Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Cookies with a BITE...now what were the exact directions?
These Ginger Chocolate Molasses Cookies will knock your socks off!
Anyone at our house will tell you that this cookie concoction will make music on your tongue. For anyone who savors GINGER, nutmeg, GINGER, cinnamon, GINGER, cloves, GINGER, coffee, and GINGER and chocolate all in one little bundle, this is the secret to happiness.   I often have one of these delights ..."underway"... eating one corner and savoring another corner for later.  Just tuck one in a baggie inside the cookie jar and keep working on it over a day or two.  This cookie has a history that goes all the way back to my husband's youth.   It was time to consult the oldest sister and the conversation went something like this...

Was it mom or grandma that baked the best ginger cookies?  You know the ones, they were chewey on the inside and sugared and crispy on the outside.

Was it the gingersnap recipe resurrected from the old recipe treasure chest or how about the one from the worn Good Housekeeping Cookbook.

Did mom make this recipe or was it Grandma?

Why did Grandma always keep her cookie jar way up high on the refrigerator?

If you like them crispy on the outside, here is my best technique....and so the conversation went until I intervened and came up with an internet model recipe that was quite good, if I do say so myself.

Well, with a little editing here and some more ginger there, a pinch of flax, and coffee, and plenty of ginger and chocolate, success was achieved.  Now, our cookie jar is full of deep, dark, ginger cookie heaven.  Here are a few snaps of my husband creating his glorious and satisfying goal of the "best ginger cookie ever", and I assure you, Mom or Grandma would not recognize them as their own.  My husband says this recipe is all about the texture, scent, and appearance of the cookie in process...a little on the scientific side of life.

Passing thought ... Is it true that memories are changed and reworked the more we relive and retell them?  Well, I think in this instance that thinking is correct. Now, this is one memory that I savor regardless of any similar taste sensation of the past.   Visitors who drop by, check out our big glass cookie jar almost immediately upon arrival, and well the rest of the story is ... another batch will soon be on the way.




Heron Rookery In Nearby Wetlands

Nature at work before our eyes.  Herons in their rookery.


Life is full of surprises...
It turns out that Harry and Henrietta Heron are more than just a couple, but one couple among many in the wetlands not far from our home.  We had no idea their numbers were so great. 

What a fine spring sight to see these often solo fliers tending and repairing their nests high in the scraggly alder treetops.

We are eager for the a wild celebration in the pond below once these babies emerge and learn about their world.  

A mother's worry...it is a long way down!

Heron WebCam at Cornell Lab
Great Blue Herons nesting at Cornell Lab

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Between Books

Between books ...

Beginnings ...

Choice ...

Research ...

Serendipity ...

Go for it ...

Let go ...

Create ...

Dig deep ...

Hmmm ...

Building momentum ...

Secure time ...

Mind play ...

Yes ...

Okay!

Philosopher's Moment

Visiting Joseph's Priestley's Electrical Machine
At The Spark Museum Bellingham, WA


Parlor entertainment in the 1700's
Serious research for Joseph Priestley



Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Drawn To Water

Water is a magical force for me.   A list of why I'm drawn to water is boundless like water itself.  Water's fluidity, her life forms, her mysteries, and her color and reflections all charm the living daylights out of me.

Water refreshes my soul and floats my spirit.  What frightens me is to know that water is perhaps earth's most endangered resource.  Life requires water, and I require her to feed my creative spirit. I do not think I am alone.

When I am out in the world, I feel like a baleen whale swimming in the sea with my mouth wide open.  My baleen is set to catch the tastiest of morsels, ideas to build stories on.

I've just finished an octopus story for young readers, and I am about to write another much simpler one for the very young.  Like the happy flash of water dancing on this beach, I hope my story dances too.  At least I know my octopus loves to dance, and who wouldn't in the wild and wonderful sea.  I am about to tackle the first and toughest job of the writer, THE FIRST DRAFT!   Like always, this task will take all the stamina I can muster.

First drafts are a messy, messy adventure.  The ideas, like water, flow in every direction.  I pick ideas out of my baleen and plant them in just the right spot, or so I hope.   I am always cheered when I work on edits for this is a refining process just like sea washes the shore and reshapes a landscape.

So, I am off to the sea to see what I can see in the land of story magic.



Friday, August 1, 2014



 Color, marvelous peachy color on August 1st! 

       Exploring the garden every morning is like turning the page of a magical mystery.  What is waiting around the next leaf or garden aisle?

       As readers, we want surprises that transfix us, just like the garden does for me.  Today, there was an explosion of color in the radish bed, and the peach leaves were hiding clues to something sweet.  I hope I have collected enough garden energy to fire my verve for the day.  It is hard to leave the garden!  It is so interactive...just like a reader reaching for the next "choose me" read!

      Today, I am striving to come up with story as juicy as these peaches and as zippy and crunchy as my rosy radishes!   I want a reader to bite in and love every morsel!  And, as always, the best day is a creative day!  Time to dig in!


Friday, July 25, 2014

July...sun!
July...hot!
July...rain...a rare miracle in the Pacific Northwest!

Whoosh... what a surprise.  The rain poured down in the middle of our hot and dry July and refreshed the world.  Woohoo! What a time for a fresh start! Dig into those "dry" and waiting creative projects.  A little playing around with ideas, materials and your time will leave its mark or a little magic residue.  Without a doubt it will lead you on to another quest.   Take a walk or hop on your bike and let your subconscious soak up the freshness and get things stirring.  Make some discoveries.  Without a doubt, the rain has left its own magic residue and nature is supercharged once more.  There is something special about that rare Northwest summer rain.  Let it work its magic for you!

If you need some inspiration, here is a book that inspired me last summer: How to Be An Explorer Of The World: Portable Art Life Museum by Keri Smith.