Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Halloween Zombie Poster From My Grandpa's Show

 
My grandpa, Elmer Pelkin, was a professional magician in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, and here is a poster from one of his shows. I think it is a fun poster for this Halloween holiday.
Invisible zombies!
Right in tune with all the fervor over zombies on tv now, including The Walking Dead. I am a fan of this tv show though I close my eyes upon occasion when the zombie gore is too much for me.
My grandfather was Elmer Pelkin and he toured the USA east of the Mississippi, with his wife (my grandma Leah) and four of their five children as the troupe of performers.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

My mom and I celebrate long ago

Yes, lo these many years ago, when I was 18 and a senior in high school, I was awarded a full tuition scholarship to the college of my choice and my mom and I were ecstatic. Hugging and jumping for joy. I was blessed with a great mom and a great dad too, and I dearly miss them.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

My prayer garden and a poem


Above is a photo of a Mary garden near our home, and to the right is a photo of my own Mary statue and her pink rose in our garden. I call the rose our Mary Rose.
"My Garden of Prayer"
My garden beautifies my yard
and adds fragrance to the air,
But it is also my cathedral
and my quiet place of prayer.
So little do we realize
that the glory and the power
of Him who made the universe
lies hidden in a flower!
                poem written by Helen Steiner Rice
I bought her book "The Poems and Prayers of Helen Steiner Rice", compiled by Virginia J. Ruehlmann. I like books of poetry, prayer and quotes which group the contents by subject, like this book does. This book has 400 of her poems in it.
Do you have a favorite book of poetry?

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Hydrangea, Peas and Garlic


Hydrangea
Originally uploaded by tony4carr

Many gardeners are preparing their gardens for future freezes and letting their gardens sleep in the cold months to come. Not my friends in the Southern Hemisphere of course.

And not me since I live in climate zone 8, where it rarely freezes.

So a few days ago I separated a huge garlic clove in to individual cloves, and planted the cloves pointed side up, in a 3 feet long by 6 inch wide container. The container provides good drainage and prevents our gourmet gophers from eating the tasty garlic.

We especially like the taste of the green leaves which look like chives, and have a light garlic taste. They are delicious in a salad or on a baked potato.

The other planting thing I did was plant Shelling Pea seeds for a hoped for late season crop of peas.

We gardeners live in hope, don't we?

We have room for a small hydrangea and I found a Bombshell Hydrangea in a local nursery. It is smaller than the typical hydrangeas which grow four to five feet tall, and the Bombshell is said to grow two feet tall, or no more than 3 feet tall. I planted it in a chicken wire gopher cage to keep the previously mentioned gophers from chewing up all the roots.

The bush I bought is dormant and because of that doesn't look appealing, and the gal who rang up the sale said "only a real gardener would buy a dormant plant like this one."

I smiled and told her "we gardeners are hopeful people, and I am a Christian, and we are also people of hope."

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Writers' luncheon fun

Our Christian Writers' Luncheon Group met at Carol's new home and enjoyed our brown bag lunches on her deck. These ladies are talented and generous and we always have fun at our luncheons.


Seven of us attended on this beautiful day in this country setting. We have about 12 members but of course rarely can all 12 get together because of travel and family events. Most of these gals have literary agents, many have numerous books published, some are taking their first steps in the writing world, and we write with a love of Jesus in our hearts. And as you can probably tell from the third photo, one of us is expecting her first baby, how exciting is that!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Last Light by Terri Blackstock, suspenseful



Last Light by Terri Blackstock.
What would you do if all electric power went out for a long time? Have you gone without power for a day or a week? If so, you know that is very rough. The Branning family lives in a nice neighborhood in Alabama when the power goes out dramatically. Planes fall from the sky and crash as Doug and his daughter Deni watch in horror.
The scenario gets worse and worse as the power outage goes beyond electricity to all semiconductor chips, which means cars and generators won’t start. Violence breaks out as some people kill for food, and other people like the Branning family follow their Christian beliefs and share and organize neighbors.
There is a murderer active in the neighborhood.
What is causing this end of technology and when will it be fixed? Some fear it is war, others think it is caused by terrorism, solar bursts, an EMP blast caused by an atomic bomb, or an unknown phenomenon from space.
"Last Light" was first published in 2003 before those tv shows like "Under the Dome" and the time is right to read it now, in this newly republished edition.
I think a catastrophe like this could actually happen.
This book had me reading fast as I enjoyed the author’s vision of a world filled with danger, hardship, sharing and love. I am happy to learn there are three more books in this series, and look forward to reading them. I already ordered volume two "Night Light."
http://www.amazon.com/Light-Restoration-Novel-Terri-Blackstock/dp/031033778X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380570052&sr=1-1&keywords=terri+blackstock+restoration+series