It seems my friend, Mr. Gates, of Microsoft fame, is having trouble keeping MSN online today. 🙂 Therefore, I’m dashing off this blog between gaps in service.
I have acupuncture this afternoon–definitely looking forward to that. It’s wonderfully relaxing, and I always enjoy chatting with cousin-in-law Debra. We have many interests in common, including energy medicine and spirituality, so it’s always an interesting session.
This year’s gardening experience is also interesting–and very catch as catch can. My cherry tomato plant is producing; problem is, I keep eating the little buggers as soon as they’re ripe enough. I peeled and sliced the first cucumber last night–plan to use it in a salad today. My mother-in-law used to make this marvelous dish–sliced cucumber, vinegar, a dash of sugar, and, of all things, milk. Sounds awful, tastes great. (If you like cucumbers, that is.) There is an abundance of squash, not surprisingly, and the pumpkin patches, one in the pasture (yes, the horses leave it alone) and one near the greenhouse, are flourishing. Maybe on Halloween night, I’ll sit out there and wait for the Great Pumpkin, ala Charlie Brown. Certainly none of our friends and neighbors will be short on jack-o-lanterns!
The dahlias and zinnias make such lovely cut flowers–the more color, the better, that’s my opinion.
The Yorkster is snoozing in her bed beside my desk, bless her little pea-pickin’ heart. She’s always good company, awake or asleep. 🙂
I’m reading “Issac’s Storm”, by Erik Larson, at the moment. It’s fascinating, but requires concentration–which is probably good for my brain. My aunt and uncle, Larry and Bethany Lael, recommended this author at last weekend’s reunion, along with a few other titles, including, “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.” I think my favorite way of discovering new (to me) reading material is hearing about it from friends and relations. Until the kinfolk recommended the latter, I snickered whenever I saw the title and had absolutely no intention of bothering with the thing, ever, but their assertion that it’s an interesting read was enough to convince me to one-click a copy on Amazon. Larry and Bethany and I have similar tastes–we love histories above all other kinds of books (I’m a huge fan of David McCullough, “1776”, “The Johnstown Flood”, etc. and so are they) and it’s really great when we find a mixture of history and compelling fiction. I sent them my copy of “The Lincoln Letter”, by William Martin, a first-class piece of work, and I know they’ll love it.
As for listening to books, I just finished another of Rick Bragg’s memoirs, “The Prince of Frogtown”, which is mostly about his wild man of a father. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again–THANK GOD I got Skip Lael for a dad! There are some real ringers out there.
And, of course, I’m grateful for lots of other blessings, too. Readers like you, for instance.
Smile at someone today, and be kind to yourself.
About Linda
The daughter of a town marshal, Linda Lael Miller is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than 100 historical and contemporary novels, most of which reflect her love of the West.
Raised in Northport, Washington, Linda pursued her wanderlust, living in London and Arizona and traveling the world before returning to the state of her birth to settle down on a horse property outside Spokane.
