Did early Americans invent embroidery to make samplers and decorate hope-chest items for hopeful young ladies waiting to become wives and mothers? Hardly! The art of embroidery started in China thousands of years ago. China began to weave silk from silkworm cocoon fibers about 5,000 years ago. Producing silk fabrics and silk threads inspired the…
Tag: YA fiction
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If you grew up without television, you’d probably think watching chubby red ants bringing treasures home to their anthills was loads of fun too. Luckily, we had tons of anthills to scope out on our Arizona ranch. If I stood or squatted on a rock beside the mounds and didn’t wiggle very much, the ants…
Wikipedia says Americans consume approximately 2.5 billion bowls of Campbell’s canned Tomato, Cream of mushroom, and Chicken Noodle Soup each year. Canned soup . . . really? Perhaps it’s because they never tasted really delicious homemade soup or stew? My mission, if I choose to accept it, is to share my best soup and stew recipes…
Wikipedia says Americans consume approximately 2.5 billion bowls of Campbell’s canned Tomato, Cream of mushroom, and Chicken Noodle Soup each year. Canned soup . . . really? Perhaps it’s because they never tasted really delicious homemade soup? My mission, if I choose to accept it, is to share my best soup recipes so canned-soup addicts…
If ever an Ellipsis were to run for President, what would be the platform? No more dot-to-space-ratio lawlessness, of course! Yet, enforcing the Ellipses Laws may be trickier than a politician practicing magic tricks. The underground world of ellipses No punctuation mark is more misunderstood or misused (might I suggest “abused?”) than the humble ellipsis. What’s…
3 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups sugar 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 3 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. ground ginger 1 tsp. ground nutmeg ½ tsp. salt 1 cup chopped pecans 1-1/4 cup cooking oil 2 tsp. vanilla 1 1-lb. crushed pineapple & juice. (I like the sweetened vs. packed-in-juice pineapple for this…
At times, my writing focus is about as clear as swamp water. Sometimes I inadvertently go on a writing sabbatical. Things get in the way. When the “match” goes out, it’s like getting a D.C. politician to tell the truth challenging to restart the flame. For example, recently: There I sat. Alone in my office. Staring. Staring some…
Verella awoke to the sound of her wrist ringing. Her wrist wasn’t really ringing, but the compact instrument strapped to it demanded her attention in a screechy, nagging tenor. “Yes?” she whispered groggily, pushing her RESpond button. Her other hand rubbed her temple to quell the throbbing inside her head. “Verella? Great! I caught you…
My childhood as the only girl on an Arizona ranch could get downright lonesome. Television and radio reception were nonexistent, and all the wonderful gadgets of today weren’t yet invented. Friends were far away, so play dates and overnighters were as scarce as green grass, which is plenty scarce in the high deserts of the…
One dreadful inspiring morning at a writing seminar long ago, I emerged from a face-to-face editor session feeling as though I were stepping out the door and onto a parade float. For a few minutes, I could have sworn I was wearing a pageant gown, a tiara, and a ribbon sash proclaiming I was Miss…