lake day . . .

After that burst of creativity . . . I had a really non-productive week.  And when we hit the lake on Friday, I didn't even take a stitching project with me. 

I feel the need for speeeeeed!!! (Name that movie!)

I took my (boat) kindle . . .

And my new TeaTime Magazine (and a thermos of tea . . . with a teacup, of course)!

The forecast for the day had been iffy, with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms, but we made it to sunset without a drop.

I'm always tickled when I can capture a good shot of a blue heron!

Of course, this was on our heels as we bee-lined to the marina . . .

We made it JUST in time! Y'all, we sat on the boat (in our slip, under the cover of the marina) for about 15 minutes, and then it let up just enough for us to make it to the truck. Whew!  Totally worth it!

:)

books galore . . .

I know, I know . . . three posts in three days: what in the world is going on with me?? But I felt so compelled to share those beautiful sunset photos yesterday and then Sarah reminded me that today was Bibliophile File day (and I did just get a new book in the mail), so again, I felt compelled to share! (Don't worry ... I won't make daily posting a habit!)

I've actually picked up three new-to-me hardcover tea books over the past week . . . 

They just looked like fun.  The tea with friends book by Elizabeth Knight is especially darling with a different themed tea idea for each month, including stories, menus, and tea/favor ideas. I can see that one getting a lot of use!

Over the past two months I've done a LOT of kindle reading.  I thought I'd share a couple of new-to-me authors that I've really enjoyed.  The first would have to be Dan Walsh.  Dan is quite the prolific writer and his books span a very diverse range of genres.  I've not read one yet that didn't draw me into the story quite succinctly. His work is well written and very well researched. These two were part of a suspense series . . .

Action-packed and quite thrilling!  Remembering Dresden was historically fascinating, too.  But now I'm reading a more romantic story, which was co-written by Gary Smalley, and is every bit as good . . .

Walsh has also written several books based around war heroes (both WW2 and Vietnam) which were very good. A few of his books are free through Kindle Unlimited right now, too, if you're a member.

The India Tea Series by Janet MacLeod Trotter was also very well written and a good series of stories.

They're not available on Kindle Unlimited, but I think they're all just $1.99 as ebooks.  Worth it! I was not familiar with England's colonization of India and the history of that, so I've really enjoyed this series.  Plus there's a lot about the growing of tea and the history of the tea plantations. Good stuff.

Another series I read through was the The Hidden Springs Mysteries books by A. H. Gabhart.  Funny story.  When I first read one of Dan Walsh stories, it was a "woman's" story (Keeping Christmas) and I was surprised at how well I resonated with the primary character, an empty nesting mom, since it was a male author. The primary character in the Hidden Springs books is a young man, and I was *sure* that A. H. Gabhart was a man, but I was wrong!

These are terrific mystery/whodunnits and I believe Book 1 is available on Kindle Unlimited.

The last piece of fiction I want to share was The Pelican Brides by Beth White.  This was a fantastic piece of historical fiction, recounting some of the very early settling and history of the state of Louisiana. There really was a ship called The Pelican that brought 'brides' over from France, to help *settle* the French-occupied territory. As are all of the above works of fiction, this was a faith-based book and a very enjoyable read.  Oh! And before I forget -- it's a kindle FREEBIE right now; grab it while you can!

Finally, I decided to walk through the season of Lent with this beautifully written devotional by Alicia Britt Chole, 40 Days of Decrease: A Different Kind of Hunger. A Different Kind of Fast.  I've really enjoyed these daily devotionals, the insight into the actual church history of the season of Lent, and the opportunities to fast from 'traditions" or "pre-conceived religious notions" that don't exactly fit into the theology of Christ; man-made junk.  Good, good stuff!

So, there you have it!  I'll settle down for the remainder of the week -- but if you're in the market for a good read, here are lots of choices!  Check out what others are reading over at sarah did it!

:)

t'was the month before Christmas . . .

You know what??  It's the *first* Tuesday of the month!!  That means it's Bibliophile Files day! This month my reading is mostly completely centered around the season . . .

 

Ummmm, yes.  You'll notice that they're all by Melody Carlson. She writes the most darling, sweet stories, and I've been a fan of her work for a long time. These are all simple reads, but fun . . . with food for thought, Christmas, and a little romance (generally speaking) thrown in for good measure. Fluff, yes, but happy fluff for a busy time of year! And even though there are seven pictured, I'll have no trouble at all getting through them!  One of them fills my library quota and one of them fills my review quota, and the rest fill my need for fluffiness.  :)

That leaves my 'recommended' and my 'spiritual food' books, which is also easy enough:

I mentioned on Sunday that I was preparing to celebrate the season of Advent. I'm using these three devotionals.  One (The Christ of Christmas) was recommended . . . and the other two just looked good to me! Two of the three have short daily readings, which I ponder in my morning quiet time. The third is broken up into weekly sections that I'll probably digest and study on weekends! I started all of them yesterday and I'm so excited about what I've read so far! I want to spend the next month appreciating what Christmas means.

So, that's what's on my Kindle book shelf for the month!  Head on over to sarah did it! for the book linky party and to see what others have on their reading plates!

:)

booking it . . .

Today is the first Tuesday of the month, so guess what??

It's The Bibliophile Files day!!

My three books (because one book covers two of my monthly challenge rolls) are as follows:

Someplace Safe With Somebody Good, by Jan Karon. I have long awaited the release of this book and then had to wait a long, long time for it to be my turn to check out the digital library copy. I'll buy this one, actually, but not until it comes out in paperback . . . to match the rest of the collection!!  ;)

Next up is The Hardest Peace, by Kara Tippets.  Have you heard of the blog, Mundane Faithfulness? She's an amazing person - wife, mom, and daughter of the Most High - and struggling with cancer. She chronicles her struggles in a very real and beautiful and compelling manner. 

And finally, this month (this week?!) is Trim Healthy Mama, by sisters Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett. After all the struggle I've been through in dieting and weight loss, this is such a refreshing change! I admit I'm already about a quarter of the way through it, but it's really making eye-opening sense to me!



So, so far this month, this is what's on my reading plate! Hop on over to sarah did it! to see what other bloggers are reading about . . . you might hear about a book that interests YOU!

:)

a motley crew: owls, cupcakes, and swings . . .

What a happy day yesterday was!  I got backings prepped for several pieces and got my mini-fence rail piece sandwiched and ready for quilting.  I also decided on the drawing I wanted to try out the crayon art . . .

It's all traced and ready for me to color!  I was inspired by seeing Judy's (Gramma's Quilting Room) finished, stitched piece, which was gorgeous--you really should click over and take a look!  I've had this pattern for a while (haha, let's be honest -- I've had a LOT of stitchery patterns for a while), but seeing Judy's stitched out in color made me really fall in love with it!  I'm going to try a combination of crayon-coloring and then stitching in the details (similar to the faux applique, I guess) and see how it turns out!

I also made this happy find . . . 

A pretty little stand to hold my Kindle upright!  I love to use it as my recipe book -- it takes up less room of my [incredibly] precious counter top space.  Oftentimes, if I've got a written recipe or one I've found online, I'll convert it to a pdf and send it to my Kindle.  I also trimmed up a ziplock bag to slip over and protect my Kindle from any spills or drips (or flinging batter when my beater goes crazy)!

A couple of weeks ago I came across a marvelous Kindle freebie on Amazon, Cupcakes for Two.

It's not a freebie now, unless you're a Prime member, and just want to borrow it, but if you're an empty-nester or small family or living on your own, it's well-worth the $2.99 they're listing it for now!  [Edited to add:  if you're a Kindle owner and Prime member, you'll have to go through your Kindle to "borrow" the book from Amazon.  Thanks, Penny, for letting me know!]  We had Kim, James, and Sawyer coming over for dinner and I wanted to make some cupcakes ... and there's not point in making a box mix which leaves me with two dozen cupcakes for five people (which means five cupcakes get eaten and nineteen cupcakes get left for me to figure out what to do with).  And homemade is so much better (and better for you)!  These recipes are perfect for such situations and SOOOOOO easy!  And with normal ingredients, too! 

I doubled the German Chocolate cupcake recipe and made the milk chocolate frosting and ended up with six cupcakes. Just right. Joc had tried a recipe earlier in the month and said it was great, too. It's nice to be able to just make two cupcakes ... and have them be fresh and wholesome!

We had a little play time before dinner was ready. I need to brag on my darling hubby here. Not only did he bring home the fish last Friday, he also cleaned them, cooked 'em up for us for dinner last night, and cleaned the dishes afterward. What a guy! And his fish fillets are the best!

Anyway, while we waited for the fish to fry, Sawyer took us out to the playground where he hit the slide (with a little help from daddy) . . .

Enjoyed the swings . . .

Just look at that precious, happy face!

And pretty much just enjoyed the space and freedom to RUN!

After dinner (and a session of family frisbee up in the big meadow), we finally got to the cupcakes--much to Sawyer's (and consequently, my) delight . . .

I have Aunt Jocelyn to thank for this shot.  ;)

I think the cupcakes were a happy hit.

:)

a kindle roll . . .

Okay, I'm on a roll here. A kindle roll. I made a startling discovery today. And perhaps *everybody* already knew all about this, but *I* didn't. And in the event there are others that didn't, I feel compelled to share!

I was perusing facebook today and noticed that both a friend and my daughter had "liked" the Amazon Kindle page. Since it's free and it's no skin off my nose to 'like' a page, I went ahead, clicked on the page name and clicked like.

Smartest move of the day.

One of the fans of the page had written a question about e-mailing files to her Kindle. And someone else commented back with detailed instructions.

What?!? I knew my kindle had an e-mail address, but I didn't know why (even though I just realized it says why). I didn't realize it was so I could e-mail it. Or that I could e-mail it files. PDF files - to READ! I hate reading anything of substance (more than ten pages) on my computer. The idea of being able to download a lengthy PDF to my Kindle to read is just amazing to me.

Bring up your menu and go to "Settings". If you tab over to the second page, you'll see "Device E-mail". Right under that you'll find your Kindle's very own e-mail address. All you have to do is compose an e-mail to your Kindle's address and attach whatever PDF file you want to read on your Kindle, and voila. I just opened up a whole new reading world for myself. Seriously.

Pretty darn cool.

:)

kindle freebie for RVers . . .

If you have a Kindle or Kindle app, you definitely should be a subscriber to eReaderIQ.com's daily e-mail, FREE Kindle Books from Amazon. Once you're subscribed you usually get at least one--sometimes two or three--daily e-mails with anywhere from three to fifty free titles available from Amazon. Of course, not all of the titles are ones that appeal to me, especially since I stick mainly with Christian fiction, but I've learned to scroll through the list quickly and to look at publishers as well as titles (since the title isn't always telling).

As one who lives in an RV and also *loves* to read, the Kindle was such a great move! I sure couldn't keep all (many) of my favorite books when we made the transition to RV living, but it doesn't matter any more. I've got my sweet little Kindle which houses quite a library!

This morning the e-mail appeared with the listing of free Kindle books and look what it contained . . .

Haha! I love the Gooseberry Patch cookbooks. In fact, I had quite a few of them before we moved from the stick and brick house to the RV. Now they reside with my daughter and daughter-in-law, I'm pretty sure. But I miss them -- so I was so tickled to see this little gem...and it's FREE! Needless to say, I've already downloaded it. Click on the image to check it out for yourself! :)

And, although my blog has been quiet, it just means I've been busy, busy. The conference on Saturday went very well -- no technical hitches or glitches (which was very good, since I was the techie) and good participation. We visited Farley Community Church as part of our "Touring the Churches of the MBA" and really enjoyed our morning there! Sunday evening we worshiped with our Ignite peeps. Monday was a busy day on the road -- I had lunch with Sawyer and Kim, worked some accounting magic for about an hour and a half, had an eye doctor appointment (I'm really having a tough time finding contacts that work for me), got my hair cut, had dinner at Station Six with my hubby and the rest of the crew, and then wrapped it up with a three hour long guild board meeting. We finalized our budget. Whew!

Tuesday I spent getting ready for Tuesday evening -- Community Groups -- and yesterday I worked on administrative stuff for our ministry AND . . .

I pieced this cute little Candlelight Candlemat! It was a free pattern that was sent to me by my darling friend, Paula, but can also be found HERE on Sandi Andersen's A Legacy of Stitches if you'd like to give it a try! It was super-easy and one charm pack makes TWO -- one for you and one for a friend! Sandi did a great job in creating the pattern and tutorial for the mat.

I picked fall colors; I'm chomping at the bit for fall! These are Moda's Pumpkins Gone Wild by Sandy Gervais. Once it's finished, this will be one of the door prizes (along with one of the candy corn wreaths that I made) for Camp MACOBA's Fall Jamboree!

My Jocey had a regular OB appointment yesterday. It was kind of a crazy morning. I knew her appointment was at 10:15 and she's normally very, VERY good about calling or texting me as soon as she's out. When it was going on 12:30 and I still hadn't heard from her (and she hadn't responded to my text), I was starting to ... be anxious. Finally she e-mailed saying all was GREAT and she was having phone issues. Sheesh! NOT good timing for phone issues. The baby is looking good and all her numbers (BP, heart rate, weight, etc.) were terrific. We find out whether it's a boy or a girl on September 8th!

Today I'm creating the guild newsletter. Yes, it will take the entire day. I'd better get busy!

Happy Thursday!

:)