How To Enlarge Your House by Joan Reeves

Do you love those TV shows where someone fixes up a room or an entire house? They take it from drab or maybe just not exciting to gorgeous. I think I've seen every episode Chip and Joanna have ever made along with a bunch of other design shows.

I don't limit my fixer upper passion to houses. I watch the landscaping shows too. All of it inspires me—to my Darling Hubby's dismay.

As it turns out, my whole year has turned into a Fixer Upper Adventure. I didn't plan it that way. It just kind of evolved because of having the interior of our house in town painted.

We had to pack up virtually everything so furniture could be moved to the center of the room and covered with drop cloths. Rugs came up, books and decorative accessories were packed, paintings and photographs removed from the walls, etc.

That's when we realized how much stuff we have. We rented a small storage space and moved it all into what amounted to a giant closet.

 I made a statement I now regret: "Since we've packed just about everything but clothes and furniture, now would be a good time to see if we can find a house we like better."

I MUST BE CRAZY TO DO THIS BUT...

You see, we downsized and we went too small. So we gave serious thought to finding another house. We contacted a friend who is a realtor, and she happily began sending us daily emails with all the houses available in our area.

It's much easier to shop online than actually going to all of the houses. I also discovered that 99% of what you see online that makes a home look appealing is due to professional photography that can probably make a pigsty look good.

By the time we'd attended a dozen open houses—ugh—and a half dozen of personal showings, I made another statement I regret: "Maybe we should just add on to our present home."

YEP I'M DEFINITELY CRAZY

This began a round of talking to contractors in order to get a sense of what was involved, who was honest, etc. before we talked to an architect. All this did was confuse the issue. I feel as if I've been in a whirlwind, tossed willy nilly from—let's find a different house—to let's stay where we are.

AGH!!!! So what have we done? Nothing. Yet. Still thinking. One day we think we'll put the house up for sale. The next day we think we'll call the contractor we chose. All I've done is take my frustration out on the clutter hidden away in the closets and the stuff packed away in the attic, garage, and the storage facility.

Suddenly, after 4 truckloads to Goodwill and 3 truckloads to a consignment shop, my house doesn't seem so small. Amazing how much space clutter takes.

I cleaned the house from top to bottom, rearranged the furniture in every room, hung different art in different arrangements. My house looks like a different house! How amazing is that?

BOTTOM LINE

After all has been said and done, more was said than done. Confession—I did buy a beautiful large armoir for my office. It holds everything from old paperbacks I've kept to all of my office supplies. My office looks neat, organized, and I know exactly where everything is stored. I may send a photo next month.

CRAZY SUMMER YIELDED A NEW BOOK

I did make my goal of releasing a new book in July. OLD ENOUGH TO BE BOLD is at the New Release sale price of 99¢ or read it on KU. 

Trope Alert: Spicy Enemies to Lovers + Forced Proximity + Ugly Duckling + Handsome Stranger with a dazzling smile = enough heat to melt the ice storm that forces Linnie and Max to share an isolated cabin.

The spicy romcom which is Book 2 in the Mean Woman Blues series has been well-received to my relief. 

With the first day of Autumn, I'm leaving my fixer uppr adventure behind and starting a new book. Wish me luck!

Do you subscribe to Joan's newsletter, I LOVE READING? If not, why not?

To receive exclusive content and news about book bargains and new releases,

SIGN UP TODAY.

My Frantic Life - Sherri Easley

I apologize for the short and late post- It's that time of year again- getting ready for Fiber Fest- Sewing to the wee hours of the morning. 

Fiber Fest is a three-day event at the Irving Convention Center in Dallas September 19-21- where over 100 vendors of anything fiber come together. 

My specialty is Harris Tweed- That tweed that is woven only on the Isle of Harris in Scotland. This year though, I am getting a late start, but I will be doing another show in November, Funky Finds, and should be well stocked for that one. When I retire in January though, I will have enough inventory to fill a website. My label? Button N Boo- I am on Facebook and Instagram. 

Pics below are my handmade notebook covers, bags, and cowls. 

Also there are pics of my house and workspace. It looks like a danger zone- but I know where everything is and once Christmas is over, it will all go back to its rightful place. 

AN EMBARRASING MOMENT

 By Caroline Clemmons

For me, today is when Fall begins. No doubt about it, this is a holdover from my school days. I loved school, especially English and history. Over my thirteen years (counting kindergarten), I had many amazing teachers and a few incidents I remember with pleasure.

 

Image by Christelle from Pixabay

One of my most embarrassing moments came when I was a junior in high school. My best friend, Iris, did everything she tried well. In spite of the fact she didn't cook or sew, she worked in the home economics office for one credit. Iris assured me this was a great way to get an easy A because there was little to do and I could get some of my homework done. 

This was a highly sought-after spot. With Iris’ recommendation to Mrs. Carter, lead teacher, I was approved. But Mrs. Carter eyed me with concern. She had taught me the year before in her cooking class, in which I did well. Probably, she wondered why a brainy girl like Iris would be friends with a dork like me. 

I signed up for the next semester, and was given the period just before lunch. You cannot imagine my horror when I learned that the slot I’d landed was feeding time for the lab rat.  Remember the scene in the book 1984 when Big Brother’s agents threatened the man with hungry rats on his face? That’s the image seared in my brain. And I was afraid of the small rodents even before I read the book. 

Okay, so it was only one rat, and he was in a cage. But to me he looked as if he were sizing me up for dinner’s main course. I managed to feed the beast through the first week without disaster. I had never had pets and had no rapport with animals—not because I disliked them, but because I didn’t identify with them as I do now. 

Feeling a bit more confident, I breezed into the tiny home ec office the second week. The rat was primed and waiting. The moment I unlatched his cage to add food, he leaped out and ran into an empty classroom. I was lucky he hadn’t chosen the opposite direction leading into  the high school hallway, but I didn't realize it at the time. All I knew was I was in big trouble. I chased him around the room and finally cornered the poor rat so I could grab him. 

Ohh, good gracious, I was holding a rat!

I’m not sure which of us was most frightened. I managed to get him back to the cage only to find Mrs. Carter waiting for me in the office, having witnessed the last part of my debacle. Actually, she was nice about the whole thing in a slightly severe way. We agree that I would feed the rat when she was in the office in the future until I “became more comfortable with that duty.”  

I feared my blunder would reflect badly on my friend Iris, but it didn't seem to do so. I suppose Mrs. Carter’s opinion of me as a dork or a scatterbrain or whatever explained everything. Needless to say, I did not seek to work in the home ec office the following semester.  Iris and I have remained good friends all these years.

Breaking the Block by Laura Hunsaker

Back to school time is in the air, and in my area we're on week 3. The past month of my life has been back to school everything, not just for my children, but also because I work in a school. Things are slowly settling down now, and as that happens, my off-time is becoming mine once again. 

Lately I've been dealing with writer's block; more than likely from the stress of work. But to combat it, I've been just writing anything. Stream of consciousness, journaling, or even a story I've been toying with. I do this to push past writer's block, because ignoring it doesn't help, and forcing the words never works. If I just write stuff without the pressure of anyone ever seeing it, that's what helps me.

I have a story right now that's been simmering for about a month. I'm beginning to think I might be able to do something with it. Maybe not the whole thing, but parts of it for sure. I have one scene that just doesn't want to leave my brain, so this one will definitely wind up in a story. 

I think writer's block is such a fascinating thing because not too many other jobs have that. Can you think of any? Maybe artists? Songwriters? 

I've been listening to a lot of new music as well, hoping to help push past this block, and so often lyrics will speak to me as the vibe to a scene I'm writing. If you follow me on Twitter/Threads/BlueSky, you'll see me posting a nightly writing playlist, with lyrics that stuck with me. I feel like this helps me a lot. It sets the scene for me, and gives me the whole feel for a scene.

So writers, how do you combat writer's block?

Readers, feel free to chime in with pushing past some form of burnout or block in your own jobs!

And if you want to read my latest, it's a short story about a wedding with so many mishaps and shenanigans, that you'd think something like that could never happen, except that it did! To me ;)

Dreams of the Future

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo  |  Google Play  |  D2D  |  Goodreads

Kate Landry is soon to be Kate Donovan, if only the groom would show up…


Maid of honor Cara Nguyen wants everything to go smoothly for her best friend's wedding, yet almost immediately, the wedding turns into a fiasco. Kate and Kyle deserve to have the wedding of their dreams, and Cara wants to make it happen. How can she pull off the wedding of their dreams when the flowers are delivered to the wrong location, the groom is missing, and the lovely sunny day has become a sweltering hot mess? There’s a lot to do, and so little time to do it. She definitely doesn’t have time to get distracted by a sexy groomsman in a kilt.

Kyle Donovan is ready to marry the love of his life, but first he has to get back to the church…

Dash Helms is in the small town of Chester, California for his friend Kyle’s wedding. This should be a happy event, yet It seems everything is going haywire. A caravan of wedding guests breaks down on their way to the venue, one of the groomsmen misses his flight, and the wedding has to be moved inside. Yet the beautiful maid of honor is the only thing he can concentrate on. When Dash is asked to step in at the last minute as a replacement groomsman, of course he says yes. While the striking brunette walking down the aisle ahead of him wants nothing to do with him, even she can’t deny the sparks that fly between them.

With everything seeming to go wrong, what can go right?

In this wedding short story written for Kate and Kyle from Dark Past, the cast of the Fatal Instincts series comes together to celebrate their friends. With everyone in the same place at once, and romance in the air, can this small town handle them?

WHAT'S WATT?

                                 by Judy Ann Davis

Are you a collector? Are there material things than you like to buy, keep, and even display? People collect items due to a mix of motivations, including the excitement of the hunt, nostalgia for the past, pride in ownership and display, the pursuit of financial investment, the desire for social connection, and a deep emotional attachment to specific objects.

I collect Watt pottery that was started in Perry County, Ohio, in 1922.  It was started on the site of an old pottery factory, and remained in business from 1922 to 1965 when the factory was destroyed by fire and never rebuilt.   

At the beginning, they manufactured stoneware crocks, butter churns, preserve jars and jugs.  In the late forties, the pottery was focused on kitchenware glazed in solid colors. In 1949, Watt Pottery began hand decorating its wares.

These first hand-decorated patterns are called the Classic Patterns and were produced until about 1953. Vibrant colors against the deep cream clay gave Watt Pottery its unique country appeal. The pottery also resisted discoloration. The patterns are simple in nature, and were decorated with as few brush strokes as possible to allow low production costs. Teams of three decorators designed the various pieces.

I own pottery mugs, pitchers, and bowls decorated with the star flower, American red bud, and apple patterns. The star flowers were handed down from my aunt to my mother and lastly to me. The apple is considered a favorite by many, but the star flower is my favorite.

The pottery was sold in many locations and states such as Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, to name a few. But it was but also available in Kroger stores and across farming districts as well as from auction houses in New England. Produced relatively inexpensively, the pottery was suitable for businesses, including feed stores, to use as premiums or as advertising items. We were farming family, and my mother enjoyed the simple pottery for display purposes in her kitchen.  The pieces now sit in my dining room.

Do I still look for Watt Pottery?  Oh, yes. When I come across a piece, I have to stop and make the difficult choice of deciding whether I have enough room for one more piece. My display cabinet is getting pretty full.

So tell me, are you also a collector? And, what do you collect?

MY NEW BOOK - COMING SOON!

FINDING LOVE IN PINE VALLEY 

 

A Turn of Phrase ...

I wrote this in April of 2020 for the Word Wranglers blog. I had absolutely no idea I'd be feeling the same way over five years later! I'm sorry I do, to tell the truth, but I still like a good turn of phrase, and the stories I talked about here. - Liz

Because I want comfort right now, and things to laugh at, and no surprises, I've been reading books I've read before, usually a long time ago. I love them. It's not that I think writers then were necessarily better than they are now or even that the stories were better, but there was something about the way those writers spun the language that I don’t see in modern prose.

I read Betty MacDonald’s Onions in the Stew this week. She referred to Vashon Island as “plump and curvy” and to Mt. Rainier as a “magnificent, unbelievably shy mountain who parts her clouds and shows her exquisite face…” She writes that a “tiny white church up to its knees in non-ecclesiastical currant bushes holds a bony arm bearing a small cross high up toward the pale sky.” Yet another church, “large hipped…glares disapprovingly” at a movie theater. I can see those things, can’t you? I think I can feel them, too.

Do you remember when the needle grew “too heavy” for Beth March? I was nine years old when I first read it. All these shockingly many years later, my heart breaks yet again.

“I’m so glad,” said Anne of Green Gables, “I live in a world where there are Octobers.” Remember her of the new days with no mistakes in them yet? It became a mantra for me when it seemed as if I couldn’t go even a few hours without something going wrong.

Although I haven't yet, I have no doubt I will delve into some old Betty Neels books before this crisis ends. They are the mashed potatoes and gravy of comfort reads, and I can't wait. I know what's going to happen in each of her over 100 books, and I don't care--I'll read 'em again. Same with Rosamund Pilcher's The Shell Seekers. There's just something about the way they talk to me. 

I blogged once that something I always looked for and cherished in books I read (and wrote) was tenderness. (SPOILER ALERT) LaVyrle Spencer is one of my favorite writers, and Forgiving is possibly my favorite of her books. Much of the reason for this is that tenderness threads through the entire story like fingers unbraiding hair. The last line of the book was, “And they slept. Delivered.”

I love being a writer. I talk about retiring from it, but probably never will. I love being a reader, too, because of the richness reading gives to my life. Because of turns of phrase and just the right word in just the right place. Because of a breaking heart, a borrowed mantra, and the soft, sweet sigh of “Delivered.”

Share with us. What are some of your favorite place settings of words or your favorite writers who set those places?

Living on the Surface of the Sun by Bea Tifton

Texas is a beautiful state. It has every type of typography one would want, seashores, mountains, bayous, forests, plains, and desert. There’s so much history in quirky little towns and big cities.

But Texas is pure D hot. One summer I asked Mom why we lived here. She replied, “This is where the stagecoach broke down.” Texas usually goes from summer to winter. And with climate change, it’s hot from April to October. I read that many of the people who are streaming into Texas move back after experiencing one of our summers. (Still, so many more are pouring in and I can’t find a darn parking space anywhere. But that’s a different blog for a different day.) 

Big Bend, Texas

South Padre Island, Texas

   

       

Houston, Texas

Davis Mountains, Texas

Big Cypress Bayou, Texas

South Plains, Texas

I cannot take the heat. I went on one date with a man who knew everything. It was exhausting. He’s a runner, and when I explained that I cannot exercise in the heat he said smugly, “Everyone can exercise in the heat. You just need to hydrate.” Did you notice I said one date? But I have a friend who was an EMT. He confirmed that once someone has had heat exhaustion, they are much more prone to it from then on. And I’ve never been able to get hot; I pass out, which is quite embarrassing and inconvenient. So, I stay inside when it’s hot. Thank goodness that pretty much everywhere I go is air conditioned. The man who invented AC, Willis Carrier, should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize. Just sayin’.

Willis Carrier

It can be disappointing, though. Texas has so many fun festivals during the hot months, and I simply can’t go. And people don’t understand why I have to say no to invitations to hike, kayak, picnic, etc. Because, of course, all I'd have to do is hydrate.

Sometimes I wish I lived in a place that had four well defined seasons. Especially fall, my favorite. I love those photos of fall colors from other parts of the country. And we do have some color changes, despite what many people say. Still, no one is going to travel to Texas in the fall just to go leaf peeping. 

Lost Maples State Park, Texas

We’re in the hottest month of the year now. But I’m safely tucked up in my house with the air conditioning.  Just like Willis Carrier intended.

Photo Credits: 

Wikimedia Commons: "Texas Lone Star State"

Pexels.com: Genevieve Ma'yet  "Asphalt Road on Wasteland"

Pexels.com: Andrea Hinajosa "White and Gray Bird on Brown sand Near Body of Water"

Pexels.com: Jeswin Thomas "A Wooden Deck in a Forest"

Wikimedia Commons: Justin Cozart "Elephant Mountain"

Wikimedia Commons: "Big Cypress Bayou" 

Wikimedia Commons: "South Plains Texas Wind Turbines"

Wikimedia Commons: "Willis Carrier in 1915"

Wikimedia Commons: "The Lost Maples State Park Fall Colors in Texas" 

Pexels.com: Cottonbro Studio "A Woman Sitting on a Windowsill While Holding a Cup of Coffee and a                     Book"