On grief

Grief is beast and grief is a brick. It hits hard and sucks the life breath out of your lungs. I can feel it racheting up in my life as we barrel towards March 17th.The day in 2019 when my dad went to the hospital and never, ever went home. Grief is one thing and

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Wisdom Wednesday

“Awareness is the greatest agent for change.” – Eckhart Tolle Awareness is the beginning. What happens after we become aware is also critical to change. Sometimes we become aware and then we are paralyzed by our self knowledge or sit in fear of taking the next step. May we offer each other ears to listen,

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Awareness is the greatest agent for change. ~ Eckhart Tolle

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a venue of vultures

Did you know that a group of vultures circling overhead is called a kettle? Perched in a tree they are called a venue or a committee, and when they swoop in descent to approach a carcass, they are called a wake. My book Siege of Herons is illustrated by Lou Dahl and publishing support by

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2022 Canadian Book Club Finalist!

So this happened. Siege of Herons – Collective Nouns Alphabetically was named one of three finalists in the Children’s Book category. It is amazing that an idea or vision becomes a reality. I have been thinking about this book for a long time; having this recognition is icing on the cake.

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a murder of crows

This is one of the more well known collective nouns. When I start talking about my book, more often than not this is the noun people offer up to acknowledge they know what I am talking about. It is also one of the oldest collective nouns dating back to 15th century according to research. The

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a loveliness of ladybugs 🐞 🐞🐞

Ladybugs are often thought of as lucky; more than likely because they are crop savers. Farmers love these little beetles. Initially this was to be the cover illustration for my book; alas someone else beat me to it and I had to pivot. Instead I chose a Siege of Herons. My hardcover book is available

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A venue of vultures for international vulture awareness day.

Vultures have a bad reputation but, the key role of the vulture in signaling the presence of a carcass to other scavengers prevents contamination by pathogens and helps keep nature free of disease. One of the illustrations in my book Siege of Herons- Collective Nouns Alphabetically. Hardcover available here on my website or a sweet

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Peony season comes later

Evening walks and the peonies are blooming. I was thrilled to learn the deer do not eat the blooms! We found one in our garden. I cut it. In the autumn we will move it to a better location.

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Wisdom Wednesday

There is often more than one collective noun for a group. In this case,I opted for the less common: wisdom. They are often referred to as a parliament, but other less common terms can be a congress or a stare of owls. In flight, you could use a silence of owls. This is also one

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