Judythe Morgan

17 11, 2017

Almost A Dozen

By |2017-11-16T06:23:36-06:00November 17th, 2017|Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Our chickens have been slacking off lately. We’ve only gotten 4 eggs a day for several weeks.

We’re not sure why and I’ve even had to buy eggs at the store. It was very strange.

I’ve told the girls to get busy. The deal is they feed us and we feed them.

It worked- yesterday we got 10 eggs!  That is almost a dozen!I guess we’ll keep feeding the chickens after all.

16 11, 2017

Guest Author – Donna Schlachter

By |2017-11-14T13:50:26-06:00November 16th, 2017|Author Interview, Guest author, Guest blogger|3 Comments

Welcome fellow author Donna Schlachter. She’s visiting to tell us a little about herself and answer some questions about her two new releases, The Mystery of Christmas Inn, Colorado and Christmas Under the Stars.

Donna loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Home is in Denver with her husband, who is her first-line editor and biggest fan. A hybrid author, she publishes historical suspense under her own name and contemporary suspense as Leeann Betts. She’s also a ghostwriter and editor of fiction and non-fiction. Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management represents Donna.

And, here are her answers to the interview questions:

  1. How do you balance writing and everyday life?

It’s not easy. I have learned that with anything that’s important in my life, I have to make time. I will never find it. I am very goal oriented, so if I tell myself I have to write at least one chapter today before I can go on to something else, I do it. Check it off the list. Next thing.

  1. Do you listen to music to set the mood for writing?

I don’t listen to music because then I want to sing along, and those words mess with the ones in my head. If I go to a coffee shop—which is where I am as I write this—my mind keeps drifting back to the music playing in the background, and I try to make sense of the lyrics, which, in this case, is impossible. I like to “hear” the story—to me, writing with music is like going to a movie and trying to listen to a baseball game on the radio at the same time. 

  1. What was the spark that gave you the story idea for Christmas Under the Stars?

I ask a lot of “what if” questions, and the question that sparked this story was what if a man was attracted to a woman he thought was married? Then the challenge became how to keep that misinformation from being straightened out too soon in the story.

I had done a lot of research in Echo Canyon, Utah, for another book and loved the setting. There is actually a place in the canyon where early settlers gathered for church services at the base of the palisades. Once I stood in that spot, I knew I needed a story where they could hold a church service in that same spot.

  1. What will readers find appealing about The Mystery of Christmas Inn, Colorado?

I think readers will find the older characters appealing. So many of our reading population have elderly parents or are contemplating being caregivers to their parents. I wanted to show that just because our age increases, our abilities, our faculties, and our longing for love doesn’t decrease.

  1. What are you working on next?

I’m currently working on the seventh in a mystery series that is published under my pen name, Leeann Betts. Next up will be a month of working on some older manuscripts, and then I will begin in January writing a new novella for a romance collection coming out late 2018/early 2019 with Barbour Publishing.

If you want to get into the Christmas spirit, then add either of Donna’s two new books to your library. Just click on the book cover.

Matthew returns to Christmas Inn to celebrate his fortieth anniversary alone, intending to take his own life so he can join his beloved Sarah, who passed on to glory the previous January. Not certain how—or if—he will go on without her, Matthew learns on his arrival that the old inn will close its doors on New Year’s Eve. A developer has purchased the building and intends to tear it down and put up a chain hotel. Determined to keep his memories and his connection to Sarah alive, Matthew embarks on a harebrained scheme to keep the inn open.

Edith Cochrane, a widow, comes to Christmas Inn because she has nowhere else to spend the holidays. Her children are angry with her because she refuses to choose to live with one of them. Edith and her husband enjoyed a long marriage and a long mission-field ministry, but ever since his passing the previous year, Edith has found herself at loose ends. She comes to Christmas Inn to spend some time thinking about her options.

Can Matthew and Edith save the old hotel—and themselves—or will they run out of time?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November 1858, Utah Territory
Edie Meredith strives to keep her temper and her tongue under control as she heads west with her brother to California. Raised in an itinerant preacher family, she promises she will never marry a man of the cloth.

Tom Aiken, drover of the wagon train, longs to answer his true calling: to preach, and while he realizes not every woman would choose a preacher for a husband, he hopes to soon find his help-meet.

Suspicious ‘accidents’ plague their journey. Is someone trying to keep them from reaching their destination? Or will misunderstanding and circumstances keep them apart?

Connect with Donna Online

Facebook * Twitter * Website * Blog

13 11, 2017

10 Ideas for Paying It Forward

By |2023-11-02T08:56:09-05:00November 13th, 2017|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Gratitude is contagious. We get it by practicing every day.

We can spread the cycle of generosity and kindness when we repay a good deed to others instead of the original benefactor.

If you’ve read the book Pay It Forward, or even if you haven’t, you’ll probably recognize the expression. The book’s about a young boy who did three good deeds for others in need. All he wanted in return was that the recipients pass on the good deed to three other people and keep the cycle going.

The idea spread and gained movement. Now, April 28 is recognized as international Pay It Forward Day

But, you know what, we don’t have to limit sharing good deeds (or practicing gratitude) to one day. One good deed every day might not seem like much, but if we practiced paying it forward, the difference in attitude, others, and ours could be phenomenal.

As Gandhi has said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Need some ideas on how to pay it forward? Here are ten:

  • Send a greeting card to someone.
  • Visit a neighbor and ask if you can help with any chores or pick up something at the market for them.
  • Complement the store cashier.
  • Drop off books you’ve read to a shelter.
  • Pay for the person in line behind you at a fast food drive-through or express line at the grocery store or tollbooth.
  • Cook a casserole for an elderly couple or new mother.
  • If it’s raining, offer your umbrella or at least share it.
  • Pay for someone’s cup of coffee.
  • Volunteer at a school.
  • Donate a bag of pet food to a local shelter.

What would you add to the list?

10 11, 2017

Not So Lucky

By |2017-11-09T20:00:46-06:00November 10th, 2017|Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Last week, actually on Halloween night, we heard a ruckus in the chicken yard. I had just closed them up and it was raining so I was not happy about whatever was causing the commotion. I headed out to find one group of chickens had escaped their coop and were frantically calling at the front of the chicken yard.

My protective instinct kicked in and I hastened back to see what had frightened them.

Nothing was in their coop however I saw movement between the fences.  A possum had grabbed the hen that had been living between the fences and was dragging it off.  I chased the possum off and began to gather our hens back into their coop.

Rachel heard the racket and came to offer support.  I showed her the hen which I assumed was dead.  She thought it best to remove the body so the possum did not return to finish the meal.

When I reached through the chain link fence to grab the hen’s leg, it gave a feeble squawk.

Now, according to animal science major Rachel, there was no choice but to retrieve the hen and assess its injuries.

After rinsing it in the bathtub, Rachel was able to bandage the wounds and fix it a nice dry place in a laundry basket in the bathroom.  At least it would die in comfort.

The hen survived the night so Rachel named her “Lucky.”  We tube fed her and Rachel bought some special antifungal, antibacterial medicine called “Blue Kote” to put on her. After a couple days in intensive care, Lucky was moved out to an isolation run in the chicken yard.

She wasn’t mobile so each night I would lock her in the coop and each morning I would gently move her out near food and water.  I would put her near the water and make sure she drank.  I watched her eat.

I was hopeful.

However, after three days, despite the best efforts of animal science major Rachel and Chicken Wrangler Sara, Lucky succumbed to her injuries. Perhaps she was not so lucky after all.

8 11, 2017

Focus on Gratitude – Cicero

By |2017-11-04T20:45:40-05:00November 8th, 2017|Wednesday Words of Wisdom|2 Comments

Cicero says gratitude is the parent of all virtues. So what is gratitude?

Gratitude is an emotion expressing appreciation for what we have. It’s being thankful and grateful. Gratitude encourages us not only to appreciate gifts but to repay them or pay them forward.

Studies show that when we deliberately cultivate gratitude, we can increase our well-being and happiness. Being grateful—and especially the expression of it to others—increases energy, optimism, and empathy.

So what are you thankful for today?

 

6 11, 2017

For the Love of Dictionaries

By |2017-11-04T19:45:54-05:00November 6th, 2017|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

With so many dictionary resources readily available on-line, it’s easy to believe a hard copy isn’t necessary anymore. It’s my firm belief every home should have at least one realio-trulio paper dictionary readily available.

My love of dictionaries began as a child when I’d spend hours poring through the pages of my grandmother’s eight inches thick Webster’s New International Dictionary (of the English Language).

The ancient leather bound book with its India skin paper had leather alphabet tabs cut in the pages. The illustrations were detailed and the maps gorgeous. There were diagrams, charts, and thousands of words.

It was a fertile resource for a blossoming logophile or, as I prefer to call myself – wordsmith.

I love print dictionaries because all sorts of wonderful magical stuff can happen when you read a dictionary.

You discover a word’s origin and its root. Both can give deeper understanding of the word’s meaning. The lists of synonyms and antonyms given with the meaning provide possibilities for rewriting or a totally new idea.

True, you can get all that in a nano second on-line. But do you scroll down to discover all that? Probably not.

Even if you do, you miss all those other words your finger glides over as it scrolls down the printed page. Words that you might never have seen.

You’d miss things like how “patina” comes after “patient” in the dictionary. When you consider patient describes how to endure time, and patina describes time’s residue, that’s thought-provoking. An on-line dictionary won’t help you discover unique things like that.

Spelling can be a problem no matter what type of dictionary you use. I’m a terrible speller who stumps spell checker 90% of the time. That’s why I have 20,000 WORDS by Louis A. Leslie, a word list of commonly misspelled words. Side-by-side with my dictionary, this little jewel gets me through my writing day.

I love one other dictionary: The King’s English Dictionary. My British antiques business partner gave me a copy when his British accent and my Texas drawl tended to muddle discussions. Further complicating our chats about what to purchase for the shop, the English and American definitions frequently didn’t match. The King’s English Dictionary saved us many times over.

While you may never love dictionaries as I do, I still recommend you have a gigantic paper dictionary handy. You never know what you might learn.

3 11, 2017

An Odd Bird Indeed

By |2017-11-02T07:48:27-05:00November 3rd, 2017|Miller Farm Friday|4 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

I’ve always wanted to be a chicken for Halloween. Well, probably not always -just since we started raising chickens. In any case, I planned it all out this year.

I would get a red rubber glove to wear on my head and some yellow socks for my feet.  The wings were a bit of a challenge.  I asked the art teacher at school (who happened to have two sets of angel’s wings) if I could borrow a set she wasn’t using.  They were perfect!

Rachel loves to crochet and can make just about anything.  I asked her if she could make me a chicken hat.  She did one better.  She made a chicken balaclava and taught me a new word in the process.

A balaclava is, according to Dictionary.com, “a close-fitting, knitted cap that covers the head, neck and tops of the shoulders, worn especially by mountain climbers, soldiers, skiers, etc.” (And sometimes by crazy chicken ladies). Rachel figured the balaclava would allow for a waddle and a comb.

The final effect was quite entertaining for my students.This winter I can alternate between my hippopotamus hat and my chicken balaclava.  If it ever gets cold, that is.

30 10, 2017

Where did Halloween come from?

By |2017-10-05T10:20:13-05:00October 30th, 2017|Holidays|0 Comments

Halloween’s origin dates to The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in Ireland, United Kingdom, and France.

Celts believed the boundary between worlds of the living and the dead became blurred the night before their New Year, which is November 1st.

On October 31st they celebrated the festival of Samhain, lit bonfires, and wore costumes to ward off roaming ghosts.

In the eighth century Pope Gregory III designated November 1st as a time to honor all saints and martyrs and incorporated some Samhain traditions.

October 31st became All Hallows’ Eve and eventually Halloween, the secular, community-based events filled with craved pumpkins and trick-or-treat, that we celebrate today.

But why crave pumpkins?

An Irish myth about an old drunk called “Stingy Jack” is said to be the reason.

Can you guess why he was called stingy? Of course, because he never wanted to pay for his drinks.

Read the full story here or watch to the fun, spooky video below:

The Irish used turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and beets for their lights to keep Stingy Jack away and ward off evil spirits on All Hallow’s Eve. Pumpkins became the jack-o-lanterns when waves of Irish immigrants came to America to escape the Potato Famine. They quickly discovered that pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve out.

Oh, and one more tidbit of information about jack-o-lanterns. This advice comes from the antique dealer me, not the Irish storyteller. Be careful where you display your cleverly carved jack-o-lanterns. The base of a pumpkin can stay moist for days and will rot and stain wood or even marble. Put either foil or a dish with a raised edge under any pumpkins or gourds you display this fall. I’ve stained more than one old piece of furniture decorating for fall with gourds and tiny pumpkins.

27 10, 2017

Me and My Shadow

By |2017-10-26T16:04:48-05:00October 27th, 2017|Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

We had a respiratory illness go through our flock this summer.  Several of our chickens succumbed including one of my favorites – Millie, the D’Uccle.

I was very sad. It happened the same week the snails ate my marigolds.  It was a bad week.

I’m getting over my losses with the help of the other remaining D’Uccle.

I’ve named her Lily.

She follows me around in the morning when I feed the chickens.   It is very sweet. She makes me smile. :)

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