Happy New Year!

 

Hello Book Lovers:

Happy New Year! Can tomorrow really be 1/1/2023? Seems like a day or two ago, I slept through New Year’s Eve 2022. What are your plans for tonight? Mine? A tasty dinner, a cocktail for a toast, and asleep by ten. I can’t remember the last time I stayed awake to welcome a new year. Maybe this is a good time to try again.

What will you be serving at your celebration? Having lived in Texas for many years, we enjoy Mexican food. The menu: enchiladas, Spanish rice, and margaritas. 

My favorite drink recipe follows:

                Classic Margarita

1 wedge lime

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt, or as needed

1 large ice cube per drink

2 fluid ounces white tequila 

1 ½ fluid ounces triple sec

1 fluid ounce freshly squeezed lime juice

1 slice lime

 

Directions

Moisten the rim of a glass with a lime wedge. Sprinkle salt onto a plate. Lightly dip the moistened rim into the salt. Place a large ice cube in the glass and freeze the prepared glass until ready to serve.

Fill a cocktail shaker with fresh ice. Add tequila, triple sec, and lime juice. Cover and shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker has frosted.

Strain margarita into the chilled glass and garnish with a slice of lime.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                               

Looking back over the past twelve months, I have a lot to be thankful for. My second novel, Down Riverton Road, has been receiving excellent reviews, as has my first novel, Blackthorne Cove. I am thankful to those of you who read them and took the time to leave a review or sent an email expressing your appreciation. A huge thanks to those who referred the books to friends and shared on social media. It's thrilling to know you enjoyed projects I worked so hard on and poured my heart into. Thank you.

Amazon Review - Down Riverton Road: "The author creates a story that contains mystery, drama, and a central character, Livvy, who is very relatable. The intrigue starts on page one and held my attention to the very end. Masterful writing!" 

Amazon Review - of Blackthorne Cove: "From beginning to end, I loved this book! Skillfully written and entwined in an exhilaratingly suspenseful storyline. Watching these characters go through horrific tragedy, grow up, recover from tragedy and find love. My only dislike is that it is over."

New Year's Resolutions

What will you resolve for 2023? Me? I can't seem to keep them, so I decided to save myself the stress and forego the tradition. Would love to hear about yours. Maybe I will be inspired. :)

New Year's Day

Are you a black-eyed pea or cabbage believer? Growing up in Illinois, we ate cabbage to make sure we had a prosperous year. After moving to the south, I noticed most people prepared black-eyed peas, so now I serve both. No need to take chances. :)

Miscellaneous:

After not going to a movie since COVID, I watched Top Gun Maverick and Where the Crawdads Sing at the theater. If you haven’t seen either, I highly recommend both. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is one of my favorite reads from last year.

We didn’t travel much in 2022. We stayed near home and went on several back-road rambles. In case you aren’t familiar with this phrase, a back-road ramble is my term for driving down dirt and gravel roads looking for nature photo opportunities. I’m especially interested in birds and horses, but love coming across an occasional bobcat or coyote.

We have a great grandchild due soon. After about twenty years of avoiding crafts, I picked up a crochet hook to make a baby afghan. It's been a struggle to get my fingers to remember how to hold the yarn and hook, but I think I finally have it down. It's about half finished. I think I'll make the deadline.

Remember, books make wonderful gifts anytime of the year. :)

Well, that's all for today, folks! Have a safe holiday!

I would love to hear from you. My email address is:

bettyjcrow2021@gmail.com    

Stay tuned, I'm planning a giveaway in January.                                                                                                                    

 

Graduation Day

Proud Grandma here. This sweet little girl isn’t little anymore, but in my heart, she will always be that brilliant pre-k student who called from the backseat, “Grandma! Look! A plethora of flowers.” Then, when asked if she wanted her soup cold, warm, or hot, she answered, 36.1 degrees Celsius, which is the temperature of warm-blooded animals. This is a mere sampling of a “plethora” of examples. Today she is graduating summa cum Laude from ISU.

Congratulations, Lauren. Love you!

Introvert

Introverted writer.

Deep thinker.

Socially awkward.

Prefers being alone,

Interacting with imaginary characters.

December Newsletter

 

Hello Book Lovers:

We made it through Thanksgiving. If you celebrated, I hope you had a day filled with family, friends, and good food. I ate too much, did you? It’s the time of year when you throw caution to the wind, along with the scale, and enjoy the food prepared with love by our host/hostess.

New Release: Down Riverton Road. Thank you to all who have purchased a copy and given so much positive feedback. I appreciate each one of you. If you haven’t ordered your copy yet, it’s available in paperback, kindle edition, and Kindle Unlimited at Amazon.com.

Summary: Down Riverton Road.

Divorced and disillusioned with relationships, Olivia Rustin moved from St. Louis to the Texas Hill Country. There she met Alec, a man who haunted her dreams long before leaving Missouri. Strange happenings inside her new home led to the discovery of a spirit. The apparition appears to Olivia and enlists her help in finding Alec’s brother, Wade, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The ghost directs Olivia to a hidden journal, which uncovers the hate-filled heart of a madman and provides clues for her mission to uncover long-hidden secrets. As she tries to unravel the puzzle, murderous eyes watch her every move. During her quest to locate Wade, Olivia finds a love which will change her life forever.

This is a story about the love between a man and a woman, family, and friends. It renews faith in destiny. Down Riverton Road follows Betty J. Crow’s successful debut novel, Blackthorne Cove. Available at Amazon.com. 

Surprise! It’s December. 

Is your tree up? Christmas cards addressed and mailed? Currently shopping? Or are you one of those who finishes early? Me? I have two presents ordered. Tree isn’t up, but I hope it will be this weekend. I really need to start on the cards. I bought stamps with the appropriate scene for the season.

What will you be serving? We’ll probably have a similar menu as Thanksgiving. The only difference will be ham instead of turkey and no pumpkin or sweet potatoes. I LOVE baking cookies. Hopefully, there will be a variety this year. Would you like a favorite recipe of mine? No baking required. If so, here it is:  

Rocky Mountain Snowdrops

Ingredients:

1 pound white chocolate

¾ cup creamy peanut butter

1 ½ cups Rice Krispies cereal

1 ½ cups mini marshmallows

½ cup dry roasted peanuts

 Steps:

No baking required. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and set aside.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Remove it from the heat and allow the chocolate to cool slightly.

Stir in the peanut butter, cereal, marshmallows, and peanuts until well combined.

Drop the mixture by 2 tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheet.

Cool before serving.

Remember, books make wonderful Christmas gifts. Mine are listed on the sidebar. :)

Well, that's all for today, folks! Stay tuned. I'm planning a giveaway in January.

Weekend Roundup - V

This week's assignment: Starts with V, Favorite, and Verdant.

Starts with V: This salad does have VEGETABLES somewhere beneath that tasty brisket.

Favorite: I usually reserve this spot for a horse, but I'm also passionate about birds and this Painted Bunting is VISUALLY stunning.

Verdant: My favorite horses with a VERDANT background.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Linking to The Weekend Roundup

 

Weekend Roundup - T

 This week's assignment: Starts with T, Favorite, and Tall.

Starts with T: TEXAS begins with T. This was spring break with three of my favorite people. We took a drive down to Whataburger for lunch.

Favorite: This pic shows Whiskey's beautiful, long TAIL.

Tall: This art deco hotel in downtown Hot Springs, AR is TALL.

 

As are these TALL buildings in downtown Dallas. Picture taken from the top of Reunion Tower. 

Hope you have a wonderful week ahead.

Linking to: The Weekend Roundup 

Weekend Roundup - S

 This week's assignment: Starts with S, Favorite, and Silhouette. 

Starts with S: This garden SPIDER was busy SCOPING out a place to build its web. They look SCARY, but they're good SPIDERS.

Favorite: This is Hubby SADDLED up and ready to ride. 

Silhouette: This is a picture of Jube taken last SUMMER, before he was SOLD. The SUN is behind him, thus I decided this was close enough to being a SILHOUETTE. 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Linking to The Weekend Roundup 

Weekend Roundup- R

 This week's assignment: Starts with R, Favorite, and Roof.

Starts with R: RAIN starts with R. These poor horses are soaked. I'm not sure why they are standing in front of the house when their loafing shed is a mere 30 yards in front of them. Guess they wanted me to know they were miserable.

Favorite: This is Whiskey, who was sold last year. He was RUNNING down toward the feed truck.

Roof: I took this picture from my seat at Oaklawn Racetrack. Off in the distance is the Hot Springs Mountain Tower.

We rode up to the top of the tower. Below are the ROOFS of several buildings along the main street. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking to The Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup - Q

 This week's assignment: Starts with Q, Favorite, and Quarter.

Starts with Q: Northern Bobwhite QUAIL fits the bill. Mr. and Mrs. were walking down the road, so snapped a shot through the windshield.

Favorite: Guess what? Even though it wasn't an easy task, I found a way to put a horse in a Q post. :) Note the QUIRT laying across the jockey's lap. 

Quarter: The lovely margarita has a QUARTER missing. Hmm.      Wonder where it went?                                                                         

Linking to The Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup - P

 This week's assignment: Starts with P, Favorite, and Paper.

Starts with P: Pretty in PINK. On one of our backroad rambles, I found this beauty in an overgrown fence row. I don't know what kind of tree it is, but it sure was beautiful all decked out in blooms.

Favorite: Meet PATRON. He is not only a handsome fella, but a real sweetheart.

Paper: This is one of the many books I have read over my lifetime. It's pages are made of PAPER! The bookmark is a souvenir Granddaughter brought me from Europe. And, lucky me, it also has PINK roses. :)

Linking to The Weekend Roundup

Springtime in Oklahoma

One of my favorite things to do on a beautiful spring day, is to take a drive down the backroads. On this particular day, I was on the lookout for blooms. I don't know what kind of trees/bushes/flowers these are, but I found each of them worthy of a picture. 

Daffodils blowing in the wind.

I do know this is Wisteria.  

We stopped on a bridge to take in the beauty of new leaves and this colorful stream with the sky and trees reflected in the water. We enjoyed the quiet, broken only by an occasional bird.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead!

The Weekend Roundup - O

 This week's assignment: Starts with O, Favorite, and Old.

Starts with O: This OVEN is located on the grounds of Fort Washita. It was built far away from the buildings to keep from heating the kitchen during the hot OKLAHOMA summers. 

What was very OLD is partially new again.

Favorite: Well, ya'll knew a horse would be in this post somewhere. This picture was taken during a recent visit to Oaklawn racetrack in Hot Springs, AR. This horse was a winner.

Old: This is a very old sign located at the exit to Ouachita National Forest. It is near Hot Springs, AR. Hubs took me to the lake where his grandfather proposed to his wife. It's a beautiful area.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Linking to The Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup - N

 This week's assignment: Starts with N, Favorite, and Number

Starts with N: NOSE begins with N. Aw, NOSE kisses. 

Favorite: One of our favorite things to do is drive by to check on the Eagles. This is Mrs. Eagle keeping watch over her eaglet in the NEST. This is the third year we have seen them. 

Number: This mare is branded with the number 54 for identification purposes.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking to The Weekend Roundup 

Weekend Roundup - M

 This week's assignment: Starts with M, Favorite, and Metal.

Starts with M: MALLARD starts with M. MEET MRS. MALLARD. 

Favorite: And, of course, MARE works out just fine for my favorite M. Love this little lady in the front. 

Metal: This METAL sculpture graces the main street in Hot Springs, AR. I think it was in front of an eclectic museum—ghosts and such. This is a drive by shooting. I took it from the passenger seat of Hub's truck, through the driver's side window, as we were driving down the street. Barely got it before it was too late.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking to The Weekend Roundup 

Weekend Roundup - L

 This week's assignment: Starts with L, Favorite, and Landscape.

Starts with L: During our trip to Hot Springs, AR, it rained on Sunday, so we took a drive around the LAKE. Sure looked pretty with the mist in the background.

Favorite: This LITTLE LADY sure has LONG LEGS. 

Landscape: Foothills of the Wichita Mountains in Southwestern Oklahoma.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking to The Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup - K

 This week's assignment: Starts with K, Favorite, Kind.

Starts with K: KITTY starts with K. This psychedelic KITTY graced the window of The Grass Shack Dispensary. No I wasn't visiting, merely parked in front of the store while waiting on Hubs to purchase lunch in the Whataburger next door. :)

These KITTIES are barn cats kept to keep the mice and rats to a minimum. They are not friendly. They run when I get too close.

Favorite: Critters are always a favorite of mine. Two KIDS were enjoying a milk snack, while a third is having a nap.

Kind: So I bet you thought I skipped posting a horse this week. Nope. This little lady has KIND eyes and a KIND face. She is a sweetheart.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking to The Weekend Roundup