Author: Lynn

My husband and I live in beautiful Nova Scotia, Canada, and now that we are empty nesting I again began pursuing my dream of writing for children. I am privileged to have met and/or corresponded with Canadian and US authors,; among those are internationally known Canadian author Budge Wilson who wrote many MG and other books, Laura Best, Darlene Foster; US author Drew Lamm (originally from Canada); US author/novelist Sue Harrison - all whose books I've reviewed on my blog, Amazon and other sites. It's my joy to be in contact with other writers and professionals of all stages of the process. Life brings change, and for me that meant the opportunity to pursue a decades old dream - to learn to paint. I now join other painters weekly and we paint and learn together. You can check out my paintings at https://www.instagram.com/lynn.a.davidson2019

If you could do anything on your bucket list, it would be …

I posted this joke once before on this date, but at the risk of repeating myself … What is the only day of the year that is a command?

March Fourth!

It’s a play on words .. fourth/forth .. that is worth thinking about.

This being a forward day, is there anything on your bucket list that you would do, or begin, today if you could? You know .. that list of things you want to do sometime in your lifetime?

I still have not done so much that I have never had the courage to do but wanted to accomplish. But — I am thinking perhaps I should tackle some of those in the next two years. And why not? Well, there are certainly drawbacks, hindrances, that will stand tall against my ability to do them, but there are a few I can work out, I think, some that are easier and less daunting.

Such as? you ask. Well, such as tandem sky-diving, going on vacation this summer and taking in Banff National Park, completing and submitting several manuscripts, getting back into photography in a more serious way. Those all sound like good things to start with, don’t you think?

I won’t even list the things that are less likely to happen and more of a ‘worry’ to me, although I started to write them down. (Okay, I’ll mention one .. learning to horseback ride, but my husband is deathly allergic to horse dander.) It’s probably better that I keep some other things to myself for now. Writing them down is almost a commitment. Yikes!

Allowing fear and lack of confidence to take over one’s life can leave one with regret, disappointment, depression – which is probably anger turned inward because of regret and disappointment, and add to the fear and lack of confidence. It is such a waste of life to fall into those things. If you battle them let me encourage you to step out and away from them, one decision at a time. I am doing it little by little; you can, too. Life is so very short in light of eternity, why let it just slip away unchallenged in the things you have longed to do?

Now I ask you .. If you could do anything in your bucket list, what would it be? What in your lifetime do you really want to accomplish that will take extended effort and maybe mean overcoming some fear to get there? I am very interested in hearing about it; it would be encouraging to me.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! and thank you

Before today is gone forever I want to mention the famous and talented Dr. Seuss – Theodor Seuss Geisel.

He was born March 2, 1904 and lived until September 24, 1991. That’s 87.5 years.

I read somewhere that sometime along the way one of his teachers or professors told him he couldn’t draw and his art would not catch on. hmmm I guess somebody was wrong! That goes to prove that you should never give up if you are passionate about your talent. It may be just what the world is waiting for.

If you would like to read lots of information about Dr. Seuss, go here.

No doubt everyone reading this is familiar with something Dr. Seuss wrote. Two books that I particularly enjoyed reading to my daughters are

Green Eggs And Ham and

Horton Hears A Who!

It was a fun challenge to read those long connecting thoughts without stopping to take a breath, and I could never begin to tell you how many times those books were chosen as bedtime stories! I got really good at reading Dr. Seuss – with great enthusiasm! 🙂

Now I’ll join with the throngs of captivated children and admiring readers, writers, illustrators, and everyone else who loves his books, and say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DR. SEUSS! And Thank You!

What Dr. Seuss books were the most popular in your house?

Is there one Dr. Seuss book in particular that you wish you had written?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

We have an extra day! How will you use it?

Happy Leap Day!

Imagine that you were born on February 29. Now imagine having that day come around only once every four years.

Maybe you don’t have to imagine it at all, in which case … Happy Birthday!

How would you feel if you were a child whose actual birth date didn’t come every year? When would you have your birthday party .. February 28 or March 1? I read that in New Zealand if anyone is born on February 29, the legal date is to be recorded as February 28.

Would you consider yourself at age 20 to be officially only 5? A day is a day no matter what number is attached to it, so what would you do?

I thought you might like to know of a few famous people born February 29:

1692 – John Byrom, English poet

1792 – Gioacchino Rossini, Italian composer (William Tell, The Barber of Seville) 1904 – Jimmy Dorsey, American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer and big band leader

1916 – Dinah Shore, American singer

1924 – Al Rosen, American baseball player

1936 – Henri Richard, Canadian ice hockey player

1956 – Randy Jackson, American musician, record producer, television personality

1960 – Anthony (Tony) Robbins, American motivational speaker

1964 – Lyndon Byers, Canadian hockey player

1972 – Antonio Sabàto Jr, Italian-born actor

1976 – Ja Rule, American rapper and actor

1980 – Chris Conley, American musician and songwriter/composer

Did you know that for flights on February 29 some airlines give a greatly reduced rate to people who were born on a leap day? That may be worth looking into for the next one.

Just for interest’s sake, here are a few of the past and upcoming leap years:

1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2028 2032 2036 2040 2044 2048 2052 2056 2060 2064 2068 2072 2076 2080 2084 2088 2092

Did you know that it is tradition in some countries for a woman to propose marriage to her man on Leap Day? And only then is it permitted.

My husband and I were married on a leap year (which is considered to be “bad luck” in some folklore – so it’s good we are not superstitious), although not on leap day – which apparently is even worse. We actually were married on Hallowe’en because, for a time, Nova Scotia did not allow it to be celebrated on a Sunday, so Hallowe’en was on October 30, a Saturday. Just another curious quirk.

If you want to know more about Leap Year and how it all began you can look here and here. It’s very interesting.

We have been given an extra day this year, how to you plan to use it? Do you have special plans for that extra 24 hours?

Do you know of any ‘specials’ offered to Leapers?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

My special birthday

I realize that not all who read this will understand the depth of what I’m saying, nor will all agree with me, and that’s okay. It is important to me, and is the life under-girding my own life.

Today, February 28^th, is a special day for me, an anniversary of sorts. Even more it is a special birthday.

On this day – thirty years ago – I began life as a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

I was brought up knowing about God, praying, believing in Him, experiencing His touch in my life, going to church and doing all those things, but I believe that it wasn’t until I was in a place of deep spiritual searching that I truly became a follower of Christ. Before then He was wooing me. When I understood my personal need of forgiveness and His saving grace, and when I reached out and asked Jesus to come into my life as my own Lord and Saviour, that is when my life really began. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9

It hasn’t been easy. Everything didn’t magically become sweet and problem free. People still hurt me. I still struggled with anger. Some things went from bad to worse. Some circumstances had to change, had to be let go. The many years of pain took many more years to heal, but they did heal. I am a better person now than I was then.

I had to relearn much since religion had trained me into false beliefs. It deeply troubles me when I hear it still preached and believed that God lays pain and suffering and death on us to teach us things. What?! What then of Jesus’ sacrifice? Was that not enough? Does His death become meaningless for those times? How foolish! “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation for our sins.” – 1 John 4:7-10

Suffering and pain happen in this sin-ridden world, and we will experience them until we leave here. To continually blame God for the things we don’t like and that are hard to accept is a dangerous thing to do. That is not faith. That is sin.

Now, if there is anyone left still reading this … “Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares about you.” – 1 Peter 5:7

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Get e-book — Brevity of Roses — free today!

This is a quick post to let you know of a great book promotion — Brevity of Roses — by Linda Cassidy Lewis. This is her debut novel.

Right now … TODAY (February 24) … you can get Brevity of Roses in E-Book format for free on Amazon for a few more hours. If you want the digital version of this book then don’t wait … get it NOW for free HERE. There are only a few hours left to take advantage of this great offer.

If you don’t have a Kindle you can download one, also for free, off Amazon for use on your computer. Even though I prefer ‘real’ books, I do have a pc Kindle with a few books on it, including Brevity of Roses.

If you want to first take the time to read a chapter or two of this book by Linda Cassidy Lewis – you can do that HERE.

So hurry! there is not much time left. Go HERE to download Brevity of Roses for free.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Is that SPRING I see?!

Here in Nova Scotia we have had what we call an “open winter”, meaning we have not been buried under several feet of snow for most of it. We haven’t had major storm after storm, or ice storms, which we have suffered in past years. This year we have experienced very few snowfalls of any consequence.

Am I complaining? … Do pigs have wings?

No, I mean for REAL!

Of course not.

BUT … today I saw Spring. Yes, I did!

Look:

Did you catch that?

Look again:

ROBINS!

YAY! This to me is a sure sign of Spring. And not just one robin did I see, but a small flock of them – foraging on the ground and sitting in the trees.

Oh my gosh! Can it be true?

SPRING HAS SPRUNG! In February!

Now, I realize two things about the above. First: Winter is not officially over yet and we are sure to get more snow, but the robins are out in the open when usually we don’t see them until sometime in March. I have never seen them this early in the year. Second: It is not good writing form to use so many exclamation points, but … gosh dern it! I saw robins today! And that always makes me happy! 🙂

How about you? Have you seen any signs of Spring yet?

(Photos not mine)

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Book Review: Can’t Sleep Without Sheep – by Susanna Leonard Hill

Book Review: Can’t Sleep Without Sheep
Author: Susanna Leonard Hill
Illustrator: Mike Wohnoutka
Genre: Children’s picture book
Pages: 32 pages
Publisher: Walker & Company
Released: September 2010
Price: $16.99 US
My Rating: Gorgeous in words and illustrations, funny, wonderful for
children of all ages

Some back-story to this review: All during January I was participating in Month Of Poetry (M.O.P.), and one of the poems I wrote (during and after a night of very little sleep) was about counting sheep. The first of its thirteen verses goes like this:

I want to sleep, I cannot sleep

My brain won’t understand

I count some sheep, then count more sheep

Enough to fill the land.

I tell you that to tell you this: Almost four weeks later I read a post on This Kid Reviews Books, where Erik reviewed a book by Susanna Leonard Hill, and at the end he mentioned a couple other of her books. This one, Can’t Sleep Without Sheep, grabbed my attention for the above-mentioned reasons. Then when I watched the trailer for it I absolutely had to have this book! It is funny, adorable, exquisitely illustrated, and so fun to read.

Ava has a hard time going to sleep, her mind is just too busy, so she counts sheep. The problem is that it still takes Ava so long to get to sleep that the sheep complain they are getting too tired jumping the fence so she can count them. They quit! Not wanting to leave little Ava without something to count on, they try to find other animals to replace them, and what happens next is hilarious. Pigs, horses, penguins, and the list goes on. So very enjoyable.

The day my husband brought Can’t Sleep Without Sheep in from our mailbox, I couldn’t wait to read it. When I read this book through for the first time I also read it to my husband because I wanted to share it with him, and I laughed out loud at the antics, the surprises and the amazing and hilarious illustrations. It’s even better than the trailer reveals. I have to say, the author and illustrator are a great team for this story.

This is a completely gorgeous book. An added bonus is that if you go to Susanna’s website: http://www.susannahill.com/books.html you will find activities that go with the story and that you can print off for children to do.

When I ordered Can’t Sleep Without Sheep I had in mind that I would keep it for my grandson to read when he is visiting us, but as much as I hate to part with it (and may yet buy a second one for myself) I will be giving this copy to my little guy for Valentine’s Day. In my opinion, he just has to have this book! I hope he loves it as much as Grandma does. 🙂

You can find Can’t Sleep Without Sheep listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂