Twofer Twosday With Extras

It’s that time of the week again. I get to tell you what I’m reading and have to prove that I’ve been working on a manuscript.
I’ve managed to get through a few books lately and last week finally got to the one that brings me to this week’s selection. I’ve had the book for a few years after rescuing it from a garage sale. I’d been meaning to read it since I found it. In fact, I’ve wanted to read it for several decades. Now I have, and the TBR pile is getting smaller.

From Black Beauty, The Autobiography of a Horse, by Anna Sewell (Masterpiece Library, Magnum Books, 1968):

“When he was gone my driver began to flop the reins about and whip the harness, by which I understood that I was to go on, which of course I did, glad that the stone was gone, but still in a good deal of pain.
That was the sort of experience we job horses often come in for.”

I’m plugging away on the second draft of my first manuscript and realize there’s a long road ahead for it. I’ve thrown in a bit extra for the sake of giving readers a better idea of what I’m on about.

From The Legend of Shallal:

“The Sleepweavers have been at them and they’re prepared. I’ll meet them at their game field and lead them to the tunnels. There’s a young one, Nurl, that the Sleepweavers have given some extra attention. I think he’ll be the main toner.”
“How old is he?”
“Three.”
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For more, or to find out how to participate, please see the Women of Mystery.
And thank you for stopping by. I appreciate it.

Gratitude Monday - Birthday Porn

My 51st birthday was yesterday ( Nov.22) and for it my husband baked me

a cake. Here he is prepping the cake pans for a carrot layer cake.

He devoted most of his Saturday to it. We grew the carrots, the flour is organic, the eggs are from his dad. It's healthier than most commercial health food.

Here he spreads the cream cheese icing for the inbetween section.

The icing on the cake.


Adding the ground pecans for the finishing touch.




The finished product.

Very, very yummy.



Yes, I am grateful.

Photo-Finish Friday -- Chile

Skua Glacier in the Chilean Fjords.

It looked cold and foreboding and absolutely beautiful.

The second link takes you to the first time I posted a picture of it. I thought it deserved another view.

An Olympic Seig Heil Moment

I presume I have your attention.
The Olympic Torch is making its way across Canada and will soon burn at the 2010 Winter Olympics in B.C.
It's a wonderful thing and I'm happy about it. We last had the Winter Olympics in 1988 in Calgary and that fair city still trades on it.
Good for it.
I was working at the Alaska Highway Daily News in Fort St. John, B.C. back then and the torch came through. It was run around a local arena to a thundering crowd and it was my duty to take crowd reaction pictures. It was fun.
Back then I didn't know any better and thought the torch run was a legitimate hearkening back to the Olympics' ancient origins.
No.
It hearkens all the way back to the 1936 Olympics. It was the brainchild of Carl Deim and was meant illuminate the glory of the Fatherland.
All this aside I like the Torch Run. As a nation it has whipped us in a frenzy-- as much as a Canadian can be in one-- and has us all excited about the upcoming games.
But I still think we ought to know what we're doing as we cheer the flame on and I am not above the occasional sardonic Seig Heil whenever its on the news.
Then again, it may be better if we forget that part and simply enjoy it for what it is.
What say you?

Twofer Tuesday - A Wilde Time

North end of Upper Arrow Lakes, B.C.

I'm catching up on all the reading I missed out on during my recent non-reading spell. Most of the rust is flaking off my inner reading machinery and I'm finding I'm getting through books faster than I have in quite some time. I don't know that I'll get back to my heyday of 400-500 words a minute, but I'm happy with whatever speed I can muster and still enjoy the beauty of the words as they are collected together to form the story.

I loved the feeling this passage spoken by Lord Henry in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde, ( Penguin Classics 2009) evoked:
"Play me a nocturne, Dorian, and, as you play, tell me, in a low voice, how you have kept your youth. You must have some secret."

And here's my contribution to the cause from The Legend of Shallal:

"He needed a time of rest, a way to be off the planet for at least a season. He ached to bathe in the icy waters of his homeworld and drift along its jagged shores under a waxing double moon."

Thanks for reading me.

For more or to get in on the fun please check in with the Women of Mystery.

Gratitude Monday - Mundane is Good

I'm grateful for a great deal of things. This makes it difficult to narrow it down. It's always good to be grateful for the stuff we take for granted like the air we breathe, living indoors, and having food. Some people are stuck with terribly polluted air, are homeless, or so poor they eat only rarely.
I have all the food I need and then some, the air here is pretty good, the house I co-own and live in is paid for, and the above scene is a less than two hours west of me and makes for a lovely drive.
I challenge each and every one of you to be grateful for something mundane today. You can keep it to yourself or put it in the comments. Either way, say thanks for something you usually ignore and see what happens.

Get Your Chequebook Ready

The new moon is on Monday. Here in Alberta it's at 12:14 p.m. so we have from then until 12:14 p.m. Tuesday to get our abundance cheques written and salted away.

Cheques are written on the new moon because that's when the moon begins growing toward being full, like in the above photograph.

Once the moon is full it wanes and any cheque written then would have the opposite effect.

Remember, don't put a date on the cheque, make it out to yourself, write "Paid in Full " in the areas devoted to amount, and sign it "The Law of Abundance."