Memories and Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean what it used to when I was younger, but as a romance author, I can hardly ignore it.

I’ve been happily researching my family roots at Ancestry.com, and was reminded that my parents were married on February 15, one day after Valentine’s Day. My father wasn’t of a romantic bent, and rarely remembered Valentine’s Day. He was much better about their anniversary. I remember one Feb. 15 when he came home from work with a gift for my mom – a new broom! The memory still makes me chuckle. He never heard the end of that one.

Truth was, she needed a new broom, but his timing could not have been worse.

My late husband was better about remembering V Day, even though he could not in any way be described as a romantic. Our first V Day, he gave me a cute coffee mug with hearts on it. After we got married, I usually woke up on Valentine’s Day to find a box of See’s candy and a card in my favorite chair. After a while, I even had him trained to only buy dark chocolate. This year I will be buying my own, but that’s okay, too.

It’s pouring rain here, so I’ll be spending the day with my new little love, Callie, who likes to snuggle in the colder weather.

Callie on afghan

Wishing all of you a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Linda

Looking back on 2018 #newyears2019

Looking back on 2018, I’m amazed at all the changes in my life, starting in January when my niece Patty and I adopted a darling little puppy.

Callie

My new love, Miss Callie.

The pup, all 4 1/2 pounds of her, filled up the holes in my heart and drove me crazy at the same time. She’s about 13 months old now and still a little scamp at 16-17 pounds. This is what she looks like fully grown. Her coat is darker and I still don’t know where the long legs came from. Her mother was tiny.

Callie grown

Callie, my rescue pup, all grown up

In June I started a new book set in Montana and made good progress until late August/September when a plumbing problem set off the spark that led to a whole house remodel. Oy! It’s difficult to write in the midst of chaos, and after a while I gave up trying. We are now down to the dining room and kitchen. Unfortunately the latter is the most complicated room.

I’m especially excited about my new office. Surely I can write in such a lovely spot. I love my big cherry wood desk.

new office

In September I also had a chance to travel to Montana on a 13-day trip through the western third of the state. I got a much better idea of what Montana looks like and picked up a lot of historical tidbits to make the story more authentic. One of the highlights was a visit to the Grant Kohrs historic ranch.

ranch photo

One of the highlights was a day in Glacier National Park and it’s a memorable one. We had rain, fog, hail and snow. Now I need to go back to get a better look at the glaciers, as visibility was limited, esp. early in the day. But what an adventure! Here I am posing by the 1937 White bus we were traveling in that day, the one with a leaky convertible top. I haven’t gained twenty pounds; I was wearing four layers of clothing.

Linda at Glacier Park

The Montana trip was fun, and this year I’m looking forward to a Cherry Blossom tour of Washington, D.C. in April and a trip to Iceland and New York City at the end of August.

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2019.

Linda

2019 New Year