Month: July 2014

Fairly crazy

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treebridgeIt’s been a whirlwind sort of day around here.  I stayed up till 2:00 a.m. reading Inquisitor by RJ Blain, which I’m really enjoying, so I wasn’t exactly ready to rise with the boys this morning at 7:00 a.m.  I spent half my day running all over three counties to get last-minute things done for the kids’ fair projects, which are being judged as we speak.

redbloomAt last, I have a little bit of peace and quiet to get done the dozen and one other things I have to do today, and I’m so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open.

So.  I think I’m just going to go sit down with my candy-coated licorice bites and listen to the birds sing in the trees while I finish reading my book.  It’s nice to relax every now and then.

(c) 2014.  All rights reserved.

Where is the time going?

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Can you believe it’s Week 7 already? I know I can’t! Here, with some more great summer reads, is author, friend, and fellow Worldbuilder Sammy HK Smith.

Summer Reads Blog Tour – Week Seven

Sammy HK Smith

Week seven is already here, and it’s time to introduce Sammy HK Smith!  Sammy is another Authonomy friend who didn’t run away when I send a friend request via Facebook!  Some do you know…lol.  Anyway, along with others on this Blog Tour, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know her and her writings.  You won’t want to miss out on her work and recommendations from Goodreads.  Here’ssssss Sammy!
Sammy lives and works in the sunny county of Oxfordshire in the UK with her husband, 14 cats, 2 dogs and hamster, Georgeski. When time allows, she writes. In Search of Gods and Heroes is her first book, and the first  of the Children of Nalowyn series.

Between working and writing…

Lemon delight

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So the other night, I tried a new recipe. I don’t normally care for a lot of lemon things, but the rest of my family ADORE all things lemon. I thought this lemon bread would be a hit for supper (we wanted to keep it light that night), and I couldn’t have been more right. As a matter of fact, it was an even bigger hit the next day.

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Photo Friday: From a friend

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Today, I have a lovely coaster (part of a very pretty set of four) that I received from a work friend when Seymour and I got married:

Life

The flower is courtesy of Cricket, my resident flower-picker.  This morning, he gave me a sunny little dandelion.

Don’t forget to stop by Charnele’s blog and take a look at her Photo Friday fun! 🙂

(c) 2014.  All rights reserved.

RIP Oscar, and hello, new kitties!

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Saturday was a tough day.  Our kittens, Oscar and Patches, went to their new home Saturday afternoon with a lovely lady who’s a friend of a friend.  Bubbles and Tadpole were understandably upset when they came home and found the kittens gone, but not nearly as upset as they were when we received the news that Oscar had died sometime Monday night from an unknown illness.

Oscar loved to lie around…
…but he took his food very seriously.
So did Patches.
Sweet little kitten.

Patches, thankfully, is doing well…

On storytelling

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“And I would’ve gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling characters!” — every good storyteller ever, unmasked for the monster that they are.  –Chuck Wendig, penmonkey extraordinaire

Seriously, go check out that post.  Lots of good info.

(c) 2014.  All rights reserved.

The wilds of Iowa

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You may recall that last weekend, we had some wild weather.  It’s actually been a wild couple of weeks, weatherwise.  Between floods and tornadoes, we’ve had all we can do to keep up with the effects of the storms leveled at us.  Last week’s storms knocked down two of our trees, and left branches dangling from a couple of others.  Seymour and I spent Sunday afternoon trying to clean up the yard, only to have more storms roll through that night.

My hometown was too close for comfort to one of Sunday evening’s passing tornadoes.  Apparently, our new house was also fairly close, but I didn’t know that till Monday morning.

I’ve just about had it…

Summer Reads to take your mind off the weather

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Today’s Summer Reads guest is the wonderful Tricia Drammeh, a terrific friend and author.  Let’s see which books she recommends!

Summer Reads Blog Tour – Week Six Tricia Drammeh

Super excited to introduce you to Tricia Drammeh! Tricia is another friend that I’ve had the privilege of getting to know over the last several years from a site called Authonomy. It’s a site where writers go to post their manuscripts and have their peers read and critique. I loved her manuscript, her style of writing from the moment I first read her work. It’s really cool to be able to say “I read her original work before it was published!” And now a word from Tricia!

me-3Hi everyone! My name is Tricia Drammeh, and I’m super excited to be a part of the 2014 Summer Reads Blog Tour. I hope you all are finding lots of great books to read this summer. I know I’ve found a bunch and I’d love to share some with you, but first here’s a little about me and my books.

Tricia Drammeh is a wife, the mother of four wonderful kids, and the author of four published novels. She currently lives in New Hampshire with her family. When she isn’t writing, she can be found reading, wrangling cats, or drinking lots and lots of coffee. You can connect with Tricia by visiting her Website or following her on Facebook.

Twenty-three-year-old Karlie is in the type of rut some people never escape from.

Photo Friday: Out and about!

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This week’s Photo Friday is all about being out and about, and since it’s Independence Day here in the good ol’ U.S. of A., I can’t think of a better place to be than out and about.

I started the day off out and about at our old house, prepping for the open house this weekend.  That was followed up by a trip to the park, which is where the bulk of my hometown’s Fourth of July festivities take place:

Memory alpha

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The story of my most prized possession is a difficult one to tell because there are many things I prize quite highly.  I’ve never been able to choose a single thing I love more than all others.

As a kid, whenever someone asked what one thing would I grab if my house were burning and I was forced to flee, I always answered, “Puppy and Blankie.”  (They’re exactly what they sound like – I know, I was so creative as a kid.)

bffsPuppy was a gift from my dad and I’ve had him for longer than I can remember.  We share a telepathic connection, and he has always been there to comfort me when I needed it.  Despite his advanced age – 210 in dog years – he doesn’t look half bad.  Oh, sure, his hat is missing, and he’s had a few surgeries over the years (he’s had several nose jobs, plus open heart surgery and a spinal fusion)*, but his heart is as big as ever.  And even though he no longer goes everywhere with me…