Now we’ve come to the end of the alphabet and the a2z meme that Patty Wysong created. It’s been fun thinking of a blog post for each letter.
Z is for Zandini. On our mini vacation to St. Joesph, Michigan in August I found this guy in a corner of the carousel building.
I couldn’t help but remember the Tom Hanks movie Big, in case you don’t know the movie, Hank’s character puts in his money and wishes to be big. His wish is granted and he wakes up with an adult body.
I had .25 cents but not a wish that would/could be granted by The Great Zandini, he may have been predicting futures I’m not sure. The idea of know what lies ahead creeps me out. I’d rather let each day come to me the way God wants it to.
Then again if he were granting wishes…just one… I would have wished for more days to spend walking the beach with my husband.
I’m pretty sure no one else will use this for their ‘Y’ in the a2z challenge from Patty Wysong.
YardLines is our family business. There used to be a brick and mortar store–okay it was a concrete building. When Illinois regulations began to cost us to much money to continue hiring people and running trucks we downsized. A lot.
Not everything needed to run a paver business is inside this trailer. We rent space to store other trailers, stuff and the bobcat. Unless it’s going to snow then the bobcat goes in our garage so we can get to the main road.
I keep saying WE own YardLines and on paper that’s true. The real story is that Ed is YardLines. He has an amazing skill and talent for laying pavers. YardLines (ED) lays pavers at an amazing speed, he’s put them in driveways, horse barns, patios, visitor centers, metrolink stations, roundabouts, and even an outdoor stage. Most of the time he works alone. YardLines (Ed) is a bit of a perfectionist. When I get to help I carry bricks, pick up trash from the paver pallets and find tools.
Here’s a few photos of what YardLines (Ed) has done. Because he does this I can write. I’m very blessed.
Amphitheater in Alton
Paver Circle Package
Horse Barn
YardLines, (Ed) also builds walls. If you want to see more of what YardLines does, visit Yardlines.
This book is rich in details. The story is one that I couldn’t put down—but had to it’s 430 pages! It took me two days to read it and I enjoyed every twist and turn. My heart ached for the main character Claire Laurent as she grieves for her mother.
Claire’s time at Belmont is a blessing from God, but you wonder as you turn the pages how long will it be before she realizes that He has been watching over her, or worse will she toss His blessing aside?
The subplots in this story was perfectly written, it doesn’t overpower but lends it a possibility of more books in this series. I’m hoping that is what is being planned. I wasn’t quite ready to say good bye to Cara Netta.
About the book:
A fake. A forger. More than anything, Claire Laurent longs for the chance to live an authentic life, to become the woman she wants to be. And she’ll be given that choice. But will it come at too costly a price?
Claire Laurent’s greatest aspiration is to paint something that will bring her acclaim. Yet her father insists she work as a copyist. A forger. When she’s forced to flee from New Orleans to Nashville only a year after the War Between the States has ended, her path collides with attorney Sutton Monroe. She considers him a godsend for not turning her in to the authorities. But after he later refuses to come to her aid, Claire fears she’s sorely misjudged the man. Finding herself among the elite of Nashville’s society, Claire believes her dream to create a lasting impression in the world of art is within reach–but only if her fraudulent past remains hidden.
The Federal Army has destroyed Sutton’s home and confiscated his land, and threatens to destroy his family’s honor. His determination to reclaim what belongs to him and to right a grievous wrong reveals a truth that may cost him more than he ever imagined–as well as the woman he loves.Set at Nashville’s historic Belmont Mansion, a stunning antebellum manor built by Mrs. Adelicia Acklen, A Lasting Impression is a sweeping love story about a nation mending after war, the redemption of those wounded, and the courage of a man and woman to see themselves–and each other–for who they really are.
About Tamera:
Tamera Alexander is a best-selling novelist whose deeply drawn characters, thought-provoking plots, and poignant prose resonate with readers. Having lived in Colorado for seventeen years, she and her husband now make their home in Nashville Tennessee, along with their two adult children who live near by. And don’t forget Jack, their precious–and precocious–silky terrier.
A Brand New Kindle Fire (shipped as soon as it releases)
A copy of A Lasting Impression and 3 other special books Tamera wants you to have (for Kindle)
Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends at noon on November 15th. Winner will be announced at A Lasting Impression Facebook Party on the 15th. Tamera will be wrapping up the A Lasting Impression celebration
with an author chat and giving away Southern Food Baskets (Loveless
Cafe Food Baskets, books, Amazon & Starbucks gift certificates, and
copies of Christy Jordan’s Southern Plate cookbook), six gift certificates to Starbucks and Amazon.com, and copies of A Lasting Impression! So grab your copy of A Lasting Impression (it’s
okay if you don’t have one yet- you might win one!) and join Tamera on
the evening of November 15th for an author chat, a trivia contest (How
much do you know about the 1860’s?) and lots of Southern-inspired
We’ve come to the nightmare of posts with this letter. There are only 9 words that start with X in my dictionary.
One I often use in scrabble: Xi.
Xi is a river in China and it’s 300miles long.
This week we went to a hardscape trade show (that’s all about pavers, stone, bobcats and glue in case you were wondering) while there I snapped a photo of this X from the Xmarks booth. I’m not even sure what they were selling but they didn’t mind me taking a photo.
There are a few X’s I don’t care for: X-large size (on me–don’t take offense if you need that size.) XXX adult rating. And the one I wish didn’t exist: X-Mas instead of Christmas. That X I really don’t like. Christmas is about Christ–go ahead and celebrate what ever you wish, but don’t mess with the name please.
1 vanilla bean, split and insides scraped (I used a teaspoon GF vanilla flavoring)
Apples:
2 tablespoons butter
6 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/8ths
2 tablespoons sugar
For the filling: In a small saucepan, melt the butter and cook it until it starts to brown and begins to smell like hazelnuts. Transfer the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a paddle. Add the sugar and beat together on medium speed. Gradually add the flour. Once the flour has combined, add the eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla bean seeds. OR ADD VANILLA FLAVORING.
For the apples: In a large saute pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the apples and sugar and cook until the apples start to soften, 6 to7 minutes. Pull the pan off the burner and dump the apples into the tart crust.
Bake the tart in the 350 degree oven until the top is golden brown and slightly crispy, 45 to 50 minutes.
Anne Burrell’s Note: This filling is enough for 2 tarts. It’s easier to make a larger quantity and it lasts in the fridge for a few days.
* I didn’t know what to do with the extra filling and because it tasted go good I knew I’d eat it if I put it in the fridge. Next time I’ll pour it into a small loaf pan for a mini cake. *I watched the show again and Anne Burrell says the extra filling can be frozen.
The quilt top is finished. It’s waiting to be assembled and tied by the quilters at my church.
Every month 7-10 women gather and haul things from the closet and a corner in a Sunday School room so they can work.
One person sews the binding, a few others make a sandwich (quilt top, batting, and backing) and few more slide needles up and through to ‘tie’ the quilt. Someone will cut squares and make packages for others to sew the tops at home.
In October, the finished quilts are shipped to Lutheran World Relief where they are handed out to those who need them.
It’s a fun project and I’m glad to be a small part in helping someone stay warm.
This willow tree fascinates me. We planted the small twig of a thing the year our youngest son was confirmed.
In the summer the branches dip to the ground creating the perfect place to sit on a blanket and pretend. I can do that because I’m a writer, otherwise people might think it a bit odd to see an woman under the tree staring up at this:
The way the branches twist and turn makes me think of mind mapping a story. The outer beauty of the tree makes me think of people. The way we present a nice outside appearance, but inside we’re twisted, knotted and dying in ways no one knows about.
It’s a2z time again. Once again God gave me the perfect word–but like so many times in life I missed it and someone else pointed out to me, this time it was Ed.
It’s not a figment of my imagination. It’s our truck and trailer loaded with our son and daughter-in-law’s truck. That makes a lot of VEHICLES-in-one.
So why is this exciting? It’s the ending–always the ending of a story that gets you right?
We went to Seymour, Missouri to rescue the broken off road re-vamped ranger that had lost it’s ability to steer. I rode in the back seat of the truck learning to appreciate the joy of reading on my nook. I can’t read a printed book in a car or truck because I get sick. This was my first car trip with the nook and now I’m hooked!
Back to the story:
After six hours on the road my husband seemed to be straining to hold the steering wheel in his hands. I think he said, “That’s not good.”
I tried not to panic. (I do that a lot. Don’t ever call me until an emergency is over.) We slowed to a stop on the side of the interstate. My husband and son jumped out of the truck and headed to the back of the trailer thinking we’d blown a tire.
Not the tire, but what about all the smoke coming from the truck? I’m thinking fire so I’m packing my nook, the camera and my diet Dr. Pepper in my bag ready to bail. Priorities right?
No fire. Good. But semi trucks are whizzing by inches from the side of our truck and now it’s dark and the truck no longer has steering, trailer brakes and it’s overheating. We need a solution. How are we going to get home?
We know a lot of people with trucks, but not equipped to pull a goose neck trailer.(That means you need a trailer hitch in the bed of a truck not on the bumper.)
Wisdom (Ed) in the front seat decides to get to the next exit by driving a hundred feet a time and pulling back to the shoulder as the needle on the heat gauge shot to the red watch out extreme over heat side of it’s little circle. It took a long time to go that last mile. I prayed and wished for a bottle of peppermint tums.
Ed manhandled that truck and trailer to a closed parking lot in a not-so-safe area in Illinois. He wasn’t pleased when I asked him to back up so I could use the street parking lot light to read by. Just sayin’ I mean, if you have no ability to fix a truck you might as well read, right?
Then we remembered a good friend from church has a horse trailer. Yay! He came, connected our trailer with my son’s truck and brought us home while Ed waited for the tow truck.
Quite a day for vehicles. Yesterday, my son took off a half day of work and fixed our truck, so the trailer went back on and our truck took our son’s truck home.
Ranger comes Home
For those of you who know about the insides of truck engines this was the problem.
Water pumps
The water pump isn’t supposed to look like the one on the left, notice the missing fins?
Gist writes with her stellar story telling talent, however this book did not excite me the way Maid to Match and Bride in the Bargain did. I’ve spent some time trying to figure out why and the only thing I can figure out is that I didn’t care for the bird side of the story which is an important component to the book.
Despite that, I have to say that Gist has believable and very likeable characters. Sometimes a book will capture you from the start and not let go of you. Gist usually does that for me, just not this time. The more I think about it, it is because of the birds. I love birds but I guess I don’t have the passion that a true bird lover would.
So don’t dismiss this book because of my review. You may find you enjoy it cover to cover without stopping because Gist is a fantastic storyteller.
Book provided for review by publisher.
About the book:
It’s a Battle of Wills … and Love Is on the Line!
Rural switchboard operator Georgie Gail is proud of her independence in a man’s
world . . . which makes it twice as vexing when the telephone company sends a man to look over her shoulder.
Dashing Luke Palmer is more than he appears though. He’s a Texas Ranger working undercover to infiltrate a notorious gang of train robbers. Repairing telephones and tangling with this tempestuous woman is the last thing he wants to do. But when his stakeout puts Georgie in peril, he realizes more than his job is on the line.
About Deeanne:
Deeanne Gist–known to her family, friends, and fans as Dee–has rocketed up the bestseller lists and captured readers everywhere with her very original, very fun historical & contemporary romances. Add to this three RITA nominations, two consecutive Christy Awards, rave reviews, and a growing loyal fan base, and you’ve got one recipe for success.
Deeanne is thrilled to introduce Georgie and Luke to the word in her latest novel, Love on the Line. To celebrate Deeanne’s publisher, Bethany House, is hosting the Love on the Line iPad2 giveaway an Author Chat on Facebook! Enter today and follow the link below to RSVP for Deeanne’s rip-roarin’ Facebook Party!
One fortunate winner will receive:
A Brand New iPad2
A Signed Copy of Love on the Line by Deeanne Gist
Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on November 7th. Winner will be announced at Deeanne’s Author Chat Facebook Party. Deeanne will be wrapping of the Love on the Line celebration by chatting with friends new and old! So grab your copy of Love on the Line (it’s okay if you don’t have one yet- you might could win one!) and join Deeanne on the evening of November 8th for a rip roaring book chat, a little trivia, a sneak peak at her next book, and lots of giveaways (books, and Amazon, iTunes & Starbucks gift certificates)!
Don’t miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends. Hope to see you on the 8th!
The leaves are falling at my house, maybe where you live they don’t fall or they are already on the ground.
Once the leaves have fallen the branches are ‘uncovered’ for us to see. We get to view what has been hidden–a skeleton that held layers of greens, then golds or reds.
People are like this tree. Make up, hair, high fashion, GoodWill couture are distractions from what is on the inside. Under the bright pink sweater may be a woman in dire need of understanding or a hug because her underpinnings are weak.
Some wear that ‘different’ look–you know the one that makes you back up and wonder about the person with the piercings and tattoos–is she safe, will he try to take something from me?
This weekend at our book signing Marty and I witnessed such a person.With a bit of encouragement J. spoke with us. Her tattoos were in Greek and Hebrew, one of them meant forgiveness.
I try hard not to judge people by what they appear to be, sometimes it’s hard. I tend to turn to fear rather than God. This time I let God work and was blessed by meeting a charming child of God, one who volunteers talking to runaway children about God’s love. She’s studying to a nurse, would like to write a book to help runaways understand what God’s love can do for them and feels led to learn Thai.
Then she did the unexpected, she offered us a love offering. She carries a few dollars with her for that purpose. We refused to take it, asking her to use it in her ministry.
The few minutes J. spent talking with us blessed both Marty and I. For me it was a message to take time and uncover the person under the layers, because there are jewels waiting to be discovered.