Christmas is here, and camel race I saw near Jericho

 I am happy each time I read John 3:16, where we learn that God loves us so much that he gave his only son so that those of us who believe in him will have eternal life. The gates of heaven are open to all of his followers.

Above is one of the nativity sets from my house. I made the stable decades ago.

More good words from the Bible: "For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a son is given; And the government shall be upon his shoulders And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. "
Isaiah 9:6-7

I love the depictions of the wise men and camels on their long journey following the star to what it was shining on, a humble stable and newborn King. While I traveled in Jordan and Lebanon, I saw Bedouins in the desert of Jordan compete in camel races, in years gone by, and these scenes remain meaningful to me. Below is a photo I took of a Bedouin and camels at the race.

In fact, I so loved my time living in the Middle East and studying there that I wrote my senior thesis on the architecture of mosques, "The History of the Development of Mosques."

Here is another Scripture apt for today: 

"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.'

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about'." Luke 2:13-15.
 

I hope each and every one of you, my blog friends of many beliefs, let joy find you this holiday season.

My new and old Christmas wreaths and a poem written in the 1600s

 

Here are two photos of my new Christmas wreath and a lovely poem included in the book I wrote, Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts: Stories to Warm Your Heart and Tips to Simplify Your Holiday.

Come thou bright and morning star, Light of light without beginning!

Shine upon us from afar that we may be kept from sinning.

Drive away by thy clear light our dark night.

Let thy grace, like morning dew Falling soft on barren places,

Comfort, quicken and renew our dry souls and dying graces;

Bless thy flock from thy rich store

Evermore.

Poem written by Christian K. Rosenroth (1636-1689) and translated by Richard Massie (1800-1887)

Below is my old jingle bell wreath with a new purpose in life, recycling at its finest. My younger son, Lane, put it on the front of his vehicle today and added red tinsel rope I wasn't using. He says it will jingle as he drives, which is a festive sound. Lane said we need Christmas more than ever this year, and I agree. Sunday's message in church was about joy and love as we follow the Bible's message. Merry Christmas friends.

The Christmas book I wrote" A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts"

 Two friends reminded me to post about the Christmas book I co-authored, so here I am doing just that.

I enjoyed writing this book and its pages are filled with goodies. My baklava family recipe is shared in it. Once I made this baklava for a potluck and a man from across the room called out "I want to marry the woman who made this baklava." Sorry to disappoint him but I was already married.

 

Anyhow, this book is a resource that is fun and helpful to pull out each year in the Christmas season.  In it we co-authors share what our favorite seasonal movies and books and charities are, easy and inexpensive gifts to make, you name it. Also we wrote about Christmas firsts for us, including Karen's first Christmas with her two adopted children and a purple stocking, Leslie and Cathy's Nativity Treasure Hunt ideas, my camping trip in the Everglades at Christmas and more. Plus the story from the Bible about the birth of Jesus. The full title is "A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts: Stories to Warm Your Heart and Tips to Simplify Your Holiday".

Here is a photo I took of a page in the book.

Let's see if I can get the URL for Amazon to display correctly! A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts 

Yesterday Amazon had one copy and today it says out of stock, more to arrive soon. Maybe one of you dear friends bought that copy this morning! They do sell used copies on Amazon. Some of you commented how nice to share the expense of publishing but I am delighted to tell you all that there was no spending of money by the authors; the publisher paid completely for the publication, including paying the authors (that's me) and the artists. This is a traditional publisher, Leafwood Publishers, an imprint of Abilene Christian University Press. I stand amazed at the artwork in the book that the publisher had created.

Here is a photo of our Christmas tree this year, bought from an area tree farm that survived the recent fires. The tree has a lot of decorations on it, as of Dec. 12, and we have many more to add. My sons and Bounce went to the farm to find a tree to cut down. They walked up and down hills and ravines and found a gorgeous tree. We all agree it is our prettiest tree ever. Although that is what we think every year.

How is your Christmas season? Do you celebrate Christmas? Do you have a tree? I hope all of you have a fine December and holiday. This has been a rough year world wide and it is good to see lots of light shining in the darkness.

 

Thanksgiving List, good things at my home

 

The first photo is of my son Lane and Bounce chilling out together in front of my fireplace.

Above is my friend Terry on my patio, we are enjoying an in person visit. So wonderful.

The sun catching my red smoke bush a few days ago. It is in front of my Pride of Madeira, both were planted as small plants in June 2018 in my front yard. The Madeira bush is already five feet high and wide.

This pillow case was purchased by me this month, the mice and books are so cute, I think. I already had the pillow that the decorative case fits on, and this is on one of my living room sofas, where I sit and read.

Bounce gives the mice and books pillow his seal of approval.

These are my favorite teas, which arrived in November, all are refills except the Ahmad Tea, which is new to me. Vadham, Plum Deluxe and Taylors of Harrogate all produce fabulous teas.

We sing in church, and I sing at home and while walking: Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my blog friends, world wide. Here in the USA we celebrate this on November 26 this year. Are you creating lists of things you give thanks for?

Miss Plum and Miss Penny, set in a 1950s English village

 

This book is a delightful novel, so interesting that you may read it quickly, as I did. Such turmoil in a small quiet English village in the 1950s. Some bachelors and the unmarried Miss Penny lead a life of quiet pleasures, of ice skating and sharing tea, when Miss Plum bursts on the scene. She is a complete mystery and Miss Penny saves her from drowning in a pond and takes her home to recover. Miss Plum was trying to drown herself, she had lost the will to live. Miss Plum is rather young, apparently has no talents, no money, no family, and Miss Penny finds her a tedious house guest and can’t get her to leave. There is a possible air of menace around Miss Plum. Is she as clueless as she seems?

In addition there are potential love interests for Miss Penny, including a young man she loved 20 years ago, although the local bachelors find Miss Plum intriguing at first. Miss Penny is taking the occasion of turning 40 to consider her life, past and what she would like in the future. A fun tale. 

This book is brought back to print and Kindle by Furrowed Middlebrow Publishers, and they have a good list of novels from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. I am deciding which of their books to buy next, lots of them look great. I already purchased two: Vittoria Cottage by D.E. Stevenson and Family Ties by Celia Buckmaster.

My Handsome Loving Hubby, Gone Four Years Today

Yes, my dear husband, William Hangen, died four years ago today. How sad. We shared 47 happy years together, and he died a few days before our 45th wedding anniversary.

Here are some photos.

Lane, Will and Colt on Will's birthday in August 2016, he was age 69.

Above photo: Will and I on vacation in Palm Springs in 2004. Of course he took his mountain bike with him so he could explore trails. His articles and photos of adventurous rides appeared in many biking and travel magazines. Below photo: Will and I enjoying Thanksgiving in 2015. You can see 4 place settings for us and Colt and Lane. Little did we know that would be our last Thanksgiving with Will. So sad.

Will and two guys he rode on mountain trails with.

Colt, me, Lane and Bounce at our first Christmas without our darling Will. We were still in a state of shock. We adopted Bounce at Thanksgiving in 2016.

I found a spot in a city park near our house that allows memorial benches, so I bought one for Will. The park is about a block from our house, and the bench is near children's swings and a skateboard area. I had them carve a mountain bike on one of the boards. The bench says "Bike Adventures" because Will loved riding his mountain bikes every day on nearby trails, and in wild areas on many vacations and magazine writing trips. In the photo below is a rose made of straw, left there by someone, we don't know who, but someone who misses Will too.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Books, Carole and I at the Yacht Harbor and a Bit of Confusion in Blogland

 I don't aim to confuse you, but somehow on Oct. 26 this got posted with the posting date of Oct. 1. So I think most of my blog readers did not see this post before. But if you are one of the few who did somehow see it earlier, you are not losing your mind, maybe Blogger is though.

Our local bookstore needed help; they sent customers an email saying if they are to stay in business we need to do our Christmas shopping now! I debated going in the store but decided to use their online site, found three great sounding books, ordered them online, and they will contact me when I can drive there and pick them up curbside. So no going in the store. Much as I miss browsing in the store, I am a senior and am glad I can help the store in this safe way.

I haven't received these books so am not actually recommending them, though they sound wonderful.

 

"I've Been Thinking: Reflections, Prayers and Meditations for a Meaningful Life" by Maria Shriver. This book has wonderful reviews including "wildly gorgeous, inclusive and accessible."

Below is the second book I have on order. "Church of the Small Things: The Million Little Pieces That Make Up a Life" by Melanie Shankle. I am attracted by this cover and have been wanting to buy this, so, voila. 

 

 

"House of Trelawney: A Novel" by Hannah Rothschild. This novel was published this year and sounds charming. An eccentric English aristocratic family tries to save their family home which is crumbling around them. The author writes sly humor and has been compared to Austen and Dickens. I haven't read it, so that is what reviewers are saying. 

Just for fun here is a photo of my friend, Carole, and me on our walk around the local yacht harbor. We wore masks but took them off for the photo. We also ate lunch harbor side at an outdoor dining venue, her treat. I had fabulous crab cake, real crab, and coffee. I am on the left, the photo is rather dark. We stopped on the deck of the yacht club and the manager, her friend, took our photo.

 

This is an odd post; I accidentally published it on Oct. 26, but with the posting date of Oct. 1, so likely no one will see it unless I publish it again and pretend it is a new post, with the date of November 1. It is some sort of weird time travel to be able to post in the past! Posting on Oct. 1 when it is 25 days later. Plus now the photos and words are being difficult to load.

I'd Rather Be Reading, this author gets me and Rules for Visiting novel

 Hi Anne Bogel, can we hang out? You get me, and I get you, as your book shows.

I don't know anyone who loves to read as much as I do. Reading is a bit like oxygen to me. I have friends who read, and we trade books. Yet, when Anne Bogel wrote of a Reading Twin, I was a bit jealous. She met her reading twin after many years. They share titles that mean a lot to them, fiction and nonfiction, of many genres. I keep acquiring books and work hard to give them away, and aim to have my book collection grow smaller, not larger. My favorite book that I read this year is The Splendid and the Vile. I don't know how Anne (yes, we are on a first name basis, on my side) would like this book, but perhaps it is a wowser of a read for her too.

Does Anne love Anthony Trollope, C.S. Lewis and P.G. Wodehouse as I do? Perhaps so. How could she not? Ha ha.

Here is quote from her book. "People read for a multiplicity of reasons. Nearly forty years in, I can tell you why I inhale books like oxygen: I'm grateful for my one life, but I'd prefer to live a thousand - and my favorite books allow me to experience more on the page than I ever could in my actual life. A good book allows me to step into another world, to experience people and places and situations foreign to my own day-to-day existence." 

I laughed at some of the stories she shares. Any other bookaholics out there? I have a list of novels I want to read, and now that our library is open (you can request books and pick them up outside the library) I am reading them. 

 

I just read "Rules for Visiting" by Jessica Kane and found it a delight. A lonely 40 year old single woman who is a landscape gardener at a university is given a month off of work and she has a brilliant idea to visit her four friends from long ago and re-connect. This involves quite a lot of traveling as they live around the USA and in England. Along the way, at the request of her father, she searches for the ideal tree to plant. I enjoyed this book and give it 4 stars. I just put "House of Trelawney" by Hannah Rothschild on request at the library, a story of an eccentric English aristocratic family, their crumbling home, and the ties of family and love. Hey, does that sound good? Others I want to read are "Ordinary Grace" and "The Church of Small Things." How about you and your reading?

Dog in my cat clubhouse, Teapot with Blue Lights, Peacock , Social Isolation

 

Above is Bounce tasting the catnip in the clearly signed Cat Clubhouse. He is a rebel and rule breaker, like me. Below is Princess Fluffy enjoying her clubhouse.

Just for fun, here is my new electric teapot. It is glass which I like, glass is so inert, which is healthy to boil water in. The entertaining part of the teapot is its blue lights and how they dance when the water boils.

This photo below shows the teapot when I have just turned it on.

Just some light hearted things from around my home, with the aim of bringing smiles during this difficult time of pandemic.

Here is my blue metal peacock, which my younger son assembled and installed in my garden. Some readers asked to see the peacock when in my garden.

 

Occasionally I invite a friend to come over and sit on my patio, six feet apart, while we enjoy a coffee. Now that colder weather is on its way, I will miss those outdoor chats. Perhaps we will meet indoors, I have a sitting area in my living room where chairs are 10 feet apart. That is a big decision. How are you handling social isolation? I read today that Florida schools opened a month ago and there is NO SPIKE in virus cases. In particular, no increase in Florida in school age children getting ill, that is good news. New York City has opened its schools to its 500,000 students. This social isolation is hard on children. A family friend is eager to have his children, here in California, return to school; he says they are being damaged by this isolation. These are hard choices for all of us, and especially for parents.

Oh and I am praying for quick and full healing for our President and our First Lady. These are difficult times indeed. Best of health to them both.

3 books I ordered, Carol and I at the Yacht Harbor

 Our local bookstore needed help; they sent customers an email saying if they are to stay in business we need to do our Christmas shopping now! I debated going in the store but decided to use their online site, found three great sounding books, ordered them online, and they will contact me when I can drive there and pick them up curbside. So no going in the store. Much as I miss browsing in the store, I am a senior and am glad I can help the store in this safe way.

I haven't received these books so am not actually recommending them, though they sound wonderful.

"I've Been Thinking: Reflections, Prayers and Meditations for a Meaningful Life" by Maria Shriver. This book has wonderful reviews including "wildly gorgeous, inclusive and accessible."

"Church of the Small Things: The Million Little Pieces That Make Up a Life" by Melanie Shankle. I am attracted by this cover and have been wanting to buy this, so, voila. 

"House of Trelawney: A Novel" by Hannah Rothschild. This novel was published this year and sounds charming. An eccentric English aristocratic family tries to save their family home which is crumbling around them. The author writes sly humor and has been compared to Austen and Dickens. I haven't read it, so that is what reviewers are saying. 

Just for fun here is a photo of my friend, Carol, and me on our walk around the local yacht harbor. We wore masks but took them off for the photo. We also ate lunch harbor side at an outdoor dining venue, her treat. I had fabulous crab cake, real crab, and coffee. I am on the left, the photo is rather dark. We stopped on the deck of the yacht club and the manager, her friend, took our photo.

Books: India in 1922 mystery and my garden peacock

 

The Sutapur Moonstone is written by Sujata Massey. I find India in 1922 to be fascinating, and add to that time and place Perveen Mistry, one of India’s first female lawyers, a ten year old Maharaja someone is trying to murder, the two fiercely competing Maharinis (his grandmother and mother) who live in purdah isolated from men, in two palaces, and you have all the ingredients for a book of adventures. Who can Perveen trust? Is there a love interest for her? Palanquins, the tiny enclosed seats carried by four men, feature prominently in the story, as do tigers lurking in the jungle near the palaces, and Perveen as a woman who works for rights for other women. 

 

I recommend you read the first book in the series, The Widows of Malabar Hill, as it shows us Perveen’s first assignment, visiting widows in danger who are living in purdah. I think The Sutapur Moonstone would make a good movie, with its beautiful settings in the old palaces, the hunting lodge in the forest, the beautiful clothing and jewels, a poisoner in the palaces, and the 10 year old maharajah in danger.

The author, Sujata Massey, has an interesting background. I belong to a group that reads British books and she is hard to classify as to her nationality as an author. Born in England to parents from India and Germany she grew up in Minnesota and lives in Maryland. So is she a British author? I would think British since she was born in England, unless she has changed her citizenship. Just an interesting question, not too important in the grand scheme of things. But in the group where we read books by British authors, sometimes it is hard to classify an author. I cataloged books at a university for many years and this point is of interest in determining how to catalog an author. I think of Bill Bryson as an American author, although he lives in the U.K. and recently got British citizenship. Artists too can be hard to classify as they move from country to country. Think of El Greco or Picasso. One question in my librarian job I occasionally faced was when an author changed his or her citizenship.

On a fun note, related to this theme of India, look what I ordered today for my garden, a metal gorgeous peacock. I will put it in my garden next to my patio, where I can see it easily. It has solar light in it so will look pretty at night. What do you think?

Up from the ashes, Hope will arise

 

Above are the Asiatic lilies on my kitchen table. Do flowers give you as much joy as they give me? 

Amidst all the poor and sometimes hazardous air quality in California, Oregon and Washington, and the dark or weirdly yellow skies, I found hope attending church this Sunday. Here are some of the lyrics to a song we sang:

"Up from the ashes, Hope will arise

Death is defeated, the King is alive.

Hallelujah. 

I will watch the darkness flee."

Whenever I hit the "enter" key to create another line in blogger, it insists on a double space line. I only want a single space. Do you know how to fix that? 

Marcia asked if we all wear masks when attending church and YES we all do. We have indoor, outdoor, and online streaming of our services. I attend outdoors, we are in chairs six feet apart and are all wearing masks. Indoors they do something to clean the air before each service, we have two services each Sunday. I also went to an outdoor memorial service during the week at our church, with the same precautions. I love being outdoors. I still am cautious about being indoors for shopping or for any reason. I shopped for food Saturday at 7:45 a.m., almost no other shoppers, I wore mask and gloves! What about you all?

Dragon and Hearts in a Tree

My neighbor's dragon. It is gorgeous and the head is about 5 feet across. I think it is chomping on some plants. Below is another discovery on my walk with Bounce; two hearts in a tree. The tree was recently pruned and the pruning yielded these amazing hearts with a reddish color.

I think I should title this post Dragon Hearts. That sounds like a fantasy novel I might read. 

The fires in my county and the neighboring county are 54 percent contained, which is good news. However, much of California is having a heat wave starting Sunday Sept. 6, and our state is very dry. Good news is that two of my best friends are allowed back home after their evacuation and their homes are safe and sound. Our God is Mighty to Save.

I have been happily attending church outside on recent Sundays, we are all required to wear masks. One recent Sunday we did not have church at church because we were caring for 50 evacuees, from the area fires. They slept at our church, we fed them, etc. so church was online only one Sunday. Now many/most evacuees are home, thank goodness.

Princess Fluffy and Wild Fires Near My House

 

My relaxed kitty, the first photo is after I took the second photo where she is closer to being asleep. In the first photo she is half awake and looking at me.

Wild Fires Near My House. Smoke and white ashes in the air. 

Added note on Sept. 4. As of September 4, there are 925 homes destroyed in the county I live in, most of them were country homes nestled in lovely spots among trees. 

I posted the two photos of Fluffy automatically yesterday, that post was set ahead of time. I did not get Internet restored to my house until late yesterday. 120 people already read this post before I was able to add this note about the wild fires. In my area of California almost 400 homes are destroyed, and several of my best friends are evacuated from their homes, and I am safe at home and not evacuated. My sons are in their homes too. The air quality sometimes is rated as hazardous so I stay inside with windows closed. Lots of white ash from the fires has fallen all over outside. I have two apps on my cell phone AirNow and AirVisual which tell the air quality for where I live. No walks these past few days for me and Bounce. 

When I drove my car I had to wash off all the ash first so I could see through the windshield. From zero percent containment of the fires they are now 29 percent contained (50 percent contained as of Sept. 4), a great direction to be going in. The fires were caused by lightning strikes all over California, in a storm with no rain, just lightning and dry tinder. It is very nerve wracking to be stuck at home, and on alert for potential evacuation. I have a suitcase packed with essentials. I am optimistic that the fires are being contained and am praying for rain, for our city to stay safe and for my friends' homes to be safe so they can return to them. Anyway, just wanted to say hi to you all, friends both near and far, and let you know what is going on here.

Painting rocks and a frog

I've been feeling a bit blah with my routines, so chose an artistic outlet. I am painting rocks and it is so fun. I don't think about anything else when I am painting, which is a good thing.

The rocks are not completed so I will post photos when I have completed painting some. The main one you can see in this photo has a butterfly I painted on it. I am holding some Acrylic Paint pens which worked very nicely. I don't know much about paints so scouted around on blogs, etc. for info. I also ordered some matte finish acrylic paints and paint brushes; the paints are designed for outdoor projects. I used the paints on this project below. The frog welcome sign was completely faded after 20 years of being in my garden.

He used to be a bright happy green. So I painted him with my new paint set. See how he turned out below. My next step is to paint on Duraclear Gloss Varnish, which is meant for outdoor use and is soap and water cleanup. This varnish is applied by brush which probably wastes less and is kinder to our planet and the air than a spray. The paint set I bought is FolkArt Gloss Acrylic Paint Outdoor and the acrylic paint pens are Flyset Graffiti. All the paints are soap and water cleanup.

Have you taken on a new hobby? In these times of many of us staying home for long hours, a new activity is very absorbing and diverts my attention from worry to enjoyment.