Talking about the "Supermoon" and Books

A photo I took of the "Supermoon" last night, 6/22/2013.

Last night was the first I heard about the "Supermoon." It's been all over the news and the net for days, but it only just sank in when my husband pointed out to me last night that I needed to look at the moon.

Now this is uncharacteristic of me. I've always been fascinated with the moon ever since my dad bought my brother a telescope and we gazed at the moon, up-close, and saw all those mysterious shadows and craters. Simply awesome!

As the "Supermoon" rose over the treetops last night I snapped several photos. The best of the bunch is the one in this post. My camera is a Sony Cybershot DSC-HX20V. It's a great little camera (purse size and fits in the palm of my hand), but it isn't particularly designed to take moon photos. So I was pleased to get such a clear photo of the "Supermoon."

Now what's so great about this month's full moon? The moon is closer to the earth for this cycle, so the moon appears 14% bigger and 30% brighter than usual. Well, after gazing at the moon last night I have to agree that it looked bigger and brighter and awesome.

Some links to check out:

Supermoon Sunday - NASA.com

Don't fear the Supermoon - Space.com

VIDEO: "It's a 'Supermoon'! - The Weather Channel

My dogs went out into the darkened front yard with me last night while I took photos of the moon. They gave me that funny look of "Why are you taking photos at night?" They didn't even bother to look at the moon. 

Now my dog, Dude, who knows how to howl, didn't even bother to howl at last night's "Supermoon." However, the actual full moon is tonight, so maybe he'll give it at least a little howl as the moon rises over the treetops?

Now all this talk about full moons brings to mind werewolves. Yeah, I have a fascination with werewolves too. In the wee hours last night, just before it started to rain, my dogs and I went out front again to look at the "Supermoon" one more time. The clouds were drifting around the moon, creating an eerie effect. I couldn't help but check over my shoulder for possible werewolves. Any rustle in the bushes caught my immediate attention. But my dogs, Dude and Shani, weren't the least bit alarmed. So I guess we didn't have any werewolves lurking around our house last night? Oh, but the full moon is actually tonight. Oh, my!

My very fav werewolf movie is the 1981 classic, "An American Werewolf in London." I've watched that movie so many times. Absolutely love it!

An American Werewolf in London - Blu-ray Edition

'Moon Over Madness' on my Kindle Fire.

Now it seems to me this is the perfect time to talk about MOON books and particularly those that pertain to werewolves. So in case y'all didn't know, I wrote a paranormal, romantic comedy about, yep, you guessed it, the moon and werewolves. I included witches, vampires, ghosts, dragons and a dog named Jake too.

My mom insists this is her favorite one of my books and thinks it should be made into a movie with actress Shirley MacLaine as one of the witches. What can I say? Thanks, Mom. I loved writing MOON OVER MADNESS and hope y'all will love reading it too.

MOON OVER MADNESS - Amazon/Kindle


MOON OVER MADNESS - Barnes&Noble/Nook


MOON OVER MADNESS - iTunes/iPad



Connie Flynn's 'Shadow on the Moon' on my Kindle.

I thought this would be the perfect time to list some of the MOON fiction reads on my Kindle. Note, some of these reads include werewolves too.

MOON Reads on my Kindle (in no particular order):

Shadow on the Moon (Werewolf Series #1) by Connie Flynn
Dark Moon by Rebecca York
Indian Moon by Carolyn McCray
Mocha, Moonlight and Murder by MaryAnn Kempher
Song of the Orange Moons by Lori Ann Stephens

Marsha Canham's 'Pale Moon Rider' on my Kindle.

Pale Moon Rider by Marsha Canham
Across a Moonlit Sea by Marsha Canham
Moonlight on the Nantahala by Michael Rivers
Irish Moon by Amber Scott
The Light of the Lovers Moon by Marcia Lynn McClure
Sailing Down the Moonbeam by Mary Gottschalk
Three Moons Over Sedona by Sherry Hartzler
Moonlight and Oranges by Elise Stephens

Anne Stuart's 'Moonrise' on my Kindle

Moonrise by Anne Stuart
Under the Desert Moon by Mary Tate Engels
Orchids in Moonlight by Patricia Hagan
Songbird Under a German Moon by Tricia Goyer
Moon in Leo by Kathleen Herbert
Sarah of the Moon by Randy Mixter
Fever Moon by Carolyn Haines
Rustler's Moon by Jim Jones
The Valley of the Moon by Jack London


I hope y'all find some great reads in the list above. Thanks again for stopping by. And don't forget to take a look at the "Supermoon" tonight. Oh, and don't forget to watch out for werewolves too.

Dude and the Dog Park

Dude in action at the dog park.

My dog, Dude, is a sociable guy who loves going to the dog park. In fact, he's passionate about going to the dog park. So that's where we go most days for an hour or more of action-packed fun.

The meet and greet.

Fortunately, the dog park is only about a mile away from our house. So it's easy to make a trip over there once a day, when the weather is nice. Now and then, if Dude is insistent, we go to the dog park twice a day.

Two holes are better than one.

Twice a day? Believe me, some of Dude's dog buddies go to the dog park three times a day.






The goalie.

I've had dogs most of my life, but never one who loves the dog park. So this is a relatively new thing for me.

Dude is two and a half. Well, a few months ago I thought, Why not take Dude to the dog park? How was I to know this would become a big part of our daily lives?




Discussing the play.

Dude can be napping and suddenly he'll wake up and insist it's almost 3:30 and we need to make our afternoon foray to the dog park. I swear he can tell time and knows to the minute when he needs to let me know I have to get ready to head to the park.





Mixing it up.

If I take longer than a few minutes to gather up his dog collar, some bottled water, my wallet and car keys, well, Dude starts nudging me in the direction of the front door. If I dawdle too long he stomps his feet, barks and then starts spinning in circles at the door. At that point we absolutely have to walk out the door.




King of the Sand Hole?

At the dog park it's high-speed action interspersed with water breaks and a five minute rest period in the shade of the huge Magnolias and Naval Live Oak Trees.

Today I decided to take my camera to the dog park to get a few photos of Dude and his dog buddies in action. Today there were only eight dogs, but sometimes it's as many as fifteen dogs of all sizes and breeds.




After the game.



Lately, the big game is "King (or Queen) of the Sand Hole." Since we live close to the beach, our dog park has lots of sand and sand is perfect for digging. One or more dogs will dig a hole, or sometimes two. Then the game is on.

They confer with each other to plan their strategy. There's almost always a goalie or two. The winners change from one minute to the next.

To heck with chasing a Frisbee or tennis ball. This Sand Hole game is much more fun.




My older dog, Shani, would rather stay home.

I hope you've enjoyed the photos of Dude and his dog buddies.

A special thanks to the team: Harley the Australian Shepherd, Abby the Husky, Bella the Chocolate Poodle, Dice the Black and Tan, Abby the Golden and Dude. Watching from the sidelines: Morgan the Golden and Jumbo the Chihuahua.

Note: My older dog, Shani, doesn't care for the dog park. She'd rather stay home.

The Tranquil Days of Spring

My patio is the perfect place to sit and read.

This is the time of year I love the most, these tranquil days of spring, when the temp hovers in the 70s and only occasionally tops out the low 80s. My yard is an assortment of greens, from the palest celery shade to a deep forest green and everything in between.

These days I spend most of my time sitting on the patio, my feet up, listening to the songbirds singing their varied songs and reading or oftentimes just daydreaming.

The latticed patio is covered by a huge canopy of wisteria and the leaves shimmer in the gentle breeze.

It's hard to believe that hurricane season here on the Florida Gulf Coast is a mere two and a half weeks away.

Potted miniature Roses on the patio table.

As I'm writing this I hear the cooing of doves and the caw of a crow. Directly overhead another bird is chirping while a bright red Cardinal is perched on the wooden fence. The scent of Jasmine and Lilies sweeten the air around me.

I can't find the energy to do much of anything today. My dog, Dude, and I spent an hour at the dog park this morning where he ran around with an assortment of dogs, big and small. I read for a while when we got back home. Today I'm reading Luanne Rice's Secrets of Paris. It seemed like a perfect read for a day like today.

My Lilies that only just started blooming.

I should be writing today, working on one of my works in progress, but I'd rather just sit here and watch the squirrels play and the birds fly from tree to tree. It's one of those days when daydreaming is high on my list of things to do.

I swear that tomorrow I'll get back to my writing. If I could just get those voices in my head to stop daydreaming and get back to work. Honest, I need the cooperation of those voices to help me write and they're enjoying these tranquil spring days too.

Mandevilla on my patio.

I hope you all have a chance to just sit back and enjoy some beautiful spring days. The hot days of summer are just around the corner. In the meantime, stop and smell the Roses, Jasmine, Lilies and any other flowers now in bloom.

May Day Flowers

A floral assortment in one of my many flowerpots.

For me, May Day has always meant flowers. As a kid, I used to pick flowers from my neighbors' yards all the way home from school. Then I'd give the bright colored bouquet to my mom. She never said, "You shouldn't pick the neighbors' flowers." And the neighbors never stopped me from doing just that. I guess because I only did it once a year that little harm was done?

I have lots of pretty potted flowers.

Well, this morning, in honor of May Day, I took a bunch of photos of the flowers blooming in our yard. So here are some of those photos.

I have flowerpots everywhere filled with an assortment of flowers, but I've long since forgotten the names of many of those flowers.









Dude wanting to be included in my photos.

My dog, Dude, wanted to get in the pictures and so he plopped down in the middle of a flower bed. No, he doesn't have a missing paw. He just likes to tuck one paw under him when he's laying down. My other dog, Shani, followed us around the yard, but she didn't want to be in any of the photos.

The blue flowers are on a huge bush full of blooms.

It rained all last night. Torrential rains and lots of wind. The yard is covered with leaves fallen from all the oak trees: Naval Live Oaks, Pin Oaks, White Oaks, and others I can't even name.

Oak trees here lose their leaves in the spring instead of the fall. So it's Leaves-R-Us in our yard at this time of year.






Mandevilla growing next to the backyard patio.

There were still raindrops on some of the flower petals and occasional drops/plops of rain falling from the trees overhead. Guess I don't need to point out that I love flowers, trees and anything green and growing.

I love the heady smell of Jasmine.

My grandson told some of his school friends, "My Nana lives in the woods." Considering all the trees in our yard, it kind of looks like the woods. Plus, our yard has bunches of flowers scattered here, there and everywhere.

Florida is, after all, the land of flowers. Just take a drive through any Florida neighborhood and you'll see a rainbow assortment of flowers.

As a kid, Lantana was one of my favorites.

Before I forget, we have lots of wildflowers blooming in our yard. Some are a pretty lavender/blue that look like some kind of Iris. There are some white ones that look like miniature daisies. The yellow ones are so small I didn't even try to take photos of those.





Some of the wildflowers in our yard.

I hope you stop by now and then to see my latest posts and photos. I'll be doing several Texas posts over the next week or two due to our mini-vacation to East Texas last month. I took so many cool photos on our trip that I have to share them with you.

If you love wildflowers, be sure to check out my previous post, "Wild About Texas Wildflowers," which includes lots of photos of gorgeous Texas wildflowers.

Daisy-like wildflowers in our yard.

I hope you love flowers as much as I do.

A Happy May Day to y'all.


After-Easter Lilies and more April Showers

After-Easter Lilies in my backyard this morning.

This week my backyard Easter Lilies started blooming. Obviously they didn't make it in time for Easter. My front yard Easter Lilies are still a week or two away from blooming. Hmm! Apparently there's something different about my front and backyards. My After-Easter Lilies looked so pretty in the rain this morning.

Rain? Yesiree! The latest round of April Showers began in the wee hours with an accompaniment of lightning and thunder. My dog, Dude, who is usually a bit stressed over lightning and thunder, slept through the whole wild night. I suppose Dude was worn out from yesterday afternoon's romp at the dog park.

April Showers on our patio.

This morning it's still raining, drizzling. According to the TV, another line of thunder showers is heading our way.

This morning, while the rain was at the drizzle stage, my dog Shani and I went outside to take photos. Wildflowers are blooming all over our backyard. Beautiful purples, lavender, yellow and white. The Wisteria growing on our patio trellis is blooming too. The Wisteria has delicate white blooms.

Here on the Florida Panhandle, close to the Gulf Coast, it's definitely a day of April Showers. The air smells so fresh and clean. Windows are open and I'm listening to the musical sound of rain. This is a perfect day to sip coffee and read.

Wisteria that bloomed in this morning's rain.

I'm always reading an assortment of books at any given time, depending on my mood at the moment. So here's a list of my current reads:

The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory (from the library)
The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley (on my Kindle)
The Abilene Trail a Ralph Compton Novel by Dusty Richards (paperback)
The Chisholm Trail by Wayne Gard (a history book from my bookshelves)

A perfect morning to sip coffee and read.

I'm researching Texas history for a western romance series I'll be writing, which is why I'm reading the last two books listed above. My husband and I are planning a Texas vacation soon so I can further my research. Hey, that's a good excuse for some much needed time off to sight-see.

I can't wait to walk along the Brazos River, which was a crossing point for the Chisholm Trail (also known as the Abilene Trail) and the Shawnee Trail. So please check back for upcoming Texas posts with lots of photos. I happen to love Longhorn cattle, so rest assured I'll have photos of Longhorns too.

Shani checking out this morning's April Showers.

As I'm writing this, Dude and my husband are off on a car ride in the rain. Shani, on the other hand, is curled up next to my recliner. She doesn't care for car rides.

Today I'll be enjoying the lovely April Showers and reading one book or another. Thanks again for stopping by.

April Showers Bring May Flowers?

This morning's April Showers in our backyard.

I woke up this morning to the drip-drop, plip-plop, split-splat of April Showers. Hours later the sky is darker and the rain is still coming down. Off in the distance is rolling thunder with the occasional bright flash of lightning and booming thunder almost overhead.

My dog, Dude, is curled up in one of his favorite "safe spots" next to the couch and my bookshelves. Dude, as a pup, eagerly jumped into a neighbor's pool, but now as a two year old "mature dog" he avoids water in most every form, including rain.




Dude waiting for the April Showers to end.

My other dog, Shani, is older and wiser and doesn't mind the rain all that much. She's already ventured outside and then came back inside to shake off all that rain. Ahh, the smell of wet dog.

Dude, on the other hand, will wait all day before he risks the onslaught of those chilly raindrops. He doesn't seem to mind the lightning or thunder today, but the rain, well, that's just not his thing.





Some of my potted flowers soaking up the rain.



My potted flowers are happily soaking up all that nourishing rain. The grass, under a blanket of fallen oak leaves, should be happy too. And then there are all those giant oak trees that need lots and lots of rain.

Now the tourists on the beach, those Spring Breakers who came here for all that Florida sunshine, well, they won't find any sun today. A few hardy souls will venture out in rain gear to walk along the beach, but the rest will sit in hotel rooms and condos watching their vacation time drip away.

Shani showing little concern for the April Showers.

I thought about going over the bridge to take a few photos of the rain-drenched beach, but then decided Dude has the right idea about staying warm and dry inside. This is a perfect day to curl up with a good book and listen to the rain.

Hmm! So what am I going to read today? I'll probably alternate between Bernard Cornwell's 1356 that I checked out from my local library and Susanna Kearsley's The Shadowy Horses which I'm reading on my Kindle Fire. I'm almost always reading more than one book.


If you want to see the books I've been reading lately, mostly historical fiction these past few months, check out my Goodreads page: Teri Heyer on Goodreads

I checked Amazon/Kindle this morning to see if there were any April Showers books and found the three listed below. All three are romances (in no particular order):

April Showers by Ann LeValley
April Showers (HQ, A Valley Ridge Wedding) by Holly Jacobs
April Showers (Twelve Months of Romance - April) by Margaret Lake *

*Just added to my Kindle

Well, the rain has been going on for hours and hours with no end in sight. I guess it's time to settle into my recliner and read for a while. Here in Florida, these April Showers are sure to bring a riot of May Flowers.

Outrageously Orange

Some of the orange flowers in my flowerpots.

Orange is one of those bold, in-your-face colors. There is very little orange inside my house, as I tend toward earth tones, but outside is another matter. I love flowers. So bright and bold, outrageously orange flowers are just my thing. My flowerpots are always filled with bright colored flowers. I love Gerbera Daisies, Marigolds, Sunflowers, wildflowers. I could go on and on.

Lucky for me that I live in Florida where flowers are everywhere. Some days my dog, Dude, and I drive through the neighborhood just to look at all the flowers. Well, I look at the flowers and Dude looks for dogs, cats and kids. I don't think Dude is all that interested in flowers, though as a pup he ate some of my flowers from time to time. Thankfully he's outgrown his flower-eating days.

Dude, my reddish-orange dog.

Lately I've been writing blog posts about colors. So if you have a fascination with colors you might want to check out those other posts: Seeing Red, Passionate About Purple, Think Pink, Yodeling for Yellow and Shades of White.

Some days I love to get out my oil paints or acrylics, a fresh canvas, my assortment of brushes and just start painting. Some days I paint landscapes or seascapes, while other days I prefer florals. I love painting flowers, as that's when I can use all those bold colors. Trust me in this, orange is a fun color to paint.

For those who follow my blog, I almost always include a list of books in my posts. So I couldn't resist adding a list of Orange Books, which is fiction and non-fiction that has something to do with the color orange (in no particular order):

Moonlight and Oranges by Elise Stephens*
Bright Orange for the Shroud (Travis McGee #6) by John D. MacDonald**
Cat in an Orange Twist (A Midnight Louie Mystery) by Carole Nelson Douglas
The Orange Blossom Express by Marlena Evangeline*
Oranges by John McPhee
Five Quarters of an Orange by Joanne Harris
Orange Crush (Serge Storms) by Tim Dorsey
The River Runs Orange (A Meg Harris Mystery) by R. J. Harlick
Song of the Orange Moons by Lori Ann Stephens*
The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin
Orange as Marmalade by Fran Stewart
The Orange Trees of Baghdad: In Search of My Lost Family by Leilah Nadir
The Burnt Orange Sunrise (A Berger & Mitry Mystery) by David Handler
Orange Blossom Trails: Walks in the Natural Areas of Florida by Phillip Manning

*TBR on my Kindle
**Read (I love the whole Travis McGee Series)

Please feel free to add some orange reads in the comments below. Thanks again for stopping by. I hope you have an outrageously orange day.

Sunshine Blogger Award!

This is a morning to smile. I have just been awarded the "Sunshine Blogger Award!" by the incredibly amazing Jeff Whelan, author of the quirky, fabulous, fun space opera, Space Orville. Check out the link below for Jeff's awesome blog and his post about the award. Jeff gave this award to ten bloggers, so I'm in great company. Be sure to visit all those wonderful blogs. The links are on Jeff's post.

The incredibly amazing Jeff Whelan.

One of the key things in getting this award is to answer ten questions. So here are my responses.


1) What is your passion? That's an easy one, my grandkids. My grandson is six and a half and already a great reader. My identical twin granddaughters are almost four. They're all passionate about books, just like me. My passion for books is what inspires me to write.

2) Favorite time of year? I'd have to say summer. I love the warm weather and cerulean blue skies. Here on the Florida Gulf Coast that also means awesome beach days. I've been in love with the beach since I was a little bitty kid. I love sand between my toes and gentle surf.

3) Favorite book? Now this is a hard one. I have sooooo many favorite books, so narrowing it down to one is extremely difficult. Can I cheat and list two? My absolute favs are: The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart and Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey. I've read both of those books more times than I can count. If I was going to cheat even more and add a third it would be The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell.

4) Favorite movie? Oh no! Another hard one. One movie? How could I possibly narrow it down to one? Well, I'm going to cheat again and list two favs: Breakfast at Tiffany's and Friendly Persuasion. Yes, I've watched those more times than I can count. I have to include a third, Casablanca.

5) Favorite animal? This one is easy, dogs. I currently have two, Shani and Dude, and I blog about them and post their pics all the time. I've had dogs since I was a baby. They're all about unconditional love, something we all need.

6) Favorite time of day? I love the sunshine, but my favorite time happens to be the middle of the night. I'm a night-owl and much of my inspiration comes to me in the darkest, quiet hours. It's also the best time to read, write or play on the net.

7) Favorite flower? Gardenia. The smell is awesome! Roses are a close second.

8) Favorite non-alcoholic beverage? Coffee, coffee and more coffee. I'll drink it black, but I prefer a dollop of milk. If I don't care about the calories, half-and-half or cream is even better. My daily fav is 100% Columbian. However, I went to Jamaica twice and fell in love with Blue Mountain Coffee. If I could afford it, I'd drink that every day.

9) Favorite physical activity? Reading. No kidding, reading is about the most active I get these days. In days of yore I used to swim, surf, water-ski, snow-ski, backpack, bike, baseball, tennis, climb trees and even run. But back surgery in 2004, osteoarthritis and degenerative back disease have slowed me down a bit. Well, my dogs do take me for a walk now and then, but they prefer car rides.

10) Favorite vacation? This is an easy one. Several years back my husband and I, along with his sister and her husband, took a three week, five thousand mile road-trip through Australia and the Outback. We drove from Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road, Port Campbell, the wine country in Barossa Valley, looking for opals in Coober Pedy, climbed Ayers Rock/Uluru in the Red Center, then north on the Stuart Highway through Alice Springs, Mataranka, Tennant Creek and Katherine to Darwin on the north coast. Then we explored Kakadu, which is awesome. Then south again back to Tennant Creek and east through the heart of the Outback stations to Mt. Isa and then to Queensland and the exotic coast: Port Townsend, Cairns and the Daintree Rainforest. We even managed a day-long boat trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. Whew! That was a lot of traveling for three weeks time. I have awesome photos and movies of the trip and incredible memories. For those who might ask, our trip was very economical considering all the places we visited. No tour guides, just a good rental camper-van and an adventurous spirit. This trip was the inspiration for my contemporary romance novel, Outback Love, which includes many of the awesome places we visited. Would we do it again? If we had the money, you betcha!

Now here's the cool part of the "Sunshine Blogger Award!" I get to pass this award on to some other cool, awesome, incredible, amazing bloggers. So here are the ones I picked (in no particular order):

1) Julie's Chick Lit

2) Ellis Vidler's Unpredictable Muse

3) Molly Greene: Writer

4) Peggy Eddleman - Will Write for Cookies

5) Onisha Ellis - Old Things R New

6) Tim Vicary (Three Blogs)

The above are just a few of many awesome bloggers out there.

Now assuming the above bloggers have time to receive the "Sunshine Blogger Award!" all you need to do is answer the ten questions below and select up to ten of your own favorite bloggers to receive the award.

1)  What is your passion?
2)  Favorite time of year?
3)  Favorite book?
4)  Favorite movie?
5)  Favorite animal?
6)  Favorite time of day?
7)  Favorite flower?
8)  Favorite non-alcoholic beverage?
9)  Favorite physical activity?
10) Favorite vacation?

I want to thank Jeff Whelan for honoring me with the "Sunshine Blogger Award!" It's so cool to have my blog noticed and enjoyed by other bloggers. It was also a lot of fun putting this post together. For those of you reading this post, I hope you'll check out the great blogs listed above.

The Sun Sets on 2012

Sunset over Pensacola Bay on 12/26/12.

The year 2012 has been a long one what with all the campaigning and presidential election, the tropical storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, early winter storms and then ending with the Newtown, PA shooting. It has not been a particularly good year when you look at all that has happened around the world.





Another photo of the awesome sunset on 12/26/12.

I have hopes that 2013 will be better, but then we are facing "The Fiscal Cliff" so who knows how the year will turn out. I tend to be optimistic, so I hope and pray for a better year and another step toward world peace.





Pensacola's Graffiti Bridge on 12/26/12.

We have family visiting for the holidays, so it's been a bit chaotic since before Christmas. I've had very little time online, so my emails have piled up to over 500 and my tweeps on Twitter are probably wondering what happened to me.





A close-up of the Graffiti Bridge on 12/26/12.

I've had very little "me time" and almost no time to read. Though I have added an assortment of new books to my Kindles (my old Kindle Keyboard and my new Kindle Fire, I love both by the way).

In spite of all the holiday rush and lack of time for much of anything, I have managed to squeeze in time with my grandkids. They're awesome and I love every minute I spend with them. There's nothing better than seeing the world through the eyes of little kids.



A mention of Newtown on the Graffiti Bridge.

I took some great sunset photos on 12/26/12. Any sunset over Pensacola Bay is beautiful, but this one was spectacular. I also took some cool photos of Pensacola's Graffiti Bridge that same day.

On one side of the bridge were the Three Kings and on the other the Manger and a "God Bless" for those lives lost in Newtown. So I've included those photos in this post.





The next day the Shutter Button on my Sony digital camera broke. It's no longer under warranty and I've yet to find anyone local who can repair it. My husband did find a company online that will repair it for $70 plus the cost of shipping. So now I'm looking at new digital cameras. I feel naked without my camera. Just sayin'...

Yesterday we lost our Internet service with AT&T for the whole day and all night. I've only been back online for around an hour or so and hope to get this posted before the service disappears once again. Little things like these are irritating, but certainly not the end of the world.


My Azaleas are blooming.

Speaking of the end of the world, I guess that didn't happen on 12/21/12 like "they" predicted. Thank goodness. In spite of problems with the economy and the general unrest, I rather like this world of ours. I have great hopes that things will improve.

On another note, here on the Gulf Coast of the Florida Panhandle, the weather has been rather strange. Our temps have varied from the mid-30s to the high-70s from one day to the next. Trees are already starting to leaf out, because they think spring is already here. Only winter has barely started. Azaleas and other flowers are starting to bloom. Birds and squirrels are building their nests. Maybe they know Florida will have a mild winter?

Dude says, "Happy New Year!"

Like I said, I'm optimistic that 2013 will be a better year than 2012.

Wishing you all a happy and prosperous New Year!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.

Christmas is only two days away? How did that happen? I still have presents to wrap and goodies to bake. And I still have lots more great Christmas books to read.

Yes, we finally did get a Christmas tree. My husband and I always get a live potted tree of one sort or another so we can plant them in our yard afterwards. So this year's tree is a Leyland Cypress, about three feet tall and only big enough for one string of blinking lights and a handful of blown-glass ornaments. It pretty much looks like a cute little Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. I love it!

My husband put Christmas lights out front. We have a big old date palm tree which he strings with lights like in the Corona Beer commercial. You gotta love a guy's touch when it comes to decorating  for Christmas.

Merry Christmas from Shani.

My dogs, Shani and Dude, have been sniffing around the wrapped presents, hoping to find one that smells like a dog goodie. Only their presents (rawhide chews) are wrapped and in the pantry closet so they won't open them before Christmas.

I didn't finish up my Christmas shopping until yesterday, a quick trip to town where I made my way among the crowds and bought the last few presents. The mall was so packed, not a single parking space available, that I didn't even venture there. Yesterday was Walmart and ToysRUs. Both were crowded with people were buying cartloads of Christmas presents. I was relieved to make my way through the heavy traffic and get back home to semblance of peace and tranquility.




Dude howling about his Christmas bow.

This morning I put a Christmas bow collar on Dude. He wasn't all that pleased and lifted his head to howl an "Ahhhh-rooooo" in protest. Then he posed sweetly for some cute pics.

Dude is actually a ham when it comes to posing for pics, so I took quite a few of them. Once he got used to his Christmas bow collar he didn't seem to mind it a bit.

Shani was a cute as ever in her red Christmas bow. Shani absolutely refuses to have anything around her neck. She doesn't much care for her leopard print dog collar either. When we go for a walk she much prefers a harness, though she'd walk just fine without a harness and leash. In fact, Shani is totally against Leash Laws, just sayin'...

Merry Christmas from Dude.

We have family from California here for the holidays. So I probably won't be blogging much between Christmas and New Year's. I'll be spending a lot of time with the grandkids too.  Christmas is really for kids, so it'll be lots of fun.

In my spare time, and I don't have much of that this time of year, I've been reading an assortment of holiday books. I've enjoyed them all. I can definitely recommend reading Candis Terry's Any Given Christmas, Linda Lael Miller's A Creed Country Christmas and Christmas of the Red Chiefs, in addition to Talli Rolland's Mistletoe in Manhattan and Miracle at the Museum of Broken Hearts.

I have way more Christmas books on my two Kindles (my old Kindle Keyboard and my newer Kindle Fire) than I have time to read before the holiday. So I'll probably be reading Christmas books well into the new year. I just started reading Barbara Witek's Santa Wore Combat Boots and Linda Lael Miller's Holiday in Stone Creek (I'm almost always reading more than one book at any given time).

Christmas/Holiday Reads on my Kindles (in no particular order):

A Cowboy for Christmas by Kristen James
A Spy for Christmas by Kristen James
Cold Comfort by Ellis Vidler
The Gift of Gray (Christmas) by Jan Romes
Three Wise Men by Nancy Ricker, Jan Romes & Laura Ricker
White as Snow (A Christmas Story) by Donna Westover Gallup
Xmas Affair (A Sensual Short Story) by Ruth D. Kerce
A Wee Christmas Homicide by Kaitlyn Dunnett
One imPerfect Christmas by Myra Johnson
A Simple Amish Christmas by Vanetta Chapman
It Really IS a Wonderful Life by Linda Rondeau
A Home for Christmas by Deborah Grace Staley
Kiss of the Christmas Wind by Janelle Taylor
One Snowy Night Before Christmas by Pamela Fryer
Harlequin Holiday Collection by Debra Webb, et. al.
All I Want for Christmas is You by Lisa Mondello
A Christmas in Two Egg, Florida by Dale Cox
O Little Town by Don Reid
Must Love Santa by Nina Bruhns
A Cowboy for Christmas by Lori Wilde
Mistletoe Christmas by Stacey Joy Netzel
A Very Holly Christmas by Sheila Roberts
Jingle This! by Stephanie Rowe
Catch That Santa by Karen Doctor
A Victorian Christmas by Catherine Palmer
The Bite Before Christmas by Heidi Betts
Blue Christmas by Diane Moody
A Dixie Christmas by Sandra Hill

Hmm! So many great Christmas books. I think I have enough to get me through the next several Christmas seasons. Well, what can I say? Yes, I'm definitely addicted to books.

From my family to yours, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!