I awakened to find the deep draw behind my house brimming with fog this morning. It was beautiful, and I couldn't help seeing it as something of a metaphor. Things I've been 'in the fog' about seem clearer these days.The weather is cold, and I am grateful to be snug...

Sadie is in the dog house. She got hold of an old bag of Pupperoni that should have been thrown away long ago and gnawed her way into it during the night. I found the evidence this morning. 🙂 Good chance her weight will be up today! (And all the low cupboards are...

I'm feeling restored on this sunny fall morning. Nothing like a little sunshine to raise my spirits.Plans for today--"working" on the new book (this shouldn't really be called "work")--maybe putting a few touches on some paintings I've started. I've been using a lot...

Two of my favorite people, one my mother and one a long-dead writer, Gladys Tabor, who wrote wonderful books about a Connecticut farm called Stillmeadow, would call a rainy day like this one a "pencil-sharpening day". 🙂 I love it.For me, it will be a...

Although I seem to have some kind of flu bug--no energy, coughing, aches and pains--I am feeling better about my life than I have in a long, long time.It's one thing to create drama in my stories. It's another to create drama in my life. My imagination is, to put it...

While I have yet to work up the courage to offer one of my own paintings for sale, I have a growing collection of what I would describe as folk art, most of which I find on Etsy, or by clicking to see who is following whoever is following me (sheesh, that was a...

I'm loving my life. True, it's not what everybody would want--there's a lot of stress and pressure, with so many critters and a payroll to meet. :)I love my daughter--she's amazing. (The rest of the family, too, of course!)I love my work.I love my dogs, cats and...

Most of my deck garden has gone on to the compost bin, although the tomatoes are still hanging in there. I will miss my beautiful flowers, but I know the ground must rest and restore itself before producing next year's heart-stoppingly gorgeous blooms.There are a...

Jeanette Walls, author of the fabulous "The Glass Castle", has a new book out, called "Half Broke Horses." Even as I write this blog, the latter is downloading straight into my iPod--now you know why 'reading' is in quotations at the top of this blog. I can hardly...

That's today's weather report from Spokane, Washington. :)It is truly beautiful and close to perfect, as far as I'm concerned.The horses have coats to wear--special blankets to keep them snug at night. Sadie-beagle's sweater from last winter is now much too big, so...

We Laels met in Colville, Washington, at the Eagles Club, this past weekend, as we have done for years. It's always a good time--my family is big on storytelling (go figure), art work and just generally performing. The younger ones sing or read original poetry, and...

So many good things come to us by word-of-mouth. Quinoa, pronounced Keen-Wa according to the box, is one of those things. News to me, though I know a lot of you probably already know about this marvelous grain. It has three or four times as much protein as oatmeal,...