Author: Old Herbaceous

by

Liebster Award and Nominations

liebster award sticker

Thank you to Fun Simplicity for nominating me for the Liebster Award!

Here are the questions I am to answer:

  1. Who/What inspires you to start a blog? I started Serenity Now because I wanted a routine to capture my observations about the many beautiful things I encounter in life and to remind myself to notice and appreciate them; and because I love to write and am trying to get back in the habit.
  2. Who is your favourite author? I have many favorite authors, as anyone who read my post on favorite childhood books knows: Too Many To Choose Just One. Favorite authors of books for adults right now are: Hilary Mantel, Ian McEwan, David Halberstam, Robert Caro, Elizabeth Goudge, Taylor Branch.
  3. What is your favourite pastime? Reading.
  4. Which country are you from? The United States.
  5. What is your favourite season? Spring, but I also love autumn.
  6. What is your most memorable moment? My wedding day; and the births of my children.
  7. If you’ve won a free trip, which country would you like to travel to? Japan.
  8. If you are alone in a haunted house, what will you do? Leave. Quickly.
  9. If you meet an alien, what will you say? I think I’d be speechless!
  10. If  you have a time machine, which era will you travel too? Tudor England.
  11. What is your Christmas wish for Santa this year? A yearlong sabbatical with a generous travel allowance.

My nominations for the Liebster Award are:

1. Expat on ACK; a recovering lawyer, she blogs about life as a British expatriate living on the unique island of Nantucket off the shore of Massachusetts.

2. Newshound to Novelist; Donna-Louise Bishop is a journalist who is trying to complete and publish her first novel. She’s a gifted writer and deserves a wider audience!

3. The Hopeful Herbalist; a former nurse and city resident, she blogs about the move she and her husband made to a cottage in the country, near the sea, where she is restoring a derelict garden after having retrained as an herbalist in Scotland.

4. The Perfume Magpie; she has a wonderful blog about perfume, which she illustrates with her own beautiful drawings. Seriously, her illustrations are gorgeous.

5. The Introvert’s Dictionary; Charlotte Latvala blogs a rotating list of alphabetized word definitions from an introvert’s point of view. Speaking as a card-carrying introvert myself, they are hilarious and she is spot on.

Here are the questions I ask my nominees to answer; some are the same as above:

  1. Why did you start a blog?
  2. What is the best book you’ve read this year?
  3. What is your favorite pastime other than writing?
  4. What is your favorite smell?
  5. What is your favorite season?
  6. What is your most memorable moment and where did it happen?
  7. Which country would you most like to visit?
  8. If you could meet any author, past or present, whom would you choose?
  9. Do you believe in fairies?
  10. If  you could be any character in a novel or film, who would that be?
  11. If a genie gave you three wishes, what would you wish?

The Rules:

  1. Once you are nominated, make a post thanking and linking the person who nominated you. Include the Liebster Award sticker in the post too.
  2. Nominate 5-10 other bloggers who you feel are worthy of this award. Let them know they have been nominated by commenting on one of their posts. You can also nominate the person who nominated you.
  3. Ensure all these bloggers have less than 200 followers.
  4. Answer the eleven questions asked to you by the person who nominated you, and make eleven questions of your own or your nominees or you may use the same questions.
  5. Lastly, COPY these rules in the post
A SeaGlass Carousel
by

A SeaGlass Carousel

What wouldn’t I give to be able to be at the opening of Battery Park’s long-awaited SeaGlass Carousel! I love carousels but I prefer the more creative ones that aren’t limited to pastel-colored horses. This is just about the most imaginative carousel I’ve ever seen: New York’s New Carousel. They have done some lovely sound and light shows there, even before the carousel itself opens. Five dollars a ride? Sold! I’ll be there, next time I’m in New York.

 

Photo: Filip Wolak, http://www.timeout.com

by

Inspired By A Newshound

Today’s Blogging 101 assignment is to write a post inspired by another blogger’s post on which we commented earlier.Donna-Louise at her blog “Newshound to Novelist” wrote a post called Follow the Literary Brick Road, about turning 30 and wanting to publish a novel instead of continuing in the journalism where she has found success. By leaving her a comment, I hoped to encourage her to persevere. That, and a recent story on the BBC about J.K. Rowling, got me thinking about the various paths so many writers take. Continue reading →

by

What Went Well

Today’s “What Went Well” Wednesday is more of a test than usual. It’s shaping up to be a challenging week at work, for many of the reasons that prompted me to start this blog. So if you’re reading this, please send serenity vibes my way!

What went well this week:

  1. One of my children started her senior year of high school, with lots of enthusiasm and anticipation. Because she’s an engaged, energetic young woman with a bright future, who works hard toward her goals but keeps her sense of humor and joy.
  2. My daughters and I came home from a lovely break in New Hampshire, refreshed in body and spirit, but happy to be home with the rest of our family. Because we are blessed to have family in that beautiful part of the world and blessed to have a happy home to which we always return.
  3. I returned to my office after working from home because of a bone fracture, and was warmly welcomed back by many colleagues. Because most of the people with whom I work are very nice.
Guilty pleasures
by

Guilty pleasures

Until recently, it had been years since I immersed myself in a romance novel. Really, years. Maybe even decades. My taste in reading had turned more to history, biography, other non-fiction like books about gardening and bonsai. And then I discovered Philippa Gregory. I had seen the movie “The Other Boleyn Girl” and enjoyed it — I love Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johanssen. So when I saw a copy of the book on sale, 3 for the price of 2 at a chain bookstore, I took the bait. Bought that and two other Gregory novels. Can you say, hook, line and sinker? I’ve just finished another one — “The King’s Curse” — and you know what? I enjoyed the heck out of it! It made a nice break between “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies”, also on my bedside table.

I should have known. I went through a phase as a teenager when I ripped through books by authors like Victoria Holt. There is something so comforting about living vicariously through the travails of a fictional stranger.

by

Blogging 101: About

About me and my blog: I am a lover of beauty, a happily married introvert, an empath and INTJ. I have an inquiring mind and thousands of books. Many things make me happy. I’d like to share some of them.

Mindfulness is something I am trying to cultivate in my life. There are many competing claims on my time and attention: family, work, etc. As my children are now in their teens, I am working to carve out some time for peaceful reflection and creativity in my life, in spite of a demanding, sometimes pressured job. Blogging is one way for me to do that. I am also using this blog to cultivate positive thoughts through practices like “What Went Well Wednesdays”, when I write down three things that went well that week.

I also blog about gardens, gardening, garden books, art in gardens and garden photography at Old Herbaceous.

Too Many To Choose Just One
by

Too Many To Choose Just One

What was my favorite book as a child? I was such a bookworm that I couldn’t possibly pick just one. And I still own so many of the books that I loved as a child and teenager that now I qualify as a book hoarder. One of the greatest joys of parenting my own children was that I got to share my love of books — and my actual books — with them from the time they were infants. Sitting in a rocking chair with a baby or toddler in my arms, reading picture books to them, is a memory I deeply cherish. It only got better as they got older, when we took turns reading to them, and then they took turns reading to us. Oh, how we loved The Cat in the Hat, fairy tales, anything by Eric Carle! Maurice Sendak, Dr. Seuss, Richard Scarry, Little Golden Books, we sailed through them all. Continue reading →

Morning Calm
by

Morning Calm

I woke up this morning at dawn, in the tiny but cozy guest room of an old-fashioned lakeside cottage. The window, barely a foot from the four-poster bed which filled most of the room, looked out over a small lake which was so calm, it reflected the rosy sky like a smooth mirror. A slight mist rose off the water but all was silent. I lay back against the pillows and just gazed out at the water before picking up my book. What a joy, to have hours of uninterrupted reading time before breakfast, in such a lovely place. I love these simple cottages: uninsulated, plain wooden walls, simple sleeping porches, kitchens no bigger than the small galley kitchen in my first city apartment. Old, faded, soft furniture. Simplicity now!

What Went Well
by

What Went Well

Every Wednesday, I reflect on the week just past and think about three things that went well. It is a positive psychology exercise known as “What Went Well” or “Three Blessings.” What Went Well Wednesdays.

This week’s blessings:

  1. I went on vacation with two of my three teenagers and we are having a wonderful mother/daughter week. Because they are kind, funny, bright young women who are great company.
  2. We are visiting my in-laws in a beautiful part of the country. Because I love them, they are aging gracefully and they always show their appreciation that I am part of their family and the mother of three beloved grandchildren.
  3. The weather here is a refreshing change from home, where temperatures approached 100 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday. Because here, the highs are in the mid-80s and upper 70s, and the fresh New England air smells wonderfully of pines and lakes.
Why Serenity Now?
by

Why Serenity Now?

Today’s assignment: names and taglines. I named this blog “Serenity Now” in honor of George Costanza’s father Frank. If you ever watched “Seinfeld”, you know who I mean: the perpetually irritated, snarky dad played by the brilliant Jerry Stiller. In one episode, he is told that he has to bring his high blood pressure and anger under control; when he feels himself becoming enraged, he should say the phrase “Serenity now.” Except that Frank screams the phrase at the people who irritate him, which doesn’t calm anyone down, least of all him. As one character says “Serenity now, insanity later.”

I loved that episode because it made me laugh. But at the same time, there are days when I feel like Frank in spite of my normally calm demeanor. The world seems irrational and crazy and it’s not cooperating with my plans or appreciating my contributions. I need to remember how much of my life is going well and how fortunate I am. I need to be more mindful of the many things and people I love. I need to keep calm and carry on. Serenity now!