Thanks to everyone who stopped by to share information about their favorite holiday decorations.
I tossed all the names in a hat and the winner is
Congratulations! Just contact me and let me know which book you want and I’ll send it your way ASAP
Hello everyone, Winnie Griggs here. It’s December and I’ve just finished putting up my Christmas tree so my thoughts have naturally turned to Christmas. So I thought I’d share with you one of my favorite kinds of decorations. I believe I’ve mentioned here before that I collect Nativity sets and creches – I have dozens of them and some of them stay out on my shelves year round. Today I’m going to give you a peek into just a few of my favorites – some are quite old and some are more modern. Some are simple and some are elaborate. But they all struck a chord with me when I saw them in a way that compelled me to take it home with me.
So, without further ado, here is a photo collage of a dozen or so pieces from my collection.
Oh, and I received word a few weeks ago that my June book, Lone Star Heiress, has been nominated for an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award. To celebrate, I’m planning to award one to one person who leaves a comment here today their pick of any book on my backlist. You can look over the choices on the books page of my website here: http://www.winniegriggs.com/books.php
So tell me, is there any holiday themed item you collect or some decoration or object that has special significance to you this time of year?
Sometimes we get ourselves in a fix and end up landing exactly where we don’t want to be—like my big gray cat, Curly. He thought he could fly just like
the birds he was eyeballing on the feeder. He flew, all right. Off the porch railing and onto the swinging feeder that soared from its hook and smashed on the rocks below. Curly wised up after that little incident. Gave up flying for stalking.
Have you ever landed where you didn’t want to? I think we all have, and it’s a lot more fun reading about someone else’s landing than rubbing our backside after picking ourselves up from the rocks.
The old cliché of “look before you leap” became a cliché for a reason. Too many people ignore the simple, alliterative warning, people like Ara Taube, the heroine in my Christmas novella, The Snowbound Bride. I won’t give away the story by telling you where she leapt, but let’s just say things worked out better than she expected. Love and the Lord have a way of doing that.
And that’s one of the reasons I enjoy writing Western romance. Love wins. But, oh the winding roads and quirky twists that lead to those happy endings!
She tossed back the quilt and tiptoed across the cold floor
toward the incessant dripping. Beyond the heavy lace
curtain, icy rapiers clung to the eaves, pouring themselves
one drop at a time into tiny pools beneath the window. A
sapphire sky spread over the mountain-rimmed valley,
and the brilliant landscape shone like a blue willow dream.
Lately here in Colorado, there hasn’t been a lot of leaping at my house, but there’s been plenty of shoveling. According to the calendar, it’s not officially winter. Could have fooled me. No complaints though, because it’s my favorite season. A warm fire in the woodstove, a quilt on the sofa, and a cup of my favorite hot drink—brewed coffee poured over dry cocoa mix—and I’m ready for a heart-warming tale with a handsome cowboy who’s man enough to know how to make his woman feel.
That’s the kind of story I had in mind when I started writing about Ara Taube and Nate Horne. My grandmother’s name was Ara and I think she was the rebel in the family, from what I’ve heard. It’d be just like her to hike her skirts and jump into a … Almost forgot not to go there.
And Nate—a man of few words if ever there was one. Beats all, doesn’t it, when you’re trying to get a fella like that to say what he’s thinking. But strong and silent has its place, and I must admit that place is somewhere deep in a cozy corner of my heart.
Hopefully, you’ll have time this month to leap into a soft spot by the fire and cuddle up with a good book. There are certainly plenty to choose from here on Petticoats & Pistols, and I’m giving away an eBook copy of The Snowbound Bride. Just enter a comment and be eligible to win!
To see a few of my visual thoughts from the novella, you can visit my Pinterest page at http://www.pinterest.com/davalynnspencer/the-snowbound-bride/
Thanks for letting me drop by. This was a great place to land.
More about Davalynn:
Wife and mother of professional rodeo bullfighters, author Davalynn Spencer began her writing journey in the national rodeo market and as a newspaper journalist, winning awards in both arenas. Today she continues to win acclaim with her inspirational western romance placing second in the 2014 Inspirational Reader’s Choice Awards, and finaling for the Selah Award and the Holt Medallion. Davalynn teaches writing at Pueblo Community College, and with her handsome cowboy has three children and four grandchildren. They make their home on Colorado’s Front Range with a Queensland heeler named Blue. Connect with Davalynn online at www.davalynnspencer.com and www.Facebook.com/AuthorDavalynnSpencer.com.
Buy your copy of THE SNOWBOUND BRIDE:
The dust finally settled after all the gunfire. Thank goodness for bandanas, huh?
The last owlhoot standing is…
Laurie Gommermann!
Congratulations, Laurie! That was one tough shootout.
I’ll email your e-copy of Wild Texas Christmas in two shakes. Enjoy the book!
Thanks to everyone who stopped by!
Winner of the autographed print copy of PRODIGAL GUN is…
KATHY!
I’ll email you in just a sec to get your mailing address. The moment I have print books in my hot little paws (any day now), I’ll get a copy in the mail to you.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by today and made me feel so welcome here at Wildflower Junction!
Yee Haw! Congratulations go to . . .
Sharon Miller!!!
You’re the lucky winner of two of Faith’s books. I know you’re gonna enjoy curlin’ up with these on a cold winter’s night.
I’ll be passin’ your info on to Miss Blum so she can get your prize to you.
HER HOLIDAY FAMILY
What happens when a straight-laced young widow’s home is invaded by ten rambunctious orphans and their handsome caretaker just in time for the holidays…
Reserved widow Eileen Pierce never considered herself the kind of woman who was cut out to be a mother. She wouldn’t know what to do with one child, much less ten. But when handyman Simon Tucker is stranded in town with a group of young orphans just before Thanksgiving, she discovers she can’t just turn them away.
Simon knows there’s more to Eileen than meets the eye. Though his easygoing demeanor immediately clashes with her buttoned-up propriety, Simon’s kindness soon melts Eileen’s stern facade. Simon and the children have already upended Eileen’s quiet, orderly life. Will they do the same to her guarded heart?
Hi! Winnie Griggs here. My latest title, Her Holiday Family, which released this month, features ten orphan children who invade my heroine’s home and that upset her orderly life in a BIG way – especially since their handsome caretaker comes with the package 🙂
Anyway, that got me to thinking about large families and how the average family size has changed over the years. So I did a little research that I wanted to share with you today.
Since the National Birth Registration system wasn’t put into place until 1933, it’s hard to identify exact trends behind the existing census data, but even so we can see general overall trends in the numbers themselves.
Most experts in the field of census data research, however, estimate that in 1800, the average household in America included seven to eight children. A hundred years later in 1900 this figure had dropped to three to four.
There were many reasons for this. In earlier years, there was the expectation that not all children a woman bore would survive early childhood. As our medical knowledge increased, this became less of an issue. There are also economic reasons – in the 1800s, when most Americans lived on family farms, children were expected to help support the family by taking on chores around the place. As the industrial age dawned, however, and many families moved from farms to cities, children began to be seen as more of an expense to be budgeted for. And of course changing mores on the issue of birth control contributed to this as well.
But large families haven’t completely disappeared. I’m a prime example of that. My own father was one of twelve siblings. I’m the oldest of five. My husband is one of six. And he and I have four children of our own. So extended family gatherings on either side of our family tend to be large and boisterous.
So what about you? Do you come from a large family or a more intimate one?
And in honor of this being release month, I plan to give away a copy of Her Holiday Family to at least one visitor who leaves a comment on this today.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
HER HOLIDAY FAMILY
What happens when a straight-laced young widow’s home is invaded by ten rambunctious orphans and their handsome caretaker just in time for the holidays…
Reserved widow Eileen Pierce never considered herself the kind of woman who was cut out to be a mother. She wouldn’t know what to do with one child, much less ten. But when handyman Simon Tucker is stranded in town with a group of young orphans just before Thanksgiving, she discovers she can’t just turn them away.
Simon knows there’s more to Eileen than meets the eye. Though his easygoing demeanor immediately clashes with her buttoned-up propriety, Simon’s kindness soon melts Eileen’s stern facade. Simon and the children have already upended Eileen’s quiet, orderly life. Will they do the same to her guarded heart?
I thought it’d be fun today to talk about unusual town names in Texas. Of course, I selected Texas because that’s where I was born and raised.
That brings me to “born and raised” which is totally off the subject. I always was told I was born and raised here, but when I got a little older I found out I was “born and reared”. Corn is raised, children are reared. I absolutely hated it to the max, but when I did any type of a talk I’d use reared. My last copy editor changed my MS from reared to raised and said reared is antiquated. Guess that tells you how old I am. What’s you thoughts on born and raised vs. born and reared?
Now for how some of our towns got their names.
The community my parents lived in when I was born is Cactus, Texas. It’s one county over but I was actually born in Amarillo at St. Anthony’s Hospital.
Now for Cactus: The only living thing in sight — cactus — gave New York engineers their inspiration for naming the Cactus Ordinance Works. 
When a post office was established, the name was transferred. Early residents, which my family would fall under, remember how cactus and other prickly plants had to be cleared before the first housing units could be built in Cactus. From personal experience, although my family, including my grandparents, moved to Amarillo before my second sister was born, one of my aunts and uncles lived in Cactus, Texas, for years. Uncle Durward worked for the petroleum plant until he retired and he and Aunt Martha moved to Dumas, a few miles south-east of Cactus.
The next town we lived in for a very short time was Pantex, which was just east of Amarillo. The location of this town suggested the abbreviated compound of Panhandle of Texas. The post office was established to provide service for employees of the Pantex Ordance Plant, which loaded bombs with TNT for the Army from 1942 to 1945, but the town vanished after WWII. For me personally, it was the best kept non-secret I’ve ever seen. The workers weren’t allowed to tell anybody what they were working on in the underground bunkers. Some 75 years later, they are now dismantling the “secret” weapons and it’s on the front page of our newspaper regularly as they make progress. So, now you all know the non-secret that I grew up with. As I said, we didn’t live in the Pantex Village very long before moving to Amarillo.
Amarillo’s history is really long and although we are very young for this part of the country … settled in 1887. We are the largest of the five original towns settled in the Panhandle. We were the last to be officially established and that was due to the railroad and the route they ending up taking thanks to a group of merchants in Colorado City, Texas.
I moved here with my family when I could barely walk, but I had a lot of miles on me already. I plan to be buried here with my husband by my side.
Here’s some fun towns:
Bass Hollow: Sam Bass and his gang, notorious for their daring train and bank holdups during the 1870’s, once made their outlaw camp there.
Black Ankle: The San Augustine County town was so named after a local belle tore her silk stocking at the ankle before a dance and concealed the rip by painting her exposed skin black with soot. In Caldwell County, the deep, black, waxy soil literally created some black ankles after heavy rains.
My last town is one of my favorites. I’ve been to both towns. Now that outta make you wonder what I’m up to. 
Nacogdoches (nae-ke-‘do-‘cas) Texas: A legend has been composed for those who expected an explanation more romantic than the one that this oldest town in Texas was named for the Nacogdoche Indians, a Caddoan tribe and one of the nine major members of the Hasinai Confederacy. The tale also accounts for the similarity of the names of Nacogdoche, Texas, and of Natchitoches (nak-ki-tish), Louisiana. Here comes the answer to why I selected this town … my favorite of the two Natchitoches, Louisiana (notice the spelling difference). The towns are often mistaken for one another, or in my way of thinking, I thought they were one in the same for years.
Once upon a time, an old Indian chief had two sons: Natchitoches and Nacogdoches. When they grew to manhood, their father sent them out to make homes and establish tribes of their own. Natchitoches was to travel three days and three nights in the direction of the rising sun, and Nacogdoches was to travel three days and three nights into the setting sun. Thus, the Louisiana and Texas towns were established, linked by a route later followed by the Spaniards and name El Camino Real de los Tejas (the Royal Road but later English translated to the King’s Highway) running through Texas and into Louisiana.
Okay readers, which town would you liked to have lived in? Do you have a favorite town with an odd history behind its name?
To one reader who leaves a comment today, I will send you a gift certificate for your choice of one of my books from Amazon. To a second commenter, I’ll send you a Bath and Bodyworks Gift Card.
Watch for my next installment of the Kasota Springs Romance series “Out of the Texas Night” by eKensington coming out next spring.
Here’s a list of IMDb’s (Internet Movie Database) Highest Rated Western Television Shows. I think you’d be surprised with some of them.
2. The Adventures of Brisco County 1993
3. Trigun 1998 Animated
4. Have Gun Will Travel 1957
5. Saber Rider and The Star Sheriffs 1987 Animated
LOOK FOR MY NEW HARLEQUIN ONLINE READ coming in January to kick off my Moonlight Beach Bachelors series! TITLE TBA
HER FORBIDDEN COWBOY coming in February!