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!!!

Let's Go Shopping - Without Ever Leaving Home

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

Fourth Wall Friday - featuring my book!

This is a post  that I'm very proud of - my book, Are We Walking to Alaska?,  has been featured on Fourth Wall Friday - at Cabin Goddess, a wonderful site that features authors and their books.  My book is a bit different than the ones regularly featured on the site.  Kriss did a fabulous job in the feature story.

That is me in the white blouse, on the left in the photo.  This picture was taken on my mom's birthday. My little brother has a cast on his arm and a black eye - the story is in the book (no, I did not beat him up)

I'd be honored if you would visit and see the post about my book.  I'm very proud of my book - the story of our family moving to Alaska in the 1950s, before Alaska was a state.  My adventures were exciting to a young girl and I'd love to share them with you.  

You can purchase my book from a link on Kriss's page - or by clicking the the tab just under my header above, or from Amazon.com, just by searching the name of the book, "Are We Walking To Alaska?",  in print or kindle.

 It is a book that the whole family can enjoy - I hope you will find it intriguing and as interesting to read as I found it to be when I was writing it.

Me and my youngest brother, Jeff, making snowmen in Alaska.  Notice that Jeff's hat is on the snowman in front of me.

Oh The Places I've Been  

Blog Shop 

Another Fan

You met Julee last post - she is the one that is buying books and giving them to her friends.  One of her friends lives not too far from us and on Tuesday I had the privilege of meeting Marilyn.  She lives on a 200 acre farm in the Skagit Valley - just south of us.  Beautiful views of Mt. Baker (it was a fuzzy day so I didn't get a clear shot of the mountain, but you can bet I will soon).

Julee and I drove out to Marilyn's farm around 1 - and when the day was done we had spent almost 4 hours together - time flies when you're having fun!

Her gardens were amazing - she sent us home with bags of fresh vegetables - and flowers.

Look at those fabulous Washington potatoes - I see a potato salad in there

Lovely trees

Gorgeous flowers

And Marilyn with my book - she says she enjoyed it so much that she is re-reading it.  Now that's a fan - thank you Marilyn!

Marilyn and Julee - we had so much fun - went to lunch - visited Marilyn's house and garden and laughed most of the day.  It was a special treat for me.

  

Bouquet of dahlias from Marilyn's garden

I'd love to see photos of other fans - send me a photo and tell me a little about yourself - or send a review of the book.  Looking forward to hearing from you - my email is at the top right of the sidebar, or click the blue word.

For your own copy of the book - click the "buy the book" tab at the top.  Thank you!

Ready to  Waltz   Smile - It's Friday  

Floral Love    Turn The Page Tuesday  

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