Love, Laughter, and Life

Adventures With a Book Lover


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2019 Word of the Year: Treasure

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Do you have a word of the year? This year my word is treasure. Last year my word was roots and I had an inspirational image art project I worked on throughout the year to remind me of my word.

I don’t yet have an art project in process for treasure, but the image is forming in my mind. I’m letting it percolate on the back burner. You know what happens when things perk on the back burner? If it’s my dad’s coffee pot, the old-fashioned type with grounds, metal basket, and metal coffee-greasy shellac, then perking will brew strong, formidable, grow-the-hair-on-your-chest type of coffee.

That’s what I’m going for. Treasure that grows strong, formidable, and grows the hair on my chest, in the courage and confidence sort of way. Letting my word simmer will add notes of depth, fragrance, insights, and spicy overtones. As I taste my word, treasure, I hope I will also grow deeper, gain insights, become more fragrant, and enjoy spice in my life.

A spicy life! Let’s do it!

“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Psalm 34:8, NKJV)

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” (2 Corinthians 2:14, NKJV)

Taste and see, smell and know.

I began a Blessings and Thankfulness journal on January 1. Nothing fancy, just a cheap composition notebook and pens. As I focus on my treasure, I want to remember the blessings and reasons for thankfulness which are all around me. You know how easy it is to complain and mope. Ugh. I’m so tired of that. But still, I sink into that attitude. I hope by considering and jotting down both blessings and thanks, I can avoid the pity party.

A quick list of some of my treasures:

Jesus-God-Holy Spirit-faith-hope-love-Kevin-RV-home-shelter-food-Taylor-Jamie-Donavyn-Autumn-Chelsie-Hayden-Khloe-Gage-Monet-coffee-church-family-friends-you-readers-nature-snow-books-gardens-beauty-Bog boots-words-Bible-chocolate-art-music-travel-camera-rubber stamping-crafts-journals-writing-bees-flowers-hiking

Can you list 5 treasures in your life?

Read more about my Word of the Year here.

What is your word of the year?


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Polysyndeton: A Literary Device I Use (and didn’t know it)

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I love writing and reading and sipping coffee and nibbling dark chocolate.

Did you see the polysyndeton technique I just used?

Notice the ands, instead of commas. Using extended conjunctions in a sentence is  polysyndeton. As soon as I read this post. I recognized this literary technique as one I love to employ. Much to the dismay of some of my former critique partners.

I love the way polysyndeton slows the reader down, creates excitement, enhances vocabulary, adds focus, and increases emotions in the text I’m writing. (No polysyndeton in this sentence.)

It’s fun to play with a technique with a fancy name! I’m not even sure how to correctly pronounce polysyndeton, but I can put it to good use.

Read the full article by Daily Writing Tips here.

How about you? Do you use the polysyndeton technique? Is there a favorite literary technique you love?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.


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Happy Hump Day Haiku Challenge: bridge

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Let’s take a little vacation to visit summer and Monet’s Giverny. (I think we can all use some sunshine and green.) Here’s #ThrowbackThursday meets Hump Day Haiku.

 

in white winter mope,

memories feed sanity

bridge to restful green

 

bridge by Angie Quantrell

 

Welcome to Hump Day Haiku Challenge. Join the fun and share a Haiku about bridges or winter despair. We’ll make it to spring!

 

 


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Snow Cream Strikes Again!

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Yesterday, 2-hour late start.

Today, NO SCHOOL. At all. As a kid, I would love it. As a Nana, I can’t keep up! (But I still love it.)

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Sledding, shoveling, driving RCs (rock crawlers to you folks not in the RC club know), and clambering in very deep snow and cold temps leads us to the refreshment portion of the day.

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It’s time to make Snow Cream!

  1. Fill one large bowl with clean snow. CLEAN snow.
  2. Mix between 1/4-1/2 cup sugar into 1 cup of milk. Dissolve sugar. Add 1 tsp. vanilla to milk. Stir well.
  3. Pour small amounts of sweetened milk over ice cream and stir. If you don’t have enough liquid, add more milk. I like to reduce the sugar as much as possible, so start with the smallest amount.

Once the snow is creamy, scoop into bowls and enjoy! Snow cream is a hit in this house.

P.S. IF you are a mommy, daddy, auntie, or Nana, and a fan of Irish cream, uhm, the coffee creamer version could help you survive snow days. Maybe after the kiddies are tucked in bed at night. A little Irish cream snow treat.

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Circle Time Preschool Puzzles: The Nesting Syndrome

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What to do when there is only 1 child?

Make a puzzle circle! Miss Autumn (2) was quite content to sit inside the puzzle circle and work puzzles. Simone was happy to supervise. A cozy nearby fireplace added ambiance and warmth for this cold winter day activity.

There is something about the NEST format of play. Are you a nest person? I am. I’ve always loved playing inside a circle formed by things-toys, books, supplies, whatever I’m working on-spread in a circle which surrounds me.

I really need to research this nest phenomenon. Does it point to a specific need, like security? Is nesting organizational in nature? Am I completely OCD and this is how it manifested itself when I was a child? Am I a circle person? Is this a form of marking my territory, albeit the creation of play boundaries and personal space instead of doggy pee trails? What does that mean?

Not nesting, as in I’m pregnant and preparing for the imminent birth of my child, though I also experienced that type of nesting. I clearly remember nesting the entire Memorial Day weekend. I thought I was just making things tidy, cleaning house, and putting baby things away. Lo and behold, our first baby came 3 weeks early and arrived before lunch on the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Surprise! I was baby nesting.

There is also the type of nesting performed by birds. I am not a bird. But I am amazed at the intricate, sturdy, vastly creative and unique types of nests these little bird brains build. With that in mind, I’m sure bird brain is a complement.

Back to play nesting. I have memories of Barbie nests, toy box nests (where the toy box is empty and I am surrounded by the toys), and fabric nests. The fabric nests lets you know this nesting trait carried over to my adult years. I remember a specific photo of my two preschoolers, complete with a circle of toys and nearly empty toy box. Donavyn and Autumn (grands) love sitting inside blanket nests. Is nesting hereditary?

Any ideas? Do you nest? Have you seen young children exhibit nesting? I’d love to know more about the nesting syndrome.

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Haiku: Winter Snow Globe

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swirl wind, drift snowflakes.

secure; howl winter frenzy

living in snow globe

 

blow now, pile deep, chill;

blanket all, winter world, twirl-

alien landscape

 

frozen fingers ache

deep breath. calm. blue sky. storm rest.

living in snow globe

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winter snow globe by Angie Quantrell


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Happy Hump Day Haiku Challenge: winter

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drifting, snarled, stuck

captured, unprepared to stay-

winter lock in place

 

winter by Angie Quantrell

Happy Hump Day Haiku Challenge! Join us. Write a Haiku about winter or being stuck. Post the link or your Haiku in the comments so we can all read it.

Welcome!


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Storystorm Winner!

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I’m a Storystorm winner!

Storystorm is a month-long brainstorming project for writers of picture books organized and hosted by Tara Lazar. Mark your calendars for January 2020 when Storystorm will blast off the new year with daily posts, ideas, tips, and interactions with other writers. It’s that good.

Everyone who participates in Storystorm is a winner. I have a full notebook of ideas from this past month of Storystorm and previous years of Storystorm. I just began my second notebook. Those notebooks are gold mines for writers of picture books. Really!

I can’t tell you my ideas. They are SECRET. For now. Let me tell you there are some real gems lining those pages.

Whoop!

What do you do to brainstorm?

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Monday Moments: The Weather App was Correct=Snow!

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Lately we’ve been required to take the weather app predictions with an entire shaker full of salt (instead of a few grains).

But not today! The app said snow, and snow is the happening event. I think they are quite a bit off on the amount of snow they predicted, as I spent over an hour shoveling and my tracks, trails, and cleared areas disappeared beneath more inches of the pretty fluff before I finished.

What is .2 of an inch anyway? Not the mountains of snow piled around the RV and shop. Do they measure snow AFTER they melt it in a cup? I keep sweeping .2 off the deck. And the next time I look, I need to do it again. Percentage of error seems to be quite high.

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.2 frozen in my hair

Blowing wind, heavy snow, cold air. Winter is back. With near 50 degrees last week, I was thinking spring, bulbs popping up new flowers, pleasant walks, sunny skies. Wait. I thought the groundhog did not see his shadow and spring is coming early?

Winter or not, I love the white stuff. So beautiful. A bear to drive in (I watched a semi back down the hill near us when he couldn’t make it to the top). Slippery footing. Cold. So peaceful. Quiet.

No late start today. I think that is going to change tomorrow. Get out those snow clothes back out. It’s sledding time!

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.2 melting on my glasses, soaking my hat and coat

What’s the weather in your neck of the woods?


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Irony: The Clothesline

Clothesline, Wash, Farm, To Wash Clothes

Image from Pixabay.com

Irony (noun)

2 a (1): incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result (Merriam-Webster, 2019)

There are three options for rescuing neglected metal clothesline poles. Not the wimpy aluminum, bendy sort; but the solid, steel, withstand heavy-duty sleeping bags and families of wet jeans type.

I watch for these opportunities. For case 1 and 2, the clothesline poles are clearly not in use. Besides the lack of actual line strung between poles, each one of the poles in on opposite sides of a 6-foot fence. This is not conducive to the drying of clothes.

For case 3, the location of said poles is just off a parking lot, in the middle of, well, basically nowhere.

None of these clothesline poles are being used, when in fact, they would all be happy in my neck of the woods. I would be quite overjoyed to adopt a set of metal twins and bring them into my family.

I tell you this, but the man is not so sure we should knock on the door of individuals we do not know and ask for permission to dig up, haul, and relocate said harbingers of summer laundry season.

Here’s the irony.

In the backyard of our lower valley home, we had THE best clothesline. It served us well for many years. Until we sold our home and moved north. One doesn’t know to take along the clothesline. For future want.

Several years and moves later, we lived in an older home with a postage stamp backyard. No clothesline. Et voila! Our son and daughter-in-law, having purchased a home with some space, were the owners of a set of clothesline poles. Unneeded clothesline poles. How that can be true, I have no idea. But at that time, it was true.

We were gifted the clothesline poles. Yay for me! The man figured how to wrangle a decent clothesline in our minuscule backyard, tucked behind the old shed. Perfect! I loved doing laundry and hanging it to dry on my clothesline.

Fast forward. We sold our home, bought an RV, and moved to-wait for it-our son and daugther-in-law’s home. Not a permanent move, but in order to work on building our own small home. Our residence here has stretched longer than we planned, but that’s what happens sometimes.

And the clothesline poles? The ones that were originally here? They are there. At the old home. And I am back to not having a clothesline.

Funny thing, irony. If we had been slower to add the new clothesline at the old house, we would have a clothesline here. Read this post to see the ironic clothesline.

Anyone need to get rid of a clothesline?

Clothesline, Little Girl Dresses

Image from Pixabay.com