My Life

With Winter in Mind

~ Writer Jenny Berlin ~ Leave a comment

My favorite color 2

Once the calendar turns to November, I get the urge to hibernate. As soon as I get the signal that cooler temps and the first snow fall are on their way, I switch to cabin-in-the-woods mode. It’s time to hunker down beside the fireplace with a cup of tea, my favorite throw across my legs, and a book.

Pinterest 02Rather, books.

Lots and lots of books.

Stocking up on reading material is part of my ritual. I spend the month of October browsing bookstores (brick-and-mortar as well as on-line) and gather stacks of books like squirrels gather nuts. My To-Be-Read pile grows to an impressive height.

I collect new novels by authors I love. I choose books by authors I’ve not yet read, and I make a point of selecting books by fellow indie authors.

Today I engaged in my annual Kindle eenie-meenie-minee-mo ceremony and my finger landed on the book that will inaugurate my personal 2015 Winter Reading Fest:

Cover A Man of Some ReputeA Man of Some Repute by Elizabeth Edmondson.  I have high hopes for this book and I’m ready to dive in. It already ticks a couple of boxes for me:

  1. It’s by an author I’ve never read before
  2. It’s an Agatha Christie-ish mystery (somehow, mysteries just read better in cooler months)

Now that I have my pile of books (that will grow and ebb over the next five months), and I’ve selected my first read of the season, I’m officially ready for winter. My cabin in the woods is complete.

How about you? Are you ready to spend your winter reading?

It’s National Coffee Day

~ Writer Jenny Berlin ~ Leave a comment

It’s National Coffee Day and I’m enjoying my first cup of the day right now.

Coffee

I like my coffee strong and scalding hot. And I need it to get my day going right. Given these criteria, it’s a good bet I’m a little addicted to the stuff.

Dave Barry Quote

I’m proud to say I brew it up every day in my own kitchen using my Mr. Coffee machine. No single K-cup servings for me. And no trips to the barrista. I take my first sip within minutes of getting out of bed in the morning.

Grumpy Cat

More Interesting Names

~ Writer Jenny Berlin ~ Leave a comment

An update on my family tree research. I came across some interesting names of brides in the county marriage records dating back to about 1810. Among the countless Hannahs, Rachels, and Elizabeths were these gems:

Experience Read
Tamzen Smyllie
Catherine Heritage
Atlantic Chambers
Submittee Saul
Experience Richman
Hester Heritage
Temperance Counsellor
Melissant Holladay

These names put my imagination into overdrive, just thinking about what kind of personality and background each bride might have had. So far I haven’t come across equally interesting names in my family. We were very vanilla; our brides were among the Hannah, Rachel, and Elizabeth variety. Oh, how I wish I had a Submittee somewhere in my family tree just to put a little pepper in the gene pool!

Gardening Baby Steps

~ Writer Jenny Berlin ~ Leave a comment

Just like there are cat people and dog people, I think there are garden people and houseplant people.

I’m a houseplant person. I can stick anything in a pot, give it some water and it will grow.

On the other hand, I have tried at different times over the course of many years to grow a pleasing flower or vegetable garden with little or no success. What gives?

I follow author Brenda Coulter on Facebook and she posts the most amazing photos of her gardens. Flowers, ornamental grasses, adorable little tomatoes—she grows them all. I’d love to be able to grow some vegetables and have some flowering plants around my patio.

So this year, I’m going for it. I read all the info I could find about growing veggies in my mile-high climate, I bought seeds and starter-soil and set up my grow pots in a window that gets the most sun.

And, voila! I have veggies! Seven days after planting seeds I have the beginnings of spinach (on the left) and carrots (on the right).

IMG_0960

I also planted tomatoes and romaine. In their present state they fall under the category of houseplant, since they’re inside in pots. The proof of the pudding will be next month when it’s time to transfer them to the outdoors. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can finally be learn to be a garden person, too.

A Name to Live Up To

~ Writer Jenny Berlin ~ Leave a comment

I stole a few hours this morning to do some research on my family tree before I went to work. I found these names in marriage records from the 1800s:

Patience Omen
Recompense Stansbury
Samuel Snailbaker
Comfort Star
Temperance Toppy

What great names! Can’t you imagine them as characters in a Wanda E. Brunstetter novel?

I have to say I’m glad my parents didn’t name me Patience; I could never have stood up to the pressure!

Resolutions, Anyone?

~ Writer Jenny Berlin ~ Leave a comment

The new year is almost here and for many people that means adopting new year’s resolutions.

Calendar Page ResolutionI’ve never been much for making resolutions at the beginning of the year, but I understand the lure. A new year means new opportunities and a new slate on which we can write the stories of our lives. People use it as a time to set goals and resolve to make a real change in their lives.

The reason I don’t do new year’s resolutions is that I set goals all the time. Every day, every week, every month I know what I need to accomplish in order to achieve what I want. From time to time my goals may change, and I roll with the punches, but my discipline is still the same.

Some days I’m more successful at checking a task off my list than other days. Some days I abandon my goals in favor of binge-watching Hallmark Channel movies with a half-gallon of Haagen Dazs. But those indulgent days are few, and they’re only temporary set-backs. The next day I’m right back at my to do list, anxious to check off the next goal I want to accomplish.

So here are a couple of my personal goals for the month of January:

  1. By January 15 identify the birth date of my great-grandfather so I can order a copy of his birth certificate and document it in on my family tree
  2. Over the next ten days, write a minimum of 250 words a day on my new book

Easy-peasy, right? They sound so do-able. And I have every confidence I can get these things (and a few others) done. As long as I don’t get distracted by the Hallmark Channel and ice cream.