This Perfectly Imperfect Life

Autumn journal. Holly tree in bloom. Knockout rose. Thanksgiving prep on Thanksgiving Eve. I am thankful for the grounding and comfort of journaling, always seeing something beautiful on my walk into town, roses that survive killing frosts and freezes, and the pure joy (despite the pure exhaustion) of cooking and baking for Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Eve!

Front porch Zinnia And Happy All Saints Day. I'm not ready for you, November, not ready to say farewell to October.  Not ready for 30 days of Thanksgiving* not ready for 30 days of daily writing, both beginning today. (Although I'm thankful every day and I should be writing every day - my bestie and I's version of NaNoWriMo , because we're not up to 1,667 words per day this year).  Not ready for the hustle and bustle of the holidays, not ready for the weather to turn completely cold once more. But, I keep reminding myself there's still plenty of Autumn to be had, and so November, I welcome you. *Join me here for 30 Days of Thanksgiving starting tomorrow!

Hello friends! Yes, I'm still here, but this Summer has been on the hectic side, medically and otherwise, so, without meaning to, TPIL has been on hiatus. (And I've been mostly off social media as well). Hopefully after this coming week, things will begin to settle down some, and then I can find my way back here again. I have finally, FINALLY started writing my book though, so that's exciting news! In the mean time, you can find me on Instagram (see the right hand column). I hope Summer has been full of blessings for you!

For another installment of The Mono Diaries! I would like to say I'm finally getting better, again, (knocks on wood) but I'm afraid to think that because I felt like I was turning a corner a couple of weeks ago, and then caught cold-flu bug and went back down hill. (To the point the Hubbs was genuinely worried about me, emotionally as well as physically). As a result, I haven't been retested for mono yet, so I don't know if I still have it or not. (I'm hoping not!) I have to touch base with the doctor tomorrow or Wednesday and go from there. So it's February! How in the heck did that happen already?!  I did finish reading two novels in January: A Fall Of Marigolds by and The Invention Of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. Both had me feeling like I had been on incredible journeys by the time I finished each! Highly recommended.  Have you read anything good so far this Winter? We've had winter storm after winter storm, although we are faring bet...

The name of my blog abode here has changed over the years, as so many of you know.  It started out as Just Diggin' Around, and then became Diggin' Around. Not that long ago, after much contemplation, I made a big change with renaming it The Portable Homestead. And that was the right thing for me at the time.  In recent weeks however, I've been rethinking the name again.  The Portable Homestead is where we live, where Hubbs is caretaker, and where I garden (mostly in containers), so that will continue to be a part of my blog, but (to me) it narrows the focus, or direction of you will, and I want my blog to have a name that's more encompassing of my life as a whole, vs just a specific area of it. Not that I have let the name (TPH) change what I write about, I still share as I always have, but a different name would help me to feel more comfortable about sharing in the same way - if that makes sense.  Earlier this month, I was writing a letter...

November 8 I am thankful for inspiration and positive reinforcement in unexpected places at unexpected times. November 9 I am thankful for good days like this one spent with the Marine, not doing anything particularly special, but because we were together, and with friends off and on, the day was special. (And it flew by too quickly!)

It has been a rough couple of weeks (scroll to previous post or click here ), and this Thursday was an awful living with disease day, but this week has also been a productive one writing wise. Usually in the morning, after I wake and before morning pages journaling and breakfast, I add my favorite moments of the previous day (or what I was most thankful for the previous day, or a goal I want to accomplish) to my happiness jar. (For the down low on happiness jars, click here  to be taken to author Elizabeth Gilbert's post).  As I was finishing up my note paper for Tuesday, 10/7, the day I had an MRI after which I was in awful pain, I wrote down "Finding books I have had on my list for some time on the bargain rack! Simplest pleasures = greatest joy!!!"  Simplest pleasures = greatest joy.   I continued writing about this in my journal. In a nutshell: Simplest Pleasures = Greatest Joy will be a new featured post here at The Portable Homestead an...

What you're seeing here are my favorite shots from today. The weather was perfectly Autumnal all day. Sun up to sun down, classic September! Perfect. Windows open wide to chilly breezes & nonstop sunshine inspired me to start decorating for my favorite time of year! Yes folks, and so it begins... 

Are you on Instagram? Me too! Without intending to, my Instagram has become my micro-blog. It's now my immediate go-to when posting photos along with short text posts. I didn't expect how much I would enjoy using IG as well as the interactions with other users there.   I didn't mean to get derailed here once again! There's so much to keep up with in the online (and offline) world anymore. Add my unpredictable health to the mix and it's all too much at times, even though I've always been conscious about using what sites/apps I enjoy vs what the status quo is at any given time. Our recent vaca was a great technology/app break and I've tried to keep that going to a large degree since being home. (Coming down with a wicked awful sinus infection the day after we got home on 7/20 and only starting to feel better on 8/3 has helped with the extended break!) What I'm going to try focus on in the weeks to come is sharing here at The Portable Hom...

I realize I posted earlier today, but I had a great foggy day here at home and I couldn't wait to share these bloom photos :-) Hope y'all have had a fabulous Friday!

Hello friends! I hope your Sunday has been as beautiful where you are as it has been here. (In spite of the terribly gusty blustery winds that is!) Today is Mom's 74th birthday and I think a good day was had by all.  What's that, you ask? Where have I been, you ask? Well, I've had a horrendously debilitating flare-up of arthritis and nerve pain recently, which has caused a domino affect of course, so I have been very much MIA online as well as off line. Regardless of additional meds and treatment, sometimes it's all a matter of waiting it out and praying it will pass sooner rather than later. This is likely later though. I'm not sure I'm out of the woods yet with this flare-up but I'm sure hoping so! It's been so awful. It would be nice to be able to catch up on some things around the home, get a little reading done, regroup and refocus (again) on writing this coming week. But, I'm not going to push my luck or myself at this point. (I definitely don...

Last Friday, I started re-reading Courage and Craft by Barbara Abercrombie and the following  To Do from the book really stood out to me this time: "Try writing a description of what's outside your window for twenty-one days. Train your eye as if you were looking through a camera or had a paintbrush in your hand." This helps you to really see what's going on around you and not let the writing be only about what you're feeling at any given time your journal. While I've been making it a habit to make myself journal during times of upheaval (something I used to do, but then quite suddenly stopped in 2010), I thought this would be a great exercise for me to challenge myself with. Barbara's book is a great resource and source of inspiration! On Saturday 3/15, I sat at the kitchen table, where I do a lot of my writing in general, looked out of the patio doors, which essentially combine to make one enormous window, and wrote: Outside my window - #1 - ...

I never know how to mark this anniversary and it seems to sneak up on me more quickly with each passing year. This blog is still a joy for me, as are you my dear friends! Here's to many more years!

Yesterday, I wrote about my recent writing struggles here  and not knowing where it was coming from or what to do about it. Yesterday afternoon, during an email exchange with bestie G, I had an epiphany, which I did elude knowledge to in yesterday's post, but it didn't hit me until I was hashing it out with G. As I read one of her replies, I thought to myself that it it feels like this writing block is final and something has died inside of me. And then I thought of Ceasar kitty. I stopped writing (again) to take care of him starting in November and cared for him right through New Years, until I had to have him put down on 1/2. And once we found out he had cancer and it was only a matter of time, it was awful time for me. I'm in mourning. I know 'he was just a cat' some would day but I was in my early 20s when I got him and now I'm nearly 40! (That's not helping the writers block either btw - I'm 16 months away from 40?!) Being home day in d...

Hello friends! I can hardly believe it's been a little over two weeks since my last post. Where does the time go anymore? Mother Nature has decided to give is a true Northeast Winter this season, our first (mostly) normal Winter in about a decade. The Midwest and even the South are getting slammed with harsh extremes though and my thoughts & prayers are with them. As I write this, a trio of state plows are rumbling by, rattling the windows & vibrating the floor, clearing away & salting last nights dusting. (Our section of the road is part of a residential U-turn for the state highway we're just off of. Local plows don't touch this area). I don't mind the (bitter, frigid) cold outside, but it's been too chilly for me indoors until the day before yesterday. Whatever adjustment Hubbs made to the boilers is working, yay! With this our first cold & snowy Winter in so long, seeing the beauty of it has made my heart sing with joy! Hubbs has been takin...

Hello friends! Popping in quickly to say I haven't forgotten to be thankful daily despite the recent lack of posts and I am *so* excited about writing again and I can't wait to tell you why! To my fellow Whovians, wasn't Day Of The Doctor brilliant?!  Happy 50th Anniversary Doctor Who!  Bravo and well done! See you back here soon :-)

Louisa May Alcott. Beloved author who created Jo March, my all time favorite character of any book I've ever read, who inspired me to become a writer at the age of 11. I often find myself seeking Louisa out.  Trying to find Louisa.  I'm not entirely sure what that means myself, it's a feeling I can't quite explain, that comes and goes throughout the year, but especially as the seasons change or when I am struggling with my own writing. Recently I began trying to explore this feeling (via writing, privately). I was so excited and overcome the first (and only) time I visited Orchard House, her most famous home, I was on the verge of tears from the moment we pulled up until well after leaving the house and later the cemetery where she is buried. Because I first visited Autumn (of 2008), I find myself wanting to make another pilgrimage north to the stunning Autumn of Concord, MA to visit her again each Autumn. Not possible in the literal sense, unfortunately, so I wil...

Written Friday, September 27, 2013 Well great googley moogley, I hit rock bottom the end of last week and through the weekend! Friday I came down with what I thought was a wicked awful case of (self inflicted) food poisoning which turned out to be a wicked nasty stomach virus! (We figured it out when Hubbs started getting sick on Sunday with the same thing). Top 5 sickest I’ve ever been and I nearly died 2 of those times! This time I actually felt like I was going to die (and wanted to quite honestly – others who’ve had it have said the same thing). A week later for me and I’m still not 100% though I have graduated to light foods besides soup, crackers & toast and I was actually hungry today. (Apparently it’s going around so Watch Out!) Thankfully I’m feeling better emotionally now than I was last weekend in the middle of it all. The lowest I have been in a very long time. I think I’ve been leading up to it anyhow what with what I wrote about in my last piece. (Anger, r...