Cowboys and Crude Oil

Cowboys and Crude Oil is a Christian Contemporary Fiction book which takes place in Elk City, Oklahoma. It is Book 4 of The Nashville Series.

Book 1- Six Miles From Nashville
Book 2- Christmas in Nashville
Book 3- Restored
Book 4- Cowboys and Crude Oil

My husband has  hauled crude oil for many years. He has told me many stories about the oil patch and one of those stories is featured in this book. The fictional romance was built around the true event. I believe you will like it.

This weekend, January 18 & 19, 2020, the Kindle version of this book is free through Amazon. I hope you get your free copy and write a review. I would appreciate it.

Repainting Christmas Decorations Before We Put Them Away

23+ years ago I cut this Manger Scene out and painted it. It has become pretty weathered and I didn't want to throw it away. It is time to refresh it and a few other items I made that year.

Even though there are 4 more pieces that need repainted, these are the only ones I got repainted today. I had to take it in manageable tasks. This was my limit today.

Joseph and the donkey are next...maybe tomorrow...

I'll do the second sheep. Boy he looks drab.

The last piece will be Santa's bag. I think it needs to be a brighter color...Possibly bright blue or purple? What do you think???

Planning Ahead

I know... I know...Christmas is just now over. Why am I planning so far ahead in the year? Well...this past Christmas we did something new for our family. We had a hayride. Our new neighbors loaned us some hay bales and Terry and he put them on our flatbed trailer. Terry rigged up lights. (There is a technical name ...inverter was used...sorta like a light parade scenario,) Anyway, we toured the welder I had set up next to the camper, the lights on the zip line, the manger scene, and the tree house. Of course there were also the awesome lights Terry put everywhere he could.

I wanted to do something special for next year's hayride. I wanted to make the play house into a gingerbread house. In order to do this, I have to plan and prepare because it takes a lot of time to put out even as many lights as we had this past Christmas. I drew this out on Jan 9 or so and started looking online for ideas on how to implement it. That is why I made those 2 pool noodle suckers yesterday. Only 14 more to go. lol...

Thanks to a Christmas gifting of more lights, we already have the icicles for the play house + lights for other places. We have red and white striped rope light to outline the house and lights for the pathway. (I think) So...More suckers and other candies to make. I am a little worried about how to attach the candies to the walls of the play house. The siding is sort of falling apart a bit. I think the solution is to make differing heights of suckers all around. I could clip some gumdrops made from margarine tubs (painted colorfully) on the ridge of the roof with light clips....

I'm thinking of sewing up a Mrs. Claus dress and serving cookies from the playhouse. Also on my sewing list are multiple elves. 2 to hang from the climbing wall, 2 to act silly at the wishing well, 3 to hang from the big zip line....and the imagination goes on. We will see if I actually get the sewing machine humming throughout the months ahead.

Why all this for just my family? Well, we are going to ask all our neighbors if they'd like to invite their grandchildren and children to join our hay ride. We are also inviting our children's church and youth kids as well. Yes, I'm sure Terry would be willing to let other kiddos and parents who ask to be a part of this to come along as well.This will probably be a one or two night thing...after Christmas. and during the Christmas break.

What do you think? Are we CRAZY? 

Crafting is Not For Wimps

Okay...so Terry and I want to decorate our grands' playhouse like a gingerbread house next Christmas. I got on Youtube to look for patterns for lollipop ideas to put on the sides of the playhouse and along a pathway. 

We watched videos on how to make them with pool noodles from a dollar store. It looked easy enough, so we bought 2 pool noodles. I was glad we saw several ways to do this. 

I think where we went wrong first was that Terry said he'd help me with this, but didn't agree to do it on his day off. He went to work and on his morning phone call to me he asked me what I was doing. Yes, I had started on the project.  He laughed and informed me that he was glad I was doing the project by myself. Grrrr.

I should have realized the pool noodles were way too big in circumference. The second picture shows it on the 'first turn'. The hot glue didn't bond well because it was like turning a wire into a spring. I had it tied up when I came almost to the end...THEN... boing....there it flew across the floor. 

I wrestled it several more times and remembered a video from the Home and Family Show. They cut the noodle into 4ths for small suckers for a wreath. I decided to cut mine in half because I wanted it to be pretty big...not massive...like it would have been had I been able to keep it from springing out of its confines. 

That meant wrapping more white duct tape so that the backside would be covered as well. It is still tied up and I'm sorta scared about untying it. 

I just want to know how it is that the online people and on TV people can make things look so easy when it is anything but easy...My plan was to make 16 of these. I'm soul searching the prospect of making the other half left over from this one...What do you think???

Kindness and Truth

This morning in my reading time Proverbs 3:3 struck me as at no other reading of this Scripture. "Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart."

The pairing of kindness and truth is interesting to me. Most of us have heard the movie quote, "You can't handle the truth!" Because this has become ingrained in our culture as a real thing, a lot of us skirt around the truth when it comes to responding to friends and family. We do it to be kind. (at least that is my motivation most of the time)

Truthfulness, at times, can seem confrontational. I suppose it depends on the delivery of the person presenting the truth. That is where kindness comes in. Truthfulness paired with kindness is like 'a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.' At least that is how I see it.

All in all, the truth is the truth. There are certain truths in Scripture that seem harsh, but are they harsh? Our Lord said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." He was God in flesh, God with us. showing us the Father.

He was kind, yet He was no pushover. He stood for every Word that proceeded from the mouth of God. He didn't water down what God had said. Sin was still sin. A sacrifice still had to be made. Jesus became that Sacrifice for us so that we could know God. He didn't call evil, good. He spoke the truth even though it would hurt people's feelings.

Is it difficult to speak the truth with kindness? Yep, at times it is. Frustration plays a part in the delivery of truth, but we must remember to love the misguided even though we hate the sin. We must check our motives and be sure that we are doing the Lord's bidding and not arguing for the sake of arguing. It is a tightrope walk for sure. I believe that if people see us as kind, their ears will be apt to listen to what we say.

Binding kindness and truth around your neck...to me seems to be something that should stand out. Otherwise, we'd bind them around our ankles. These attributes should be obvious to those coming in contact with us. I personally know quite a few people who are like this and am glad to call them friends and family.

First Book Inventory of 2020

Procrastination has been my partner since the dawn of 2020. Yesterday, I finished packing all the inside Christmas decorations away. Had I not received an email message from the State of Texas, I would have forgotten to send in my Texas Sales Tax for 2019. Yet, my to do list is not all done. One of the many remaining items is/was book inventory.

Since there are now 18 published books to my name, I have to be frugal with my inventory. I do love sending autographed copies to those who order directly from me, but I've had to scale back to having 5 copies of each title on hand at any one time. (If you have a larger order for me to fill, I really don't mind getting more copies in order to fill your order....just sayin'...)It looks like there are 12 titles that need at least 2 more copies ordered.

Another thing on my procrastination list is to finish a 'quilt as you go' quilt that I started years ago. We'll see how that goes.

Do you have projects on your back burner?

Wow...A Chair I Don't Deserve

Yesterday I had another dental appointment. I was told in 2 months he will take an impression and do the insert thing for the implant to prep for the final crown/tooth that my local dentist will craft. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

While we were in Amarillo, we went to Bob Mills furniture store. They had a massive selection. We found 3 that fit the measurement from my hips to my inner knees. This was the one that matched closest. It wouldn't have hurt if the seat was 1/2 to 1" shorter, but I can reach the floor with the area just below my toes. (It is weird to have short legs.) Anyway, this one is adjustable. It is 100% leather, the head rest expands and contracts, there is a lumbar adjuster, there's an option for heat and massage. Yes, I am spoiled. I feel SPOILED and unworthy of such a nice Christmas/Birthday/Anniversary present.

It is amazing to get out of a chair and not have cramped up & spasm ridden legs and back. The back support and lack of having dangling legs while being seated makes all the difference. I write my books from my easy chairs. This is my home office. I still can't believe it is mine. (The electronics on it are guaranteed as long as I own the chair!!! Yay!)

The Quest for the Perfect Chair- The Goldilocks Shopping Spree

This picture features a picture taken years ago of The Hubs and Maci playing during Christmas time. My 2 person chair is in the left corner. It was a fun chair, but it killed my back. I enjoyed many sessions of sitting with my kiddos and having nice little conversations with them. It was an okay chair until the pleather stuff flaked and could not be covered. (The salesman said it was better than leather...not so.)

Anyway, my Christmas/Birthday present this year is a new easy chair. I am worried that I won't be able to find one that actually fits me. Why? Well, I have super short legs and a long body. Yep, I got that from my Daddy. 

Most chairs, rockers, recliners have seats that are too deep for me. If I sit with my back supported, my legs stick straight out like a toddlers. I need to find a smaller chair that will allow me to have my back supported and my knees go over the edge like regular people. I'd even like being able to have my feet touch the floor...A girl can dream. Sigh...

I'm thinking that a glider recliner would be most helpful because rocker recliners tend to lean back a bit. This causes be to lean forward (at least with my neck) and causes more back and neck pain. Wow, I sound  whiney.... I currently have a very short rocker recliner that is almost too short, but it leans back even when no one is sitting in it. (It was given to me used.) So...short may not be the answer, but an element of what I need. 

Here's hoping I find something that will work for my funny body. I will post pictures of my Goldilocks shopping spree.

The Romance Continues Part 3 1/2

The scene opens as Elaine is finishing with polishing brass on the fireplace. The phone rings.
Me, "Hello."
T, "Hi Baaaabe."
Me, "whatcha doin'?"
T, "Just got through with a meeting at work...blah blah blah blah. (I don't know what I can share here. lol)
I continue talking with him and go into coughing fits.
T, "Your cold sounds really bad."
Me, "Is yours better?"
T, "Yep, I'm just fine. BUT YOU sound like a Russian weight lifter."
Me, "Really? Hmmm"
T, "You are putting on that voice. I've never heard you go that low before."
Me, "It is real. That is my voice with this cold."
T, "You are pretending."
Me...getting frustrated...a little...want to yell, but throat hurts. "I thought guys liked women with low voices."
T, "Not Russian weight lifter low...besides you are pretending."
It was a good thing he went out of range...I'm taking more Dayquil...This has be really...real.

Real Life Christmas 2019 Part 3

The hubs and I have been on a quest for a Hallmark Movie type Christmas for a few years now. Year before last, he was convinced that doing some of the things I asked him to do in previous years  were the key. This is how that went. (Believe me, he is still...not upset...how would you say it?...sorta ...confused.)
Christmas 2017 Terry walked into the living room where I was probably on my laptop conversing on Facebook.
"Baaaabe, we are going to go see the Nutcracker this year."
Me, "We are?"
"Find it online and get us some good tickets halfway up the middle."
"Okay."
Terry, "It has to be good, right? Your sister and brother in law took their grandkids there every year."
Me, "You know it is a ballet, right?"
Terry, "So they dance a little bit."
We go to church and I tell the preacher's wife what is up. She says they have been there before. She reminded me that people really dress up when they go to see the Nutcracker.
We get home.
Me, "Terry, we have to dress up for the Nutcracker."
Terry, "Who says?"
Me, "Brenda. She says people really dress up."
Terry, "I'll wear a suit, but I WILL NOT wear a tie."
I know I am on shaky ground here and I've already purchased the tickets. "Okay, no tie."
Terry, "Handel's Messiah is at the Methodist Church tonight. You always asked to go. We should go.?
Me. "Okay." I'm thinking...Is this Terry? What has come over him. Did the doctor tell him I'm dying r something? Oh dear...I'm dying??? I have to be dying for him to want to do all the things I asked him to do all these years.
Terry, "Let's decorate the Christmas trees today."
Me, "You're helping?"
Terry. "Yep."
I'm definitely dying.

We go to the concert. The music is beautiful. Going with Terry...or me...to a long concert is like taking a three year old to a long concert. It was a little long for us. Quite a few people left at intermission, but we were on a 'culture quest', it would seem, so we stayed with it. The soloists were great, the orchestra was moving. I'm glad we went, but I don't think I can get Terry to go again.

The Nutcracker: We were all dressed up. We got our official picture taken in the lobby in two places. Terry bought a Nutcracker for me to commemorate the event. We sat in the wrong seats and had to move. Our seats were in a better place in the auditorium. Yay.

The music started and the dancing started. We didn't realize there was NO TALKING. We then realized that we should have read the story of the Nutcracker so we'd know what on earth was going on.
Terry leaned over to my ear and whispered, "What's up with the rats?"
"I don't know."
I never had an answer to any of his questions.
The dancers were very good. The little kids in the production did great. I LOVED the costumes.
However we were 'silk purses made from a sow's ear.' I think our kind of entertainment is like a Sugarland, or Oak Ridge Boys concert. We are defiantly not high brow people. We are plain country folk.
Terry shudders when he talks about those 2 events we did. However, I am so glad we did them! I love choir music. I was in school choir for 6 years and loved it all. I always was curious about the  Nutcracker. I'm glad I finally saw it. Terry's wanting to do these things especially for me melted my heart.

The Hallmark Version

Terry: Darling, did you have my tux cleaned for the Christmas events this year? We do have the Nutcracker as well as Handel's Messiah this week.

Me: "But of course."

Terry, "I do love to grab a little culture whenever it presents itself, don't you, dear?"

Me, "It does my heart good to see the joy on your face upon attending these events."

T, "You are too kind."

Me, "I know."

We laugh and laugh.

Christmas Reality vs Hallmark Movie Version 2019 Part 2

This picture is a painting Eli, our youngest grandson, did in Kindergarten. Rudy looks like I feel when the hubs and I have some of our conversations.
We talk about the most random things. I will give you an example or two for this reality check.

I placed a basket of pinecones in an area under our table. (I know that sounds strange, but it is a sort of shelf in the very middle of the pedestal table.) Later in the evening I found it under the Christmas tree that is in the dining room.
Me, "You moved the pinecones?"
Terry, "I couldn't take it!"
Me, "Really? Why?"
Terry, "I put my feet on that shelf. In fact, I get a little messed up when I go to put my feet there and someone else at the table has beat me to it."
Me, "Interesting."
I moved the pinecones to the hearth. I don't want to mess with the hubs when he has such strong feelings.

This morning we were talking about one of his Daniel and Terry episodes. This is how that went. We were talking about dugout houses and houses that are mostly basements that only about a foot of the walls show and the roof on top. (I know...exciting stuff.) Well, I had some distant cousins in Kansas I think, who had a house like that. It was pretty nice.

We talked about ways they'd keep water out in the event of rain or snow...stuff like that. He then told me his "Terry and Daniel story."

Terry and Daniel were exploring one day and came upon a cellar. Of course, being the boys that they are, they can't let a cellar go unexplored...Sooooo Terry starts down the steps. He hears a hiss.

He stops, sure that there must be a bunch of rattlesnakes down there. HE HAS TO SEE!!!! So...
He goes to the pickup truck and gets a flashlight. They start down the stairs again and hear the hiss.

He shines the light and two huge eyes reflect in the light!

It is a ...BIG WHITE OWL!!! and it is going crazy...getting mad. Terry and Daniel retreat because they want nothing to do with that owl. Terry thinks the owl may have had some hatchlings in there. They didn't want a mad mama owl on their hands.

Daniel just laughs at Terry when they reflect on that story.

The Hallmark version...not sure they would write a movie about either of these topics. We just don't have the romance in these stories today...maybe tomorrow.
 

2019's  Version of Terry and Elaine in Real vs the Hallmark Movie Version

Part 1

Dec 3, 2019- Elaine finally sits down to look at Facebook. Terry  enters at an unusually early time. He is jubilant.

"Hey Baaabe."

"Hey, you got home early."

"We can get started on doing more decorations outside."

"Okay, but isn't it kinda cold out there?"

He doesn't seem to hear her.

"I'll get the ladder and we can make a candy cane out of the bird sanctuary pole."

"Okay. I think I'm going to wait in here a little bit while you set up."

"Okay Lainey girl."

She looks for responses on messenger for updated addresses for the Christmas letter she has worked on for about 4 hours. She is caught up...just lacks 2 more addresses..."Good"

Because she is so fortunate with the addresses acquired, she feels guilty about staying inside.

She finds Terry on the top of the ladder that is leaned against a very tall spindle. "Everything going all right?"

"Yep. Can you get me those two extension chords laying in the bushes next to the front deck?"

"There are no bushes next to the front deck."

"Well...whatever those things are next to the front deck."

"I don't know what you are talking about." she says.

"Those things that grow like crazy!"

"Flowers?" she asks

"There dead."

"Oh...THOSE flowers. I'll get them."

I know he is thinking I am pretty dense at this point. I return post haste and hand them to him. 

"Can you get the red tape lights next to the pole light?"

"Ok." She gets the lights and starts for the house.

"Can you also get me the white rope light next to the pole light?"

She wonders why he didn't tell her when she got the red ones. (The pole light is almost a block away from where they are working...maybe half a block...maybe...oh well... It is a long ways.)

By the time she gets back from the far reaches of the universe with the white lights, he has the red lights already installed. 

"That's wonderful!" she says.

"Now can you find the end of the extension chord and hook things up for me?"

"There's only one plug thingy on the end." she says.

"Go find the ones you had earlier."

"Me? You're the 'light guy'!"

"You put things away."

"Right." She goes to look in the laundry room. 

He joins her and finds what he wants.

She tells him she's on her last legs and he agrees that she is okay to stay inside. 

He comes in after assessing the light situation. "We have plenty of time to get more done tomorrow."

"Oh...great..." she says.

(I'm still in my coat getting warm while I write this. I am amazed that Terry is so excited about Christmas decorations this decade. Earlier decades...not so much. It is kinda fun.)

Face it, The Hallmark version is a lie. I saw one show where the guy slipped out after dinner while the kid and lady were doing dishes or making cookies. He managed to put up lights around the entire house, windows, bushes, trees along with all other kinds of decorations. He did it in one hour!!! I need that kind of elf. lol 

House Shoes

House shoes! I have some great memories of them in my childhood. Mama wore them all the time. I can still hear the sound of them on the linoleum floor as she walked a bit of grit missed by the incessant broom.

About this time, the Fall, every year I remember the excitement as the big parcel carrying truck stopped outside our little house. (Our house was little...about 700 square feet) ANYWAY... the driver knocked on the door and had a big box from J C Penneys addressed to us.  To me it was like an early Christmas..

Sometimes the box had a new dress for me to wear to school, or new housecoats for both of us, but it always had two pair of house shoes! Mama always ordered pink house shoes for us. I didn't realize they came in any other color. No matter, pink was our favorite color.

Mama's looked a little like those in the picture only the back came up a bit more. The fur around the top was fuzzier. Mine looked like pink fur  baby booties. I loved them. They had a shiny pink satin ribbon on the top. Boy, those things kept us nice and toasty.  (We had a little forced air furnace that kept the house warm...if we kept all the bedroom doors closed. That was probably why we needed to wear the house shoes.)

They were a wonderful invention for us because Mama didn't like for us to wear our shoes in the house. The reasons were probably so they wouldn't wear out as fast and so we wouldn't track in dirt on the carpet.

Yes, I still wear house shoes. Yesterday I was sweeping the kitchen floor and heard that grit hit the vinyl of them and it brought back this memory. We had many happy little memories like this in that little house in our little town.

Neck Deep

I'm in the middle of week 2 of the National Novel Writing Challenge. The first week went by at a pretty good clip. This second week has been...well...let me say more of an uphill climb.

Yesterday I did reach the set daily goal, but I did basically two days in one. I slacked off on Monday because the Hubs was home and we worked on things like determining which Christmas lights to put on the big treehouse. (Very important stuff, right?)

To get caught up on the challenge required writing close to 3500 words. This isn't difficult in the beginning pages of a rough draft, but after you are in the weeds??? Let's say, it was sort of like dental work. (and you KNOW I am well acquainted with dental work this year.)

"Slogging through" isn't a pretty phrase, but it is as good as any, I suppose. Let's say I'm really glad this is a rough draft! Yesterday I reached 20,025 words. Today, the goal is 21,671. That is completely doable...that is...if I can get my brain in gear. Keep your fingers crossed!

NaNoWriMo 2019 here I come! This morning I am joining the National Novel Writing Month challenge of writing 50,000 words in the month of November. After a lot of thought and some planning and reading, I've decided on my characters, the setting, and a sketchy story line.

The main character is Levi Reeves. He was introduced in "The Restless Kansas Wind". He and his brother, Peter, met Lily and her unnamed baby when they stopped at her homestead for medical help for Peter. Towards the end of that book, he is a newspaper man in Tascosa, Texas. (Now, the location of Cal Farley's Boy's Ranch)

I think you will love this character and how the story unfolds. However, you are part of this process. Did you know that? Many of you readers pray for me and the writing I do. I need this more than ever. This morning I dashed off 60 words so that I could set of my page on the NaNo website and have something on my progress graph. I'm hoping to have around 1000 words by the end of the day more or less.

Jump in the 'car' with me and we will see where this goes. I don't have a real title for this book yet. Be thinking of one that you think you'd like. Watch for an announcement for a prize for a title from the entries.

NaNoWriMo 2019

TOMORROW I'm going to jump in! Yep, November is known to writers as NaNoWriMo. That is short for National Novel Writing Month. It is a killer month of diving into a new book head first and hacking out 50,000 words. That seems impossible, but it is doable. I have actually completed the task a few times AND...well... fell short a few times as well.

Life happens and we don't know what a month will bring, but every time I have taken this challenge, it has propelled me on my author journey. Even though 50,000 words is a lot, most books are longer. Some by a few thousand words, others by many thousands of words. The point of the month is learning. Through this challenge, writers learn that daily writing gets the job done. Also, we learn that planning is key. Outlines, character sketches, and possible titles have been either diligently processed in Oct and before...or vaguely sketched into the fertile or not-so-fertile brain matter of the writer.

There is something about the digital achievement badges that helps keep me going. Last year I had two unfinished novels. I decided to pick up where I left off on each of them. That was a good thing for me because in forcing myself to get this done, I ended up with 2 1/2 rough drafts completed.

Of course, the rough draft is just that. The real work...drudgery comes in December and beyond with whipping the novel into shape. Many rewrites, edits, and re-edits later, the book is ready to send to the real editor/publisher.

Because of this challenge, I have 2 brand new titles published in 2019. It is worth the hassle and it is quite fun. I urge you to take the NaNoWriMo Challenge this year.

Hey Everyone!

It has been a very long time since I wrote on this blog. I've made a decision to make this one of the primary methods to reach you. Probably the most information comes from my facebook page. Elaine Littau or profile page, Elaine Littau author.

This October my 18th book was published. You can find every title on amazon.com. Enter Elaine Littau in the search box to see all of them.

I began writing Historical Christian Fiction, then added Contemporary Christian Fiction as well as a devotional book and a book about funny happening in my life. If you have read one of those books, please leave a review for it on amazon. I will not judge you if you leave less than a 5 star rating. Promise!!!

It is good to be back.

Elaine Littau's live broadcast

Luke's Legacy is FREE Today

http://ebookdaily.com/free-kindle-ebooks/2017-03-19/B00CQ8HSAO

Free E-book of Timothy's Home by Elaine Littau Today

Go to amazon.com and search under Elaine Littau. You will find all of the books I've authored. Today, Feb 25/2017, the ebook version of Timothy's Home is free.

Part of the background story on this Christian Western Romance is about the 20 Mule Team Borax going through Death Valley. You are bound to learn some American history as you read this book.