Màiri Campbell ~ Seanachaidh
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Missing in Action

2/8/2015

2 Comments

 
PictureBridhe, sleeping is what is supposed to be a flower bed.
I know that I’ve been MIA for a while now.  Sometimes life is just a bit overwhelming. My husband was in a car accident at the end of June, so my focus was on him and dealing with the insurance companies. July is also a busy month for Scottish Highland Games for us since we work most of them. I did tell my husband that I’m tired of running the clan tent at all the games. It just isn’t fun anymore; it is just more stress than what I want to deal with on such a consistent basis.

If I could learn to relax like my dogs, I’m sure life would be so much simpler. Lol Work is still continuing at the Happy Place property.  The old fridge that was in the trailer has been removed, and the small apartment style fridge has been set up in that hole. I found a free full sized fridge for us to have there; it isn’t the prettiest thing to look at but the inside is clean, and it works. The septic line had to be dug up and replaced as one of the prior owners had buried the flexible hose line. The flexible hoses should never be buried, this one had been and it was breaking down due to that, and no protection for it from the gravel or people walking in that area. I managed to offset some of the cost by digging up that line and disposing of it. Now, we have a proper septic line, and hopefully not many more things like this will crop up for us. I also found some wonderful plates, bowls, serving platters and two large bowls one sale. The most expensive piece was $12 as it was all clearance items and then 50% off the last marked price.

Trying to get any writing done has been difficult not just due to the activities listed above but the cluster migraines that I’ve been having. For those of my readers that don’t know what having a migraine is like, I truly hope that you never learn it. I’ve tried so many different medications it is disturbing, and worse yet is the fact that they all only work so many times for me before I have to switch it up again. Recently my dizzy spells have been getting worse. I’ve always had low blood pressure, and the last few times I’ve been at the doctor’s office he’s asked inquired if anything has changed. Normally a person’s blood pressure is at least slightly elevated when they go to see the doctor. We all know that stress will cause it to rise at least a bit. I’m lucky if mine is 100/56 when I’ve gone to the doctor the last few times.

With only one set of highland games left for us to work this summer, I am hoping that things will level out and I can settle back to a routine for writing again. I just need to get the migraines back under control once again. That and figuring out a way to not be depressed when my husband gets sent out of town for weeks at a time related to work would also be helpful.

I hope that everyone has been well and that the following week finds you all safe and happy.

Blessed Be.


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The pattern on the dinnerware that I found.
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The pathway is now marked with stepping stones, inside the lot.
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The pathway on the outside of the fencing for the lot.
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Tala in her happy spot at the Happy Place.
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Found a sort of sidewalk area under all the dirt and pine needs.
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Getting Busy with Cleaning up

14/6/2015

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A few weeks ago I posted a blog titled Busy Time is Summer Time. I shared images of the property my husband, and I were getting not too far from home but would be a nice little getaway area.
This last Friday my husband and I went up and started some initial clean up. It looked worse when we got there as the weeds had gotten taller. And for those of you that read that post I'm sure you remember how bad the roof was looking due to tree branches. Well, I'm happy to say it is looking much better with just a bit of work; and thanks to some friends that were there we had access to a ladder thus access to the roof. And yes, by us I mean my husband for going up on the roof. lol

The little area around the building, the fire pit and the roof are looking so much better than what it had been. There is still a ton of work to be done but there is already a very noticeable difference, and that makes me very happy.
I will be going up with my little vacuum as it has attachments for both carpeting and the linoleum floors. Trying to sweep things up was just a waste of time so I will not be trying that again there.

I also found a beautiful piece of art buried under weeds next to a tree. It is now cleaned up and next to the totem post. I also got the moss all cleaned off of the three little cement mushrooms. I took a little gargoyle up that I found, someone at some point had painted on him, this will be corrected as soon as I have the time.
I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend and that your summer vacation is starting off nicely.
Blessed Be Everyone.

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You can really see the fire pit now. Yes, the Foxglove plant was left there on purpose. The honeybees were loving it and I am for helping them not hindering them.
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Looking out and across the road. This is the area I'm going to put stepping stones for a little path into our place.
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The little mushrooms and the gargoyle that needs to be repainted.
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He had me toss him up a broom so he could sweep the leave and such off the roof.
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Looking better all the time.
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My husband is amazing!
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You can see the ground now instead of just weeds. lol
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From the outside looking in for what will be the stepping stone pathway.
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You can already tell that my husband has cleaned off part of the roof in this image.
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Trimming up of some of the branches. Ones we had thought were broken off and just laying up there are actually still attached to the trees!
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Life, Gardening and Writing

31/5/2015

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PictureBlack Walnut start
     This last week has been crazy busy with work, school, getting papers filled out for the property at the lake and trying to get plants repotted. It feels like there has been very little time to write anything.
     Thankfully that is not the case. I had some new characters start chattering away at me, and I have over 2,200 words written for a new story. I have the feeling it is going to be a few different new stories that will be listed as adult content.
     I have managed to get new fencing up with the help of my wonderful husband in the backyard. The new set up will make it much easier for me to get to all my plants for repotting, watering and weeding. It has also opened up a new little area for the dogs to play in. Looking over my mint plants I’ve so far managed to get a start from the lemon mint and will be getting starts from the pineapple, Kentucky and the chocolate mints. The other four plants are still too small to try and get starts from without doing potential harm to the entire plant.
     I will be getting starts off of my sage and oregano plants as well as taking quite a few strawberry plants and pansies up to the lake once the area is ready for planting. We should be signing this Friday and since the Bellingham Highland Games are that same weekend I won’t start going up to work on the weeding until the week of the 8th. I found a great buy at Target, some little solar garden lights that were only a dollar each.
     I have managed to replant a small Black Walnut tree and what I think is a plum tree. Only time will tell for sure and then once I know they are doing well enough I will have to find someone that wants them and will continue to care for them while they are little.
     Our radishes are going crazy, and our carrots are finally starting to really show themselves. And the little cherry tomato plant that I rescued is doing just grand. I read an article about getting starts off of your tomato plants and I’m going to be trying it. I’ll keep you all posted on that event.
     As always I’ve added some photos to this post.
     Blessed Be Everyone.


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Plum tree
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Carrots 1
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Carrots 2
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Tomato plant
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Radishes
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Garden lights
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Busy Time is Summer Time

24/5/2015

1 Comment

 
PictureCan't wait to see this in full bloom. What I thought was a dead stick is blooming.
   So, summer time is coming up hard and fast, and life is getting crazy as we get things prepared for the start of the Scottish Highland Games season. So what do we do? Well, we put in an offer on a little vacation getaway spot that is about 45 minutes from home. It is going to take a fair number of weekends to get it all fixed up. Brilliant, right? In our copious amounts of spare time, we will have yet another project to deal work on. Oh and add to that some new characters are talking to me.
   The great thing about this place is that we go up there quite a lot. Especially during the summer to spend time with our friends that have places there and we always have to come home at the end of the evening. One, because we need to take care of our fur kids and Two, well sleep is always a good thing.
   Now with having a place of our own we won’t have to make that drive home to get to bed, and we can take the dogs with us. So excited about this and can’t wait for the closing so that we can start in on getting all the weeds pulled amongst other things to do there.
   I did go up and take some before photos of how the outside area looks as well as the inside of the little trailer. I am posting some of those images with this post. I am not going to post the interior photos as the current owners are supposed to be coming down to get some of their personal belongs out before the deal closes.
   What is driving me crazy about all of this is that closing should be within the first few days of June. Not far, correct? Sadly, the first weekend of June we will not be able to be there as we have the Bellingham Highland Games to attend and then the second weekend we have Anglicon down in Seattle. I will be putting up a post about Anglicon so you all can learn about that if you’re interested. My husband and I have been looking forward to that event for many months now.
   The photos have different captions to them telling what we are going to do at our little hideaway. I will be taking some starts from my mint plants up there as well as other perennials for planting, once the weeding is done. I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Please don’t forget to be thankful for the real meaning of this holiday. So many incredible men and women have lost their lives over the years defending this country. This time is to honor them not to be concerned with who is coming to a BBQ. 

   All though, in my opinion, every day is the day to be thankful for all those men and women. Not only those that serve in our armed forces but also on the police force, firefighters, search and rescue, and other emergency response teams.
   Have a wonderful upcoming week and brightest blessing to you all.

Blessed Be.


1 Comment

Mother's Day 2015

10/5/2015

1 Comment

 
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     I hope that everyone had a more relaxing day than I did today. Lol Last night another branch decided to come down off of the apple tree in the backyard here. So, my day was spent cleaning it up. Thankfully no one was injured; the dogs were in the house with me when it came down. It even managed to miss damaging the garage. There are photos below showing from start to semi-finish of today’s clean-up of the apple tree branch. The part that is left will have to be finished with a chainsaw and a friend that has one of those is coming over on Tuesday—weather permitting.
     I got my spearmint, peppermint and catmint plants repotted finally. There is a photo below showing them all lined up in that order and even a close up of the little flowers that are on the catmint. They look like tiny little evil orchids to me. Yes, you read that correctly, I think that orchids look a bit evil. Almost like some type little alien that wants to bite you. Lol
     My husband was sent out of town for work last week and got to come home today. He bought me two sweet cards that made me cry, and he got me a new rose bush. 
     I hope that everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day whether your children have two legs or four, skin, fur, feathers or scales; it doesn’t matter kids are kids. May you all have a great week and bright blessings to you all.
     Blessed Be.


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Rose bush label
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Catmint blooms
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2 Tree branch down
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4 Tree branch down
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My Mother's Day Rose Bush
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Spearmint/Peppermint/Catmint
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1 Tree branch down
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3 Tree branch down
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5 Tree branch down
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    Màiri Campbell lives in WA with her husband and their three dogs

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