Sunday Sips-May 2, 2021

Happy May! Here we are in the thick of Spring and it feels so good. Here in Upstate New York we did get a couple days of some light snow but otherwise we’re legit having a real spring with sunshine and rain and everything. It’s amazing.

Today I’m enjoying a mug of this Zest Tea Earl Grey Energy Tea. This is my third or fourth flavor by this brand and each time I become an even bigger fan. The tea claims to have 3x more caffeine than coffee but without the crash or jitters, which is huge. For earl grey, i like to have a London Fog so I flavored mine with some vanilla syrup along with a splash of milk and some of my regular maple syrup as a sweetener. It’s delicious and helps keep me in that writing chair even longer.

Since moving from WA to NY I haven’t planted any spring flowers because, well, New York’s weather/climate confuses me. In the uber dry southeast portion of Washington which is where I lived for the first 28 years of my life, you either water your lawn, or you have a dirt pit with weeds growing amuck. Here in moody upstate New York though where the trees grow basically unaided, almost nobody even has sprinklers, let alone bothers to use them. This is because they don’t need to. It rains enough that for the most part yards can flourish without any human help whatsoever. Case in point: last year we moved into a house that oddly enough does have underground sprinklers but when our above ground pool was installed the guys cut right through the lines and while my hubby still hasn’t gotten around to fixing them, our yard continues to grow with no issues at all. All this to say i didn’t understand what would happen if i planted tulips or daffodils or whatever else my heart desired. WOuld i have to water them because they’re so new? Or would New York’s climate just take care of them for me? Last fall i decided to finally take the leap by planting some tulips and alliums in our flowerbeds. With my kids’ help, we planted over 50 bulbs all over our front and side yards…then watched helplessly as squirrels and/or some other kind of critter(s) started digging them all back up over the next few months. We found half-eaten bulbs everywhere. Our gardens had so many animal-dug holes I feared our entire house would soon fall into a sink hole. Even after the snow melted, they got back to it, working overtime to remove all the pretty bulbs we’d planted months prior. I all but lost hope for my spring flowers so you can imagine my surprise last month when we discovered some growth! Some of the bulbs managed to survive after all!!

Now.

Don’t get your hopes up too high. The fight isn’t quite over. We recently discovered an adorable but ravenous bunny living in our front yard, possibly under a bush, and, well, it’s taken a liking to the new growth. Yup, entire stalks of florescent green leaves just gone in one swift bite from ol’ bun bun. Each day is like a plant massacre outside our front door and whenever we do venture outdoors, we hold our breath in heavy anticipation. But, i’m happy to report all is not lost. There’s hope for my highly endangered flowers yet. With absolutely zero help from me, and an onslaught of constant physical attacks from almost every angle imaginable, there’s actual spring blooms in my yard right now. As of typing this I have four gorgeous pink tulips open and soaking up the sun like California surfers. There are also a few allium bulbs forming and i’m really hoping our little bunny frenemy doesn’t devour them before they have a chance to bloom. I’ve never had alliums in my own yard but i’ve been admiring them for years. I bought a mixture of both giant and regular size alliums so it’ll be a fun surprise to see when/if they finally do open up. If you have any tips for me, please email me at ashleymarieauthor@gmail.com because, obviously, i need the help. lol.

Next weekend is mother’s day which is one of my favorite days of the year because, let’s be honest, my husband does everything. Him and the kids make breakfast then he also makes lunch and dinner. Best part is he even does all the dishes! I know, I know! it’s wild. But more importantly our tight knit little family gets to spend some incredible quality time together. We usually (weather permitting) go to a nursery or Home Depot and pick out plants for my pots i keep on my front and back porches. In case you didn’t pick up on it from above, the bright pops of color make me so happy. This year i asked my family to make me a bird house. after some basic research and momentary consideration, my husband talked me into a bird feeder instead…that they’ll be buying. LOL. I’ll share a photo next month. Our backyard mostly consists of woods that are just full of birds, so many varieties, so many colors and sounds. I love it. This weekend i’m away on one of my mother’s day gifts to myself. I booked a staycation at a hotel just to get a breather and to get some work done. With the kids’ spring break last month setting me back workwise, i’m ready to get caught up on edits for Marc’s book, Blind Spot. You can plan and plan and plan but life just does not always cater to your plans and as much as I’m looking forward to knocking out some words, I could also use some alone time. It’s coming at kind of a funny time but again, you can only plan so much. I was supposed to take this break back in February but end of April into early May is when I’m finally able to.

All three of my kids have been in full remote school since last March. The elementary in our district just went back to full time in-person for all grades and my 1st grader and 5th grader daughters decided they wanted to spend the last two months of the school year with their friends in-person. This past week was their first week of actually being around people again! My middle schooler is still full remote as they can’t bring all the middle school or high schoolers back yet, only hybrid, which my son feels confident doing as full remote still. With all that being said, I have so much more time to work now that i have for the last 13 months! With my younger ones back in school, i have significantly less interruptions. My son and i eat lunch together during his break and try to get a walk in but otherwise he’s self sufficient for the classes he attends virtually so I’m able to get a lot more done on weekdays.

If you missed it, I revealed the title of the third and final book in the Creekwood series. Marc’s book, Blind Spot, is now available for preorder on Amazon and is set to release July 8th. Sign ups for anyone that wants to help with its release and/or apply for an ARC are now open. This will be my first release without using a PR company so I’m so grateful for any help you can offer. Seriously. Marc’s story is such a special one to me and I’m really hoping it is to everyone else too.

Watching wise, I binged and loved a Netflix show called “The End Of The F…ing World.” It’s dark but oddly funny and has some of the most complex young characters I’ve ever seen. I also saw the movie called “Moxie” on Netflix and adored it. It’s so timely and inspiring.

That’s it for me this month. Stay safe and see you in June!

Ashley

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