Friday, February 26, 2016

Snow!

We've had 9 "inclement weather days" and most of them have been due to "icy back roads". We are now starting to add days to the end of the school year. Yesterday, we actually had off due to SNOW. It started snowing about 10:00 am on Wednesday and just kept snowing. They dismissed school an hour early on Wednesday and church was cancelled (which hardly ever happens). I decided to take periodic pictures of the snow cover to show a sort of progression. When the snow started, we had almost no snow left on the ground. I don't have a picture of that, but some from last Friday. It was warm that weekend and more snow melted from what is shown in the pictures.


2/19--the kids are smashing the "meteorite" (a leftover snowball they'd made)



Wednesday pictures:
2:30


3:30



4:30



5:30 (the snow was getting the window wet)



6:15




8:55




9:45 (Dan had just left for work)



10:30



Wednesday morning (Dan got stuck coming home from work) The snow is 9-12" deep.



































Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Book Review: "Island Hope" by Kimberly Rose Johnson



"Island Hope" by Kimberly Rose Johnson is the fourth and final book in the Wildflower B&B Romance series.  You could read the books as stand alones, but I think you would get more out of them if you read them in order as the characters from previous books play pretty important roles in this book.

Hope Michaels pours all her energy in her electrical contracting business, having lost her inspiration for her metal sculptures after being betrayed by someone close to her. It also makes it hard for her to trust other people.

Derrick Trainor is doing the best he can to raise his daughter alone after his wife died four years ago. When he needs to spend more hours at work, things at home get rocky. He turns to Hope for advice. Will they be able to find hope for tomorrow?

It was fun to have Derrick's story (after meeting him and his daughter Alyssa in the previous book) and to see all the other characters I'd gotten to know in the previous books. I liked seeing Derrick and Alyssa's relationship and how they were traveling the road to adulthood. Alyssa made me smile. The characters grew through the book and discovered the peace that they needed to move forward in their relationships.

The book didn't have any indication during the first half of the story that they were Christians, but once it was brought to light, there were quite a few references to seeking God and praying. It went along with the characters growth through their difficulties.

"Island Hope" is available for Kindle:
  • File Size: 4025 KB
  • Print Length: 138 pages
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Publisher: Mountain Brook Ink (March 1, 2016)
  • Publication Date: March 1, 2016
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B019JLJCO0

and in paperback:
  • Series: Wildflower B&B Romance
  • Paperback: 204 pages
  • Publisher: Mountain Brook Ink (February 15, 2016)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1943959005
  • ISBN-13: 978-1943959006
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to give a positive review, just an honest one. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.

Book Review and Giveaway: "Shattered Memories" by Debbie Lynne Costello



After Charleston is devastated by an earthquake, Dr. Drew Warwick frantically searches for the woman he loves. When he finds her unconscious, he brings her to the makeshift hospital at his house. His joy at her waking up is quickly dashed when she only remembers him as her brother's childhood friend. Even worse, she thinks she still engaged to Lloyd Pratt, a scoundrel who has hurt her in the past. Can he help her regain her memories before he loses her to Lloyd?

Olivia Macqueen is confused and alone when she wakes up in the Warwick home. Drew Warwick says they are courting, but she only remembers him as the boy who teased her as a girl. The man she remembers being engaged to is Lloyd Pratt, but why does she feel so comfortable around Drew? When her memories begin to return, will she be able to piece together her life to find peace out of her shattered memories?

"Shattered Memories" by Debbie Lynne Costello drew me in and held my attention. I really liked Drew and felt his anguish over Olivia not remembering their relationship. I found myself getting frustrated that the bad guys seemed to be getting away with their deception. "Shattered Memories" has romance, mystery, intrigue, and humor. God was a central figure in the book and I liked how the characters learned to lean on Him more as the book progressed.  The book gave me insights into life in the late 1880's and especially in regards to the Charleston earthquake of 1886. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and look forward to reading more books by Debbie Lynne Costello in the future.

There were two areas in the book that contradicted themselves elsewhere. First, one character "thinks" about what time they'd told someone to meet them but when the note is read later, it is a different time mentioned. Also, another character walks to " X's brother's house, where X was staying" and then later tells X "I didn't think you had brothers". But these didn't keep me from enjoying the book and wanting to read more. (edited to add: apparently I received a copy of the book before the final edits and these issues were taken care of )



I am one stop on a blog tour featuring "Shattered Memories".  They are hosting a giveaway which you can enter here



Here is the list of blogs participating in the blog tour. (These will bring you to the current page for the blog, you may need to search for the post about Shattered Memories)


Feb 15: Quiet Quilter
Feb 19: Buwurmzzz
Feb 20: A Greater Yes
Feb 25: Bigreadersite
Feb 27: cherylbbookblog
Feb 28: Mary Hake

BONUS GIVEAWAY: If we get at least 10 comments, Debbie Lynne Costello will give one of my readers their choice of one of her books. Giveaway lasts one week and a winner will be picked on March 3rd. Please make sure I know how to contact you if you win. 

"Shattered Memories" is available in Kindle edition:
  • File Size: 3074 KB
  • Print Length: 265 pages
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Publisher: Wakefield Press (February 14, 2016)
  • Publication Date: February 14, 2016
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B01AO9DRME

About the Author
Debbie Lynne Costello is the author of the #1 Amazon bestseller Sword of Forgiveness, a medieval romance. She has enjoyed writing stories since she was eight years old. She raised her family and then embarked on her own career of writing the stories that had been begging to be told. She and her husband have four children and live in upstate South Carolina where she has worked in many capacities in her church and is currently the Children's Director. When not spending time with her husband, four children and grandchildren she hangs out with her Arabian and Tennessee Walking horses.


I received a free copy of this book in order for me to give an honest review. No other compensation was received and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Book Review: "Whispers in the Reading Room" by Shelley Gray




Lydia Bancroft is intrigued by a mysterious patron in her reading room. She doesn't know anything about him, other than his love of books, until he rescues her in the lobby of the hotel where he lives.

Sebastian Marks has done everything he could to better his position in life, but he knows he still isn't good enough for the likes of Lydia Bancroft. He can't seem to avoid opening up to her and they form a friendship.

When Lydia discovers that Sebastian is the proprietor of a gentleman's club, she insists on going to visit. Suddenly, her life is turned upside down when she is a suspect in a murder. Is Sebastian the person everyone else seems to think or is he the man her heart tells her he is?

Set in the mid 1890's, "Whispers in the Reading Room" was an interesting historical read. I found the story to be interesting and engaging. I liked the characters and the time period. There was romance in the story as well as the mystery of who committed the murder. I had a suspision of who it was but there were twists I didn't expect.

"Whispers in the Reading Room" is available in paperback:
  • Series: The Chicago World's Fair Mystery Series
  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Zondervan (November 10, 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0310338492
  • ISBN-13: 978-0310338499
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.4 inches

in Kindle edition:
  • File Size: 1864 KB
  • Print Length: 346 pages
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Up to 5 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
  • Publisher: Zondervan (November 10, 2015)
  • Publication Date: November 10, 2015
  • Sold by: HarperCollins Publishing
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B00UF72AB0


I received a free copy of this book from the Fiction Guild for me to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and no other compensation was received.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

My Latest Hats

With the latest Star Wars movie and the introduction of the new little droid, BB 8, I had to try to design a hat to look like him. I didn't have the right color of orange, so I used what I had (I've gotten a better color now). I'm trying to decide if I need to do some of the "outline" areas.




Reference picture



I had made an infant Hello Kitty hat for a swap and decided to make a bigger one.




Monday, February 1, 2016

Amigurumi R2D2

The other week, I was at my knitting group and planned on working on the color graph for a BB8 hat. I realized that I didn't have enough information to know where the color areas overlapped, so I decided to design a little R2D2 for my sister's birthday instead. I wanted to make his dome (head) jointed, so I used one of the safety eyes I use for the bodies of my clay dolls. It was a really tight squeeze to get the washer to lock on.

R2's pieces. I was going to use the cardboard disks under the "joint" to keep it flat, but it wouldn't lock with the extra thickness








His "decorations" are quite simplistic