Last night, my sweetheart Diana and I attended a Christmas party put on by our church. We potlucked soups of all kinds and the cuisine was awsome. I never counted, but there must have been at least 25 different kinds of soups and stews. Considering the outside ambient temperature was hovering around -26C, it was the perfect meal!
Following the excellent meal, and renewing of friendships, we broke up into groups of our choice and Diana and I attended an arm knitting, scarf making project. The scarves were to be donated to our local Harbour House (woman's shelter) so we were excited. After we untangled the yarn we followed our instructor and created some very nice and easy scarves. This morning, I searched on line and found a great tutorial video for any who might be interested in making a scarf for themselves or someone special. (Last night I would have taken a photo or two, but my arms were both busy.) Considering I already had some knowledge of how to make one of these arm knit scarves, I still found the video insightful. The woman in the video, Audra, uses a slightly different technique than I was taught, but I found her way to be simpler and I liked it better. (Being the lazy man I am, simpler is always better for me.)
Merry Christmas to all.
Davis

Christmas Music Is In The Air

I love the music of  Christmas, especially songs about the birth of Jesus Christ. Yesterday I was asked to sing a solo in our Christmas Sunday program on December 22nd. Now I just need a song. Several times in the past I have performed "Born Is The Light Of The World" by Sally DeFord, but I'm considering a fresh number. If any of you out there are also looking for a selection of great Christmas music that is free to print and use non-commercially, then look no further than Sally DeFord's site. I've heard many of her compositions and I think they're awesome. Many of her songs have accompanying MP3 clips that allow you to listen to professional sounding renditions. Nice! And the best part about Sally's website is that "free" means no money required and no back-door-malicious-software trying to sneak onto your computer while you browse her site. In our world where an agenda of greed is nearly everywhere, it is refreshing to find an exception - especially at Christmas time!

Pluggin Along Day By Day

Dear Friends,
I hope you are all HHT - you know, happy, healthy and terrific! I'm doing great myself (although I really shouldn't brag). Life has its challenges for me too and those usually include needing more sleep than I want to allow myself to get. Oh well, some things I just have to live with! (Yawn) My to-do list certainly won't run out any time soon.
As for my writing, it takes a back seat to my job. I gotta pay the bills and eat a little now and then. I expect not may of you who are reading this blog are independently wealthy or have a massive monthly allowance from a rich inheritance to support you (or have recently won the lottery), so I think you all know how it is in the trenches of life. Trying to make the best of my current situation seems to work - at least if I get past the "trying" phase.
I think my favourite thing in life is my grandchildren, except they all live far away and I don't get to play or visit with them much. We do connect on SKYPE however, and that is great. My youngest of four grandchildren will require another year or so before he can talk to me on the phone, but the time will pass and soon the day will come for him too.
About my latest novel -  which some of you may be wondering about: I have been working on it, but not recently due to 50-60+ hour work weeks for the past several months plus some rather important volunteering that I do. And then there's the grass to mow and the garden and greenhouses to tend. (By the way, I picked my first ripe tomatoes last week and the green peppers have been on for about a month. Mmmm!) I did, however, break the 50,000 word barrier in my novel and it looks like I have about double that to go to reach the end. I hope soon to get back to my keyboard to add more life to the awesome story of the Treasure of El Grado Escaso. I am quite enjoying the creative process - as often as possible. This is the first novel I have created a full outline for before I began writing the details, so when I return to the manuscript after an extended period of time, I am able to pick up where I left off pretty easily. And I like that a lot! It caters to my limited options.
On another happy note, my sweetheart and I just celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary and yes, we're still newlyweds. I am grateful to be married to such an amazing woman! I feel most blessed and smiled upon! Indeed I am a lucky man!
Well, that's about all I have for now. I often sit in the air-ride seat of my semi-truck and think of posts I might do, but by the time I get home and eat supper, my creativity has already gone to bed without me. I promise to try to post more, but you'll know if that happens. In the mean time, be safe out there and try to do some nice thing for someone every day.
God bless you all,
Davis