Recent Reading

"Foul Matter' is the publishing term (who said those guys didn't have a sense of humor?) for the marked-up, coffee stained, original hard copy  of a manuscript that the publishers return to the author once the book is in print.  From whence it can go to a box under the author's bed, a closet shelf. or a library's archives, if the author is Somebody. (Mine are in a drawer.)

Foul Matter is also the title of a wonderful book by Martha Grimes in which she does to the publishing industry what Elmore Leonard did to Hollywood in Get Shorty. A fun read for a glimpse inside.

Three more recent reads -- Deb Crombie is a favorite of mine but I put off reading Necessary as Blood  when it came out because some of the plot line was similar to my  work in progress -- female protagonist agonizing over whether to marry her long time boyfriend.  It's a wonderful novel -- as are all of hers -- with an interesting look at the international mix that is modern London and the clashes that can occur. I'm feeling like starting back and re-reading this series from the beginning.

Remarkable Creatures  by Tracy Chevalier traces the life of Mary Anning who, though uneducated, was a great discoverer of fossils in the chalk cliffs near Lyme Regis. I enjoyed the story for the setting and because it reminded me of bits from The French Lieutenant's Woman. As with her other novels, Chevalier has a website that will enhance your enjoyment of the book -- lots of pictures of the fossils described in the novel!

Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon is a kind of fairy tale for adults -- a retelling of the Little Mermaid story. Some lovely, lovely description.

Bleak . . . with a Promise

Riding the Phrog Bus

On Saturday I met in Hot Springs with most of the members of the workshop I led at Wildacres last summer. They were all eager to continue work on their books and had arranged to hire me to critique an additional twenty pages for each of them. For the past month, everyone has read and critiqued everyone else's work to be ready for this day. The group rented a house  for the weekend and we settled in for a long day of work-shopping those pages.

The group calls  themselves The Phrog Bus for reasons arising from silly jokes we shared last summer (you had to be there, trust me.)  Their novels are as diverse as they are -- futuristic, post-apocalyptic thriller, political thriller, traditional mystery, and just plain good stories about interesting people meeting challenges in their lives.

We spent about an hour on each set of pages and, as always happens in these workshops, the input of the group was incredibly useful. If, as a writer, you're particularly attached to something in your own work, it's easy enough to ignore a suggestion from one person. But if the majority of a group have trouble with something you've written, it's time to pay attention -- assuming it's your goal to reach a wide audience and you're not just writing for your own pleasure.

I was also thrilled to find that the writing had tightened up and gotten more focused since last summer. The Phrog Bus -- Dianna, Sharon, Claude, Lourdes, Joni, Rosemarie, and Karen (who took the pictures and, alas, isn't shown here) -- is a hardworking group but they know how to have fun.

We took a quick break for sandwiches and then forged ahead with our work-shopping, bolstered by the knowledge that Rosemarie had a special treat in store for our dinner. That sweet thing had prepared a dinner following a menu from IN A DARK SEASON -- Beef bourguignon, parslied potatoes, a Painter's Salad, and chocolate mousse. 

Rosemary had even brought glass plates from home to serve the salad on -- since that's the way it was described in the book. And the meal was accompanied by Biltmore red wine -- 'a naive little domestic, but I think you'll be amused by its presumption' -- again from the book (though first, let me hasten to add, from a cartoon in the THE NEW YORKER that Elizabeth and I read years ago.)

What a terrific conclusion to a long and rewarding day!

A Common Thread?

Is There a Thread?

Shadows

The past's long shadows

Fall across today and stretch

Beyond tomorrow.

All our yesterdays

Were tomorrows and todays --

Shadows fleeting past.

All tomorrows soon

Turn to yesterdays and all

Pleasant dreams to dust. 

But today remains

Sufficient unto our time --

All --no more, no less.

Ba's Banana Bread -repost

This is what you do with those bananas that have gotten too ripe. Banana bread was one of my dearly loved maternal grandmother's standards and when I make it, it's always a memory trip. I have the recipe in Ba's lovely spiky handwriting and I have her little wire racks to turn the loaves out on to cool. The smell fills the house and I'm ten years old again, a tall skinny little girl who didn't hesitate to butter a slice of the still-warm banana bread.

Some household acts are more than just cooking or cleaning -- some are sacraments.



Ba’s Banana Bread

Really more of a cake than a bread, it's dense and moist and sweet. Excellent toasted with butter, delicious cold and spread with cream cheese, just fine all by itself.

Makes two loaves (freezes well)
2 sticks (1/2 pound) butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs, beaten
2 c. ripe bananas, mashed well (3 large bananas = 2 c.)
2 tsp. baking soda, stirred into the mashed bananas
3 1/2 c. sifted flour (sift before measuring)
1 tsp. salt, sifted with the flour

Prepare your loaf tins by greasing well (more butter) and cutting a piece of waxed paper to cover the bottom of the pan. Lay it in the greased pan and grease the top of the paper too.

Preheat oven to 325.

Cream together the butter and sugar. When well blended, stir in the beaten eggs. Mix well, add bananas and flour alternately till you have a well blended batter. Do not over-mix. Pour into loaf tins and bake at 325 for about an hour. A knife or bamboo skewer poked into the middle of a loaf should come out clean.

Turn out of loaf pans, peel off waxed paper, and let cool on a rack.

Silent Sunday . . . with Pictures

Silent Sunday

Meet Dexter

Dexter is our third bottle calf. He was born just before the great cow plague hit us and  seemed to be doing fine.

But then John found him one morning, stretched out stiff and cold and seemingly near death. Evidently, whether it was the disease, the vaccine, or the medicine, his mama had suddenly quit producing milk.

So John brought the baby to a warm stall and began the re-hydrating process  -- running a tube down the baby's throat and giving him a dextrose solution.  It took three or four days, with slow improvement and finally young Dexter was on the come back trail, standing and taking milk in a bottle.

Now he's one of the bottle babies gang. Xena and Clover could be weaned -- they're eating calf starter and hay but still want their bottles. And Dexter has two big girls to hang out with.

Veteran's Day

Today we honor veterans -- all who served their country in the military -- and I wonder what changes would occur if a term of service to the country -- military or otherwise -- were mandatory for all who wanted to vote. . . 

Up Close

Mel, over at Luna Secrets, had some amazing close ups of viburnum leaves which inspired me . . .

These are pear tree leaves.

What beauty . . .

And what a gift, however fleeting!