Want the Easter bunny to bring a book?
redbud in bloom
Today I’m enjoying a beautiful spring day: sunny, cool, low humidity. These are the types of days when I’m especially thankful to be a Texan! Redbuds and fringe tree are in their glory right now. I hate to gloat because so many of my friends are in misery with Old Man Winter breathing down their necks. In celebration of this spring and especially the EASTER season,
Gus, the Wonder Cat, peaking out to see if it’s time to draw a name from the box yet.
I’ll be getting a book in the mail to you tomorrow, if you want one. That is, if Gus the Wonder Cat wants YOU to win one. (He’s open to bribery, if you happen to have any fish flavored treats on you…..)Head over to my author FaceBook page to get in on the fun.
Baby E’s upcoming baptism has me wanting to diss work and head out to Abilene ASAP, however I’m speaking to the Houston SCBWI next Monday (come and join us for the FREE event!). I’ll speaking to the group about my summer spent at The Publishing Institute at University of Denver. It’s a difficult task to write or illustrate a children’s book and almost as hard guessing what those “books” might look like in the next couple of years. I’ve been trying to get a handle on the direction of publishing, looking at which format my readers might be meeting me with in an every-changing techno-world. That’s one of the reasons I went to grad school last summer. I’ll have out my crystal ball for the Houston writers and illustrators at their regular meeting, hoping my literary prognostications are more accurate than our weather forecasters lately. I realize in looking over my notes and photos just how much I’ve missed my friends and instructors in Denver – especially roomies Emily and Jen.
A room mate sandwich with me in the middle. Miss you, Jen and Em-dash!
The other reason I went to Denver turned out to be a lie…Colorado in summer promised a respite from hot, humid Houston last summer, but promptly reneged on the deal. After a FREEZING 1st week of spring, I’m betting Colorado’s wishing she were a Texan right now, too!
Actively waiting….
On Sunday, the pastor at my daughter’s church – Aldersgate UMC in Abilene – spoke of actively waiting. Actually, the term Steve used was “wait and prepare” and he took it from Luke 2 when old Simeon decided not to die until he’d seen the promised Messiah. He didn’t sit in his Lazy-boy twiddling his thumbs, though. Instead, he went to the temple. Now we know Simeon was IN Jerusalem and he was a Jew, so it wasn’t a long-haul trip or out of the ordinary for him to go to the temple. He just did his regular thing while waiting. The pay-off was huge; Simeon got to hold our Lord in his arms!
The last week and a half, that’s where I’ve found myself: waiting. I’m not alone though. A whole team of us are huddled around my daughter and son-in-love, looking forward to the birth of their son, my first grandchild. He’s the first on many fronts, actually. First grand on both sides and first great-grand. And so that I don’t drive my daughter and her husband completely nuts, we’ve worked on several projects inside and outside their home. (I gave the how-to on a nearly-free exterior coffee table we made on GardenDishes this week.) Lots of good food, a few movies, and some Christmas shopping (I’m crazy about the local olive oil heaven, Cordell’s, because their oils are a FODMAP FRIENDLY salve for my garlic and onion cravings).
Hey, want to see a few things we’ve done as we actively wait?
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- The finished crate coffee table (how-to on GardenDishes).
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- A changing pad for the baby’s dresser.
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- A rubber boot and some spray paint….
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- ….morph into a cute Christmas “stocking” for the baby. (Edie wants to know where HER stocking is!)
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- An old stool my Granny Foster made for my daughter…
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- …is taken apart..
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- …patterns are made…
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- …and it’s reassembled for the baby!
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- Fresh basil, pine nuts, a little hard cheese and garlic infused olive oil instead of cloves becomes….
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- FODMAP FRIENDLY pesto with gluten-free pasta!
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- A store-bought gluten-free focaccia mix with rosemary and grated cheese…..
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- ends up a yummy FODMAP FRIENDLY bread!
NEED A RECIPE? JUST ASK!
I hate to wait, but doing it actively has given me purpose for being here and – hopefully – made my stay more bearable for my daughter and her husband. And I know the pay-off will be huge!
May your advent season be filled with the joy of the Lord. c:
Lookin’ for somethin’ for nothin’?
Captain Hook overseeing a pair of DRAMM Compact Pruners I’ll be giving away, courtesy of Dramm Corporation who gave them away to me for a give-away. Get it?
Doesn’t happen very often that you get a totally FREE offer, no strings attached. Today for FREE FRIDAY I’m giving away goodies from the DRAMM box I got. No, I didn’t misspell it….. it was a DRAMM box – from the Dramm Corporation – loaded with tons of their incredible gardening products. Want one? Go to my FaceBook author page or GardenDishes blog for a chance to win! c:
Home, but for how long?
My poor car’s become a 2nd home. By the way, having a 2nd home is not what it’s cracked up to be.
Moving seems like a good idea until the boxes are unloaded….
While I love to travel, there’s nothing better than waking up in my own bed. What a disappointment at my return when no fairy had been to my house to unpack moving boxes. In fact, I’d swear those boxes multiplied in my absence.
Some crafty guys sharing a fun day at Clark Gardens’ Fall Festival. Located between Mineral Wells and Weatherford, the gorgeous gardens looked and FELT like autumn with a windchill in the low-50′s, a rarity in early October Texas.
Artist (Joy Hein) and author (that’s me!) with our new book BLOOMIN’ TALES at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas
I was blessed with great traveling partners on a couple of my trips, making it much more fun…. unless the travel partner is hairy and meows the whole time we are in the car. His name is Captain Hook. He’s decided he’s a one-home type of guy, thank goodness.
Captain Hook is glad I’m home, even sharing HIS office with me.
Books, books and more books!
DPI class of 2012 trip to Frederic Printing, Denver
As I’m finishing up The Publishing Institute at University of Denver, I’m thankful to return to Texas. It’s beautiful and certainly not nearly so humid as we enjoy in the Houston area this time of year, but it is time to put into practice all I’ve learned. There will be lots of tears tomorrow when we graduate and I’m thankful for the many friends I’ve made and I know some will be life-longers. I’ve been encouraged, discouraged, sleep-deprived, and stretched. Cannot believe my +51 year old brain kept up with the many 20 somethings in my class, although it certainly did not run rings around any of them!
Speaking of publishing, I’d like to give away another copy of BLOOMIN’ TALES. Want one? I’m also receiving a shipment from my publisher of OUR SHADOW GARDEN, so if you’d like that instead, I’m happy to send it on to you. 
How can you win? Go to my author Facebook page and let me know you want one. It’s that simple! A relatively unbiased judge will choose a lucky winner next week. If you send someone else my author page and they tell me you sent them, you’ll be entered TWICE!
Send your gardening questions to me for GardenDishes. I’ll be cranking back up when I return to the real world next week.
c:
FREE FRIDAY
Or you can comment here if that’s easier for you. A relatively impartial judge (she a RELATIVE, and sort of impartial) will let you know Monday who won and we’ll get an autographed copy in the mail to you.
happening in my life.
My girls are officially adults. I didn’t count graduating from college. Or getting married. I don’t even consider the fact that my youngest is making me a grandmother come December as grounds for adulthood. Any 12 year old can do that. (Well, SOME 12 year olds and glad mine isn’t one of them!)
So what makes a person a grown-up?
Having a home mortgage.
Somehow that monthly check you mail…..or – EFT you transfer – makes you officially no longer a kid. Maybe not for everyone, but that’s the tipping point in my book. A house payment is big stuff. It tells people you mean to stay rooted.
Well, both of my girls are rooted as of this year. They’ve both bought houses: one in West Texas and the other in Washington, D.C. I’m not necessarily happy about how far away they live from me, but I am happy they’re thriving. Part of that thriving is that they both put in gardens! So each daughter went plant-by-plant through my yard,
discussing likes and dislikes, seeing what I could share from my landscape – much of which is edible – that would grow in conditions very different from my spot here in the Pineywoods of East Texas. One special plant at my house is figs. Why? I’m talking about it on GardenDishes today, (along with a recipe for fig preserves) but mainly because of tradition. And I’m thankful they’re carrying it on for me since I can’t do it anymore…..
a giveaway!
albeit by many who paid the ultimate price: their life.
In honor of that, how about if YOU receive a gift for your garden? I got a box of cool gadgets from DRAMM CORPORATION a few weeks ago and I’ll be sharing them in the next few weeks.
Just go to my FB author page and
comment on the entry to win.
Don’t do Facebook?
Comment on here and I’ll send you the rules.
Don’t forget to thank a veteran, an active military person, or family of someone serving as our country’s protector.
And pray for those who give us the
gift of freedom every day. c:
happening in my life.
This week has been quieter at my house. I enjoy TLA (see the incredible bluebonnet bouquet I made from the little pins Sarah created for the event?) and speaking at schools, garden centers and events, mainly because it’s so much fun to make with new friends. It is nice to have a down week, though.
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- Steve Chamblee
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- Steve Chamblee’s easy-to-build (for him!) pergola demo at Arbor Gate
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- bouquet of bluebonnets
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- last of the poppy blooms
outside my window.
