! A Podcast of THE MAKEOVER in Chicken Soup for the Soul Step Outside Your Comfort Zone is scheduled for Nov. 29. Wed. and will continue on your app.
Category Archives: general
PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE LINEAGE
The photo shows Grandmother Elizabeth Urbanski Daniels (my mother’s mother) holding me approximately one year before she passed away. No stories have come to me about anyone before her in her birth line being psychically developed. She certainly was. My mother didn’t tell me about this until I was nearly 30 years old. I’d had some out of body experiences of my own, but Mom didn’t know that. She never knew it because I never told her. Mom had a habit of belittling me, so I wasn’t about to confide anything at all to her.
Grandmother Elizabeth (as she was referred to, never Grandma) read tarot cards. She was good at it. My mother was developed as far as my two brothers and I was concerned. She always knew before I did, when I was pregnant. I’m talking about within days. With my brother Bob, it was instant. In her later years, she lived in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida but knew instantly when Bob’s car was in an accident in New Jersey. She called on the phone within minutes after it happened. The car was empty. Bob was in the house with me at the time.
Filed under books, family, genealogy, general, Memoir, New book release, paranormal, psychic phenomena, women, women's stories, writing
THEM THAT GO by Becky Mushko-book review
Appalachian high school senior Annie Caldwell talks to the animals and they talk back. She’s a quiet girl who keeps to herself until she decides that she wants to be as normal as other kids, the ones that don’t even know about the gift of being able to converse with animals of all sorts. But plans can go array as hers does when a high school cheerleader goes missing.
While she keeps abreast of all the changes going on around her, quilting comes into her life. As her Aint Lulie teaches her, she also learns much about traditions, family genealogy, being psychic, and secrets.
Them That Go is a wonderful story peeking into the mountain way of life of the 1970s. I LOVED THIS BOOK!
Filed under book review, family, fiction, genealogy, general, paranormal
DANVILLE, VA BOOK FAIR FESTIVAL coming up. . . .
MARK YOUR CALENDAR for Saturday, Sept. 24th! A BOOK FAIR FESTIVAL at A Brewed Awakening Coffee& Book Shop, 610 Craghead St. Danville, VA. Please come out and say “hello”. !0 am to 2 pm on the sidewalks. Come hungry for books and for some good foods! The event is hosted by Bonnie & John Hale. They host a BOOK FAIR FESTIVAL twice a year, spring & fall.
I’ll be there with books in hand, enjoying the day, talking about ghosts and whatever subjects come up. COME OUT AND SEE WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT!
Filed under Book Fair/Festival, books, booksigning, coffee, espresso, general, hauntings, living with ghosts, paranormal, Poetry, writing
CONSULTATION WITH CHRIS HEIVLY COMPLIMENTS OF LISA HAGAN BOOKS. . . . GIVEAWAY WIN!
What’s more exciting than winning a 2-hour consultation with Build the Fort author Chris Heivly? Actually having my consultation with him, at his headquarters on W. Main Street in Durham! That’s what.
Always aware of my surroundings, I was especially delighted in the set-up laid out before me. It is like a bee hive with all the different pockets of work spaces filled and everyone in them happily busy at work. This is a cheerful place, full of bright colors that instill confidence at first glance. It’s a place where dreams are confided and fulfilled. I’ve read the book (review posted already) loved it and now I am here to fill in the blank spaces. That’s with Chris’ guidance, of course.
The time has come to branch out, to make a plan to learn what avenues I need to travel in order to offer my talents and services to those who will benefit from them on a business level. I’ve been volunteering for many, many years now and it’s time to spread my wings and fly.
Chris is fabulous! He’s easy to talk to, immediately understands all my inadequate feelings of not knowing, how and where, to proceed next. We talked with comfort like I’d known him since he was born. That is very cool. He was also very helpful in getting me on my feet. I came home with a notebook loaded with ideas and scribbles that will direct me with confidence. I’m ready to set out and set the world aglow!
Thanks to LISA HAGAN BOOKS! For this great opportunity in winning this champion of wins!
A bunch of thanks to Chris Heivly, instructing me on how to Build the Fort! I’m on my way!
Filed under book review, books, general, Uncategorized, women, women's stories, writing
GREETING CARDS SAVED IN POETRY
It’s time for greeting cards to be sent out. It matters not which holiday you celebrate; Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Chanukah, Happy New Year, and maybe others that I am unfamiliar. I save most of the cards I receive (all with the hand-painted envelopes) and enjoy them again later. . . maybe even years later. Here is my take on it all.
Greeting cards from long ago
written by a familiar hand
declaring feelings of
someone now gone
Cards with a personal note
wonderful to read years later
encouraging, reassuring
remembering dear friendships
Note cards with thank you
sent for some little thing
or maybe some thing big
a long-forgotten thoughtfulness
Hand-made cards sent
designed with loving care
expressly with me in mind
treasures to keep forever
Cards spark memories
always dear, loving, caring
before good times turn to bad
or in times of sorrow, so sad
I remove cards from the box
sketch the graphics
into my daily journal
re-living a happy moment
And then there is Celeste
who paints the envelope
to match the card inside
giving the carrier some cheer
and me over and over again
It isn’t whether the cards are large
fancy, or expensive
it’s always, it’s the words
written from the heart
communicating sentiment
Filed under art, Christmas season, general, Poetry, Uncategorized
GREATER GOOD SITE GIVING ANIMALS SHELTER IN PUERTO RICO
YAY! Today on the Greater Good site they are giving animals shelter in Puerto Rico! I love being part of it.
WHERE DO YOUR POEMS HIDE?
While nosing around the ‘net, I find a subject that I can fly from and create a writing prompt for my writing friends. Where do you find your poems? Do you make a list, write from one, leave the others for another day? Can you just go on and on, allowing the list to continue expanding like I do? And isn’t poetry just fascinating now that all those rigid rules have been removed? It is for me, anyway. Please enjoy.
WHERE POEMS HIDE
A brilliantly colored leaf falls from a tree
gently floating down
letting me know, autumn is in slow motion
deer that come out of the forest to forage
as I watch quietly
holding my breath; not to scare them away
words of my father flow through my hand
as they touch paper
words that I never chanced to hear him say
re-reading cards sent to me over the years
softening my heart
touch me again as I picture who sent them
peace of home fills me with warmth
thoughts overflowing
head to heart to hand, filling me with love
a pot of tea complimenting the scent
of freshly baked cookies
filling the kitchen with memories of long ago
the table covered with books of blank pages
lay sprawled out
their voices calling me, waiting to be filled
the fireplace crackling, warming my heart
memories of moments
so precious that I re-live them over again
poems hang in the air waiting to be plucked
brought to life
written down to share with the world © 2014
Filed under anthology, books, general, writing group poetry
Writing in Cookbooks
Here’s a question for those who love to spend time in the kitchen and there are still many of us out there, fortunately. How many times have you come across hand written notes in a used cook book you bought? Or one handed down from mother to daughter to granddaughter or thankfully, today to sons, etc.? Have you written adjustments to a recipe to suit your own tastes? I know I have. The first time I try it their way. After that, I’m doing it my way, altering their recipe and sometimes my own to accommodate a healthier recipe.
Think about the way our Moms cooked 40 years ago and how we cook today. Especially if you have changed Mom’s recipes for healthier ones. That is how tastes evolve, restaurants stay at the top of the list; by tasting, adding more of this, less of that, and changing this ingredient or seasoning for that one. It’s like exploring without leaving the kitchen!
We are lucky here in America where immigrants bringing their herbs and spices with them when they came, introduced us to new tastes; even their fish and meat unknown to us as children. I was 40 before I ever tasted goat and 60 before I tasted kale. We definitely have a melting pot of ethnic foods and I have definitely altered cookbook recipes to suit my own taste. Try it……
WRITING IN BOOKS
Were you taught to not write or mark your books when you were growing up? Teachers especially stressed that the books loaned to us for class had to be reused the next year and the year after that. Strong words were spoken about the love and care of books.
That love and care of books remains with me today and the memories of those teachers. Yet after decades of keeping my books pristine has changed drastically.
In the 90s I came to appreciate and to buy mostly used books. Often I would open a book to see a personal note written on the flyleaf by someone gifting the book. This brought me into the scene of the giver and receiver. A privilege; almost like being invited to share a confidence.
Pictured here, the John Woolman, American Quaker by Janet Whitney book, a first edition published in May 1942, is inscribed, To Cousin Gertrude, a Direct Descendent of John Woolman, with love and best wishes, from H…. Hutchinson Cook. The dots replace the writing I could not read. The first initial could be an H or a TH. I wonder about the relationship between these two cousins. I imagine the delight she felt with receiving this gift. He sounds happy to have found this book for her to read.
The original price in the book is $3.75. It is listed online for $33.00 to $85.00. For serious book collectors the inscription would lower the value of the book. I think of it as adding value.
More on this subject in the near future.
Filed under American History, books, general, opinion, reflection, writing
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