FRIDAY FUN VIDEO -- It's a Two-fer!!

This week's Friday Fun Video is a Two-fer, because I couldn't decide which was funnier.

The first is one Tessa Dare made for her historical romance series, The Stud Club. And the second, which was passed on by fellow writer and friend Julie Leto, shows what happens when Star Trek meets Monty Python. Enjoy and have a super weekend!

Making Cards for Troops, Family, and Friends

I have this funny relationship with cardmaking. I enjoy making greeting cards, and especially love the ones I make for troops to send back home to their families, because I hope I'm helping, in some small way, to ease their deployment. But as soon as I send homemade cards off to friends and family, I have this fear that they'll think, "Geez, couldn't she have sprung for the bucks to send a Hallmark?"

Several people have asked to see some of the greeting cards I've made, but I'm usually in such a hurry to get them in the mail, I forget. But here's one I made Sunday for my newly discovered "half mom." (For those visiting the blog for the first time, or who might have missed it, I wrote a few weeks ago about my search and discovery of my long-lost sister and her family.) It's difficult when you don't know someone's taste, but the paper she used for her lovely "welcome to the family" note, along with the lining of the envelope, gave me a clue. It had lovely pink flowers that looked a bit like dogwoods, so I decided to go with those as an inspiration point.

I found some with pink rhinestone centers in my flower stock, but they're very delicate and needed some sort of frame to stand out. Since it's spring, I decided to go with accent colors of green and lavender, along with a soft pink checked paper (edged with a slightly darker pink ink) to match the flowers. These colors also let me use my green flower brads along with purple round ones and some pretty ribbons from my ribbon stash. Because I wanted to write inside the card, I used white cardstock, but covered it with a textured spring grass green.

For some reason, even with a great grid cutter, I could not cut a straight rectangle to save my life for that purple cardstock behind the green flower base, so I finally solved that problem by deckling the edge. Then I put it onto the cardbase with adhesive backed foam, so it stands up a bit from the card. Finally, I lined the envelope with the same pink paper I used on the card. Also, I don't know how it looks on your screen, but that bit of green behind the flower is not nearly as neon as it turned out in my scan!

This one I made for a writer friend, Kate Douglas, last summer. (Again, the color's a little off. The top part is actually a pale speckled blue.) Unfortunately, this weekend I found it mixed into boxes of cards for troops, so obviously I forgot to send it. I'd put a cover of her latest Wolf Tale book in the beach bag with the towel, sunscreen, and flip flops, but now, since I'm so late, I'm going to update it to show Demon Fire, the first in her demonslayer series. But don't tell her!



This is one of the blank inside cards I made for the troops. When you're sending overseas, bulky embellishments just don't work as well, because military mail can get really beat up. So, I like the printable e-cards I've found at Scrapbook.com because they're made to look dimensional, when they're actually not. In this one, what looks like a ribbon top border is printed on. But the "Missing You" tag and the one beneath I cut out from a selection of other comments that come with the card. As you can see, I inked the edges of them to make them stand out a bit more. This is one of my personal favorites because a female soldier can send it home to her man, but it also works as a card for a woman.

Welcome to Shelter Bay

Two of my favorite hobbies are photography and scrapbooking. Although I'm one of those scrappers who still prints out actual photos and puts them in albums, partly because I love an excuse to play with paper and paste, I decided to make a digital album of Shelter Bay to share with readers.

I've always preferred creating my own worlds, because it allows me to put buildings and parks where I choose and populate them with my own characters. For instance, Castlelough, from my Irish trilogy, was located on the coast in north County Clare. Somersett, South Carolina, where several of my books -- including my High Risk series -- are set, is part Charleston, South Carolina, and part Savannah, Georgia. Since I enjoy visiting both cities, it was impossible to choose which to use, so I "borrowed" Savannah's marvelous squares and sense of isolation, then gave it Charleston's churches and wonderful harbor.

Shelter Bay proved an even more difficult decision because I doubt there's a place on the Oregon coast I don't love. Including Depoe Bay, where my high school sweetheart once bought me a bag of salt water taffy, then proposed. (Yes, the girl could be had for taffy, lol)

So, the coastal photos you'll be viewing have been taken in various small towns from Astoria at the far north of the state, to Bandon in the south. The small fishing/tourism town of Shelter Bay, itself, is located -- in my mind -- on the north central coast.

I hope you enjoy these sneak preview scenes from my little corner of paradise and will visit Shelter Bay again when The Homecoming, first in the series (which Sue Grimshaw, romance buyer for Borders just finished reading and says readers will love!) comes out July 6th.

Former Navy Seal Sax Douchett has returned home to Shelter Bay, determined to put war behind him and get on with his life -- which is easier said than done when everyone is hailing the former bad boy as a local hero. Adjusting to a new beginning becomes even more difficult when he unearths a long-buried secret that in turn reunites him with a cherished part of his past that he's never forgotten. . .

Oh, readers of The Homecoming may wonder whether I actually found two of the restaurants pictured: Sea Mist and Grateful Bread. A confession -- I photoshopped out the actual names and replaced them with the ones from my Shelter Bay stories. As I said, there's a definite advantage in creating my own world! Still, you might notice that the photo of Sax's house, which is actually a former lighthouse keeper's house, provided the inspiration for the cover of The Homecoming.

Salmon with Caper & Parsley Sauce

It's spring, time when the cooking gets light again. Sweetie and I LOVE this recipe, which is the same served at The Sea Mist. The restaurant's patio tables overlooking Shelter Bay offer a stunning view of the coastal town's resident whales.



INGREDIENTS

2 salmon steaks, or one 6 ounce fillet
salt
freshly ground pepper

Poaching Liquid:

1/2 cup of dry white wine. I used a Cabernet Sauvignon, but the rule is, if you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it!
1 bay leaf
3-4 sprigs of parsley
1 shallot, chopped
celery leaves

Caper & Parsley Sauce:

2 Tablespoons butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 Tablespoon capers, drained and chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley
salt
pepper


Wipe fish with paper towels.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Place all ingredients in a shallow pan large enough to hold fish in a single layer.
Bring liquid to a simmer.


Add fish and cover.
Simmer about 12 minutes or until fish turns from translucent to opaque and begins to flake when pierced with a fork
If you simmer too high, you may need to add more wine to replace what's boiled off.
Remove fish from liquid; place on warm plate. Keep warm in oven, or warming oven while making the sauce.

Strain poaching liquid. Reserve 1/4 cup.
Melt butter in a small sauce pan.
Add garlic, chopped capers and parsley.
Stir one minute.
Add salt, pepper, and reserved poaching liquid.
Bring to a boil, then pour over fish.

I served ours with a mixed green salad dressed with vinaigrette and whole wheat fettuccine.

To make the pasta, after boiling 10-12 minutes (while you're poaching the salmon), toss with just enough light olive oil on to moisten, then stir in the juice of one lemon, some lemon zest, dill, and grated Parmesan cheese. (Forgot to take a picture of the set table until we'd eaten, which was -- duh -- a bit late!)

Enjoy!

Friday Fun Video -- Spring Fever with Elvis

I don't know about you, but I have Spring Fever!

Which means it's time for Elvis! Love this frothy 1965 Girl Happy beach movie, even if Shelley Fabares and the other girls sound a lot like The Chipmunks.

Enjoy:

Signs of spring -- a gardener's view

Having spent three decades in the Arizona desert -- where the climate could be described as hot, pizza oven hot, and hell -- and gardening was like trying to grow flowers in kitty litter, once we moved here to East Tennessee, where we celebrate four full seasons, mulch became my life. Every year we plant 800-1000 bulbs, and we've also planted several trees. I've always seen bulbs as an act of faith. A belief life's going to continue. We plant them while fall color blazes, with the optimistic belief that months later, they'll burst through the ground and proclaim spring.

After 60.66 inches (!!!) of rain last year, and even a few inches of snow this winter, spring was late in arriving. But when it did, it dazzled. For those of you living where the season hasn't yet fully sprung, or for anyone who just enjoys visiting other peoples' gardens, as I do, welcome to my world.

First there were crocuses.


Then the daffodils.


And hyacinths.

Then the forsythia, looking for all the world like gold dust on a bush.



Next the four Bradford pears outside my office windows and in the back yard got into the act.


And the Japanese cherry trees out the kitchen window. As you can see, when they first came out they looked white.



But then I noticed they were starting to look a little pinkish. Closer examination revealed that the centers were turning pink.



Two days later, the trees are now entirely a beautiful shade of pink.



Although we celebrate a month-long Dogwood Festival this time of year, our dogwoods are a little behind. As are the redbud trees. Then there will be tulips, irises, all types of lilies, roses, Crepe Myrtle, and heritage flowers, some from Monticello, grown from seeds Thomas Jefferson cultivated, which, to me, makes them super special.

Stay tuned. . .