Monday, March 30, 2015

Gay's Days March 30, 2015


Thanks for inviting me into your home today.  I've poured a fresh brewed iced tea and want to share some stuff with you.
 
I started at daybreak for my two mile walk. The day started out at 65 F and promised a high of 83 F (and at 5:30 PM, it is.) Here's a picture of the sunrise. The warm up quickly banished the fog.


Enjoying the Azaleas again as I jaunted through the neighborhood.
 
 

I spent the morning with a variety of work, and then a landscape artist came this afternoon. He liked my ideas for the front bed.  Sorry hubby. He liked mine more than yours. Now to tell you about one of our trees.

We have a huge Arizona Ash in the back yard. When we built the house thirteen years ago, this tree already reached about eighty feet tall. I loved the lot and planned the house to fit around three huge trees. (The Pecan is my favorite, and the Ash my second favorite)  We've learned the Ash tree only lives about 20  to 30 years, so we decided to have a tree doctor look at it. It shows signs of aging. Don't we all?

He wanted $3800 to remove it.  No thanks.

I love the tree and hate to see it go, but on the other hand, I dread having the thing crash into our house. The beautiful wonder could kill us.

We asked him to remove numerous limbs. I couldn't believe how high this guy climbed.  Here's a few pictures.



 
 


This tree climber earned his money today!
 
Time now to prepare dinner. We are having left-overs. What are you enjoying?
 
 
Ya'll come see us in Texas, ya' hear?



 
 

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Gay's Days March 26, 2015


 
 
Good morning friends,
 
The temperature these days in Fulshear, TX is gorgeous. Leaving the treadmill inside and choosing the streets seemed a great choice. I didn't take my camera on my walk, but the colors in the yard inspired me to go back and get it. Come along with me on my two mile jaunt, and I'll show you my vistas.

 
 
 
                                       A neighbor's tree                      A neighbor's azaleas
 
 
This neighbor's azaleas are almost full.  
 
 
 
                                                                These are really out.
 


 

Tyler, TX is famous for their azalea tour, but we have them here in our area too. Several garden clubs in Houston provide them, but ours aren't as famous as Tyler's. I wish the azaleas bloomed a bit longer than they do, but every spring, they show up again.
 
 
We have a landscape designer coming next Monday to give us ideas for our yard. We cleared out a bed, but with all the trees in the front, we need a variety that grows in the shade.  I'll take pictures when we get something planted.  I bought an angel to go there, and right now, she sits there all alone. Guess what I named her? You got it! Sarah!
 
 
Our 150 year old pecan tree is budding out in the back. Last year, we picked up about 200 native pecans and let the squirrels store the rest.
 
 
I write about flowers in my books. Did you know Sarah is allergic to lilies? Her reaction to them causes one disaster after another.
 
 
Here's an excerpt for Sarah: A Mission of Love. The Lieutenant arrives in the Commander's office to discuss Sarah's progress.
 

 
       The Lieutenant sat, but glanced around before he began. He loved the opulence in this room. The sparkling prisms in the windows behind the Commander were made from diamonds. God’s holy light filtered through the windowpanes and was a constant reminder—there was no darkness in Heaven. White linen covered the walls. The floor gleamed with gold-inlaid pearl. Flowers of every kind and color filled large vases and perfumed the air with sweet fragrance. The Commander was clearly partial to the purple and blue bouquets of orchids and blue bells. He also had a fondness for sapphires—a preference the Lieutenant shared.
 
If you go to my website, you'll see I'm partial to purple and also blue too.   http://gaynlewis.com/
 
Have a good day. Enjoy the flowers!


Friday, March 20, 2015

Gay's Days, March 20, 2014


Earth welcomes spring today, and the equinox occurs. Wow! That might be good news. Day and night reach equal length, so does that mean we sleep longer tonight? Now there's a pleasant thought.

Old Man Winter hangs on in places. Have you ever wondered why he's called that? Or perhaps you think of him as Jack Frost...well, either way, while parts of the northern U.S. and Canada experience snow flurries, down here in Houston, our temperature will reach into the 70's Fahrenheit. Spring for us lasts about fourteen days and then we enjoy summer. At least some do. I've never cared for scorching temperatures.

Before the heat destroys them, we will revel the magnificence of Texas bluebonnets.

They hadn't arrived last week when we were in the Austin area, but soon.  Very soon.  If you haven't seen a field of these beauties, you've missed an eye feast.

We expect a super moon tonight, but Houstonians won't see it. We expect rain again.

Speaking of rain, I drove in it all morning yesterday. As Sarah would say, "merciful heavens!" Talk about messy puddles and street flooding. Yuk. I was thankful when I pulled into the garage.

Did I ever tell you about the year I had nine wrecks? I didn't? Well, that's another story.

In Sarah: Laney's Angel, Sarah tries driving a car. Here's an excerpt.
 
 

Freaked out, Sarah assumed the driving position. Her long, swirling skirt cramped the space, and she stuffed it around her knees.

Cannon shut the driver’s door and strode back to his vehicle.

Merciful heavens! What to do now?

She’d ridden in cars and observed people driving but never absorbed much about it. Her strategy never once included a plan to operate this contraption. Maybe this ruse would turn out as another dumb idea.

Sarah peered into the rear-view mirror and frowned. Cannon sat in his car waiting for her to move. Holding her breath, she turned the key in the ignition. The car roared to life. Now what?
 
Feet—drivers used them. Hey, there’s that little pedal gadget doodad on the floorboard. Drivers pressed that thingamajig with their right foot. She decided to give that thingy a whirl.

The engine raced however, the car didn’t move.

 Oh yeah, drivers moved the contraption sticking up between the seats. She grabbed the whatsit and pulled it down with all her might while she kept her foot on the thingamajig.

The car shot backward and rammed into Cannon’s car.

Many of Sarah's events actually happened to me. When I tell you that I'm nervous about driving into Houston, I'm telling the truth!
Ya'll have a good one. I'm busy today writing another Sarah story. 

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Gay's Days, March 18, 2015

 
 
 
Yesterday was Saint Patrick's Day, and I attended the Weston Lake's Women's Club. This nice lady greeted us.

Isn't she adorable? I hope she's reading my book. Whoever designed her did a fab job. Love her earrings.

After a delicious lunch, I ran errands. I still have outside stuff to do, but the weather reports predicted rain for today, so I planned to stay home and go tomorrow. Guess what? The sun shines and it is a glorious 73 degrees. My tires must have rotation and my car requires service. That chore is on the calendar for tomorrow. Don't you know that's when the rain will come?  Look out Houston! Gay and Sarah are headed your way.

One of our new club members told me at the luncheon that she'd just bought my first book. Sarah: A Mission of Love. She promised to leave a review, and I'm excited to see what she thinks.



2.99 on Amazon
 
 

Here's an excerpt from the first chapter.

“What is she doing?” The Commander watched the little angel from his position above the earth.

“Our Sarah is directionally challenged.” The Lieutenant grimaced as he gazed at his graduate student.

“She’s flitting from cloud to cloud.” The Commander narrowed his eyes. “Is that a map in her hand?” His gaze followed the diminutive resident of Heaven as she alternated between scanning the paper in her hand and scrutinizing the surroundings.

“Yes, sir, but she can’t figure it out. She has no clue she’s holding the diagram upside down.” The Lieutenant shook his head. “She’s taken Map Reading 101 three times, and I’ve personally tutored her. She’s a bit dyslexic and gets her left and right confused, along with east, west, north and south. At least she knows up and down.” He bit his lip as he saw the pint-sized trainee shoot up when she needed to go down. He held his breath when the little angel hesitated in mid-air with her wings unfurled. She then lowered her head and plunged several feet at high speed velocity before she righted herself.

The Lieutenant blew a loud whooshing breath. “Well, let me rephrase that. She recognizes up and down most of the time.” He shook his head and turned his attention to the Commander. “Sir, I’m not so sure this is the best angel for this assignment. Sarah’s fresh out of school. May I ask why you didn’t send Rachael?”

“Rachael has other lessons to learn. Sarah will do fine.” The Commander spoke with conviction.

“I wish I could believe it.”


Sarah goes on in this book to create one disaster after another. Sarah books are filled with romance, humor, and inspiration.

Perhaps I should change my auto appointments for this afternoon. Like Sarah, I don't do well in rain.



Monday, March 16, 2015

Back from vacation


We're home!

After a week of vacation, we returned, and I must say, our house was a welcome site.

We left Houston in a blinding rain, and the stuff stayed with us  all the way to Fort Worth.  I helped hubby watch the road and both of us were amazed when a truck ahead of us seemed to disappear. Impossible to see it clearly, but one minute we saw the thing, and then we didn’t. We still don’t know what happened to it. This picture doesn't do the rain justice.
 
Lots of wrecks, but after about five hours, we arrived safely.

We checked into the Riley Center at the Southwestern Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth.  The Riley Center is a conference complex with multiple meeting rooms, a gigantic, two block long lobby with beautiful furniture, and fifty-five hotel rooms. When it originally opened, only former students or current church staff people could register to stay at the hotel, but the rooms are now available to the public. We always qualified…hubby graduated from Southwestern with a Masters in Divinity.  Seven other family members received post grad degrees from Southwestern.  I don’t know if it’s a good thing, but our family is never at a loss for a preacher. LOL.
 

Picture of the Riley Center
While in Fort Worth, we planned to visit friends and family. Two people joined us for a meal that we hadn’t seen in thirty years. Wow! I wonder if they thought we’d changed as much as they had. Don’t you know they discovered we had too? Time does that to all of us.

My sister provided a delicious meal…similar to one of our mom’s. She picked up the culinary skill, and so far, I haven’t. My sweetie never complains.
 
Donna and Gay

I met Nancy when I was six, and we’ve been friends ever since. Even though she lives in the DFW area, I see her frequently. She  attended me at our wedding as my matron-of-honor. We hadn’t seen Jack, hubby’s best man, in years. A feather could have knocked us over when he arrived sporting a Duck Dynasty beard. Nothing about him looked familiar. Bill was a staff member years ago. He’s still a tall, thin guy. Hubby is short…almost a foot difference in their height. When these two served together, they both had black hair. Bill still has a crop of gray, but hubby has little left.
 
Gay and Nancy
 
 
                                        Jack and Paul                          Bill and Paul

We had fun visiting with these dear people and hope to see more of them in the future.
After leaving Fort Worth, we drove to Tyler, Texas to visit another long-time family.  I wish I'd taken their picture. Oh well, next time. They treated us to a delicious Mexican meal.



My editor lives near Tyler, and I hoped we could meet for a coke along the highway but alas! Her schedule prevented it. We hope to see each other in June when we go to east Texas for the Lewis Family Reunion. We visited over our cells. I told her I was pleased she’d already sent back the first edits of Sarah and the Midnight Cruise to Catalina Island. Talk about fast and good! Is she ever! When we arrived home last night, I dove into making the suggested changes and sent the manuscript back to her.
Enjoy your day. Did any of you travel during spring break? If you did, I hope you enjoyed your trip as much as we did. A

Another Sarah is coming! Start your collection!


 

Friday, March 6, 2015

Gay's Days March 6, 2015

Greetings from Fulshear, TX.

My address continues as Fulshear, TX, but in truth, my area incorporated into a city a few years ago. We actually live in Weston Lakes, but I kept the Fulshear address. Who wants to make friends and relatives change their address books? Not me. I say keep life simple.  Fulshear is an ancient family name (not mine...my family never acquired wealth) and it is pronounced Full Sure.

We have a mild wind today in this little city west of Houston. Yesterday the gusts punched the face with force and almost blew my makeup off.

We woke to sunshine and freezing temps this morning. This is the day I must renew my walking as a means of exercise. I've been neglecting it. Too cold. Too rainy. Too busy.  Once I get out of the habit....well....you know how it goes.

I'm thrilled Sarah and the Midnight Cruise to Catalina Island is now at the publisher. I'm eager to see how the designer will portray the cover. The title is long. Perhaps too long. Prism Book Group uses an excellent artist, and I'm sure the cover will be eye catching. That's one design chore I don't want.

Sarah, the dyslexic angel from The Heavenlies, is afraid of water and petitions the Superiors for another assignment. She has no desire to travel on a ship. Her request goes like this.

     “Help. Couldn’t you send another angel for this mission? One who acted more like the human Noah? He stayed on the arc while the whole earth flooded. How about someone comparable to Jonah? Waves tossing about didn’t bother him—he slept during a raging storm.” Sarah drew her brows together. “That is until the sailors on the ship threw him overboard.” Sarah grimaced. “Then that huge fish swallowed him.”

And of course, Sarah experiences her fair share of blunders. The poor thing. She's always in the wrong place at the right time. Here's an excerpt with a man in a department store. After entering the men's dressing room by mistake, she hears a male voice.
 
Oh, sorry, didn’t know anyone occupied this space. Isn’t this the men’s dressing room? No matter.” He flapped his hand. “I’ll step into the one next door. I guess these days even the department stores have gone unisex with their restrooms and clothing areas. My son lives in a co-ed dorm. Men and women can share just about everything. After I get my trousers on, can you give me your opinion on how they fit?”

“Uh…oh… ah…sure. Just let me know when you are fully dressed.” Sarah glanced at her face in the mirror—it appeared a lovely shade of red. Now why hadn’t she remembered about the men’s department when she sashayed into this dressing area? She slapped her forehead. Talk about a dunce.

“Thanks.” The man disappeared and she could hear him talking in the next compartment. “I’m about ready. Do you want to come in here, or should I come over there?”

My stars! Tell a fellow if his slacks were tailored adequately? She doubted that would ever appear in her job description. Why-oh-why did she get into the wrong place and have a man ask such a question anyway? How many times should she expect this blunder at review?

Sarah vanished from sight, but not before she heard the gentleman call out. “Miss? Miss? Are you there? I’ve got my pants on.”
Can you tell I had fun writing these scenes? Humor keeps us sane. At least that's what I tell myself.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Gay's Days Book Club!

Les Coalson speaks to Weston Lakes Book Club
 

 
Les Coalson, one of my neighbors, spoke at our book club and gave an amazing presentation. I was happy I left Sarah aside and attended. The latest Sarah book was due at the publisher, but Les is a friend and a very good writer, so I made it a priority to go.

Besides that, I like these ladies who attend. They are a hoot. I don't know how many are on the membership rolls, but we usually have about forty each month.  Les introduced us to his latest book.

RANSOMED EARTH
 
Ransomed Earth: An Eco-Thriller
 
 
Verify price before purchase.
 
This book thrills and informs the reader at the same time. We read about the unfairness of American politicians to bow to the pressures of special interests and big business... all at the expense of the environment.

Before devoting his life to writing mysteries, Coalson worked in environment issues. A native Texan, he earned a master's degree in natural resources development from Texas A&M and later an MBS from UT in San Antonio.
 
Les and Me
 
 

 
We had a marvelous discussion about environment.
 



One of the fun things about our club is the good food. Our hostess worked her magic this day. I had the meeting once at my house, but food presentation is not my specialty. These ladies put me to shame.  I wish you could be with us at our meetings. Fun!
 


When I returned home, I winged the book,  Sarah and the Midnight Cruise to Catalina Island off to the publisher, and she is now ready to go to the editors. I think you'll like this book. I'm eager for you to have it, and then tell me what you think!

PBG Insider: Gay N. Lewis Introduces her "Sarah" series

Sarah at Christmas