1st November: NANO!!!!

Day one of NaNoWriMo and I couldn't be more excited to begin. After trying and coming in short last year I've come into this Nano a little more prepared. (Well, that being said, I don't have a plot as such) what I have is a book full of ideas which have been collected over the past year, ideas I thought I would be able to expand upon.) We'll see how what one turns out!

I do how ever have my title...! I am excited about this. Even though by the end of Nano I may have changed it a thousand times. As it stands my 2009 November novel has the title: The Keeping of Together.

Write-in one was held at a Pancake parlor this morning. There were authors of all different genres, and ages. Although we call them write-ins we all know the truth of the matter is minimal writing is actually done at said events. Yet it is encouraging to have this group of people come together all attempting this same challenge.This year we have badges and stickers! Oh yay!I love both!

I have been feeling horrible about the lack of attention I have given this poor blog. Though I am determined to keep it updated during the month of November, even if my eyes start crossing with seeing too many words on a screen, and my fingers cramp up.

NaNo word count to date: 1745 words
Words left:48,255
Days left before the end of Nano: 29

27th October: Life happens

Upon finding yourself in the bathroom with an empty cardboard tube of toilet roll, you call for help...

What can you do but laugh, when being in such a vulnerable position, and through the door your sister hands you a giant roll of kitchen paper.



For the love of small mercies!

25th October: Returning

Has it really been that long already?

UPDATE TIME:

Over the past few weeks I have had some hospitality temping shifts. This has taken me to a military base, Sport function centre, airport... Its been interesting to say the least. It has caused me to have to organise my life a little better then it has been for a long time. And although I am in no way 'sorted' out, I feel in my mind that things are starting to straighten out.

Along with many changes, I have come to a point where I can feel a great change of who I am into a new someone I'm becoming. My Grandma has always said that you change every 7 years. (As it turns out I have kept more on time with this then many things... as soon I will be celebrating my 21st birthday.)

Without really realising how quickly it all happened life has turned itself into something completely different then where I thought it would be at this time.
Mam keeps telling us all to remember to keep our eyes on the prize.
It is too easy to get caught up in the here and now. (Our prize has the name of THE DAILY PIE!, and what a prize it will be)

In other news, I will be taking part in NaNoWriMo again this year. Starting a week from today, along with many, many other people who take up this challenge, I will be trying to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

Have a lovely week every one,

AND

Let the games begin!

Sarah~Mechelle

Someone Wanted to Say Hullo

1st October: The hunt!

The wonderful curiosities one can find, hidden in a dusty old furniture shop!

One of the rewards of a spontaneous hour spent with Mam in a overcrowded second-hand shop.

Although it can be a bit of a fight finding a way around said kind of stores, squeezing between cupboards and chairs, and any other number of unique, loved items; The truth of the matter is, we would have them no other way.

What fun would the hunt be if there was no fight to be had?!

Not that we went looking for anything. Spending the time together, talking and laughing and imagining what could be done would have been enough for me. Though there are somethings that cant be walked past!

I love the way that shopping with my Mam is each of us finding something, pointing it out to find that exact item already either in the sights or hands of the other! This is quickly followed by one of us saying "FREAK!"

Often I have thought that one of us was born in the wrong generation... Either Mam too early, or me too late! For there is no one I would call a better friend then she...

I LOVE my Mam! kiss kiss!

29th September: The Day

The sun is bright, glowing through the blinds, and the feathers, and the drops I have in my window.

The day is waiting for me to get up, and start enjoying it.

The crows are cooing,

The dogs are getting anxious to be let out of their kennel

The coffee machine is on,

The black and white keys I love, are calling my name, "Sarah... play us a tune!"

The dust upon said keys is gloating its swift return

The words in my head are spinning, twirling, running from me to catch them

The washing is waiting

The 'to do' list is growing

The family is sleeping

The time is passing

The song goes round and round

The excitement is growing

I can wait no longer!

We will talk soon! Enjoy your day my Poppets!

~Sarah-Mechelle~

23rd September: Where is my wand?!

If today from my cage of closed-minded-ness I am set free; The first thing my eyes would like to see is the smiles that have occurred in silence. My wings stretch in the freedom; having had them folded for so long caused stubborn creases of bad habits that are taking time to straighten out.

This cage of mind started much like a rash, which so suddenly grew, taking inch after inch; changing everything I knew about the world, everything I knew about myself. It took time before I stopped noticing the itching, and accepted my bounding.

Looking back I am someone quite different then who I was before. Although this happens with time, it is not time alone that has caused this transition, but the experience itself.
There is no going back from where I have been, no one can alter that which is now past.

What happened to my wand? The one that changes things... The wand that brings smiles and happiness to the ones I love. I thought I had it once. I thought it was possible to fix everything.
But I cannot do this alone.

I have shed my blinkers, I can see the pain in the world around me. As much as I didn't want to search for it, I can no longer ignore it now either.
But I can try to throw out a life line...

Once I questioned why other people didn't seem to see the beauty in the world... I wondered if they truly could not see it. I have come to understand, that they too could see it, it just takes effort to see it. Which sounds strange, that you have to focus to see the good, but it is very much in the same way as we know, it takes less muscles to smile then to frown... Yet why are there so many sad faces.?!

Today I look for the rainbow, because the clouds are hiding the sun.

~Sarah-Mechelle~

21st September: To You

To the clouds that make shadows of the rays

To the colours who's glory I will forever be in awe

To the wind, in your warmth as you mess up my hair

To the sun in who's light my skin tingles

To the birds and the bees, your tune in my ears you sing

To the smells of dirt, and cut grass, to fresh air, and the promise of rain

To the words that floated around in this moment, words I had no chance to catch

I wish I could make you understand-
there is a whole big, beautiful world here-
ready for us to live in-
not wishes for tomorrow
nor memories of yesterday-
but now-
a billion fleeting moments
merging together
to make a life time-
Love this moment
and it is forever-
I wish I could make you understand....
~Nan Witcomb~

9th September: These are the moments....

These are the moments that get us through the dark times. That make the good times ever sweeter.

7th September: Flickr

Its photo time!

I opened a flickr account a little while back, with great intentions of putting many photos I take up there. Sadly this didn't happen as I had the great plan for it.

YET...

I will slowly be adding photos up there if you would like to take a look-see.

Middlepaw on Flickr!

3rd September: Reps!

Perks of being just about to open a new food business?....
Free samples from food reps!

The first of many to come: - meeting with suppliers. Although at some stage this may become a very tedious part of my life, for the time being I am enjoying getting to find out about this whole other side of buying, sourcing, and using this vast array of products that are on the market these days.

Before heading into the business of pies, I had no idea there were tens of different types of butter, each processed in a particular way. I would not have known to be able to mention the enormity of everything they have a product for.

Oh and the thrill of having found a product that may just be what you were looking for.

Time moves at a faster pace while the man is sitting there going through a pile of different papers with the products he supplies. As he tells you the story behind each different manufacturer of the goods.

You sit there listening, throwing in a question or two when you remember to. (Telling yourself the whole time that you will not be sucked in by his 'sales man talk', yet there you sit, getting more and more excited with each new product shown to you - or sample that is offered.) Oh yes, the perks!

27th August: The Ceiling of Pandora

There are things one learns about old buildings.... Nothing will be as easy as it first seems it might be.

Along the process of fixing up our old servo, which will soon house the long awaited "The Daily Pie", there has been no end of things that need more work than we had thought from our first assessment of the job.

This rings true of the ceiling which will soon be the ceiling above the cafe/gallery area. What was going to be one day spent on step-ladders with mops and rags sugar soaping... Has turned into 5 days worth of up a ladder grinding off paint that was under prepped when applied 20 odd years ago.
The other thing about old buildings is lead paint; and the fact that having lead paint means a mask must be warn throughout the tedious job of removing it. (Lets face it, no body can breath properly with those darn things on.)

Each day I have been walking home for lunch looking much like the ghosts of stories passed. White (red) eyed and teeth, all that remain un-dusted.

What started out as a few flaky bits of paint, actually ended up being everyone of the gall strips holding up each ceiling panel. The more you look the more there is to be found. Its a scary place to be, in that... Yes it needs to be done right, though we also need to free up other jobs by finishing it.

It is here I will mention, there are other things you learn when doing up old places... The tricks of the trades. Here follows a new segment I will have to consider keeping as a regular feature on this blog.... "product 'shout-outs' that save hours worth of work."

The Josco Brumby Strip-it Disk! This humbly named disk beats any sanding tool of choice when it comes to removing layers of old paint from anything, wood, steel, aluminium, fiberglass, cement. You name it, and I'm sure it could do it. It can take a few tries to get it right and not 'dig' in, but if it is kept flat, and you avoid beveling the edges, it can remove a tremendous amount of unwanted pile-up.


(Please note, I have not been paid to mention the fabulous results that can be achieved by said disks. Truly they have been my sanity in paint-removal solutions.)

25th August: Reading material!

During the past few busy weeks I have been storing up reading materials.

It is exciting getting to start turning a few pages again, as I have been in a limbo state with my last book for a good month or so now.

I was thrilled to have picked up a full collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. Their simple structures and directness of story telling has made it a simple pleasure to read them.

Sadly I have also been stowing away copies of that wonderful paper my grandpa picks up for me. I have done a quick scout through each, but they wait now for me to find the twenty hours required to read, cut and paste within my book of inspiration.
What would the world be without the written word!

24th August: All there is to do is Smile

I have been sadly neglecting this space of mine. Despite the bus-y-ness, and excitement of all that is going on I have missed coming here to share it.

So without farther ado, here are some things that made me smile:



# Early morning rush to finish music theory for-
# Early morning music lessons
# New shoes which make you want to go dancing
# Spending the day with a dear friend
# Coffee!
# Talking with said friend non-stop for hours
# A lunch of Italian proportions, focaccia and spaghetti
# Being greeted by complete strangers in the street
# Going through racks of gorgeous dresses
# Chocolate cupcakes with thick white icing
# NOT finding a parking ticket upon our late return to the car
# Borrowed books
# More importantly borrowed whole 4th season of Doctor Who! (thankyou thankyou!)
# Drives home with the windows down and music up
# Excited puppies upon arrival home
# Conversations with a special boy
# Hot baths and pajamas
# Watching the first episode of season 4 Dr Who!

Truly there is much to smile about.

7th August: Life is good

Hello hello!

Life is good... Extremely busy, and new... Far too exciting. I seriously have no doubt that if my heart wasn't caged in it would be flying in the Heavens by now.

All minds and hands have been on the enormous job of getting the shop ready to open. This includes any number of tasks from gardening, to plumbing, leveling cement floors, fitting new ceiling and wall panels, cleaning the mess created from these jobs... We could never claim that life has been boring, when each day you head out to face a task you may have never done before, but today you will find a way to figure it out.

Since taking on this building with the great plans to opening a Pieshop/metal gallery, I have learnt so much. Firstly that nothing is impossible. Though it has also taught me a lot about my family as well as myself.

As I'm sure many people find when taking on such a project, it brings out the very best and worst of us all. Tiredness, frustration, and sometimes genuine discouragement toward the whole job brings with it a gloomy mood, which spreads like wild-fire. Though as my Mam points out... So long as one of us is fresh, and in higher spirits, to make the fire when everyone is cold and tired from working... Or spend the time to make a hot meal.
More than any test of skill or work ethic, this project has brought with it the test of patience toward each other.

We have spent countless hours of working together, and overcoming obstacles together... We cannot wait to open it together!

"Cherry, please!"

God's given me a Pie in the sky.
How did I not see this before?!

They say that you sometimes forget to look up

to thank...

Today I remembered.

And I was shown what I am thankful for.

12th July: Father, Daughter Time

Time with my Dad over the years has been spent on some kind of a project or another. Whether it be tiling the kitchen floor together, or fixing a chimney to the roof; passing him tools while he works on a car, putting up new walls or laying a brick boarder around one of the garden beds. We have tried our hands at many different tasks, and this weekend came as no exception.

We had to cut through the concrete floor of the 'Daily Pie' shop to relocate the positioning of the drains. The cutter that we hired for the job was much like a chainsaw, only with a circular blade. Along with filling the whole gallery area with fumes, more fascinatingly this blade makes the most enchanting sound. Under the thumping of the motor, and the grinding of blade to cement, it sounds like a haunting whistling. It was not just one pitch either, but an array of harmonising chimes, that could be heard as though far away; The music didn't belong there, able to be heard beneath the loudness, the echo, and the wonderful bright orange ear-muffs upon my head. But with head down, and eyes front on the job, I pictured a small village on a hill side, and for some reason some monks, with this tune playing over the whole valley.

There was also an amount of jack-hammering done, in conjunction with the cutter. One can not help but feel powerful with one of those in your hands.

As well as relocating where the drains needed to be, we had to also locate where exactly said drain came out. This brought with it the adventure of having to uncover the grease-trap. The lid upon which is made out of 10mm solid steal plate. Lifting it (I can only imagine) is much like opening up a coffin. Not the scary part of finding a body, but the smell is enough to empty your stomach of its contents, and take any appetite away for a good week. Nasty!

Mapping out were the water came out was time consuming to say the least. When you are working with pipes that haven't been used in the past 10 years there is a certain amount of 'who knows what' build up which needs to be flushed out.

We soon discovered what we feared, one particular drain point was blocked beyond a simple flushing. Out of said hole was pulled (without getting into too much detail) the better part of a ten litre bucket worth of solid fat and gunk. I now refere to a certain brick of the 'fat and gunk' that was removed as 'beef wellington'.

I have found that at such occasions one reacts in one of two ways... Either you remove yourself quickly from the scene, with hand over mouth and a tear of utter disgust in your eye OR you find yourself getting on with the job of cleaning/removing while making a ridicules amount of corny jokes.

As the picture might indicate, I went with option two. As I was the only one with arm long enough, and narrow enough to fit in said hole.

At this point I would just like to mention how thankful I am that my Dad isn't a plumber! That it wasn't the family business I grew up in. I don't think I could handle that everyday!

After spending my weekend in such a manner it brought to mind a question... What do other daughters do with their Dad's?

29th June: Greek Wedding

Over the weekend I served at my first Greek wedding. It was interesting seeing first hand these things that I have only ever heard happens.

There was a tremendous amount of food and wine consumed, many words of blessings to the happy couple offered, hours worth of dancing danced, harmonising charms of glasses being tapped all at one time, and {of coarse} the smashing of the plates.

What an experience!

18th June: Who needs Jamie Oliver?

I do not believe that Jamie Oliver

could make a meal that made me smile as much as this one!

Blended burger, dagwood dog (aka corn dog), and corn chips

When feeling sorry for myself at the prospect of not being able to eat solid foods, (due entirely from wisdom removal), there was a friend who promised me blended food wasn't that bad...
And sent me this to try to prove his point.

Sorry, but I don't believe you!