Sandra Cox's Blog, page 11

Ketch-up Thursday

 

This really is my ketch-up--or I'm now caught up--post:)

Christmas Day we celebrated Christmas and the Grands BDay. My daughter and SIL fixed a lovely meal. The grands peeled potatoes, Ms. E. and I mashed and my daughter and SIL did everything else. Bless them. And I mean that strictly in the Northern sense;) 

 The HH always does balloons. He found some that had lights inside. Just let me say the lights held up much longer than the balloons;)

You can't really tell from the picture, but the lights that were in the balloons are circled around the pitcher. And are still going....

We had Minion cupcakes for the grands. A combined effort of my sister and I, and iced and eyed by the grands;)

 

As I mentioned in a previous post, relatives came by train, plane and automobiles. My brother and SIL took the train. Their first and last train trip. They had gotten a sleeper, but the coach shook so badly they couldn't sleep on the way down. On the way back, there was a delay of several hours. Maybe to fix the shaking? AND to add insult to what could have been injury and thank goodness wasn't, the train hit a tree. They had to take a bus the rest of the way home.

And last but not least.

 

 What about you, blogger buds? Any goodreaders out there? Did you meet your goals? Have any Holiday Horror stories to share?

 

Ketch-Up Day: Longwood Gardens Continued AND IWSG

 The last of the Longwood Garden Pictures in no particular order.

 

The outdoor gardens have large tents set up where you can grab something to eat and/or drink. They are quite nice. They have plastic windows and in winter are heated.Since we traditionally visit the gardens the end of November, we usually take advantage of one of the tents to get out of the cold and wind.

The gardens have a four acre conservatory and their outside grounds are over a thousand acres. They offer in person and online classes and have a lovely gift shop.  If you've never been there and have an opportunity to visit, I highly recommend it. For more information: Longwood Gardens

AND

 

The firstWednesday of every month is officially IWSG day. IWSG was formed by NinjaCaptain Alex Cavanaugh. Members post about their doubts and fears, discussstruggles and triumphs, and offer words of encouragement to others who are struggling.

 

Twitter handle: @TheIWSG  

Hashtag: #IWSG 

 

The awesome co-hosts for the January 8 posting of the IWSG are Rebecca Douglass, Beth Camp, Liza @ Middle Passages, and Natalie @ Literary Rambles!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post.These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experienceor story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let itinspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Remember, the question is optional

 

January 8 question - Describe someone you admired when you were achild. Did your opinion of that person change when you grew up?

 

Reviews in no particularorder.

*Disclaimer. If I run into an occasional typo, I ignore them and don't factorthem into my review.

 

ENDANGEREDSPECIES by Jacqui Murray

Aprehistorical fiction filled with intrigue. Based on facts.

Onceagain Ms. Murray does a masterful job of sharing our ancestors’ history in afictional setting filled with danger, mysticism and humanity.

Thestory toggles back and forth between Yu’ung, who is tasked with leading and savingher people from extinction and Jun/Shandar who is called upon to save Yu’ungand help her save her people.

Thereis also a fascinating canis pack whose job it is to protect Jun/Shandar.

Thebook is all we’ve come to expect from the author: unparalleled world building, wonderfulcharacter development—that is not limited to the main characters—and plenty oftwists and turns to keep us on our toes.  Also helpful is a glossary of terms and a characterindex.

JacquiMurray is a master of prehistoric fiction. Her readers and fans will not bedisappointed.

Kudoson another winner, Ms. Murray. 

Available at Amazon

 

 

SWANGOby Lou Kemp

Swango is the sixth book in the Celwyn series whereonce again we hook up with Nemo, Jules Verne, Professor Kang the automat,Bartholomew, Celwyn’s friend and Tara, a vampire Celwyn is enamored of, to namea few.

Thisbook is an introduction to a new character, Swango, who will soon be joiningthe series in the next installment.

Perusual, the characters are well-developed and the premise fascinating. Theauthor has created a unique fantasy series while feeding us fun tidbits ofhistory. She has written a one-of-a-kind tale, leaving us to speculate on whatis coming next.

Available at Amazon

 

AGHOST AND HIS GOLD by Robert Eaton Cheadle

Theauthor did her homework on this story. It’s a dual time line mystery sprinkledwith historical facts and references.  

Aftera drunken night with an Ouija board, Michelle Holland encounters not one ghostbut three. And one of them is out to do her and her husband harm. To end thehaunting, she must learn the specters’ past.

Thebook is gritty and brings the Second Anglo Boer War to life.

Available at Amazon

 

 

 

JAMESK. POLK: America's 11th President (11) (ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRESIDENTS SECONDSERIES) by Sean McCollum

Thebook is well-written and hits on the salient points of this president. Whilegeared for young people, I found it to be an interesting read and wouldn’thesitate to recommend it to an adult.

Available at Amazon

 

 

 

Ketch-Up Day

 

Finally! Did you think I was never coming back? It's been crazy busy, but things are finally slowing down. Relatives came by train, plane and automobiles:) There were thirteen of us on Christmas Day. We took our last travelers to the airport Dec. 30.  What about you? Did you have wonderful holidays? Are things calm at your house?

Here's a couple more shots from the train, when we went to Philly over Thanksgiving.

 

Our daughter's orange tree. Can you see the green orange?

I'm thinking I need one:) What do you think?

 

As is rapidly becoming a tradition, the Friday after Thanksgiving we went to Longwood Gardens. It was beautiful as always.

A Poinsettia Tree

 

That's it for now. More Longwood pics to come. Let me know how your holidays were.  I'm anxious to hear.

Ketch-Up Day

 

How are you?  What have you been doing?

We took the train to Philadelphia and celebrated Thanksgiving with our lovely daughter and son-in-law. The train was over an hr late getting in which put us on it for over twelve hrs and a good portion of that was spent with no working toilet in our car. Next year I think we are either going to try the sleeper or fly. 

Views from the train:

  Thanksgiving.Dinner as always was wonderful. We had a cheese board and crackers, and Christmas movies to see us through the day till dinner.

 

The squirrels and birds ate well too.

We went to Longwood Gardens Friday. (Pictures to follow.) Then headed home Saturday.

A few days later  we woke up to this:

Nori came to us Thursday.  We already have a problem. I caught her drinking my coffee. 

Frank is as big as she is.

Callie is still unnerved and is not impressed that her spot on my lap has been usurped  by the interloper.

That's it for now. Hoping to get one more post out before the Holidays. How are you doing?

Be well.

Ketch-Up Day

 I'm taking a Holiday Hiatus for a week or so.If you celebrate Thanksgiving, wishing you a wonderful one with plenty of tofurky:) And to those that don't celebrate, have a grand week.

 

Weekend Wishes

 

Writerly Wednesday AND Did You Know

 What's your synonym, example or definition for:

 Example: The sun warmed her face and the zephyr ruffled her hair. 

 

AND

 

Did you know, that not only is a tiger's fur striped, its skin is as well?

 

Tigers not only have stripes on their fur but also on their skin - NSSB

Ketch-up Day

 

Not much going on here except.....

We are going to be getting a new addition to the family after Thanksgiving.

Meet Dori.

She was dumped out in the country and found her way to our friend's house.

No bigger than she is, I think Frank could take her:)

After Penny, I wasn't in a big hurry to get another dog, but she ticks all the boxes. Mainly, she gets along with cats, doesn't bark, is housebroken and laid back. The HH is naming her Nori after one of the characters in Rings of Power. She looks like a Nori, doesn't she?

Excuse the mess. My only excuse is that the plant is on top of the bookcase where I can't reach it.  I just held my camera over my head and took the shot.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it:)

What's going on in your corner of the world?

Weekend Wishes

 

AND

Writerly Wednesday AND Did You Know

 

What is your synonym, sentence or meaning for:

 Meaning, sentence, example: Widdershins is the opposite of clockwise.  

AND

 

Did you know, the term Big Wig comes from the 18th century when those with the most political pull wore the biggest wigs.

 

More information at: Learn The History Behind These 66 Commonly Used Old Sayings | Bored Panda