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!!!

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!