20 May 2011

Fond farewell (for now)

Dear occasional readers, “followers” and faithful friends


For several years I have been blogging rather randomly, at least according to my profile—although one of my blogs has seen more activity than others. In recent weeks I have undergone some changes in my health (and, alas, a return of that old nemesis, carpal tunnel syndrome). While I work towards using my hands less (!) to relieve the immediate symptoms of CTS, I have made the radical decision to cease and desist from blogging for the foreseeable future.


I love writing, and will most likely continue to do so (it’s oxygen for my soul), but I suspect I blog each week more out of habit than anything else. It seemed a good idea at the time….


Thank you for your kind input in my life in general, and this blog in particular. I shall leave the NLSC blog active for a while, and then decide whether or not to delete it. Please stay in touch via e-mail: emph71@gmail.com or FB: facebookphillips@gmail.com; I shall also post updates on my Web site: www.elainemaryphillips.com – thanks again.

02 May 2011

May Day

Oh, joy!
The sweet month of May is upon us, and with a sigh of relief RP shreds another pile of paper. Tax season winds down, and today we can rest awhile.


This week’s deadlines seem more manageable, somehow: and more celebratory. The weekend’s Graduation festivities await, and our 16th anniversary is here: May 6. Can it be more than 20 years since we met as young adults on a hike?


Happy May, dear Reader.

30 April 2011

Last day of April

“April is the cruellest month,” wrote T.S. Eliot. Indeed.


This past week involved too many research papers (and there are more), too many taxes (and there are more), and too much snow (and there is more). It’s spring! And still snowing! Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow?

On the plus side: it is 4ºC. Plus.

And somewhere, in other green(er)-grassed provinces, crocuses and daffodils are a-blooming. (Here I suspect all we have are snowdrops.)

Truth be told, I do enjoy snow. From October to March. September’s a wee bit early, and April’s a tad late in the season for us still to be wearing snow gear.

“Where are the songs of spring?”

Here are a few April spring snow scenes:

Tomorrow is May Day. I’ll post a suitable pic if I remember.

Happy May, everybody!

31 March 2011

Last day of March

Wow--I see today that I haven't posted anything for a whole month. Hmmn. I need to rectify that!

Here, then, are some photos taken on the weekend, while waiting (longing!) for spring in Alberta:


















28 February 2011

Last day of my birthday month

Even though it’s my weekly cyber-silent Monday, I simply could not let February end without posting something here about the sweetness of this past month. From day one I was filled with a new and almost forgotten contentment; I’ve been trying to capture it in words since returning home from Rivendell, B.C., where I spent a glorious techno-free week in solitude at the end of January. Some things are meant to be experienced, I guess, and cannot be translated into speech. But oh! the grand realisation that life is magnificent took my breath away more than once while I was on my little island retreat.

Perhaps I shall keep trying to find the words to share my joy in the coming months....

Speaking of which, tomorrow I am taking up an insane challenge (which feels like the most natural thing in the world). I plan to write more or less 1,600 words a day ... in order to meet my monthly quota of 50,000 words, or one unedited rough draft of a manuscript. Since fiction’s not my natural voice, I’ll stick to what I know: and write letters.

Yes, all fifty thousand words will have originally been shared with specific recipients by the time my letter anthology sees the light of day (if it ever does, which isn’t the point of the exercise).

I have also embarked on a thorough spring cleaning of our home (and garden, once the snow melts in July), and will post my “dozen a day” goals as and when I meet them. Roll on, March one! I’ll try and post updates in between my late writing nights and daily domestic engineering. By May I trust I will have created some sense of cosmos from my current level of chaos ... and with the right combination of passion and discipline, I may even have a first draft of a new anthology to show for it!

Spring-dreams of new life stir beneath the frozen earth, despite our dismal minus 26ºC reality….

12 January 2011

www.elainemaryphillips.com

While this NLSC blog will remain the place I post photos and weekly doings, comings and goings, I am choosing to share more of my longer writing(s) on my primary website:

Thanks for stopping by.