A Hidden Ancestry ...

[This is an ongoing chapter a week story that began with the first Words for Wednesday for 2025 on 1 January. I'm hoping to continue it through 31 December, the last Wednesday of the year. To start from the beginning, click on the Words for Wednesday 2025 label to the right and it will pull up all of the weekly posts.]

  After supper, Elder Elowin and Thal sat outside by the fire as she smoked a pipe.  Occasionally, the smoke from the pipe formed rabbits, mice and birds that chased each other before dissipating into the air.  Thal watched, fascinated.

  "Many centuries ago, there was a tract of land ruled by Queen Legodia.  She was a kind and wise queen but had no known heirs.  When she died, her kingdom was assumed by a cousin, Oom, who became a king with a very cruel and satirical way of ruling.  The people hated him, and many of them moved away to other kingdoms.

  When word spread that even his army refused to follow his orders, a great war broke out for control of the kingdom."

  "What happened, Elder Elowin?"

  "The war spread and covered mountains and valleys.  There was nowhere safe to hide from the death and destruction.  In the breakup of Queen Legodia's kingdom after the assignation of King Oom, there was a curse put on her land and people by the king's advisor, a wizard of great power and evil."

  "A curse?  What sort of a curse?"

  "We called it The Grimma.  It was a death curse that killed without mercy nearly everything in the woods.  Elves, animals, and even the trees themselves."

  The sound of a violin being played and laughter wafted through the trees to where Elowin and Thal were sitting by the now smoldering fire.  Thal reached for a log to stoke the fire again, and Elowin stayed his hand.

  "Let it die, there are things we must talk about that are best said in the shadows.  I don't want anyone to see the flame and decide to join us just yet.  The Wheel of the Year is turning, and they deserve to be happy and celebrating.  There is too much of a risk right now of a nosey informer spying on our conversation and causing a panic among the forest."

  "Do you mean Kael?"

  "No, Thalion.  Others who act like busy bees to benefit the hive, but it is not our hive or mountains whose interest they have at heart."

  "Is it the voice I heard?"

  Elowin let out a puff of smoke that turned into an angry swarm of bees, buzzing around Thal's head before disappearing into the darkness.

  "No.  The voice belongs to the true heir of Queen Legodia's kingdom... your ancestor."

This week's Words for Wednesday can be found here.

hollandaise ...

[This is an ongoing chapter a week story that began with the first Words for Wednesday for 2025 on 1 January. I'm hoping to continue it through 31 December, the last Wednesday of the year. To start from the beginning, click here to be taken back to 1 January 2025, and then look for chapters to appear weekly between Tu-W-Th]

  "What do you know about tennis, Thal?"

  "Tennis?  I've never heard of it, Elder Elowin.  What is it?"

  "It was a word on a scrap of paper I found wrapped around a small bit of Turkish Delight.  Melon flavored I believe, down by the brook at the edge of the forest."

  "Turkish Delight?"

  "I think a type of sweets.  I was curious about something and thought I would see what was outside the forest.  Have you noticed a change in Kael since he returned?"

  "Yes.  He seems ... changed."

  "Indeed.  But that isn't why you came to see me, is it, Thal?"

  "No.  I heard something last night at the bonfire."

  "Mmm.  Yes.  I know."

  "You know?"

  "There isn't much that I don't know, Thal.  But it was something I suspected would happen sooner or later when you told me about the sigils.  

   Many generations ago, when I was still a young girl, the world was a much different place.  There were men, powerful men, who weren't satisfied with what they had and always wanted more.  They created wars and divided the countries.  Some even divided their own people into rights and wrongs.  They gave limited power to officers to act on their behalf, but they were just puppets, dancing on the steps of the government, pulled every which way by invisible strings.

   Eventually, the people realized that they were fools for believing in the lies of these men and came to the conclusion that the old ways were better and there was a great upheaval in the world."

  "What happened, Elder Elowin?  Is that what is going to happen again?"

  "It's too early to tell, but I suspect that we may be in the middle of a great change.  Now, can you reach that pan for me on the top shelf there?  I want to make some Hollandaise sauce to go with this fresh asparagus for supper."

This week's Words for Wednesday can be found here.

it's been a minute ...

 ... since I posted photos.

My front porch has become an extension of the house.
It's where I have my morning coffee, listening to the birds.

I hung these curtains recently for some privacy from the house next door.

Adding to my porch gallery wall.

The groundhogs had a little one!

A new planter for my succulents!
I ordered it on Etsy. [<link]

Found this at Goodwill!  I'm debating on repainting it.

Caught and released this moth. 
I wanted an up-close look at it for possible art projects later.

Wishing you a week of fun discoveries and adventures!  Hugs, Ci💚

an egg for supper...

[This is an ongoing chapter a week story that began with the first Words for Wednesday for 2025 on 1 January. I'm hoping to continue it through 31 December, the last Wednesday of the year. To start from the beginning, click here to be taken back to 1 January 2025, and then look for chapters to appear weekly between Tu-W-Th]

  After hearing the voice in his head at the bonfire, Thal had gone to see Elowin the next day.  He found her sitting in her garden, writing notes in a worn almanac and sorting piles of seeds for various vegetables.  Every few moments, she would mumble to herself and wave smoke from an incense candle over the seeds as if she was blessing them.

  Worried that he would frighten her if he tapped her shoulder or spoke loudly, Thal sat on a rocky outcrop where he would watch for her to notice him.  He was not eager to start a conversation about hearing voices since he'd heard that elders who began that pursuit were often sent away into the forest and never heard from again.

  His mind strayed to what Kael had told them about being held prisoner at the end of the Earth, where the ocean tides rose up to the edge of the forest, and how a human, Alexander, had been planning on selling him to others.  

  He'd been unable to give them any data about the location of where he had been held, only that he had arrived there after the attack of the gnolls when he had been running for his life and then escaped the same way without any sense of direction or plans.

  But there had been something different about Kael when he returned, something that Thal couldn't quite put his finger on.  He seemed smaller, but without having changed in height.  As if he had shrunk into himself.  Lyri had even been surprised when Kael complimented her on her pearly opalescent dress that she had worn to the bonfire, but she'd only raised her eyebrows and looked at Kael.  He had shrugged but said nothing, his mind still wondering where the voice had come from.

  Elowin raised her head and waved at Thal, and he went over to where she was standing on a block of stone, reaching deep into a hedge.

  "Help me here, boy.  Can you reach that nest that is deep in the hedge?  I need one of those eggs for my supper."

This week's Words for Wednesday can be found here.