Carolyn’s Canadian Reading 2023

I read 34 books of Canadian themes in session #15.
I read 27 Canadian authors and related subjects in season #16.

I hope all captchas are removed so I can participate fully with rural internet at Shonna’s blog.  A suggestion besides tech support, Shonna, is choosing a different comment box format than the standard Blogspot one, which is the worst.  Many bloggers and hosts use Disquis, for example.

Shonna is not only a sweet, intelligent, fun hostess but also a friend for several years.  Thank you for giving us this fun all throughout each year!  I ask for good health, safety, and happiness for all!  As a forest resident, we pray with all our hearts for every animal and person in the terrible event of fires.  Your compassion and good will shall go a long way to helping everyone, Shonna.  Sincerely, Carolyn.

 

 

Here is what I am reading during our 2023 season.

“Five Days Of The Ghost”  William Bell  1989
“The Mark On The Door”  Leslie MacFarlane  1934
“Juliana And The Medicine Fish”  Jake MacDonald  1997
“The Long Way Home”  Louise Penny  2014

 

“Nature Canada Special Issue: June 1976, Volume 5, Number 2” Theodore Mosquin (editor)
“The Ghost Of Northumberland Strait”  Lori Knutson  2008
“Up Till Now:  The Autobiography”  William Shatner & David Fisher  2008 (audio CD)
“Céline Dion:  My Story, My Dream” (“Céline Dion:  Ma Vie, Mon Rêve”)  Céline Dion & Georges-Hébert Germain & Bruce Benderson (translator)  2000
“Basic Black’s Lonely Socks Club:  Tales From The Bottom Drawer”  Chris Straw (editor)  2000
“Bathroom Book Of Canadian Quotes:  Humorous, Witty, Ridiculous, & Inspiring”  Lisa Wojna  2005
“Letters To Jennifer:  Oliver & Maudie Gray”  Sharon Gray  2002
“The Recycled Citizen”  Charlotte MacLeod  1988
“A Festival Of Canadian Art:  Welland’s Giant Outdoor Murals”  Jerry Gibb  1991
“150 Years Of Art In Manitoba:  Struggle For A Visual Civilization”  Winnipeg Art Gallery  1970
“Northwestern Ontario Journeys And Vistas”  Dale F. Burmaster  1994
“This Marvellous Terrible Place: Images Of Newfoundland And Labrador”  Yva Momatiuk & John Eastcott  1988
“The Cashier”  Gabrielle Roy  1954
“Heart Of A Stranger”  Margaret Laurence  1984

 

Here are authors to consider, of our home province, Manitoba.

“Paddle To The Amazon”  Don Starkell  1990
“A Dry Spell”  Susie Moloney  1997
“The Darkest Road”  Guy Gavriel Kay  1986
“What Was Always Hers”  Uma Parameswaran  1999
“My Mother’s Ghost”  Margaret Buffie  1992
“Mozart:  A Meditation On His Life And Mysterious Death”  Dr. Stefan A. Carter  2005
“Dance On The Earth:  A Memoir”  Margaret Laurence  1989
“The Hidden Mountain”  Gabrielle Roy  1961
“The Road Past Altamont”  Gabrielle Roy  1966
“Wildflower”  Gabrielle Roy  1970
“Garden In The Wind”  Gabrielle Roy  1975
“Children Of My Heart”  Gabrielle Roy  1977
“The Dragon & The Dry Goods Princess”  David Arnason  1991

 

Miscellaneous Canadians.

“False Light”  Caroline Llewellyn  1997
“Canadian Animals Are Smarter Than Jack”  Jenny Campbell  2004
“Weird Canadian Words:  How To Speak Canadian”  Edrick Thay  2004
“Owls In The Family”  Farley Mowat  1961
“The Magyar Venus”  Lyn Hamilton  2004
“Reflections Of Eden:  My Years With The Orangutans Of Borneo”  Biruté M.F. Galdikas  1995
“Great Canadian Short Stories”  Alec Lucas (editor)  1971
“Translations Aístreann”  Tammy Armstrong  2002
“Celestial Steam Locomotive”  Michael G. Coney  1983
“1967:  A Coming Of Age Story”  Richard W. Doornink  2019
“Led Astray:  The Best Of Kelley Armstrong”  Kelley Armstrong  2015
“Lost In The Barrens”  Farley Mowat  1956
“The Silver Ghost”  Charlotte MacLeod   1987
“The Gladstone Bag”  Charlotte MacLeod  1989
“Mistletoe Mysteries”  Charlotte MacLeod  1989
“An Owl Too Many”  Charlotte MacLeod  1991
“Solace For A Sinner”  Caroline Roe  2000
“Lady Oracle”  Margaret Atwood  1976

“Settlers Of The Marsh”  Frederick Philip  1925
“The Lamp At Noon And Other Stories”  Sinclair Ross  1968
“The Mysterium”  Eric McCormack  1992
“New Brunswick Short Stories”  Dorothy Dearborn  2003
“Into The Fire”  Jodi McIsaac  2013
“The Favourite Game”  Leonard Cohen  1963
“Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw”  Will Ferguson  2004
“More Strawberries, Reflections In Fiction”  Joseph S. Banel & Linda Bishop & James A. MacNeill & Glen A. Sorestad  1990
“Ghosts:  An Investigation Into A True Canadian Haunting”  Richard Palmisano  2009
“The Trickster”  Muriel Gray  1994

We Tribute Our McCartney

The most terrible times of our lives are painful singly.  Some hardship can occur close together.  When the worst, such as the physical death of loved-ones, take place in patches, my only consolation and explanation is that maybe God wanted us to deal with them in unison, when already in despair and pain.

Another of our dearest loved-ones was the third cat to rise to Heaven in hardly over a year.  I have needed to write about him.  The triple loss – quadruple after my Mom’s ascension in 2020, is more close family than anyone should grieve at once.  However, missing our precious McCartney all on his own is monumental.  He was on the verge of turning 22 years-old and means everything to us.  With the sacred but upsetting date of March 23 revisiting us for the first time without our precious boy here at home, it is time to write about him.  This is for you, sweetheart!

McCartney’s 19th birthday in 2019:  McCartney & I, Momma Carolyn.

This might be hard for readers to picture but it is true.  It is a major life event for me as well, that I was 49 years-old last year, and still, McCartney succeeded the cat I had in childhood!  Our precious Spirit was born the year after she ascended, with us too from 2004 to 2021.  So I am just now missing the two cats who continued from the one who was with me from ages 9 to 30.  Barring babyhood, those three special kitties covered my whole life:  Thumbelina, McCartney, and Spirit.  Imagine that!

When Ron, McCartney, Spirit, & I moved to the countryside in 2010, Marigold joined us.  She was a young Mom-to-be, whom we picked-up for a shelter but wanted with us.  She is pure orange and I had hoped to someday have an orange sweetheart in my life.  Four days after coming to us that September, her four infants were born, diluted orange & orange, and we knew they belonged with us too.  We had to fight the shelter for them, the subject of my first ever blog article.

Spirit’s stomach cancer and Marigold’s kidney disease are considered fatal by allopathic mainstream medicine.  I suspected McCartney had diabetes, which can be treated by conventional medicine and additionally, Spirit got me started on learning energy medicine.  McCartney was healthy beyond belief and could have kept on living, if Covid closures had not prevented an updated blood check in 2020.  Thereafter, the focus was on seeing if vets could help save Spirit’s & Marigold’s lives.

Our family does have the consolation that McCartney was nearly 22 years-old and we are very grateful.  He is passionately loving and responsive to our feelings, funny, loyal, intelligent, and extremely playful at all ages.  I miss the “brrr!” sound he made when we surprised him with our touch!

In July 2017, Marigold’s Son, Conan, went missing in Southeastern Manitoba.  We are sure in our souls that he is alive, which means as hard as this is, he will return to us.  Being missing is a tricky, heart-wrenching predicament that nevertheless, is superior to a death.  He is tattooed and neutered, which stands out from many orange & white cats.

Meanwhile, his Sisters are home with us and are the other lights of our lives right here on Earth, where we need these dearest family members.  I can’t believe Marigold’s kittens are 12 years-old and am grateful.  They have surpassed their Mom by half a year.

We honour you, our beloved McCartney, by sharing a story about you and our cat family!  We think of you as a Son, along with my youngest Brother, Timmy.  Spirit & Marigold think of you as a Brother, who welcomed you to the afterlife too soon after themselves.  Heck, my Mom thinks of them all as Grandchildren, who preceded hers & Dad’s two human ones.

McCartney’s 20th birthday in 2020:  Petal, McCartney, Marigold, Spirit, Angel.

Another spartan comforts for me is that Mom was there to welcome all of them in 2021 and 2022, after our darling Lovey welcomed her in 2020.  I feel better that they are with my Mom at least, if you know what I mean.  I like thinking of them together, if their turn was finished to be physically with Ron & me.

My childhood Thumbelina started as a fellow Sibling to my Brothers & I and as I grew up, metamorphosed into a Daughter in my care.  She came with me to my first apartment.  I have never been alone, always loved and equally in love with our precious family cats.  We were joined by Ron in an upgraded apartment in 2002.  Then came McCartney & Spirit.  Marigold and her newborns Angel, Love, Petal, Conan momentously marked the country chapter of our life.

March 2013, here are our other Sons:  Love, Conan, Spirit.

I can’t express how much it sucks that Conan’s Mom & Dads aren’t here to greet him when he eventually appears.  If only his return had not taken 5 years, bittersweet instead of fully, gloriously, ecstatically happy.  We could not help those changes.

Angel & Petal are very well;  these colourful, talkative, active joys of our lives!  Upon our precious Conan’s return, it will feel better to have 3/4 of Marigold’s kittens.  Search alerts are current for him.  In particular, when cats can much more freely and safely travel, starting in the spring, like now;  we watch for him at our doors and upon the forest path in our yard.  Relief comes after sadness, bit by bit and miracles can surprise us anywhere, anytime.

We are sad we have been missing you for a year, darling McCartney.  We love you always, as much as you love us, our beautiful boy!  May the flowers planted at your beloved resting places continue to bloom brightly and powerfully.  We know you enjoy them. They appear on special dates, outlast frost past logical seasons, and butterflies and dragonflies have flown by surprisingly late in the year.  We hear you and continue to listen.  :)

With all our love:  Momma Carolyn, Dad Ron, Angel, Petal, and Conan.

P.S. This beautiful front sidewalk photograph of McCartney is on his 17th birthday in June 2017.  Still home with us for one more month that year….  Conan is looking at McCartney through the window!

Carolyn’s Canadian Reading 2022

 

This March of 2022, our precious McCartney suddenly went to the afterlife at nearly age 22.  Our cats are our Sons & Daughters.  In this major event, we publically honour and miss our dearest McCartney with all our love.

 

I read 34 books of Canadian themes in session #15.  I hope all captchas are removed so I can participate fully with rural internet at Shonna’s blog.

Here is what I read during our 2022 & 2023 Canadian session.

“Poor Tom Is Cold”  Maureen Jennings  2001
“Franklin Is Lost”  Paulette Bourgeois & Brenda Clark  1992
“Death At Sandringham House”  CC. Benison  1996
“The Ghost Rock Mystery”  Mary C. Jane  1956
“Who Is Frances Rain?”  Margaret Buffie  1987
“Yesterday’s Doll”  Cora Taylor  1987
“Double Spell”  Janet Lunn  1968
“Seven Clues In Pebble Creek”  Kathy Stinson  1987
“The Tiniest Guitar In The World”  Martha Brooks  2001
(10) “Footprints Under The Window”  Leslie McFarlane  1933

“No Time Like The Future:  An Optimist Considers Mortality”  Michael J. Fox  2020
“Wild Fell:  A Ghost Story”  Michael Rowe  2013
“A Case Of Eavesdropping”  Algernon Blackwood  1906
“Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing”  Matthew Perry  2022
“How The Light Gets In”  Louise Penny  2013
“The Sun Down Motel”  Simone St. James  2020
“Journeys Into The Unknown:  Mysterious Canadian Encounters With The Paranormal”  Richard Palmisano  2006
“Nicholas At The Library”  Hazel Hutchins & Ruth Ohi (illustrator)  1990
“I Laughed So Hard, I Peed!  A Woman’s Essential Guide For Improved Bladder Control”  Kelly Berzuk  2002
(20)  “The Manawaka World Of Margaret Laurence”  Clara Thomas  1975

“A Bird In The House”  Margaret Laurence  1970
“North For Gold:  The Red Lake Gold Rush Of 1926”  Ruth Weber Russell  June 1987
“Girl In Shades”  Allison Baggio  2011
“Clarence Tillenius:  Presented By Aggasiz Galleries Winnipeg”  Clarence Tillenius  1984
“If I Knew, Don’t You Think I’d Tell You?”  Jann Arden  2002
“Manitoba”  Ivin Kroeker  1979
(27)  “Legendary Show Jumpers:  The Incredible Stories Of Great Canadian Horses”  Debbie Gamble-Arsenault  2004

—————————————-

 

~ finished 27 Canadian books from 2022 to 2023.  I love most the diversity of authors, genres, and subjects I have read. ~

I went as far back as “The Hardy Boys” in 1933, a 1956 Mary C. Jane mystery involving Canada, and a suspenseful, 1908, Algernon Blackwood vignette;  who started writing as a wilderness Ontario resident.

Novels published not as long ago that I call “the middle years”, are my specialty:  the 1960s to 2000s.  I sampled new authors and many I know, including literary giants Maureen Jennings, Paulette Bourgeois & Brenda Clark, and Margaret Laurence.  My favourite discovery last year is a Winnipeg authoress whom I can’t believe I didn’t know growing up in the 1980s.  I eagerly scoop up Margaret Buffie paranormal mysteries wherever I see them.

I always read an autobiography, truly savour an artbook or photography book, a children’s book, and often delve into music – or the content gets me eager to!  I even read a sports history, which I dislike, because I love animals.

As a lover of actual books themselves, I buy what I can find second-hand, therefore the 2010s are new releases for me.  Simone St. James is less mystery and more thriller against my liking lately but Michael Rowe was unique and eerie.  Louise Penny where I raced alongside her in novel #9, has raised her bar compellingly!

A spectacular change for me was indulging in several very new books, Ron’s gifts of first edition hardcovers!  Matthew Perry is a wonderful storyteller who earned 5 stars easily but no author tops Michael J. Fox.  He is absolutely masterful, while making relatable observations in the funniest turns of phrases we have ever read!

Three standout books for me have a variety of personal origins.

“Manitoba”, the best tour book I have encountered, the quality coming equally from the categories of content it imparts and its vibrant photographs.  Even though I am a hearty Manitoba and this was published in 1979, I marvel at the details I gleaned and it would be a powerfully good introduction for a tourist.

“The Red Lake Gold Rush Of 1926” yielded many other revelations to me, about where my Mom went to school.  People do not know they exceeded all of the famous Klondike gold rush by far, in one goldmining year.  Most special for us, it is authored by Mom’s friend.  Ruth Weber Russell gave my parents many books as she published them, which I shall savour reading too.

“I Laughed So Hard, I Peed” is not only a candid title that would get anyone curious;  it is the most instantly helpful information anyone could read and should, as soon as possible!  To my surprise, this physiotherapist bladder specialist is a Winnipegger.  Knowing a few easy facts that you will remember and do, is an absolute game-changer.

Happy Canada Day, good health, and happiness to you all!

Critical Statistics We Must Not Skip

When a Covid-19 vaccine was invented, we were relieved.  We were cautioned that it is not an antidote for the virus and does not provide immunity against it.  It does not make the vaccinated less contagious than anyone else, nor are we less likely to catch Covid-19.  It takes two injections for it to work and its potency expires every time there is a new virus variant.

In the beginning, we scratched our heads and asked why anyone would take an experimental drug that is not a cure.  Wariness was respected and understood, before media campaigns created a stigma against anyone expressing caution.  The answer is that this vaccine is “better than nothing”.  Catching the virus will not make us sick enough to die or need a hospital.

This is valuable.  Thank God there is a choice for people who cannot avoid a crowded home, public job, or who are concerned about their immunity.  Experimental chemicals are worth any advantage to them.

Reduced severity or not, we wish to avoid ever contracting Covid-19 at all!  Three methods DO PROTECT US a bit against spreading the virus. They are social-distancing, wearing masks, and avoiding public surfaces.  I was astonished to witness that some vaccinated folks are so antsy to “get back to normal”, they risk making themselves and others “a bit” sick!

I seldom leave home.  If I do, I wear a mask and avoid public surfaces.  I am as vigilant as we were warned to be in the year 2020.  A serviceman entered my home last week without a mask, who admitted having numerous children playing sports!!!!  In the summer, a neighbour stepped inside, after a cross-country tour of public campgrounds!!!!

Not everyone declining experimental drugs is “anti-vaccine”.  Laws must respect spiritual and health choices.  It is easy to push a popular point of view.  Methods like energy medicine boost immunity naturally.  Some people have a bad feeling there will be negative findings about the vaccines.  Long term reports need time to come out….  Others await bonafide immunity, instead of repeating “better than nothing” injections that expire.

This makeshift option we are grateful to have, must remain optional.  We must retain the rights to our bodies and the Canadian government is threatening them!  Imagine the trauma of forcing injections on someone who views them as poison, or too new to trust!

The perception that “the unvaccinated minority strains the health system” does not add up.  The unvaccinated are restricted to essential services.  They cannot fly, board a train, enter the United States, nor invite more than a couple of family members or friends to their private houses.

In contrast, passports clear the vaccinated for public gatherings as large as theatres and arenas.  If the vaccinated form the majority, this dominating percentage of citizens has the largest opportunity to propagate the virus!  Don’t patrons take off masks to spew popcorn and saliva, with bare hands on the armrests?  Has no one in an unmasked crowd ever sneezed or coughed?  Can Manitoba not close concession stands, instead of a body’s freedom of choice?

How much data do hospitals include?  Do they lump together every unvaccinated person, with the extreme protestor types who flout masks?  Do we know if law-abiding citizens who respectfully decline the vaccine, were ever among the sick?

Critical statistics we must not skip is the danger posed by the vaccinated who are overconfident.  Human rights are on the line!  Do we verify how many hospital patients were exposed to vaccinated people, who have abandoned masks and social-distancing?

Masks, clean hands, and social-distancing are our shields from contagion.  The vaccine is not.  We can remove masks as soon as we are in cars, or outdoors away from people.  Forcing chemical injections on anyone is wrong.  Worse, our Prime Minister and Premiers are targeting the minority who cannot go anywhere or do anything.  Do not tax Canadians for the human right to be cautious about chemicals in their bodies!

Where would penalties stop?  Once, to inoculate those not vaccinated before?  Could any government resist cashing in on a legally approved tactic, by fining the same people every time the vaccine of the day has been deemed impotent and another booster shot is ordered?  Must Canadians choose between being robbed of their earnings, or their human rights to personal beliefs about drug injections?

May we see both sides and not vilify a stance we do not personally hold.

I urge that we keep our hands clean and avoid the public as vigilantly as we did in 2020.

It is more ethical and effective to fine the largest percentage of our population, for flouting social-distancing and a removable piece of cloth

Carolyn’s Canadian Reading 2021

I am happy to rejoin my Ontario friend, Shonna, who is the very wonderful, creative hostess of the Canadian Reading Challenge theme.  Here is to year #15!  Human rights, animal rights, colourful cultures and lands, memory, friendship, and literature:  here they are in the Canadian themes that make up our nation.

I send my love to and support of the Aboriginal children buried at residential schools and everyone concerned about them.  May no one believe ever again that other lives, customs, languages, races, ages, or genders are beneath anyone.

I relaunch into this comforting activity, in honour of our 4 precious family members.  They recently ascended to the afterlife.  Here is to you:  my dearest Mom, our sweet baby cat Spirit, and our precious, queenly Daughter cat, Marigold!

We are distressed to add that our precious McCartney joined them in the afterlife this March 2022!  He would be 22 years-old in June.  Rest in peace, our sweet Son.

May our dear Conan soon be home with us at last.  Friends, please always check for an ear tattoo, or post photos and ask around about unknown cats near your homes.  Never assume they come from neighbours.  When someone finally asks how to use tattooes, posts, or looks for his picture:  our very well identified and advertised, orange & white Conan shall be back with us.

With all of our love:  Momma Carolyn, Dad Ron, McCartney, Angel, Petal, Conan.

~

Here is what I have read in our 2021 & 2022 reading session.

“Ghosts Of James Bay”  John Wilson  2006
“Out The Door”  Emily Carroll  2010
“Except The Dying”  Maureen Jennings  1997
“Falling Backwards”  Jann Arden  2011
“Have You Seen Candace?”  Wilma L. Derksen  1991
“Stoppel”  Andrew Mikolajewski  2017
“Alexander Alexander”  Algernon Blackwood  1919
“Dream Comics”  Emily Carroll  2010
“In The Waves”  Lennon, Maisy, MaryLynne Stella & Steve Björkman (illustrator)  2015
10) “The Mystery Of The Turtle Lake Monster”  Jeni Mayer  1990

“A Haunted Island”  Algernon Blackwood  1899
“The Broken Girls”  Simone St. James  2018
“Alison’s Ghosts”  Mary Alice & John Downie  1984
“His Face All Red”  Emily Carroll  2010
“The Jump Rope Rhyme”  Jo Walton  2017
“Under The Dragon’s Tail”  Maureen Jennings  1998
“The Beautiful Mystery”  Louise Penny  2012
“Sleeping Giants”  Sylvain Neuvel  2016
“Haunted Manitoba:  Ghost Stories From The Prairies”  Matthew Komus  2019
20) “The Plain Old Man”  Charlotte MacLeod  1985

“Anne Of Windy Poplars”  Lucy Maud Montgomery  1936
“Writers’ Ink:  The Red Deer & District Writers’ Club ~ Volume 3”  Murray F. Fuhrer (editor)  2002
“Mystery Of The Secret Tunnel” (“Mystery In Newfoundland”)  Frances Shelley Wees  1965
“The Guardian Circle”  Margaret Buffie  1989
“Grandma And The Pirates”  Phoebe Gilman  1990
“On A Personal Note”  Rita MacNeil  1998
“A Question I Was Asked”  Emily Carroll  2011
“The Indigo Survival Guide”  Olena M.A. Gill  2006
“The Green Library”  Janice Kulyk Keefer  1996
30) “The Glass Coffin”  Gail Bowen  2002

“The Root Cellar”  Janet Lunn  1981
“The Stone In The Meadow”  Karleen Bradford  1984
“Bone Dance”  Martha Brooks  1997
34) “Fifty Stories And A Piece Of Advice”  David Arnason  1982

 

Carolyn’s Canadian Reading

Honouring Loved-Ones In 2021

It was hard to mourn my dear Mom last January but she prepared us kids well.
It has been unbearable for us to grasp that our precious 16 1/2 year old cat Son, Spirit, ascended to Heaven this January.
It unfathomable, far too much, that our beautiful 11 1/2 year old cat Daughter, Marigold, has ascended to the afterlife with them last week.
She is a precious, tiny Mother to 4 of our children, one year younger.
Her sweetheart Son, Love, ascended 6 years ago.

They all ascended naturally at home, as per our beliefs.  Our family surprises us by how well they live, until they one day suddenly go.  It fools us and makes it hard but encouraging at the same time.

These cat Sons & Daughters are our brightest lights.  Yes, they still are but the grief is that we need them to shine beside us, here on Earth for a far longer span of time than this.  We honour them with all our hearts.  The books I read, occasions I join in on, plants and flowers we grow, the daily life we lead….  through it all, we think of all of you.

Today is Canada Day.  Tomorrow is the birthday of my childhood cat, Thumbelina, pictured with her Mother, our precious, loyal, Sandy.  Sandy vanished at age 5 but Thumbelina shone her light beside us for 21 years, 19 days.

It so happens that on this day, our dearest McCartney cat Son will tie her and continue being our family’s longest lived cat.  May the rest of our loved-ones – Angel, Petal, Conan, McCartney – and in the future, be well and stay well for comforting durations of time like this.  May Conan soon be returned home to us as well.

There needs to be respect and consideration for people whose difficulties do not comprise this one advertised pandemic.  We are safe.  We do not mind reading at home and wear a mask, the rare time we go out.  The mantra I would prefer:  “May you lose no more family members for a long time”.

Mom had mini-strokes, which intruded on swallowing food and water safely.
Love had heart failure at only 4 years-old, an invisible birth defect.
Spirit had stomach cancer.
Marigold had red blood cell problems from early onset kidney disease.
Dad had bladder cancer from which he is recovering.
Aunt Carol had breast cancer.  She is working on healing extra cells.  I have told her of the herb Essiac, blended by Aboriginals years ago to cure any kind.

May there be publically distributed cures to these serious illnesses in our lifetimes.  May vet care come down in price or offer broad health plans that families can afford.  Many of us hesitate to involve vets or pay for ultrasounds, unless certain something is wrong that needs help healing.

On behalf of Spirit, followed by Marigold, I have started learning energy medicine and feline acupressure.  I will continue it, my dear babies.  McCartney & I are taking the Essiac that we had tried on her.  I am sad I did not know of it while Spirit lived. Something about it these wholesome new efforts helped each of you, as well as us.

We love you as much as you love us, our dearest Spirit & Marigold, Lovey & Mom, Thumbelina & Sandy!  Please always be near us as clearly as you can show us.
Always, Momma Carolyn, Dad Ron, and the rest of our family.

Carolyn’s Canadian Reading

I am an ongoing member of the Canadian reading challenge run by my friend, Shonna, in Ontario.  I love acquainting and supporting the Canadian arts and frequently find names I had never heard of, at book charity sales.  Some are local to me, self-published, and old.  Canadian work is wonderfully unique and well worth hearing about.  My blog review menu is the place to seek a variety of rare, oddball, and famous authors in a great mix.

Shonna, your portrait of your husband in the north is beautiful and exotically inspiring!  Oh, to stand in such a wondrous place!

In my quartet of reading themes, I always host a Canadian category.  This year 2020, I am taking a break from my groups for the first time since I built them.  My dear Mom has ascended to Heaven.  I need to heal and reflect, when I miss her the most and adjust to the biggest change of a family’s life.  Here is to you, my precious Mom!

~ ~

The books I finished.

“The Halifax Public Gardens”  Arthur Carter / The Friends Of The Public Gardens  2008
“The Dangerous Dollhouse”  Sarah Gordon  1988
“The Sandhills Of Carberry”  John E. Dubois  1976
“Anne Of Avonlea”  L.M. Montgomery  1909
“Pockets”  Amal El-Mohtar  2015
“The Truth About Owls”  Amal El-Mohtar  2014
“Regretfully Invited”  Jan L. Mayes  2018
“The Weed That Strings The Hangman’s Bag”  Alan Bradley  2010
“Wing”  Amal El-Mohtar  2012
(10)  “Madeleine”  Amal El-Mohtar  2015

“The Green Book”  Amal El-Mohtar  2010
“The Egyptian Mirror”  Michael Bedard  2020
“Murder At Malenfer”  Iain McChesney  2013
“A Trick Of The Light”  Louise Penny  2011
“Extra-Ordinary:  Stories Of Manitobans With Down Syndrome”  Jordan Power & Darnell Collins (photography)  2015
“Sleight Of Paw”  Sofie Kelly  2011
“Threshing:  The Early Years Of Harvesting”  Faye Reineberg Holt  1999
“While The Clock Ticked”  Leslie McFarlane  1932
“Anabasis”  Amal El-Mohtar  2017
(20) “Great Canadian Women:  Nineteen Portraits Of Extraordinary Women”  Lisa Wojna  2005

“Margot’s Room”  Emily Carroll  2011
“Crazy Canadian Trivia 2”  Pat Hancock  2005
“The Green Angels”  Nicky Millard  1985
“Anne Of The Island”  Lucy Maud Montgomery  1915
“Mr. Thursday”  Emily St. John Mandel  2017
“Back To The Future:  The Story”  Robert Loren Fleming  1985
“The Cat Psychologist:  Understanding Your Cat”  Mardie MacDonald  1990
“The Convivial Codfish”  Charlotte MacLeod  1984
“Made In Canada:  101 Amazing Achievements”  Bev Spencer  2003
(30) “Burying Ariel”  Gail Bowen  2000

“Where Nests The Water Hen”  Gabrielle Roy  1950
“Why Do Golfers Yell Fore?  That’s A Good Question!”  Ty Reynolds  1992
“Your Body’s Telling You:  Love Yourself!” (“Ton Corps Dit:  Aime-Toi!”)  Lise Bourbeau  1997
“The Alpine Path:  The Story Of My Career”  Lucy Maud Montgomery  1917
“Bathroom Book Of Cat Trivia:  Humorous, Heartwarming, Weird, & Amazing”  Diana MacLeod & Peter Tyler (illustrator)  2007
“Windward Island”  Karleen Bradford  1989
“Shipwreck”  (Murdoch #0.5)  Maureen Jennings  2010
“The Themis Files Archive File No. 002” (Themis Files #0.5)  Sylvain Neuvel  2017
“The Hare’s Bride”  Emily Carroll  2010
(40)  “Ancient Lights”  Algernon Blackwood  1914

~ ~

Previous participation

I used to use my Canadian review menu for this reading challenge.  Here, I will make an ideal place to browse Canadian books I read previously, by year:  beginning with 2019.  I hit upon all of our provinces and territories, except the new geographic division of Nunavut!

“Night Travellers”  Sandra Birdsell  1982
“Cirak’s Daughter”  Charlotte MacLeod  1982
“The Hangman”  Louise Penny  2010
“A Fine Italian Hand”  Eric Wright  1992
“The Night Gardener”  Jonathan Auxier  2014
“The Promise Of The Unicorn”  Vicki Blum  2002
“The Gargoyle”  Andrew Davidson  2008
“There Was An Old Woman”  Howard Engel  1993
“Tunnels Of Time”  Mary Harelkin Bishop  2000
(10)  “Verdict In Blood”  Gail Bowen  1988

“The Shadowy Horses”  Susanna Kearsley  1997
“Haunted Canada 3:  More True Ghost Stories”  Pat Hancock  2007
“Ghost Stories Of Hollywood”  Barbara Smith & Arlana Anderson-Hale  2000
“Hallowe’en Trivia:  Ghosts, Ghouls, Skeletons, Vampires, Witches, Graveyards, Spiders, Zombies, Haunted Houses”  Tonya Lambert  2010
“Darling, Pass The Darjeeling”  Pauline Lawson  2004
“Haunted Canada 2:  True Tales Of Terror”  Pat Hancock  2005
“Caramba”  Marie-Louise Gay  2005
“The Tree That Grew To The Moon”  Eugenie Fernandes  1994
“Safe At Home With Pooh”  Kathleen W. Zoehfeld & Robbin Cuddy  1998
(20)  “From Warsaw To Winnipeg:  A Tale Of Two Cities”  Stefan A. Carter  2011

“Dancing Soul:  The Voice Of Spirit Evolving”  Gwen Randall-Young  1995
“Ghost Towns And Drowned Towns Of West Kootenay”  Elsie G. Turnbull  1988
“Georgie”  Christiane Duchesne (traductrice) & Robert Bright  1944
“The Wildlife ABC:  A Nature Alphabet”  Jan Thornhill  1988
“Whitehorse, The Wilderness City”  Ione J. Christensen  1989
“My Cat:  A Scrapbook Of Drawings, Photos, And Facts”  Marilyn Baillie & Brenda Clark  1993
“Birthstones”  James Watling & Laurie Steding  1995
“Canada’s Peaceful Places”  Canadian Heritage  1985
“Firefly Time:  The Art And Poetry Of Emilee N. Horn (Carter)”  Emilee Carter  2015
“Anne Of Green Gables”  L.M. Montgomery  1908
(31)  “Ghosts Of The Titanic”  Julie Lawson  2011

Canadian Literature 2012 / 2013

I will be all right each Mother’s Day.

My article about the June 18, 2019 Corey Hart concert, a long-awaited sensation to grace Winnipeg, Manitoba exactly a year ago, revealed that my dear Mom had serious pneumonia that night.  I trusted that the rare concert would soothe my terrified soul and that my Mom would survive.  I lived in gratitude thereafter.  Every time I saw my Mom in and out of the hospital:  I told her she was an answered prayer and she loved it.

She worked through temporarily low immobility and energy, which doctors took a perplexing long while to identify as mini-strokes.  Hospital stays from unit to unit, as she got better and went home, had the positive result of visits every week, privately.  A Daughter and her Mom need time alone to talk about whatever they like.  My Mom was formidably strong but mini-strokes persisted.  She ascended to Heaven on January 3, 2020.

I wondered how to announce this.  We had Christmas together, December 30 too, and I greeted New Year’s Day 2020 with my dear Mom as well.  I live out of town and cherished each occasion to be bolstered by all her love and preparedness that I needed.  I would return on January 3 if there was time.  Waiting for Ron to get home from work, something made me say aloud that afternoon, what I planned to tell my Mom.  I spoke to her soul to soul:  that I understood that despite the change in energy, she would still be completely HERSELF.  If her body had had enough, it was okay to go without me being there.  She did:  that hour.

Father’s Day gave me an idea of the writing approach to take.  Ron & I hosted it for my Dad, Uncle, and cousin.  The elder brothers are recent widowers and my cousin, brothers, and I are missing our Moms.  I have no reason to be sad on Father’s Day.  However, I am finally sharing the major news about my Mom, by saying that on Mother’s Day too, I was okay.

The family came over to spend that day with me as well, which made it easy.  But we have a very good Mom, who taught us that bodies are like outgrown clothes we shed.  We exist as much as ever and are still available to each other;  even if we can’t see them.  I have such a sense of my Mom being here, that I have cried little and constantly feel like I am about to phone her, or like she is about to phone me.  I am comforted by the very strong awareness that my Mom is only slightly out of sound and sight:  like a baby secure in her crib, knowing her parents are on-hand.

I am sorry she only lived to age 75 and wish the answered prayer had granted more than 7 months of grace but I used them in gratitude entirely.  I notice a lot of people ascend to the next chapter in January.  It allows healing and time to get used to a big change, before Christmas and our birthdays arrive again.  I think loved-ones in Heaven are relieved we take their transition as well as possible, so they enjoy the reunions and wonders there, with pets and other loved-ones.  If sad, it helps to think:  “I wouldn’t want to ruin her good time, worrying about me”.  Calmness returns.

I did dream that my Mom phoned me recently, after I had needed her.  Thank you for that:  I heard you and appreciate the reassurance!

Birth Year Reading Of 2020

I love planning my reading around Jane’s themes, especially “Reading Naturally“;  which I miss.  I am here despite unreliable access to WordPress.  My spouse &  I lovingly and excitedly collected abundant books since our childhoods.  The incentive of Jane’s generous, fun rewards, succeeds at getting me to dive into them.

Most difficult:  my precious Mom ascended to Heaven.  I feel fortunate she saw this new year and welcomed it with me, with her sacred Mother’s hugs and kisses.  She knows I love reading, having given me the gift of this love from her, however different our preference in genres.  It will be a balm to the hardest absence in a Daughter’s life.  We pray our son-cat, Conan, is returned to us safely.  My Mom is watching over him and guiding him home to us.  Our open spiritual conversations are powerful and meaningful to me and are the reason we will be all right!

I honoured good old 1972 many times, the year my dear Mom brought me to our world.  Last year, I read four books of 1973, the full year I saw after I was born.  I am bookmarking my inclusion in the fun with this post.  I will choose a year a after I have had a good browse of our well-stocked shelves.

Update September 3, 2020:  I have decided on the year 2011!  This hailed the birth of my dear niece and my parents’ sole human Granddaughter.  The qualifying books I have found at home are these.  When I have read and reviewed them, please follow my links.  Sincerely, Carolyn.

“From Warsaw To Winnipeg:  A Tale Of Two Cities”  Stefan A. Carter
“Ghosts Of The Titanic”  Julie Lawson
“Stories I Only Tell My Friends”  Rob Lowe
“The Night Circus”  Erin Morgenstern
“A Trick Of The Light”  Louise Penny
“Thank You Notes” Jimmy Fallon
“Sleight Of Paw” Sofie Kelly
“The Cat, The Lady, And The Liar” Leann Sweeney
(9)  “The Haunting” Alan Titchmarsh

Update December 3, 2020:  I finished 5 books!  I draw from literature we have at home, among those I am keen to read now.  Let’s see how many other 2011 novels I indulge in.

December 9, 2020:  I have finished 6 books of 2011!  A fun fact is that 4/9 are Canadian!  Rob Lowe, Jimmy Fallon, Erin Morgenstern, and Leann Sweeney are American.  Alan Titchmarsh is English.

It is Christmas Eve.  I am working on my 9th book from 2011!  I also had a fun realization that a Linda Gillard novel I chose, on-line shopping on Ron’s behalf, is from 2011.  It should arrive this week.  If I receive it later or don’t have time to add it, these 9 books are my firm total.  Merry Christmas, everyone, from Carolyn!

Dread & Read Selections Of 2020

I love planning my reading around Jane’s themes, especially “Reading Naturally“;  which I will miss this year.  I am here despite unreliable access to WordPress.

Most important and difficult:  my precious Mom ascended to Heaven.  I feel fortunate that she saw this new year and welcomed it with me, with her sacred Mother’s hugs and kisses.  She knows I love reading, having given me the gift of this love, regardless of different preferences in genres.   It will be a balm to the hardest absence in a Daughter’s life.

 

 

There are a number of books I hesitate to read, my spouse’s and my abundant home stock, lovingly and excitedly collected since my childhood and his.  The incentive of Jane’s generous, fun rewards, succeeds at getting me to dive into a few of them.

Neither my Mom nor I are keen on general fiction.  She prefers non-fiction.  I love fiction but need cats, the spiritual, paranormal, or mystery as the chief genre to supplement it.  I am wary of historical fiction and classics.  I have proven to love Canadian classics.  Could I relate to these stories or societies, especially way off in England?

Another dread are authors I tried and disliked.  I am a believer in skill and style that improve and series that grow more interesting.  Approaching modernity helps, as well as falling in love with characters and feeling at home with settings.  Disliking one novel does not deter me and owning many series in entirety are encouragements.

Here is my hit list.  Finishing three will be a boon:  to our space at home, my education, and satisfaction with the achievement!  It is the most gratifying, to find that I love them and I endeavour to stretch the momentum.  Thank you for your idea and wonderful gifts, Jane.

 

~ EXPLANATIONS  ~

”Monk’s Hood” Ellis Peters  1980

I couldn’t bear the slow writing style of the first novel with superfluous, irritating adjectives and adverbs.  I was glad I read the second novel because it was not only a major improvement.  I was surprised to find it action-packed:  even though, ironically, the first novel was a travelling story and the next, stayed around their monastery.  Let’s see if the sequel removes trepidation about reading the rest of Ellis Peters’s series and Edith Pargeter’s other writing!

~

“The Weed That Strings The Hangman’s Bag” Alan Bradley  2010

To say I loathed the writing style and attitude of the child protagonist in the début novel puts it mildly.  I grit my teeth if I hear “precocious” as a description and found this girl mean and as hated, as other readers.  However, owning the sequel is a large incentive, along with sequels being better in my experience.  I want to like a Canadian author that many of my countrymen and countrywomen favour, so I will give it a fair go.

~

“Sleight Of Paw”  Sofie Kelly  2011

I have dreaded the sequels by this authoress in a series I ought to love:  secret origins of cats.  Unfortunately, the stories are less about this secret and fall into the usual formula of crimes as mysteries, done poorly.  While some scenic and humorous descriptions are lovely, her focus and story-building is wasteful.  On and on she goes about what people are doing with their bodies and routines.  Mysteries should leap to essential plot-building.  Sketching settings and characters should be a heck of a lot more seamless, not pages that drag on.

Delayed since 2014, I will read this entirely because I need 2011 books from home for “Birth Year Reading 2020” and because I already own this as a new paperback, bought years ago.   It dawned on me that it is a perfect item for “Dread & Read Selections Of 2020” as well.

~

~ INCENTIVE SWEETENERS ~

Jane:  please e-mail (RiedelFascination(at)Gmail(dot)com) whenever you obtain items.  Rather than be unknown until mail appears, I would like to cross successful finds off.  Thank you, with earnest pleasure.  :)  Please include a date or year on cards.  Record-keepers and gift-savers like my Mom & I know well, the importance of provenance.

Second hand in at least “very good” condition is swell.  Three gifts I would love are:

the Canadian paranormal novel “Wild Fell” Michael Rowe
the spooky novel “The Floating Staircase” Ronald Malfi
DVD / blu-ray “One Last Dance” Lisa Niemi & Patrick Swayze (region 1 “NSTN”)

~

~ UPDATES  ~

“The Weed That Strings The Hangman’s Bag” Alan Bradley  2010

I liked this Canadian youth mystery sequel far better than the first!  I have yet to pen my feedback but my grade rose to a surprisingly enjoyed four stars, from the two stars of this series’ debut!  I could not stand the child protagonist, who was mean and disdainful, thinking herself more intelligent and worthy of anyone’s time.  Flavia made no attempt to be friendly, let alone make friends.  Even though there is such a thing as loners and the studious, she had not come off as a child.

In this story, she was very much a child;  enjoying a puppet show and getting heck from her Dad for tardiness and forgetfulness, rather than seeming like an untouchable person.  Flavia was far more compassionate towards people in need and far more helpful like eager children generally, even with a mystery motive for making the offer.  It probably helped that the mystery was more interesting vehicle too.  I no longer hate the girl and I would pick-up the third mystery second-hand, if a look around the house verifies that I do not have it.

Reading this novel was a successful mission and giving Alan Bradley a second chance was worthwhile and rewarded the effort to conquer former dread.

 

”Monk’s Hood”  Ellis Peters  1980

I would call this selection a success.  I will only give it three stars as well because its beginning and ending are slow, not drawing readers into the crux of the storylines.  Ellis Peters spent too long sketching terciary characters and unrelated routinse and events.  The use of needless diminutive words that I loathe like “mildly”, “gently”, “softly” still occur but far less often than the first novel, which I could scarcely read.  I believe I liked the second mystery much better, read in 2018, as much as I loathe stories connected to war or politics.  It is likely because getting to the core of this third one and closing numerous unrelated aspests of it was slow.  However, I find myself able to continue the series; which had been in doubt when I read the début. in 2016

Something my upcoming review will praise was Brother Cadfael’s very believable involvement in solving the case, over personal connections, as well as very plausibly winding up in Wales where the action came to fruition.  I loved the description of the friendly sheep he helped other brothers take care of and how these are not an animal who is killed, allowing shepherds to befriend the beautiful charges and their ewes in their care.

 

“Sleight Of Paw”  Sofie Kelly  2011

This novel was an improvement on the first but most notably because the characters, setting, and premise were established and you could get right to the mystery story.  Unfortunately, Darlene “Sofie Kelly”, still does not know how to craft one.  It was a slog to finish, with descriptions of physical movements passing for what I dub “false action” and every scene having characters order, consume, and put away coffee or hot chocolate.

I am glad two of your groups and gift offerings, our dear Jane, made has this slog worthwhile to me.  I had already bought a few sequels new and do not regret giving this Canadian authoress another try.

Christmas Clues!

Merry Christmas, my dear blog subscribers, group members, visitors, and friends!

Because I love mysteries and run four reading group themes, I looked for games or riddles to play.  In the internet age, I am excited to have found one that does not reduce the resourcefulness of effort and brainteasing fun, to an instantaneous internet search.

Last year, at Ron’s work Christmas party, I was pleasantly surprised to find a stack of written and pictoral games at our table.  Even though our late arrival resulted in occupying a table to ourselves and thus not having team input;  I was excited to see that I have a good mind for clue-solving in real life!  It was a mystery lover’s delight, for this girl!  We came in third place, without the advantage of working through the large stack as early as others, nor of having teammates.  I love using my brain and not looking anything up on the internet.  I was stumped by a few that evening but worked them all out in the next day or two.

I knew right away that I wanted to share this game with family, friends, and peers alike and took a copy home!  My parents, who know Christmas songs as well as I do, did very well at this clue-solving.  It is nice to know that keen minds run in the family, as well as in the nature of mystery buffs.  Now, the season is here for me to share one with you, dear readers!

This is open to all!  You need not be in any of my reading groups and I am always inclusive internationally.  What’s a little postage between friends?

I offer:  a list of second-hand books and a list of other treats, should the books not be to your taste.  I mainly have mysteries, go figure but other types as well.  The alternatives are cute and useful things like:  greeting cards, Canadian postcards, plant seeds, photo prints, or perhaps a second-hand CD or DVD.

If this sounds like fun and if you know Christmas carols well:
I hereby present 12 fun visual Christmas clues!
Identify these Christmas song titles and e-mail them to me.

 

Solve as many as you can by December 27.  We live out-of-town and will mail the prize by December 30, ahead of Canada Post’s increase.  Don’t be shy to try!  If entries are gratifyingly high:  I will draw among those who solve them all.  If entrants were few, I would draw among whomever solved the most.  A for effort.  :)  Sincerely, Carolyn.

Participants Reveal, 2019

Dear Participants:  I am your hostess, Carolyn, from Manitoba!

Thank you for joining my four themes!  I work hard to make them clear, a pleasure, and pretty.  An unresolved problem prevented me from posting updates and activities regularly.  I watched for comments every time I could load my blog, looked at reviews in the linky buttons, and commented;  if you use WordPress or Goodreads.  I am always available to you by e-mail (RIEDELFascination(at)Gmail(dot)com).

My largest concern was my Mom’s health issues.  Praise God that we have honed in on the right problem:  mini-strokes, from one small blood vessel blockage, thankfully.  Instead of going back & forth from independence, to loss of mobility;  a great hospital staff is treating the right thing.  Our Mom is on her way to mending.  :)

There were no comments and some of you missed the review pages.  However, it is up to me to generate interest.  It is not too late.  I am showing the answer to our “My Kind Of Mystery” logo in this post!  I guess I did not parcel out enough clues to solve it.  However, two participants sent a “like button” on this bookcover at Goodreads, when I read this mystery last month.  Perhaps they forgot to e-mail me the title, author, and year.

No one e-mailed by December 1 that they wanted to be in our year-end prize draw.  I will offer another chance in this post.

Next year, I will ask for e-mail addresses, to alert participants of posts.  There are hosts that do it on a monthly basis and I like it.  Games and information need to be seen, to be of use.  It is too much work to search for places to leave messages at Goodreads and I cannot get comments through Blogspot blogs, if you use a captcha.  Please leave a comment to let me know you have read this end-of-year summary.  I love hearing from you anyway!

****  How Is Your Reading?  ****

I am thrilled by the larger number of return guests and new folks who found me this year:  thank you!  Here are my four progress lists.  My “Gentle Spectrums” categories are filled with at least 4 books, most of them double or treble that sum.  I aim to finish with 18 “Celtic Coasts” books.  There are 48 “Ethereal” and 73 “My Kind Of Mystery” books.

https://cmriedel.wordpress.com/2019/01/23/carolyns-celtic-coasts/

Carolyn’s Ethereal 2019

Carolyn’s Gentle Spectrums 2019

https://cmriedel.wordpress.com/2019/01/24/carolyn-mykindmystery/

Most of us follow the January to December calendar but our groups run February 1 to January 31.  We are freer in January, aren’t we?  If you want to add reviews to our databases, visit other reviews, and add wrap-up links from your blog or Goodreads shelves;  I leave them open well past January.  Toggle the challenge menus at the top of this blog.  For your convenience, here they are.

CELTIC COASTS review and wrap-up links
GENTLE SPECTRUMS review and wrap-up links
ETHEREAL reviews review and wrap-up links
MY KIND OF MYSTERY review and wrap-up links

 

****  The “My Kind Of Mystery” 2019 logo reveal!  ****

Are you ready for the 2019 logo answer?  You had a good chance of seeing me read it at Goodreads and it is also in my A to L review menu, at the top of this blog.  Here is the clue I provided, upon which I intended to build.

This novel is by an American authoress of gothic mysteries, largely in the 1970s and 1980s.  She died in 1997.  They are set internationally in unique places:  sometimes modernly, sometimes as historic fiction.  I have read three.  Last year’s was published in my birth year and this one was published the year after.

Here are the book’s name, cover, and authoress:  which was published in 1973!

 

****  Year-End Prize Draw  ****

In the sign-up posts, I said I would draw a prize, among everyone who e-mailed by December 1 to confirm interest.  No one did.  I believe this was an oversight and most of you would enjoy choosing a second-hand book or other treat, from a list of goodies I will send to the winner.

I will give interested parties a second chance to win a prize!  However I want to avoid next year’s postage increase, so this turnaround is short.  PLEASE E-MAIL BY CHRISTMAS EVE.  This will work fine if you choose and reply quickly.  I live out-of-town and will send the winner her mail by December 28.

 

****  May We All Have A Blessed, Happy New Year!  ****

I will renew my group themes next year.  I’ll be darned if technical issues stop something we enjoy.  I constantly read mysteries, a colourful spectrum of subjects, and things that are ethereal and Celtic.  I love furnishing a place to share them.  Please look for new posts in January, after most hosts roll groups out.  I do not have time before then but am not to be missed.  I think e-mails are the key to keeping each other informed and motivated.

Merry Christmas, happy new year, and God bless you!
Please stay tuned for a Christmas riddle that is a lot of fun, in my next post!
Yours truly:  Carolyn and my family, including our Kitties.