This I know for sure...

While I rarely eat after dinner, there is the odd occasion here and there where I might want to have a snack. In the summer, I like to have a popsicle or fudgsicle in the evening.

For Lent this year, I gave up eating after dinner. I knew it would be sort of hard, but it has turned out to be much harder than I expected. I'm counting down the days until Easter just so I can have a snack in the evening when and if I want one.

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work In Progress): Still working on revisions of Honor Bound. I'm a little behind where I want to be, but not too bad. I'm not sure how much I'll get done this week as we run up to the Easter holiday. I have baking to do and relatives coming and going much of the week.

Quote of the Week: "A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.” ~ Colin Powell

What I'm Reading: Seeing Red by Sandra Brown. I started the book on Sunday and am really enjoying it.

Random Thoughts: Is there an age you reach when you don't indulge in Easter candy? I don't normally eat a lot of chocolate, just a piece now and then, maybe a couple of times a month or less, but when Easter arrives, I need to have Snicker eggs, Almond Joy eggs, and Dove Salted Caramel chocolates. I can't not buy them and then I give a way a few of each in Easter baskets, but always make sure I have some left for myself.

Random Photo of the Week:

                                  The birthday card I made for my goddaughter.
  

Easter / Spring Cookies

I am eagerly anticipating spring and the Easter holiday so I thought I would share a cookie recipe that my mother always made around Easter. She hasn't made them the last few years and I have to admit, I haven't continued the tradition, though I am making them this year.

The recipe does require a cookie press. I'm not sure how they would turn out if you used a floral cookie cutter instead. If you do use a cookie cutter, please drop me a comment and let me know how they came out.

Spring Lemon Cookies

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 medium egg
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sugar for decorating - See asterisk below.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, mix the butter, sugar, and lemon zest together using a mixer on medium speed until the mixture is well combined. Add in the egg and lemon and vanilla extract and mix until mixture is just combined. Change speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture until everything is combined.

Choose the flower motif and assemble the cookie press according to the manufacturer's directions. Fill the cookie press with the dough, press the dough about 1 1/2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie or baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar (*I mix a tiny drop or two of yellow food coloring into some sugar inside a ziploc sandwich bag to make a yellow colored sugar to decorate with.) Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the edges are a golden brown color. Let cool 5 minutes and remove from the pan and let cool completely on a cookie rack.

Makes approximately 40 cookies.

This I know for sure...

I've started crocheting daisy squares, but haven't decided which background color I like best. I have three done even though they don't take long to make, about 30 minutes or less from start to finish. The problem is finding the time to make them. I have a greenish color I want to use as the square part, but still need to make that one.

Let me know which one of the picture below you like best. Or if you have a color suggestion for the square part. Thanks.

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work In Progress): I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped last week. I had a couple of appointments after work and had some unexpected visitors that cut into writing time. With only one appointment after work, I'm hoping to do better this week.

Quote of the Week: "You'll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind." ~ Irish Proverb

What I'm Reading:  I started Touch of Red by Laura Griffin on Sunday. This is the 12th book in the Tracers series. 

Random Thoughts: It's been a bright and sunny few days. The temperature has been hovering between 30 and 35 degrees each day. I'm not complaining though. No snow is forecast at all this week. After all the snow we've gotten since March 1st, I'm welcoming the break from the winter weather even if it is still cold.

Random Photo of the Week:

                                   A close up of Somebody. I love his little pink nose.

First Monday

This is the first Monday of my new "what I'll post on Mondays" and I have no idea what to write. I wonder if it's possible to give yourself writer's block over a blog post.

Nothing exciting or funny happened last week. I went to work, came home, shoveled more of the neverending snow we're getting, did some writing, exercised, had two unexpected visits from family and did all the usual household stuff we all do every day.

I could write (whine) about working on the synopsis of my manuscript, but it's still in the infancy stage where I'm deciding what must be included and what I want to include all while trying to keep it to 3 pages or less in length.

I haven't done any baking lately though I do want to make more corn muffins. I also have a new pound cake recipe I want to try. Maybe I'll have the extra time for baking in a couple of weeks when I'm off from work.

So here's my first new Monday post - a bunch of words about not much. :o)

This I know for sure...

I came across a new to me author about a year or so ago. I was in my local library and browsing the shelves in the romance section. The book was titled Till I Kissed You by Laura Trentham. It's a small town set contemporary romance. At the time I didn't realize it was the third book in the Cottonbloom series. Since reading that book, I've read all of the other books in the series and loved each one. As you know from my Wednesday post, I'm reading the latest book in the series, When The Stars Come Out.

Ms. Trentham has written another contemporary series - The Falcon Football series. I haven't read the three books in this series yet, but plan to. She also has two historical romance series. I'm a big fan of historical romance so I've added these books to my "To Be Read" list as well.

The point of this post is to share the wonderful work of Laura Trentham. (I don't know Ms. Trentham and have never met her nor have ever had any contact with her. I'm including this side note so you don't think I'm promoting a friend's books or that I'm being compensated in any way. I just really enjoy her books and want to spread the word about an author who writes wonderful books.)

If you'd like to read her books, the best place to find out more about the series she's written and the order of the books in each series is on her website - http://www.lauratrentham.com

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work In Progress): I'm still a little behind where I wanted to be by the beginning of this week. I have a couple of appointments after the day job this week so I'm hoping to at least get the number of pages done that will keep me on track minus the few pages I'm behind.

Quote of the Week: “Success will depend on creating smaller goals. That big aim happens in thousands of little moves.” ~ Unknown

What I'm Reading:  I'll be starting When The Stars Come Out by Laura Trentham. This is the 5th book in the Cottonbloom series. I absolutely love this series and highly recommend it.

Random Thoughts: We changed our clocks forward this past weekend. While I hate losing that extra hour of sleep, it does mean we're getting ever closer to spring. After the Nor'easters we keep having, I'm more than ready to leave winter behind. 

Random Photo of the Week:

                                   Mrs. Green hoping for a fish sandwich of her own.
 

Ch...Ch..Ch...Ch...Changes

Had a David Bowie moment in the title of this post, but it seemed fitting.

I read an article recently that stated as a author you shouldn't write blog posts about the mechanics of writing unless that's the purpose of your blog. Most people who follow author blogs are readers and aren't interested in the "How To's" of writing.

With that in mind, I'm changing my Monday posts to things I experience as an author trying to get her writing career off the ground, funny things that happen to me that I might be able to incorporate into a story, and the like. I'll still post the occasional recipe I want to share since I like to bake. I will also be hosting guest authors from time to time.

This I know for sure...

When I was a child, even when I was in high school and college, it seemed that the summer break from classes was a lot longer than the actual 12 or so weeks. Now it seems like summer is here and gone in a flash and we're gearing up for winter weather again.

It could be because winter in my area seems to last forever. In reality it usually runs from mid-November when we get our first snow of the season through mid-April to early May when we finally no longer get any snow.

I'm excited that we'll be changing our clocks ahead an hour this weekend to observe daylight savings time. It means we're one step closer to summer.

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work In Progress): I'm a little behind with the revision process. I had a couple of appointments last week after the day job that cut into writing time. I'm hoping to get myself caught up this week. 

Quote of the Week: "Do what feeds your soul, what you're meant to do now. There is never an ideal time" ~ Ana Suarez 

What I'm Reading: I'm finishing up Pipe Dreams by Sarina Bowen. I started it a bit ago, but since I own it, I set it aside to read library books. I'm hoping to finish it up by the end of this week. 

Random Thoughts: This weekend I'm going to bake cheese bread for the first time using a sourdough starter. I'll have to make the starter on Friday after work so it has time to ferment. I'll then make the actual bread on Saturday after I'm done running errands. 

Random Photo of the week:

                                        Mrs. Green pretending to be the television remote.

Here a link, there a link...

I subscribe to various blogs, newsletters, and the like. While I try to read everything that comes into my inbox by the end of the week that I get it, I sometimes don't get to them all. At the same time, I hate it when my email gets out of control with things that aren't read piling up.

When my emails start stacking up, I sometimes open the email, click the link that will take me to the blog post to read it there since sometimes the entire post isn't included in the email. I then save the link as a bookmark to read the post later when I have time. Or sometimes, I'll read the blog and it will include links that lead me to other articles so I'll bookmark those to read later. Great idea, right?

Not so much. The problem with saving the link to read later is that my bookmarks/favorites have piled up so much that I probably now have about 100 or so bookmarks/favorites to weed through. Some are from early last year that I still haven't found time to read, yet I don't want to do a mass delete.

I've started the slow process of going through each link/bookmark. I managed to delete 15 bookmarks/links where I read the article. A few I read and saved into a specialized folder because I thought I might want to refer to the material in the future. And a few were so old, the link no longer worked.

Any suggestions on how I can better handle those emails that have links to articles I'd like to read?

This I know for sure...

My sister and I went shopping at JoAnn's when they had their President's Day yarn sale. We both bought a few skeins of yarn. I also picked up a free pattern for Yoga socks. They're pretty cool looking.

The problem: they are knitted. I haven't knitted anything in years so it'll be an interesting project once I start it. I suppose it doesn't matter that I've never done yoga. :o)