Feb 27, 2017

Montiform Monday

montiform ~ shaped like a mountain

I was sitting here on Saturday, looking out at the rain, and I was finding it hard to believe it was February. Late April maybe, but not February. It was especially hard last week when one of the days had a record breaking high temperature.

The birch tree in the front yard has buds on it. And yet we had a smattering of snow on the weekend. Wednesday is supposed to be +10C (+50F) and Thursday is supposed to be -2C (-28F). The weather is on crack, I tell you what.

I suspect this is going to be a short post. Last week was pretty uneventful. I mean seriously, do you want to hear about how I cleaned out the pantry and got it all organized, which was pretty much the highlight of the week.

I know, just for something completely different I’ll do something I don’t think I’ve ever done before. I’ll post a recipe. This was something new I tried last week and it was absolutely delicious. It would have been even better with biscuits, but I didn’t think of it until just now.

Slow Cooker Cowboy Casserole

Ingredients
1½ pounds ground beef, browned and drained
6 medium red potatoes, cut into 1½ inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chili, undrained
¼ cup water
1 ½ tablespoon salt
2 teaspoon pepper
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Brown ground beef and drain off excess fat.
2. Add potatoes to 4-quart slow cooker and season with salt and pepper.
3. Add onion and garlic.
4. Add beef, beans, and tomato. Pour over water.
5. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours.
6. Sprinkle cheese in last 15 minutes and continue to cook covered.

Now, for the record, I used a bag of those mini red potatoes instead of the big ones, and I used herb and garlic tomatoes because I couldn’t find any with chilies in them. But other than that I pretty much stuck to the recipe. I honestly thought it would turn out to be more like a stew than a casserole, but the cheese thickens it up. It’s like a cross between a stew and chili. Yummy!

If you'd like to read something a little more interesting ... the first Friday of the month I’m posting a picture prompt on my writing blog, and the last Friday I’m posting a story, poem, or article that was inspired by it. I posted my first story last night and you can read it HERE if you like.

Have a good week!

Feb 20, 2017

Macrocosm Monday

macrocosm ~ large and complex structure considered as a whole

I’m late!

Or rather, this post is late. You’d think this being a long weekend I would have had plenty of time to get this post written, but you should know by now that’s not the way things work for me. ;-)

Saturday I spent the better part of the morning and part of the afternoon uploading my newest book to the e-publishers (more about that in a bit). I don’t know why I find it so stressful, this is the sixth time I’ve gone through the process and it’s not like I do my own formatting or covers. All I have to do is fill out the forms. Easy peasy, right?

Anyway, after that was done I had that curiously let down feeling you get when you finish a big project. So I decided to reward myself and indulge in a little shopping therapy. So I went to a couple of thrift stories, then the mall, and finally Walmart. And all I managed to come home with was replacement blender so I could start having smoothies for breakfast again. *sigh*

Next I tried on-line shopping and found a fairy tale book I’d been searching for at Abe Books. The way it works is they act as a broker - you purchase the book on their site, then they contact the seller who is supposed to contact you. I’m still waiting to be contacted. Seeing as this is the weekend I’ll try to be patient.

Day two of my long weekend, Sunday, I spent babysitting. The daughter and her hubby needed to go to IKEA to pick up new beds for them and the grandbaby. I can’t say that I’d want to be trapped in a car for an hour each way with an active toddler, nor would I want to have to wrangle said toddler in IKEA. But, by the time I got home again, it was time to start supper.

Anyway, I’d been planning to do a blog post for my writing blog on Sunday - that didn’t get done. And I usually do this post Sunday evening - I could barely keep my eyes open for Rizzoli and Isles, let alone type anything. So that didn’t get done either.

So this morning I had not one but two blog posts to get done, and I started with the one on my writing blog because today is Release Day for my newest book, An Elemental Earth, book 4 of the Ardraci Elementals series.



Help an author out, would you? Brazen Snake Books, read my interview, and enter the contest to win a free print book plus a gift basket. You don’t have to guess the correct flower, any flower will do. Just scroll down and leave a comment and you’re entered.

Thanks, and good luck!

Feb 13, 2017

Myrmidon Monday

myrmidon ~ follower; hireling; mercenary

I have a problem. I currently have four orchids. Two are tucked away on a stand next to the deck doors in the dining room, and two are on the window ledge of the kitchen. All four get pretty much the same exposure to the sun.

One of the two orchids in the kitchen is really too big for the window ledge, but I’m afraid to move it. I once had a beautiful cattleya orchid that I grew from a seedling. It took seven years for it to bloom, but the single blossom it produced was magnificent. It, too, started out on the window ledge of the kitchen, and when it became too big I moved it to a counter that was further back, but it seemed happy enough.

Unfortunately, I failed to take into account that the new space was across from the air conditioner in the dining room window and it did not like the cold air at all. I tried moving it back to the window but it was too late and I lost the orchid.

The bigger of the two orchids currently on my window ledge seems to be of sturdier stock. It’s bloomed a few times and last time it did so the bloom stalk had eleven blossoms on it. Normally once the blossoms fall off I’d trim back the stem to allow for new growth, but on the advice of my neighbour this time I left it alone.

Much to my surprise, it did get a new shoot off the original bloom stalk, which I promptly accidentally knocked off. Then it got another one, which I accidentally broke off while trying to tie it to a stick to make it a little more upright. When it got a third one, I left it alone, despite the fact that it the leaves are on one side of the plant and the bloom stalk is sticking out the other side. And then it hedged its bet by producing a second bloom stalk to stick out a third side of the pot.



Now my problem is this. There’s only so much room on my window sill and the leaves of the orchid are touching the cold glass. I don’t much like the arrangement, but it’s the only way to position it to minimize the possibility of knocking off one of the bloom stalks.



The blooms will keep going for weeks, provided nothing touches them, but both stalks stick out slightly over the sink. I could make room for the plant on the stand in the dining room - it won’t be easy but it’s do-able - but I’m afraid if I move it it’ll die, just like my cattleya orchid did. Plus it’s right beside the cat tree and I know at least one of my cats will try to snack on it.

Maybe I’ll just keep crossing my fingers. It’s worked so far. ;-)

Feb 6, 2017

Multifarious Monday

multifarious ~ having great diversity; manifold

Everyone out there catch the Superbowl yesterday?

I was dragged kicking and screaming to the get together my hubby’s buddy has every year where I ate too much pizza and actually watched the last half of the game. That was some come back by the Patriots, eh?

My big news for the week is that the bathroom is officially done. Actually it was done last week but I just didn’t have any pictures to post. These pictures don’t really do it justice - I don’t know if it’s the picture or just my computer, but the colour of the dark paint is kind of off.

Once I have a chance to get my pictures organized, and maybe take some better ones of the finished bathroom, I’ll do a separate post showing the entire renovation, but these pictures should give you an idea of what it looks like. If you'd like a bigger view, just click on the picture.

The first picture shows the sink on its stand and the mirror above it:



Next we have the rest of the bathroom. As you can see, it’s a really hard room to take pictures of because it’s so small:



And finally here’s a better picture of the window with the sconces:



And no, I haven’t had a bath yet. The tub needs a thorough cleaning first and I just haven’t had time to do it. But I can’t wait!