Last February I traveled to Pennsylvania to be interviewed for the show Seeking Solutions with Suzanne. If you watch your news on COMCAST you will be able to see this five-minute interview on CNN HEADLINE NEWS on either SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12, or SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18th at any of these three times: 11:55 a.m. 4:55 p.m. or 9:55 p.m.

The second prize winner of the photography contest is Roberta Schlacks of Brevard, NC.

Congratulations, Roberta. Roberta lives close by and we met for lunch where I presented her with the second prize books.

I could not resist sending showing you this photo from my friend Kathleen Evans from Il. The hats are beautiful! They’re made by Lady Diane. If you’d like to see more of her hats, contact her at LadyDianehats.com to view many different and beautiful hats.

I wonder how many of you are like I am -- I either go to sleep very late or wake up too early and cannot go back to sleep. Either way, I am not getting the sleep they say we need and I believe them when they say it affects my ability to think quickly or clearly. Now, I do believe there’s a time for everything, and I can cope with getting older, with having diabetes, with slowing down and needing hearing aides, but I find sleeplessness the hardest thing to deal with. Reading non-fiction books of one kind or another sometimes helps if the books are interesting, but not too interesting. At one time I read a lot about 1st Century Christianity. Then I was on a physics for lay people kick, and recently I have been reading about climate, tectonic plates, and volcanoes. I am not a good meditator. Some people say they are able to fall asleep when they relax each limb slowly. Others say they have a piece of cheese or a glass of milk. I have found non-fiction -- never a novel--reading to be the most effective. But I long for that time when I simply lay down and fell asleep. I used to, didn’t I?

Some of you know that I wrote and self-published a novel set in St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands called BELONGING. Some of you have asked how you can obtain a copy of this novel. You can order it directly from me. It is the larger paperback and retails for $13.95 My price to you is $11.00 plus $2.00 shipping and handling. Send check to me at Box 355 Barnardsville, NC 28709. Be sure you tell me exactly how you would like it autographed.

The next ladies of Covington novel will be published in early April, 2007, and is called AN UNEXPECTED FAMILY. This mother’s day novel focuses on the ladies but especially on Amelia, who so very much needs a family of her own. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And the cover is back to one you will recognize as a ladies of Covington cover, soft colors, a farmhouse that really looks like one and a gorgeous spring blossoming tree with a swing hanging from it.