Andi's Blog

A New Series

2012-01-27T19:29:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited to tell you about a new series. OK, it's not about me because it takes place in 1864, and that's four years before I was born. But it's about an exciting time in California--the Gold Rush (well, towards the end of it, anyway). The main character is a twelve-year-old boy named Jem. By the time I met him, he was like . . . 28 years old, but he's a lot younger for these stories.

So, you're probably wondering how I would know anything about some boy that is as old as my brother Justin. Well, it's because Justin and Chad told me they met Jem when THEY were 11 and 12.

They told me he has a younger sister too, Ellie, and they had quite an adventure when Father took them up to Goldtown way back in 1864. There was some kind of problem with the gold mine there, and probably Chad ended up right in the middle of it.

The first book, Badge of Honor, will come out next November, but Chad and Justin don't visit Jem and his sheriff father (golly, I think it would be fun to have a sheriff for a father or an older brother) until Book 2, Tunnel of Gold. As soon as there are sample chapters, I'll make sure everybody knows about them. They'll be posted on the website: Goldtown Adventures If you want to keep up with what's happening with it, you can sign up to be on the Goldtown Ezine over there too.

"500 Fans" Facebook Giveaway WINNER

2011-12-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all of the wonderful responses to the giveaway this last week! I wish I could give everybody a book to try out, but alas, that is not possible.

Congratulations to "Hallie," who is the lucky winner. I have emailed her, and she has until the end of the week to respond. If she does not, then I will draw another winner.

I noticed we are well on our way to having 600 fans already. Yep, another contest will be forthcoming when that event happens.

"500 Fans" Facebook Giveaway!

2011-12-05T09:47:00.000-08:00

This contest has ended. Thanks for entering!

I'm excited to now have over 500 fans of the Circle C Adventures (and Beginnings) series over on Facebook. I promised a giveaway when we hit 500 fans, and that day has come. So, what am I giving away? Your choice of any two books from either set, mix and match!

How do you enter? Just leave a comment below with your email address as well as which two books you would like to win. If you are familiar with the two series, then you could also include which book is your favorite and why. If you are a potential new reader, then tell me how you heard about the books. You can see them here: www.circlecadventures.com or here: www.andiandtaffy.com.

There are ways to enter more than once:

1. Tweet about the giveaway

2. Post this link on your FB page

3. "Follow" Andi's blog

Note: You do not have to be a FB fan to enter this contest. It is open to anyone! Have fun and good luck! (If you want to "like" the Circle C Adventures page on FB, go here: Facebook.

This contest ends December 12th (one week).

Circle C Beginnings Christmas Winner!

2011-12-04T15:36:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Kendra Lynn for winning Andi's Circle C Christmas and lapbook. I did the contest the old-fashioned way by printing out and cutting up all those little strips of paper, then drawing one out of the "hat."

There are still a few more days to enter the "500 Fans" giveaway, which is just above this post on the blog.

Thanks for entering!

Circle C Beginnings Christmas Giveaway!

2011-11-28T11:15:00.000-08:00

THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED.
The winner is: KENDRA LYNNE

It's time for a Christmas giveaway! This week (November 28-December 6) I'm giving away a copy of Andi's Circle C Christmas and the lapbook that accompanies it. If you don't know what a lapbook is, here is a great way to try one! You can read more about lapbooks here: LAPBOOKS

If you already own Andi's Circle C Christmas, you can enjoy the lapbook and give the book away to a young reader.

To enter the contest, please follow the instructions below:
1. Leave a comment with your email address (most important thing of all!).
2. You may enter more than once by doing the following (just tell me what you did):
~ Like the Circle C Adventures on Facebook
~ Tweet about the contest
~ Forward the Ezine (if you get it) to your friends.
If you are not on the Ezine list and would like to be, simply head over to www.AndiandTaffy.com and sign up.

Have fun!

Can You Guess the Horse Color?

2011-08-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

I know it's been awhile, but here is a horse-coloring test. But first . . . read on for a little history:

The colors of horses have fascinated people as far back as recorded history. Long ago, some folks thought the temperament and intelligence of a horse had to do with its color. That’s not true, just as it’s not true for human beings and their variety of skin, hair, and eye colors. In the end, it’s far better to have a smart, loyal, even-tempered horse than the most beautiful horse in the world. “A good horse is never a bad color” is an old horseman’s saying. However, it doesn’t hurt when a good horse is also nice-looking.

In the picture below you will find a brief description of some common horse colors (which have nothing to do with the breed of a horse). Can you match the descriptions to the photographs of the horses? (Sorry, the picture is kind of small, but I tried!)

You can comment and just list the horse colors with the number beside it. Example: Bay - 2

And the winners are . . .

2011-08-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

What a fun contest, but I'm kind of sad that I didn't have at least 20 posters to give away instead of only 3. So many enthusiastic folks entered and I'm sorry you all couldn't win.

The three lucky winners, chosen by Random.org are:
KRIS
KAILEY
DONNA

I emailed you all privately. If you do not reply within 7 days, I will pick another winner.

Thanks for participating, everybody!

Win a Poster of Andi and Taffy!

2011-08-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

NOTE: THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED. THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!

It's giveaway time! In honor of the release of the last two books in the Circle C Beginnings series (chapter books for ages 6-8), Andi's Lonely Little Foal and Andi's Circle C Christmas, I'm hosting a giveaway of three (3) glossy, 11x14 prints of the water color painting for the cover of Andi's Lonely Little Foal (autographed by the illustrator). To find out how you can win this fun poster, see below!

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment below (with your E-MAIL information so I can contact the winner(s).

On August 22, I will randomly draw 3 names!

If you like, you may enter the giveaway two more times by:

~ sharing the link to this giveaway post with your friends on Facebook or other places

~ "Tweet" about this blog giveaway

(Just comment each time and let me know what you did.)

In the meantime, here are some great ways to get your hands on the two newest early chapter books:

~ Visit Kregel.com for a special 30% savings. Enter the promo code HOME11 and save!

~ Visit Christian Book Distributors or Amazon.com.

~ Visit the AndiandTaffy website for autographed copies.

~ Visit your local bookstore

A Trip to the Mercantile

2011-08-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

The wages and expenses from the last post make for some harsh reading, don’t you think? Remember, the $5 a month per person “cost of living” did not include expenses like:

~seeing the doctor if your baby was sick

~ fixing the barn if a storm blew it down

~ taking into account a bad year of crops or

~ replacing your horse if it died.

Most working-class people lived from one weekly paycheck to the next and prayed nothing would “go wrong” and put them into debt.

The middle-class had things a little better, but not by much. Many were merchants, like grocers or shopkeepers, hotel keepers, jewelers, and saloon keepers. Lawyers, doctors, and ministers were “professionals,” but they weren’t rich, either, since the people they served were mostly from the working and middle-class. The rich folks were the land owners, bank owners, railroad barons, and other wealthy businessmen, or those with “family” money. Some people in California had become rich because of the Gold Rush.

Whenever the family had a little extra money, the place to spend it was at the mercantile. One could find all kinds of things to buy—from thread and ribbon to kerosene lamps and candy.

A family bought their fresh produce from the grocer, milk came from the milkman, and the ice to keep things cold came from the ice man. Here you can see a sampling of items and their prices from 1880.

Here is your "assignment." At the bottom of this post is a shopping list. Your mother has sent you to town to pick up a few items. You have $1.50 to buy all the things on the list. It's all the money left until pay day, so spend it wisely. (You really want to buy the calico fabric because it is your little sister’s birthday, and your mother wants to make her a special dress.)

Will the $1.50 be enough to buy everything on the list? If not, what will you do? How will you spend the money and bring home as much change as you can? Use the price lists here. Do not use a calculator! Remember, you are living in 1880, before calculators. You can do your figuring on paper or in your head. Leave a comment and let me know how the shopping trip went!

How much did a person make in 1880?

2011-07-11T21:38:00.000-07:00

I was trying to scrounge up enough money to buy my mother a music box for her birthday. It cost $11.95. Maybe you think that's pretty cheap for a fancy music box, but not if you don't make much money. Here are some jobs in 1880 and how much the person got paid (by the month):

~ train engineer: $100
~ carpenter: $37

~ teacher: $40
~ house servant: $8
~ ranch foreman: $115
~ sales girl: $12
~ ranch hand: $30 (+ housing & food)
~ factory worker: $35
~ child factory worker: $8
~ laundress (washer woman): $12
~ soldier: $13
~ streetcar driver: $43

So, basically, you would have to wash clothes (be a laundress) for a whole MONTH before you could afford to buy one little music box. In 2011, that would be like the music box costing $800 (if you made $2,000 a month)

Are you ready to try a little math?

How did the average wage-earner feed, clothe, and house his family? The rent for a small dwelling was about $4.50 a month. In addition, it cost about $5 a month to clothe and feed each member of the family. Below are a few families and their wages. Use the list above to figure out the family’s wages and how much they spend on the cost of living. Will each family make it through the month, or will they need to borrow money from relatives or friends?

A) John is a carpenter; Sally stays home to care for their 4 children.

B) José is a ranch hand; Nila works as a house servant. They have 2 kids.

C) Tom is a train engineer; Mary washes rich folks’ clothes (laundress). They have 5 children.

D) Paul and Judy are both factory workers; they have six children. Three kids work in the factory, while one stays home to care for the younger children.

E) Sam is a soldier; Jane does the laundry for the fort. They have 3 children.

Answers: (Did you try to figure it out before looking at the answers?)

A) This family has $2.50 left at the end of the month. Not much for “extras.” What if the baby gets sick and they need a doctor?

B) This family has $18.00 to spare. They can afford a little extra at times.

C) This family is very well off, having an extra $72.50 at the end of the month. If someone gets sick, they can afford to call the doctor.

D) This family is also doing “OK,” with $49.50 left over after living expenses. Maybe a new dress for one of the children is in order.

E) This family is coming up short by -$4.50. Maybe Jane can pick up some extra laundry

Next time: A shopping list at the Mercantile. What can you buy for $1.50?

What's a Greenback? (1880 money part 2)

2011-06-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

I'm going to write this post like I was standing up in front of my classroom and telling everybody something they probably already know. Most people (especially my teacher, Mr. Foster) know how our United States paper money came about and why it is called "greenbacks." But for you 21st century readers, sit back and hear the tale:

“Greenbacks” is the name for paper money in the United States in 1880. Paper money hasn’t been around for very long, only about fifteen years or so. Since the War Between the States (or the War of Northern Aggression for you Southerners in the classroom. Or the Civil War. They’re all names for the same war, back in 1861-1865).

Anyway, before the War, everybody used gold and silver coins to buy and sell things. But they probably got pretty heavy in pocketbooks and purses.

The $20 shows Alexander Hamilton; the $10 Daniel Webster

However, the War cost money—a lot of money, and the United States didn’t have enough money from taxes. The Treasury Department decided to issue small rectangles of paper called “demand notes” (payable on demand) to people who lent the government money to pay the soldiers and finance the War. These “demand notes” were printed on green paper. So guess what! Their nickname became “greenbacks.”

After the War, some people wanted to keep the paper money in circulation permanently. But the Secretary of the Treasury said it had only been a War measure. The country must go back to the gold standard: silver and gold coins.

So the government started “retiring” (getting rid of) the paper money. But this caused problems too. The economy was not doing well, and they found an old law that allowed them to put some paper money back in circulation, which they did.

Back and forth the argument went, but as everyone knows, paper money is here to stay. In fact, in the future (in 1933), private citizens will have to trade in all their gold, and the gold standard will basically disappear. Thank you for your attention, and I hope I get an A on this report, Mr. Foster.

A note from the author: You know it’s true. It’s paper only nowadays. Oh, wait. It’s PLASTIC only!
Next time: What can Andi buy with all these greenbacks and gold and silver coins in 1880?

Money in 1880

2011-06-06T15:40:00.000-07:00

Hannah wants to know "about what money looked like and what is was worth . . . like in the first book [Long Ride Home], they [Andi and Rosa] bought ribbons with a dime. We probably couldn't buy that now a days. Well, at least not brand-new."

In this post, I'll show you what "coin" money looked like. In later posts, I'll write about what paper money (greenbacks) looked like; then in another post I'll talk about how much things cost (like food and thread) and how much money people made working different jobs in 1880.

1880 Dime

First off, here is a picture of what one of the dimes looked like that I found in my saddlebag. That was a REAL nice surprise, by the way. I was going to use one of the dimes to buy something special for Rosa and her family.

"Double Eagle"

Later on in the book, that mean ol' Felicity offered to buy Taffy for $20.00. In 1880, a twenty-dollar gold piece was called a "Double Eagle."Felicity could have given me one of those, but she slapped two "Eagles" into my hand. An "Eagle" is a ten-dollar gold piece.

"Eagle"

Can you guess what a "Half-Eagle" might be? Yep, a five-dollar gold piece! In Andrea Carter and the Price of Truth, Chad paid me eight dollars for all that work I did picking peaches. He gave me a half-eagle and three silver dollars.

"Half-Eagle"

Silver dollar

Of course, there were pennies too! Ever hear of penny candy? At the bottom of this post is a picture of a penny from 1880. Enjoy, and I'll be back later to talk about greenbacks (and how paper money got that funny name).

Indian head penny

Andi and Cory: young and old

2011-05-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

Kendra wants me to post. So I've scrounged up pictures of Andi and Cory from both their younger days (Circle C Beginnings) and their older days (Circle C Adventures). I know, I know, you want another story, but be patient. It will come . . .

Double Surprise (Short Story): Part 1 of 5

2011-05-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

Andi Carter burst into the library of her family’s ranch house with a cry of alarm. “Mother! Where’s Chad? I need him right away!”

“Settle down, Andrea,” her mother replied with a patient smile. She laid aside the lace collar she was crocheting and gave Andi her attention. “Now, tell me what’s wrong.”

Andi couldn’t settle down. She felt wound up . . . tighter than a spring.

“It’s Taffy!” she explained, tossing her thick, dark braid behind her shoulder. She took a deep breath to quiet her racing heart. “She doesn’t look right.”

“Not again,” Melinda muttered from her place next to a low table, where bits of velvet, lace, and dark blue taffeta lay spread out in front of her. She picked up a half-finished bonnet and frowned at Andi. “We’ve heard about your horse morning, noon, and night for the past three days.”

Andi turned smoldering blue eyes on her seventeen-year-old sister. “If your horse were acting strange, you’d be worried, too.”

“Perhaps,” Melinda threw back, “but I wouldn’t be racing into the house every ten minutes to yell about it.”

Arguing with Melinda is a waste of time, And decided. She ignored her sister’s remark and turned back to her mother. “Where’s Chad?”

“Chad and Mitch left right after supper for the cattlemen’s association meeting in town,” Elizabeth replied. “They won’t be home until late.”

Andi plunked herself onto the couch beside her mother. “Can’t somebody go into town and get him?”

Elizabeth didn’t answer. But then, Andi didn’t expect her to. She knew it was a dumb question, anyway. Nobody was going to ride an hour into town, based only on Andi’ feeling that something was wrong with her horse. She sighed.

Her oldest brother, twenty-eight-year-old Justin, looked up from reading the Fresno Expositor. His dark blue eyes regarded her warmly. “If you like, I’ll come out and take a look at Taffy.”

Andi considered her brother’s offer. Ever since Father had been killed in that roundup accident a few years back, Justin had quietly taken over as her substitute father. He was especially good at helping her solve most of her problems. But he was a lawyer, not a rancher. She didn’t think he could solve Taffy’s problem.

Justin put down the newspaper and stood up. “I may not be the horseman Chad is, but I’m not exactly inexperienced.” He reached for his hat. “Come on, Andi. Let’s go see your horse.”

Andi raced ahead of her tall, dark-haired brother and into the huge barn that stabled the family’s saddle horses. She unlatched the door to the large box stall set aside for foaling and entered, calling her palomino’s name. “How are you doing, Taffy? Feeling better?” She gently rubbed the mare’s back.

The golden horse responded with a friendly whinny and reached for another mouthful of hay. She shook her creamy mane, munched the hay, and regarded Andi with large, peaceful eyes.

Justin leaned over the half-door of the stall. “What exactly is it about Taffy that worries you?” He chuckled. “She looks fine to me.”

“No,” Andi insisted. “She’s not acting right.”

Justin shoved his hat back, opened the door, and entered. “A mare only a week or two from foaling isn’t going to look or act right all of the time,” he said. “She does look a bit ungainly—maybe larger than other mares foaling for the first time, but”—he shrugged—“she’s eating. She’s standing.”

“She’s breathing extra hard,” Andi said with a frown. “Earlier this evening, she was pacing the stall. She got up and down a couple of times, too.”

“That’s normal. She’s probably trying to get comfortable,” Justin said. He ran his hand over the mare and examined her closely. Then he turned to Andi. “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. She looks fine. Let’s go inside.”

“May I stay with her awhile?”

“It’s pretty chilly out here,” Justin said, frowning slightly, “and likely to get colder before long. After all, it is January.” He left the stall and beckoned her to follow.

“Please can I stay, Justin?” Andi pleaded. “I want to watch her, just in case.”

Justin sighed. Then he reached out and snagged a couple of blankets. He tossed them into Taffy’s stall and said, “All right. I’ll tell Mother what you’re up to. But don’t stay out too long.”

Andi grinned. Justin could always be counted on to see things from her point of view. He must know how worried she was about Taffy foaling for the first time.

“Thanks, big brother,” she said, spreading the blankets over the clean, sweet-smelling straw in one corner. She grabbed the lantern and settled herself on a blanket. With a flick of her wrist she turned up the flame.

“You keep a sharp watch on that light, do you hear?” Justin warned with a concerned frown. “You don’t want to burn the barn down.”

“I’m always careful about that,” Andi replied, stung. No one needed to remind her of the dangers of an unattended lantern in the barn! She carefully set the lantern on an overturned metal pail and looked up hopefully. “Do you think Chad will get home in time to take a look at her?”

Justin closed the half-door and leaned over it. “You’re worried about nothing, honey. What do you bet Taffy surprises us with a foal by tomorrow morning?”

Andi dropped her gaze to the blanket and fingered a handful of straw. “I just feel like something’s wrong.”

She scooted up against the wall and leaned back with a sigh. “I know Chad and Mitch can’t skip important meetings, but”—she glanced over to where Taffy stood swishing her tail and nibbling daintily at her hay—“Chad knows horses. He knows ’em better than any rancher in the Valley. He can’t help Taffy if he’s at some dumb old meeting about cattle!”

Justin smiled. “He’ll probably be home by midnight. If I hear him come in, I’ll ask him to check on Taffy. Would that make you feel better?”

Andi smiled in relief and nodded. A few minutes later she was alone in the barn with her horse—and her thoughts.

[Click here for Part 2]

Double Surprise (Short Story): Part 2 of 5

2011-05-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

Read part 1 HERE

A frightened whinny and the sound of labored breathing jerked Andi from a deep sleep. She sat up with a gasp and turned to the still-lit lantern. Guilt washed over her when she realized she had committed the unpardonable sin on the Circle C ranch—leaving a lantern unattended. Taffy could have kicked it over and the whole barn—including herself and the rest of the horses—would have gone up in flames.

Andi hadn’t planned on falling asleep. She’d only meant to stay with Taffy an hour or two before heading back to the house and her own warm bed. “I can’t even stay awake to watch after my own horse,” she mumbled, disgusted.

But there was no time to kick herself for her inattention. When she saw Taffy down and in obvious distress, she jumped up and hurried over to the mare.

“Taffy!” Andi reached out a shaking hand and tried to calm her friend. There was no doubt the mare was in labor, and having a rough time of it.

Andi grabbed the lantern. “I’ll be right back, Taffy. I promise!”

She fled the barn and broke into a run, holding the light high to find her way through the thick, winter fog that had suddenly blanketed the ranch in a cold, wet mist. The light barely penetrated the black night.
As Andi entered the kitchen, she heard the clock strike two. Two o’clock in the morning! Surely Chad is home by now. Why didn’t Justin send him out to the barn?

Andi raced up the back stairs from the kitchen to the second floor. Her feet clattered down the hallway, muffled only slightly by the thick carpeting.

“Chad!” Andi whispered when she burst into her brother’s room. A wave of relief washed over her when she saw he was home. Setting the lantern on the floor, she approached his bed on tip toes.
“Chad, wake up.”

There was no answer.

Andi reached out and shook his shoulder. “Please, Chad. Wake up!”

“Go away,” Chad muttered, half-asleep. He slapped Andi’s hand away as if she were a pesky mosquito. Then he rolled onto his side and ignored her.

“You’ve got to wake up and come out to the barn.” Andi’s voice was a harsh whisper. She shook him again.

Chad rolled over and opened one eye. He glared at Andi. “It’s the middle of the night. Whatever it is, it can wait ’til morning.” He yawned. “Go back to bed.”

“No,” Andi replied, near tears. She was frightened, and shivering with cold from her stay in the barn. Her beloved horse lay in a stall, suffering—perhaps even dying. Taffy’s foal might be in danger too. How could she convince her exhausted brother to help her?
“You’ve got to take a look at Taffy, Chad," she pleaded. "She’s in trouble. She’s foaling and—”

“That’s nice,” Chad mumbled. “Let her do it her own way.” He pulled a pillow over his head and promptly fell back to sleep.

Andi took a deep breath. Then another. She knew Chad might react poorly to what she was about to do, but she had no choice. She was desperate.

Andi reached out, grabbed Chad’s pillow, and gave it a mighty yank. The pillow came readily into her arms. She stumbled backward and fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Chad groaned and sat up, awake at last. He gave Andi a dangerous look. “What time is it?”

“Two o’clock,” Andi whispered. She slowly got to her feet and gripped the pillow in an attempt to protect herself from Chad’s quick temper. It was possible he might grab her and land a few swats to her backside for waking him at such an hour.

But Chad just stared at her, dazed and bleary-eyed.

Andi took a cautious step forward, blinking back tears. “Please, Chad. You’ve got to check on Taffy. She’s bad-off.”

Chad ran his fingers through his thick, black hair and yawned. “I’ve been asleep for a whole hour,” he grumbled. Then he squinted at her. “You’re covered with hay. Have you been out in the barn all evening?”

Andi nodded. “But I fell asleep. When I woke up . . . Oh, never mind. Just come with me.”

“All right, all right,” he finally consented. “Give me a minute to get dressed.” He fixed a stern warning look on Andi. “But if this is a false alarm, little sister, you’re going to be very sorry.”

Chad's words were still ringing in Andi’s ears as she fled her brother’s room and hurried back to the barn.

[CLICK HERE FOR PART 3]

Double Surprise (Short Story): Part 3 of 5

2011-05-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

Read Part 1 HERE

Chad came completely awake the minute he stepped into Taffy’s stall. Andi saw the sudden, alert look in his eyes and the furrowing of his brow.

“You’re right,” he admitted, “Taffy’s in trouble. It looks like she should have dropped that foal by now.” He ran his hands down the mare’s quivering flank and spoke softly to her.

Andi watched in helpless terror. “You . . . you can pull her through, can’t you?”

“I don’t know. I’ll do everything I can. But you have to help.”

“I will,” Andi said, nodding. “Just tell me what to do.” She felt stronger now, with her brother in charge. Chad would save Taffy. He must!

“I need soap and water. Never mind if it’s hot. Just bring me a bucket of water from the pump and lots of soap.”

Andi lit a second lantern and hurried to do her brother’s bidding. Please, God! she prayed breathlessly as she ran to the pump. Show Chad what to do.

The fog was thicker than before, and the cold night swirled around Andi. She found a bucket near the water trough and started pumping the handle for all she was worth. Icy water gushed from the spout.

When it was full, Andi picked up the bucket in one hand and snagged the lantern with her free hand.

Hurry, hurry! she commanded herself. But the full bucket kept her at a slow limp. Water sloshed over the lip, splashing her overalls. The freezing liquid soaked through, and Andi felt goose bumps crawling up and down her legs.

“Here,” she gasped, setting the pail down next to Chad. Then she ran for the lye soap. Thankfully it was on a nearby shelf. She threw it in the bucket of water and waited for more orders.

Taffy lifted her head and looked at Andi. Then she laid it down as a ripple coursed through her body. She whinnied weakly.

Andi choked back a sob. “Do something. Chad. I don’t want to lose her.”

“Take it easy,” came his quiet warning. “There’s no sense getting upset before we know what's wrong.”

Chad was often impulsive and quick-tempered, but when it came to an emergency, he could be as patient and composed as Justin. Now, he calmly dipped his hands into the bucket of icy water and proceeded to scrub with soap, clear up to his elbows.

Andi shivered, watching all that freezing water drench Chad’s arms, but her brother didn’t bat an eyelash.

“All right,” he said, shaking his dripping hands in the night air, “Let’s find out what’s going on. The best thing would be if you can get Taffy to stand up. It would make it easier on both of us, but she might not want to. Can you do it?”

“I sure can!” Andi said, more to convince herself than to convince Chad. After all, wasn’t Taffy her very best friend? Surely she would understand that Andi had only her best interest in mind! And hadn’t Chad trained Taffy since she was a foal? Of course, the mare could trust Chad!

With soft words and a gentle but firm tug to the halter, Andi coaxed her mare to stand. Taffy hung her head, and her whole body shuddered. “Good girl,” she praised her, rubbing her nose. "Just take it easy. It’ll all be over soon. Chad’s here. He’ll make everything all right.”

But Andi was trembling on the inside. She waited on pins and needles to hear what Chad would find out when he examined the mare.

A small gasp of surprise made Andi’s heart skip a beat. But she didn’t say anything, for fear of interrupting her brother’s concentration.

“Uh-oh,” Chad muttered a few minutes later. He glanced at Andi in astonishment.

“What is it?” she whispered. “What’s wrong?”

“I think there’s more than one foal in here.”

“Twins?” A feeling of despair washed over Andi. She’d seen twin foals once before—a long time ago. Both had been born dead a month before their time. Her eyes blurred with tears.

This can’t be happening! Andi thought wildly. It’s all a horrible, scary nightmare! Please, God! I want to wake up right now. In my own warm bed, with Taffy safe in her stall and one healthy foal beside her. Not two! Oh, please, not two!

She shook herself free of her thoughts and blinked back tears. “Can you . . . can you save them?”

Chad paused, and Andi knew he was getting ready to tell her a hard truth. He never lied to her, not even to save her feelings.

“I don’t know,” he finally said, “but I’ll do my best. I promise.” He gave Andi an encouraging smile, but she didn’t smile back.

She was too scared.

[Click here to read PART 4]

Double Surprise (Short Story): Part 4 of 5

2011-05-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

Read Part 1 HERE

Chad kept talking. “It’s a bit of a tangle in there. Both foals are trying to make their way out at the same time.”

“What will you do?” Andi asked, wide-eyed.

“Well, I reckon I’ll try to untangle the little fellows and sort things out. Then I can push one back.” He paused as Taffy strained unsuccessfully to push out a foal. “But it’s not going to be easy. And it’s got to be soon. It’s been too long already. We might lose the foals, and Taffy too.”

Andi caught her breath. “No!”

Chad reached out and gripped Andi by her shoulders. His hands felt like two chunks of ice, even through her jacket. “Listen, Andi. I want you to keep Taffy standing quietly. Don’t let her go down until I say so. It’s important. Do you think you can do that?”

Andi nodded. “Taffy trusts you, Chad. She trusts me. I’ll just tell her it’s the only way. She’ll understand. She’ll stay up and quiet if I ask her to.”

“I sure hope so,” Chad muttered. Then he plunged his hands once again into the bucket of icy water. This time he was shivering as he scrubbed. “Ready?”

Andi kept her end of the arrangement. She talked to Taffy and stroked her nose—anything to keep the mare’s attention away from what Chad was doing. It appeared as though Taffy realized her human friends were trying to help. She never moved.

“I think I’ve got one of the foals lined up,” Chad announced at last in a drained voice. “Let her go, so she can lie down.”

Taffy immediately settled down in the straw, clearly exhausted.

“Please, Taffy,” Andi encouraged, “You can do it.” She rubbed Taffy’s nose, which lay flat against the ground.

“Come over by me, Andi,” Chad said from where he was kneeling in the straw. “Things should move pretty fast now.”

Andi rose shakily and stumbled to her brother’s side. He reached out and pulled her close. Then he took one of Andi’s shaking hands and gave it a squeeze.

He grinned. “Calm down, little sister. You’d think you were having the foals instead of the horse.”

Andi couldn’t calm down. She fixed her gaze on the huge golden body in front of her and prayed silently once again. Surely God knew how much she loved Taffy!

A ripple passed over the mare’s body. Two tiny hooves and a little nose appeared.

“Oh, I hope he’s alive,” Andi whispered. She shivered in the cold night air.

A tired smile replaced the look of worry on Chad’s face. “I think we did it.” He reached out to help extract the foal. Two pushes later, a small, chocolate-colored foal lay quietly on the stall floor. Chad wasted no time. He started rubbing the baby with straw.

Without a word, Andi grabbed a handful of straw and set to work helping break the tough sack that enclosed the newborn. She paused only when the little one sneezed and shook his head.
"Oh, he's alive!" Andi burst out. "He's going to be OK! He's just got to be!"

Taffy showed a brief interest in her baby, then concentrated on delivering the second foal. Once the first foal was out of the way, the second had room to turn on his own. He slid into the world without too much trouble.

Andi grinned her delight. One chocolate foal and one cream-colored. They were beautiful—two little colts. The second foal took longer to recover from his ordeal, and Chad hovered over the little one for some time.

“See if there’s any hot water left on the cook stove. I think a warm bran mash might perk Taffy up,” Chad suggested. “She’s been through a lot.”

Andi nodded and rushed off to do her brother’s bidding. There was just enough water in the warming tank on the stove to put together a nice mash. Andi stirred in a little molasses as well. She was relieved when Taffy perked up at the smell of the concoction and worked her way through a good portion of it.
A few minutes later, the mare shook her head and struggled to get to her feet, breaking the lifeline between herself and her foals.

“Good girl, Taffy,” Andi encouraged her. “You’ve got to get up for your babies. Come on, girl. All the way up.”

Taffy made it to her feet and stood, trembling. She shook out her mane and suddenly seemed to come to herself. Turning around, she approached the foals, sniffing them delicately. Then she began the time-consuming task of washing them down with her rough tongue.

Chad sighed and rose to his feet. “That’s a good sign. She’s showing some interest in the foals. It means she’s over the worst of it. She's going to be fine.”

Andi let out a long, deep breath. Thank you, God! Then she threw her arms around her brother and hugged him gratefully. “Thanks, Chad.”

“Take a look at that,” Chad said. He turned his sister around and pointed. The foals were trying to stand. Their heads were wobbly, but the chocolate colt had his back legs up. Then he fell over into the soft straw.

“It's amazing,” Chad said with a chuckle, “considering what they’ve been through. I think it would be a good idea to stick around and see if they need help with their first meal.”

Andi nodded eagerly. Wild horses couldn’t pull her away from the barn tonight, no matter how cold and tired she felt! I wonder what time it is, she wondered. It felt like hours had passed, but Andi knew it couldn’t have been more than an hour.

Yawning and shivering, Andi sat back against the wall and watched as the new family became acquainted. Minutes ticked by while she waited for the foals to nurse. It seemed that just as soon as one of the foals stood up, the other tried and crashed into him. Then they both went down.

Andi shivered. Now that the immediate crisis was over, she felt the chill night creeping in on her. Come on, little fellas! Nurse!

Andi rubbed her eyes to stay awake. Worry clutched at her stomach. The foals were so little. And it was so cold! How long would Chad wait before lending a hand?

[ Click here to read the CONCLUSION]

Double Surprise (Short Story): Conclusion

2011-05-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

Read Part 1 HERE

The longer Andi sat in the straw, the colder she became. The lantern gave off a pale yellow light, which made shadows lurk in the corners. She didn’t know how much longer she could stay out here.

If I’m this cold, how much colder must the new babies be?

“Please can we help them nurse?” Andi begged. She had tried to keep her mind off the cold by thinking of names for the colts. But it was hard to think at all, she was shivering so much.

“I’d rather let them do it themselves,” Chad told her. “As long as they’re strong enough to stand, we’ll let them have a go at it. If they start to tire, then we’ll give them a hand.”

Andi reluctantly agreed. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to get warm. It was no use. She clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering.

“I think you’d better go up to bed,” Chad suggested. “Mother will skin me alive when she learns you’ve been out here most of the night, especially in this weather. I’ll stay and make sure they get their first meal.”

“I’m staying,” Andi insisted. She stifled a yawn. “You’re the one who got soaked tonight. Maybe you should go inside, before you fall asleep standing up.”

It was true. Chad looked exhausted. He was leaning against the stall wall, eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest. He couldn’t be very warm. His jacket had been thrown over the shirt he’d worn while sloshing around in the icy bucket.

“I’m not going to bed, only to be awakened an hour from now for some new emergency,” Chad said. He smiled to take the sting from his words. “If you’re dead set on staying up the rest of the night, we’d better find something warmer than what you have on. No sense catching a chill.”

It was too late for that, Andi knew. She’d caught a chill already, and it wasn’t likely to go away just because Chad threw some old horse blanket around her shoulders.

But her brother snagged the woolen blankets Andi had used earlier and kneeled beside her. “This will help,” he said, pulling the blanket up to her chin. Then he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Warmer?”

“A little,” she replied, leaning against him. It wasn’t exactly true, but it was the only thing she could say to keep from being sent indoors. So she snuggled closer and fixed her gaze on her foals.

Slowly, Andi’s shivering lessened, to be replaced with a feeling of overwhelming weariness. Her eyelids drooped. This won’t do at all! she told herself. I can’t fall asleep!

But a slight shaking told Andi that she had, indeed, drifted off to sleep.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, jerking awake.

“I think it’s time to we gave these little fellas some help,” Chad confessed.

The chocolate foal, whom Andi decided to name Shasta, had managed to stay up longer than ten seconds. He took three wobbly steps and bumped into his mother. Immediately, his short, curly white tail jerked back and forth, but he was poking around in the wrong place.

Andi tossed the blanket aside and gently pulled Shasta out from between Taffy’s front legs. Giggling, she guided the colt toward the mare’s full udder and watched in satisfaction as he grabbed hold of a teat and started nursing.

Chad brought the smaller colt, Sunny, to Taffy’s other side. “This one’s not quite as strong. He’s worn himself out trying to stand and walk. I’d better make sure he gets a bellyful.”

With a practiced hand, Chad put the cream-colored colt within a nose’s reach of the warm milk. It didn’t take long for Sunny to catch on, and Chad held him up so he could get all he needed.

Bellies full at last, Andi let Shasta flop down in the hay near her. She stroked the tired foal and talked to him. Soon, Sunny lay next to her as well. Taffy lowered her head and nibbled at Andi’s hair.

Thanks for helping with my babies, she seemed to be saying.

“You’re welcome,” Andi said aloud, reaching up to stroke Taffy’s soft nose. “But don’t forget to thank Chad too.”

Taffy’s head went up, and her ears pricked forward. She whinnied softly.

Chad gave Taffy a friendly slap on the neck. “Hey, it was my pleasure.” Then he turned to Andi. “Come on, Andi. Time to turn in. Taffy can handle things from here.”

Andi snagged a blanket and scrunched down farther into the soft straw between Shasta and Sunny.

“Oh, no, Chad! I’m staying here. Please? I’ll be cozy and warm with the foals.” She yawned. “I’m too tired to walk back to the house anyway. And if I do go to bed, I’ll just lie awake the rest of the night worrying. But I bet I fall right to sleep out here.”

Chad let out a long, slow breath. “Well, it’s unlikely I’ll ever get warm, but I’m going back to bed. I’m done in.”

He picked up the lantern and turned for a final word.

“You helped save Taffy and those foals tonight, you know,” he said. “Good job.”

Andi mumbled something, but she hadn’t really heard her brother.

She was fast asleep.

The End

Dumb Laws

2011-03-18T15:24:00.000-07:00

In my latest adventure, Price of Truth, I had to go to court. Believe me, this was not a fun day. I was a witness and I had to get up and tell what I saw. But I did learn a lot about the law. It's mostly good, actually.

However, sometimes I wonder where some of our laws come from. It's like the lawmakers were asleep when they made the laws. (Probably a lot of the laws had good reasons when they were first passed, but somebody forgot to take them out of the books when they didn't apply any longer.)

I found some really dumb ones. They made me smile, which helped me get over my horrible day in court. Maybe they will make you smile too.

~ In Kentucky, the law says that a person must take a bath once a year.
~ It is illegal to tie an alligator to a fire hydrant in Michigan.
~ You may not ride an ugly horse in Wilbur, Washington.
~ In Virginia, chickens cannot lay eggs before 8:00 am, and must be done before 4 pm.
~ You may not carry a concealed weapon over six feet in length in Seattle, Washington.
~ And listen, all you kids, it is illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your pocket in Kentucky.
~ In Memphis, Tennessee, it is against the law to drive a car while you are sleeping.
~ But there is a dumber law in New York. It is against the law for a blind person to drive an automobile. (Go figure!)

California has some really dumb laws:
~ You may not wear cowboy boots unless you already own at least two cows.
~ In Santa Ana, you may not swim on dry land.
~ No vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 miles per hour in the state.
~ You may not shoot at any type of game from a moving vehicle, unless the target is a whale.

And just so the pets don't feel left out, in North Carolina it is illegal for dogs and cats to fight.

If you would like to find silly laws from your own state, click here: DUMB LAWS

Black Bart . . . Stagecoach Robber!

2011-02-07T21:57:00.000-08:00

This fellow, Black Bart, was California's most famous stagecoach robber! He was the "gentleman" robber, mostly because I hear tell that he was always polite when robbing folks. My brother Mitch told me all about this fellow. He started robbing stagecoaches back in 1875, when I was about seven.

I think Mitch was hoping a dime novel would be written about Black Bart. He's a real robber, even though he sounds like a storybook character. Here's a picture of him.

The first time Black Bart held up a stage, he stepped out in front of it with a 12-gauge, double-barreled shotgun, and said, "Please throw down the box." (That would be the Wells Fargo strong box, full of gold and money.) The stage driver did what Bart told him, on account of it looked like there were six other highwaymen behind rocks. But guess what! They were STICKS! Black Bart tricked them!

Black Bart only robbed Wells Fargo stagecoaches, and he only took the strong boxes. He was always polite to the ladies and never, ever stole their jewelry. He was a tricky highwayman. He only robbed the stagecoaches up in the mountains, where they had to slow down to go around curves. And he never harmed anyone. Ever. Fact is, when he finally got caught, they figured out his gun was never loaded!

Black Bart sometimes left poetry after he robbed the stagecoaches. I asked Mitch why he would do that, but Mitch doesn't know. Nobody knows.

He got away with his robberies for eight years and stole $18,000 from Wells Fargo. But of course, his luck finally ran out. Black Bart got arrested and went to San Quentin prison in 1883, when I was about fourteen.

But the most mysterious thing about Black Bart was this: After he served his time in prison, he was released (he got out early). And then . . . Black Bart left prison, walked away, and disappeared without a trace!

Stagecoach Robbers!

2011-02-01T17:20:00.000-08:00

I was not excited to learn that my new brother-in-law might be a stagecoach robber (see Family Secret). When Kate announced that at supper, my mouth fell open. Why would anybody want to rob a stagecoach? Well, mostly for the strong box, I think, and for the passengers’ valuables.

One place where stagecoaches get robbed (according to the Fresno Expositor newspaper, which Mitch likes to read out loud) is along the road to the Yosemite Valley, up in the Sierras. Later on, Yosemite will become the first national Park in the U.S. But right now in 1880, Yosemite is wild and rugged. When that fella, John Muir, wrote about the beauty of those mountains, word got around. Then everybody wanted to visit that place. They also wanted to see the giant sequoias. They still do.

Up north in Madera, the Yosemite Stage and Turnpike Company offers trips to Yosemite for $45 round trip. That's a heap of money, when you think that most folks earn only a dollar a day around here. Only rich folks can afford these trips. And it takes all day to get there. I'm not in a hurry to visit Yosemite, but Mother thinks we might take a look at it this next summer. The roads are dusty and dangerous, steep and narrow. And because the rich folks are on these stages, it hasn't taken the road agents (that's another word for outlaw) long to figure out they are easy pickin's.

I've heard tell that these highwaymen (another word for outlaw) hold up the stage in the middle of nowhere. They steal watches, rings, money, and even buttons (I wonder if they take them all so ladies' dresses don't stay up. Wouldn't Melinda yell about that!) They also demand the cash box the driver carries under his seat.

I would think these robberies would scare the tourists away (but they wouldn't scare me. Sounds kind of exciting, actually). And guess what? Other folks feel the same way as I do. I read in the paper the other day that some visitors think it's "romantic" to be held up by stagecoach robbers. While the men passengers are on the alert, prepared for the terrible possibility of getting robbed on the trip, the ladies think differently. One lady asked (so the Expositor says), “Do you think they will rob us this trip?”
   “Oh, no, madam,” came the station master’s reply. “There is no danger at all.”
   “Oh,” the lady said, downcast. “I do wish they would!”
   I'm with her. The idea of an exciting encounter with a real, live road agent in the dark forests of a mountain trail would go a long way in getting me excited about a trip up to Yosemite.
   What about you? Would you be scared? Or excited?

Meet Pickles!

2010-12-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

This is Pickles, my blue-belly lizard. I've had this little fellow for a long time, since I was about six years old. I know Pickles is a "he" lizard, because he has blue markings on his belly. Only the male lizards have a blue belly.

Some folks call them the Western Fence Lizard, on account of they like to sun themselves on fence posts. This isn't too healthy for the lizards, as it makes them easy prey for birds to snatch up. Snakes like to eat blue belly lizards too. They escape by being fast, but sometimes they're not fast enough.

My friend Cory gave me Pickles. He figured I was lonely my first day of school and thought I could keep Pickles in my desk for company. Nice thought. Wrong schoolroom. Our teacher, Miss Hall, nearly had a heart attack when she saw Pickles. He escaped and the class went crazy. It was the funniest thing I ever saw! It almost ended badly for Pickles, but in the end he became my pet.

Pickles is easy as pie to take care of. The best pet I've ever had (I don't consider Taffy a "pet." She's more like a best friend). Pickles eats ants, crickets, and all kinds of crawly creatures that my sister Melinda hates. He especially likes spiders! He can gobble up half a dozen at a time. And see how tame he is? I've trained him to lie on his back in my hand. And sometimes he falls asleep because he's feeling so relaxed.

Pickles likes summers best, when it's good and hot. During the winter I keep him tucked away behind the wood cook stove in the kitchen. Mitch made me a box for Pickles, with a screen for a lid. He stays warm and cozy back there. And part of the winter he hibernates too.

P.S. Melinda thinks Pickles is disgusting. She won't even hold him . . . not even for a minute. And once I had a whole jar of spiders I was collecting for Pickles, but they accidentally got out (in her room), and boy did Melinda yell at me about that! That was not a good day.

Is Mitch Crazy or What?

2010-11-26T15:46:00.000-08:00

The other day my brother Mitch got this crazy, horribly dangerous idea into his head. Sure, his horse Chase is fast (even faster than Taffy), but Mitch bragged that Chase is faster than even the Iron Horse. (That's the name for a train in the 1800s).

So Mitch saddled up Chase and headed out to meet the 4:40 train that was due in to Fresno one afternoon. He rode way out, so he could catch it before it reached the railroad crossing. The road crosses the tracks at the crossing, and Mitch said he could beat the train there and cross the tracks before the train did. I couldn't bear to watch, because I thought it was a stupid idea, actually. I have three brothers, but even at that, I can't afford to lose Mitch. If I did, who would take my side during all my arguments with Chad?

But all's well that ends well. Mitch took his friend Peter with him to back his story up (and maybe drag him out of trouble if it came to that), and Peter said Mitch beat that ol' Iron Horse by 20 yards, if not more.

Well, 20 yards doesn't seem like too big of a lead if you ask me. Not when that black, metal beast was traveling at 30 miles an hour! And here I thought that I was the crazy, impulsive one of the family. I wouldn't try that trick on Taffy . . . not for all the gold in California.

*NOTE*
(The American Quarter Horse is the king of speed. In fact, racing American Quarter Horses have been clocked at nearly 50 mph as they cross the finish line.)

Yokut Indians

2010-11-17T15:20:00.000-08:00

When I was out riding around the foothills the other day, I came across an old, abandoned Indian dwelling. Right away it reminded me of the afternoon I spent with the Yokut Indians when I was about six years old. What a scary time! I was scared to death of Indians . . . mostly because my friend Riley had read me this scary, scary book (called a dime novel) about Indians capturing people.

Then, we ended up getting lost in the middle of the ranch (after all, I was just a little kid), and two Indian boys showed up from behind some bushes! I was so scared, I started crying. Then worse! An Indian man showed up. There were Indians everywhere!

Come to find out, these Indians were the Yokuts, a peaceful, kind people. Riley and I ended up having a great time playing with the other children, eating acorn mush, and spending the night in a hut that looked just like the one above. The next day, the Yokut man, Lum-pa, took Riley and me home.

I promised my new Yokut friend, Choo-nook, that I would come back and see her again. And I did a few times. But I haven't seen her for a couple of years now, and I wonder if they moved. I know that a lot of white people were after the Yokuts (can you believe there was a $5.00 bounty on their heads? That means if they were KILLED, the killer got $5.00!). I find that horrible! No wonder they were hiding on our ranch, like Father suggested they do years and years ago.

I sure hope Choo-nook and her family are all right. I hope nobody found them.

But I wonder . . .

My Special Spot

2010-11-13T14:03:00.000-08:00

I finally found the perfect picture of my "special spot" up by the creek. This is it. Right by that big ol' oak tree. This is the fishing spot, where Cory and I fish for trout. Surrounded by hot, dry range land, my creek is usually a cool, refreshing place to play and rest, even in the summer. (Well, I have to admit, maybe it's not quite this green in August). But in the early spring, it can't be beat. I come up here when I want to be alone (like after I get yelled at by my bossy brother, Chad), or want to think, or want to splash and cool off. And that oak tree is a great climbing tree, by the way.

So you can imagine how shocked I was to find this creek nearly dry one October day not so long ago. And can you just see some poor, half-dead fellow lying face down in the mud in the middle of this creek? Well, that was an adventure that is hard to forget. You can read all about it in Andrea Carter and the Family Secret.

If you have a special place for thinking or "getting away from it all," leave a comment and tell me about it!

Price Loco the Stallion (Part 2: at the fair)

2010-09-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

Read Part 1 of this story HERE.

Our whole family went to the California State Fair this summer. It was, in one word . . . HOT! Not much shade, unless you paid your nickel to go inside the tent of one of the dozens of thrill shows. It was almost worth the nickel, just to get out of the sun.

I've never seen such strange freaks: a tiny man, no taller than my knee; a fellow who could swallow a sword, and somebody who could lift more than a dozen men standing on a board! My eyes nearly popped out of my head at that!

To get into the fair, we each had to buy a ticket. This is a later ticket (1898), but it looks the same, probably. (keep reading . . .)

Sometimes I had to follow Mother around and look at the exhibits in the huge halls. How would YOU like to walk around and look at stuff like this? This is an exhibit of cut flowers and flower seeds. Come on! Why would I care about cut flowers and seeds? I'd rather watch the horse race!

Speaking of the horse race, guess what! Chad got crazy old Prince Loco trained well enough to race him at the fair. It was the most exciting race ever! It was a one-mile race, and the purse (prize) was $5,000! The governor had his horse competing, too, along with a dozen others. Near the end, Prince Loco and that high-falutin' governor's horse ran neck-to-neck. I was screaming so loud, my throat got sore. I couldn't hear myself because 8,000 other folks in the grandstand were screaming too.

And what do you know? Prince Loco won! Yep, fair and square, by a hoof beat. $5,000! Chad was pretty proud. We all ran onto the field and hugged him, and then Governor Perkins came out of the grandstand and shook Chad's hand. "No hard feelings," he said. "Good race."

Then Chad surprised me! Right there, in front of everybody (and the governor too), he tossed me up on Prince Loco (my first time on his back, by the way). I guess Chad wanted to show any potential buyers that Prince Loco isn't so loco anymore--not if a young girl can ride safely on his back. Mother was a bit horrified, on account of I was wearing my Sunday-best. But I was just proud as Chad about the mean old stallion finally being good for something.

And then, just when I didn't think I could be surprised anymore, Governor Perkins made an offer to buy Prince Loco! (Lots of folks buy and sell prize-winning livestock at the fair).

So we came home from the fair a lot richer than when we went. And I'm not sorry in the least that Prince Loco is gone . . . for good. Probably he'll end up being a famous race horse somewhere. But I bet he won't be calling him "Prince Loco!"

Look-a-likes

2010-08-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

Meet the little model for some of the illustrations for the new Circle C Beginnings series for kids ages 6-8. Her name is Kaetlyn, and she is six years old in these pictures. She has had a lot of fun playing with the horses and trying different modeling poses. The fantastic illustrator is my friend, Leslie Gammelgaard, who has totally outdone herself with her covers and b/w illustrations. I wish I could direct you to her website, but I don't think she has one. If you want to see more, you'll just have to go HERE and download the Activity Packs.

Cooling Off

2010-08-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

Since it's August, I thought I'd post this picture of me in the horse trough in front of our barn and tell you how I got there.

It was a perfect Sunday afternoon. Well, nearly perfect. The sun was a mite too hot, and any breeze felt just about like the blacksmith's bellows from the livery. Ever felt that? It's hot! It was too hot to ride Taffy, so I thought I'd wander around the ranch yard and see if anything interesting was going on with the cowhands. Sometimes they tell the best stories! But alas, the hands were lounging around, trying to find a cool spot to get out of the heat.

And then . . . I spotted him . . .
My brother Mitch was taking a snooze under the big oak tree on the other side of the barn. It's a great climbing tree, and also a great tree for shade. Mitch looked sound asleep, which is really the only way to beat the heat down here in the San Joaquin Valley in August. You sort of sleep the heat away.

This was an opportunity I simply could not pass up. No, sir! Quick as a little blue-belly lizard, I skittered on back to the house, slipped into the kitchen, and helped myself to the big pitcher. I pumped it full of cool, fresh water and tip-toed my way out the back door. (I don't think Mother would have been very thrilled to see what I was up to).

Three minutes later I was standing over my brother. He was sleeping peacefully, no doubt dreaming of a nice, cool swim in the creek. Well, I can give him the next best thing, I thought with a grin. One, two, three . . .

Ker-splash! I dumped the entire pitcher of water on Mitch's head. He didn't have his hat on, so it was a bulls-eye for sure. I didn't stick around to hear him yell or to see the look on his wet face. Nope. I just dropped that pitcher and ran away like a jack rabbit.

The fact is, Mitch is pretty fast. Faster even then me . . . and I can run pretty fast when I've a mind to. And I had a mind to just then. But it was no use. I heard the slapping of wet boots gaining on me and a wicked laugh. Yep, that meant Mitch was pretty sure he would be able to catch me.

"I'm sorry!" I hollered. "I won't do it again." But Mitch knew that was not true one little bit. I just said it because it was all part of the game. Every time I pulled this trick, I was sure I could outrun him. But so far I hadn't been able to.

This time I made it as far as the barn. I planned to duck into a stall and hide in a corner until Mitch gave up looking for me. But I didn't make it that far.

"Gottcha!" Mitch yelled, and I felt an iron grip on my arm. Then chuckling. Uh-oh!

With one swoop, Mitch caught me up in his arms, nearly ran to the horse trough, and dumped me in. Just like that. The good news is the water was cool and refreshing. The bad news is the water was dirty and mucky and needed draining and refilling. I guess that wasn't such good planning on my part.

But by now both Mitch and I were laughing our heads off, so it ended well. He started pumping the handle and ducked his head under the water and got even wetter. So I knew he wasn't really mad at me. It was just all part of a summer's game.

And what about next time? I have this great idea. I'm going to tie Taffy up close by for a fast getaway . . .

Prince Loco the Stallion (Part 1)

2010-08-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

Isn't he a beauty? Coal-black but meaner than a cornered rattlesnake--that was Chad's new stallion. Of course, I didn't believe Chad when he told me that horse was too wild to go near. As usual, I thought, "Chad doesn't know what he's talking about. That horse will like me. All horses like me."
Especially if I'm offering sugar.

OK, so sometimes I'm not as smart as I look. But all that is history . . . pretty much hashed out in the first book of my adventures: Andrea Carter and the Long Ride Home.

But the story of that stallion doesn't end there . . .

After my mis-adventure while trying to recover Taffy, I came home and discovered that I wasn't the only person Prince Loco (that's what I called him because he acted so crazy when somebody tried to work with

him) liked trying to kill. Jake, one of our ranch hands, was unlucky enough to get on Loco's wrong side one day. I was watching (from a safe distance, of course), while Chad told Jake to bring him the halter. Chad was standing in the corral with Loco (Loco behaved himself around Chad. My brother's just got the "gift" with horses . . . even crazy-mean ones.)

Anyway, Jake slid quietly into the corral, handed off the halter to Chad, and was real keen on not sticking around. Chad had just started putting the halter on Loco--talking real sweet to him the whole time--when Loco decided that Jake would be his next victim. That horse reared up, knocked Chad to his backside on the ground, and took off after Jake with a scream. (If you've never heard a horse scream, well, it's a scary sound).

I never saw a fellow run so fast as Jake ran! He didn't even bother to go over the corral fence. He dived and slid under the bottom rail in a cloud of dust! Loco's snapping teeth just missed Jake by a hair's breadth.

I was holding my breath, scared half to death (knowing what a "narrow escape" feels like), when I heard the sound of loud laughter. Well, I knew it wasn't Jake laughing, so I looked over toward the corral. Chad was sitting on the ground, covered with dust, laughing his head off at the sight of Jake lying face down in the dirt. Loco was rearing up and whinnying his anger at missing his target.

Eventually everything got back in order. Loco responded to Chad's whistle and settled down just like a lamb. Jake rose to his feet and drew a shaky hand across his forehead. Then he glared at Chad. With a teasing grin, Chad tossed him his hat and went back to working with Loco.

When Jake passed by me, I didn't say a word.

(Part 2 of the Prince Loco story continues HERE.)

The "Rest of the Story"

2010-08-06T16:34:00.000-07:00

I'm starting a new category called "Ranch Stories." These will be posts that tie up loose ends that some of the books hinted at. For instance, whatever happened to that big, black stallion that nearly killed me in the first few chapters of Long Ride Home? Or what about Felicity? Did she ever turn over a new leaf? Or what happened to little Lin Mei in San Francisco Smugglers? Did she get to stay at the Mission Home or did she end up back in Chinatown?

Whenever I learn something new (from my brothers or my mother or from other sources), I'll see if I can tell the "rest of the story" for some of my favorite characters and/or events.

Hey, if there is some incident or person you are interested in and you want to know what happened to them, just ask me in the Chat Box or in a comment, and I'll get right on investigating it!

An Afternoon Ride

2010-04-27T20:16:00.000-07:00

My pesky nephew, Levi (who isn't as pesky as he used to be), and I wanted to take an afternoon ride up in the hills. It looks sunny in this picture but really, the clouds were starting to roll in. But somehow Levi managed to talk Justin into letting us go for one last ride before my older sister Kate and her three little kids moved to San Francisco. (I tell you what . . . it was a long month having them around, but I finally decided they were kind of fun after all . . . after they learned some manners.)

Justin put me in charge of everybody for the ride (the little girls were going along too), and Levi wasn't too happy about me being the "boss." But as you can see here, Justin pretty much said Levi could just go on back to the house if he wasn't going to agree. Levi may not look like he's paying attention, but he is. He settled down after that and we took off for an afternoon we thought was going to be a quick trip but turned out to be a nightmare . . .

~ a little peek from Andrea Carter and the Family Secret

My mother, Elizabeth

2010-04-26T13:32:00.000-07:00

It has taken me a long time to write something about my dear mother. Mostly because I couldn't find a picture that I liked. This one isn't my favorite, but it will have to do, because I really do want get something written down about her. My mother's name is Elizabeth, and she has blond hair like Melinda and Mitch. She's the best mother in the entire Valley and probably in the whole state of California. I'd like to grow up to be just like her, but I think I fall short most days. But I'm getting ahead of myself . . .

My mother was born in 1828, in Pennsylvania. Her father was this really well-to-do shopkeeper in Pittsburgh. When he heard about the gold strike out in California in 1849, my grandfather Carl sold his business and packed up his whole family and headed for the gold fields. Twenty-one-year-old Elizabeth liked the idea of an adventure out West, but the trip ended in disaster. Her father caught influenza and died in a muddy gold camp only a month after arriving. His wife (my grandmother) immediately packed up the two younger children and returned to Pennsylvania. My mother, however, decided to stay and make a life for herself in the new boom town of San Francisco. She opened a store (I guess Grandfather Carl had taught her well), and being an intelligent woman with a whole lot of common sense, along with her Eastern upbringing as a well-bred lady, she made her store one of the most popular in town.

Of course, this is where my father comes into the picture (I'll write about him some other time). But out of all the young, crazy gold prospectors, Father was different. He never bragged about his gold or spent it on wasteful things. He was saving it up and eventually bought a ranch in the foothills (you can bet I'm glad he did that all those years ago!). To make what could be a long story short, they got married and left San Francisco for the new Circle C ranch. And they pretty much lived happily ever after (until the sad accident when Father was killed).

Mother is very patient with me. I think she sees some of herself in me--even if she won't admit it. When I once asked her why she stayed in California instead of returning home with her mother, she told me she was tired of all the social expectations for women back East and wanted the freedom she had found in the West. I sure can relate to that! But Mother always expects me to act like a Christian young lady, even if she does allow me to dress as I please (as long as I don't step a foot off the ranch in overalls).

I love her a lot!

My oldest sister, Katherine

2010-04-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

Since the last two entries have been about my adventures in Family Secret, I suppose the time has come to finally write a little bit about my oldest sister, Katherine. It took me awhile because really! I never knew that much about her. Why? Because I only just met her for the first time in October of 1880. You might think that's strange, but come to find out she took off when I was only about two years old, so you can't expect somebody to remember from when they were that young, right?

Kathrine is 25 years old at the time I'm writing this. She made a big mistake when she left home and married that sneaky, good-for-nothing scoundrel, Troy (or T.J as I got to know him at first). When she came home to ask for help from the family, she brought along three little kids that were as wild as they could be. They've settled down some now, but oh, dear! I thought my life was just about over.

The other thing I didn't like about Kate coming home was the fact that now I have to share Justin with her. I didn't know that he'd missed her that much and that the two of them had been really close. Sometimes it's really hard being the youngest. Everybody else has all these great memories and of course--as usual--I'm left out of them.

The good news is that I've come to love Kate (and even the kids). She's moving to San Francisco real soon, to live with bossy ol' Aunt Rebecca, and I sure do feel sorry for Levi, Betsy, and little Hannah.

Maybe things will get back to normal around the ranch after she lives, but golly! I think I'm going to miss her!

Hide, Kids, Hide!

2010-04-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

When I went after my nieces and nephews, to try and rescue them from Troy, we ended up next to the creek in hiding. Here is me hiding with Hannah. It was hard to get her to be quiet, but finally Levi threatened to toss her dolly, Tessie, into the creek if she didn't stop whining. That shut her up quick enough. But it was kind of mean for Levi to say that!

(Thanks, Kendra, for sending this great picture!)

Guess what! New stories about me and my friends

2010-03-11T07:48:00.000-08:00

Guess what! I'm real excited to learn that some of my adventures when I was little are going to be put into "chapter books" for younger readers. So, if you're not old enough for the Circle C Adventures, you will certainly be able to read the Circle C Beginnings. My adventures will have pictures in all the chapters, too!

The first four books are called:

Andi's Pony Trouble

Andi's Indian Summer

Andi's Fair Surprise

Andi's Scary School Days

The first two books come out November 2010. The second two come out March 2011.

If you want to hear me talking about my adventures, click here:

MY ADVENTURES

And the winner is . . .

2010-02-13T10:39:00.000-08:00

The Facebook "200" fans contest ended today. Andi says the winner is . . .
Aly! She wants to win a book to give to her best friend, Emily. Isn't that sweet?
Congratulations, Aly! I suggest you give a book to your friend, but keep the button and the little horse for yourself. :-)

Thanks for playing, everyone!

200 Fans on the Circle C Fan Page on Facebook!

2010-02-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

OK, everyone! In celebration of reaching 200 fans on the Circle C fan page over on Facebook, I'm going to have a giveaway! Here are the "treats":

1. Your choice of any (one) Circle C Adventures book, personalized and autographed. To see the selection, go here: CIRCLE C BOOKS

2. AND a cool Circle C button to wear with pride! *grin*

3. AND your choice of one of the small plastic horses pictured below.

Yes, all three prizes for one lucky winner! Scroll down to see how to enter this contest . . .

Here's how you enter. Unfortunately, we can't have drawings and contests on Facebook any longer, but I've made it super easy to enter over here. No "spam" codes, you don't have to be a blogger, and you don't have to be a fan on my CCA Facebook page, either. Just join the fun!

To be included in the drawing, you need to:

1. Post a comment telling me which book you'd like to win.
2. Include your e-mail address so I can contact the winner!
3. Live in the United States (international shipping is a killer).
4. Contest ends next Saturday, February 13, 2010.

That's it!

Oh, and sign up for the Circle C Adventures Ezine so you don't miss out on all the news!

Trouble with Treasure has arrived!

2010-01-29T10:17:00.000-08:00

Excitement is in the air, and some eager readers checked out the box of Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure books that arrived yesterday. This one is Nathan's (age 10) favorite installment (There must be something about outlaws and snakes that boys like). The little boys were trying to sound out words, and Ellie just likes to hold books.

Trouble with Treasure Book Trailer

2010-01-21T18:58:00.000-08:00

It's time for me (Andi) to unveil the book trailer for my latest adventure: Trouble with Treasure! If you would like an autographed and personalized copy with FREE shipping, pre-order now from my website: CIRCLE C ADVENTURES

I would love it if you shared the book trailer on YOUR blogs, too. It's easy to do. Copy this embed code and paste it into the "Edit HTML" feature on your blog entry!

Wanted Poster for Troy

2010-01-16T17:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I found a Wanted Poster for that sneaky, good-for-nothing swindler, my brother-in-law, Troy Swanson. My sister Kate told us he'd been robbing stagecoaches, but to see that there's a reward (probably put up by the Wells Fargo Company) of $1,000 makes me almost wish he hadn't gotten away. No wonder he was in a hurry to skedaddle and leave the kids and me up by the creek.

I tell you what! That was the rainiest, coldest, most miserable night I have ever spent on my own ranch. Brrrr . . .

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you should pick up a copy of my adventure in Andrea Carter and the Family Secret.

What's the Big Deal about Gold?

2010-01-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

With Andi's new book coming out in a month, Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure, I thought I'd so a little "gold fever" posts. Why? Because Cory has a bad case of gold fever and Andi goes along with it. Is there gold in those creeks up in the mountains? Maybe.

What's the big deal about gold, anyway? So many people have gone crazy over it. We're not going to go into too much history (boring!), but gold has been the symbol for wealth since the beginning of time. It's shiny, heavy, can be spun as fine as thread (gold thread), rolled out as a paper-thin sheet, and etched on and turned into gold coins. It's beautiful. Even the streets of Heaven have been described as being pure gold. Wow! That's a lot of gold!

Why do the kids want to find gold? Because it is worth a lot of money. In 1880, gold was worth $21 an ounce. Today it is worth about $900 an ounce! Back in 1880, gold was needed to make coins. That's right. Most people dealt with real coins for money and didn't think much of the new "greenbacks" (paper money).

Gold coins were stamped as $5.00 (a half-eagle), $10.00 (an eagle), and $20.00 (double-eagle.

Next: The California Gold Rush!

This is a bad "head" day

2009-12-02T11:37:00.000-08:00

We've all heard of bad "hair" days. This is a bad "head" day for a horse. This poor filly got her head stuck in a tree for real. It is not photo-shopped! Read on . . . the article follows . . .
This young filly needed to be freed from the tree after curiosity got the better of her. The horse, "Gracie," was unable to free itself and could have been in danger were it not for a passer-by who came to the rescue after he heard the horse whinnying. Jason Harschbarger, a neighbor in the town of Pullman, West Virginia, USA, arrived at the scene, which resembled the image of Winnie the Pooh getting stuck in the honey tree. Mr Harschbarger collected his tools and was able to carefully set the horse free by using a chainsaw to slowly cut the wood around its neck. Fortunately for Gracie, she was able to escape her ordeal with only a few minor injuries and, according to Mr Harschbarger, is on the road to recovery. Following his rescue operation, Mr Harschbarger told a local television station: "She has a few cuts on her face and ear."

It remains unclear why Gracie put her head into the gap.

Codes to link a Circle C graphic from your blog

2009-11-30T19:28:00.000-08:00

I'm slowly moving posts from the old Circle C blog over to blogspot. I found this post, which gives the codes for a couple of fun graphics for anyone who would like to link over from their blog to Andi's blog.
Hint: Use the "select all" button to make sure you get the complete code from the box.

It's never too early to begin!

2009-11-14T20:14:00.001-08:00

It's never too early to learn how to rope your little "dogies." (Motherless calves). Here are a couple of small cowpokes learning how to rope the modern way. And the calf? Isn't "he" cute? Oh, by the way, you're never to OLD to learn to rope either. I roped that "calf."

Can a cattle rustler "fake" a brand?

2009-10-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

I got a great question from my friend Kendra. Here it is:

"Hey, Andi,
Could a thief who wanted a cow brand his own name over it?"

I think you mean could he put his own brand over the original brand?

You bet those thieving rascals could do that! Of course, some brands were pretty detailed, so it would be hard to make a branding iron that could change the brand easily. But some simple brands could be messed with. For example, say your name is Larson, and your brand is a simple "L." A rustler could easily make a branding iron in the shape of an "E" that would completely cover up the original "L."

Hope that answers your question!
Here are samples of some real brands from the 1800s. How would you go about changing them if you were a cattle rustler? Good luck!

Roundup Time: branding

2009-10-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

Do you know what a roundup is? Well, the simple definition is: an activity where you gather up the livestock (either cattle or horses) so you can brand them, count them, and sell them. In this post, I'll talk about branding the new calves.
On the Circle C, the cattle are usually rounded up in the spring, so the new calves can get branded. Ouch! First off, the ranch hands have to separate all those babies from their mothers. The calves don't like it much (and neither do the mama cows). There is so much noise you can't think straight. Cows mooing, calves bellowing. But it's exciting.

Once the calves for that day have been sorted out, the ranch hands rope the calves (their back legs) and drag them to the fire. Yep, a fire is going out in the open. Once the calf is being held down good and tight, a ranch hand takes the branding iron (a metal rod with our ranch's brand on the end: A "C" with a circle around it), makes sure it's good and hot from sitting in the fire, and then pushes the hot iron into the calf's backside.
It smells terrible, but it doesn't hurt the calf as much as I used to think. They've got thick hides.

Then, quick as a wink, that little calf is let up, and off he races--you wouldn't know he'd even been branded--back to his mama. But how he can tell which cow is HIS mother I've not figured out yet. When there are hundreds and hundreds of cows standing around bawling, they all look alike to me.

So, why go to all this trouble once--or maybe even twice--a year? A burned mark in the cow's hide is the only way to tell who it belongs to. There aren't any fences way out on the thousands of acres of rangeland, and sometimes all the ranchers' cattle get mixed in together. But that's OK. Come fall roundup, the ranchers sort everybody's cattle out and give them back.

Branding also discourages rustlers from being too brave. If somebody is caught with a cow, one look at the brand will let the sheriff know who the cow really belongs to. This also works well with horses. And since horse-stealing is a hanging offense, it keeps most horse thieves either honest or very, very careful about which horses they try to steal.

Here is a sample of some different types of branding irons and the "mark" they make when burned into livestock:

Dime Novels. What fun!

2009-09-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

I love to read Dime Novels! For one thing, they are full of excitement, Indian scalpings, captured settlers, adventurers, and all-around colorful places. The trouble is, most teachers and parents (like my mother) think Dime Novels are trashy. They don't contribute at all to kids' literary skills, so it's hard to get away with reading one. (Even though I tried to tell her that all sorts of adults and famous people read Dime novels . . . . like President Lincoln).

Mostly, my mother would prefer I read books like Robinson Crusoe and Little Women. I don't have anything against reading about a fellow marooned on a desert island, but he doesn't have anybody to talk to until his man Friday comes along. And I liked Little Women the first time I read it, but one time is definitely enough. (I told Mother that Louisa May Alcott wrote dime novels, but I don't think she believed me. But it's true!)

When I found one of Mitch's dime novels lying around, I snatched it up right away! I mean, with a title like Crack Skull Bob and an Indian fight on the cover, how can you go wrong? I sweet-talked Mitch into letting me read it, and when Mother saw me curled up on the settee, she just shook her head and sighed. I guess that means I can keep reading it. And a good thing, too! I was just getting to the part where the Indian was getting ready to scalp the settler, and I would have died if Mother had taken it away.

They call these paperback books "Dime Novels" because they cost a dime to buy. Mitch has a whole slew of them--he likes to read these kinds of books. Justin, he doesn't read anything but his law books and the newspaper. Chad . . . well, I don't think he likes to read at all. But Melinda and I? We both like Dime Novels.

But Mitch warned me not to ever, ever, ever take it to school. The schoolmaster will snatch it right out of my hands and tear it up in front of me. Then I'll probably get stuck writing a thousand sentences about only reading books that improve my mind. I want to read books that improve my imagination!

If you want to learn more about the famous Dime Novels of the late 1800s and early 1900s, go here: DIME NOVELS

We Have a Winner!

2009-08-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

One Desert Rose has won Andrea Carter and the Long Ride Home and the corresponding lapbook.

Congratulations, Desert Rose! I'll be mailing it off to you this week.

Thanks for joining me, everyone, and stay tuned for another contest in the coming months . . .

Ready for a Contest?

2009-08-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

This contest has ended. Thanks for playing!

First of all, I'm going to show off the cover Kregel decided on for Book 5, Trouble with Treasure! Want to learn more? Go HERE.

And now . . . drum roll . . . A Journey Through Learning, a Lapbook company, has spent the summer creating delightful Lapbooks for all of the CCA books.

If you're not sure what a Lapbook is, it's a hands-on approach to learning, made from 3 file folders and a packet of colorful booklets students cut out, fill out, and paste into the constructed file folders. The study guides and booklets tie in history and writing/literature with the novels. I wasn't familiar with Lapbooks before this summer, but I'm impressed with AJTL's professional look and full-color booklets. Here is an example from the Lapbook for Long Ride Home.

And now for the contest! I am giving away a Lapbook AND a copy of one of my CCA books. YOUR CHOICE!

Here are the rules:
1) Leave a comment here, telling me which book and matching Lapbook you would like to win. Here are your choices:
#1- Long Ride Home
#2- Dangerous Decision
#3- Family Secret
#4- San Francisco Smugglers

2) Leave your E-mail address so I can contact the winner (if I can't find your contact info, I will draw a different name from the "hat")

3) I can ship only to U.S. or military addresses. Sorry!

*** Contest ends August 30 ***

If you would like to learn more about the Lapbooks for the Circle C Adventures, go to A Journey Through Learning, where you can buy them as a download to print out yourself!

Or you can see them on my website's Lapbook page and order a book and a Lapbook from there.

Good luck with the contest!

The 2009 WHO homeschool convention!

2009-06-24T07:59:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Real-Life Photos from the Past

2009-05-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

It's great fun when you can find pictures of real kids from history and can use the pictures without worrying about copyrights. Going through old family pictures, we found these real-life relatives that work well to depict a couple of the characters. First, here's Andi at age 9, courtesy of my real-life great-aunt Nada. And a great picture of Chad, courtesy of my grandfather Hubert (Nada's brother).
Just for fun!

We Have a Winner!

2009-04-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I printed out and cut up all the entries for the cover contest. Then my grandson folded all the little strips up. I put them in a bowl, and he drew out one name. Ready? Drum-roll:
The winner is Felicia Straley!
Congratulations, Felicia! I will send you The Trouble with Treasure next February 2010, when it is released, along with a vial of real gold flakes.

Thanks, everyone, for playing along. I sent my publisher a summary of your feedback. As soon as Kregel decides on the cover (yes, they get the final decision), I'll post the cover here.

Again, I hope you had as much fun entering as I had reading your responses!

Book 5--Cover Contest!

2009-04-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

The draft covers for Circle C Adventures Book 5- Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure are here. You can vote for you favorite cover by leaving a comment. Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a random drawing to win a copy of the new book when it is released late next fall. The lucky winner will also receive a small vial of REAL gold flakes. Why gold flakes? Well, Andi's friend Cory gets hold of an old survey map of the mountains, which shows gold diggings. Together with Andi's older brother Mitch, Andi, her new friend Jenny, and Cory head for the hills. But instead of finding gold, they find a heap of trouble!

Take a look at the covers, and then read the "Rules" below to enter:

Cover #1 (map)

Cover #2 (horse)

~ Leave a comment with your "vote" and why you picked it, along with your E-MAIL address, so I can find you if you win.
~ Invite your friends to join the fun!
That's it! Have fun. Contest ends April 20th.

The Ten Commandments . . . Old West Style

2009-03-31T11:32:00.000-07:00

1. There's just one Trail Boss . . . God.
2. Don't be hankering after other gods.
3. Watch yer mouth, partner!
4. Get yourself to Sunday meetings.
5. Honor yer ma and pa.
6. No killin' two-legged varmits. Let the law do it.
7. Don't be sparkin' another fella's gal.
8. Don't stick your brand on your neighbor's horses or cattle.
9. No tellin' tall tales or gossiping.
10. Don't hanker after another rancher's water, stock, or fancy spread.

~ loosely translated from Exodus 20 by Andi Carter

February Circle C Roundup E-zine

2009-02-26T14:01:00.001-08:00

If you're not on my E-zine list and want to read the latest news, click on the graphic. I've finally figured out how to post my e-zine on my website:

Will Book 6 Become a Reality?

2009-02-16T19:37:00.000-08:00

Well, some very interesting developments over the last couple of weeks. My publisher asked me to send in a synopsis and sample chapters for Book 6, Andrea Carter and the Price of Truth. There is a chance (albeit a small one) that they might want to release both books 5 and 6 close to each other.

This is great news!

Will Wonders Never Cease?

2009-01-30T16:58:00.001-08:00

Well, this is a surprise! My publisher has decided they want to go ahead with 3 books for an Early Chapter books series, based on the characters from the Circle C Adventures. Sort of like an Adventures of Andi and Taffy. I think I'll call the first one Pony Trouble and write the story of how Andi first gets Taffy. This series would be for ages 6-8, kids learning to read. If anybody has any ideas for other books, feel free to share them. I have ideas for the first three books, but if they do well, there will sure to be more. I even have a potential illustrator. Wow. Excitement builds.

Exciting News!

2009-01-10T11:09:00.000-08:00

It's official. Kregel Publications has accepted Book 5, Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure, for publication. What a great way to begin the new year. This newest adventure takes Andi, Cory, and Jenny (from San Francisco Smugglers), along with Andi's older brother, Mitch, up into the high country of the Sierra Nevada for a 2-week camping trip to pan for gold. But their vacation turns into a fight for survival when they have an unexpected encounter with a couple of on-the-run back robbers. I tossed in a rattlesnake and a mountain lion for "fun," although it's no fun for the kids, as Andi attempts to save her critically injured brother's life.

To help celebrate this great news, I've decided to do a book giveaway. This one will be exclusively for readers of the Circle C Roundup, the e-zine that gets e-mailed . . . well . . . not very often. But I'm getting ready to put one out next week. What do you win? Your choice of any Circle C Adventures books, autographed, of course. If you have the series already, well, it makes a nice gift for a friend's birthday. But you need to be signed up for the newsletter. To do that, go to www.circlecadventures.com, scroll down the page, and follow the instructions on how to sign up. It's pretty simple.

In other news . . . I saw the results of the poll, and since it's running 60%-40% stay on HSB, I've decided to keep the blog on BOTH places. So your pleasure. Read and comment on Blogger or HSB. Same great news. Same great pictures.

Watch for the Roundup!

Exciting News . . . I think

2008-12-08T12:23:00.000-08:00

I just learned that my latest adventure, San Francisco Smugglers, has been nominated for a Cybils Award for Middle-Grade Fiction. What this means I'm not sure, but for certain it means some cross-promotion. You can click on the graphic to go to the Cybils Award page. Then you can click on Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers (scroll down to the "a"s), and it seems to move "up" in rank, like on amazon. But I don't think it has much to do with the voting. That is done by certain bloggers on the committee who read the book.

And that's all I know for now, but it is exciting. If anyone knows anything more about these awards, feel free to share with me!
Click on the graphic to go to the Cybils awards and click on my book!

Andi Carter . . . Me!

2008-12-05T18:40:00.000-08:00

I guess I should start off by telling you about myself. My real name is Andrea Rose Carter, but please don't call me that! Only my mother and my teacher call me "Andrea." When I hear that name, I figure I'm in trouble. And it sounds like such a ladylike name. I'm much more suited to "Andi." My brothers and sisters, all the ranch hands, and my friends call me "Andi." I know, I know, it sounds like a boy's name (Andy), but that doesn't bother me, even though sometimes I get teased about it.

OK, let's see. I have long, wavy dark hair and blue eyes. When I was little, I got tired of my hair getting in my way, so I cut it off. I'll never do that again (I got my backside tanned good and proper when my mother found out what I'd done). Along with a California tan (since I have a hard time remembering to keep my hat on), a few pesky freckles sprinkle my nose. My sister Melinda says it's my own fault--I could avoid the freckles and the sunburns if I wore my hat. I don't listen to her much.

Besides riding and racing my horse, Taffy, I like to fish. I try really hard to do the right thing, but I'm always plunging into some kind of problem because I don't think things through before I act. I get caught up in the excitement of life or with helping someone, and before I know it I'm in a fix. My brother Chad is always pulling me out of some kind of trouble, and it riles him. He and I don't get along very well. He thinks he's my boss.

My father was thrown from his horse and killed during roundup the spring when I turned five years old. I'll never forget it. I was so sad. But my mother and my brothers (especially Justin) stepped in, and I eventually got on with life. Chad gave me Taffy for my sixth birthday, and that really helped, too.

I don't like doing chores (who does?), but the ranch can't run itself. Sometimes I wonder why I have to clean my room and muck out Taffy's stall when we have dozens of hired hands, but I guess my mother has her reasons. I think she wants me to learn to be responsible. I used to wish I were free, instead. If you've read about my first adventure in Long Ride Home, you'll understand when I say that freedom isn't much fun when you don't have anybody to love. Now I think I'd rather be responsible.

My Brother Justin

2008-12-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

Justin is my oldest brother. He's strong and smart, and he can do anything. Mostly he's real good at helping me get out of fixes. While Chad delights in running the ranch, Justin would rather use his head than do routine ranch work, so he decided to become a lawyer. And he's the best lawyer in the state . . . well . . . in our part of the valley at least. But just because he'd rather be off helping the governor of California than branding calves doesn't mean he can't round up cattle as good as the next man. Like I said, he can do anything he sets his mind to. Some folks say he can even talk a fence post out of the ground, but I haven't seen that happen yet.

Justin has black hair and blue eyes, just like Chad and me. I sure wish he was home more often. Since our father died, Justin has stepped in and taken me sort of "under his wing," I reckon. If Chad tells me to do something, I think he's bossing me. But if Justin tells me to do the same thing, I just go do it. Like I said, he can talk anybody into doing just about anything. (Don't tell the others, but Justin is my favorite brother)

My Brother Chad

2008-12-03T18:54:00.000-08:00

My big brother Chad has one ambition: to run the Circle C ranch. He loves horses and is the best horseman in the entire Valley. He's a year younger than Justin, but he's the one who's definitely in charge of the ranch (Justin likes to do his lawyer stuff more than rope cattle). Chad was really upset when Father died, because he looked up to him. He wanted to have many more years working alongside him before having to shoulder all the responsibility. Luckily, our long-time foreman, Sid McCoy, helped Chad through the transition from a son to being in charge.

Chad has black hair and blue eyes, and he's pretty tall--about six feet. He thinks he knows everything, and tries to tell me what to do all the time. That makes him bossy, and I don't like it at all. He's got himself a temper, and I've been on the receiving end of it more than once. I sometimes feel that I can't do anything right. He's got no patience for work sloppily done or not done at all, and a cowhand caught mistreating a horse is sent packing, along with a few scorching words from the "boss."

But Chad has his secret, kind side. Behind his quick tongue, he really does have a tender heart. After all, he went out of his way to give me Taffy, and he was mighty patient when we were raising her. I've seen him carry a newborn calf just as tenderly as a mother would hold her baby. And he is funny, too. He knows how to make me laugh when I'm feeling down.

All in all, I wouldn't trade him for any other brother. I know it's partly my fault for getting him riled up on occasion. I guess we're too much alike. I think he yells at me sometimes because he's just downright worried about me getting into another fix. I love him a lot!

My Brother Mitch

2008-12-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

Mitch's real name is Mitchell, but nobody calls him that, not even my mother (which makes me wonder why she won't call me "Andi" instead of "Andrea," but some things are not to be questioned, I reckon). Mitch is the youngest of my three older brothers, and he's just plain fun to be around. He's easygoing, and happy to let Chad boss the ranch. But he's a hard worker. Mitch gets along with everybody--even Chad--but sometimes I think he favors me. If I need somebody to do my chores for me in a pinch, I ask Mitch. He hardly ever says no, and he never bosses me.

Mitch is tall, blond, and outgoing. He has heaps of friends, and there are plenty of young ladies in town who'd like to be his friend, too. He's very loyal to his friends, which once got him and Chad into a knock-down, drag-out fight. Chad said something bad about someone Mitch admired, and Chad wouldn't take it back. It worked out all right in the end, and Chad and Mitch shook hands and made up, but it's something to see when an easygoing fellow gets pushed over the line!

My Sister Melinda

2008-12-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

Melinda Jane is not as fun to be around as she used to be. Even two years ago she and I raced our horses, climbed trees, and fished together for hours on end. Then, all of a sudden it seems, Melinda grew up. Oh sure, she still likes to ride her horse Pandora (Panda for short), but it's not the same as it was before.

Melinda's turned into what folks call a "young lady." She's suddenly discovered corsets, Godey's Lady's Book, and social events in town. Her golden hair is always in place, and she never trips and falls into the horse trough or is late for meals. Melinda's never in a hurry, and she always thinks things through before she makes a decision. She enjoys learning how to run a house. It's not that I don't want to learn those things, it's just that going on a cattle drive sounds like a heap more fun right now than sewing a new dress. In spite of all this, I really do look up to my sister, and we get along pretty well.

Recently, it appears that the young men of Fresno have figured out Melinda's grown up. They think she's charming. I've seen a few of them make fools of themselves when they come calling, trying to win her attention. It doesn't help that my brothers mill about whenever Melinda has a gentleman caller. It seems to make the fellas mighty uncomfortable, but it makes me laugh.

My Friend Cory

2008-11-27T15:21:00.000-08:00

I don't mind admitting that Cory Blake is one of my best friends, even if he is a boy. We have lots of fun together. He's especially good at racing and fishing--two of the things I like to do best. The Circle C ranch is so far from town (about an hour's ride), that I don't see my town friends except at school. Cory has a lot of freedom, so he rides out to the ranch often. He knows I'm always good for a fast race (he hasn't won yet, but he keeps trying).

Cory's a year older than I am, and his blond hair is always wild and messy. He lives in a small house behind his father's livery stable in town. His mother died when he was about four years old, and his father remarried. Now Cory has 4-year-old twin sisters, Amy and Amanda.

Cory's chief aim in life is to have fun and play as many jokes on his classmates as he can get away with. But nobody can stay mad at Cory for long--he's just a happy-go-lucky kind of fellow. He doesn’t like school at all (neither do I) because the lessons are difficult for him. He’d much rather be working alongside his father at the livery or, better still, racing around the countryside looking for adventure.

You know how Cory and I met? It was terrible! It was my first day of school. I was only 8 years old, and this strange boy flicked a fly onto my desk. Later he tried to give me a snake. Then, when another bigger boy started picking on me, Cory flew to my rescue. I decided I liked him after that. Now we're good friends.

Taffy, My BEST Friend

2008-11-26T15:40:00.000-08:00

My best friend is Taffy, my golden palomino mare. She's about 15 hands high, with some white on her nose and four white socks.

Taffy was a gift from my big brother Chad, when I turned six years old. He took me out to the barn on my birthday and showed me the brand-new filly. Then he told me she was mine and that together we'd train her to be the best little filly in the valley. I couldn't believe what he was saying, since Chad is sometimes so mean and teases me. But when I looked at my mother, she nodded, so I knew it must be true.

It was a lot of work, but Chad knows horses better than anyone in the whole valley, and Taffy is the very best horse around (well, I think so anyway). She's fast, too. She won the Fourth of July race (the boys' heat) last summer. I almost didn't get to race her, since I'm a girl, and girls aren't supposed to do such rough things. But the racing officials listened to my brother and they let me enter the race. Ha! So much for boys doing all the fun things!

My Friend Rosa

2008-11-25T15:09:00.000-08:00

I met Rosa last spring. It wasn't the best plan to make friends the way I did, and I'm ashamed now to admit I did such a foolish thing as take Taffy and run away. However, I don't regret meeting Rosa and her family. Her family--mother, father, and brother Joselito--came to California to try and escape their poor life in Mexico. It is hard for me to believe that Rosa was once one of 5 children. The other children died from illness or as babies. It is a very hard life for some folks south of the border.

It's a good thing for all of us that Rosa's father found me after a rotten thief stole Taffy. I taught them English and translated for the family while they looked for work. This was not enjoyable work. Picking beans and other crops is hot and sweaty, and we got paid hardly anything! The Garduño family finally ended up working on the Circle C, and now Rosa and I are friends. We can't see each other a whole lot, since her mother makes her do a load of work in the "big house," as she calls our ranch house.

Rosa is about my age, with shiny black hair and the darkest eyes I've ever seen. She's always cheerful and smiling, in spite of the hard times her family has been through. Rosa is shy, but maybe that's because she doesn't speak English very well. She's also cautious, while I'm impulsive. It would be a good thing if I listened to her warnings. But unfortunately, by the time I've figured out I should have listened to her, I'm already in a heap of trouble.

My Little Friend, Lin Mei

2008-11-24T16:10:00.000-08:00

This is my new little friend, Lin Mei. I never really discovered how old she is, because she was snatched from her home near Canton, China, when she was only about four or five years old. But I think she's about eight.

She can't remember much of her life in China. She only knows that her father owed a lot of money to a gambling den, and he sold his own little girl to an old woman. Lin Mei cried and shrieked; her mother cried, but the old woman bought her and put her on a ship to America. I guess the old woman promised Lin Mei's parents that she would have a much better life in the Golden Mountain (America). Can you believe that? Little Lin Mei became a Mui Tsai, which translates "little sister" but really means "slave."

I met Lin Mei while I was attending Miss Whitaker's Academy for Young Ladies (a whole other subject!). She was a kitchen servant. I had no idea she was a slave. The Chinese man in charge of the school's kitchen was passing her off as his niece. Jenny (my roommate) and I felt so badly for this miserable, overworked little girl. We decided to befriend her, little knowing what terrible things would happen because we did!

You can read all about my adventures with Lin Mei in Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers, coming out fall 2008.

I hope to post some entries in the "Old West" category about the true, historical facts about the "Yellow Slave Trade" in the west, many years after the Civil War was fought and slavery was abolished. Stay tuned!

Jenny Grant

2008-11-23T15:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I didn't know whether to post this in "My Friends" or in "Sneak Peeks." This is a new friend I meet when I get stuck in San Francisco to finish out the winter school term. Why am I there? Oh, such a twist of fate! Just when I thought I'd be having myself an unexpected holiday with Taffy (the grammar school in town got shut down! Why? That's another post, I'm afraid)...BAM! My mother gets this incredibly terrible idea to make me finish school at a fancy, young-lady's school in the City. Jenny Grant is my new roommate at the school.

This is an old picture of her, but she's really my age--almost thirteen. She's kind of wild, with lots of tangly red hair and more freckles than a body can count. People may think that I don't act much like a lady, but goodness! Jenny is the only girl in her family, with a whole passel of brothers. She's from some backwoods place called Washington Territory. Her mother sent her to San Francisco, hoping the school would teach her young lady ways. So far, it's not working very well. I like Jenny. We get into all kinds of interesting scrapes together in the big City. And some scary ones, too... Our adventures got written down in the book Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers, but you have to wait until next fall to read it. They're still turning the story into a real book! It takes awhile.

Virginia . . . Friend or Foe?

2008-11-22T17:58:00.000-08:00

I found a picture of "Virginia" the other day, so I thought I'd post a little character sketch on Virginia Foster, my (Andi's) "thorn in the flesh" from Dangerous Decision.

As probably most of you know, Virginia Foster is the younger of our schoolmaster's daughters. Her older sister, Grace, is Melinda's age, and she and Melinda get along just fine. I'm afraid I can't say the same for Virginia and me. It's not like I haven't tried! It didn't help that she found Cory's snake in her desk the first day of school, but really! It wasn't my fault! But since then she has done nothing but find fault in everything I do. I think she picked up that attitude from her father, our schoolmaster. He hasn't liked me much from the day I nearly (accidentally) trampled him with Taffy.

I do feel sorry for Virginia, so that's why I've at least tried to be friendly. I guess her family moved out West to help her regain her strength from being ill all the time. She really is a sickly-looking girl. Pale hair; pale skin--she hardly ever goes outside. And she faints. She hasn't got much "sand" in her, as we say it out here, or "grit" would be another word. And she's scared of bugs and snakes and boys and loud noises. And she can't ride a horse, either. (I learned that the hard way, when she insisted she could, but it was all a big, fat lie).

Virginia sort of softened up a bit after our class's run-in with an escaped convict. We've been on better terms since then, but I'm still cautious. I used to think she was just showing off in front of our class with how smart she is (she really is the smartest scholar in the school) and it made me mad, but now I'm all right with it. I mean, how would you like to have your father teaching your entire class and always expecting you to know all the answers?

It's possible (but not very probable) that we could one day be better friends.

Juan Carlos, a friend from San Francisco

2008-11-21T18:01:00.000-08:00

My new friend, Juan Carlos, is a shy, quiet, keep-to-himself fellow, but I managed to find a picture of him to share:
I met Juan Carlos during the first day of my ill-fated enrollment in Miss Whitaker's Academy for Young Ladies in San Francisco. I didn't want to be there at all, but when Aunt Rebecca told me the school had a few horses, I decided to make the best of it. I went to check out the stables, and this very nice young man was worried sick over a mare about to deliver a foal. I stayed and helped and we became friends . . . sort of. Juan told me we couldn't be real friends because I was a student at the school and he was only a "lowly" stable boy.

It's sad because his grandfather was a don, a Spanish landowner with wealth and power. But the Americans managed to take over his family's holdings, his father and grandfather died, and now it's up to Juan Carlos to work hard to support his mother and sisters in the city. Juan remembers happier days as a little boy on his grandfather's hacienda. But those times are over for him.

Juan Carlos is an excellent horseman and teaches me a few things about riding that I didn't know. He shows himself to be a good friend when Jenny and I need help with a risky plan to rescue our little friend, Lin Mei, from her cruel "uncle" (really her master).

Photo Afternoon

2008-11-20T20:04:00.000-08:00

Every so often we get together and take more pictures for possible future covers. So . . . Taffy, Rosa, Taffy's "owner," the photographer, "Rosa's" mom, and I all got together the other day to play around. Now, whether any of these pictures will ever find their way on a cover of the Circle C books is anybody's guess. But it's fun to at least post some of the fun we had. Who knows? Maybe one day you'll see a book with our new pictures on it.

The weather was sunny but cold. Poor Rosa! Her tennis shoe had to come off and her foot nearly froze. We were there for over two hours. "Taffy" (AKA Star) was a good sport and did everything we asked.

Enjoy the pictures!
We like the outdoor pictures the best!

All of us taking a break!

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Pictures of 1880s Chinatown, San Francisco

2008-11-02T19:53:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of some of the places I visited while attending Miss Whitaker's Academy for Young Ladies in San Francisco. I didn't visit these places because I wanted to, by the way. My friend Jenny and I sort of ended up in Chinatown while we were trying to help Lin Mei escape from her cruel slave master. (See Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers).

I am sharing tiny pictures to get you interested. You need to click on the pictures, which will take you to the full-size image on the original sites. These pictures are copyrighted, and I wanted to be as honest about this as I could. Sharing it this way sends you to the real pictures.
Enjoy!

Click on the pictures to see the larger images!
A little mui tsai with a baby on her back. She has to work hard from dawn to dusk.

A busy sidewalk in Chinatown.

A narrow alley much like the one Jenny, I, and the little slave girls got trapped in!

There are many, many openings that lead under Chinatown--dark, dangerous places.

A street vendor "writing" for a child.

And lastly, "Nob Hill," the site of Miss Whitaker's Academy for Young Ladies--up where the rich folks live.

I hope you take time and visit all these places and "see" what I saw in 1881.

And the Winner Is . . .

2008-10-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

The Random Drawing feature chose Desi (Horse Lover for Christ) as the winner of Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers, as well as the little doll from China. Congratulations. You can't imagine how badly I feel for some of you who have entered my contests multiple times and yet haven't won. I'm sorry!
However, it's still possible to get an autographed copy of the new book. You can go to my website and order an autographed copy using PayPal. (I figured out how that works, and it's slick). I'll also include a new Circle C bookmark.
In fact . . . I have 5 of those little dolls left. I have to keep 2 on hand, but I have 3 I can give away. For the first 3 people (from the contest--I'll recognize your e-mail) who order an autographed copy of the book through my website, I'll include a doll.
Go here to order: ORDER SAN FRANCISCO SMUGGLERS
Again, thanks to everybody for joining in the fun!

Win a Book!

2008-09-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

In honor of my publisher's official release last week of Circle C Adventures #4, Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers, I am giving away an autographed and personalized copy of the book. I'm also throwing in something extra: a little Chinese doll that my blogging and writing friend, Messenger, brought back from China for me. (She brought me six, so I have to think up some more contests). Cool, huh?
Here is a picture of what you can win:
To learn more about what you are winning, go here: MY WEBSITE

Here's how to enter:
Leave a comment with your e-mail address. That's it. Pretty simple. The comment is so I know you entered. The e-mail address is so I can contact the winner, which will be chosen by Random.org, which is ten times better than printing out all the responses, cutting them up, folding them, and then drawing one from a hat.

The contest ends Tuesday, October 7, 2008.
(58 readers entered over on HSB! Thanks for the response!)

Want Ads for Babies and Children

2008-09-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

It is 1856. You are poor, your husband has just died; or perhaps your wife has died, leaving you with many children. What do you do? Well, you put one or two of the kids up for adoption in the local newspaper's Want Ads!

Here are two actual want ads for little children from 1856--read and weep: (not the real photos)

WHO WANTS TO ADOPT A LITTLE BOY? -- A Widower, with six children, has a LITTLE BOY, 8 years old, that he would like some respectable person to ADOPT. Inquire of Mrs. Michell, No. 471 Houston-st, corner of the Bowery.

---

WANTED -- To ADOPT a lovely and interesting female INFANT, five months old. The mother is left a widow, and not able to support it. Apply at the Employment Society, No. 13 Bible House, for a week. Ask for Catharine.

Would you like to write a story to go with any of these want ads? If you do write a story about one (or both) of them, I'll post it. Give the child a name, and in your story make sure you tell what happens to the little boy or the little girl. How did he feel? Was the little boy scared? What's his name? Who adopted him? Was his new family kind? Or, what happened to the mother of the baby girl? Did she try to get her baby back when she found a job? Oh, there are so many possibilities! If you do write a story, e-mail it to me so I can post it.

Free Literature Guide Download

2008-09-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

For anyone who would like to get more "mileage" out of the latest book, San Francisco Smugglers, I figured out how to host the free e-book (pdf file) I created (38 pages). You click and download. Simple. I had so much fun writing the unit study guide that I want to share it. The guide includes discussion questions, geography (maps), writing Chinese characters, designing a poster, opportunities for extended writing, a picture of the levees in Fresno, vocabulary and Old West figures of speech, and a bonus (you gotta love this one): an entire page devoted to links of a dozen or more pictures from the real Chinatown and greater San Francisco of the late 1800s. Alleys like the one our heroines find themselves in, the opening to the underground parts of Chinatown, little Chinese kids playing, how they're dressed, and Nob Hill and the cable cars. Just click and you'll see them.

Click on this graphic to download:

Do You Want to Go to School with Me?

2008-09-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

(Photo courtesy of the California History & Genealogy Room, Fresno County Library)

OK, how would you like to be stuck upstairs in this schoolhouse during the hot fall days of September? (With no air-conditioning.) I wouldn't want to be stuck either, but I've got no choice. This is where I spend nearly every day, along with about 40 other kids my age and older. (The little kids are taught downstairs on the first floor). My school has all the things most schools in the 1880s have: a flag pole, a large yard, a tree or two, and the bell up in the tower that calls us all to class; then it rings again. If we're not in our seats when the bell rings the second time, we're tardy. Tardy is not good. It usually means you get punished.

I don't know why, but some teachers have long lists of what they consider "proper" behavior for the pupils in their classes. My teacher does. His name is Mr. Foster, and his list is a mile long! He also has a list of what happens if you don't "toe the mark" (behave). Here is a sampling of the list: (Be glad you homeschool). Note from the author: this is an actual list from the Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum, 1848:

Punishments: Lashes (getting whacked!)

Fighting at school 5
Gambling at school 4
Playing cards at school 10
Telling lies 7
Calling each other ill (bad) names 3
Climbing for every foot over 3 feet up a tree 1
Swearing in school 8
For Misbehaving to girls 10
Making swings and swinging on them 7
For wearing long fingernails 2
Girls going to the boys' play area 3
Boys going to the girls' play area 3
Coming to school with dirty face and hands 2
For calling each other liars 4
Wrestling at school 4
For splashing each other at playtime 2
Telling tales outside of school 8

So... what do you suppose there's left to do during recess? Not much. Would you like to go to my school?

A Young Lady's Academy . . . Part 1

2008-09-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

While doing research for San Francisco Smugglers, I learned some interesting facts about day (and boarding) schools for young ladies. These places were not cheap, especially for the 1800s.
Here are some prices for "Sarah Mather's School for Young Ladies" in Augustine, Florida:

--Pupils under age 12, $200 per year
--Pupils over age 12, $300 per year (I guess they eat more?)

That may not look expensive, but those are just the basic prices. Add to it these subjects:
--Languages, each one an extra $25
--Music, $50
--Drawing and painting, $50

Day students were less--$30-$40 a year

Oh, washing cost extra (somebody does your laundry).
Each student must bring a spoon, a fork, and a napkin with them (What? No knives?)

School began on October 15 and went through July 15.

*************
Here is a sample of what was taught at "Mrs. T. Butler's Boarding School for Young Ladies":

English
French
Writing,
Arithmetic
History
Geography
the use of Globes
Needlework

A student could also take:
Italian
Music
Singing
Dancing
Drawing

Thanks, but count me out!

*******************************

Next time, all of the delightful RULES for proper etiquette in a young ladies' academy.

A Young Lady's Academy . . . Part 2

2008-09-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

All right! Your folks have forked out the money for your "finishing" school education at an exclusive academy for young ladies. It's the first day of school. All the young ladies are gathered together in the common room. The head mistress addresses the students. What does she tell you girls? The rules, of course. I found this very eye-opening set of rules for a Young Ladies' school in about 1850.

The following rules were read aloud to the assembled scholars once a year only, at the opening of school in September:
(I hope the girls all had good memories!)

1. Each young lady must be in her seat at 9 o'clock with Bible in hand, ready for opening exercises. Each one should bow her head in a respectful manner.

2. Each scholar should familiarize herself with her studies, so she may commence preparation for her first recitation. This way all unnecessary questions to the teacher may be avoided.

3. All talking and laughing, note writing, conversation by "signs," eating and leaving of seats, are strictly forbidden during study and recitation hours.

4. Loud conversation, romping, or rudeness of manner must not in any case be indulged in during recess.

5. Perfect neatness in person is expected of every young lady. Books should be carefully covered and carefully used, and not left to lie upon the outside of the desk at any time.

6. No tardiness at school or failure in lessons will be excused, or permission given to leave before the close of school, except by a written note from one of the parents of the young lady.

7. For every perfect lesson the scholar will receive 4 good marks. Two failures in answering, or general imperfect answers, will incur a forfeit mark.

8. Good marks will be given for punctuality, neatness, order, and general excellence; disgrace marks will be given for tardiness, disorder, improper manners, and deficiency in studies.

9. At the end of each month, the marks will be counted so each young lady may know her standing in her classes. Reports will then be sent to the parents.

10. School will end a few minutes before 2 o'clock. When the bell is rung, the young ladies will arrange their books silently for leaving, and remain at their places until they receive permission to leave. The young lady who sits nearest the door in each class may lead the way.

11. We desire that the rules of politeness and good breeding will uniformly be practiced here. As the Bible is the great rule of duty for both teachers and scholars, it is hoped that this truth and virtue and Christian kindness and courtesy will be the governing principle of conduct to all the members of this school.

(Taken from Diary of a Little Girl in Old New York by Catherine Havens). This book is in the public domain and was digitalized by Google. It is the 1849-1850 diary of a ten-year-old girl. If you would like to download for FREE the pdf file of the entire book (takes about 5-10 seconds), click here:

DIARY OF A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD NEW YORK

Let me know what you think of the book!

Answers to the Old West Quiz

2008-08-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

We have 5 winners of the Old West contest (5 who got all the answers right) out of 19 entrants (over on HSB). For a while, I thought I'd need to consult the list of those who missed only 1 or 2, but a couple more came in, and they must have done some research (or they talk that way, anyway!). One of the winners lives in Germany, which prompted me to from now on always make sure my "mailing" contests are limited to U.S. residents. Otherwise these contests could get rather expensive. Yikes!

Anyway, for those of you who are dying to know the answers, here they are:

1. "They did a bang-up job!" a great job; excellent
2. "That greenhorn don't know one end of a horse from another." inexperienced person; newbie;
3. "Why, he's as game as a rooster!" ready and raring to go; willing; or brave, courageous
4. "Those folks went through a heap of trouble to get Sally that piano." a lot; plenty
5. & 6. "Oh, pull in your horns, Fred. It ain't nuthin' to get all riled up about." 5- calm down (or as we would say it, "Cool your jets") 6- upset; angry
7. He was shooting off his mouth, so Pete gave him a black eye. smarting off; talking without thinking; talking too much
8. "It's all right, honey. Don't take on so." don't be sad; don't get all upset
9. "If we don't do something, the police will be after us, quicker than scat!" very VERY fast
10. She'd never seen so many shooting irons at one time. guns; rifles; firearms
11. He was all tuckered out. tired; exhausted
12. She skedaddled out of there as quick as she could. left very quickly; ran out
13. He thought he was the biggest toad in the puddle, but he wasn't. most important person;
14. Sarah was feeling sad, but Peter's jokes chirked her up. cheered; made her feel better
15. Aunt Rebecca had a conniption fit when she heard what happened. very upset; emotional outburst. (but not a temper tantrum)
16. The levee is leaking considerable water. quite a bit
17. How did she get herself into this fix? trouble; problem; bad situation
18. They were a bunch of high-falutin folks, that's for sure. fancy; uppity; snooty folks
19. Most folks wanted to ride that fellow out of town on a rail. (ride out on a rail). force to leave by any means
20. She got all slicked up for the first day of school. dressed up real nice.

Thanks for playing! I hope you had as much fun coming up with the answers as I had reading all of them.

Old West Quiz and Contest

2008-08-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

Can you figure out what these Old West figures of speech (slang) mean? The first 5 folks who get all of the slang words right will win one of these little horses and a bookmark (If no one gets them all right, then the Top 5 will win a horse & bookmark after September 12):

I have compiled a short quiz of fun and/or unusual "slang" of days gone by. Have a laugh, and it might help you understand some of the speech of the characters in my Circle C Adventures. Foreigners learning English now days have a hard time understanding our American speech because it is full of "idioms" (figures of speech). Do you have a hard time understanding the speech of the Old West?

In your comment, number your answers 1-20. I'll use an Old West idiom in a sentence. See if you can figure out what it means. Ready? Good luck! I'll post the answers in a later entry, along with the winners (if any).

*****
1. "They did a bang-up job!"
2. "That greenhorn don't know one end of a horse from another."
3. "Why, he's as game as a rooster!"
4. "Those folks went through a heap of trouble to get Sally that piano."
5. & 6. "Oh, pull in your horns, Fred. It ain't nuthin' to get all riled up about."
7. He was shooting off his mouth, so Pete gave him a black eye.
8. "It's all right, honey. Don't take on so."
9. "If we don't do something, the police will be after us, quicker than scat!"
10. She'd never seen so many shooting irons at one time.
11. He was all tuckered out.
12. She skedaddled out of there as quick as she could.
13. He thought he was the biggest toad in the puddle, but he wasn't.
14. Sarah was feeling sad, but Peter's jokes chirked her up.
15. Aunt Rebecca had a conniption fit when she heard what happened.
16. The levee is leaking considerable water.
17. How did she get herself into this fix?
18. They were a bunch of high-falutin folks, that's for sure.
19. Most folks wanted to ride that fellow out of town on a rail. (ride out on a rail).
20. She got all slicked up for the first day of school.

What's Inside a Rattlesnake's Rattle?

2008-08-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

I guess the post about my rattlesnake's rattle got Bethany (Horse Girl) curious. She asked me "What's inside a rattlesnake's rattle?" You know what? I always wondered that, too. So I did some snooping around, looking for answers, and here's what I came up with. Hope it helps.

A rattlesnake baby is born with a little "pre-button" at the end of its tail. Then, when the snake sheds its skin (every few months), the old, dried-up skin gets caught on that button at the tip of its tail, and a segment stays behind. Each time the snake sheds, a new segment is added and the rattle gets longer and louder. The segments whacking against each other create the sound. You'd think you could tell how old the snake is by how many segments of old, dried-up skin are in the rattle, but sometimes they get brittle and drop off.
(Not that you'd WANT to know how old a rattlesnake is, anyway!)

Summer Bloggy Giveaway!

2008-07-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

It's that time again! The Bloggy Giveaway. Here's what I'm giving away:

1) An autographed, hot-off-the-press copy of Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers, due to be released the in August (so you'll have to be patient). To read the first chapter, click on the book cover:

Along with....
2) A beanie baby "Taffy" horse.

Rules: Leave a comment with CONTACT INFORMATION, like your e-mail address. Blog address works in a pinch. A name would be nice, but not necessary. U.S. and Canadian entries only, please. You do NOT have to be a blogger to enter my contest. If you have e-mail, you can enter!

P.S. Again, sadly I can't transfer all of the entry comments over here! Thanks for playing!

A Bad "Head" Day

2008-07-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

This post is doubling as a Show and Tell for Mary over at CanadaGirl's blog. I thought it was pretty unique. Stop over at Mary's to see more S&Ts!
Oh dear! This poor filly got her head stuck in a tree. For real. This is not Photoshopped! Here is the article that goes along with this picture:

This young filly needed to be freed from the tree after curiosity got the better of her. The horse, "Gracie," was unable to free itself and could have been in danger were it not for a passer-by who came to the rescue after he heard the horse whinnying. Jason Harschbarger, a neighbor in the town of Pullman, West Virginia, USA, arrived at the scene, which resembled the image of Winnie the Pooh getting stuck in the honey tree. Mr Harschbarger collected his tools and was able to carefully set the horse free by using a chainsaw to slowly cut the wood around its neck. Fortunately for Gracie, she was able to escape her ordeal with only a few minor injuries and, according to Mr Harschbarger, is on the road to recovery. Following his rescue operation, Mr Harschbarger told a local television station: "She has a few cuts on her face and ear."

It remains unclear why Gracie put her head into the gap.

My Rattlesnake's Rattle

2008-07-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the rattle my brother Mitch brought back for me a few years ago. He'd been up in the hills and stumbled across a large rattlesnake. He killed it, cut off the rattle, and gave it to me. I keep it in my Treasure Box. Don't you wish you had one of these?

Here's the snake before Mitch killed it. Do you see that rattle?

If you want to read about rattlesnakes in California and HEAR a rattlesnake shaking its rattle, click here:
CALIFORNIA RATTLESNAKES

Cover Girl pictures in Brio Magazine

2008-07-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

It's my cover girl's birthday this month (her 21st, if you can believe that!). To honor her I am going to post a picture of the two-page spread the July issue of Focus on the Family's Brio Magazine printed. So, with no further ado, here it is. Brio did a nice job with the article that she (and I) wrote over a year ago (these things take time to get published).

Jessica, at 16 years old, portrayed my main character, Andi, a 12-year-old. Another trivia fact: Jessica was the first youngster to read my Andi stories (at age 10), so it seems fitting that she should be on the cover.

Happy Birthday, Jessica!

It's probably best that the print is too small to read. I'd no doubt get in real trouble for posting this otherwise. As it is, it's an advertisement for Brio, so how can they object to that? Go on over to your local Christian bookstore and pick up a copy if you'd like to know what the article says.

Final Cover for San Francisco Smugglers

2008-06-06T19:14:00.000-07:00

Here it is! Kregel sent me the cover they chose. Luckily, it is also the cover that most of YOU chose during the cover contest. One slight change: they made the little Chinese girl's shirt a gray-blue rather than that rich (but pretty) red. In the story, this little girl (Lin Mei) is a slave. A slave would not wear red so I suggested they make it a little less wealthy-looking. I'm thrilled that they took my suggestion! So...with no further ado, here is the cover:

Thank you all for participating in the contest. And yes, JewelStuddedPen (AKA Julianne) did respond, so I will be sending her a book later this summer or early fall. And YES, I will have another contest (probably as part of the Fall Bloggy Giveaway).

And the Winner Is . . .

2008-06-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

JewelStuddedPen@aol.com is our lucky winner in the drawing for "Choose Your Favorite Cover" contest for Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers. You have NO idea how much easier it is to use Random.org to pick a number rather than printing out and cutting up all those sheets of paper, folding them up, and drawing the name from a hat. *shudder* Yes, I did that last fall in the Fall Y'all Bloggy Giveaway. I said, "Never again! There must be an easier way!" And there was.

If JewelStuddedPen doesn't not respond to my e-mail within a week, I will generate another number. But for now, congratulations, winner!

Vote for Your Favorite Cover!

2008-05-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

It's finally time for the Book 4, Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers, cover contest! I've received three (3) covers from my publisher, and you can vote for your favorite. Everyone who votes will be entered into a drawing to win an autographed copy of book 4--hot off the presses this fall, 2008. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me which cover is your favorite, along with an e-mail address or blog address (I have to be able to find you if you win the drawing).
Contest ends June 1.

Cover # 1

Cover # 2Cover # 3

Which one do you think would make the best cover?

P.S. I moved all my posts over to Blogger in December 2008. Sadly, I couldn't move over the 93 comments (contest entries) along with it. :-(

Aunt Rebecca

2008-05-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

I figured since I'm going to be spending a good deal of time with my aunt in the coming months, I should tell you a little bit about her. If you're wondering why I'm staying with dear old Aunt Rebecca, you'll find out soon enough when San Francisco Smugglers comes out.

For now, I'll try to be fair. It's hard, though, because Aunt Rebecca has always been one for sticking her nose in our family's business--and mostly in my business. I dread her visits to the ranch. It's always "Andrea, stop running. Andrea, can't you ever walk like a lady? Andrea, a young lady's skin should not be so tan. You're brown as an Indian. Andrea, you should spend less time with that smelly horse...." And so on until I find myself spending every waking minute as far away from Auntie as I can get---usually up at my special spot with Taffy.

Here is a picture of Aunt Rebecca. Maybe she looks like a nice old lady, but I have to tell you that she's got some mighty peculiar ideas on how the Carter family should behave (me, especially, since I'm the youngest. I guess she figures I'm not "finished" yet).

Aunt Rebecca lives in a fancy house in San Francisco. She's always trying to talk my mother into letting me stay with her, so she can set me on the right path in society. Trouble is, I figure I'm already on the "right" path. I don't want to spend time in the City. It gives me the shivers to think about being trapped in San Francisco for more than a day or two. I dreaded it so much, in fact, that a year ago I took off because I heard my family talking about packing me off to Aunt Rebecca's. Looking back, I realize that was stupid of me. I should have just sat down and talked it over with my mother instead of running away.

Anyway, Aunt Rebecca is my father's oldest sister. She never married, so she's what folks call a "spinster." She's from Boston, Massachusetts. When her parents died (way before I was born), my father welcomed her out West. She was delighted to make a place for herself in San Francisco. That way she could be closer to her dear brother's family (that's what she said). She interferes a lot, but my mother overlooks it because she's family. Thankfully, my mother doesn't let Auntie boss me too much.

But now...? I'm on my way to San Francisco for two whole months! I am definitely not looking forward to this. But Aunt Rebecca certainly is. Mother says I should think how happy I'll make a lonely old woman, and try to get along with her.

I'll try.

But it won't be easy...

Yikes, a Flood!

2008-04-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

A winter flood not only mucks up our town's streets, but also makes a mess of the schoolhouse. Do you know what that means? No school for two whole months! Lucky me.

If you'd like to read the first chapter of Book 4, Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers, (coming this fall) go here: CHAPTER ONE.

Here are some real pictures of past floods in the area: (pictures courtesy of the California History & Genealogy Roo m, Fresno County Library.)

Cory wades through the street to help an old man capture his firewood that's floating away.

Here are some of the levees the folks of Fresno constructed to keep the water away from the main part of town.

Yep! Floods like the one described in Chapter One really happened in Fresno.

And the Winner Is . . .

2008-04-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

Donna of HisSweetLambs5 is the winner of Family Secret and Patches, the beanie baby key chain.
Congratulations and enjoy.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the Bloggy Giveaway. If you didn't win, but are dying to read the book, click on the picture below to find out where you can buy the book.

Check back now and again. Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers is coming this fall. Of course there will be a giveaway for it--maybe more than one! I can't wait to share the cover art with you---as soon as I get permission to do so.

Taffy as a foal

2008-04-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

It's time for some pictures. While up at a school visit, I had the incredible opportunity to visit a 3-day-old palomino foal at the Bar 3 Quarter Horses ranch. Couldn't pass up the opportunity to take some pictures of "Taffy" as a baby. Taffy's real name is Shines Yellow Boy. His mama is San Peppy Doodlebug, and his sire is Shine Like Music. Click here to see some really fantastic pictures of the horses these folks have (and offer for sale, too!): Bar 3 Quarter Horses
Thank you, Robin, for letting me take pictures of your beautiful foal!

Look at Taffy's curly little mane!

Dinnertime is anytime.

After dinner it's....playtime!

How Did Taffy Get Her Name?

2008-04-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

This one's for Emilie. She asked how I came up with Taffy's name. Here's the answer.

I love taffy candy. Sometimes on rainy, cold winter evenings, our whole family makes taffy. It is such sticky fun, and the yelps from burnt fingers when pulling candy that isn't quite cooled rings through the kitchen. Taffy is made mostly from sugar, corn syrup, and butter. Mother and Luisa cook it on top of the cook stove until it boils awhile. They then pour the hot, runny candy into a flat pan, where it cools for a little bit. Then the fun begins. We all butter our hands and start pulling the taffy into long ropes. Yikes! It's hot! After we pull and pull and pull it (I usually get tired and let my brothers finish up), it's cut into pieces and wrapped in little papers to eat another time. Which is fine by me. By the time we're done, my belly is so full of warm taffy that I usually feel sick.
(This is real taffy candy)

I remember making taffy from the time I was little--before I had my own horse. Whenever we made taffy, I would tell my mother that I wanted a horse the color of this lovely, creamy candy. If I got a horse I would name her Taffy. On my sixth birthday I got my wish! A horse of my own. She was a newborn foal and the color of taffy candy, so I named her Taffy. Now she's more golden than creamy, but her mane and tail are still like taffy.
She looks just like the color of taffy candy, doesn't she?

How Did I Get My Nickname "Andi"?

2008-03-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

Sarah asked me a question about how I got my nickname "Andi." As you probably know, my real name is Andrea Rose, but nobody but my mother (and other adults) ever, ever call me that. So...how did Andrea turn into Andi? Well...that's my sister Melinda's fault. She was five years old when I was born, and she really liked having a baby sister she could dress up and treat like a doll.

However, it didn't take long for Melinda to figure out that I didn't like playing princesses or tea party. I would rather follow my brothers around and play with the horses, and climb trees or play in the barn. One day when I was about four years old, Melinda finally got so riled up that she complained to Mother. She said, "Mother, I don't know why you ever named my sister 'Andrea.' She's acts so much like a boy that you should have named her 'Andy.'

I liked that name and it stuck. Chad, especially, thought it was perfect for me. Even Melinda started calling me 'Andi', and before I knew it, she was joining me in climbing trees, racing our horses, and having lots of fun. (OK, I also occasionally agreed to play tea party and princess with Melinda, too). After all, that's what sisters do!

I hope that answered your question, Sarah

Cover Questions

2008-03-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

Some of you are asking about the cover and the title for Book 4. I think it's safe to say that the title for the new book is Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers. As for the cover....I did get a very rough draft of it the other day. However, I'm not at liberty right now to share that or any other cover that might be part of the Great Choose-the-Cover-You-Like-Best Contest like I had for Family Secret. However, I will show you the elements that are ON the cover, and you can use your imagination to figure out how they are putting it together to make it look very cool.
So...drum roll. Here are the pictures they chose to use (out of a whole bunch I sent them):

(The designer, of course, cuts around all the figures so the background doesn't show.)

This is a little slave-girl, Lin Mei, whom Andi and Jenny help at the school: Stop by Lin Mei's (AKA Gracie's) blog and say "Hi"! She is an HSB homeschooling blogger!
Princess Gracie

This is the background for the cover--Aunt Rebecca's house! Bet you've always wanted to see where dear old Aunt Rebecca lives:

Do these pictures make you want to see the actual cover? Well, hang on for a few more weeks and I'll post the cover and (hopefully) another cover for you to look at for your opinions. Patience, friends!

A Family Surprise

2008-03-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

I'm not quite sure how much I should say about these three little kids. If I say too much it will ruin the story, Family Secret. If I say too little, you won't know what I'm talking about. So I'll tell you about them, and then you can try and guess how we're all related.

First of all, there's Levi. He's about 10 years old and one of the meanest little boys I ever had the misfortune of meeting. (At least, he started out mean...). We didn't get along at all in the beginning. Mitch gave him a pinto pony, which he quickly named "Patches." For a kid who'd never ridden a horse before, he took to it like flies take to honey. I've never seen anyone learn faster than that city-boy, Levi. One good thing--he likes to race horses as much as I do.

Then there's Betsy. She's 6 years old, and she followed me around wherever I went! I was never sure just where she'd pop up. Sometimes it was annoying to listen to her chatter like a squirrel--day in and day out. Mother said she looks up to me and wants to be like me, so I need to be a good example. That helped me think of her more like a little sister rather than a pesky tag-a-long. She actually is kinda cute, and I learned patience.

Last of all is Hannah. She's barely 3 years old and a raggedy-looking little thing she was when I first saw her sitting on my sister Melinda's lap. My mouth fell open and I stuttered, "W-ho's that?" I learned quick enough who Hannah was. Boy was I sore when she stole my locket and jumped on my bed and threw tantrums all the time. When she wasn't whining she was sucking her thumb.

With kin like this, I was ready to move out. But amazingly enough, I ended up loving them as much as I love the rest of my family. And when bad things started to happen, I was ready to protect them, even if it meant risking my own life. Family's like that, ya know?

Are Cory and I Still Friends?

2008-03-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

Sarah wants to know if Cory and I are still friends after the third book (Family Secret), since he was pretty mad at me for not telling him what was going on about my sister showing up at the ranch. I won't say anymore about that, in case it might spoil the story for somebody who hasn't read that adventure yet.

But the answer is...yes. Cory and I will always be friends--even though we get into arguments about the dumbest things. But really? Who else will challenge me to a horse race or go fishing with me? Most of my town friends live too far away to ride out to the ranch just to go fishing or exploring.

Cory and I have known each other since we were little. He's like having a brother just my own age, and I like that. You know what he told me the other day? He said he's got an old, outdated map the land office was throwing away. It's marked with old gold mines and diggings. He's fixing to go off looking for gold one of these days, and he asked if I want to go along. He said we'd split everything we find right down the middle--50/50. What do you think of that? Hey, that might make another good adventure to write about sometime...