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Melody Watson: Tap into your creativity
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Creative, ADD, optimist, nomad. I design websites with Squarespace & blog about whatever catches my attention.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'west virginia'
Huge blueberry bush: the real reason I quit worrying about the blackberries
A couple of days ago I wrote about how I'm not so concerned over the death of my blackberry picking fantasies. I said there were 4 reasons, but I only shared 3, then. May I introduce you to the fourth, and main, reason I haven't been too concerned a...
Fulfilling some of the terms of our arrangement
When I talked my parents into letting me move myself into this empty house this summer, then come and go as I please, there was some negotiating involved. I promised things. Things that involved me doing stuff I don't normally do. Occasional stuff th...
Four reasons it's taken me 6 days to mention those blackberries again
Just before returning to WV for one of my final trips of the summer, I promised over here that I would take photos of blackberries right away when I returned. Then I got up here and got all distracted by other things like hosting my friends (or truth...
Hopping around the back yard this morning
So this guy let me follow him around the yard for a while this morning, but his...
Long way down; shared my nostalgia
When I came back to this WV house for this month's hideaway, I did the caravan thing with some friends who wanted to visit this area for a bit, and do some hiking. May I say, sometimes having a travel companion is way more fun than not? It's been sin...
Wouldn't want things to be TOO peaceful around here!
Almost "within spitting distance" of where I lay my head at night right now. My fantasies of...
A day of packing, errands before another little trip
Those blackberries have been on my mind a lot lately. I've been gone from the WV house for so long that I'm a little afraid I've missed my window of opportunity. What with nature's way of moving things along in a meticulous little rhythm, and all. Ju...
Photoshop tutorial to kickstart my creativity this morning
After There's a fun tutorial over at Tutorial Blog, that teaches us how to do this cool effect with an ordinary photo, called Photoshop Tutorial: Getting that great X-PRO LOMO look. My favorite part about their description comes at the end: "And you...
Spider web & blackberry bush photography as metaphor for life?
Click all photos to enlargeIt's been a while since I've seen "my" spider web: the one I nearly walked through in April, during my last escape to this house. The spider web I subsequently became mildly obsessed with photographing. It occurred to me th...
Stolen Interet Fails To Live Up To Expectations, Day Three:
Although the blogging of this saga has lagged behind the resolution thereof, I just have to go ahead and post what I wrote offline. But beware: the Bad Computer Juju? It jumped off my internet access and onto my laptop's AC adapter. You'd better beli...
Stolen Interet Fails To Live Up To Expectations, Day Two:
Lots of screaming at my laptop. Although not computer's fault, it took the fall. Somebody apparently did not get the memo about how I had made multiple promises to multiple clients over things I would do for them right away. And then, although I wasn...
Stolen Interet Fails To Live Up To Expectations, Day One:
After spending 3 hours trying to write and publish a simple blog post about picking blackberries, for crying out loud, during which time your connection either times out or is said to be impossible to find (in spite of the assurance of your Wireless ...
Buckets of blackberries in my future?
The only time "blackberry pickin" has ever been a part of my life was during summertime visits to my grandparents' home in West Virginia. Sally and any of the neighborhood kids who felt like joining her, plus her grandchildren visiting from **somewhe...
Who starts a road trip at 5pm, anyway?
Who starts a road trip at 5pm, you ask? Well that'd be anyone bearing the last name "Watson" - unless you're my Granddaddy, then he's far down the road at 5am! But the rest of us? We cannot get on the road to save our lives. As they say. Friend on th...
Abandoned trestles with nesting geese and spider webs and other obsessions
I think I've decided to leave here tomorrow. Not forever. The plan is that I'll come back in just under a month. But for now, there are way too many things I need to be doing that can't be done from my hideaway up here in these hills. I almost packed...
Remembered smells of dirt and rain
Earlier - just before this soothing, calm rain started back again - I decided that it was finally time to go outside and dig the hole for my compost. Do I know what I'm doing? Only more-or-less. I've composted before, when I was growing a sweet littl...
The story of my first hike to see some WV caves, and how I came to see my own private light show
In all the years I visited my grandparents here in West Virginia, I never once saw the caves people around here talk about so casually. These caves are on some neighboring property and I don't know what I expected, but when I finally arrived at my de...
Meet Mia: my hiking buddy
Mia joined us for our first hike. I was the lucky person she deemed worthy of her attention and love for the day, and so here is the photo that reflects one of my favorite parts of the hike. In another blog post when there's more time to tell you ab...
Just when I was starting to worry about the wuss factor
On the phone with my brother yesterday morning, I heard him talking about some nearby caves in the woods near the house where I'm currently staying. He said, "You should go out there and see them while you're in West Virginia." His suggestion reminde...
A little freewrite about watching rain in the middle of the afternoon
Nearly every day since I arrived in WV, someone has told me - either over the phone or via email - that they're a little jealous of me for being able to make this choice to get away. There seems to be a common thread - at least among the type of peop...
Just under a week in WV...
It's been less than a week since I arrived for my little working retreat in my grandparents' empty home in WV, but not by much. For the most part it's gone as expected. Since I'm awake at 4am with the next round of The Headache That Has Yet To Go Awa...
This afternoon's surprise visitor
Recognizing as I do that I'm not in Greensboro, perhaps it shoudn't have surprised me so much to walk outside this afternoon and have a guest looking at me. Shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. I'd decided that it was too gorgeous a day to spend ...
Obsessing over a chain?
Yesterday evening I got a text message from a friend: "If you're around, we're going for dollar tacos. Wanna' come?" I quite wanted to come. But no. I'll not be making this week's gathering. Texted him back that I'm in WV, finally, but hopefully we'l...
Safe in WV: No More Crying Wolf
So yea, I did it. After the "alternate plans" I'd made this week ended up undoing themselves this afternoon, I literally got in my car and hit the road. Decided not to fill my car with more stuff from storage, since I continue to remain on the fence ...
Yea, well that was a lie
A few of you will recall the day I declared that I needed to stop talking about when I was going to WV and just let you know when I get there. You'll recall, but I forgot. Today was a great reminder. Left the house to do some errands and before I ret...
Monday: a perfect day for a 3 hour drive
My view on a drizzly dayNearly every time I've mentioned my trip back to WV, since I left there, I'd say "Sunday...probably, maybe Monday." Did I cut myself too much slack, or did some wiser, buried part of me realize that I wouldn't be quite ready t...
Filling every minute of these last few days in the Carolinas
These have been some seriously social times. I've been to parties, gatherings, met friends for coffee and lunch, stopped in for an hour here and there. Having spent the weekend with my parents in SC, I returned to Greensboro last night, where I'll st...
Why are you not in West Virginia yet, woman?
One or two of you no doubt think I made up the whole story about how I was taking a little sabbatical from my life and moving to West Virginia, as some leftover-from-childhood cry for attention, or some such. Seeing as how more than once I've declare...
Snow, colds and an ever-evolving set of plans
It's snowing outside my window. Hard. I know this because I just drove home from my sister's house in that snow. It was a lot prettier when my car was safely parked and the ignition was turned off. The head and chest cold that's kicked my booty so su...
Moving boxes create the delusion of progress
When my departure date was extended from today to 2 1/2 weeks from now, I breathed a sigh of relief that I would be able to actually sleep this past week. Since it was probably one of the busiest weeks, work-wise, that I've had in ages. (I know. I'm ...
