Happy New Year

Wow! How time flies. It is just a few hours from 2006. What a wonderful year this past one has been. I've really enjoyed having the first two books in the Bailey Fish Adventure series published and have met so many wonderful people at booksignings and programs. Just today a grandmother brought her twin 12-year-old granddaughters to meet me at the library. And in the new year, you will get to read the third book in the series, and possibly the fourth, if I can get it finished. And, my daughter Abbie, will have her first book published. It is called "Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating and Marriage," and is based on her collection of old-fashioned advice books. My son, Christopher, is finishing up the art for book 3, so we will get that in place real soon. I hope you all have as wonderful a life as I am having. And have great adventures.

Icy boat ride

We had a lovely boat ride on the day of Christmas Eve--my husband, daughter Abbie, Sugar and Bailey. We went up Lake Anna. Didn't see many boaters but there were a number of seagulls floating in the water and cranes sitting on boat houses. As we got way up the lake, we saw fishermen coming towards us in a little boat. One, sitting in the bow, had a stick in his hand. We realized his was breaking up ice so that they could get through it. The ice was pretty thick, so we turned around. Bailey brough ginger cookies she had made, and Sugar had a thermos of hot chocolate.
Today we are watching squirrels dig holes in Jim's new grassy lawn. He buried nuts when he spread new topsoil in an area by the deck. This makes it very easy for the squirrels to find nuts because they don't have to dig as hard to get them. But the new lawn is a mess.

Artifacts

I had a wonderful meeting last Thursday with Sandra Speiden who has an amazing collection of Indian artifacts that she shares with students. She lives on a beautiful farm near Somerset. One of the prettiest pieces was an arrowhead that was almost transparent. I will be able to use some of the pictures I took in book 3. I am learning so many interesting things about the First People in Virginia.

Snow

What excitement! We had our first snowfall last night. Trees, bushes and branches were coated with about four, soft inches this morning. Bailey was overjoyed. She had never seen snow before, having lived in Florida all her life. Sugar said that Bailey made a tiny snowman and they took a digital picture of it to send to her mother. I like the snow, too. The sun is on the tree tops outside my window and I can see blue sky. I know the snow won't last, but it is a beautiful morning.

December already

Sugar and I were just talking about how short the days are getting, and soon it will be the shortest day of the year. Thanksgiving was wonderful at both our houses. We saw all our grandchildren two times, and we invited Sugar and Bailey over for pie after we finished the turkey. I have had a lot of booksignings this holiday season and more to come: Dec. 3 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Memories on Main in Louisa, and from 2-4 at the Pear Tree in Spotsylvania Courthouse. Then, on Dec. 10 will will have a booth along the parade route in downtown Louisa. Brrr. It will be outdoors all day, then on the 17th, I will be at Marshall Farms Corner in Unionville from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and back at Serendipity, my friends with the T-shirts, from 2 p.m. to 4 or 5. Oh, I forgot, Lake Anna Florist from 8 a.m. to 10 or 11 on Friday the 16th. My friends there are working up Bailey Fish baskets, with books and T-shirts and items that pick up the theme of the stories. Lots of fun.