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i love this mug!

~ jama ~ 14 Comments

If you’re looking for a special gift for a writer friend or bookworm, grab hold of this mug! (Or maybe you’d like to treat yourself for all your hard work this year.)

Not your ordinary, everyday Hallmark gift shop kind of mug, this Bridgewater Pottery 8 oz. beauty is hand painted and hand decorated in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Each one is unique, and part of a limited edition.

I can attest to the high quality of all Bridgewater products; I’ve been an avid collector of their pieces for years. They are durable, dishwasher and oven safe, and don’t chip easily.

Look what it says on the back:

Along the inside edge, it reads: "Happiness comes in a mug."

"Happiness" is also spelled out along the handle.

The full range of Bridgewater pottery can be found at their website, but for ordering in the U.S., try Joanne Hudson. They ship lickety split fast; I received this mug in less than 24 hours.

Happy Holidays and Happy Shopping!

friday feast: fruitcake, nutty as a

~ jama ~ 28 Comments


“Christmas Morning” by Carl Larrson

 

Happy December!

So, are you having visions of sugar plums yet? (I’m curious — have any of you actually established a meaningful relationship with a sugar plum?)

Well, the yuletide season is upon us once again — the annual onslaught of frenzied shopping, card scribbling, tree decorating, egg nog guzzling, and my favorite, cookie baking! Yay! We’ve stashed away our pumpkins, eaten the last of our turkey sandwiches, and now it’s time to stuff those goodie bags and fill those tins and trays with holiday treats.

Today, I’ve decided to dedicate this post to the most maligned and ridiculed outcast of Christmas offerings, the fruitcake.

Did you just gag?

Continue reading →

open your hearts for flying horse farms

~ jama ~ 4 Comments


‘Tis the season of giving, and Sara Lewis Holmes (Read*Write*Believe) is starting a library of horse and camp-related books for Flying Horse Farms, a camp in Ohio for kids with serious illnesses. I just picked out a couple of titles to donate from the Wish List, and hope you’ll do the same!!

This is what Sara said in her post:

My niece, Emily, has been battling cancer for over two years now. But that’s not all she’s been doing. She’s modeled in a show for Flashes of Hope, raised money for Rainbow Hospital and starred in a video for Flying Horse Farms.  I feel downright lazy next to her.

So here’s what I’m doing:  starting a library of camp and horse related books for Flying Horse Farms.  Flying Horse Farms is a magical, transforming and fun camp for children with serious illnesses and their families. It’s an Ohio based 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and working to become a member of Hole in the Wall Camps, the world’s largest family of camps for children with serious illnesses.   

I talked with the director, and he said that rather than one central library, he would love to have books available at several spots around the camp—the stables, the craft room, the main activity hall, the cabins, maybe even the dining hall.

The books would be…

For kids to read while they wait for their turn on a horse.
For kids who suddenly discover they love pottery or archery or fishing and want to know everything about it. 
For kids to share and discuss a cool quote or an inspirational person during nightly reflection times.
For kids who need a fast idea for a drama skit, or a nature craft, or a easy recipe.
For kids who need to rest.
For kids who love to read.
For kids who are kids and want to be kids and must be kids even if a serious illness complicates their lives.

If you want to help, here are some suggestions:

  • I’ve set up a wish list on Amazon.  You can choose a book and donate it directly from there.  The list is small now, but it will grow as the campers and counselors and the director add new requests to it.
  • You can blog about your favorite camp or horse related book. I’ll round up those posts here, plus forward them to the director and consult them in expanding the Wish List. (Little Willow already did this. Thanks, LW!) Feel free to copy this entire post or use the button I’m putting in my sidebar.
  • If you’re an author or illustrator or publisher or blogger with a camp or horse related book, you can donate directly to the camp, but please remember that the camp serves kids ages 7-15  and your donation should reflect the needs of the camp. (Please, in all cases, only NEW books.)

    Questions?  Email me at:  email@saralewisholmes.com


Here’s a list of activities at camp:

Arts & Crafts
Painting
Woodworking
Pottery
Boating
Fishing
Swimming
Horses
Cooking
Ropes
Adventure (teambuilding)
Nature
Sports & Games
Music
Drama


Fiction is also welcome, but at this time, we’re concentrating on stories with horses in them. Once the camp is fully up and running, I’ll add other fiction requests from the campers and counselors.   

The address for donations:

Flying Horse Farms
225 Green Meadows Drive South, Suite A
Lewis Center, Ohio 43035



Thank you! 

happy thanksgiving!

~ jama ~ 12 Comments


"Ah! on Thanksgiving Day, when from East and from West,
From North and from South, come the pilgrim and guest,
When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored,
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before —
What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past, like the rich pumpkin pie?"
~ from "The Pumpkin," by John Greenleaf Whittier

"As we celebrate Thanksgiving, let us remember that while Americans are an independent people, we are also interdependent. Our greatest achievements are those we have accomplished together, pooling our skills, our traditions, our knowledge."
~ from The Thanksgiving Ceremony by Edward Bleier

Happy Thanksgiving to all, but especially to James, Margaret, Newton, Alison, Jared, Julia, Leo, Snickers, Aunty Inez, Lani and Chuck, Lori, Mason, Rachel, and Trinity.

xxxooo,
Len and Jama

P.S. If you’re positively stuffed and can’t do much of anything except sit there, you might as well take this Thanksgiving Trivia quiz! For every wrong answer, eat another piece of pie and say "thank you." 🙂

just for fun

~ jama ~ 16 Comments

Saw this over at The Miss Rumphius Effect. Play along if you like!

Things I’ve done are in green:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon 
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class 
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day.

I only got 47 out of 100. Lots of living to do!