Tuesday, October 14, 2008

More Fall in New England

A few more photos of Fall around here. It still amazes me how quickly the leaves change. This is a photo of my favorite tree in town. It was completely green 2 days ago.





Here are some random pictures taken above the big lake in town. I used to sail on the lake when I was a kid.


One of the roads above the lake.

An old wall that is still maintained.

The view towards the lake.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Fall in New England

Fall in New England - there is a bit of a chill in the air, the leaves are putting on their autumnal show, apple orchards are bursting with fruit, and our thoughts turn to… alpacas! I kid you not.

We spent a good part of Sunday at the AlpacaFest hosted by Southwinds Farm. Alpacas are camelids, which makes them relatives of camels, dromedaries, llamas, vicuñas, and guanacos. Alpacas are valued for their wool. Their wool is exceptionally soft. Not only that, but they are beautiful animals.

This is a photo of Turtle Pond, which is in walking distance of my home. The trees are turning, and it's starting to look like Fall...



Pictures of the alpacas:













While I enjoy Fall, it's my second favorite season. I prefer Spring. Possibly because I like to garden; possibly because winter is over; possibly because I was born in the Spring.

Qwill's Qwestion: Any non-native animals near where you live? or What's your favorite season and why?

Monday, October 06, 2008

Michele Bardsley is blogging at Paranormality today

Michele Bardsley is guest blogging at Paranormality today also. The topic is Ten Reasons to Love the Paranormal. Check it out!

Michele Bardsley - Interview at Bitten By Books Today

Monday October 6th
Author Michele Bardsley
Please join us Monday October 6th at 9:00 am PDT with author
Michele Bardsley for an ONLINE exclusive Bitten by Books interview.

Then throughout the day you will be able to post in her interview thread and ask questions about her previously released and upcoming books. Be entered to win one of TWO books when you enter our contest. An AUTOGRAPHED copy of Because Your Vampire Said So or an AUTOGRAPHED copy of Accidentally Dead by Dakota Cassidy! Tune in on the 6th for details on how to enter!

Books in the Broken Heart, Oklahoma series in the order they should be read (click on the title to order the book via Amazon.com):
I’m the Vampire, That’s Why
Don’t Talk Back To Your Vampire
Because Your Vampire Said So
Wait Till Your Vampire Gets Home - Scheduled for release November 2008

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Welcome to The Qwillery

Welcome to The Qwillery, the new cyberhome for Qwill. First, I must thank Rachel for suggesting the name of the blog. Rachel is the founder of Bitten by Books. If you like paranormal fiction, you should check it out - reviews, author interviews, contests, freebies and other good stuff. I even review for Bitten by Books (sporadically).

So what is a Qwillery? Well, I'm not sure yet. The closest analogy I could think of runs something like this... if a bakery is a place where you can get baked goods, a Qwillery is someplace where you can get some of Qwill's thoughts. See, that doesn't even come close to working, but you get the idea. I'll write about some of the things that I really like - photography (you've been warned), books, video games, and more. I also want to ask some questions (Qwill's Qwestions). Which brings me to what I want to talk about today!

Driving. When I learned to drive, drivers were more polite and frankly drove better. Of course, there were not so many cars on the road then and no one seemed to be in the same kind of hurry they are today. This is the 70s I'm speaking of, not right after the Model T hit the roads. I play a driving game with my kids. We watch the car ahead of us. I ask them to point out any bad driving. It's an easy game for them because so many folks drive like they aren't hurtling down the road in a piece of metal and plastic that could kill both them and innocent bystanders if they don't watch what they are doing. Sigh. We can count on seeing drivers go over the line into the other lane, especially on curves. I always thought the lines were there for a reason and were not merely suggestions. And not only do we see flagrant violations of traffic laws on a regular basis, we see a lot of rudeness as well. My biggest pet peeve concerns people pulling out in front of me. This particular driver waits until you are close enough, pulls out quickly in front of you, and then proceeds to drive at least 10 miles under the speed limit. Of course, there is no one behind you for miles. They could have easily waited for you to pass, but no. I find that both rude and dangerous.

Qwill's Qwestion: So what's your driving pet peeve?

Here's a picture (somewhat dabbled with) of my car. It's an '05 PT Cruiser GT convertible.