A quick check yesterday on the robin’s nest left me feeling a bit sad. The nest was empty. Not an egg or baby bird in sight. I had hopes of getting a photo of the babies but it wasn’t meant to be.
As a consolation I’m posting eggs from a partridge nest we discovered today, and another nest that might possibly belong to an English sparrow but we’re not sure. I’m hoping these two mamas have better luck than mother robin especially since both nests are on the ground. Still, undoubtedly, there are survivors each year. I’ll be hoping. Unfortunately, I probably won’t have the opportunity to find out for sure. I don’t expect to be back in that area again for quite a few months. Perhaps it is just as well.
A partridge nest nestled beneath a fir tree.
Possibly an English sparrow nest.
I’ve also discovered some older writing files recently with stories I abandoned a number of years ago. I’m in the process of reading the stories and deciding if I want to start working at them again. One of the stories I stopped working on because someone made a remark that discouraged me at the time. The person who made the remark wasn’t trying to be cruel. It really had nothing to do with the story. The person was my mum. She was worried that the story would one day be published and she didn’t like a few of the words spoken by one character in the story.
Looking back now, I never should have let her read my WIP. It wasn’t fair of me to ask her opinion. I was expecting an unbiased opinion and I now realize she wouldn’t have been able to give it to me. Today, those same remarks wouldn’t have discouraged me from continuing. I’ve also discovered that I’ve gained much more confidence in my writing. It took some time for me to get to this point, but I now know that nothing anyone can say will stop me from working on a story that I feel is worth working on.
Have you made any new discoveries recently?
Laura Best 
Abigail Sharpe
/ May 24, 2011I don’t really tell my mom what I’m doing. Because she’d want to read it, and I don’t want her to. *laugh* Though I’d have to tell her she’d only be allowed to say how much she enjoyed it. 🙂
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Laura Best
/ May 25, 2011This has to do with you writing romance, doesn’t it? LOL Perhaps it would be too steamy. If I were writing romance I definitely would not let my mother read it.
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Melanie
/ May 24, 2011Wow, partridges lay a lot of eggs! I hope you keep taking photos of the nests you come across. I love seeing them.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do with the abandoned stories. 😀
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Laura Best
/ May 25, 2011I think there were eleven eggs, although I can only see ten in the picture. Not sure if we’ll see anymore, but I carry my camera every day.
I still have to read through the stories. Interesting to look back at what was written a number of years ago.
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joylene
/ May 25, 2011I started a new story, had 4 pages done, and gave them to my mum to read. When I woke the next morning they were on the kitchen table. She’d found one spelling mistake. She never got to see the rest of the story. She passed away in her sleep during the night. I’m not sure why I’m mentioning it now, but your post made me think of her and my four pages. I’m just about to finish that story, and I wish my mum was here to read it.
Wonderful photos of the eggs, Laura. Sorry to hear about the robin’s eggs.
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Laura Best
/ May 25, 2011That’s so sad, Joylene. I think it’s probably good therapy for you to finish this story even though your mum won’t be reading it.
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fivecats
/ May 25, 2011So unfortunate about the robin’s nest. Ground nests are so vulnerable to predators. I’ve read that newborn robins suffer from a 25% mortality rate. While it sounds very high, a large number do survive into adulthood. Here’s to high hopes for the other nests.
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Laura Best
/ May 25, 2011It was a bit disheartening when I went for a peek on Monday morning thinking that perhaps they had even hatched. I’m hoping that the other nests do better although I likely won’t get back to see. Maybe that way I can pretend they all survived. 🙂
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Carol Ann Hoel
/ May 25, 2011I’ve been enjoying the blog world so much that I haven’t missed writing. I must take the time to decide if I will continue with my manuscript or not. If not, will I begin another one? I don’t know the answers. It’s too bad that we allow things to discourage us at times. My discouragement makes no sense. There is nothing I cannot fix, and I believe I can fix it, but it may involve a lot of time, which I don’t have without making some drastic changes. Like you, I need to make some decisions. I’m praying for guidance. Blessings to you, dear friend…
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Laura Best
/ May 25, 2011Here’s hoping that when the guidance comes, Carol Ann, you will be right there to recognize it. I sometimes think we miss out o things because we over think what form that guidance will come in..Best of luck. 🙂
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pattisj
/ May 25, 2011Aren’t the varieties of nests wonderful? They vary as much as the birds building them…some on the ground, some in trees and shrubs, some on the porch light…all made differently.
It’s hard to put our work out in front of others. I hope you recover some that you started and bring them to a satisfying conclusion.
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Laura Best
/ May 25, 2011Yes, it’s really quite remarkable the way each species of birds make their nests. It always feel like such a gift to discover one.
As for putting our work out there, it is not an easy thing to do although I think that it probably gets easier over time.
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Tracy
/ May 26, 2011Are you going to pick up on it where you left off? I have mixed feeligs about asking for other people’s opinions. Sometimes, their comments open my eyes to things I didn’t realize. Other times, I wish I never would have asked.
Lovely nests – reminder that new life is hatching around us every day…whether we’re there to see it…or not.
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Laura Best
/ May 26, 2011The story was actually finished, it just needs revisions and editing and all that good stuff. It’s very tempting to see what I can do with it even though I have another project looming. Agreed, not all feedback is helpful. Then too we must be selective as to whose opinion we ask.
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Pauline
/ May 27, 2011Beautiful eggs. That’s great that you’re now more confident about your writing. It’s best to just go with your heart, and if others don’t always understand that’s o.k.
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Laura Best
/ May 28, 2011Confidence does build over time, that and the fact that I’ve had quite a few stories published in magazines, not to mention my novel. I do believe that our heart will lead the way and you’re right, not everyone will understand.
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Helen
/ May 29, 2011This is why I don’t let my mum read my writing any more. She either thinks that what I write is wonderful, even though it isn’t, or she is critical of my subject choice (“I don’t like to think of my daughter writing about violent things”).
Unbiased feedback on your writing is wonderful, and if you can find someone who can give you that, make the most of it.
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Laura Best
/ May 29, 2011Oh our mums can be very supportive, but also critical. I did find that out through this experience. Most certainly, having feedback that is unbiased is SO important. Any serious writing knows that the only way to improve our writing is to find out where the problem areas are.
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