Kate Collins's Blog, page 55

Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day from the Cozy Chicks!

A double rainbow

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


Mr. L and I went on a little 2-day vacation to Buffalo this week and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. This was our view out our window (that's the hotel next door). It had rained, and I don't know why, but I looked out the window and -- HOLY COW -- not only was there a rainbow, but it was a DOUBLE rainbow!  I'd heard of them, but never saw one before. Of course, the second one wasn't as bright, but it was there. And the other side of the inner rainbow was spectacular which this picture below doesn't do justice to.


Have you ever seen a double rainbow?

A Delightful Evening with My Readers...and Tea!

by Karen Rose Smith



I have done book signings for my two cozy series before.  With my Daisy's Tea Garden series, I've been invited to tea rooms for book signings.  This book signing at Sweet Remembrances/Rosemary House in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was a little different.


When I arrived at the tea room that evening, I went into the gardens.  There were flowers, herbs, benches, a tea totem and other teapot decor in out of the way corners and on arches.  Oh, and there were cats, too!  The day couldn't have been more beautiful at sunny and 80 degrees.  A table had been set up for me on the patio.








I had the book signing first.  The guests, coming for the signing, the sit down tea and my author presentation, lined up.  About 35 women had come to meet me and have their Daisy books signed.  Some were from nearby and others had driven a ways.  I felt so honored.  All of the women were friendly, sharing and many loved cats and dogs, which we could talk about endlessly as well as converse about tea.
















When we sat for tea service, I noticed the menu.  Nancy, the tea room chef, had developed a few treats based on recipes in my books, lemon tea cakes and carrot salad crostini included!  Everything was delicious.











I always try different teas when I visit tea rooms.  This night I chose Shakespeare Tea which was a blend of herbs and mint as well as a Peach-Apricot herbal tea. After tea service, Susanna Rebert who runs the tea room pinned a microphone on me and I gave a presentation on Life As Inspiration.  Afterward, I answered questions from these women who were all avid cozy readers.  Believe me, this tea room and peaceful garden will inspire me for a long time





The garden at Sweet Remembrances/Rosemary House.

Click here to visit Sweet Remembrances' website

One of the garden cats!


The dessert course!!!

Cheesecake with lemon curd, Lemon Tea Cakes and chocolate cake with raspberry cream cheese icing.

Apple time!

Hi, everyone, Duffy Brown here and it’s nearly September. The weather’s turning a bit cooler, the days are shorter, I eat as much corn on the cob as possible because that’s it for a year and it’s apple time!

I love apples, I’m sure most everyone does. And so many to choose from. The Granny Smiths for pie, Gala for eating, Delicious for the hard crunch and so many others. My fave is the grannie because I just love apple pie. I mean really what can beat warm apple pie with a scoop of ice cream melting on top?Except maybe a caramel apple can beat it? I love caramel apples with nuts on top. And what about apple cider? Is there anything better than hot apple cider with a cinnamon stick? Or what about apple butter? I love that stuff. I could bathe in apple butter. It’s amazing. Put that on warm biscuits and it’s pure heaven. Do you like baked apples? Cut out the core and load the middle with oats, cinnamon, brown sugar, nuts. Holy cow that is some fine eating. Have you ever gone apple picking? Nothing better than picking an apple off a tree and eating it right then and there. I have an apple tree and it’s so much fun to go out and pick your own apples right out of your yard.So we talked all kinds of apples and what to do with them. What is your fave apple thing? Pie? Apple cake? Cider? And if anyone has a good recipe for apple butter please pass it on.Happy Fall, y’all!Hugs, Duffy

HAVE YOU READ AN E-SHORT?

by Maggie Sefton


In case some of you readers and friends are new to the Kelly Flynn Mysteries, here's a tease to the introduction to the series and the cast and characters "Who Are You People."  It's found on Amazon.com.  


“WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?”

Hello, Readers — Whether you found this E-short because you’ve already been reading my amateur sleuth Kelly Flynn Knitting Mysteries, or you’re a regular mystery fan who likes to discover different sleuths and their worlds, or you’ve never read a mystery in your life but were intrigued by the title—I’m glad you decided to give Kelly and friends a second look. The  sixteenth in the series (that’s right, #16), DYEING UP LOOSE ENDS, was released this July 2018, I thought readers might be interested in a little deeper look at the people who make up the cast regulars in Kelly Flynn’s world. These folks are “alive” to me, but then, we novelists are a little strange. I hear from readers regularly, so I suspect Kelly and friends are alive for the readers as well. As someone who’s been in the storytelling life for over thirty years, I know there’s one reason when books become bestsellers like the Kelly Flynn Mysteries. It’s because the readers have fallen in love with the characters. For that, I am eternally grateful. Thank you, thank you, Readers. I hope you enjoy this E-short.

WORKING FROM HOME IS GREAT--BUT NOT FOR EVERYONE

By Mary Kennedy                                                 

                         

Saw this photo and it brought back memories. I wrote my first 7 books on a typewriter just like this, and I worked from home. Still do, as a matter of fact. I've written the next 40 books amidst the chaos of a busy household with 6 cats.

Lots of writers dash off to coffee shops to write (fewer distractions, they say) but I like being in the comfort of my own home. If I want to refill my coffee, I don't need to stand at a counter and I can have silence or the sounds of my own carefully selected music.
                                                                         
     


There are some advantages to working from home, and some downsides. It's not for everyone.

Here are a few of the negatives.

1. It can be isolating. (well, my home time isn't, because I've got the fur babies to keep me company while I toil away.) They occasionally make plot suggestions and I nod appreciatively. After all, they're only trying to help. But on a more serious note, some of my friends say they need a lot of activity and background noise to concentrate, and they hate the solitude of a lonely home office.
                                                                             

2. Too many distractions, too many household tasks are calling to you.                                                                            
Some people find it hard to work from home because they're surrounded by their never-ending "to do" list and they can't concentrate on the task at hand. There are so many things calling to them--should they pop up for a moment and do a load of wash? Decide to meet that friend for a quick stroll? Dash out to the store and pick up something for dinner? In an office environment, you don't have as many items competing for your attention. You and your co-workers are there to do a job, and hopefully, you stay on task.
3.  You may not be motivated enough to stay focused. At home, there's no one peering over your shoulder to make sure you get the work done. At home, there's just you and the cat (or cats, in my case) and you have to really be motivated to grind it out, hour after hour, day after day. Calpurnia's not going to chide me for not getting my "pages" done each day. 
                                                                                    4. You might not have a dedicated work space at home. This never bothered me, but it bothers some people. I wrote my first 20 or 30 books from the dining room table. I didn't have a dedicated room in the house for my computer, files, etc. But some folks just don't like working from their kitchen, for example, and need the structure of a "real" office. And they need it to be neat. Not like this cluttered home office.                                                                                                                          
5. People don't really believe you're "working," since you're home. They can intrude on your time, if you're not careful. Dropping in for coffee, asking for help with a volunteer project, etc.
6. Working from home can turn you into a workaholic. Since there's no clear definition between "work time," and "home time," you end can up working (or thinking about work) 24-7. Although I've found that most writers do this anyway. Our characters live our heads no matter where we are, and we listen to their dialogue, watch their body language and think of where the plot will lead them. Our minds are never still.
How about you, do you work from home? Do you love it! Please chime in with your thoughts.
Mary Kennedy

Where are my glasses?

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

I used to wear glasses for distance. Then as I got older, I didn't need them anymore.  Now I need glasses for close-up work--like reading. The problem is ... I can never find them.

Well, that's not entirely true. I do find them--all the time in fact, but that's only because I have to hunt for them. Hunting gets pretty tiresome when you end up doing it ten or twelve times a day. Yeah, yeah, I do have a couple of pairs on a chain, but often I'll take them off and then they'll be among the missing.

By among the missing, I mean missing as the other ten or twelve pairs of cheaters. Yup, The Dollar Tree is my best friend when it comes to cheaters--and sunglasses, too. I have a tendency to go from the car into the house with my sunglasses on and then take them off and leave them...somewhere. That's why I have 3-4 pairs of sunglasses in both cars--or at least are supposed to be in each of our cars..

But I have come up with a bit of a solution for my my glasses and that is (are) relish trays. I get them at yard sales and pay between 25 and 50 cents a piece. I have them in the kitchen, my office, the living room, the dining room--anywhere I tend to read.

I must admit, I like the ones with patterns on them best (usually some kind of flower), but I do have a couple of clear glass ones as well. These days, not many people use/have relish trays. That's another thing I've done recently...I often add a relish plate to our evening meal.  Pickles, relishes, crudites, whatever is in the fridge. It reminds us of a couple of restaurants we used to go to that offered that delight of days gone buy. (Of course, we haven't found a corn relish that can compare to what they served at the old Cinelli's. Or the pickled watermelon rind they had at The Royal Scot. Hmmm...these restaurants are long gone. Was it because of the relish trays?)

But for me, relish trays play an important part of my daily life. And sometimes they do double duty. Like this one also has a couple of rubber bands and a screw in it. Just in case I need them, too!

So, what's your solution for corralling objects you don't want to lose?

Grass You Don't Have To Mow!

by Karen Rose Smith



Not all grass needs to be mowed!  With a more than normal amount of rainfall this summer, my husband has been mowing the grass every five days.  The lawn is lush and green, but if he waits too long between mowings, the grass clippings have to be caught or they leave a brown carpet over parts of the lawn.  

There are, however, grasses that are ornamental in nature and are a gardener's delight.  These decorative grasses can serve a variety of purposes.  First of all, they provide a constantly changing backdrop in the garden beginning in early spring when the old growth is removed and they are trimmed back to the ground.  New growth soon appears and the landscape changes throughout the summer as they reach their full growth and eventually begin to shoot end-of-summer plumes.   


These grasses come in many varieties and sizes.  There are border grasses and others that grow taller than humans.



For the most striking effect, the grasses can be combined with other seasonal perennials that provide color against the lush green shades of the grasses--peonies, knock-out roses, zinnias.   The grasses themselves can be grouped by varying colors.  Some are solid green, others variegated greens and still others bright red.  The dried grasses and remaining plumes also provide interest in the garden during the colder winter months.  The plumes also make striking arrangements in the house and in outside planters mixed with Christmas greenery.  One year we decorated our Christmas tree with the plumes tucked in among the branches.


In addition to their decorative value, ornamental grasses can be used for practical purposes.  Our neighbors have a row of  these grasses planted along the outer edge of their vegetable garden to provide a barrier between the garden and the street.  We use grasses to provide shelter for our outside feral cats.  We try to place outside shelters next to or near tall grasses to provide protection from the elements and other nighttime creatures. 






So consider ornamental grasses for your garden.  They are easy to maintain (other than trimming them in the spring), add beauty and dimension to the garden, and offer protection for wildlife in the yard.

Dom Perigean Doesn’t Have A Bad Year

Evie Bloomfield here from Tandem Demise, the third book (out next month by Duffy Brown) one the Cycle Path Mysteries.  I’m from Chicago and landed on Mackinac Island trying to get a promotion by helping my boss’s dad...who broke his leg...at his bike shop. That he got accused of murder on my watch did not help my chances for that promotion.Now I own part of the bike shop here on the island, Rudy’s Rides, and since I got here there’s been murders, a lot of them considering this is only an eight-mile island located where Lake Huron meets Lake Michigan.This latest murder is a wedding planner. Some wedding planners deserve an early demise but it does seem a bit extreme. And the thing is, there’s another murder here too, a dockworker.
     “Do you think he’s dead or just dead drunk?” I asked Fiona, BFF and editor of the Town Crier, Mackinac Island’s one and only newspaper. With no one else at the freight dock to ask, I took Fiona’s hand and together we scurried up the pier through the hazy florescents lighting our way. Our footfalls pounded the wood planks, my heart pounded my chest and I was sure Fiona was in no better shape.      “You check for a pulse,” Fiona panted as we hunkered down between two recycle crates ready for barge pickup the next day. “I’ll check the wine bottle clutched in his hand. Maybe there’s a few swigs left. Don’t know about you but I sure could do with a little Dutch courage.”     “It’s a bottle of Champagne, Dom Perignon 2009.”      “Good year?”     “Dom Perignon doesn’t have a bad year.”
How can the murder of a dockworker and a wedding planner be connected? The only reason I think they are is that the worker had a bottle of Champagne clutched in his cold dead hands.And the worse part of all this is that Nate Sutter, island chief of police and local hunk, is accused of the murders? It all stems back to his undercover days in Detroit when he was suspected of running off with ten million bucks.If you could see the way the man dresses you know he does not have ten mil! But the things is, I like the guy, bad clothes and all. So now I’ve got to find the real killer and get Nate Sutter off the hook so maybe, just maybe, we can get together. Considering I was left at the altar I’m a bit relationship shy but hopefully with Sutter that will all change.See you next month.

Treat Yourselves

by Maggie Sefton


Once again, Mary Kennedy's Monday post inspired my post for today---especially the part about her delight in traveling abroad.   Amen, Mary.  I'm in fervent agreement.  Passionate, actually.  And I beg of all you Cozy Chicks Blog readers, fans, and friends---if there is some destination that you have longed to visit, for the first time or for a return to a beloved spot, please do not deprive yourself any longer.  No one will care that you kept an immaculate house after you have "shuffled off this mortal coil" as the saying goes.  And yes, I do contribute to charities, several of them generously.  But you also must be charitable to yourself.  That will keep the spark of Life alive within you.


I purposely do not drive new or expensive cars.  My 2004 Acura has just hit 100,000 miles and it is still a jewel of reliability and dependability.  And don't even sneer at my beloved 1993 Ford Explorer.  I live in Colorado, so you never know when the urge to drive up into the mountains on the paved roads then switch to some off-road trekking will strike.  :)

Over the years, I have used my savings for travel, travel, and then travel some more.  Mary's memories of previous Paris visits as well as visits to Rome brought back fond remembrances.  Wandering around my favorite Parisian get-away----La Place des Vosges.  Built in the early 1600s in the Marais section of Paris, it is a beautiful, tree-filled spot to escape traffic and the busy, busy bustle of Paris.  The Marais section is filled with wonderful shops to create a distinctly Parisian lunch----butcher shops, cheese shops, bakeries, and of course, pastry shops.  :)  All to enjoy while sitting on a bench in La Place des Vosges.   I used several of those locations when writing my
Musketeer Swashbuckler historical later that year.  

Rome brings back other fond memories as well.  A long ago memory of traveling with daughter Melissa's college class trip to Europe.  Lots of fun.  Including running down a hillside at midnight in order to return to the boarding house faster.  More recently, I arrived in Rome a day and a half before a cruise.  Once in the hotel the cruise line reserved, I dropped my luggage in the room then escaped into the streets to find a distinctive cafe for dinner.  Of course I found a delightful cafe and enjoyed a delicious meal and a yummy Pinot Grigio.  :)

My whole point in writing this post is to inspire ALL of you to please treat yourselves to a longed-for travel experience.  You will not regret it.  And remember the words of advice I once heard as a college student years ago that I have never forgotten----

A young bride had her elderly aunt over for tea one  day and opened her kitchen silverware drawer to reveal two separate silverware containers----one containing bargain store tableware and the other container holding a gorgeous set of family Sterling Silver.  The young bride brought out two spoons from the bargain tableware and put them beside the teacups.  Elderly Aunt eyed the drawer containing both tableware and Sterling Silver and pointedly asked the young bride:

"What are you saving the Silver for?  John's second wife?"   -----Enough said.    

Get back to Paris and Rome, Mary.  :)