The porch was made

for nights such as these. It is absolutely gorgeous here tonight, a light breeze is keeping the mosquitoes at bay, it is cool enough to have a quilt on my lap and it is almost noisy with the sounds of critters, frogs, and the lone Sand Hill crane.
Tomorrow is Friday and I have a long day ahead of me...some necessary but unwanted medical stuff will occupy the majority of the day. Then home again to languish in my chair with a book. Today I have been busy reading about a typical author's financial struggles. Obviously they all can't be Debbie Macomber, John Grisham or Janet Evanovich but today I learned how little they make for all the work that they do...which leads me to step off the "comfort train" and put my self and my little blog out there. YIKES! I am challenge myself to review all these books that I read!! I am so thankful for these authors...how wonderful that Facebook and Twitter and all the blogs make it possible for readers such as myself to reach out and "talk" with authors who I before could only say "WOW...you need to read this book" to my friends. Now I can personally thank them and more importantly review the book and possibly get a few people out to buy it!
So my first step is to suggest that you go out and find a few of these author's books. You won't regret it!!
Cleo Coyle
Lorna Barrett
Elizabeth Craig
Alice Kimberly
OK...go on now, you have your task in front of you...go read a book!!!

Saturday night on the porch...

would be quite wonderful if it weren't so darn hot and sticky!!!! What is up with Michigan's summer this year?
Two weeks until my back surgery and I am getting quite antsy about it. Perhaps because I know what I will go through afterwards having just done it a year ago...the 6 long weeks in a hard, unforgiving, inflexible cervical collar. Not being able to turn my head, totally wash my hair (OK...I did cheat and take it off long enough to wash my hair...you would have done it, too!!), not being able to sleep without an Ambien...the list goes on and on. However, I am choosing tonight to be optimistic. I know I will finally be rid of this neverending pain, tingling and numbness. Not being able to totally function as I wish...the pain is what gets to me. It effects my entire life and my family's life...
Keeping with my optimistic leanings...I won a contest this week!!!!! I regularly read a wonderful blog called Mystery Lover's Kitchen. The recipes are to die for and I love seeing the other sides of some of my favorite authors. Well, this week they are celebrating their first anniversary and each day give away a cooking prize. On Tuesday I not only got a great recipe for pork ribs but I also won a barbecue grill set!! Sweet thanks again to Elizabeth :-)
I need to look further into expanding my blog horizons...fear of failure is my biggest fear. But I stateed before I will not let it stop me!!!
I have my first follower...the aforementioned Elizabeth, author of the new release Delicious and Suspicious. Go buy it...preferably from a real bookstore in your neighborhood!! If that isn't possible...go ahead and hit up borders or Barnes and Noble. After all...Borders is a Michigan based company :-) If all else fails get thee to Amazon...get a real book in your hands, one that you can put a cool bookmark in, carry in your purse, even dogear the pages...GASP! But buy a book...read a book and share what you read. There are readers everywhere who go to the library, seniors who don't have the finances to indulge, hospitals, shoot even our local jail regularly asks for contributions! READ...READ...READ

...and off I go!!!

The idea of keeping a blog is both exciting and daunting. Will I keep up with it? Will I be interesting? Will anyone ever read this? My answer to all the above is quite simply...it is OK either way. I would love to have followers but then again am I prepared to bare my soul to others? I guess I will have to wait and see...
I have called this The Front Porch Library because two of my favorite things in life are my front porch and books! Granted living in Michigan there are definite restrictions to front porching unless you are an Eskimo but I like to think the remaining months make it all worthwhile. We live in an old rundown farm house, not the quaint ones that you see in the magazines but a real life one with far too few electric outlets, no chance of ever having central air, lots of drafts, creaky wonky floors and...a certain character. We have far too much stuff but that is a post for another day. The library is another one of my favorite spots. I have been a bibliophile since I was a young girl and I have recently started patronizing it faithfully since giving myself a challenge not to buy any new books (except with gift cards) for a whole year!!!! Now, let me state here that I will still go to used book stores, library sales, trift stores and yard sales. I have learned a lot about myself during this challenge...I am an impatient reader to be sure! I am also a bit obsessive about reading series. Thanks to my dear friend, Cat I have become a huge fan of cozy mysteries. But when I begin a series I NEED to read the whole series!! This is where my library has saved me...I can request all the books online and usually I have them as I am ready for them :-)
So...The Front Porch library has opened for business...welcome and get comfy. I'll brew a pitcher of sun tea and perhaps will even have a cookie or two waiting for you.