Tomorrow, I’ll be heading to the big city for some imaging appointments. Yes, it’s a pain in the ass. However, my daughter and I try to take advantage of the fact we’re out and about to enjoy some shopping and some good food. We’re big foodies and have adventurous tastes.
Last week when we were in the city for another appointment, we hit our favorite Greek restaurant for gyros. There was a hummus appetizer and plenty of tzatziki sauce to slather on the pita bread. Delicious!
We haven’t decided what we’ll have tomorrow, but it will be good!
Since we don’t get away often, we experiment a lot in our kitchen.
Here’s a photo of one of my daughter’s latest entrees, Hungarian goulash. So good!
We dabble in Indian, Irish, German, and lots and lots of Mexican dishes. This week alone, my daughter made Indian Chicken Curry and the 19-year-old made chorizo-potato-egg breakfast tacos with homemade salsa and homemade corn tortillas. My spaghetti with meatballs is to die for, by the way. For Christmas, we toss the traditional ham or turkey and choose an international cuisine then research recipes. We’ve done Mexican, North African, then we circled back to Mexican, again. I’m hoping for Italian or Eastern European this year. Anyone have some good recipes? I know if we do Italian, I’ll have to do my meatballs and my dd will have to make her fantastic focaccia bread, but there will have to be more on the table!
So, thinking about food and tomorrow’s trip, I wondered how adventurous you all are! Do you like eating international cuisines when you’re out? Do you make special international dishes at home? (Spaghetti counts!) For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle then share in the comments!
Hello Delilah! Thank you for welcoming me here today! I’m happy to share news about my latest anthology project. Love on the Range has brought together a group of authors writing cowboy and cowgirl stories.
I admit, when I first heard of the project, I wanted to sign up. My friend asked me if cowboys were my brand. Naturally, I admitted, nope! I didn’t sign up for the anthology and I moved on.
A little niggle in the back of my brain kept poking up and saying: FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). I really wanted to be part of this project. My mind started wandering. What did I know about people who worked on ranches and farms? What kind of farms are there in my area? (I have a series based near where I live — I like to keep things simple.) Then I remembered I had created a therapy ranch in my town, where clients spent time with the horses and the therapy dog and started to open up about their struggles and issues.
Okay. My lead therapist and her sister, the manager, dressed in jeans and ran a ranch…but this wasn’t the type of ranch I assumed other authors would write stories about.
Then it hit me – what if someone who worked on a range visited my “ranch?”
I had my story. I had a therapist living a very happy life. She was good on her own with her (sort-of) therapy dog, Rex. She had friends. She considered her coworkers at the ranch like family. She didn’t need someone in her life…but then she met Will.
Will’s a real cowboy. He works on a ranch in Alberta. He’s visiting his sister in Mission City, British Columbia, at Christmas, which also happens to be the anniversary of his beloved wife’s death. A misunderstanding lands him in therapy at Healing Horses Ranch. Now, he’s not Avery’s client, but there is a spark nurtured by Avery’s friends. A party brings the two together, and Christmas magic happens.
This is a cute story where a misunderstanding leads to love. I sent it to the anthology people. They had space. A Touch of Cowboy had a new home. Will doesn’t give up being a cowboy — just in case you’re worried. Sometimes, life can take us in a different direction, and it’s amazing.
Anyway, I hope you snag a copy of Love on the Range as it’s available only for a limited time.
Thanks for hosting me, Delilah. I’d love to give away a $5 Amazon gift card to one lucky commenter. What’s your favorite setting for a book? Or, what setting would you love to see more of? Random will select one commenter for a prize!
Love on the Range
From Montana mountains to Southern plains, there’s nothing more romantic than a lonesome figure and the girl who can tame a wild heart…or is it the other way around?
From mountain men to wild child women and snowed in cabins, read these stories of courageous hearts fighting for each other through harsh odds…and always finding each other.
Authors:
Wynter Ryan
Amy Stephens
Angelica Kate
Sophia Vincent
TB Mann
Harper Michaels
S L Hollister
Bonnie Poirier
Cynthia Terelst
Chele MacCabe
Francis Black
Jane Poller
Annee Jones
Heather Scarlett
A.R. Bell
Sonja Flowers
Sofia Aves
Anna Allen
Ellis Worth
Gabbi Powell
T S Simons
Chelle Pimblott
The anthology will only be available for a limited time.
Avery Stinson’s work at Healing Horse Ranch has been her lifeline against loneliness, whether it’s the counselling she does, or training her rescue dog, Rex. Sure, she sometimes dreams of finding her special person, but if her work’s going to be her whole life, it’s at least valuable and fulfilling. She loves seeing their clients leave with more confidence and hope than they thought possible.
She really hopes Will Dupont, a new arrival seeing one of her colleagues, can have that kind of success because the man’s heartbreak is almost palpable. When they find themselves together at the Christmas party, Will opens up about his personal tragedy, and Avery’s drawn to the brave, quiet, stoic cowboy. He’s not her patient. Getting closer isn’t really against the rules. As day follows night and Will begins to heal, Avery begins to wonder, can they have a happily ever after this Christmas, or will the call of the wide-open range a thousand miles away prove too strong for Will to resist?
About the Gabbi Powell
Gabbi Powell has been a lover of romance since she first put pen to paper in the eighth grade to write her first romance. She writes her novels while living in Beautiful British Columbia with her trusty ChinPoo dog a as companion. She also writes gay romances as Gabbi Grey and contemporary dark erotic BDSM novels as Gabbi Black.
International Panic Day is a “mock” holiday meant to give people a day to intentionally de-stress.
I’m all for that! Well, I’m all for another odd holiday and all for destressing! How ’bout you?
I thought making a list of ways I like to destress would be fun…
🐈 Pet a pet
📻 Listen to music
☕ Drink a cup of tea
😮💨 Breathe
🧘♀️ Meditate
🏊♀️ Swim!
👭 Spend time with friends
🚶♀️ Go for a walk
👩⚕️ See a therapist
🏝️ Get away from it all!
The last two aren’t things I generally do, but I was struggling to get to 10! I also managed to fit in a puzzle for you all since so many of you enjoy them!
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then add to my list of 10 or tell me which items on my list you use!
June 17, 1965: On this day in history, Bob Dylan recorded…
You either love him or hate him. And sometimes, you’re not even aware you love him.
My SIL says his voice scrapes like nails on a chalkboard. My daughter, who is a singer herself and hyper-critical of many current artists, adores Bob Dylan for being real and raw. I’ve loved him since he first appeared on the music scene in the sixties. Yes, I’m that old. Along with the Beatles and the Stones, whom I’ve loved forever, there was Bob Dylan, whose music I played when my dad brought me home a guitar from one of his many trips to Asia during the Vietnam War. “Blowin’ in the Wind” was one of the first things I learned to play. I loved music and poetry, and Dylan’s work was both.
There are songs you probably don’t even know are his. “All Along the Watchtower” will forever be associated with Jimi Hendrix, but Dylan wrote it. If you loved the movie Hope Floats, you remember that gorgeous love song, “Make You Feel My Love” that Garth Brooks sang. Adele covered that song more recently. Yup, Bob Dylan wrote it. You’ve heard Eric Clapton’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” right? Again, Bob Dylan wrote it. That’s just a slice of great covers of his great songs.
But everyone’s heard Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” Can you imagine the 1960s without it?
Anyway, I have Dylan’s greatest hits I pull out every now and then when I’m feeling nostalgic. My favorites include these titles which I had to snip and slaughter to fit into the puzzle. Hope you enjoy it. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you’re a Dylan fan and which song you love the most!
My faves are in the puzzle in no particular order…
Like a Rolling Stone
Blowin’ in the Wind
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) (This one’s so cool, like Folk-Rap!)
I’m sipping coffee and listening to the Stones’ “Mothers Little Helper.” Here goes…
It’s been a while, but my daughter and I hit the local flea market! Had to snap the flea market mascot, Catrick Swayze. He’s the barely domesticated, loves to nip, and gripes with every meow. You can see his meanness in his face, can’t you? My kind of cat.
And here’s my haul…
Not so impressive, I know. The microwave candy is for the girls, not me. Blech. My daughter found the pineapple for me. We’ve been looking for a solution to hold my coffee K-cups in the art room—and voilà! She also found the pretty tin. I collect them and have dreams of cutting them up into pretty shapes to make jewelry with them. She winces when she spots a pretty tin because she can picture the carnage. The cardboard box beside everything…? Someone bought up a bunch of those Amazon mystery boxes and offered them individually. We bought one! It’s so much fun to get them home, open them, and see whether you have treasure or dreck. We had a mixed box. Bento boxes. Christmas decorations. Pillow covers. Finger chopsticks. Maybe 70 small Christmas-themed notebooks. And six decibels-measuring devices…? (I will have to figure out how to unload those!) Yeah, treasure and dreck. But so much fun unboxing.
Report Card
Last week…
I worked on two editing jobs for other authors; I should finish one of them today.
I resolved my issues with the Kindle platform, and all four books in the Delta Fire series, which is the follow-on to the Delta Heat series, are loaded and ready for pre-order, including the last book in the series, which has not previously been published, Ignition. I’ll share all the covers this week—they are so hot!
I am working on editing the Secret Identities short stories for the anthology.
The biggest bummer of the week is that our pool is still “un-swimmable” for now. We were having fits, dumping tons of chemicals and never getting the water perfectly crystal clear, so we decided to replace the sand. When my SIL replaced it and put the filter back together, it leaked. We replaced seals and a collar on the filter, then when we got everything put back together, we had another leak on the Polaris hose. We got a part in yesterday, so I’m crossing my fingers that’s the problem. It will be a few days before the pool is clear enough to swim in. My dd says there’s another snake in there, but it’s too cloudy to fish the critter out. *sigh*
Okay, so maybe that’s not the biggest bummer. I went to the doctor at the VA this week, and she says I’m diabetic now. Barely, but she’s putting me on meds. I have got to drop some pounds!
This next week…
I will work on two editing projects for other authors, finishing two, I hope!
I’ll continue editing stories in the Secret Identities anthology. Plus, I’ll work with the authors to organize a promo schedule.
I have a lung and bone density test coming up, so we’ll have another trip to the big city.
I will finish creating small art daily for #The100DayProject. I’m almost there!
The pool situation will be settled this week!!!!!
I’m adding one more goal to get a plan in place to tackle the weight. I’m going to research what foods I can eat and those I can avoid, and then create a meal plan. Realistic exercise goals will be set, too. I tend to have better success when I follow a plan…
Do you sometimes wake up with a goal you can’t shake?
I watched a trailer for a movie yesterday and got so excited about it that I messaged the link to my daughter for her to watch. She never replied. So, I take that as she’s not excited about the idea. But how can she not be?! A giant shark in the Seine, IN PARIS?! It’s going to be epic!
Okay, so it’s not as over-the-top as the Sharknado movies (has there ever been anything as gonzo?!), but I can see the possibility of a fun movie night. When the Sharknado films came out every summer for all those years, we made the releases a big event. We’d binge-watch the preceding movies and hunker down with finger-foods and popcorn, our attention glued to the screen. They weren’t meant to be great art, and they weren’t, but oh what fun they were. I have the same reverence for The Meg movies. I just love shark movies and Shark Week. Summer isn’t summer without watching some new shark-disaster movie.
So, this morning, I awoke determined to watch the new movie tonight. I’m pretty sure I can talk the 15-year-old and the 10-year-old into watching with me. We’ll get a huge tub of popcorn and dim the lights. Under Paris will be watched!
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you love shark movies like I do. Have you watched Jaws, the Sharknado movies…Shark Tale?
P.S. While I was searching for an image for Under Paris, I found another shark movie I have to put on the list! It’s Shark Lake with Dolph Lundgren! It sounds perfectly awful, which means it’s right up my alley. 🙂
Yes, it’s another weird holiday! And such a fun one!
First, raise your hands! How many people here own a sewing machine? Do you own more than one?
We have…three?…in the house. One I purchased. One my daughter brought when she moved in. Another I inherited or was given. It’s been so many years, I don’t remember!
Now, tell me, when was the last time you used yours?
I used mine last when my dd challenged me to make some handkerchiefs for men. We had an idea we would make them using material with superhero patterns then give them away to the cops my SIL works with. We made two. If you can imagine it, we had to look up a YouTube video to remember how to thread the machine! It’s sad because I made clothes with mine back in the day.
So, why do people celebrate the sewing machine? It was an agent of change. No longer did women have to spend long hours to make their family’s clothing or mend their husband’s sleeves. They had an efficient way to take care of that task, which gave them more leisure time—to do what? Maybe dream of doing things outside the home… Yes, a sewing machine can be considered an agent of women’s empowerment! Do you see my Rosie the Riveter arm flex?
It’s Friday. It’s a holiday. Now, I’ll have to figure out how to celebrate. No, I’m not pulling a sewing machine out of a closet. 🙂
Answer the questions I posed above for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!
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