Tag Archives: Gardening

Gardening, One Problem after Another, Masks, Poetry, Giveaways: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

Sunday I spent some time in the yard, enjoying the sunshine and warm weather. I watered the two flower pots out front that have pansies in them. They’ve been there five days and the javelina haven’t found them yet. They like to snack on the flowers, pulling them up by the roots, eating the flower part and spreading root balls and dirt in all directions. So far so good. I also watered my lavender and my fruit trees. A good long soak to get deep to the roots. Then, my biggest challenge was to repot my jade plant. I’d put it in a pretty but narrow necked jar two years ago and it was definitely looking like it needed repotting. The problem was to get it out of the jar. It wasn’t easy. I soaked the root ball and slid my hand down into the jar and around the root ball to break it up. With a lot of effort, I got it out but minus the lower third of the roots. I repotted it in a wide mouth pot this time and watered it well. Cross your fingers for it to survive the abuse.

Problems. If you own a house or the appliances and furniture in your apartment, you eventually end up with issues. Since Friday my poor husband has had to fix a number of things. First was the ice maker in the refrigerator. True, having an ice maker quit isn’t exactly an earth-shattering problem but I use my ice maker all the time. So, after tinkering with it, then dumping out all the ice into a container to use as needed, then tinkering some more. He fixed it. At the time we both decided the ice maker was broken, all I could see was a giant repair bill. We’d had a repairman come to the house once before for a previous fridge. Hundreds of dollars later, it was fixed. Thank goodness we didn’t have that this time. If a repair person would come out in the middle of a shut down anyway. Second was the Prius. Hubby got in it early Sunday morning to make our grocery run. It wouldn’t start. That’s never a good start to the day. Anyway, he took the second car and when he got home, spent some time with the owner’s manual to try and figure it out. Turns out the 2nd battery, the one that starts the car, was dead. He managed to find a new battery at a local car parts store and got it fixed. Disaster averted, but it wasn’t cheap. New batteries for Prius’ are expensive.

Hubby asked me to make him a mask to wear out in public. So Friday and Saturday I did. It took me three hours to make two camo masks, one for my husband and one for my daughter’s room mate. The next day, I made two more, one for me and one for my daughter. The second time around it went a lot faster. These pleated masks have a pocket to put a filter in them. My sister-in-law, the nurse, told me about these and she uses the best hepa furnace filters she can find to put in the pocket. So, anyway, they’re done.

April is National Poetry month and I’ve been writing a new poem daily with a group on Facebook. If you’d like a quick getaway, I also post the poems on my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ConniesRandomThoughts/. They’re a quick read and sometimes fun, sometimes thoughtful. You’d like to join in the poetry writing fun? Check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/178557275869627/. Tell Stephanie I invited you!

The St. Patrick’s Day giveaway is done. I’ll post my winners as soon as I get them.

See below for cancellations and changed dates for my appearances.

Stay safe. Stay well.

Giveaways:

The spring giveaway, Spring Flings and Book Things, is now open. You can get to it here, on my Giveaways page. As soon as the winners are announced for the St. Patrick’s giveaway, I’ll let you know.

Where will I Be?

Pine Library, 6124 W. Randall Place, Pine AZ, Friends of the Library meeting, April 27th at 1pm. This event hasn’t been officially cancelled though the library is closed through April. If anything changes, I’ll let you know.

Payson Book Festival, July 18th at the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino, Payson AZ. This event hasn’t been cancelled yet. I’ll keep you posted.

CokoCon 2020, September 4 – 7th, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Phoenix Tempe, 2100 S Tempe, AZ. This event hasn’t been cancelled yet. I’ll keep you posted.

Phoenix Fan Fusion, September 25th – 27th. This event has been postponed until the end of September. Note that the event is a day shorter, starting on Friday rather than Thursday. For people who have special Thursday passes and other special tickets, check out the Fan Fusion website for details on how those will be handled.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Releases:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is up on Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, (Direct link doesn’t work, copy the URL and paste it into your browser, or go directly to Kobo.com and search for Gold Dreams, Connie Cockrell), and Smashwords. The print version is available on Amazon. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

The Garden, Navajo Flatbread, Appearance News: Monday Blog Post

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My nectarine tree in full bloom

Newest News:

So, finally cleaned up the 3 backyard raised garden beds. They only had a few stems and dead leaves in them. I have no idea why I kept putting it off since November. It took all of five minutes to clean. Sigh. I also went to the front yard and pruned off the dead stems from the lavender plant. I hate that job and it took me about an hour. Now though, it’s done, and the plant is all ready to put out new flower shoots. The weather here is getting warmer, even though we can still get frosts and maybe even a late snow. No matter. I’m going to put in some lettuces and maybe even the peas. I’m certainly going to put in my Swiss Chard. It’s a mild kind, all green, that substitutes really well for spinach, which I can never grow. With luck, the chipmunks will leave it all alone. The bunny from last year must have moved on when it ran out of my garden veggies to eat. I haven’t seen it in months.

I found this easy bread recipe on-line for Navajo flatbread and I made it for supper last night. https://templehousegallery.com/pioneer-plate-blog/2020/3/18/bread-shortage-easiest-kind-of-bread-you-can-make It was quite easy to do, and I substituted a mix of cassava, tapioca and a general-purpose gluten free flours for general all-purpose flour to make it. Came out wonderfully. It calls for a cast-iron pan but I used my non-stick frying pan and they came out perfectly. Very tasty. I served it with a chicken tikka masala with broccoli and peas. I’ll make it again.

The St. Patrick’s Day giveaway is done. I’ll post my winners as soon as I get them. In the meantime, prepare for the Spring giveaway which will be starting in the next day or two.

See below for cancellations and changed dates for my appearances.

Stay safe. Stay well.

Giveaways:

The St. Patrick Day giveaway is now over but the Spring giveaway hasn’t quite started yet. I’ll post my winners as soon as I get them.

Where will I Be?

Pine Library, 6124 W. Randall Place, Pine AZ, Friends of the Library meeting, April 27th at 1pm. This event hasn’t been officially cancelled though the library is closed through April. If anything changes, I’ll let you know.

Payson Book Festival, July 18th at the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino, Payson AZ. This event hasn’t been cancelled yet. I’ll keep you posted.

CokoCon 2020, September 4 – 7th, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Phoenix Tempe, 2100 S Tempe, AZ. This event hasn’t been cancelled yet. I’ll keep you posted.

Phoenix Fan Fusion, May 21st – 24th. This event has been postponed until the end of September. Current dates are now September 25th through Sunday the 27th. Note that it’s a day shorter, starting on Friday rather than Saturday. For people who have special Thursday passes and other special tickets, check out the Fan Fusion website for details on how those will be handled.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Releases:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is up on Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, (Direct link doesn’t work, copy the URL and paste it into your browser, or go directly to Kobo.com and search for Gold Dreams, Connie Cockrell), and Smashwords. The print version is available on Amazon. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

I’m Literary! Giveaway Opens, Fruit Trees Pruned: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

Just after I posted last week, I received news that a story I wrote last August, had been accepted and was just published. The way it happened was that I met a woman, Rosemary Dombrowski, a poet from Arizona State University, who was doing some pre-book festival work with sixth-graders here in Payson for us. She has this literary magazine she and some of her students and other instructors work on, called Writing For Peace. https://writingforpeace.org/gardens-in-the-desert-cultivating-awareness/ It turned out they were accepting short stories and poems and art for the upcoming Winter 2020 edition. The theme was Gardens in the Desert, Cultivating Awareness. Even though my fiction isn’t considered literary, an idea immediately popped into my mind and I wrote it up.  After I sent it in, I just forgot about it. Then a few days ago, I was contacted by the staff to check my story for correctness. A week later, boom, I have a link to the electronic copy. I hear an actual paper version will be published later this year. I’m looking forward to that as there are wonderful stories in there and stunning artwork. Want to check it out while it’s free? Click on the link above and it takes you right to it. My story, A Little Bit of Light, is in the Fiction link. Enjoy it and the other stories, art, and poetry.

Peach tree from 2019

I mentioned last week that it was time to prune my fruit trees. I actually got it done. I managed to sprain my wrist in the process but the two pears, the peach, and the nectarine trees have all been cut back, crosswise branches trimmed and the trees are now ready for spring. The rosebushes and the lavender bush all still to be done but that will get done eventually too. How about you? Are you able to garden yet or do you still need to wait for the snow to leave?

Giveaways:

Hooray! The St. Patrick Day giveaway is now live! This is one of our shortest giveaways so be sure to click on the link right away. As always, we ask that to win, you follow us on one or more of several social media, or our newsletters, or our websites. You don’t have to join all of them, but to find out more about the many wonderful authors, you’ll want to do that. Here’s the link. https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ or go to https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/2703c98f110/  Sign up today!

Where will I Be?

Pine Library, 6124 W. Randall Place, Pine AZ, Friends of the Library meeting, April 27th at 1pm. More info to follow.

Phoenix Fan Fusion, May 21st – 24th.

Payson Book Festival, July 18th at the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino, Payson AZ.

CokoCon 2020, September 4 – 7th, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Phoenix Tempe, 2100 S Tempe, AZ

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Releases:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is up on Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, (Direct link doesn’t work, copy the URL and paste it into your browser, or go directly to Kobo.com and search for Gold Dreams, Connie Cockrell), and Smashwords. The print version is available on Amazon. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Last Phoenix Fan Fusion T, Social Media, Were You a Female in Afghanistan, Gardening: Monday Blog Post

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This is it. The last picture I took of tee-shirts. Hope you’ve enjoyed them!

Newest News:

After the Phoenix Fan Fusion, I began showing some of the t-shirts from the show. Here is the last one I took. Many thanks to all of the very nice fans who stopped at my table so I could take their pictures. You made my day.

Let’s talk social media for a moment. I belong to several sites, and on a couple, I’m really building a following. For example, I’ve passed 700 followers on Bookbub. If you aren’t a follower there, and you love books, you should be. Lots of giveaways there, lots of announcements of free books by your favorite authors. Lots of reviews so you can check out a book before you buy. Then there’s my YouTube channel. I passed 1000 followers on there. I don’t post a lot on there, but there are some amusing things to see. And finally, not really social media, but I do post the occasional newsletter when I have some book news to share. You can find that below. I’d appreciate it if you’d follow me on all three of these places.

I’ve been poking at my next book in the Jean Hays series, Mystery at the Reunion. I know it’s been taking forever but I’ve finally figured out how to fix the draft book. I’m looking for a female military person who has been stationed in Afghanistan. I have some questions about your time in country, so that I can get details correct for a sub-plot in the book. If you did serve, or know someone who did, would you allow me to do an interview? It can be via email, phone, Skype, whatever works. Contact me and we can work out the details.

Gardening. The peaches are small, and some are now ripe. I picked one, because I thought it was a little hard and bit into it. Perfection. Fuzzy, warm from the sun, delicious without being too soft. Of course, some are already being picked at by the birds but that’s all right. There’s plenty for all of us.

Giveaways:

The Summer Giveaway is open! There are 33 participating authors with 33 book prizes and 33 summer gift prizes. The Grand Prize is $100 in Paypal cash. This is certainly a giveaway to get involved with.

Where will I Be?:

Now that the Payson Book Festival is done, I don’t have anything on my calendar until the December Mesa Book Festival. The date is December 14th from 10am – 5pm and the location has changed to 225 E Main St, Mesa. This is the Benedictine University, for those familiar with Mesa. I am sharing a booth space with the wonderful Marsha Ward. The site only promotes the author registering the table, so you’ll only see Marsha’s name, not mine. But I promise, I’ll be there. You can find all the details and a map at https://anthology.org/category/mesa-book-festival/.

On the other hand, if something juicy comes up, because it’s a long time between July and December, I’ll let you know. Do you know of an event where you’d like to see me? I’d love to know about it. Contact me here and say the word.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is only up on Amazon, at the moment. I’ll let everyone know when the print version is up and is up on the other platforms. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Create, Phoenix Fan Fusion T’s, Giveaways, Gardening: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

After Saturday’s double mass killings in El Paso and Dayton, I saw a facebook post from author George Sirois: “Please create something today. Create something positive. Create on behalf of all the people killed in the last 24 hours, robbed of their chance to ever create again. Create because you might help someone get through all this destruction with your creation. Just Create. Please.” I don’t usually get political or dwell on recent news on this blog but when I read his post I started to tear up. So go. Use whatever you have at hand. Create joy. Create love. Create peace. Share your heart.

Next to the last picture

After the Phoenix Fan Fusion, I began showing some of the t-shirts from the show. Here is one for this week.

Gardening. The peaches are small, and not ripe yet though they have a nice blush on them. A week, perhaps, before I can start picking them. I also have two pear trees which have lost nearly all of their leaves. Between the two trees, only one tiny pear. Very disappointing. I did pick another tomato on Saturday. That makes two. I found one ripe tomato in the corner of the backyard, half eaten. So, the squirrels or the chipmunks or the rabbit tried one out. Hubby says it wasn’t him. Not sure if they liked it. I hope not.

Giveaways:

The Summer Giveaway is open! There are 33 participating authors with 33 book prizes and 33 summer gift prizes. The Grand Prize is $100 in Paypal cash. This is certainly a giveaway to get involved with.

Where will I Be?:

Now that the Payson Book Festival is done, I don’t have anything on my calendar until the December Mesa Book Festival. The date, just announced, is December 14th from 10am – 5pm and the location has changed to 225 E Main St, Mesa. This is the Benedictine University, for those familiar with Mesa. I am sharing a booth space with the wonderful Marsha Ward. The site only promotes the author registering the table, so you’ll only see Marsha’s name, not mine. But I promise, I’ll be there. You can find all the details and a map at www.MesaBookFestival.com.

On the other hand, if something juicy comes up, because it’s a long time between July and December, I’ll let you know. Do you know of an event where you’d like to see me? I’d love to know about it. Contact me here and say the word.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is only up on Amazon, at the moment. I’ll let everyone know when the print version is up and is up on the other platforms. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Phoenix Fan Fusion T’s, Book Sale & Giveaways, Gardening: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

After the Phoenix Fan Fusion, I began showing some of the t-shirts from the show. Here is one for this week.

What a deal. For the month of July, I’m still offering many of my books either 50% off or free! That’s right, the entire month of July is Smashwords’ Summer/Winter Sale and I’m participating, but it only lasts three more days. If you decide to pick up one of my books, I hope you enjoy it. If you do, a small review would be greatly appreciated.

One more giveaway if you are a SciFi, Apocalyptic/Dystopian fan. Starting today! I’m with a group of authors offering just that. The giveaway is called World’s End and is through Book Funnel. You’ll be asked to join author’s newsletters. This giveaway is over at the end of July, again, just three more days! Don’t wait too long or you’ll miss it!

Gardening. It’s peach season here in central Arizona. My peach tree branches are just bending over with their peach load. It’s also tomato hornworm season. So far, I’ve just pulled two of them from my biggest tomato plant.

Hornworm

Here’s a picture of a hornworm.

My empty deep garden bed now has two plants popping up. I see now they’re potatoes. Probably a couple of left over tiny taters lay in wait. Apparently the chipmunks, squirrels, and the rabbit don’t eat the potatoes any more than they eat the tomatoes. Just as well, as every single yellow squash that has grown has been eaten by the time it gets three inches long. Sigh.

Giveaways:

The Summer Giveaway is open! There are 33 participating authors with 33 book prizes and 33 summer gift prizes. The Grand Prize is $100 in Paypal cash. This is certainly a giveaway to get involved with.

Where will I Be?:

Now that the Payson Book Festival is done, I don’t have anything on my calendar until the December Mesa Book Festival. Dates are still to be determined but I’ll post as soon as the website makes info available.

On the other hand, if something juicy comes up, because it’s a long time between July and December, I’ll let you know. Do you know of an event where you’d like to see me? I’d love to know about it. Contact me here and say the word.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is only up on Amazon, at the moment. I’ll let everyone know when the print version is up and is up on the other platforms. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Phoenix Fan Fusion T’s, Friday Flash Fiction, Gardening, Payson Book Festival: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

After the show, I began showing some of the t-shirts from the Phoenix Fan Fusion. Above is one for this week.

If you read my Friday Flash Fiction, you know that last Friday, I began a serial story. I’m calling it The Party. I don’t generally get into politics on my blog, there’s just no reason to upset people with my opinions of things. However, some rhetoric lately has gotten me thinking of ways what’s being discussed can go horribly wrong. I’m not the first author to think about these things. Many authors over the last few generations have done the same. Animal Farm, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, are just three of many stories that have looked at the political arena of their time and turned to “what if”. I’m no Aldous Huxley or George Orwell, but The Party is my take on what I see and hear in the current news. So, I guess, this is a warning. If you don’t care for dystopian stories, give The Party a pass.

As of Sunday, my newest tomato plants are surviving. The zucchini has been chewed but is still hanging in there. We’ve bought a hav-a-hart trap and so far, have caught one chipmunk. We transported him up to a wild stream, where there will be plenty of water for it. There are two more chipmunks to catch but I haven’t seen them since we caught the first one. After we brought the trap back from the stream, we reset it. A couple of hours later, we saw two squirrels standing next to the trap. Laughing at it I suppose, as it’s too small to catch them. They’re next on my list.

Giveaways:

I’m gearing up for the Summer giveaway. I see other authors signing in and getting their prizes ready. I’ll let you know when it goes live.

Where will I Be?:

The Payson Book Festival 2019. Mark your calendars for July 20th. Go to www.paysonbookfestival.org for all of the details! We have nearly 90 authors, lots of speakers in both the Fireside and Maple rooms, and again, the silent auction. Want to just make a donation? Go to our Paypal.me page, Payson Book Festival.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is only up on Amazon, at the moment. I’ll let everyone know when the print version is up and is up on the other platforms. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Happy Father’s Day, Phoenix Fan Fusion T’s, Gardening, Payson Book Festival: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

I hope your Father’s Day went wonderfully, whether you are a father, a single-mother trying to fill the role, an uncle, grand-father, of mentor.

After the show, I began showing some of the t-shirts from the Phoenix Fan Fusion. Above is one for this week.

I mentioned last week that I put in some seeds and two tomato plants. Well, the chipmunks ate both tomatoes, and I think, all of the seeds I’d planted. Most should have been at least poking their little sprouts up by now, but nothing. Nothing but holes in the dirt. Sigh. Sunday I put in more tomatoes, and filled the empty flower pot out front with geraniums. At least both pots look good now.  What’s your biggest gardening pest?

Giveaways:

I’m gearing up for the Summer giveaway. I see other authors signing in and getting their prizes ready. I’ll let you know when it goes live.

Where will I Be?:

The Payson Book Festival 2019. Mark your calendars for July 20th. Go to www.paysonbookfestival.org for all of the details! We have nearly 90 authors, lots of speakers in both the Fireside and Maple rooms, and again, the silent auction. Want to just make a donation? Go to our Paypal.me page, Payson Book Festival.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is only up on Amazon, at the moment. I’ll let everyone know when the print version is up and is up on the other platforms. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Phoenix Fan Fusion T’s, Post Card Art, Gardening: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

After the show, I began showing some of the t-shirts from the Phoenix Fan Fusion. Above is one for this week.

Art. In grade school we’re always drawing. It’s expected. As we get older, if we’re not “good” at it, we stop, not wanting to be embarrassed or criticized. That’s unfortunate, as drawing is relaxing and enjoyable no matter what your level of expertise. A couple of writer friends of mine began June as Post Card Art month and I joined in. My art isn’t professional. The only art supplies in my house was a coffee mug of colored pencils and a package of postcards. But each day I take a few minutes to draw something. Anything. And no matter how strange they come out, I’ve been posting them on my Facebook page. You’re following that page, right? Anyway. Give it a try yourself. It’s ok if it’s just pencil on lined paper. Enjoy it if all you have are crayons and construction paper. Find the joy if it’s ballpoint pen on the back of your grocery receipts. It’s never too late to start having some fun with art.

Yukon Gold, Red, and Purple Potatoes

It is the season for gardening. I planted my potatoes about 3 months ago, March, I guess that was. Anyway, they were ready to harvest so on June 9th, I dug them all out. That’s the picture above. Not a huge harvest, it’s a small bed, but one that hubby and I will enjoy as long as they last. I cleaned up that bed and planted beets at one end and bush green beans at the other end. Some Swiss Chard may go into the middle. I also put in two more tomato plants, one yellow tomato and one Sungold cherry tomato. I also put in a zucchini as the chipmunks ate the last one. I’m hoping the chipmunks don’t eat the little beet sprouts.

Geraniums and the little pansy that escaped being eaten by javelina.

In the front yard I dug the daffodil bulbs out of the big flowerpot by the sidewalk and put 3 geraniums into the pot by the walk leading to the front door. That’s them, above, with my surviving pansy from the javelina attack. I’ll get three more geraniums for the other pot. I hope your gardening is able to begin and here’s to a bumper crop for you.

Giveaways:

I’m gearing up for the Summer giveaway. I see other authors signing in and getting their prizes ready. I’ll let you know when it goes live.

Where will I Be?:

The Payson Book Festival 2019. Mark your calendars for July 20th. Go to www.paysonbookfestival.org for all of the details! We have nearly 90 authors, lots of speakers in both the Fireside and Maple rooms, and again, the silent auction. Want to just make a donation? Go to our Paypal.me page, Payson Book Festival.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is only up on Amazon, at the moment. I’ll let everyone know when the print version is up and is up on the other platforms. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Gardening, Writing To-Do List, Winners: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

Gardening. It’s already started for me. For one thing, I had to trim all of my rose bushes. That was a chore that took 4 days. Now I’m cleaning up all of the cut rose canes. Also, my peach and nectarine trees are in bloom. Also in bloom is the rosemary that’s planted between them. The pink flowers on the trees and the blue flowers of the rosemary look very nice together. Also this weekend I stuck fertilizer stakes into the ground for the fruit trees. Finally, I planted potatoes in my new deep raised bed and lettuces and spring onions in one of the shallow beds. So this last week was very productive in the garden.

I spent some time this last weekend making a writing to-do list. I have lots of projects in the works. One is to get my paperback Gulliver Station box set formatted. This will take some time in the Vellum program and on the Apple laptop. I’m not very experience with either so this is a bit of a challenge. Part of that box set is a new cover to accommodate the bigger book. Also on the list, reformatting First Encounters, The Downtrodden and Kindred Spirits to match Tested. These have the new covers, I just want the interiors to all match as well. More time in Vellum and on the Apple laptop. By the time I finish with all of that, I should be pretty competent. Then there’s Gold Dreams. I’d like that out soon to be ready for the Payson Book Festival in July. Actually, I’d like all of the above to be available for the book festival. I’d better spend less time scrolling aimlessly through Facebook.

Giveaways:

Winners in my Valentine’s Day giveaway were Padraig Ohiceadha, from Ireland and Jose Rosado from Portugal. Both of these people have followed me for a long time and I’m glad they won some prizes!

The St. Patrick’s Day giveaway is now up. Here’s the link and I hope you get in on this fast. This one isn’t going to run very long. There are 38 prizes and 38 books to be given away and $114 in Paypal cash as the grand prize. https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/

In the meantime, I’m in a promotion with 19 other women writers on Book Funnel. You can check out the books here. There are romances, mysteries, shifter stories and even a non-fiction. Don’t miss out. These are all free for a short time.

Where will I Be?:

If you are a fan of most any genre, I’m participating in an on-line cyber conference here: http://owscycon.ourwriteside.com/about-ows-cycon/. The event is May 17th through May 19th. There are discussion forums, author giveaways, and so much more. Check out the link and sign up to participate. Sign up also gets you news on what’s happening and when. So sign up today. You might just be the person we want to have in our panel discussion!

Phoenix Fan Fusion! Oh My Gosh! If you haven’t ever been to this event you need to check it out. The prices for entry are so reasonable! Three days is $75 at this point. The catalog of things to do is humongous! I’ll be down in Artists Alley, Four Carat Press, booths 930 and 932. Come check it out. If you’ve never been, it will blow your minds. It’s May 23 – 26th. Come see me!

The Payson Book Festival this year is going to be more exciting than last year. Mark your calendars for July 20th. Be in Payson for the book festival. Go to www.paysonbookfestival.org for all of the details!

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

The Slave Elf story released February 19th, 2019. It is finally up on all of my other retailers in ebook format. You can buy it at Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords today. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads or BookBub. It’s critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.