general, Poetry

my world from a bit of frost

Snowfall of 2011-my treeline...
after frost come the snow falls (2011-my treeline)

 

 

 

 

lots of frost lined my morning window

as the sun touched it, a dewdrop formed

reflecting from the crystal hanging inside

the frost that turned into a dewdrop

is now sparkling with colors of the rainbow

 

this opened me, placing thoughts of my life

how certain people have touched me

turning me into a rainbow of compassion,

understanding, love, and welcome

to others of different heritage, color and language

 

it begins with respect and grows from there

into compassion for the struggle of another,

understanding their battle from my own wars,

loving them for meeting the challenge

as I welcome them into my world as compatriots

 

from that point on, bonds of friendship are formed

as I learn more of a world unknown to me

impossible for me to imagine without the history

to feel as any other, to sense what they know naturally

to evolve to a higher plane of self                    © Arlene S. Bice, 2012

 

general, women

Christmas & Holiday Recipes & Remembrances

      

 

“CHRISTMAS TASTE ‘N TELL”

Community Room at

Warren County Memorial Library

119 So. Front Street

Warrenton NC

Tues.4 Dec. 2012

    12:00 to 1:00 pm

 

    Come tell your tales & taste our foods made for you by the women who contributed to the

Warrenton Woman’s Club Cookbook  the “Recipes & Remembrances” Cookbook

will be available for purchase at $15.00

This was a fun event when we introduced it in the spring. The planned program took on a life of its own. So this time we are going to just run with it, let ya’ll tell your Christmas or your Holiday stories that have food memories in them.

Please, come out and taste the wonderful array of recipes made with Christmas in mind by those who submitted to our Warrenton Women’s Club cookbook, Recipes & Remembrances.     Enjoy!

Uncategorized

Year of Wonder & Gratitude

Thanksgiving Day is a day above others to stop and think about the uncommon things for which I am grateful for. So I place them here in a poem for you to enjoy. I am grateful for that.

 Year of Wonder & Gratitude

 I am grateful

for the skilled surgical team

for giving me a new, youthful heart

early this year, adding time to my life,

to create, to be; surely a wondrous thing

to be grateful for

 

ImageI am grateful

for the friends and family

that cared, who sent prayers

for my healing; I did heal, so quickly,

that in awe I went out and built an herb garden

that I am grateful for

 

I am grateful

for the seasons changing

showing beauty in its own way

the glory of colors varied each season

thanks to Duke Eye Center I see those colors

how grateful am I

 

I am grateful

for friends that share

my love of art, the printed word

 reading books, willing to discuss them

for music that sings in my house and my soul

I am grateful

 

I am grateful

for the joy of helping

others in my own small way

humble that it is, but from my heart

that pleases me more than receiving gifts

gratefulness overflows

 

I am grateful

for doors opening

to the path leading me

forward in this year of wonder

of exciting adventures and old memories

I am grateful. Yes

 

© Arlene S. Bice, 2012

 

 

general

New Location at Riverside Mill in Weldon, NC

ImageImageImageLife just gets better and better. Thanks to an introduction by Jeanne Watson, I’ve been invited to place three of my books, Ghostly Spirits of Warren County, NC & Beyond, Life & Labyrinth and Major Fraser’s in the Riverside Mill in Weldon, North Carolina. Delighted! It has been nearly a year, maybe a bit more than that since I’ve been there. Mainly because I’m not a shopper and my need to buy gifts has faded away.

I do like to buy North Carolina items as gifts when I return to New Jersey, to show that American skill and talent are still alive and doing well here. Riverside Mill is a great showcase for that. I bought a few pottery pieces, salsas, jams, chocolate-covered peanuts, and more……all North Carolina treasures that I will proudly give as exchange and hostess gifts this holiday season. Many people over – fifty don’t want another knick-knack but love to receive quality and delicious food gifts.

There is so much more to the Mill including sculptures, clothing, linen, and shoe outlets. And lots of quality antiques to browse or buy all in a well-ordered, friendly and charming atmosphere.

When you visit please take a few minutes to browse through my books. They, too, make nice Christmas or Holiday gifts.

Cats, paranormal, Poetry, Uncategorized

Cat & Dog Ghosts

Image

Now that my rescued Manx cat, Lady Jane, has been diagnosed with diabetes and I know I will be facing a day in the not-far-off-future when she passes away, I’m thinking about seeing her in the afterlife. Over the years several people have told me they have seen a cat or dog in spirit form race past them in a blur. I have too, in the first year that I lived in my new home in North Carolina. Fortunately for me, it didn’t step on the paint can lid while I was putting some fresh color on my walls.

My girls (Lady Jane & Mz Lizzie) did not seem to mind this other pet running through the house. But then they were playful with the Native American Brave that wandered through, also. He even stopped to rub their bellies. The Brave left after that first year, along with the animal. It could have been his companion. My eldest brother moved in with me during the second year. I wondered if that had something to do with changing the tone in the household even though he was an animal lover.

I’ve read where some religions state that animals do not have souls because they do not have free will or an immortal soul or a conscience, so no afterlife for them. It runs through my mind about cats traveling hundreds of miles to get to the home they love and are familiar with, after they have jumped out of a car and become lost. Or a dog that leaps into swirling waters to save the life of a family member. Or protects a child from a snake biting, or goes for assistance to help their owner. You get the idea.  Instinct? Don’t think so. Trained to do so? Nope. Souless? I think it is all about love. Love can bind a person to a place after they pass away; staying as a spirit or a ghost. Why not the love of an animal?

        Two Cats      

     (Read horizontally or/and vertically.)

        Two cats                               Lizzie and Jane,

playful, joyful,                      full of life

romping thru the house         like two kids

one leading the other            upstairs, downstairs

all over                                  boisterous

a calico, a manx                    black, white and gold

different breeds                    different markings

same mother                         same heart.

(C) Arlene S. Bice, 2008 publ. Life & Labyrinth

book review, paranormal

New Newsletter; PurpleStone Press Ezine

PurpleStone Press Ezine

A Monthly Newsletter to keep readers informed on news in the book world, about moments not easily explained, stretching out to other genres, a personal story, events going on, comments from readers and more. Readers are welcome to comment or add their thoughts to the next newsletter.

In This Issue  November 2012

Click Reply, enter your email address with the word Subscribe and return it to me at asbice@aol.com if you would like to receive a monthly Ezine on books, stories, life’s quirks, and other bits of interest to inquisitive readers.

Happenings  & News   I attended E. Jane Ball-Groom’s Book Signing for her “The Salad Pickers Journey South” memoir on Saturday, Nov 3 to my delight. It is her story of a New York girl (her) and her husband and children emigrating south to Manson, North Carolina to help build Attorney McKissick’s dream of creating Soul City in the late 1960s. These were turbulent times in our country and a brave journey for this family to make at that time. I met Jane at a writing workshop two or three years ago and thoroughly enjoyed reading her story in print.

What’s Goin’ On?   November 10, Saturday… .Meet the Author & Book Signing at Oakley Hall Antiques,  119 N. Main St. Warrenton from 1 pm to 3 pm. Refreshments served. Hope to see you there…………………..ALSO a Taste ‘n Tell on Tues. the 4th Dec. at the WCM Library sponsored by Warrenton Woman’s Club. Christmas recipes from the Recipes & Remembrances Cookbook will be offered to taste, cooks will tell their stories and the cookbook will be available for sale at $15. Think great Holiday gifts.

Letters, I Get Letters….As an inquisitive person and avid writer, I get invitations from other writers and publishers. One note received was an invitation from Jyoti Wind to submit a piece on “why I write” and has resulted in the newly released book: The Creative Arc: An Anthology on Writing now available for $15.99. It can be ordered at: jyotiwind@gmail.com. The book will prove to be very interesting I’m sure, learning all the many different reasons on why one person absolutely must write while others could care less about it.

This Month……Since I now have Ghostly Spirits of Warren County,North Carolina & Beyond on the shelves, I’m back to completing New Jersey hauntings and true ghost tales I have been collecting for the last few years in between the NC ones. If you know of anyone who would like to tell me their story, please put them in touch with me at: asbice@aol.com or 252-257-4838.

Stories…Here is one that did not get into the newest book.

The Biltmore House, America’s Castle

I confess, on the few times I’ve visited the Biltmore Estate I have not seen or felt any ghosts hanging around. But the scoop is that George Washington Vanderbilt who built it because he loved the area so much as a child visiting, has been heard speaking after he died in 1914 from complications with an appendectomy. Edith, his wife of sixteen years and now a young widow was known to sit in front of one of the fireplaces on the lower level and talk to him. And the servants heard him talk back!

There is also rumor of an orange cat running around without his head. Supposedly a cook chopped off his head in a fit of rage at the cat coming into the kitchen too often. And he was a favorite of his master George. That one is a little hard to believe.

But sounds of guests enjoying themselves swimming in the basement pool continue. The fact that the pool has been empty of water for many years doesn’t seem to deter them at all!

 The Latest…….

Ghostly Spirits of Warren County NC & Beyond (Soft Cover-2012 PurpleStone Press) $18.95                    A candle in the window, a man who walks through walls,  a woman from long ago…..peek into the personal stories of hauntings from those who wish to remain in their place on earth instead of going forward into the after-life. Warren County was a wealthy, thriving place during the antebellum years. Warrenton was the hub of activity, a destination on market days where friends gathered. These imprints were left and remain today.

Stories brought to Lake Gaston come to life as events are unveiled by those who have the gift of seeing what others cannot see.  Added is the historical background that will endear you to place and time, to personal experiences for your compassion and understanding. As time progresses and changes are made, some spirits remain as they were forever.

 Also Available….  Ghosts Of Bordentown (NJ) (Soft Cover-2005 guy arlen pub.) $14.00  True paranormal stories told by those who lived them.

Haunted Bordentown … (NJ) (Soft Cover – Schiffer Pub. 2008)  $14.98 True paranormal tales

Life & Labyrinth … (Soft Cover– 2010 PurpleStone Press) $16.95  Memoir & Poetry

Major Fraser’s…….A House & History (Soft Cover –2011 PurpleStone Press) $19.95

Bordentown, Images of America…..Arcadia Publ. (Soft Cover Nov 11, 2002) A picture book of Bordentown history.

New Egypt & Plumsted Township, Images of America…..Arcadia Publ. (Soft Cover 2003) A picture book of the very center of New Jersey.

Bordentown Revisited, Images of America… Arcadia Publ. (Soft Cover 2005) More pictures and history of Bordentown and surrounding area.

 Subscribe: Click Reply, enter your email address with the word Subscribe and return it to me if you would like to receive a monthly Ezine on books, stories, life’s quirks, and other bits of interest to inquisitive readers

Keep your mind open. Keep reading. Be kind. Be gentle.

PurpleStone Press

asbice@aol.com

http://purplestoneblog.com/

paranormal

Meet the Author & Book Signing!

Thanks to Don & Ernie at Oakley Hall Antiques, 119 N. Main St. Warrenton, NC,

You’re Invited Image

I’m delighted to share this invitation to ya’ll. A Meet the Author & Book Signing event at Oakley Hall Antiques & Art for the first book of Warren County Ghost Stories

Sat., Nov. 10 (1-3 PM).

Local author Arlene Bice (that’s me) has just published “Ghostly Spirits” and has included numerous ghost tales from this area, including Don and Ernie’s experiences from Oakley Hall and the Ridgeway Tavern-Inn.

Don comments, “This book has been needed for a long time. Please come see us on Nov. 10, have some refreshments, and get your signed copy of this fascinating book.”

See also the feature article in this week’s Warren Record newspaper (Oct. 31).