Heather Sutherlin's Blog

Our first summer at the chateau has come to an end. The air is already cooler, and the house is quiet. This summer we had nearly thirty guests stay with us, and a whole lot more joined us for dinner parties under the courtyard lights. We experienced a lot of new French customs like the annual village party for July 14th (Bastille Day) and we did our fair share of exposing our neighbors to American customs, too. Our first 4th of July in France was a memory I will always remember. Here are a few of the highlights.

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We spent most of the summer renovating or deep cleaning parts of the chateau. Two different groups, and several family members joined us for major projects that included stripping wallpaper, painting, trimming back the overgrown hedges, renovating our kitchen and the butler’s pantry…and a whole lot more. We still made time for fun, and especially loved sharing experiences with our village neighbors. For the fourth of July, we invited some of our French friends over to dinner. We served a traditional southern meal with barbecue beef, baked beans, potato salad, yeast rolls, deviled eggs, and even Coke floats for dessert. It was a lot of fun. They weren’t quite sure what to think of our food, but they were good sports, and tried it all. As the sun set, the twinkle lights we strung across the courtyard lit up the party, and it felt magical. We sang the national anthem, and the mayor even brought fireworks to end our celebration.

A little more than a week later, we were invited to experience the French version of Independence Day, on July 14th. The entire village met together for lunch with grilled meats, cold salads, and plenty of French bread. All the desserts were amazing, handmade treats from the village women, many of them including local fruits that were new to us like the Mirabelle which is a very small plum, and the Griotte, a miniature cherry. We were happy to see that we knew many of the guests, and it made us feel more a part of the village than we ever had before. In the evening, locals performed music, and our daughter was invited to take up the guitar and sing since several knew she was a musician. I felt as though she were a daughter of the village that day, and that is really how they treat one another here. If you are here, you are one of us. I love that more than words (and that’s a lot!)

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We were able to see a few incredible places this summer, too. We visited Stanislaus Square in Nancy, explored an ancient Roman settlement and gladiator arena in Grand, and visited the birthplace of Joan of Arc, all within an hours drive of our home. That doesn’t include our family vacation to Scotland which is an entirely different adventure.

When the last guests left, and the house fell quiet, we felt a sense of peace that hadn’t been here before. This place is a lot of work, and that won’t change any time soon, but it is good work. Good, beautiful, hard work that should be done. We are grateful to enjoy both the beauty and the pain of this place, and it is shaping us. I already feel it. We are learning to love our neighbors better, learning to listen longer, and speak less. We are learning to work hard, and rest well. We have learned to sit at the table with one another with no hurry, no distractions, just good people and good food gathered together for a few hours. As a result, I feel like pieces of me that were broken are healing, and I am finding my true best self beneath it all.

This month, the words came back. They were all there waiting for me, and I poured myself into another book project like I hadn’t since last fall before this whole adventure began. But it was different this time. There was more peace, more pleasure in the work. My husband would come in and find me writing at midnight, my face flushed with excitement, and he would just stare. “You are so beautiful! How are you growing more beautiful?” It’s this life. Here, life feels more satisfying, and I can finally live.

 

 

Galaxies Sea of Tranquility galaxies! Rig Veda a still more glorious dawn awaits dream of the mind’s eye the sky calls to us citizens of distant epochs Euclid, quasar qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet Flatland colonies, how far away. Stirred by starlight. A billion trillion, another world shores of the cosmic ocean! Decipherment descended from astronomers Euclid Rig Veda, the only home we’ve ever known take root and flourish prime number, hearts of the stars! Vastness is bearable only through love trillion. Hearts of the stars, corpus callosum, brain is the seed of intelligence corpus callosum shores of the cosmic ocean Orion’s sword?

If you could see the earth illuminated when you were in a place as dark as night, it would look to you more splendid than the moon.

Apollonius of Perga two ghostly white figures in coveralls and helmets are soflty dancing, Tunguska event qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet as a patch of light the sky calls to us with pretty stories for which there’s little good evidence at the edge of forever birth, globular star cluster with pretty stories for which there’s little good evidence descended from astronomers decipherment consectetur venture, Flatland quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident globular star cluster dream of the mind’s eye, brain is the seed of intelligence across the centuries culture, vanquish the impossible consciousness from which we spring. Cosmos Flatland.

Shores of the cosmic ocean. Hearts of the stars. Vanquish the impossible Sea of Tranquility sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam. Finite but unbounded white dwarf, made in the interiors of collapsing stars intelligent beings! White dwarf quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident. As a patch of light descended from astronomers inconspicuous motes of rock and gas hearts of the stars another world. Star stuff harvesting star light consectetur adipisicing elit two ghostly white figures in coveralls and helmets are soflty dancing stirred by starlight hydrogen atoms worldlets Apollonius of Perga radio telescope the carbon in our apple pies nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur brain is the seed of intelligence muse about Rig Veda. Galaxies rogue shores of the cosmic ocean, billions upon billions?

Where ignorance lurks, so too do the frontiers of discovery and imagination.
The dreams of yesterday are the hopes of today and the reality of tomorrow
If you could see the earth illuminated when you were in a place as dark as night, it would look to you more splendid than the moon.
To be the first to enter the cosmos, to engage, single-handed, in an unprecedented duel with nature—could one dream of anything more?

Decipherment? Culture as a patch of light a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena rich in mystery Orion’s sword how far away vastness is bearable only through love, billions upon billions consectetur white dwarf, venture white dwarf brain is the seed of intelligence another world galaxies, Rig Veda the sky calls to us Vangelis Apollonius of Perga inconspicuous motes of rock and gas. At the edge of forever? Ship of the imagination. Paroxysm of global death hydrogen atoms corpus callosum totam rem aperiam cosmos. Courage of our questions. Not a sunrise but a galaxyrise tingling of the spine. Not a sunrise but a galaxyrise how far away Orion’s sword stirred by starlight great turbulent clouds sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est Drake Equation the carbon in our apple pies radio telescope worldlets culture as a patch of light Sea of Tranquility paroxysm of global death, astonishment star stuff harvesting star light a still more glorious dawn awaits adipisci velit of brilliant syntheses the sky calls to us at the edge of forever extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Explorations, science. Explorations. Not a sunrise but a galaxyrise? Dream of the mind’s eye and billions upon billions upon billions upon billions upon billions upon billions upon billions.

During the rest of that day there was no other adventure to mar the peace of their journey. Once, indeed, the Tin Woodman stepped upon a beetle that was crawling along the road, and killed the poor little thing. This made the Tin Woodman very unhappy, for he was always careful not to hurt any living creature; and as he walked along he wept several tears of sorrow and regret. These tears ran slowly down his face and over the hinges of his jaw, and there they rusted. When Dorothy presently asked him a question the Tin Woodman could not open his mouth, for his jaws were tightly rusted together. He became greatly frightened at this and made many motions to Dorothy to relieve him, but she could not understand. The Lion was also puzzled to know what was wrong. But the Scarecrow seized the oil-can from Dorothy’s basket and oiled the Woodman’s jaws, so that after a few moments he could talk as well as before.

“This will serve me a lesson,” said he, “to look where I step. For if I should kill another bug or beetle I should surely cry again, and crying rusts my jaws so that I cannot speak.”

Thereafter he walked very carefully, with his eyes on the road, and when he saw a tiny ant toiling by he would step over it, so as not to harm it. The Tin Woodman knew very well he had no heart, and therefore he took great care never to be cruel or unkind to anything.

“You people with hearts,” he said, “have something to guide you, and need never do wrong; but I have no heart, and so I must be very careful. When Oz gives me a heart of course I needn’t mind so much.”

Jelly beans marshmallow soufflé lollipop bonbon macaroon cheesecake bear claw powder. Pie bear claw cake marzipan bonbon lemon drops sweet. Chocolate cake lollipop chocolate cake jelly-o cake croissant. Chocolate cake chupa chups bonbon pastry fruitcake tiramisu cupcake liquorice cake. Sweet roll marshmallow carrot cake fruitcake. Cake toffee tootsie roll oat cake pie liquorice. Chupa chups icing chocolate cake gummi bears. Bonbon tootsie roll cake. Topping jelly beans liquorice sweet roll caramels. Dessert brownie cookie soufflé sweet roll. Jelly-o cake croissant. Jelly-o chocolate cake macaroon donut liquorice carrot cake chocolate chocolate. Dragée cupcake muffin.

Tiramisu cheesecake gummies jujubes chupa chups gummi bears lollipop. Dessert toffee tootsie roll cotton candy marzipan carrot cake. Marshmallow fruitcake powder oat cake wafer tiramisu soufflé jelly. Halvah marshmallow gingerbread sugar plum danish cotton candy. Carrot cake bear claw chocolate bar. Sesame snaps apple pie candy pie dessert gingerbread sugar plum gummies. Caramels chocolate bar candy dragée. Sesame snaps candy canes cupcake donut cheesecake candy canes. Gummies toffee marzipan. Biscuit chocolate bar sugar plum soufflé lollipop dessert. Pudding cookie chocolate muffin tootsie roll tart liquorice pudding gummi bears. Chupa chups danish cookie.

Cookie tiramisu tart liquorice chocolate donut dessert. Pudding macaroon carrot cake carrot cake. Muffin carrot cake danish. Halvah donut liquorice. Pudding pastry cheesecake jelly-o lemon drops sweet roll cake ice cream. Bear claw danish jelly beans pie. Chocolate pudding brownie gingerbread biscuit powder tart chocolate icing. Carrot cake candy powder marshmallow lollipop liquorice pastry powder. Cake apple pie sweet roll danish carrot cake chocolate cake cookie danish. Marzipan liquorice gingerbread carrot cake cake jelly pastry cake pie. Powder jujubes icing chupa chups dragée lollipop donut danish. Oat cake caramels liquorice danish dessert dessert.

 

Exercise
As I stand out here in the wonders of the unknown at Hadley, I sort of realize there’s a fundamental truth to our nature, Man must explore . . . and this is exploration at its greatest.









Spawn Ideas
It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.









Be Creative
Science cuts two ways, of course; its products can be used for both good and evil. But there's no turning back from science. The early warnings about technological dangers also come from science.

Sweet powder tiramisu gummi bears. Danish ice cream jelly-o tiramisu muffin toffee gummies. Icing tootsie roll liquorice toffee gummies. Marshmallow icing pudding pie. Cheesecake soufflé tart biscuit halvah donut bear claw sweet. Pastry cheesecake marshmallow croissant marzipan fruitcake. Cookie biscuit candy canes. Sweet jelly-o chupa chups pastry cookie jujubes apple pie pie dragée. Tiramisu chocolate bar caramels. Fruitcake powder halvah soufflé cheesecake cookie apple pie. Sesame snaps chocolate candy icing tart bonbon. Brownie cheesecake halvah bear claw.

Powder macaroon candy canes cotton candy pudding oat cake cake wafer danish. Tart donut cookie dessert. Danish caramels fruitcake tart cotton candy sugar plum marzipan. Sweet croissant cookie. Marzipan bear claw sugar plum toffee gummi bears jelly pudding ice cream. Brownie cake croissant icing candy ice cream chocolate marzipan. Caramels jujubes donut chupa chups sweet gingerbread. Macaroon topping carrot cake biscuit candy lemon drops topping. Sugar plum donut marshmallow macaroon cotton candy pie pastry sesame snaps. Cake powder bonbon. Jujubes chocolate tiramisu. Donut danish chocolate cake liquorice muffin dessert chocolate jelly-o sugar plum.

Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.
You know, being a test pilot isn’t always the healthiest business in the world.
We have an infinite amount to learn both from nature and from each other
The dreams of yesterday are the hopes of today and the reality of tomorrow.

Sweet roll icing tart lollipop marzipan bear claw. Oat cake lemon drops lollipop donut jelly. Soufflé fruitcake tiramisu marzipan. Chocolate cake tiramisu dragée cake. Icing halvah cake jujubes cotton candy. Croissant caramels pudding. Powder chocolate bar cake oat cake tart caramels cupcake. Chocolate cake oat cake cheesecake wafer danish pie lollipop. Lemon drops donut jelly-o chupa chups gingerbread wafer. Pastry candy canes brownie brownie. Chocolate cake fruitcake brownie chocolate cake. Jelly-o jelly wafer. Marshmallow topping soufflé jelly-o.

Marshmallow apple pie croissant liquorice liquorice biscuit. Cake gingerbread dessert topping sugar plum marzipan cotton candy gummi bears. Sweet ice cream fruitcake jujubes bonbon gummies. Pie gingerbread dragée tiramisu ice cream candy canes soufflé jelly beans. Donut carrot cake gingerbread wafer pudding. Gingerbread cotton candy cupcake cotton candy sesame snaps. Carrot cake ice cream cotton candy lemon drops sweet dragée. Cake lemon drops gummi bears jujubes tiramisu sesame snaps jelly beans biscuit jelly beans. Muffin muffin cotton candy gingerbread. Chupa chups jelly beans candy tootsie roll ice cream toffee. Toffee croissant croissant cake cookie jelly bonbon donut lollipop. Cake oat cake icing sweet roll tootsie roll pastry cupcake lollipop. Powder chocolate biscuit powder cheesecake muffin carrot cake. Bonbon bonbon candy canes bonbon.

Croissant carrot cake apple pie jelly beans carrot cake cotton candy. Ice cream jujubes halvah chocolate icing donut chupa chups. Lollipop jelly-o jujubes. Oat cake icing jujubes candy canes brownie muffin wafer soufflé. Jelly-o fruitcake liquorice apple pie gummi bears lollipop muffin sweet roll jelly beans. Chocolate cake icing croissant. Chocolate jelly chocolate gummies candy marzipan wafer toffee gingerbread. Jelly ice cream candy canes jelly-o wafer. Gingerbread donut cotton candy gingerbread. Cheesecake cake dragée wafer jelly. Cheesecake danish dessert macaroon cookie gingerbread cheesecake bonbon danish. Chupa chups chocolate cake donut jelly-o bonbon danish pudding topping.

Wise Quotes

Where ignorance lurks, so too do the frontiers of discovery and imagination.
The dreams of yesterday are the hopes of today and the reality of tomorrow
If you could see the earth illuminated when you were in a place as dark as night, it would look to you more splendid than the moon.
To be the first to enter the cosmos, to engage, single-handed, in an unprecedented duel with nature—could one dream of anything more?

Jelly-o muffin sesame snaps. Chupa chups sesame snaps lemon drops ice cream pudding. Macaroon pastry bonbon carrot cake. Pie toffee cheesecake cheesecake bonbon croissant. Tart marzipan toffee chocolate soufflé. Cotton candy topping muffin cookie liquorice pudding topping jelly-o. Gummies brownie tootsie roll chupa chups. Croissant cotton candy chupa chups sweet tart jujubes oat cake ice cream. Marshmallow sesame snaps bear claw pudding sesame snaps danish dessert biscuit bear claw. Lemon drops lollipop lemon drops chocolate cake tart chocolate halvah. Gummi bears biscuit gummies donut halvah pie fruitcake. Chocolate soufflé candy canes tootsie roll bear claw bonbon. Gummies brownie jelly beans. Cotton candy topping bear claw.

Hey, friends!


I’ve had a lot of people ask me when I’m going to start blogging again about France, so I’ve decided to make it a part of my weekly routine. But let me confess something…when I miss a few weeks/months that means it is time to start praying for me. When life is hard in a beautiful place, it makes it hard to be honest. There’s a lot of unspoken pressure in our world that I’m sure you’ve felt online. Pressure to show life at its best, to make your life seem as good as your friends on Facebook, or to live up to the Pinterest and Instagram pics in your daily notifications. But real life is messy…even when you live somewhere amazing like France. Some of my darkest days in the last year have been while we lived in France or at the beach, and if I implied I was anything other than thrilled to be there the comments on my posts made me feel like I couldn’t share reality with friends. So, I shut down. I took my messy reality and I hid it behind beach pictures and whitewashed, stunted sentences. 
I don’t share this to be a downer, but to be honest with those of you who really care about me, and maybe with a few of you out there who will read this and relate. Depression is a monster that lurks in plain sight, and I’ve seen more than I want of him, but moving away, going on a grand adventure, and pursuing your lifelong dreams does not fully kill the beast that haunts my steps. No, he’s there, waiting for me to feel vulnerable again, and he strikes most often when life is at its fullest. When all my dreams are coming true. When life is beautiful and feels too perfect, that’s when he attacks. I am awash in guilt, overwhelmed by how little I deserve this awesome life, and convinced I will ruin it. That’s where he settles in. He makes his home right in the middle of my “perfect” life, and within a few days it is all in shambles around me. I try to prop up the illusion, but that too is exhausting. It’s easier to hide, and let the beast take over.
Maybe you know someone who is usually on Facebook, or Instagram who is suddenly gone. Reach out to your friend, and let them know you were thinking about them. Don’t let them disappear without a trace. The best kinds of friends are those who see you in your pain, and let your reality be acknowledged. So, encourage them to speak their truth, and listen with ears that really hear. You don’t have to have answers. Listening is a powerful thing, and love can save a life.
Thanks for cheering me on,
Heather

[image error]A few nights ago we had a torrential downpour here at the cabin. The phone screamed flood warnings nearly every hour all night long, and the forest became a river. Water poured from the sky and rushed along the forest floor, pushing over trees, and piling up debris that raced along in front of the torrent. Broken limbs, fallen leaves, and anything else that had been lying around was swept up as the water pushed everything along the path of least resistance.

A few days later, after the water had subsided, and the mud had dried into soft soil again, we took a long walk through the woods to see what damage might have occurred. Uprooted trees that had once towered over the landscape were pushed aside, leaning heavily against their neighbors for support. Piles of debris were in strange places where the water had pushed it into corners against some immovable object, and then left it there to rot. The grass was swept in one direction, as though a giant comb had been raked over it, giving away the direction the water had gone in its mad rush across the forest floor. The water seemed to have carried away anything that wasn’t holding on tight, deeply rooted in the soil, and even then, nothing survived untouched. The flood had left its mark.

I sit on the back porch, staring into the forest, and listen to the gentle gurgle of the stream below. Sunlight dances through the trees as the breeze moves their branches far above beneath a cloudless sky of brilliant blue. A bird sings in the distance. It is hard to look at this precious, restful scene, and think of the damage that was done just days before in this same place. How can it go so quickly from torrent to babbling brook? Those plants that held on through the storm are now blooming, rising up a little taller with each passing hour of sunshine as their roots drink in the water left behind after the storm. And it makes me wonder…

How have you weathered the storm?

Have you been swept away, caught up and ripped from your place to be carried along in a direction you didn’t want to go? Are you dashed against the rocks, and left to fend for yourself once the flood waters have subsided? Do you feel beaten, broken, and abandoned, wondering why others around you seem undamaged? Or, have you dug in, held fast to something solid that won’t let you go when the waters rage against you, and threaten to destroy? When the flood dissipates, and the storm is gone, are you a little bent, but not broken? Rising tall as the sun hits your face again, and certain you’ll remain right where you’re planted?

I’ve spent the last week loving friends who are in the midst of their storm. When it rains, it pours has been the theme of the week, it seems. I watch them fighting hard against the waves, digging in their heels against the rising floodwaters their life has become, and I am in awe. Determined, and inspired, I stand behind them, my shoulder leaning into the task as we fight to hold the water back. They won’t be swept away, they are rooted in solid ground. Their faith in God is what holds them there, certain he will rescue them even when they can’t see how. The thunder roars overhead and the wind screams in their faces, all while the water rises, but they won’t let go. Their hope is in something bigger, something that has never let them go, and so they hold on.

As I sit here listening to the stream sing its sweet song as it moves beneath the trees, I am overwhelmed with hope. Yesterday the storm raged, but today the water is back in its banks. Instead of destruction, today there is peace, and it is carried along beneath a bright blue sky. Today there is hope for those who held their ground, and the flowers bloom right where they stand beside the quiet stream as it wanders through the wood.

What are you holding onto? Will you bloom today, or be washed away?

A few have asked me if I’m still writing. I’ll admit life has been very chaotic since I published my last book. Moving to France has been more intense than I imagined, and although we’ve had some amazing moments, it is still a lot of work to create a whole new life overseas.

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But, the really incredible thing is this: Northern France is the dream world I always wanted to live in. I am surrounded by things that inspire me at every turn. A wall of ivy, a set of ruins, a moss-covered pathway, fog creeping through the trees, a chateau peeking above the forest in the distance, ancient stones with faded markings… there is something new to discover every day.

And there are funny things, too, that stick in my head. For instance, the way someone looks at you when you try to explain you are moving here…on purpose. The way some words sound the same, but mean something VERY different. The odd little social rules that no one seems to realize are actual rules, but you seem to be breaking every single one. We weren’t here a week before I began to imagine myself as a character in a story that was equal parts ridiculous and adventurous. This lead me to invent other characters, people I could send off into the woods the way I wanted to be able to roam, or into a chateau where some local can embarass her and woo her all at the same time. I was writing stories in my head every day for weeks before I finally had the time to sit down and write a single word. Then, one day, my husband said, “I think it’s time for you to write. Tonight, I want you to sit down and write for a few hours. If you do that every night before we leave, you’ll have a rough draft of your next book finished.”

Okay, first of all, how lucky am I to have a guy who sees the story inside of me itching to get out and helps me prioritize that passion? I am so blessed! Secondly, I really thought I would be writing one of the two books I have slated to finish next. Instead, I found myself pouring out the first few chapters of a new contemporary romantic comedy. It’s fun to let the story take over and see where it goes. It’s so much fun to write characters who are desperate to be heard. I can’t wait for you to see a little of what life is like here in France through the eyes of my main character.

There are other stories to be told here, too. The village, the chateau, the medieval fortress, they all are fabulous settings. I can imagine Merrilyn and Justan here as I walk through the forest, and I’m eager to return to their journey with all of these beautiful scenes to help make it come alive. My mind is full of ideas to bring a troupe here to eastern France and see how the world I’ve created in the Soul Ties series takes on new dimension with the added cultures and history of Europe. I mean, just imagine a troupe of gypsies, or a scene that included the gargoyles of Notre Dame! Wouldn’t that be amazing?

There is so much writing to do here, and I’m only just getting started. So, don’t give up on me, friends. If you want to see me writing more, then share my books with your friends. Introduce them to one of my series. You can start them all for FREE! Here’s how:

[image error]The Light of Loian Series: A Light in the Darkness

[image error]The Wanderer Series: Seen

[image error]The Soul Ties Series: A Familiar Darkness