Touches to Feel Connected and Loved

She went to Cal first. Her long blond hair swung forward as she leaned over his chair to kiss him. “Hi.”

When she straightened, her hands stayed on his shoulders. 
Fox wasn’t sure the gesture was purely out of affection or to soothe. But he knew
 when Cal’s hand came up to cover one of hers, it meant they were united.

The Hollow

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CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=103428

A touch can convey a lot more love and affection than words. 

Use these 16 non-sexual touches to feel more connected 

and loved in your relationship.

Love Panky

Mentions in Nora's Books

“I like that better. Everyone’s connected. It’s not just Kevin Bacon. 
If you work at it, you can put a handful of degrees between 
almost any two people.”

Blood Brothers 

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"Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is a parlour game based on the "six degrees of separation" concept, which posits that any two people on Earth are six or fewer acquaintance links apart. Movie buffs challenge each other to find the shortest path between an arbitrary actor and prolific actor Kevin Bacon. It rests on the assumption that anyone involved in the Hollywood film industry can be linked through their film roles to Bacon within six steps. The game requires a group of players to try to connect any such individual to Kevin Bacon as quickly as possible and in as few links as possible." in wikipedia

😊   I find this so much fun  💗

By Joan Garvin - https://www.flickr.com/photos/garvinj/126525074/, CC BY-SA 2.5, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1675539

Find the Bacon Number

The Bacon number of an actor or actress is the number of degrees of separation they have from the actor Kevin Bacon.
This is an application of the Erdős number to the Hollywood movie industry.
The higher the Bacon number, the farther away from Kevin Bacon the actor is.

SIX DEGREES OF KEVIN BACON

Doggy Sleeping

They both glanced over to where Snickers lay, snoring on his back, feet in the air.

The Liar 

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By BrokenSphere (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 

(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or 

GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Sleeping Positions That Will Tell You A Lot About Your Beloved Pup

Because our pets can’t directly tell us things about them, sometimes we as pet owners have to take it upon ourselves to do some digging, while paying attention to key clues. And those clues can sometimes come from some pretty unlikely places.

Take, for instance, the position that your dog sleeps in. 

LITTLE THINGS

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She glanced back to the dog who’d snored lightly the entire time they’d talked.

“See you later, Lump. Don’t work so hard.”

Blood Brothers

Host a Chocolate Tasting

"We've got hot chocolate. Chocolate mousse, chocolate drops and chocolate-covered  pretzels."

"Julia chose the menu," Laura put in.

"Butch did." Setting the box down, Julia opened it. "And he's going to really go for these. Have a seat, Naomi, and pull up some calories."

Ian @ MacGregor's Grooms

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Gather your closest girlfriends for a sweet weekend. Sip, swirl, and savor new takes on an age-old classic -- chocolate. 
Follow our no-fail tasting guide to kick-start your sweet escapade.  

BHG

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 Oh, she would treasure that, Naomi thought, closing her eyes. She would remember this single foolish afternoon all of her life.

Ian @ MacGregor's Grooms

A Garden Story

He walked to the windows, looked out over her gardens. “It’s like an illustration out of a book of fairy tales.” 

Face the Fire

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A landscape can be a narrative offering a beginning, a middle, and an end

FINE GARDENING

Hug . Love . Kiss . your loved ones. Everyday.

Theo and Maddy sprang from opposite doors of the limo. The rush of emotion had him dropping his briefcase as he lunged toward them. He grabbed Maddy with his good arm, then had a line of pain spurting through his shoulder as he tried to hug Theo. "Sorry, bad wing."

When Theo kissed him, surprise and pleasure flustered him. He couldn't remember the last time this boy, this young man, had done so. "God, I'm glad to see you." He pressed his lips to his daughter's hair, leaned into his son. "So glad to see you."

"Don't ever do that again." Maddy kept her face pressed against his chest. She could smell him, feel his heart beat. "Not ever again."

"That's a deal. Don't cry, baby. Everything's okay now."

Afraid he was going to blubber as well, Theo pulled himself back, cleared his throat. 

The Villa

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By Frankie Fouganthin (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 

(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

“Him and I had never really connected and now it’s like a whole new relationship,” Sam Zeif said. “I have this unreal appreciation for him that I never felt before and it’s amazing because I never realized how life could take him away from me. I never thought we could be in a situation where we would have to worry about that.”

YAHOO!

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Nearly blind with terror and relief, David bolted out of the house. Even as the police car braked, he scooped Maddy out, held her cradled in his arms as he would a baby.

"You're okay." He pressed his lips to her cheeks, her hair. Breathed her in, as the shakes he'd held off since the call took over. 

"You're okay." He said it a half dozen times as she curled into him.

"I'm all right. I'm not hurt or anything." But when she wrapped her arms around his neck, her world came all the way right again. "Sophie drove like one of those guys you and Theo like to watch on the raceway. It was kinda cool."

"Kinda cool. Yeah." Rocking now, calming himself, he kept his face buried in the curve of her throat while Theo awkwardly patted her back.

"Bet it was some ride." Theo manfully swallowed the prickly lump in his throat. There was a jittering inside his chest that came as much from seeing his father break apart as from anxiety over Maddy. 

The Villa

Science of kissing: why a kiss is not just a kiss

"Let's call it a draw," he suggested, lowering his head.

Her hand shot out, wedged between them. "There can be no mouth on mouth. This is not permitted."

"Kisses are illegal in your world?"

"A kiss is a gift." 

Now it was she who was breathless, from the press of his body, from the knowledge that his lips were nearly upon hers. 

"One given in promise between those who mate."

A World Apart

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By KoS - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1280529

In early human societies, it is believed mothers weaned their babies by chewing up their food and then passing it to their babies by lip-to-lip contact. Evolutionary biologists suggest that erotic kissing is a so-called relic gesture, passed down through cultures from these early practices of the mother’s deep kissing and the infant’s searching tongue movements.

“If young lovers exploring each other’s mouths with their tongues feel the ancient comfort of parental mouth feeding, this may help them to increase their mutual trust and thereby their pair-bonding,” 

IRISH TIMES

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She rubbed her lips together, experimenting. His taste was still there-his flesh, yes-

but it was more. His mouth, the intimacy of the kiss that had been like- feeding each other. 

She hadn't known such matters could have such heat, and yet be tender.

She had never known tenderness, nor had she believed she required it.

Small wonder that in the world she knew, a mouth kiss was reserved for lifemates and

 was part of the sacred vows that stretched for all time.

A World Apart

Winter Bird Photos

A movement caught her eye, and as she turned to follow it she saw the cardinal take its perch on the snow-covered branch of a maple. It sat, a single spot of vivid red, and sang. Mac crouched, zoomed in rather than risk going closer and losing the shot. Was it the same bird who’d smacked into her kitchen window? she wondered. If so, he certainly seemed undamaged and unruffled as he sat like a single flame on the white-laced branch. She caught the moment then, taking three shots in rapid succession, slight changes in angles that coated her jeans with snow as she inched left. Then the bird took wing, swooped over the frozen sea, through the bright light, and was gone. Emmaline, beautiful Emmaline in her old navy coat, white cap and scarf trudged toward her through the snow. 

“I wondered how long I’d have to stand there until you finished or the damn bird took off. It’s cold out here.”

Vision in White 

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As temperatures dip, look no further than your backyard 

to see how full of life this blustery season truly is.

BIRDS & BLOOMS

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He opened it carefully, peeling up the tape and flapped ends. And took out the photograph matted in a simple black frame. Against the black and white of snow and winter trees, the cardinal sat like a living flame. 

“It’s wonderful.” 

“It’s nice.” She studied it with him. “One of those lucky breaks. I took it early yesterday morning. It’s no bellycrested whopado, but it’s our bird, after all.” 

Vision in White

Power Naps

She chose the corner of the sofa and thought she might rest her eyes until she heard Sam coming back. 

Johanna stifled a yawn, shut her eyes and was asleep in seconds.

She awoke the same way, instantly. 

Somehow she'd snuggled down and had pulled an afghan up to her chin. 

Sitting up, Johanna dragged her hands through her hair just before she spotted Sam sitting across from her drinking coffee.

"I'm sorry." She cleared the huskiness out of her voice. "I must have dozed off."

She'd slept like a rock for half an hour. He'd tucked her up himself.

The Name of the Game 

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By Stougard (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or 

CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

How Long Should Naps Be? 

Science Says 30 Minutes Is The Sweet Spot

ELITE DAILY

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She started to stretch, then her gaze landed on the bedside clock.

“What! Is that clock right?”

 “I don’t know. Who cares?”

“But . . . Did I fall asleep? For an hour ? That’s like a nap.”

“Fee, that is a nap.”

“But I never take naps.”

“Welcome to my world.”

The Search

Gold and Silver- Images and illusions of the gold rush

There had been nights, many nights, when Sarah had cried herself to sleep from missing him. Then, as the years had passed, she’d had to take out the faded daguerreotype to remember his face. 

Lawless

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Through captivating and largely unedited images ranging from scenes of California’s rivers to the snow-capped peaks of Yukon, this exhibition follows the hopes, dreams and illusions of an entire generation of prospectors who took to the road in search of gold. It also tells the story of two major developments in the history of photography: single images on metal and multiple images on glass and paper.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA

With his eyes half-closed, he imagined… the endless sweep of stars, the pure black of space, the beautiful symmetry of orbiting moons and planets. "Don't you ever think about the worlds up there, just out of reach?"

 There was the vastness of space, seductive and compelling. 
There were stars, clusters of them, and what was surely a distant planet. 
There was a blackness, an absolute blackness, that spread for miles. 
The ship seemed to be hurtling toward it. 


Time Was

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He believed in chance, in the purest sense of the word—the unpredictable possibility of existence.
 He was here now to prove it. In addition to his calculations, 
the technology at his command, his knowledge and his computations, 
he needed one element that any explorer required for success. 
Luck. 
He was alone now in the vast, silent sea of space, beyond the traffic patterns, 
beyond the last charted quadrant. There was an intimacy here between man and his dreams 
that could never be achieved in a laboratory. 

Times Change

recipes to fight the winter blues

“It’s twenty degrees, and after pancakes, we’re going to 
be shoveling this snow 
and freezing our asses off. 
Why can’t it always be summer?” 

“We hardly ever get pancakes in the summer. 
Crepes maybe, but it’s not the same.”

Vision in White

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Flax Pancakes and Blueberry Compote

Berries for the immune system, eggs for the protein, and flax for everything else.

MNN

This Valentine's, be lovely and Loved

The music drifted out, slow and romantic. "Which is this?"

"'The Rose.' It's a ballad—a standard, I suppose, even today." 
"Do you like to dance?"

"Yes. I don't often, but…" 
Her words trailed away as he gathered her close.

"Cal—"

"Shh." He rubbed his cheek against her hair. "I want to hear the words."

They danced—swayed, really—as the music drifted through the speakers. A mother with two squabbling children rested her elbow on her table and watched them with pleasure and envy.

In the glassed in kitchen a man with a bushy mustache tossed pizza dough in quick, high twirls.

"It's sad."

"No." She could dream like this, with her head cushioned on his shoulder and 
her body moving to their inner rhythm.

"It's about how love survives."

Time Was

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Celebrate your first Valentine’s Day

She leaned in to kiss him. 

“People in my business tend to work on Valentine’s Day.” 

“Understood.” 

“I’ll send you a schmaltzy, sloppy e-card. And I got you something. Major step for me, as it’s my first Valentine’s Day gift.”

Vision in White

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The first Valentine’s Day you share with your new sweetie is always the hardest. Do you make it a big deal or treat it like nothing special? What kind of gift is appropriate?

We’ve got you covered — here are some ideas for you and your boyfriend to have a great first Valentine’s Day together.

SHE KNOWS

Upgrade Your Valentine's Day Flowers

“You want romance? I could bring you flowers.” 

“I don’t have anything to put them in.” 

The Obsession

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Vincent van Gogh [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

(Hint: It's All About The Vase)

There’s a reason why sending flowers for Valentine’s Day never gets old: People love them. As a Rutgers University study points out, subjects receiving flowers responded with more-heartfelt smiles than those gifted candles or fruit baskets—and they even remained happier for the next three days compared to the control group, too.

FORBES

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“Absolutely. You put those flowers in something pretty now. 
They’re too sweet to  stay in that old bucket.”


Heaven and Earth

Local florists brace for Valentine’s Day

"Which reminds me…"

Understanding, she smiled. "It's only the tenth, Byron. You still have time to pick up that well-thought-out, loving gift. And no matter what Kate says, don't buy her computer software. Flowers always work for me."

And no one had sent her flowers, she thought, in too long to remember. When her mind drifted to a tiny yellow wildflower, she pulled it back, and called herself an idiot.

Finding the Dream

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Despite what Alfred Lord Tennyson may have thought, a young man’s fancy doesn’t wait until spring to turn to love, but a month sooner — on Valentine’s Day.

THE CLAREMORE DAILY PROGRESS

Valentine’s Day Wedding?

"Valentine's Day." 

"What?" 

There was something wonderful about watching her big blue eyes go blank.

"February fourteenth." Inspired now, he grabbed her hand, kissed it. "Marry me, Malory. Be my valentine."

"Valentine's Day." 

Everything inside Malory melted. 

"Oh, that's so perfect. That's so beautiful. Yes!" 

She scooted around in her chair to throw her arms around his neck. 

"And you'll never have any excuse to forget our anniversary." 

"Always a catch."

Key of Valor

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By Gary Bridgman - Own work, CC BY 2.5, 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2096996

Should You Have a Valentine’s Day Wedding? 

Valentine’s Day is one of the most romantic days of the year. It only makes sense to make it your official wedding date!

However, just like with any holiday wedding there are some serious caveats to a Valentine’s Day wedding. Before you make the official decision, weigh the pros and cons.

MY WEDDING FAVORS

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“I need to know if you’ll marry me.”

The conversations around them stopped. For several long seconds there was no sound as he stared at her. “Okay. Now?”

“Fox.”

“Because I was thinking more like February. You know what a crappy month February is? Why

shouldn’t there be something really great to look forward to in the mostly crappy month of February?” 

He took a slug of his Coke, then set it down as she stared back at him. 

“Plus, it was February when I saw you for the first time. But not Valentine’s Day because, you know, complete cliché and way too traditional.”

The Pagan Stone