Some Days Are Like That

I'm searching for a part time job.  I have things that need doing that require income greater than mine.  Necessary things.  Like my roof leaks.  And I'm still not sleeping well due to the hateful light right outside my window which means sooner or later I will be forced to move.  Of course if I do that I suppose I really don't need to can all that much about the roof.  However, I would like to at least break even on my house so I guess I need to deal with the roof after all.

This quest is very depressing.  I had an interview a week or so ago that emphasized just how much more "mature" I am than the folks interviewing me.  When asked what direct experience I had for the type of position they were hiring for I named the store I worked at all through high school and the beginning of college.  Nope, neither individual had heard of it.  Total blank stare.  You should have seen the looks I got when I supplied the tidbit that I had to figure tax manually which required me to actually know what items in Pennsylvania are actually taxable.  If I hadn't been maintaining a professional demeanor I'd have laughed.

Most places don't even bother chatting with me.  I have too much experience for them to believe that I'd work at whatever they're offering.  What they seem to overlook is that I do have that experience so I understand what I'm getting myself into.  Frankly they're missing out on someone, me, who would make their supervisory lives a little bit easier.  Tell me what needs doing and send me on my way.  I'm capable of most everything I set my mind to and not afraid to ask questions if I hit a snag.

All I need is a chance.  So hire me already!

So

By now you’ve read Questing that you downloaded free earlier this month.  I really hope you enjoyed it.  Really, really, really hope so.

On to Chaos, book two in the Cosmic Connections series.  These characters may have been the most fun to work with.  They were always doing wicked things and making me laugh at all sorts of inappropriate times, like the weekly production meeting at the job I had at the time I was writing it.  Yeah, you can imagine how well that went over especially when the others in the office were lacking a sense of humor.  I didn’t even attempt to explain it.  Better to let them wonder.

Blurb –

When Shane McKade wakes up trapped in a bed, handcuffed to Alyssa Campini, he figures things could be worse. She aggravates him to no end but sex with the sassy photographer is smokin’.

Alyssa met McKade while photographing street gangs, and the hot cop has been a thorn in her side ever since. His only redeeming feature is an ability to deliver twenty-four orgasms in twenty-four hours—if he can stop arguing with her long enough, that is.

Then Shane is shot protecting one of Alyssa’s gang kids. When both find their lives in danger, perhaps it’s time to stop fighting and start evaluating what they mean to each other…before it’s too late.

Available from Ellora's Cave.  Kindle.  Nook.

Ouch! &#%A@# Ouch!

Today was not a good digging day.  I reached into a yellow jacket nest and wasn’t so lucky this time. 

All I was doing was trying to clear some ornamental grass that was smothering a pretty little daylily.  They didn’t need to get so vicious about it.  Had one buzzed me and pointed to the opening to their nest I would have gone away and let them in peace.  But no!  They knew I was coming, working my way closer and closer.  They waited until my hand was right THERE and then swarmed all over me. 

The yard owner was working on a project nearby.  It didn’t take long to figure out what was happening when I suddenly jumped up and went tearing across the grass, swatting myself everywhere.  Poor dog came running to see what was up.  Scared the poor thing bad when I threw my glasses to keep the yellow jackets from being trapped at my eyes.

I have four stings on one arm.  At least one on my back but it could be more since I can’t twist around and see it.  Multiple ones on the hand I reached into the nest with.  One on my chest.  And many, many on the top of my head where there was still a yellow jacket caught in my hair when I got home.

I grew up in the country.  I’ve encounter yellow jackets before and since I spend summers digging the likelihood that I will again is great.  But it’s been some time and I’d blissfully forgotten how much they hurt.  Thinking on it they will continue to hurt and swell for days.  My hand is already puffy and the ow factor around the base of my thumb is close to unbearable.

The good news is I saw the other nest I came across today before I reached into it.  Yes, I kept on working after being stung.  I did take a moment to mix up some mud and coat all the stings I could reach which helped some.  Not enough but some.  And the dog has forgiven me.  When I sat down to take a break an hour later he tried to crawl up onto my lap and lick my face.

Damn yellow jackets!  They just have no manners.

Shanking My Head

I masquerade as an adult.  The façade falls to pieces as soon as corn cut off the cob stays in chunks which can be eaten with my fingers.  Yep, brings the kid in me right back to the surface.  But there's nothing better than that!

I was at the farmers market today where I came across some lovely fingerling potatoes.  I asked the young lady behind the stand how many were in a pound.  Twenty-two.  She counted them into a bag.  I was very well behaved.  No sarcastic remarks.  Next time I know to be more specific and ask to see a pound of fingerlings.

I also got a bit of ultra nummy double smoked ham to make into ham and string beans.  Another reason to tolerate this summer nonsense.

Off to cook.  I’ll probably still be at it tomorrow.  There was a mix up and someone donated a LOT of beans.  If I’m not back have a happy weekend!

The Little Things

I had corn flakes for breakfast today.  Plain old ordinary corn flakes.  No sugar.  Just milk.  And they were really good!

I sometimes forget about simple things like that.  It’s summer, the height of fresh fruit season which is what has been my breakfast since the strawberries began back in May.  Since then I’ve had plums, peaches, nectarines, cherries and blueberries.  All yummy and much enjoyed.  But they’ve made me push aside the other things I breakfast on when local fruits are not available.

Now I suppose I could combine the two and have fruit on my corn flakes but I’m really not a big fan of that.  No fruit in cereals and no crackers in my soup.  And no flavoring the fresh picked cucumbers I’m snacking on these days.  Just plain, pure sun-ripened taste is how I like summer things.

Except for corn.  Hey, there is always an exception!  Corn on the cob needs butter no matter how sweet it is.  Of course if it’s cut off the cob, plain is best.  Yeah, I’m a bit odd about that but we all have our quirks.  What are yours when it comes to summer bounties?

I Was Out and About

And thought you might enjoy some photos of the prettiness I saw.

Blackberry Lily

Swallowtail on Echinacea

Preying Mantis on Osmanthus

Tree Lilies

Portulaca

Only TWO Days Left

In Questing's FREE promo.  Download it today!

Ellora's Cave                    Kindle                       Nook

Jordan McKade knows Kiley Fisher is his destiny the second he sees her. She, however, needs a lot more time to accept it. The last thing he wants to do is scare her away before she’s ready and it takes more self-control than he ever thought he possessed not to blurt out how desperately he wants her.

 

Kiley’s problem isn’t that she doesn’t want him. It’s that she’s intimidated by the super-sexy Jordan, with his overwhelming business success and his voice, which is so sinfully sensual she’s ready to come every time he speaks to her.

 

When a no-good crook uses Kiley in his nefarious plans to save his own ass, Jordan comes to her rescue, which finally lands them in a setting where they can no longer resist each other. And the chemistry that’s been slowly building between them ignites in an inferno of passion.

 

This book has had mixed reviews.  You know what?  I'm okay with that.  Not every book is for every reader.  Hey, I'm a realist when it comes to that sort of thing.  But it's free this weekend so why not download it and give it a try.  I certainly hope you enjoy it but if you don't, you haven't invested any hard earned cash to find out.  What could be better than that?

Blog Called

On account of heat.  Back when it's cooled down enough to hold my laptop. Yeah, still no AC here.

Stay cool!  And hydrated!  And for Pete's sake don't leave your critters or your kids in the car!!!

One Week Left

To read Questing free!  Don't miss it.

Click the type that works for you.  Ellora's Cave.  Kindle.  Nook.  

Jordan McKade knows Kiley Fisher is his destiny the second he sees her. She, however, needs a lot more time to accept it. The last thing he wants to do is scare her away before she’s ready and it takes more self-control than he ever thought he possessed not to blurt out how desperately he wants her.

Kiley’s problem isn’t that she doesn’t want him. It’s that she’s intimidated by the super-sexy Jordan, with his overwhelming business success and his voice, which is so sinfully sensual she’s ready to come every time he speaks to her.

When a no-good crook uses Kiley in his nefarious plans to save his own ass, Jordan comes to her rescue, which finally lands them in a setting where they can no longer resist each other. And the chemistry that’s been slowly building between them ignites in an inferno of passion.

Mystery Solved

My holly isn't a holly at all.  It's an osmanthus, family Oleaceae.  That's the same family as olives which explains the configuration of berries. It's supposed to be fairly difficult to get these bushes to bear.  Um, nope.  All you have to do is wait them out until they decide they're ready.  Mine took almost 20 years but aren't they pretty!

Up All Night

Writing bad Haiku...

~light so bright at night
chases off stardust magic
moonbeams cant find me~

~magic drained by light
no darkness to recharge in
killing me slowly~

Yeah, it was a long, VERY bright night.  There's more but you get the gist.

Oh, the crazy muskrat daughter called about the light.  No details or I'll be angry all over again but it ended with me hanging up on her.  You get the gist of that too I'm sure.

Happy weekend all!

So Tired!

~white light, shining bright

in my bedroom window pane

sleep no more again~

Last night I went up to bed fairly early in order to relax and read before going to sleep.  It was still semi-light.  When I finished my book hours later it was full dark.  I turned the light on my bedside table off.  And it stayed just as bright in my room.

The neighbor installed a dusk to dawn light.  Twice the size of a streetlight and three times brighter.  Seriously.  It’s brighter than those annoying super bright halogen headlights.  And it’s positioned right at eyelevel when I crawl into bed.  No, I can’t close the blinds.  If I do that it will block the fan and I will suffocate.  There’s only one window in the bedroom so the fan must stay where it is.

I prowled my house most of the night since it was impossible to sleep.  With where they placed the light I will never need to turn on lights in my kitchen again either.  Even though there is a potential savings in electrical consumption for me and I would now be able to harvest strawberries in the middle of the night next spring, I find the situation intolerable.

This morning I called my neighbor and asked that something be done about it.  She wasn’t sure if it was possible as her grandson arranged the installation for her.  I requested that she speak with him and find out.  I really need to sleep at least a little bit now and then.  If his response is no, deal with it I suppose I could always contract the boys who were having target practice in my alley last week to shoot it out every time it’s repaired.  Perhaps.  We’ll see what he says.

Argh!

I meant to update my website with the information regarding Questing, Cosmic Connections book 1 being free for two weeks.  I meant to include links to that plus the other two books in the series.  Yahoo however, decided not to permit it.

I use SiteBuilder.  It’s easy.  Or it was.  Now it won’t open.  I re-downloaded it as instructed the first time and it won’t run.  I get a message saying it’s corrupt or incomplete, damaged or has a virus.  So I emailed Yahoo support.   Someone named Arun who needs English lessons told me to disable my anti-virus protection.

Um, no, nor acceptable which was my reply along with an inquiry as to whether they would pay to fix my computer if it got infected while it was disabled.  Lohit said no, of course not.  He (or she) assured me there was no virus.  It wasn’t working for some reason and to disable my anti-virus.  Naturally I wanted to know what “some reason” was.

Trista replied and asked me to call them instead, stating I should definitely not disable my anti-virus.  I did the schedule them to call me so I didn’t sit on hold.  Yeah, they called but I was on hold just as long anyway.

Spoke with a nice sounding man named Matt who I could actually understand so I think his name really was Matt.  You know what I mean, I’m sure.  Matt guided me through making a change to a file name and it opened instantly.  Yay Matt!

Went to make the appropriate changes and guess what?  Can’t save a damn thing!  When I tried I got an error message stating SiteBuilder has recovered from a serious error.  As you can imagine I am not a happy girl.  Grr!  I’ll give them a serious error.  Mutter, mutter, mutter.

I am back on hold with Yahoo as I write this.  To be continued…

Okay back again.  Jeremy did something magic and now I can save things.  I so made all my changes and published them.  Or so I thought.  When I checked I had two different versions of the home page.  The old one when the browser is opened.  The new one when HOME is clicked.  Hmm.  When I go in SiteBuilder both are identical.  Both were saved.  Both were published.  Supposedly.  What do you see?  Click here and let me know please.

I give up for today.  I’ll chat with Yahoo again tomorrow.

Tell Everyone!

Questing, the first book in my Cosmic Connections series, is free from now until July 21st.  If you haven't read it yet, you really should.  Jordan and Kiley will steal your heart.  And after you fall in love with that one, go read Chaos and Condemned.  Then send me a quick note and maybe, just maybe you'll inspire me to finish the fourth book.

Blurb -

Jordan McKade knows Kiley Fisher is his destiny the second he sees her. She, however, needs a lot more time to accept it. The last thing he wants to do is scare her away before she’s ready and it takes more self-control than he ever thought he possessed not to blurt out how desperately he wants her.

Kiley’s problem isn’t that she doesn’t want him. It’s that she’s intimidated by the super-sexy Jordan, with his overwhelming business success and his voice, which is so sinfully sensual she’s ready to come every time he speaks to her.

When a no-good crook uses Kiley in his nefarious plans to save his own ass, Jordan comes to her rescue, which finally lands them in a setting where they can no longer resist each other. And the chemistry that’s been slowly building between them ignites in an inferno of passion.

Click here to find Questing at Ellora's Cave.  Click here to get it on Kindle.  And here for Nook.

Enjoy!

Close One

I was out digging today.  Taking ferns from one house, where they are unwelcome to another, where they are favored.  They were taking over the whole garden where I was snatching them from which is why they had to go.  The place I was taking them to has a very steep bank that is a pain in the butt to tend where they could take over to their little ferny heart’s desire.

Sounds like a good plan, right?  It was.  It still is.  However the plan has hit a bit of a snag.  I was happily digging away, the first of two huge boxes nearly full when I worked my away around to the back of the yucca that was mostly hidden and planted the blade of the shovel right into a yellow jacket nest.

Shovel went flying one way, me the other, making some sort of horrified noise I’m sure since the dog that was lounging under a nearby lilac bush poked his head out.  He didn’t get any further because I instantly yelled no and stay at him so he didn’t stick his nose into the nest.  Poor creature will probably be traumatized for life and hide from me from now on since he was still shaking half an hour later when I finally managed to coax him out to go inside.

Amazingly I didn’t get stung.  I have no clue how I managed not to.  I should have been.  There were many, many, many very angry yellow jackets swarming when I worked up the nerve to inch closer and drag the box of ferns to safety.  I got it!  Tomorrow, that half of the ferns will be relocated to their new home where I’m sure they will thrive.

The other half of the ferns I intended on moving?  For now, they can stay put as I suspect the yellow jackets are waiting to ambush me.  Perhaps I will eventually return and dig most of them out from the other direction.  Perhaps.  Does anyone know, do yellow jackets routinely have more than one opening to their nest?

Oh. Okay.

I read an article today about a six-year-old boy who fell off the roof of his parents minivan after riding three miles.  He was fine.  Cuts and bruises only.

His parents failed to notice when he fell off.  Someone else stopped to scoop him off the side of the road, took him to a gas station and called 911 to locate the parents.

He's done it before.  He usually holds on to the roof rack better and makes it all the way to where they're headed on top of the vehicle.  I suppose that's why they didn't realize he'd fallen.

No charges were filed.

Don't even know where to begin on this one.  I'm sure some of you already know what I'm thinking.  The rest of you can wonder.