• Book Launch Celebration went well

    Wow! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind! (Silence… Staring… Fingers perched on the keyboard…) That just about says it all… Two exciting things happened the week of July 29. Actually, one was not so exciting. I received my first copies of “No Time to Quit” and found out I have shingles. I’m not going to go into all the gory details of shingles in my head and eye, but suffice it to say, navigating through the details of moving forward with the book was much more difficult. I couldn’t even schedule a book launch celebration because of not…

  • Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy

    By Barbara Johnson Going through a rough time? Barbara Johnson lets you in on the secret that “Pain is inevitable but misery is optional”. Her book “Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy” comes out of four devastating experiences that equip Johnson with the credentials to help others work through their own pain. There are parts in the book that made me wonder how anyone could survive through the tragedies, and parts that made me smile. It is a book that makes one feel. Johnson first takes the reader through her own experiences – her husband’s near fatal…

  • I’m onto the next step!

    Decisions have been made, edits are done and the manuscript for “No Time to Quit” has been submitted for formatting! After the last few weeks doing nothing but working, editing the book and basic survival necessities, today was an exciting day! Maybe I should back up a little bit. The manuscript went through an editorial assessment where an editor at Westbow Press looked it over and did a sample edit on a few pages. Then she wrote a report about the manuscript’s merits, as well as improvements that could be made to make the book stronger. She used words like…

  • New Gardening Experiment

    Have you seen the info on straw bale gardening? I like lasagna gardening because I don’t really like to dig, but this year, I chose to experiment. Since I have never grown anything in a straw bale, I purchased one bale and placed it in the corner of my garden. I added about an inch of compost and then proceeded to plant my zucchini on and near the bale. The finishing touch was watering it well. So far, the plants look good.   The wire cage to the left of the bale is an old display from work that I…

  • Picnic in the woods

    Working in the retail business, weekends off are few and far between. I’ve taken to requesting a weekend day here and there just to be able to see my husband. Some requests are granted, some denied. My husband surprised me recently on a Sunday off with a picnic in the woods by the river. With spring being so late, it was like walking in a black and white film, sometimes with sepia filters. Color was void. Even the sky was gray, but it was wonderful. We found a log to use as a bench near a small creek running into…

  • Being a Mother

    Late again! I know Mother’s Day was yesterday. No matter what my true intentions are, I’m chronically three to five minutes late in getting somewhere, and at times a day late or a dollar short when it comes to acknowledging special days and events. My husband says he knows how I LIKE to do things, but it’s not that I LIKE to do things that way. Normally it has to do with trying to get too much done in too little time. I digress… Anyway, I really wanted to say something about being a mother and what Mother’s Day represents…

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