I hope everyone had a good weekend, in particular my friends to the south who celebrated Independence Day weekend.
I haven’t done this in quite some time, but folks seem to enjoy it, so today I’m bringing out another word trivia. Now, these are not just any words, they are connected with my upcoming book. They stretch back to the days of the Klondike.
Please, if you can, practice ‘googlestraint’ and I’ll give you the answers in my next blog. Have fun!
Duffer:
A: a slow-witted man
B: the front bumper of a dog sled
C: a con man who is terrible at his trade
D: combining brass filings with gold dust to fool the weigh scales
Bunco:
A: a card game that evolved from Poker during the Klondike
B: a gold claim with very few, if any, yields
C: anything phony or deceptive
D: a low-class drinking establishment
Barabas:
A: Indigenous homes along the lower Yukon River built half underground, inhabited in winter.
B: in reference to the Biblical figure who was released instead of Jesus. A scoundrel who escapes justice.
C: a claim jumper
D: the buckle used to connect the suspenders to a pair of Mackinaw hip-waders
Kanin:
A: the canvas baffle on a rocker box (rocker boxes were used to separate gold from sediment)
B: the pivot pin on a weigh scale
C: an ornately decorated dugout canoe
D: the small overhang usually found on the false front of a business
As the dawn sheds light on a new day, I find myself reflecting on yesterday’s celebration of Canada’s birthday.
Canada is many things, including a beautiful land of diversity, both in landscape and people. We’re far from perfect and face our own struggles, but overall, we are blessed.
However, Canada is but one country, and sparsely populated in relation to land mass. At just over 37 million, we’re a drop in the bucket.
What about this club thing in the title, Bierman? And what’s with the handshake photo? Don’t you know it’s dangerous nowadays? I’ll get to that, soon, I promise. First, I’m going to give you a quick bio about myself, so that you have a gist about who’s extending this invitation.
Here goes: I’m a white, middle class, Christian man, with a nuclear family. I have over twenty years’ experience as a Correctional Officer. I’m the son of immigrants who arrived as children, from Holland. I am proud of who I am, my heritage, my country, and my family.
I hope you are proud of who you are too. You have every right to be.
You see, this club is not exclusive, it’s open to everyone, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, political leanings, and occupation.
There are some rules, however:
You must have a pulse.
You agree to behave in a respectful manner to all. Do not mock or belittle anyone because you think their ideas, religion, beliefs, interests, what have you, are foolish.
You agree to disagree, refrain from assigning unfair labels to someone, simply because their opinions do not coincide with your own.
You agree to inform yourself and question what you see and hear on the news. That goes for social media, too. You are intelligent and have free will. Please do your research before you make assumptions. I’m sorry, I know real issues exist, but this particular item is gasoline on an inferno. Blue Lives Murder T Shirt on Amazon . So every police officer is a murderer? I don’t think so. I’m using this one because it hits a bit close to home. I don’t know what you do for a living but think about possible stereotypes for your profession. Are they true for all who work in that field?
Honest questions are encouraged and even polite debate, but do not expect a conversion to your way of thinking. Oh, by the way, might be wise to leave the thesaurus at home. Sophisticated or uncommon words that are meant to demonstrate superior “intelligence” often do the opposite. More importantly, they do not foster amicable relations.
We all have trauma and scars from the past. Yes, even the rich and famous. So many things shape us into what we are today. I think it’s important to remember that we are all one footstep away from being someone else.
So, what is this club? Well, I guess I’ll call it, The Club of Humanity. The invitation has no expiry date. All that is required is to follow these simple rules and check any bitterness, anger, and prejudice at the door. If you’d like, I can leave a bin of glasses at the entrance to wear, so that members can see others through a new lens.
Thank you for reading this. I hope to see you there!
Today I am excited to host talented author/cake decorator Robbie Cheadle. Together with her son, Michael, she has written a series of children’s books.
GIVEAWAY:(7 winners) Each will win a copy of one of her Sir Chocolate Story and Cookbooks. For your chance to win, please leave a comment below!
Sir Chocolate and the Ice cream Rainbow Fairies story and cookbook
Welcome to part 10 of the fondant cat parade
The fondant cat parade tells the story in limericks of Dinah the Kitten, daughter of Daddy Grey and Mommy Cat, who likes to sleep and escape to Wonderland in her dreams. While in Wonderland, Dinah meets a variety of brightly coloured and fun fantasy kittens. The fondant cat parade illustrates some of the wonderful fondant art that appears in all the Sir Chocolate books.
In Chocolate Land everything is edible including the houses. There are lots of different homes in
Chocolate Land with gingerbread houses being the most popular. The sugar dough bees live in a choux
pastry beehive and Professor Smartie lives in a Wizard Hat house made of cake. The fondant hamsters
live in a house made of chocolate and the Candy Dragon has a run-down gingerbread home decorated
with candy bones.
All sorts of creatures and people inhabit Chocolate Land and they all have one thing in common, they are all made of sweets, chocolate, fondant and biscuits.
Sir Chocolate poses with the Roundy Twins who are made of candy-coated chocolate Easter eggs. Next to them is Professor Smartie and Sylvia Honeylegs who is made from honey brittle and Licorice Allsorts. The man on the moon is made of cheese and the moon babies shine with edible gold glitter. Taylor red is shocked when a hungry snail eats all the fondant flowers and the nougat clown is happy when he gets to play his guitar.
BOOK BLURB:
Join Sir Chocolate and Lady Sweet on a fun adventure to discover why the milkshake rain is pale and white.
Contains five recipes that children can make under adult supervision
Watch the trailer:
AUTHOR BIO:
Hello, my name is Robbie, short for Roberta. I am an author with seven published children’s picture books in the Sir Chocolate books series for children aged 2 to 9 years old (co-authored with my son, Michael Cheadle), one published middle grade book in the Silly Willy series and one published preteen/young adult fictionalised biography about my mother’s life as a young girl growing up in an English town in Suffolk during World War II called While the Bombs Fell (co-authored with my mother, Elsie Hancy Eaton). All of my children’s book are written under Robbie Cheadle and are published by TSL Publications.
I also have a book of poetry called Open a new door, with fellow South African poet, Kim Blades.
I have recently branched into adult and young adult horror and supernatural writing and, in order to clearly differential my children’s books from my adult writing, I plan to publish these books under Roberta Eaton Cheadle. My first supernatural book published in that name, Through the Nethergate, is now available.
I have participated in a number of anthologies:
Two short stories in #1 Amazon bestselling anthology, Dark Visions, a collection of horror stories edited by Dan Alatorre under Robbie Cheadle;
Three short stories in Death Among Us, an anthology of murder mystery stories, edited by Stephen Bentley under Robbie Cheadle;
Three short stories in #1 Amazon bestselling anthology, Nightmareland, a collection of horror stories edited by Dan Alatorre under Robbie Cheadle; and
Two short stories in Whispers of the Past, an anthology of paranormal stories, edited by Kaye Lynne Booth under Roberta Eaton Cheadle.
To follow along with the rest of the tour, please visit the author’s tour page on the 4WillsPublishing site. If you’d like to schedule your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please click HERE. Thanks for supporting this author and her work!
Good morning, afternoon, evening, or midnight . . . or whatever time you are reading this. As I post this, it’s 9:30am an Tuesday, June 9. May blew past like smoke in a hurricane!
The kiddos will soon finish Quaranschool, and are getting antsy. I have to keep an eye on them so they stay focused and away Minecraft. I honestly can’t say I blame them. 🙂
Today, I’ve decided to share a few of my instagram posts that I’ve written. They contain, well, you decide. Have a great day, evening, night!
Everyone has their story.
The sign reads. “Tamworth has it!” We should put that to the test.
