A Valentine for You

Posted on February 14, 2012 by orples

Celebrating Olivia and Ocasr's first Valentine's Day ever

Weekly Photo Challenge . Regret #3

Posted on February 13, 2012 by orples

If I remember correctly, this was taken on Christmas Day 2003. No matter, the year, it’s the story that counts.

"Hi Ho Bucky"

I purchased my oldest grandson a spring horse for Christmas that year. For a while, I held on to it at my place so he’d have it to play on when visiting. Later, I decided he would get more use out of it if he had it at his house. My son dropped by to visit with his truck and since the bed was empty, I decided to send ‘Bucky’ home to live with my grandson. It was late, and I was tired, so I didn’t take the time to secure the horse to the truck. I figured it would slide around a little, but never did I dream that Bucky had a mind of his own and yearned to be free. He buckied his way right off the back of the truck. So alas, from my loss, I offer these words of advice. If you transport an assembled spring horse . . . TIE IT DOWN. With three more grandchildren following my first, Bucky would have provided years of joy for all, I’m sure. Last year, I scouted prices for a replacement and now they cost about $175.00. Ouch! I think though, I’ll end up literally paying for my mistake and replacing “Bucky”. This time I think I’ll hitch him down if I trailer him off after he’s been groomed. Ugggh! Live and learn. 🙂 😉 😉

Posted on February 12, 2012 by orples

As I said, love being the double-edge sword that it is, this is also an appropriate theme for regret. My dear Stray might still be alive today, had I let him in the house the day he got hit by a car. I guess I will never know.

orples

The sleeping child is my grandson, now 10 years old and going strong. The cat was my beloved stray. The cat is the subject of my first post on the subject of ‘Love’. You’d think I would start with my family, but this is the first photograph I came across and it said ‘pick me’, so I did. (LOL)

Stray showed up on my doorstep one day. I fell in love at ‘meow’.

I’ve had a lot of cats in my lifetime, but this cat was like a soul mate. He was such a true gentleman. Stray definitely had a little piece of my heart, so I begin this week with honoring him. Love, sometimes being a double-edged sword, turns to heartbreak as was the case the day my dear, sweet Stray died. Our street was not particularly busy, and Stray usually stayed in our yard but I still worried…

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Sunday Photo Challenge . Expressions

Posted on February 12, 2012 by orples

My grandsons riding Magi in 2005. Ian was obviously not a happy camper. But Jacob, being the good big brother that he is, tried to make things all better. 🙂

Get me off of here!

Weekly Photo Challenge . Regret #2

Posted on February 11, 2012 by orples

Okay gang, so it’s not a photograph, but I assure you that Oscar regrets not having listened to Olivia. Now it is too late. Below is an except from my book, “How Orples Came To Be“.

Oh no! I should have listened to Olivia!

This is from the prototype I’d made when putting my book together.The font has changed in the published version, but otherwise, the book is the same. In any event, Oscar has been caught and is praying that Olivia will come to his rescue. If only he’d listened to her and waited for a plan of escape before being caught. Thus, the excitement begins . . . .

Weekly Photo Challenge . Regret

Posted on February 10, 2012 by orples

Maybe I’m sticking my neck into a political noose here, but this is the first thing I thought of when I read this weeks topic. REGRET.

I suspect this is something WE ALL REGRET.

Weekly Photo Challenge . Ready #5

Posted on February 10, 2012 by orples

Magi and I would stop on the trail for some welcomed refreshment. After a little drink, Magi liked to splash around a bit, playing in the cool water before continuing our journey.

Ready for a drink of water

On occasion, we’d both end up soaked. It felt good on a hot summer day.

Weekly Photo Challenge . Ready #4

Posted on February 9, 2012 by orples

Ready to ride!

My friend, Don on Traveler, & me on Magi, years ago in Chesterfield, County, Va. This was the blizzard of 2000. In Virginia, 10″ of snow brings things to a screeching halt unless, of course, you have a buddy with a 4-wheel drive vehicle and a good horse. I’ll never forget this particular day. It was soooooooo cold outside, but we had a ball. I’d pulled Magi’s shoes, leaving him barefoot for the winter so his feet wouldn’t pack with snow or ice and off we went. Magi was always particularly spunky during cold whether and he loved to frolic in the snow. That made two of us.

I had so many clothes on that day, I had to stand on top of the hitching post to climb aboard. The upside to winter is that if you fall off your horse, you have plenty of padding when you hit the ground. LOL. Thankfully, there were no falls that day, just lots of fun for us all.

Weekly Photo Challenge . Ready #3

Posted on February 8, 2012 by orples

Greetings new friends and fellow bloggers . . . Okay, so this isn’t really a photo. But it does suggest ‘ready’ . The orples (Olivia and Oscar) are READY TO BE DISCOVERED! This is page one (unedited) of my next book “The Orples Make A Tree Home” where a new life begins for the orples. In book 2 of my ‘orples series’, the orples (now having the traits of humans) require modified living arrangements to satisfy their new mobility.

Ready to begin a new life

I thought today, I would mix it up a bit and share my adventures creating adventures for kids in my upcoming books. As time goes on, you are invited to travel along with me as these books unfold. If you like my work and want to check out more, please feel free to preview pasts posts, mostly on the original book in this series “How Orples Came To Be” to date. Just check out my “Orples Overview Category”. . . I recommend you start at the bottom of the posts and work your way up the list since they appear in the order I posted them. This past week, I’ve been editing this manuscript (now being professionally edited, in case I missed something) and tweaking the drawings. In the plot above, ‘you’ needs to be ‘your’ in one instance and the page number needs to drop into the lower border. Once I’ve written a manuscript, I go back and do preliminary layouts fitting the drawings and the text together so that the two go hand in hand in telling my stories. It is easier for me to keep up if I print out a prototype as I go. Sometimes I end up with several versions as I tweak my way to final publication. Back in the day, when I stocked the shelves with books for my own children, they tended to enjoy lots of pictures scattered among the pages. So did I. Sooooo ….. now, I try to include spot drawings, along with a few full page illustrations here and there among the words in my own books. For those children too young to read to themselves, it helps them follow along. Even as an older child, I liked having pictures to help me keep my place in my book should I be interrupted before finishing the story; I think that is why I work with prototypes now. Once my professional edit is returned, I am hoping to get this book on the market DIRECTLY through Amazon.com in soft cover and e-book. If anyone has kids and you’re looking for a different book to share . . . hint, hint … here you go. And of course, I’m trying to bring morality and manners back to an extent in my writings. I shudder in horror sometimes at the books and toys that the children today find amusing. What ever happened to ‘Tom and Jerry’, or the ‘Road Runner’ (which was considered violent in its day)? Although, to be fair, I’ve also seen some lovely new books on the market that are sure to become classics. Here’s hoping that will be the case with my upcoming series. Please join me on my adventures periodically as I squeeze my latest achievements in among my other interests.