Sandra Nachlinger's Blog, page 26

Christmas Creations - Saturday Snapshots

My four-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter spent the Wednesday before Thanksgiving at our house, and we had a great time crafting together. (Click on photos to enlarge.) 



Here are the snow globes we created.



You can find detailed instructions for making your own snow globes on quite a few blogs (just do a Google search for "Snow Globes Children's Craft"). Martha Stewart even has a how-to video. We used baby oil for the liquid inside the jars and glitter and sequins for the "snow." One observation: The jar with the gold lid sealed better than the one with the red lid, mainly because it required more twists to close it. I ran a line of hot glue around the rims of the jars before affixing the lids.
My granddaughter also had fun gluing sequins to some painted wooden ornaments I had. We used Elmer's Glue on this one. The center of the ornament is supposed to hold a photo, of course, but she wanted to put sequins in there instead. Who am I to stifle her creative instincts?

We had a great time, and my granddaughter was proud of her special Christmas crafts.

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, click HERE or on the box below.  
To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

The Mirror - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

Have you ever read a book where you weren't sure if you liked the main character? That's what I felt about the protagonist (Agnes La Grange) in The Mirror by Lynn Freed. Agnes was hired as a housekeeper, but after the father of the family where she worked installed a full-length mirror in her bedroom and she became aware of her beauty, she took full advantage of her assets. I admired Agnes's honesty with herself, her determination, and her ambition, but she was selfish and just not likable. Of course, that also made her story very interesting! I will say that the book kept me entertained and fascinated. Part of that was due to the setting: South Africa in the 1920s-1940s. I also enjoyed the way the story was presented - as a memoir, complete with photographs. It seemed real although it was fiction.  

Here's the Book Beginning:
1920
     I came into that house of sickness just after the Great War, as a girl of seventeen. They were there waiting for me, father and daughter, like a pair of birds, with their long noses and their great black eyes. The girl was a slip of a thing, no more than twelve, but she spoke up for the father in a loud, deep voice. Can you do this, Agnes? Have you ever done that? And the old man sat in his armchair with his watch chain and his penny spectacles, his pipe in his mouth and the little black moustache. Sometimes he said something to the girl in their own language, and then she would start up again. Agnes, do you know how to-

The Friday 56 (from Page 56 in my paperback):
     In the books I read, there was nothing but joy in the hearts of the mothers, except when they weren't real mothers at all, but only stepmothers. And then it was all rage and fury, and the girls cowering under the rod or eating poisoned apples. But here was I, the real mother, and I thought, She'll not always be a child, and I'll not always be young and beautiful. And who will I have then but her?

Genre: Historical Fiction
Book Length: 219 Pages (plus a reader's guide)
Amazon Link: The Mirror
Author's Website: Lynn Freed

Synopsis (from Amazon):
This is the story of Agnes La Grange, a beautiful young woman who emigrates as a housekeeper to South Africa in 1920. With a determination to make a future of her own and a love of men that does not leave her in desperate need of them, Agnes constructs a life beyond the conventions of colonial society. Written in her own fresh and unguarded voice, The Mirror is a fictional memoir, telling the story of the essential female, what she must do to survive, and how little the cost has changed over time.

FYI: A friend recently cleared out some books from her collection and gave a lot of them to me. This book was among them. It was copyrighted in 1997, and there were no grammatical or other errors in the book to distract me.

                 

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.
Click HERE to connect to other Book Beginnings posts (sponsored by Rose City Reads) 
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Twitter: @SandyNachlingerFacebook: sandy.nachlinger

The Beach House - First Chapter / First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday

     Today's post features The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe. It's a beautifully written story about 40-year-old Cara and her mother who is dying of lung cancer. Cara goes back home to the barrier islands of South Carolina and while caring for her mother, confronts issues that have followed her since she was a child. Loggerhead turtles figure in the plot too, and I learned a lot about them through this story.
     Seems like a lot of the books I've been reading lately are set at the beach. Maybe it's time for a getaway to someplace warm! 
FYI: This book is part of a trilogy.


First Paragraph:
Prologue
     It was twilight and a brilliant red sun lazily made its hazy descent off the South Carolina coast. Lovie Rutledge stood alone on a small, rolling sand dune and watched as two young children with hair the same sandy color as the beach squealed and cavorted, playing the age-old game of tag with the sea. A shaky half smile lifted the corners of her mouth. The boy couldn't have been more than four years of age yet he was aggressively charging the water, the stick in his hand pointing outward like a sword. Then, turning on his heel, he ran back up the beach, chased by a wave. Poor fellow was tagged more often than not. But the girl... Was she seven or eight? Now there was a skilled player. She danced on tiptoe, getting daringly close to the foamy wave, instinctively knowing the second to back away, taunting the water with her high laugh.

Teaser (from Page 179 of my paperback):
     Brett slowed their pace and the engine lowered to a bubbly growl as he expertly motored through the jungle of grass, his eyes on the bank, one hand on the rudder. It was like being Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart on the African Queen, she thought to herself.
    "Are we almost there, Mr. Allnut?"

Genre: Contemporary Women's Fiction
Length: 407 Pages (paperback)
Amazon Link: The Beach House
Author Website Link: Mary Alice Monroe

Synopsis:
Caretta Rutledge thought she’d left her Southern roots and troubled family far behind. But an unusual request from her mother coming just as her own life is spinning out of control has Cara heading back to the scenic Lowcountry of her childhood summers. Before long, the rhythms of the island open her heart in wonderful ways as she repairs the family beach house, becomes a bona fide “turtle lady” and renews old acquaintances long thought lost. But it is in reconnecting with her mother that she will learn life’s most precious lessons true love involves sacrifice, family is forever and the mistakes of the past can be forgiven.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!Link at  ADailyRhythm.com



First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.Link at  BibliophileByTheSea



Twitter: @SandyNachlingerFacebook: sandy.nachlinger

The Pink Door - Seattle, WA - Saturday Snapshots

     Recently, our son generously offered to treat us to dinner out. He said he'd act as chauffeur, and he knew just the place he wanted us to go -- The Pink Door Restaurant in downtown Seattle. He'd heard they had good Italian food, but the main attraction was the trapeze act! So we set a date and went. 
     Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a photo of the trapeze performer. She twirled and twisted high above the tables in the main dining room, and did her contortions while clinging to a length of fabric. Reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil. Amazing! However, here's a photo of the restaurant's simple exterior. 


You'd think the restaurant's entrance was the door lit with a pink light, right? Nope. It's the door flanked by corn husks with the tiny oval "sign" to its left. The restaurant is located in Post Alley at Pike Place Market. 


Here's the view from our table on the covered terrace. I couldn't believe someone was actually standing on that balcony, playing the guitar. Turns out it was a mannequin. That's the Seattle Great Wheel on the waterfront in the background.

I copied this info from the restaurant's website:



By the way, the food was good. We took advantage of the Seattle Restaurant Week menu and had a three-course meal, paired with appropriate wines. A nice evening out.

Link: The Pink Door 



Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, click HERE or on the box below.  
To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Hoot - The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings on Friday

     Several weeks ago I featured Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen on my Teaser Tuesday / First Paragraph post (here). It is definitely a book for adults. Today my excerpts are from HOOT by the same author, but this book is written for kids aged 10 to 15. It's a great story (Hiaasen's first children's book, written in 2002) and is fun reading for both kids and adults. As with all of Hiaasen's books, there's an environmental slant along with plenty of humor. In this story, the concern is for burrowing owls being displaced by construction of a pancake house.
     The sticker on the cover says: "Newberry Honor Book."  

Here's the Book Beginning:
     Roy would not have noticed the strange boy if it weren't for Dana Matherson, because Roy ordinarily didn't look out the window of the school bus. He preferred to read comics and mystery books on the morning ride to Trace Middle.
     But on this day, a Monday (Roy would never forget), Dana Matherson grabbed Roy's head from behind and pressed his thumbs into Roy's temple, as if he were squeezing a soccer ball. The older kids were supposed to stay in the back of the bus, but Dana had snuck up behind Roy's seat and ambushed him. When Roy tried to wriggle free, Dana mushed his face against the window.

The Friday 56 (from Page 156 in my trade paperback):
     "How would you and Mom like it," Roy pressed on, "if a bunch of strangers showed up one day with bulldozers to flatten this house? And all they had to say was 'Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Eberhardt, it's no big deal. Just pack up and move to another place.' How would you feel about that?"

Genre: Children's Book -- Environment/Humor/Mystery
Length: 292 Pages
Amazon Link: Hoot
Author's Website: Carl Hiaasen

Synopsis (from Amazon):
     Unfortunately, Roy’s first acquaintance in Florida is Dana Matherson, a well-known bully. Then again, if Dana hadn’t been sinking his thumbs into Roy’s temples and mashing his face against the school-bus window, Roy might never have spotted the running boy. And the running boy is intriguing: he was running away from the school bus, carried no books, and–here’s the odd part–wore no shoes. Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy’s trail. The chase introduces him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes with unnaturally sparkling tails.
     Roy has most definitely arrived in Carl Hiaasen’s Florida.


                 

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.
Click HERE to connect to other Book Beginnings posts (sponsored by Rose City Reads) 
Click HERE to join other Friday 56 bloggers (sponsored by Freda's Voice)


Twitter: @SandyNachlingerFacebook: sandy.nachlinger

Emma Knows All - Teaser Tuesday & First Chapter / First Paragraph / Tuesday Intros

I've just started reading this story, and it's entertaining so far. There's great tension between Emma and Colin. She's known as Dr. Emma, and she gives advice about romance on the radio. Colin is a psychologist who seems to be more comfortable working with theories than with actual people.

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros:
Here's the opening:
     "It's devastating, doctor. I can't get over it. I've tried I don't know how many times, but ... I keep failing."
     "It's okay." Em's voice was soothing. "Everyone fails sometimes. It's a part of life, Louisa. You have to keep that in mind, and you can't constantly beat yourself up over it."
     "But I feel like it's all my fault!"

Teaser Tuesday (from 56% on my Kindle):
(Colin is stating his opinion about what blind attraction does to people.)
"...It washes away every sense of self, every shred of common sense. It leaves them an empty shell, or embitters them to the lowest levels, once they're rejected."

Genre: Romantic Comedy / Contemporary
Amazon link: Emma Knows All
Length: 202 Pages
Author Blog: Laura Briggs / Sarah Burgess

Synopsis:
     A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s EMMA with shades of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. 
     Emma Benton—known as ‘Doctor Emma’—has a knack for advising the lovelorn and lonely on her radio show Heart Therapy. Em’s sympathetic manner and spot-on instincts provide the perfect answers, or so claims her boyfriend, the handsome and clever psychologist Frank, her producer Isabel, and her ever-expanding audience of listeners. 
     But Doctor Colin Ferris disagrees. During a guest segment on Em’s show, he challenges her advice on the air and offends her personally in their brief exchanges. Rude and pretentious, he’s the last person Em would imagine as the author of a best-selling guide on being a gentleman in modern times. He’s also the last person she would choose to work with—but Fate makes that decision before Em can avoid it. 
     In her worst PR nightmare ever, Em finds herself paired with Colin in a reality show quest to help a romantically-challenged young woman. Shy, awkward Harriet Smith needs more than just a little advice, but can two people so vastly different in their opinions really help her? As Em struggles to find common ground with Colin, she learns there’s more to him than meets the eye…and maybe more between them than opposing ideas about love. 


Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!Link at  ADailyRhythm.com



First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.
Link at  BibliophileByTheSea

Halloween Princess - 2015 - Saturday Snapshots

Back in early September I posted a photo of the fabric and trim I planned to use to create a princess costume for my 4-year-old granddaughter. ("Princess Bling" - HERE) It had been a long time since I'd sewn with fancy, slippery fabric, so I wasn't sure how challenging the project would be. I went slowly and did a lot of basting! During the process, an unexpected surprise surfaced. I found an old rhinestone tiara from my elementary school days, stashed inside a falling-apart scrapbook. I cleaned it up and added it as a razzle-dazzle topper. 

My creation is complete, just in time for trick-or-treating, and here's the finished product. It was fun to make, and I'm pleased with the way it turned out. More important, my granddaughter was delighted! After Halloween, I imagine Corrina will use the costume for dress-up. I hope she has a lot of fun with it!



By the way, she'll be wearing sparkly shoes on Halloween instead of black socks!
Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, click HERE or on the box below.  
To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Shem Creek, A Lowcountry Tale - First Chapter/ First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday

     I enjoy stories where the characters and their dialogue feel real, and that's the case with Shem Creek. Divorced mother Linda Breeland moves her two teenage daughters from New Jersey to the Low Country of South Carolina where she grew up. Her goal is to simplify her hectic and disappointing life and to provide a better environment for her children. Of course, her girls are not too thrilled about the change, and things are not as simple as Linda expected. 
     I enjoyed the distinct personalities of all the characters in this book: brash and sometimes outspoken Linda; her polite college-bound daughter Lindsay; her troublemaker fifteen-year-old daughter Gracie; and Linda's capable sister, Southern gentlewoman Mimi. The dialogue is crisp, modern, and each person has her own voice. I fell in love with these characters and wanted each of them to achieve their goals, and I had fun along the way. 

First Paragraph:
A Postcard From Linda
     Can I just tell you why I am so deliriously happy to drive all through the night from New Jersey to South Carolina? Here we are, boxed in between this wall of eighteen-wheelers on our left and right, in front and behind, in this little pocket of flying road, racing down I-95 at seventy-six miles an hour. My daughters are asleep beside me and in the backseat. I don't care that it's pouring rain. I don't care that it's dark. On another night, I would be terrified out of my skin by the blasting of horns. But not tonight. Let me tell you something. These trucks are like huge guardian angels rushing us to safety and the rain is washing us clean. Life has been a little rough around the edges and it was time to break out. Yeah. A little rough would be one way of understating it.

Teaser (from Page 153 in my paperback copy):
That was how we were. Our family preferred not to speak of things that were uneasy to hear. We would hem and haw around them like a patch of green stickers in the grass and we were barefoot children, unprepared for pain, unwilling to give pain a chance to teach us something.

Length: 365 Pages
Genre: Women's Fiction / Family Saga
Amazon Link: Shem Creek
Author Website: Dorothea Benton Frank
Shem Creek is Book Four in the Lowcountry Tales series, but it stands alone. It was first published in 2005. I have featured this author on my blog before: The Land of Mango Sunsets

Synopsis from Goodreads:
     Pat Conroy has called her books “hilarious and wise”, noting that they are “funny, sexy and usually damp with sea water.” Anne Rivers Siddons said of Sullivans Island that it “roared with life.” Now Dorothea Benton Frank takes us back to the Lowcountry to introduce a whole new cast of characters whose lives will surely move your heart.Linda Breland has no experience managing a restaurant, but then neither did Brad Jackson, and he owns the place.
     Meet Linda Breland, single parent of two teenage daughters. The oldest, Lindsey, who always held her younger sister in check, is leaving for college. And Gracie, her Tasmanian devil, is giving her nightmares. Linda’s personal life? Well, between the married men, the cold New Jersey winters, her pinched wallet and her ex-husband who marries a beautiful, successful woman ten years younger than she is—let’s just say, Linda has seen enough to fill a thousand pages.
     As the story opens, she is barreling down Interstate 95, bound for Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the land of her ancestors. Welcomed by the generous heart of her advice dispensing sister, Mimi, Linda and her daughters slowly begin to find their way and discover a sweeter rhythm of life.
     And then there’s Brad Jackson, a former investment banker of Atlanta, Georgia who hires her to run his restaurant on Shem Creek. Like everyone else, Brad’s got a story of his own—namely an almost ex-wife, Loretta who is the kind of gal who gives women a bad name.
     The real protagonist of this story is the Lowcountry itself. The magical waters of Shem Creek, the abundant wildlife and the astounding power of nature give this tiny corner of the planet its infallible reputation as a place for introspection, contemplation and healing.
     As in all her previous work, you’ll find Shem Creek to be compulsively readable, irreverent but warm and blazingly authentic—and you’ll dread reaching the last page. It is her vivid writing, colorful characters and rich narrative that have made Dorothea Benton Frank one of our nation’s greatest storytellers. Shem Creek is a triumphant novel that proves we are all entitled to a second chance. The challenge is to learn how to recognize it when it comes and to know which chance to take.


Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!Link at  ADailyRhythm.com



First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.Link at  BibliophileByTheSea

The Paragraph Ranch - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

     Reading The Paragraph Ranch felt like a trip back home to Texas! I loved all the Texas-isms used by the authors to add color and humor to the story -- fixin' to, which means I'm about to do something; and bob war, which is Texan for barbed wire, just to name two examples.
     I especially enjoyed getting to know Dee, the youngest of three siblings (divorced, with a college-age daughter) who has returned to rural West Texas to take charge of her mother's health care ... temporarily. The challenges she faces will resonate with so many women in the "sandwich" generation. Her mother Alice is a hoot!
     I'm looking forward to reading Book Two in the series: A Wedding at the Paragraph Ranch

Book Beginning (FYI: Alice is the mother)
PROLOGUE
Alice - Thursday, May 1, 2008
In fifty-five years on the home place we ain't never missed putting in a crop, and I don't intend to miss one now. No matter what them three say. Why, we planted cotton the week Wilton got back from Korea. And the year it snowed the first of May. And the time when Dee Anna was six months old and we carried her out here in a apple crate.

Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
The moon shone directly through the screened window, too bright for sleep. Far off a coyote called, and another answered. Dee stared at the water stain on the ceiling and dreaded how empty the farmhouse would seem with just her and Mama, even with Teresa's occasional presence. She wondered how Mama had borne those months of being all alone out here after Daddy passed away.

Genre: Contemporary Women's Fiction / Humor
Length: 268 Pages
Amazon Link: The Paragraph Ranch
Website: Kay Ellington & Barbara Brannon

Synopsis:
EVERY WRITER KNOWS YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN. But that's just what is required of West Texas expatriate Dee Bennett-Kaufmann when her mother is badly injured in a mysterious car accident. Single-again “Dr. Dee” has never been on the “A-team” in her trendy East Coast MFA program. When a prestigious summer fellowship gives her the chance to finally finish her book, salvage her career, and spend some quality time with her college-age daughter—Dee's certain her luck is about to change. Returning to care for her irascible, widowed mother threatens all of that. With so much at stake, Dee engineers a series of unorthodox strategies and creative tradeoffs to keep her options in play—and despite herself finds friendship, love, and the power of words in the unlikeliest of places.
This is a new release of an edition originally published by Booktrope.
FYI: Although the books I feature on my blog are ones I've bought myself, checked out of the library, or have received from friends, I often contact authors to let them know I'm going to feature their book on the blog. That way, they can respond to comments and post the link on Facebook, etc., if they want. So don't be surprised if you occasionally see an author's name among the comments.

                 
Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.
Click HERE to connect to other Book Beginnings posts (sponsored by Rose City Reads) 
Click HERE to join other Friday 56 bloggers (sponsored by Freda's Voice)


Twitter: @SandyNachlingerFacebook: sandy.nachlinger

Story Starters - October 21

     Just for fun, I'm playing "Story Starters" today. Jenn, host of A Daily Rhythm blog, makes up starting sentences and participants use them to create a paragraph, short story, whatever! Link back to comments on today's A Daily Rhythm post for other creations with the same opening sentences HERE.
     With Halloween in mind, here's my scene. Jenn's "Story Starter" is shown in red.

She never spoke, never made a sound. But the look in her eyes told me exactly what was about to happen.
I stared at the weapon she held, raised my hands above my head and backed away. “No. Please. I promise I’ll never do it again.”
She shook her head. With an evil grin she gripped the trigger and squeezed, sending a spray of water across the pansies I’d crushed with my bike, soaking me from my ponytail to my new patent leather Mary Janes. Shocked and dripping, I pushed a soggy curl from my forehead. Before I could say another word, she aimed the sprayer down to the flower bed at my feet where the spurt of water spewed a shower of dirt onto my lace-trimmed socks. Mama would kill me.
I burst into tears of rage, mounted my bike, and wheeled away. “I’m gonna tell,” I shouted over my shoulder.
Her witchy cackle sounded in the distance.  
But she knew I wouldn’t say a word. After all, Halloween was coming soon and everyone in the neighborhood knew old Mrs. Crenshaw’s power would be especially strong on that night. I didn’t want her to focus her evil magic on me. Besides, if Mama knew I’d smashed Mrs. Crenshaw’s flowers, she’d be angry with me too. I couldn’t take a chance on missing out on trick-or-treating this year because of one silly mistake.