What's the worst that could happen?

 

I’m one of those people who gets an idea to try a thing and thinks ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’, but I want to try the thing, so don't worry about the potential disaster.

Many (many) moons ago, I left college to be a nanny in England. The earth didn’t leave orbit, nor did I become homeless, forced to wander the moors calling for Heathcliff. (Actually, that sounds kind of fun, doesn’t it?) But nor did I marry Prince Andrew – he never returned my calls. Uh … thank goodness.

I left college for the second time (see a pattern here?) and relocated to Baltimore with my then-boyfriend. We lived in a slightly scary neighbourhood (police helicopters were forever shining their searchlights in our backyard), but I survived, have a few exciting stories to tell, and am still married (37 years) to that boyfriend. 

Since then, I've had many ideas, some successful (writing a book can’t be that hard - ha!), others not so much. But I’m always willing and/or eager to try.

A few years ago, we built our dream retirement home. Well, ‘we’ didn’t do any of the actual building. The construction crew did all the work. DH and I merely supervised and made decisions. (Though there were times I’d have preferred to pound nails than decide where to put the freaking electrical outlets … grrrr.) But we left a few things unfinished because I had the idea that we’d work on those things ourselves. Save a few pennies in labour costs and try something new. It would be fun!

To clarify, there are a few things I have no desire to try, and they involve heights. Step onto a 60th-floor balcony? I’d rather not, thanks. Bungee jump? No, thank you! Skydive? Are you insane?!? Shingle a roof? Hm …

One of the undone projects was building a garden shed. You’re probably aware that a shed is useless without a roof.

And so up the ladder I went.

 

 

That’s me without my face blacked out. With me are my daughter-in-love and my long-suffering DH who goes along with most of my great ideas. Son1 took the photo.

As I ascended the ladder, I thought, ‘what’s the worst that could happen’. Death was a possibility. The shed is only one story tall, but I don’t think that matters if one lands on one’s head. A broken bone would be more likely, or a big, BIG bruise. 

No one was injured in the creation of this shed, apart from skinned knuckles. I perfected my hammering skills, and we get to brag about building a darned nice shed. And we have a few stories to tell. 

I’d never built a sundeck before either, so we did that next.

 

And since we were successful with the garden shed and sundeck, we next tackled the hen house.

 

 

What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever tried? Are you a fellow ‘what’s the worst that could happen’ thinker?

 

Luanna Stewart has been creating adventures for her imaginary friends since childhood. She spends her days writing many flavours of romance. When not torturing her characters, she’s in her kitchen baking something delicious. She lives in Nova Scotia with her patient husband and three hens. 

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Bitten by The Travel Bug!

 

By: Marcia King-Gamble  

www.lovemarcia.com

One of my first jobs ever was that of an international flight attendant. It was the perfect job for a young single with no ties.  Back then, being a flight attendant was a coveted position, and came with some prestige. You had to be the best of the best in many areas.  The airline that hired me required me to have a second language. Please don’t ask me mine. It now has gone the way of the spinning wheel.    

In any case, my life has been one travel adventure after another. I left the airline business and entered the cruise industry. Some people acquire things, I acquire travel experiences, and while intangible it’s money well spent.

Few people can say they cruised the Nile, saw The Pyramids and visited King Tuts tomb. What about a trip to the Taj Mahal on a brutally hot day? Memories of St. Petersburg,  Russia are now mine to keep.

Years ago, going to places like Hong Kong and Bangkok were long weekend trips. New Zealand is a place still near and dear to my heart and makes the top ten list of my favorite places to return. It’s a place I think I can easily live. Sweden and Denmark are also on my non bucket list. And Italy, well who doesn’t like Rome, Milan, Venice and Capri? Florence is still on my to do list.

My most recent overseas trip took me into London.  First. I visited with a friend, overnighted, and then took the train to South Hampton to board my cruise. This voyage took me to Hamburg, Paris, Rotterdam, and Belgium.  I called it the hop on, hop off, bus.

Vacations and getaways have taken me to Barcelona, Rio, Croatia, and Alaska. But lately, I have been on the See America tour. A contract job has brought me to New Orleans, Nashville, Minneapolis, and Memphis. I’ve flown to Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis to make sure guests have a smooth boarding experience. Seeing America has been just as intriguing as any of those foreign ports.

So, readers where is your favorite place to vacation? Share! Share! Share!       

 

About Marcia King-Gamble

USA bestselling romance writer, Marcia King-Gamble originally hails from a sunny Caribbean Island where the sky and ocean are the same mesmerizing shade of blue. This former travel industry executive has spent most of life in the United States. A National Bestselling author, Marcia has penned over 34 books and 8 novellas. She has contributed to Michael Fiore’s DigitalRomanceInc and served as a moderator on the now defunct eHarmony advice boards. Having witnessed the bad, the ugly, and the not so good in relationships, she still prefers to write about happily ever after. Caring for her animal family keeps her grounded and sane.

Visit Marcia at www.lovemarcia.com or “friend” her on Facebook: http://bit.ly/1MlnrIS

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Backcountry camping - my happy place

From the time the boys were walking, we've spent part of every summer camping and canoeing, first in a regular campground, what I call 'car camping', and then at remote campsites in the backcountry with everybody and everything loaded into our large canoe. 

When the kids were old enough, and strong enough, we graduated to two canoes for the paddle into the wilderness - one parent and one child in each canoe. And then it was the boring parents in one canoe and the boys in the other, either racing ahead or lagging behind. 

Now that our nest is empty, we're back to one canoe (or two kayaks, but one canoe is a heck of a lot easier to manage on the portages). 

We recently spent a few days in one of my favourite places on earth, Kejimkujik National Park, located in the south-west end of Nova Scotia. 

Here's a map showing the backcountry campsites, some on lakes, some you need to hike to, all very remote. The orange square shows our location for this most recent stay.

And an enlarged view of that area of the map. We parked our car at Eel Weir.

 We walked the O portage and put our canoe in the water at the end of the red line.

Then we paddled to the P portage and site 23, the only campsite on that lake. 

One of the first tasks is making the water safe to drink with a filter and special tablets. This site is one of only a handful with a wooden shelter, very handy should it rain. Though we always have an extra tarp to use as a rain shelter just in case.

A previous camper left this interesting axe behind. My writer brain instantly went in a dark direction.

The next day we paddled further down the river to see the sights ... 

before returning to our campsite for a cosy fire.

Our last day dawned sunny and warm.

We packed up aaalllll our stuff and got on the water for a leisurely paddle back to the portage.

A friendly doe said goodbye.

And then the walk back to the parking lot ...

and the end of another perfect stay in a truly happy place.

Luanna Stewart has been creating adventures for her imaginary friends since childhood. She spends her days writing spicy contemporary romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, and historical romance. When not torturing her heroes and heroines, she’s in her kitchen baking something delicious. She lives in Nova Scotia with her patient husband, a spoiled cat, and five hens. 

Website ~ Bookbub ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads 

    

Amelia Bennett is getting her life on track and won’t let the mistakes of the past harsh her joy. Most days. While working at the family store by day, and building her graphic design business by night, she dreams of the perfect life in the perfect house – just as soon as she can afford it. A man is Not On The Schedule. Not even the big, strong, gorgeous man with the sweet smile and sexy arms.

Nate Hardwick’s craft brewery needs a boost. New bottle labels might help and, luckily, a graphics designer with perfect ideas and a whole bunch of attitude struts into his life. Pretty soon, they’re hanging out like a couple of buddies, but another buddy isn’t what he needs. Not when she’s everything he wants.

Will Amelia’s … issues crash this chance at love? Nate needs to convince her that he’s strong enough to handle whatever she can throw at him.

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Leaving the armchair to travel

I so love travelling. Planning the trip fills me with excitement and anticipation. I study maps and I read up on local history. I analyze hotel and restaurant reviews. Do we rent a car or use public transit? Can we fit in a castle visit AND a winery tour? How often does the ferry run? Sketching out an itinerary fills weeks of my time with dreams of picnics, evening strolls, relaxing hours in a pub.

But that’s just for armchair travelling.

On my actual trips, I’m stressed about packing, anxious about flights (not the flying, just everything before and after – checking in, luggage restrictions, etc.), worried that the plans which looked great on paper will fail spectacularly, leaving us stranded on a railway platform at 2am.

I’m pleased to way no disaster struck on our last bit of world travel. We may have encountered the occasional snafu (I now understand the jokes about RyanAir) but minor hiccups only add to the experience.

We cruised the Rhine and Moselle rivers, starting with a couple days in Zurich. Our hotel was located in a business park – not the most scenic location. But we set off on foot to explore and came upon a bike expo. We thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with the locals doing what locals do, and ate the most delicious bratwurst.

After the cruise we took the EuroStar to the UK, detrained in London, navigated the ‘tube’, got to the wrong platform so went in the wrong direction for a couple stops, got over to the correct platform retraced our steps (all while lugging three suitcases and a backpack) and eventually ended up at Stansted airport – which is an experience in itself.

We flew to Cyprus aboard that RyanAir flight I mentioned. It was the first time we used that carrier and so were unaware of their bizarre way of doing things. After a stressful couple of hours in three lines and a near-jog to the gate we settled in our ‘interesting’ seats and were ‘entertained’ by the continuous sales pitch from the flight crew. It certainly was…ah…memorable. (Cyprus was amazing and worth another visit but with a different airline.)

So while the actual trip didn’t match the paper trip exactly, I’m rather glad it didn’t. The minor hitches, and the accompanying bursts of adrenaline, only added to the travel memories.