mystery

African Safari — Best Distractions From Writing

August 6, 2025

Sometimes I need a distraction. What about you? Do you find yourself immersed in your work and then stop to think maybe a distraction would be nice? That’s what I did. We went on a safari to Kenya and Tanzania with our family– for a distraction. (ha ha) Here we are at the Giraffe Rescue…

Sorry, I’ve Been Away

July 6, 2025

So we spent the month of May travelling. Our first stop was Paris, France. I’ve been there before and it is a fabulous city– so much to see, so many old classical buildings. We went to the Louvre, reputedly the largest museum in the world, and were astounded by the huge treasure trove of works.…

Away in May

May 6, 2025

We are going away on a family trip, ten of us travelling together. The problem? It’s MAY. Nothing was going on in my garden for weeks. Then suddenly, here is what’s happening. The lilacs are just beginning to open, their perfume is wonderful. The beautiful azalea bush, this one did really well. I have several…

It’s Officially Spring

March 29, 2025

Went for a bike ride the other day, when it finally stopped raining. Didn’t go as far as my usual. I think it will take a few rides to get back into stride again as it has been quite a while since we’ve been able to do regular rides. Too much weather– rain and frost.…

The Creation of Surnames

February 18, 2025

This is the family tree of the Hawker family from Khandarken Rising, The Last War, Book One. In that story, Gregoff Farmer had married Leatrice Hawker, and they had two children, Abram and Bethlehem. Things get complicated when Gregoff dies during the war and Uncle Jade tries to intervene in their lives. You can find…

National Handwriting Day

January 23, 2025

How is your handwriting? After so many hours at the computer keyboard, I have to admit my handwriting is not as good as it once was. I’ll have to work on that. A lot of children are not taught to write by hand any more. They only learn to print or to use keyboards. I…

More Disney pictures

November 26, 2024

Cruising down the river in the Adventureland Park. Some of the scenarios made me wonder if this really was a park designed for children. 🙂 More than a little scary, also funny, like the people who have climbed the tree to escape the rhinoceros. But don’t those snakes look real?

Made squash soup

October 29, 2024

I made a big batch of squash soup today. It is just cooling now so I can put it in containers and freeze it. Two years ago, I bought three acorn squash plants from a local market. However, when the squash appeared, they weren’t acorn squash. Last year I bought plants from a roadside stand…

Tomatoes are coming….

September 12, 2024

The tomatoes are coming fast this year. They grew so strong in the early summer that most of them pulled the tomato cages over or crumpled them onto the ground. Some of the plants were more than five feet tall. Not that we had a great summer, started cool, hot for about 3 weeks in…