Jennifer St. Clair's Blog, page 31

My 22nd book was published today! The Lost, Book 3 of the...

My 22nd book was published today! The Lost, Book 3 of the Beth-Hill (Wild Hunt) series. (Formerly titled Scarecrows for those of you following my blog.)


Almost sixty years ago, Darkbrook opened its doors to students of *different * natures, sending out letters of invitation to the elves, the dragons, and... the vampires. The three who responded banded together despite their differences, and vanished only weeks later, along with an entire class of students and their teacher.

Someone summoned a d...

So I'm out in the garden this morning, preparing for plan...

So I'm out in the garden this morning, preparing for planting. I'm snapping off branches of the turnip tops that have gone to seed and hanging them from the redbud outside my side porch to dry. The branches that are still standing, I'll leave to dry naturally, because I've also been eating the leaves (they aren't bitter!) on my salads and sandwiches.

What I'm also doing is raking up the dead nettle remnants and the wild morning glory abundance and uncovering luscious black dirt and lots of wor...

So... in the back of my mind, I'll admit that I went to B...

So... in the back of my mind, I'll admit that I went to Burlington today specifically looking for a hand-crank Singer sewing machine. For under $100. I thought I was safe, because the only other one I've ever seen at Burlington had a price tag of $275.

I thought I was safe, until I found this for $75:

 

(Note: the front one, not the back one. The back one is also a 99k, but it's electric. And from 1953. I also have one from 1918 upstairs.)
The nice thing is that they all take the same bobbin...

Finding a nice place to nap.Inspiration bowl.The peas, af...

Finding a nice place to nap.
Inspiration bowl.
The peas, after the rain.
The chives are starting to lose their color.
But they're still pretty!
Baby Wolf River apples.
Another baby Wolf River apple.
Raspberries are blooming.
The Rosa Rugosa is blooming, too!
Isn't it pretty?
What the snails and slugs did to the caraway. Who knew caraway would be so popular? (Luckily, I have more.)
Currants are getting larger...

So I'm off the week after next, which is the first week I...

So I'm off the week after next, which is the first week I've taken off since February of 2012. It's not that I haven't taken vacation days--I have, in excess, really--but those little long weekends here and there really don't help when I have so much to do around the house. Last year, I didn't take my traditional May vacation or my October vacation or even a November vacation. I took one in February, and that was it.

I... can't do that again. I need those weeks off to get major stuff done arou...

Sometimes I look at an item I own, remember how much I pa...

Sometimes I look at an item I own, remember how much I paid for it, and wonder exactly what was going through my mind at the time. Was I temporarily insane? Just crazy in general? Did I give in to the 'wants' instead of listening to the 'needs'? Obviously, I can't change the past, and I can only hope to do better in the future. Hopefully I have learned a lesson with all of this financial stuff. I never want to go through this again.

My purchases--those not needed, at least--will have to be mea...

So I've been busy this week. Posting auctions, mowing the...

So I've been busy this week. Posting auctions, mowing the lawn (the whole thing!), potting up seedlings, and just enjoying the weather. While it did get a bit warm yesterday, the temperature was down a bit by evening, and it was just a fabulous evening to sit outside and enjoy listening to the mockingbird attempt to imitate a crow.

I baked a loaf of sourdough bread this week as well, from my sourdough starter that I hadn't refreshed since October. It's definitely back to life now!

This Sunday i...

I went down the basement in search of potential auction i...

I went down the basement in search of potential auction items (and I wanted to go through a bit of the bins of NotGarbage down there anyway) and... oh my. I uncovered a lot of stuff that just needed to go away a long time ago. The small purse I used to carry around--for years and years--fake leather, perfectly OK, just not my type anymore. The kids Nature Company backpack I used after that, with multiple repairs. And more, and more, and more.

I think what I really just need to do is take up on...

Back from the Mother's Day lunch--it was very busy at the...

Back from the Mother's Day lunch--it was very busy at the restaurant, but also nice to see everyone together (except for Ethan, who couldn't come.) I potted up the sage and caraway, thankfully it was warmer in the greenhouse than outside. It's a bit nippy, even though it's quite sunny! (And the temperature inside is one degree warmer than the temperature outside. Since it's 58F outside, that's not much help!)

The basil's not quite ready to pot up yet, and I'd like the thyme to get a little big...

There are a few blogs I've followed for quite a few years...

There are a few blogs I've followed for quite a few years now, whose writers have suddenly decided (I'm sure after much deliberation) to not allow comments. Some of the writers have done so after enabling comment moderation, which usually meant that anyone who did not agree with them did not get through to an actual posted comment.

To me, the whole idea of having a blog in the first place is to share a bit of your life with someone else. To do that without allowing that 'someone else' (whoever...