COVER REVEAL

 UPDATED SEPT. 2021

I started this story back in 2008. Go here to read my post about it.

That's a long time to be working on a book, but it has been a labor of love. They say that your first story shouldn't be published, that it is a practice of sorts. Well, instead of not publishing this book, I edited, changed and continued to add to this story down through the years.

I have three versions saved on my hard drive. One is 21,000 words, one is 28,000 words and one is 31,000 words. Thanks to one of my writing buddies, Max Price, it is now over 56,000 words. So, although a short one, I can now classify it as a novel. Max convinced me to try and write the added words needed to make it into a novel. His encouraging words gave me the confidence I needed.

This story started very early in my writing career. It came from a writing prompt. They said to take the book nearest you and take the first sentence and start your story. The book next to me was Christy. I love that book and have read it numerous times. It just so happened that it took place during the same time my grandparents got married. I was into genealogy and family history at the time, so I thought I'd write a fictional story loosely based on my grandparents. 

My only fear is that family members will read it and say, "That's not what happened" or "How do you know that's what happened?" My reply will be, "I know. This is a FICTIONAL story." I'm sure they will see similarities and say it reminds them of our grandparents, but that is fine. I want the similarities to be there. This is my humble way of honoring them. I never knew my grandpa, he died a few months before I was born, but I grew up living next to my grandma. I only wish I had asked her more questions and learned more about her early life.

The title has changed numerous times. It is now Where the Stars Grant Wishes.

The names have been changed numerous times. 

And, that first line has changed numerous times.

But, I am finally ready to share it. 

Blurb from the back of the book:

In a time and culture steeped in superstition and old traditions, Jonathan and Lucy marry. The place is Blackberry Holler, which cuts through the Appalachian hills of West Virginia. The time is  1908. Lucy, a spirited young girl, marries Jonathan even though she secretly believes his ma is a witch. During the first years of her marriage, she discovers secrets and makes wishes on stars, but will she ever accept her eccentric mother-in-law's ways? Her life, the life of her unborn child and the life of her husband's young cousin are in jeopardy. Will her wishes on stars and the unique abilities of Jonathan and his ma be enough to save them?

For those of you who may worry that this is a story about witches, it is not. It is about a time and place different from today, and people who had certain abilities were often thought of as being witches, but were not -- they were just different.

Here is the cover.

An old-fashion cover for an old-fashion story. The cover and the few illustrations in the book were drawn by me.

 

I'm a little nervous about doing it, but I am going to push the 'publish' button and release it after Christmas. (It was released on December 28, 2020) It is be available on Amazon in paperback and e book. 

I've already written one that takes place in the 1940s during WWII. But, I'm thinking of writing a sequel that takes place in the 1920s. (I am working on that sequel that takes place in 1924 now) These books will feature the same families.

I hope you enjoy reading Where the Stars Grant Wishes as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Here is a link to my Amazon page.

Download it or order the paperback. I think you'll like it. Then whether you like it or not, leave a review. Reviews, (good  and bad) help sell a book. 

PUMPKIN MUFFINS with CRUMB TOPPING

 I love muffins.

I love baking muffins.

I love sharing muffins.

Before Covid 19 came into the picture, I volunteered at our senior center. My cousin and I, and sometimes Charley, conducted craft classes every Wednesday. We really enjoyed it and so did the seniors.

Almost every Wednesday, I would also bake something and bring it to the center. Usually it was muffins of some kind. 

Today I baked Pumpkin Muffins.

Here is the recipe:

Muffin Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups of self rising flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup of oil

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1/2 cup of light brown sugar

1 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree

2  large eggs

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup of chopped nuts of your choice (I used hickory nuts)

CRUMB TOPPING:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 up granulated sugar

1/4 cup of light brown sugar

1 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

6 Tablespoons butter, melted

Pumpkin muffins Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. This recipe makes 15 muffins, so prepare a second muffin pan in the same manner. 
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together until combined. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs and milk together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the chopped nuts and then fold everything together gently just until combined and no flour pockets remain.
3. Spoon the batter into liners, filling them almost full.
4. Make the crumb topping: Mix the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice together until combined. Stir in the melted butter until crumbs form. Spoon crumbs evenly on top of the batter and gently press them down into the batter.
5. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for an additional 16-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool for 10 minutes in the muffin pan.
6. For mini muffins, bake for 11-13 minutes at 350°F or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. 
   Ingredients for muffins

    
   
    

   ingredients for topping

    
   

   
   fresh from the oven
   

I love eating muffins!

Yummy!

 

 

Busy Summer, New Book and Autumn Begins

 Hi everyone. 

We've had a busy summer and I've been putting writing on my blogs on the back burner. But, I do go out and visit other blogs when I have the time.

First off, my husband had total knee replacement surgery on September 2. We knew it was going to be painful afterwards, but . . . 

It has been almost 4 weeks, and the pain and the swelling are still there.  Otherwise things are getting back to normal around the house. 

We haven't gone anywhere, except for a quick and short trip to our favorite state park, Pipestem.

  

view from our room

 

 out and about

As with every summer, it starts with a rainy season and then a long hot drought and now fall seems to have arrived.

I've been watching and taking pictures of the critters outside all summer - chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, deer, birds (especially the charming hummingbirds).

 

 

Since I had written a picture book manuscript around 3 years ago about hummingbirds, I decided to add my pictures of the hummers to the words and create a picture book.

It is now on Amazon and I also have copies.

Hope all of you have had a nice, safe and healthy summer -- now let autumn begin!

Wildflowers - Dandelions and Violets

I love wildflowers!

I picked them as a child and brought bouquets of them to Mom, especially Sweet Williams. And I loved the Jack in the Pulpits. I haven't seen either of these yet, but our yard is full of dandelions and violets.

Some people think of them as weeds. But I consider these colorful flowers one of God's beautiful creations.

After a long winter of drab and dreary landscapes, these yellow and violet creations pop out of the ground for us to enjoy.

What is a dandelion? It is a wild plant with a large yellow flower, deep taproot, and deeply notched leaves, that changes into a fluffy white ball of seeds.

From root to flower, dandelions are highly nutritious plants, loaded with vitamins, minerals and fiber.

This is a dandelion craft I made a few years ago. It says "Some see a weed, others see a wish come true. Make a Wish!"

We were told as kids,  "If you blow a seed head of a dandelion, the number of seeds remaining are the number of children you will have."

I've never tried it, but they say you can make violet jelly. If you would like to give it a try, here is a link to how you can do it. 

And, of course, here is the little poem about violets:

Roses are red
Violets are Blue
Sugar is sweet
but not, as sweet as you.
 

Do you know any dandelion or violet folklore or trivia?

Free Kindle Download and a No Sew Mask

Hi everyone!

I would like to announce that my newest book,

Fun Through the Seasons Volume Two 

is available for FREE  download through Sunday, April 19, 2020.

I would love it if you take this opportunity to download it and enjoy.

It is always free on kindle unlimited, but if you don't belong to it, this is a great time to get my ebook.

It is a good book for kids and adults, especially during this Pandemic when we are encouraged to stay at home and the kids are home from school.

It is filled with easy recipes, poems, fun and informative articles, and interesting facts. It also has colorful photos and illustrations.

If you download it, I would appreciate an honest review on Amazon.

click here to get the free download.  Remember it is only free through Sunday, April 19!

Reviews are one of the best gifts you can give an author.

Thanks and keep safe and healthy! 

A while back I showed you how you could sew a face mask. Below is a no-sew one.

I've sewn a few, but here I am in one of my no-sew masks. 

They're easy - get a large man's handkerchief or a piece of material

at least 16 x 16

fold in half once

then fold in half again

slide a child's ponytail elastic over both ends

push in a few inches and then fold the material on the ends toward the inside.

Put up to your face and slip the elastics over your ears. Adjust to fit.

Voila!

Easy Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

Easter is almost upon us and we never bought any homemade Easter Eggs. Churches in our area usually make thousands of them and distribute them to different businesses for sale. A few weeks ago they had to stop making them because of the corona-virus outbreak.

Peanut Butter, cherry nut and maple nut are our favorites.

I have a recipe in my cookbook, Cook with Family Recipes and Remembrances, for Buckeyes. I thought I would use the recipe to make peanut butter eggs.

I halved up the recipe, because I didn't want to have a lot of them here at the house. I knew I would not be able to resist them.

In case you want to make an entire batch, the original recipe calls for -

1 cup of peanut butter
1 stick of butter
1 pound of powdered sugar
melted chocolate

Mix butter and peanut butter, stir in powdered sugar. Roll into small balls,. Melt chocolate bark in microwave. Dip peanut butter balls into chocolate until almost covered. Place on wax paper until chocolate is set.

I used 1/2 cup of peanut butter, 1/2 stick of butter (room temperature), around 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and melted chocolate bark. This made three eggs about 1/4 pound each.

These are quick and easy!

 

peanut butter and butter

after stirring in powdered sugar

I put 1/3 of the mixture into these egg shaped pans I happened to have. 

I had made bunny rabbit cupcakes in them a long time ago. If you don't have a pan like this, shape them into an oval shape - flat on the bottom.

Here are the three after I took them out of the pan.

I melted the chocolate in the microwave and spooned it onto the eggs. 

Place in refrigerator until chocolate is hard. This doesn't take very long.

 If you want, you can wait until the top firms, turn them over and put melted chocolate on the bottom. 

 I melted some white bark and squirted it on the top of the egg for decoration.

These turned out really good. They are not real rich, which means you can eat a lot (tee hee)!

Unfortunately, I think Charley and I could eat one between us in one setting. We keep going back and cutting off another slice to eat.

What's your favorite flavor of Easter Eggs? 

Enjoy the eggs and I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during this outbreak. 

Sewing Masks and Keeping Busy

Charley and I are pretty sociable people. But there was . . . 

no Writing Group Meeting this week

no Conducting Craft Class at the Senior Center this week

and a locked door at our water company which is almost in sight distance of our house, so we dropped our bill into the slot in the door.

I talked to my cousin last night and she is making pretty masks. She sent me pics of hers and I liked them. I have tons of material, so I decided to make a few today to pass the time away.

They are very simple to make. Here is a pic of the pattern that I cut out of card stock. Cut two 6" pieces of elastic for each one, also.

They are reversible, so you cut out four pieces of material for each mask. Bend over the 2" side about 1/4" or so and iron. Sew two sets of the material across the 6 1/2" end of the pattern. Then put the two sets of material together (right sides facing each other) and sew up the 5" sides. Leave the 2" sides open, and turn right side out. Iron and insert the elastic and sew across the ends.

fold over small 2" side and iron

with right sides together sew the long 6 1/2" sides together

after sewing 2 sets of longs sides together, pin them together and sew. Leaving small ends open.

turn right side out and iron. 

Insert elastic into openings on each end and sew all the way across. 

As you can see, I back-stitched the row of sewing to make it secure.

Here are some of my finished masks. They are reversible and washable. You can't tell, but I put different coordinating fabric on the back of some of these. There is a somewhat light solid brown on the back of the one I did above. There is a light gray material on the back of the owl and cat masks and the black one. I'm just using what material I have on hand.

You may have to adjust the measurements a little, depending on how big or small your face is.

I don't know how good they are at keeping out germs, but they might help keep your hands from touching your face so often, which they say is how you spread germs. They might also be good to use when you have a cold or out walking when the pollen count is high.

I hope everyone is healthy and you don't get the corona virus.