Soapstone Prairie Natural Area near Fort Collins, Colorado.

                           

   Recently, day-trippin' with Carol and Laura (thank you), we saw the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area located about 25 miles north of Fort Collins. (Almost to the Wyoming border, later we just had to have lunch in Cheyenne!) 

  Down a 9 mile gravelly road (not too bumpy) you come to this amazing expanse of nearly 19,000 acres or pure prairie where you can picnic, hike, bike, and tailride with equine in specified areas.

Note: This is one of the few Fort Collins natural areas in which dogs are not allowed, including in cars. (service animals that have been trained to assist a person with a disability are allowed).

   In 2004, the City of Fort Collins purchased Soapstone Prairie Natural Area with the goal of conserving one of the most beautiful and important natural areas in the nation with a specific focus on plant communities, vegetation and wildlife. 

  Two types of wildlife were reintroduced to what used to be their natural habitats – the American Bison and the Black Footed Ferret.

    By 1979, the Black Footed ferret was believed to be extinct. Their demise was due in large part to the fact that they use abandoned prairie dog holes in which to live and there was a huge push to eradicate by shooting and poisoning the prairie dogs, hence the black footed ferret died too 

   Today, with fewer than 500 in existence worldwide, Black Footed Ferrets are one of the most endangered mammals in North America. 

    The bison, due to slaughter in the late 1800's, were soon also brought to the brink of extinction. More than 150 years had passed since Bison roamed the prairie at Soapstone. But in November of 2015, the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd, a genetically pure Bison with a Yellowstone bloodline, was reintroduced to the Soapstone Natural Area.

   The American Bison has since been named the national mammal of the United States. The Soapstone Herd has produced the first Bison calves seen on this land in 150 years.

Antelope also range there. They are so pretty!

 Mountain lions, bobcats, and bears are occasionally spotted visiting the area. While coyotes, foxes, hawks, and eagles are the more common preditors. 

 

Although when viewed from afar, the land appears muted in color, if you look closely you will find a myriad of flora. 

   Pasque flowers, prairie coneflowers, scarlet globe mallow, wallflowers, Wisk broom, the bounty changes season by season.  

 

  The Lindenmeier Site is also located within the preserve. This National Historic Landmark is from the Ice Age. Check with me next month for more details on this 12,000 year old archeological site.  

  Soapstone Prairie is 25 miles north of Fort Collins, allow about an hour travel time. From Fort Collins, take Hwy 1/ Terry Lake Road to County Road 15 north (towards Waverly). From CR 15, turn north onto Rawhide Flats Road and continue north to the entrance station.

My Stories: 

Western Romance: Break Heart Canyon * Undercover Outlaw * Cowboys, Cattle and Cutthroats * A Cowboy’s Fate*Special Delivery. 

Contemporary Romantic Thriller: Fatal Recall

Medieval Romance: The Dragon and The Rose * Iron Heart        *Promise Me Christmas. 

Victorian Romance: Lady Gallant * Victorian Dream 

Romantasy: The Fae Warriors Trilogy: Solace * Bliss * Portence 

Blog www.ginirifkin.blogspot.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/people/Gini-Rifkin-Author/100001680213365

Amazon author  https://amzn.to/2R53KA9

Pinterest             https://www.pinterest.com/ginirifkin/pins/

Goodreads                     http://bit.ly/2OnHbrK

Barnes and Noble          http://bit.ly/2xPs9S4

AudioBooks                  https://adbl.co/2OlWbGJ

LinkedIn                        https://www.linkedin.com/in/gini-rifkin-15950489/

Universal link                https://books2read.com/u/3JLGMv

The wild rose press     https://wildrosepress.com/?s=rifkin&post_type=product&type_aws=true

Meet Liz Flaherty...celebrate Shades of Green

                    

Amazon: https://a.co/d/0dKnw8fA

                       D2D: https://books2read.com/u/3RRAgL

     Thank you for joining me today, Liz. Would you care for tea, hot or iced. We also have scones, custard tarts, and Banbury cake.  

    Hot, please, and maybe I could have two scones. I just love them. 
    Me too. 'I'll have the same. We're like Hobbits here, we have second breakfast, and then there are elevenses with the goats. 

 

       Gosh, you're such an accomplished and award-winning author, does writing come easily for you, the words just flying from mind to fingertips, or is it more a process of determination? What is your approach.

     It used to come easily, but not so much anymore. It isn’t the writing itself so much as the building of the story. I am far too prone to writing myself into a corner and sitting here whining until I find my way out.  
    

  Apparently you're method has been quite successful. Was there a specific event or idea that triggered the main plot for your Shades of Green?
      Cari, the heroine, had supporting roles in the first two Harper Loch books, Pieces of Blue and Patches of Red. While I had absolutely no plan for writing about the romance of a pastor, “Preach” didn’t leave me much choice. I like her a lot!
 

    I'm guessing we will too. I see you're a quilter. How fun. I’m delving into weaving and spinning. When did you become interested in the craft, and do you see a connection between the creative processes of quilting and writing? 

    I’ve always sewn a lot, and some idiot (that would be me) promised my grandkids—the Magnificent Seven—that I would make each of them a bed-size quilt after I retired. So I did. I don’t quilt much anymore, but I still sew. The only connection I know of between the two crafts is that if one of them is going well, the other one definitely is not. I think that might just be human nature.
 

  Yes both writing and weaving can be relaxing one minute and then turn to frustration, persistence is a must. If travel to outer space was more common and affordable, would you go?  

   No. Not interested at all.

    What would you like to be for 48 hours—a rock star, butterfly, a tree, a ballerina, a soaring eagle….

     A tree. I could lend such comfort. Shade, adventure, beauty … Wouldn’t that be cool? Oh, what a lovely response. Trees are so special.

                             

                             Amazon: https://a.co/d/0dKnw8fA  
                           D2D: https://books2read.com/u/3RRAgL

       Anything you would like us to know about your new release? 

   That Cari’s story is truly one of my heart and that Harper Loch is also a setting of my heart. I so hope you like the book and feel at home at the lake. I’ve no doubt those special feelings shine through. 

  

   Thank you, Liz Flaherty for stopping by the farmlette to share a little about yourself, and to celebrate the release of Shades of Green. The critters and I always love when nice people drop by.

    Thanks, Gini, for having me visit! I like the Farmlette and its pictures!

                  

Blurb:

              Pastor Cari Newland’s life is stuck in the middle.

     Her friends and parishioners at Harper Loch are mostly older than her thirty-three years… or they’re younger. While she likes being a single minister, she would also like to meet someone who sees her as someone besides “Preach.”
    She gets hugged a lot, she realizes, but she never gets held. She’s never been the daughter her parents wanted or the woman her long-ago fiancé needed. Her life is good, but it’s lonely.
     Enter handsome navy pilot Zack Grant. Visiting his parents at the lake, he attends a wedding Cari officiates. They talk and they dance and they are … interested. But Zack’s life is a thousand miles away and Cari’s life is firmly in Harper Loch. When interested begins to grow into something more, Cari and Zack must decide how to fit into each other’s world and whether or not they can make a long-distance romance work.
     But Cari’s life is in the small lake community in Michigan. Zack’s is in the Florida Panhandle. And neither of them has any intention of changing locations.

                  Amazon: https://a.co/d/0dKnw8fA  
                   D2D: https://books2read.com/u/3RRAgL

Excerpt:

   “Want to dance?”

   “I’d love to.”

   I wasn’t surprised by how well he danced. I thought he was one of those people who did most things well. I was glad I was wearing heels, though, because he was close to a foot taller than me. He led … no doubt about that … but he didn’t drag me around on the floor.   

   I didn’t want the song to end, which was an entirely new feeling for me when dancing with a tall guy, but when it did and he pulled me into position for the electric slide, I had to push back my disappointment. Like I said, I wanted to be held by someone.

   The reception progressed, and I danced with others, too, but mainly with Zack, feeling a buzz not unlike the one I get if I drink three glasses of wine too quickly. The band wound down into a few slow dances before the segueing gently into “Goodnight, Irene.” I remembered Grannabelle and Grandpap dancing to that when I was little. This band’s version was different, more Eric Clapton than the Weavers, but it still made everyone sway whether they danced or not.

   The party ended, as they often do, with the host asking me to send the guests on their way with prayer. I was glad to do that, although it silenced the buzz I’d been enjoying.

   People drifted away, calling out farewells as they went. Zack took my hand and looked at me for a moment. I looked back, regretful that the prayer, although heartfelt, had taken me back to being the pastor of Harper Loch Community Church. It had been fun and exciting for a while, being just a single woman in a swirly green dress with a handsome man’s arms around her.

   “See you soon,” he said.

     I hoped so.

  Bio: The author of 20-some books and her husband Duane share an old farmhouse in North Central Indiana. They also share kids, numerous perfect grandkids, and cats. She loves to travel and he doesn’t, but it all works out.

     Liz thinks one of the things that keeps you young when you quite obviously aren’t anymore is the constant chance you have to reinvent yourself. Her latest professional incarnation is as a women’s fiction author and she is enjoying every minute that she’s not scared to death.  

She can be reached at lizkflaherty@gmail.com

Website: https://www.lizflaherty.net/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lizkflaherty

Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Liz- Flaherty/author/B001J919R4?

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/lizkf.bsky.social

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizkflaherty/?hl=en

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@lizkflaherty

LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/LizFlaherty

A forever home for Bucky the horse..

If you've visited the Murdoch's store in Longmont Colorado, you must have seen Bucky. He's pretty hard to miss. He has stood watch for more than 40 years at this store, and the prior store Country General. 

 

Bucky has had an exciting life, greeting customers (especially the children), seeing many seasons come and go.                                      

                               He's been in the Horse Expo

                        and the Longmont Christmas Parade.

   When the store felt Bucky needed to find greener pastures, one remarkable, longtime employee, stepped right up. Carol has been at Murdoch's nearly 25 years and is your go-to person for knowledge not just about the store products, but about various animals and their care. She's also rescued numerous "real" animals, and stated,  "what's one more. This one is an easy keeper, and the clean up is a breeze."

    The big day came, and Bucky took one last look at the bright lights and tile floor, and was pretty excited about retiring to a nice barn with lots of hay and other animals to get to know. 

        Suited up for protection, and lets face it he looks great in blue, Bucky was ready to go, and the transport was on the way....or so we thought. 

                     

 Roz and Dennis were just coming off a busy road when the flatbed and the truck parted company. Fortunately the safety chains were in place and held until they got onto a side-street. 

Yep, we're going to need a different hitch. 

Murdoch's had what we needed. The first one was the correct size but not enough drop. Second one was perfect. Back on the road, and made it to Murdoch's loading dock area. 

      Being a professional, and of good breeding, Bucky remained calm as he waited. 

One final check, and time to load. 

               A big thank you to all the helping hands at Murdoch's, 

                                           you guys were great! 

Thomas really had a knack for securing our Bucky for a safe smooth ride. 

                                                     Ready to roll.

We got a few stares and concerned looks as Bucky now appeared to be a deceased equine as we slowly made our way to Carol's. 

 The last tricky part of our caper was to maneuver the flatbed as close to the barn as possible.  Bucky was a bit heavy.

                            
                                     Go left. No right. No straight.

                          Oh just pull forward and start over!

                                    Yay, you're home Bucky. 

                            Now if Dennis and I can just figure out 

                              how to loosen these cargo straps.                                   

                  First peek into the barn and his new home. 

     Finally safe and sound and all in one piece. Diego, Carol's real horse, was watching. What must he think of this strange horse and new barn-mate. Bucky, you were fortunate to land in a great place for your forever home. Wishing you a long, happy retirement. 

                             
                                                              The End!

                 

My Stories: 

Western Romance: Break Heart Canyon * Undercover Outlaw * Cowboys, Cattle and Cutthroats * A Cowboy’s Fate*Special Delivery. 

Contemporary Romantic Thriller: Fatal Recall

Medieval Romance: The Dragon and The Rose * Iron Heart        *Promise Me Christmas. 

Victorian Romance: Lady Gallant * Victorian Dream 

Romantasy: The Fae Warriors Trilogy: Solace * Bliss * Portence 

Blog www.ginirifkin.blogspot.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/people/Gini-Rifkin-Author/100001680213365

Amazon author  https://amzn.to/2R53KA9

Pinterest             https://www.pinterest.com/ginirifkin/pins/

Goodreads                     http://bit.ly/2OnHbrK

Barnes and Noble          http://bit.ly/2xPs9S4

AudioBooks                  https://adbl.co/2OlWbGJ

LinkedIn                        https://www.linkedin.com/in/gini-rifkin-15950489/

Universal link                https://books2read.com/u/3JLGMv

The wild rose press     https://wildrosepress.com/?s=rifkin&post_type=product&type_aws=true

Mary Seacole, also known as Mother Seacole and the Black Florence Nightingale.

  

(1805-1881)  Mary was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to a Scottish military father and a free Black Jamaican mother. Her mother was a renowned healer known as "The Doctress," who passed down traditional Caribbean and African herbal medicine practices. 

  Mrs. Seacole established her reputation as a healer during a yellow fever outbreak in 1853, and, when, the Crimean War broke out later that year, she wished to do her share to aid the wounded.       Traveling all the way to London, she applied to the British Secretary at War and one of Nightingale’s colleagues to be included in the country's nursing corps.

    They turned her down! 

    Here is a quote from her 1857 autobiography, THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF MRS. SEACOLE IN MANY LANDS: “Did these ladies shrink from accepting my aid because my blood flowed beneath a somewhat duskier skin than theirs?”

   Undaunted, she independently funded her way to the Crimean War to care for wounded soldiers on the front lines.

   Near Balaclava, she established the "British Hotel," which served as a store, restaurant, and safe resting place for officers and enlisted men. In my book Lady Gallant, when my heroine Nurse Josephine Posey is injured and lost, Mary Seacole rescues her too. 

   Mother Seacole was known for bravely riding out to the active battlefields with medical supplies and food, tending to wounded and dying soldiers under cannon fire. The soldiers affectionately called her "Mother Seacole"

     Post-war found her bankrupt, but she published her autobiography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, the first memoir by a Black woman in Britain. 

Today, Seacole's legacy is celebrated with a statue outside St. Thomas' Hospital in London—believed to be the first monument to a named Black woman in the UK.

My story Lady Gallant has a lot of history sprinkled in, and Mrs. Seacole has a cameo, but there is also intrigue, and of course Romance! 

  Smack in the middle of the Crimean war, Josephine Posey, a Florence Nightingale nurse, meets Garrick Allen, the Times first war correspondent. With intrigue afoot and bombs bursting in air, they share the secrets of their past and dream of a future together.

  Blurb:  Disowned by her father and still mourning the death of her fiancé, Josephine  Posey joins Florence Nightingale’s brigade of nurses bound for the Black Sea. Thousands of British soldiers desperately await these angels of mercy and a new life awaits Josie. Amidst the chaos of death and despair, she finds a spark of hope, lighting the flame once more inside her soul.

     In search of the truth, Garrick Allen, one of Britain’s first war correspondents also journeys to the Crimean Peninsula. To him the soldiers seem all but abandoned by Queen and country, and as he smokes his cheroots and makes friends with a bottle, he writes his bold but honest dispatches for The Times.  Not wanting anything more than to finish his job and go home, Garrick is blind-sided by a nurse with attitude who offers him a new slant on life and a reason to love.

                     

My Stories: 

Western Romance: Break Heart Canyon * Undercover Outlaw * Cowboys, Cattle and Cutthroats * A Cowboy’s Fate*Special Delivery. 

Contemporary Romantic Thriller: Fatal Recall

Medieval Romance: The Dragon and The Rose * Iron Heart        *Promise Me Christmas. 

Victorian Romance: Lady Gallant * Victorian Dream 

Romantasy: The Fae Warriors Trilogy: Solace * Bliss * Portence 

Blog www.ginirifkin.blogspot.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/people/Gini-Rifkin-Author/100001680213365

Amazon author  https://amzn.to/2R53KA9

Pinterest             https://www.pinterest.com/ginirifkin/pins/

Goodreads                     http://bit.ly/2OnHbrK

Barnes and Noble          http://bit.ly/2xPs9S4

AudioBooks                  https://adbl.co/2OlWbGJ

LinkedIn                        https://www.linkedin.com/in/gini-rifkin-15950489/

Universal link                https://books2read.com/u/3JLGMv

The wild rose press     https://wildrosepress.com/?s=rifkin&post_type=product&type_aws=true