Vicki Lane's Blog, page 561

The Supportive Spouse

  Here's another frequently asked question.
Q: Do you or your husband have any advice for other husbands and/or their author-wives, on how to live with a novelist or --perhaps more important--a budding novelist?  A: This is a hard one as, I suspect, every relationship is going to be different. Certainly a supportive spouse is an asset --  but the type of support desired or offered is probably going to be different in every case. 
When I  began working on my first novel, I fitted my writing...

Along the Back Roads...

As I traveled the back roads of Madison County coming home from the threshing on Saturday, this sign caught my eye.
Turnpike Road.  Way back, turnpikes were privately owned and maintained toll roads. There was a famous Buncombe Turnpike passing through Madison back in the 1880s -- but it ran along the river and was part of the Drovers' Road. Could this be a remnant, perhaps feeding into the main road? The river is nearby. . . Just next to  Turnpike Road was this simple church. The back roads ...

Threshing

What a great way to spend a Saturday morning . . . at a threshing demonstration!
It'a probably been a good half century since folks here grew wheat  for home use but a few dedicated souls like to keep the tradition alive -- and the old machines in working order.

It was a wonderful glimpse at the past-- and a nice way to meet more of the county.


Here's a slide show with captions that will explain what's going on . . . click on picture to biggify.


 And here's a brief video . . .

 

1927 ~ Sepia Saturday

My mother was an only child.  How many mothers still count the months in their nine year old's ages?
Indeed, how many mothers keep such detailed albums?
For more Sepia Saturday posts, visit HERE.

Remember. . . ?

RememberDecember? The air  Benumbed, biting, bitter. The windBlasting, bleak, boreal.Each breath   Chill,  crisp, cutting.The earthFrigid,  frosty, frozen.The water Gelid, glacial .. . . hyperborean. Each day Icy, inclement, intense.And the weather report -- Nipping, numbing, penetrating, piercing, Shivery, sleety, snappy, snowy, stinging. . . Wintry. RememberDecember.

The Critters Awww Scale

Critters -- or creatures -- are marvelous things, enriching our lives in so many ways just by being around and being themselves.  Cute fluffy kittens, gangling turkey poults, a bandit raccoon, a lumbering box turtle -- they can all be a source of delight.

But there's something about those moments of communication between different species that tends to make us go 'Awww...' and smile and maybe feel a little better about life in general.   I know I feel that way when I see Eddie the cat...

My, How They've Grown!

The young turkey poults are growing, as my older neighbors used to say, 'like one thing!'
The first time I saw the two hens and their brood, I counted fourteen babies. Now there seem to be eleven -- not bad, considering all the predators out there. 
They've learned to be wary -- as  soon as I stepped out on the deck to get  a picture, they  began moving away, without even waiting for their mamas.

I have high hopes for their continued survival!



 

Where Does VOICE Come From?

An aspiring author recently asked me about the thing writers call Voice.  "What is it?" she asked.   "You mentioned 'finding your voice and being solidly in it.' How did you 'find' yours?  Is it consistent in your novels? "

Ahh.  That's what I get for tossing about terms, the meaning of which I have only a hazy idea. My initial reaction was to say that I had no more idea where my 'voice' comes from than I can account for those tiny circles like planets round the sun in the picture above.

Lemon Semifreddo

Dessert for 25 - 30 people.  A quart and a half or thereabouts of whipping cream plus the juice and grated rind of a dozen or so lemons, sugar, toasted almonds, and twenty one egg yolks cooked to thicken.
The lemon, egg, sugar mixture gets folded into more whipped cream than is probably legal in some states, then poured into a container lined with plastic wrap and sprinkled with toasted almonds. I made it Friday afternoon so it would be good and frozen to take to the party Saturday night.

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Living Free

 One of our laying hens, after violent disagreements with the rooster, was being picked on by him and, alas, by the other hens to the point that we felt they would kill her. (Chickens can be as clique-ish and brutal as high school girls.)
So we turned her out to see how she'd do, figuring that she could live free for a while at least. Our dogs have ignored her and she's been happily on her own for  week now, exploring the garden and beyond. When John goes to feed the other chickens, she runs...