Sympathetic Magic --- Doing My Part

After a considerable snow Saturday morning, followed by considerable melting later in the day, we awoke Sunday morning to find it had snowed again in the night

We (not the royal we but John and I and the critters) are not amused.

The endless winter . . . Oh, I know this is nothing compared to those of you up north but I am forced to take measures . . . 

I think I know what the problem is. I usually leave the Christmas lights up to brighten the dark month of January but in past years I always have taken them down at the beginning of February. 

This year I didn't and The Weather seems to think it's still Christmas.  So I spent Sunday getting rid of the lights . . . and the pots of evergreens and the winter themed odds and ends.  

I've brought out the pastel quilts and pillow covers and put up pictures of flowers to help The Weather get some idea of which direction to go.

Tomorrow, assuming we're not snowed in, I'll be doing the grocery and recycling run.

I  hope to purchase a pot of blooming spring flowers -- maybe  pink tulips . . .

 Winter, I rebuke you and tell you to be gone!

In Need of Captions

Sunshine!

Late Thursday afternoon as the sun was sinking behind us, the clouds parted just enough to let a little light fall on the mountains across the river. After days of snow and mist and clouds, it was as good as a rainbow.

And then the moon rose . . .

We hadn't seen her in days. . .

 Friday morning's sun sent its welcome rays into our frozen world

Lighting the hollers . . .

Gilding the trees . . .

And warming our world!

Stand Your Ground

About That Flowered Surface

Chicken pot pie is a fine comfort food whilst one's waiting for a winter storm.  When I saw THIS RECIPE on Facebook Tuesday I thought that the crust looked interesting and decided to try it using some leftover cooked chicken and English peas I had on hand.  

I liked the fact that the crust included Parmesan cheese and that it was made in the food processor. I followed the recipe for the crust- mostly. ( I left out the sugar and the herbs but added some hot paprika.)

I pulled the chicken off the bones and put it, along with the leftover English peas, into a casserole. (There is no bottom crust on this pot pie which suits me fine as bottom crusts tend to be soggy.) I added red and orange pepper rings (raw) and onion, garlic, and mushrooms (sauteed in butter.)  

Next I made a white sauce with about 3 tablespoons of butter, 3 tablespoons flour, and a can of chicken broth. To this I added dried thyme and a dash of Worcestershire sauce.  When the sauce was thickened a bit, I poured it over the chicken in the casserole dish.

I was charmed to see that the recipe (see LINK) instructed me to roll out the crust on a flowered surface.  In spite of this, I just used plain brown parchment paper.

Top the casserole, cut some slits for steam to escape, and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

It was delicious. Now I'm thinking about a version that uses fish and shrimp instead of chicken, with dill instead of thyme....

Scaring Ourselves ...and Babies Too

I really enjoyed hearing from so many of you about the horror movies that had made an impact/scarred you for life and I started ruminating on just why it is many of us purposely scare ourselves, whether by bungee jumping, riding terrifying carnival rides (I still remember (The Bullet,) or reading murder mysteries.  

Then I thought -- we even scare our children with nursery rhymes:

Rock a bye, baby,  in the tree top,

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,

When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,

And down will come baby, cradle and all.

One of the first games we play with babies is Peek A Boo -- and, for the most part, babies love it -- once they realize that no one's really disappeared. 

"I'm going to eat you up!" I remember this being a term of endearment -- usually some elderly aunt pretending to gobble up the baby's fingers or toes -- and again, once the baby realized it was just a silly game, it was fun.

And then, when the baby is a child, we read them stories like Hansel and Gretel where the parents really have gone away and the wicked witch really is going to eat the children up.

But the story ends with the children outsmarting the witch and putting things right.  I think of The Wizard of Oz and that witch and her flying monkeys -- overcome at last by a little girl. 

 And perhaps that's the point of the scary stuff -- testing ourselves in preparation for the real scary stuff that life may fling at us. 

And telling us that Evil can be defeated if we take a stand.

What, Again?

Weekend Writing Workshops in Rugby -- Tennessee, that is..

Once again, I must engage in a bit of shameless self-promotion. As well as the Wildacres workshop in July (see side bar,)  I will be teaching two weekend writing workshops in Historical Rugby, Tennessee. One is April,4 - 6, for beginners, the other is August 8 - 10 and it's a critique workshop in which we critique pages from your work in progress.. 

 Rugby is a charming place to spend a weekend and I'll do my best to  inform and inspire you.  There's information HERE  If you have more questions, ask me.

Lost on the Internet in 1861

At last I have gotten a real handle on this story I'm telling. I have been so bogged down in preliminary research -- and there's quite a bit to know about the Civil War in western North Carolina -- that it's been hard to narrow down and focus on the story I want to tell. But my characters are telling me their stories now and leading me where they want me to go so I am doing research as I go. 

 I now know more than I did about bandages (lint) of the era; I know that germ theory was not widely known; I know about scarlet fever and muzzle loaders and how Quakers use thee and thou.

If not for the Internet . . . but I can't even imagine writing a book like this without it -- or a team of research librarians. 

The main points are in the books I have at hand (though they contradict one another more than one could wish.) But the little everyday things that make a story come to life, that make a reader feel he's really there, that's where Mr. Google is so helpful. 

 I went from wondering what sort of bandage would be used to realizing that Polly and her friends might well have a bandage rolling party -- I know I've read about something of the sort in books of the era.

The weather is chilly and mostly gray -- not conducive to pictures but good for writing.  Of which more later.. Just now I have to find out what instrument a doctor would use to extract a ball (from a Colt 1851 Navy Revolver) lodged against a rib . . .

Oh, the places I'll go....

A Rare Opportunity

I just found out that the Allen House is for sale by the owner. If you dream of living in a funky little mountain town in a historic house, here's your chance. It's  on Craigslist HERE.

The Horror!!!

When I was in my teens, quite a long time ago, I really loved horror movies. That, is, till I saw Psycho, back in 1960.  John and I were seniors in high school and we saw it at the Britton Plaza. It was terrifying. After the movie was over, we drove to a secluded place to "park" -- do any of you remember "parking?" and  "making out?"

 John had barely pulled the car under the big live oak tree in our special spot before we looked at each other and at the dark creepy woods around us (who knew how many psycho killers might be out there) before we looked at each other again and agreed that this might be a good night for me to get home early.

And it goes without saying that I still lock the bathroom door before taking a shower. . .

A girlfriend and I saw Christopher Lee in The Horror of Dracula back in 1958. It, too, left its mark. I noticed that all the young women upon whom Count Dracula preyed slept on their backs with their hair spread across their pillows.

I began to sleep on my side with the sheet over my head. For a time, I put garlic cloves at the windows till my mother objected.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) is another movie (I can't quite bring myself to call these films) I remember vividly -- the creepiness of those pods and the foam that oozed out of them as they opened. And the magnificent hopelessness of the ending. But for all its scariness, Bodysnatchers didn't inspire any lifestyle changes for me.

House of Wax (1953) is one that got away. It was playing in downtown Tampa at the Palace and I was all set to go with friends when my mother dug in her heels and forbade me to see it. Too scary, she said. I don't remember if she herself had seen it or what. The first 3D horror movie and I was denied the chance to terrify myself. 

I still haven't seen it. But if I want that creepy frisson of fear, all I have to do is remind myself that there's an empty room at the Bates house . . .

What about you all? Were/are you a fan of horror movies? What movies scared you?  

Actually, thinking back, I was taken to see Snow White at a rather early age and had to be removed from the theater when the wicked stepmother started carrying on. I still have the occasional nightmare that derives from that trauma...