2019 Life-long Learning: New Roads

Posted on December 29, 2019 by peggylchambers

    I’ve come to some conclusions about life. No one gets out alive. I have a friend who hates it when I say that. But what I mean is death is inevitable. It is what you do in life that counts and it seems I’ve watched too many people run out of time this year.

Each year I decide what I want to write about. I was going to name this blog The Roaring 20s, but I think that’s been done. No, I think 2020 (the roaring 20s) will be about living my life to the fullest. Who knows if I’ll live to be 110 or 67. It is what I do with that time that is important.

I’ve spent a good part of 2019 cleaning out. I have WAY too many possessions and not enough experiences. I plan to change that this year. I want to travel, listen to concerts, read great books, watch great movies, meet great people, and yes, even learn a thing or too. I said last year’s blogs were about life-long learning. I did some internal searching and learned I wasn’t ready to sit in the rocking chair and do nothing. No, I didn’t take that Spanish class I talked about, but I did learn some things about myself.

This year I want to hike (if the poor old body will allow) and enjoy art. Maybe I’ll create some myself. I want experiences instead of possessions.

Help me in this journey this year by telling me what you want from life. Do you want to travel? Collect dishes? Play with the kids or grandkids, start a non-profit, make a million dollars? If you could just do what you wanted to do, what would that be? I’m after experiences. I’ll let you know how that goes and I’d love to hear from you.

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2019 Life-long Learning: Learning to Change Christmas Traditions

Posted on December 22, 2019 by peggylchambers

    Merry Christmas! It’s here whether you’re ready or not. Wednesday hungry mouths will descend on my dining room and I hope they all go away satisfied. I’m not going to a lot of trouble this time. I’ll cook a ham, potatoes, and dessert and then the family will bring dishes. There is no reason for one person to kill themselves trying to make the world jolly!

The family opted for fewer presents this year. I balked at first, but found it freeing in the end. With car repairs, etc. I already had enough stress and after all the reason for the season is presence, not presents. We will get together and break bread. We’ll spend time together instead of money. The kids are grown, and the magic of Christmas has changed.

I exchanged my worn-out Christmas tablecloths for new ones, put up the tree and did a little decorating. I got rid of a lot of old decorations last year so my husband and I wouldn’t have to make the trek to the attic for everything. It is all in the hall closet now and you know what? I still didn’t put them all out! Obviously I horde Christmas decorations.

I wish you and yours food to eat, a warm home to eat it in, and companionship. Who needs anything else? Christmas is a time for families and friends. Enjoy yours and Merry Christmas!

Tell me what your Christmas will be like this year.

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2019 Life-long Learning: Booksigining at Putnam Six Bookstore

Posted on December 15, 2019 by peggylchambers

    Yesterday I spent a few hours at Putnam Six Bookstore having a book signing. Chloe Fuxa has a lovely shop and it had a lot of foot traffic. It was Saturday and it was Christmas and people strolled in and out of Enid’s only bookstore. And since it was Christmas, I made cookies. As usual, I made too many and shared the leftovers with a couple of friends.

I put the cookies on a plate and shoved them to the front of the table next to my books. I shared a few. When you walk into a shop to look for something specific and there is a woman set up selling her own books and giving away cookies, it might be suspicious. But there were a few brave souls who not only took a cookie, they took a chance on a book or two. After all it is the gifting season and what better gift can you give than a book – an adventure enjoyed right in your own home.

Putnam Six has my books on the shelf and available for sale all the time, but it was nice to offer them for Christmas presents and meet a few people. I sold a few and enjoyed the afternoon with friends and got acquainted with a few more.

I had some people ask me for my Snickerdoodle recipe, so I’m sharing it here. The recipe came from my grandmother who raised 8 children on a farm in the middle of the Great Depression. She was barely 5 ft tall and fed all those mouths on her garden, fruit trees, chickens, milk cows and what her husband brought in from the woods and streams. I loved visiting her when I was a child. She made the best biscuits (and other things). No one ever went hungry in her house.

I’d like to think she’d enjoy my books, not that she read a lot. She was too busy! But, I’m sharing her recipe today in her honor and because of Christmas.

Snickerdoodles

From Ethel Downing Coats (a/k/a “BaBaa”) 1902 – 1975 my maternal grandmother

Mix Together:

1 Cup soft shortening

1 ½ Cups Sugar

2 Eggs

Sift Together and Stir in:

2 ¾ Cups Sifted Flour

2 tsp. Cream of Tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp salt

Mix together and chill at least one hour. Roll into balls the size of small walnuts. Roll each ball in a mixture of 2 tsp. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until lightly brown but still soft approximately 8 – 10 minutes at 400 °.

I hope you enjoy the Christmas season. Make a cookie and read a book!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2019 Life-long Learning: Graceful Arts Gallery

Posted on December 8, 2019 by peggylchambers

    I was invited to have a book signing at Graceful Arts in Alva, Oklahoma https://www.gracefulartscenter.org/ last Friday night. It was a First Friday Event in Alva. Christmas abounded in the decorations, food, music and great people. I found it a joy blending with the artists and musicians.

Alva combines the rural farming community with the university at NWOSU. That combination creates a lovely small town with friendly people and a slow pace. I was checked out by the local English Department from the university and treated like royalty. I’d love to return when I have a new book.

I found pottery by local artist Nancy Russell, wife of author Sheldon Russell, and realized she had a tile for sale engraved with the runes from the Heavener Runestone. It matched the runes on the stone I wrote about in Glome’s Valley and Return to Glome’s Valley. I had to have it! I put it in the place of honor on the hearth, but it needs to be hung in my writing room near the books that accompany it.  

The NWOSU choir came by and serenaded us with Christmas carols a cappella style and it was lovely! They were my first Christmas carols of the season and put me in the mood.

We met artist Carla Miller who had paintings hung in a section of the gallery. I especially liked her home-town painting of the white chapel with sunflowers out front. We also met Jay Heinrich, leather artist, from Oklahoma and his wife. We could have talked all night.

Many people from the community and university came and ate snacks, drank wine and hot spiced cider, and made us feel welcome. We’d love to go again. Dr. Jo Decker has a lovely gallery and makes everyone feel at home. We did.

Thank you, Graceful Arts, and we can’t wait to come again.

 

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2019 Life-long Learning: Books for Christmas

Posted on December 1, 2019 by peggylchambers

    Thanksgiving was a success. I blew my diet, but I’m back on track. And I can’t believe it is the first of December! The Christmas season is here. There will be decorations to put up, cards to sent out, gifts to buy and then wrap – and more food again. What will you do for those you love? You want a gift, but you have no idea what they need.

They need books. Most everyone loves a good story – kids do, and so do adults. And local bookstores are full of them.

On Friday, December 6, 2019 I will be signing my books in Alva at Graceful Arts on Alva’s First Friday event. The shop will be open from 6-8 and Christmas will be celebrated with music, art, and food. Come join us if you’re in the Alva area. Not only will I have my books for sale, there will be artists of all kinds in the gallery and you are sure to fill your Christmas list.

On Saturday, December 14, 2019 I will be signing my books in Enid at Putnam 6 bookstore in Sunset Plaza from 2-4. Come see what Chloe has to offer in her bookstore and maybe pick up a few for yourself while you Christmas shop.

If you are more into the online shopping idea, you can find all my books on Amazon in paperback or e-published for that person who only reads electronically. You can always buy them a gift certificate so they can download the books of their dreams. You can find mine at https://www.amazon.com/Peggy-Chambers/e/B0069EINPK?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1575218680&sr=8-1

Buy some for yourself while you’re at it. And once the Christmas shopping is done, you can curl up by the fire with a hot chocolate and your new book – an adventure into another world. Then it can snow, and blow and you won’t care.

Shop books for Christmas. And be sure to pick up something for yourself while you shop.

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2019 Life-long Learning: The Holiday Season

Posted on November 24, 2019 by peggylchambers

    Sitting down at the computer to come up with a Sunday blog I realize ONE MONTH FROM TODAY IS CHRISTMAS EVE! I can’t believe it. I’ve been immersed in the family gathering around my table on Thanksgiving and it hadn’t occurred to me how close the Christmas holiday came just behind it.

Relatives are coming from out of state and my house will be full. I have a turkey thawing in the frig and I’ve gone over the shopping list dozens of times.

Tuesday evening my sister and her husband come from out of state;

Wednesday both sisters and I will make pies, sandwiches for lunch, turkey goes in the roaster before bed late that night;

Thursday morning we finish making the sides and the family gathers at noon to strip the bird clean;

Friday we recover and if anyone wants to eat, the frig is that way;

Saturday the guests leave, and I pass out for a few hours.

The beginning of the holiday season is next week. We eat too much, clean too much, spend too much, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to the grocery store. But I am so thankful that I have people who want to come and be with me. There are many who don’t. I can’t imagine not having the stress of the holidays and being alone with a TV dinner. I am lucky. I am thankful. My family means everything to me, the ones close at hand and the ones far away.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope your holiday is full of family stress (the good kind) and too much food. No food fights! Stay warm and bathe in the warmth of those around you.

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays!

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2019 Life-long Learning: If Dogs Ran the World

Posted on November 17, 2019 by peggylchambers

    On Sunday mornings I write a blog. I sip my coffee and try to get my brain in gear and today, I seam to be a blank slate.

I read the paper and came away with the same feeling I always do. I hate politics! I don’t know how to say it any better. I hate the backstabbing, power grabbing, caring about only themselves, not the people they serve. I’ve concluded that I can’t fix any of it. The political arena is just a place to promote self and forget about anyone else. Me, me, me. I prefer the comics and even they can be political sometimes.

Then I read on and found there were good people doing good things for others, not just themselves. They’re not on the front page and maybe they don’t need to be. But deep inside the paper are articles about food pantries, homeless shelters, and opportunities for those in need of services – and those in need of serving. I much prefer these pages. I need to do more. I try in my own little ways to help sometimes, and sometimes I get knocked down, but still I try.

I’ve been around for 66 years and I’ve traveled abroad some. I’ve stepped outside my little community and I’ve realized that people are people wherever you go. They need love. Maybe they didn’t get it as a child. Maybe they are unable to feel it due to the bad things done to them. I find it hard to believe that people are born that way. But the world is full of hate and it is killing us. Can’t we all just get along, seems a Pollyanna type of comment. The answer is, no we can’t. But we all need the same thing, acceptance and love.

My dog taught me that.

Maybe what the world needs is more dogs in charge. They are loyal, loving and protective. My little beagle mix is scared of her own shadow. She barks big in the house when someone approaches but hides behind me when a toddler gets too familiar. But I am sure she loves her family. She has a lot to teach the world.

I think dogs should be in charge of the world. They might be able to straighten this mess out. No impeachment proceedings, no bombings, no starvation or crime. Just a belly rub and a full bowl. She might run on that platform – belly rubs for all! (like a chicken in every pot).

I’m about ready to let the dogs of the world run this place without human involvement and see if they could do a better job.

What do you think? Could dogs do a better job than humans?

 

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2019 Life-long Learning: International Digital Awards!

Posted on November 10, 2019 by peggylchambers

    Last week as I cleaned out emails from places and people I didn’t know, princes from far away offering me their fortune, sales of items I didn’t know I needed, and promises of things I’d never have, I must have missed an important one. Because later in the week, I received an email from Oklahoma Romance Writers of America about a contest I entered last summer. I was a finalist! I know because they sent me a digital badge to add to my promotion of the book.

I’m a skeptic. I wrote her back. What’s this? Normally I just hit the delete button. It has caused me problems in the past. I’m sure I deleted a note from a long-lost cousin once telling me that his brother died.

She replied, “You’re a finalist in the OWRA International Digital Awards!”

What? It started to dawn on me. I did remember entering that contest last summer. I’ve won a few contests for my writing, but as a rule, I sit idly by watching my contemporaries win. I was astounded. Not that I thought Witches’ Cliff didn’t deserve to be honored, but because there are so many good writers out there. I know some who enter and win every contest that comes down the pike. Not me. I often enter and wonder what it is that judges are looking for.

Then the second email came. This time with an explanation. I was a finalist and they sent a list of all the winners. https://okrwa.com/contests/international-digital-awards/winners/

My novella, Witches’ Cliff, won fourth place in the International Digital Awards, in the short paranormal division. I was beyond excited. I had decided to enter more contests this year and now, I will keep that promise to myself. It was fun and it made my day to think that someone liked my work.

So, check it out. Witches’ Cliff https://tinyurl.com/y3fktu44 is a short novella written for Halloween, but great for any season. A modern-day witch goes to a quaint Vermont Inn to speak with her ancestors about an age-old problem. Along the way she meets another witch who is not so kind and she ends up fighting for her life.

Pick up a copy and let me know if you like it. It will make my day.

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2019 Lifed-long Learning: Pool Time

Posted on November 3, 2019 by peggylchambers

    Stepping down the steps I sank into the tepid water – that felt cold against my skin – waist deep. Cool, I think. Yet chill bumps run up my arms. Standing and looking around I think I see snow outside the window. The last thing to dip is not as easy. Breath in – I dip to my neck – and shudder.

Winter outside and an indoor pool full of women ready for the Y Aqua Aerobics class. I can do this. I used to teach in this pool and several others around town. I used to do a lot of things. Now, I’m retired and the swimsuit and the body underneath it have changed.

When my kids were small I managed the Olympic sized pool owned by the City of Enid. I taught swimming in the morning to most of the kids in town, and then in the afternoon I managed the pool for the public. I lifeguarded only when we were shorthanded. But I was certified if needed.

Recently the Y decided to cancel my Core Strength class that I’d attended for 10 or 12 years. I had a lot of good friends in that class and it was a regular thing twice a week. I had to do something for this aging body and the pool seemed like the place to go. So, I donned my old-lady swimsuit and joined the girls in the pool. Girls?

It was a difficult transition. Monday and Wednesday morning Aqua Aerobics and then Yoga on Thursday. And I found I still felt at home in the water. Others do too. There are two women who come to the pool on a walker, park it on the pool deck and then climb in to work out with the rest of us. There are all ages, sizes, and skill levels with one goal. Fitness.

It takes a certain type of courage to come to a pool on your walker. I call that determination. I bow to a person who is that committed. And I decide to ignore the chill bumps and get to work. I’ll warm up.

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2019 Life-long Learning: A Halloween Read!

Posted on October 27, 2019 by peggylchambers

    It’s Halloween! I love this time of year – the pumpkins, the falling leaves, the cool weather, the Halloween stories! And I have one for you.

Witches Cliff is a novella available on Kindle for only $1.99. https://tinyurl.com/y3fktu44 A fast read about a modern-day witch at a cozy Vermont inn. It’s romantic and it’s exciting with just enough fantasy thrown in to keep you interested.

Penny goes to Vermont to seek the wisdom of her ancestor. Jeff has asked her to marry but she is unsure. And then she meets Liam. Romance was not what she had in mind for this weekend and she’s not the only person attracted to Liam.

In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts held the witch trials and many innocent women died. During that same dark time the tiny town of Willow Springs, Vermont had their own slaughter at a local cliff. Penny Winter’s ancestor was one of those witches.

Years later Penny’s mother moved to Salem with her new baby to avoid the long memories of her neighbors. Penny learned the wiccan ways from her mother and became a professor of history at a local university. And then she met Jeff.

With no relatives to depend upon, Penny returns to the town where her grandmother died to seek her opinion of the man who has asked her to marry him. She once again encounters a Willow Springs witch. It’s Halloween and Penny desperately needs to talk to her ancestor before she marries, and it has to be at the cliff where grandma died. But she is not alone.

The charming inn where the story takes place is the setting for all the Deerbourne Inn novellas published by The Wild Rose Press. You should check them out. A big little story set at an old charming inn. The Deerbourne Inn has a rich history and you will love reading about all the people who come and go through its doors.

Check out Witches’ Cliff for just $1.99 and all the other novellas in the Deerbourne Inn series. It’s Halloween, time for a witch read!

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