I promised pictures of my students' art exhibit, and here they finally are. The exhibit went up March 14th, and it's coming down tomorrow so that I can pass back the art pieces Thursday (our last class this year.) The art club is one of the great joys of my life, and I am especially grateful to the South Natomas Community Center on Truxel (Sacramento) for supporting these classes, and to University Art Store on J and 26th Streets for holding the exhibit this year. We had a little reception on the opening day (punch and cookies) and whole families turned out to see it. The students are normally 8-to-13-year-olds, but this year I had one 7-year-old and two 13-year-olds.    
          Enjoy: (I've only named the artists - all others are "sib", "sis", parent, etc.)

Danielle, Edgar & their father

Claire (center), mother & grandm.

Karla with sib & friend

Yaritza (right, w. mother & sibs.

Antonio (2nd fr.  left) w. parents & sibs.

Kailee (right),  mother & sis

Maya (in red), Ella ( in pink), parents

Brennan and mother

Angeline (center), parents, sibs, and grandmother

Savannah (center), mother (right), and Emily (left)

Miranda and mother

Madison (2nd from left) and mother (next to her), grandmother & sib.

Kiley and mother

Ian (left), sis, and father. (Older sis, Kate, artist, was absent)

Erica (in red), Vanessa (in front of her), mother (right) grandmother (left) and youngest sister.

Kiley (left), Emma, (middle), and Madison (right)

Alyssa and father

Reina (right) sisters and mother

And that's it -- for another year.

I hope you enjoyed meeting them and seeing their work.

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This book is part of the Writer's Digest Howdunit Series.

The author and friendly officer.

A must have book.

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Book Three in the series

Terry Shames

Win a copy of this.

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I love a good mystery. So when Catriona McPherson -- current President of Sisters-in-Crime at the national level -- was speaker at the local chapter (Capitol Crimes), I was delighted. I was already hooked on her Dandy Gilver series, featuring an aristocratic sleuth in 1920s Scotland.  

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The long silence since my Christmas
posting was due to the exciting news that my middle grade mystery, Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls, will be published in June by MX Publishing. I was busy with formatting and editing issues to get it ready. (MX Publishing specializes in Sherlock related books, so Sherlock fans can go HERE to see a wonderful selection.) You can also read more about my book  next  door on my Victorian Scribbles blog HERE:

Not surprisingly, I have been reading a lot of mysteries both for young people and for adults. I recently joined Capitol Crimes, the local chapter of Sisters-in-Crime, since I'm currently working on a cosy mystery for adults. I was invited there by a friend, and it's her book I want to talk about today: Flint House, by Kathleen L. Asay, published by Bridle Path Press.

Flint House is a mystery, in fact a bundle of mysteries revolving

around what happens when disparate lives intersect over what should be a tragic event and stir up past events each character would like to forget.

Liz Cane, a cynical journalist with The Sacramentan, goes for an interview with Maisie Flint, the unpleasant owner of Flint House, a Victorian landmark in town. At one point, Maisie interrupts the interview to check on something upstairs. A few minutes later she tumbles down the stairs and dies.

Did she trip? Or was she pushed?

The tenants of Flint House are life's strays, hiding out from life in this rickety, shabby old Victorian. One mysterious tenant is called The Princess. No one knows her real name, but all the tenants seem to adore her, whereas none of them were especially fond of Maisie. The tenants also face eviction once Maisie's distant relative shows up to claim the house. The Princess claims to have a solution that will save Flint House. Then she is found in an alley, beaten nearly to death.

A random attack by a stranger? Or was she attacked by someone who knew her?

Despite herself, Liz gets drawn into their lives. She finds herself pursuing the story, partly as hard-bitten reporter, and partly because she cares about this motley collection of people who have become a family to each other. She's also obsessed with solving the mystery of The Princess's real identity.

I know it's almost a cliche these days to say "I couldn't put the book down," but I couldn't.  It was an engrossing read, and the characters are memorable. Despite the events I've mentioned, it's also a heartwarming read. I highly recommend it.

And no spoilers here. You will have to read the book to answer the questions raised above.

You can buy the book HERE: and HERE:

You contact the author at her website HERE:

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German soldiers of the 134th Saxon Regiment pose with men of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 'No Man's Land' on the Western Front, in December 2014. Photo is in Public Domain Taken from an article   HERE

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My writing corner when it's tidy.

Although this is what is usually looks like.

Hello, again, at last, after the long silence. I have keenly missed blogging and connecting with blog friends, but I had to put writing first these last few weeks, and it's paid off. I finished my mystery, and now I'm doing the re-thinking, re-conceiving, additional research, etc. that is so much of the re-writing process. And I have been reading a wonderful book that I just have to share. The Art of Character, by David Corbett.



I first came across Corbett's insights in an article titled, "Characters, Scene by Scene", in the January, 2015 issue of Writer's Digest. (Yes, I know it's not January yet, but that's how magazines do things.)

In his article, Corbett emphasizes that "dimensional characters are born from drama—not description." Yes, you should know descriptive and biographical details: eye color, hair color, height, weight, hobbies, work history, biographical information, etc., but that's doesn't create characters who live and breathe. What brings them alive on the page is interaction with others in scenes that serve a purpose in the story.

To paraphrase just one of his examples: How your character looks isn't as important as, say, how her appearance makes her feel, how it makes others feel, and how this translates into behavior. The same is true of age: How does her age affect her interactions? I have to say that just reading this article inspired several insights into my main character and a couple of others, and I immediately sent off for his book, The Art of Character.   Here's the book at Amazon, although several sites sell it.                                                      
And I bought the paperback, not the kindle. (When I read something this pithy, I do a lot of underlining.)

The Art of Character does not disappoint. It's like a course in creative writing, with exercises that are challenging but oh-so useful if you want rounded out characters that truly drive your story. It's also like a course in psychology, probing your characters fears, desires, hates, loves, spirituality or lack of it. Or a course in sociology. Or philosophy. Or literature. (Corbett gives solid examples of stories, plays, novels, that illustrate the concepts he covers.)

You can tap into this book as deeply as you feel your work calls for, but the advice and insights gleaned from it are useful for any genre: light fiction, cosy mystery, MG or YA novel, literary adult fiction. It's the best book on writing I've come across in a long time. And it's the kind of book you can return to again and again.

You can visit his website to learn more about this book and the best-selling mysteries he writes. Meanwhile, I have to get back to the last chapter, the one on "voice". Happy reading.

And happy writing.

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One of the most interesting bookshops ever: Centésima Página on Avenida Central in Braga. That's me, there, wishing I could read Portuguese, a beautiful but challenging language.

A delightful café bar called Copa. Again, in Braga, Portugal.

Hi, Friends,

I have not been posting because I've been working hard at finishing my book. Almost there, too. I have two more chapters that I'm determined to finish this week before we head home.

Next week I'll be posting again, and when I take writing breaks, I'll be visiting and reading your blogs, as so many of them inspire me. Meanwhile, I leave you with two pictures above from Braga, Portugal. Once we are home, I'll be writing more about that trip as well as bits and pieces about Galicia.

Hasta entonces . . .

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A plate full of pulpo. You eat it with toothpicks, bite by bite. Then you break off chunks of crusty bread and sop up the spiced olive oil. Yum!

Our wonderful neighbor, Miguel

Today, despite the fact that it's nearly two weeks since our return from Portugal, I had every intention of writing a post about Fado, the Portuguese art form of song we both love so much, to be followed by a later post mid-week about the photography festival we attended when we were in Braga Portugal.

But then our neighbor across the lane from us treated us to pulpo at the feria in Monforte, 20 minutes away from our village, and, as usual, we were enthusiastically swept away. (This is the neighbor who keeps sheep, and sometimes in the mornings, we awaken to their soft bleating.) Off we went, my Fado post tabled for another day.

Pulpo is octupus, boiled, cut in small pieces, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pimiento - which in this area, means hot red pepper. All of our neighbors simply love pulpo, and their enthusiasm has been contagious. Though vegetarians, we do eat pescados and mariscos (fish and seafood), but octopus was a new experience for us. When done right, meaning boiled long enough, it comes out moist and tender and just delicious. It is served at long tables, in special buildings at all the fair grounds, and one of the servers comes around with a bottle of the house red wine and a loaf of fresh bread to go with it.

The woman boiling this pulpo  is the neighbor of a woman in Turiz, Melucha, whom we met years ago when she was walking   her cows down the road to graze. The people in these neighboring villages all know each other, so Miguel was able to tell us this.

Rajan, adding his touch. We actually see this woman and another (who is distantly re- lated to Miguel), at ferias in the other villages, since the market days in the villages fall on different days.

One of the long tables set up for this event. For those who don't like pulpo,  there is also barbequed beef or sausage.

Despite the note about beef, most of these people are eating pulpo, always the favorite.

Good to the last drop.

Definitely a satisfied customer.

Feria is "fair" or market day, and in the mornings, nearly everything is sold at a feria: shoes, blouses, scarves, belts, beaded jewelry, plants, fruit, all kinds of produce, honey, bread loaves of all types, utensils for making wine, utensils for making the home-made brandy so popular here, aguardiente. One shot of that will blow your head off, but most people around here confine it to a little shot in their coffee when they do decide to have it. There is also a special drink they make, using aguardiente, called quemada, with orange peel, apple peel, coffee beans, and sugar, blogged about, before, HERE.  (Scroll down to the very bottom of it, and you'll learn about the drink and the history behind it, as well as seeing the clay vessel they make it in and the clay cups they serve it in; the set is also called a quemada, and it is also sold at the ferias.)

While we were there, a gypsy playing an accordion came in and played some melodies that were so familiar to the crowd, some sang along. It was an absolutely charming touch (and he gained a few coins for that) but, alas, I didn't take pictures. A memorable lunch, for sure.

How about you? Have you ever eaten octopus? Have you ever found yourself eating a dish you thought you never would?

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Inspiring Blogger Award from Julia Hones

Liebster Award from Sandra Cox See below the info that comes with the Inspiring Blogger Award

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Five big rocks that may surprise you.

Here it stands, a collection four immense standing stones, the fifth one fallen to the side, tucked back in the far end of a field nearly hidden by trees, easily missed, if you didn't know about it. We knew about it because good friends in Galicia, Craig and Melanie, told us about it.

Craig, Melanie, and their loveable dog, Slawit

A brief introduction here: Craig and Melanie are good friends in Galicia who sold us our house in Trasulfe.


They are from England, but they have lived in Galicia for about ten years, and Craig has written a book about their adventures. He also has a blog, and he wrote nice a post about the dolmen HERE  . Enjoyment of wine in Spain is contagious, and he has started growing his own vines and making his own wine (which is pretty good; we get to sample it whenever we go to Galicia. ) In addition, they have restored another home, and this one they rent out. (You can learn more about it at his blog site.)

So, back to the dolmen. And what is a dolmen? you might ask? Wikipedia gives a pretty good explanation of dolmens and where they can be found, HERE .  Basically a dolmen is considered a megalithic tomb. Usually it has a flat capstone on top of the standing stones. Rajan and I wonder if the stone in the picture above that is off to the right is the original capstone for this dolmen. Originally dolmens were covered up with earth mounds, and 5,000 to 6,000 years of erosion have uncovered them.

Even with enlarged photo, it's hard to tell. After all, the trees are pretty tall, and it's hard to tell hear just how tall.

Even with Craig and Melanie's good directions and the picture on Craig's blog post, we had to look for it. Despite signs, from a distance, it's hard to appreciate the size.

This should give you a better idea:

How on earth did they prop these stones up?

Anyone who know me knows I have a thing about old buildings. I love to touch old man-made structures, whether 12th century walls or Roman era bridges, whether in England or Spain. But our British friends all find this somewhat amusing. After all, they remind me, they grew up surrounded by historic buildings and Roman bridges. It's no big deal to them. But I always have to touch these old edifices that, I feel, bear still the mystical aura of humans touching them long ago.

So, you can imagine how enthralled I was to touch something that humans touched maybe 5,000 or 6,000 years ago.

Yup! Pretttty impressed. And pretty happy, too.

On another note, this week I had two pieces of pleasant news:
 1. A blog friend, Julian Hones, gave me the "Inspiring Blog" award on her great site, My Writing Life . Julia is an editor of a magazine and writes poetry and short fiction. The blog carries some "pass it on and give information" duties that will have to wait for another post, but I was certainly pleased to get it. Thank you, Julia.

2. I made this announcement on Facebook, but for those of my blog friends who are not on FB, My Flash Fiction, "Persephone," is in the current issue of Fiction Attic Press and will also be in the Flash in the Attic anthology. You can read it HERE: If you have time to read it, I'd love your feedback.

Meanwhile, how do you feel about old buildings? Do have that irresistible urge to touch them and imagine who touched them so many years ago?

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We have been traveling, and I started this post when we were still in England, visiting family. (Post about that to follow when I finish the posts about Spain.k) We got back late last night (actually early this morning), but I had promised to get back to two events in the earlier part of our Galicia visit, and here they are:

David and Pepe

David and Terri

                                                    FIRST: The Friday after our arrival -- April 11th -- We went with friends Terri and David to what is known as a "casa rural," but also includes a restaurant/bar and week-end entertainment. The name is Torre Vilariño, and it is co-owned by a cool hombre named Pepe. Alas, I don't know his full name, but here he is with David. And here is the website, which has lovely pictures of the rooms where one can stay, as well as the restaurant and patio.

On this particular Friday, two main musicians were playing. We had dinner first (around 9:30), and the music started around 11:00 p.m. One of the musicians sang, both of them played, and they went through a whole gamut of popular songs from the 80s -- in English. They were really good. Here are a few pictures:

The main duo.

The singer.

Hearfelt guitar work.

Occasionally a third musician joined them and sang along. They had a good sound! (I wish I had gotten the name of the group.)

Jamming!

The servers thought they were pretty good, too. Singing along with great gusto!

Susana, server extraordinaire!

The SECOND event was the Fiesta Medieval that takes place each year at the end of Semana Santa (Holy week). It used to only take place on Saturday, but now it has grown to include the entire week-end. We went both days. We love this fiesta, many locals dress up in costume, and small skits and re-enactments are put on in main streets and plazas. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Processions . . . this is a special galician bagpipe called a gaeto.

A medieval damsel . . .

A  verrry young knight Templar!

From one of the plazas.

And the little ones on burros!

Entertainers on stilts.

I don't know how they do it!

This woman was really into her role.

The ever-present witches.

I suppose this is where the knights collected their helmets.

To defend their king and queen. (Isabel and Ferdinand).

King of Castile y Leon.

Such beautiful birds! I think they said this unusual raven (with the white stripe) is distinctive to Galicia.

The horned owl is so commanding!

But this hawk is pretty impressive, too.

One of the trainers and a snowy owl.

The other trainer watching a falcon he released.

They finished off the show with an interval when people could pet one of the birds.

And who would you guess is petting that snowy owl? Yup. Yours truly. It was really an awesome experience.

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Originally we had planned to spend all three days, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in Salamanca and return Monday afternoon. But the desk clerk advised us that on Monday everything would be closed. So we decided to go to Toro that day instead.

Toro is an unbelievably beautiful municipality in the province of Zamora, part of the autonomous community of Castille-Leon. It's high above a fertile plain known for its wines (from the Tempranillo grape), and recently Rajan has gotten interested in Toro wines, so that was also part of the inspiration for the trip. You can see how the buildings beckon one from afar.

This is the kind of country we traveled through to get there. Beautiful, and lush and green. Appartently a lot of farming goes on in this region. But the Toro region is becoming more and more known for its wines. When we arrived and parked, we started walking around and one of the first areas of interest we came to was an overlook point with a plaza around an old, intact wall enclosing a rectangular area with round towers at various points. A gardener told me was from Roman times. (My Spanish is still limited, so I couldn't really learn much more from him than that.) Here it is:

One view of the structure at one corner. There were towers at each corner and also in the middle of each side of the rectangle.

 From the enclosure's condition, it may actually be from a later date. I looked Toro up in Wikipedia, and Toro was once a Roman town. The article mentions remains of a wall going back to 910, but, as you can see here, this is far more than "remains."

Another view. Each corner had a round tower.

Heavy doors were in walls on each side of the structure.

 Since battles took place in Toro between heirs vying for the Spanish throne, this might actually have been a fortress. Plaques mentioned the crowning of King Ferdinand III in 1230, and that Isabella I of Castille defeated Juana La Beltraneja there, and that her father, Juan II of Castille, was born in Toro in 1404. But if anyone else can find out more for me about the structure itself, I'd appreciate the information. (Isabella I, by the way, was the Isabella who married Ferdinand II of Aragon, and they are the famous couple behind the Inquisition in Spain and the financing of Columbus's voyage to what became known in Europe as "the New World.")

The Rio Duero

Red tile roofs that seem so typical.

Since it really is a grand look-out point, Rajan and I took tons of pictures of the vast plains and the Rio Duero below. (The Rio Duero cuts through northern and Central Spain and flows on south to become the Rio Douro in Portugal, which ends at Porto.) Here are a couple.


Here is a video he took that I think you will enjoy:


Then we all wandered around the beautiful city, admiring the architecture and the color of the buildings. Here are some pictures of a church that is considered a "must see" in Toro, Collegiate church of Santa María la Mayor.

The buildings have such a golden tone.

I felt like I was in Oz, at the end of the yellow brick road.

Here is the building in all its splendor.

One of the wine shops was open and the man inside was very knowledgeable about wines and wineries from the region. He spoke in Spanish, and we could understand most of what he said, but luckily our friends David and Terri are quite fluent, and so they were able to tell us whatever we missed. There are a number of wineries all around, but, again, most of them were closed. Still, it's good information for the future, and we bought some wine from the shop.

Meanwhile, the town was bustling with people out and about. I saw a beautiful arch at one end of a street, and a woman told me that it had been made with wine. Seriously. I think what she meant was that wine was mixed with the clay instead of water. But what a unique feature! She also tole me there was another arch at the other end of town, so of course I had to go there.

People out and about.

The arch made with wine, which may account for its color.

The other arch. Presumbably not made with wine.

After that, it seemed time to go, as there was a long drive home to Galicia and our part of Galicia. But it was a day well spent, and we were so glad that we had decided to take this little side trip on such a beautiful day. 

I  hope you enjoyed this little peek into this area of Spain. The next posts will still be about the earlier weeks in Galicia, before our trip to Braga, Portugal; and then I will follow up with pictures and posts about Braga, a most remarkable and wonderful city.

Till then, please leave a comment, and if you have any questions, I'll try to answer them. Also, if you have any additional information for us about Toro, please leave it. The turism office was closed that day, and there isn't an awful lot on line about this beautiful town.

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Already it has been two weeks since our return from Salamanca, and even then, we returned via a different town in the Toro wine region, called, aptly, Toro. But first, the beautiful city of Salamanca in the province of Salamanca, which is in Castilla y León, one of the seventeen autonomous coummunities in Spain.

Here you see the old part of town, across the Puente Romano (Roman Bridge), the buildings eternally glowing a soft apricot/rose/peach from the soil and clay from the area.

The old part of Salamanca, across the bridge, late afternoon.

The trip was to celebrate with our friends, Terri and David, our mutual 40th anniversary. Ours was on December 22nd, and theirs was on February 15th. We had agreed a few years ago that when the 40th came, we'd go to some special place during the spring trip to Galicia. Salamanca was a good choice.

We left on Saturday and spent two days in this beautiful city. What you see in the foreground, across the Puente Romana,  are the domes of the New Cathedral (new meaning it was built between the 16th and 18th centuries—in two different styles, Gothic and Baroque.) In the background are the La Clerecía Towers, domes of a church and ecclesiastic college begun in the 17th century. (More about the latter later, including a neat video of storks that make their home atop the Cathedral.)

A closer view of the Cathedral

But first, of course, we had to get there. It's about a four and a half drive to Salamanca from our area, and you go through some gorgeous scenery, leaving the stone walls and red tile roofs and the terraced vineyards of this area and encountering rose and ochre brick and stone walls of the villages nearer Salamanca and vineyards in rocky flat soil—soil that the vines seem to like: We've been told the harsher the soil, the better the wine.

Unlike neighbors and vintners in our area, the growers here seem to cut fhe vines very close to the ground.

We passed hills striped with purple heather and golden gorse and some bright yellow fields of rape blossoms grown for rape seed oil. At times it was like a painting by Cezanne. Red tile roofs changed to black slate in one area, and we saw milky white cows that, at first, we thought were sheep (we are so used to the golden brown cows herded by our Galician neighbors.

The first day in Salamanca we wandered around, enjoying shops, the cathedral and university and seminary buildings. And walking along the beautiful Puente Romano.

Our hotel, also names Puente Romano, was on the side of the bridge facing this picture. Everything was at a walkable distance.

We spent a lot of time at a wonderful museum called, Art Nouveau and Art Deco Museum, housed in the Cas Lis. Originally a small "palace" (from the brochure), built in the early 20th century for Don Miguel de Lis, an aficionado of Art Nouveau, it later became the current museum mansion that now houses statues, statuettes, furniture, stained glass artwork, dolls, paintings, all by leading artists and artisans of the genre. It's a remarkable building with one whole wall of stained glass windows on two floors, a hallway with a stained glass ceiling, and beautiful architecture and gardens and gatework outside.

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Another view of the ceiling, as well as one of the windows from the inside.

A beautiful painting gallery below and interesting rooms of statues, dolls, etcetera, in other rooms.

If you go to this site it will show you some of the remarkable features of the building outside that I mentioned.  And this site will show you more of the interior.

There were weddings going on in the city, so one of the restaurants Terri and David wanted to take us to was all booked up. We did have a wonderful lunch of raciónes at a convivial cafe called Erasmus , enjoying bacaloa (cod) croquettes,  gambas gabardines (deep-fried battered shrimp, and pimientos de padrón, small green pimientos sautéed in olive oil and sea salt, and one of my favorite ever dishes when we come to Galicia.

We went past the cathedral several times trying to get good photos of it. (There was a lot of shade.) The doors and sculptures on all sides are spectacular, though. Here are a few examples.

It's hard to convey how magnificent it felt to stand under these arches.

You can see the size of the doors by the size of the passerby.

These people give you even a better idea.

After all the walking around in the fresh air, we were tired and hungry. We went back to the hotel to rest for awhile, and then we went out for a late dinner. (Dinner is always late in Spain.)




The place that we discovered was a charming bistro named Zazu that specialized in a Mediterranean menu. We don't have a picture of the restaurant per se, but this site will give you an idea of their atmosphere and menu.  Our server found us a table in a small upstairs room that was softly lit and full of artwork on the walls. He was from Germany, but he spoke excellent English and was so attentive, you could tell he really liked his job. If you go to Salamanca, we all recommend this place. For starters, I had grilled vegetables and Rajan had crabcakes, and then for the entrée we split an order of squash-stuffed raviolis. The wine was Gewurtztraminer for Terri and myself, and the gents had a red from the Toro region, followed by excellent café. Then our friendly waiter kindly took a picture of us before we left.

Here we are, enjoying coffee, trying to look natural for a picture at about 1:00 a.m. I have never figured out why, but coffee in Spain doesn't interfere with  our sleep. By the time we were back at the hotel and retired it was 2:15.

Day Two was another day of sightseeing and some surprises. We wandered around the old streets, taking pictures of the buildings and shopping. Street musicians were situated in main walk areas, and the one below was especially interesting, tuning, and later playing what I think was a zither.

Looking up, up, up.

Stone carving like lace.

Statues everywhere.

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With blog problems these past few days, I'm behind in my posting. Last Friday was a fabulous evening at Torre Vilariño (a later post and photos will come), and we spent both Saturday and Sunday in Monforte enjoying the Medieval Faire (again, a later post and pictures will come).

First, though, I have to share a concert we attended in Quiroga by a fabulous fadista (Fado singer)— María do Ceo. She's very popular here and famous worldwide.

I first heard María do Ceo sing last June when she gave a concert at Rectoral de Castillon. At that time, I bought the CD shown to your left, and I blogged about it HERE.  It was an unforgettable evening, and my first exposure to Fado. (That was when Rajan and I we were taking turns with trips while the other nursed our ailing dog during his last days.) When I returned home and played the CD for Rajan, he loved Fado. Attending one of her concerts became a priority for this trip.

We went with friends Craig and Melanie, who hadn't heard Fado before, and they became converts, too. At the end of the concert, we gathered with others to get María do Ceo's autograph. She is a remarkable performer, and very down-to-earth and unpretentious after performances. Everyone was having their picture taken with her, and she welcomed us to have our picture with her too. What a treat!

After a long concert, she still had buoyant energy as she signed autographs.

She took time to converse with people who lingered. A truly gracious person.

She remembered my name (from FB and the early blogpost.) A very modest celebrity who makes you feel welcome and at home.

I enjoyed introducing her and Rajan.

She was kept pretty busy with autographs.

You can go to her website and see her CD's HERE.

We bought a new CD that we enjoy as much as the first one, and now I wish I had bought more. Each one is unique. The one we bought isn't shown in the Discography section on her website above. But there are many performances by her on YouTube at this site, so you can get a feel for her singing.

Fado, as I mentioned in my earlier post, is a distinctive art form of Portugal, similar in one sense to American Blues, in that it is emotional and comes from deep in the heart and soul. But Fado has a variety of influences, one of them Moorish, and you can hear that in the warbling minor trills in some of the songs. The word itself means "Fate." Usually the songs are about deep yearning and thwarted dreams. Some of them can have a cheerful beat, but it's a fatalistic cheer, dealing with life's outcomes. It's not depressing, though. It's a response to what life deals you. I'm hooked on Fado, and if I can find another Fado concert, I will. Unfortunately, we will be gone before María do Ceo's next concerts in Galicia, but we will watch her schedule and hope to hear her during our next visit in the fall.

María do Ceo is from Portugal, but she lives in Ourense, Galicia. Her songs are in Portuguese, but her singing is quite popular all over Galicia. Gallego, or Galego, or Galician—all are accepted names for the Galician language—is a sister language to Portuguese, so all her songs are understandable to Galicians. I read recently that Gallego and Portuguese share 85% of vocabulary. Our neighbors, in fact, have told us if we knew Portuguese, we would be able to understand Gallego.

Meanwhile, I hope you will visit her website and enjoy the video site HERE. I strongly recommend "Lela" and "Negra Sombe". But, really, they are all good.

How about you? Do you have favorite music genre? A favorite singer? Please share.

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The book has been sent to the contest. My last art club session was yesterday. Tomorrow we leave for Spain. But first, one last post about the cruise on St. Lawrence River, which continues to bequite a highlight in our travels.

Greeters to Halifax, Nova Scotia. (I personally love the sound of bagpipes. They always sound so . . . eerie and haunting, full of "story".

Our bus driver and tour guide. Unfortunately, I didn't get his name.

Our fourth day out, we docked at Halifax, Nova Scotia and were immediately reminded of Nova Scotia's Scottish connection. Bagpipes and kilts everywhere. Even the tour guides met us in kilts, as two busloads set off for Peggy's Cove.

A wild an desolate place.

Desolate, yes, but beautiful.

A magical place where anything might happen.

And a warning of what could happen!

Official bagpipe greeter.

I did think it was a cold job on a foggy day like that.

But he kindly consented to a photograph with me.

Entry to the cemetery.

Directions to that section

And this is what met our eyes: there were rows and rows like this!

Some inscription were so  moving, like this one.

And this one, too.

But this onemoved me the most.

There were so many like this.

Just numbers. Heart braking!

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I'm polishing up a collection of stories to enter in a contest. I should be "back on ship" next week, after I send them out. I certainly miss posting and hearing from you.  But, as they say, "First things first."

Till then, happy writing to you.

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I'm working on another writing project, so for those of you who are waiting for the next cruise stop (it's coming!) check out Anne R. Allen's wonderful post about writing slow in this speed-driven age HERE:  Great insights (and great sanity about writing, I might add.)

Enjoy, and hope to see you soon back on the ship.

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Between the holidays, a writing assignment, and cold viruses, I got way behind in my blogging, which was a shame, because I wasn't finished with that cruise in October! And that cruise hasn't been finished with me. It is still one of the most enjoyable trips to share. And so, here we are again, back on the Cruise.

After Quebec City and Prince Edward Island, our next two stops were in Nova Scotia.  The first was in Sydney, and this was what was awaiting for people, when we disembarked in the cool morning for the various tours. Some were all day, some were half day, some by bus.

Vicky Kiker and I had chosen the walking tour around Old Sidney, and our tour guide was waiting for us. I am very sorry that once again I didn't get her name. she was very good, and she took us to several old buildings and churches and gave us a little history of the area.

"Nova Scotia" means "New Scotland", and it was renamed such after a number of battles were won and lost and the area had been through several hands. Originally it was part of Acadia, which was a colony of "New France" and included New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, parts of Quebec and Maine. You can read a little more about it on my other blog, Victorian Scribbles, HERE.

It was fascinating to see these old buildings: Jost Heritage House Museum, one of the oldest residential buildings in the city. St. Patrick's Church, the oldest standing Roman Catholic Church in eastern Nova Scotia. Cossit House Museum, where we learned a lot about life in early settlement days, and St. George's Church and Graveyard. St. George is Sydney's oldest building.  I didn't get a good picture of St. Patrick's Church, but here are some pictures of the other buildings:

One of the oldest residences.

There was a delightful  tour guide inside.

And our walking tour guide kept us informed every step of the way.

We entered two homes, The Heritage House and the Cossit House Museum. To tell you the truth, when I look at these pictures, I'm not sure which photos were from which house, but you can see the consistency in how the women dressed. The one on the left told some very witty stories about life way back then. But I enjoyed both tours, and I loved the furniture in those old buildings. 

The beds actually didn't look  so comfortable.

Teller of funny stories.

The more sedate housewife.

But the dining area had charm.

I liked the fireplace.

Maybe the study? I don't know. It's bigger than my office space, I know that.

Before long, it was time to go  back to our own ship.

And these model ships were in one of those museums.

Such workmanship!

Every detail so complete.

But not before I got a picture of Vicki with our tour guide.

The tour guide explained her dress: It was a French style for that period. Many maids who came over to the colony were French, and that was the clothing they knew how to sew.

There was still quite a treat to come after we got back to the ship. Our wonderful leader had arranged for everyone to walk over to the Governor's Pub for a delicious lunch. Now, I had every intention of getting pictures of the building, the staff, etc ., like I did the day before when we had the lobster lunch in Prince Edward Island. But all of that was whisked out of my mind by the suprise treat of a lifetime.

The Barra MacNeils, a famous Cape Breton family group of musicians who sing, play, and dance Celtic music, performed at the Governor's Pub that day.

My husband and I adore Celtic music, and was this group fabulous! (We bought two of their CDs.) Before I go any further, let me give you their official website where you can learn more about them, and here's a YouTube that lets you hear one of their performances. (Listen to it all the way through, and you'll get a taste of the kind of music we heard.) Then enjoy the pictures below that my husband took as they played at the lunch. (I don't even remember what I ate that day, I was so into the music!)

Haunting on the fiddle.

Great singers, both.

Sad song, here!

Great keyboard artist.

Another song to break your heart.

Great singing together! And just before we left . . . Hey! Who is that guy? You know the one I mean . . .  The one next to the guy on the left . . . second from the end . . . It's our fearless leader! I hope you enjoyed this little trip to Sydney. Next stop will be Halifax.  On another note, do you like Celtic music? Who is your favorite band  or singer? And if not Celtic, what is your favorite kind of music?

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Dear Blog Friends,

Right now I'm working on a writing project that has a deadline. Please come back February 1st. Meanwhile, I'll still surf around, reading yours and commenting.

Thanks so much for your patience.

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This is a re-post of a post from three years ago about two DVD's, one a favorite opera, and the other a foreign film, both set in the Christmas season, and both set in Europe. The first is an opera set in Belle Epoque France; the latter is a 1914 war story that really is an anti-war story.

The opera was one I've written about before (when Sacramento Opera performed it in Spring of 2010): Puccini's La Boheme. In this case, La Boheme, the Movie, stars Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon as Mimi and Rodolfo. Both their voices are lush and lyrical, as if the composer wrote the music with them in mind, and their acting brought the story alive. All the cast was good, and the costumes and sets made scenes seem like impressionist paintings in motion. This is such a layered story, each time I hear and see the opera, I have a new appreciation for the breadth of understanding Pucci was able to convey in the music. I marvel how composers achieve on musical scores what I struggle to achieve in just words. I can never can see or hear this opera too many times, and I plan to buy the DVD.

The second movie was Joyeux Noel, a 2005 film that was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film. The individual stories highlighted were fictitious, but the over all story is based on a true happening on a Christmas Eve in 1914, in the theater of war, rather than in an opera theater: Scottish, French, and German troops agreed to a cease fire, and put down their weapons to celebrate Christmas Eve, even warning each other of planned shellings the next day and offering refuge in each other's trenches when the shellings occurred. For all three military groups, the only thing that saved troops from being tried for treason was the fact that 200 or so in each case would have to be tried. Instead, all the participants were transferred to other fronts to make sure it wouldn't happen again. It was a remarkable film, and a story I won't forget.

So here it is, the New Year, and the Christmas message hovering still. Best wishes for the coming year, and for a time of peace, when people can be united again in their common humanity.

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With the holidays drawing close, I'm offering a second free Kindle download for The Fourth Wish, this time for three days: Sunday, December 15th through Tuesday, December 17th. The last one put the book as #1 in its category. But what made me happiest was the prospect of so many young people being able to read it. Here is where to go on those dates:

This story takes place over the winter holidays. It involves magic and wishes, complex family situations, and I've been told it's very humorous. A good read for both boys and girls, ages 8 to 12.

I hope you will check it out.

Meanwhile, what are some of your favorite titles for readers of that age group?

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Here they are: Clyde and Dawg

Author, Lori Mortensen

I'm taking time out from posts about the cruise to share a charming picture book that would make just the right present for a young child in this gift-giving season: Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg, by Lori Mortensen. (It would make a nice library addition for big people, too, if they are dog lovers, as I am.)

The story starts with Cowpoke Clyde cleaning house and innocently deciding the finishing touch would be to give a bath to his dog, who is named, appropriately, Dawg. What happens when Clyde tries is hilarious. I really don't know how much to tell without giving the story away. Let me just say that bathing Dawg is no easy thing. The two leave chaos and commotion in their wake as Dawg gives Clyde the runaround.

Three things about the writing make this a stellar picture book for me.
1. The tone and "bounce" to this lively story make it one kids will want to read again and again. (Those who are too young to read will want you to read it aloud again and again.)
2. It's funny. I've read it three times, now, and each time leaves me grinning.
3. The rhyme scans so well! I have great admiration for the ability to write a rhyming stories. They are not easy. Often the rhyme feels a little off, and you feel a writer got away with it because the story was so good. Well, this story is "so good," and the rhyming is too!

As for the illustrations: With acrylics and colored pencils, Michael Allen Austin has made Dawg into the most lovable mutt you could find—and the other animals on the ranch are pretty captivating, too. Cowpoke Clyde is pawstively endearing.

School Library Journal has calledthis book, "A first purchase for most libraries."

Two other rhyming picture books by Lori Mortensen are: In the Trees, Honey Bees, that has won all kinds of awards, as well as the award-winning Cindy Moo. She's also written a non-rhyming biography about Léon Foucault, Come See the Earth Turn. 

Foucalt's Pendulum'

Hey, diddle-diddle.

Find out about the secret life of bees.

You can read my review of Cindy Moo for Sacramento Book Review HERE.

And Lori was kind enough to give me an interview HERE.

More information about where and how to buy these books can be found on Lori's
 WEBSITE HERE. Visit the site, too, to read more reviews of these books.

What are your favorite picture books? Do you prefer rhyming books or unrhymed stories?

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Leaving Quebec City

Anne, the Island's unforgettable heroine. (Visit my other blog HERE for a post about author L.M. Montgomery)

Our guide on the left and our bus driver on the right.

The whole tour took a good part of the day. We toured the island, but stopped for lunch at a unique restaurant in New Glasgow in a building called Prince Edward Island Preserve Company, owned by a beaming man named "Bruce," who greeted us and saw us off afterwards, wearing his traditional Scottish kilt. (About 50% of the islanders claim Scottish ancestry and, adding those of Irish and Welsh heritage, about 80% of the island is of Celtic descent.)

Prince Edward Island Preserve Company

Bruce, happy to see us come.

Bruce, happy to see us go?

As exciting
as it was to tour the island, this stop was quite a highlight, with a fabulous lobster lunch, served by a friendly staff 

Yes. This guy was on my plate. And I managed to eat most of it!

Friendly staff.

Dale, showing Rajan and me how to eat a lobster.

But it didn't stop there. We had the pleasure of being entertained by Mike Pendergast, aka "The Music Man." Mike sang ditties and folk songs, acting out various parts, while playing his guitar sometimes, and sometimes his accordion. I could have listened to him all afternoon.

Mike Pendergast

"The Music Man"

A slower song on guitar

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