Vicki Lane's Blog, page 526

Wordless Wildacres

Wildacres Writing Retreat - 2011

A poet lays a poem by my breakfast plate . . . a student's reading moves me to tears . . . my class erupts in laughter at what is now a shared joke . . . a farm bell summons us to classes and meals… and always there is the beauty of the wooded campus and the pleasure of being surrounded by like minds -- others whose joy it is to play with words.
Faculty like Ron Rash and Phebe Davis. . .



Beautiful surroundings in which to socialize. . . or be alone with your hula hoops. . .
 
A faculty room much more interesting than the one you remember from high school . . .

Somebody else doing the cooking . . . High atop the Blue Ridge Mountains, just off the Parkway . . . they call it the magic mountain.
I taught Commercial Fiction -- a grueling two hours a day with one day off. Back in June, each of the campers workshop participants  submitted about fifteen pages of their work in progress and all of us gave these pages our closest attention. During class, we discussed these pages, praising what we thought were the strengths and (gently) pointing out the weaknesses and suggesting ways to fix these problems.


We were dealing with all sorts of popular fiction -- thriller, sci-fi, chick lit, women's fiction, mystery, relationship stories -- and I was impressed with the level of writing and with the excellent critiques that emerged from our combined wisdom.
When the campers writers weren't in class, they were free to sit in on other classes, goof off, sight see, write, sleep . . .

 A lot of time was spent just hanging out. . .

There were faculty readings and student readings . . .  but it wasn't all work; there was considerable silliness.
Hollywood Night brought out some amazing characters. . . 
many of whom, I'd thought deceased. . .
 
Michael Jackson made an appearance --
Groucho and Harpo  looked on . . . and Marilyn was ravishing. . .
But wait! There's more! The final night was given over to skits and many an inside joke . . . The Gong Show is a yearly tradition and there's a whole room full of costumes, wigs, and props of various ilks. A week at Wildacres Writing Workshop is an opportunity to hone one's craft, to delight in the art of others, to sit at table with strangers who quickly become friends.
A little like summer camp with the bells, the communal meals, the skits, and the dress up night . . .
A little like beach week with the sense of having escaped from care and the jello shots, loud music, and dancing on the patio till the wee hours . . .    And a little like Shangri-la, a place apart where wisdom can be found -- the Wildacres experience is probably slightly different for each attendee.
I highly recommend it.

I'm Back . . . and Clover is Here!

Look at this little beauty!  Silverbell dropped her calf back on Tuesday and as soon as I got back from the retreat yesterday, before I even took my suitcase out of the car, I hurried to the barn to meet this lovely little pure bred Jersey heifer. Her name is Clover and she's being bottle fed (by Claui's niece who was visiting) because Justin and Claui feel that, by doing this, Clover will bond with them and be easier to deal with in coming years.  (Both Marigold and Silverbell were bottle babies and they're like big pets.)
And now Xena has a friend to hang out with.
Calfie girls just gotta have fun. . .
Ali Ali thinks the two calfies are getting far too much attention. After all, it's all about Ali Ali. . . isn't it?
Silverbell is doing well --and producing huge quantities of milk. She's older that Marigold, a veteran mother and, much to Justin and Claui's delight, a whole lot easier to milk.
 
The picture below is Marigold waiting while Justin milks Silverbell. 
The Jersey Girls really stick together now

I'll tell you all about the workshop (which was terrific) in a future post -- when I've had time to get my laundry done and my emails answered and my tomatoes picked -- and I'll try to catch up with what you all have been doing. But I had to introduce you to Clover first!

I'm Off . . .

. . . Heading for a week-long writer's retreat/workshop at Wildacres in Little Switzerland.  I'm told that internet access is quite limited so I won't be posting or blog visiting  till I return on the 16th. 


Here's a LINK to an album in which can be found the definitive  answer to the color of a male box turtle's eyes. I tried to embed a slide show but it wouldn't work. Ah, Blogger . . .


You all take care -- I know I'll be wondering what's going on in your parts of the world.

Have You Ever Really Looked...

... at a cicada?  This one is a green and gold work of art. . .
. . . with eyes of cabochon jade . . .
. . . and wings so lovely that one artist makes earrings of them. I'm thinking it would be fun to do an embroidered cicada with silk and metallic threads -- and jade beads for eyes. Look at the way the veins in the wings shade from green to yellow to orange -- magnificent!

I Scream, You Scream. . .

...we all scream for ice cream...
 First milk your cow. You're going to need five cups of whole milk and four and a half cups of top cream (aka whipping cream.) Have your hens been laying? You'll need six large eggs. In a heavy saucepan, combine three cups sugar, one quarter teaspoon salt, and the five cups of milk. Cook, occasionally stirring, over medium heat till steaming. Reduce heat to low.

Beat the five eggs slightly in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk half the hot mixture into the eggs and pour back into the saucepan. Cook over medium low till slightly thick, about three minutes. Remove from heat and refrigerate till very cold -- overnight is good.

When ready to make the ice cream, stir the four and a half cups of heavy cream and a tablespoon of vanilla extract into the chilled custard mixture. Pour into the canister of your ice cream freezer and follow the directions that came with the freezer -- you'll be needing plenty of ice and rock salt.

And when it's done, you'll have the most delectable old fashioned vanilla ice cream imaginable.  Well worth the trouble. We served ours with fresh peach slices and homemade pound cake.

Now I have my eye on a recipe for frozen custard that involves (gasp) twelve eggs, three cups milk, and six cups whipping cream . . .-

If You're in the Asheville Area. . .

  ...you might want to check this out.  This annual fund raiser is a popular choice for book clubs, Red Hat societies, and readers of all sorts.  This year it's being held in a beautifully restored mansion in the historic Montford district.
7th Annual Luncheon Fundraiser – Author Event   ]
Sponsored by the Friends of Madison County Library, author Karen White will speak at this year's Luncheon Fundraiser, one of our most successful events of the year!   Ms. White has written a number of popular novels:  The Memory of Water,  On Folly Beach, The Lost Hours, Learning to Breath, and others.  Please visit her official web site at http://www.karen-white.com/index.shtml for additional information about her novels. Tickets are on sale now at all Madison County Library branch locations:  Hot Springs, Marshall, and Mars Hill.  Please phone (828) 649-3741 for table reservations (8 to 9 persons per table) or reserving tickets for pick-up at the door.
When:  Thursday, July 14, 2011Time:  11 AM to 2:30 PMCost:  $35 per ticketPlace:  Homewood (Historic Montford area of Asheville, NC)Address:  19 Zillicoa Street, Asheville, NC  28801, (828)  232-9000Directions:  I-240 Exit 4-C.  Turn North (away from downtown) onto Montford Avenue.  Go .9 mi. then RIGHT onto Zillicoa Street.  Look for Homewood on the left, #19.  Parking is plentiful, available behind Homewood or on the street.  Volunteers will be ready to assist in locating parking spaces.
In addition to enjoying a yummy lunch and listening to a wonderful speaker, guests will have the opportunity to ask the author questions, purchase her books, participate in a silent auction, and may win a door prize!
We look forward to seeing you on the 14th.  Madison County Library sincerely hopes you will enjoy attending this event and thanks you for your generosity in supporting programming at the library through our Friends organizations.

The Busy Bee

How doth the little busy Bee
     Improve each shining Hour,
And gather Honey all the day
     From every opening Flower!
How skilfully she builds her Cell!
     How neat she spreads the Wax!
And labours hard to store it well
     With the sweet Food she makes.
In Works of Labour or of Skill
     I would be busy too:
For Satan finds some Mischief still
     For idle Hands to do. 
In Books, or Work, or healthful Play
     Let my first Years be past,
That I may give for every Day
     Some good Account at last. [1715] 
"How doth the Little Bee" is one of  Isaac Watts's rather tiresome, preachy poems that well bred Victorian children were expected to memorize. Lewis Carroll parodies it in Alice in Wonderland: 
How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in,
With gently smiling jaws! [image error] The crocodile is not my picture. It's from a site about Australia.

Requisite Patriotic Post

Okay, I love this country; let's get that out of the way first. While we've gotten a lot wrong – slavery, the treatment of Native Americans,  stealing Texas from Mexico, not to mention Hawaii from the Hawaiians --  we've gotten a lot right – even if we're still struggling with that concept of liberty and justice for all.
But the current political climate has me wondering how well this democracy thing is working out.
These are uneasy times and the political polarization in Washington seems to be holding our (and it is our) government hostage. Maybe it's just me, but I get the feeling that the opposition wouldn't approve Mom or apple pie if Obama spoke in favor of them. Like Rush Limbaugh, the opposition wants Obama to fail. It is their prime directive, their avowed objective. And if it means paralyzing the government, well, they're okay with that. Of course spending can't keep exceeding revenue; yes, there will have to be sacrifices.  But not all on one side. What ever happened to compromise?
I know, I'm looking at this through the eyes of a liberal -- maybe that's why I can't understand what would be wrong with things like eliminating the tax loopholes on corporate jets. Or why the very wealthiest shouldn't pay higher taxes before we start cutting Medicare and Social Security and education. Some of those very wealthiest being executives who profited by government bailouts.
It's hard to celebrate Independence Day when  government seems to have ground to a halt, sabotaged by a bunch of politicians who have fully earned the title "The Party of NO.' May their fireworks fizzle and their ice cream melt.
We'll be celebrating in a quiet way here at home -- keeping an eye on Silverbell, the Jersey girl whose calf in due any day now, and hoping all the time that a miracle will happen and all the flags and rhetoric and patriotic speeches will remind these folks in Congress  that their first loyalty should be to the United States of America -- not to their party nor to the corporations that fund them.
We can hope.

Cats at Work..

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