Tag Archives: Hummingbirds

Payson Book Festival, Monsoon Season Arrives: Monday Blog Post

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2016: Variety of hummingbirds at our feeder by Randy Cockrell

 

Newest News:

My extra Mystery at the Fair and Mystery in the Woods order arrived on July 15th. That meant I had just enough books for the Payson Book Festival. I actually sold out of Mystery in the Woods. I also sold a lot of my western, Gold Dreams. A couple of copies each of Slave Elf, First Encounter, A New Start also sold. I was pleased with the sales of course. I was also pleased to see a good turnout of attendees. Attendance was lower than normal but still seemed good and steady throughout the day. Most of the authors declared the festival a success. Good enough for me!

So last post I talked about the lack of rain. That has ended. We’ve had rain every day, just about, the last week and a half. It’s humid. So humid it reminds me of our life in upstate New York, just without the black flies. The land seems to be perking up and the bird and animal visits to my backyard bird bath have slowed down considerably. The chipmunks who cruise my backyard for food and water are very feisty and the males sit on top of our 6-foot wooden fence, calling chip, chip, chip, for a mate. Surprising to me is the lack of hummingbirds. There are a few feeding from our backyard feeder but not the swarms we have come to expect from previous years. Here’s a video from a year ago to demonstrate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnNdv_BySOo

Hoping everyone is able to access a covid shot, or two if needed. The delta variant of the virus is racing through my county. Hospitalizations have jumped three-fold and the majority of the people hitting the ERs are unvaccinated. We’ll only beat this disease if we all work together. Please schedule your vaccination as soon as you can. The shots are still free!

 

Giveaways:

Our Spring giveaway has ended. I’ll have the summer giveaway posted this week. So hop on over to the page with the following link and get in on the prizes. https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

 

Where will I Be?

I have no plans at present for any other in person events. Any I was thinking about joining I’m now reconsidering due to the uptick in the Covid 19 Delta variant illnesses spreading across Arizona. See you in 2022!

 

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:

Creature in the Night, a short Halloween, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Fantasy story has been published. It is up on Amazon, in Kindle Unlimited or for purchase at $.99. 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.

Writing, Gardening, Lifestyle Change: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

About 7 chapters lightly edited. At this point I’m checking for the continuity issues that are most certainly being added as I add the flashbacks to Afghanistan. I’m also pulling the stupid, just for words only, stuff I put in the story in Dwight’s point of view. Not that Dwight, Jean’s ex-husband, is stupid. Just the repetitive crap I put into the story in his POV. It’s a work in progress, people. Emphasis on work.

Zucchini madness is still upon me. Friday I foisted, er, uh, gifted, my author friend Sue a bag full of zucchini. She claims to love zoodles, so there she is. Unfortunately, Saturday I found 2 large zukes and 3 small ones hiding under the leaves. Ugh. Sunday I turned the big ones into grated zucchini and froze them. Zucchini patties and zucchini bread for the winter, I guess. Others I turned into zoodles for more zoodles and spaghetti sauce on Sunday. I’m closing in on getting the veggie drawer emptied but I know there are at least 5 of the little green guys growing in the garden. Probably at harvestable stage on Monday.

In other garden news. The hummingbirds are in a feeding frenzy for their migration. The pic at the top is of one of the little guys loading up. Above, this bug, bee?, appeared on my oregano as I was watering Saturday. Not the best picture, I know, but still, he’s quite a distinctive looking little fellow. Anyone know what it is?

On my new diet, no weight loss last week. Still at 218. I knew the rapid weight loss was just water, but it was nice while it lasted. I certainly feel better. I’m just thinking about how much better I’ll feel when I drop another 20ish pounds. I’ve changed up my first thing in the morning celery juice for a more mixed green juice. If you’ve ever seen Fat Sick and Nearly Dead with Joe Cross, you’ll know what I mean. My friend Debbie is a certified trainer and swears by the stuff. See her story here, https://thehealthygrandma.wpcomstaging.com/my-family-and-our-story/. At any rate, it’s a wider variety of vitamins and minerals and a different flavor from straight celery juice, so I’m liking it. Have you tried Green Juice? Drop a comment below!

Stay safe. Stay well.

Giveaways:

The Summer giveaway is now in progress! Check it out here: https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/. As always, each author is giving away at least 2 prizes and there’s a Paypal cash grand prize.

Where will I Be?

Pine Library, 6124 W. Randall Place, Pine AZ, Friends of the Library meeting,is October 26th, still at 1pm. So, if you happen to be in Pine, AZ on that date, come on by. I’ll have some books available for purchase and signing.

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.