E. Jean Simpson's Blog: A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA, page 15
January 30, 2021
Time Flies
I can't believe it is already the end of January. It's looking wintery here. We have snow coming as I write this. It floats and flutters leaving a silent cloak along the earth. Beautiful...and then you have to shovel it :-)
Life is getting somewhat more normal here. Some of the personal stuff is resolving for the time being. This means I may be able to get back to my e-books. I've been doing a bit of reading lately so never inactive. Reading can only help with writing as new ideas and new things come into being as you read. This explains why a lot of authors are long time readers. Exposure to new ideas and books will help you to develop your own skills. Sometimes it will just tell you what you want to avoid in your books. Either way, you get a better footing in the writing field because you learn more, experience more and see more.
When it comes to reading, you cannot underestimated its importance. As a child, my mother used books as a reward for good behaviour. She used to read the classics and children's books to us when we were kids. Books were something I valued. I extended it to e-books which did not even exist when I was a child. So much changes over the years. So, be unrealistically realistic and know that life will change, but even with the current computer changes, reading is not something that will go out of style. Whether you prefer e-books, physical books or even books on audio, books are always something that will exist. You have to continue to learn and grow through life. If you can cultivate a love of reading, you can do great things.
One of the things that also needs to be developed is critical thinking skills. These are the ones that help you filter out whether information is useful or just more junk. For example, with the conspiracy theories that seem to proliferate, you need to determine where the better information comes from. Just because something confirms your biases (which is another thing one has to know...our own biases), doesn't mean it is accurate. One needs to weed out the difference between scientific information and just another conspiracy theory. With the bewildering assortment of opinions, be sure to know whether you are reading an opinion piece or a factual or scientific based piece. So many more things to watch for and a lot of people consider themselves experts based on very little to no information and gathering conspiracy theories. This makes things more difficult, not less so. Think critically about what you share.
Of course, much like the snowflakes that are floating and fluttering down today, knowledge is never wasted and it accumulates. Luckily, you don't have to shovel knowledge. But you do have to sort through and know what is conspiracy and what is real. That is often a little harder than it looks. But being realistically unrealistic, I think it is worth the time to try to make sure what you share does not negatively impact others. What you do does have an impact on others either for the positive or the negative. If we tried to make more positive impacts, there would be a lot less violence, hate and greed in the world. One action can have ripple effects on more than just you. So, you need to decide if you want to make a positive impact or negative one. Do you want to sow negativity in the world or positivity. It does not mean that you accept poorly thought out choices. You can still have boundaries. It does not mean you enable someone's negativity. You can have boundaries. It doesn't mean you have to fight every fight....you can bypass or ignore some. It's all up to you.
Just a reminder our calendar is still up and we're coming to the last days. If you want the free calendar, please download before it is gone. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Thanks for reading my blog and your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
Life is getting somewhat more normal here. Some of the personal stuff is resolving for the time being. This means I may be able to get back to my e-books. I've been doing a bit of reading lately so never inactive. Reading can only help with writing as new ideas and new things come into being as you read. This explains why a lot of authors are long time readers. Exposure to new ideas and books will help you to develop your own skills. Sometimes it will just tell you what you want to avoid in your books. Either way, you get a better footing in the writing field because you learn more, experience more and see more.
When it comes to reading, you cannot underestimated its importance. As a child, my mother used books as a reward for good behaviour. She used to read the classics and children's books to us when we were kids. Books were something I valued. I extended it to e-books which did not even exist when I was a child. So much changes over the years. So, be unrealistically realistic and know that life will change, but even with the current computer changes, reading is not something that will go out of style. Whether you prefer e-books, physical books or even books on audio, books are always something that will exist. You have to continue to learn and grow through life. If you can cultivate a love of reading, you can do great things.
One of the things that also needs to be developed is critical thinking skills. These are the ones that help you filter out whether information is useful or just more junk. For example, with the conspiracy theories that seem to proliferate, you need to determine where the better information comes from. Just because something confirms your biases (which is another thing one has to know...our own biases), doesn't mean it is accurate. One needs to weed out the difference between scientific information and just another conspiracy theory. With the bewildering assortment of opinions, be sure to know whether you are reading an opinion piece or a factual or scientific based piece. So many more things to watch for and a lot of people consider themselves experts based on very little to no information and gathering conspiracy theories. This makes things more difficult, not less so. Think critically about what you share.
Of course, much like the snowflakes that are floating and fluttering down today, knowledge is never wasted and it accumulates. Luckily, you don't have to shovel knowledge. But you do have to sort through and know what is conspiracy and what is real. That is often a little harder than it looks. But being realistically unrealistic, I think it is worth the time to try to make sure what you share does not negatively impact others. What you do does have an impact on others either for the positive or the negative. If we tried to make more positive impacts, there would be a lot less violence, hate and greed in the world. One action can have ripple effects on more than just you. So, you need to decide if you want to make a positive impact or negative one. Do you want to sow negativity in the world or positivity. It does not mean that you accept poorly thought out choices. You can still have boundaries. It does not mean you enable someone's negativity. You can have boundaries. It doesn't mean you have to fight every fight....you can bypass or ignore some. It's all up to you.
Just a reminder our calendar is still up and we're coming to the last days. If you want the free calendar, please download before it is gone. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Thanks for reading my blog and your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
January 23, 2021
Another Week
I can't believe another week has come and gone. It's been busy here. We've been working at some finishing stuff. I finally got around to making the curtains for the front room.
We're still dealing, at a distance due to COVID, with a family illness.
We're working at getting our renovations completed and the videos up. Our latest video has just gone up. https://youtu.be/xAvxZQGxR9Y
I have to start back at working on my e-books. In the meantime, our A & J PEI Treasures 2021 Calendar is still up for a limited time. If you want your free copy, don't wait. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Of course life happens. One has to roll with the punches. You're not always going to be productive and when things happen, you have to deal with them. Family is always first priority. Once things are settled, get back to being productive. It's good to try new things. At this time, I'm working on some wood chip projects. You never know which thing will sharpen skills and you may find a good niche to work with. Be realistically unrealistic and try things. If you are successful in doing something new, then you have found something more you can do. If you fail at it, you just found one thing that won't work. If you don't try, then you'll never know. If you've never failed at anything, you will never understand your success and it likely means you never tried anything new.
Have a wonderfully realistically unrealistic day!
Thanks for reading our blog post. Thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
We're still dealing, at a distance due to COVID, with a family illness.
We're working at getting our renovations completed and the videos up. Our latest video has just gone up. https://youtu.be/xAvxZQGxR9Y
I have to start back at working on my e-books. In the meantime, our A & J PEI Treasures 2021 Calendar is still up for a limited time. If you want your free copy, don't wait. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Of course life happens. One has to roll with the punches. You're not always going to be productive and when things happen, you have to deal with them. Family is always first priority. Once things are settled, get back to being productive. It's good to try new things. At this time, I'm working on some wood chip projects. You never know which thing will sharpen skills and you may find a good niche to work with. Be realistically unrealistic and try things. If you are successful in doing something new, then you have found something more you can do. If you fail at it, you just found one thing that won't work. If you don't try, then you'll never know. If you've never failed at anything, you will never understand your success and it likely means you never tried anything new.
Have a wonderfully realistically unrealistic day!
Thanks for reading our blog post. Thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
January 16, 2021
Winter wanderings
Woke this morning to trees that had a lovely coat of white. Not snow, but frost. Everything had a glorious white glow to it. In certain sunlight, one can see sparkling like diamonds in the snow. Of course there is the downside which is that it is colder out and damp. But you learn to appreciate the beauty and live with the colder temperatures. Much like life, there is beauty and there is a downside. We chose the location for the beauty.
Always know that you have choices to make and in life, not all choices are easy and not all choices make sense to everyone else. Sometimes the situations is not better than nothing. Remember you have to walk your path. No one else will walk it for you. If you feel you are not respected as a person, then it is up to you whether you are willing to accept the behaviours you are subjected to or you have to be willing to walk away. Be Realistically Unrealistic with this. If you decide to walk the other way, then you will have to deal with the consequences and expect that you will have to do all the foot work that is needed to follow a path that is right for you. No one owes you and you don't owe anyone else.... unless you borrow something, you aren't owed anything in life. No one is going to walk your path for you and you will need to do all the work yourself. If you decide to accept a situation, then you will have to deal with how you feel about the situation and move forward with it. But, there is always a choice. You might not like the choices, but that is not a requirement of life either. Your mental health/wellness is more important than pleasing everyone. So, that's the life advice part of my blog :-)
I haven't been working on my e-books lately due to family illness and the renovations which have been completed, but still stuff to do. I will get back to it, but I have found that sometimes you have to do one thing at a time and not always the thing you want to do. That's life.
Our calendar is still up for free downloading if you are interested. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Thank you for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
Always know that you have choices to make and in life, not all choices are easy and not all choices make sense to everyone else. Sometimes the situations is not better than nothing. Remember you have to walk your path. No one else will walk it for you. If you feel you are not respected as a person, then it is up to you whether you are willing to accept the behaviours you are subjected to or you have to be willing to walk away. Be Realistically Unrealistic with this. If you decide to walk the other way, then you will have to deal with the consequences and expect that you will have to do all the foot work that is needed to follow a path that is right for you. No one owes you and you don't owe anyone else.... unless you borrow something, you aren't owed anything in life. No one is going to walk your path for you and you will need to do all the work yourself. If you decide to accept a situation, then you will have to deal with how you feel about the situation and move forward with it. But, there is always a choice. You might not like the choices, but that is not a requirement of life either. Your mental health/wellness is more important than pleasing everyone. So, that's the life advice part of my blog :-)
I haven't been working on my e-books lately due to family illness and the renovations which have been completed, but still stuff to do. I will get back to it, but I have found that sometimes you have to do one thing at a time and not always the thing you want to do. That's life.
Our calendar is still up for free downloading if you are interested. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Thank you for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
January 9, 2021
Winter is Here
I haven't been writing or doing work on e-books the last while. There have been some family health issues and I've been trying to deal from a distance because of COVID and restrictions. So, even professionals have to take time off to deal with family health issues.
We've had a mild winter so far. In fact, it usually starts a bit earlier. This year, we didn't get snow that stayed any time until January which is quite unusual. Not surprisingly, we have had lots of snow to make up for that :-)
Sorry, my blog post is going to be a little sparse this week. Haven't really been focused on the professional aspects of my life because family and life come first. Be realistically unrealistic and know that you have to have your priorities in order and if you have to take a break to take care of your top priorities, then you have to. If you don't have priorities in your life, you are less likely to make the tough choices. Sometimes you have to deal with things at a distance. It's not better, worse or bad or good. It just is. If you know your priorities then you can be guided in decisions which can have an impact on more than just you and in the case of COVID could have deadly consequences to elderly relatives. Sometimes you have to think with your head and not with your heart.
Just a reminder that my Calendar A & J PEI Treasures 2021 Calendar is still available for download on Smashwords, Amazon and Books2Read and many of the online stores. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Thanks for reading my blog post. Thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
We've had a mild winter so far. In fact, it usually starts a bit earlier. This year, we didn't get snow that stayed any time until January which is quite unusual. Not surprisingly, we have had lots of snow to make up for that :-)
Sorry, my blog post is going to be a little sparse this week. Haven't really been focused on the professional aspects of my life because family and life come first. Be realistically unrealistic and know that you have to have your priorities in order and if you have to take a break to take care of your top priorities, then you have to. If you don't have priorities in your life, you are less likely to make the tough choices. Sometimes you have to deal with things at a distance. It's not better, worse or bad or good. It just is. If you know your priorities then you can be guided in decisions which can have an impact on more than just you and in the case of COVID could have deadly consequences to elderly relatives. Sometimes you have to think with your head and not with your heart.
Just a reminder that my Calendar A & J PEI Treasures 2021 Calendar is still available for download on Smashwords, Amazon and Books2Read and many of the online stores. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Thanks for reading my blog post. Thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
January 2, 2021
Happy New Year!
Good day!
Just a reminder that our free 2021 calendar for A & J PEI Treasures is still available at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Getting ready for a whole new year of adventures for A & J PEI Treasures. I've had to take a break from working on my book due to family commitments but hope to get back to it in the near future. Holidays are a little more difficult when you have to complete them long distance, but we manage.
We have our Year in Review up on Youtube at: https://youtu.be/QUXnkI33lug
It's important to remember that you are not always going to have your focus on your writing. You're not always going to be 100% on task. Things happen and sometimes your professional work has to take a back seat or get a little less focus than other things. Be realistically unrealistic and know that you can't be on 100% of the time and sometimes you will have to work on the most important thing...your own life. This is the biggest truth. After the books are done, you retire, or you change focus, there is always that thing you have to make sure to upkeep and it's called your life. Make sure that you think of others and not just your own wants, likes and desires. Remember, life isn't all about you, it is all about what you do for others.
Thanks for reading my blog post. Thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures.
Just a reminder that our free 2021 calendar for A & J PEI Treasures is still available at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Getting ready for a whole new year of adventures for A & J PEI Treasures. I've had to take a break from working on my book due to family commitments but hope to get back to it in the near future. Holidays are a little more difficult when you have to complete them long distance, but we manage.
We have our Year in Review up on Youtube at: https://youtu.be/QUXnkI33lug
It's important to remember that you are not always going to have your focus on your writing. You're not always going to be 100% on task. Things happen and sometimes your professional work has to take a back seat or get a little less focus than other things. Be realistically unrealistic and know that you can't be on 100% of the time and sometimes you will have to work on the most important thing...your own life. This is the biggest truth. After the books are done, you retire, or you change focus, there is always that thing you have to make sure to upkeep and it's called your life. Make sure that you think of others and not just your own wants, likes and desires. Remember, life isn't all about you, it is all about what you do for others.
Thanks for reading my blog post. Thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures.
December 26, 2020
Happy Holidays! Happy New Year!
Today's blog post will be a short one.
We finished the renovations on the spare room. The videos are on YouTube. If you've ever had a door knob make a hole in your drywall, you know the mess that can make. If you want to see how we dealt with it, you can find it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/X-KLQCO2JXg We have a couple of videos on it.
This has been the first Green Christmas we remember seeing. It does make Sam walks easier as we're not trudging through snow :-)
If you are interested in downloading the A & J PEI Treasures calendar, it is available in a variety of formats. It can be accessed on many of them through Smashwords at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view... and is a free thank you and Happy Holidays to you from all of us at A & J PEI Treasures! It can also be accessed from Books2Read at: https://books2read.com/u/mdnjJl
We look forward to new adventures in 2021 and we hope you will join us for them!
Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year 2021!
Thanks for reading our blog post and your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
We finished the renovations on the spare room. The videos are on YouTube. If you've ever had a door knob make a hole in your drywall, you know the mess that can make. If you want to see how we dealt with it, you can find it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/X-KLQCO2JXg We have a couple of videos on it.
This has been the first Green Christmas we remember seeing. It does make Sam walks easier as we're not trudging through snow :-)
If you are interested in downloading the A & J PEI Treasures calendar, it is available in a variety of formats. It can be accessed on many of them through Smashwords at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view... and is a free thank you and Happy Holidays to you from all of us at A & J PEI Treasures! It can also be accessed from Books2Read at: https://books2read.com/u/mdnjJl
We look forward to new adventures in 2021 and we hope you will join us for them!
Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year 2021!
Thanks for reading our blog post and your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
December 19, 2020
Free Release
Today, I'm pleased to announce that the A & J PEI Treasures 2021 Calendar is free to download. It is available on https://read.amazon.ca/kp/embed?asin=... and through Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view... on a variety of formats. It was something I had been thinking about for some time. I wanted to be able to have a gift for anyone who wanted one. The best gift is of your time. So, I wanted to be able to give everyone a taste of A & J PEI Treasures and our area. But, I wanted to make it accessible to as many people for free as possible. It has been a learning process because I had not done a calendar before. I've learned some more things about e-book format and it's requirements.
I haven't been writing as much the last few weeks as we've been renovating a room. It was a big project as it required filling in holes in the wall (door hits). Now that is complete, there is other things we have to work on. We'll have a series on our YouTube channel showing our renovation work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGOu3... is the introduction.
One thing I have discovered is that a free e-book calendar is as much work as any pay to view one. You still have to advertise, you still have to do all the prep work. When you first don't fit the requirements, giving up seems like the best idea, but I so wanted to do something to help cheer people for the holiday season. Something that anyone from any belief system could enjoy that I kept being realistically unrealistic and got the job done. It's just freshly released by Smashwords and Amazon has just made it free. It's been a long haul, but worthwhile if it cheers even one person. It's a thank you to everyone who has been doing all they can during this time to make it through, who work so others can manage, who work on the front lines and for those far from home, it is a taste of home. Having spent a lot of years away from the Maritimes, which to me is home, I know that even static on the phone from home sounds good.
Happy Holidays to all! Thank you for reading our blog post! Thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
I haven't been writing as much the last few weeks as we've been renovating a room. It was a big project as it required filling in holes in the wall (door hits). Now that is complete, there is other things we have to work on. We'll have a series on our YouTube channel showing our renovation work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGOu3... is the introduction.
One thing I have discovered is that a free e-book calendar is as much work as any pay to view one. You still have to advertise, you still have to do all the prep work. When you first don't fit the requirements, giving up seems like the best idea, but I so wanted to do something to help cheer people for the holiday season. Something that anyone from any belief system could enjoy that I kept being realistically unrealistic and got the job done. It's just freshly released by Smashwords and Amazon has just made it free. It's been a long haul, but worthwhile if it cheers even one person. It's a thank you to everyone who has been doing all they can during this time to make it through, who work so others can manage, who work on the front lines and for those far from home, it is a taste of home. Having spent a lot of years away from the Maritimes, which to me is home, I know that even static on the phone from home sounds good.
Happy Holidays to all! Thank you for reading our blog post! Thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
December 12, 2020
Working at home
First, I'd like to Congratulate the 2020 Goodreads Choice Award Winners and the TCK Readers Choice Award Winners! Congratulations!
Right now we have renovations going. Dealing with the mess that goes along with renovations. Also looking at getting heating work done. So, it's a bit of a mess here at A & J PEI Treasures! I have managed to get my books and the free Calendar out. The Free Calendar is on Smashwords. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view... and I hope soon on Amazon for Free as well. This is as a thank you to anyone who has supported A & J PEI Treasures and also a free chance for anyone who might think they could be interested, they get to sample some of what goes on here. If you like it, please take the time to give feedback.
Today's blog post will be shorter than usual. We're trying to get the renovations finished and the place put back together. There is some cleaning needed. We also need to get ready for our heavy snowfall warnings for this evening.
One thing no one can call life at A & J PEI Treasures is boring :-)
Thanks for reading our blog posts and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
Right now we have renovations going. Dealing with the mess that goes along with renovations. Also looking at getting heating work done. So, it's a bit of a mess here at A & J PEI Treasures! I have managed to get my books and the free Calendar out. The Free Calendar is on Smashwords. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view... and I hope soon on Amazon for Free as well. This is as a thank you to anyone who has supported A & J PEI Treasures and also a free chance for anyone who might think they could be interested, they get to sample some of what goes on here. If you like it, please take the time to give feedback.
Today's blog post will be shorter than usual. We're trying to get the renovations finished and the place put back together. There is some cleaning needed. We also need to get ready for our heavy snowfall warnings for this evening.
One thing no one can call life at A & J PEI Treasures is boring :-)
Thanks for reading our blog posts and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
December 7, 2020
A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA Exciting News!
Exciting news here at A & J PEI Treasures! We have just been notified that we have two books that have won the Canada Book Awards 2020!
Canada Book Awards WINNER
The Big Kid’s Magical Path to the Alphabet
Author: E Jean Simpson
Publisher: A & J PEI Treasures
Everyone knows that our little ones want to be grown up. Imagine how delighted they would be with a book that looks just like the ones their parents read. This book introduces the very young to the magical path of the Alphabet through real pictures and a book format looking very grown up, but fun and full of wonder with letters, nature and color. This is a book like no other you’ve seen. Be the first to introduce your kids to the exciting world of the alphabet and letters using nature views from Prince Edward Island, Canada.
https://canadabookawards.files.wordpr...
And
Canada Book Award WINNER
The Big Kid’s Magical Path to Numbers
Author: E Jean Simpson
Publisher: A & J PEI Treasures
Everyone knows that our little ones want to be grown up. Imagine how delighted they would be with a book that looks just like the ones their parents read. This book introduces the very young to the magical path of numbers through real pictures and a book format looking very grown up, but fun and full of wonder with numbers and nature and color. This is a book like no other you’ve seen.
https://canadabookawards.files.wordpr...
Thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures and our Indie Author E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA
Canada Book Awards WINNER
The Big Kid’s Magical Path to the Alphabet
Author: E Jean Simpson
Publisher: A & J PEI Treasures
Everyone knows that our little ones want to be grown up. Imagine how delighted they would be with a book that looks just like the ones their parents read. This book introduces the very young to the magical path of the Alphabet through real pictures and a book format looking very grown up, but fun and full of wonder with letters, nature and color. This is a book like no other you’ve seen. Be the first to introduce your kids to the exciting world of the alphabet and letters using nature views from Prince Edward Island, Canada.
https://canadabookawards.files.wordpr...
And
Canada Book Award WINNER
The Big Kid’s Magical Path to Numbers
Author: E Jean Simpson
Publisher: A & J PEI Treasures
Everyone knows that our little ones want to be grown up. Imagine how delighted they would be with a book that looks just like the ones their parents read. This book introduces the very young to the magical path of numbers through real pictures and a book format looking very grown up, but fun and full of wonder with numbers and nature and color. This is a book like no other you’ve seen.
https://canadabookawards.files.wordpr...
Thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures and our Indie Author E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA
December 6, 2020
Free A & J PEI Treasures 2021 Calendar
We are pleased to release our latest project; a calendar. It is free and can be found at the following link. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Please feel free to check out the sort of work A & J PEI Treasures has. If you like it, we also have e-books out.
Thank you for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
Please feel free to check out the sort of work A & J PEI Treasures has. If you like it, we also have e-books out.
Thank you for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA
A & J PEI Treasures is located on Prince Edward Island, Canada. We are a husband and wife team and our companion animals. There are a number of things that drew us to the Island…one of which was the n
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