Kentucky Mountain Girl News by Henrietta Asher Handy

Arthrr Arthritis has been pestering me all week.  He wouldn’t let me knit.  He wouldn’t let me play video games, and he didn’t want me to read, but I thwarted him!  There is now a Kindle app on the laptop, which means I can read almost hands-free now.  “Take that! Bainbridge scholars!”

Yesterday and last night Arthrr tried his best to make life unbearable, but he didn’t succeed!  For a while there I felt like the pressure was just going to squeeze me flat like a boobytrapped lost temple trap, but this morning some of the pressure has risen and I’ve felt well enough to write on the new story and play with the new pup.

There is just a dusting of snow on the ground, but its falling has made me a much happier person.  Because by changing from ran to snow, the low pressure has shifted up a bit!  Yay!

Recently I discovered some wonderful new music.  Currently, Lenka is one of my favorite musicians I’ve discovered recently.

I have been trying to figure out how to write this blog post for a number of days now, and I still don’t have it figured out completely, but decided it was best to just begin and see how it all flows out.  I am afraid if I don’t just begin writing something somewhere the words are going to go away.

There is no other way to say this, so:  I think I am finally beginning to recover from the destruction of my entire world.

Yes, the move was bad.  The circumstances surrounding the move were horrible, and I was able to pretend for a very long time I was OK and handling it well, but, when the holidays began approaching, I fell apart.  I fell apart hard.  I fell so far as to think sending my husband away would be better for him because I couldn’t see a future for myself at all, much less us together.

He stuck with me though.  He even helped by listening when I finally reached a point to where I could talk about everything and how I was feeling.  The Husband did exactly what a husband should do and I look at him now with a different respect and can relax some.

In the depths of this misery I submitted Faery’s Kiss and it has since been rejected.  However, instead of just a plain form email saying the company “doesn’t have a place” for my story in their company, etc., the “rejector” actually gave me some advice and pointed out some errors and many positive things about the piece.  The only problem is I am going to have to do a complete overhaul of the story to effect some of the changes suggested.  Part of me wants to rant and rave because I worked so hard on Faery’s Kiss and it was super important to me as it is, but the truth is – they are right.  I don’t want to admit it, but they are right.

Since the story is Faery’s Kiss is complete, I am going to turn my attention to a different story and give the fantasy a break for a couple of weeks or months and go back afterwards and see about getting a better story out of it.  Normally I would just give up on a story once rejected, but I am not this time.  This time I can actually see a future for the piece and want to give it the chance to be read by others who might also enjoy what I so loved writing and creating.

My ‘world’ hasn’t returned to ‘normal’ because what was normal is no longer possible.  I let myself grieve for its passing, and now can take a deep breath again and can move forward, one step at a time.  I don’t know what this phase of my life holds, but, I think, I can finally look up and move forward.

One thing is for certain:  I couldn’t have pulled out of this downward spiral without The Husband, “Sister4” and her family; and most importantly God, because there had to be some divine intervention to get what pieces of Me remained and in some sort of proper order where I could/can function.

Hi all!  Been really busy here on the creek.  Doing a lot of writing, housework and crafting for the holidays and a soon-to-come Etsy store!  Life is advancing at a quick pace and I am finally beginning to enjoy it because the stress has lessened on me quite a bit.

I have also been playing Warframe and said Warframe has a new place to explore!  Squee!  And the opening song for the new dlc is awesome and thus easy to share.  This is the extended version.  You don’t have to listen all the way to the end, of course, just the first time through.  I find it to be quite epic.  It fits the world, people, dwarves, and the game perfectly.  Enjoy.

It is so gloomy outside my window I simply don’t have the heart to share it at all. Just take my word for it if you don’t mind.

How is everyone on this Thursday?

Yours truly has been a very busy girl of late!  Besides going to doctor’s appointments and having in-home physical therapy, I am working on items to put into an Etsy store!  Excitement!  (Must be said like Elvira, Mistress of the Dark *heart*)

When I made beaded jewelry and was going to different little festivals to set up our little kiosk, was one of the most joyous times in my life.  I met different people; learned interesting facts; learned different folk stories, and just enjoyed making the things I sold and then enjoyed selling them to people who liked the pieces and wanted them.  It was an amazing time for The Husband and me then.  In order to go on a date before the disability came through, we would go to Speedway and get one of those giant drinks for basically $1.  Then we would go to McDonald’s or some other like-minded store and each get $1 burger or cheeseburger.  (Sometimes we would get a large French fry to share.  Those were the dates that were a little more thrilling.  We went all out when we each had our own McDonald’s meal!)  We would then go to this one specific park and eat.  Sometimes we ate in the vehicle because of the weather or my pain or condition at the time.  Sometimes we went out into the park.

I want that feeling back of enjoying making something and offering it for sale.  There probably won’t be much profit.  My goal is to make enough money to keep me in yarn since I will need to order yarn in instead of being able to just jump in the car and go to Hobby Lobby or Michael’s, or even Walmart in just a few minutes – depending on traffic, of course.  Those days are gone.  Thankfully, the World Wide Web exists here now and all I must do is be a wee more patient in getting the tools I need to work with.

One truly wonderful thing is that we are across the creek and just down the block from the post office!  This will save a lot of time and hassle for The Husband because he will be the “warehouse foreman and shipper” for me.  Is that a real job?  If it is, I hope the title is a lot better.

Anyway, the YA is advancing.  It is very difficult to not push forward and add loads of writing in with the crafting.  I have found a HUGE! hole right dead smack in the middle.  *facepalm*  Thankfully, the bullet journal has helped me locate where the hole began forming and then where it came back together again.  Yes, I feel like an idiot.  I didn’t pay close enough attention to the notes I’d made and forgot to show how these two civilizations have co-existed: a premise of what would it be like if the Europeans had been mature about their new world and unbigoted about the people they found there and how it would affect a civilization in our generation and then the Cataclysm and  a thousand years after the collapse of civilization as we know it.  A place where fey has returned, especially faeries.  There are some of the traditional fantasy races and several different ones I’ve discovered while wandering through the forests and glens of my imagination.

The more I see this story coming together, the more I am beginning to wonder if this will qualify as a “young adult” novel after all.  No – not going there.  Story first.

So, how are y’all?  Whacha you been up to?

It is fall here in the mountains.  Seeing the leaves fall and other leaves begin to turn, I feel in the center of the season instead of just sort of observing it as I would’ve done in Lexington.  Instead of making me sad or pensive, because I can see the Earth prepare for slumber.  It is getting into its pajamas now.  I’ve never seen fall through these eyes before.  Does that mean they’re old?  Or, just older than last year and the many years past?  I must admit, some days I feel way older than my years and ancient in my heart.  I am glad it passes – I couldn’t handle feeling like that every day forever.  I guess I am just not ready for it, but, Are you ever ready for that stage of life?  I wish my Mommy here so I could ask her.