Teresa Robeson's Blog, page 15

If you like scary movies…

My dear friend and critique partner, Tanya Konerman, has a long-standing annual Halloween ritual to watch and review horror movies. I always enjoy her reviews and if you love scary stuff, you will, too. Pop on over to her blog to see which ones she’s written about so far!

31 Days of Horror: No One Will Save You (2023; PG-13; 93 mins.)

My first time with #SciArtSeptember

I made some new friends on Bluesky and stumbled across the #SciArtSeptember challenge. I liked the idea because I’m a science fan, of course, and also it doesn’t require that you draw new things every day; you can use old drawings. So, I managed pretty well with loose interpretations and some old art.

Here are a bunch for your enjoyment! (Use the > and < scroll buttons.)

The Queen is 4!

It hardly seems possible that QUEEN OF PHYSICS was released on October 8, 2019. How did 4 years of my life slip by so fast?

Since the book’s release, it and the Queen herself, Madam Wu Chien Shiung, have both receive honors and accolades–from winning the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Picture Book Award to getting a commemorative stamp in her honor.

They even sell QUEEN OF PHYSICS at the Lowell Observatory!! Be still my heart!

For educators and librarians, I have an educators’ guide on my website you can use with your students.

Have you read the book? I hope her life story inspired you if you did.

My first graphic novel is 6 months old!

You’ll see this post on Friday, but as I type this (October 4th), it has been exactly six months since WHO IS TIBET’S EXILED LEADER? THE 14TH DALAI LAMA was released.

Stunningly illustrated by Angela Poon, this book is one of a number of biographies of notable figures in Penguin Workshop’s WHO series.

If you’re an educator, or know of one, and want to use this book in your teaching of the Dalai Lama or world history, I have the perfect educator guide for you FOR FREE!

And in honor of this anniversary, I have a giveaway (which is usually just shared with my newsletter subscribers)…enter to win the Dalai Lama Zen Pack!

Win a hard cover copy of WHO IS TIBET’S EXILED LEADER? and a lined notebook.

All that glitters

While gold is certainly valuable, shiny yellow things don’t have to be actual gold to make us happy. Just feast your eyes on these golden beauties…

Wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia) Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) Straw-colored flatsedge (Cyperus strigosus) Flat-topped goldenrod (Euthamia graminifolia) Early goldenrod (Solidago juncea) Pale jewelweed (Impatiens pallida)

There; are you feeling happier now?

Pretty enough to eat…

There are some plants that are pretty enough to eat.

But DON’T. This (above and below) are poke berries and they can kill you. Birds, on the other hand, love them. I can’t wait for flock of Cedar Waxwings to come partake of the feast.

On the other hand, the fruit-laden plant below is a sumac and these berries are edible. I don’t recommend eating them as is though. They are very sour. But, they do make an excellent “lemonade.”

I have written a manuscript about foraging and edible wild plants but have yet to interest an editor. One editor who gave me a critique said she loved it and asked me to have my agent submit it to her after I make a few changes. Then she unceremoniously Dear Johned me after my agent sent it to her. It’s a tough and heartless business.

Purple reign

Purple has long been associated with wealth and power because purple dyes were rare back in the day and so only the richest people could afford clothing in that color. But, even if that weren’t the reason, if I were rich and powerful and could afford any color of clothing, I would still choose purple because it is a glorious hue.

This is one of the reasons I love ironweed (Vernonia fasciculata)!

I think this sweet Sachem (Atalopedes campestris) agrees with me.

My melon-choly babies

(For those of you too young to know the song I’m riffing on, here is the version sung by the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald. Omg, that voice!)

Few things bring summer to mind like melons. The Spousal Unit likes to grow different varieties of watermelon and cantaloupe (and honeydew once in a while; it’s not his fav) to find one he likes the best.

We’ve never met a melon that wasn’t too cute for words. Like cute kids whose cheeks get pinched, the melons like to hide.

But, we always find them…and if not us, then the raccoons do. Can’t blame them though because who can resist a piece of melon?

Presto: pesto!

There are few things as easy as making pesto, especially if you own a food processor. Homemade pesto, like most homemade foods, is far superior to anything you can buy.

You don’t have to grow your own basil, although it’s more cost effective to do so and it’s pretty easy to grow.

We grew Italian basil and lemon basil for the pesto because the combination is sublime.

This is the washed basil harvest, ready to have the leaves plucked and used. (The side plate and container were for eggplants; we made baba ghanoush before pesto.) The leaves are plucked and the pesto making is in progress!

While slightly messy looking in the jar, the pesto tastes heavenly with our homegrown roasted potatoes.

For those who are wondering what we put in our pesto, besides the two types of basil, olive oil, salt. taste, we also add loads of garlic and either pecans or almonds (because the Spousal Unit is not a pine nuts fan). We don’t put cheese in the pesto until we use it for cooking. You can see the grated parmesan in the potato dish above; it was added when the pesto was tossed with the potatoes.

We put the pesto into freezer safe canning jars and store them in the freezer. We have yet to figure out how to can pesto.

What about you? Do you like pesto? Make your own?

Championing native pollinators

Mining for Heart: “One Seed, Many Connections” by Sue Heavenrich

Check out this new book by Sue Heavenrich! It’s a perfect one to read with your kids to connect with nature.