Surprised by Icicles

Are those the magic fairy wands glistening on the trees or only winter icicles that I see? (Anonymous)

I took a break from trying to flesh out a new story idea yesterday and went walking. Walking is a good time for thinking. You see everything around you, but you don't have to really think about how you're moving your feet or which direction to go. Out here on the farm, I just walk. Yesterday I walked over to the cliff area. I didn't really plan on that destination when I started out, but when I got near, I decided I was too close not to go take a look at the cliff and see how things are going there. 

I was surprised by the icicles. It has been cold, but no snow. But we have had a lot of rain this year and so the underground pools are full. That lets the moisture continually seep out between the limestone layers of the cliff rocks. Each drip freezes and makes an icicle that continues to grow longer with each new drip until there are rows of icicles ready to sparkle in the sun.

In the photo at the top of the post, I'm trying to capture the bits of ice from the water that dripped out on the tree branches. Instead of magic fairy wands, the formations looked like graceful ice birds. The picture doesn't really let you see that as well as I could standing under them and looking toward the sky. But with a tad more imagination you might see them. Trust me, they looked like ice birds floating in the air above my head.

And then a few bushes on the ground along the path down beside the cliff were coated with ice drippings too to make strange figures that looked as if they might turn into some sort of creature come the spring thaw. 

Ice can be an interesting part of winter, to say the least. When it falls out of the sky and brings down power lines and trees, it is definitely not something we want. But even then it can have an astounding beauty. More ways that ice can capture the beauty of nature is when it freezes over a pond or puddle or drips down to create hundreds of icicles along the cliff ledges, or patterns on the ice on a creek. So many ways to see the beauty of the ice. But there's danger too. I came back up that path very carefully!

Do you like icicles? You might think it would be good if we could save them for the summer. The folks on our farm back a hundred years ago did exactly that by going to the river and cutting out blocks of ice when the river froze over. Then they layered that ice with straw in specially dug deep ice houses in the ground. Come summer, they could go get a block of ice to use to freeze ice cream or keep their food cold. Now we just open up the refrigerator. 

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. (Hal  Borland)

My Shaker book, The Gifted, is on e-book sale this week for $1.99. It's not icicle time in the book, but summer. (I do have an ice cream making scene.) The story is set in 1849 and contrasts the simple lifestyle of my Shaker village of Harmony Hill with the extravagant social scene at the spa hotels where the wealthy went to "take the waters." My character, Jessamine, is a true innocent after being with the Shakers since she was nine, but she does have an insatiable curiosity about the "world" outside the Shaker village. In the opening scene she is leading a fellow Shaker sister on a wild goose chase through the woods in the hopes of getting near enough to the White Oaks Springs Hotel to see a parasol. She's enchanted by the very sound of the word and has a great desire to actually see one. That's Jessamine. A fun character to live with through a story. You can check it out at Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Always remember to double check the price before you download since sales can end quickly and without notice. 

Thanks for reading.

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No Mystery - The Winners Are...

Thanks to all of you who made my mystery picture contest so much fun. I enjoyed all your guesses. The right ones were good, but the wrong ones were fun. So just for fun here is a last mystery picture. This one isn't for prizes. I didn't use it because I really didn't think it would be fair, but you might be really good guessers or you might have walked through the same neighborhood in SC that I did and spotted this. So guess for fun and then for even more fun scroll down to the bottom and see the "rest of the picture."

As for the last mystery picture, it wasn't a total mystery to many of you. Several of you guessed feathers, especially peacock and ostrich feathers, but that wasn't right. Robin guessed a feather duster. Ola thought maybe I had a close-up of Oscar's whiskers. But no, those of you who went with cat whiskers were right. I admit that I left a little of the red rug in the photo to try to trick you and for some of you it worked.  
 
Here's the rest of the mystery picture.This is my daughter's handsome cat, Finn. Those of you who hang out with me over on my Facebook page may have seen him on there last week taking time to "smell the flowers." 

So here are the three winners: 
Susan J of TX who decided to go with two of my Shaker books, The Blessed and The Believer. 
Donna B of IL who chose Christmas at Harmony Hill and for her grab bag book, Wake the Dawn by Lauraine Snelling. 
Stacy O  was the other winner. I haven't heard from her yet, but have tried to contact her via Facebook. If I don't hear from her before Wednesday, I'll pick someone else. 

Now here's the rest of the just for fun mystery photo. Somebody a few streets over from my daughter's house "dresses" her cacti according to the season. I've seen stone geese dressed up for the weather, but never cacti. She  even had them named and a little mailbox for them. I'm guessing she, but maybe the cacti owner was a he. I didn't meet the owners, just the cacti. Anyway, they were named Prickly, Stickly, Thornie & Youchy. I'm sure she may have said all their names several times while dressing them for winter. :)

Thanks again for joining in my mystery photo fun. You guys are the best. I'll have to think up something new soon. But first I need to do some major brainstorming to come up with a new book idea!!

And This Mystery Photo Is...

 

On my last post, I finally found a mystery picture that was a real mystery to you all. A few of you came close but nobody figured out exactly what Sunday night's mystery picture actually was. You did make some great guesses however. 

The stumper mystery photo

Some of you were right there with my title last week saying "what in the world is that?" You were too stumped to come up with a guess. Then again, Mary said she didn't know what it was but thought it might be invading earth. So that would mean it was out of this world. Thank goodness, she wasn't right. :) 

The most popular guess was the sprouts on a potato or roots. Faye thought it might be deformed roots. A couple of you said starfruit. Then there were those of you a bit grossed out by the picture and remembering pictures of the inside of intestines. You can be assured I haven't been taking any pictures like that!

Then we had the creative guesses. Kate guessed a seashell with dingle berries. That was a fun guess. Annette saw an olive covered cheese ball but she admitted the olives were a bit weird. To stick with the cheese theme Patricia guessed cheese or potato through a grater. That showed she was really thinking. Donna guessed orange or grapefruit peel enlarged a lot, I suppose. A few of you thought of cow udders. My sister made an imaginative guess of dust on some sort of special dust rag. The most imaginative part of that guess is imagining I'd been dusting. LOL. 

The Rest of the Picture

Judith was partly right guessing pollen and Robin was nearest to being right by saying a flower with pollen. I suppose you could even say that was right although she didn't say which flower. I assured you that most of you had seen this before but you have probably never taken such an up close look at the bloom of a peace lily. 

Thanks to all of you who guessed and made the mystery picture last week fun. I have to admit I enjoyed stumping you because usually I can't. One more mystery picture to guess up top. This one probably won't be as difficult for you, but remember to guess first and then read the other guesses to make it more fun. 

I'll draw three winners on Sunday using a random number generator online. The winners get their choice of one of my books, (you can see more info about the titles on my website) plus a grab bag book. USA or Canada winners win a print book and if you're overseas, I'll send you an e-book. International postage is a killer. Remember you have to be over 18 to enter but that doesn't mean you can't get your kids to help you guess the mystery pictures. Please leave a way to contact you in case you're one of the winners. If you've already entered, a new guess on the new mystery photo gets you another entry in the drawing. 

Thanks again for dropping by and playing my mystery photo contest. And no, my sister doesn't get to win, just make guesses. She's already got all my books. :)

What in the World is That?

New Mystery Photo

Great Guesses

You all are the most fun! Love the guesses and I have to admit that I'm glad I did finally trick a few of you with my mystery picture. I still think it sort of looks like a fish head and NOBODY guessed anything near that. But somebody did guess a caterpillar under snow. That has to be the most creative guess so far although the yellow snow the result of a polar bear passing by was certainly very interesting!! Or at least, entertaining. 

We actually had snow Saturday here. I happened to be out of state visiting my daughter in a state to the south and missed it, but wow, the photos I saw on Facebook were gorgeous. Still, I didn't see any of polar bears in our area. LOL. Thank goodness!!

There were also guesses of Angel Food or lemon sponge cake and one of you simply guessed a lemon. I can see all those guesses. I liked the one where you suggested the pineapple was floating in a bowl of punch for a baby boy shower. A baby boy because of the blue, I'm sure. 

The Rest of the Picture

As you can see from the "rest of the picture" posted here, many of you were right when you guessed pineapple. That was a nice plate of fruit I got at Bistro Restaurant inside JosephBeth Bookstore last week. I had one of those doctor appointments where they order you to skip breakfast. So, I mostly went in to get a cup of tea for a bit of a caffeine fix at the Bistro, To my distress, they were out of black tea. So I settled for fruit. I need to carry tea bags in my purse the way my agent does. She orders a cup of hot water and then brings out a sleeve of tea bags. I would have been happy with one plain old Lipton bag. What some of you thought looked like "snow" in the picture is actually sugar I sprinkled on the fruit. A little sugar always makes things better. :) And a cup of black tea! Of course, just getting to go to the bookstore is a treat. 

On to the Next Challenge

So now on to the next challenge. Know what the picture up top is? If the first guesser gets this one, I may throw in the towel and give up on ever tricking you all!! My daughter and son-in-law kept suggesting I take a picture of this or that to make into a mystery photo while I was visiting them this weekend. I did not take this one in SC. That's the only hint I'm giving you. You don't need hints. You always guess right!

But right or wrong, a guess or even a "what in the world is that" gets you another entry into my drawing for one of my books and a grab bag book by a different author. Remember, if you are overseas, you can only win an e-book. You have to be 18 to enter. Feel free, however, to enlist the help of your kids in the guessing fun to figure out the photos. Please leave your e-mail or a way I can contact you just in case you are one of the three lucky winners.  

And thanks for guessing and joining in the fun. One more mystery picture on Wednesday and I'll draw for the winners on February 1st. Each guess on a different picture gets you an additional entry.

Another Mystery Picture to Guess

Here's the new mystery picture. We'll see if I can be a tad trickier this time than last time. I was trying to be tricky last time, but obviously I missed the mark on that. I had no idea that all of you were country girls like me who knew your wood.
 
 
Here is the picture nearly all of you figured out. And then the rest of the picture. I was imagining you seeing canyons and who knows what else. But most of you saw exactly what it was. A slice of tree trunk. Still, it's pretty neat, don't you think? I spotted it on my walk last week. A little bit of a tree sawed down and deserted. No fire made with it. 

When I was a kid, one of my chores was to carry in loads of wood and stack it on the back porch for the woodstove. Helped develop my muscles. Even after I married, we burned wood for heat until a few years ago when my husband developed allergies. Nothing like the warmth of wood heat. Sitting by a fire, reading a book, drinking a cup of tea. Simple pleasures.

I've got all of you who made a guess on the last picture entered in the giveaway for one of my books and another grab bag book. Remember, I'm picking three winners on February 1, 2015. You have to be 18 to enter and a USA or Canadian resident to win the paper books. But if you live in other countries and want to play the guessing game, I'll send you an e-book if you win. If you guessed on the last picture and then guess again on this new picture, you get another entry. Each guess on a new picture earns an entry for you.

So what do you think it is? I do hope I have a few of you at least momentarily puzzled with this one. LOL. We'll see. You all are hard to fool. Remember, it's more fun to guess first and then check out the other guesses. The most important thing to remember is that it's all for fun. Wrong guesses get an entry the same as right guesses. But you do need to leave a way to contact you. If you don't want to leave your e-mail here, you can send your guess via my e-mail, annhgabhart(at)yahoo(dot)com or leave a message on my Facebook page.

Okay. Time to guess!!

New Mystery Picture Contest to Win Some Books

Are you ready for a new mystery picture contest? Like to win a new book or two? Then you've come to the right place. Between now and the end of January, it's time to guess the pictures. 

So what do you think it is?

Make a guess and on February 1, I'll draw for three winners from those of you who comment on the mystery photos in the next couple of weeks. Remember, the guess doesn't have to be right. Just a guess. You do have to leave a way to contact you. You can leave your e-mail or message me on my Facebook page. You don't have to like my Facebook page to enter. That's just a way I might be able to contact you if you don't want to leave your e-mail here. If you have trouble leaving a comment here, you can always send your mystery photo guess via an e-mail at annhgabhart(at)yahoo(dot)com.

The prizes are books. Bet you were really surprised by that. :) But if you play the game, you might win your choice of one of my autographed books plus a grab bag book by a different Christian author. The contest is open to United States and Canada only for print books, but if you want to play and you live overseas, I'll send you an e-book copy of one of my books (your choice) if you are one of the lucky winners. You must be 18 to play and the winner will be chosen by random drawing after the Jan. 31 deadline. Each guess on a different mystery pictures in the next couple of weeks gets you another entry. Remember, it's more fun if you guess first and look at everybody else's guesses later. I'll let you know what this picture is on Wednesday and post a new picture. 

Last time we had fun with this. Some of you were great guessers and figured out the mystery pictures most of the time. Others of you were more like me when I see a mystery photo and made guesses a bit off the mark. That's okay. We're just playing and wrong guesses are as good as right guesses to get your name in my drawing hat.

In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, here are some his inspiring quotes.

• Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.  

• The time is always right to do what is right.

• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

• The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

As always, thanks for reading and I'll look forward to your guesses on the picture.

January - the Month of Dreary or the Month of Beginnings?

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary. (Edgar Allen Poe)

Can't you imagine Poe writing that on a January Monday midnight?Chilled to the bone and unhappy, but with pen in hand?

I hope you're not cold or unhappy. But let me ask you. Do you like winter? Do you like January? Or is it the month you want to slide on past and make way for February which can be pretty nasty on its own. But at least, February is shorter with Valentine's Day right in the middle to make for some fun times and a great excuse to eat chocolate and brighten our houses with red and white flowers. But January seems to go on and on. A full 31 days.  

Around here in Kentucky, January can be the month of dreary when the sun hides behind the clouds. When the announced wind chills make you shiver even while you're sitting by the fire. When snow can pile down, make travel impossible and cause you to fall prey to cabin fever. When the Christmas bills show up and the taxes loom. Are you depressed yet? Oh yeah, it's a good month for that too with its short days and frigid air that keeps a person inside even when the sun does pop out from behind those clouds. 

Nobody needs a smile so much as the one who has none to give. So get used to smiling heart-warming smiles, and you will spread sunshine in a sometimes dreary world. (Lawrence G. Lovasik)

You can find smiles in January. Snowflakes that cover the gray January ground and brighten the world. Sunshine sparkling on the snow and ice. Hot chocolate without guilt. Books to read by the fireplace or all snug in under a soft blanket. A perfect reading month. 

January is a time of new beginnings. A time to try over if we've messed up. A time to look toward the blessings waiting in the year ahead. A time to be thankful for the gift of another year. A time to smile even on the gray and dreary days. 

Winter is a season of recovery and preparation. (Paul Theroux)

We need winter. Well, perhaps I should say I need winter. You might want nothing at all to do with it and wish you lived in the Bahamas. But January can be a month for gathering thoughts, for thinking stories, for being ready because spring is on the way.

Seasons are necessary for me.

What do like best about January? Worst?

Thanks for reading. Come back Sunday. I'm going to have another of those "mystery pictures" games and give away some books. Are you ready?

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