Sharing this wonderful reminder from SaaniaSparkle. ~MJ
Quite often, we get deeply embroiled in our hectic lifestyles with deadlines to meet and a continual pressure on our shoulders to “be productive”. But as I have realised, it is so important that we give ourselves a break when we need one. Giving our bodies, minds, and hearts a chance to relax and recharge […]
It’s okay to take a break
Okay, I admit… I’m bad at blogging this year. My apologies. My blog needs some attention. Since it’s Thursday, why not give some thought to a “This or That Thursday” post? I know my state isn’t the only one, but we’re experiencing a heat wave. We’re also in a moderate drought like a lot of other areas. It isn’t even summer yet!
I scanned through my options for this theme and the water looked refreshing and perfect for this week.
Which option to you prefer? Going to the lake or spending time in a pool? Why do you choose one over the other? Or, are you like me, and have an explanation for both?
Let me begin with… I don’t wear a bathing suit. At the lake, it isn’t a problem. I can stroll along the shoreline in shorts, or rolled up jeans, dangle my feet off a dock, and no one cares. I love being at the lake but not in lake water past my knees if that makes sense. I don’t know about you, but I want to see what I’m stepping on or what kind of creature is creeping around down there. Boating, tubing, water skiing, and fishing is fun on a lake too. If I want to relax and have a fun day outside with the sound of waves, a breeze coming off the water, the smell of food cooking on a grill, and usually trees for shade, I prefer the lake.
This means, if I go into the water, I prefer a pool, but since I don’t wear a bathing suit, it’s a slim change you’ll find me there.
On a side note: Most of my absence is because I’m writing. That’s the positive side of my neglect. The negative side is procrastination in other areas of my life. Before last year, I rarely ignored important things. It’s a habit I slipped into. Maybe when I finish the two books I’m working on, I’ll get my mojo back. Am I the only one in a slump?
In the meantime, I’ll see ya when I see ya. <grin>
Have a wonderful day!
If you look real close, you’ll see the rest of the family off in the distance. I guess this one needed a break away from the kids.
Last weekend I took a stroll over to a small lake near where I live. The swans swam as a family to about the middle of the lake. It looked so cute to see them floating with one adult in the front and the other behind the young ones. The swan in the rear came to where you see it in the cove. Maybe it found a fish to take back to them. Have a great rest of your week.
This Wordless Wednesday post isn’t wordless. I haven’t written in my blog in so long, it deserves, and craves, some words.
It’s obvious I didn’t take the time to crop four of these. I’m not trying to showcase the parking lot or vehicle. I think it’s called lazy. This is the “turkey path” as I call it.
As many as ten turkeys appeared the day I took these pictures. They didn’t seem to be in a hurry and gradually disappeared around the building or into the woodlands. Since early spring, I have only seen one strolling around alone. I don’t know if it’s male or female, but one of them probably sits on the nest while the other searches for food. Curiosity drove me to research this stuff. 😉
Yesterday, I happened to glance out the window to see one lone young turkey run across the parking lot as fast as its little legs would go. I’m sure I missed the others as this little one tried to catch up with the family. It reminded me of the Roadrunner running from Wile E. Coyote.
I hope you’re all doing well. Me? I’m hanging in here and have a book almost ready for the editor. I’m in the last round of a self-edit before sending it off. I’m close to writing the end on another one, which is a new setting for me and took a lot of research. So, back to my writing cave… Thank goodness I have my characters to talk to because it’s getting lonely in here. My apologies for not visiting your blogs. One day… One day I will catch up. For now, I kind of need the break. I miss you all.
Hey there. Happy spring. I’m still here living the life. <waving>
It’s been a while since I’ve posted or visited my fellow bloggers, but I’ve been writing. I can happily say I finished book two in the Two-Five Ranch Outlaws series. It’s sitting now before I go back to rip it apart and cut a lot of words. I overwrote. Or maybe I didn’t. Let’s put it this way: I said what had to be said, but it’s a higher word count than I wanted, so maybe I didn’t need to say it all. I’m also 12K words into a holiday western romance. However, that has nothing to do with today’s post. 😊
Since I’ve been away from my blog, I had new covers made for four of my books. I haven’t officially revealed the other three yet, but they aren’t hard to find.
Today I’m introducing the new re-cover for Finding Kimber, Book Two, from Canyon Junction: Hearts in Love Series—a spin off to the Double Dutch Ranch Series. As the title says, they’re on the run. I’ve changed two names to avoid spoilers. Kimber mentions Stormy. He’s the dog Zach gave her.
She’s wary of her future. He’s burdened by his past.
Zachary (Zach) Bryson arrives in Arizona with hopes of leaving the ghosts from his past behind. Hired by a stranger to run a ranch, he meets the owner—a secretive woman with no ranching experience. He’s seen her before, but she wasn’t a redhead with green eyes. In their first encounter, she swept him off his feet without their exchanging a word. Why did she change her appearance? What secrets lay behind those heart-stopping eyes? Seeing this job as a challenge, he sticks around to tackle this hottie head-on.
Kimber Sinclair is forced to flee her lush Oregon county for a small town in Arizona with sand, saguaros, and dusty cowboys. She settles in to live a lie—to discover the person behind her new identity while she mourns the death of Tressa Garnett—her given name at birth. However, keeping a distance from her ruggedly handsome, broad-shouldered, wise-cracking ranch foreman, isn’t easy. She struggles daily to hide her secret from Zach who demands answers. By telling him the truth, his life could also be in danger.
If trouble finds her, will she choose fight or flight? Can Zach set aside his own issues, or will his nightmares prevent him from doing what he was unknowingly hired to do?
Thunder growled in the near distance, and heavy clouds rolled in. “Cool. Let’s get this tent put up, cowgirl.”
She helped him unload the truck but wouldn’t let Stormy out. “Dave wanted us to get burner phones so we can’t be tracked. I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary on my phone.”
“Wait. What? The guy thinks your phone has a tracker on it? Rebecca could’ve done it when she visited you. He’s already called you multiple times. What if he’s in on it? Get in the truck.” Zach tossed the bags back into the bed of the truck and sped out of the campground. Hard, blowing rain came down as they pulled out. He drove away from the mountain.
“What’s wrong? Where are we going?”
“Away from here. If someone is tracking your phone, or his—”
“I called his go-phone, but I get it. No camping.”
“We are camping. While we’re heading west, call him back. Write down the immediate numbers you need from your phone, then write down Tyler’s, Randy’s, Jake’s, and my mom’s from mine. When you’re finished, turn our phones off. I want to open yours up to look for a tracker, or for whatever the hell else could’ve been used.” He stopped at a gas station and checked her phone. “Bastards. I’m deleting this hidden app. Somebody added it to your phone.”
She was angry enough to growl like the wolves in the desert.
He checked his own. “There’s nothing on mine. I have a better idea. I’ll download a burner app for any other calls we make. Then Dave will think we’re using a disposable phone. The app acts as a burner phone. We can pay extra for a different area code and use a Boise number like we do now.”
Kimber sat back and sighed. Tiredness caught up with her. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. No worries. Tyler uses the app.” After taking care of the app and the new number, he continued driving until they ended up in traffic miles away.
Now she’d made Zach suspicious of everything.
They headed back to the campsite and unloaded. “Randy gave us a blowup bed. Looks like we have to sleep together, partner.”
“No problem, Zach.” In this awful predicament, his words sparked a glow in her heart. She flashed him a smile and helped him make up the bed. “I’ll never be able to thank you for what you’re doing.”
Zach glanced at the bed and winked. “My heart’s the only thing you have to thank, sweetheart. Well, maybe one other body part.”
Here’s the entire spin off series to date. Read Finding Kimber now: Universal Buy Link for your country. Amazon Series Page.
Amazon Reader Reviews for Finding Kimber
This book has it all. Attention grabbing, many twist and turns. All the romance intertwined. I recommend this book. Enjoy!!
This lady tells wonderful Cowboy Romance Stories…
…I loved this book! I loved the depth of this story! It Had so many different elements included in it.
Very different and kept me interested to the end. Very good suspense story and very different from most books I have read.
Enjoy your weekend. Thank you for visiting.
Howdy, folks. I’m often searching for the perfect dog for one of my fictional families. A current WIP has a tri-color Australian shepherd in it. Since I was the proud mom of a herding dog and know how wonderful they can be, I thought I’d share this post from The Pet Embassy. You may be looking for a family dog, so here are some options. See how beautiful they are, and learn about their personality and temperament.
Herding dogs were originally bred to work on farms and large pieces of land. Herding dog breeds are extremely intelligent and have lots of energy to burn. If you are looking for a dog breed which is intelligent and lively, then a herding dog breed might be for you.
Please note that like any breed round up, all the following choices are subjective and are far from being exhaustive. We know there are many other wonderful dog breeds that could have made the list and the list is in no particular order!
If you have a dog whose breed appears on our “Top 10 Herding Dog Breeds for Active Families” list or if you think your dog breed should have been on here, please let us know in the comments section below!
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Here we are with February’s first “This or That” post. Please join me.
Back in the day I played video games with my boys and loved it. Here are a few to almost give away my age:
Do you have memories of any of these games?
Oh, boy, I had to look these up to remember. Here’s a link to one site. They weren’t like the video games of today. When married, we played a NASCAR video game. I wrecked my car more than I raced. It wasn’t fun to keep losing. About ten years ago, I played a video game with my youngest son. I haven’t played one since.
At school, when kids earned free-time, I’d sit with them as they played an age-appropriate computer video game. They made me play sometimes, but I didn’t complain. It gave me a break too! We had small class sizes in this particular job–Special Education. Our students had learning disabilities in reading and math. One sixth grade boy had permission to bring his Sims game. Personally, I had to wonder about that one. It was an earlier version, though.
Growing up in an era before video games, I played many board games. To name a few I liked:
We had the game of Yahtzee, but I never liked it–admittedly, because I never learned how to play. My older brother was nine years older than me, so he never stuck around to play games. That left my younger brother to be my opponent. We were opponents in many ways besides in a game, as we never got along as kids. Now we do. He’s all I have left other than cousins, and my boys, of course.
It looks like I couldn’t choose a “This” or a “That” and instead chose both. How about you?
Let us know your favorite.
Thank you for your visit! Stay safe out there.
PSA and FYI: New guidelines from the CDC say to wear two masks now. Count me in.
Mackinaw City, Michigan February 9, 2021. Lower peninsula. Images captured by my cousin, Larry. Thanks cuz! Top Photo: Mackinac Bridge. Center: Sculpture of a fountain with running water. Bottom: Blue ice building up along the coastline.
Unashamed of self-promo today, I’m sticking in a plug for one of my books that takes place “Up north.” This book is actually dedicated to Larry and his family. Imagine Jude, Terra, and their kids viewing this in Secret Santa’s Rundown Sleigh: A Holiday Romance Novella. A heartwarming two-hour read. Carry on!
So much for #WordlessWednesdy, huh? Thanks for visiting today. 😃
