LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS TO DO FOR 2013: NO. 27

Posted on July 1, 2013 by peggylchambers

patio  As a writer, I sometimes come up against a creativity wall.  I won’t call it writers’ block because I have so many ideas floating around in my head all the time that I know I’ll never have enough time to get them all on paper.  However, sometimes it is hard to concentrate and find a quiet place to get creative.

I follow Kristin Nador’s blog Kristen Nador Writes Anywhere  http://kristinnador.wordpress.com/2013/06/28/write-anywhere-65/#comment-3929  and decided to follow her advice this week about where to write to spark your creativity.  I am always up for suggestions for new and better ways to enjoy being a writer.

Since it is summer in Oklahoma and sometimes as hot as Death Valley, the best time to be outside is after the sun goes down.  Last evening after watering the flower garden, I took my laptop to the patio, turned on the “fiesta lights” (also known as rope lights that line the patio cover) and settled into my patio chair.  My husband could watch TV and I could write until my heart was content.  I wrote until way after dark.  The dog gave up on me and went inside.  I had the insect repellant and a drink on the table next to me and the creative juices flowed.

The hot weather helps me get in the mood for my latest novel “The Beach House” (soon to be renamed Secrets of Sandhill Island) that is set on an island in the Texas Gulf coast. There’s nothing like a summer evening to make you think romance, and since the novel is a romance suspense novel, my characters did a lot of living on the screen of my computer.  And a few bugs landed there too.

Thanks for the great idea Kristin!  Try it, you might find you like it.  Summer is a wastin’!

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS TO DO IN 2013: NO. 26

Posted on June 24, 2013 by peggylchambers

bouquet    Walking down the isle of the small chapel in the handmade dress and the small bouquet of daisies forty-one years ago today, I said “I do” to my high school sweetheart.  There were a few friends and family in attendance.  Barely old enough for a license we started our lives together with no money to fight over and a tiny house with worn out furniture.  It was tough but it pulled us together more tightly because we not only wanted to be together – we couldn’t afford to fail.

I’ve been married longer than I was single. My husband and I sometimes think we’re joined at the hip. We sleep together, live together, work together at the house we bought together and sometimes we fight.  Fighting is part of living together.  It is not an indication of the level of love between two people – sometimes it just has to be done.  Sometimes you just have to assert yourself. And we do.

But, I still love my husband of forty-one years.  I love him when we are together and when we are apart.  I even love him when we fight.  After all, who else would put up with me for this long?  And who else would put up with him?  He encourages me to do the things I want to do, and helps me with the things I have to do.

I made the right decision that Saturday afternoon in the small chapel.  My life would have not been the same without him and I’m glad we didn’t fail.  Here’s to the next forty-one years.

Love you Don – Happy Anniversary.

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS FOR 2013: NO. 25

Posted on June 17, 2013 by peggylchambers

Father’s Day was great.  The small gathering held at my future daughter-in-law’s was adults only this year.  The grandkids had places to be, but the five us enjoyed pizza on the grill, salad, pie and cocktails – yum!  Just the adults and the dogs this year.  cocktails

My husband and I are orphans.  All four of our parents are gone but we are still a family and we get together when we can.  My father was in aviation for 40+ years and his father was a farmer and handyman all his life.  I miss them both but they provided a good solid example of what a father should be and how he should take care of his family. They were loved.

My son is marrying in the fall and will become an instant father of two and I know he is ready.  Anyone can be a father but it takes someone special to be a daddy.  We celebrated his first Father’s Day a little early and he manned the grill.

My husband became a father a little earlier than either of us had in mind but we were both excited to become parents.  The kids grew up with us in some ways, but we have remained close maybe because of this.  We had little in the way of money but made up for it in love.  donandbrandi

Father’s Day is a great reminder of the relationships you have forged in life and helps you to embrace them.    I hope you spent time with your father or the father of your children and made a point to give him a big kiss.  Fathers are the pillars of a family.   Happy Father’s Day!

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THING FOR 2013: NO. 24

Posted on June 10, 2013 by peggylchambers

DSC_0056  Most families have a pet – some have many.  The most popular is always a dog and we are no different.  We have a dog.  A little medium-sized beagle mix named Athena – named for the goddess of war.  She really doesn’t resemble her name.  She is gentle and sweet unless we have company or she sees another dog not on a leash when we are on a walk.  And then she goes nuts!

We found the little light of our lives on Craigslist at the age of six months from a soldier being deployed.  He had found her and her litter in a ditch dumped by some scum of the earth and left to die.  Dogs are better than some humans – they would never do such a thing. We should thank them for being our friends.

Like I said, she is a mutt but she is an intelligent mutt.  She looks a lot like a beagle but her legs are long and her ears are short.  She leaps across the back yard like a gazelle and has a toad friend in her back yard that we have named Bob.  She never tries to hurt him, she just noses him “hello” when he appears after dark and then they go their separate ways.

She loves to ride in the car or better still my husband’s truck.  She is a city dog, not a big tough farm dog or junk yard dog.  When my grandson comes to spend the weekend we blow up a mattress in the living room and let them sleep together.  Whether either one do much sleeping is still up for discussion.

Lately my daughter has acquired a new puppy of the mutt variety.  He has a big future ahead of of him.  Toby is being trained to be a therapy dog so she can use him to sooth clients in her practice.  I think most dogs are therapy dogs.  They know our hearts and are always there to lick your tears away.  Right now he is a very large ten-week old puppy that already weighs 22 pounds.  We’re not sure what breed he is – all of them I think, but he is adorable.  He is already in puppy school and I am sure he is the star pupil.  Ethan&Toby

I’ll bet you have pets.  Tell me about them and send pictures.  I love animals, especially dogs.  Do you have a new one and how has it improved your life?

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS TO DO IN 2013 NO: 23

Posted on June 3, 2013 by peggylchambers

lavender  The lavender is blooming!   It’s spring and hopefully the severe weather is over.  I’m sure that summer is right around the corner.  The temperatures may soar (okay, they will soar) but at least the atmosphere will become more stable and the gardens will grow with all the recent rain.

With summer come festivals of all types.  Sand Springs has an herb festival, Stillwell has a strawberry festival, and Stratford has a peach festival all revolving around when these items ripen and are ready for harvest.  The newest festival to me is the lavender festival.    http://www.lavendervalleyacres.com/id41.html.  They have lavender soap and lavender lemonade just to name a couple of things.

I’m a big fan of lavender.  It smells good; you can bathe in, it or even eat it.  It has been used for century for its medicinal purposes.  It is known to promote calmness and is a perennial plant – it will come back in your garden for years to come.

In my “novel in progress”, The Beach House, Meg grows lavender and other herbs in her garden.  Sam Taylor, the chef at Le Chez has a fondness for fresh herbs in his cooking.  He plans to make Lavender Cherry Sauce for a special dessert at Le Chez just for Meg and Alex.  Here is the recipe.

Lavender Cherry Sauce

 Ingredients

  •  1/4 cup butter
  • 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon  snipped lavender
  • 2 cups pitted cherries
  • Fresh lemon juice
  • Angel food cake or ice cream
  • Toasted sliced almonds

Preparation

Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar, lavender, cherries, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Simmer until cherries are warm. Spoon over sliced angel food cake or ice cream with a few toasted sliced almonds.

Try some lavender in your cooking and see if you like it.  Or if you’re not into eating it, just grow it in a sunny, well drained location where the wind will blow through it and into your open windows. After all this is Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plains!  Ahhhhh. Let me know what you think of the Lavender Cherry Sauce or come up with your own recipes.  I can’t wait to hear back from you.

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS TO DO IN 2013: NO. 22

Posted on May 27, 2013 by peggylchambers

Memorial Day    Today is Memorial Day – a day originally set aside to celebrate the military men and women who have died in the service of our country.  But, the holiday has grown so that we also celebrate people we knew who have passed from our lives for any reason.  People we remember with good memories or bad that had an effect on us.

This week Oklahoma has more people to remember than normal.  After the tornado that hit Moore last week killing 24 people, families will add to their Memorial Day list for next year.  They were lives that were taken too soon.

I plan to remember those people who died in the tornado last week as heroes.  The teachers that tried to protect their students, the parents that were desperate to reach their children in time, or the people that survived to tell their story are all heroes in my book. And their stories should be celebrated along with their lives.      tornado victim

We all want to be remembered for something.  I think I write to leave a legacy so someone will remember that I lived a life, as well as to share my thoughts and feelings. I hope to be able to revel in the stories left behind as we praise the ones who are no longer with us.  May 20, 2013 will go down in history as one of the biggest tornados to hit the earth in recent history.  An F5 tornado that was on the ground for 17 miles and was more than a mile wide is a terrifying example of Mother Nature – and also a fine example of humanity’s ability to survive or die trying.

My hat is off to Moore, Oklahoma and the fine people who live and died there.

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS FOR 2013: NO. 21

Posted on May 20, 2013 by peggylchambers

new thingsMy new thing for this week was a girl’s weekend in Tulsa.    I love my spending time with my daughter.  That is not to say, I don’t love my son, I do.  But, the relationship between mother and daughter is different.  For the last few years we have taken a weekend “girl’s trip,” no boys allowed.  My son would never do that – we have a different relationship.  This last weekend was our belated Mother’s Day Mother-Daughter trip.peggy & Brandi

We traveled to Tulsa and stayed at the Marriott Tulsa Hotel Southern Hills   http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/tulse-marriott-tulsa-hotel-southern-hills/  mostly for the spa and the fountains (or the martinis).  fountain  We scheduled massages early in the afternoon and I turned into a big bowl of pudding.  I was so relaxed my daughter had to remind me to pay!  At least that was my excuse.  We spent most of the rest of the afternoon shopping. Girls love shopping.

phillbrook  The following day we went to the Philbrook Museum http://philbrook.org/ which was featuring the Aphrodite exhibit.  I adore Greek and Roman art.   The museum itself was formerly the home of the Waite Phillips family; a 1920s villa situated on 23 acres of formal and informal gardens and has since been turned into a museum. I was in love with the architecture and gardens.  I have decided what my little brick ranch style house lacks columns.  You know big roman columns and maybe a fountain with statues in the middle.  I’m just sayin.’ columns

I LOVE girl’s weekends!  What did you do this last weekend?

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS FOR 2013: NO. 20

Posted on May 13, 2013 by peggylchambers

roses   My feet hurt!  I just spent the last week standing on my feet working Mother’s Day at the flower shop.  I hadn’t done that in over 30 years but my friend that runs the shop decided I should try again.  Thanks Pat – I think.  And since I was one of the younger women working there I had nothing to gripe about.  By the end of the week, we were all so tired we were stupid, and my feet may never be the same again.

I’ve spent most of my working life at a desk with my hips spreading and my feet shriveling.  They aren’t used to so much time on the ground holding up my weight.  My feet are old, have bunions from high heels and neuromas from – something.  Thank goodness I could at least wear my jeans and tennis shoes.  But even tennis shoes could not make my feet feel good at the end of a ten-hour shift eating lunch at the counter as I worked.  The only time I sat down was in the bathroom!

I’ll admit I’m hard-headed.  I like to prove that I can still do what I used to do when I was young.  I was a florist once and remember Valentine’s and Mother’s Days.  They were grueling.  This week there were about ten of us working – some to deliver, some to design the flower arrangements, some to answer the phone, some to blow up countless balloons, and some to work the floor selling our wares once we created them.  We had a refrigerated tractor-trailer backed up at the door running constantly as a backup refrigerator to keep the flowers fresh since our coolers were overflowing.

The tiny shop is attached to a large grocery store so it provides one-stop shopping.  I have never seen such hard working people as those in the grocery store stocking shelves, checking patrons, filling deli trays and always with a smile.  I had never been in the back of a grocery store before but here you shop for Mom’s flowers, candy, cake and dinner.  And shop they did.  Everything from a bud vase to a vase of two dozen roses – we sold them all. We also had tons of plants for the gardening mothers who would prefer growing flowers over cut ones.  And then there were the corsages.  I have no idea how much money was made but hopefully we made some mothers happy.

Well, I did it even though I am not sure why – it wasn’t for the money.  It was tiring but fun and I found I still had an artistic side.  I have no plans for tomorrow except to see if my hammock still fits me.

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS FOR 2013: NO. 19

Posted on May 6, 2013 by peggylchambers

banquet  Hi everyone, I hope you did something new this week.  I attended the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc. annual conference over the weekend and I had such a great time.  I learned a lot, met a lot of people and rekindled some old relationships.

The conference took place in Norman, OK at the Embassy Suites with five of my best friends and authors from the Enid Writers’ Club; Bobby Mardis, Martha Draper, Chantell Tiatrakul, Karen Evans, and Marsha Kay Oldham.  We listened to speakers, pitched our stories to publishers, sat through sessions on how to be creative, sell short stories, publish graphic novels and more.  Chantell won fifth honorable mention in the Flash Fiction category from 56 entries.  It was Chantell’s first conference and she rose to the occasion in fine form!  Congratulations, Chantell, we are all so proud of you.Chantell

I had the honor of “shepherding” the two graphic novelists Ron Fortier and Rob Davis from Airship 27 and learned more about graphic novels than I ever imagined.  I had no idea what all went into the novels after the author wrote the story.   Their latest novel “Daughter of Dracula” isn’t your kid’s comic book and gives new meaning to the phrase “show, don’t tell.”   http://robmdavis.com/Airship27Hangar/airship27hangar.html.

I also met Rhonda Penders Editor and Chief of The Wild Rose Press, Inc. and Ally Robertson editor with the Crimson Rose section of the press.  I attended their buzz session and Rhonda was serving birthday cake for her own party.  They publish romance novels – sweet ones, erotic ones, romance with a little suspense thrown in and others.  Please visit them at http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/.

I met many of the authors I have come to know through Buzzbooks (http://buzzbooksusa.com/) and Oklahoma Women’s Bloggers (http://www.oklahomawomenbloggers.com/) and had a chance to share my experience with them.  I was excited to see that authors Jennifer McMurrian (http://www.jennifermcmurrain.com/) and Jan Morrill (http://www.janmorrill.com/) attended with their mothers and all won awards.  Generational writing!

I’m already excited for next year – bring it on!

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LUCKY THIRTEEN – FIFTY-TWO NEW THINGS FOR 2013: NO. 18

Posted on April 29, 2013 by peggylchambers

recycle  I’ve read articles stating that if each person that drank water from a bottle threw them into the trash, there would be enough to circle the earth.  I know that you can buy reusable water bottles with and without filters and not buy bottled water, but my family drinks more water if it is in a cold bottle in the frig.  So I buy bottled water.  But I recycle the water bottles; I don’t throw them into the regular trash even if it is getting harder and harder to recycle in my town.

A few years ago my hometown quit picking up recycling along with the trash.  If you wanted to recycle you had to take it to a central location yourself.  It wasn’t convenient, but we thought it was important so we did it.

Oklahoma weather took care of Enid’s first recycling plant with a small tornado.  So, Enid secured another area and staffed it with workers and bins.  My husband and I took the recycling that was stacking up in the garage on Saturday mornings to the recycling center.  It seemed to be a meeting place where you ran into old friends and it had a certain amount of social value as well as civic responsibility.

Lately the recycling plant has disappeared again.  No we haven’t had another tornado, but the city planned to move the site to another location.  Before they could get set up, they lost the lease.  I understand it is tied up in litigation at present.  So, if you want to recycle in Enid you must take it to the city dump and there is a location outside where you can leave it.

The city dump is notorious for nails and things that take out perfectly good tires, so we only go there if we absolutely have to.  My husband works at the Air Force base south of town and we are now using their recycling bins.  But, if you don’t have access to the base, you can’t use it.  The dump is the only option in Enid for free.  However, some enterprising individuals have come up with a curbside recycling called Keepin’ Enid Green  http://keepinenidgreen.com/ and you can pay to have your recyclables picked up each week for about $120.00 per year (which is less expensive than a new tire).  Necessity is the mother of invention and Enid had the need.

I understand that recycling does not have to be convenient but, some people cannot recycle in this town anymore.  There are people that don’t have access to a place to bring take recyclables or money to pay someone else to do it.  More thought needs to be put in to this problem if we are going to alleviate the growing trash problems on our planet.  We need a new plan – what do you think, any ideas?

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