C. (Comment, never msg).’s Comments (group member since Jan 30, 2014)

C. (Comment, never msg).’s comments from the Gentle SPECTRUMS group.

Kerri is reading. She is helping her Aunt move to a new house and is not updating her progress. She will be available soon. Shirin, I am not suggesting a break. I am helping you "cleanse the palate" and look at things in a fresh way. Do you know the expression? When people test wine, they eat something plain in between wine flavours, so that the tongue is ready to neutrally start new and does not have old tastes left on it.

True readers and intellectuals like us do not need blunt stimuli to enjoy the depth of a story. Don't look for queens, wars. Shift perspective of the adventure and intrigue to watch for. Andrew Davidson & I come from a province where there are no common attractions like oceans or mountains. If people ask "What is there to look at in Manitoba?" we know where to find LITTLE oasises of beauty. See these patches of wildflowers over here, or how nothing disturbs the smooth, far skyline. Meet these birds who do not nest anywhere else in the world. And this my friend, is true modernly as well as historically. You don't need the historical fiction gimmick either. We just want to go where Marianna's & (what is his name?) action is!

What I found amazing is that this woman meets (what is his name) in the hospital and says she has known him for hundreds of hers. She says she can prove it. Meanwhile, we are watching to someone figure out how to live without a human-looking face or body and he is actually using modern jokes to let us know what something very horrible is like. I love both timelines.

In the past, I was amazed to learn how books were handwritten by people very skilled and careful with their caligraphy! Aren't you? We learn all about Germany, I think Japan and Iceland, and one crazy place you will discover. :) My approach is "Don't EXPECT a book to be anything. Let the author tell YOU how his or her story goes and ride along".

I am glad you are open to trying. If you must read something different tonight, do it, then see you again in a day or two. Believe me, this is not my kind of novel at al. My clean palate, blank expectations allowed me to absorb something original.

I too found it hard to like the protagonist (what is his name?) and Marianna at first, which I think is the point. However, his very unique, painful situation was engagingly told because humour is an unexpected survival tool.

Once Marianna takes us to the past, I found a lot of enchantment and action there. Maybe you are too used to fantasy wars and murderers? Maybe you are reading other books simultaneously and not letting yourself absorb one very different book by itself? Kerri's opinion will be interesting to shed light on how people who don't know Manitoba humour will react to this narrator.

What impressed me is that Andrew Davidson did not only write about one ancient timeline. Can you imagine the work it took to research and depict such amazing detail into multiple cultures? At 44% perhaps you have not gone to many places yet. There is one to which no one expects anyone to go and I think you will find that original and fun!

Marigold's ascension was two years ago, on June 21. She is a Mother and our Daughter, only 11.5 years-old. The real cheering up would be to save them in the first place and have them in physical life with us. Yes, knowing she is by our side unseen and that we will see her in the afterlife too, helps a little.

It helps too that friends acknowledge our pain and support us through this period of missing our babies so much. Here is to you, my baby Marigold, from Momma, Dad, and your three kids!

On this day, she couldn't get enough air and the vets I phoned had no answers. "Energy Healing" by Donna Eden had arrived but I had learned the "Kit" summary. I traced Marigold's kidney meridian and other, creative basics. She was active, eating, jumping, playing outside, and her kidneys were voiding urine.

I wish I had known that in serious illness, we trace 3 companion meridians too and flush them. The circulation meridian is among them. Marigold was not circulating enough red blood cells. It seems wrong to lose a life that was strong and awake. We looked at each other in bed late on this night, I tried CPR, and she went to Heaven.

It will take time to lose the trauma. God could have urged that book sooner, or not added these health challenges at all and let our whole family enjoy long lives together. Please do that with Marigold's remaining 3 kids. ~Love, Carolyn & Ron~.

Thank you, Shirin. Please tell us which places near your home have ley lines. This is a little assignment it is fun to do. :)

My review is here, girls! https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I do take that as a compliment. My moan? Strolling by these well-written reviews with an empty 'like button' click. I put work into them and that darned button has prevailed for 11 years, longer at my blog. I don't mean a single review here and there. Clicking through 6 of my written pieces suggests nothing noteworthy in the bunch and is frustrating to me. I composed 6 last night in an admirable variety.

💖 Thank you for everything Kerri: your beautifully written words in e-mail and this here. Message #45 has the article link you wanted to read, about fighting to keep Marigold & her newborns, who were born in our room and never saw any shelter, nor did their Mom. The pregnant youngster was scooped up from a horse racing ranch and given to me in a parking lot. I smile at every time I pass it.

Some of the lives were short but they are the happiest of our rich, beautiful family. May the remaining three lives live very long, together at home with us. May we all do at least as well in age and health as Spirit, Thumbelina, and McCartney. May we all continue onwards together with all the love, health, and happiness we need.

My childhood friend helped me order, after I spent a week fighting to refresh & open each page, click each button, and adjust each total. I went through it again to pare down to 28 books. They are very good ones and I only lost Donna Eden's EFT Healing one at $6.30 CDN + the new 1.66 each. There is much more healing for me to learn and absorb quickly. You know why x 2.

When McCartney was alive, she offered to quickly buy me "Four Paws, Five Directions". She said she would happily do this again on good deals she finds, that I would not spend myself just yet. My order of really good material, "Dream Thieves", "Call Down The Hawk", and mystery volumes I have sought for years is coming. The best plus side is that she & her husband are finally coming to see our home in 2 weeks. Ron & I are excited to have fresh friends over to enjoy.

I'll come back here for a good talk, when you and Shirin add anything and reply. Novels 3 & 4 are available anytime at Amazon.ca for $14.00 CDN and I have a gift certificate.

I am sorry about a country that does not feel respected, Shirin. I know your family wants to be free and I am here for you. Our families are waiting for the world to catch-up on the rights and respect of animals, not only human mammals. You are right that some people wanted money, or did not treat children well and you wondered why they volunteered for it. My Mom & her Siblings spent time in foster care and called it hell, in Canada too. The two girls & two boys returned to one of their biological parents each. They got to know their Brothers over time but were not close with them.

You are right, Kerri. Having a loving place to go would avoid being a pornography actor (I meant to correct "star" from my post, forgot, and we kept saying it - sorry).

Mom stayed with family friends for long periods of time and they were friends for life. They are mentioned in the copy of the tribute I mailed you. Her first close friend when she finished high school and moved bravely to Manitoba, is the artist. It is her husband who just ascended to join her at 96 years-old.

This book is going to be lovely. The best advice is to stop imagining what it will be like, or hoping it will be a certain kind of story. "The Gargoyle" is complete original. Let the bizarre, injured storyteller tell you what his life is like in his current situation. The obvious contradiction is that someone who surived on earning money with a beautiful body, now doesn't look as human as he is comfortable feeling. Even surviving death, he is badly burned. He must wonder if it was better to die and I think, would need a therapist and loving family & friends, to tell him he is worth it.

Try to catch this now, Shirin. There is humour everywhere and I recognize it as Manitoba humour! Have you read any of Stephen King's stories? I kept thinking I should recommend this to him if there were a way, because it reminded me of how he could joke and relate to our modern world, in the middle of a nightmare. This poor protagonist tries to survive, Shirin, by jokingly telling us there is a word for having to amputate the male organ! Oh gosh, the basic life understanding that poor injured man is trying to get used to. I Maybe it will help that what looks annoying in a second language, is a man trying not to cry and scream, by using the humour of my people. :)

Kerri & Shirin, yes, there is a lot about the book copying room of professional scribe nuns and many other places. Because historical fiction is not new to the two of you, I wonder if you already know that books used to be copied by handwriting. This was new to me, even though the printing press goes far back, I think. The best thing about "The Gargoyle" for me is the other places travelled as well. And seeing someone survive an injury we pray never happens to anyone we know and show us how they live with it.

Like you, Shirin, I would not read it if the story were just about this. A bigger world builds and one place amazed and amused me because no one expects that. :-) You ladies lead but this gave me a chance to answer and encourage you. Go fast past the introductory chapters if they bore you and get into the lands of intrigue and colour.

😹 This really is funny, Kerri and the same vet webpage has a video I should share too, about marketing cat videos for all businesses. The Mexican story was e-mailed me to me about 15 years ago and I switched e-mail addresses many times, before using webmail. It was downloaded to PC folders I might have saved but it would take a long time to look.

The story is great because it goes on about building the Mexican's business with a fleet of boats and all he asks in response to it is "What would I do with that money". Eventually, the businessman says he could buy a small house in the country, retire, and just fish for pleasure or do whatever he loves. The crux is that this was what he was already doing, without much money.

It is my story. Ron's in-laws and co-workers think it is terrible to be a homemaker, instead of making equal bucks as him some way. I didn't, even when I busted my ass, or worked at the same company. Money is not the #1 key. I told Ron that, at a stressful time when he had no smiles or pleasantries, which are what really make a home life.

Thank you, my dear and it is lovely to hear what you do in New Zealand. The idea that plants can continuously grow without nighttime frost or a snow season is wonderful.

I haven't planted the flowerbaskets yet. I have a few herbs to finish and pots to test seeds that didn't work in the garden. The wonderful news is that four hanging baskets and all three flowerboxes kept alive since last year; two of them are in their second year! So the colour is here.

~~ Humour For Dealing With Stray Cats ~~

1. Stray cats will not be fed.
2. Stray cats will not be fed anything except dry cat food.
3. Stray cats will not be fed anything except canned cat food.
4. Stray cats will not be fed anything except canned cat food, yummy treats and leftover fish scraps.

5. Stray cats will not be encouraged to make this house their permanent residence.
6. Stray cats will not be petted, played with or picked up and cuddled unnecessarily.
7. Stray cats that are petted, played with, picked up and cuddled will absolutely not be given a name.

8. Stray cats with or without a name will not be allowed inside the house at any time.
9. Stray cats will not be allowed inside the house except at certain times.
10. Stray cats will not be allowed inside the house except on days ending in y.

11. Stray cats allowed inside will not be permitted to jump up on or sharpen their claws on the furniture.
12. Stray cats will not be permitted to jump up on, or sharpen claws on the really good furniture.

13. Stray cats will be permitted on all furniture but must sharpen claws on new $114.99 sisal-rope cat-scratching post with three perches.

14. Stray cats will answer the call of nature outdoors in the sand.
15. Stray cats will answer the call of nature in the three-piece, high-impact plastic tray filled with Fresh n Sweet kitty litter.

16. Stray cats will answer the call of nature in the hooded litter pan with a three-panel privacy screen and plenty of head room.

17. Stray cats will sleep outside.
18. Stray cats will sleep in the garage.
19. Stray cats will sleep in the house.
20. Stray cats will sleep in a cardboard box lined with an old blanket.
21. Stray cats will sleep in the special Kitty-Komfort-Bed with non-allergenic lambs wool pillow.

22. Stray cats will not be allowed to sleep in our bed.
23. Stray cats will not be allowed to sleep in our bed, except at the foot.
24. Stray cats will not be allowed to sleep in our bed under the covers.
25. Stray cats will not be allowed to sleep in our bed under the covers except at the foot.
26. Stray cats will not play on the desk.
27. Stray cats will not play on the desk near the computer.
28. Stray cats are forbidden to walk on the computer keyboard on the desk when the human is asdfjjhhkl;ljfd.;oier puyy kmm4hbdm9lo9jmdskdm,. USING IT.

Up to the mid 2000s, I suppose when high-speed internet was developped with cable, I used to enjoy written jokes and meaningful writings but received them too often. I can't remember the last time I received a funny forward in plain text and miss them. If you have good jokes or witty musings, I would love to peruse them.

Forwards merely seem to direct you to a website and not give you the goods in e-mail. Since we went country in 2010, dial-up internet can't handle videos or load anything heavy with photographs. We certainly bypass the old chain mail type codicil, that calls you a chump if you don't forward it to other people. Clean up the good stuff and share it. My group description refers to a difficult years and I want to laugh a lot from now on!

P.S. An inspiring story went around over a decade ago that I would like to find again, to deter any more shaming ever again, about being a homemaker and writer. A bypasser marvelled at a Mexican's successful fishing and told him he should make money by building a company of boats. The story makes the point that what the Mexican would DREAM of DOING after increased effort and money, is what he was being observed passively enjoying already. ~Sincerely, Carolyn~.

Dr. Helen Creighton
“Folklore Of Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia” 1950
“Bluenose Ghosts” 1957
“Bluenose Magic: Popular Beliefs And Superstitions In Nova Scotia” 1968
“A Life In Folklore” 1975

Zillah K. MacDonald
“Mystery Of The Piper’s Ghost” 1954

Hugh MacLennan
“Barometer Rising” 1941
“Each Man’s Son” 1951
“Return Of The Sphinx” 1959
“The Watch That Ends The Night” 1967
“Voices In Time” 1980

Rita MacNeil
“On A Personal Note” 2000

Mary Jane Maffini / Victoria Abbott
“Lament For A Lounge Lizard” 2003
“Too Hot To Handle” 2007
“The Christie Curse” 2013
“The Sayers Swindle” 2013
“The Wolfe Widow” 2014
“The Marsh Madness” 2015

Elizabeth May
“Who We Are” 2014

D’arcy O’Connor
“The Secret Treasure Of Oak Island: The Amazing True Story Of A Centuries-Old Treasure Hunt” 2004

Steve Vernon
“Haunted Harbours” 2006

Here is NOVA SCOTIA literature by the author’s birth, emigrated residency, or topic of focus! Because authors move and write a variety of settings, birth and main emigration provinces usually inform the category. Books about Oak Island, however, belong here for example; no matter where those authors are from.

Many of our friends and peers would benefit from a provincial database and I am happy to make it! These will comprise Saskatchewan material I am aware of, including books I have not read. Additions are welcome from all of you.* I am just getting started. I will edit whenever I have time. *

We are welcoming new Canadian members. As we build these provincial databases - drawn from a decade of reviewing at my blog, members are invited to add authors they like. I like plain text without HTML code links. Simple lists are clean and all the information we need to browse new possibilities.

If the format typed isn't quite right, I need only adjust it. Just feel at leisure to drop authors, titles, and first publishing years off under each provincial folder! :)
Your Manitoba hostess sincerely, this fine summer day, Carolyn.

How many of you are food or plant gardeners and what are you growing this year? It would be fun to see which plants bloom in your parts of the world and ours. We are "hardiness zone 3" in southeastern Manitoba, an hour from Ontario by car.

We pray the rain continues and gets rid of the country's fires. Otherwise, the early warmth got us sowing our plant seeds earlier in May than usual. We reseeded a few rows and I am still planting herbs and overflow garden plants into pots today. Then I tackle our 25 hanging flowerbaskets, with some work but with worthwhile pleasure.

When our family members ascend to the afterlife, our animal family very much equally, those dates are remembered secondarily to their birthdays. Today is the happily remembered birthday of our precious McCartney, most recently gone to the afterlife a year ago. Sometimes our loved-ones send us animal representatives to cheer up on on Earth and let us know they see us!

We have watched monarch butterflies float around us recently and see the tiniest of their caterpillars on milkweed now. Yesterday, we behelf our first turtle of the year and Angel & Petal had great fun sniffing her. They even sat with her awhile. Today, I behelf my first garter snake. Flowers on the cats' resting places are just beginning to bloom for this year. They always do on special dates. Your friend, Carolyn.

We at Gentle Spectrums are welcoming new Canadian members. As we build these provincial databases - drawn from a decade of reviewing at my blog, members are invited to add authors they like. I like them in plain text without HTML code links. Simple lists are clean and all the information we need to browse new possibilities.

If the format typed isn't quite right, I need only adjust it. Just feel at leisure to drop authors, titles, and first publishing years off under each provincial folder! :)
Your Manitoba hostess sincerely, this fine summer day, Carolyn.

We at Gentle Spectrums are welcoming new Canadian members. As we build these provincial databases - drawn from a decade of reviewing at my blog, members are invited to add authors they like. I like them in plain text without HTML code links. Simple lists are clean and all the information we need to browse new possibilities.

If the format typed isn't quite right, I need only adjust it. Just feel at leisure to drop authors, titles, and first publishing years off under each provincial folder! :)
Your Manitoba hostess sincerely, this fine summer day, Carolyn.

Happy birthday to our precious McCartney on this sunny day, June 13, 2023! Our McCartney almost reached 22 years-old last year.

Ron & I sang "Happy Birthday" beside two of his pictures this morning and will sing it one more time at suppertime. We will think of him all day, with a smile. Even though we miss him very much every day.

We love you and honour you, our sweetheart, McCartney! We are sure Mom is cuddling him today, exactly like in his baby photograph twenty-three years ago. Love's resting place, in the centre of McCartney, Spirit, and Marigold, has bloomed English daisies.

With all our love: Carolyn, Ron, Angel, Petal, Conan.