Celebrate the Small Things: End of Summer Thoughts

Funny how seasonal weather can be invigorating in the beginning and an energy drain in the end. I love the advent of the seasons, don't you? It's a wonderful time to reflect on the next leg of our journey.

Vince and I have one final job before completing this summer's landscaping project, the installation of colored rock over the new berm. If we finish by Friday, I'll post an image. 

Salmon-colored rock over the berm is coming soon. Whew! What a lot of work shoveling dirt and planting everything. The rock garden in the middle and shrubs next to the house were planted by the previous owner. We did everything else. Slowly the gravel is disappearing....

We also planted two new trees, an Amur Maackia and Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry. 
 

Amur Maackia - I love this tree. The leaves look tropical.

Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry. Off to the right....out future deck!

The Serviceberry can only be described as hopeful. It doesn't look like much sitting alone in the gravel, with most of its leaves gone. I'm told the tree will fill out beautifully in time and pictures online all agree, but for now, it's a version of Charlie Brown's little tree. Remember the one with the single Christmas ornament? That's ours!

The serviceberry is a good reminder that all good things (and endeavors) come in due time if we persist. Kind of where my writing projects are at the moment, but I haven't lost hope. I'm attending the the Rivers of Ink writers' conference next month in Richland, WA. I'm excited to learn more about the field, and in particular, the writing software, Scrivner, one speaker's topic.

We passed the following restaurant while driving to Spokane recently, and decided to stop. We now have a new favorite. Check out the neat sculpture in front.

A great place to eat, Ritzville, WA

Across from the restaurant, just off I-90

  

Have a nice weekend everyone!!

Celebrate the Small Things: To join, visit Lexa's Blog for the rules. We post every Friday about something we are grateful for that week. It can be about writing, family, school, general life or whatever. Originated by VikLit, co-hosts are: L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Katie @ TheCyborgMom

(Scroll down for more 'Celebrate' bloggers)

The Classics - CLOSING LINES: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

 
"Only the margin left to write on now. I love you, I love you, I love you." 

(published 1949)







I love the classics and plan to share more "CLOSING lines" over the coming months. Comment if you wish, or read for inspiration. Writing styles were different then, or were they really? 

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing
 

Celebrate the Small Things: A Kayak Lesson and a Good Laugh

Funny thing happened at the dock the other day. It was one of those U-tube moments too, but of course we didn't think to ask someone to record our latest adventure. I have always wanted a kayak and I wasn't about to let age deter me this birthday (I'm usually too practical when it comes to big splurges), but I defied commonsense and bought a two-person kayak online. Vince, being the sweet husband he is, and with nothing better in mind for my birthday, went along.

"Hmm....okay, I got this. Just put the connectors on and pump away."

"Success! Notice the seat behind me."

Okay, onward to the marina we went. At the dock we pushed off full of confidence, life jackets on, and our paddles in perfect sync, "Left, right, Left, right."  

Then...."SPLASH," over we went. We came up laughing. 

Turns out my new kayak isn't very stable for two people. Guess that video online was a bit deceptive, but with one person, balancing was no problem at all. We both took turns paddling along the shore and got thoroughly hooked. Vince's kayak is now on order. I can't wait to get out and explore the shoreline together. We have pelican here and I've been dying to get an up close look. 

Below is a photo of the darling puppy my friend picked up during her visit last month. For you, Birgit!!

"Paddie"

Celebrate the Small Things: To join, visit Lexa's Blog for the rules. We post every Friday about something we are grateful for that week. It can be about writing, family, school, general life or whatever. Originated by VikLit, co-hosts are: L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Katie @ TheCyborgMom

(Scroll down for more 'Celebrate' bloggers)

Celebrate the Small Things: Always Something Good to Celebrate

Hi. It's been awhile since I've blogged officially. April, to be exact, but a little nudge from Lexa, our fearless "Celebrate" leader, gave me the incentive to turn on the computer, place my fingers on the keyboard and type. 

So what have I been doing since April? I could list all the things I haven't been doing in rather boring detail, like not writing my next novel or sending out a quad-zillion query letters, but that would depress you, as it has me. More on that in another post... Meanwhile, I do hope to attend a writer's conference in October.

But here, here. There is always something good to celebrate. Don't you agree? Here is a small sampling:

---Gardening, gardening, gardening!! Slowly but surely, our large property is taking shape. The sandy loam soil is full of rocks. For every bucketful of soil, I swear I get half as many rocks...but they are nice River rocks, nicely varied in size and color. So here is my mantra: Got rocks? Make a rock garden! Photos someday I promise.

--I re-connected with my college roommate after many, many years (we think 40). Is that possible? She was traveling my way to pick up a new puppy....a darling toy collie, and spent the night. She was still the nice girl I remembered :) We talked and talked.

--Visited good friends at their farm and river ranch. Vince and our friend played guitar in an old grain tower and the acoustics.....absolutely incredible! They played "Amazing Grace," so you can imagine how beautiful it was.

--Vince restored an old Holiday 1985 speed boat and I mended the Bimini. We have been taking lovely moonlight rides on the lake. I'm surprised at how much cooler it is on the lake. It's been in the hundreds here and it doesn't cool down that much at night, but it feels at least ten degrees cooler on the water.

--Family reunion. I got to know a side of the family I rarely see. I spent time talking to six kids in one family, encouraging them in their life pursuits. I remember those who encouraged me as a girl. It felt good to do the same.

--Two nieces married....one tomorrow, actually. Boy, weddings aren't what they used to be. Tomorrow's wedding is at a campground and was organized by word of mouth (the other one, on Facebook). Seventy or so are supposedly coming. Being more traditional (i.e., a formal invitation), hubby and I almost backed out. But of course, we are going. Family will be there, and that's what weddings are about.  

Our friends and neighbors made this video of our new boat. 

Smile. 

There is always something 

good to celebrate.

Celebrate the Small Things: To join, visit Lexa's Blog for the rules. We post every Friday about something we are grateful for that week. It can be about writing, family, school, general life or whatever. Originated by VikLit, co-hosts are: L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Katie @ TheCyborgMom

(Scroll down to see 'Celebrate' bloggers)

Friday Barnes Girl Detective by R.A. Spratt and Phil Gosier: Book Review

 
Friday Barnes: Girl Detective
Author: R.A. Spratt
Illustrator: Phil Gosier
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, 2016 
Reviewer: Sharon M. Himsl
Age: 8 to 12, Middle Grade
Pages: 255



 
Possibilities soar when spunky eleven-year-old Friday Barnes solves a bank robbery and receives fifty thousand dollars as reward. Emboldened, she announces she’s sending herself to a boarding school with the money, Highcrest Academy. “But why,” asks her father. “Because I want to do something different,” Friday replies. 

Friday’s parents and four adult siblings, all of whom are geniuses, have devoted themselves to studying theoretical physics. They only assumed Friday, also a genius, would do the same. Friday was born to her mother late in life, and with the exception of a doting uncle, often fends for herself alone. She even made an electric bicycle once when her parents failed to pick her up from school events. Friday’s vast knowledge from reading books and learning how things work has made her into a good debater—and a detective. Friday uses her gifts to convince her parents. Now the plan is to attend school unnoticed, so she can quietly observe and learn. 

The first day at school goes wrong when a car accidentally bumps into her in the school parking lot. She is only slightly hurt, but word gets out she is different. Not only does Friday dress weird in brown cardigans, she is extremely smart. Acceptance comes from her equally geeky roommate Melanie, and oddly, from Friday’s ability to solve mysteries at school, one being the strange swamp yeti. 

She ends up solving a diamond smuggling operation, but Ian Waitscott, the smartest and cutest boy in class remains her enemy. Unfortunately, Ian’s dad went to prison as a result of the bank caper Friday had solved earlier. When police arrest Friday at the end, readers may wonder if Ian played a role. The next edition reveals the outcome. A rollicking read overall, Gosier’s cartoon illustrations are entertaining and a good match. A cute story, and one I would give my granddaughter. 

The Classics - CLOSING LINES: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

"Only two more things need to be told. One is that Caspian and his men all came safely back to Ramandu's Island. And the three lords woke from their sleep. Caspian married Ramandu's daughter and they all reached Narnia in the end, and she became a great queen and the mother and grandmother of great kings. The other is that back in our own world everyone soon started saying how Eustace had improved, and how "You'd never know him for the same boy," everyone except Aunt Alberta, who said he had become very commonplace and tiresome and it must have been the influence of those Pevensie children." (Published 1952)


I love the classics and plan to alternately share more "CLOSING lines" over the coming months. Comment if you wish, or read for inspiration. Writing styles were different then, or were they really?