Hi everyone! Today I want to talk about some of the books that are coming out in February 2019 and that I can’t wait to read!

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas 

Release Date: February 5th

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.

Why am I anticipating it?: I obviously read and loved The Hate U Give and I can’t wait to read…

Photographs I’ve taken of the aftermath as I wait for spring

I took the following photos in various locales in Newfoundland. On a cold winter day it’s fun to revisit these places in my mind and relive the moments. Mostly I remember how difficult it was to capture images of these very quick little creatures.

For some reason, certain letters of this gazetteer are much easier to populate than others. G is a case in point. The fictional map of Europe is chock full of countries whose name begin with G. Here are a few of them.

I gave up on the Princess Diary series before we ever visited Genovia – the princess in question lives in New York, and has only just discovered her royal status – but even from a distance it was pretty convincing. In The Princess Diaries: Take Two, Mia describes it as:

a small country in Europe located on the Mediterranean between the Italian and French border

The history, as Mia tells it, seems a little bit unlikely, taking no account of Italian unification, and claiming a much nobler backstory than Genovia’s real-life equivalent Monaco, but the geography is plausible enough. How to get there? On your million-pound yacht…

Burrowing Owl populations in San Diego County have been sharply depleted by extensive development and are at risk for local extinction.

In San Diego they are a protected species under the Multi-Species Protection Act, and are protected by state and federal wildlife agencies.

The Living Coast Discovery Center in The San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge is breeding these remarkable little owls and visitors can get up close and personal with these very curious creatures which is an incredible experience.

In the wild Burrowing Owls live mostly in squirrel and gopher burrows, often sharing space with their furry room mates.

The most reliable place to view Borrowing Owls in the wild in Southern California is at The Sony Bono Nature Preserve at The Salton Sea.

Artificial burrows have been set up here where you can watch the owls and their nests in the wild which is quite fascinating!
Cheers to…

The Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is a verdant oasis in Southern California’s San Bernardino Mountains.

The 31,000 acre canyon is surrounded by desert,

and is one of California’s ten largest perennial oases.

The preserve is a riparian wilderness with Palm Trees, Cottonwood Trees and Willows, as well as a variety of native shrubs and flowers.

It is a critical wildlife corridor sheltering mountain lion, bighorn sheep, mule deer and bobcat.

It is also hosts up to 274 different varieties of birds during the spring and fall migrations.

The marsh like preserve is perpetually flowering even in late fall and winter.

Cheers to you from the happy wildlife at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve~