A moving experienceq

I've moved my blog to a new space on the web - my home page. I spend more time on my web page than I do on this blog, so if you want to read my meandering musings, check out my website, find out what's new with my writing - Plus you can enter to win a cool canuck canoe complete with cleansers.

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All the Tea in China

Ni hao. I am writing this post from a hotel in Beijing with a newly acquired and deep admiration for Jack Bauer. I don't know how he does it. I was up for 23 hours, travelling, and for most of that time the biggest decision I had to make was chicken or pork when the steward on the plane asked me my meal preference. And in spite of that very low key mind power, by the time I hit 22 hours, I was fading and fading fast. However our hosts recommended that we try, as quickly as posible, to jump into local time so I dogged my way through conversation, got a few third and fourth spurts of energy and then drifted down again. I fell into bed thinking I would sleep for hours - 6 hours later - wide awake. So today will be another long day, but today we go to the Great Wall of China and a few other sights. I'm counting on the stimulation of being in this new and exciting place to keep me going, but most of all I'm figuring the shopping. Jack has his 'save civilization scenarios to keep him on his game, I'm going to count on bargaining to keep me up and going. For further bulletins, check out my own blog A Few Words in the Wind

All The Tea in China

Jane Orcutt, a fellow author, passed away this winter. Jane's dry wit and keen grasp of ideas made for interesting discussions on the writer's loop we were both a part of. This same writer's loop would meet at a retreat before the Christian Book Sellers Convention, now known as ICRS, International Christian Retail Show. There were a number of years that Jane, myself and a number of others were unable to attend the retreat, so Jane had the idea of creating our own cyber-retreat. Things ended up getting a little crazy at the cyber-retreat, often pirate themed. Jane spear-headed the craziness and many of us went along for the ride. Now, Jane Orcutt has a book out called All the Tea in China. Marlo Shalesky, author, has this to say about the book, "With its rich detail and saucy characters, All the Tea in China is fun romp around Cape Horn and into China. I loved the spunk of Isabella, the mystery of Phineas, and the allure of a country so distant from our own. Hats off to Jane Orcutt for such an enjoyable read!"

I have the book on order myself and will blog further about it when I've read it. But knowing Jane and knowing how she never failed to make me laugh and/or think, I'm looking forward to the book. You can purchase it by following this link:

http://www.amazon.com/All-Tea-China-Rollicking-Regency/dp/0800731794/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8254854-4592837?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180708494&sr=8-1

I'n sooo sick

Flu season is upon us and against our will, my husband and I are participating. He started it. He usually does. And he shared it with me. Coughiung, sputtering, sneezing, nose blowing - the usual detritus of illness beside my bed. Cough drops, water bottle, kleenex old and new. Yeah. Until one morning I woke up, after five days of hacking and sniffing and thought, "This is much, much worse." I couldn't think, couldn't put on my glasses, my head ached and when I blew my nose . . . .we shall draw a curtain of charity on this scene. Suffice it to say, I was in bad shape. I got dressed in a haze, drove to the hospital in a haze, hoping that I wouldn't have to explain and justify why I needed medicine. My previous doctor didn't always listen to my self-diagnosing and would often balk at prescribing me something unless I could explain the symptoms in gory detail. No deviation. So I was suspecting I might have the same difficulty this time around, with my new doctor. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I sat on the bed in the outpatients department as my doctor listened to my chest, explaining that I had to lift my shirt so he could. He asked me a couple of questions, he scribbled something on the magic pad and I had my entree into the wonderful world of antibiotics. When I was relating my "I was a patient" story to my husband and how easy it all went, he looked at me and frowned.
"Did you wear that shirt to the hospital?" he asked.
I knew it was clean. I grew up with a mother who always told us to put on clean underwear anytime we left the house. Just in case.
"Yes. It's not dirty is it?"
He laughed. "No it's perfectly clean, but no wonder you got the prescription so fast. That doctor took one look at you and said, this is one siiiick woman. Your put your shirt on inside out."

nature naturally

My friend was teasing me about being a lazy blogger. So here's me. Blogging again. My husband and I went on a little trip a few days ago and went through the Rocky Mountains on our way to British Columbia. I took this picture of one of my favorite mountains. It's informally called, the politically incorrect, Indian Head. Can you see it? Let me know if you can.

Valley of Betrayal

Valley of Betrayal
Today is my day to host Tricia Goyer's blog tour on her newest book, Valley of Betrayal.

The Story Behind the Novel: by Tricia Goyer herself

A few years ago when I was researching for my fourth World War II novel, Arms of Deliverance, I came across a unique autobiography. One B-17 crewmember I read about claimed to make it out of German-occupied Belgium after a plane crash due, in part, to his skills he picked up as a veteran of The Spanish Civil War. Reading that bit of information, I had to scratch my head. First of all, I had never heard of the war. And second, what was an American doing fighting in Spain in the late 1930s? Before I knew it, I uncovered a fascinating time in history—one that I soon discovered many people know little about. This is what I learned:
Nazi tanks rolled across the hillsides and German bombers roared overhead, dropping bombs on helpless citizens. Italian troops fought alongside the Germans, and their opponents attempted to stand strong—Americans, British, Irishmen, and others—in unison with other volunteers from many countries. And their battleground? The beautiful Spanish countryside.
From July 17, 1936-April 1, 1939, well before America was involved in World War II, another battle was fought on the hillsides of Spain. On one side were the Spanish Republicans, joined by the Soviet Union and The International Brigade—men and women from all over the world who have volunteered to fight Fascism. Opposing them, Franco and his Fascist military leaders, supported with troops, machinery, and weapons from Hitler and Mussolini. The Spanish Civil War, considered the “training ground” for the war to come, boasted of thousands of American volunteers who joined to fight on the Republican side, half of which never returned home.
Unlike World War II, there is no clear line between white and black, good and evil. Both sides committed atrocities. Both sides had deep convictions they felt worth fighting and dying for.
Loyalists—also know as the Republicans were aided by the Soviet Union, the Communist movement, and the International Brigades. If not for the weapons and volunteers from these sources their fight would have ended in weeks rather than years. While many men fought side by side, their political views included that of liberal democracy, communism and socialism. The Catholic Basque Country also sided with the Republic, mainly because it sought independence from the central government and was promised this by Republican leaders in Madrid.
Nationalists—or Francoists were aided mainly by Germany and Italy. The Nationalist opposed an independent Basque state. Their main supporters were those who believed in a monarchist state and fascist interests. The Nationalist wished for Spain to continue on as it had for years, with rich landowners, the military, and the church running the country. Most of the Roman Catholic clergy supported the Nationalists, except those in the Basque region.
During the Spanish Civil war, terror tactics against civilians were common. And while history books discuss the estimated one million people who lost their lives during the conflict, we must not forget that each of those who fought, who died, had their own tales. From visitors to Spain who found themselves caught in the conflict, to the communist supporters, Basque priests, and Nazi airmen . . . each saw this war in a different light. These are the stories behind A Valley of Betrayal.
Tricia Goyer, October 2006

Back in the Saddle

Disciplined living is something I struggle with. Take this blog for instance. I had so many good intentions to post every day - and then life gets in the way and I fail. I realize I haven't posted her for over a month! I can rattle off a list of excuses and it doesn't matter. You don't need to know. But I feel at times as if I'm being pulled in ten directions and I need to priortize. So, from time to time, this blog will be one of the first things to fall away. But today, though I'm not inspired - (this posting is the equivalent of a kid writing an essay about how hard it is to write an essay) - I thought I would at least make an attempt to get started again. So here I am, back in the saddle, tossing out words in the wind.

OH Deer

Every now and then, after spending too much time in front of my computer I look up, blink a couple of times and realize there's a world out there. The other day I went with my husband out to the bush (he's a logging contractor) just to see what is happening in his life. He's been telling me about all these deer in the logging blocks and i wanted to see them for myself. Thought I would share some pictures with any of you who stop by here as well.