Last evening I was siting on the screened porch that we made six years after our home was built. In the large picture above, the porch sits to the left side. The screens are home made and can be taken off if desired. The doors were made at a company in Carlisle, PA. They are wooded, lots of screen, but with the old time handles.

Anyway, as I sat there reading I looked up occasionally to see what might be walking around the woods. Sure enough, five deer were moving around the feeding stations looking for food. Two bucks, plus mommy and her twins. The spots are gone now from the twins, and the bucks have a nice rack of antlers already. An antler grows about a quarter inch a day inside a soft coating filled with arterial blood, a nourishing tissue known as velvet. Antlers are bone--the calcium to make them comes from the deer's own body. By September, antler growth is complete, and the velvet that nourished the bone falls off in strips. It seems the deer know that Labor Day just passed. Every year it's the same.

I'm thinking that I need to go to the feed store to get some cracked corn. Right now I only put a small amount out every three or four days. Just a little bit to let them know they will always have food at my feeding stations as winter and colder weather approaches. The deer don't need me in their life, but I love being a part of theirs. Who knows, maybe we both need each other. Nature provides strange bedfellows at times!

Ahhhhhhhh, Nature!

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There is nothing like going out to my garden, picking a container of blueberries, and then eating them! Especially in my writing cabin. I have a small refrigerator in there and it comes in very handy.

While I was picking this morning, I tuned in to the sounds of Nature all around me. Wrens, bluebirds, red-winged blackbirds, and mockingbirds were serenading me over and over again. When I looked up to find them, I also spotted a red fox. She was scamping along the fence row next to the field, I haven't yet seen her babies this year, but I'm hoping....

Now, as I sit here looking out at the woods surrounding me, I understand the messages I'm being given. Simplicity is today's theme. Less is more it has been said, and if you are a lover of Nature you will agree. I see subtle changes from day to day and that is enough.

Nature is always enough!

Cute as a writing cabin!

The book FROM SCRATCH was written within the walls of this writing cabin. Cute as a button the cabin sits in a wooded area close to my home that I built FROM SCRATCH. 

I wrote to the music of the birds, frogs, and peepers, each day for several years. If you haven't had a chance yet to read this book you can get a copy online at Amazon or Barnes&Noble. Also, it is available in local bookstores if you happen to live or play in upper Bucks County.

With help from my family and my partner I was able to finish the inside of my cabin last week. Now it is ready to accept the challenge of another book to be written, and so am I.

After meeting and talking with a very precious book club in Newtown, PA last week, I realized there may be other book clubs who would like me to speak to them as well. My contact information is below.

It has been an interesting spring this year. So much rain and wind has kept me from going forward to complete the cabin. But now, with a little cooperation from the weather and a lot of love given to the project, the cabin stands strong in all of its cuteness. It is hard to be humble enough to enter and begin writing yet another book or story, but I will give all the effort I have to keep moving forward. As I sit here at my window watching a Rufous-sided Towhee hop in the leaves, I realize the wonder nature has to give.

https://www.paradyszs@gmail.com

My boyz!

I looked into these two little faces of love this morning and melted...again. They give me the courage to go forward in every moment of my day, by sharing their souls and trust with me. 

Courage and trust are huge in my life. Let me give you an example, if you don't mind. Three or four years ago, I decided to write a memoir about building a new home. At sixty years old. It took me so long to write the book, edit the book, rewrite the book, edit the book, etc. Then I questioned myself as to whether I might even try to publish it, because I didn't feel worthy. It took every ounce of my courage to go forward and publish, but I did. It took every ounce of my trust to think someone would purchase the book, but they did and my words have helped so many. Imagine.

At times in our lives we are all challenged in some way. If we choose to trust, we will find the courage needed to do most anything. So, take a deep breath and begin something, anything that's been on your mind. You will find yourself in an new life, an unknown world really. Scary? A bit, yes, but it's so exciting to live a more fulfilled life. 

My book, FROM SCRATCH, has led me to a lovely life that empowers me each and every day.

I hope you become successful in every thing that challenges you. Trust.

My new book!

Just published my new book! A memoir to help people find their passion in life and move forward, regardless of circumstances, to make it happen.

Insights into purpose, love and forgiveness, while wearing a tool belt and swinging a hammer to build her new home. At age sixty!

If you have been locked away from your dreams, or not able to believe in yourself, FROM SCRATCH brings insight to those who have been searching.

Ahhhhhhhhh

It has been way too long since I've posted a new blog. In fact, it was a spring post. Lordy!

The summer got away from me and I've been doing battle with my cancer and the chemo side-effects. It is a challenge, but I can handle it with meditation and time spent alone.

With that said, this is my time of year to rejuvenate. In order to refill all the parts inside me that need work, I head to Maine. It is the one place that this New England girl loves. When I take time away from my normal life, I want to go where I can walk, hike, and breathe in fresh pine-filled, and ocean-filled air. It is clean and helps me spend time within.

For my needs cleanliness is very important. If the areas that surround me are unkempt, then so are my thoughts. My emotional body needs to be free of "stuff". I suggest this for anyone who wants to improve their quality of meditation or their solitude. At least it works for me.

Maine gives me all of that and more. The sound of the waves hitting rock, the crunch of pine needles under my feet as I hike, and the feeling of salt on my skin. Ahhhhhhh, such a gift. I'm headed to Maine later this month and my heart and mind are already there.

We all need time alone. I hope life gives us this opportunity, but if it doesn't, find a way to make it happen. I make it a priority every year and it isn't easy to do that. But if I really want to walk my talk, I find that way. I hope you might do this as well.

Happy late summer to everyone. :)

Cutest writing cabin....EVER!

As I sit inside the gentleness of my cabin I'm reminded that summer is just hours away. In the last days of spring, with all the newborns running and flying around, I have the chance to renew myself again.

Just as the fledglings topple from one tree branch to another trying to get their wings adjusted to flight, the fawns are hopping and jumping with glee. In this new environment they are happy yet mindful of what they are being taught.

I'm learning as well. Spring brings opportunity to start over, bringing the best I have forward to others as well as myself. The animals and birds show me innocence, it is how they are born. We as humans have the choice to decide which side of the divide we want to be on. The side of caring and sharing, or the side of a more ego-filled existence. I don't believe that any of us choose the latter necessarily, but we all slip back at times and forget to listen. Nature shows us the path to walk, it is up to us to move forward on it.

From my cabin I see nothing but nature. It can be harsh and cruel at times, but mostly it is spectacular. As I head into summer I'm lifted within myself to help the forgotten or the innocent. There are many who are brave, going forward in this world alone or with no one to help them at crucial times. Perhaps I might do a better job of being there for them. To listen and care more, while loving unconditionally.