#Christmas Themed #FurkidFriday: Joshua The #Degu's Letter To #SantaPaws

Dear Santa Paws,

I'm a very good degu. The human caretakers say so. I've even got braver, and let them pet me lots now. It makes them happy when I do that. I like when the human caretakers are happy. Not just because it often gets me extra nibbles either. Although, I do like that part, I have to admit.

Anyway, the human caretakers say you're coming for a visit again soon. I never see you when you do, but I always love the toys and nibbles you leave for me. I like nibbles, especially Shreddies, Cheerios, oatmeal, and chinchilla cookies. Also, wooden toys are great to gnaw on. You're usually pretty good about figuring out what I'd like best though, even though I don't know how you do it, so I'll let you decide which ones to bring me.

Squeak soon,
Joshua

#FurkidFursday Special: A Joshua The #Degu #Photo

Hi everyone.

This is Joshua the degu with a Fursday special for you.

The human caretakers took this photo of me yesterday (November 28th). I already have something I'm going to share with you tomorrow, so - since the Lilie dog hadn't claimed this Fursday for herself - I thought I'd come on here and give you a degu themed Fursday special. Anyway, here's my photo:

Squeak soon,
Joshua

#WriterWednesday - November 28th 2018

The work doesn't stop once you 'make it'. So, if you thought it would, you might want to rethink things a little.

On the other hand, your stories will outlive you, which is a nice thought. So give them all you've got, and give people something to take with them.

If, for whatever reason, you're struggling to get that writing time in, check out these secrets to jump start your writing. No. You don't have to write, but if you want to write that book you have inside of you, you should find a way to make sure you "want to" write.

If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.
~Toni Morrison

There are all sorts of writing "rules" out there. Some good ones, some stupid ones. But, beyond the basic rules of grammar and such, you shouldn't always listen to one size fits all writing advice. Use common sense to figure out if something is a stupid writing rule, or great writing advice.

By the way, why do you write? Is it for the write reason? Only you can answer that question.

Regardless of your answer to the above question, are you struggling to figure out what to write about? If so, try one of these out of the box writing exercises and story starters.

Hey, have you ever wondered what happens to the stories that never get told? Are you wondering now? I know I am...

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
~John Steinbeck

Do you outline? If you do - or if you just need a chuckle - check out these tips to writing outlines, which are both informative and entertaining.

Next, here's a great post that shows how the escalation of problems can increase the tension in your story, and help move it along. The tips are aimed at writing flash fiction, so will be especially useful if you do that. However, they can be applied to longer pieces of writing too.

However you approach your writing, and whether you write poetry or not, you should check out this fantastic post about how we can use tips from poetry to strengthen our prose, and then give it a go. You could use any kind of poetry, but I personally think form poetry would work best for this. Feel free to disagree though. What is form poetry? The post I just links to explains.

Poetry is like a bird, it ignores all frontiers.
~Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Here's an interesting post about attitude, and how you should try to be positive, pleasing, and optimistic.

Speaking of mental states: here are some thoughts on the challenge of putting mental illness in fiction, thoughts about the internal struggle of a hero, and tips to creating characters with mental illness, in case you were thinking of putting characters with those kinds of issues in your story.

Continuing with the theme of giving you advice about doing research properly, which you'll have noticed if you read the posts in the last paragraph, here are some tips on checking the facts in your fiction, which you may find useful.

I write only because There is a voice within me That will not be still.
~Sylvia Plath

Finally, here's why it's important to invest in yourself, in case you need that reminder.

#Mist Near The #Ocean, #Crafting, And Cushion Repair

It seems we've had several misty mornings and evenings recently. Kelly took the photos at the top of this post on November 16th. We've had plenty of frosty mornings and evenings too. Not to mention, the temperature has spent a lot of time not all that far above freezing. Still no snow though. Plenty of rain and wind. Even some hail. But no snow. At least, not in my area, though some parts of the UK have had some. If any of you who have been getting snow want to send some over to my place, please feel free to do so. Send as much as you like.

I forgot to mention that my November SewMine box arrived on my birthday. I'm certain they didn't plan that on purpose, but it was kind of cool that it happened. Anyway, November's kit is an owl sewing kit. I have an owl sewing kit I brought elsewhere too, but they're different. Not that I'd mind if they were the same, since I like owls anyhow. But I'm glad they're different.

My November box from Makerly arrived a few days later, which I also forgot to mention, even though it arrived during my birthday week (it arrived shortly before we were heading out on the Friday, so that was well timed). This month's kit for that is a robin needle felt kit. I'm going to work on that one once I've finished the Christmas mouse I'm currently working on, since I think it will be a nice addition to my Christmas decorations when it's done. I'm hoping to have it done by Christmas, but we'll see what actually ends up happening.

The Christmas mouse is coming along nicely, but not quite finished yet. The mouse himself is made. I'm just working on his outfit. There's a good chance he'll be finished in time for me to post a photo of him next week though. But don't hold me to that, just in case. There's a good chance, but I'm not making any promises.

There's progress with the table runner too. Just slower than planned, because of Kelly and I working on it together, and us both having other things we're working on. Luckily, we've got about 11 months before Halloween rolls around again. *wink*

Oh, and I ended up taking a bit of a break from doing the kits to mend a cushion cover. One of my Westie cushion covers, which are on the cushions that are on my chair in the livingroom, got a bit torn. I think Lilie caught it with her claws accidentally when she was playing. Probably one of the times she threw a bit of rawhide and it went down between the cushions, and she had to get it out. At least, it didn't look like her intentional chewing usually looks, so I'm pretty sure it was accidentally. I hope it was. Anyway, I fixed it, and it's luckily not in a place where it's obvious. Plus, people shouldn't be inspecting my cushions for darned places anyhow, and if they spot them should be glad I chose to repair it rather than throw it away. After all, you should always reuse, recycle, or repair, unless you really can't for some reason.

The only other thing I can think of that happened recently was two of the three birthday movies I'm owed showing up a couple of days ago. They were "Incredibles 2" and "Sherlock Gnomes" - just in case you're interested. There's one more to come, which probably won't be here for a couple of weeks yet, since I believe the official release date is December 10th. Oh, and I started Christmas shopping yesterday.

#MondayMotivation And #Inspiration - November 2018 Edition

Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect.
~Alan Cohen

An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied.
~Arnold Glasow

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
~Helen Keller

You can only come to the morning through the shadows.
~JRR Tolkien

When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...
~Marcus Aurelius

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
~Eleanor Roosevelt

November 2018 #TV Talk And #Movie Mutterings - #AmWatching

Since I have a few new to me movies to mention, including the one I watched on my birthday, I thought I'd do a movie review post to get you caught up on what I've been watching lately. So, here it is.

I did watch other things besides what I'm reviewing today. I've watched the first series of "Ghost In The Shell" with Kelly, and watched some things I've seen in the past on TV, such as reruns of episodes of "Friends" and a variety of Christmas and Disney movies, which just happened to be on when I was looking for something to watch. But this post is really to do the reviews for the ones that were new to me. So, let's get on with that, shall we?

As with the previous posts like this one, just click on the titles to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Don't forget: I watch things across multiple genres, as well as for different age ranges, so you should always check before viewing to make certain something is suitable for the intended audience, especially when children are involved. IMDB will usually provide this information for you, but you'll have to look elsewhere if you can't find it on the page I link to.

OK... On to the reviews!

Zombillénium (2017 movie):
I enjoyed this movie a lot. It was entertaining, and even had a few touching moments, especially in the second half. I also liked that it was a zombie movie where zombies are more than just dead people out for brains. Kelly and I watched this one together, and even he enjoyed it. Bearing in mind, he's not usually a big zombie fan. We watched it after seeing it listed on Sky Movies, and thinking it sounded interesting, and enjoyed it so much we plan on adding it to our DVD collection so we can have a copy among our collection of movies we consider good options for Halloween, or for general spooky movie nights. I give this movie five out of five stars.

Paddington (2014 movie):
I'd been dragging my feet about watching this one. I love the Paddington TV series I watched growing up, and doubted they could pull off a full length movie and have it be even half as good. But it was Paddington Bear, so I had to watch it. I'm glad I did, because I was wrong. They did pull it off. This movie was awesome! There were entertaining scenes, emotional scenes, and scenes that were a bit of both. Basically, this was just an all around fantastic movie, which I'm really glad I decided to watch after all. I recommend this movie. Also, I give this movie a well deserved five out of five stars.

Paddington 2 (2017 movie):
Having watched the first Paddington movie, I was eager to watch the sequel, and hoping for another sweet and entertaining movie. I was not disappointed. It was an absolutely fantastic movie! Yes, it was as good as the first one was. Like with the first Paddington movie, I highly recommend this movie, and give it a well deserved five out of five stars.

Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2017 movie):
I watched this one with Kelly on my birthday. We both loved it. It was as good as - if not better than - the Jumanji movie from 1995. It was action-packed, and entertaining. We're both in agreement that it deserves a high rating. So... I give this movie five out of five stars.

#FurkidFriday: Joshua The #Degu's Confusion Over Box Related Activities

Hi everyone. This is Joshua the degu.

The human caretakers did something really weird. Even for them, I mean, since they're usually weird.

They started putting things in boxes a while back. We think putting things in boxes is weird, but I remember it happened before, and then my cage was moved about, and I was somewhere new. When the human caretakers started putting stuff in boxes this time, I figured that was what would happen again.

But it didn't.

I mean, my cage is now in a different spot to where it was before, but not like when the box thing happened last time.

They just left the stuff in boxes for a while, and then moved the boxes about. Then they moved some furniture around, before starting to take the stuff back out of the boxes again. What was the point of that?

It doesn't make sense. I've puzzled over it for ages, while watching them work, but I just can't figure out what the whole point of putting the stuff in boxes was. Did they think it would make moving things around easier? Or are they just getting more and more weird as time goes on? I really don't know, and I can't decide if I should be worried or not.

Squeak soon,
Joshua

#FurkidFursday Special: Another Lilie The #Westie #Photo

Hi everyone.

It's Lilie the Westie here with another Fursday special, since I have a new photo of me again.

Daddy was playing with the flashy thing, and I was feeling left out, so I stood in his way and wouldn't move until he pointed it at me and got a photo. So, here's the photo:

Lots of licks,
Lilie

#WriterWednesday - November 21st 2018

In case you missed my post about it from Sunday: "Yua And The Great Wizard Hunt" is now available in audio, narrated by Matt Jenkins. If you want to read about Yua the talking West Highland White Terrier, you can buy the audio version from Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. See Matt's website page for the book, or the post I just linked to, for purchase links. My post also contains details of places where you can buy the eBook or paperback version, if you happen to prefer either of those formats.

To find out more about Matt, check out his narrator interview (which I've posted the link to before) and this interview he did on reading for the talking newspapers.

Speaking of interviews: I participated in a couple of interviews recently. There's two of them. One is a blogger interview that went live on Friday November 16th, and the other is an author interview that went live on Monday November 19th. Just click on the links if you want to go check them out.

How's your own writing going? Are you remembering that sometimes you need to write small to bring your reader in to your story? Or, are you still trying to figure out how you know when enough is enough?

Either way, we'll need to know what your characters look like. So, check out this post on unveiling your character's physical description with style.

No matter what you're writing, or what kind of characters are in it, here are some tips for getting in a 10K day, in case you need to catch up on your writing goals a bit.

Although, having said that, if you haven't been writing as much as you think you should be lately, and feel guilty about it, here's why you feel guilty about not writing (and what to do about it).

Or, maybe it's time to start revising or editing your manuscript? Don't kill your darlings; shelve them. After all, just because something doesn't work for one story, doesn't mean it isn't any good at all.

OK. It's time to talk about marketing, and any of you who are children's authors like me will want to check out these ways to market children's books.

By the way, did you see that Smashwords unvailed a new book discovery interface? They've introduced a whole new way to find your next great read, which also means a whole new way for authors to get their books spotted in their store, and - hopefully - brought by potential new fans.

Now, here's a post about why you might want to give away free books, at least sometimes.

Finally, here's how to get the most out of your calls to action. Speaking of which: if you enjoyed this post, please share it aroung. Thanks!

A Week Of Celebrating My Birthday

Technically, my birthday celebrations lasted most of the week, since I was fielding birthday messages, or doing something birthday velebration related, right up until the weekend.

Before I tell you about my birthday though, I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes last week. Every message was very much appreciated, and helped to make me feel special. So, as I said... Thank you!

Apart from all the wonderful birthday messages I got, I also got some money I'll probably end up spending on books and DVDs, a couple of presents, and a few cards. Kelly brought me the DVD of the 2017 Jumanji movie, so I had something from him and Lilie on the day (since, as you may remember, he brought me my new Kindle as an early birthday and Christmas present a few weeks back). Also, someone gave me the gift of buying some of my books on my birthday. That's a very good birthday present to give your favourite author, by the way... Just so you know.

Most of my family and friends don't bother with cards these days, but I had cards from Rita, my Grandma, my Dad, and my Nan (Grandma is my Mother's Mother, and Nan is my Father's Mother). Here are the cards:

My Dad made me a dragon model, which kind of reminds us of Spyro (from the Spyro game I used to play on the Playstation when I could still see) though it doesn't look exactly like Spyro. It's just close enough to Spyro that it reminds us of him. I'm still calling it Spyro though. Anyway, here it is:

Dad also made me a Baby Groote (a character from Guardians Of The Galaxy)...

"I am Groot!"

Plus, Dad made a new version of the braille D10 for me to test...

I tested the dice a bit between dealing with birthday messages on Facebook. It rolls better than the first ones, so it seems we're heading in the right direction with braille dice creation. YAY us!

My Mam got me a couple of DVDs that are due out about now. They're pre-ordered, and will come to me when they're actually released. So, I guess my birthday is technically still not over yet.

We were meant to go out for a birthday dinner on my actual birthday, but it got rescheduled. Instead, Kelly and I watched Jumanji while eating some of my birthday cake - a lemon drizzle cake - on Tuesday evening. I've got a movie reviews post going up on the weekend though, so I'll tell you about the movie then.

Wednesday and Thursday I finished my birthday cake (it was only a little cake) and dealt with more birthday messages and phone calls.

Friday was when I ended up having my birthday meal. The meal was rescheduled because Oscars couldn't do it after all. They aren't usually open on a Tuesday, but were going to open for me. But something came up that meant they couldn't, so my birthday dinner was rescheduled for the Friday after my birthday instead (this past Friday). I didn't mind though. Sometimes things just come up. It happens to us all, and can't be helped.

I'd originally planned to have my birthday meal as an evening meal, but asked for the afternoon instead when it was changed to Friday, since they didn't mind which I did, and I figured it would be quieter there on a Friday afternoon than evening. Not that things are too bad for people this time of year anyhow, since tourist season is over. But still. Friday nights are popular for people going out, and I prefer to go when less other people will be.

Not because of Lilie. Lilie would actually prefer us to go when there will be more people, since more people means more potential friends for her, and a higher chance of getting attention. It's me who prefers the quieter times. So, Friday afternoon it was, since it was me who got to make the choice, not Lilie. *wink*

It was worth the wait. Food from Oscars always is. At least, we think so. They made it even more so with a free dessert. I got to choose, and picked apple crumble with custard, since I love fruit crumble. I did offer Kelly to share it, and they provided utensils so he could. But he wouldn't. Said he was too full from dinner. I enjoyed it though.

I got a birthday card from them too...

Wasn't that nice? They were already my favourite place to eat, but now I'm even more glad I picked them for my birthday meal, since they made it a very special one.

So, that was my birthday week.

Before I end this, I want to direct your attention to a post that may be of interest to those of you who read blogs on your iPad or iPhone. It seems there are issues with Safari's privacy settings preventing you from commenting. The post explains, and also tells you how to resolve the issue.

#Music Monday: Savage Garden - Affirmation

Time for a little "Affirmation" from Savage Garden... Enjoy!

#KidLit #Fantasy #Book - Yua And The Great Wizard Hunt Now In #Audio! #Animals #Dogs #Westies #MgLit

When Yua the talking West Highland White Terrier fails to stop his master, Gwydion, from being wizardnapped, there’s nobody to help him look for his lost wizard. That is, until he meets Lattie; a small girl with a big heart, and a secret she didn’t even know she had.

Why was Gwydion wizardnapped? What is Lattie’s secret? Most importantly: can a small dog and a little girl answer these questions and rescue a wizard all by themselves?

Note: This book may not be suitable for younger readers.

Previously made available in eBook and paperback, “Yua And The Great Wizard Hunt" is now also available in audio, read for you by Matt Jenkins.

Regardless of which format you prefer, here are the main places where you can buy the book:

Audible, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Chapters-Indigo, iBooks, iTunes, Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, and The Book Depository.

The book also has a page on Goodreads.

#FurkidFriday: A #Chinchilla #Video And #Photos

Hi everyone. This is Mollie the chinchilla.

First of all, here's a video clip of me and Maizie in our cage. Well, mostly you can see Maizie, who's jumping about, as usual. Sorry it's not a great quality video. I hope you enjoy it anyway.







The human caretakers managed to get a photo of me nibbling on the willow ball I got for my birthday last month. In fact, they got a few photos of me and Maizie that day. So I thought I'd share the photos with you.

This first one was when the Mummy human was giving me my willow ball:

Next, here I am with my Willow ball, while Maizie watches from a higher level:

I was nice, and let her come share my willow ball...

Sorry I took so long to share the photos. Everyone had lots to say, so I had to wait to get a turn on this thing. I hope getting to see photos and a video of me and Maizie was worth the delay.

Oh, and... Yes. There was oatmeal and raisins on my birthday. In fact, here are a couple of photos of us enjoying them. The first is just Maizie, the second is both of us.

It was a great day!

Squeak soon,
Mollie

#SelfCare And A #Hygge Home

Self care is important, and embracing Hygge goes well with that.

These are things I want to focus on in the coming year, and have started to try and pay more attention to now.

I was going to wait to post about this until around the new year, when I'll be looking back at 2018, and talking about my goals for the coming year. But the holidays are upon us, and what better time to remind ourselves of the need for self care than at a time of year when everyone allows such things to slip in their quest to have the perfect holiday celebrations of their imaginations, even if they know that's impossible?

If I've learned one thing about myself during the past year, it's that, just like the people on a quest to have the perfect Thanksgiving or Christmas, I don't practice self care enough.

I forget about my own needs - physical, emotional, and spiritual - in my quest to do everything I think I "need" to do. I have to stop doing that. Sometimes it's OK to say, "No."

Also, I love the concept of Hygge. The idea of having somewhere cosy and safe to just relax, and of doing something just because it makes you feel happy and content, sounds ideal to me. Those things sound like what home should mean, and seem to me to be what both Hygge and self care are all about when you come right down to it.

So, though I'll have a couple of other goals for 2019 too, which I'll tell you about another day, my main goal for the coming year will be to practice better self care. To help me with this, I'll be embracing Hygge, by creating spaces in my home to do the things I love.

I've already started doing this, and plan to continue it through 2019 and beyond.

Lilie is doing her bit to help out. She helps by bringing me a toy to play with from time to time, reminding me to take regular breaks, especially if I've been on the computer for a long time. Something you should always do, regardless of what it is you're doing, since standing or sitting in the same spot for too long isn't good for you.

I don't always listen to her. Not if she's constantly demanding attention. But I do often take a moment to step away from the computer and go play with her a little. To just enjoy the moment with her, and not worry about anything else for that time. Because sometimes you have to just enjoy the moment, whether you do it while playing with a furry family member, while sitting and relaxing with a cup of your favourite beverage, by taking a walk beside the ocean (or somewhere else you can be near nature) or in some other way.

I've been looking at ways I can eat healthier too. I'm a vegetarian, and my diet isn't too bad anyhow. The thing is though, just because you eat mainly fruit and vegetables, doesn't automatically mean you're eating the healthiest of diets all the time, since there are plenty of unhealthy ways to prepare fruits and vegetables. In other words: there's always room for improvement, so I'm looking at ways I can do better. Not because of weight loss, though that would be nice, and I certainly would like to get some weight off, both for the gynecologists, and for myself.

My goal is for a happier and healthier me - especially once everything's over with as regards the surgery - and a cosy home I can feel glad to return to and call my own.

The upcoming surgery is a chance for a fresh start for me. I want it to be a good one.

I want to fill my mind with life-enhancing, positive, beautiful memories.
~Alexandra Stoddard

How about you? Are you already paying atention to self care, and/or embracing Hygge? If so, do you have any tips for those of us still working on making it something we naturally do? Or is this something you're planning to work on in the future yourself? Either way, I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas in the comments section of this post.

#WriterWednesday - November 14th 2018

We're already basically half way throughNovember. Can you believe that? Where is this year going? Ready or not, December will be here soon, which means Christmas is coming up fast!

Speaking of Christmas: my book, "Ulrike's Christmas" was featured in this post in Sally's Cafe And Bookstore, along with some other fantastic books that might make suitable gifts for the children on your gift list this year.

Anyway, in case you missed Lilie's post from Friday: "Where's Noodles?" is now available in audio. The narrator is Judith Bareham, who you can learn more about in this narrator interview. Lilie did an interview this past weekend too, which you can read here. All three of the posts I just linked to provide a variety of purchase links for all available formats. Here's where to buy the book on Audible though. Oh, and here's a story snippet, which I posted on Sunday - in case you didn't see that, and would like to read it.

Speaking of audio book production: if you know the narrator you'd like to work with, you can now speed up your audio book production with direct offer, which is a new feature ACX has added.

I managed to do a bit of writing, but if I was doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) I would currently be failing, since I've only written a few hundred words so far this month. Hey, it's better than nothing though, right? After all, any progress is good progress, whether you're participating in NaNoWriMo or not.

If you're a writer too, how is your writing going? Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? If so, how are you doing? Are you on schedule? If not, that's OK. Yes, it is. In fact, here's why it's OK to fail NaNoWriMo.

Regardless of whether or not you're participating in NaNoWriMo, if you don't feel the same way, and want to increase your writing output, here are four foolproof methods to increase productivity.

No matter how fast you write, are you worried your story isn't original enough? Well, don't! we're all basically writing the same things at the same time. The trick is to make them your own, which you can only do by writing. So, just write, and enjoy the process.

Don't think you can write, because you have writers' block? Well, this is what causes writers' block, and why you should just sit down and write anyway. I get it. There's nothing more frustrating for a writer than feeling too tired to write. But sometimes you just have to do it anyway.

Yeah, I know there is a problem with 'just write anyway' being the go to advice. Sometimes you really can't. I get that too. I've been there most of this year. It's up to you to figure out if you really have a genuine reason why you can't write right now, or if you're making excuses because there are other things you'd like to do. If you can though, you really should try to get that writing in. Even if it's just a few minutes a day. That way you can feel the positive effects of writing every day.

Oh, and here's a post for when people say you work too much. Although, sometimes you really do need to listen to those people. In fact, here's why you need a 'nope day'.

Anyway, let's assume you're writing, regardless of when, or how long for. So... Here's what you need to remember when writing the beginning of your story.

Speaking of beginnings: here are four steps to starting your novel.

Are you writing a gory story? Then check out these blood-oozing tips to including gore in a story.

No matter the kind of story you're writing though, check out these tips for making a scene pop.

By the way, most people will never tell you how your writing makes them feel, and that's OK. Though it's nice if they do, you don't need them to. We authors do love feedback though, so if you want to tell an author how what they wrote makes you feel, go for it.

Speaking of giving feedback: this is how to give feedback to anyone, which will be especially helpful for those times when the feedback you need to give isn't exactly positive.

Finally, if you're looking at your 2018 goal list, and thinking how much you still need to achieve if you're going to meet your goals before the end of the year, here are some tips for sailing in to the end of the year.

Rough #Ocean Views, #Crafting, And Starting To Think About #Christmas

Her ideal was a wild and lonely sea coast. No matter if the winter gales sent waves beating against her walls, flinging stones at her windows and over her roof; warm and snug inside, she was perfectly happy and loved it there.
~C.R. Milne

It's been a stormy sort of week. I love listening to the storms, and to the rough ocean.

Speaking of the rough ocean: here are some photos of it. The three photos I'm about to share with you were taken on the morning of November 9th, when the ocean was sort of rough, though not at its roughest. It's been worse than this.

Even at that point it was quite a blustery day , and a bit of a drizzly one too. At least, we got a bit damp when we went for our walk, and poor Lilie came close to being blown off her paws at one point. I bet she felt just like Piglet from Winnie The Pooh at that moment, though at least she was already tethered to something solid, since Kelly had hold of the other end of her lead. She certainly made me think of him anyhow. As I said, it got worse later, eventually becoming one of the storms we've had over the past week.

I heard some idiots deciding to still do their firework displays in that weather. Even I think that's stupid, and I'm a big fan of fireworks. Luckily, there was enough rain that any potential issues from the wind were prevented. But still. Like I said... Idiots! If you want to have your own firework display. Fine. But at least do it when weather conditions are appropriate, and not in the middle of a storm. Fireworks are dangerous enough without adding those extra risks.

Anyway, on a more cheerful note, did you know: it's six weeks to Christmas Day today.

Yes. Really.

Hmmm... Maybe that's not more cheerful to some of you? I like Christmas though, so it is to me.

So... Have you started making holiday plans? If not, when will you start? If you have, how are those plans going so far?

I've started figuring out what I'm getting for who, but that's as far as I've managed to get with my plans so far. Not that there's much to do beyond that, apart from putting up the decorations. Oh, and buying a Christmas tree. Got to do that at some point. But I already decided those things will happen in December. We don't decorate until December anyhow, so there's no point me worrying too much about getting a tree before that either, even though Mini Mr. Pumpkin-Head had to go, so the only Halloween themed thing still up is my sugarskull, who's still happily grinning at us whenever we go in the living room.

What I have done though is unpacked my every day ornaments. The ones that are supposed to be on display in the living room. My ornamental Westies, and things like that. They're now unpacked, and on display like they're meant to be. That's one more box unpacked, and its contents organized. We're getting there. Could do with more shelves to sort most of the rest though. It will probably wait until the new year now.

In other news:

I've canceled my subscription to the Mister Maker boxes. I subscribed, despite them being aimed at children, thinking they'd be easy and accessable crafts, which they are. However, they're a little more simple than I'd hoped. I even tried increasing the age the site had me listed as (they make you add a child's age when you sign up) and that didn't make any difference that I could see. For a child, especially one who's a fan of Mr. Maker, they're great little kits. For an older crafter just looking for easy and accessable crafts... Not so much. So, I'm stopping them. Not because they aren't good kits, but because they aren't for me. Basically, you really do need to be in the recommended age group for these boxes - which is three to eight years old - to fully enjoy them. At least, that's how it seems to me. Older crafters could potentially enjoy them. But younger crafters would get more enjoyment out of them. So, I cancelled my subscription.

I was going to subscribe to another box in their place, but decided not to. I have my SewMine and Makerly boxes coming for fun craft projects, and my Harry Potter box too. That's plenty of fun post, and a nice variety as well. The rest of what we'll call my spending allowance (for lack of a better term for it) can go towards getting books and DVDs, or getting supplies for any other craft projects I decide for myself that I'd like to do. Besides, you can never have too many of those things. Especially the books. You can definitely never have too many books.

Besides, since it takes me longer to do the craft kits than it does a lot of people, the kits from those two boxes are giving me plenty to keep me busy. Plus, I brought a couple of the old boxes from both of them. The felt flowers from Makerly, and a Christmas mouse kit from SewMine. So that's even more to keep me busy.

I - or, more accurately, we - have been working on the Autumn themed table runner that was in the first SewMine box I got (the same runner I was hoping to have had finished before Halloween). There's slow progress on that one, because we decided Kelly should do the ironing parts, for safety reasons, so I have to keep waiting for him. That's Why I can't accurately just say "I" have been working on it. Anyway, while I wait, I'm working on the Christmas mouse kit, which is one I only need help with colour identification for, so can easily do by myself for the most part.

Ha! I still got out of doing any ironing! Actually, I'd have done it myself regardless. But Kelly spacifically asked me to let him do it. So I'm letting him. Not because it's safer, or because it gets me out of doing any ironing - though those things are true - but because it will be nice to be able to have it on the table next Halloween, knowing we made it together.

By the way, speaking of crafting: do you want to make sure your craft projects are eco-friendly? Use ecoStardust for all your glittery crafting needs! No, I'm not getting anything for advertizing for them. I also haven't actually tried the stuff out myself. But I saw the article the other day, and thought it sounded cool, so decided to share it.

#Music Monday: Ottawan - Hands Up

Since I shared my brother's favourite song from childhood - well, one of them anyhow - the day before his birthday, and tomorrow is my birthday, I thought I'd share a favourite of mine from childhood too.

I've loved this song since I was really small. As in, still in nappies (diapers) small. I only learned it was called "Hands Up" and by Ottawan when I was about ten. Until then I had another way of identifying it. So... In the words of me as a small child... "Come on, 'cause baybeh's on!"

Story Snippet: #Pet Themed #ChildrensBook "Where's Noodles?" - #Animals #Dogs #Westies #KidLit #Mystery

As she was coming out of the bedroom, her tail and head drooping sadly, and her charcoal eyes cloudy with sorrow, Lilie spotted the hoover monster lurking in the hallway. He often lurked there when he wasn’t prowling the rooms sucking things up. He had a corner where he stayed whenever the humans wouldn’t let him loose in the rest of the house. Usually Lilie just ignored him, but today she stopped right in front of him.

“Where’s Noodles?” Lilie asked in her softest and saddest whine.

The hoover monster had never answered her before, and she didn’t really expect him to this time either. But she asked anyhow, because... Well, you never knew. Besides, she was getting desperate.

Sure enough, as she’d expected, the hoover monster said nothing. He didn’t even move. He just stood there, silent and still, lurking there in his corner.

“Never mind,” Lilie whined miserably, turning away from the hoover monster. “Thanks anyway, I guess.”

Noodles was gone, and nobody would even tell her if they had seen him. So, as you might expect, Lilie was feeling very sad, and starting to be certain she’d never see Noodles again.

A soft little whine of pure misery escaped her as she headed back in to the living room, her tail and head so low in her sorrow they almost touched the floor.

~Above taken from "Where's Noodles?" by Victoria Zigler.

***~~~***

Where’s Noodles
Written by Victoria Zigler.
Now with an audio version narrated by Judith Bareham.

Book blurb:
“Noodles is a strange red creature with a squeaker in his tummy, who just happens to be the favourite toy of a West Highland White Terrier named Lilie. At least, he is now, since the bushytailed squirrel and cuddly triceratops fell apart while she was playing with them – totally not her fault, by the way!

Now noodles is missing.

Lilie’s sure she left Noodles on the living room floor when she went walkies. But when she comes home and goes to fetch him so they can have a nap together, Noodles isn’t there.

Where’s Noodles? Is he somewhere else, or is he lost forever?”

The book is available in multiple eBook formats, as well as in both paperback and audio. You can find the book in one or more of these formats via Audible, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, iTunes, Amazon UK, Amazon US, and Amazon Canada, as well as a few other places Smashwords and KDP distribute to.

The book also has a Goodreads page.

#FurkidFriday: #Pet Themed #ChildrensBook "Where's Noodles?" Now In #Audio! #Animals #Dogs #Westies #KidLit #Mystery

Hi everyone. This is Lilie the Westie.

Guess what?

The story Mummy wrote about me - which, you may remember, is called "Where's Noodles?" - is now available in an audio version. A nice lady called Judith Bareham reads the story for you.

In case you don't remember what the book is all about, here are the details:

Noodles is a strange red creature with a squeaker in his tummy, who just happens to be the favourite toy of a West Highland White Terrier named Lilie. At least, he is now, since the bushytailed squirrel and cuddly triceratops fell apart while she was playing with them – totally not her fault, by the way!

Now noodles is missing.

Lilie’s sure she left Noodles on the living room floor when she went walkies. But when she comes home and goes to fetch him so they can have a nap together, Noodles isn’t there.

Where’s Noodles? Is he somewhere else, or is he lost forever?

Mummy says to tell you that you can buy the audio version from Audible and iTunes.

She says to tell you it's also available to buy as an audio book download from that Amazon place.

No matter where it's from, if you do buy a copy, I hope you'll tell your friends all about it. Mummy says it has something called a Goodreads page where you can do that kind of thing. But she says you can post reviews and tell people about it in other places too. It would be really great if you do, because then more people will hear about my book.

If you like those eBook things better, you can find out where to get one of those in this post of mine from the start of August. Or, if you like paper books, you can find out where to get one of those in my post from September instead.

Lots of licks,
Lilie

#FurkidFursday: Lilie the #Westie #Puppy playing with her owl toy

Hi everyone. This is Lilie the Westie.

Mummy says there aren't enough Fridays. If I was the worrying kind, I'd be worried about that. But I'm not. Although, I think the squeaky things in cages might be. They worry a lot, especially those chinchilla things.

Anyway, since there aren't enough Fridays, Mummy and I agreed you could have a special edition "Fursday" post to help us catch up with some of what we want to share. That's why I'm posting today. Because I have a video and a couple of photos to share with you, but I need to tell you about something else tomorrow, and the squeaky things in cages already have things set up that they want to talk about on the Fridays for this month. Then we'll have to post our letters to Santa Paws... Like Mummy said, there aren't enough Fridays!

So, there's that photo at the top of this post, which is just a cute one of me, and is from the middle of October. Then there's this one, which is of me playing with my owl toy near Mummy, and was taken on Halloween:

Finally, here's a video, which was also taken on Halloween, and is also of me playing with my owl toy:







I hope you enjoyed this special Fursday post.

Lots of licks,
Lilie

#WriterWednesday - #Quotes About #Writing And Creativity - November 2018 #WednesdayWisdom

Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as writer.
~Ray Bradbury

Write the kind of story you would like to read. People will give you all sorts of advice about writing, but if you are not writing something you like, no one else will like it either.
~Meg Cabot

You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.
~Annie Proulx

Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.
~Pablo Picasso

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
~Jack London

This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until its done. It's that easy, and that hard.
~Neil Gaiman

I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.
~James Michener

You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.
~Annie Proulx

When you train your creativity, you automatically train your memory. When you train your memory, you automatically train your creative thinking skills!
~Tony Buzan

From #Halloween To #BonfireNight, And Everything In Between; #Pumpkins, #HarryPotter, And #Fireworks

We didn't do much to celebrate Halloween. We rarely do. But I wanted to carve a pumpkin, so we brought a little one so I could. You can see my mini Mr. Pumpkin-Head in the photo at the top of this post. He's still sitting in the middle of our table right now, grinning his lopsided grin, though he probably won't get to stay much longer.

Lilie has seen pumpkins in passing when we've been to the fruit and veg shop, but she didn't see one properly before, because we didn't carve one last year. Given the ball shape, the fact it smells of food, and the fact it doesn't take much to get Lilie excited as a rule, we figured she'd get really excited over checking it out, just like every other dog we've known. But no. Lilie just has to be different. She was curious about it, and gave it a good sniff. That's it. After a good sniff, she walked away. Even after my carving it peaked her curiosity more, she still wasn't all that bothered. We even let her come up to check it out on the table (something she isn't usually allowed to do) thinking the novelty of that would encourage her. It didn't. She gave it another sniff, and then dismissed it and jumped off the chair to go play with something else. Kelly just had time to grab this photo before she lost interest:

Lilie wasn't interested when I offered her some pumpkin to eat either. She just spat it on the floor and left it there. I guess she's not a big pumpkin fan. Unlike the rodent gang, who were pleased to get their share of the pumpkin seeds.

Oh well, at least that means Mr. Pumpkin-Head has been able to stick around all week without her bothering him.

I was going to set out our Halloween decorations too, since we have them unpacked after all, but I didn't bother. It's not like we get any trick-or-treaters here anyhow. Plus, things are still a bit chaotic around here, which is actually the real reason for my not bothering to get them out. I've promised myself they'll all come out next year. Not that we have loads of them, but still. I'll have the table runner done by then too, so can make the table all pretty while I'm at it. It was just my mini Mr. Pumpkin-Head this year though.

I carved my pumpkin while watching "Beauty And The Beast" (the Disney animated version). Yeah, I know, not really one that screams Halloween, is it? But a lot of my DVDs are still in boxes, I'm pretty sure I have no Halloween themed ones among those that aren't packed, and "Beauty And The Beast" was just starting when I put the TV on to see what was on. I couldn't resist. Besides, as I said on Twitter and Facebook at the time, it is sort of a monster movie. Sort of.

***~~~***

We almost took Lilie on a dress up dog walk. But we found out about it too late to get her a costume.

It was happening nearby. It was a Halloween event happening the Friday after Halloween for dogs and their humans, complete with prizes for best costumes (with catagories for both dogs and people). All the dressed up dogs - and their people, some of whom would also be dressed up - go for a walk together near the seafront as part of it too.

I'll have to remember to watch for something like it happening next year. I think she'd love to go.

Of course, Lilie gets walks along the seafront pretty much every day. But she'd love the extra attention being dressed up would get her, and all the people and other dogs to make friends with.

***~~~***

The badge in the photo above is my exclusive Newt Scamander Fantastic Beasts Pin Badge. I brought it on Pottermore, gaining a cool keepsake for myself, while at the same time supporting Lumos (the charity J K Rowling founded). As I'm sure you figured out by yourself - especially if you're a Harry Potter fan, or pay enough attention to movie releases to have heard about it despite not being a Harry Potter fan - the badge is in honor of the new Fantastic Beasts movie being released this month. It's now sitting on a shelf near me, with a couple of other keepsakes.

Speaking of Harry Potter stuff: my October Harry Potter box finally arrived yesterday!

So, what was in the box this month?

two recipe cards. One for a spider themed dish (which I'll have to substitute the meat based ingredients in for vegetarian alternatives, but this will be easy enough to do) and one for a berry themed dessert:

A Belatrix Lestrange wanted poster, which is even framed:

A little Ron Weasley figurine:

A basilisk fang replica:

And the t-shirt and scarf I'm wearing in this next photo:

A pretty cool selection of things. They feel like they're of pretty good quality too. It was an almost two week wait for the box (boxes are shipped out between the 21st and the 26th of the month, according to their website, and it took my box until November 5th to arrive). But at least it was worth the wait.

You know, with all this Harry Potter talk, I have an urge to read the books again. I can't though. Those are among the couple of boxes yet to be unpacked. Oh well, never mind. I'll read them again another time.

***~~~***

I had my shot this past Friday (November 2nd). Because of how the shot has to be every four weeks, I'll actually be getting two shots in November, since my next shot is scheduled for November 30th at noon.

Still no surgery date though. Mind you, you probably figured that by the fact I hadn't mentioned one. Hopefully it won't be much longer now. We'll be at the five month mark in the "three to six months" in another week. If they keep to their promised deadline, I should hear something in this next month. I sure hope so. It would be nice not to have to worry about the shots deciding not to work any more, or side effects from having them becoming a problem, or whatever.

Anyway, I had them weigh me while I was there for my shot, as usual. I'd hoped all the moving of furniture, etc, would mean I'd managed to get some of the weight back off, though I wasn't holding my breath. Yeah, it didn't. I didn't lose so much as an ounce. Didn't gain any either, so I guess that's good. Still, it's frustrating. I'm being careful with what I eat - I was even careful about not eating lots of Halloween treats - and I'm getting much more exercise than I was. I should be losing weight. But I'm not. This is why I stopped trying in the first place. It's like nothing I do makes any difference. In fact, with the weight gain from before, I'm actually heavier than when I started trying. The same thing happened when I was trying to lose weight before.

If it wasn't for the gynecologists, I'd just be glad I'm able to do more, and focus on being healthier, while not worrying about what I actually weigh. But I can't help worrying about what they'll say if I haven't lost weight when my surgery date rolls around. There's not really anything more I can do about it than I am, but I know they'll say I should have figured something out. I'm trying my best. I can't do more than that.

***~~~***

I've had fireworks to listen to most nights.

There are fireworks around here a lot of the time, since they're popular additions to all the events, especially the ones put on for tourists in the "Summer season" (roughly late Spring through early Autumn). But yesterday (November 5th) was Bonfire Night here in the UK, so there are always a lot of fireworks around this time of year. Luckily, none of the furkids really mind them, which leaves me free to enjoy listening to them.

The only time I didn't enjoy them was when someone got the bright idea to set some off in the early hours of the morning. Even I think fireworks at 3:50am on a Sunday morning is a bit much.

Anyway, when it was a reasonable time of day, Lilie and I have been enjoying the fireworks. I even had her in my arms by the windows a couple of times while we were listening to them. She actually seems to enjoy listening to the fireworks. At least, she's eager to jump in to my arms when I ask her if she wants to come up so she can look out of the window and see if she can see them, and stays there happily while all the bangs and fizzes are going on, tail wagging the whole time.

I'm afraid I don't have any photos or videos of fireworks to share though, because we could hear them, but Kelly said he couldn't see where they were. He might have been able to see them if he'd gone down to the street, but there was no guarantee he'd have even been able to see them then, and he was reluctant to go and look, because it's been quite cold here. The one day it was warm enough, it was obvious they were coming from a direction where he wouldn't have been able to see them from where we live, even if he went down to the street so the angles of buildings wasn't a problem. Oh well. Lilie and I enjoyed them anyhow.

A lot of the past week has been 7 degrees C (about 46 F) or lower, though it did get a little warmer than that a couple of times. The warmest it got in the past week was 12 degrees C (about 56 F) and that only happened once (it was yesterday). We had a bit of a storm towards the end of last week too. Not a particularly big one though.

#Music Monday: Jason Donovan - Too Many Broken Hearts

Jason Donovan's "Too Many Broken Hearts" has been among my favourite songs since childhood. It was one of the most played songs on the cassettes I had as a child, along with Kylie Minogue's "I Should Be So Lucky" and a few others I loved that were released during my childhood. I can't include them all, but I couldn't leave Jason Donovan out when sharing some of my favourite tunes. So, here you go... Enjoy!

Tori's October 2018 #Book #Reviews - #AmReading

Fill your house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks.
~Dr. Seuss

It's time to take a look at what I read in October.

It's lucky my replacement Kindle arrived quickly, because October was a busy month for reading challenges and things. I had books to review, my first buddy read, and a couple of books I read for group challenges on Goodreads. Thankfully they all count towards my reading goal for the year, since I'm a couple of books behind on that at the moment. I'm hoping I can get caught up in time to meet my goal when the end of the year arrives, which isn't long now... Can you believe it's already November?

By the way, I haven't mentioned in the reviews which ones were for challenges, but will tell you if you want to know. Either way, let's take a look at them, along with the books I read in between those titles, shall we?

October is crisp days and cool nights, a time to curl up around the dancing flames and sink into a good book.
~John Sinor

Just for fun, I tried to keep a mystery, paranormal, or spooky theme to the books I read in October, in honor of Halloween.

Anyway, as with the previous posts like this one, if you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question.

Don't forget: the format I've reviewed may not be the format I read. Also, please remember that I read across multiple genres and age ranges, so you should always check if a book is suitable for the intended reader, especially when children are involved. Sometimes reading the book's description on its Goodreads page will be enough for this, but other times you may need to check elsewhere to figure out the genre and/or recommended reading level.

OK... On to the reviews!

Conspiracy of Silence by Sabrina Flynn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Great characters, a fascinating plot, and a wonderful ending.

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the kind of creepy fairy tale that reminds you that the stories we know today had much darker origins than they do in most retellings. I wasn't sure what to think of either the plot or the main character for the first couple of chapters, but started to like both as I got further in to the book, and soon found myself enjoying reading it so much I didn't want to put it down. I don't feel I can give it the full five stars. After all, it took me a couple of chapters to really get in to it. But I do think it's a really great read, and recommend it to those who enjoy the darker side of fairy tales.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is a 3.5 star read for me, but I rounded up. Anyway, for the most part I thought it was a fun read, filled with plenty of mystery and magic, as well as a dash of romance. But I found the way it jumped about in the timeline confusing at first, though it wasn't so bad once I got to know the characters properly.

Quest of the Brokenhearted by Charles E. Yallowitz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is an excellent read, filled with plenty of action, and a plot that will keep you guessing. Also, that ending... I so did not see that coming, but loved it!

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. The gadgets and equipment used by both sides were pretty cool, and I also enjoyed how we got to see events from both sides during the story. I'm looking fforward to seeing how this series progresses.

Mercenary by Barbara G. Tarn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a well-written book, which is a nice read in its own right, and a great addition to the series. Cherry's story is a sad one, but it was nice to get to read her story, and get to know more about her.

Freelance by Barbara G. Tarn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love this addition to the series! It's wonderful how Elsa is so independent, and doesn't let her blindness stop her from doing things. The author did a fantastic job of portraying a blind character, and the story is interesting and well-written in general, so this is an all round great read.

Abby & Holly Series Book 2: Unfortunate Events by Janice Spina
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is an excellent book in its own right, and a wonderful addition to the series. Mystery, suspense, ghosts, and some great characters... What more could anyone ask for?

Harry Potter: A History of Magic by Ben Davies
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
If you're a huge Harry Potter fan who wants to learn more about the magical world, and the real history behind some of it, you might enjoy this book. Similarly, if you're an author who wants a little insight in to J K Rowling's cretive process, you might enjoy this book. If neither of those applies to you, you probably won't. I'm lucky in that both apply to me, so I did enjoy it. Although, I'm unclear why chapters on identical aspects weren't placed together, and think being able to pour over the information in physical form would have been better had that been possible for me, since even I found my attention starting to wander after a while with the audio version.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book, though not as much as I thought I would. The story was a good one, and I like the characters, but the plot moves along slowly - probably because we're trying to follow so many characters - and the ending was rather anti-climactic. I try not to compare books to movies, and generally would tell you the book is best anyhow. But in this case I can't help it, because this is one of those times when I think the movie is better. The movie has been a favourite of mine for years. The book is a reasonably good read, but won't be making it on to my favourites list.

Aaliyah by Katrina Cope
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
You know those books that make you stay up past your bed time because you just don't want to stop reading? Yeah... This was one of those for me. The plot hooked me from the start, and wouldn't let go. The characters are interesting, and believable as "real" people, despite mostly not being human. Plus, the writing itself is excellent. All this combined to make for an excellent read, which I eagerly devoured in one sitting.
*NOTE: I was given a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This fact has in no way influenced my opinion of the book, nor the contents of this review.

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I actually didn't realize this prequel to "Practical Magic" existed before, otherwise I'd have read it first. Still, it turns out it doesn't really matter which way around you read them. At least, I don't think it does. But, what did I think of the book? Well, it was really good, and interesting to learn more about some of the family's history. It wasn't amazing. But, then again, neither was the book version of "Practical Magic" so... *shrugs* I liked it though, even if I didn't totally love it. It was a fun read, with a magical plot, and some great characters.

The Cuckoo Clock of Doom by R.L. Stine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A great story, which will give you goosebumps for sure!

The Haunted Car by R.L. Stine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A creepy read, which is sure to give you goosebumps.