Kate Collins's Blog, page 152

We're on Facebook!

by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett


Like it or not, if you're an author, you need to be on social media.  Mostly, I like it.  I like Pinterest, Google+ (especially Google hangouts to talk to friends), Twitter, Tumblr, but I'm mostly on Facebook, and it's not because I like it best--but it's where I find my readers and friends.  And some readers have become my friends.  (Waving madly to Dru-Ann Love!)

The Cozy Chicks are on Facebook, too.  We have an author and profile page, and we have found many new blog readers there.  (Thank you, Networked Blogs!)  You can find us there by clicking this link.

Ellery has long been a hold-out to getting an author page because--let's face it, it takes time, and she's a very prolific author.  (Meanwhile, I'm juggling eleven of them, not just for me as Lorraine, LLBartlett and Lorna Barrett, but also as The Incredible Indie Authors and Incredible Indie Authors Audio pages, but as The Booktown Mysteries, The Victoria Square Mysteries, The Lotus Bay Mysteries, The Jeff Resnick Mysteries, and Tales of Telenia, and the Storytellers-Unlimited pages.  Maybe I'd have more time to write if I wasn't adding content to all these pages on a regular basis.  Hmmm....)



If you're on Facebook, won't you click on and Like Ellery's shiny new author page?  You can get there from here.

(Oh, and you can Like the Cozy Chicks page from here.  We're gearing up for our 5,000th like and will have a contest announcement in the near future.  Think fun and PRIZES!!!!  Stay Tuned!)

Twenty-one days to a better ...

By Mary Jane Maffini
I was having problems remembering what I’ve done with my car and house keys, although no more than ten times a day. Ahem.  I decided to turn to my own fictional creation, Charlotte Adams – professional organizer and amateur sleuth— to help me out.  If you’d care to listen in, this is how the help went. Picture the two of us, over a couple of cappuccinos at a table in small coffee shop. Cue music. 
MJ:  Really, Charlotte, everything is going very well lately, except for the frustration of hunting for my keys. I thought you could help me out with this.  It’s a bit embarrassing scrambling through my belongings in the parking lot of the grocery store or when leaving the bank.  Like right now, I can’t find them.
Catch me if you can!
Charlotte Adams:  Of course, the main thing is to always put them in the same place.
MJ: (taking a deep breath) I do know that. And in the house they are always in the same drawer, unless something distracts me on the way in.  In that case, they may remain in the door, sometimes overnight, but let’s not dwell.
Charlotte: Gasp.
MJ: Well, it doesn’t happen all that often, but the big problem is my purse. The keys seem to dive to the bottom and then burrow even further, if that is possible. 
Charlotte: (averting her head and possibly shaking ever so slightly). Well, actually—
MJ: Are you laughing? It’s not really funny. It adds quite a bit of stress to my—
Charlotte: No, no. I understand.  It’s just that the keys are actually inanimate object and—
MJ: Inanimate, shinanimate. I’m telling you they hide. 
Charlotte: All right, we’ll just let that go.  The keys won’t, um, hide if you always put them in the same place in your purse.

MJ: That’s easy for you to say.
Charlotte: Actually, it was.  It will be easier for you if you use a structured handbag with separate sections.  I know you have three of them hanging in your closet.
MJ:  They’re kind of boring. I don’t really think—
Charlotte: And furthermore, I see that your purse is one of those really unstructured ones.  I bet the keys are not the only things burrowing on the bottom. You sure have a lot of stuff in here. Oh my, is that a sandal? Why is there a pound of coffee in here? Really, MJ, an umbrella?
MJ: I love this purse.  Victoria gave it to me.  And it has all these neat sparkles. So—
Beloved schlumpy purse, with sparkles
Charlotte: Fine. Do you have any pouches in your handbag? Oh here’s one.  You just choose one safe place and put your keys in that every single time. That’s all there is to it.
MJ: Every single time? Are you serious?
Charlotte: (bristling lightly) Of course.  MJ: I’m not sure if I’ll remember to do that because … what were we talking about?
Charlotte: We all have memory issues.  Just make an effort to do it. If you drop them into this … bottomless pit, find them and put them in as soon as you think of it. It will become second nature, in time. 
MJ: How much time?
Charlotte: Twenty-one days. That’s how long it takes to have a new positive habit really take hold. 
MJ: Twenty-one days? I’m pretty sure that bad habits are instant.
Charlotte:  That’s what the current research tells us.
MJ: I’ll be dead of frustration by then.  I created you. Couldn’t you try to make things a tiny bit easier?
Charlotte: (standing up) Must run, but really, trust me on this. It doesn’t cost a thing and it works, if you give that new habit a chance.  By the way, don’t forget to tell your readers that I not only solve mysteries, but I also give helpful organizing and memory hints at the beginning of each chapter.   Tell them about my books.  Put the covers up. It won't kill you.
MJ: I suppose it's only fair.  
 







Twenty-one days, later, I am happy to announce that most of the time my keys are in the pouch in my purse (unless I am interrupted).  I have to thank Charlotte for that. She may be fictional but she sure comes in handy in helping me out.  She’s a bit bossy, but …never mind that. It’s worth it in the end.
How about you? Do you have any memory tips to share? Ways to find wayword keys?Have you managed any new good habits lately? 

Let the games begin

Hi, Duffy Brown here. It’s summer and families and friends get together in the back yard, the park, block parties, everywhere.  There’s always lots of great food and chit-chat and then there’s the games.
One of my favorite games when growing up was croquet. Yep, we laid out the course, had our favorite lucky colors and loved blasting each other all over the yard when we hit their ball. 
We played a lot of hide and seek and that’s still a fav with the younger kids and the older ones too. We had this huge yard with garages and gardens and trees. At night with flashlights was the best and the scariest. Don’t you love finding that great place no one knows and when they call All Outs In Free, you win!
My grandfather taught me how to play bocce ball. He was from Italy and bocce ball is big in Italy. I still have his bocce ball set. What a treasure. He was really good at bocce and taught me some neat tricks of how to spin the ball to make it stop where you wanted it to.
A fav at our house is corn hole. This is where you toss beanbags in holes cut into plywood tilted at an angle. You do it in teams which is always fun and that you can toss with one hand and hold a beer with the other makes this game an instant crowd pleaser.
Remember the game Jinga where you pull out slats of wood and try not to topple the whole stack? Well, my daughter just made a yard version of this where the stack of wood is about four feet high and you have to pull out the two-by-fours and try not to collapse the stack and have it land on your foot!
Squirt gun battles are always great backyard fun as are marshmallow wars where players are armed with marshmallow guns and shoot at each other. That you can eat the ammo is a definite plus.

So what about you? Got a fav backyard game for family and friends? I love hearing about all your summer fun!

Better Late Than Never. . .I Hope

by Maggie Sefton


The Potomac River here in the area called the Northern Neck of Virginia


Please forgive the delay in my post today.  I was experiencing "connection problems."  A spur-of-the-moment trip took me from the river house here in Virginia near the Potomac River to someone's home  in a lovely but very secluded area.  Beautiful and wooded, but no connection.  Thus. . .the delay in my post. I just returned to the river house now, so I'll make this post short.

I grew up in Northern Virginia, so I was used to the
summer heat and humidity that is ever-present Back East, as I call it.  Thankfully the river house has A/C, so when it gets hotter in the afternoon, I flip that switch and cool off.  My house in Colorado actually does not have A/C by choice.  The humidity is low in Colorado, so any heat we have in the summer simply does not feel hot and sticky even with all that Colorado sunshine.   Of course, I'm someone who can more easily take heat than cold.   :)   That helps.

How hot is it where you folks are?  Hot and sticky?  Barely warm?  Cloudy and muggy?

A SPECIAL GIFT

by Kate Collins
 Last week at the monthly meeting of my book club we did something different. Instead of all of us reading the same book, we decided to read whatever we wanted and then give a report on it. Our experiment worked well. We discovered we have varied interests and yet every book that was shared was interesting. Each one of us found a new book to read in the mix.
As we went around the room giving our reports, one of my friends announced that she had two books she wanted to report on. She gave her first presentation and then for her second, read a poem she had written.
As I listened to it, I couldn’t help but feel deeply honored and immensely touched. Poetry takes time to compose. That she had taken that time for my books bowled me over.
To thank her, I asked if I could share her poem with you. Blushingly, she said that would be fine.  So here it is, and thank you again, Dorothy. 
It’s Cozy
There’s a series of books I’ve been reading,I pick one up, seems just what I’m needing.
They’re Flower Shop mysteries with a murder to solve,And you know our heroine will be deeply involved.
Witty dialogue with a mysterious murder at the core,But it’s the characters who keep me coming back for more.
Hunky Marco, Sean, Mo and Lottie, Jillian’s quite silly,But lovely Grace has a quote that’s always a dilly.
Above all, there’s dear, spunky Abby,With her red hair and attitude, she’s been known to be crabby.
She’s smart, she’s brave, and she’s daring,But likely to fall for the author’s red herring.
For these books I sincerely thank Kate,And the next one is coming; I can’t wait!

~Dorothy Holland

What I Did To Celebrate Our Nation!

by Leann


The first thing I did to celebrate the 4th is watch an episode of  The Daily Show because, for my money, Jon Stewart tells the truth and never fails to make me laugh.

But then I got busy in the kitchen. I have had a hard time with the stamina it takes to cook maybe more than one thing in a day. But now that I have a few issues under control thanks to the neurologist, I managed to get VERY busy. First thing was a three bean pasta salad. I have been making  the same pasta salad for years and wanted a change. This recipe sounded healthy and I am pleased to say it tasted wonderful.
\
Then I threw the ingredients in the bread machine, which takes all of 7 minutes. Forgot to take a picture of the bread.Fun times next. Dessert. Mix together 3packages of low fat cream cheese, 1.5 cups of sugar and 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla. Beat together well with electric mixer. Set aside. I beat a pint of heavy cream with a little bit of sugar but you cold substitute a large container of Cool Whip (Or chemicals as I call it). Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture  and spread over a graham cracker crust.Top with you favorite pie filling and chill for at least 2 hours. YUM!!! No bake cheesecake! Steak off the grill, homemade bread, pasta salad and a decadent dessert. Celebration!What about you? How did you celebrate? 

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

by Mary Kennedy

From all of us at the Cozy Chicks...



have a wonderful day filled with fun, family and festivities!

Crop Report

by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett

With my Mum being ill, we got behind on a lot of things this spring...among them planting our crops.

I've about given up trying to grow much in my former veggie garden. Things like pole beans, Brussels sprouts, etc. because the critters like to eat them. I did manage to get the peas in a day or so before May first, and we've been  harvesting pea pods for stir fry for about two weeks now.  I used "old" seeds that I found in my kitchen junk drawer.  Mr. L was skeptical, but I figured if scientists could sprout wheat from the pharaohs' tombs, then I could grow peas from seeds that were 3-4 years old.  And I did, as evidenced by this picture.  Actually, I planted snow peas and snap peas.  So some are flat and some aren't, but if you catch them early enough, they are both fine sauted with mushrooms.

We decided we didn't want to wait until Labor Day to eat our first tomatoes, so this year we bought two BIG plants (Celebrity) that already had flowers and tomatoes.  They don't seem to be doing much, whereas the weeney plants we bought (also Celebrity, but cherry and grape tomatoes, too) decided they like our soil, and so they are doing well.  I think these are supposed to be cherry tomatoes. I'll guess we'll know in another week or so.  I'd like to be using them in salads well before August.

The pole beans went in late, too, but since Memorial Day was early this year, perhaps they were in the same time as last year.  I grew them from last year's seeds, and while there aren't a lot of them, the container won't be so crowded and maybe we'll actually get more beans than we did last year.  I tossed a few seeds into the veggie garden near the peas, but most of them got eaten (as I knew they would) and the rest don't look very happy.  (They ought to commune with the tomatoes to see why they LIKE the same soil.)

Last week, I was in the junk drawer again (looking for something else) when I came across a bunch of lettuce seeds. 

I've only grown lettuce once before, so I wasn't sure how many seeds to put in the pot.  It looks like I may have put in too many.  The packages (I had two of them; one with one kind of lettuce, and the other with a 5-kind mix) both said it would take 10-15 days to sprout.  Ha!  The more "common" version of the lettuce shot out of the container in about five days.  Still waiting for the fancy-schmancy kind.

We won't have a lot of veggies (although with just two people, maybe that's good. I hate to see food wasted), but we'll sure enjoy them.

What are you growing in your veggie garden?

A great day for a party - despite the rain!

 
by Victoria Abbott aka Victoria and Mary Jane Maffini
We’ve just finished celebrating Canada Day here in the village with a family gathering!  There was a lot of fun including red and white nonsense from the Dollar Store.  This year’s big hit was a red and white fright wig. 



 The incredibly weird glasses were a close second.  Are those pinwheels? The combo might give us all nightmares!


 It was a simple hamburger and hot dog barbecue, early in the day because little ones conk out early and others have parties to go to.
 Of course, we always have to have deviled eggs because we DO NOT feel the need to be hip and stylish!  And as usual there was too much food.  We also had Canada Day Cupcakes that MJ bought with her own two hands (such talent)



We ended it with  BOOK CLUB CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE (homemade) because daughter Virginia said, if she was going off her diet for the event, it had to be for something really good. 

It was a great day for us despite weather. For most of the time it was bucketing rain. Every now and then it would lighten up enough for lads to have a go at the grill, but in the end serious rain gear was needed and the Canada Day fright wigs were no longer enough. 
  It takes more than that, weather gods!!!   We had a our simple barbecue with the kids and five (small) dogs adding fun to the afternoon.  Some dressed for the occasion, but the leis didn't stay on long.

There was almost no barking. We’re not sure why.  Not surprisingly, there was no sign of the cat next door who sometimes likes to drop in and stir things up.
Despite the rain, some children made every effort to escape to the back yard.


There goes Ella!
What do you mean NO?













At the end, we were feeling happy and relaxed (not always our natural state) after a bash.

Some of us headed off to events in the village or in Ottawa afterwards, others will take in the fireworks.  Here’s a shot from last year taken by Victoria.  


All in all, a great day and a day to feel lucky.  Although next year, we WILL hope for sunshine.
 So to our Canadian friends and compatriots, we hope you had a terrific holiday and lots to be happy about and to our American friends gearing up for the Fourth of July: have a great time, however you celebrate – with kids, cats, dogs, food, family, flags fireworks, or even reading in a lawn chair. 

To everyone everywhere this summer, celebrating a national holiday or a special time with family, friend or beloved pets - ENJOY!

And why not tell us how or why you celebrate?  We love to learn more about you!

Ellery's Mystery Cozy Contest

Hosted By Ellery Adams

It's the first of the month! Time for me to give away a $10 card to the bookstore of your choice.

This is how it works: I post a few lines from a cozy mystery. You post the title and author in the comment section. Then, I'll draw a random name from the winning guesses and post that person's name on this page and on Facebook by 10 p.m. on July 2nd.


Okay, here we go! Here are the lines from this month's mystery cozy:

"This particular feline's name was Clyde, and I already knew he was a celebrity."


Ellery's helpful hint - The next book in this delightful series is coming out in August. Don't forget to pre-order!