Backyard Birding and a Linky

When you have nowhere to go due to a pandemic, you find other things to photograph. I decided to do some backyard birding and discovered that it's not that easy, especially trying to capture decent photos. Most of these birds are regular visitors. I have the male and female fiscal shrike, Cape sparrow, swallow, and the most unusual one is the acacia pied barbet with the red forecrown.

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Wonderful Beach Holiday

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Tomb of the Queen

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A post shared by Tina Morley (@tinarobmorley)

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My Latest Book Post:
IFA Summer Reading Challenge

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Come link up your Wordless Wednesday

(with or without words) or any picture post

at this Picture Perfect Party Linky.

Join me on this fun and easy blog hop!

I would love for you to follow me on

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Here are the easy rules:

• Follow me on one or more links above or via email.
• Link up any family-friendly post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like.
• If possible, copy the button code below and add it to your linked post or blog's sidebar.
• And, I'd love it if you could share about this hop on social media.

The Button Code:

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Mousebirds and a Linky

I've been doing a series on the birds that come to our property. Mousebirds visit our garden but they can be tricky to photograph unless they're feeding on the ground as in three of these shots. If you want to know more about them, visit Wikipedia's page. 

The other day we celebrated Jessica's 23rd birthday! She was home that week, doing her studies and tests online. I'm sharing a pic of her roses below. I hope you visit me on Instagram. I've got some neat photos that I'd love for you to see like Prince by candlelight and the recent full moon.

Related Post:

Mousebirds from 2015

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my latest post
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Wonderful Beach Holiday

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My Daughter's Birthday Bouquet

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A post shared by Tina Morley (@tinarobmorley)

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My Latest Book Post:
IFA Summer Reading Challenge

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Come link up your Wordless Wednesday

(with or without words) or any picture post

at this Picture Perfect Party Linky.

Join me on this fun and easy blog hop!

I would love for you to follow me on

Twitter

Facebook
Instagram

and

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow me on one or more links above or via email.
• Link up any family-friendly post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like.
• If possible, copy the button code below and add it to your linked post or blog's sidebar.
• And, I'd love it if you could share about this hop on social media.

The Button Code:

<center> <a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitS14XLc-z2uSUW00dIvyZc7lEfLP2tkPgO3qmU3NWi_UObDs_d7XqpYhjp0BBeROyZot-8YlEFU9rguELrZYu3arN1qHHNpB4_ezrb-TlBlfHRSOvP7pBA0VI-j1RkUkF77wJxUc7M7ye/s150/Picture%2520Perfect%2520Party%2520Linky.jpg"/></a></center>

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IFA Summer Reading Challenge

#IFASUMMERCHALLENGE21 DETAILS!

Indie Fantasy Addicts Facebook Group

Break out the kegs and the summer wine, the reading challenge starts June 21! (Read any indie fantasy, any subgenre so long as it’s primarily fantasy (ARCs, audiobooks, and shorts included) and have a chance at winning some amazing prizes such as signed books, hardbacks, ebooks, audiobooks, and swag from some Amazon Bestselling and USA Today Bestselling authors! 

HOW TO PLAY: All you have to do is post about what you're reading, tag them with #IFASummerChallenge21 and share your thoughts on the books (without spoilers) so the rest of us can discover more amazing adventures! All reads must be numbered so make it easier to count. (Eg. #43 Booktitle by Killer Author) And if you can also tag your team, that would be awesome. There is no list, but all group reads are worth bonus points! (#IFASummerChallenge21Bonus) 

Every team member will be responsible for reporting your points to your captain in a spreadsheet or a weekly thread (however the team chooses to do it) just so no one is chasing after anyone. 

Group Reads: All optional reads and can be read at anytime during the challenge. Eg. If you read June’s group read in July, it’s all good! If you've read the group reads BEFORE the challenge, you do not have to reread the book to collect the points. Just share your review and collect your bonus points. (Group reads will be announced at the beginning of each month) 

The goal of the challenge? For members to discover more nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat, take-you-for-a-wild-ride-and-leave-you-breathless books! 

The Challenge will go from June 21 to September 21, 2021—the last day of summer! For the solo challenge (everyone is included in this regardless of what team you’re on), your individual scores will be posted on a scoreboard and prizes will be given in order of your rank. 

TEAMS: In addition to the regular individual scoreboard, both authors and readers have the opportunity to join a team for even more fun, and more chances to win! There will also be prizes awarded to the winning team, the team with the best team spirit, the team who listened to the most audiobooks, etc. 

You can choose what team you’d like to join or if you'd like to be randomly assigned, we can do that too! (Team scores are the number of books read divided by the number of active team members so if one team has 20 members, and another 15, it doesn’t put the bigger team at an automatic advantage.) We'll post the team scores each week Harry Potter style! This is going to be a blast!!!! Start getting your Challenge TBR lists ready!!!!

Indie Fantasy Addicts Facebook Group

THE IFA SUMMER READING ADVENTURER BONUS! 

In addition to all the usual PHENOMENAL prizes given at the end of the #IFASummerChallenge21, this year we're offering a seriously awesome bonus to those brave literary adventurers who read one book from each of the below categories: 

Sword and Sorcery 

Grimdark/Dark 

High/Epic 

Contemporary/Urban 

Medieval/Historical 

Portal/LitRPG 

Futuristic 

Low Fantasy/Magical Realism 

Comedy/Humor 

Diverse/BIPOC 

Coming of Age/YA 

Wildcard (Choose a genre of your choice - either unlisted or a duplicate) 

The rules are simple! 

1. Find and read one book that falls under each category. Just make sure that Humor, for example, is one of the main genres of the book if you're counting it as Humorous Fantasy. (Side note: these individual books count as regular points for the challenge: 2 pts for books with less that 100 pages, 3 pts for 100+ pages, etc.) 

2. All books must be INDIE and FANTASY. Duh 😉 

3. Once you've succeeded in reading a book from every category, make a post in IFA with the hashtag #AdventurerBonus and list the books you've read! Voila and congratulations!! You've now earned 25 BONUS POINTS for the Summer Reading Challenge! PLUS... 

4. So long as you use the proper hashtag, I'll enter your name into a raffle to win a prize at the end of the contest that can best be described as "a legendary treasure of riches and glory!" 💰 Spoiler alert: it's money. And a lot of it. 💰 

If you have any questions about the contest itself, please DM me (Rachel Kullman). If you have questions about specific book genres, please ask your Team Heads / Captain. In the meantime, I've created a partial list of indie fantasy books from each category to help you get started: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cONmQhUlUfJnbsnsM59t9EuXjQBY8T6E/view 

Remember: The challenge starts JUNE 21st! Only books read from that day forward count - but this list will certainly help you plan ahead! 

Happy adventuring, everyone!

Indie Fantasy Addicts Facebook Group

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Indie Fantasy Addicts Summer Reading Challenge

Indie Fantasy Addicts Facebook Group

Summer Reading Challenge 2020

#IFASummerChallenge20 Details!
The reading challenge starts June 1! Read ANY indie fantasy, and subgenre of fantasy (ARCs, audiobooks, and shorts included) and have a chance at winning some amazing prizes such as signed books, ebooks, audiobooks, and swag from some Amazon Bestselling and USA Today Bestselling authors!

HOW TO PLAY:
All you have to do is post about what you're reading, tag them with #IFASummerChallenge20 and share your thoughts on the books (without spoilers) so the rest of us can discover more amazing adventures! All reads must be numbered to make it easier to count. (Eg. #43 Book by Author) And, if you can also tag your team, that would be awesome. There is no list, but all group reads are worth bonus points! (#IFASummerChallenge20Bonus)

If you are on a team, you are responsible for reporting your points to your captain in a spreadsheet or a weekly thread (however the team chooses to do it) just so no one is chasing after anyone. :)

POINTS:
We're doing the points a little different this year.

Short Stories: under 15k words or under 50 pages = 1 point

Novels = 2 points

Group Reads: Add 1 bonus point

If you've read the group reads BEFORE the challenge, you do not have to reread the book. Just share your review to collect your points.

The goal? For members to discover more nail-biting, edge of your seat, take-you-for-a-wild-ride-and-leave-you-breathless books!

The Challenge will go from June 1 to September 21, 2020—the last day of summer! For the solo challenge (everyone is included in this regardless if you’re on a team or not), your individual scores will be posted on a scoreboard and prizes will be given in order of your rank.

TEAMS:
In addition to the regular individual scoreboard, both authors and readers have the opportunity to join a team for even more fun, and more chances to win! There will also be prizes awarded to the winning team, the team with the best team spirit, the team who listened to the most audiobooks, etc.

Join the Facebook group here: Indie Fantasy Addicts

If you haven't signed up for a team or you'd like to be randomly assigned, the teams are posted here: Summer Reading Teams

We'll post the team scores each week Harry Potter style!

This is going to be a blast!!!! Start getting your Challenge TBR lists ready!!!!

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Reading and Listening While Social Distancing!

Free eBooks and audio books below!

I'm doing things a bit differently today. I want to encourage my readers during this topsy-turvy time. I hope my book related photos and these free and discounted books will be a source of comfort. All photos are my own. The first two reading rooms are from coffee shop restaurants.

Do you read eBooks are do you prefer them in print? With everyone being encouraged to stay away, this is the best time to give eBooks a try if you haven't already.

Reading

Two of my favorite sites that offer free and discounted eBooks daily are BookBub and My Book Cave. To download the Kindle books that I want onto my tablet, I use a free app. You can download these free apps to read Kindle books anywhere.

Listening

Amazon has put together a free selection of audio books while schools are out, handpicked by their editors for kids of all ages. All free. No sign ups. No commitments. You can find them here on Audible.

Prince as a kitten in 2013 and now fully grown

Social Distancing

The other day, I wrote "A Faith-Based Approach to the Coronavirus" on Real Church Life after noticing some Christians behaving in a counter-productive way regarding their faith and the coronavirus. These people want to use their faith to carry on as normal and don't want to have their movements restricted. God is practical and He gave practical instructions regarding contaminants and contagious diseases in the time of Moses. Modern medicine took a long time to catch up to what God was saying way back then.

While practicing social distancing on this Sunday, our family watched two church services (one of them was a live broadcast) from the safety of our home in South Africa. We also joined in on the World Day of Prayer to pray for the world during this difficult time.

"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:13&14 NIV).

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Fate of Dragons and Windsworn

My June Summer Reads:

Fate of Dragons by Alisha Klapheke and

Windsworn by Derek Alan Siddoway

Every month two books are chosen to be read in the Indie Fantasy Addicts Facebook group. The idea is to introduce us to new books and to get us discussing them. I might not always read the two books chosen every month, but I happened to own both of these and so I made sure to fit time into reading them! They are also worth bonus points for the Summer Reading Challenge that I'm participating in. I will keep you posted on what I'm reading and don't forget to follow me on Instagram!

Fate of Dragons

Purchase Fate of Dragons on Amazon

My Review:

Enter an exciting world where those living on land are at risk from those in the sea. Meet Vahly, the Earth Queen and the last remaining human, living among the dragon shifters. She must find her magic before it's too late. The Sea Queen wants to drown the whole world with only one island left to go and dragons and elves standing in her way, unless Vahly can find her magic in time to help turn the tide. The dragons have given her a home, but they don't know how to tap into her earth magic. Dragons don't trust elves, but Vahly is desperate. When she stumbles upon an elf who is close to death and missing some of his memories, she's willing to risk her life to help him.

This book has a lot of fabulous elements to it including wonderful characters and great chemistry between Vahly and her new ally. The pace keeps moving, although there were a couple of slower scenes, and the plot is interesting. The descriptions are usually good, but a few times they felt forced. I also felt that the dialogue between Vahly and Amona toward the end was too thorough, and to keep so many dragons fed on one large island didn't seem possible. I would be happy to read more in the series as Vahly continues her search for unleashing her magic with the swoonworthy elf at her side!

Windsworn

Purchase Windsworn on Amazon

My Review:

This is a gripping story about a reluctant heroine who is thrust into a life-changing adventure and faced with tough decisions. The characters are interesting and you never know exactly who is behind the attacks at the gryphon mountain barracks. There are certainly some unexpected moments. Most of the time it's fast paced and only slows down when three of our heroes are faced with challenges inside the catacombs. That was the only part that made it feel like it was for younger readers. I also came across a number of little typos, but they're easily overlooked. I enjoyed Windsworn so much that I read it in two days!

Rules for the Summer Reading Challenge

Follow Indie Fantasy Addicts on Facebook

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IFA Summer Reading Challenge

IFA Summer Reading Challenge 2019
June 21 to September 22

June 21, the first day of summer marks the first day of the Summer Reading Challenge in the Indie Fantasy Addicts Facebook group. Read ANY indie fantasy, and subgenre of fantasy (ARCs, audiobooks, and shorts included) and have a chance at winning some amazing prizes such as signed books, ebooks, audiobooks, and swag from some Amazon Bestselling and USA Today Bestselling authors! All readers have to do is post about their reads in the group and tag them with #IFASummerChallenge19.

Details about our current Summer Reading Challenge are listed at the bottom of this blog post. The goal? For members to discover more nail-biting, edge of your seat, take-you-for-a-wild-ride-and-leave-you-breathless books!

Here are some of the authors who graciously donated signed copies and ebooks to this challenge (many of them being USA Today and Amazon bestselling authors): ML Spencer, JT Williams, Mike Shelton, JA Andrews and tons more.

#IFASummerChallenge19 Details:

The purpose of this is just to have fun and discover more amazing indie fantasy authors! We are going to make this simple. There is no set reading list. ARCS and audiobooks also apply. Read whatever you want as long as it’s indie fantasy. If you're not sure if it's indie, just ask in the group and someone will let you know.

All you have to do is post what you're reading, tag it with #IFASummerChallenge19, and your thoughts on the book (without spoilers!) so the rest of us can discover more amazing adventures!

The Challenge will go from June 21 to September 22, 2019—the last day of summer! For the solo challenge (everyone is included in this regardless if you’re on a team or not), we will be doing a tiered winning system since not all readers read at the same rate. Eg. A tier for the winner for whoever reads the most indie fantasy books, and a few other tiers. eg. 20+, 16-20, 11-15, 5-9. 0-4.

Draws will be done to choose winners from the two lower tiers.

Grand Prize: Multiple signed books and swag

The other tiers will have chances to win a signed book, ebook, audiobook, swag, etc.

TEAMS: There will also be prizes awarded to the winning team, the team with the best team spirit, the team who listened to the most audiobooks, etc.

Let the adventures begin!!

Indie Fantasy Addicts on Facebook

Indie Books I Want to Read

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Botanical Garden and Tortoise with a Linky

A couple of weeks ago, I began a new series. The first post was called Botanical Garden and Home. We live in South Africa where the seasons are opposite to those in the Northern Hemisphere. At the beginning of our spring, the flowers were all in bloom, but with summer nearing, most of the vibrant colors are already gone. I'm glad I got to take pics when I did! Enjoy!

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Here's a peek at
my latest post

on 1camera1mom:

The Moon Under Water
Pics from our trip to Florida.

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My Latest Book Posts:


Indie Fantasy Addicts Holiday Reading Challenge
There are eBook prizes for everyone who participates!

Match Me by Christmas and Never Say Match

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Now on to my blog hop...

Come link up your Wordless Wednesday

(with or without words) or any picture post

at this Picture Perfect Party Linky.

Join me on this fun and easy blog hop!

I would love for you to follow me on

Google+

Twitter 

Facebook
Instagram

and

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow me on one or more links above or via email.
• Link-up your post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like.
• If possible, copy the button code below and add it on your linked post or blog's side-bar.
• Tell others about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.

The Button Code:

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This is a Wordless Wednesday blog hop.
Please load page as http and not https.

How to use the linky widget:

First make sure that you load this page as http and not https if you want to see the linky. Type in the name of your blog post under Link Title, then type in your email under Email Address (which I don't sell to anyone), then copy your permalink to your post (most link parties ask for blog posts and not blog homepages) and paste that under URL (make sure that you use http:// or https:// only once), then click Submit Link and that's it!

Visit my Blog Hops page to see the hops that I often link up to.

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