Christmas Shopping Time

Time for thinking of Christmas gifts - so I thought I would give you a few hints as to lovely things you might buy for those friends, neighbors and loved ones on your list.  Someone hard to buy for?  I have the perfect gift.

1. Great Aunt Tildy - Book from Amazon.com - Are We Walking To Alaska? she loves true stories of children from Alaska, as she was a child there a long time ago. And this is a true story.                                          
   

   
2. Bertie and Sally - the twins - they are reading chapter books now  - Are We Walking To Alaska? - from Amazon.com - they will love the adventures in this true story - bears, whales, deer, and a squirrel that comes indoors to play                                                      
3. Dad - Are We Walking To Alaska?   - from Amazon.com -   he fished in Alaska as a young man and will enjoy the fishing stories                
   

   
4. Uncle Stubbs - Are We Walking To Alaska?  -  Uncle Stubbs can tell a story like no on else - and he'll get a big kick out of the stories in this book                                                                   
5. Paper Girl - Lawn Mowing Boy - Are We Walking To Alaska?  - plus a bit of money put in as a bookmark - they both do such a great job all year and now they can relax and go on a true story adventure in the wilds of Alaska in the 1950s                                  
   

   
6. Cousin Sally - Are We Walking To Alaska?  - she's brave and would love to have an adventure in the wilderness, and things that happened in the book will intrigue her.              
   

   
7. Sisters and Brothers -   Are We Walking To Alaska?   - reminders of their time growing up in Alaska - they will pass this book on to their children                                                             
8. Next Door Neighbor, Mrs. Benson -   Are We Walking To Alaska?  - Sweet neighbor is by herself, she'll enjoy the company of a young girl in Alaska, learning all about the new and different way of life.                                           
   

   
9. Mrs. Stilton -  Are We Walking To Alaska? - a school teacher for years in  Alaska - this true story will remind her of all the wonderful children she has taught.                                                    
10. Mrs. Van Pelt -   Are We Walking To Alaska? - grandson's teacher, she might even want to read the book to her 4th grade class.

And so many others - just think how they'll enjoy this book - available in Kindle and print - makes shopping easy.

Others on your holiday lists  -  -  -  

• Mail Carrier - a break from every day life
• Friends in the Quilting group
• Neighbor who stops by to chat most afternoons
• School Libraries - donate a book in your child or grandchild's name
• Public Libraries
• Convalescent Hospitals - the residents will enjoy the true story of a young girl in Alaska
• Care Homes
• Baby Sitter
• Co-Workers

Hey - I'm not a bookmark!

One stop shopping - and if you have Amazon Prime you can have the print books shipped right to each person - or if you order Kindle it will be delivered to their Kindle for instant reading.

If you'd like an autographed copy, there is still time - leave me a message and a way to contact you and we'll work out the details.  I'm always happy to autograph a book.  The autographed books have to come from me, as none at amazon are autographed - I have a good supply handy this holiday season.  If you want it autographed and sent as a gift I'll even include gift wrapping free.

Thanks for shopping

Book Signing in Bellingham

There will be a book signing - 

Saturday August 23

CozyCorner Books and Coffee

3094 Northwest Ave – across from Yaeger's

10:30 to 2 PM

Purchase an autographed copy of “Are We Walking To Alaska?” - the true story of me and my family moving to Alaska from California in 1952.  

The book has stories of bears, fires, boats, discoveries and adventures of me and my two brothers as we explored our new home. Our family hauled water and ice for washing, cooking and drinking. We shared the hard work of a commercial fishing boat and enjoyed the animals and natural surroundings, including a squirrel who visited through a trap door and kittens that could swim.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Grandmother and Granddaughter

I love it when I meet wonderful people that read my book.  I met Susan a few years ago at a great indoor/outdoor yard sale that they have each summer, one weekend a month.  We enjoy the fun of the yard sale and getting to know Susan and her husband better each time we visit.  She bought my book, Are We Walking To Alaska? and shared it with her granddaughter Madisun, who was featured on this blog last year.

Since that time Madisun has moved to Washington with her mother and lives next door to her grandparents - so this was a perfect chance to get  a photo of both of them with my book.

Susan and Madisun - thank you for reading my book.

If you'd like your own copy - kindle or print - click on the header.  Thanks to all those who have read and will read my book.  I love to get to know my readers - so please leave a comment so I know you've been here.  And photos are always welcome, you too could be featured on my blog.

Happy Reading!!

If you want to visit Susan's giant yard sale with fantastic prices - it is just past milepost 76 on Hiway 20, heading towards Concrete, WA.  There are big yellow signs out on the weekends that they are open - enjoy.

And be sure to click the header for your own copy to enjoy.  Everyone from pre-readers to grandparents will enjoy the adventures my family and I had in Alaska.

Fly Away To Adventure

Books will fly us to adventures near and far

"Are We Walking To Alaska?" will take you on an adventure with me, when my family moved to S.E. Alaska when I was six.  Bears, whales, deer - as well as cats that swam in the ocean, northern lights and scary storms.

That's me on the far left - my little brother has a cast on his left arm and a black eye from falling off a dock onto a pile of rocks - read all about it in my book!

Available through Amazon  in print or Kindle.  

If you buy the print edition from Amazon you can now get the Kindle edition for just 2.99.  One for you - one for a gift!!!

Blog Shop  

Books open doors to a wonderful world!

Longing For Summer

A tire swing, a glass of lemonade and a good book - ahhh summer - it is on its way - do you have your reading list ready?

Wonderful Mother Nature

Shelf Fungus on a log - growing up in Alaska we called this Bear Bread.

Good Reads

This little bird just stopped by to say - Spring is on its way - get your Good Reads list ready for the summer  -  don't forget to add "Are We Walking To Alaska?" - great for the whole family.

Blue Monday - Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron on a rock in Drayton Harbor - near Birch Bay,WA

Blue Monday  

Another springtime picture - dreaming of reading "Are We Walking To Alaska?" sitting on this butterfly bench.  Spring Dreams.

Friday 56 - Are We Walking To Alaska?

This looks like fun - and to start off I'm going to choose something from page 56 of my own book, Are We Walking To Alaska?" - a true story of our family moving to Alaska from California in the 1950s before Alaska became a state.  

Page 56 - (and a little bit of page 57 to finish the story)

       

Jimmy and Jeff played on the beach nearby, under the dock. They were running back and forth and having a great time building roads on the beach, and I turned a bit to watch them, and my backing up with the bike was not as good as I had thought, for all of a sudden I felt one back wheel going off the dock, and then I was falling onto a pile of big boulders, head first.          

Jimmy came clambering up the rocks to where I was. My head hurt and I was crying and Jeff was standing on the beach crying really loudly. Jimmy helped me to crawl back off the rocks and he helped me up the stairs. I was a little dizzy and Jimmy made sure that I didn't fall down the stairs. He told me lie down on my bed. Then he walked up the bay to find our mom and dad, who were getting crabs for dinner, and Jeff stayed with me and kept worrying that I would bleed to death before they all got back, and kept telling me so, over and over.       

He sat on the floor by my bed and cried and cried. I wanted to help him not to cry, but if I moved my head it hurt worse and I felt sick, so I just lay there, wishing Jimmy would find our mom and dad soon and bring them back so they could help Jeff stop crying.           

I finally slept for a little while, but Jeff kept waking me up to ask if I was dead yet, and then he would start crying all over again. After what seemed like a very long time, our mom and dad came running. My head was split about three inches and matted with hair and blood. There are no doctors nearby and we were a very long ways from town.           

For emergencies our dad had a two-way radio. Our dad called for the doctor in Sitka, the nearest town. It took a while to find the doctor because he was visiting a sick person in their house and they had no telephone. When they finally found the doctor he rushed to the house with the two-way radio and talked to our dad.            

By now I was sitting up in a chair so our mom could see the wound on the back of my head, and as the doctor gave instructions on the two-way radio our mom did what he told her to do. He told her how to clean the wound, how to cut the hair off, and how to use a mixture of alcohol and vinegar to numb and sanitize, the area and how to stitch it all up with sewing thread and a needle.     

She first cut off the matted hair on the back of my head as closely as she could with scissors, and cleaned it with the solution of alcohol and vinegar that the doctor told her to use. Well it may have sanitized it, but it surely didn't deaden it. But, once again, as we weren't allowed crying and must always be brave, I managed to keep the family tradition and didn't cry until late that night in my bed, when my poor little head felt like it would explode.          

Next she used our dad's razor and shaved the spot on my head where it was bleeding. Then she took a sewing needle and thread and dipped them both in the alcohol and vinegar to clean them.  She took the needle and thread and stitched up the wound - each time she poked my head it felt like the needle was going right through my head - but still I didn't cry.

Friday 56  

See you next week with another book!

A walk in the woods - a quiet place to sit and read.

Blue Monday - Longing For Spring and Summer

On these cold, snowy winter days I sometimes need a reminder of summer.

The Alaska State Ferry, leaving the Bellingham terminal.  We  often take a picnic and watch the ferry leave on Fridays.  I rode on the ferry the first year it was in operation - 1963, our Sitka High School chorus went to a music festival in Juneau - what fun we had!

Blue Monday 

Snow

We don't get snow very often in Bellingham, WA - but we sure got some this past weekend.  It snowed continuously for over 24 hours - and part way through our electricity went out - we were 26 hours without heat (our house is all electric) - thank goodness for lots of quilts and family offers to come over to their warm houses.  We spent time reading, talking and finally going out to breakfast to a warm restaurant.  I'm thankful we don't have this happen very often - at least it was a short time and the snow is now melting - back to Washington rain!!

But a good day for reading and drinking hot tea.

A winter wonderland - and now it is melting - which is fine with us - beautiful to look at, but we prefer our rain, here in Western Washington.

Weekly Top Shot

 The horses still have their shaggy winter coats - looking shaggy and warm.

A very friendly horse

Weekly Top Shot

Saturday's Critters 

A Reader From England

I love it when a reader enjoys my book - and especially when they post about reading it.  Joy lives in England and we've become "blog buddies" - it is always fun to make a new friend, near or far.

I read Joy's wonderful blog most every day - because she posts most every day.  What dedication.  Today was a special surprise for me - she featured my book, which she got from Amazon, and she is enjoying reading it.


 Joy shows us scenes from her walks, does 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles, cooks, knits, gardens and gives us things to think about.  She talks of everyday things and makes them extraordinary - that's the kind of blog I enjoy. Do stop by  her blog.

 Here is a picture of all the cousins with our grandparents, before our family left for Alaska and experienced all the adventures in my book.  I am on the far left,  in front of our grandmother.  My two brothers are on the far right, one in front of the other.

Thank you Joy - for enjoying my book - and for featuring it on your blog. 

Read On!!!