Catherine Friend
Catherine Friend

June Mish-Mash

I keep waiting to have something interesting to say, but it doesn’t seem to be happening this week. I think I’m too tired from all the promotion. So here’s just a mish-mash of stuff:

1) I have 11 promotional events in June—3 left, and then I can hibernate for six weeks. I’m having lots of fun, and people have been very gracious and enthusiastic. I am, however, getting a little tired of the sound of my own voice. Talking about myself does NOT come naturally. The morning after an event, I always feel a little funny, as if I’d talked too much at a dinner party the night before.

2) Mr. Bodgepie (the duck) is proving to be elusive. We drove to the neighbor’s where he’s been hanging out. There he was, in the entrance to a big equipment shed. We pursued him deep into the shed as he scooted under the equipment. It was dark and confusing, with all the tires, etc. We were on our hands and knees. “Do you see him?” Melissa calls. The neighbor replies from the front of the shed. “He’s out here.” The little @#*& had doubled back on us. Melissa approached with the net and he took flight. Clearly we’re going to have to be smarter than the duck…

3)  Melissa, lover of delicate flowers (which, I might add, doesn’t describe me!), is at it again. Found these scattered around the house the other day.

4) A few years ago Melissa planted a wild rose on the south side of the house, in an odd place. You couldn’t see it from the front yard or most of the back yard or the driveway. Why there? This spring, while sitting at my computer, I turned my head to the left and looked out the window. Oh, that’s why. What a sweetie….

Here’s to a wonderful summer for everyone, a summer full of surprising wild roses and other romantic stuff. 

7 Responses

  1. Silly Mr. Bodgepie! Doesn’t he know he stands a good chance of being the main course at a quick coyote’s dinner party? He would be so much better off back at home. Dumb duck.

    I beg to differ with you saying you are not a “delicate flower!” My thesaurus defines delicate as soft, tender, smooth, exquisite. All of these describe you and your personality. You’re a very (delicate) feminine woman. (You have my address to send the money, right? ;o})

  2. Ha! Mama Pea, you’re too sweet. Okay, I may be a little feminine on the outside, but I’m tough on the inside. (Melissa is, interestingly enough, the opposite…but don’t tell her I said that!)

  3. Recently finished “Sheepish…” and darned if I don’t want to start spinning and knitting. I hate knitting, can’t do crafts of any kind, flunked Paste and Scissors 101 in Kindergarten–but still…I think I could collect beautiful hand-colored yarn.
    It was a wonderful book. Thank you for writing your sequel–or I guess it was your middle.

  4. “The Wild Rose” – by Wendell Berry

    Sometimes, hidden from me in daily custom and in ritual
    I live by you unaware, as if by the beating of my heart.
    Suddenly you flare again in my sight
    A wild rose at the edge of the thicket where yesterday there was only
    shade
    And I am blessed and choose again,
    That which I chose before.

  5. Ellen—thanks for the poem recommendation. It’s lovely!

    Deb…hmmm. Dropping flower hints?

    Allyn, you definitely could collect hand-dyed yarns. It’s called building a stash. And some knitters spend more time (and money) increasing their stash than actually knitting, so you’d fit right in. 🙂

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The Big Pivot

About Me

After twenty-five years on the farm, I’m adjusting to the adventures of city life. Part of that adjustment is figuring out what I want to write about now, since sheep are no longer part of my daily life. I’m challenging myself creatively by painting with pastels and playing the ukelele as I seek my new writing path.

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Catherine Friend is a fiscal year 2021 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.