Kathleen Rowland's Blog, page 19
June 6, 2015
Places– of Charm
Glowing silver-blue clouds – called noctilucent or night shining clouds – sometimes light up summer night skies. They’re seen at high latitudes – say, about 45 degrees N. or S. – from May through August in the Northern Hemisphere and from November through February in the Southern Hemisphere. In 2015, the northern noctilucent cloud season has already begun.
I used this idea in my futuristic Intervenus Series– a little truth goes a long way in Science Fiction. Venus is a planet that rotates once during her year around the sun. Half of the Venus year is dark, and half light. In my series Venus is habitable after a great asteroid impact which forced planets outward. Earth sunk into a second ice age. Meteors caused underground water to erupt on Mars and Venus, creating breathable atmospheres.
June 5, 2015
People Appreciation
Did you catch the Grammy performance of Hozier and Annie Lennox, Take Me to Church? Both have incredible talent. Irish musician Hozier has a beat that lends itself to dancing. His single Work Song is an example. It’s shot in a cozy place, and the dancers have wonderful sexy moves. Click above to listen on youtube and see the dancing!
June 2, 2015
Eat– for Good Health
Friends, this is my husband, Gerry’s, favorite dinner. He requested it for tonight– Chicken and Artichoke Hearts. This recipe can be made with chicken breasts cooked intact with artichoke topping with Parmesan Cheese or as a casserole. Either is delicious.
Ingredients: 14-oz can water-packed artichoke hearts, well drained and chopped. 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese; 3/4 cup light mayonnaise; a dash of garlic powder.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.
Spray an 11×7 inch baking dish with Pam.
Salt and pepper the chicken breast halves and place in the dish.
In a bowl, combine the artichoke hearts, parmesan cheese, mayonnaise and garlic powder; mix well.
Spread artichoke mixture over chicken breasts.
Bake, uncovered, 30-35 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.
June 1, 2015
Eat– for Good Health
Who doesn’t love a summer-delicious Cobb salad? Cobb salads are usually nutrition nightmares. But swapping light and nonfat ingredients for some full fat ones, puts this diner staple back on the menu! This version is 200 calories and just as flavorful.
Ingredients:
8 cup(s) (shredded) romaine lettuce, chopped
1/3 pound(s) deli sliced turkey, cut into thin strips
1/4 pound(s) low-fat Swiss cheese, cut into thin strips
1 large fresh tomato(es), diced
4 slice(s) cooked crisp turkey bacon, crumbled
2 large egg(s), hard-boiled, diced
6 Tbsp reduced-calorie blue cheese dressing
Directions:
Arrange lettuce in 4 salad bowls. Evenly divide turkey, cheese, tomato, bacon and egg among bowls.
Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons dressing over each salad just before serving. Yields 1 salad per serving.
May 31, 2015
Places– of Charm
Do you enjoy looking at clouds? Many people believe van Gogh’s masterpiece, Starry Night, was inspired by this unusual cloud formation called Kelvin Helmholtz formations. These clouds form when there’s a velocity difference across the interface between two fluids: for example, wind blowing over water.
You’ll often see the characteristic wave structure in this type of cloud when two different layers of air in our atmosphere are moving at different speeds. The upper layers of air are moving at higher speeds and will often scoop the top of the cloud layer into these wave-like rolling structures.
May 30, 2015
Eat– for Good Health
You don’t have to be perfect to enjoy perfect health! Let’s face it, no one is. Despite our best intentions to stay healthy, but sometimes we slip up. When I don’t have time to swim laps, I get on my bike or walk. Did you find French fries impossible to resist? Protect your blood pressure with blueberries. Fatty foods (French fries, pizza) raise your blood pressure, but if you indulge in blueberries, polyphenols stop artery-squeezing inflammation. Did you forget sunscreen? Drink coffee! The Journal of the National Cancer Institute study reveals that coffee decreases a skin cancer risk by 20%!
May 29, 2015
People Appreciation
EarthSky news: a new human ancestor was found in Ethiopia!
According to scientists who made the discovery, the find provides conclusive evidence that, millions of years ago, there was more than one human species. Lead author Yohannes Haile-Selassie of The Cleveland Museum of Natural History holds casts of the jaws of Australopithecus deyiremeda and is a close relative to “Lucy” who was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974. Haile-Selassie, who is a paleoanthropologist, said: The new species is yet another confirmation that Lucy’s species … was not the only potential human ancestor species that roamed in what is now the Afar region of Ethiopia during the middle Pliocene.
Current fossil evidence from the Woranso-Mille study area clearly shows that there were at least two, if not three, early human species living at the same time and in close geographic proximity.
May 28, 2015
People Appreciation
Kathi Kent and Jaimee Lynn Fletcher or the Orange County Register report on the loving mission of Susan Peirce who believes every animal deserves a secure home. Susan Peirce rescued nine neglected horses and started the Red Bucket Equine Rescue at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center.
She’s in the Inland Empire stable again, the place where she found Harlow, her own horse. The last time Harlow was here she was sick and emaciated and afraid of people. Now she’s healthy and trained and living at the Huntington Beach Equestrian Center, near Peirce’s home in Huntington Beach.
This is also the stable where Peirce picked up Gracie, the horse sick horse Peirce couldn’t save.
Now she’s back, checking out yet another horse – a thoroughbred gelding – that, like the others, looks near death.
Under the horse’s lip Pierce sees the tattoo she figured she’d see, the one that indicates he was a racehorse. She soon names this horse Robin, and takes him with her to Huntington Beach, where, over the next three months, he’ll transform back into a beautiful, sassy creature.
At the moment of Gracie’s death, Peirce made a promise. “Not another horse will die.”
But even when she’s in the stable, looking at the lip, Peirce knows that keeping that promise won’t be easy.
The horse rescuer
In all, there were seven troubled horses at the stable.
Some were thoroughbreds, like Robin, that used to run the race circuit. When they were no longer fast enough for racing, their owners had dumped them at the stable.
Peirce believed the next step would be grim.
“The owner told me that he would take them to auction, even if he could only get $50 a horse,” Peirce says.
That may have been code. Although slaughtering horses is illegal in the United States, it’s legal in Mexico. Horses there are killed and their meat sold.
May 27, 2015
Wordsmith– I also review books
Talented author Anita Philmar enjoys writing stories that push the limit and take her readers to new exciting places. In a house full of men, her husband and sons, she has learned the inner working of both boy’s and men’s minds which has enriched her stories.
Here is an excerpt for Anita Philmar’s book More Than Ready
“Kirk, where are you?”
Unhappy about the interruption, Kirk Pepperman debated not answering Mary Beth Owens’ call. He’d snuck away to the barn’s upper floor to escape his parents and to have a few moments to himself.
The view outside the open loft door showed the sun drifting steadily toward the horizon. A nice cross breeze blew inside and cooled the large space. For the last couple of weeks, he’d found he enjoyed sitting up here alone, maybe because it helped him forget.
“Kirk?” Mary Beth’s voice rang from the ladder, leading to the stalls on the ground floor.
Not bothering to turn, he leaned forward and gripped his hands over his knees. The three-legged stool, where he sat, was right in front of the center pole for the barn. The position afforded him a backrest if he should want one.
The floorboards squeaked, telling him Mary Beth stood behind him. He pictured her in his head. A petite blonde, she had small breasts and appeared much younger than him. In truth, they were around the same age.
Hoping, if he remained quiet, she’d leave. He continued to stare out across his family’s property. The last days of summer and the recent harvest had turned the parched land to dust. What did this place hold for him?
He’d never ventured outside of Naked Bluff to travel or to experience another way of life. Depression filled him at his brother dying so far away from home. Now, though, Kirk understood Richard’s desire to leave.
What future could Kirk have here?
He toyed with the idea of heading off to join the Confederate army. The latest news from the returning soldiers was the south wasn’t faring too well against the Northern armies. Maybe, if he had something to fight for, he’d feel alive again.
The familiar noise of a rope flying through the air alerted him. The lasso fell over his head and circled his chest before it tightened, pinning his arms to his side. “What the…”
With a sharp tug, he fell back against the center pole and hit his head against the solid bulk. “Mary Beth, what are you doing?”
May 26, 2015
Wordsmith– I also review books
More Than Ready in Naked Bluff, Texas
Genre: historical, western, erotic
Theme: friends to lovers
short read.
Blurb:
After losing his brother, Kirk Pepperman planned a future with Richard’s wife, Sadie. Kirk wanted to honor his brother and take care of Sadie.
She had other ideas and married another man.
Now, Kirk is uncertain what he should do with his life
Mary Beth Owens knows her parents are arranging for her to marry Kirk. The problem is he’s been stuck on the wrong woman for years.
She is determined to find out if he can please her. If not, then she has no desire to marry him either.
Can these two let go of the past and move into the future?
Available for .99cents and free for KindleUnlimited.
Theme: friends to lovers
This story is part of the Naked Bluff series.
Now available for pre-order at: http://www.amazon.com/More-Ready-Naked-Bluff-Texas-ebook/dp/B00XLWMATS
Release Date 5/27…tomorrow.
