Rainbow Bridge Day and the Dogs We Lost

I almost missed that today is Rainbow Bridge Day or more correctly Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day. Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day is a day of reflection and gratitude that takes place every year on August 28th to honor pets who have passed away. We lost several pets through the years, hamsters, snakes, rabbits and dogs. In this post I will focus on the dogs we lost including Daisy our Pug, Bronco our Leonberger, Ryu our Japanese Chin, Baby our German Shepherd and Baylor or Labrador, or rather Yellow Lab mix. I will start with the dog we lost last, our Pug Daisy and end with the dog we lost first, our Labrador Baylor. I should say that my wife had dogs before we met each other, but Baylor was my first dog. I did not grow up with dogs. We miss them all very much. They left a hole in our hearts.

Our Pug Daisy was a sweet and easy dog who lived a long life. On April 5th this year she died peacefully in our arms at the age of 15 ½ years old. This was just a few months ago, and it still feels strangely empty without her. Our dog Rollo, a mini–Australian Shepherd has been alone ever since.

A puppy in the arms of our son wearing a red shirt.
Daisy came to us a little pug puppy almost 16 years ago. Our son David, eleven years old at the time, was holding her. A few months ago, I held her for the last time.
Daisy is wearing a pink party hat. She is sitting in front of a cake and my wife is giving her cake.
Daisy’s 15th birthday. This is one of the last photos of Daisy.
Our pug Daisy on top of the sofa. Her legs are dangling over the sofa and her tongue is out.
Daisy on the sofa after an exhausting day of doing nothing.
Our daughter is sitting on her knees on the floor. Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo sits on her left and our Pug Daisy sits on her right.
Our daughter is petting Rollo and Daisy. Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is still with us. He is six years old.
Daisy our beige pug is laying in the grass and there are some flowers.
A painting of our late pug Daisy who passed away in April. It is based on one of our photos and created by Etsy. I believe by the same woman who made Bronco’s portrait (see below).

The dog we lost before Daisy was our Leonberger dog Bronco. The Leonberger dog is a very large dog related to St. Bernards, Newfound land dogs, and Great Pyrenees, He died on June 16, 2020, just a couple of weeks before his 13th birthday. He lived a long life for a Leonberger. He was s sweetheart who protected our smaller dogs. He likely saved the life of our other dogs a couple of times, he found run-away hamsters, and he saved our neighborhood from a nightly intruder harassing the women in the neighborhood. He was also incredibly funny. I wrote a book about him and the Leonberger breed. Look to the right if you are using a laptop and at the bottom of the screen if you are using a mobile phone.

Color photo of Leonberger puppy. He is wearing a scarf.
Bronco our Leonberger three months old.
Our old Leonberger lying in the grass. He is approaching 13 years old.
Today’s walk with Bronco and rest stop : April 18 2020, Bronco is 12 years 9 1/2 months.
Painting showing our Leonberger Bronco’s face. Like all Leonbergers he has a black mask and fluffy hair.
The portrait was drawn by Veniceme at Etsy (Natasha Dall’Ara) and it is based on one of our photos.
Illustration showing Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd, Bronco our Leonberger, and Daisy our Pug. Bronco lived a very long life for a Leonberger. Giant breeds don’t live long. The Leonberger Health Foundation International is trying to fix that. Bronco’s longevity is an inspiration for all Leonbergers and giant breeds around the world. Hopefully his DNA sample will be of some help.
Bronco lived a very long life for a Leonberger. Giant breeds don’t live long. The Leonberger Health Foundation International is trying to fix that. Bronco’s longevity is an inspiration for all Leonbergers and giant breeds around the world. Hopefully his DNA sample will be of some help.

In February of 2018 we lost Bronco’s little friend our little Japanese Chin Ryu. We bought him from Petland not knowing that they got their dogs from Puppy Mills. One time when we went to Petland to buy dog food we brought Ryu with us. As we approached the store he started shaking out of fear. That was a wakeup call for us. He loved howling and it sounded like he was singing an opera. Perhaps he loved howling for the attention he got when he did. Everyone turned around and clapped when he howled. He was a happy fella who died a bit prematurely at the age of 10 from cancer. I was working 16-hour days in Oklahoma when he passed so I could not be with him when he died, which is something I will forever regret.

Photo of Ryu standing with Rachel. Ruy loved dancing and singing and Bronco partially visible on the left was his big brother and protector.
Ryu loved dancing and singing and Bronco partially visible on the left was his big brother and protector.
Photo of our daughter Rachel with Ryu her Japanese Chin. They are sitting on a chair at the dogpark.
Rachel and Ryu, the Japanese Shin at the dogpark.
Drawing of Ryu our smart little Japanese Chin. Our smart little angel was unlucky with cancer, and I was not there for him.
Our smart little angel was unlucky with cancer, and I was not there for him. That is Baby and Baylor waiting at the end of the rainbow bridge.

Baby was a female German Shepherd. One of Claudia’s sisters had rescued her. We were told she had been abused by her first owners and she was a very anxious dog. We frequently took the dogs to the dog park, but she was never comfortable there and kept to herself. She was very protective of our Leonberger Bronco when he was a puppy. She played with him and protected him fiercely as if she was his mother. She died from cancer at home on her mattress. It would have been better for her to get an injection at the veterinary, but we did not react quick enough. Another thing we regret.

Photo of our German Shepherd playing with our Leonberger puppy Bronco.
Bronco, at the age of four or five months, would soon outgrow his playmate Baby.
Photo of our German Shepherd Baby at the dog park.
Baby was always a little wary at the dog park.
Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt showing our late German Shepherd Baby under a star.
Sometimes not thinking things through is cruel. Watch your emotions. We could have done better for our brave German Shepherd Baby.

Baylor was a ¾ Yellow Lab and ¼ Ridgeback. He was a happy and brave dog who fought bravely when attacked by other dogs. He was also food crazy and stole a lot of food. As he got older, he developed diabetes and cataracts. His passing was the saddest and most shocking. We had left our dogs with a dog sitter during a ski vacation when she called us and told us she could not stay at our house because she had several other dogs to take care of. Something she had not told us. We were forced to allow her to take our dogs to her house. The next phone call was much worse. She had put Baylor out in her backyard because he was barking at night, and he had escaped. It was a cold night. He was found dead the next morning halfway between her house and our house. Hit by a driver who just left him there. Apparently, he had tried to get back to our house. It was quite a shock, and the kids were bawling their eyes out. That was the last time we hired a dog sitter.

Photo of Baylor and Baby
Baylor and Baby
Photo of our Labrador Baylor. He is looking into the camera.
Photo of our Labrador Baylor
Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt showing our Labrador Baylor crossing the rainbow bridge.
Our Labrador left us tragically and unexpectantly. Evidence that we humans our cruel.
Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt showing a paw print in the sky.
The paw prints that dogs leave in your heart are eternal.

All illustrations are by Naomi Rosenblatt

I Wanna Hold the Hand Inside You

This post is not about Leonbergers. It is a post about me or rather about us, the family who would come to raise our Leonberger Bronco. Oh, how do I wish we could hold the hand inside Bronco. We miss him every day. “I Wanna Hold the Hand Inside You” or “Fade Into You” by Mazzi Star was released September 1993. That was when our first son Jacob was born in Akron, Ohio. At the time I was working on my PhD in Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering / Robotics at Case Western Reserve University, Ohio. The YouTube video below is from October 1994. I was done with my PhD, and I was working for ABB Robotics in Detroit. Our clients were the Detroit car industry. We were preparing for our move to Sweden where our young son would learn to speak English, the adult language, and some Swedish, the children’s language, or so he thought.

To me it seems like times were better back then, but the facts say otherwise. Crime in the US was much worse than it is today, there were more and worse wars, there was more poverty, more children starved, and the Rwandan genocide of Tutsis in 1994 had just finished. 800,000, nearly a million defenseless Tutsis had been intentionally slaughtered in just 100 days. Another thing that had happened that was close to home was that on September 28 1994 a ferry, M/S Estonia, sank in heavy seas as it going from Tallin to Stockholm, killing 852 people, most of them Swedes and Estonians. Only 137 people on board survived. Some of the vicitms worked at the location where I was going. Times were different back then, but they were not better, or were they? Perhaps the time of our youth is better no matter the state of the world.

This song reminds me of the word poignant. I like to use that word. As I understand it means sad, but beautiful and meaningful. The lyrics are poignant, but you don’t really use that word for music, but if you could, I think it would apply to the music as well.

Fade Into You by Mazzi Star recorded October 2nd 1994

The lyrics for “Fade Into”

I wanna hold the hand inside you
I wanna take the breath that’s true
I look to you and I see nothing
I look to you to see the truth
You live your life, you go in shadows
You’ll come apart and you’ll go blind
Some kind of night into your darkness
Colors your eyes with what’s not there

[Chorus]

Fade into you
Strange you never knew
Fade into you
I think it’s strange you never knew

[Verse 2]

A stranger light comes on slowly
A stranger’s heart without a home
You put your hands into your head
And then its smiles cover your heart

[Chorus]

Fade into you
Strange you never knew
Fade into you
I think it’s strange you never knew
Fade into you
Strange you never knew
Fade into you
I think it’s strange you never knew

You who are old enough to remember 1993 and 1994, do you think times were better back then?

Do you remember this song?

My Old Blog and My New Blog the Way Forward

Many of you know that I have a new blog. The goal of this new blog is to create a long list of facts that are important, not trivia, and that are known to be true and yet are either disputed by large segments of the public or highly surprising or misunderstood by many. I call these special facts “super facts” in lack of a better term.

In my Leonberger blog (this one) I write about Leonberger dogs, but I also write book reviews and about non-Leonberger related topics. I am thinking about splitting the book reviews between my Leonberger blog and the Superfactful blog. I am thinking of putting Leonberger books, pure fiction and poetry on my Leonberger blog and non-fiction books and fiction books related to something factual on my Superfactful blog. I wonder if that is a good idea. Naturally the book reviews would not be part of the super fact list but would be on my blog. Any opinions about this split are welcome.

Finally, I would like to highlight my first post on my new blog. It describes my journey through the valley of bamboozlement and miscomprehension. In the past I have had to give up cherished beliefs that were wrong and I had to accept facts that were hard pills to swallow. I consider this growth. Click on any of the pictures below to read that post.

A black hole is sucking in a planet
I learned that Earth is not 6,000 years old. It is billions of years old, and we know this with certainty. I learned that lightspeed in vacuum is a universal constant, time is relative, and other strange facts from science. Stock Photo ID: 2024419973 by Elena11. Click on the picture to read my post called Bamboozlement Misunderstandings Big Surprises and My Journey.
The graphs show that the current warming is chiefly due to us and that the predicted warming based on natural + human causes yield a predicted graph that closely follows what is measured.
I doubted human caused global warming, but I was forced to revise my belief after a deep dive into the topic. Natural causes for global warming / climate change would have cooled the planet, not warm it. Click on the picture to read my post called Bamboozlement Misunderstandings Big Surprises and My Journey.

25 Photos of Young Leonbergers

This is another one of my 25 Leonberger photos posts. This time the theme is young Leonbergers, puppies as well as teenage Leonbergers. The teenager photos show them before their bodies has filled out. Below is a list of the previous 25 Leonberger posts I’ve made.

If you’ve been following my blog, you will have seen many of these photos already but not all of them. About half of the photos are of our Leonberger Bronco and then there are stock photos and  photos from other people.

Also don’t forget to check out my new blog if you haven’t done so.

A young Leonberger is lying on the floor and my book, The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, is placed in front of the Leonberger.
Photo of Hachi a young Leonberger in Canada. He is about six months old. The photo is taken with permission from a review for my book. Click on the photo to see the associated review.
A photo of a Leonberger puppy wearing a red scarf.
This is a photo of our Leonberger Bronco when he was three months old.
A black-brown German Shephard is playing with a young Leonberger lying on his back.
Baby (German Shepherd) is playing with our four months old Leonberger Bronco.
A young Leonberger sleeping on his back on the wood floor.
About five months old Bronco sleeping on his back.
A young gangly Leonberger with a bandage on his knee is next to a little Chihuahua. The two owners of the little dog are a lady in blue jeans and a lady in white pants. The lady with white pants is also wearing a bandage on her knee.
Our Leonberger Bronco at the dog park at five/six months old. He is wearing a bandage on his knee because he got a condition from growing too fast. The two ladies are the owners of the little dog.
A photo of our young Leonberger in the foreground. There is a white and yellow lab in the background.
Our about one year old Leonberger at the dog park. He is gangly looking and not yet stocky. In the background you can see our yellow lab Baylor.
Photo of our gangly Leonberger Bronco in the foreground with two Labradors in the background. A white Labrador on the left and a beige Labrador to the right.
Another photo of our not yet one year old Leonberger Bronco at the dog park.
Photo of our gangly Leonberger Bronco on the left. Our black-brown German Shepherd Baby on the right.
Our not yet one year old Leonberger Bronco at the dog park with our German Shepherd Baby.
Our Leonberger is standing on a red leather sofa stretching to give me a hug. I am standing behind the sofa.
Our one-year-old Leonberger Bronco wants to give me a hug.
A photo of a Leonberger swimming in a lake.
Our Leonberger Bronco swimming in White Rock Lake. He is about one year old in the photo.
Bronco our Leonberger is shown standing in a kiddie pool.
Bronco our Leonberger get washed off and a fairly young age. He liked water.
Our Leonberger Bronco is standing by the kitchen gate. He is wearing a round hat. It is the kind of hat that pilgrims wore.
Bronco standing by the kitchen gate. The kitchen gate was there to keep him from going inside the kitchen and do counter surfing.
Ten Leonberger puppies sitting on a sofa. They are brown with black face masks.
Ten Leonberger puppies. My guess is that they are about two months old. Shutterstock-ID:561107710 by Akbudak Rimma.
A Leonberger puppy with pink roses.
Leonberger puppy Stock Photo ID: 561111403 by Akbudak Rimma.
Leonberger puppy running through green grass. The puppy has its mouth open, and he is looking straight into the camera.
Leonberger puppy. My guess is that he is around two months old. Shutterstock-ID: 629624396 by TOM KAROLA.
A Leonberger puppy running in the snow.
A Leonberger puppy running in the snow. Shutterstock Stock Photo ID: 2056502327 by Nikky de Graaf.
Young Leonberger standing on his hindlegs putting his paws on a woman’s shoulders and giving her a hug.
Young Leonberger Stock Photo ID: 2089116934 by cynoclub
Two sand colored Leonberger puppies playing in the snow. The play seems to be a little bit rough. Like all Leonbergers they have a black facemask.
Two light colored Leonberger puppies playing. My guess is that they are three months old. Shutterstock-ID: 2141564415 by AnetaZabranska.
Leonberger puppy giving a Chihuahua kiss, but the Chihuahua does not look happy. The Leonberger puppy is much bigger than the Chihuahua.
Leonberger + Chihuahua Stock Photo ID: 2166660069 by cynoclub.
Young Leonberger on a white background.
Young Leonberger Stock Photo ID: 2170918265 by cynoclub.
Young Leonberger on a white background.
Young Leonberger Stock Photo ID: 2192241957 by cynoclub.
A very young Leonberger puppy sitting in front of a Christmas tree.
Leonberger Puppy Stock Photo ID: 2233375083 by VeronArt16
Two brown Leonberger puppies lying on a wood floor.
Two Leonberger puppies. Shutter stock Photo ID: 2294202331 by Olga Shusters.
A Leonberger puppy standing in the snow.
A Leonberger puppy standing in the snow. Shutterstock Stock Photo ID: 2390810457 by VeronArt16.
A photo of our Leonberger Bronco at the age of three months old. He is wearing a scarf, and his tongue is sticking out.
And finally a black and white photo of our Leonberger Bronco at three months old.

New Blog Launch

Today I finally got around to launching my new blog. I call it super facts and the website name is https://superfactful.com.

I added five posts, which are pretty much exactly the five super-fact related posts I posted here on my Leonberger blog previously. So, you may recognize them. In the continuation it will be stuff you haven’t seen before. However, now I need to find out if my blog works. Do I get notifications about comments and likes? Can you subscribe? Can you navigate it? All opinions and bug reports are welcome. I invite you all to check it out and if you subscribe, I would be very happy. I can add that it is easy to toggle between the two blogs, just look at the right-hand sidebar.

Image showing a disintegrating brain
Smash your old beliefs with new surprising facts, super facts. Expand your mind and teach me some unexpected truths. Shutterstock ID: 1685660680 by MattL_Images

Reminder Leonberger Book Promotion

Our late Leonberger Bronco’s birthday and the two years anniversary of the release of my book about him was at the beginning of July. Therefore, I decided to have a promotion for the month of July. I lowered the price of both the paperback and the kindle version on Amazon by two dollars in all countries (or close to two dollars). For the United States I lowered the price of the Kindle version from $4.99 to $2.99 and for the paperback from $19.95 to $17.95. In Sweden I lowered the price from 180 Swedish Crowns to 150 Crowns or 159 Crowns with VAT.

This is a reminder of that promotion. Since I sort of forgot about my promotion and this reminder is late I am extending it three more days until the end if August 3rd, midnight Central Standard Time.

The gold and beige book cover features the face of our Leonberger Bronco and the text "The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle. Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger."
This is the front cover of the book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. Click on the image to go to the Amazon.com location for the paperback version of the book.

I should add that I am donating the proceeds from the sale of this book to the Leonberger Health Foundation International

The back cover in gold and beige feature a photo of a Leonberger in a snowy forest and an introduction to the book.
This is the back cover of the book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”. Click on the image to go to the Amazon.com location for the kindle version of the book.
The endorsements say “A wonderful tribute to the author's beloved Bronco. The stories are heartwarming as well as informative - a true glimpse into life with a Leonberger. D'Nae Wilson, President, Leonberger Health Foundation International.” and “A lovely tribute to Bronco, with lots of resources for general Leonberger information. Julie Schaffert, LCA breeder since 1992.”
These are the endorsements for the book. Click on the image to got to the Barnes and Noble location for the book.

In this book you’ll read about some of Bronco’s amazing feats: the night he scared away a prowler; the day he performed a hamster search and rescue; the time he stumped the Geek Squad; and the late night he snuck into the kitchen and ate a two-pound bag of dog treats, a box of pastries, a loaf of bread, a grilled chicken, and a Key lime pie, all in one sitting. You’ll also read about his unflappable calm during a north Texas tornado and his stoicism as he endured health challenges in his later years.

In addition to entertaining stories, these pages contain a wealth of practical guidance, including:

  • a history of the Leonberger breed;
  • advice for the care of very large dogs;
  • breed-specific health and genetic information;
  • training and feeding tips;
  • suggestions for finding a breeder;
  • the official breed standard; and
  • an extensive resource guide.

Below is a list of places where you can get my book.

Stories That Will Capture Your Heart

The focus of this blog is Leonbergers but sometimes I post about books that are not about Leonbergers but that I want to promote. Well, I read another book that I loved, so this is another one of those. I am reviewing and promoting a wonderful collection of short stories and poems called The Storyteller Speaks: Powerful Stories to Win Your Heart by Annika Perry. I bought the paperback version.

The front cover is in blue and white and features a woman blowing on a dandelion. In the background there are stars on a dark blue sky.
Front cover of The Storyteller Speaks by Annika Perry. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the paperback.

Amazon’s description of the book

It only takes one event to change a life. What is that action, decision, occurrence? Whose life is affected? Changed forever? In this eclectic mix of 21 short stories, flash fiction and poetry the pendulum swings between first love and murder, from soul-destroying grief to reconciliation. The tales veer from the sweet satisfaction of revenge to new beginnings, from heart-breaking miscarriages of justice to heart-warming Christmas misadventure. One common thread binds them all; the belief that there is no such thing as an ordinary life; they’re all extraordinary. Open your hearts and minds as The Storyteller Speaks.

Below is my review of The Storyteller Speaks by Annika Perry Click Here To See My Review On Amazon.

Captivating Stories for the Soul

This is a collection of 21 beautifully written stories as well as a few poems. Some of the stories depict the struggles and disappointments in life, some of them are tragic and sad, and some of them are uplifting and fun, but all of them are captivating stories centered on the unexpected in people’s lives. The author’s ability to portray emotions without using superlatives is remarkable. I could feel for and sympathize with the characters with ease. A few skillfully descriptive words were all that was needed. The author’s background is Swedish and since my background is Swedish many aspects of the stories felt familiar to me.

Many of the stories, perhaps all of them, are based on real events, sometimes taken from the author’s own life. I think the story that stayed with me the most was A Green Cage. It was about a woman who was wrong-fully convicted of murdering her children. The story depicted her emotions both very harrowingly and realistically just by stating the facts about what she felt. Another story that stayed with me was Sofia, a story about a tragedy occurring at the zoo. It depicted the dire consequences of thoughtless teenage antics as well as love and bravery going overboard. People do stupid things that can turn a fun day into death. The first story, Biding her Time, is a beautiful love story, which I believe was about the love story of her grandfather and grandmother. The last story, “The Loss of a Patriarch”, is a beautiful tribute to her late grandfather.

It is a very enjoyable and unforgettable collection of stories that is masterfully written. I loved reading it and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading short stories.

The back cover is in blue and white and features the backside of the head of the woman blowing on a dandelion. Again, with stars on a dark blue background in the background.
Back cover of The Storyteller Speaks by Annika Perry. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the kindle version.

About the Author

Photo of Annika Perry author of The Storyteller Speaks.

Annika Perry is a full-time writer, blogger and book reviewer. She was born in Gothenburg, Sweden and raised near Ilkley, West Yorkshire. Annika received her BA Honours Degree in German Language and Literature from the University of Leeds.

Her initial employment was as a journalist followed by many years as an agent in the timber trade. She was awarded first prize in Writing Magazine’s Short Story Competition in 2014 and also shortlisted in an Ink Tears Short Fiction Contest. “The Storyteller Speaks”, a collection of short stories, flash fiction and poetry, was her debut book. “Oskar’s Quest”, a beautifully illustrated and enchanting children’s story, is her second published book. Annika Perry lives with her family in a small village in North Essex, England.

Connect with Annika via:

Author Website / Blog:

Twitter:

Goodreads:

Linkedin:

Another Wonderful Review of My Leonberger Book

I am overjoyed to see this very beautifully written and supportive review of my book “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle.” Please take a look at this blog post.

It should be noted that I did not see a reblog button on the post so I hope it is OK that I just link to it here.

Click on the picture to see the review

We All Die What Are Our Lives

The focus of this blog is Leonbergers but sometimes I post about books that are not about Leonbergers but that I want to promote. This is another one of those. I am reviewing and promoting a great collection of short horror and spooky stories called And the Grave Awaits by Roberta Eaton Cheadle. I bought the kindle version.

  • Paperback –  Published July 5, 2024, ASIN : B0D8BJRCFC, ISBN-13: ISBN-13 : 979-8328600293, 194 pages, Item Weight : 12.5 ounces, Dimensions : 6 x 0.44 x 9 inches, it cost  $10.99 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
  • Kindle –  Published July 5, 2024, ASIN : B0D7745TZB, 204 pages, it costs $5.99 on US Amazon, it is free with Kindle unlimited. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
The front cover features red roses in a black vase in front what looks like a gravestone.
Front cover of And the Grave Awaitsby Robbie Eaton Cheadle. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the paperback.

Amazon’s description of the book

A collection of short paranormal and dark stories.

Includes the award-winning short story, The Bite.

A group of boys participate in a reality television challenge; to the death.

What does it mean to be a Canary Girl? One young woman is about to find out.

Where is the bride? A beautiful young woman goes missing during a game of hide and seek on her wedding day.

Some stories will make you cry, some will make you gasp, and some will leave you believing in vigilante justice. All will end with a grave.

Below is my review of And the Grave Awaits by Robbie Cheadle Click Here To See My Review On Amazon

16 Fun and hair-raising spooky stories

This is a collection of 16 spooky and creepy stories. Some of them are horror stories, some of them are paranormal stories and some of them are historical fiction depicting dark events in the past. All of them are spellbinding and interesting. There are spider dances, ghosts, séances, human sacrifice, sirens, murders, mass murderers, deadly diseases, icy magical mountains, enraged gods, volcanoes, 500-year-old history, war and poisoning, baby farming, gruesome death, chimney sweep children, and much more. Many of the stories end in death but some of them have happy endings.

The stories are fiction and quite imaginative, but they all have a background in reality whether it is a historical event or some gruesome tradition or myth from the past. At the end of each story the author has an “About” section explaining the background to the story. This ends up being quite educational. At least I learned a lot from reading the About sections, and sometimes I also googled the information to learn more.

I think my favorite story was Glass Mountain. This was a science fiction-like story taking place in the future. A group of young men participate in a reality TV game show. If they succeed in their quest, they will be rich. They are supposed to climb a mysterious and icy mountain called Glass Mountain. The problem is that no one comes back from the climb, and the young men eventually found out why. Another fascinating story was the siren who was raised as a human vegetarian, which is like trying to make your cat a vegetarian. Her father also did not allow her to sing. As you may guess, she grew up.

Above all these 16 stories are very entertaining. I love spooky stories and these stories were thrilling, unique, creative and very well written. I highly recommend this book.

About the Author

Photo of Robbie Cheadle author of And the Grave Awaits.

Award-winning bestselling author, Robbie Cheadle, has published fourteen children’s books and two poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

The eleven Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.

Robbie’s blog includes recipes, fondant and cake artwork, poetry, and book reviews. https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/

Click here to visit is her Goodreads page

Click here to visit her TSL Publications Page

Click here to visit is her Twitter account

Click here to visit is her Facebook account

These are her published books on Amazon

Covid-19 For the First Time

I am one of those lucky ones that avoided Covid-19 (technical name coronavirus SARS-CoV-2) for years. Now I have it for the first time. Five days ago, my wife got Covid-19, and my daughter had strep. Well, the virus is still with us, and it is evolving so maybe we should stop calling it Covid-19 and just call it Covid vintage 2023, Covid vintage 2024, etc. Yesterday (Monday), well now it is after midnight so technically the day before yesterday, I got what seemed to be a cold. I had a sore throat. Then during the night (last night) I started feeling weak and tired, I had some muscle pains and I got very strong fever chills. I did not measure my temperature but based on the strong fever chills I think it must have been at least 100 degrees.

Luckily for me, the Covid vintage 2024 is milder than the original. Right now, I have a fever and fever chills, but not as strong as last night. I went to our doctor’s office here in Dallas today to get professionally tested for covid and strep. I did not have strep, but I had covid. Naturally my wife and I need to isolate and maybe our daughter too. We suggested she takes into a hotel, so she does not get covid, but she does  not want to. I may not be as active blogging for a few days but here are some covid related jokes.

From the Shining a horror movie. Wendy, Jack and Danny are on their way to the overlook hotel.
Look at Jack’s smug face. This scene is funny. The photo is from BoredPanda.
The Goodfellas are sitting around laughing at a joke. Why are we running out of toilet paper? Because when someone sneezes a 100 people shit themselves.
Remember the toilet paper shortage?
Corona beer changes their name to avoid association with the Coronavirus outbreak. The new name is "Ebola Extra".
Poor Corona Beer. The photo is from BoredPanda.