The cabin-in-the-woods is coming along.  My husband has stayed with it.  I have been there when I could be.  On my latest trip to the cabin, I brought our oldest granddaughter.  We even had a visit from the neighbors two goats.  They invited themselves in and looked the place over thoroughly.  Walt would not give up his lunch to them, though.

Turns out the granddaughter enjoyed being in the woods.  She learned to identify some tree species, deer and bear tracks and even fit in some cursive practice and language arts homework.

I’m not too eager to climb ladders anymore, but one does what one has to do to help with the project.

When I was in my 20’s I told a friend I would like to live in a cabin in the woods.  That was before I knew I preferred wide open spaces.  All these years later wouldn’t you know my husband decides he wants to build a cabin in the woods.  Thankfully, he hired a dozer operator to open up a big enough area in the woods for me to have plenty of sky and there’s even a little swamp in front of the cabin that will someday be dug out for a pond.  This is what we have been up to the past couple weeks.  The cabin is being built on land in Minnesota that has been in my husband’s family for 70 years.

Progress went well and I was glad to help during the first couple weeks of the project.  I had to come home for obligations back here in Missouri.  My husband is going it alone until I can get back for a few days next week.

 

I have been going to the North Shore of Lake Superior whenever I can since the 1970’s.    Just returned home from our latest visit there.  I have some great memories from the summer I worked in a resort restaurant on the lake. Later, when I was a Youth Director I took the youth on camping retreats there.  Each time I go back I think of those times and the people I shared them with.  And, I am always reminded of the beauty of creation and the One who spoke it all into existence.  Beautiful places bless me. The North Shore of Lake Superior is one of my favorite beautiful places.  What beautiful places bless you?

Had planned to be in Minnesota now…working on the cabin-in-the-woods project.  It has been a rainy summer there and the woods are thick, so the ground is wet.  We still have intentions of getting the job started.  In the meantime, it has been summer activities with the grandkids.  AND, I have two books with my editor.  I am looking for an illustrator for a kid’s book series.  Anyone interested?

I am blessed to have been born and raised in a free nation.  I am thankful to all those who have lived and died to keep it free.

RJ’s Journey got me started writing fiction in 2017.  I thought I was writing one book as a gift to my grandchildren.  But, there was more to RJ’s story and life, so RJ’s Valley was written to continue her saga.  I decided the books were for a wider audience than just my own grandchildren.  And, there was more to tell, so RJ’s Legacy was written in the voice of her children and others who were impacted by her life.  I wrote for young people, but I had in mind that adults could read the books to their children and enjoy them, too.  That seems to be how it has turned out.  RJ’s story includes history, geography, faith, family and romance.  Rebecca Jemima (RJ) is a fictional character, but her story can be a supplement to American History, Geography or Language Arts classes.

Matthew Hartmann and the Pony Express and The Year of the Hawk Rescue were written for the same audience as the RJ series.  They are set in approximately the same historical time period.

Nelson’s Pond is a departure from historical fiction.  There are three books in one that feature animal families whose habitat was on or near a pond.  It is written with the animals telling their own story.  It is fiction of course, but some of the stories told by the wild critters of Nelson’s Pond really happened.

I started writing for publication in 2011.  At that time I was only writing 40 Day Devotional Journals based on the Bible.  Jesus Said is the most recent of those and the only one currently on amazon.com.  It is 40 days with Matthew 24, where Jesus talked of things to come.

These seven books are available on amazon.com.  I have a few in my inventory which can be ordered through this website.  Currently, I have six more books in various stages of development.  Be watching for Owen Hartmann and Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, The Madisons, The Story Most Precious and the first three books in a series about 10 year-old twins Maya and Max. (If my editor sees this, I hope she doesn’t get overwhelmed!)

We keep the grandkids for overnights.  They come one or two at a time.  It was Nava’s turn most recently.  I don’t know what Gracie was thinking when she jumped into the car seat, but I guess she is one of the kids.  It was a beautiful late spring day and Gracie was not about to be left home alone.

      Creation speaks of a Creator who makes beautiful things.

I have several favorite places where I have enjoyed a certain peace not afforded in day-to-day life.  One of those places is a friend’s horse and cattle farm in Texas.  Many times I was there at the farm to visit my friend.  But, I, also, had a standing invitation to “be” there on the place to just “be.”  When I wasn’t there to visit her or ride any one of a number of horses she let me ride, I sat on an old chair at the back door of the barn to study and write.  The view out that door was of horses and paddocks and a big blue sky.

Recently, my husband and one of the grandkids went back there with me.  It was great to be back even for a short time.  I’m thankful for my friend and her generosity in sharing her place with me during the years I lived in that part of Texas.  I’m thankful for all my friends in Texas and the memories we share.

Do you have places of peaceful “being?”

In memory of all who served and sacrificed in defense of our nation.