YBC Book Review - "The Witnesses" by Robert Whitlow

I've done a lot of reading lately, so here's my next review.

"The Witnesses" by Robert Whitlow.

I requested this book from BookLookBloggers as a change of pace of my normal genre of novels.  And I was glad I did.

And if you enjoy historical based fiction, you will enjoy this book too.

Parker House is an up and coming lawyer who shares a "gift" with his grandfather, Franz Haus, who was an officer in the German army during WWII.  The gift is the ability to see snatches of future situations.

Franz runs away from the war, changes his name, and ends up in North Carolina.  The years go by, and one day, Franz's history runs smack dab back into his life, and Parker's life.  The ending was very good, and tied up the loose ends wonderfully.

If you enjoy history and suspense, and even romance, you'll enjoy this book.

Be blessed,
Debbi

*I received a free copy of this ebook from Book Look Bloggers for my honest review.*

MyEuropeanTouch and My Life In War Torn Germany - Part 2

Here's is part 2 of Monika's childhood story...

Here is part two of my early childhood. We lived for quite some time in Berlin (East) until the Allied gave up the sectors with the exception of Russia. Now before that happened my parent made the decision to move to Kiel on the Baltic Sea where my Dad’s family was. 

Again, we found 2 rooms and kitchen, or what you could call a former kitchen in the wreckage of the after War, barely inhabitable, but others did not have it any different. So my very talented and creative parents made the best of it. 

Newspaper in front of the cracked Window glass and blankets in addition at Winter time. It was an old building in a former affluent neighborhood but had nothing to show for it now. The left side of the apartment home was livable and Mom and Dad started scrunching some furniture from the rubble and ruins around us, Dad fixed them as best as he could. Mom went to look for 

dishes and silverware in the rubble that were usable and I remember eating my food from plates with a Haken Kreuz on them.

Discarded Soldiers Canteens were our soup bowls and Dad hammered the Soldiers helmets as flat as he could at the top so Mom could use them as pots. WE had a big pot belly stove in the former kitchen and heated with wood from the rubble around us. Dad heated up a brick for everyone of us to take to bed under the covers for warmth.

We were in Kiel and escaped before the Russian closed the borders and refused to get out like the French, American’s and Brits did.

So that was good. During World War II, Kiel’s importance grew. The town was where Germany’s deadly “Wolf Pack” of submarines was born, and the city became a major U-boat base and production center. The U-boat menace made Kiel a high-priority target for Allied bombers.

By the end of the war, the town had been pummeled so many times—there were almost 100 heavy raids on Kiel between 1940 and 1944—that 80 percent of the town’s buildings were destroyed and 167,000 people were homeless.was also bombed to shreds as this was the city containing the largest U-boat Ships building yard for Hitler's Regime.

Can you imagine?  Your whole world being changed in an instant.  Could you survive?

Be blessed,

Debbi

MyEuropeanTouch and My Life In War Torn Germany part #1

I am a firm believer that we need to face our past before we move into our future.  And I have been blessed with a wonderful friend who grew up in Germany during the time of WWII, Monika from MyEuropeanTouch.  She has graciously allowed me to share her story here.

This will be a 3 part series (so far).

This is where and how I grew up in Berlin after WWII just ended. The rubble and wreckage around me were my play ground, where I found all the beautiful broken China plate pieces and tried to make imaginary whole plates to eat from with my wooden doll.

.My Mom was one of the "Rubble/Wreckage" woman, cleaning bricks for re-use and rebuild.

I was on my grandma's hand when the American Candy Bombers came and got candy and chocolate.

We later moved to a city called Kiel and it was much the same there. Kiel was the biggest U-boot ship yard for Hitler's fleets and they bombed the crap out of that city too.

Come back tomorrow for part 2, and Saturday for part 3.  It's an amazing story from the real life of someone who was there, not just a chapter in a history book.

Be blessed,

Debbi

YBC Book Review - "Last Act, the final years and emerging legacy of Ronald Reagan" by Craig Shirley

I was recently reading a book, "Last Act, the final years and emerging legacy of Ronald Reagan" by Craig Shirley, and I have to say....it was a struggle.  So this will probably be a short and to the point review.

I was excited to receive this book from BookLookBloggers, because even though I was just a young adult during his presidency (and even considered myself a liberal for a while), I always looked up to Ronald Reagan.

His quiet determination, and love for this country made him a man almost larger than life.

And that's why I was so extremely disappointed in this book.  It was full of facts, but written in a way that was very dull.  I was hoping for actual stories about Ronald Reagan after he left office, but it was just stories about his funeral.  Craig Shirley did a lot of name dropping (I had no idea who the vast majority of people were that he talked about), and what felt like a lot of blaming and finger pointing at other politicians, parties, and the media.

While I'm normally a quick reader, it took me almost a month to read just the first half of this book.

Then I quit.

I'm sorry, but I can only recommend this book to someone looking for dry details and not inspiring stories.

Be blessed,

Debbi

Our summer school field trip - Ft. Dobbs

One of the pluses to homeschooling your child, is you can have class anytime and anywhere.   This past Friday, our local living history group had a summer camp at Ft. Dobbs in Statesville, NC.  It wasn't as big as the school day they have in the fall, but we enjoyed it.  Hannah brought a friend, and because she's at the age that parents embarrass her (especially me), they took off by themselves.  Which left me with little B and Owen.  In the following pictures, you won't see B because as a foster child, per the HIPPA laws, I am not "suppose" to post his information.  But he's been our son for almost 6 years, it's hard to take a family picture without him in it. lol.  So let me share with you our fun day...

(warning...this post is photo filled)

The first station was the toys and games.  Here a young woman was trying to teach Owen how to play "gracies."  That's here you throw a hoop with 2 sticks and then try to catch it.  It's harder than you think!

Here are the boys trying to roll hoops down the hill.  The grass was too high, and the hoops didn't roll well, but the boys had fun trying

Owen loves music, and he enjoyed this man playing a tin whistle.  After the man explained to the boys all about the tin whistle and the songs of that day, he played a few songs.  When he was done, Owen asked if he knew how to play the Angry Bird song...that poor man was confused.  It was too funny.

Then on to the cooking show...here is one of the few times Hannah met up with us.  But don't worry, Ft. Dobbs is not that big, so she was never very far away.  And her friend was 15 and watching out for her.

.

Owen wasn't quite sure about the Cherokee Indian.  He asked the man what was wrong with his face, then he couldn't take his eyes off the mans nose ring.  I did get him to stand next to the Indian for this picture, but Owen wasn't going to get too close.

Owen liked this old wooden wheelbarrow, but he wasn't too crazy about getting his hands dirty for this photo op...that's my boy. lol.

These photos aren't the best because I forgot my good camera and had to rely on my cell phone.

There is a nice hiking trail behind the field, and the boys wanted to explore.  Owen had on his new sneakers, and we broke them in well. :0)

They wanted to follow these steps, but they looked a little too unexplored for my comfort.

After the hike it was time to go back to the fort.  I was surprised that Owen stood and talked to this soldier about his gun.  Owen is my country boy and loves to play with his toy rifle.  I know, totally politically incorrect, but a child who is taught about guns and gun safety...is safe.

He didn't even cover his ears when the flintlock was fired.

This last station was where Owen learned to march...and he did a pretty good job too.

After we left the fort, it was on to Lakewook Park and a pizza lunch.  You can't beat a $5 pizza from Little Ceasers.  And of course, we had to walk the trails there too.

Owen had a great time hiking...but boy, is Gramma out of shape!  And sandals were the wrong fashion foot wear for the day.  But we enjoyed checking out the trees, and moss, and bugs, and ducks.

It didn't take Owen long to fall asleep that night.  That's our new kitten Patches, and my baby PeeWee.  Owen is very good with all the animals at Grammas house.  And that pillow next to him?

Well, that one's mine, and this was one night I skipped the 11 o'clock news.

How was your weekend?  Did you spend it with someone you love?

Be blessed,

Debbi

what happened to our history?

Todays post is a bit of a rant...first let me tell you the background story/reason for my rant.

I am a firm believer that "those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it" (Winston Churchill), and while our American history is full of evil...it is also full of hope, and love, and justice, and when our children are not taught the full history of their heritage, they are bound to make the same mistakes.  I am very proud of my military family...past and present...that give their lives for our freedom...the freedom to learn from our past and to bless the future of our children.



This is my dad...Chester Raczka.  He served in the navy during WWII, and was stationed on the USS Lexington and the USS Wasp, both of which sunk.  He also fought in the Battle of Midway.  I am so proud of him.  My husband Chuck was also a navy man, as is my grand-daughter and her husband, and another grandson-in-law.  I also have a grandson in the army, plus numerous nieces and nephews.  And I am so proud of them all.  Now the reason for my rant....last night at the dinner table, Hannah and I were talking about all sorts of things.  Somehow we got on the subject of my dad, and I told her that he served in the war.  She asked if it was like the show M.A.S.H. and I told her that was the Korean War.  She asked if that was the one with Hitler, and I responded, no, that was WWII, to which she responded "oh, that's Hogans Heros".  How sad that she is learning history from sitcoms on our classic tv stations and not from her teachers at school.  I had asked her before about her classes at school, and today they are not teaching American history, but they are teaching about world cultures and land masses and people groups.  Really?  People groups?  How can our children avoid our past mistakes as "people groups" if we don't tell them, and teach them, our history, good and bad.  I remember being in elementary school (grade K-6) and learning the 50 states, and their capitals, and even the flowers, trees, and birds.  I also learned about the pilgrims and the Revolutionary war, and the Indians and the move west, (including the wrongs we did to the Indians), and so much more.  When,and where, are our children learning that today?

I for one will be teaching my children more myself.  Time for visits to museums, and history videos.  What about you?  How will you help teach our future to not repeat our past?

Be blessed,

Debbi