Hellebores and Daffodils
I do not normally ever think there are enough daffodils in my house. Ever.
However, when I think of all the daffodils my beloved has brought me over the years, I get a soft, satisfied feeling I cannot explain.
Fulfilled? Maybe. Or maybe just content?
Anyway, I promised to show you the very first bouquet from this year on the 21st, but I guessed wrong at the date and today is the day!
Today I break the mold.
I have created a hot post!
You can find it here! It’s a poem and still life of some hot stuff. Pay special attention to the contents of the little bottle. Ha.
But it’s not.
You know, it’s not that I don’t love you all. It’s not that I don’t love thinking, writing, and typing.
I’ll tell you what it is:
It is that almost all summer long, the outdoors has seemed like I should either have Spring Fever, or some kind of lovely Fall Melancholy.
I mean, the beautiful sky is raining and covered in a beautiful gray overcast, right now, as I type. It actually was almost cold last night.
My favorite weather, really.
Makes me poetic.
Anyway, the lovely ladies I agreed to write for scheduled me lo-o-ong ago, and we all assumed, for some reason, that when I posted in late July, the weather would be hot-hot-hot in the Deep South.
Hence the topic.
But it’s so lovely out, I just feel like sitting on the porch and looking at it.
Ever been there? Know how to get out of it? Help! Comment! Share!
Oh, and go read my guest post! That’ll wake me up!
You know how people often promote their blog sites by asking readers questions? The idea is that a question forces the mind to be more engaged, you know, and readers love answering questions.
Well, Canadian Danny Iny takes it one further and asks his readers to come up with the questions, first, and then the answers.
Subscribing to his site, I therefore receive a question almost every week, and if I can think of an answer, I usually reply.
See, the question thing works…
And, just this once, my reply was chosen to be the topic for a guest post Danny would so kindly trust me to write, and which guest post appears, here, today.
Of course, I shared from my propensity NOT to practice what I preach.
Of course, when I got really real, (of all times!) he picked me.
Of course, you all can see what, from my own collection of plenty of bloopers, I dared to share, and NO, it’s not about YOU!
To say I am excited is an understatement.
So. Please go read what I wrote about surfing, (which I’ve never done, ha!) and what to do about how floods and the tide of life can drag you under (which I know a lot about!)
And comment!
And thanks a million!
I have never shared my spaghetti sauce recipe with anyone but my own children.
Today I break that practice. I hope you enjoy!
The reason is that I have again been allowed the amazing privilege of guest posting at Farm Bureau’s blog site, thanks so much to Arkansas Women Bloggers!
I share there, how to make lasagna pasta in one, simple, easy-to-manage sheet. You will not believe how much more often you will feel like pleasing everyone with a sumptuous lasagna supper, once you eliminate the cost, inconvenience, and grief of store-bought, pasty-white, lasagna noodles.
Since most folks make red lasagna, using regular marinara or spaghetti sauce, I thought: why not go all the way and make the entire dish from scratch, beautifully and deliciously natural, whole, and health-giving!
So, here is my recipe, a rare, costly, never-before-given gift, from me to you. All I ask in return is that you go to my guest post , leave a thankful comment, and share it everywhere you can think of!
My Secret Spaghetti Sauce
2 Tbsp. olive OR coconut oil OR bacon grease
1 lb. lean, ground, American beef or venison (opt.)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 to 3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 c. fresh, mixed Italian herbs, chopped OR 1/4 c. dried Italian herbs
1 dash cayenne powder
1 qt. whole tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1/4 c. catsup
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. corn starch, stirred into 1/2 cup water (if not making lasagna)
Brown meat (if desired), onions, and garlic in oil or grease, stirring often, until meat is crumbly and vegetables are clear, to slightly browned. Stir in Italian herbs and cayenne, and warm for a few minutes in the meat and/or fat. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, and catsup, until well blended. Heat through and simmer on low, covered, until ready to serve. At the last minute, stir in Worcestershire sauce, and cornstarch/water, if desired. Heat through again, stirring constantly and it is ready. Yields enough for one 9″x13: lasagna, or six servings of spaghetti with salad.
Once in a while, you will meet folks who just really make you smile. Jim Bessey is one of those folks for me.
Recently I commented on one of his posts at Danny Iny’s and Jim blew me away by asking me to expand my comment into a post on his fun site: So Write. Us.
What could I say? Had to do it. So, I have added to the great collection already posted at So Write. Us, with my meanderings about writers who kill their readers. You’ll love it, I hope.
Jim and his site and his followers and his Facebook page are fun, instructional, and addictive. Be warned–if you love English, love writing, and love friends who do, you’ll not leave very soon after you land there.
And thanks!
My friend, Tiffany’s blog site, that is!
We’ve “known” each other a long time, but never met. She loves on new-born babies as they enter this harsh world, with total gentleness, I’m sure breaking the shock for the little ones she holds so dear.
She loves on grown ups the same way.
Which explains why she would be so kind as to invite me to guest post at her place.
Run on over to her lovely, quiet, gentle place and read what she asked me to write.
Give her lots of blog love for being so kind to me.
⭐ And comment!
And it is fun.
Although a certain amount of sadness attaches itself to the thoughts surrounding it, today I have guest posted at Arkansas Women Bloggers Website as a guest blogger.
The sadness comes from the topic, which reminds me of joys, yes, but also of lost joys.
I won’t tell much more–don’t want to spoil the story for you, but do go over and read.
Find out why I’m behind on almost everything and why it was worth it.
And do pray for Sonny.
And for his mom.
It is ridiculous to talk about whether to put God in a box or not. God IS the box. WE are the ones in a box.
Home's Cool! 
