Wishing you a wonderful Valentine-themed weekend!!!
Let there be love!

Boys and their toys...as they say.

In mid-December, Hubby and I were wrapping up our Christmas shopping when we stumbled across an estate sale in the country. The 1980s ranch house was amazing because the owner built it himself. You could feel the love in every little detail.

But the couple got older, the children moved away, and the maintenance of the house and farm became too much. The owners took the things that meant the most to them and moved into a managed care facility. The property was sold, but before the new owners could take over, the couple hired an estate sale company to dispose of their…stuff.

You know the saying: “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” Or, as my heroine, Jade, (Property Sisters of Montana, Book III) would say, “One man’s junk is some woman’s mess to clean up.” 😉

In my hubby’s case, it’s more like: “One man’s toy train is exactly what Paul’s shop was missing.”

Paul had hours of fun tinkering with it, so I’m happy. But I can’t help wondering if someday someone will wander through our mostly empty place and scoop it up for a song.

Last week’s Q&A was: Do you send Valentines? Yes or No?

More of you still send Valentines than don’t, but the part I liked best about this question was hearing the creative ways you’ve made this holiday your own. By my count, Valentine’s Day is still a popular tradition, so: YES wins.

One of my favorite replies was from Mia, who included this adorable quote from her late mum: “There are so many frogs in the world, make sure you get the prince!” 😀

And because this always makes me smile, here’s a little Valentine video I took a couple of years ago (Feb 14, 2018). It confirms my core belief that you should dance like no one is laughing. 😉 This baby girl is now 3 and she still loves to dance.

My two randomly selected winners this week are:

Gladys Paradowski – YES
and
Sharon Jesse – YES

(Gladys and Sharon congrats. Please email me your pick of either a $5 Starbucks or a $5 Amazon gift card.)

Q&A

This week’s Q&A: Have you ever been to San Francisco?

I’ll be attending the annual UnCon for authors next week. I truly can’t wait to hang with my writer peeps in the city by the Bay.

(Two winners will be chosen by random drawing to receive either a $5 Starbucks gift card or a $5 Amazon gift card. Please reply the usual ways: email or on my DebraSalonenAuthor Facebook page.)

It is with a heavy heart that I share the passing of our dear friend, Alma Anderson, whom many of you may recall from earlier newsletters. This past November we celebrated Alma’s 100th birthday. She also was an amazing baker who made the best Fruit Cakes I’ve ever tasted. Because “fruit cake” has a less than universal appeal, we re-named Alma’s cakes: Holiday Fruit Bread. Our holidays won’t be the same without it.

Thank you, Alma, for being such an inspiring example of how to grow older with grace, wit and a full heart. You will be missed for much, much more than your baking!!!

Happy reading,

Deb

Next week: San Francisco, here I come, and PROPERTY SISTERS OF MONTANA updates.