Young Adult Urban Fantasy – Reverse Harem
I attended the University of Wisconsin - Madison, which was a wonderful and desperate experience. I was so sick during this time period that it was a struggle. But, one semester, I don't remember what year, probably 2005 or 2006, I took an art class. My professor came down on me hard for making everything … Continue reading When Something You Create Becomes Precious
If you've followed me at all, you know I love gardening, and you know I love picking out and buying seeds. It's amazing to get a packet in the mail and open it, and there's SO MUCH PROMISE in those tiny little seeds! Well, today I received a package in the mail. I hadn't ordered … Continue reading Only The Best of People Mail Me Seeds – But What Type Are They?
I love lemon flavored anything. ANYTHING. But I don't really care for the extract flavor. I usually keep lemon juice in the fridge, which is fine, but when I saw an interesting post on Food Storage Moms: How To Make And Use Lemon Powder, I was intrigued. I usually follow them for interesting THE WORLD … Continue reading How Do You Make Lemons Into Powder?
The first sign I had that my Tea plant was flowering was the pair of fallen blooms underneath it. Which startled me because it's January. So I poked around a little more and found that this plant likes to hide its blossoms under leaves for the most part. This is unfortunate because we don't have … Continue reading Sneaky Little Blossoms
Okay, first of all 'Interesting Things Just For You' is a long enough preface that I suspect the actually interesting part of the title is hidden if you get updates by email. So I'm shortening that. That said, if you haven't already run across Sarra Cannon, I'm totally throwing her onto your radar. If you're … Continue reading ITJFU: Sarra Cannon at Heart Breathings Author and YouTuber
I enjoy watching YouTube videos on doing artwork, and I came across this gem lately: BananaJamana or Jamie Jo. She creates gorgeous artwork, often Disney or Nintendo related, but she's also charming and funny. I originally came across her 'Painting - How to Mix SKIN TONES' video. Her 'Why It Sucks to be an Online … Continue reading Interesting Things Just for You: BananaJamana!
My parents and my husband traveled to Iowa this weekend to adopt a rescue from IAMRA (Illinois Alaskan Malamute Rescue Association). She was surrendered by an Amish breeder and has had a hard life so far. She is SO very shy when she's inside the house. Here, you can see my husband coaxing her out … Continue reading Welcome to Wisconsin, Mary!
While my husband was out working recently, he found this adorable bit of vandalism: Most of the time I'm indifferent to graffiti if it's nice and annoyed if it's pointless. But this little bit made me smile. Here's to hoping you have a wonderful weekend! What do you think about graffiti? Are there times when … Continue reading At the Corner of I Love You
My marker projects I showed Monday came out... okay. I suspect I could touch them up with colored pencil, and that would help. I was pleased with them at the time, but now... not so much. So, thinking of colored pencil, I remembered that one of my favorite artists, Lioba Bruckner, does watercolor with colored … Continue reading She’s a Princess, Can’t You See the Crown?
I have new markers, so OF COURSE I had to try them out. I picked a watercolor sketch book out because it's less likely to bleed through the paper there and I was hoping it would help me blend. Here's the first: In case you're wondering, this is fanart of Feyre from A Court of … Continue reading Practicing With Markers – Win?
My husband came home the day before Christmas Eve, and he found a mysterious box on our front porch. It was open, with a plastic shopping bag inside, and when I looked in there were these: Yes, these are exactly what they look like. Wooden clogs. I'm guessing for Christmas, since some traditions still use … Continue reading You Left WHAT At My Door?
That Glorious Day has arrived! My seeds are here: There were two freebies - one was Dark Purple Opal Basil, which I had ordered as part of my order. The other was Cilantro, and I mailed that to a friend because I loathe Cilantro. Several of the items I wanted to order were out of … Continue reading Seeds Have Arrived!
A close friend walked for her PhD yesterday! This is especially impressive because she works full time, has two kids under the age of five, and has ADD (ADHD?). I am SO happy for her! She worked hard and this has taken years of consistent, hard work to succeed. I was one of the ones … Continue reading Now We Can Call Her ‘Doctor’
Every year we have a cookie walk with our church to raise money for utilities and such for the winter. Every year I bake cookies for it. This year, I wanted to do sugar cookies but didn't want to have to roll them out... so I tried a cookie stamp. Here's the stamp: You oil … Continue reading Howling Wolf Cookie Fail
Guess what came this week! I'm so excited. I love gardening (even though I'm not the best at it), and I especially love growing heirloom plants and unusual plants. So here's a peak at the cover: I had a lot of fun carefully reading each entry and circling those I was interested in. I won't … Continue reading Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Catalog Is Out!
I sent out some copies of my novel to some alpha readers. I don't expect feedback from all of them - some have health issues or anxiety issues, and I really just sent it to them for fun. Doing this, I might note, is nerve wracking. What if they read it and don't like my … Continue reading When It’s Time to Let Someone Else Read Your Baby
My father-in-law caught a deer! No photos included, ya'll, because yuck. We went over on Sunday to see him, and he was in the porch, deer hung up, butchering it. It was pretty gory. Which, I thought it would be harder than it was to see the deer. But it really didn't bother me other … Continue reading Chickadees Eat Meat?
I write. SO MUCH. And very little of it is on this webpage. So I thought it would be fun to show what I've written: here's a break down! I have a TON of novels. (This does NOT include any of my short stories!) Year is the year started. Colors in this list are just … Continue reading Did I Mention I Write a Lot? Like, A Lot, A Lot
Happy belated Halloween! We didn't think to buy any costume parts in advance since I hadn't felt like dressing up. But then, day of, I DEFINITELY felt like dressing up. So here's what I could piece together using construction paper and basic make up supplies - most of it eyeliner. We had ~150 kids/parents this … Continue reading Construction Paper and Eyeliner
Today, my mom's service dog, who had been declining in health, was unable to get up at all, even with help. They had been assisting her with a sling we used to use to carry wood, but today she couldn't do it. Every time Mom left the room she was in she whined and chuffed … Continue reading Goodbye, Mariah. You are loved.
Last Christmas, I looked at getting some pawpaw trees, but they were out of stock so I signed up for notifications for when they're back in stock. And they're back! These trees are native to the United States, and they have fruit that I've seen described as mango, banana, or 'tropical' flavored. (Whatever that might … Continue reading I Didn’t Spend Money on PawPaws But It Wasn’t For Lack of Coveting
My parents... were hit HARD by the most recent flood. The good thing is they were hit in 2014 too, and EVERYTHING valuable was moved out of the basement into the ground floor. Their basement, with two sump pumps, held out with no more than 8 inches of water. This is a shot they took … Continue reading And My Parents REALLY Flooded
