Love is Spoken Here

What a week it has been -- filled with excitement, hard work, laughter, tears, and love. I was able to spend quality time with my sisters as we shared our hopes, dreams and thoughts with each other. Each of my amazing sisters has found ways to shine. Beryl is optimistic, kind and creative, with a…

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband for 32 years of adventure, love, and laughter. One of the most important things we've learned is to have a sense of humor. After our wedding in Alberta, Canada, we were driving down to Sam's parent's house in California, when we noticed smoke billowing out of the trunk. We…

Happy Canada Day

To all my fellow Canadians out there, happy Canada Day. I hope you're having a great time celebrating with your families and friends. I was in Grade 4 when Canada celebrated her centennial birthday. Our school put on a big program that included songs, dancing, our very own red and white maple leaf flag, and…

Farewell to Alberta

This has been a vacation that will be remembered with great fondness. I was able to spend time with each of my dear sisters as well as some of my nieces and nephews. I enjoyed listening to my nephew play the organ. I was thrilled to watch my third oldest sister perform in the Cowboy…

Alberta Beauty

Hey it’s good to be back home again, Sometimes this old farm feels like a long lost friend, Yes, and hey it’s good to be back home again. John Denver had a way of combining words and music that moves my heart. In this song he describes exactly how I feel about my native land.…

Oh, Canada!

I'm in Alberta, Canada for my nephew's wedding on Saturday. So far I've managed to pack a couple of month's activities into four days. I've cleaned house, gone shopping (have you ever put 8 huge cans of tropical fruit salad in your shopping cart?), created an outdoor patio garden in blue glazed pots and transplanted…

Music, please.

Music has been woven through the fabric of my entire life. When I was a child, my father formed a country and western band. They drove all over Alberta performing, and he played the drums. I was very familiar with his favorite country stars, such as Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Johnny Cash.…

Dogs I Have Loved #1

In my book, The Sixth Power, Tania rescues a dog named Peter that she comes to love and rely on.  It’s no surprise that I put a dog in my story, for dogs have always played a big part in my life. My first dog was a Chihuahua-Terrier named Trixie.  Dad had us kids sit…

Burning the Creative Flame

“There are educationists (as jargon has it) who think that creativity itself can be taught, and who write learned, and frequently dull, treatises on methods of teaching it.  It is rather as though they were trying to eat air, with the usual result.  The creative impulse, like love, can be killed, but it cannot be…