F is for Frederick

F is for Frederick, by Leo Lionni. Many of the posts I've read this week have taken me back to my childhood days, and while I was mulling over a topic for F..... Frederick suddenly came to me. It was read to us at school, it was read to us by the public librarian, it became a 6th grade fad, I read it to my children, I took my children to see the play.

A fad? Back in the day, Fletcher's Newsstand was an icon in our small town, as mentioned in another post, this store had a bit of everything, one of those things, in a box, on a shelf, just below waist height of a 6th grader, halfway down the main aisle in front of the cash register; were multiple stuffed mice, they were soft, and each one a different color. They had sweet little ears, whiskers and a tail and fit comfortably in your hand. We all had to have one. Unlike today, no one's parents sprung for multiples. We took them everywhere, but we especially liked to bring them to the public library for reading time.

Gosh, for thinking I had nothing to say, I could go on about Fletcher's (my Gram worked there for years), or the public library, or the content of the book itself -- but I'll spare you & tuck those away for another day.

If you haven't ever read it, or haven't in many years - I urge you to.

A simple, yet profound work.

Enjoy.

E is for Eeyore

E is for Eeyore and who doesn't love him? When I was a kid it was such a treat for me when Winnie the Pooh was going to be on TV :-) We only had two channels, PBS and and one network, either CBS or ABC , who cared it was either Masterpiece Theater, or something else. It was special because it only was on occasionally. I used to have an old pocketbook to play with, it looked like a wicker basket with a leather latch, inside I carried a newspaper clipping of an advertisement for Winnie the Pooh. I also had a stuffed Pooh, still have him too.

Charlie Brown specials were even more elusive, as those ran on the network we didn't get, so I only got to see those if I was at my Grandmother's in town where folks got more channels.

One of these days I hope to add a real live "Eeyore" to my life, and when I'm ready, I'm going to go see Ann Firestone at Save Your Ass Long Ear Rescue - yup it's a real place in South Acworth, NH. They have a web site saveyourassrescue.org and a facebook page (sorry I should have figured out how to add the link).

On Easter Sunday a baby E.B. was born, the mother, a young mammoth jenny was in such rough shape from malnutrition when she came to the rescue, we worried she might not make it, but thankfully she did, and this little fella sure is something special!
Welcome to the world E.B. Don't you wish you could reach through the screen and touch him?

D is for Deadly Kisses

Today D is for Deadly Kisses, and I'm pleased to feature this book by my friend, Kerri Cuevas! I am honored that not only is Kerri a blogging friend, she is a real life friend too, and a good one at that - and it was very exciting for me as she went through the process of first drafts, to finally having a real copy in my hot little hands! Congratulations Kerri, I'm proud of you, you stuck with it and made it happen! Without further adieu, check it out, and don't miss the trailer video at the bottom of the post.

Aiden Grant has a killer kiss. Literally. And it’s not every reaper who gets to work with the Sixteenth President. Sure, Honest Abe likes to throw out history lessons with reaping assignments, but when you’re favored by the ancients, grim reaper life is pretty sweet for a newly dead seventeen-year-old.

Then things get messy.

Aiden is assigned to reap the soul of Bee, the only girl he has ever loved. When Aiden’s kiss of death fails, intertwining their souls, she is still very much alive and they are both in trouble. The ancients want Bee, who has special powers of her own, and they’ll do anything to get her.

Some rules are meant to be broken, even if that means Aiden must bargain with his own soul to save Bee. Who knew the afterlife could get so complicated?

Author Blurb:
Kerri Cuevas was born and raised in Rhode Island. She moved to New Hampshire with her husband, three kids, cats and a rabbit named Hercules in 2005. When she's not writing, she's chasing chickens on her small farm or searching for the ultimate mac-a-cheese recipe.

Kerri went to college for Early Childhood Education but now writes books for young adults full-time. Her storytelling stems from watching too many horror flicks as a teen, but she no longer needs to sleep with the lights on.






Author Links:
Author Website
Author Blog
Goodreads
Buy Now on Amazon

To enter the giveaway for a chance to win a copy of the book plus some swag CLICK HERE for a list of participating bloggers.

C is for Common Consideration

C is for Common Consideration. Spoiler alert, ranting and or raving ahead. Rude people bum me out, I'm sure they bother you too. I'm not perfect, I'm sure I have been rude before, and not as considerate of others as I should have been, but I do try. I can't think of an instance at the moment - oh, no, wait, I can.... where someone pointed out to me that I handled something poorly. I did what I would expect of others in return, I tried to patch things up and make it right, it took some time, but it was successful.

Well, one of my children was recently treated quite poorly (yes, that brings out a mama bear response) while participating within an organization that I would expect to have high standards, as well as rules and traditions to follow. Mistakes were made, showing a complete lack of respect for others, and when this was called to the attention of adults, no apology, nothing. Personally I found this hurtful, for my child I was deeply disappointed and saddened. Surely I thought these folks (parents/adults/peers) would have acted more appropriately for the best interest of all the kids involved, not just their own.

I know I was intentionally vague, but thanks for letting me vent some frustration! I am sure as the children get older, there will be more and more difficulties with social interaction, and I can only hope that as they grow, my ability to support them and help them handle these things with grace also grows.

On that note, I am happy to say that so far in my limited experience blogging, I have found nothing but common consideration, in fact you people seem to be full of C - compassion, culture, comedy, camaraderie, clarity - thank you.

Confused? The photo has no connection, just felt like sharing :-) (unless you count C for circle) or I commence conversing in "C"

B is for Bread

B is for Bread. Sure, now you think there is a food theme happening, but really what has happened is images have popped into my head, forcing me to seek out the photo to make the post. B and Tuesday made the image of  bread at Orchard Hill Breadworks overtake my brain, so I hop in the car and sure enough, fresh loaves from the wood fired oven await on the racks. I've brought home a round french bread, that I plan to cut into in the very near future along with a cold glass of local farm milk and apple slices from yesterday. Simple and delicious.

 Over time, the Breadworks has grown, and there are a few other products available from local farmers inside the bakery. The bread is found in many stores throughout the region; but if you find yourself in East Alstead, you can pick up your own, but you better go early, as late in the day the rack will be nearly empty, if not completely bare. It is one of the few places that still believes in the honor system, and that feels good to be a part of. Belief in your fellow neighbor is a beautiful thing.

Look at these beauties, carb free diet? Are you kidding? Not for me!Bread also makes me think of my Grandma, who is almost 92 and still makes her own bread on a regular basis. Now days she employs a bread machine, but the smell throughout the house is still nothing short of luscious. When I was younger, she made all her bread and dinner rolls from scratch. What fun it was to help knead the dough and watch it rise, seems we all congregated in the old farmhouse kitchen. Sometimes we make bread in our home, but not nearly often enough

I have to say this A - Z event is quite fun so far! I'm so easily distracted, gosh it's great to have all these ideas, topics popping into my head - as I was sure I had lost all sense of spontaneous ideas, I was sure they had all gone down the drain, been left in the laundry basket, certainly I have nothing to say... but then again, maybe I do! So thank you, to Arlee Bird who founded this event.

A is for Apple

A is for Apple and the kick off for the A to Z April Challenge! But seriously, from your first days of school, and the beginning of your reading career: A is for Apple, so it here that I will start wandering through April with random thoughts, topics and ideas - sorry, it doesn't look as if there will be a sensible theme to tie this together nicely (I'll leave that for more experienced writers, and those who have planned).

So, I go into the local Co-op with a friend and start taking photos of the apples in the produce section; yes I got a few strange looks and a couple joking comments, I only wish I was quick enough to reply with a witty April Fool's joke, sadly I wasn't... They look great don't they? Now wouldn't you like a nice, juicy, crisp apple?

Since we were on a roll, we stopped to admire this lovely apple tree, leaf buds getting ready to come out. My friend actually has a small orchard, and we fleetingly thought perhaps we should be back at the farm, since the pruning is not yet done! His apple orchard is a glorious place, he planted each young tree long ago. It sits at the top of the hill, above the hay field, it has a lovely view. Many seasons of apples, laughter and memories keep a happy spirit alive there where the deer come to eat, and the hawks soar above, waiting for the people to come enjoy the blossoms and then the bounty.

Continued chicken tales

We have gone from a few eggs to a stockpile of them in the fridge, most days I find 2 duck eggs and 3-4 chicken eggs, ahhh life is good. Time for deviled eggs, egg salad sandwiches, quiche and baking! Time to look up my previous egg customers and time to revert to old habits of bringing a dozen eggs with me when I see friends, certain they will appreciate this fresh gift :-)

The surplus is despite a hawk, probably recently returned from southern regions, finding two of our chickens easy prey. So free range activities are currently on hold, and the birds are under lock down until further notice. I have hung a few junk CDs around the yard, which are reported to move, flash and deter the raptors from hanging around.

The exciting chicken news is the addition of four Japanese Silkie chicks which were hatched out at my friend, Kerri's house. They are cute fluffy little buggers, and my daughter, who has a penchant for carrying chickens all over the place, singing to them, reading to them, bringing them on fairy house tours and the like, is thrilled. They grow so quickly, they have only been here a week and a half and already attempting to fly.

Sweet little things, sure hope they are all hens!