Painter Bob Ross used to talk about 'happy accidents' in art, and I've just had one. During my good friend Vicki Webster's recent visit, we stopped at Michael's, which, as you know, is one of my favorite places. As I've mentioned, I've been experimenting a lot with...

OK, I've got a great life. I'm the first one to say so. But I have challenges, too. Nobody escapes that--I think it's the whole point of the exercise, in fact. It's one thing to be on the other side, where everything is peachy, look into this troubled world, and say,...

There's a good article in this month's issue of Oprah magazine. The author tells of writing a list of 100 qualities she'd like in a husband. With a difficult divorce behind her, and having been widowed after her second marriage, her prospects didn't look too hot. On...

That everyone, everywhere, will live in just and lasting peace. That people really will beat their swords into plowshares. That the sick will be healed, the suffering will be comforted, the hungry will be fed, the lost will be found.OK, it's a big dream. It seems...

It's one of those days again. Vicki got in around eight pm, and we came back to the house and talked and talked and talked. There was a lot of catching up to do, obviously. Now, we're drinking coffee at the kitchen table and I'm writing this blog. Oh, the wonders of...

I often mention Mary Ann on this blog, and some of you probably wonder who the heck she is. 🙂 So I'll tell you. She's my first cousin--we were raised together, literally in the same cradle or crib. (When we were two, we used to get into fist fights.) She also works...

I don't know what I'd do without my journal. It really gets my head on straight--gives me perspective and good ideas. There's a lot to be said for getting stuff out of your brain and onto paper, where you can see it. This morning, for instance, I worked out some plot...

Thank you for all your votes! "A Wanted Man" has been named the Best Western Romance of 2007 by the wonderful people at www.lovewesternromances.com!I am so proud to have this award. My monitor isn't working on my main computer--frustration city. I'm hot and heavy into...

I was up until almost 2 am finishing Sue Grafton's new book, "T is for Trespass". I've been reading the series since A--needless to say, I'm a major fan of both Grafton and Kinsey Millhone. So I woke up very late this morning, and I'm just getting to this blog now,...

Rhea Hotzler of Long Prairie, MN, sent me the most fabulous gift! A pair of "Hayseed" Hotzler socks. They are marvelously warm and wildly colorful--I'm wearing them as I write this. (And my toes are toasty.)Rhea's husband Gary (aka Hayseed) was a rodeo clown until he...

Earlier legislation made the slaughter of horses and the exportation of their meat illegal in the United States. That law has been circumvented by sending these helpless creatures out of the country--mostly to Mexico--for killing.There is a bill coming before the...

Lord, bless the beasts and the children. Bring the lost ones home to warm hearts and houses.Bless the leaders; flood their hearts with compassion and their minds with wisdom. May they love peace, as well as justice.Bless those among us who are sick or discouraged....