Tag: animals

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Breakfast is Served

ellenparkerwrites

Many experts consider breakfast the most important meal of the day. This bird feeder, found on my morning walk, should start the day off right to a family.

My neighborhood is home to numerous birds of a variety of likes and dislikes when it comes to meals. But they are well fed. If they don’t find seeds to their liking in this feeder, they can fly a couple dozen yards to another. While not every household maintains a feeder, one out of three or four caters to our feathered friends.

Do you feed the birds? Watch and identify the species? Only in winter? Year-round?

In the 1850’s, in fictional Elm Ridge, Illinois, the residents did not hang out bird feeders. However, with fields and gardens to forage among, the non-migrating avian managed to eat throughout the winter months. A little grain always spilled. A way into the barn could be found.

A sweet romance set in this time and place is Stitching a Dream. Click on the link to learn more about this story of a single mother seamstress and her new neighbor. https://amzn.to/3VwoeFh

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A Bit ‘O Fun

ellenparkerwrites

Smile! The tavern owner has a sense of humor.

All of you have heard the story/song of Rudolph. Have you met is Irish cousin?

Standing proud, Paddy O’Deer welcomes the patrons during December. Come inside. Eat lunch. Enjoy a beverage. No venison on the menu.

During the same years the Irish were fleeing famine by immigrating to America, other nationalities were also arriving. Check out the sweet historical romance, New Dreams, to discover how a few Deutsch fared in Illinois. The link will take you to the book blurb & Kindle edition: https://amzn.to/3vWydWE

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You want me to What???

ellenparkerwrites

The United States holiday of Thanksgiving is less that a week away. A major holiday, even a few popular songs have found their way into the culture.

But we may have a problem. Are you feasting and celebrating at a relative’s home? Do you have to cross a river? Drive through a wooded area?

Pull a sleigh? To your grandmother’s house? Are you out of your mind? Have you paid any attention to the weather?

Let’s get a few things settled. First: No sleighs–wheels work well on bare roads. Second: I’m not trained to harness for any vehicle–and time is too short for this year. Third: The hay in your grandmother’s barn is not fit for my fine palate. Therefore: Please use the automobile. I’ll be happy to spend the day alone in my familiar barn.

In the sweet romance, MORNING TRYST, photographer Serena Carter is away from family for an entire year of holidays. While a friend joins her for Christmas, as they attend another friend’s wedding, most of her special days are spent in Missouri State Parks — photographing the sights. Well, unless a certain male friend drops in to make a different sort of holiday. Follow the link for more book details. https://amzn.to/35gH37S

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Wonderful in White

ellenparkerwrites

October arrived today. Do you have a nip in the air? Did you reach for a jacket when you went outside?

A change in the weather can be invigorating. Sunshine on autumn leaves is a sight to savor. Perhaps it’s the knowledge that this will not last which prods me to do those final outside chores of the year.

Some creatures find time to play and enjoy the touch of cool air — especially when you wear a fur coat.

He’s ready for his close-up and I, for one, will not pick an argument with this zoo resident. Have you seen his paw? With claws? My skin is too tender to come near. After all, his recent ancestors hunted seal for supper.

This photo was taken near the end of September. Have you ever visited the zoo in autumn? Try it sometime. Animals lethargic in summer heat may surprise you with their antics. After all, most of them are avid people-watchers.

Characters in my St. Louis set books visit local attractions. In Comfort Zone, the visit takes place for an early date — with his father along to make it a non-date. Check out this sweet romance where there is no age limit on love here: https://amzn.to/2ZvL0Av

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Midday Pleasure

ellenparkerwrites

The autumn equinox is two days past. So officially, the season is autumn. Expect to see colorful leaves attempting to match the sweaters and sweatshirts of the humans.

Sunshine continues, albeit in limited quantities. Animals who want to make the most of the situation settle in during the midday hours and blissfully absorb the solar rays.

Warm sun on warm mud — hog heaven. This resident of a demonstration farm in a local park may become concerned about the shortened hours of sunshine, but she does not need to fear the butcher.

In the fictional village of Elm Ridge, Illinois, the Deutsch butcher shop is owned by the Hebing family. Year round they sell fine sausages, ham, bacon, and other smoked meats. Polly Black, an American seamstress, is a regular customer. Once in a while, she will purchase a cut of beef or a chicken. But pork is a staple. After all, ham hock and beans is one of her son’s favorite meals in the sweet, historical romance Stitching a Dream.

Click on the link to find more book information: https://amzn.to/3VwoeFh

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Gobble Expert

ellenparkerwrites

What image does the word “gobble” prompt in your mind?

Do you imagine a person eating without showing manners and skipping most of the chewing?

Or do you picture a bird from a children’s book and begin to imitate his sound?

This example of a relative of the latter was captured in a public garden. I wonder what she was eating that day. Were seeds on the menu? Or was she heading off to pick some berries? Insects and worms also need to be aware of where she pecks her beak. She’s not a fussy eater — a fact farmers and home gardeners alike sigh about.

Illinois is part of the natural range of the wild turkey. By 1851, the area near fictitious Elm Ridge was settled enough that the bird was becoming scarce. But I would expect farmers did enjoy a few which made it to the dinner table.

Polly Black, seamstress, selected her meat at the butcher shop. Hunting, even on the land of a friend, was an activity which she left to others. Check out the sweet historical romance, Stitching a Dream, to meet her friends — American and Deutsch. Here’s a link to find the book: https://amzn.to/3VwoeFh

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Dual Purpose Fowl

ellenparkerwrites

Cluck, cluck, cluck. The small flock of chickens is outside and making happy noises. When the hen goes inside, will she seek out a quiet place and lay an egg? Or will the slowest of the flock end up in the frying pan on Sunday?

This lovely flock lives a protected life at a Midwestern outdoor museum. They are the heritage breed Black Java. While not the egg-laying machines favored by large producers — they are said to hold their own by laying an egg every two or three days. (So six hens should give the family a couple every day — enough to bake a cake and add an egg to the biscuits and bacon on a regular basis.)

To my eye, they looked plump under those feathers. I’d target extra roosters for the cooking pot. Perhaps my farm ancestors learned how many times a year to let a hen “set” on a clutch of eggs to replenish both the flock and pan.

Polly Black, seamstress, in 1851 fictional Elm Ridge, IL, buys her meat at the butcher shop and eggs from the grocer. Her life is full with earning a living at her trade and raising her young son. Find out what happens in the eventful first year she lives in this river town in the sweet historical romance, Stitching a Dream. Click on the link for more book information. https://amzn.to/3VwoeFh

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River to the Right, River to the Left

ellenparkerwrites

For a distance of over forty miles, in western Tennessee and Kentucky, the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers run at a rough parallel to each other. Oh, they have twists and turns and probably spend as much time flowing east or west as north, toward the Ohio River. However, they gather their creeks and streams and take them eventually north.

Once upon a time, when I drove across first one, and then the other, of this pair, I envisioned a swampy, marshy land between them. (Perhaps the billboard encouraging duck hunting influenced me.)

Years later, when a friend urged me to take the route between them, I was proved wrong.

Feathered residents of “The Land Between the Lakes”

The area is full of hills, tiny valleys, and forest. The rivers are lakes here — thanks to dams built for both flood control and electricity production. Protected from development by the US Forest Service, wildlife is abundant and the traveler naturally slows to enjoy the beauty.

Every state has their own beautiful spots. In the sweet romance, Morning Tryst, photographer Serena Carter visits all of Missouri’s State Parks. Would you believe she finds more than forest and wildlife? Follow the link for more book information. https://amzn.to/35gH37S

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Follow Me

ellenparkerwrites

Do children still play “follow the leader?”

A person can get themselves in a bit of a situation if the leader has longer legs and takes the stepping stones across the creek. (You’re on your own to explain the wet shoes to your mother.)

In defense of the game, if the leader is knowledgeable, you won’t get lost in the woods.

Advice? Know your leader.

Follow me, children. Stay together. The pond and swimming lessons is just the other side of the highway.

In the sweet, historical romance, New Dreams, Hans wants to end up in the same place as the ‘prettiest girl on the sailing ship’ When they travel on the same small boat from St. Louis to fictional Elm Ridge — he counts it as his good luck.

Book information here: https://amzn.to/3vWydWE

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Slow the Pace

ellenparkerwrites

Have you had a busy week? Has this year taken off at a running start?

In an effort to maintain your mental balance, I advise taking a few deep breaths, changing the scene (if possible), and relax for a moment.

Do you have (or have you ever had) a fish tank? Even apartment dwellers where landlords forbid cats and dogs are generally allowed a few fish. Watching the animals glide, turn, and dive often has a calming effect. Admire their streamline shape instead of dwelling on the phone complaint. Or hum a little music in the same tempo one particular fish swims from one end of the enclosure to the other.

Fictional Elm Ridge, Illinois is located on the Mississippi River and creeks north and south of town rush spring melt and rainstorm into the mighty waterway. Did the residents eat fish in 1851? It’s easy to imagine both boys and men dipping in a line in hopes of a tasty treat for supper.

Find out more about Elm Ridge in the sweet historical romance, New Dreams. Click here for more information: https://amzn.to/3vWydWE