An Interview with Monday Creek Publishing Author
Carolyn Bailey Lewis, Ph.D.
Love and Loss: The Storied Nature of Nursing Home Care
Release Date: November 13, 2021
Meet Dr. Lewis at the Monday Creek Book Festival!
Saturday, October 30, 2021
Thursday, October 28, 2021
TOP STORY: Haydenville Man's Book Preserves Town's Unique History by Jim Phillips Logan Daily News Editor
New!
Haydenville:
The Company Owned Ohio Town that Outlived the Company
by Larry A. Horn, Sr.
In the foothills of rural southeastern Ohio, along the banks of the Hocking River, Mother Nature shares her picturesque beauty with the little community of Haydenville. The architectural design of the homes and church are truly magnificent, a one of a kind, a town that truly deserves the honor of being listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and holding the distinguished honor of being known as; the last company owned town in Ohio.
Available in Paperback from Amazon.com
N.R.HART, World Poetess
N.R.Hart Amazon Author Page
N.R.Hart Twitter + Facebook + Tumblr + Instagram + Pinterest
N.R.Hart Pearls Slipping Off A String Facebook
Riding & Writing Interview
Your Tango Interview
10 Poems By Insta Poet N.R. Hart That Remind Us To Never Take Love For Granted
Student Stories Interview
“My Mind Had Nothing To Do With It, My Soul Chose You ”
Meet The Romantic Poet And Author of Poetry And Pearls, N.R.Hart
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Journeys: Finding Joy on Horseback by Joy S. MillerUpton
New!
Available in paperback from Amazon.com
With two horses, a dog and a used Gibson guitar a young woman set out in 1973 for a month-long adventure, following trails and back roads deep in Appalachia in southeastern Ohio. A few weeks before, Joy MillerUpton had been a journalism student at Ohio University, but now, with a BS degree in hand, she was taking time off before beginning her writing and photography career. At first riding with her 12-year-old son for a week, then by herself, Joy had time to contemplate the first 31 years of her life.
That journey was the first in a series of horseback adventures Joy and her horses took over the next three decades. You will read about living on the road traveling with horses—sleeping under the stars and sometimes thunderclouds, riding through Bigfoot country, tracing parts of John Hunt Morgan’s ride through Ohio, and riding portions of Underground Railroad routes.
This is a story about a woman raised when becoming a homemaker was the end-game. But Joy pointed her horse in a different direction, and, by her 26th birthday started college and began a journey full of rich experiences.
Monday Creek Publishing LLC
www.mondaycreekpublishing.com
www.mondaycreekpublishing.com
Monday, October 25, 2021
Milliron Monday: 2000 Athens County Pound Rescue
Abbott "Pete" Smith D.V.M. June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010 |
Welcome to Milliron Monday where every Monday we celebrate the legacy of Pete Smith, D.V.M., and Milliron: Abbott “Pete” Smith, D.V.M. The Biography (Monday Creek Publishing 2017), including his wife Jody (1938-2021).
"If you want to have an animal, make sure you really want it."
Dr. Pete Smith
From 2000 - Dr. Smith was Rosanne Krager's guest on the local TV program Rescue Matters Live. Rosanne, a volunteer with Pound Rescue of Athens County, Ohio, invited Pete to talk about pet adoption, pet care, and anything else that came to mind:
2000 Part 1
2000 Part 2
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Have a great week ahead.
Connect with Gina...
Through captivating, powerful, and emotional anecdotes, we celebrate the life of Dr. Abbott P. Smith. His biography takes the reader from smiles to laughter to empathy and tears. Dr. Smith gave us compelling lessons learned from animals; the role animals play in the human condition, the joy of loving an animal, and the awe of their spirituality. A tender and profound look into the life of a skilled veterinarian.
Sunday, October 24, 2021
Haydenville: The Company Owned Ohio Town that Outlived the Company by Larry A. Horn, Sr.
NEW!
In the foothills of rural southeastern Ohio, along the banks of the Hocking River, Mother Nature shares her picturesque beauty with the little community of Haydenville. The architectural design of the homes and church are truly magnificent, a one of a kind, a town that truly deserves the honor of being listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and holding the distinguished honor of being known as; the last company owned town in Ohio.
Available from
Meet Author Larry A. Horn, Sr. at the
Monday Creek Publishing
www.mondaycreekpublishing.com
www.mondaycreekpublishing.com
Saturday, October 23, 2021
Max's Great Big World by Rebecca Elkins
NEW!
Max's Great Big World
Available in Hardcover
Monday Creek Publishing
www.mondaycreekpublishing.com
www.mondaycreekpublishing.com
Thursday, October 21, 2021
Water Girl by Sandra Russell
Water Girl
Original Art by (c) Sandra Russell
When I was driving, I recalled an old friend. He was a grownup
and I was a kid. He was one of a crew of men from the State mental hospital who
used to come off grounds to work on local farms. We had them there for hay
season a few times. I was the 'water girl'. I'd carry a big bucket of water and
a ladle down to the field and they'd get a drink that way. At lunch a bit
later, they would come up to the house for a meal of some sort, usually at the
table, but sometimes near the cistern in the yard.
One of the guys was a big redheaded fellow named Wiley or
Riley? I asked him one day why he wanted to be evil? He said, “I'm not evil”...
I said, “Well you're wearing one of those 'Catholic' things around your neck
and it's plain to see without a shirt on.” (I was taught by this side of the
family that Catholics were agents of the devil). He laughed and said it was the
“Holy mother and she made him feel safe.” Hm? Then I asked, “Why do you want to
be a lunatic?” He said he wasn't really a lunatic. So I said he should run away
then. He said, “I put myself in here for my nerves; I had a nervous breakdown.”
I never saw him the next summers. But he was a nice man... I
hope he didn't hang himself like they said. He was the first Catholic that I
knew was one, and he was nice.
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
This Week @ Monday Creek: Mojitos
Another writer told me today she gets fanny fatigue if she sits too long. I smiled at this because I know just what she means! It seems we can become so enthralled with writing that we forget the time and need to get up and stretch our legs. Some writers set timers so that they get up every hour and move. That sounds fine, but I truly wonder what happens when they are in the middle of writing a climatic scenario. Do they dismiss the timer and keep going? My guess is they don’t even take the time to turn the timer off! It just keeps buzzing and buzzing, finally jerking the annoying timer to the side - making a shrill cry as it hits the floor (so I've been told).
You can’t stop a moving train… er… writer. They say Hemingway maintained a strict writing schedule. He began writing as early as 6 am, stopping at noon. After that, he would break for lunch, contemplate his storyline, take walks, drink a mojito (or two), nap, etc.
But Hemingway did not face some of the interruptions that current writers face – cell phones and zoom calls come to mind. Could Hemingway keep his schedule in today’s world? Maybe. I guess you have to be assertive enough to tell people to leave you alone.
This time of year it's easy to procrastinate. As we wiggle through October, the clouds seem puffer, the sky a little more azure, and thoughts of the ensuing holidays mean another year is winding down. Before the year is over, however, there is much to be done! We are preparing for the Monday Creek Book Festival in November and still have a few author tables left for those who are interested. The event will host 40+ talented authors. Maybe we can live-stream the event so the world can watch! I will check into it.
Things around the countryside are getting brighter with the turn of the leaves. Variegated greens now turn to luminous orange and gold. The change of seasons is a marvelous event in SE Ohio. It’s true, leaves do rustle, wooly worms can be entirely black, and squirrels can travel backward up a hickory tree.
We have a small cabin in the woods where I like to sit and write. It’s not always silent there. Walnuts hitting the cabin roof wake you if you’re taking a nap. And there’s fanny fatigue there as well. Do you think Hemingway felt fanny fatigue after writing six hours every morning? Maybe the mojito deadened the discomfort. Maybe we all need a mojito.
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
Family Ties by Sandra Russell
 |
| Sandy's Grandmother Clara (c) Sandra Russell Family Ties by Sandra Russell |
“The best thing I can say about all this,
|
is that families need to nurture one
another.”
-
Sandra Russell |
This grandmother (Clara) gave me my first set
of charcoal drawing sticks and sketch pads when I was 7 years old. Her
daughter, my aunt Virginia, made me an embroidered and quilted "artist's
apron" when I was 5 years old. It was sewn with narrow pockets all around
the hem for crayons with a hand shaped pocket at the side, fingers and all, and my
name embroidered on the waistband. Pretty great that Virginia's daughter Karol is also
a quilter and we exchanged gifts (quilts and watercolors) at a horse show last
summer.
 |
| Grandmother Clara Original Art by (c) Sandra Russell |
They all showed horses. My dad took me to the shows
because he was working 'sound'. I
would go to the shows with my dad who was a sound engineer, and rigged up the
loud speakers, etc. Sound, horses, quilting and painting. All repeated in the
family. His mother is the banjo playing woman (painted
by me) is also seen on the horse photo (above). This grandmother (Clara) gave
me the charcoal set and
drawing paper for Christmas when I was in first grade. Then later, when I was 13, she gave me her oil paints as she was
going blind and could no longer paint.
I think it's interesting
how family ties can be evidenced in artwork and performance, even when these
folks seldom see one another, there is a common pattern to their spirit,
motives, and interests. These images tie into the other image of me seated with
the art from 20+ years ago.
 |
| "Hylas and the Naiads" Original Art by (c) Sandra Russell Sandra interviewed by the Athens News 2001  |
The fragment of the naiads can be seen in the other photo. I made all these tiles like a jigsaw puzzle or
a 'crazy quilt' from clay, fired, then underglaze and glazed and refired,
marked and pieced together it is about 4x8' ft and in private home in Athens County.
The top row of similarly made mosaic is more sized 1x4' and was sold a couple
of times last known to be Decatur, Illinois? Not sure?
 |
| "Gypsy Princess" tile poem 1970 Original Art (c) Sandra Russell |
This one was to illustrate a poem written by a friend in Brooklyn, New York in 1970. I made this piece about 17? years ago, hoping that it would find
the author of the poem as a "Thankyou" note somehow? My way of a 'message in a bottle' - do the art,
send it out, see who finds it? I don't do this sort of tile work anymore, but created many, many hundreds in the nineties.
I am showing these, as
they relate, I believe to the family tie of quilt making. Both require a
'vision' then a fracture of the elements, then a reassembly of those parts to
resurrect the 'vision' manifest in material. The best
thing I can say about all this, is that families need to nurture one another. I
can only wonder how powerful and great we could have been if we'd had more of a
chance to work together? Happy for what it is however!
 |
| My cousin Karol, daughter of Virginia, designed and quilted this piece. She gave it to me recently at the barrel races. (c) Sandra Russell |
Monday, October 18, 2021
Milliron Monday: Marvin S. Phillips, D.V.M.
Abbott "Pete" Smith D.V.M. June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010 |
Welcome to Milliron Monday where every Monday we celebrate the legacy of Pete Smith, D.V.M., and Milliron: Abbott “Pete” Smith, D.V.M. The Biography (Monday Creek Publishing 2017), including his wife Jody (1938-2021).
"The environment and memories of the long
past is a thrill to remember."
Marvin S. Phillips
In the Smith archives is a treasured book Collected Thoughts and Meditations of Marvin S. Phillips (2009). The book was mailed to Jody in 2013 with a note: "Enclosed is a copy of my Dad's thoughts and quotes you had asked for recently at his memorial service. Please accept this copy as a gift from my family... especially Dad. We appreciate your attendance at the service and your friendship you shared throughout his life." Signed, Bruce Phillips.
In 1963, a year out of Colorado A&M Veterinary College, Pete joined Dr. Phillips and Dr. Bratton at the Athens Veterinary Hospital. Jody said that Pete, the new veterinarian, was often on farm calls and did not spend much time at the vet hospital, even though all the veterinarians shared an office.
Dr. Phillips, originally from Barnesville, Ohio, studied at Ohio State University, graduating in 1944. He served in the Army Medical Corps before moving to Athens. Dr. Phillips passed away on August 28, 2014 at the age of 93. Collected Thoughts and Meditations is a look into his life - notes, ideas, wisdom, prose, and even his own poetry. I enjoyed reading Jody's copy. It has a profound sense of history - his history. He loved his childhood farm, family, and life.
Jody penciled notes in the book. She marked her favorite passages. Here are a few of her favorites...
Memories when I was 45 -
For years I made country calls to treat animals for farmer's veterinary service in Athens' Ohio. Sometimes students rode with me, a country practitioner, so they could be admitted to the Veterinary State College.
One morning as we drove through Athens, Ohio my student passenger said, "Did you see that woman thread traffic ahead of us?" I said, "Yes, that is my wife."
The student was quiet for several miles.
- M.S. Phillips, DVM
Personal experience: Two older highly successful men in insurance and banking - R.V. Oakley and Dwight Rutherford said that, "It was more fun accumulating their fortunes than it was to have it."
Sounds like a proverb.
- M.S.P.
Memories -
in 1947 I was called to see a cow in labor on a farm near New Marshfield, Ohio. It was dark and the cow was dying and straining to calve. The farmer wanted to save the calf so I did a caesarian section on her and delivered a live calf. Since rabies was epidemic that year I removed the cow's head in a five-gallon bucket to send to the Athens, Ohio Health Department.
The cow's head showed Negri bodies in the brain tissue so I took the Pasteur treatment; fourteen daily injections. The new calf lived and so did I.
Have a great week ahead.
Connect with Gina...
Through captivating, powerful, and emotional anecdotes, we celebrate the life of Dr. Abbott P. Smith. His biography takes the reader from smiles to laughter to empathy and tears. Dr. Smith gave us compelling lessons learned from animals; the role animals play in the human condition, the joy of loving an animal, and the awe of their spirituality. A tender and profound look into the life of a skilled veterinarian.
Saturday, October 16, 2021
Anna Elizabeth Judd, Western Novelist
Anna Elizabeth Judd
About the Author
Anna provides it all as if you are in the saddle along for the journey. Her rare books bring the readers joy from nearly every genre they can appreciate. She exuberantly brings the image and sentiments of the west to full life throughout the storyline. Yet, at the core of Judd’s work is a black stallion who engages life into every aspect of the book. Haystack fills children’s mind with wonder as he interacts with Marshal Spur and the Outrider Gang, to the mild minored young steed who brings Adam to new levels of learning in his life. Then he is brilliantly portrayed as a beautiful Appaloosa stallion in the Broncobuster as Cash.
Anna Elizabeth Judd includes a vast trove of Western Novels depicting the “Cowboy Way,” Horse Whispers, Gunslingers, and the Wild West, but very few scratch the surface relative to the vibrant depictions through which Anna takes this storyline in The Hourglass of el Diablo.
In her newest edition, The Handbook of Horsemanship Ann shows her extended knowledge in the art of horse training. As she originally wrote the book for her clients, so after the training with her was complete they would have a guide to take home. It ensured their continued success in the world of horsemanship.
Anna has many other books planned in the future, so stay tuned for the next adventure of Marshal Spur and the Outlaw coming winter 2020. But…… don’t think she has left us longing…. Dive into her new music album for all the young cowboys and girls in the world. Spur Up! Marshal Spur and the Outlaw.
Websites:
Reverb Nation Music Album
https://www.reverbnation.com/annaelizabethjudd/song/31976038-the-hourglass
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thewesternnovelist/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/westernsbyjudd/
Twitter: twitter.com/westernsbyjudd
Monday, October 11, 2021
Milliron Monday: In the News 1969
 |
| Dr. Smith and his assistant James Keirns in the operation room. |
Abbott "Pete" Smith D.V.M. June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010 |
Welcome to Milliron Monday where every Monday we celebrate the legacy of Pete Smith, D.V.M., and Milliron: Abbott “Pete” Smith, D.V.M. The Biography (Monday Creek Publishing 2017), including his wife Jody (1938-2021).
"...it is among the most complete hospitals for the
treatment of sick or injured animals to be found in the state.."
From The Athens Messenger, Sunday, November 9, 1969
Story by George Lovell
Photo by Ken Steinhoff
Milliron Clinic Only Part of Area Vet's Plans
Two related events became increasingly important to the eastern section of Athens County's Ames Township and might eventually have some impact on a wider area of Southeastern Ohio.
One is the completion of Milliron Clinic. The other is the purchase by Dr. Abbott Smith, the clinic's founder, of the Fred Phillips farm.
The Milliron Clinic is along Route 50A opposite the entrance to Windy Hills Farm. It has been under construction for some time, and it is among the most complete hospitals for the treatment of sick or injured animals to be found in the state. Dr. Smith says that his clinic has some modern facilities which are not yet available at the Veterinary School of Ohio State University.
The clinic facilities are housed in two adjacent buildings. The offices are in a brick building which is entered from the parking lot which is on the opposite side of the building from Route 50A.
The entrance is decorated with a mural which shows horses and other animals owned by the Smiths against a background of local scenery which includes the nearby McDougal Church. The mural is the work of Sharyn Bickle. Other decorative features include an aquarium and a table featuring a shadow boxed sea shell display.
Besides the office, this building has two consultation rooms for examination of small animals, a dispensary, a darkroom and storage areas.
Larger animals, such as horses, have their own quarters in an adjacent frame building. It contains stalls and an indoor corral equipped with a mechanical exerciser. Facilities for X-raying and administering anesthetics are available here.
They are near a unique hydraulically-controlled operating table. This table can be put into a vertical position and a patient walked to its side. After the animal has been fastened to it and anesthetized, the table is rotated to a horizontal position. Casters are placed under it, and it is rolled to the operating room in the main building.
Following an operation, the table is rolled to a recovery room in the frame building. Here the patient is deposited on a clay floor which has been covered with fresh hay. Foam rubber covers the side of this room to prevent the possibility of an animal injuring itself.
When he named the clinic, Dr. Smith was not aware that Milliron was a family name in this part of the country. He explained that a milliron is a piece of metal which holds a lathe shaft to a pillow block. He adopted the shape of this as a brand design for his livestock when he lived in Colorado.
The clinic occupies a small portion of the 280-acre farm which the Smiths have occupied for some time. They have cattle, riding horses, dogs, sheep, goats, burros and ducks on the premises. From this, the conclusion that they are an outdoor oriented family is fairly obvious.
Just as the clinic was being completed the Smiths were able to acquire the 760-acre Fred Phillips farm which stretches across Route 50A and extends along a part of Athens Route 3 near the intersection with Routes 691 and 50A. W.P. "Bill" Clark of Strout Reality negotiated the transaction which he says involved one of the largest tracts of land to change ownership in Athens County recently.
Dr. Smith hopes to develop gradually his combined holdings into a recreational area. He views this as a gradual transformation to be accomplished over a number of years.
Meanwhile, persons who wish to ride or hike over the area are welcome to do so, as long as they close gates and refrain from leaving litter behind. Because of the frequent presence of horseback riders and hikers, the 1,040 acre tract has been declared a game preserve and no hunting is permitted.
Among Smith's long range plans is laying out restricted 5 to 10-acre home sites on the part of his tract roughly north of Route 50A. These sites will be so planned as to appeal to buyers who would like to live in the country with enough land around them so that they can own pleasure horses.
One of the first things Smith hopes to do is start a cow and calf raising operation which can utilize corn grown on his bottom lands as well as the grass which grows abundantly on many of the acres. Smith also has some sheep grazing on his farm, accompanied by goats to keep dogs away.
There is a possibility that Smith may eventually be able to construct a lake on part of his property which is adjacent to 691. All the land which comprises the watershed of two creeks which would feed the lake is located on his property.
The countryside in the vicinity of the proposed lake offers a variety of interesting visual experiences to the hiker or rider. There are sandstone cliffs and several huge chunks of sandstone which have fallen from them so long ago that they have now been split by the roots of good size trees.
Development of the area probably will take years, because it must be cleared of thorn bearing locust trees. However, it might be attractive to some campers in its present wild state.
It is the location closest to Athens which has been suggested for development of this type of recreational facility. Service station employees and others in the Athens vicinity say they have frequent inquiries about camping facilities in the area. They usually direct those who ask about such facilities either to the Burr Oak region near Glouster or to Royal Oak Park off Route 7 north of Pomeroy. Smith's projected camp sites would be considerably closer than either of these.
Have a great week ahead.
Connect with Gina...
Through captivating, powerful, and emotional anecdotes, we celebrate the life of Dr. Abbott P. Smith. His biography takes the reader from smiles to laughter to empathy and tears. Dr. Smith gave us compelling lessons learned from animals; the role animals play in the human condition, the joy of loving an animal, and the awe of their spirituality. A tender and profound look into the life of a skilled veterinarian.
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