This was supposed to be a travel post but since I missed the deadline and I’m not on my PC but instead my laptop, I don’t have access to my photos, so you will get a bit of this and that.
My hubby and I are moving to a small town in NE Oregon two hours from the area where I grew up. It’s good to see the mountains again after all our years living in the SE Oregon high desert. We aren’t moved in permanently yet, but will be by the end of March when the buyer of our farm takes over.
We purchased an older home that is in extremely good condition but we are doing some remodeling to make it fit us better. The last few days we built a wall to split a large area into my office and a mud room. I’m happy with how the progress is going and getting my office area looking like me and my writing voice.
I’m working on the 8th book in the Spotted Pony Casino Mystery series and had a nice phone call with a retired FBI agent last week to help me make a couple of scenes in my book more realistic. This books has a bit more FBI involvement than others because of who the murder victim is. But it is making for a good story.
In December I have many of my first in series ebooks and audiobooks for FREE as a gift from me to readers and listeners. You can either keep an eye out on my Facebook page Author Paty Jager or check on my website as that is the only place you can go to get them FREE.
Here is the list so you can find them easier:
The first book in each of the mystery series is in an audiobook bundle and an ebook bundle through Bookfunnel: Double Duplicity, Murder of Ravens, and Poker Face.
If you want to join my Newsletter, I’m also doing a 12 Days of Christmas event with other mystery authors where we each give away a book from another author in an email for twelve days. You can join the 12 days event here: https://successful-speaker-2057.kit.com/dddfb95104
That’s about it for the This and That that is happening in December!
This is the last week of October. Only two more months left in 2025. This year has whooshed by like a freight train. Fast and hauling all kinds of things.
I have been busy with book events, family events, and life events. All of those things have whisked the days by in a blur. And the rest of the year will be almost as fast and furious!
I have an event in Bruneau, Idaho, November 7th-9th. I’ll be selling my books in a booth with my daughter who will be selling fudge. It’s called Bruneau Cowboy Christmas. I love their tagline: Best shopping and day drinking in the West! Which is what we’re hoping will give us lots of sales. 🙂
My daughter and I taped out the size of the booth on my living room floor and we set up the booth so we will know what we need to do when we get there. I also have all my books in totes, marked “put out”, “under table” and “in vehicle.” I hope to sell so much that I’ll need more books that will be in my vehicle. 😉
After that, we’ll have a lovely family Thanksgiving, and then I have two events back-to-back in December. A 4-H Christmas Bazaar, December 5th & 6th in Baker City, Oregon, and then the 2025 Authors and Artists Fair in Eugene, Oregon, December 15th.
When those two weekends are over, then it’s hanging out with family through the holidays and gearing up to start a new year of writing.
We will also be moving to Baker City in the coming year. We have slowly been taking things to the house we purchased there. So there will always be something to do, whether it is writing, editing, publishing, marketing, or boxing things up.
At the moment, I have two Gabriel Hawke novels, one Spotted Pony Casino mystery, and one Cuddle Farm Mystery book scheduled to write and release in 2026. I’ve been thinking about the next three books I’ll be writing and doing some research. I always have a couple of books brewing in my head while I’m writing one.
So stay tuned to this blog to find out what the next book will be and what I might have learned to write it.
Today and tomorrow are the last two days you can get the first book in the Shandra Higheagle Mystery series, Double Duplicity for FREE as an audiobook. You can download it from my website. https://www.patyjager.net/product/double-duplicity-audiobook/
Check out my website while you’re there and see that the prices for the audiobooks on my website are more reasonable than those of other vendors, and once you download the free audiobook, it will make any audiobook you order later the same process you go through at other audiobook vendors. Same with the ebook sales on my website. And if you want a print book with an autograph, you can purchase it from my website. Check it all out here: https://www.patyjager.net/
It’s hard to believe it has been a year since we came back from our epic three week trip to the Netherlands, Spain, England, Scotland and Ireland.
This post is about our last days in Ireland. After this I’ll have to come up with some more fun travels to take so I can keep the travel segment of this blog going.
One of the first villages depicted at the heritage museum.
Day 24 of our trip was a move-on day. We headed to Straffan, Ireland, where your next Airbnb was. Along the way, we stopped at the Irish Heritage Museum. It was an outdoor museum where you moved from one scene to the next. It began with the first people of Ireland and continued until they gained their independence. There was also a falconry on site. Angie and Rietta both held a peregrine falcon. From there, we traveled on, arriving at Straffan late and settling in.
Cliffs of Mohr
The next day, we drove to the Cliffs of Moher. The high cliffs and ragged rocks along the swirling sea were definitely breathtaking. We walked through an entrance in the side of the hill, wondering what could be inside, and discovered a large, underground, indoor museum. The interactive museum was extensive. It was set into the hill so it didn’t detract from the scenery. There were also shops built into the side of the hill.
Entrance to the underground museum
On the way to the cliffs, we’d read signs to Bunratty Castle, and we saw it from the highway. On the way back to Straffan, we stopped there and had an excellent tour of the castle and the old town. There were houses set up as they would have been in medieval times, and some in the Victorian era. One lad in the Victorian era regaled us with tales of his heroics, his family, and life during that time period. He was entertaining.
Bunratty Castle
On Day 26, we walked around Dublin. As we were walking to the Dublin Castle, we passed an alley across the street. I saw young people coming out of it, so I stared down the alley to see where they were coming from. I kept walking and walked into a three-foot-high orange traffic cone on the sidewalk.
At first, I couldn’t figure out what I’d walked into, and then I felt myself falling. I landed on my left hip and shoulder. Both my granddaughter behind me and my daughter in front of me tried to catch me, but it happened too fast. I was so embarrassed, I laughed and had tears. An Irish woman working for a construction company witnessed the incident and remarked that it was unfortunate they hadn’t captured it on video. LOL That’s how I started my tour of Dublin!
Beautiful woodwork and art.
This is stairway is where the Irish Presidents are inaugurated.
The Dublin Castle and Government apartments were interesting. They weren’t giving tours of the medieval part of the Castle, but we were able to see the apartment areas. It has history, art, and heritage. I enjoyed it.
A beautiful hallway that is used for events.
Beautiful architecture and art in this sitting room.
Then we walked around Dublin, had lunch in an Irish Pub, and went to the wax museum. While the museum had a lot of Irish history, the admission price seemed a bit steep for what we saw. After that, we walked some more, crossing the Ha’Penny footbridge.
We ended the day with a stroll through Dublin Castle gardens and a sweet treat.
Beautiful art piece in the garden.
Day 27, we drove to the airport and flew home. Angie and Rietta were happy to head home, but I was game for more traveling. I’m hoping to go back and see a few other countries in the next few years.
I have wanted to attend the Happy Canyon Night Show during the Pendleton Roundup for years. This year, I finally just bought tickets and told Hubby we were going.
When I told my oldest daughter we were going, she asked which seats and in a few days she said she and her husband had tickets not far from where we were sitting. I picked a box seat. I wanted to see it all, not knowing that probably about halfway up the stands might have been a better view. But I’ll try that the next time I go. 😉
What is the Happy Canyon Night Show you ask? It is Oregon’s Official State Outdoor Pageant and Wild West Show. It has over 100 cast members from the Pendleton area and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla. At one point, I think 100 tribal members were standing on the set. It was powerful seeing children, women, and men in historical clothing standing along the rims of the elevated set.
This is the set for Happy Canyon Night Show. This was before it started.
In 1916 the show’s writer Roy Raley wanted to add Native American life before the explorers came to the area. He asked Anna Minthorn Wannassay to help him write the tribal life scenes of the Columbia River Plateau tribes.
Anna had been a student at the Carlisle Institute in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1906 and returning to the Pendleton area. Raley knew of her love for history and community involvement. At Carlisle, Anna had participated in Dramatic Arts. This came in handy as she helped Raley with the script.
In 1917, they performed the added tribal scenes, and the audience loved it. Each year, Anna and Raley added more and more scenes to the show. They preserved history with their show.
I, Hubby, and my daughter and her husband enjoyed the show.
It starts with the tribal members welcoming one another and the start of a day in the life of tribal members before the non-Indians appeared.
There is a scene where four boys return from scouting, having vision quests, and establishing their identities. The chief calls all the tribe together, and the boys tell of their deeds to become men.
Then Sacajawea arrives with Lewis and Clark. The tribe welcomes the weary travelers, giving them food, and company.
A chief’s son has been killed. The first clash with the white man begins. In retaliation, the tribe steals a white girl (who, by the way, had good lungs! Her screams were ear-splitting) The chief appeals to the medicine man, who says the only choice is war. But scouts and plainsmen rescue the girl. I loved the part where they jumped off the cliff into a pool of water under the waterfall. Then the lights went out. All I could think of was “how can I get this into a book with a person found in the pool dead the next morning?” 😉
Cover wagons arrive. They stop for the night and have singing, dancing, and revelry. The Indians attack! There is a lot of noise from gun blasts, people falling on the ground, and horses charging around the wagons and through the people. Then the Calvary arrives chasing off the Indians.
The part that broke my heart and brought tears to my eyes was seeing the tribe, riding horses and walking, with their heads bowed as they were pushed from their beloved home. The scene was the most heart-wrenching and sad. Even the small children had their heads bowed and walked with sadness. (I was so overwhelmed I didn’t take a photo)
Then they changed the backdrop, and it was a frontier town with townspeople rollicking about. This part of the show for me, seemed to last longer than it needed to. I would have loved more of the Native American culture and history.
Then there was a trick roper who was fair. And a trick rider, who was having an off night. Or more likely, her horse was having an off night. It didn’t want to stay in the small area. It kept bolting for the exit.
After the trick roper and rider, there was a Cowboy and Cowgirl Mounted Quadrille. They square danced on horses. It was fun to watch. They did it at a lope and it was thrilling.
This and when he carried the American Flag from here down to the ground, were my favorite scenes.
Next time I will make sure my phone is charged so I can take more photos and hopefully better ones. The night picture taking wasn’t easy for me or my phone to do.
Before the show we walked among the vendor booths. There were a lot of different tribes represented at these booths. And lots of beautiful beadwork. We also walked through the Teepee village where many of the tribal members stayed for the week of Roundup.
You can see the teepee village in the distance. The stage coach was used in the Happy Canyon Night Show.
The stage was so large that you couldn’t always see everything that was going on. Even my hubby said he wanted to see it again because he felt he had missed so much. And that, my friends, means I’ll be getting tickets for next year!
I’m picking back up with the trip I took last fall with my oldest daughter and a granddaughter. The third leg of our trip was in Ireland. After crossing from Scotland to Ireland by ferry, we rented a car. It was the first time we’d rented a car during the whole trip, but it was definitely worth it.
After being kind of stranded in Scotland without a means of transportation, it was a freedom to be able to drive ourselves where we wanted to go.
We spent the night in Belfast, Ireland and picked up the rental car the following morning. Since we were at the northern end of the island, we decided to hit one of the major sites. My daughter did a good job of staying on the left (wrong) side of the road. It took her a bit to get used to the difference.
We loaded into the car and headed to Giant’s Causeway on the north coast of Ireland. We took the walking tour and spent time in the gift shop. Then we returned to the car and drove what was supposed to be 4 1/2 hours but turned out to be more like 6. By the time we stopped for lunch and a few missed turns, we made it to our Airbnb in Bullycullen about 9 pm. We were all tired. After unloading and eating dinner, we went to bed.
The Giant’s Causeway features hexagonal pillars of rock formed from an ancient volcanic fissure eruption.
The next day, we headed out when we were rested and drove to Blarney Castle. We toured the castle and all decided we didn’t need to hang upside down and kiss a rock that millions of other people had kissed. Next, we sauntered around the beautiful gardens, lime house, ice house, caves, and towers. It was a wonderful afternoon of exploring.
The gap up there is where the kissing stone is.
Poisonous plant
My favorite part of the gardens. 😉
Cave used to retreat from the Blarney Castle.
Day 23 of our trip we explored close to where we were staying. A brochure at the house talked about the oldest lighthouse in the world. We set our GPS for Hooks Head, less than half an hour from where we were staying in Bullycullane. The wind picked up as we drove to the peninsula. The tour guide was excellent! So much history and storytelling combined that we were enthralled. My granddaughter thought it was great and wished she’d recorded the monologue.
She was also the only one who could answer one of the tour guide’s questions about the man who had the lighthouse built. The wind was so strong that when we stepped out of the lighthouse, we were held in place by the wind, barely able to take a step. The history of the lighthouse goes back to a monk who believed a light needed to be lit at all hours of the day and night to keep ships safe. He first built bonfires on the rocky peninsula. Later, a stone conical tower was built with a fire basket on top. The monks carried buckets of coal up the four levels to keep the fire lit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Later a better lighthouse was built.
From there, we went to Wexford and shopped. Each of us purchased at least one piece of clothing. Then we had a delightful dinner at a bar and Bistro.
I’ll continue our Ireland stay in the next Travel installment.
How can it be August already? That means summer is almost over. This has been a whirling, fast paced summer for me.
This weekend is the second wedding of the summer. Both were for grandchildren. I can’t be that old that I have grandchildren getting married, can I? This makes three married.
I’m looking forward to my upcoming book events. They are:
August 24th & 25th – Oregon State Fair, Salem, OR from 10 am-8 pm
September 6th – Quail Ridge Arts Festival, Baker City, OR 2-9 pm
These are all new to me as venues to sell my books. Two of them are large and I purchased books in anticipation of selling a lot.
Next month I’ll have links to both the newest Gabriel Hawke book, Wolf Moon, and the new Merry Merry Merry Murder, Christmas mystery. The links will be for pre-orders. The Hawke book is being read by beta readers and the Christmas Mystery needs some tweaking done to it. But it will be out in October and Wolf Moon will be out the end of September.
Starting August 13th, you can get the first three audiobooks in a bundle from Chirp for $2.99. IF you are a Chirp listener, watch for the promo they send out in the middle of the month. If you aren’t a Chirp listener and would like to purchase the box set at this low price, you can find it here: https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/gabriel-hawke-box-set-1-3-by-paty-jager Just remember the low price doesn’t start until Aug, 13th. All the other audiobooks in the Hawke series will be priced lower at Chirp as well.
Because I am limited on time to write this and haven’t a whole lot to say, here are some photos.
This is my new folding bookcase, I will be using at the Cowboy Christmas in Bruneau, Idaho. I like how it displays the books in a more inviting way than the wooden racks I’ve been using.
These books are what I’ll have at the Oregon State Fair. I can get them all in two stands like on the right. When book bundles for the first 3 books in a series. I’m only allowed 4 ft of a table to set up on and told to bring as many titles as I could.
Enjoy the August weather and get out and enjoy the great outdoors. I hope to get more outdoor time here soon.
We did our nearly yearly trip up on the Steens to see the wildflowers a week ago. There had been so much snow up on the mountain that the roads didn’t open until a couple weeks ago. We like to go for my birthday at the end of June, but the roads had just opened and we were busy. Lucky for us, the wildflowers didn’t disappoint.
There is a small waterfall in the background.
The left photo is at the edge of Kiger Gorge. The photo is farther up the road.
Steens Mountain summit is in the background.
I thought these orange-yellow almost succulents were interesting in this photo. As you can see there were still patches of snow everywhere.
This is the same type of plant as the orange and yellow plant in the lower photo.
We also saw the wild horses in their usual spot near a watering hole. Some were even in the water.
The next trip we make will most likely be with grandkids to swim in Fish Lake then we will most likely make the fall trip to see the colorful aspen leaves.
Well, I thought this post had been written and scheduled. Silly me! I must have forgotten to write it. The good news is that means you are able to purchase my new Spotted Pony Casino Mystery book! Crapshoot is book 7 in the series. It made me think and tugged at my emotions as I wrote it for many different reasons.
Here is the blurb, cover, and buy links:
A Fentanyl death.
A missing woman.
Dela Alvaro, head of the Spotted Pony Casino security, and Heath Seaver, a Umatilla Tribal Detective, join forces with the FBI to find Dela’s missing basket-weaving instructor and put a stop to a lethal drug flowing onto the reservation.
The investigation turns deadly when an undercover FBI agent goes missing and the drug cartel’s girlfriend is out for Dela’s blood.
Along with this new book, I also have an audiobook bundle on sale.
The first three book in the Gabriel Hawke Novels, Murder of Ravens, Mouse Trail Ends, and Rattlesnake Brother.
Join Oregon State Trooper Gabriel Hawke as he performs his duties with the Fish and Wildlife Division while finding a body with a wolf collar, tracking a lost child, and hunting down a poacher in the wilderness of Wallowa County.
Books 1-3 in the Gabriel Hawke Novels
Oregon State Trooper Gabriel Hawke is part of the Fish and Wildlife Division in Wallowa County. He not only upholds the law but also protects the land of his ancestors.
Murder of Ravens
Book 1
State Trooper Gabriel Hawke is after poachers in the Wallowa Whitman National Forest. When he comes across a body wearing a wolf tracking collar, he follows the trail of clues.
Mouse Trail Ends
Book 2
Dead bodies in the wilderness. A child is missing. Oregon State Trooper Hawke is an expert tracker, but he isn’t the only one looking for the child.
Rattlesnake Brother
Book 3
State Trooper Gabriel Hawke encounters a hunter with an illegal tag. The name on the tag belongs to the Wallowa County District Attorney and the man holding the tag isn’t the public defender.
Later this month, starting June 26th, the first three audiobooks of the Spotted Pony Casino Mysteries will be on sale. Use this link to get to the sale page: https://indieaudiobookdeals.com/
I’m excited to say I will be selling my books at two large events this year one is the Oregon State Fair on August 24th & 25th and the other will be at the Bruneau, ID Cowboy Christmas on Nov. 7th & 8th. So if you are in either of those areas, mark you calendar and come by to say hi.
This was the day that we walked the most. Leaving Kilbryde Castle where we were staying, we headed to Doune Castle in Doune, Scotland. We left around 9 am to give ourselves enough time to get to the castle by our 11:00 ticket time. We made the four miles with 30 minutes to spare.
As we entered the castle they gave us devices that recited the information at each stage of the castle. It was fun learning about the history, seeing where the food was prepared, where they slept, and entertained.
The hole in the corner of this area was for smoke. It was a spit for cooking large animals and hanging large pots to cook.
This was a doorway out of the kitchen area in to the prep area.
This was the hole for a toilet. The grate is over it to keep people from tossing trash. They did say that when a prisoner of war was held in the castle, he escaped by going out toilet hole.
This was the basket that held the wood to keep the guests warm during a banquet. It sits in the middle of the banquet hall.
The banquet hall. I can’t remember how many people they said it could accommodate. but it was large.
Looking out one of the windows toward the courtyard. It was pretty and a large area.
This was the fireplace in the family’s main room above the banquet hall.
This was where the Lord would hear grievances and proclaim laws.
gingerbread cake
It was a fun tour. Afterwards, we found the business district of the town and a quaint cafe called Buttercup. We had a wonderful lunch. I had creamed mushroom, sweet potato, tarragonsoup with loaded fries (which we all ate). Even though I was full, I couldn’t pass up the gingerbread cake. It was delicious!
With overflowing stomachs, we headed back to where we were staying. On the way, we passed by a playground and Angie decided to take a ride on a small zip line.
We walked slowly back to Kilbryde Castle, enjoying the sunshine and pretty scenes. When we arrived, I looked at my Fitbit and we had walked 9 miles.
The next day, we stayed at the castle being lazy. Midday, Angie and I took a stroll around the paths in the gardens and down by the river. I took a lot of photos of flowers still in bloom and the changing leaves. In the afternoon, we played cards and I packed for the next leg of our vacation.
Old rock steps down to the river.
view from the Ferry
We woke at 5 am, and the taxi arrived at 6 to take us to the bus station in Sterling. We had less than an hour bus ride to Glasgow and then a two-hour bus ride to Cairnryan to walk onto the Ferry. The Ferry ride took about two hours. We purchased a chicken wrap, ate the rest of the chips we brought with us, and then found a room with bench seats and the movie Super Mario Bros playing.
When we landed in Belfast, Ireland, we discovered the hotel we’d reserved was 30 minutes away. The taxi driver was full of good information. We spent the evening changing up some of our sightseeing due to the places the taxi driver told us. Then we watched some TV and went to bed.
I recently attended an art show in Joseph, Oregon at the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture. The show was Bloodlines: Nez Perce Art Exhibit.
There was traditional weaving, sewing, beading, painting, and bronze work, all created by twelve Nez Perce artists. The variety of mediums were a good representation of not only cultural traditions, such as the beading and weaving, but to see history translated into art and current themes.
The show opened at noon on Saturday with a prayer and a song by artist Nakia Cloud. It was fun to see and listen to him and then study his “Art on a Ledger.” He’d drawn more traditional-looking subjects on used ledger paper.
Jacy Sohappy had traditional patterns in her weaving and had an elk tooth dress on display.
The youngest artist represented was Emma Chief a teenager. I listened in as she explained two of her paintings to other art enthusiasts at the show. She held a deep understanding of her culture and had paintings that reflected the strength of women.
She wasn’t the only one who had women’s strength portrayed. Ellen Taylor had some striking paintings of women and one of Prince, the singer, as a Native American and Marilyn Monroe as a Native American. I have to admit I was tempted to purchase one of her prints of a Native American woman. The colors and the woman’s strength drew me.
Center stage of the whole event was Doug Hyde’s bronze of a Nez Perce woman warrior. It was striking and showed the strength and resilience of women.
Doug also has a large bronze int he front of the building. It deals with the return of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) to Wallowa County. After the treaty of 1863, when the government reduced the size of the reservation taking away the walwa’ma band (Chief Joseph’s band) homeland given to the Nez Perce in the Treaty of 1855, Young Chief Joseph was moving his people to the Lapwai reservation when an altercation happened. The altercation set them and some other bands headed to Canada.
Many have heard of Chief Joseph’s surrender at Bearpaw Montana. But did you know that after they surrendered and were told they would return to Oregon, they were exiled to Kansas and Indian Territory? Many died from the heat and conditions. In 1885 they were finally allowed to return to the West, but not to Wallowa Valley. About half of them were sent to the Colville Reservation in Washington state, and the other half went to the Lapwai Reservation.
Many of the walwa’ma band remain at the Colville Reservation while others are spread among the Lapwai and Umatilla Reservations in Idaho and Oregon.
It wasn’t until the late 1970’s that other than participating in the Chief Joseph Day’s rodeo and parade that the Nez Perce were allowed back into Wallowa County. Now they have an interpretive center, powow grounds, a Wallowa Homelands, and more representation on the streets of Joseph with sculptures and they have an Nez Perce fisheries in the county.
Back to Doug Hyde’s bronze in the front of the Josephy center, which is named for a man who befriended the Nez Perce and wrote books showing their culture and language. The artwork titled: ‘etweyé-wise means The Return or specifically “I return from a hard journey.” It is the photo at the beginning of this piece.
Unfortunately, I was so busy looking at the artwork I didn’t take a photo of any of it. You can see some of the works at the website in the beginning of the post.
Writing Into The Sunset 