Flickster Friday: Into the Darkness

Well, it's another Flickster Friday.

And I got a good one for you.

September can't get here soon enough for me.

Just saying.

New NurseryCar Winner

So in honor of my recent NASCAR NurseryCar win...

Yesterday I went to a large nursery to get some ideas for planting in my back yard.  This particular nursery is pretty cool because it covers quite a few acres and they have these little motorized golf carts you can use to drive around in order to see the different plants.


Yesterday's visit was particular exciting for me since the hubs was at work.  I got to drive the golf cart.  Woot!  Yeah, your getting the excitement in real time.  

It was heady.  Really, really exhilarating. I can't explain what happened, but once I put the pedal to the medal there was some short circuit between my brain and my common sense.  Suddenly I was channeling Danica Patrick and taking the corners as if I were on rails.  (For you non NASCAR fans that means on two wheels.  I don't even know how I know that, I just know.)

We were flying over the grovel pathways and I may have screamed something along the lines of "Danica Patrick can suck it."  Yes, it was lady like.

There were a couple of older ladies that may or may not have been shaken at the end of the race, er, I mean the end of our search.  But as I explained to them rubbing a little paint is not illegal.  It may be frowned upon, but nobody tapped her.  And let me tell you she put up a ruckus about that.

Okay, so I called "winner" when I crossed the imaginary finish line.  But that's only because I won.  I don't care what the 13 year I was neck and neck with claimed.

From me to you...

For your amusement.

Gardening...my new secret love

For the past three years I have been talking about planting an herb garden.  I don't know why I wanted to do this, I just had this compulsion.  It should be noted that I have a black thumb.  Not a brown one, nope, it's black.  Plants cower in fear.  Well most of them do.  I have this jasmine vine from hell, but that a story for another day.

So this year with the help of my friend and neighbor Monique, I made my herb garden a reality.  

In my head it was supposed to look something like this.  --->

In all actuality it came out looking a little different.  Mainly because I was not willing to commit to planting things in the ground.  If they are going to die by hand commit suicide, I don't want all the extra work of pulling them out of the ground.  So instead, I decided to put them all in containers.  They came out looking like this.

I planted rosemary, cilantro, pineapple sage (which smells divine), mint for those mojito's, green and purple basil and chives.  

So far, so good. 

Check out my slideshow. 

Kids Need To Read

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know I have a serious love affair going with reading.  Oh yeah, and Nathan Fillion.  That can't really be a surprise.  Have you seen him?  

My Grandmother passed her love of reading onto me by introducing me to the most wondrous place on earth.  The public library.  


Here was a place that I could go to every weekend to escape between the pages of books and take trips to far off places in my imagination.  Remember, this was the 80's.  We didn't have kindle's and e-readers so the library was the place to get our fix.

Some of my best Saturday's were spent curled up in a corner on the third floor of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.  I was also lucky enough that there was a branch exactly four blocks from my house.  I much preferred the central library downtown because it was how we would spend a full day including grabbing lunch at The White Rice Inn, my all time favorite restaurant in the city while I was growing up.  

Literacy was something that was very important to my Gram and that is something else she passed on to me.  So if you feel the same way, I got a way for you to help out.  It's for a good cause; Literacy.  Oh and Nathan Fillion.  

Check it out.  And if your so inclined...donate.
 

P.S. It's Flickster Friday

This week I had a day where I was feeling a little under the weather.

When this happens I normally spend my time watching cheesy chick-flicks with the kids.  My three furry friends always keep me company.  That's them keeping me company.  I sit in bed and work my way through NetFlix or my own collection.

This day in bed was no exception.  I spent it watching an oldie but a goodie.  P.S. I love you.



Watch the trailer.  If you have never seen this movie you need to.  It's worth it just for all the hot man candy in it.  And the story is pretty good too.  Okay, Gerard Butler is in it and that should be reason enough.  

 

BookHungry's March Selection...Learning to Swim

This month's bookhungry selection came to us from Karla Nellenbach.

Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry.

Amazon's Blurb:

“If I’d blinked, I would have missed it. But I didn’t, and I saw something fall from the rear deck of the opposite ferry: a small, wide-eyed human face, in one tiny frozen moment, as it plummeted toward the water.”

When she sees what looks like a child tumbling from a ferry into frigid Lake Champlain, Troy Chance dives in without thinking. When she gets the child to shore she discovers that his name is Paul, he speaks only French—and no one seems to be looking for him.
  
Her determination to protect Paul pulls Troy from her quiet life in a small Adirondack town into an unfamiliar world of wealth and privilege in Canada and then in Vermont. Her attachment to him—and the danger she faces when she tries to unravel the mystery of his abandonment—force her to evaluate everything she thought true about herself. 

I don't even know where to start on this review.  I guess the beginning is the best place. 

"If I'd blinked, I would have missed it."

It caught me from the very first line.  Sometimes you read a book and you know exactly what it is that keeps you coming back.  That was not the case for me with this story. 

Troy sees a child plunge into the icy waters of Lake Champlain and without second thought jumps into the water in order to save him.  From here, Sara Henry takes us on a journey with Troy to find the boys family and to figure out what happened and why.  Since I don't want to give up any spoilers I will just say this.  What you think will happen doesn't and what you hope will happen won't.

The bad guy in this story wasn't a total surprise to me, I knew it had to have some crazy twist to it, and I was happy with the outcome when it came to said "bad guy".  To be honest, I would have been happier if the kidnapper had suffered more for a couple of reasons and if you read the story you'll be able to figure it out.  

Normally reviews come pretty easy to me.  In this instance that doesn't seem to be the case.  And I am pretty sure it's because the parts that were so interesting I can't really discuss without giving anything away.  It's a good read and great way to while away a pleasant afternoon. 

Sliver of Hope...Come See

 
As you guys know, I dabble in the writing.  But I have friends who are way more dedicated to the craft and therefore have had some awesome successes.  Case in point, my friend Karla.  Yes that's her right there.  --->

She is about to debut her second novel Sliver of Hope.  

And because I am one of the most important people in her universe, I was told I had to post it on my blog.  Not just that, I had to do it up big and throw her a party.  Seriously.  She said that.

So here goes. 

Sound the trumpets, throw the confetti and pop the champagne corks.  

Are you ready?  Ta Da..The cover reveal for her next book Sliver of Hope.

Isn't it gorgeous?  Even if you don't think so just nod or you won't get any champagne.  We take this shit seriously.

Now, about the book...

My twin sister was the only person in the world I thought I’d known inside and out. Apparently, I was wrong.

Twin sisters share a unique bond, one that can't be broken by miles, time, or even death.  Hannah and Hope Morton are no exception. When Hope takes her own life, Hannah loses a sister and a best friend, a catastrophe she isn't sure she'll survive herself. 

With her family in ruins, Hannah is slowly disappearing, drowning in a sea of misery.  Even her wild, energetic best friend can't pull her out of her grief.  Desperate to help Hannah, her brother comes home from college, bringing his best friend Julian along, the first boy to break Hannah’s heart.  None of their efforts are enough to pull Hannah off her self destructive path, though.  Julian is the only one who can get through to her, working his way into her frozen soul with cocky remarks and genuine love that warms her from the inside out.

As Hannah works to find answers, she continues to uncover new secrets and people that reveal a side of Hope she never shared with her twin. Alone now, Hannah must make a decision of her own: move on and start a new life with the people she has left, or let the weight of her grief drag her down with her sister.

As for the blurb on Karla; here it is...

(This should be prefaced by the fact that I wanted to write my own blurb on said friend.  But I was threatened with death strongly discouraged from it.  Something about keeping it professional.  I only snorted twice when I heard that.)

 

Karla J. Nellenbach divides her time between day jobbing, writing, and indulging in her Winchester obsession.  The rest of her day is spent playing butler to a cranky old man masquerading as a house cat and two rambunctious puppies that closely resemble small horses. 

Born and raised in the wilds of Michigan, she knows two immutable facts: (1) it is entirely possible to live in a thumb, and (2) you definitely can go home again…you just might not survive the winter.  Having resided in the sun scape of Florida for the last decade, she’s still on a quest to see a real live alligator outside of the “petting” zoo.

Karla is currently at work on her next novel.

Personally I can't wait for this book to come out since I haven't  cried myself dry since her last novel and a good soaking is due.  After all it is spring.