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#AtoZChallenge and #CTST: Yard sailing
#CTST: garage sale finds and also interacting with interesting people while shopping in neighborhoods! Here are a few tips I’ve picked up during my yard sale exploits. Do you care to share any of yours? 1. Choose to yard sale in an area that is more upscale that your own. However, there are exceptions. I found a Canon camera lens at a garage sale on the side of a highway. You never know. 2. Selection is better earlier in the morning. However, you may get a lower price if you go mid-day or later, as people want to get rid of items. 3. Go to multi-family garage sales first,…
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#AtoZChallenge: A mouse’s point of view
Actual note found in outgoing mouse mailbox. The tenants asked that we add the stamp… Dear mom, My move to Indiana has been great! I found a deluxe apartment on the north side of town. I have many roommates, so I’m never lonely. It’s furnished and we even have daily food delivery, although the variety is a bit sparse. The landlords deliver cheese and peanut butter to us in black plastic food stations. It’s so nice they are covered so our food stays fresh. They seem new but already the front doors are broken. When we eat, one of us has to hold the door open for the others, as…
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#CTST: Fresh berries!
Celebrate the Small Things: I am celebrating fresh berries! They are a favorite of mine. Add them to pie crust and they are just about nature’s most perfect food. I like Grand Traverse’s Mountain Berry Crumb pie and enjoy a slice anytime I can. Over the weekend I was craving fresh berries (in pie form) and found this wonderful recipe online from Feeling Foodish. I had to try it, to see if it even came close to GT’s pie. Do you know what? It did! The recipe calls for frozen berries but I used fresh and it was awesome. I’m afraid that frozen berries when thawed are too mushy. And, I substituted…
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#CTST: Starbucks!
In Celebrating the Small Things, I have to applaud Starbucks. One day this week I had a warm, chocolate hazelnut croissant and a Chai tea from Starbucks. It was heavenly! I don’t ordinarily promote corporate establishments but I had been having a hard week. Work was busy and I had a pinched nerve in my neck. I finally broke down and went to the chiropractor. On the way back to work, I stopped at Starbucks and noticed a new seasonal pastry, the tasty croissant, and I ordered one with my favorite, a Chai tea latte with almond milk. Not only was my neck feeling better after the doctor’s appointment, but…
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#CTST: Snow and winter!
In Celebrating the Small Things, I’m celebrating snow (and the beauty of winter) today! I’ve always loved snow. And, I’ve discovered that not everyone is enthusiastic about snow as I am. I try and temper my excitement but it can be difficult. Especially when snow is accompanied by 8-degree weather! Snow brings into focus attributes of nature that don’t always “shine” in spring and summer. For example, there is a wetlands area where I work (on 1,200 beautiful, varied acres) that can’t be seen through the thick trees. In the winter, this area takes on its own personality, with leaf-less trees framing the wooden walkway down to the ravine. I…
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IWSG and CTST: Favorite aspect of being a writer?
Celebrate the Small Things – Being a creative writer! Entry for November’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group: If you enjoy writing, which I do, there is nothing in the world like the feeling of writing fiction. There is something magical that happens when I begin to think about a story idea, then imagine characters and what their lives might be like and then proceed with the plot. It’s my favorite aspect of being a writer. I’ve written short stories and then, years later, re-read those stories and it’s like I’m reading them again for the first time. Some days I can’t believe that I’ve written them. Let me be clear – it’s…
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8th wonder of the world – elephants! (CTST)
Note: This is also my Celebrate the Small Things entry for the week, although that’s a bit of a misnomer, since elephants are large and amazing! Recently, two friends and I went to visit three beautiful, amazing African rescue elephants who were spending their summer vacation near French Lick, Indiana, at the Wilstem Ranch. We love animals so when the opportunity to “give them a mani-pedi” came to our attention, we had to go. You could choose either an educational hour with the elephants or you could choose to learn about them and give them a bath, including cleaning and moisturizing their feet. When will you ever have the opportunity…
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CTST: Tasty produce and the farmers who grow it
Celebrate the Small Things: The hard work of farmers to produce healthy, tasty fruits and vegetables. This time of year, the farmers start to see the fruits of their labor and we have especially tasty choices at local farmers’ markets and in grocery stores who feature locally grown produce. I can’t wait until those juicy red, yellow and orange tomatoes ripen and the tender, yellow sweetcorn matures! Until I took part in a Consumer Support Agriculture (CSA) several times, I didn’t know there could be such a difference in taste, between organic, locally grown vegetables and those found year-long in big-chain stores. There is a huge difference and I’m spoiled.…
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Celebrate the small things: Insecure Writer’s Support Group
CTST: This week I am celebrating having joined a group of writers called the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. It may still be the honeymoon period but I’ve really enjoyed it thus far! I’ve become familiar with a few new bloggers. What’s different and most appreciated about this group is that many are where I want to be – in the published author category. I have had business articles published but nothing in the fiction arena. On the first Wednesday of everything month, members write about their struggles and successes. Some have several titles published and some, like me, are working towards that goal. In any case, I am grateful for…
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Short-sighted in the rain
Celebrate the Small Things: That God sees what’s up ahead, even when we can’t. And, that we can rest peacefully in that knowledge! It rains often in Indiana, even if the temperature is 95 degrees, which blows my mind. I grew up in Denver and when it rained, it resulted in cool afternoons or evenings with the humidity dissipating into the atmosphere. Not so in the muggy Midwest. This morning was a downpour, as if someone was refilling a pitcher and dumping it on the roads. It reminded me of a time when I worked for a publishing company, selling advertising space to businesses. My boss and I were making…
