300 Plus Ways to Make Your Wedding Your Own

Our daughter-in-law published her first book, a huge, 428 page resource of creative, fun, inexpensive and imaginative ideas for a wedding celebration that expresses the joy and individuality of the new couple. I had the privelege to help her with the edits, a project I very much enjoyed. It's exciting to see it come together in the printed book, bound with a cover of wedding photomosaics.

She writes in a tone that is casual, comfortable and come-alongside. She asks, "How can I help?" I don't think she'll mind if I tell you we edited out loads of exclamation points - it was her way of expressing her enthusiasm and passion for this topic, her ideas bubbling out, her heart for brides and helping them with the challenges they face. But too many exclamations can be exhausting! Victoria says, "I wanted to share all of these wonderful ideas with you so that you too could have the wedding you've always wanted. A wedding isn't just having all of the traditional items, like a dress, a cake, and flowers, and walking down the aisle of a church, in the right order, to meet your groom, and do things the way everyone has always done them for years. Sure, you could do it that way, and you'd still be married in the end. But your wedding should be about expressing yourselves, sharing all of your favorites with those you love, and celebrating the day you became one with your one true love."

The ideas I like may be different from yours. But that's the point. A wedding celebration should express who you are, you as an individual and you as a couple. There are black and white photos on almost every page, making it fun to browse and explore through the book. Her chapter titles, Photography, Wedding Venues, Stationery, Catering, Videography, Flowers, The Cake, Wedding Decor, and The Big Day cover all the basics. As a wedding planner, she knows a thing or two about putting together a creative wedding that doesn't send the couple spiraling into debt. A wise choice, yet she also enables them to have The Big Day express all they want about themselves.

I realize many of you who read this blog are married, that Big Day long behind us. Perhaps, though, we have daughters, nieces, granddaughters, young friends - or old friends for that matter - who would find this book useful and encouraging. It is available on Amazon (not an affiliate link for me).

Even with the best planning, things can go wrong. Victoria conveys the perspective to focus on each moment for what it is - to share the unique joy as the couple celebrates their love as they step forward into the future, together.

victoria.apieceofcake@gmail.com
www.apieceofcakeweddingdesign.com

Captain Ty

Captain Ty is a short short condensed from a short story I wrote about the Cora, a clipper ship owned by my great great grandparents. I shortened the word count for a short story contest, which, I did not win, but still had fun with the challenge of editing and re-writing.

                Maine summers were hot and sticky. Miserable and tired of playing alone, Tyler complained to his mother that everyone, except him, was at camp.

              “You should go visit Grandma,” said his mom.

                “Mom, I hate going there. Her house smells. It’s boring.”

                Tyler ran out the door and hiked through the woods toward the ocean. When he reached the rocky coastline, the relief of cool air soared over the bluff.  He made his way north among the rocks, watching the seagulls and inhaling the salt spray from the pounding waves. Coming to a quiet inlet, he climbed down the bluff to sea level. Foundered on rock and mud was an old sailing vessel. Tyler scrambled along the shoreline for a closer look.

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And if you want to read the longer version, click here

Half as Much

At the beach last weekend they had rules against picking up any shells, rocks or animals (duh!). Driftwood, however, could be collected, with a limit of fifty pounds a day. Fifty pounds??? We walked along the beach, exploring the tide pools, enjoying, appreciating, reveling in the colors and variety and sounds of the crashing waves. Any interesting shells were occupied by some little creature - not too tempting. Toward the end of the curve of the beach where we decided to turn around, I found lots of interesting driftwood. Pieces with color, texture, interesting angles, odd shapes. I started picking up the pieces I liked, thinking I would take them home and add them to the glass jar with driftwood from other beach trips.

I am more of a collector than I'd like to admit. Walking back along the beach with two handfuls of driftwood seemed silly. I had to put them down to take more photos. It wasn't fifty pounds, but still way too much. I set it all down on a rock, and kept only what I could fit in one hand. A fifty percent reduction.

That, I think, will be my theme song for this Christmas. Fifty percent less: less food, less spending, fewer new decorations, fewer plans, less shopping. Probably not an exact fifty percent less, more of an attitude, being happy with less, making choices for the options with less. Traveling Lighter.

The Roots Must Be Pruned

If you are a gardener, you are familiar with the term root pruning. Often, the pots you buy at the nursery are root bound. When you tip the plant out of its small container, the roots are visible on the outside of the soil, running around and around the pot, holding the soil firmly in shape.

If you don't prune the roots by cutting them with a knife or a sharp shovel, or by disentangling the roots with your fingers if they're not too tightly interwoven, the plant will never grow beyond its current size and strength. The roots of a  root bound plant will continue to grow in the known direction--in a tight circle.

I have seen this in pre-planted pots sold in the spring. They are a beautiful mix of flowers and colors that bloom prettily for awhile, but last only a short time. When the blooms die out, I pull out the plants to move them to a new location and find the exact shape of the nursery pot, the roots still conformed to the form of their first tiny container.

To encourage new growth, the roots must be sliced at intervals around the root ball in order to provide room for growth of new root hairs, the critical, fragile part of the root that soaks up the water and nutrients from the soil, transporting it to the plant to provide strength and health and growth and beauty.

When you divide perennials, the roots are also severely pruned. Depending on the plant and the type of root system it has (runners, tap root, bulbs, etc.) the division is done differently; but for each, the roots are cut back, returned to the soil and given room to spread and encourage new growth in the plant.

Some trees respond well to root pruning, a process involving a large tool dug into the ground to sever the roots at points around the tree - again, in order to encourage new, stronger growth.

My roots are being pruned. Being moved to a new location, a new home in September. The good news:

• I have roots, and will continue to have roots, which will grow stronger through this pruning
• The result of root pruning is increased productivity and fruitfulness
• Newly cut, freshly replanted roots will provide abundant growth.  I do want rich, full growth rather than a limited, narrow, confined perspective

Although the sharp edge cutting through the roots seems painful and severe, the intended result is increased beauty and blessings. I am ready for the pruning.

Many opportunities for Traveling Lighter on the horizon.

Snug in their new home, ready for growth

Editing

from this...

We had three days of chain saws blaring, branches thudding to the ground, light revealed through previously hidden sky. A branch from the neighbor's tree falling onto our roof instigated this severe pruning spree. The full, beautiful pines that shaded our yard and sang in the wind are now a sparse shadow of what they were. Yes, I understand it is healthier for the trees and safer for those underneath them, but it is hard to watch the stripping away of all those green branches.
Pruning is a tough job for me.  I like an overflowing abundance of greenery and flowers.
Severe pruning has value, though, and is necessary occasionally.

to this

This is a good lesson for me. My first impression watching this drastic cutting back is sadness and pain. Like throwing open the curtains to let the morning light flow into a dark and dreary room, the expanded views, the revealed light, all hidden before, covered by the dense branches, are now open and wide. The lesson is about editing. Less is better. Cutting back is good. Trimming down the stuff and the pounds and the fluff of life. Whether it involves overflowing stuff in the house, excess pounds, wasted energy or written words, editing, revising, and condensing are good things. Another lesson to pay attention, (and once I get used to the change), a reminder of the beauty of traveling lighter.