Sunday morning, August 26, 2007

Good morning, folks,
Thanks for visiting my site this past week.
Besides being down right unbearably hot, I had a very busy week. Lots of veggies are still coming on in the garden. I managed to pick green beans yesterday, but ran out of day to do anything with them except wash them and stick them in the frig. I did pick some turnips, and of course many Roma tomatoes. I will do them up today after I get home from the last day of the CCAPL's fund-raiser at the fairgrounds. I'm going in early to hopefully catch some prospective buyers before the tractor pulls start at 9 a.m. We will probably close up the booth around 1 p.m. as the event will wind up around that time.

Our dogs love peaches, except for persnickety Mandy, one of the beagles. She prefers only dog biscuits or varmints from out in the field, like voles or moles or whatever she can find with her acute-smelling nose.

I read in the paper yesterday that Bobbie Cutts, Jr. has plead "not-guilty" as did his accomplish. Well, gee, why would he own up to killing someone? Isn't that just the thing to do when someone doesn't take responsibility for their actions? Even though he admitted killing Jessie Davis, transporting her body to the park and burying her, with his accomplice---now he didn't do it???? Hmm. Now, because of so much wide-spread media coverage, the trial, in September, may be moved to another place? To where? Australia or wherever? As if the whole United States didn't know about it with all the media coverage. What a joke. Then, I read that his parents want to see the little boy, Blake. Hmm, again. Did they have any part of his life for the last 2 and 1/2 years? Now they want to?

I guess we have to wait and see on all of this. There again, abusers and violent men feel justified in their actions towards their victim, and low and behold, again, as so many times it happens, the blame for an abuser's actions goes to someone else, instead of owning up to what was his violent and abusive behavior that caused the outcome of all of it to begin with. What a joke. I'm sure he will play the system for all it is worth. Let's hope and pray it doesn't turn out like another case we are so familiar with and justice will prevail.

On a brighter note, hubby starts back to school on Monday with umpteen kids this school year. He has three classes this coming year. Besides his regular Physics and Chemistry II, he is also teaching Chemistry I. He will be a very busy guy this next school year.

Gotta go for now. Have to pick some corn this morning for a friend of mine that is coming into the fairgrounds this morning and get some of my veggies.

Stay safe. Be blessed, and have a great week. Thanks for your comments and emails. I really appreciate them.
Maybe I'll see you at my book signing at Oberlin College this coming Saturday!
Best regards,
Becky :)

Sunday morning, August 19th, 2007

Good morning, everyone,
I hope you had a good week. The weather was glorious and so much cooler.

Still no sign of Herman/Henrietta. Hmm. He/she must have left the area to find a mate or do whatever turtles do. Maybe he/she will come back.
The garden is flourishing, as are the peach trees. I have picked three full baskets so far. Gave one basket away, and am going to attempt freezing some today.
It is raining right now, so picking the green beans is out unless they dry later on. Hubby's third planting of sweet corn is about ready. It is the candy-corn and oh, so, delicious.

Tuesday, hubby and I worked on a lot of the veggies from the garden. He cut up green peppers and bagged them for freezing. I did some zucchini, green beans, regular tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, and some cauliflower. We are such a good team!

I'm working diligently on getting a grant letter out to foundations for the CCAPL. We are moving along quite nicely and have had more people join and participate in fund-raisers. This weekend coming up, August 24th-26th, we will have a booth at the Antique Tractor Club event at the Carroll County Fairgrounds. Lots of dog/cat items to sell, plus some baked pies, cakes, and varieties of breads. Yum, Yum! Then October 13th, a Saturday, we are going to have a bizarre- bake sale-membership drive-hot dog stand at the Carrollton Friendship Center. We are sure hoping we get a lot of donations of things to raise money for the shelter fund. We are still working on the website for the CCAPL and checking various avenues for this. If we can get it free, that is even better.

I am anxiously awaiting my book signing September 1st, up at Oberlin College bookstore. Wow!
Another place I am trying to get into is a Border's. That would be totally awesome and a foot in the door for me for other places as well. I'm also looking forward to conducting the author workshop at the Carrollton Arts Center. (See coming events on this website.)

I heard from a past W.I.S.H. participant living in W.Va. now. She has met a wonderful fellow, got married, going to school, and having a much better life now than she had when she was coming to W.I.S.H. I am so proud of her and her accomplishments. She has her goals set high and wants to become an advocate.. She currently works with the mentally-challenged now, and she is a very compassionate and caring person. She deserves so much of a better life, and I am so thrilled she is seeking it! You go, girl! I'm going to try and send my books down to her local library so she and others can read them. I'm waiting to hear from the director of the library.

I have a very busy week coming up, but that is normal for me. "Busy hands are happy hands" I say!

Have a blessed week. Stay safe, and thank God everyday for waking up in the morning. Yes, the world is in a mess, and bad things happen to good people, but do not be discouraged, for He is always walking by our side, carrying us when we are at our lowest, and giving us strength for each new dawn.

My best regards to each of you.
Becky :)

Sunday, August 12, 2007 A mystery solved?

Hi, Everyone,
Hmm. Herman, or could it be Henrietta, is still missing. It will be two weeks tomorrow he/she has not been seen. This mystery may never be solved. Although, our niece, visiting from Mo. mentioned if Herman was in actuality a Henrietta, she might have left the pond searching for a mate because she is of the breeding age, around 3 years old, this could be why she is missing!

We had a wonderful visit with our niece and her dad, hubby's brother. She is a delightful young lady. Very polite, petite, intelligent, pretty, and very photogenic. I did manage to get some pictures of her with individual family members by the pond. She will be leaving today with her dad and grandfather to Wright-Patterson air force base to attend classes for her job. She is also attending college in Mo. for her Masters. Her dad will be staying with her grandfather all week and we look forward to visiting with him later in the week. He will leave on Friday to pick up his daughter and head back to Mo. Sure hope she can return again next year.

Hubby is getting his classroom ready for the start of school very soon. August 27th. My oh, my how the summer has flown by.

Today is a day of gardening. Picking green beans, tomatoes, and the work that goes with blanching and freezing them. Plus, with the rain we received this past week (over three inches), with various storms, tilling up the ground is a must. I picked a zucchini yesterday and grilled it for our cook-out. Goodness. It was almost the size of a baseball bat!

Hubby and I, along with another volunteer, worked the hot dog/pop stand at the local Dollar General Market yesterday morning. We hauled everything in with our two cars, and then left around 12:30 p.m. I went back in at 5:45 p.m. and loaded everything in my car, with help from one of the workers, and brought it all home. When I finally finished washing stuff we used and putting things away, it was 8 p.m. I was beat. But, it was all worth it as we made close to $200.00 in sales and donations. Awesome! Hubby spent a lot of time the next morning drying the pop cans from the large tubs we had to keep it cold, and then drying each can individually, then putting them all back in the tubs to use for another fundraiser in Oct. Hope that pop keeps okay until then.

Next week I will be busy with the elderly neighbors and doctor appointments. Plus, I have one myself next Friday to get my eyes checked. It has been three years and I am noticing a change.

I slept in this morning. Something I have not done for a very long time. B-bob the cat seemed to think this was not acceptable. He kept coming in the bedroom, jumping on the bed and talking to me, as if saying, "Hey, time to get up!" Stinker. Then of course after I did get up around 7:30 a.m., he went into his nap-mode! Of course that is what cats do best.

I'm still waiting to hear from the gal at Border's bookstore on having a book signing in October.

Something else. I will have my computer guy list the Domestic Violence shelters I have donated books too. Maybe you could pass this information along to someone that may need to know as soon as I get it on my website. Plus, I am going to have a "Frequently Asked Questions" on my website too, and will have this set up asap.
Stay safe, and be blessed.
Best regards,
Becky :)

Sunday morning, August 5, 2007

Top of the morning to all of you.

This past week as been a week of worry, reflecting, and celebration.

Herman is missing! Not sure where he is but hubby has come to the conclusion that Herman is in "Estivation-hibernation" because of the 90-degree heat this past week. He has not been seen since last Sunday evening when he came to eat with the fish. Hmm. I checked on different websites and they said when a turtle is in estivation-a form of hibernation due to the increased water temperature, they stop feeding and hibernate. I have added water to the pond twice a day for the last three days. When I checked the temperature on Tuesday, it was 74 degrees in the center (deepest part), and that is warm! The sun shines on the pond from about 11 a.m. to around 2 p.m. then the shade starts to cover it from the trees nearby. He has not been on his log or appeared anywhere. So, we are hoping when the heat subsides, he will reappear.

It has been so hot. We need rain badly. It was raining lightly a little while ago and the weather report calls for showers off and on today. The garden is like cement. I used the hoe yesterday to get rid of some weeds growing (they flourish in any kind of weather), and I just could not bring myself to run the tiller as the ground was so hard. If I did, I would probably be laid up for a while as it would certainly cause my back to give out trying to till the hard ground.

I have been picking peppers, green beans, (don't know how they are flourishing in the dryness, but they are), and some tomatoes are starting to ripen. Boy are they juicy and good! I did spot a tomato worm the other day. I removed him from the plant, but I'm sure he climbed back up and is somewhere. They are a pretty moth when they go through all the stages so I really don't kill them. They don't eat that much.

The zucchini is flourishing and we have been eating it every night (cooked on the grill) with corn and tomatoes. There just isn't anything like it when you can walk out your back door, go to the garden, and pick fresh veggies right off the plants! Hubby's second corn, the candy corn, is absolutely wonderful! The best there is! What rain we did get, filled out the ears and they are fabulous!

We have been sharing out bounty of the garden with friends and neighbors. There is just so much you can eat and freeze!

Now, about my last birthday, August 2nd. Well, it came and went, but I am still absorbing how old I am now. Goodness. It seems like yesterday I was in my forties, then whoosh, time flew by and now I have another decade under my belt. Where did the time go?

I woke up the morning of my birthday and said, "Lord. Thank you for letting me live all these years. Could I please have a lot more to get the things done I need to do?" We will see, won't we.
Hubby has all the electric baseboard heaters installed and they all work. He is so talented. I'm going to send a thank you note to our furnace guy, thanking him for all the last eight years of fixing our "lemon furnace" each winter numerous times. He is a good guy, but now we will no longer need his services.

I have sent out fourteen of my books to domestic violence shelters across Ohio. This week I am sending ten more out. The more people that read my books, recognize the violence and abuse for what it is, can gain the knowledge to survive it, and hopefully strive to get a better life. No one deserves violence and abuse against them. No one. If I can save more lives, it is my goal in life to do so.

I have had the pleasure and rewards of meeting a young and talented author by the name of Debbie Alferio. I met her at the WriteStuff Writers conference last Friday. We have been conversing via email since the conference. She is having some health issues right now, so pray for her. She is trying to finish another book in her series, but her health problems have slowed her down. I'm sure she will up and running (writing) very soon. I also had the pleasure of meeting a sweet lady by the name of Nancy. She works with mentally handicapped children and wants to write a children's book. She is going to see if she can attend my author's workshop, listed in "Coming Events" here in my town at the Arts Center. Hope she can make it.

Lots to do today. The new animal organization has another meeting Tuesday night, and one of the major things on the agenda is to get a website up and running for the organization. I will keep you posted on the progress.

Other authors or want-to-be-authors/writers out there- check out WriteStuff Writers website. There is so much valuable and makes-sense information on their website that is so informative and helpful. Tom Britt, one of the speakers at the conference, also works for Author House Publishing, and I am seriously considering doing my next book with them. They have so much to offer.

WriteStuff Writers was started by J. Andy Murphy, another great writer and speaker. I had the pleasure of meeting her also at the conference. I want to get her book soon, "The Catty, Catty Ways of Women in the Workplace" Sounds like a funny and enlightening book.

Stay safe, enjoy often, and pray for those dealing with violence and abuse against them.

Best regards,
Becky :)
P.S. It is really raining now! Yes!