Started 12/15 Finished 12/28 I started another book first but quickly changed my mind . . . I wanted something different, something Christmassy, and there’s no one better at it than Debbie Macomber. The best part – I wound up with two stories! I’ve read them before, and they’re both Hallmark’s kind of story . . . full of kindness and good cheer. (They turned three of Debbie’s Mrs. Miracle books into movies.) THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS is Cassie’s story. She’s 34 and believes finding the perfect husband is now, or never. To increase her odds, she finds a matchmaker. His fee – $30,000 . . . OUCH! But if he can’t find the most ‘suitable’ match, she’ll get her money back. But first, Cassie has 3 task to complete. You’ll have to read to find out if she makes the perfect match. CAN THIS BE CHRISTMAS asks what might happen, if you were stuck in small town New Hampshire, without food, family, or even a Christmas tree. It looks like the worst Christmas ever, until a simple act of kindness gets everyone to look beyond what was lost, to find a silver lining. This is a Debbie Macomber story, so you’re guaranteed a happy ending, even if you’re reading it in January😊 Amazon’s Description (From Back Cover): Christmas perfect? For Cassie Beaumont, it’s meeting her perfect match. Cassie, at thirty-three, wants a husband and kids, and so far, nothing’s worked. Not blind dates, not the Internet and certainly not leaving love to chance. What’s left? A professional matchmaker. He’s Simon Dodson, and he’s very choosy about the clients he takes on. Cassie finds Simon a difficult, acerbic know-it-all, and she’s astonished when he accepts her as a client. Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her three tasks to complete before she meets him. Three tasks that are all about Christmas: being a charity bell ringer, dressing up as Santa’s elf at a children’s party and preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (whom she happens to dislike). Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all—and she’s finally ready to meet her match. But just like the perfect Christmas gift, he turns out to be a wonderful surprise! What would the holidays be without a Christmas story from Debbie Macomber? --This text refers to an alternate kindle edition edition. This book on Kindle (from a review) contains recipes and then another book, "Can This Be Christmas?" which was a delightful surprise. It is about individuals on a train on their way home for Christmas. They had been diverted from their plane schedules because of a huge snowstorm in Maine on their way to Boston to make connections. Each is going to a different location; each has a story. Their stories and how they handle the breakdown of the tracks and spend the night in a train station makes the interesting tale. It is fascinating in both these books to discover how people grow in maturity from the disappointments of life. A very good read. Started 12/7 Finished 12/15 I bought this book for one reason – the name of the main character – Rinda! I’ve never seen my name on anything in a store. EVER! They have regular names, like Alex. When I saw Rinda in the description. I bought it! I had to! The experience – unexpected! At first I thought someone was calling me, but they weren’t. They were calling for Princess Rinda of Balinore. It took a few chapters before Rinda felt like a book character. Not me! The description also said it was inspired by an old folktale – by King Thrushbeard. I’d never heard of him before, but the Scarecrow King reminds me of another story – Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. Both of them have women with sharp tongues, and control issues. And the theme of The Scarecrow King? Rinda learns to trust others, but more importantly – she learns to trust and value herself. Amazon’s Description: Princess Rinda of Balinore knows of only one way to get her cold father’s attention – to be an obnoxious, spoiled princess. When she finds out that the king plan to marrying her off to a far-flung nobleman, she puts on her best bratty show in front of the entire court. But Rinda’s plan backfires, and she soon finds herself married to the most ineligible man ever. Her new husband is monastery raised, poor as dirt, and a traveling minstrel. A very, very bad traveling minstrel. But Alek isn’t what he seems like on the surface, and neither is Rinda. She won’t take this marriage lying down, and schemes to find herself a new husband – a king. But as she and Alek travel together, they learn that not only are appearances deceiving, but goals can change in the blink of an eye, and love can get in the way of the strongest plans… The Scarecrow King is a romantic retelling of the King Thrushbeard fairy tale. Started 11/29 Finished 12/7 I love historical fiction when it’s well done, like this book. I’d never heard of the Armenian Genocide, and I wondered why the author picked Sandcastle Girls for its title. It’s a reference to the ones Elizabeth Endicott built as a child on the Boston shoreline. The sandcastles reappear later in the Syrian Desert. Using them helps to tell this tragedy, without traumatizing the reader. There are three main storylines running through it, but they’re easy to follow. Elizabeth is the heroine. She’s there to assist her father with his charity work. To use her nursing skills to help the Armenian refugees. Armen Petrosian escaped the genocide, and now he builds railroad lines for the Ottoman Turks. They murdered his family, but he’s willing to work for them. His hope – to find out what happened to his first wife and their infant daughter. Armen and Elizabeth’s granddaughter, Laura, discovers the answer long after her grandparents’ death, and it isn’t pretty. She spots a woman’s photo in an exhibit. Her name – Karine Petrosian. Could they be related? Laura finds out from the letters and journals her grandmother had hidden away. It’s the beginning of a journey back in time to 1915 Aleppo, Syria to learn the truth. PS – I love when posts link together. When Armen gives up on finding his wife and daughter, he joins the Anzac soldiers fighting the Turks in Egypt. If you’d like to learn more about the Anzacs, check out this link: http://www.rindabeach.com/blog/meet-the-anzacs-then-discover-who-they-were Amazon’s Description: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of The Flight Attendant, here is a sweeping historical love story that probes the depths of love, family, and secrets amid the Armenian Genocide during WWI. When Elizabeth Endicott arrives in Aleppo, Syria, she has a diploma from Mount Holyoke, a crash course in nursing, and only the most basic grasp of the Armenian language. It’s 1915, and Elizabeth has volunteered to help deliver food and medical aid to refugees of the Armenian Genocide during the First World War. There she meets Armen, a young Armenian engineer who has already lost his wife and infant daughter. After leaving Aleppo and traveling into Egypt to join the British Army, he begins to write Elizabeth letters, realizing that he has fallen in love with the wealthy young American. Years later, their American granddaughter, Laura, embarks on a journey back through her family’s history, uncovering a story of love, loss—and a wrenching secret that has been buried for generations.
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Do you ever need a laugh? I do, so Funny Editor.com sends me at least one a day, usually more. The best part – trying to figure out the answer. I usually miss, but I love trying. Here’s today’s joke . . . can you guess the answer? Joke #1 Where can you find the most stressed- out parents? And the answer is . . . Disneyland! I didn’t think of Disney, the happiest place on earth, but I did think of taking the perfect Christmas picture. It used to stress me out, especially when my kids were toddlers. Click the link below if you want to look at the answer. You’ll also find more jokes, and, you can subscribe to funnyeditor.com. PS – I found this one using the categories button, under family. I wonder what category I’ll pick tomorrow . . . I’ll let you know then 😊 Link: Where can you find the most stressed-out parents? (funnyeditor.com) Joke #2 Where do math teachers like to go on vacation? And the answer is . . . Times Square! I didn’t think of times, like multiplication. Or square either, like the shape, or 22 (two squared.) In math a number that’s squared is multiplied by itself. 22 equals 2x2, and that’s 4. All I could think of was pie, not the kind you eat – the math kind, “Pi.” They’re pronounced the same, but pi’s a symbol that looks like this . . . "π". If you want to calculate pi, divide the circumference of a circle by its diameter. The answer is never-ending, but math teachers round it up to 3.14. I’m glad the funny editor picked the other Times Square, the block in New York City. I have two pictures of it. The first is from a regular night. The second is New Year’s Eve. That’s when people from all over the US come together to celebrate. They watch the ball drop. It marks the beginning of the new year. Click the link below if you want to look at the answer. I found it in Categories, under education. Link: Where do math teachers like to go on vacation? (funnyeditor.com) Now, to find Joke #3😊 Joke #3 Why does Santa’s sled get such good mileage? And the answer is . . . Because it has long-distance runners on each side. Long distance made me think fuel. Cars run on gasoline. Reindeer – on food. I couldn’t make it punny, but the funny editor did – with long distance runners. It’s a great play on words . . . with the runners . . . those things on the bottom. They run through the snow on a regular sled, but they run through the air for Santa. There are also runners – the kind that pull the sleigh. Santa uses reindeer for his. Click the link below if you want to look at the answer, and, more jokes. I found this one in Categories, under holiday. Link: Why does Santa's sled get such good mileage? (funnyeditor.com) PS – I already picked Joke #4 for tomorrow 😊 From the same category 😊 Joke #4 Why does Santa Claus go down the chimney on Christmas Eve? And the answer is . . . Because it “soots” him. I love the Funny Editor.com answers. I didn’t have a thing for this one, and their answer is a 3-way word play. Think ‘suit.’ It has 2 meanings that fit – suit as in the one Santa’s wearing. The other suit is when something matches or fits you. Example – chocolate suits me! It really does! The real answer is completely different from suit, in how it looks, and sounds. Soot rhymes with foot. It’s the smoke pouring out of the chimney, the black powder inside it, and the ashes in the fireplace. I don’t know how Santa’s ‘suit’ stays clean with all that ‘soot.’
Click the link below if you want to find this joke and a few more. This one was in Categories, under holiday. Link: Why does Santa Claus go down the chimney on Christmas Eve? (funnyeditor.com) Started 11/20 Finished 11/29 This could be the first book in a new series! It has great characters and an interesting premise. Claire is a librarian from Texas whose fiancee walks out on her at their weddding rehearsal. Claire takes her honeymoon to New York anyway and discovers the presence of magic. She even winds up helping to decide who will rule the wizards of New York. There’s a guy, a cute one of course. I can’t give away the ending, but I can tell you that Claire’s research skills come in handy. Would you believe there’s a magical library inside the Main one in New York? You know the one with the lions? If this becomes a series, I’ll be waiting and watching for the next book, Fingers crossed! Amazon’s Description: The wedding was cancelled, but the honeymoon is pure magic Left at the altar, Claire Jennings wasn’t going to let a cancelled wedding get in the way of her honeymoon trip to New York City, especially since she’d already paid for it. But a chance encounter and a good deed send her vacation in an entirely unexpected direction, drawing her into a side of the city that tourists don’t see—and neither do most New Yorkers. After she meets a handsome stranger in a hotel bar, she finds herself in a social whirlwind, invited to glamourous parties in impossible venues and included in excursions right out of a movie. She soon learns that she’s become the accidental keeper of something every magical person in New York wants—a source of great power. It’s giving her abilities she never dreamed were possible, but it’s also made her a target. If she ever wants to go back to her normal life where she isn’t constantly hunted by wizards, Claire will have to rescue an enchanted prince, find a way to navigate this magical world, figure out who the good guys and bad guys are, and mediate a centuries-old dispute. And all before her flight home. A new contemporary fantasy with a touch of romance from the author of Enchanted, Inc. Started 11/14 Finished 11/20 Shanna Swendson is one of my favorite authors, and I’m working my way through her Lucky Lexie series. I just finished book 5, and I have 2 to go. No magic, but plenty of ghosts, and a murder to solve. What I love most about her writing – is how fun it is to read. Imagine – a ghost hunter coming into the newspaper office to get the scoop on the haunted hotel, but she doesn’t see the ghost that’s standing right in front of her. I wish I’d written that scene! Or my other favorite ghostbusters – the Spooky Squad. Shanna wrote them just like something out of the Scooby Doo cartoons. Maybe I do need to try writing a mystery, just for the fun of it! The first time I read one, I can never, ever solve it. If it were real life, I’d be dead😊. The best part about reading a mystery again – you can follow the clues right to the criminal, even when they point at someone else. Here’s to my next Lucky Lexie adventure! Amazon’s Description: It’s the event someone’s dying to attend . . .The grand-opening party at a new bed-and-breakfast in a vintage farmhouse that’s supposedly haunted poses quite the dilemma for Lexie Lincoln. Most of the other guests are noted ghost hunters, and since Lexie actually can see ghosts, she’ll know whether they’re frauds and whether the inn really is haunted. But showing what she knows or honestly reporting on what she sees and hears would make her sound like a tabloid reporter rather than a serious journalist. Ghosts become the least of Lexie’s concerns when a flash flood blocks the road out and then one of the guests is found dead. Someone in the inn has to be a killer. If they don’t figure out who, there could be more victims. It’s up to Lexie to enlist the aid of the resident ghosts to break the case and save them all, but that may mean revealing her secret talent to the rest of the world. Or is an angry ghost the real threat? Started 10/13 Finished 11/14 I read this book every couple of years because its elements fascinate me. How many books have you read that begin with a dedication to your banker, who explained the ins/outs of ATMs for your plot? Add in another dedication – a quote from Isaiah about the Son of Morning falling from heaven, AKA Lucifer. And the story hasn’t even started yet! The main characters – Grace from 1996 and Niall of Scotland from 1307. How could they connect? Through the Foundation of Evil. Grace thought she was working for an archaeology group, until it destroyed her family. That’s when she learned the truth, that the Foundation was after nothing less than the treasure chest of the Knights Templar. Niall became its Guardian after the order’s destruction on Friday October 13th, 1307. And that was just the beginning of the book! Some chapters like #9 are so intriguing . . . “The Foundation hadn’t had good luck with the past two Republican presidents, or the Democratic one before them. Their luck had changed four years earlier.” The two Republicans . . . Ronald Reagan and George Bush the elder. The Democrat . . . Jimmy Carter. And when did the Foundation’s luck change? In 1992 when Bill Clinton was elected president. Another quote from chapter 9 . . . War was so gauche, so much effort for so little gain. The time had passed when nations could be won; now war meant little but destruction. Real power lay in money . . . and whoever controlled the money controlled the world as well as the puppets who stood onstage, in the limelight, and pretended to be the ones in power.” There may still be war in the Ukraine. But social media and the press control the conversation, and they’re pushing for a new world order, not middle-class values. It seems more true today in 2022, than when this book was published back in 2009. Chapter 26, puts the religious theme back into focus . . . “The fact that mortal man cannot understand God, that we must not say a thing is impossible, because all things are possible to Him, and our understanding too paltry. God is not limited by our imagination or our small minds. The Church makes rules and says they come from God, but they come only from man and his attempt to interpret God.” And that brings the reader back to the main characters and their drive for a happy ending. This is a romance after all, and, a brilliant book! (Warning - this is an open-door novel. I skip pages that are too graphic for me.) Amazon’s Description: New York Times bestselling author Linda Howard captivates readers in the deeply romantic tale of a contemporary woman who unravels an extraordinary mystery from the past—by living it. A scholar specializing in ancient manuscripts, Grace St. John never imagined that a cache of old documents she discovered was the missing link to a lost Celtic treasure. But as soon as she deciphers the legend of the Knights of the Templar -- long fabled to hold the key to unlimited power -- Grace becomes the target of a ruthless killer bent on abusing the coveted force. Determined to stop him, Grace needs the help of a warrior bound by duty to uphold the Templar's secret for all eternity. But to find him -- and to save herself -- she must go back in time . . . to fourteenth-century Scotland . . . and to Black Niall, a fierce man of dark fury and raw, unbridled desire. . . . Have you heard of the song, Be True to Your School? Or the Beach Boys? No? You can click on this link, keep reading, or do both. I suggest both 😊 Link: be true to your school - Search (bing.com Be True to Your School is a song by the Beach Boys, and it came out in October of 1963. I was 4, but I still remember it. The Beach Boys were popular in the 60’s and later in the 70’s when I was in high school. They were known for their ‘California sound.’ It was all about surfing, cars, and girls. You know, teenage stuff. In the 60’s California was the place to be. My parents considered moving, but didn’t. This song started playing in my head after the OSU/Michigan game. My team, The Ohio State University, lost, and the internet articles were awful. Everyone loves the thrill of victory, but no one wants anything to do with the agony of defeat. It’s not fun, but it’s important to know how to win, and how to lose. Maybe that’s why this song started circling through my head. So where did it come from? From Brian Wilson and Mike Love, two of the original Beach Boys. I knew that, but I didn’t know the melody was the University of Wisconsin’s fight song, ‘On Wisconsin.’ But the Wilson brothers, Brian, Carl, and Dennis weren’t channeling Wisconsin. They were using their high school fight song. Hawthorne High School in California uses the same melody, different words. As for the Beach Boys, their lyrics were all about staying true to your school, to your girl, the important things in life. I love positive messages, the kind that make you want to be a better you. Loyalty is a good thing. BTW – the cover photo (below) is for their single, not the album. If you’re younger than me, songs back then were played on record players. They were vinyl disks, 7 inches in diameter. The ‘A’ side had Be True to Your School, the hit side. On the ‘B’side was In My Room. It was actually a hit, but not as big. Tomorrow – my thoughts about staying true to my school, to its coaches and players. Win or lose, I believe in loyalty. Sources: Photos: By http://www.7inchrecords.com/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5030597 Search link: be true to your school - Search (bing.com) Information Sources: Be True to Your School - Wikipedia The Beach Boys - Wikipedia Part 2 – The School: I’ve been true to my school since the 70’s. I’m a Buckeye first, last, and always. Win or lose, I’m a Buckeye. They’re words, but I’m a writer, and words are important to me. I’m also loyal. If The Ohio State University is playing football, then I’m cheering them on. If we’re into Bowl Season, then I’m all about the Big 10. I’ll root for them, for their coach, and their players. Shucks, I’ll even root for Michigan, but only if it’s a Bowl Game. There are 3 seasons at OSU – the first11 games, then Michigan, and last, a Bowl. Win at least 2 of them, and you’ll keep your job. Here are the last two OSU coaches, Ryan Day and Urban Meyer. After OSU lost The Big Game on Saturday, people wanted Ryan fired, and Urban to be rehired. My guess – probably the same ones. The history of the two coaches is linked, Here’s how . . . In 2018 when people were calling for Urban to be fired, he was placed on administrative leave for three games while the university investigated him. Urban was cleared, and he returned to finish the season. But those people, they were still calling for him to be fired. Not me. I’m loyal. The coach during those 3 games – Ryan Day. He won all 3. I backed him then, and I backed Urban’s return. Some people didn’t, and they got their way. Urban retired after the 2019 Rose Bowl. I was glad because I thought Urban stepped away for health reasons. He looked like he was in pain during most of the season. The next head coach – Ryan Day. I was glad to see him back. I thought he deserved the job. And his record since then . . . In 2019 Ryan had a 12 – 0 regular season, the first one since 2013. His team won the Big 10 Championship. They made it to the National Playoff but lost to Clemson. Coach Day was named the Dave McClain Coach of the Year, AND he beat Michigan. 2020 was a weird year. That’s when Covid almost stopped college football. The Buckeyes played 4 games and won them all. The 5th game, Coach Day missed . . . he had Covid . . . but his team still won. As for Michigan, they refused to play, they said because of Covid. We Buckeyes didn’t buy it. We thought Michigan choked and wanted to stop us from making the National Championships. But the Big 10 council said let OSU play. We won the Big 10, then beat Clemson in the National Playoffs. It was so satisfying after losing in 2019, but the year ended with a loss to Alabama. Disappointing, but being the #2 football team in the nation – not so bad! 2021 was interesting . . . Coach Day started freshman CJ Stroud at quarterback. I couldn’t believe it! I haven’t seen a freshman in that position since Art Schlichter when I was in college. I also couldn’t believe how Coach Day helped him grow. The Buckeyes lost 2 games that season, early in the year against Oregon, and that final awful game. I knew eventually Michigan had to win, but it was glorious, from 2011- 2020. And the good news – we beat Utah in the Rose Bowl. Michigan – lost BIG time in the National Championships to Georgia. This year, 2022 was great, until Saturday. That’s the day Coach Day lost to Michigan, again, 2 years in a row. I didn’t know he bragged that he’d “hang 100 on them” in 2021 . It wasn’t wise, and it fired up those Wolverines, 2 years in a row. But looking at his record, even with 2 losses to Michigan, I’d keep Coach Day. Look at all those great regular seasons, plus 2 Bowl wins. Photo Sources: Ryan Day: By CFB ON FOX - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kelObbmNiQ, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113990115 Urban Meyer: By CFB ON FOX - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kelObbmNiQ, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113990179 Information Sources: Ryan Day (American football) - Wikipedia Part 3 – The Team: I’ve been true to my school and its team since the 70’s. No player wins in isolation, or loses that way either. Great plays, and mistakes are part of the game. I believe in that old adage – it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. As for CJ Stroud, he took a lot of shots over the weekend for losing The Big Game, two years in a row. I didn’t blame CJ last year. He was a freshman and still learning. The only other freshman to win the starting quarterback position was Art Schlichter. It was unimaginable to start a freshman then, unless they’re super-talented. It still is. CJ has grown a ton over the last 2 years, thanks to Coach Day and his staff. He is so good that this is probably his last season at OSU. He’s planning on going into the NFL draft. The quote in the screenshot from CJ is, “I just have to eat it.” It’s about losing twice to Michigan, about never winning a Big 10 Championship. It makes me sad. It makes me wish he’d stay for one more year, for one more chance to beat Michigan, and to win that Big 10 Championship, but money talks. So does your body. It can be injured anytime during a season. I understand, and I wish CJ well, wherever he plays next year.
As for that team up north, I’d take Coach Day any day. Looking at Jim Harbaugh, he’s played OSU 7 times since he became coach. He’s won 2, lost 5, and choked in 2020 when he refused to play. Jim did go on to win the Big 10 Championship in 2021, but he lost to Georgia in the National Playoff. Last year, Coach Day won his Bowl Game. As for this year’s Bowl Season, I predict Michigan will go down in the National Championships. I think Georgia will reign supreme. As for Jim Harbaugh, I think he’ll head back to the NFL as soon as he can get himself out of Michigan. He almost made it last January, in 2021. And finally for my Buckeyes, I think Coach Day will review the tapes and work on plugging the holes. I predict another Bowl win for the New Year. My prescription for the future – find someone like Mike Vrabel to coach the linemen, offense and defense. Mike left in 2018 to go to the Tennessee Titans, and he left a hole that needs to be filled. There are 3 seasons at OSU – the regular season, the Michigan game, and the Bowl games. Coach Day needs to get a Bowl win this year. Then next year he must take out Michigan and do it in the Big House, their stadium. I believe in Coach Day, and in his team, but win or lose, I’m still a Buckeye. And I’ll be true to my school, its coach, and its team. Information Source: C. J. Stroud - Wikipedia Here’s how I start every blog post – with an image, and an idea to write about . . . This one was born when I picked Anzac Ted to read for Veteran’s Day, 2022. I thought with a teddy bear, it would be a great fit for young children who are ready to discover Veteran’s Day. Anzac Ted turned out to be so much more. It’s the story of the ANZAC soldiers who fought alongside Great Britain during World War I. I only read the first half of the book. It’s perfect for littles. The other half tells Ted’s story as he supported those Anzac soldiers, and I still think it works for young children. Part 1 – What is an Azac? Anzac stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp, ANZAC. The division was formed in December 1914, in Egypt, during World War 1. They were supposed to be stationed in Britain, but plans changed because there wasn’t room, or supplies. The Anzac units were sent to Egypt . . . the weather was a better fit. December is summer down under for Anzac soldiers. This is a 1915 camp of soldiers from New Zealand. Its name – ANZAC Cove. They were commanded by General William Birdwood, an officer from the British Indian Army. He brought in soldiers from India, Ceylon, Britain, and Ireland. He even had a Jewish unit with volunteers from Russia, Canada, and the US, but it was mainly made up of those Anzac soldiers. This illustration of the Anzac troops came out after the battle at Gallipoli. George R.I said, “The Australian and New Zealand troops have indeed proved themselves worthy sons of the Empire.” That seemed odd . . . George I died after the American Revolution. George V was king during WWI, and he was also the last ruler of the British Empire. It began dissolving after WWI and eventually turned into the British Commonwealth of Nations. And the Gallipoli campaign – it started on February 17, 1915. It ended on January 19, 1916. It had three goals – To weaken and defeat the Ottoman Empire. To keep the Suez Canal safe, and to open up shipping to Russian ports. BTW, that’s when the Russian czar and the British king were cousins, and they worked together against another cousin, the German kaiser. The Gallipoli campaign didn’t work out as planned. The February land invasion failed, but the Allies didn’t quit. On April 25 they sent the Anzac soldiers to land on the Turkish beaches. That failed too. Finally in January 1916 the allies gave up and withdrew their forces. For Turkey, it became a defining moment in their history, the beginning of the road to becoming their own country. In Australia and New Zealand, they saw Gallipoli as a baptism of fire. It was also the beginning of their journey to become independent countries too. Part 2 – World War II and Beyond – You can visit this monument in Sfakia, Crete. It’s an island off the shore of Greece, and its monument honors the Anzac soldiers from WWII who fought in the Battle of Greece. It was over in weeks, not months. The result . . . the Italians won this time. The Anzac troops left Greece on April 23 and 24 of 1941. Most of them were sent to Crete to bolster its defense against an upcoming German air and sea invasion. That battle began May 20. It ended 10 days later. The Germans – overwhelming. The Royal Navy rescued most of the men, but some hid out in mountains. They survived thanks to the people of Crete. Others were found, captured, and sent to Prisoner of War camps in Europe (POW). I searched but couldn’t find the date this monument was built, but I’m glad it honors those who fell in Greece, then in Crete. They may have lost those battles, but their efforts helped win World War II. Welcome to the Be’er Sheva Anzac Memorial Centre. You’ll find it in Be’eri Forest near Negev, Israel. It’s a monument to the Anzac soldiers who gave their lives in Palestine during World War 1. That was in April, 1917. (Palestine is now the country of Israel.) The Memorial Centre was dedicated on the 100th anniversary of Be’er Sheva’s liberation from the Ottoman Empire. You can interact with the Anzac story inside the museum. Outside you’ll be walking on hallowed ground, where the two battles of Gaza were fought. Information Sources: Anzac Ted – Written and Illustrated by Belinda Landsberry Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - Wikipedia Gallipoli campaign - Wikipedia Anzac Memorial (Israel) - Wikipedia The Be'er-Sheva ANAZC Memorial Centre - אטרקציות בבאר שבע - כל האטרקציות בבאר שבע : תיירות באר שבע (visitbr7.co.il) If you haven’t been in a school the last week of October for a while, you might not have heard of Red Ribbon Week. It’s been around since 1985. It started as a tribute to a DEA Agent, and now it’s the largest and longest running drug awareness and prevention program in the United States. Part 1 – Its History: This is Enrique or Kiki Camarena. He was born in Mexico, and his family immigrated to California. Kiki served as a Marine. Later he joined his local police department and did undercover narcotics work for them. Kiki joined the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) when it opened in 1977, even though his mother told him not to. He said that he was only one person, but he wanted to make a difference. Kiki’s memory still matters, and I’m glad his story hasn’t been forgotten. Kiki left work on February 7, 1985 to have lunch with his wife. He never made it. He was kidnapped by five men from one of the Mexican drug cartels. They tortured him for his DEA work. His body was found a month later. My heart hurt back then for Kiki and his family. It still does. His friends and neighbors wanted to remember him. They wanted to join his fight against illegal drugs so they started wearing red ribbons. So did parents across the country. They wanted to stop the drugs and alcohol that hurt their children. They formed groups and took up the fight. They adopted the red ribbon as a symbol of Kiki’s sacrifice, and one by one they showed that one person can make a difference. The National Family Partnership (NFP) was one of those groups, and they sponsored the first National Red Ribbon Celebration in 1988. They’re doing it again this year. I remember Kiki’s story from the 1980’s. I remember taking part in Red Ribbon Week for most of my teaching career. I don’t remember when my school started, but I’m happy they’re celebrating it again this week. Part 2 – FAF Called Me: FAF, or Families Against Fentanyl, has been calling me to write about them since the summer, but I never found the right time. This has to be it, and I think Kiki Camarena would agree. He believed that one person could make a difference, and this might be my chance. All of my illustrations are screenshots from FAF’s website: Families Against Fentanyl. This one caught my eye. Fentanyl is the #1 cause of death for anyone aged 18 to 45. That’s my three kids. All three. I thought they were safe from drugs. Maybe not. Fentanyl is so sneaky. It’s sent over the Mexican border by the same cartels Kiki fought in 1985. It can be added to other pills, to other drugs. It’s so potent that a rookie policeman died three times in a drug bust, and he only caught its smell. He didn’t swallow. Thank goodness! He lived to tell. Now those same cartels are disguising fentanyl to look like candy. My best advice with pills/candy is to buy them from the store, even if you have to pay more. Your life is priceless, and you only get one shot. That’s it. When trick-or-treating this year, go to the houses of people you know. Don’t eat anything until you’re home, and your parents can look it over. This feels like when my kids were growing up, and people were adding razors to Halloween candy. AWFUL! Back then we took our kids to places we knew, and we checked their candy, just to be sure. Some people even took it to the hospital for an x-ray. They wanted to be safe, not sorry. I absolutely agree with FAF. We can, and we must stop this. One of the best ways you can help is by signing their petition. I thought if I’m going to write this post, I should sign. I’m #41,584. Their goal is 50,000 signatures. You’re welcome to sign up too, but the decision is yours to make. When I was scanning through FAF’s homepage, I ran across this headline. It’s shocking, that a chemical added to a pill, or something that looks like candy, could be a weapon of mass destruction, but the data is there. I paraphrased this sentence from FAF so I could wrap my brain around it. This year, either 2021, or so far in 2022, drug overdose deaths reached 100,000, and fentanyl accounted for 64% of those deaths. That means 64,000 people lost their lives because someone snuck fentanyl into their pill. My children are in that age range. It’s frightening . . . so I’m writing about it. This screenshot and the next one, are from FAF’s button, ‘Take Action.’ There are four bills that are waiting for Congress to vote on. All four deal with fentanyl. After the November election, my guess is that nothing will happen until January, and then new bills will have to be proposed, again. The next screenshot (below) shows a sentence from each bill. I like H.R. 8030 best – it requires action from the Department of Homeland Security. H.Res.1172 seems weak. It urges President Biden and the Department to do something. Require sounds stronger. I’m a writer. I love strong verbs! H.Res.1327 seems weak too. It expresses the sense that the House of Representatives should do something. Expresses? I’m a require kind of writer. I like H.R.9162 because it directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to do something. I like words that show action. If this is so deadly, I don’t want to urge or express. I want it done! I’d like to think Kiki would agree. Part 3 – This Year’s Red Ribbon Week Theme: Celebrate Life – Live Drug Free My old school always found one way each day to celebrate the theme. Here are ten ways I found to have fun, to celebrate life, drug-free this week, and the rest of the year. 1. Play with toys. 2. Get outside to play. To have fun. 3. Have fun in the water. 4. Find animal friends 5. Find human friends too. 6. Play sports. 7. Spend time with family. 8. Read a book. 9. Listen and play music. 10. Get creative with art. My Sources – Click and Learn More Red Ribbon Week - Wikipedia Kiki Camarena - Wikipedia 2022 Red Ribbon Week Theme | Celebrate Life. Live Drug Free. Families Against Fentany Everyone deals with fear. I wrote about mine . . . getting lost, failing, the unknown, but the most important part – getting past them. I also wrote about the fears I’ve survived, like aging and ahlzheimers, diabetes and death. Plus, how I did it. If you’d like to read that post, click on this link: http://www.rindabeach.com/blog/the-things-i-fear Quote #1 – Stop making excuses; you’re the only one stopping you. Who said it? Issa Rae My guess – Issa Rae learned to stop making excuses as a child. She went through so many changes, so many moves. She had to adjust. Issa was born in LA, lived in Dakar, Senegal, before moving to Potomac, Maryland. Her family made all those moves before or during elementary school. Every time you move, it’s scary, for grown-ups too. After 6th grade her family moved to LA again. Another new neighborhood, and another new school. No room for excuses. When your family moves, you do too. In high school Issa went to one that specialized in science and medicine. It’s also where she got involved in acting, and her parents divorced. Issa didn’t make excuses. She looked for opportunities and found them in the theatre. Issa Rae went on to study and graduate from Stanford University in 2007. That’s where she created Awkward Black Girl. Issa continued to work and study until the play took off in 2011, but she didn’t stop there. She took those ideas and turned them into a New York Times best seller in 2015. No excuses, but lots of hard work! Issa was already working on other things too. In 2013 she started writing a pilot for a comedy series. It became Insecure, and it debuted in 2016. The final episode aired on December 26, 2021, but Issa had finished the next project. It netted her a five-year film and television deal with Warner Media. Magic didn’t make Issa’s ideas come to life. Hard work did – no excuses, procrastination, or doubt. Issa looked at her goals and worked until she found a way to make them happen. Quote #2 – The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. Who said it? Sylvia Plath Sylvia was a talented poet, born in 1932. She kept daily diaries and journals as a child. Kids don’t do that on their own, unless they love writing. Sylvia’s first poem was published in The Boston Herald Children’s Section. She was only eight. It sounds like she had a wonderful childhood, with only a little self-doubt, and lots of creativity. College was good until her third year, 1953. That’s when she won a job at Mademoiselle Magazine. That meant she got to spend a month in New York City. It’s funny sometimes how wonderful can turn into awful. It also started a cycle of depression and hurting herself that she’d battle for the next ten years. Sylvia died in 1963. Sylvia experienced success, when she pushed away self-doubt. She married and had two children. She was the author of four books. Two of them she lived to see – The Colossus and Other Poems (1960) and The Bell Jar (1963). Would you believe her most famous work, The Bell Jar, had its roots in that awful summer of 1953? I’m glad Sylvia took the lessons she learned and channeled them into a book. I read it in high school. Now I understand why it was so gloomy. Sylvia also had two pieces published after her death – Ariel (1965) and The Collected Poems (1981). That collection won her a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1982, 19 years after her death. I wish she had known. I also wish the things we know about depression and suicide now, were available for Sylvia and her family back then. This story about Sylvia makes me happy. At Smith College she wrote in her journal about being conflicted about a decision – whether to stay at college for a summer writing class, or to take it off. She decided to go home. She believed you could write about anything in life, if you had the guts to do it. She decided she could skip the class, and her creativity would be just fine. My wish – that she could have hugged that lesson tight during the awful times. That she could have recognized her own self-worth and lived to tell, with more stories for us, and for her two children. My wish for you – that when you’re feeling self-doubt, that you talk to someone. That you ask them for reasons to believe in yourself. It’s what I do when I doubt myself, and my writing. Here’s to fighting doubts – for you and for me. Quote #3 – Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. Who said it? Marie Curie or Madame Curie Marie lived a fearless life. She pushed it aside to search for knowledge and understanding. Her hunt led her away from home in Poland. She moved to France to live with her big sister. She wanted to study and experiment with science. That was 1891, and Marie was 24. Marie married Pierre Curie in 1895. They both loved science, and together they researched radioactivity, Marie’s word for the material they experimented on. In 1903 their work earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics. They were the first married couple to win the award, and Marie the first woman. Pierre died in 1906, but Marie continued her drive to learn more, and to share that knowledge. In 1906 she became the first female professor at the University of Paris. She was fearless in her pursuit of science. Marie continued to work on isolating radioactive isotopes. She discovered two new elements – polonium and radium. That earned her the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, her second. Eventually she’d earn five. Marie uncovered medical applications for radioactivity. She developed mobile X-ray units to help soldiers survive the First World War, from 1914 – 1918, but Marie didn’t stop there. She founded two institutes devoted to medical research. One in Paris in 1920, and another in Warsaw, Poland in 1932. Marie’s work with radium shortened her life, but it gave us so much . . . like X-rays and cancer radiation treatments. Her words about fear and understanding came after learning she had leukemia. She pushed fear away during those final days and concentrated on learning and understanding. Marie died in 1934. Started 9/26 Finished 10/13 I didn’t get this title until I started reading. It feels more like the Frankie Valli song about being ‘close, but yet so far.’ It illustrates the main character, how Viola Brodure is next to life, but not really part of it. Nichole hooked me with her character development. Each one had their own distinct personality, their own issues, and they grew as the plot developed. Every time I thought I knew where the story was going, Nichole added another twist, that upped the tension. The best part – her author notes. The plot was inspired by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the poet. I didn’t know how her courtship started – in letters. That’s the plot Nichole planned to write, but this story had a mind of its own. Viola didn’t marry the poet, like Elizabeth did. The plot morphed and changed. I love when stories tell writers how they want to be told, and I’m glad Nichole shared that story. Amazon’s Description: Viola Brodure, gentlewoman and celebrated authoress, faces a personal dilemma suited for a novel—everyone wishes for her to make a love match with Ethan Penn-Leith, the famous Highland Poet. And by everyone, she means everyone—her father, her adoring readers, the gossip columnists, and her patron, the overbearing Duke of Kendall. Why, even Queen Victoria herself has given a nod of approval to the match. After all, the popular novelist and the famous poet are the perfect heroine and hero for their own love story. A literary dynasty waiting to be born. The problem, of course, is that Viola has never met Ethan, not in the flesh, at least. She has read about him and devoured his poetic writings, but does the man himself live up to his dashing reputation? Malcolm Penn-Leith exists in twilight. He manages his farm, Thistle Muir, in the shadow of the Scottish Highlands. As the older brother of the renowned Ethan Penn-Leith, Malcolm tends to his prized cows while Ethan basks in the limelight. Harder still, Malcolm lives under a cloud of grief after the death of his wife five years ago. But then Miss Viola Brodure arrives in Malcolm’s wee village, intent on meeting Ethan and beginning a courtship. Viola—petite, blond, shy, and English—is nothing like Malcolm’s late wife. And yet, Viola awakens a piece of his heart that he thought lost in the abyss of his grief. For her part, Viola is surprised to find herself more attracted to the stoic Malcolm than the charming Ethan. So now what? She isn’t meant to fall in love with the man adjacent to Ethan Penn-Leith. That’s not the plot she had outlined. After all, Malcolm and Viola are not the match made in heaven that everyone wishes to see. As social pressures mount, can Malcolm and Viola overcome the weight of his past and the expectations of her future to forge a new path together? Please note that the basic elements of this story first appeared in a novella entitled A Ring of Gold. This current novel is a greatly-expanded adaptation of that novella. Elizabeth is the only Queen I’ve ever known. There may have been other queens around the world, but they weren’t famous in the US like Elizabeth II. I missed her coronation, June 2, 1953 by six years. That’s because I wasn’t born until May of 1959. At least I can watch the next one – for her son, Charles III, and it will happen sometime in 2023. The date – yet to be determined. Part 1 – The Queen I Knew: I wasn’t a fan in the 90’s of the Queen, or Charles because of Diana, Princess of Wales. She was his first wife, and she was treated horribly by the royal family. I could identify with her . . . I didn’t always get along with my in-laws, but it’s true . . . time heals most wounds. When Diana died in 1997 in a car accident, I didn’t think I could ever forgive the Queen, or Charles. That I could ever see Camilla as his wife, but time passed. Charles and Camilla married in 2005. Enough time had passed that it felt OK, and now enough time has passed that it feels OK for Camilla to be Queen Consort. I read that some people are still being horrible to them. After 17 years of marriage, it feels like it’s time to let it go, to let them be. Now I’m happy to look back, to remember Queen Elizabeth II. This is her with her husband on her Coronation Day back in 1953. Elizabeth had been queen since February 6, 1952, the day her father, George VI died. Elizabeth became queen immediately, but coronations take time to plan and practice. Elizabeth served the United Kingdom for 70 years. She’s the longest reigning monarch in British history. One of the lines I heard repeated the week after her death was something Elizabeth said when she was 21. “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service,” Elizabeth kept her promise, for 70 years. That’s an incredible record! Near the end of her life, she was reported to have said the moment I stop, is the moment I drop. She kept going, until the day before she died. These are Elizabeth’s last two prime ministers. She met with them both at Balmoral Castle on September 6th, two days before she died. She received Boris Johnson’s resignation first. Later in the day she met with Liz Truss and asked her to form a new government. Over the 70 years Elizabeth reigned, she worked with 15 prime ministers. They met once a week to discuss the state of the country. That’s a lot of meetings! She started with Sir Winston Churchill in 1952. She ended with Liz Truss in September of 2022. On September 7th, Elizabeth skipped the Privy Council meeting with her advisors. She probably wanted to attend, but her doctors said rest. On the 8th, her family flew in, trying for one last visit. Some made it. Some didn’t. Elizabeth died at 4:30 PM British time. Her people were told at 6:30 PM. That’s when Charles officially became king. Part 2 – Scotland Says Goodbye to the Queen: When the Queen died on September 8th, Operation London Bridge began. It’s a group of plans that Elizabeth made for her family, and for her country. She might have set them up years ago. She probably made changes over the years. London Bridge included a national period of mourning that lasted for 10 days. It started on September 8th with her death, and it ended on the 19th with her funeral. Operation Unicorn was the set of plans made just for Scotland. The Queen’s body remained at Balmoral from the 8th until the 11th. That’s the day her funeral cortege of cars left Balmoral at 10:46AM to travel to Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. I took a screenshot of Scotland from Bing Images. The Princess Anne followed her mother’s car the whole way through Aberdeenshire, Angus, and Fife, for 175 miles. If you look at the map, you can find Aberdeen, where the Queen’s voyage began, and Edinburgh, where it ended. Angus and Fife must be somewhere in-between. Along the road people stood to show their respect, to say goodbye. A group of farmers even formed an honor guard of tractors for their Queen. It was another way to thank Elizabeth for her service. Elizabeth’s cortege of cars arrived at Holyrood Palace at 16:23. That’s 4:23 PM. In England they use a 24-hour clock, like US military time. Elizabeth’s coffin was placed in the Throne Room. Holyroodhouse is where the Queen used to spend a week at the beginning of summer. She’d attend official engagements and ceremonies. On September 11th and 12 she said her official goodbyes to Scotland and its people. Elizabeth’s coffin left Holyroodhouse on September 12. She was driven up the Royal Mile one last time to St Giles’ Cathedral. The Bearer Party from the Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Royal Company of Archers escorted her cortege. Her four children followed on foot – King Charles III, Princess Anne and her husband, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. The Queen Consort and Edward’s wife followed by car. Guns were fired from Edinburgh Castle each minute as the Queen traveled up the Royal Mile, one last time. When Elizabeth arrived, her coffin was carried into the church, and the Crown of Scotland was placed on top. Its history – it’s also known as the James V crown. It was falling apart so he had it remade in 1540. That’s when the first Queen Elizabeth was 6 or 7 years old. Then St. Giles’ held a service of Thanksgiving to celebrate the second Elizabeth, and her service to Scotland. The Queen lay in state for 24 hours, guarded by the Royal Company of Archers. Her children stood guard for 10 minutes. It’s a new tradition that started with Elizabeth’s father, George, but only his sons watched over him. Not his daughter. This time Princess Anne joined in too. The Queen’s Scottish subjects filed by, hour after hour, for 24 hours. No one said a word. I know – I watched AND listened. By the end of that time 33,000 people paid their respects. I did the math . . . That means 1375 people filed by each hour, even during the middle of the night. It says a lot about the Scots, and Elizabeth’s service to them. Part 3 – Goodbye from London: On September 13, the Queen was flown from Edinburgh to London. Then she was driven back to her home at Buckingham Palace. Princess Anne was with her every step of the way. In London people lined the streets to say goodbye. Once her coffin arrived, it was taken to the Bow Room. There, only the royal family was in attendance. I can’t imagine grieving for my mother, with the whole world watching. On September 14th Elizabeth was on the move again. A military procession carried her coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. Her children, Charles I, Anne, Andrew, and Edward, marched along behind her. The sounds – overwhelming! Bands playing marches. Big Ben, the world’s most recognizable clock, tolling out each minute, and the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery – they were firing their guns from Hyde Park. Soldiers from the Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, carried Elizabeth’s coffin into the Hall. They set it on a platform. Then the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Dean of Westminster delivered the service for Elizabeth’s family. And for her country. The Queen lay in state in Westminster Hall from 2:00PM September 14th until 6:30AM on the 19th. This is a map of that queue. That’s what the Brits call a line you stand in. The Queen’s – its maximum length was 10 miles. The longest waiting time – over 24 hours. During those five days, over 250,000 people waited to say goodbye. The line ran for 96 hours. When I did the math, they were able to send 2604 people by, each hour. This is the queu that crossed Lambeth Bridge. It stretched from one side of the Thames to the other. I wonder if it’s the spot where the red line on the map crosses the river at Westminster. I can’t imagine standing in line for 24 hours, but at least they used arm bands to take breaks – to sit down, get something to eat, or visit the bathroom. I’ve heard no one does lines like the British, and no one does ceremonies like them either. Here’s Westminster Hall again. The queue passed the queen’s coffin on both sides. The coffin was guarded by the Sovereign’s Bodyguard and the Household Division. On it sat the Imperial State Crown, the Sovereign’s Orb and Scepter, and flowers from Balmoral and Windsor Castles. Did you see the queue on American TV? I did. I also saw the Vigil of the Princes. That’s when Elizabeth’s children stood guard for ten minutes on September 16th, like they did in Edinburgh. Her eight grandchildren stood guard on the 17th. The youngest was 14. The oldest, 44. Can you imagine standing at complete attention, with TV cameras watching, and trying not to cry? I can’t! Elizabeth’s coffin left Westminster Hall at 10:44AM on September 19th. She was carried by the Royal Navy’s Gun Carriage to Westminster Abbey. King Charles, the royal family, and part of the King’s household followed. Queen Victoria started the tradition in 1901, for her funeral. A wreath of flowers sat on the coffin, with a note from King Charles. A bell tolled 96 times, to remember each year of the Queen’s life. Elizabeth’s coffin arrived at 10:52, and the funeral service began at 11AM. It was attended by leaders and reigning monarchs from all over the world. Over 2000 people came, to celebrate Elizabeth’s life. The first funeral procession left Westminster Abbey at 12:15, headed toward Wellington Arch. This is the arcch. It sits in the middle of a traffic island between Hyde Park and Green Park. Her four children marched behind the coffin. Seven military bands and 3000 military personnel joined in. The royal family followed by car. Elizabeth’s procession was over a mile-long, and approximately a million people lined its route. Next Elizabeth’s coffin travelled by hearse. It left the Wellington arch at 1:30PM. Her driver didn’t use the motorway, their interstate. They took the A roads so people could watch along the way. Their A roads are like American highways. Elizabeth arrived at 3:00 for the final procession, down the Long Walk to Windsor Castle. I watched, and it was amazing. One thousand military personnel took part. Around 97,000 people lined either side of the walk. Her pony Emma stood to the side. So did her corgis, Muick and Sandy. All those people, but all I heard was the march of feet. Amazing, so many people, so silent and still. The King and the royal family joined the procession at the Quadrangle. That’s the lawn inside the castle grounds. Then bells tolled from two towers. The King’s Troop, the Royal Horse Artillery, fired guns from the castle’s east lawn. An honor guard from the 1st Battalion Grenadiers carried her coffin into St. George’s Chapel, inside the grounds of Windsor Castle. Elizabeth’s service began at 4PM. The 800 people in attendance, they were mostly members of the royal household and the staff from the Queen’s private estates. They served Elizabeth over the days, months, even years of her lifetime. The seats were also filled by the royal family, the British governors general of the Commonwealth Nations, their prime ministers, and reigning monarchs from around the world. The Dean of Winsor conducted the funeral service. He used the same order that had been used for Elizabeth’s grandparents and her father, George VI. The Crown Jeweler, Mark Appleby took her crown, scepter, and orb near the end of the service. They were placed on the alter, to be saved for the coronation of the next king. Elizabeth received them at hers, back in 1953. Then the Lord Chamberlain of England, Lord Parker of Minsmere, broke her ceremonial staff, her wand of state. He laid the pieces on her coffin. The Queen’s Piper, Paul Burns, played as she was lowered into the Royal Vault. Then the National Anthem was sung, with one small change – God Save the King. The royal family held a private service later, at 7:30PM. At long last, after eleven days to say goodbye, Elizabeth II was laid to rest in the family vault with her parents, her husband, and her sister. These were Queen Elizabeth’s Imperial State Crown, the Sovereign’s Orb, and Scepter. They’ll be safe in storage until sometime in 2023, when it’s time to pass them onto Charles III, at his coronation. Part 4 – Missing the Queen? Here are 4 books to help you and your little ones remember Queen Elizabeth II. One of the things I learned after she died, was how devoted she was to her family, and to her people. I wrote a review of The Queen’s Hat back in June of 2017. Here’s a link to that review: http://www.rindabeach.com/my-reads/review-of-the-queens-hat And here are the Amazon Descriptions of the books in the Queen collection . . . The Queen’s Hat – A sudden gust of wind sets off a marvelous adventure for the Queen, lots of Queen's men, and one very special hat. Just where will that hat land? Following a hysterical, epic hat chase, the Queen is reunited with her hat -- and the royal baby! AKA, Princess Charlotte, who now in 2022 got her way and attended her great-grandmother’s funeral. The Queen’s Present – The Queen is off on a round-the-world tour in search of the perfect Christmas present. And she's not alone... Father Christmas is here to help! The Queen’s Handbag – A very naughty thief has stolen the Queen's handbag! There's only one thing to do: chase the thief all over the landmarks of Great Britain! Hold on to your hats and join the Queen in this epic wild goose chase after one sneaky swan by car. The Queen’s Lift-Off – The Queen's off to space! Travelling at the speed of light, she goes where no man (or Queen) has gone before. From the Moon to Mars, via Mercury. No planet is left unexplored. But will she be back in time for tea? Photo Sources for Part 1: Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson - By Ben Shread / Cabinet Office, OGL 3, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83764351 The New Prime Minister Liz Truss - y Prime Minister's Office - https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prime-minister-liz-trusss-statement-6-september-2022, OGL 3, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=122729965 Balmoral Castle - By Stuart Yeates from Oxford, UK - Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=728182 Photo Sources for Part 2: Balmoral Castle – B’y Stuart Yeates from Oxford, UK - Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=728182 Map of Scotland – Screenshot from Bing images Holyroodhouse - By XtoF - Own workMore of my work on my photoblog: https://www.xtof.photo, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60549142 Procession to St. Giles – By Taras Young - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=122931881 Crown of Scotland - By The Scottish Parliament. - https://www.flickr.com/photos/scotparl/15242887727/in/album-72157648268879636/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50147418 St. Giles’ Cathedral - By Carlos Delgado - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35465527 Photo Sources for Part 3: Screenshot of the Queue from Wikipedia
Queue at Lambeth Bridge – CC BY-SA 4.0, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71772152 Westminster Hall – By Katie Chan - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=123134491 Westminster Abbey – By Σπάρτακος (changes by Rabanus Flavus) - File: Westminster-Abbey.JPG, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76031882 Wellington Arch – By Ermell - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55560305 Windsor Palace - By Diliff - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3811084 St. George’s Chapel Exterior – By Aurelien Guichard from London, United Kingdom (changes by Rabanus Flavus) - File:St. Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle (1).jpg, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67647692 St. George’s Chapel Interior – By Jack Pease, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39655608 Information Sources for this Post: Started 9/21 Finished 9/26 I read plays with my class when I was teaching. I’ve gone to see them, but I’ve never read one for fun, until now. I didn’t like it at first – it was out of my comfort zone. I thought I’d read it once, but I found myself hooked by the story, by the two boys and their fathers – so I read it again. One boy is the son of Harry Potter. The other is Draco Malfoy’s son. Each one is trying to figure himself out, his father, and his friend. This is a play, but it’s also a great story of love, friendship, family, and most of all – MAGIC! Quotes That Caught My Attention: 1. “People say parenting is the hardest job in the world – they’re wrong – growing up is. We all just forget how hard it was. (Draco Malfoy) I disagree. I don’t think it’s easy on either side of the fence! Each one has its own challenges. 2. “I think you have to make a choice – at a certain point – of the man you want to be. And I tell you that at that time you need a parent or a friend. And if you’ve learned to hate your parent by then and you have no friends . . . then you’re all alone. And being alone – that’s so hard. I was alone. And it sent me to a truly dark place. (Draco Malfoy) I was surprised by Draco. He became more than I ever thought possible. This quote truly explains how our dark sides grow and develop. Shining light into darkness can brighten anyone, even Draco. 3. “Losers are taught to be losers. And there’s only one way to teach a loser – and we know that better than anyone – humiliation. We need to humiliate him. So in the second task that’s what we do. (Albus Severus Potter) Albus and Scorpio both failed at Hogwarts. They were bullied and humiliated. If you read the story, you’ll find out how humiliation also changed Cedric Diggory, from the Triwizard Tournament, in a way I never, ever, could have imagined, but it makes sense. 4. “We have both tried to give our sons not what they needed, but what we needed. We’ve been so busy try to rewrite our own pasts, we’ve blighted their present.” (Harry Potter) That quote fits the story of Albus and Scorpio. Their fathers gave them what they needed as children, but not what Albus and Scorpio needed. Sometimes sins, wants, and needs are generational, whether it’s Harry Potter or the Bible. Amazon’s Description: The official playscript of the original West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It's been nineteen years since Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger saved the wizarding world, and now they're back on a most extraordinary adventure, joined by a brave new generation that's only just arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son, Albus, struggles with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present collide, both father and son are locked in a race through time as they battle mysterious forces, all while the future hangs in the balance. Based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the complete and unabridged playscript of the award-winning West End production. This edition includes the final dialogue and stage directions of the original, two-part play, a conversation piece between director John Tiffany and playwright Jack Thorne, the Potter family tree, and a timeline of key events in the wizarding world leading up to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Started 9/19 Finished 9/21 This short story started as a gift from the author to her readers. It takes place after the 3rd book in the original series, The Arbella Stuart Conspiracy, but before its epilogue. Like the other books, The Weeping Lady Conspiracy is historical fiction based on real characters and events. It focuses on Margaret, daughter of Katherine de Valois and Owen Tudor. She became a nun, and her brother Henry became King of England. Margaret returns from Henry’s wedding, and a body has been found. Everyone thinks it’s St. Adwenna, but Margaret knows the truth. That it’s not the real saint. You’ll have to read for yourself to find out who the lady was, and why she’s weeping. Amazon’s Description: Christmas has come to Marquess House and, with it, an unexpected mystery for Perdita and Piper to solve. Will they be able to help devoted sisters from the past find each other again? The Convent of Llyn Cel Island, 1486 . . . Mother Superior, Sister Non, returns from a family wedding to discover the bones of a saint have been revealed during a storm. As her ecclesiastical superiors make plans for a Holy Shrine to be erected, Sister Non knows she must stop them before her bitter secret is revealed. Present Day, Marquess House, Pembrokeshire . . . Perdita and Piper Rivers are spending their first Christmas at Marquess House but when lightning strikes the ancient tower at the heart of their manor revealing a hidden reliquary they are unexpectedly drawn into a ghost story. With Kit Mackensie and Callum Black, Perdita and Piper delve deep into the past to help a centuries old story finally reaches its conclusion. Started 9/11 Finished 9/19 When Lexie meets a house-sitting tourist at dinner, she sets up an interview the next day, but the tourist is a no-show. The mystery – no one at the restaurant remembers seeing her, even though she was sitting beside Lexie. The best part about these books – the mix of paranormal, mystery, and details about the newspaper business. Add in a reference to Agatha Christie in Book 4, and you’ll find the key to solving the Case of the Vanishing Visitor. Enjoy! Quotes That Caught My Attention: 1. “The lesson here was to never piss off an English teacher. They read enough to know how plots work.”(Lexie) I would never have thought of this line, but it’s so true . . . English teachers really know their plots! 2. “Desperation really does make people do dumb things, doesn’t it? I’ve always been so critical of characters in books and movies when they do dumb stuff, but now I think I get it. I must have completely lost my mind.” (The Vanishing Visitor). I giggled! Now when a character does something dumb, I’ll know why, and I won’t blame the author. Amazon’s Description: Is she missing, or was she ever there? As a newspaper reporter, Lexie Lincoln knows a good story when she sees one, and when a source doesn’t show up for an interview and doesn’t answer her phone, Lexie feels certain there’s something wrong. This woman is a visitor to town, on her own and vulnerable, and Lexie may be the only person to realize she’s gone missing. The weird thing is that nobody else remembers seeing this woman, even though Lexie met her during a busy night in her friend Margarita’s restaurant. That makes it hard for her to convince anyone that there’s a problem. After all, Lexie can see ghosts most other people don’t. The woman Lexie talked to might not even have been alive. Sure of her instincts, Lexie sets out to learn more about the woman and what might have happened to her. The plot thickens when the woman’s car is found abandoned. Now Lexie knows she didn’t imagine the visitor, but where is she, and what happened to her? As the clues line up, Lexie starts to worry that they’re just a bit too neat, too much like a good story. Now that the police are seriously investigating the woman’s disappearance, Lexie’s credibility may be in danger if she got the story all wrong in the first place. She has to find the truth before the police do—and before her next issue goes to press—if she doesn’t want to be the editor who cried wolf. Started 8/29 Finished 9/11 Whenever I get a new book, I always read it twice. The first time I get a sense of the plot, and I just enjoy the story. The second time details pop out at me. That’s when I see things, I didn’t see the first time. I go deeper into the story, and that’s when I fall in love with it. The most interesting part of that first read was the author’s note to the reader, after the story. Alexandra wrote about her research for this book. It’s odd – this is a Tudor Conspiracy Thriller, but that’s what makes this book so unique . . . research forms the bare bones to the plot. One of the amazing things is that the main character was supposed to be Elizabeth Boleyn (Anne’s mom) but the research said it should be Jane Seymour. That’s story magic – when your research, your characters show you what to write, and how to do it. One of the things that allowed Alexandra to create this plot – all the gaps in Jane Seymour’s real life. What really happened – no one will ever know for sure. A biographer will draw conclusions to connect those gaps. Someone writing a Tudor Conspiracy Thriller will do the same thing. Here are some of the details I’ve read before . . . 1. Jane wanted to be a nun. 2. Francis Bryan was the relative who got Jane to Henry VIII’s court. 3. Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour served as ladies-in-waiting for Katherine of Aragon. Then Jane served as Anne’s. 4. Elizabeth Barton, The Maid of Kent, really warned Henry against marrying Anne. Eliza’s reward – she was hanged. I knew about these historical details, but I’ve never seen them put together like this. It reminds me – the winners in history – they tell the story. Amazon’s Description: Marquess House is under threat… London, 1527 Nineteen-year-old Jane Seymour arrives at court to take her place with Queen Katherine of Aragon. Discovering a court already beginning to divide into factions between Katherine and Jane’s second cousin, Anne Boleyn, Jane finds herself caught between the old world and the new. Determined to have a son, the king appears to be prepared to take whatever steps he deems necessary to secure the Tudor dynasty. When King Henry VIII finally succeeds in his pursuit of Anne, Jane witnesses the slow unravelling of his interest in the new queen as she, too, fails in her task to deliver a son. Having watched both Katherine and Anne fall from grace, Jane has no ambition for the throne, but when the king begins seeking her out, Jane realises the decision may be out of her hands… Pembrokeshire, 2020 When a set of papers called The Pentagram Manuscript makes its way to Perdita and Piper at Marquess House, they find they have a new mystery to unravel. The manuscript is the tale of five women on a quest to find true love, written while Anne Boleyn was queen. As Perdita begins to unravel the text, she discovers a code that leads to a whole new outlook on Henry’s relationship with Jane Seymour. But before they have a chance to reveal all, the twins find themselves under threat from a different source. Their second cousin, Xavier Connors, is determined to wrest Marquess House from them. As Marquess House must be passed down through the female line, and Perdita and Piper do not have children, Xavier sees his twin daughter as being next in line. And when Piper is nearly driven off the road, they realise he will stop at nothing to get what he wants… What really happened to Henry VIII’s Tudor queens? Why was history rewritten? Will Piper and Perdita be able to unravel all of the secrets before it’s too late…? |
AuthorWhen I write, I can only have one voice in my head, mine. A little noise is fine. But too much, or worse yet, WORDS, and I must change rooms or pull out headphones. Then I can write on! Categories
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