The End of July

June & July have come and gone - temperatures sizzling upwards in the 80's and 90's, not to mention the humidity...too darn hot! Between a demanding job the last couple of months, the garden, and family visits plus a 'first in 20 years family reunion' in July - summer has just flown by and I've fallen way behind! Johnny's been sitting there...on the shelf (literally)...saying, "hey remember me?" I promised myself I'd submit to two publishing companies/week, this has just not happened. However, the promise of a busy fall and winter is ahead, then I think things will slow down, did I just say that? Information about our first Saturday event in August is avaliable here, www.celebratecatawba.com. I'm looking forward to taking Johnny off the shelf and talking 'Green'! The Green Press Initiative, www.greenpressinitiative.org has given me hope in the direction I've wanted to go with Johnny Green. I'm ready to work toward finding a publisher who is interested in taking on the Johnny Green Books series. Green Press has a great list of publishers that have made a committment to a more 'green' printing option/solutions. Options sure seem to get slim - when this is your goal. I've spent a number of hours googling green publishers - and of the ones I've found on my own either no longer print children's books or are not taking "unsolicited" manuscripts. I'll hold out till the time is right..... Oh, and we grew our first watermelon this summer (just had to share this pix). Broke the 1st one open (it was the size of a softball, ha ha) and gobbled it up - on 1, 2, 3! Oh my goodness! Deee-lish!!!

Summer Harvest

Spring came and went, now into summer! This is a particularily exciting one for me. We expanded our garden this year, and watched as our labor started to grow. In between the two gardens we have a small patch of blackberry bushes. This year a cardinal family nested in the berries and as the buds turned to flowers to berries I kept thinking I hope they move before it's time to pick! As I picked berries Friday night and saw the empty nest, I knew that mama cardinal had read my mind! Mr and Mrs Cardinal were friendly while we did our meandering around the garden, pulling weeds, and watching the garden grow, but they made it known they weren't far away from the nest, lighting on the fence posts, dive flying but never at us, chirping, and staying close to their babies. Then one Saturday while picking our first batch of beans I peaked into the tomatoes, and there planted on a sturdy branch was one of the baby cardinals...

I couldn't help but think this would be my best opportunity ever to get a closeup picture of a baby bird! And it was. I thought he was just the cutest, including the crest on top of his little head.

So with that said, back to picking berries. I picked enough to make a batch of jam. Skip trimmed the branches last fall and this year they're overflowing! Some have gone in the freezer, some in berry smoothies, some on cereal with breakfast and now yummy jam!

Today I froze summer squash, have made zuchinni bread, zuchinni cassarole and will again tonight for dinner, and even have given squash away this year. Today I'll also make my first batch of dill pickles. As we expanded our garden this year, things are more spread out, our plants are bigger than ever, they have more room to breath. I planted corn, have never done so before, and we are already seeing the cobs develop with their silk. Oh God must've known I'd be so easy to please as I play in my garden and prepare what I can for winter. Last year I made awesome dill pickles and salsa and never had to buy any this past year.

And - where does Johnny Green fit into all of this? I've begun submitting my manuscripts and first book to traditional publishing companies, so while I wait for any replies, you'll find me in my garden! Have a wonderful summer and do whatever it is that you find pleasure in!

Green finds!

Darby, my sister-in-law, and I visited Charleen's shop, Green in the Blue Ridge in Lexington, VA over Memorial Day weekend. What a treat! We both came home with children's books made from elephant poo, recycled crayons, a stuffed dog made from recycled water bottles and admired all the other things in her shop made from recycled product! Check out her blog, www.greenintheblueridge.blogspot.com. Of course, she sellsJohnny Green and the Little Green Man and one of her patrons came in while we were there and left with a signed copy! Not only is her shop full of amazing treasures but it is located in the oldest building in Lexington, "The Castle". You will certainly enjoy just meandering through the town of Lexington!

After our visit at Green in the Blue Ridge, I pulled out an article printed in our local newspaper, The Smith Mountain Eagle, to show Darby. Classrooms around the county are making $$$ for their schools by collecting and sending juice cartons, cell phones, etc. in to TerraCycle, www.terracycle.net. TerryCycle then makes cool and useful things from these and sells them...so we checked them out. I ordered some pencil pouches and recycled pencils for giveaways at my events. If you are a teacher, or want to make $$$ for your organization, hop on board with this idea! Everyone benefits! Just wanted to share with you just one more way of working together to Help Save our Green Earth!!!!