Come along with me

I’ve been blogging here off and on since 2006 and recently decided to move my blog to a new domain.

Here’s my new location: http://www.storygal.ca/

You’ll find the same theme of life, love and gardening. Still me, editor, author and storyteller. Still me who takes pictures wherever I go, enjoying nature, family and friends and music too.

Please come along and join me there.

 

Author Afternoons– I’m on!

I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be part of Author Afternoons. On Saturday, June 29th, from 1:00-3:30 pm,  I’ll be at the Waterloo Visitor and Heritage Information Centre on 10 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo.

I’ll be giving a workshop titled Begin to Write Your Memories. The workshop will be hands on, as in you get to write, so bring paper and pen or  your laptop and be prepared to participate.

This is a new initiative by the City of Waterloo Arts and Culture to introduce residents and visitors to the authors in the area. It’s exciting to be part of it.

See you there!

https://www.carolynwilker.ca/

Harry’s Trees and Les arbres de Harry

This Saturday, May 18th, I’ll be at The Living Outdoors in Cambridge with my books, especially my picture books, Harry’s Trees and Les arbres de Harry, illustrated by Maja Wizor.

Come and see me there, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Bring your children or grandchildren and pick up a colouring sheet for the contest. Then bring the coloured page back to the store  by a certain date to be entered in the contest.

The Living Outdoors nursery and gift shop is on 486 Main Street Cambridge, ON N1R 5S7. It’s a busy time for nurseries and could be a full house.

If you have a child or grandchild in French immersion, you might prefer this edition. Same story, same art, but in our second national language.

 

a sample of my artist’s work

 

 

Upcoming event for Piece by Piece

 

I’ve received some amazing reviews, personal notes and kind words about my new book, Piece by Piece, from fellow writers and readers thus far. I am grateful for their sincere and generous comments.

My official launch happens this Saturday, May 11th, in my hometown of Tavistock, ON, at the Tavistock Public Library, 40 Woodstock Street South and begins at 11 am.

Come and join us, and get your signed copy.  I look forward to seeing you there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those who cannot make it to the launch, my book is also available at Words Worth Books in Waterloo  and from me.

For more information on my book, and to contact me, here’s my website https://www.carolynwilker.ca/books/

 

 

Off to Palmerston today

Today I’ll be in Palmerston for a book signing, featuring my newest book, Piece by Piece, and I’ll have copies of my other books along too.

This book makes a great gift for a mother, grandmother or friend. You can treat yourself to a new book to read as well.

Glynis Belec, from Angel Hope Publishing, will be joining me for this event at Family Home Health Centre on 237 Main Street West in Palmerston. From 11 am-3 pm.

We have small treats and a draw prize, and you can get your book signed too.

Time to get ready, hope to see you there.

Piece by Piece book signings

 

Please note that I have several book events already set up for Piece by Piece

 

April 13th, at Family Home Health Care Centre in Palmerston ON, from 11 am to 3 pm

May 11th, at Tavistock Public Library, Tavistock ON, at 11 am, reading and signing books

And I will be at the Tavistock Fall Fair in September. More news on that one later. All of my books available at this event.

More in planning stages

Piece by Piece

Having a new book is very exciting. A lot of work goes in to getting it this far, including years of writing,  then editing, revision and even more editing.

Once the book is about to be released comes the task of letting people about the book and when it’s printed, getting it into other people’s hands. That can be fun or it can be daunting.

My book contains many stories about experiences, both good and challenging or sad. Everyone has those times. I share how it’s been for me.

Go about life as positively as you can. Gather the support of friends who can help you get through the tough times, know who you can lean on. And remember to celebrate the joys and achievements no matter how small. And know that God cares about you in all those circumstances.

 

My book published by Angel Hope Publishing, Drayton, Ontario. Book events coming up. I’ll list them in a follow-up post.

Poetry from a childhood place

Me as a 6-year-old at home, ready for my first day of school

 

I was thinking on awakening this morning of stories in my first published book—stories of home and among them the poetry that spoke of those places.

We had an attic—which many older houses do—a space at the top of the house where things to go to sit awhile or be stored. For some items, not the best place but out of the way of a busy family and all its related belongings and conundrums.

My sisters and I went up there to play the old phonograph, dress up in old clothes, sort through old school papers that became yellowed and brittle in time in that warm place. Where we could look out to the road and over the fields at our farm. This was a place we retreated to now and then for short periods of time.

The poem came much later as an adult looking back and no longer living there. And now our home belongs to someone else. But in memory, it’s still ours.

 

Attic Playhouse

Under the roof is a playhouse

with its familiar odour of heat and yesterday

leather skates lean against each other

like fallen dominoes

March through December

 

outgrown Sunday shoes wait for the next pair of feet

castoff clothes crammed in a crumbling cardboard box

yellowed notebooks   -lined with ancient scribbles

 

crank the gramophone

inside its heat blistered  black box

 

it warbles a tune

in symphony with buzzing flies

hypnotized by the light of one window

and too dazed to find another exit

 

 

© Carolyn Wilker

published in Once Upon a Sandbox, 2011

 

My first book, a collection of stories of family and community

Coming: Piece by Piece

Today my publisher and I made the last few scans of the pdf  for my book, Piece by Piece. We’d done the careful combing through more than a week ago and further refined some pieces of the text and layout.

It’s been another learning experience about the way a file of content goes and also working with the printer to make sure everything is sitting well and ready to go to print.

It’s best to take that extra few time to look over the manuscript and make sure everything is as it should be. Fortunately I have a good publisher at Angel Hope Publishing who knows the program and how it should work. Glynis also has an amazing daughter, Amanda, who helps her with the graphic design part  of the process.

I’m delighted to show off the cover and will make an announcement when the books are available for purchase. Here’s the back cover copy:

Piece by Piece is a narrative on life with family, friends and the world around us with all its twists and turns, sorrows and joys. Sometimes resembling pieces of a quilt that make up a harmonious whole.

 

I’m taking pre-orders, so speak for your copy. Contact me through my website:

https://www.carolynwilker.ca/books/

 

 

 

 

Kawartha Settlers’ Village

 

Search page given to our granddaughters on paying the entry fee

On one of our days away, we went with our host family to Kawartha Settlers’ Village that’s located just outside of Bobcaygeon.

According to the tour booklet for the village,

In 1990, the dream of establishing a museum to preserve history and the development of the area became a reality when a small group of people calling themselves the Kawartha Region Arts and Heritage Society convinced the village of Bobcaygeon to lease them the land to establish the Kawartha Settlers’ Village.

 

Follow along with me on our tour of some of the buildings. Here’s the map that’s in the program booklet. It’s an easy walk through for visitors of any age.

http://www.settlersvillage.org/tour-the-village

The receptionist at the main building gave each of our granddaughters a card showing pictures of things to look for in the village and a crayon to mark off items as they found them. It became a game for all of us to help them find the items.

Quilters meet regularly in the Wray House to learn their craft. There were many interesting quilts hanging in this home.

A rather colourful and picturesque quilt

 

A child’s room in another home

Our granddaughters interest was limited in some areas due to their ages of 6 and 8, although the adults could have spent more time. Another time perhaps. The girls did enjoy wandering through the village and checking off the items on their card. They awaited a prize at the end.

The firehall housed an old engine and hoses and hats. The building is a replica of the original Bobcaycaygeon Fire Company station.

The Fairbairn Church

a wooden offering plate

Inside the classroom, one modelling the dunce hat and one drawing on the chalkboard

What’s inside this desk?

Outside the trapper’s cabin

A warm rug inside.

If the printer needed a graphic for a newspaper or flyers, he’d have these images…

 

 

or even these images. Not simply drawings but carvings that someone had made.

 

And a bit of fun at the end of the Kawartha Settlers’ Village.

The girls showed their cards at the admission centre and got their little prize and could keep the cards to remember the visit.

If you’re in the area this summer, go to the village and take the self-guided tour. It was well worth the time and price of admission, which was quite reasonable.