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Showing posts from August, 2019

Quokka

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What is a Quokka you ask? It is the cutest animal in Australia.  It is found only on two Islands in Southern Australia.  They are the size of house cats and always wear a smile. They actually LIKE people and will come up to you looking for any food you have left.  They are marsupials like their cousin the kangaroo.  Needless to say I want one. I would take any and every animal. But these are just adorable. I should write a book using the cutest animals.

Child Safety

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Remember way back when, when we would ride in the back of a pickup truck. I don't remember there being seatbelts in a car.  Now you have to have certified car seats. Child safety is a priority in everything you buy. Can you imagine being restrained like they were in the 60's. I really don't think that would be a safe choice.

The Incredible Journey

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I'm sure almost everyone remembers the book, "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford. It was a book about 3 animals, Luath, a labrador retriever. Bodger and English Bull Terrier and Tao a siamese cat that went in search of their owners, the Hunters who went to England.  The story took place in Northwestern Ontario, where there many many lakes, forest, and much farm land and small communities. The three animals were devoted to each other and stuck together through their journey.  It was later turned into a movie. The great thing about it is that it premiered in Port Arthur, Ontario, the very place the book was set in.  It also happens to be my hometown. They actually lived here, (originally from Scotland and her husband from England). Her husband was a Pediatrician until he moved to California. They have both passed but Sheila left a life long legacy with her  book.

Toys of the 60's

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I was looking back at pictures of the 1960's and came across some of the toys I used to have.  I had the usual dolls, tea sets, doll house but they are different today. We had to use our imagination with a lot of the old toys.  We appreciated them more because they were made to last and people weren't rich so toys were few and far between.. I remember pulling out my Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Dolls and horses Trigger and Buttermilk, I can't forget the dog Bullet. They were a hard plastic that didn't move and always posed to sit on their horses.  They had  removable white cowboy hats. I played for hours with those. I used my other dolls and Roy and Dale would ambush dolly world.  Here are some pictures of some toys I had and wished I still did. What did you play with?

The Adventures Cardigan Stories

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My name is Elaine, from Ontario, Canada. I grew up in the Bush (logging) camps of Northern Ontario. My friends were the majestic animals that surrounded the area. Interesting adventures lead me to write about what I knew and created “The Adventures of Cardigan” Here are the links for my book. I hope you would enjoy it. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4… https://www.adventuresofcardigan.ca   https://www.amazon.ca/Adventures-Cardigan-Elaine-Bosvik-Ciarnau/dp/1525551000/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=elaine+bosvik&qid=1566580020&s=gateway&sr=8-1

A Soldier of War

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My family is full of writers. My Mother wrote commercial jingles, actually 2  famous ones, she also wrote poetry. Her brother wrote a book but died before it was completed. I am a published author with a children's book, "The Adventures of Cardigan", and more on the way.  My brother Tom started writing lyrics, a novel that unfortunately was lost. As children we were given the choice of what religion we wanted to be and studied many of them. Tom more than me. It fascinated him and he continued to learn. Then started the writing and he came out with his books.  "A Soldier of War". A Soldier of War is the first of a four part series which tells you of the purpose of God and ends with the reason for the creation of earth. The second in the series is A Soldier at Peace which describes what happened to God after creation. A Soldier of all Creation explains the many differing religions and opinions. A Soldier of Love tells you how it all ends. It was inspired and d

To Cardigan, There is no cat like Tipsy Preview

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A couple pages from a story in The Adventures of Cardigan. This one is "To Cardigan, There's no cat like Tipsy. https://www.adventuresofcardigan.ca There are 5 stories in 1 book. REVIEWS Thomas J. Benedict The Adventures of Cardigan: a story about Jamie and his dog, Cardigan. I won this book from a contest the author held and I quite liked it! The story takes place in Ontario (Canada); it’s blended with humour and quite an adventure, which children would enjoy. I especially liked the beautiful water colour illustrations—quite intricate like I’d never thought water colour could create. Comment The Adventures of Cardigan: a story about Jamie and his dog, Cardigan. I won this book from a contest the author held and I quite liked it! The story takes place in Ontario (Canada); it’s blended with humour and quite an adventure, which children would enjoy. I especially liked the beautiful water colour illustrations—quite intricate like I’d never thought water colour coul

Diabetes: A pain in the.........finger

This whole diabetes thing is not for me but will have to deal with it the rest of my life. Newly diagnosed with a blood sugar of 11.5.  Was overweight all my life, tried every diet around. No problem with my sugars. Diagnosed with Endometrial cancer in 2013, given 1 year to live. I took all treatments thrown at me and still here cancer free. I decided I was going to change my lifestyle since given a second chance. My diet changed  but not really the foods. I stopped eating until I was full but rather ate until I was no longer hungry.  That made a huge difference. I'm a slow eater as it is so I filled up quicker. I ate everything I wanted, including chocolate but only took 1 piece. I lost 120 lbs for 4 1/2 years by doing that. After the diet change, losing the weight I end up becoming diabetic! Go figure!  So now I have daily finger pricks and counting carbs , cut out my milk drinking.......this is a challenge for this old gal. But like others we just deal with it and do wha

Cardigan Reviews

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In previous posts I mentioned I was a published children's book author. My book is a 5 story illustrated book called "The Adventures of Cardigan". It's available at all Amazon stores, Barnes and Noble. I want to share some reviews so you can see what people are saying about the book. You may be interested in purchasing one for your kids. August 12, 2019 THE ADVENTURES OF CARDIGAN BY ELAINE BOSVIK CIARNAU Date: 12 August 2019 By: Daily Madhu When I first took this book to read, I was a bit skeptical because: (i) Children Books aren't really my genre. (ii) I'm an adult and a grown up, for crying out loud. I don't have any children of my own, so I shouldn't be spending my time reading Children Books. Rest assured, all my doubts went flying right out of the window as soon as I read the first chapter. I absolutely loved 'The Adventures Of Cardigan' by Elaine Bosvik Ciarnau.   The blurb is as follows: Not havi

My Obituary

I was tired of watching tv, didn't want to read and just couldn't get into my crafts last night so I decided to write my own obituary.  No there are no plans of croaking anytime soon, but you never know. We write Wills so why not an obituary? It's the last thing that will be said about me and who knows me better than me. Pen to paper I started writing. If you knew me, I find humour in everything. The words just flowed from me and I composed exactly what I wanted. I read it to my son and husband and they thought it was hysterical. No ordinary obit for this girl, plus I will save my family from that stress. So tucked away in my safe beside my Will, sits my obit allowing me to have the LAST word~! Readers will remember me for years!

National Lazy Day

The perfect way for me to celebrate this day is to sit on the couch, watch movies and type away. You have my permission to do the same! This day gives up a reason to relax and lay back on the couch to become a slacker, couch potato, and do absolutely NOTHING. If you are planning on celebrating today by going to any festivities, you are doing it all wrong. The purpose of the day is to be lazy. Turn on the tv, grab a book and cuddle up to the couch and veg.

Life is Short

Life is Short so do the things that matter and things you love! What matters? To me it's my family, my pets, my home...... I spend a lot of time with my family, we do so much together. Even though my son is 26 we still travel as a family. It seems to me we talk more when we are on a trip.  It's enjoyable to be in a car and stopping wherever we want to take pictures.  So many memories are made. My pets are important, they make a hard day easier with their snuggles and knowing they love you no matter what. So go and do what matters!

Children's Books

Do you remember the popular books of your childhood? I remember having only 2 books , One was a Mother Goose and the other was filled with stories like The Princess and the Pea,  Snow White and other classics. Both books were large and filled with stories. I didn't need any other books because they provided me with as much reading as I needed. Now the bookstores are filled with all kinds of Children's books. Mine is one of them. I enjoyed a book that I could read more than one story with colourful illustrations. Even today I look for the books with multiple stories. I feel like I have something extra to look forward to. Keep your kids reading and enjoying what they read.

Writing for the love of it

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I finally had my book published and can be listed as an author. Writing my Children's book started about 30 years ago. I had so many stories to tell about growing up in the Bush Camps in Northern Ontario.  Finally I decided to start writing about them.  I had 5 stories and went through book publisher after book publisher and they wouldn't even look at them. I went through Children's Literacy and they loved the stories, but they are more of a go between. They have book shows to display what is available for publishing.  Nothing was working so I packed away my stories and didn't look at them for about 25 years. I decided to give it one more shot, and now I have a published book available to the public. That is The Adventures of Cardigan. That brought me to thinking, How many people who love to write never have their work published? That saddens me because there are probably thousands of stories that are amazing and will never be read. Don't put your stories in a

Crazy Week

It's been a nightmare of a week! First we had a rat in my basement. We bought traps, and not one of them worked. Finally my son saw it go outside and he and hubby caught it after quite the battle. So we started tearing out the basement looking for rat poop and seeking out anymore little buggers. We found the toilet it used which was disgusting but after going through everything we found black mold.   Then the big work began. Out went box after box of junk, we tore the shelves of the walls, the walls came down, leaving everything sprayed with bleach as we continued the job.  I did not know that black mold turns to dust after sprayed. Then came the scrubbing of the entire basement, only to have another RAT jump out at my son. I'm sorry but if they come into my house uninvited, they have to face the consequences. Now the mold is gone, my basement is much emptier and we found where the rats came in and fixed that problem. Now to clean my yard and get rid of all the garbage we t

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! A cookie with it's on celebration. Who doesn't love cookies? Cookies and Milk, Cookies and Coffee......Anytime is a good time for a cookie. So have a treat and see how the cookie crumbles. I happen to love chocolate and coffee together. So here are a couple cookies that have both. Coffee-Chocolate Chunk Cookies  1-1/2 cups flour  1/4 tsp. baking soda  3/4 cup butter, softened  3/4 cup granulated sugar  1/2 cup packed brown sugar  3 Tbsp. cooled freshly brewed double-strength  Coffee, any variety  1 egg  1 tsp. vanilla  2 pkg. (4 oz. each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, chopped  1-1/2 cups chopped Walnuts Heat oven to 325°F. Combine flour and baking soda. Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in coffee, egg and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture until well blended. Stir in chopped chocolate and nuts. Refrigerate 30 min. Roll dough into 60 (1-inch) balls; place, 2 i

The Adventures of Cardigan

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https://www.adventuresofcardigan.ca/  Check it out

Happy National Girlfriends Day!

To all of you who have Girlfriends I hope you are celebrating her and appreciate her! I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT GIRLFRIENDS BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER HAD ONE. I did have a very close girl who was a friend, does that count?  Known her for decades, I loved her to death....literally. She was my rock . We were together everyday. We'd cuddle on the couch eating sweets, drinking coffee and watching movies. Our last movie was P.S. I  Love You. We played the scene where he pulls his suspenders and it snaps off hitting him in the eye. Also the funeral song over and over and over again. It just kept getting funnier.We hugged goodnight, a kiss on the lips and never saw her again.  No more girl friends fo me! National Girlfriends Day is a holiday on which guys take the time to show their girlfriends how important they are to them and is also a holiday celebrated by women to commemorate their female friends Personally, I think it all started by a greeting card company.