wordsfromanneli

April 20, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 7 Comments

Balance of Nature

Jacqui Murray has done it again. With “Balance of Nature,” the third book in her latest trilogy, “Savage Land,” she will thrill her readers. They will come away satisfied with the ending, yet hoping she is already working on her next trilogy because we can never get enough of these exciting, well-researched novels.

In the trilogy called Savage Land, Jacqui Murray takes us through the travels and challenges facing two groups of Early Man, the Neanderthals and the homo sapiens who were called The Tall Ones. All of them were simply trying to survive.

It was a time when major changes were still taking place on the earth. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions that darkened the sky for years, tsunamis crossing the ocean in crushing waves, and widespread wildfires all threatened to annihilate the tribes. Their shelters became unsafe, and sources of food and water were destroyed, so the tribes fled in search of land that could support them.

*****

In Balance of Nature, Book Three of the trilogy, Yu’ung’s Neanderthal tribe hopes to settle at Gibraltar, and nearby hospitable lands. However, the interactions between her group, Fierce’s Tall Ones, and a third nefarious group are a source of tension as they try to sort out who can be trusted.

Yu’ung’s mother, Aynoh, the healer of the Neanderthal group (The People), has gone over to the homo sapiens group (The Tall Ones), to pairmate with their leader, Fierce, just like love and marriage in our modern world.

Yu’ung is also a skilled healer, but she stays with The People (the Neanderthals) when the time comes for the tribes to move on, driven by violent volcanic activity that is rapidly altering their usual territories. Many groups, human and other life forms, had to flee the catastrophic turmoil of the earth’s upheaval.

Fierce’s group, along with Aynoh, having taken an inland detour on a salt-finding mission, meet up with Yu’ung’s group on the Mediterranean coast. Yu’ung had been on a side-trip to try to bring a revered elder of their group to a nearby tribe since it was unlikely that he could make the long journey to the Mediterranean (The Shoreless Sea) with his tribe.

Fierce’s group, originally from Africa, had left their boat hidden along the coast, but a rival group wrecked it while trying to steal it. Now the challenge was to build a new boat without the saboteurs’ interference.

Deception and lies from this devious rival group make it almost impossible to tell which of them were innocent of the former sabotage and which of them were sworn enemies.

Sorting the good from the bad results in many tense situations.

Finding refuge in caves is often a good thing, but in unfamiliar territory, new challenges appear in these caves. Lack of light, narrowing tunnels, and sudden crevasses present life-threatening situations. No problem if you can call on members of other groups for help, but if you don’t know whom to trust, this can be a matter of life or death. Do you take the hand that reaches out to you? Can you trust them? Are they friend or foe?

The tension mounts as the new boat gets built, supposedly away from prying eyes, but as the completion date nears, the danger increases.

This book immerses us in many aspects of the lives of Early Man, and we learn so much of our history without even realizing it. What a wonderful way to get an education, while reading a book that makes the experience like watching an exciting movie.

Jacqui Murray winds up her latest trilogy of The Savage Land with chapters full of tension that will have you biting your nails in anticipation of the next dilemma and its resolution.

Don’t miss this exciting conclusion to The Savage Land trilogy.

*****

For the best click you’ll ever make,

you can find Balance of Nature and all of Ms. Murray’s books by clicking the link:

HERE.

Author bio

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature which explores seminal events in man’s evolution one trilogy at a time. She is also author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. Her non-fiction includes 100+ books on integrating tech into education, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics.

April 12, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 50 Comments

15 Years

Today is my 15th anniversary of Wordsfromanneli being on WordPress.

You may have noticed that I haven’t posted anything for a week, which is a long time for me. Maybe I’ve finally run out of things to say.

Or maybe I’ve been busy sewing yet another bag.

These bags are made partly from scraps out of discontinued upholstery and drapery sample books. They could be fancier with zippers put into the top of the bag, but I’ve found it’s quicker to access the contents of the bag if the opening is held shut by a strip of velcro on the inside top.

In this picture below, you can see that the bag has two pockets for putting in things like your phone and your keys, or whatever you need to find in a hurry without having to root around in the bottom of the bag. The rest of the space is big enough for a small cosmetics bag or a wallet, and it’s also handy if you’ve popped into a store for a small item and forgot to bring a grocery bag. You can just tuck it into your “Anneli bag” and not have to buy a plastic bag to hold your purchases. I have a thin cloth sack that I roll up and carry in the bottom of the bag and I can have it with me for when I make small purchases.

So that’s what I’ve been doing instead of writing more posts this week.

I hope you’ve had a great week as we keep sliding towards more springy weather.

Thank you for being my blogging friends for all these 15 years.

April 4, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 43 Comments

The Janitor

A cozy sheltered spot this be,

A perfect place to eat,

Did someone put out food for me,

Or is the spread deplete?

I think I saw some feeders hang

From underneath this roof,

But I would fall down with a bang,

No thank you, I’m no goof.

I feel much safer on the ground,

I’ll pick up fallen seeds,

I’ll tidy up the mess around,

And satisfy my needs.

A janitor! That’s what they need!

I help to keep things neat,

By eating every messy seed,

That falls right at my feet.

*** In case you’re wondering what this lovely bird is, it is a Eurasian collared dove.

March 31, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 51 Comments

Happy Easter

It’s time to put out the Easter egg collection again.

The alabaster egg in the center came from a store in a suburb of Vancouver back in about 1974.

The pale yellow egg and two light blue ones were blown and painted by the nine-year-old children of friends. Those children are now 42. Their father gave us a gift of the brightly coloured hand-painted eggs from the Czech Republic back about 30 years ago. The last egg in the dish is very tiny. It was an abandoned quail egg I found in our back yard about 25 to 30 years ago. Each year I put this egg collection out at Easter time and think good thoughts about old times.

Whether you believe in the religious aspects of Easter or you just like the traditional customs of painted eggs, family, and Easter dinners, I wish you a happy time over the Easter weekend.

March 27, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 32 Comments

Another Kind of Bag

Last week I went to a class to learn how to make a cosmetics bag (which could be used for anything at all, not only cosmetics). I had some dog print material that a friend gave me and I thought it would look nice on a bag. The pattern had three sizes and I decided to make the middle size for a start.

I learned how to use a zipper that you make as long as you want by cutting it off a long, long zipper. Then you put the zipper pull on it and sew tabs on the ends of the zipper. This was my first time trying to make a custom-sized zipper, and it’s a bit rough, but still okay enough for me to try again on another bag sometime.

Inside the bag is a lining which I decided to make of the same dog print material. It has two mesh pockets on one side.

On the other side, an extra piece of material was sewn in to make a zippered pocket. This pocket zipper was a pre-determined length, ready made, so it was relatively easy to install.

If I can figure out how to fasten a long over-the-shoulder handle and make the bag the next bigger size, I know someone who would love to use it as a dog training bag. It has a place to put the dog whistle, dog treats, a leash and collar, a bottle of water, and maybe a sandwich or a granola bar. He just has to be sure not to get the treats mixed up. I’m sure Emma wouldn’t mind it, but the Captain might not be so fussy about mistakenly eating a dog treat.

March 24, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 26 Comments

Snaky Cloud

The long thin cloud looks straight enough, but look at the shape its shadow takes as it hits the contours of the hills below.

Clouds are not uncommon here. We’ve had them all winter long, long, long. What makes this cloud different is the sunshine above and below it.

And before you feel sorry for the little animals who happen to live in the shaded part of the hillside, take heart. By the time I came back into the house and set the camera down, that cloud had moved on to make way for total sunshine – at least for a few minutes. So far, so good.

The thin gray cloud intends to shroud,

It stretches ‘cross the sky,

Its wiggly shade is poorly made,

Like wings outspread to fly.

The shadows long come out all wrong,

They waver and despair,

The darkening doom imparts no gloom,

As breezes clear the air.

March 22, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 38 Comments

Looking for Love

Two years ago almost to the day, a red-shafted flicker landed on our chimney to take advantage of the reverberations of the drumming on metal. It saves his vocal chords when calling for his girl.

Turn up the sound on the video, and watch for these cute little actions:

Mr. Flicker talks to Mrs. Flicker just before she arrives, doing a little dance on top of the chimney, tail feathers spread out as if he’s trying to be a peacock displaying his fan.

Mr. Flicker has the red cheek slash while Mrs. Flicker does not.

She arrives and looks around as if she’s trying to find a way up to the top. He chatters to encourage her, she flies down onto the other side of the roof, and then comes back for a second look. She stretches her neck to look around the other side of the chimney as if she’s looking for the elevator.

If you want to have another look at the video clips I put on here two years ago, including a love poem for birds, please click on the link. https://wordsfromanneli.com/2024/03/22/calling-all-girls/

March 20, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 33 Comments

Darth Vader of the Sea

Underwater placemats? Next time you have a fish dinner, wouldn’t it be interesting to use placemats with an underwater theme? The fish in the placemats could remind the fish on your plate of the many dangers in the sea.

Darth Vader of the Sea.

“I tell my friends those hooks can pierce,”

Says Dark Invader of the Sea.

“It’s only ‘cuz I look so fierce,

They simply cannot capture me.”

My friends stay close and mill around,

They feel much safer swimming near,

I wave my fins without a sound,

And, grinning, tell them not to fear.

March 18, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 28 Comments

Cinnamon Rolls

Sometimes they are called “Sticky Buns.”

Make your easy bread dough with small variations. I doubled the recipe and added a bit more butter and two eggs to the dough. That seems to make it lighter. I’ll put the recipe at the end.

You’ll need the ingredients shown in the photo below:

Cinnamon, butter, brown sugar, raisins (or currants), pecans (or walnuts).

After letting the dough rise in a big bowl in a barely warm oven, cut it in half and roll out each half (one at a time).

Spread melted butter on the rolled out dough.

Sprinkle with brown sugar (maybe not as much as what is shown in this photo), cinnamon, currants, and pecans.

Roll up the dough and cut the roll into 12 pieces. I usually cut it in half, and then cut the halves in half, and then those four pieces are cut into three pieces, making twelve pieces in all.

Butter the 9″ x 13″ baking dishes, especially buttering the sides well, and place the twelve pieces in each dish. They will rise in a warm place and grow together as they rise.

In this photo, I don’t have anything in the bottom of the baking dishes except butter. These will be regular cinnamon buns.

If you want sticky buns, for two baking dishes (two dozen rolls) put 1/2 cup of butter, 1 and 1/3 cups brown sugar, and 1/3 cup water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil for about a minute. Then pour that syrupy mixture into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle some pecan halves in the bottom of the dish before putting the rolled up dough pieces in the dish.

When the buns have risen so they are touching each other, preheat oven and bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

In this batch I put the sticky syrup in the bottom of each dish so when I inverted the buns, they have the melted brown sugar and pecans on the top.

A little tip for inverting the very hot baking dishes — wear oven mitts, and make sure to loosen the sides (why you did the good buttering job). Place a platter over the buns. Flip the whole baking dish with the platter on top so that platter is now on the bottom. Then loosen and remove the baking dish.

The basic dough recipe (for the two pans of cinnamon rolls, I doubled the recipe below, so 4 cups of milk, 4 tbsp. butter, etc.):

2 cups of lukewarm milk

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. honey (or sugar)

2 tsp. salt

1 egg (if you want it)

5 cups flour (adjust as needed)

2 tsp. fast acting (instant) yeast

*****

What I do:

I pour the milk into a big measuring cup and put it in the microwave for two minutes.

Pour the warm milk into the bread pan in the bread machine (if you’re using a bread machine on the dough setting) or into the bowl of your Kitchen Aid mixer.

I just remembered that in a bread machine you might only be able to do a single batch of dough. In the mixer, or by hand, you can double the recipe.

Add the butter, salt, and honey.

Then, add some of the flour. I added a couple of cups of flour and then added an egg or two if doubling (the flour having cooled the mixture a little so I don’t end up with bits of cooked egg). Then I add the instant yeast and the rest of the flour.