MARIAH LYNNE

BUT FOR THE LOVE OF CAMELS

A TRUE HOLIDAY TALE

My dog Max could have worked for Santa Claus. He had a pair of fuzzy antlers with jingle bells, loved Christmas, and adored people. Max would drool at the sight of us decorating the tree. We loved fresh trees and so did he. He never had an accident; never confused it with being outside, but always perused the branches for any soft ornaments he could grab.
Once the tree was decorated and the tree skirt in place, he would lay under the lights and take a nap. That's great for a toy breed, but Max was a seventy pound Humane Society special. He was so cute I didn't stop him.
Max loved to get presents and opened his own gifts but he wouldn't stop there. If you had a present on your lap, you were in danger of having the wrapping shredded and ribbon pulled. We loved him, so we let him have fun. We had fun just watching him. Seeing a trend here?
When he was one, he and a good friend named Ron stayed home while my husband and I went into work for a few hours. Ron was a carpenter who did many projects for us. He was crazy about Max so I left thinking "What could possibly go wrong?"
I came home first. Ron had already left. Once inside the house, I went over to check the tree for water. I placed a low table next to the tree to display my mother's nativity scene. The manger setting was old; it came from Italy and she received it from her mother. The figures were in paper- mache and hand painted. Of course some of the paint had come off the faces, but I treasured it nonetheless. When I glanced down at the nativity, something was missing. I did a quick mental inventory. Two camels, original to the set, weren't there. How could that be? I looked on the floor. I found bits and pieces of the dark brown substance used for the camels all around the table.
Ron, I thought."That Ron must have knocked them over. How could he? Those belonged to my Mom and my grandmother." I was so upset, I picked up the phone and called him. Did I ever give him an earful? I remember yelling into the phone..."How could you do that? You weren't even working near the tree. You know how much I treasured that set. That was my mother's." I was in tears, but Ron was patient and didn't respond in kind. He asked one leading question. "Have you seen Maxwell?"
"Max. No. He's nowhere to be found." I picked up a large piece of the broken camel and tiptoed into the bedroom. There he was hiding or trying to hide on my husband's side of the bed. He only hid like this when he knew he did something wrong. I held what was left of one of my treasured camels and called out to him."Max, did you do this?" He put his head in his paws and rubbed his eyes. Yep. Mystery solved. He must have tried to get them, but luckily knocked them over in the process.
Of course I was upset about my mother's camels, but I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose. He probably was looking for a new toy (he loved to play) and I left the low hanging fruit. My fault. I sat on the bed and called him over. I showed him the piece again and said"bad." He understood; but I said 'bad" because he could have ingested the substance or choked and I could have found him in a very different condition. Max was more important than any camel or decoration. He was my "furry ball of love" as my neighbors described him. I called him over and hugged and kissed him content he was safe and okay.
Besides, Christmas was two days away and I knew he'd be in good enough shape to hide under the dining room table poised at my friend Jim's seat. Max loved Jim and Jim was a soft touch. "No people food" would be my mantra, but somehow I know Max got a taste of turkey or a bit of sweet potato from Jim. If I could wish upon a star, I would wish they both could be with us at dinner this year, that I could remind them of the "rules",but they both have passed on. I lost Max last June at 14 1/2 and Jim a few years ago.

As I decorate and plan for the holiday, of course I think of my furry elf and how much fun we had. I miss him more than ever, but I have many cherished memories of his love, his mischief, and our

fun I'll always treasure.
Remember. Cherish your loved ones. Tell them how much you care and how important they are to you. Your time together is as "fragile "as my camels. Don't let anything or anyone make you forget that.

I wish you all the happiest of holidays and best wishes for 2017.

Mariah Lynne
ROMANCE THAT TRANSCENDS TIME
Please watch my SHADOWS ACROSS TIME VIDEO on www.MariahLynne.com

Please watch my SHADOWS ACROSS TIME video on www.MariahLynne.com

KANDY KANE

WELCOME TO THE HIGHWAY CAFE BLOG TOUR - Dec. 5th, 6th and 7th

Holiday Greeting,

Merry Christmas. Hope all your wishes come true. I know first hand Santa’s waiting to make that happen. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Kandy Kane and I’m an elf in Santa’s North Pole workshop. I know what you’re thinking a girl elf? Well we do exist and even work harder than the boys.

My job is a dream making all the candy for your stockings…chocolates…mints…canes…jelly rings…yum. Of course I have the help of twenty other girls. We love our work, maybe a little too much, because we have to watch our waistlines and stop tasting our treats.

When we work, we all love to listen to Jingle Bell Rock. It’s happy, lively, and its peppy pace makes us sing while we dip the cherries in chocolate or pour chocolate into Santa molds.
I make candy canes. Just by my name, I bet you guessed that’s my specialty but my favorite snack is Christmas sugar cookies and hot chocolate. They add just the right amount of variety to my diet. I'm very sweet.
I've made a lot of friends here. I'm a secret Santa this year for my buddy Pinky. That's Dr. Pinky Twinkleton, Santa's vet. She watches out for all the animals at the North Pole, but keeps an extra watchful eye on Santa's reindeer especially this time of year. I made some delicious candy apples for her and put apples on carrot sticks for all of Santa's team. After Christmas, Pinky takes Santa's reindeer team to Alaska for a vacation to rest from their all night ride and refresh themselves at The Reindeer Spa.

Holiday recipe. EASY BUT DELICIOUS MANDARIN ORANGE CUPCAKES

HOLIDAY RECIPE

Since I make candy from scratch all year, I like really simple recipes. All you need is:

1 box white cake mix

Add ingredients listed on box (egg whites, butter, etc.

1 can mandarin oranges in juice –add for liquid instead of milk or water

Stir with mixer until ingredients are thoroughly mixed

Pour into cupcake trays and bake at 350 degrees

Frost with vanilla frosting

While you munch on one of my cupcakes, I’d like to introduce you to Mariah Lynne’s newest book:

SHADOWS ACROSS TIME

Imagine being kidnapped and transported back in time to a 16^th century French castle.

Danielle deForet, a beautiful rare antiques dealer, is tricked into completing an appraisal on a rare French piece, when to her surprise its owner casts a spell sending them both back to 1559. Danielle learns she is the crucial link for a royal spell and finds herself guarded by a handsome knight, Aidan. They soon fall in love, and he plans a risky escape.

Georgina, once a seer, now a mannequin in Danielle’s shop, was turned to wood by that same wizard. Her body stilled, her mind sharp, she is the lovers’ only hope to escape. If she intervenes, and the wizard finds out, he will stop at nothing to make his spell succeed, even if it means destroying Georgina, Danielle, and Aidan.

Tagline: How far would you go for love?

BUY LINK: https://www.MariahLynne.com

FEBRUARY IS FOR LOVERS

Love is in the air. Valentines, flowers, and heart shaped candy. It's a new year, a new beginning, and a renewed recognition of what's most important to us. As my wise mother always told me; health and love.

I am lucky to have a loving and caring husband, and a fourteen year old dog named Max who that many years ago was my Valentine gift. Both surround my world with humor, encouragement, and loads of love.

I took Max out for his walk this morning and he met up with the gorgeous Golden Girls, two sister Golden Doodles who are infatuated with him. One came close and gave him a lick.
The other waited patiently for her turn. Of course, he loved it.
His tail wagged a mile a minute.
Max and the Golden Girls prove that we don't have to be carbon copies to fall in love. My father was an immigrant and my mother born here. Different talents, their love lasted a lifetime. I am a disorganized creative type, while my husband is organized and very good in business and sales, but in how we treat others and giving back to our small community we agree.
In SHADOWS ACROSS TIME, two lovers from different periods in history, who speak different languages, and have different customs meet under extreme duress and fall in love.
Their love is tested by a wizard out to destroy them in order to keep favor with his queen and by an impossible and dangerous escape where they must trust their fate to total strangers.
This month, show your significant other how much you care. Your Valentine's love should not be reserved for one day, one month, or one year, but forever.

Mariah Lynne
www.MariahLynne.com
SHADOWS ACROSS TIME

THE CHRISTMAS DOLL

One Christmas, a long time ago, I was a little girl who loved her dolls. I had clothes for them, accessories, and some even had their own little beds in my room. I always thought every little girl had a doll. Never dreamed anything different.
It was the Sunday before Christmas and my father took me to church service after Sunday School to see a special choir of children from an orphanage in Rome. They were in the US to visit and perform at several churches along the East Coast.
Some of the families like mine volunteered to take a child home for dinner. The week before, my mother asked to see a photo of the young lady because she wanted to buy some clothes for her to take home. When I looked at the photo, I saw a skinny eight year named Marianna. We were the same age and the same height. We both had dark curly hair and dark brown eyes. Except for where and how we lived, and the fact that I was chubby, we could have been sisters.
I was excited to have Marianna come for dinner and happy that my mother bought her clothes. After we ate Sunday lunch, I took her into my bedroom to see and play with my toys. Her eyes grew huge and began to tear up. I understood a little Italian enough to get the just of a conversation. She walked over to my window bench where my dolls "lived" and picked one up and hugged it.
The doll named Anna was one of my favorites. Dressed in a pink and white gingham dress, she had blonde hair I could comb. Marianna hugged Anna and refused to let her go. She said she never had a doll before, let alone one as "bella" as this one.
Well I was not a happy camper. I yelled at her, "Let let Anna go. That doll is mine." She refused and asked me to please give Anna to her. That made me more upset. Enough so my father heard me and came in to see what was wrong.
I told him about Anna and how she was not going anywhere. He walked over to Marianna and had her give him the doll. He then said in Italian that he knew I would be happy to give it to her. After all, I had so much...a good home, loving parents, and many other dolls. He handed it back to her and she hugged him like he just gave her the world.
I watched in silence thinking I never realized how lucky I was. I too went over and hugged Marianna. She taught me a a most important lesson about giving and love I will never forget. This holiday season we should all care about those less fortunate and try to help in whatever manner we can.
Best wishes for a happy holiday season. I hope you spend it with family and friends.

Mariah

SHADOWS ACROSS TIME

Subscribe To Mariah Lynne Blog

BUT FOR THE LOVE OF CAMELS

KANDY KANE

Blog Archive