The Month of April

Without a doubt! I'm positive now that April is my favorite month of the year! Warmer weather, trees budding and flowering, the gift of new life, all bring me back from the dull drums (doledrums?) of winter! Earth Day comes with a gently reminder to be kinder to our Earth as well - and of course Johnny Green and the Little Green Man comes back into the picture! More coming soon about Johnny!

On another note, while on the internet this morning I found these photos about one of my favorite subjects, gardening and growing flowers here in our climate. For all of us that live in the Mid-Atlantic part of the US, where summers are HOT, HOT, HOT, and SIZZLE-ING STEAMY, I found these tips on what kind of summer blooms like our climate. Surprisingly, I have a number of them in my garden already and yes, they are prolific. One I would add to the list is Wisteria! Wisteria is really a Spring flower, but during the summer we cut back the runners and soon, another flower appears. Not as showy as in the Spring, but beautiful. Oh, and while working outdoors in the early evenings when the wind blows just the right way, the scent of wisteria fills the air...such aromatherapy! Here's my photo, taken this morning.....

I've always dreamed of having a split rail fence with wisteria growing on it and the reality is here. We celebrate our 10th summer in our home this year, I get so excited when I see the results of the sweat and labor we've put into our yard - unprofessional as we are - it's so, so satisfying! What other flowers do you grow that love our climate? Here's an additional list that I have...zinnias, dahlias, sedum, shasta daisy's, summer phlox....and I'm sure there's more I've missed!

March 2011

Wowie!!!! I just love the HOPE of Spring! Everything comes back to life, including me! I told my husband yesterday that I'm not sorry to see winter go, even though we had a mild one, it is just too dreary and cold. Warm days ahead and everything coming up green! And with Spring, comes Earth Day, Earth Month and all the surrounding time that we get out and clean up! Update, update, update! Going to move forward and break away from my publisher this year. Met with a wonderful woman, Joyce, from Warwick House Publishing, and she opened my eyes to a whole new world and different reality that fits me much more in going forward in writing! Johnny Green and the Little Green Man will be available in a much bigger way this year ~ ~ ~ COMING SOON! Also, a new accomplishment, not a second Johnny Green book yet but something that will be just as exciting - and I am impatiently waiting to go forward. It's in motion and I'm rollin' with it! I'm working on a new website and will be posting the link ASAP! Have a wonderful Spring! And, as Johnny makes his presence known this Spring I'll be a-postin' away. All the best!

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!!!