Nothing is more relaxing and creating ties than doing things together – as a family, as friends, as partners in life. One of the coziest is sitting together and telling stories. Whether it is sharing the background of family traditions or talking about an especially funny or tense Christmas, about your favorite things to do […]
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In the Book Nook with … Tessa Floreano
Author Tessa Floreano, who works as a content strategist on large corporate websites, lives on Ames Lake near the farming community of Carnation, WA. She has been writing since 2009 and seriously since 2014. Her first book was published with The Wild Rose Press in 2022. Her 1920s romantic mystery, “Slain over Spumoni,” won First […]
Advent Calendar December 13: Winter Walks
Taking a walk is some wonderful exercise, anytime. But during winter, it is something that is a bit taxing as well. We have to layer us against cold and rain (if not snow), and the time window we have is narrow, as the days are so short. But once we are outdoors, it is extremely […]
Advent Calendar December 12: Christmas Cards
Have you written all your Christmas mail already? Maybe even received one or the other card yourself and placed it on a sideboard or a mantlepiece? If you haven’t sent out your cards yet, there’s still a little time. Think about the joy a card chosen with care will create with the recipient. Nobody expects […]
Advent Calendar December 11: Christmas Markets
Has anybody of you ever been to a European-style Christmas market? One that is built like a small town of cozy huts decorated to the nines and located in a town center, not inside a building? It was one of my annual joys to go see the small-town ones around my native town of Stuttgart, […]
Advent Calendar December 10: Caroling
What would Christmas be without music? Without singing? I’m not talking the untimely endless-loops in supermarkets and craft stores that start playing way too early in the year in order to remind us to consume in time for the holidays. I’m talking about taking up an instrument and playing it with friends or family or […]
In the Book Nook … Kizzie Jones
Author Kizzie Jones lives in Edmonds, WA, with her dachshunds and her partner Thomas Wert. A dachshund lover, Kizzie has been owned by many dachshunds, models for the dynamic dogs in her children’s stories. Her books, some also available in bilingual editions, have won multiple awards; “A Tall Tale about Dachshunds in Costumes: How MORE […]
Advent Calendar December 9: Hot Beverages
Everybody loves a hot drink when coming in from the cold. Or when standing outside at a Christmas market booth. The traditional drink in Germany is Glühwein aka mulled wine. Back in thee day, you either bought it at an event or you had to make it from scratch. As in buying sachets that you […]
Advent Calendar December 8: Ice Skating
What do kids do when puddles suddenly grow a skin? They slide on them. My German childhood winters were cold enough to have ponds frozen with a solid skin of ice. Solid enough to last us for sliding to our hearts’ delight and, later, for ice skating. I remember even walking miles to a pond […]