂 lol

      Am I living the dream? I think it depends on what the dream is. Writing doesn’t provide me with a source of income, so in that sense, no, it’s not my job. Yet, I do love writing and I do acknowledge what I have achieved so far. Although I’ve been writing since uni, it is only since 2015 that I actually started to actively work on getting things published. I have over 30 publishing credits to my name in just over two years, and about 16 (I think…) of those are short stories in anthologies. And, hopefully by the end of the year, my first solo flash fiction collection will be released (to be published by Three Drops Press), called One Turn of The Wheel. Even if I achieve nothing else, I will be content with these little triumphs 🙂 It’s a dream to have people reading my work, even if it’s just on the blog 🙂

      I enjoyed reading Buckle Down and am looking forward to reading 7 Nations. I like the idea of outtakes and extras. When I first wrote the short stories for my Andromache Jones collection, The Fortune-Teller Detective (which is another project that is complete but waiting in limbo while I try and work out what to do with it), I wrote an “extra” for each story. Great idea to change perspective and keep the narrative of what was included in the poem separate from what you decided to leave out. Jake Sweeny sounds like a fabulous character – his own story sounds intriguing!

      Is it better to burn out or fade away? What a question! My answer is…well, I don’t know. I picked one and then the other, and then switched back, before changing my mind again. Only then did I realise I’m not sure. Fade away sounds far more slow and gentle, whilst burn out almost implies something far quicker and more intense…More thought is required, methinks!

      Wishing you the Brightest Midsummer Blessings 🙂

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  13. Hey Sammi,

    How are you? Hot, bothered, and warmed by this burst of heat or celebrating it as a joyous heat-wave? lol It sounds the former and of no surprise at all as you love autumn and the roll-over into winter. I love the sunshine: it’s the humidity that always stifles, I enjoy a dryer heat myself and feel less claustrophobic as a result – a little less like warm food wrapped up in Clingfilm and left cooking all day in a sealed lunchbox on the rear parcel shelf of a locked car – or feeling a little less like being on the inside of a Brazen Bull being slowly oven roasted by an evil overlord. Indeed, a little too arm. 🙂

    Thank you for a wonderful reply: newsy, jam packed with detail and comment…it made for a fascinating read. Firstly, thanks for advising on Auel and guiding me towards Goodreads etc for personal reflection. Sometimes it is worth taking a pot-shot at trying a new author – you seem enthralled – and discovering something to the liking. I have three credits waiting…it’s easy to fall behind with my listening when credits arrive each month and time is so restricted to enjoy them end to end…so rolling the dice is not a problem. If I purchase, I shall start with the book mentioned and perhaps we’ll have occasion to reflect on it here at a later time?

    Your voice comes alive with passion and pleasure when you talk of both LoTR and your writing…both are so inextricably interwoven into your life, both ‘devices’ tailored to suit the cut of your creative cloth and wordy disposition. Your love and deep interest in writing is as obvious as your talent. Reading your work it is difficult to accept you have been writing for publication for a relatively short time…the tall tally being testament to your skill, endeavour and prolific output. I have always enjoyed your imaginative writing….the weave of your wizard;s wave as Merlin might say and your energy and commitment. One Turn Of The Wheel – a great title for an anthology of flash fiction, perfectly descriptive – it sounds a treat to look forward to…you must be thrilled at your achievement! Clever girl! 🙂 I am still waiting on news of the novel being published as well? 🙂

    In regard to the question of degrees…I respect the approach you have to your writing, it is honest and sincere and I can understand and appreciate that. I can also understand why it has been retained as a cherished pleasure since Uni and how it has escalated to become almost central in your life. I got to wondering if you were encouraged to start writing, if there was a significant individual who believed in your ability and promoted your interest and passion further? Like great books that enthral us, I think sometimes there are great people who do so as well. I am just curious to ask. Thanks 🙂 You’ve spoken before of the value, nay worth, of obtaining the Geography degree and its importance both as a time and place in your life and as academic achievement of course. I recall you share a close affinity with the land and found immense pleasure in exploring it through the degree itself. Your love of the landscape influences your storytelling…your settings are always shifting, lifting, moving and changing as you build relationships to and with them and the characters you portray. It creates realism and depth and has the reader engage and immerse within the story. I think of my animation degree and ask what value and worth it provided. And I would like to think it had something to do with reflecting on ‘the illusion of life’, although I have no idea where that thought goes, but in some way it linked to Geography…perhaps by way that Geography is empirical, theoretical, logical, nature natural, spiritual and mystical. It somehow presents a summation of animation: the story, hand production, sequencing, watching, engagement and immersion in the illusion of the empirical.

    Your description of Eowyn is excellent. I had not appreciated the full extent of her ‘entrapment’ through love, but upon reflection I can see that in her. would you suggest that her ‘infatuation’ with Aragorn was borne from desire to escape the confines of Rohan or borne from love? Does her ‘partnership’ with Faramir result from a marriage of convenience, sealing two Kingdoms, or arise through Love?

    Thank you for visiting my Blog and providing comment on the work of Jake Sweeny. I am not certain where I am going with him as a character, but he will have his uses or he’d have not popped up in the tale 🙂 He offers a different perspective and chance to write some back-stories to the characters as well, perhaps more as notes to me as well as adding angle to the tale. Glad you liked the artwork, it took a while to get the pieces photographed, posed, poised, composed, and composited, so your appreciation is most welcome. I have been thinking of cover illustration for Book 1 of the Wizard of Wands. It’s a while off completion yet, I’ve not really started with the self-publishing thing yet, but I have a few ideas. I think simplicity and being selective would work better than something complex. Ideas are slowly forming but the writing has to come first at this time whilst the energy to do so is there lol 🙂 The Muse likes to flog me to death, and Merlin is a task master, so together I am kept both honest and sincere, on track, on time, and on schedule. But I must get more done more quickly. On which note I sat for an age last night adding and editing the proposed storyline. I have to remain flexible with it but need anchor points to write to. Last night was about setting anchor points but not boundaries on how they will manifest: that’ll be down to the Soothsayer to decide at time of writing. (Thankfully, Merlin will be there to advise)

    Good luck with thinking more on the ‘burn out or fade away’ question. I went with fade away after burning out. It suggests that one can have a riot in life and still continue to party-on slowly to a fading demise lol 🙂 Every night should be lived like it was the weekend 🙂

    Before I head off to Zzzzz…I’ll leave another question: this a little dark and macabre. If you could choose the manner of your death, what would it be? Do you have a fantasy death scenario? Hmm, something to ponder…outside of the peaceful and restful yet mundane answer, the options are infinite, and perhaps dependant on the activity being undertaken at time of departure? I’ve got my thinking cap on, we’ll trade notes.

    Wishing you a pleasant end to your evening and happiness for the week ahead. Sweet dreams for when you get there.

    Namaste 🙂

    DN

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    • Hey Dewin,

      I hope your Midsummer’s Day was full of Midsummer blessings 🙂 As to the weather: it’s the humidity I dislike. Sunshine and a gentle breeze and I’ll happily enjoy the summer 🙂

      If you do decide to pick up one of Auel’s novels I would *love* to discuss your thoughts on it 🙂 Thanks to this little chat about the series, I’ve just started to reread The Clan of the Cave Bear, myself. It’s been a couple of years since I last read these books, so I think its high time for a revisit 🙂

      “You’re love and deep interest in writing is as obvious as your talent.” You are far too kind and far too generous, but thank you 🙂 I’m also glad that you enjoy my imaginative writing 🙂 So pleased that you like the title of One Turn of The Wheel. It’s a collection of flash fiction pieces inspired by witchcraft, folklore, myth and legend, that are set at different times of the year, though the era itself changes. I still can’t believe the publisher was interested in it enough to want to publish it…

      As for the novel I was working on, it will be sometime before you hear anything about that. I had thought that I was happy with the length. It currently is only around the 53,000 word mark which is all right for a short novel and many small presses do accept novels of that length. However, for the genre it falls into, it needs to be at least 80,000 words if I want a shot at getting it traditionally published, which I realise I do. So I’m facing a bit of a conundrum over what to do…

      “The illusion of life.” That’s very interesting and very deep. Life is, to some degree, an illusion. We only see what we want to see, and project what we want others to see. Also I guess, animation is about layering (is it? This is really quite beyond the scope of my knowledge, lol) and life too is full of layers that come together to build the whole, though we don’t necessarily register each layer, only the sum of the parts. Which is like geography and landscape evolution 🙂

      I imagine that Aragorn would appear a very charismatic and attractive choice to anyone, especially one in Eowyn’s position when she first meets him, because he is a symbol of hope. But does she love him? For the time they are in Rohan, I think she does, though perhaps it’s a more whimsical, childish form of love, and of course, she wants to be in love. However, I don’t think it’s until she is recuperating in the Houses of Healing in Gondor that she begins to understand that it wasn’t true love. Healing in both mind and spirit alongside Faramir, something that brings them close together, especially when it’s his care for her that brings her out of the darkness she has fallen into, allows her to see that. Theirs is a relationship of shared experience, compassion, companionship as well as heartfelt emotion. So, Eowyn’s marriage to Faramir is one of love, a deep love, I think. I’m not sure that it would be in Eowyn’s nature to do very much out of convenience, especially if there is a chance that her wings may be clipped even further, and marriage would possibly present such an outcome, unless she married a man who loved her enough, and was strong enough, to allow her the freedom that she craves.

      Well it sounds like you’ve got your planning process sorted 🙂 And your Muse and Merlin will ensure you are doing what, and going where, you must. I agree, characters pop up for a reason, and it’s fun having a few moments to explore the background of main characters outside of the restrictions of the main storyline. Not to mention, it maintains your readers interest between books 🙂

      A fantasy death scenario? :-/ Wow! What a question! One, I must say, I’ve not given much thought to. But for the purpose of our often enlightening discussions, I will ponder on it and see where it leads…So what are your thoughts on this? I’m *dying* to know lol

      Enjoy the rest of your week, Dewin. Brightest Blessings 🙂

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  14. Hey Sammi,

    That Midsummers Day falls in June, makes me smile every year. Why not call it Mid Year’s Eve 🙂 Anyway, thank you, yes the day passed blessed with sunshine and laziness…the perfect combo when all one wants to do is switch off and relax. It was perfect. I trust your day met with your expectations and was equally well received.

    The Jean Auel book is bought and downloaded and I shall look forward to listening to it in due course and sharing discussion here with you. Yes I’d *love* that as well…I have a feeling it will be rewarding, thank you for the offer. Reader reviews on Audible (and Goodreads) varied as you suggested but I felt overall the comments were aimed more at the reader than the story itself, which I thought sounded quite fascinating: the emphasis of readers discussion focused on the quality of Auel’s research and how well it was applied to the story. The Palaeolithic period and Neanderthal man is an area of interest for me, albeit remotely under the general term ‘the ancient world’, and I enjoy absorbing history within a narrative framework as opposed to reading it as a textbook. I’ll keep you posted on progress and look forward to chatting further. Good to hear you’ve returned to the book for a re-read…that inspires my confidence in the quality the story else you’d not return to it with as much enthusiasm as you have. I hope to enjoy the book as you do.

    Regards One Turn of the Wheel – you wrote: ‘ I still can’t believe the publisher was interested in it enough to want to publish it…’ I think it a fabulous achievement Sammi and one that should inspire you further…especially with completing the novel, you’ve only 27,000 words to go to hit your ‘green hill far, far away’ 🙂 When one considers the number of other published credits you have clocked up it comes as no surprise that your work is being recognised and appreciated more widely and independently from being included in anthologies…your stories are creative, inventive, full of mystery and drama (depth as well), and always edged with something uncanny, something ‘other’…it’s a powerfully heady mix of ingredients for a reader. Regards the lay out and composition of the anthology, I like the idea of journeying through the seasons within different eras, it’s a clever idea. I was going to ask if the location of each story remains the same or changes with each piece of work? I guess you shouldn’t answer that and ask me to wait for the release of the anthology! And so I shall wait with interest.

    I enjoyed your reflection on the illusion of life and geography. You’ve dug a little deeper than I with regard to the thinking, but then you are a geography major and understand just how deep the strata and layers of Mother Earth go 🙂 Indeed you are right, animation does involve layering, a technique I think they call ‘onion skinning’ or something similar. Animation also uses another technique called overlapping…where a slower or more accurate delineation of movement is required the animator may add an extra frame between sequential drawings…with 24 drawings making up one full second of screen time, the animator has opportunity to change the speed something happens within that second of screen time by varying the number of frames used. I had no real patience for hand-drawn animation but greatly respect those who do it so well….one reason why I adore Disney films, they are beautifully crafted. (I had a Disney Day yesterday, listening to songs rather than watching the films. It was a sing-a-long day…by nightfall I was word perfect with several tunes lol 🙂 )

    Thank you for answer to my question on LoTR. You’ve offered an excellent summation, one I agree with in every way. She is a remarkable character, at once both victim and self-sovereign unwittingly chastened by a patriarchal society. Aragorn, as a symbol of hope draws her out of herself, her infatuation with him being a powerful motivator to reach a little higher and believe in something bigger than Rohan. She appears always in a state of becoming enduring a very human experience of love, loss, tragedy and sweetness….the realities of life itself. When in last defence of the ailing King, and of her life, she becomes all she really is, all she has always been….queenly, regal, mighty, powerful, and supreme in her self-confidence. For the first time, I think she believed unconditionally in who she was, what she was, and stepped into herself to become something more. Faramir, whose loyalty is unconditional, even in the face of death, is a perfect match for her. He too has been kept in his place all his life living in the shadow of Boromir. I admire him, despite his constant melancholy, he is a born leader of men with a certain grace, gentleness of manner and depth of character and a refined and compassionate nature…a man, a King, who will bring stability to the realm…curiously, he reminds me a little of Théoden. Eowyn offers balance to his character: they are almost cast from the same mould and no doubt share knowledge, experience and understanding of life as a common denominator. Both have also been to the very edge of darkness and survived, and that is an experience not shared by many either. They have grown to love life again by sharing love with each other.

    Fantasy death scenario – dying to know, funny lol 🙂 It was a tall order expecting an answer to such a question but I hope you’ve given it some thought. The question arose in conversation a few weeks ago…I was in Tesco and got chatting to a member of staff who it turned out was into fantasy and sci-fi and our conversation ended with role-playing adventure gaming and death scenario’s: it was a logical progression in the discussion at the time. Anyway, I thought it an interesting question, one bigger than first meets the eye. I’ve left thoughts cooking on the back burner for the time being: the possibilities are too many to think of right now, it’s overwhelming lol 🙂 Let me get back to you in a while. In response to a new poem gifted me I’ve an image to get done for Gallybloggers…the nature of both will offer time to think on the question posed.

    Well Sammi C, I can hear Merlin calling and best jump to it before he gets all moody and medieval with me 🙂 I’ve also dinner to get organised else it’ll not get cooked. Actually, I’ll buy a take-away and have a treat…Saturday is a good curry day and I’ve not had a treat in weeks. So, I’ll wish you an enjoyable evening and a fabulous weekend and say ‘au revoir’ for now.

    Take care of you and moggies. Oh I meant to tell you, I’ve a new pet…not a real one but a sculpture of Bastet. She mewled at me when I was passing the charity shop. Not an expensive model you understand, but she is beautiful, elegant, and a pleasure to have around. Coloured a dark dusty red, which is best described as dark rosewood or ochre, she is strikingly feline. The artist modelling her sphinx has added a touch of mischievous minx as well, so I hope she will behave when my back is turned. I’ve sat her with other desk top friends… two brass pixies, 5 KP Friary monks (from the crisp manufactures 🙂 ) a white wizard, a gold Irish leprechaun who stands on a piece of marble, a bean bag salamander, and a bust of Hermes who wears oak leaves on his head. I know, I know, it’s the crazy gang! lol 🙂 She is in good company I think, and the group will gel nicely. I’ve not yet given her a pet name….Bastet seems a little formal now that she is part of the family. I’ll have to give it some thought. Any suggestions would be welcome.

    Namaste 🙂

    DN

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    • Hey Dewin! Hope you’re well 🙂

      My Midsummer’s day was lovely, thank you. I got up to watch the sunrise but went swiftly back to bed lol 🙂 An interesting thought: When we think of Summer today, it tends to encompass the months of June, July and August, and yet to celebrate Midsummer a few weeks into June would imply that the Summer months are May, June and July, and August is actually the first month of Autumn. It seems kind of strange. Yet, I suppose in the past, Autumn was the harvest season, and as the first of the year’s harvest falls in August, that might make sense. And another thing, the pagan festival of Samhain, falling on the last day in October, celebrates “Summer’s End”… I have read somewhere that in the ancient past, Autumn wasn’t a recognised season, only Summer, Winter and Spring. I wonder if that is a reflection of the cycle of Life, Death and Rebirth…

      So you’ve decided to give the Jean Auel book a try. I do hope you enjoy it. The comments I’ve come across by some readers tend to not understand that although the book is very well researched and full of authentic historical detail, it is still a story, a work of fiction, and any book set in the distant past is going to have make educated guesses – or even just make things up – to fill in the blanks of what we can’t possibly know…

      24 drawings for one second of screen time. Wow! Animators must have the patience of a saint – I know I certainly don’t! I can’t comprehend how much hard work must go into it…Ooo!!! Disney Day! Fantastic! Sounds perfect! What films did you choose to watch? And, more importantly, what songs did you sing? Did The Sword in the Stone happen to be one? 😉

      Yes, there is a lot to admire in Faramir, and his character complements Eowyn well (in not too dissimilar a way as Celeborn and Galadriel). Like Eowyn, circumstance has torn him this way and that, and his reserved nature on occasion has to be pushed aside so he can fulfil other people’s demands on him. I always think Faramir would make a great listener; he listens and absorbs, and weighs things accordingly before speaking / acting. Yes, he does have a melancholy streak – I’ve never thought of that before. I wonder if the Council of Elrond would have been any different if Denethor would have allowed him to go instead of Boromir? And how that may have effected all that followed…It sounds like a fanfiction storyline lol. But I do like Boromir too.

      Your little gang of desk-top friends sound fabulous!! 🙂 I bet the conversation between them would be very entertaining to overhear. As for your Bastet statue, have you named her yet? If not, I’ve a few ancient Egyptian suggestions: Heka (magic), Tyet (the knot of Isis), Sekhem (sistrum), Miut (female cat). And then there is this passage that I think is great, from Ancient Egypt Online:

      “It seems that it was rare for a cat to be given its own specific name (rather than being called “miu” or “miut”). However, there are exceptions such as the cat named “Nedjem” (“sweetie”) and another named “Tai Miuwette” (“the little mewer”) who was the companion of crown prince Thutmose (eldest son of Amenhotep lll and brother of Akhenaten). Little girls were often named “Miut” (literally meaning “female cat”) displaying the Egyptians fondness for both cats and children.”

      Can’t wait to hear what you have named her 🙂

      Wishing you the Brightest of Blessings. Enjoy the rest of your week 🙂

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      • Hey Sammi,

        How are you doing? Good to hear from you, and to acknowledge all is well. Regards Midsummers’ Day, I like your style waking for sunrise and going back to bed…it gives one a great sense of achievement, and I don’t mean that in a funny way. It makes one feel like the day has begun even though sleep prevails, as if we’ve been successful in waking and deserve a reward for the effort made. Besides, if it weren’t the bed you returned to it would have been the sofa, taking the duvet with you, and tucking in with a hot coffee or cuppa of rosy-lee.

        Summer, Winter, Spring…yes I like that far better than adding the fourth season however enjoyable it may be licking through the leaves 🙂 Autumn does sort of pass through quite quickly in relation to the build up and more lengthy periods of other seasons…and some years there seems to be no clear distinction between seasons at all as they slide so fluidly from one to another. Summer’s end, I like that phrase as well…it reminds me that whilst the UK is not a big country, seasons do vary north to south, with extended growing seasons possible in the south west where warmer temperatures prevail. They have palm trees in Torquay 🙂

        I have begun the Auel Book….20 minutes in and starting to settle into the story and writing style. I can accommodate the narrator, she delivers well enough to be entertaining and add to the story. So what do I think so far. Hmm, I shouldn’t really judge yet, it is still early in my listening, however so far I find it listenable, the descriptions and language gently directing, and the story interesting…I am becoming sympathetic towards the main character who I found a little too adult at first for her age…the language of her thoughts suggests at a understanding beyond her age. But I admire her resolve and her nature instinct. She is a strong character and I am curious to know where her story goes. Thanks also for the heads up on the historical accuracy of the book. I understand the need for artistic licence. I won’t be reading it for historical narrative per, though of interest, but more to see how it defines context and backdrop, and where artistic licence can be used to bridge gaps plausibly. I try to learn from others styles, to see how they handle certain topics, situations etc.. Auel has so far kept the story moving, and I am enjoying it.

        I shall not admit to the Disney Songs I enjoyed, nor the clips I may have watched that supported them. I have my outright favourites. I do declare that Sword in the Stone carries at least one definite tune that I like…and Merlin in the film is awesome! I adore Madame Mimm as well…the wizards fight they have is genius. As for drawn animation…it is an experience that separates the die-hards from the wanna-be’s. The level of patience required is unbelievable, the level of skill, and the consistency is bewildering when it is done well. Even the peeps animating CGI create such realism that on occasion they have to take away frames from a section of film to put back into the film the sensation of animation. I believe the animation for Princess Fiona in Shrek were subject to this editing process.

        Faramir a listener? Yes I agree that he probably is a comforting soul and a tender gentleman. I like your comparison of him to Celeborn…the calm exterior, the thoughtful gaze, I can see that in Faramir complimenting the other attributes mentioned. Also, the question your raise of how different the journey would have been had Faramir accompanied the fellowship is fascinating…the breadth and scope of possibilities is overwhelming! lol 🙂 I was never certain of Boromir from the outset, but I think he was a fair and noble man, courageous and brave, yet suffered with an innate selfish streak. He didn’t strike me as King material…there was nothing I found certain about his character, nothing definite.

        Ha ha 🙂 The crazy gang say ‘hey!” and send best wishes. Bastet is absolutely fine now that she has settled. She was very needful for cuddles the first couple of days, but she seems able to manage her way now without constant cutches. There was a little dissention from the brass pixies who have lost a little light as a result of Bastet sitting behind them blocking lamplight. It cannot be resolved by practical means as there is finite space, so we (the pixies and I) have agreed that I move one of them each day into a precarious position so they can be lit. You know how pixies moan when one doesn’t oblige their whim. The ploy seems to have worked and calm is restored. There is one other item I didn’t mention, one that sits on the p.c tower itself, and that is a model of Silver Surfer from the Marvel comics. He stands up there on the p.c tower upon his surfboard and rides the information superhighway, or at lest that’s what he says. He’s a pretty cool dude, and my favourite character from Marvel, so intense 🙂

        Thank you for the name suggestions, they are all excellent! It is difficult to choose, but I have decided that I like Tai Miuwette, just cos it sounds so cute in translation, little mewer, awww. And she did indeed mewl to get my attention when I passed the shop that afternoon. She, the sculpture seems happy and has nodded her head with delight and agreement. For all the deliberation on her name, no doubt i’ll be calling her Miu by the weekend anyway 🙂 The fire Salamander and Tai Miuwette have a solid friendship warming.

        Had to mention…Monday morning walking to work, I found a single playing card lying face down on the pathway. Being a curious sort I had to turn it over and see what the card was. King of Diamonds. Quite unexpected but welcome, although I am not sure what to make of it as a find. I think I should ponder it further.

        I am hitting the hay early this eve. A nice dinner, a hot shower, a film and bed. Wednesday’s are not my best days in the week: the momentum from the weekend is run dry and the excitement for the forthcoming weekend has yet to build. No wonder they call it ‘hump day.’ Ah well, the sun will come out tomorrow, you can bet you bottom dollar on that 🙂

        Enjoy a restful evening. Take care Sammi C of one and all…moggies, the royal we, and any cakes and bakes left still warm on the griddle.

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

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      • Hey Dewin!

        I hope you are well and have had a fabulously fun weekend 🙂 I’m fine, thank you. Time seems to be flying past me at the moment, and so it seems that I am falling behind with everything, especially this blog…

        How are you progressing with The Clan of the Cave Bear? I finished reading it a few days ago and hope to start writing the book review of it soon for my book review blog. Surprisingly, I’ve not yet reviewed it.

        Hmm…so you’ll not admit to which Disney songs you like to sing along too? Perhaps there are too many to name? 😉 Lol

        There’s a poignancy about Boromir. He possesses all the qualities that are good about mankind: brave, strong, noble, compassionate, loyal, but he is still human and prone to make mistakes because of some of the less-favoured qualities man possesses, namely pride. I also think he is just a son who doesn’t want to let his father down; he doesn’t want Denethor to be disappointed in him, like he often is with Faramir. He’s seen how much that can hurt. I think one of the reasons that he is one of my favourite characters (unfortunately, my list of favourite characters from Lord of the Rings is extensive; I’m not sure I’m particularly discerning) is because he is flawed and he is human, and therefore relatable.

        So there’s another member of the crazy gang, Silver Surfer. He must be important if he has his own space on the pc tower. (I wonder what the pixies have to say about that?) Very cool that he “rides the information superhighway” 🙂

        Little Mewer is a great choice. I have taken to calling Bast and Khepri “Sweetie”.

        King of Diamonds…sounds like a fortuitous card. It’s associated with the King of Pentacles from the Tarot. I wonder whether it was upright or reversed… So very interesting. Have you pondered on it further?

        Wishing you Brightest Blessings for the rest of the weekend and for the week ahead!

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  15. Hey Sammi,

    Good morning, how are you doing, welcome to Monday 🙂 It’s another new week to start ticking off the calendar: July already, the year is flying by so quickly…either that or I’ve not long woken from hibernation. I’m thinking the latter…buried in dark tunnels with Merlin 🙂

    You sound perky 🙂 And busy. All good to hear. Ah, and you’re reviewing ‘Clan’. Excellent. I’ll take note of the link you’ll provide and read it at the end of my listening. Regrettably, I have not had opportunity to progress with the story…the focus of my week has been entirely elsewhere…and will undoubtedly settle into it next week when I have leave booked from work. I’m sorry to delay further discussion, but we shall indulge, so please bear with me.

    Disney songs. Okay, I’ll relent…’You’re Welcome’ from Moana, ‘Let it Go!’ from Frozen (everyone’s fav), ‘I’ve got no strings’ from Pinocchio, and of course, “Prestidigitarium’ from Sword in the Stone 🙂 There it is, my secret is revealed, my soul is laid bare. I have no voice for singing but I can hum a great tune. Disney songs are (mainly) full of good cheer, fine spirit, and finer fettle, and step in time to some superb animation….predominantly the characterisation through gesture and action: the timing is always exquisite.

    Yes indeed our pet Silver Surfer has his own place aboard Mercury (the name of my p.c lol). He is a loner, given to far voyaging and frequent flights beyond the realms of Bryn Myrddin. He carries with him the love he has for humanity and the deep yearning he cannot shake for his lost love. He is a tragic figure of near saintly intent and virtue, a character speaking in near parables and surfing parabolises through time and space. I miss him when he’s away…if only he returned with gifts from afar but he seems to forget every time. As for the pixies, they just want to tea-leaf his silver surf-board and create mischief across the star-system! (It’s the reason the 5 KP friars surround them forming a barrier to escape. Shhh.)

    Little Mewer…Miu…she slept for the remainder of last week. Not a squeak, not a ripple, not a quiver of fur. She just stood statuesque and never stirred. I’m not concerned, I’ve heard the breed sleeps quite a lot when unearthed after thousands of years. But should it persist into August, I’ll take her to her mummy. 🙂

    I like the name ‘sweetie’…it’s cutely considerate, quite charming in fact, and applicable to either equally as a term of endearment.

    Your understanding of Boromir is more acute than mine…your repeated reading of LoTR stands you in good stead to know far more than. He is a human character and afflicted as such by human shortcomings. Like all who find error in their ways…or redemption through honour…he died nobly with favourable intention to protect and serve a greater cause beyond himself. I wanted to ask….your list of favourite characters, do you add to it or subtract names from it after each re-read of the book? 🙂

    The playing card was a most curious find. I had not aligned it with King of Pentacles. Thank you. That information has added a whole new dimension to its worth. I am intrigued and will research further. I had not ‘expected’ the card to be a King when I turned it over. It brought a smile. Curiously there were no other cards in the vicinity and no other associated paraphernalia either. The treasure trove I am amassing is growing daily Sammi…it has now overtaken the stone box I bought to house the trinkets. Did I mention headbands…the elasticated type that have swamped every pathway I walk? I’ve no idea of their symbolism, but I have collected 73 of them now over the past three and half months. If you know of their meaning (if they have one at all), or can offer explanation as to my compulsion to retain them, let me know lol 🙂

    Well Sammi, 2.24am and I must away to the Land of Zzzzz. Thanks for your reply, for stopping by to have a chat and catch up. I’ll keep fingers crossed you’ll enjoy a fun and fruitful week. Take care of you, the royal we, the sweeties, and the cakes n bakes cooling on the griddle 🙂

    Namaste 🙂

    DN

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      • P.P.S: I just had to report another find en route to work this Monday morning. Believe it or not I ‘found’ another playing card, from a completely different set of cards (it has smiley mileys on the back lol) on my path today. It is the King of Hearts. Absolutely true, but still crazzzzzzy uh? 😀

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      • Oh my, that is interesting. The King of Hearts equates to the King of Cups in Tarot. In Tarot terms, to have two kings in a reading would suggest that there is clearly something quite powerful or important going on. If you can find the context or area they pertain to, you’ll be able to unlock their meaning. I wonder if you’ll find any more… I love it when things like this just appear out of the ether…it’s so exciting 😀

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      • Oooh! You are adding layers of curiosity to my already layered curiosity 🙂 I am as fascinated by these finds as you Sammi, they have elevated my mood and piqued my interest. 2 consecutive Mondays and 2 different cards, both Kings. Previous card finds this last 8 months would include the 8 and 9 of spades. This morning’s other finds include a perfect magpie feather, a dew clad pigeon feather, a single hair-band, a 5p coin, 2 plastic pens as used in betting shops, and a purple button. Not a bad haul for a fifteen minute stroll to work.

        I wish I could tell you more as to the purpose of the two King cards. They are clearly significant (as are all the treasures I collect lol) but I don’t know as to what they apply. I am hoping they inspire determination, effective rulership, balance, harmony, purpose vision and reward. Perhaps next Monday a third card will appear to clarify these two, but somehow I doubt it…I think something more will occur this week instead. Reading my ‘stars’ the other evening, the astrologer spoke of gathering my resources to make preparation for the return of my sun-sign in September. Good times are said to ensue but as always it will be hard work and pixie dust that brings reward. I hope that is true…pixie dust is my favourite sprinkle on cornflakes 🙂

        Yes it is exciting when strangeness occurs…it s a deviation from the norm and however meaningful it may or may not be, it is a great way of entertaining oneself and stepping outside of the mundane. I’ll keep you informed of progress 🙂

        I’m listening to Disney songs again lol 🙂 It’s become a habit each evening when I get home from work…a cup of tea, a quick catch up with emails/blogs/comments, and all whilst listening to Disney. Perfect unwinding material 🙂

        I hope your Monday brought a smile to last the whole week through 🙂

        Namaste

        DN

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      • I wonder if you finding both of these cards on a Monday holds any significance? A great number of finds do cross your path, don’t they? Do they each hold a message for you or do you only collect some of them out of interest?

        Ooh, you think something more will occur this week? I’m really excited for you. Whatever it is, I hope it brings clarity and context to the cards and what they mean for you. Your horoscope sounds enchanting too. There appears to be lots of positive energy associated with all these things…and pixie dust on cornflakes? Well, has there ever been a more charmed breakfast? I think not. lol 🙂

        Disney soundtracks are definitely the best way to unwind; I can’t argue with that at all. 🙂

        Take care and enjoy your evening 🙂

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      • Hey Sammi,

        I too was curious about the Monday angle and other than the 2 playing cards, which deserve their own consideration, I wondered if finds ‘appeared’ more abundant/significant on a Monday because I am more receptive as a result of having been lost in words, writing, sleeping and dreaming all weekend. That is to suggest that my mind is locked into a particular mind-set or way of thinking and perceiving that extends into the early morning on a Monday especially?

        I collect only what engages my eye…but always collect nice feathers. They say we often move about our environment on auto-pilot, navigating and negotiating our world by recognising and reacting to only what is significantly different to a habitual process or path. I imagine I operate similarly. As for the message they hold, it always links to my current thoughts or more often to thoughts I have had recently: items then ‘appear’ as if some sort of validation and affirmation of those thoughts ideas and notions. It’s a perfect system driven by a benign and loving universe that wishes to speak to me in an empirical fashion…I am an Earth sign and sometimes need that level of material ‘evidence’ to progress heart, mind, body and soul. And of course writing and all other creative endeavours. The universe rains magic everyday when one believes in magic in everyway 🙂 You know that to be true.

        I think everybody’s horoscope improves with their annual Solar return. You must have noticed positivity and reward more forthcoming during your birth month? It normally represents a successful period with growth on many levels, both internal and external. For me personally, I am grateful the Sun is here when starting out on a new adventure with Merlin: it is a good sign 🙂

        So you like the idea of pixie-dust as a breakfast supplement? A ‘charmed’ brekkie, funny 🙂 You are a wit Sammi. Bet you’d have a sprinkle or two if it did exist?

        Thank you for wishes for an enjoyable evening…I trust yours will be as rewarding.

        Have a great week!

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

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      • That’s an interesting thought, one that makes a lot of sense. If the universe knows you’re more attuned to find-collecting on Monday, then the universe will give you finds to collect on Monday.

        Evidence is always good. Corroboration one way or another settles the matter, and it’s nice to have something physical to have hold of as proof, bestowing a level of certainty upon things.

        Hmm…I’m not sure that I have noticed that my birth month is more positive or fruitful than the other months of the year. But then I put that down to seasonal energies. Winter still holds sway in January, so the world is still dormant, and is yet to thaw. But, with the arrival spring, I tend to notice a change around me. The Sun is always a good sign. In the Tarot (here we go again lol) The Sun card is the most powerfully positive card in the entire deck – full of health, happiness, luck, vitality and success 🙂

        “Bet you’d have a sprinkle or two if it did exist?” It does exist, and I do 😀

        Wishing you the brightest of blessings for the rest of the week 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Perhaps suggesting that hair-bands are far more common an occurrence than head-bands and feature more easily as a reference when we unknowingly interpolate? (Is that the right word, ‘interpolate’? IDK ) I like it when the mind does its own thing and overrides the accuracy of our senses. Curiously when I commented on a blog last night I mistook a photo of a Peony for a Rose. And instead of recognising my perceptual error, I affirmed my incorrect visual input by ‘seeing’ imaginary swans either embracing or dancing within the shapely folded petals and automatically determined the image as a rose and not a peony. My mind associated swans with roses and not with peonies and when it first glimpsed the photo it was confused and saw what it wanted to see. I suppose this is a little like cloud gazing? The curious thing is when I returned this evening to reply to the comment, the image still retained its power to shape-shift. The imagination is so very powerful.

        What do you make of the hair-band collecting? Any thoughts as to the oddity?

        I make plenty of errors when I write…you are too polite to mention them whilst I am too blind to spot them in the first place. Thank you 🙂

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

        Liked by 1 person

      • Interpolate is the right word. I did have to check though lol 🙂

        What do I make of the hair-band collecting? I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone doing that before, I must admit. I wonder as to the significance of the hair-band to you? What does it make you think of? To me, they symbolise tidiness, orderliness, limits and restraints (probably because of my unruly hair in the mornings).

        I wouldn’t dream of it! I’m sure my own comments are jammed-packed with errors that I also fail to see 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Sammi,

        How are you doing?

        Three more hairbands to be added to the on-going total…all were on my pathway to work this morning. I have short hair and certainly no need of these items. However, I like and appreciate your suggestions and find they associate quite nicely with the playing card finds. I had added ‘tying up loose ends’ to the list you gave, and a blogging friend Sue Dreamwalker suggested the circular nature of hairbands is important as well, an idea based on containment and completeness. Both are thoughts to consider and ponder with those you proposed as well.

        Unruly hair in the morning? You have long hair Sammi? Or is it that you wriggle a whole lot when you sleep. My mum used to say my ‘morning hair’ would look like that of a scruffy scarecrow dragged through a hedge backwards 🙂 That was when I had hair…now the hairdresser charges me a searches fee so she can find any hair left to cut! I explain to her that I have fine, flyaway hair, to which she’ll reply, “indeed, so fine it has already flown!” 🙂 Charming!

        I don’t notice any errors in your writing Sammi…your work is always accurate. Were you teachers pert? lol 🙂

        Enjoy Tuesday evening. Say ‘hello’ to the moggies and pass on Miu’s best wishes. Ooh, and Sizzles says to say ‘hello’ He hopes you are ‘A’ okay, happy and smiling 🙂

        Sweet dreams for when you get to Zzzzz.

        Take care,

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Dewin 🙂 I’m fine, thank you. Hope you are too?

        Wow, so that’s…76 now? Hairbands really seem to be a big, reoccurring symbol for you. I hadn’t thought of their cyclical nature, and therefore containment and completeness. It reminds me of The World in the Tarot, which is also associated with the circle, especially, coming full circle, the ending of a cycle and getting ready for the next one to begin. All so very interesting…

        I do have long hair, yes, but I also do move around a lot in my sleep. Combined together that does make for an interesting look, come morning lol 🙂 Aww, a scruffy scarecrow. That’s so adorable. You have a very witty hairdresser lol 🙂

        A teacher’s pet…hmm… All of my teachers liked me, but then I enjoyed most of my lessons, especially later on when I could drop the subjects I didn’t like so much. I was a good girl in school, for the most part, but I was often in trouble for talking too much. Which is funny, because now I’m as quiet as a mouse (though not everyone seems to think I’m as quiet as I like to believe…hey-ho…) I’ve always over-edited anything I’ve written especially after a bit of a disaster I had with one of my sixth-form essays, but that is not something I can recount here…

        The moggies say hello back and hope that Miu’s settling in well. And hello from me to Sizzles. He’s been very quiet lately. I hope he’s well 😀

        Brightest Blessings for this evening and the rest of the week 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Sammi,

        Thank you for sharing thoughts on the Tarot….you are quite the depository for knowledge 🙂 I am also trawling the internet searching out the best and most favourable suggestions for correspondences, but info is thin on the ground. The World Card however is described in abundance so I will have a read around. Thanks Sammi 🙂

        Indeed, the hairdresser is a wit…normally as quiet as a mouse until sharing a smile then it is shutting her up that becomes the problem lol 🙂

        So you are a wiggler when you sleep 🙂 That’s cool…it must be your active imagination that keeps you shifting about. Do you dream often? As for the morning look, I can imagine you must look a little windswept in a nice way, but we all share a similar appearance when first waking, I dread looking in the mirror lol 🙂

        I’m sorry for typo of the qword ‘pet’. I am so grateful you decided my intention was the word pet and not ‘perk’ lol 🙂 Had you done so, your statement about being a good girl might have been concerning. As it is, I somehow thought you’d be popular amongst the teaching staff as much as pupils….teachers respect and gently focus on those who are thorough and consistent in the quality of their work. Ahh, so you were and are a chatty type: that is clear to see given our weekly chats and the frequency of your posts and creative outpourings.

        You knew I, and your readers of course, will now be intrigued by the mysterious disaster that was your 6th form essay! lol 🙂 I have an active imagination but I cannot think of one instance when an essay could bring about the statement: ‘but that is not something I can recount here…’ 🙂 I won’t probe, but my mind is now full of storylines. You should have made it a story prompt idea.

        The crazy gang are all in good cheer and have helped to make Miu feel she is one of the family. She woke last evening, although her statuesque eyes were moulded closed, or waiting to be painted in. Perhaps she was born blind? I had not thought of that. Perhaps that is why she is oracular: her vision comes from within? Hmm interesting. Sizzles is now wearing one of those sheepish smiles – you know how he gets when you say ‘hello’, like a 10 year old boy lol 🙂 He’s been busy of late helping me out with a little bit of research for the next chapter in the Merlin story. After I go to bed at night, he and Silver Surfer take over the controls and set out with honest intention to assist my writing. I have however been left disappointed by their efforts and seldom find anything useful amongst the rummagings they leave on my Word pad. I have a feeling they are adventuring elsewhere and deleting the internet search history to cover their trail. I have one of the crystal skulls keeping an eye on them, but I have no evidence as yet, nothing concrete to challenge them both. I’ll keep you posted on developments. Oooh, Sizzles has a question to ask you, sorry 🙂 ‘If you were given a lump of clay about the size of a bag of sugar, what would you make?’ No idea where that question came from or why he needs to know, but if you could just entertain him with a reply that’d be good…he’ll not stop nagging otherwise 🙂 Thank you.

        Take care of one and all Sammi C 🙂

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

        Liked by 1 person

      • Evening Dewin!

        Tarot is one of my “things”, don’t you know lol. I’ve been studying and reading it for 15 years, and, I even taught it for a time, so I tend to see its symbolism everywhere.

        Do I dream often? When I’m asleep…when I’m awake…I’m always dreaming lol. It’s such a curse. Or perhaps I’m under some kind of faery enchantment (Or perhaps my thoughts are just being influenced by the song I’m listening to, Tir na n’Og by Celtic Woman…) A little windswept…I prefer wild, untamed and unconquered. 😀

        Yeah, teachers perk would have changed everything. :-/ lol I definitely was a chatty type. I believe I’m not so chatty anymore but a few close friends disagree with that, but I just think they’re being obtuse 🙂

        That sixth form essay…gosh, I still blush at the thought of it! Your mind is now full of storylines is it? I’m curious as to what you’re imagination has conjured up lol

        Or perhaps rather than being blind, her eyes are just always turned inwards, seeking out that which can only be found within?

        Aww, Sizzles is the sweetest. Well, Sizzles, that is really a tough question. Hmm…If I had a lump of clay about the size of a bag of sugar, I would probably make a small Lord or Lady statuette for my altar, or some other pagan-y, witchy type thing.

        Have a Bright and Blessed evening, Dewin 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Sammi, good evening 🙂

        I had good feeling you were wise as to all things Tarot, but no idea your experience was so vast. I am impressed, although not surprised, you have that ‘fae way’ about you…and Tír na nÓg gave you away completely. Thank you for the prompt to listen, thoroughly enjoyed…and I read up a little on the story of Oisin and Niamh as well, the Wiki entry suggesting…’ “A leannan sidhe,” a beautiful fairy sweetheart, “can lure you against your will into Tir-na-nOg,” wrote Patrick Harpur.’ How does Patrick know? 🙂

        ‘A little windswept…I prefer wild, untamed and unconquered.’ How I enjoyed that sentence…I can almost hear you growl lol …tis another sentance to tease and tempt the imagination on both sides of a central pathway. 😀

        Regardig teacer’s perk, I think I was teacher’s bane. Never a very naughty boy, I was always mischievious and playful, always playing pranks and getting into scrapes, and always cheeky and challenging. As a giggler I could never tell a lie and gave myself away so many times. I’d like to hope I’ve matured in time, perhaps not as naughty, I still giggle, back chat, cheek and challenge, and get excitable sometimes. I’m not so much a chatter more a listener actually, so chat away Sammi, I’ll not be obtuse.

        The 6th form essay still has you blush? You have to publish here on your Blog! It cannot be concealed any longer: you need to share your embarressment amongst friends on your blog. As to thoughts about what was submitted…the choice is endless: from an accidental submission of a love letter destined for your student sweetheart to abstract doodles left in the marhin that leave little to the imagination, and everthing else in-between. No doubt the truth is stranger than fiction, right? 🙂

        Thank you for explanation on Miu’s eye condition. I think you have a very valid point. It has done much to settle my anxiety. I’ve noticed there is a very fine hairline crack or parting in the mould by the base of her neck, at the top of her spine. I’ll have to be careful when and if we next move to wrap her well. There would nothing worse than arrivng at the new hme only to find she was headless.

        Sizzles is blushing again…you seem to have that effect on him all the time 🙂 and he thanks you for a most interesting response. He’s fascinated by the whole altar thing? I have subsequently discovered he found a moulded piece of terracotta when at the shops and has been overwhelmed by the whole idea of creative moulding ever since. He’s studying Alchemy so his interest does make perfect sense….I think he wants to perfect the clay of his soul. I keep telling him he’s made of cotton but he’s insistant on pursuing his activity to seive the fine from the coarse and model gold. (He’s a long way to go lol) 🙂

        Thanks for your reply Sammi. Hoping Wednesday came and went without incident and leaves yuou set up nicley for the slow rise to the weekend. Take care of one and all.

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

        Liked by 1 person

      • Evening Dewin! Welcome to the Weekend 🙂

        So glad you enjoyed listening to Tir na n’Og. It’s a fun little song. And the story of Oisin and Niamh is an interesting one 🙂 Perhaps he himself was lured beyond by a beautiful fairy sweetheart 🙂

        Yes, I think the warrior woman in me is responsible for the “wild, untamed and unconquered” comment. She doesn’t often make an appearance but when she does, she does like to be heard lol She’s the voice behind the poem I started last year, The Song of the Wild Woman (https://sammiscribbles.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/the-song-of-the-wild-woman/).

        A teacher’s bane, eh? “Perhaps not as naughty” – you don’t sound too sure, lol 😀 That’s funny. I would say that I’m more a listener than a chatter myself these days (well, since school). I much prefer silence and solitude, and to think, rather to babble away incessantly about anything and everything. And I’m surprised that you consider yourself more a listener and less of a chatter – you always seem to have so much to say and impart lol 🙂

        No. No way. Absolutely not. That essay will not see the light day ever again, though maybe one day I’ll reveal the secret to you lol And yes, truth is stranger than fiction. And no doubt, if you do ever hear about, you might find that you are ridiculously underwhelmed by the truth…

        Aww, bless Sizzles. He is the most adorable little teddy bear. So he’s fascinated by the whole altar thing? In what way? Will he be making one soon? It sounds like he is a crafty little bear. Perfecting the clay of his soul is a very noble endeavour, indeed 🙂

        Wishing you a Bright and Blessed weekend, Dewin 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Sammi,

        Ah yes, the weekend at last! 😀 It couldn’t have come at a better time, my week has been a long and tiring one, but a week I hope that will bare fruit of some description shortly. I also thought I had booked time off work this coming week but it seems it is the following week instead. Never mind, it will be worth waiting for. I trust your week has been far more comfortable, enjoyable and fruitful?

        I re-read The Song of the Wild Woman, and enjoyed it just as much as I did a long year ago. She has a distinct voice, each word carries brevity to express the powerful untamed self at the root of her deepest nature. I am curious to ask if you have progressed with the poem’s many verses since February? Will the will of your wilful wild woman be returning…and does the unconquered aspect of you have a wild name? 🙂

        I do an awful lot of listening to others and seldom chat away: I’ve never enjoyed being centre of attention. I share the same characteristic as you Sammi in that I enjoy reflection and contribution rather than merely empty contribution. Socially, I prefer to engage individually or with small groups rather than larger parties. Do I chat away here too much, or bore…if so just say? 🙂 As for naughtiness, I have my moments and still step off the one straight path when my attention is drawn and/or distracted. I get fed-up being squashed into social constructs and cages made up of rules and regulations, obligations and responsibilities, and I do need to vent my spleen sometimes. I think we all do, we all need to run wild like thoroughbred stallions.

        Sizzles likes the way you say ‘adorable’…he’s blushing again so I’ve put him in the ice-box to cool off a little 🙂 He’ll learn respect one-way or the other, and sooner rather than later I hope. Crafty? Yes he is, too clever for his own good sometimes. Or did you mean practically minded, creative and good with his hands? If so, he would suit that description as well. As for the altar, Sizzles has acquired a small slab of white marble from somewhere and wants to use it as the centrepiece for a small shrine – a place for ‘mindful reflection,’ or so he said. I think it is Miu’s gentle influence; she has this habit of installing herself in your thoughts and making herself the object of one’s focus and idolising ‘affections’.

        I wanted to thank you for the list of Disney songs you provided. I took a moment to listen to them all – a curious selection, I enjoyed them all, and returning to Robin Hood after years was a delight. I haven’t seen that film for literally decades. Happy to hear you enjoyed Dwayne Johnson’s rendition of ‘You’re Welcome’. Another song from Moana, Jemaine Clement – Shiny (From “Moana”) has become a recent favourite (the list is growing) and worth a listen if you’ve 3 minutes spare 🙂

        I’ve got this sudden craving for chicken and chips, so I’m heading out for a chinese meal – bang bang chicken – and a bottle of coca-cola. As such, I’ll bid thee ‘au revoir’ and leave you with best wishes for an enjoyable weekend.

        Take care of you.

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Dewin,

        I hope you had a great weekend. Did you enjoy your Chinese meal? Shame about having to wait an extra week for time off work, but as you say, it’s worth waiting for 🙂 Fingers crossed for the bearing of fruit 🙂

        I have written more verses of The Song of The Wild Woman but I seem to have misplaced them. It’s really not that surprising seeing as though I will scribble on absolutely anything, especially when it comes to poetry. (Thankfully today I actually sat at the computer to write my poetry – it’s harder to lose that way). Anyhoo, the scribblings always materialise in the end. It’s just a question of patience. (Not one of the qualities I possess lol) Does she have a wild name? Of course 🙂

        Socially I’m, well, not very social lol. I prefer to sit quietly in a corner, with friends or family, and listen and observe, only venturing to speak if it’s really necessary. I’m actually a very quiet person in the “real” world. I agree that life can be restrictive, and has a habit of setting us against our natures and instincts. Running wild like thoroughbred horses would go a long way to recapture what modern life forces us to leave behind on occasion.

        “Do I chat away here too much, or bore…” Too much? Never. A bore? Certainly not. You are far too interesting and knowledgeable to bore 🙂

        So Sizzles is crafty in every sense of the word 😀 He’s such a clever teddy.

        Thanks for the recommendation of “Shiny”. Another good song, though I’m not sure if it can displace “You’re Welcome” from the top of the list of songs I’ve listened to from Moana so far. I think because that was the first one I’d listened to it’s going to take some beating 🙂 Any more recommendations, send them this way 🙂 Robin Hood is one of my favourites. Though I don’t think I could pick just one favourite Disney movie. lol

        Have a great week Dewin, one full of Bright Blessings 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Sammi,

        How are you doing? I hope all is well wherever you may be 🙂

        Gratefully, that’s another Monday over, and I am a day closer to retirement (lol)…today felt like it would never end! 😦 In truth I don’t think I’ve got out of second gear all day and have been coasting or going through the motions whichever it is. And sleepy, I am so sleepy these days…is it the weather do you think? My young age? Boredom? I don’t know…but today I haven’t felt as though I’ve actually been present for most of it. All is a dream 🙂 As for the weekend’s bang bang chicken…it was delicious thanks, even better when delivered to the door and with the coke still ice cold. Mmmm 🙂

        You knew I would be waiting for you to provide the name of the wild woman inhabiting your poem lol 🙂 Failing to mention it permits me to freely choose a name to interpolate into my reading, so until corrected, I’ll go with Macha, the ancient Irish Goddess of war, horses, and sovereignty. I hope that suits the wildness of ‘her’ on some level?

        Very disappointed to hear of work lost! 😦 Is there anything worse?? I hope you find the misplaced scribbles…they must be somewhere (ask the moggies, they’ll know). I suppose with lines missing ‘we’ will all just have to wait for the next instalment to arrive as and when it’s ready to appear instead of arriving sooner 🙂

        Anyhoo…I like that deviation from ‘anyhow’.

        ‘In a corner’ Sammi? No one puts Sammi in the corner! (Dirty Dancing movie quote) lol I can’t really imagine you are a ‘very’ quiet person, nor a shy retiring wallflower either, so I am guessing you find a happy balance that suits you and the occasion but have a strong preference for peace, quiet, solitude, doing your own thing and dreaming? Sounds perfect to me. I am not a socialite either. I participate where needed (if it suits me), maintain close friendship with a small number of people and enjoy the passing company of strangers, but generally I keep myself to myself as much as possible. At work I tend to find a happy place to hold out for 8 hours before leaving for home and engage with colleagues if they engage with me. My window seat above the theatre roof next to the office means I have plenty of time to cloud watch, chat with the gulls and wagtails who sit and sun themselves, and enjoy passing the day without needing to be part of relentless office chatter and background noise. Home is a haven of tranquillity 🙂

        Thank you for always reading all my drivel and sharing in our chatty exchanges. You always leave smiles on your Blog and a smile with Sizzles and I as well. By the way he’s out of the icebox and thawing…not a pip-squeak out of him for 24 hours while he defrosts, the peace and quiet has been delightful. Thanks also for the weekend challenge….Merlin needed some cloud time. He’s been uptight of late and it was the perfect way to help loosen his shackles. Not sure what is up with him, but he’s not quite himself. I guess he’ll let me know when he’s ready…wizards are private types.

        I meant to tell you, there was no 3rd King card on the pathway today so I guess the magic carpet ride is over already. Instead I found a small candy pink plastic ball, an artists paintbrush, three blue pens from the betting shop and a VW badge fallen from the front of someone’s car. And no hair-bands at all anywhere, which is a good sign…I have enough to last a lifetime! I still have a feeling the week will yet throw up a curious surprise, a treasure of unimaginable worth and importance, and I’ll let you know how that goes in due course. Keep fingers crossed and eyes forward 🙂

        As for right now…all day I have promised myself 2 chocolate éclairs when I get home after work by way of a treat for making through Monday. So I am going to indulge and have a late night feast and a cup of tea before lights out. I need the sugar lol 🙂 Tomorrow is destined to be just as busy: 4 meetings within 3 hours and that from 8am in the morning. OMG. I do hope your day is far more productive and sweeter in every way possible.

        Take care of you, the royal we, and the felidae. Have a wonderful evening and a fab week.

        Namaste 🙂

        DN

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hey Dewin 🙂

        Sorry for the tardy reply 🙂

        A day closer to retirement?…well, I suppose they all add up lol 🙂 It could be the weather. You’re far too young to be blaming your age! All is a dream – I think that is a good thing, unless people are asking you direct questions and actually require useful answers lol. I can relate to sleepy. Not sleeping well at the moment might soon turn me nocturnal lol

        Macha is a great choice, capturing her spirit perfectly. So, if you’ve already named her, you don’t need to know her real name, do you? 😀

        Dropping movie quotes into a conversation is always cool 🙂 No, seriously I’m an introvert. A shy, retiring, blend-into-the-background introvert… It sounds like you’ve a great spot there with the birds. Home should always be a haven of tranquillity 🙂

        I read your drivel. You read mine. Sounds fair lol 🙂

        No 3rd king…hmm…you know, you could always draw a card yourself from a deck of cards to see if that can add meaning or context to your kings. (It’s what I would have done if I was giving a tarot reading). 2 kings still sounds very significant. The VW car badge is a really cool find. Did your week “throw up a curious surprise, a treasure of unimaginable worth and importance”? I hope so 🙂

        2 chocolate eclairs – it sounded like you deserved them with that crazy busy start to the week 🙂

        Wishing you the brightest blessings for a sunny and fun-filled weekend 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    • Hey Dewin. I think I’ve finally managed to catch-up with all the comments 🙂 Yay!

      I can’t believe how fast this year has gone either. It seems only days ago when I was pondering over the things I wanted to get done this year! And we’re already halfway through it! Eek!

      That’s cool. I’ve not completed the review yet, and won’t be posting it until at least the start of August anyway, because of some themed reading challenges I’ve got going on my book review blog at the moment. We’ll discuss it when we discuss it 🙂

      I’ve not seen Moana, but I checked the song out on You Tube…and oh.my.god…it’s amazing! He sings so well!! ‘Let it go’ is a personal favourite; in fact Frozen is full of amazing songs. Other favourites include: The Bear Necessities from the Jungle Book, Robin Hood and Little John Running Through the Forest from Robin Hood, Colours of the Wind from Pocahontas, pretty much every song from The Lion King…and they’re just the ones off the top of my head lol 🙂

      I’ve not thought about my list of favourite characters changing with each re-read, so I guess that means that it doesn’t change that much, if at all. I would think, if anything alters, it would be the minor characters rather than the main ones, and probably the ones that were left out of the films. Or the characters that walk the middle line…Galadriel would probably be one of these.

      I hope you have a great evening, Dewin, full of wonder and charm 🙂

      Brightest Blessings for the rest of the week 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  20. Hi Sammi. Just dropped by to see what you’re doing, my fellow cabin-writer (2018). It seems we have much in common; I could give multiple ticks to your list of inspirations. And I, too, resort to long countryside walks, photos from which now form the bulk of my blog-posts while I submerge my head in prepping Asaric Tales for Kindle publication.
    & ta muchly for the follow. I have ticked some posts here, but I seem to have a glitch on the system and the ‘likes’ don’t always show up.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Hi Crispina, Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. I’ve been neglecting the blog for the past couple of weeks in an attempt to get a writing project finished before Camp starts. But, it’s going to be longer than I intended so I’m going to “bring” it with me to the cabin 🙂 I can’t wait to head over to your blog – I love nature photos, especially trees and tree roots – as you’ve noticed 🙂 Things sound exciting with Asaric Tales – whilst I’m over at your blog I will look for more information 🙂

      Like

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