Porch Projects Progress Report!

Did you note the plural in "porch"?

As in not one, but two?

So this is the beginning, last spring. Remember the possum?

This was his domain.

He now shares it with a cat and a red chicken named "Rosie".

And yes, she's a friend of Blackie, the famous Parma rooster.

The chicken, that is. The cat is somewhat aloof.

This is Bob the Builder. He will probably kill me for putting this on here.

And if you look at the size of that 'jack' I'm probably foolhardy to think he won't.

Bob's our friend. And he's smart. And handy. 

Note the VERY INTENSE stance.

I knew the porch was in good hands.

My First Published Author Award!!!

Vince Mooney

If you go here:

Philosophy of Romance

You will see an incredibly nice award presented by 

an incredibly nice man!

Vince, thank you for all your kind words about

 "Made to Order Family"!

You humble me, Dude!

And that is my FIRST AWARD as a published author, and 
huge thanks to my editor Melissa Endlich of Love Inspired
whose hard work coaxed the hero and heroine's love story
out of the original
and gave the romance center stage.
A job well done.

You've made my day, Vince!

And then if you go here:

Seekerville

You'll see this same nice man, Vince Mooney,

a philosopher, a sage and lover of the written word,

opining in Seekerville about 

taglines, the little "blurbs"

that encompass a writer's mission, and holding a fun little contest to see how well 'taglines' work.

Cleaning the office

This is NOT a resolution.

I don't make resolutions. 

I do set goals. And then I try really hard to make them.

But resolutions???

Oh my stars, that's just disappointment waiting to happen.

One GOAL was to have my upstairs office join the three clean bedrooms.

Those of you who visit us in SEEKERVILLE

know that I'm taking this all step by step.

Cleaning.

Organizing.

Writing.

Have I mentioned I LOVE writing?

That I love working with Love Inspired?

That I can't wait to see how people react to this year's series:

The Men of Allegany County

 First book due out in April, 2011: REUNITED HEARTS

Just love it.

And if you noticed that Men of Allegany County is a LIVE link, go ahead and follow it.
See where it leads.  ;)

So here are the"BEFORE pics of my office:

Note the dead bees. Oops, wasps, sorry, Deb, I KNOW they're not bees.

But they buzz like bees.

 Anyway, I'm not going to tell you how long those bees, er... wasps have been dead.

Let me just say they are returning to their dust-like stage as we speak.

Very Biblical.

Now here are some "AFTER" shots:

Oops. There are no "after" shots yet.
I'm only half done.
Two garbage bags. Maybe three. I've stopped counting.
Three boxes of books.
One very ugly black enamel trimmed with gold gilt (Of course I'm not making that up.
Who on this earth would invent a description LIKE THAT???)
And the matching chair.
The chair is no longer with the desk by the road.
Obviously the desk IS that ugly.
Pics to come.
But, OH, what wonderful treasures I found!!!  :)
Frightening, actually.
And yet, oddly redeeming!

The following is what I planned to say WHEN THE TASK WAS DONE, with 
a nice 'looky here, how nice is this???' picture, of course.

A little different. Just a tad.

Now, don't get confused. I have not been working in there.

Please.

Even I have some standards.

Nope, I'm working in the big old kitchen, under the light,

with the wood stove warming the day.

And the occasional harlequin bug tap dancing around the light.

Stupid bugs. An annoyance for sure.

Destined to go the way of the bees... I mean wasps.

And yet another reason why caulk is a WONDERFUL investment.

The end.

Happy New Year!

Oh my stars, 2011 already!

 

 Jeter signed with the Yankees...

My young friend Taylor Tydings made her 

acting debut in GEVA's new production of 

Dickens' A Christmas Carol!

Wonderful!

 

 Little girls still love tea parties...

 

 Blackie the Rooster is happily crowing and eating, 

ruling the farmyard with panache and 

the equanimity of any good bird...

 

 I still love bacon...

 

And my husband...

And the squirrely children who see us as a second home.

 

God is good.

Drinking egg nog this weekend while I dismantle Christmas!

 

I always hate to put it all away, not because of the work involved...

Although that's not exactly a walk in the park.

 

But because it's dark up here in WNY... Christmas lights cut through the winter darkness. They brighten souls.

So this year I'm going to let my light shine in lieu of the Christmas lights in January.

Yes.

I'm going to be NICE.

At least some of the time.

Gorgeous sunrise this morning. Just stunning.

I think that's God's way of letting us northerners

know that he's got our backs, even on these

short, cold days.

And there's always this if all else fails:

 

 

Amen.