Category Archives for Uncategorized

          SUN, SAND, AND SALT WATER Sea lions stink! I discovered this last week as our hired sailboat floated past a colony of them a hundred yards off our starboard side, draped over the rocks of San Carlos like tourists at a Turkish bath (ask me about that story sometime!). They […]

SEWING ADDICTION!           Apparently the sewing bug cannot be assuaged as easily as whipping together the two beachy shifts I made a couple of weeks ago. So while helping my daughters shop for sundress patterns, I fell in love with their choice of the 1952 retro-style wrap (Butterick 4790) and made […]

          A TOURIST ATRAVEL I’m soon off to Los Cabos for a week of Mexican sun with my family! Primarily we’re escaping the Canadian snow, of course, but I’m brushing up on my Español in hopes of real conversation with a waiter at the all-inclusive resort or possibly a visit with […]

SILK FROCKS After a month of inactivity, with my arm sling finally off and the surgical site on my shoulder healing, I felt a great need to create something with my hands before I got back to drafting on my novel. So over the past few days I whipped up two sundresses for our upcoming […]

A CHILD OF THE SNOWS                                                 (by G.K. Chesterton)   There is heard a hymn when the panes are dim And never before or again, When the nights are strong with a […]

       MUKLUKS These mukluks from northern Canada are over four decades old–a Christmas gift from my brother when I was still in my teens. They tromped me through Manitoba snowstorms and kept me warm when snowmobile joyriding over the frozen Red River Floodway. They journeyed along with me to college in Minnesota, and wandered […]

  BOOK TOUR 2012 THANKS to all who “accompanied” me on my online VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR during October and November, 2012, during which time The Third Grace was featured on many websites through reviews, interviews, and blogs. You can continue to read these anytime by clicking on the links below:  Monday, October 1:  Interview at Blogcritics […]

           SMOKIN’ POTATO SOUP   My experiment was a success! To drive your taste buds crazy and fill your tummy with nourishing and winter-worthy comfort, try this recipe: Fry 12-15 thick slices of maple-smoked bacon, retaining drippings Chop 1 onion and 4 celery stalks; sauté in bacon grease, adding enough flour […]

          LAST-MINUTE, NO-SEW HALLOWE’EN COSTUMES Resist the urge to buy ready-made costumes this fall—conjuring them up yourself is one of the quickest cheap thrills I know to satisfy the creative urge! My sibs and I grew up trick-or-treating in the flashiest outfits (a skunk that sprayed, a ballerina remade from a pawn-shop […]

         STEWED TOMATOES An antique ceramic bowl of ripening tomatoes-on-the-vine usually sits on my counter, the rich and heady smell tickling my nostrils when I walk by. But if I enjoy the scent too long, they wither, so recently I made a fabulous veggie stew. Yum! I tossed the softening tomatoes (including […]