Hello!

The groundhog saw his shadow on February 2 nd and that means six more weeks of winter, but I’m ready for spring. Rainy days alternate with sunny ones. On clear ones, I nag the ranch hand to bring in hay deliveries. At least, we don’t have frozen water tubs in the barn, or a heavy frost this week. Thankfully, the 75-foot water hose from the stable isn’t solid ice and I don’t have to thaw it in our bathroom or battle it when I want a shower. The “talking heads” are prophesying

more rain and possible flooding in tonight’s forecast and it’s storming back East.

My sisters are asking what my mother wants for her 82nd birthday next week and I’ll have to

remind them to bring daffodils, my mom’s favorite spring flower. She always tells the story of

her father bringing them to the hospital the day she was born. I just hope we can find them since

it’s so soggy and I haven’t seen any in the stores yet. However, the local Haggen’s, an upscale

grocery, has her favorite carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

So, let it be spring.

Dawn comes earlier than it did at the beginning of the month. It’s light when I feed the dogs on the side porch of my mother’s house. Occasionally, there’s a warmth in the morning air and I don’t see ice on the puddles that often. The horses search out sunbeams when we have them and bask in the sunshine warming their bones. Yes, we’re all getting older. Gone are the days when

they raced across the fields, bucking, and playing in the golden light of the sunrise.

Being retired on the family farm means we no longer have baby pigs to tell us when it’s spring and the barn kittens have grown up and moved into the house, too old for life in the hayloft, happily sleeping in the living-room recliners We still put out birdseed for our feathered friends who visit, and the rooster crows earlier and earlier each day. When I look east toward the mountains, the snow that once blanketed the entire slope continues to recede toward the peaks. The river that borders the ranch remains in its banks – hopefully, we won’t have another flood. We certainly had enough storms this winter when the snow melted and trees fell in the high winds. We’re still cleaning up after the giant cottonwoods hit the ground.

It gets dark later and later in the afternoon – staying light into the early evening. Frogs join the coyotes' twilight serenade now and spring is on the way. Grass is starting to grow and there are buds forming on the trees. Excitement fills the air as we anticipate seeing the neighbor’s new calves, mares with their foals, and hens with chicks. Let’s enjoy the beginning of this eagerly awaited season, regardless of what the calendar or the groundhog says.

Spring is on the way!

This newsletter is jam-packed with goodies! Continue reading for a look at what the future could hold.

Book Information:

In addition to the series check out this amazing holiday novella.

Blurb:

All Sierra McElroy wants for Christmas is a guarantee that the beloved horses who live at Shamrock Stable will be home for the holidays. Watering, feeding and mucking are part of her daily responsibilities and she’s good with that. However, when her mother decides they can’t keep every horse in the barn and should sell a few to some of their lesson students, Sierra definitely has issues.Family shouldn’t be for sale, especially when the would-be buyers won’t take care of her four-legged kin appropriately. She needs to come up with a plan to keep everyone home where they belong. A stall-decorating contest may prove to be the answer until an unexpected snow storm shuts down the barn.Now, what can she do to save her friends and Christmas for her two-legged family too?

Start your adventures at Shamrock Stables with book one of the Shamrock Stables Series No Horse Wanted (e-book) for $4.99! Get your copy today! Find it on Amazon ~ No Horse Wanted (Shamrock Stables Book 1).

Because I'm Brown book three in Stewart Falls Cheerleaders is out now!

Fifteen-year-old Rita Fernandez’s problems overwhelm her. She knows they’re only happening because she’s brown! Her father refuses to buy her the horse of her dreams until her grades improve. If they don’t, it could jeopardize her status as a Stewart Falls Academy cheerleader.  

In addition, Dave Jefferson, the guy Rita adores, still sees her as a troublesome younger sister type. He tells other boys she’s too young to date until she has her quinceañera, the party she should have had a year ago when she turned fifteen. Even as her friends on the cheer squad rally to help Rita have her coming-of-age celebration, more issues arise when her mother tries to sabotage her quinceañera. Rita feels life is so hard because she’s brown. Now, how will she deal with it?

Check out all three of the Stewart Falls Cheerleaders series which are available on Amazon ~ Stewart Falls Cheerleaders.

Also check out the Holiday book to the series!

In the spirit of the holidays, there is a Holiday Novella for the Stewart Falls Cheerleaders series.



Check out the blurb:

Nikki Tiernan is tired of being bounced around her dad’s family, being sent from one relative’s home to the next while her father is busy honeymooning with his new wife. Nikki wants to be in Stewart Falls, Washington for Christmas since her mom is still overseas with the U.S. Army, but nobody listens. Instead, her aunt plans to send Nikki to a weight-loss camp for the holidays. Enough is enough! Determined to find her own way home, all Nikki has to do is buy a bus ticket—or so she thinks. But when a mysterious stranger claims the seat next to her on that bus, Nikki fears her adventure may not go as planned.

Gift (A Holiday Recipe from me to you):

While I create sugar cookies from my old Betty Crocker cookbook held together with duct tape, I’ll stir up a few memories too since my grandparents are gone now and we lost my Uncle Patrick in January 2021, although it wasn’t due to the pandemic. And I’ll turn on the radio to sing along with holiday favorites. Here's a favorite sugar cookie recipe, please stop by my social media pages and let me know what you think.

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May your holidays be merry and bright and may we all have the happiest of days to come in 2023!

Shannon

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