Category: publication

Calendar Time!

Give a Greyhound a Home 2024 Calendar

On a sunny Saturday in September, Misty took part in a photoshoot with Caitlin’s Photography for the 2024 Give A Greyhound a Home charity calendar. As we are nearing the end of the year, we are delighted the calendar is now available from Give A Greyhound a Home (GAGAH) to help raise funds for the hounds.

Misty the whippet featuring in the Give a Greyhound a Home 2024 Calendar

A warm thank you to Caitlin for taking the photographs and to Steph and Ted of Begshill Bothy, who hosted the photoshoot in their beautiful paddock.

Begshill Bothy is located in Drumblade, near Huntly, Aberdeenshire, and offers 1 bedroom dog-friendly accommodation with use of an enclosed paddock, which is great for dogs who love their zoomies.

a smiling brindle whippet running across the grass

For all you Dutch readers, I am grateful and delighted that my haiku het tij keert has been included in the Haiku-kantelkalender 2024.

Haiku Kantelkalender 2024

A warm-hearted thank you to Régine den Dooven for selecting my haiku and putting this beautiful calendar together.

Haiku Kantelkalender 2024 featuring a haiku by Xenia Tran

Copies are available from Haiku Centrum Vlaanderen at 10 Euros each plus postage.

close up of a smiling brindle whippet running across the grass

We wish you all a happy Monday and a wonderful new week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Weekly Prompst Weekend Challenge: Finale

Xingfu Mama’s Whatsoever is Lovely Challenge Week 48

Tanka Sequence: Allt Mor

In Memory of Ruby and Pearl

a smiling brindle whippet in a yellow jacket

sunlight
strokes your fur
to cool down
you wade into
the peaty waters

your favourite
flow in the burn
as amber as your eyes
becomes the place
we scatter your ashes

the silver dog
beside me . . . years later
her ashes join yours
in a stream where all love
stays linked with the living

new winds rising—
a brindle hound
walks by my side
smiles at the
glittering water

our winter nears—
such peace
in the not-knowing
when we’ll join the brook
of a thousand glances

© Xenia Tran

Ribbons, Fall 2023, Volume 19, Number 3

a fast flowing mountain stream in autumn sunlight

We scattered Pearl’s ashes earlier this week near her favourite burn (a Scots word for stream or brook), a short distance upstream from where we had scattered Ruby’s ashes many years before.

Misty understood we were doing something special and could probably see more than we ever could.

It was a beautiful day to let Pearl’s spirit run free.

After spending time in gratitude and contemplation, we continued our walk with Misty in the glittering autumn sun.

two streams meeting and joining in a forest among golden autumn leaves

Wishing you all a blessed Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere #195

CMMC: October 2023 Alphabet with the Letter ‘P’ Anywhere in the Word

Haiku: Across the Sandflats

a smiling brindle whippet in a black jacket running across the tidal sands

across the sandflats
from invisible clouds …
light rain

© Xenia Tran

The Bamboo Hut, Issue Two, 2023

a smiling brindle whippet in a black jacket running across the tidal sands
close up of seaweed covered rocks at low tide

As we move into our favourite season of the year, we are taking a short blogging break and will be back on Thursday 5th October.

We leave you with Dougie MacLean performing Ready for the Storm, a song he wrote for his great-granduncle Fergus, who was a crofter-fisherman on the isle of Mull.

Wishing you all a happy Thursday, a blessed Autumn Equinox to our friends in the Northern hemisphere and a blessed Spring Equinox to our friends in the Southern hemisphere, and a wonderful two weeks ahead,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere #192

CFFC: Kellogg’s Rice Krispies – Snap! Crackle! Pop!

Haiku: Summer Heads South

a smiling brindle whippet running through the marram grass in the dunes in front of a pergola

summer heads south
earlier and earlier
on the swallow’s tail

© Xenia Tran

The Bamboo Hut, Issue Two, 2023

view from a pergola on top of the dunes across the sea

Wishing you all a happy Monday and a peaceful new week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #267: Recharge

Xingfu Mama’s Whatsoever is Lovely Challenge Week 38

Haiku: Fading Ferns

a smiling brindle whippet walking on a narrow forest trail

fading ferns –
a beaver has nibbled
at the wildflowers

© Xenia Tran

dappled light through rosebay willowherb and ferns

If you are interested in seeing more from the beaver wetlands, please check out Twilight Rain on our sister blog Tranature.

In other news, we are honoured and delighted that Brushed by Moonlight, first published on this blog on 19 May 2022, has been included in One Moment at a Time, Tanka Society Members’ Anthology.

Warm-hearted thanks to Jim Chessing and the TSA for including my work and putting this beautiful anthology together.

One Moment at a Time Anthology cover

Wishing you all a happy Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: There’s a Reason

Thursday’s Special: Pick a Word in August 2023 (distinctive, playful)

Tanka: Night Falls

close up of a smiling brindle whippet in a maroon and grey jacket walking on a narrow trail

night falls
small lights dance
in front of us
we suddenly remember
the safest journey home

© Xenia Tran

Ribbons, Spring/Summer 2023: Volume 19, Number 2

natural wetlands with beaver channels on a rewilded farm

Wishing you all a happy Monday and a peaceful new week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge: Narrow

Sunday Stills: Hints of Autumn or Spring

Tanka: A Purple Glow

a narrow winding path from the cliff tops to the hills beyond

a purple glow
along the cliff tops
first heather
ah how the wind whirls their scent
in and out of our lives

© Xenia Tran

close up of a smiling brindle whippet in a purple harness between heather and grass

As we are enjoying the first sights and scents of heather in bloom, we are grateful to be able to support Children with Cancer UK, in memory of our nephew Jamie Baker, and Give a Greyhound a Home, in honour of our sweet Misty, with the proceeds of Between Heather and Grass.

Thank You Certificate from Children with Cancer UK
Thank You Letter from Children with Cancer UK

Children with Cancer UK is the leading national children’s charity whose vision is a world where every child survives cancer. They work to develop safer, kinder and more effective childhood cancer therapies, with fewer toxic side effects.

They are there when families need help most. By funding welfare projects, delivering unforgettable events and fostering a loving environment, they strive to make the world a happier place for the children who are diagnosed with cancer.

It is with a warm heart and gratitude we are able to continue to make an annual donation to this amazing charity.

To find out more about their wonderful work or if you are interested in supporting Children with Cancer UK directly, please visit their website here.

Receipt for Charity Donation to GAGAH

Give a Greyhound a Home (GAGAH) was established in 1999 to raise awareness about ex-racing greyhounds and ex-working lurchers and to rehome as many of these wonderful hounds as possible throughout Scotland.

They are a non-profit organisation, run by a dedicated team of volunteers who give their time and effort for free.

We are grateful to support them this year with our second donation, in honour of our forever foster Misty.

If you are interested in supporting GAGAH directly with donations, fostering, adopting or buying goodies for your hound from their Happy Hound Store, please visit their website here.

Give a Greyhound a Home logo

A warm-hearted thank you to all of you who bought a copy of Between Heather and Grass and helped spread the word. If you are not familiar with the book, please feel free to click on the cover and take a peek inside:

Front Cover of Between Heather and Grass

We are taking a short blogging break and will be back on Thursday 24 August 2023.

Wishing you all a blessed day and a peaceful two weeks ahead,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs of by Xenia Tran, edited in lr. Artwork and logos by Children with Cancer UK and Give a Greyhound a Home respectively.

Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge: Common Scents

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #261: Work in Progress

Haiku: Resting by the Loch

A smiling brindle whippet running along a forest trail

resting by the loch
a movement in itself
summer’s day

© Xenia Tran

a small lochan in a forest with waterlilies in bloom

On this beautiful Summer’s day, we are grateful to be able to sponsor two dog kennels at the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) for a year, in memory of Eivor and Pearl, with the proceeds of Sharing Our Horizon.

SSPCA Kennel Sponsorship Certificate
SSPCA Kennel Sponsorship Certificate

The SSPCA is the largest animal welfare and rescue charity in Scotland. If you are interested in volunteering, fostering, adopting or supporting the SSPCA directly and to find out more about the amazing work they do, please visit their website here.

A warm-hearted thank you to all of you who bought a copy of Sharing Our Horizon and helped spread the word. If you are not familiar with the book, please feel free to click on the cover and take a peek inside:

front cover of Sharing Our Horizon

Wishing you all a happy Monday and a peaceful new week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Sunday Stills: Lazy Hazy Daze of Summer

Xingfu Mama’s Whatsoever is Lovely Challenge Week 32

Tanka: To Walk Here

Cairngorms National Park

close up of a smiling brindle whippet in a purple harness on a forest trail in Summer

to walk here
where two paths
become one
ah the blessings that flow
from flickering windows

© Xenia Tran

a field with grassy knolls and heather in the glen surrounded by mountains

In other news, we are delighted that rhubarb harvest, a haiku especially written for this collection, appears in To Live Here – A Haiku Anthology, edited by Giorgia Di Pancrazio and Katherine E Winnick. This beautiful collection of haiku on the theme of home features the work of poets from around the world and invites readers to reflect on the beauty and complexity of the world we inhabit.

The original illustrations are by Scottish artist Colin Thom and all proceeds are donated to Salford Loaves and Fishes, a charity helping homeless and vulnerable people in the Salford area.

Copies can be ordered via The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press and via Amazon.

Front Cover of To Live Here - a Haiku Anthology

Wishing you all a blessed Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Hammad Rais’ Weekend Sky #109

Haiku: Mountain Village

a smiling brindle whippet in a purple harness walking along a forest trail in late spring

mountain village –
a chimney sweeper moth
flits through the grass

© Xenia Tran

Autumn Moon Haiku Journal Volume 6:2, Spring/Summer 2023

a lochan shimmering in the sun surrounded by douglas fir and pine

Wishing you all a happy Thursday and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Misty and Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere #178

CMMC: June Kelly Green Color

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Scintilla