RIP Goldie!

We've been busy doing stuff around the house. In fact, my hubby thought I had some sort of Dengue Fever except that I haven't been out of the country in years, because I actually washed the windows of the house, two stories, inside and out.

*I can see outside again! You don't realize how dirty windows can get until you actually clean them! ;-) *

Talk about out of character . .  .

But I did enjoy watching hubby sod Zoysia in the bare areas of the yard, and clip (an Old English Sheepdog, so there's a LOT of hair) and wash the dog this weekend.

But in other news we had a Great Blue Heron catastrophe.

We're over the flight path that the herons tend to fly as they make their way to the wetlands about a mile from our house. Except the wetlands haven't been very wet due to the 2+ year drought, which means the heron are looking for alternate food sources.

Backyard ponds are perfect fodder for them. They are small and relatively shallow. My MIL had one heron eat five of her seven goldfish within minutes. The two survivors were smart. They hid behind the pump.

Over the last few years we haven't had a heron problem because our fish are very, very large.

All our fish are koi with the exception of Goldie. Yes, Goldie is a goldfish. A fish who came to us with two brothers that have since found themselves in the great pond in the sky. Goldie lived in our pond for at least 10 years. He was very old, very slow, blind and hung out on the top of the water.

In other words, a tempting food source for a heron.

Last Tuesday, after I dropped the kidlet off at school, I came home and puttered around the swimming pool. I didn't notice Goldie in the grass about ten feet away from the pool until I went to empty the skimmers into a bucket we have for that purpose.

Goldie was so far away from the pond he couldn't have jumped out. No telling how long he had been out of the water, so I thought he was dead and went to get a Ziploc bag--a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Though Goldie was a goldfish, he was similar to Dr. Seuss's fish in Fish Out of Water. From tip to tail, Goldie was 16 inches long. He was also smaller than the smallest koi we have, which should give you an idea how big those suckers are!

I don't think the heron realized how big Goldie was until he got him out of the water!

Heron eat fish whole, and Goldie was simply too much for him.

When I picked him up, he gasped. So I put him in the water.

And he lay on the pond bottom The koi poked at him, but he didn't do much.

Fifteen minutes later, I scooped him out intent upon putting him in the baggie and then the freezer until trash day.

Goldie mouth and gills were moving when I pulled him out. So I plopped him back into the pond.  The dark spot on the top of his head was where I think the heron jabbed him before pulling him out of the water. Scales were missing from his sides, probably due to the heron's beak.

Over the next four days, we thought he'd died numerous times, found him in the pond skimmer at least four times, and he went from swimming to simply lodging himself against the rock on the bottom of the pond. Every time we thought he died, he would swim away.

Finally, age and trauma caught up with him and Goldie died.

RIP Goldie

After the attack on Goldie, we bought a fake heron. Yeah, it's ugly, but it's supposed to keep other very territorial heron away.

Because my hubby wants to buy three new koi, about five inches long.

In other words, perfect heron food.

Later, Peeps!

No Excuses

I really don't have any excuse for not blogging other than I simply wasn't in the mood.

Well, okay, there might be more to this story than that. There are a couple of reasons that I didn't blog.

Number one reason--

Reading. I started reading the Enchanted, Inc. series by Shanna Swendson. These books are what I would call a light paranormal romantic comedy. They are simply too much fun! I'm really enjoying these stories.

I'm currently reading this last one in the series. So I should be back in the swing of things soon.  

#2-- Yardwork. Though I haven't been the one to do the actual planting, I have been whacking back some of my crazy plants and pulling those seedlings that seem to find their way into the mulch. We've had to replace several perennials, one tree, transplant roses and mini mondo grass that had started creeping into the beds, and this doesn't include the numerous flats of annuals that were planted in the beds and the numerous pots on the deck. There's a lot of work in keeping the Oasis de Golla functioning!

#3-- Crocheting  I have been crocheting, but I took a break last week to try my hand at crochet thread and a size seven needle. It took hours for my hands to recover from this. I used the same pattern as the afghan I'm currently crocheting, for the simple reason that I finally have it memorized! This would be a 'doily' that many people have hidden away in their linen closets. Let me just say that if you have one of these, or anything crocheted with thread, TREASURE IT!

#4 --Mother's Day weekend. All I did was laze around in the pool and watch my hubby work in the yard. It was SWEET!

#5 -- Goldie. Yesterday, the one goldfish that we have in the pond had a traumatic experience. I'm surmising what happened because I didn't see it. Our house is close to a wetlands area, which means Great Blue Heron tend to do fly-bys. And yes, I have scared them from our yard before. 

 After I took my daughter to school, I came home and went outside to replace a tube on the Kreeepy Krawly (automatic pool cleaner). It wasn't until I went to get the knife from the buckets we leave out there that I noticed the goldfish out of the pond. 

 Five feet away from the pond, which means he didn't jump out. This is a big goldfish, which explains why the heron didn't just gobble him down. He's about 16 inches long, and has lived in our pond for many, many years. 

 There's a story behind this story on the goldfish. He was one of three that we rescued over ten years ago! One of my hubby's co-workers had a Great Dane who enjoyed flipping the fish out of her pond, so she decided to give the fish away. The other two simply died from old age, which give you an idea why this fish is so large and so tough.

 Anyway, when I picked up the fish--it gasped. So I slid it into the pond since I had no idea how long it had been out. It lay there. The koi went up to him and bumped him with their noses, but he just lay there. After about 15 minutes--I was working on the pool cleaner, remember?--I figured he was dead and decided to take him out and put him in a Ziploc bag in the freezer until trash day next Monday. When I picked him up out of the water--his mouth kept moving. Oh, crap! He was still alive! I slide him back into the pond. 

 Goldie is still swimming around this morning. He's not as wonky as he was yesterday, but he is alive. 

 He's missing part of his tail, some scales on either side of his body, and he has a dark mark at the base of his skull where I think the heron jabbed him to paralyze him before grabbing him and taking him out of the pond to eat. 

 Goldfish are tough, tough critters! 

#6 Writing --after I posted the short story on my blog, I wrote a rough draft of another short, which ended up about 1500 words. I need to layer it a bit more and I'd like to see if I can sell this one to a magazine. And then yesterday, I started writing on DRAGON. I managed almost 800 words before I had to pick my daughter up from school. I'm in the writing mode again. 

Next week is finals week for my daughter, so things will be a little crazy with changed school hours, plus other stuff going on. 

This summer will also be difficult to blog since the kiddo will be swimming two-a-days, which means she swims from 6 AM until 8:30 AM and then 3:45 in the afternoon. The morning swim will be across town, so I'll be doing my morning walk at that park, which means I might not be blogging regularly. 

That't it for today. I have to get dressed to take the kiddo to school and then I have to take Mom to the hairdresser. . . and then the grocery story, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, it's errand day!

Later, Peeps! 

Living the Dream -- a DARK short story

I woke up in at about 3:18 AM with two thoughts: George Clooney was just a regular kind of guy--remember, this was part of the dream, and this idea of Living the Dream.

It's dark. It isn't my usual sort of story, but I made myself remember key parts of it so I could write it for my blog today.

For writers out there who are scared of writing short. It's not hard. Every idea that enters your head doesn't have to be a novel. Sometimes, short gives the picture with the minimum of words. This story clocks in at 427 words. It has a beginning, middle and end. It has a character arc. It has motivation.

I could try to condense it, but I thought you could see my rough draft. I wrote it. I tweaked a few sentences. I read it again, and here it is. Enjoy!

Living the Dream

By

Margaret A. Golla

Life was good. I was living the dream.

Athletic, good-looking, and smart. Who could not love me, right? 

I blew through high school without having to open a book. When you are the star of the team, people do things for you. I simply took advantage of their motivation.

Was there anything wrong with that?

Girls flocked me like a rock star. I had my pick after every Friday night game and, though my mother would be ashamed of me, I took advantage of their desires. 

Universities courted me. The perks of being the star of the team came in small packages: steak dinners, weekend trips to any place I wanted to go, and the little red Corvette sitting in my driveway. Of course, they had to do some creative financing to cover up the bribes. 

What did I care? That’s their problem. I just simply enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

I picked a University far away. I didn’t need my parents or friends getting in the way of me living my dream. 

I worked hard, ate well, and was very good at my job on the team, but I wanted more. I wanted to be the star. The team wasn’t doing as well as everyone expected. And when the star of the team disappeared, Coach said he went back home because he was so disappointed at his failings. 

This opportunity gave me a chance to be the star on the Homecoming Game. This game was pivotal. Win and our team got endorsements and money from the alums. Lose and we would have to run with the bulls. I didn’t know what that meant, but it couldn’t be too bad, right?

We lost. 

Running with the bulls was a little different than I expected. It should have been called running with the flying bots. The entire A squad was on the run. That was when I found out what happened to the previous star player. 

He’d fed us . . . literally. 

A bot cornered me in a dead end. Sweat sprung from every pore of my body when I realized this thing had my death written in its software. I’d failed and had to pay. The University took advantage of my dream, but when I didn’t deliver, well, let’s just say they cut their losses.

And I was their star loser. 

The bot lowered its sights for a good, clean head shot. It wouldn’t want to destroy the meat on my good-looking, athletic body, right?

I just wondered whose dream I would be feeding now. 

The End

It's a little "Soylent Green", isn't it? :-) 

Later, Peeps! 

First Spring Flowers--Finally!

Spring this year has been late for everyone.

I think this is the first year that my roses didn't start blooming in April or even as early as March. Two days ago, May 3, I had my first rose bloom.

It was a pale pink mini. I can't remember the names of all my minis anymore, some have been replaced with no names, but then others I've moved around. For some reason, I think the pale pink one is called Absolutely.

And another one. I think this once is a white rose called Pacesetter.

And two more budded. These two were no name ones I picked up at a local garden store.

Now this isn't to say that nothing has flowered in my garden. It has. My Batik iris are bigger and prettier than ever.

And I don't know what is going on with my peonies, but those plants have become massive this year. They are almost as high as my arm pit. Yes, I know I'm short, but this is taller than in the past.
I thought the progression pics of the buds looked fun, so I took a pictures of different flower heads to show what they look like.

And, of course, my pretty little columbine.

That was when I realized I had lost my hellebore (Christmas Rose). :-( *sad face* It was a harsh winter, and the location it was planted faced North, along with the hideous drying North wind. The plants used to hang out under the Japanese maple in the corner by the pond.

I have about half of the new plants that I purchased in the ground--perennials mainly. Shrubs and a few dianthus that can survive for more than one year, but eventually die. I also found two tiny blueberry plants (sorry, no pictures) and a couple of Dahlias. I haven't had much luck with dahlias in the past, but this is the first time I'm planting them while they were in bloom, instead of in the tuber form. 

This purple tipped one is planted in a shady location, so I don't know if there's enough sun for it to be happy. I'll have to wait and see. 

While this yellow-orange one is planted less than four feet away, but in a totally different micro-climate around the corner. The yellow one will get lots of late afternoon sun and this area can be HOT. 

Yes, those are my toes showing an appearance in the picture. 

I'm just happy that my pool is plastered and full of water. We turned on the heater yesterday, but will slowly inch the temperature up to a swimable warmth. And I'm happy the bubbler is providing happiness for all the birds in the area--as a watering trough AND automatic bird bath. :-) And I'm happy that my yard is starting to look green and lush after the long, hard winter.

What makes you happy??

Later, Peeps!

Contest Finals!

Okay, I'm only posting the category that has my name. . . :-)

The DAPHNE DU MAURIER AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MYSTERY/SUSPENSE –Unpublished Division Finalists for 2014 are:

PARANORMAL (FANTASY/TIME TRAVEL/FUTURISTIC) ROMANTIC MYSTERY/SUSPENSE

Margaret A. Golla for Air Beneath a Dragon's Wings

Janet Halpin for A Moment After Dark

Janet Halpin for Beryl Blue, Time Cop

Sarah Kuest w/a Sarah Brady and Shannen Kuest w/a Shannen Brady for Healer

Roshani Chokshi for The Glass Garden

Yes, I was just a wee bit excited when I saw this. There was a cap of 50 entries in this category. I don't know if there were 10 or 50 entries, or a number in between . . . but I like to hope it was on the higher end of the competition. 

And I was even more excited when I saw the scores of the contest entry that DIDN'T final. 

The other story, The Fire Within, received scores of 111, 118, 112, and a 102. This is out of a total of 123 points maximum with the lowest score dropped. The largest majority of the deducted points seemed to be from the lack of romance provided in the first 20 pages, along with the need to layer a bit more throughout the submission, which caused the points to add up with minus one here, minus one there. 

The romance was detailed in the synopsis, but some judges scored tougher than others in this respect. As a judge I tend to be a softer touch in this respect and maybe take one point off, while one of my judges took 4 out of 5 points. 

It's all subjective.

Another interesting point is the story that finaled, Air Beneath a Dragon's Wings, had the exact same scenario: romance detailed in the synopsis, but you don't meet the hero in the actual manuscript pages, but the lack of meeting the hero didn't seem to bother those judges. 

I won't know how the first round judges scored AIR until after the winners are announced at the award ceremony in July. 

If you are a writer and want to improve your craft, there are numerous ways to do this: take classes, join a local writer's group, read writing books, and, of course, read books in your chosen genre. 

But if you really want to know what judges are looking for in your contest entries, then volunteer to judge. 

It's harder than you might think, but it is also more satisfying. 

I'm always amazed at the wonderful stories I find hidden in the contest entries. Some stories are in need of TLC, while other stories are ready for publication, or maybe you can help a newbie writer with your font of writing wisdom. 

If you don't want to judge, then take the time to download the score sheet. This is the best way of figuring out if you are hitting all the marks on a story. If you can't detach yourself from your story, then find someone you trust to take those sheets and judge your entry according to the criteria provided by the contest. 

They might be able to see problems that you are too close to the story to see. 

The key story elements in the Daphne revolve around questions involving: 

• Beginning of the Manuscript
• Plot/Pacing
• Characterization
• Paranormal/Time Travel/Futuristic Specific
• Dialogue/Narrative
• Setting
• Point of View
• Style/Voice

The reason a version of these story questions are always on a score sheet is because getting the balance right is what storytelling is all about. 

Later, Peeps! 

Brenda Novak's For the Cure Auction

is

 LIVE! 

Though I'm sad that I won't be placing my candy up for auction, I do have three beautiful afghans this year!
Let's see how much money my three afghans can raise this year! 

This year I'm donating under For Everyone tab:

ANGELS ALL AROUND AFGHAN
Finished size 46" X 61"

Shades of Blue Flower Afghan

WOW! This afghan is already at $28 on the very first day! 

Finished size 50" X 62"

Flower Patch Afghan

finished size 46" X 53"

close up of square

border color is dark green

Weighty Wednesday -- Plateaus Equal Maintenance

So this last week I managed to lose 2.6 lbs. Yay!

I have a long way to go to get back to goal and maintenance, but at least it still isn't going up, right?

Plateaus were the topic of discussion this week at my Weight Watcher's meeting. A plateau is a stabilization in your weight where you are neither losing nor gaining weight over a period of a month.

Plateaus happen.

As frustrating as a plateau can be look at it this way--you aren't gaining any weight! 

If you are in weight-loss mode and have reached a plateau a couple of things might be happening.

• You are getting too relaxed in your 1) portion control--weighing and measuring, 2) tracking--you've stopped writing down everything you put in your mouth, 3) you've reached a weight that your body was stable at for a long time, or, 4) your metabolism has adjusted to the amount of exercise and nourishment your body is receiving. 

Plateaus can be a good thing. 

Look at it this way: Plateaus are a way of practicing how to maintain your weight when you reach your goal. 

Yes, I'm sorry, but you still have to be careful with your food choices AFTER you reach your goal weight. But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the occasional splurge.

This last week I ate a couple of pieces of pizza. The key here is that it happened one time during a seven day period, not three or four times.  You have to keep in mind that you have to keep making good choices when you are eating. 

Shaking up a plateau

So what do you do if you manage to reach a plateau and want to shake it up to continue your weight loss. 

You have to go back to basics

• portion control--start weighing and measuring again. Somewhere along the way you started 'eyeballing' the size of your portions and have let them grow.
• if you do nothing more than making a point of getting your healthy guideline boxes marked, you are well on your way to breaking out of your plateau. Eating the right quantities of fruit/veggies, FF milk products, healthy oil, whole grains and lean proteins will put you on the right track. 
• Write EVERYTHING down that goes into your mouth. If you ate a lump of brown sugar to satisfy a sweet craving, figure out how big it was, calculate the points, and write it down. If it embarrasses you to write something stupid down, so much the better! Don't eat it then. :-)
• AND don't forget to drink your water! This doesn't mean diet drinks, this means water! Yes, you can count the diet drinks toward your daily H2O, BUT you have to remember that your body thinks it's getting a sugary product and will treat it accordingly by releasing insulin into your system. Not something you want if your body doesn't have something to process. 
• Change up your exercise. Try a class at the gym. Take a different walking path. Whatever you do differently, it will charge your batteries again. 
• Stay away from processed foods. Stick to foods in their natural state as much as possible. There's a reason you can't eat just one potato chip. Flavorists (food chemists) design the processed products to make you want to eat more of them. If you can, just don't have processed foods in your house. 

And that's a basic list of going back to basics. 

If you've had the same problem I have had with gaining weight over the long winter hibernation, try these suggestions out and let me know how they work for you!

Later, Peeps!