cold

This and that, January 19, 2022

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It is such a pretty day out there. Blue skies, bright sunshine, the world covered in marshmallow mounds of fresh snow. All the wind blowing stuff around does it.

The evergreen trees in our yards are frosted with fresh snow. I’m pretty sure my neighbors would not be happy with me posting pictures that included their houses so we will have to make do with word pictures. The world is beautiful this morning.

The cheerful vision makes me want to venture out but only until I check the temperature. -25C feels like -37C with the wind chill. I will be staying inside, enjoying the sun streaming in the windows.

The warmth of that bright light is appreciated but it’s also a challenge. Bananas on the counter and plants on the table are fair game. I keep moving things into the shade but it’s a losing battle. The sun is relentless in moving across the sky, coming in the windows at new angles.

I’m not complaining, though, I just have to remember to do a better job of hiding things.

The positive side of all that light far outweighs the negative. It’s hard not to feel cheerful at times like this.

I admit it is still possible to feel down if I allow my thoughts to turn inward and stay there for any length of time. I’m not planning to go to that place willingly.

On a brighter note: as mentioned a day or so ago I went grocery shopping before the promised winter storm hit, to replenish my dwindling food supply. I am ready.

Bring on the snow.

I behaved and stocked up on fruit, vegetables, and other healthy things too, but you have to admit, ice cream does make things go better.

I haven’t seen this particular flavor of ice cream in a while and it sounded like a good idea at the time. It’s turned out to not be my favorite. Too sweet I think. But still, it’s ice cream, how can that be bad. Next time it will be back to tried-and-true black cherry. Or pistachio or maybe chunky caramel.

The other treasure found while strolling through the aisles was my new favorite coffee. It’s seasonal, Winter Blend, and will disappear soon. Since it was on at clearance prices, I picked up four, and I’m still smiling at my good fortune. I considered taking more but I didn’t want to be greedy, and besides, they were on the back of the top shelf. That was a major deciding factor. There were no tall people around and I would have had to climb the shelves to get more. I could visualize how well that was going to work out for me.

All this talk of coffee, I need some.

I’ll be back soon to talk about books, y’all.

A little this and that November 26, 2021

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I don’t know about you but I love looking at mountains. I like travelling through them even better but pictures are good in the meantime.

So many great videos were just waiting to be discovered after the massive flooding the province of British Columbia, Canada survived several weeks ago and I couldn’t be happier.

BC is covered with both high and low mountain ranges. Today’s discovered videos were shot in high heavily treed areas. The flood damage is great and it’s taking heavy equipment to deal with the cleanup. It’s fascinating, catching a glimpse of the action.

The first video shows some of the cleanup. They also have footage of logging companies moving some of their heavy equipment out of the forest. The push is to get them out before they are trapped for the winter by heavy snow. The logging roads they had to use for evacuation look pretty challenging, especially with the lengthy distance it took to get out. Usually equipment like this would be transported on the back of big trucks not driven on the road.

The second video was interesting too, mainly because of the challenge. They had to find a safe way to remove a fallen tree threatening to take out their bridge, the only access to their home.

Taking down a tree can be dangerous, mainly because of the spring in them. You never know for sure how they will react to pressure. They can move in unexpected ways and cause serious damage. Think of walking through a forest with small branches springing back to whap you in the face. Now think of that on a much grander scale. Ouch! They were successful.

Anyway, I enjoyed these videos and thought you might too.

Today is a slow book day so there is nothing to report on that front.

Let me know if you liked these videos and I will share more of my favorites. It helps if I know you enjoyed them too.

If you live in snowless countries you can tell it’s a little chillier over here and the snow is beautiful.

The day is young, there could be more later.

Enjoy!

This and that November 14, 2021

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Our neighborhood woke up to a winter wonderland this morning. The first serious bit of snow this winter. It’s wet and heavy, perfect for making snowballs and snow men. I wonder if snowball fights are a thing anymore? I haven’t noticed one in a long while.

Shoveling is not a lot of fun with this heavy stuff. I’m all the more grateful for a kind neighbor. He’s smart. He cleared both driveways yesterday when there wasn’t much and then again today. I have a snowblower he uses with serious snow but this time he shoveled. Must be wanting the exercise.

I’m taking a break from exercise at the moment. Vacuuming. This is a make do day. My vacuum cleaner motor went a few weeks ago and it hasn’t been replaced. I have been using a broom and mop but today I had a brilliant idea. Why not use the shop vac, it should work in a pinch. It had to be cleaned up a bit and it’s awkward but it does a reasonable job.

The other thing on my agenda was reading up on bonsai and how to do it and care for them. I like the look but have no experience. My daughter gifted me with three cuttings off of the bonsai that has gotten away on them. I think it’s going to be fun to learn.

My plant menagerie was getting a little out of hand too. The aloe plant split in about 6 different ways and was crazy. I was feeling ruthless so I tossed all but one stem which I repotted. The ruthlessness continued on with tossing entirely a neglected plant from an unused bedroom. I could have kept a cutting but the plant grows like crazy if it’s watered properly and I don’t really have a good place for it anyway. Company is coming next week so it seemed like the perfect time to say bye bye.

I just saw a snowmobile go by on the back of a pick-up truck. Guys eager to get back out there for winter sports.

I’ll leave you with a shot of my new cuttings. The vacuum is calling my name.

Happy Sunday

Another this and that kind of day September 28, 2021

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I have nothing much in my head at the moment but I need to come up with a post to meet my daily goal commitment. Besides the discipline of putting something down on paper is actually good for me.

I guess it’s not really fair to say I have nothing in my head. I’ve been reading, trying to work my way through the burgeoning stack, and it has been disappointing. The just-finished read was a collection by an author I normally like, for the most part. The collection was disappointing because all three books were short on story and long on attraction. Lots and lots of time spent aware of each other. It’s boring listening to the same basic thoughts over and over again. A good story with some meat on it makes me happy. Anyway, I can’t even tell you the name of the collection because it’s been removed. The minute it was over.

Currently I’m reading a romance somewhat similar but at least it has a healthy story line running right through the middle of it. It isn’t a very long book either so there isn’t room for it to be plumped out with over the top attraction angst.

Courting Calla: A Christian Romance (Dixon Brothers Book 1)

CALLA VAUGHN has spent the last three years desperately trying to get her life in order so that she can go back to culinary school. No matter how hard she works, though, she feels like she is just treading water and can’t see any way out of the hole dug for her by a con artist who stole her identity.
When flowers she sends to her best friend with a dinner invitation accidentally get delivered to IAN JONES, she decides to cook him the best meal he’s ever had. By the time she admits that the flowers were never for him, he is as convinced as she is that God orchestrated the mistake in the first place.
All that’s left is to tell him the dark secret about her father’s widow. She waits a little too long, though, and is carted off to jail for questioning on felony charges before she gets a chance.
Will Ian understand her situation, or will the deception surrounding Calla destroy any trust he has in her?

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Work has been taking up a lot of my thinking time too. I won’t bore you with the details but a new software program on one of the sites I frequent is still under construction even though it is in full use. Navigation seemed impossible on one task. Today was a good day because the sticky issue has finally been resolved. Another file closed, at least it looks like it from my current point of view. Fingers crossed.

That’s mainly it for my day.

The weather was warm today, in the 30’s C and it should be like that again for several more days. I’m happy for the chance to experience a little more warmth before the bitterness of winter sets in. The illusion of summer is gone though, with darkness quickly falling hours earlier than it did on the longest days. The leaves are turning color and falling faster than I’d like. I’m sad to see the end of summer this year. It’s gone by much too quickly.

There have been bright spots, though, lately. Chatting with friends I haven’t talked to in a while.

There are always things I’m can be grateful for and they over-shadow the sadness whenever I let them. At this moment I’m choosing to see the good things in my life since it looks like I’m digging myself a bit of a hole with all this talk of melancholy over summer’s demise.

Tomorrow’s another day, and it’s looking better already since one dreaded work task has been successfully completed.

If I’m going to squeeze in a bit more reading before lights out I’d better get moving.

Happy Reading to you.

Bargain Books November 08, 2020

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Another Christmas collection with a bargain price. One nice thing about these collections, the authors shift places from year to year, It keeps things fresh. Some we see often, others not so much.

Hearts Aglow: Four Christmas Novella Romances (The Christmas Lights Collection Book 5) 

Amazon quote:

♥ Potato Flake Christmas: by Cathe Swanson ♥

Matchmaker, matchmaker, who’s getting matched?

Both at crossroads in their professional lives, Claire and Jeffrey don’t need the matchmaking shenanigans of her grandmother or his great uncle. 

Although Jeffrey has fond memories of Christmas on the beach, Claire just can’t imagine Christmas in a land filled with cactus and a different kind of sand. Can’t we order a freak snowstorm from some online retailer somewhere?

Love is alive in the desert this Christmas.

♥ All I Want  by Toni Shiloh ♥

When Angel is tasked to decorate Bishop’s place, she longs to be seen for the woman she’s become. He just wants to get through Christmas with his daughter and get on with his perfectly ordered life. Time together changes everything as her heart unexpectedly touches his.

♥ Snow Crossed Letters: by Chautona Havig ♥

“…waitin’ for the matchmakin’ man with the (mail) bag…”

When packages go awry in a series of snowstorms that bury Rockland in multiple layers of white two residents find cheering the elderly to be a big surprise!

♥ This and Every Christmas  by Jaycee Weaver ♥
Christmases past and present collide in a humorous yet bittersweet tale of a widowed tree-farm owner and his daughter’s music teacher as they collaborate to create a future worthy of her family’s wacky traditions and his family’s legacy.

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Nothing else popped up as interesting. On the bright side though, this collection does include four books. Much better than just one.

Currently. I’m finishing up my latest read. It’s been good but I enjoy a faster pace. It’s been a little tough sticking with it long enough to reach the end. It has 362 pages but could easily have been cut back by 100 pages without damage to the story. It was a still good experience though.

A Family to Call Ours: (Front Porch Promises Book 4)

Young widow Tara Madsen has spent the last two years dealing with her eight-year-old daughter’s battle with cancer. Now a new job means the opportunity to give Hailey the best Christmas ever, but the arrival of Caleb Fitzpatrick, her employers’ son, and overreaching authorities put that goal in jeopardy.

Caleb returns to his small Massachusetts hometown with one mission—to make sure another charlatan doesn’t take advantage of his parents and their generosity. When he meets Tara, the new receptionist at the family business, he is immediately on guard. A pretty blonde fooled him once before, and he will make sure it doesn’t happen again.

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Maybe tomorrow will be better for awesome suggestions.

Happy Reading.

Bargain books October 16, 2020

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BookRunes mentioned a newly published bargain box set we are seeing fairly often lately. I may as well mention it again too. It’s near the top of my TBR list but I haven’t started it quite yet.

Dangerous Deceptions: A Romantic Suspense Boxed Set Collection

Amazon quote for the first three books:

Lethal Outbreak: Lisa Harris & Lynne Gentry

Virus hunter Aiden Ballinger believes the source of the lethal outbreak that decimated a remote Tibetan village came from disturbing the permafrost. Desperate to rebury it before it buries the world, Aiden enlists Rachel Allen, a beautiful epidemiologist. But while Aiden and Rachel pursue the cure—and their feelings for each other—someone is hunting them. Whoever wants them dead will not stop until they are silenced.

Collision Course: Elizabeth Goddard

His cover blown, FBI Special Agent Reg Jacobson finds refuge on the other side of the country, but trouble follows him when he faces off with a woman from his past. Private Investigator Nicole Weatherly, hired to catch a thief, suspects Reg. When the bullets fly, Reg and Nicole must escape secrets from their pasts before their futures collide.

Glimmer in the Darkness: Robin Patchen

When Cassidy learns another child has been kidnapped from her hometown, she’s convinced the man who took the girl she’d been babysitting seven years earlier is behind the recent abductions. She alone holds the key to finding him. Though James blames Cassidy for his sister’s death, he’ll help if there’s a chance to save a child’s life. Can Cassidy and James identify the serial killer in time to rescue his latest victim?

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Browsing, I noticed a bargain for Book 2 in a new series I’m excited about.

Breakwater Protector (Saltwater Cowboys Book 2) 

Amazon quote:

Lizzie McCreary needs to disappear. As danger stalks her, she escapes to windswept Cape Corral with her eight-year-old son, Preston. The isolated island offers her a desperate hope for safety.

Saltwater cowboy Dash Fulton isn’t looking for love. Yet when he rescues a woman and boy from the woods, he immediately feels a bond with the two. He can sense the pair are harboring secrets. The question is, what are they?

Dash has secrets of his own, and pressure continues to mount for him to come clean. But as he’s caught up in the peril surrounding Lizzie and Preston, his own problems become a low priority. He can’t let anyone hurt the sweet single mom and her precocious son. 

As more details come to light, will wounds from the past ultimately drive Lizzie and Dash apart? Or will the man chasing Lizzie destroy any hope for the future?

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Book 1 in the Saltwater Cowboys series is still a bargain too so it’s a good time to get them both.

He’s trying to forget. She’d give anything to remember.

Officer Levi Sutherland wants to protect the wild horses of Cape Corral and keep the island residents safe. But memories of his deceased wife haunt him at every turn and make him long for a fresh start. When a woman washes ashore with a bullet wound and no memories, Levi knows he can’t leave until he discovers what happened to her.

The woman—whose necklace reads Dani—captures Levi’s attention like no one has in a long time. But which side of the law is she on? Could Dani be mixed up with other mysterious incidents happening on the island?

Together, can the two find answers and create new memories? Or will secrets tear them apart and destroy a future as uncertain as Dani’s past?

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I was excited to see two more Christy Barritt books on at pre-order bargain price. On further investigation, it seems I’ve already ordered them. I’m highly disappointed, I was hoping to have discovered something new.

I’ll mention them again anyway, maybe you will be inspired too.

I’m sure they will be new to me by the time they arrive in February. I will probably have forgotten again.

Shock and Awe (Lantern Beach Guardians Book 2)

Safe and Sound (Lantern Beach Guardians Book 3)

I’m thinking Christy Barritt probably appears in my downloads more often than most other authors.

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I’m currently still reading Mistletoe and Murder, up to book 5 I think.

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Happy reading y’all!

You may have noticed cold in the categories, that’s because it’s what it is these days, cold. Freezing overnight. Even though it’s only mid October.

I wouldn’t have been surprised to see heavy frost, but a skiff of snow this morning was a shock, I have to say.

It is pretty though. I’m a bit of a sucker for pretty

Free books, and a little snow, Nov 9, 2019

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This has been a slow day for FREE books. I found two on Amazon. I’ve read both of them in the last four years but it looks like I will have to read them again, to jog my memory on what they are like.

come to me alive

A Romance: he has a successful music career, she lives in smalltown USA. Both have suffered through bad relationships. Taking a risk on another one is not an idea attractive to either of them.

miranda warning

I can’t remember reading this one but the first couple of pages are enticing so I’m looking forward to reading it again. It looks like it could have been written with a bit of lighthearted irreverence. I like a little dry humor in the middle of murder and mayhem.

 

One thing I like about snow on a cloudy night – the brilliance of the snow reflecting off the clouds lights up our world dispelling the deep black of night.

I am not a photographer, that’s for sure, but you will get the idea of what I’m talking about anyway.

This one was taken at midnight

20191108_235020 !!

This one was taken at 1:30 am

20191109_012549 12

I could have taken another one at 4am when I looked out to see how pretty it was but I decided I’d best just put my book away and get some sleep.

Happy Reading

 

 

Books read and enjoyed

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Today didn’t bring any free books but there are books-read needing to be talked about.

First, though, I must say it was a good day, full of activities other than reading – for a change.  The sky was mostly sunny and the roads were clear and dry. Good friends were in town to visit family and invited me to meet them at The Pancake House restaurant in the city for breakfast. The hour long drive was easy and enjoyable, but definitely cooler than it’s been the last few days. The temperature was -10c feeling like -14c with the wind chill.

Tonight I was thinking about the exquisite pain of cold weather. I was thinking about warm parts of the world where cold is unheard of. How do you explain the foreign concept of cold so it can be imagined accurately?

Hot and cold are so different. Hot starts out as warm (soft and gentle, cozy) and builds up to burning, stifling. It saps strength, leaving weakness and worse. I’ll admit, I’ve not spent much time in extreme heat so my explanation will be lacking I’m sure.

Cold starts out as cool (refreshing and energizing, shivery) and it builds up to cutting, stabbing, burning (but a different kind of burning.) When there is wind with the freezing cold, it feels like it goes right through you. It’s bearable only if you are dressed warm enough for the conditions.

I’ve decided it’s definitely a challenge to try to describe cold to someone who knows only heat. I have no idea how to say it well. The question does give the mind a mystery to ponder though. On the other hand, maybe it’s better felt than telt, as an old friend used to say.

Read (red) Books. (They really do need to find a way to spell read and read differently.)

When Snowflakes Never Cease

I loved this set of books When Snowflakes Never Cease. The five authors did an amazing job. The stories have depth and are connected in clever ways that work.

Meant for Me

This one Meant For Me was a disappointment. I think overall it was a great story but it had too much detail that – to my way of thinking – was unnecessary. I skimmed many pages. Also, the playing out of the story line was somewhat unbelievable and frustrating.  Alongside the dissatisfaction, though, was the thought that others may read the book  and disagree with my opinion. I still love this classy cover.

The Collins Case

I enjoyed The Collins Case. It was a thriller all right but it didn’t trigger me the way some books do. The mystery was engaging and, happily, it didn’t mess with my emotions.

A friend and her children are mysteriously missing. The case is not Ann’s, that would be a conflict of interest, but she is working on it just the same. Her involvement could get her killed before they are found. It almost does, more than once.

Blue Christmas

I liked this one too. Blue Christmas. it was worth the reread. An unexpected invitation to a Christmas Eve service, with dinner following, turns into something that blows the mind of this lonely college student. It wasn’t until they pulled up to the massive front door that Hannah realizes she has no idea who her friend really is. She would never, in her wildest imagination, have connected her older friend with members of a popular teen rock band. This will certainly be a Christmas to remember.

Happy Reading!

Free books November 5, 2019

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It’s chilly here today, -10c feels like -18c with the wind. A perfect time to cozy up with a cup of tea and a good book. Especially a chilly Christmas book. The Chain You Forge, is inspired by Mr. Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ classic story A Christmas Carol.

This is our bargain for today at $1.31 and suggested by BookBub. Retelling of classic tales is popular these days. Some are better than others, it will be interesting to see what form  this one takes.

The Chain You Forge

I did find a couple of attractive looking FREE books on Amazon this morning.

Murder in Half Moon Bay is a cozy mystery that has been showing up regularly on the  FREE list for a number of years. It looks like fun. And now that I upload the cover it  appears it’s been mentioned here before. I guess it can’t hurt to show it again.

Murder on Half Moon Bay

This FREE one is new to me. Bear Creek. It’s a historical novel set in the old west (USA) back in the days of pioneers, outlaws, gunfights, and gun toting- fast shooting lawmen. I’m not sure what to expect from this author but I’m hoping for good things.

Bear Creek

I’m currently reading When Snowflakes Never Cease

When Snowflakes Never Cease

I’m up to book 3 of 5 and thoroughly enjoying it. If you haven’t downloaded it yet for the bargain price, there’s still time.

Happy Reading