Guessing Game

My friend sent this to me in an email. It's really cute. See if you can guess the name of each picture. Answers are at the bottom of the page.

Answers:


eggplant, light beer, pool table, i-pod, gator aide, tap dancers, hole milk, king of pop, dr, pepper, card shark, knight mare


I was really stumped on tap dancers and knight mare. How did you do?

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1 pound dry black beans
1 pound of bacon, finely chopped
2 1/2 quarts water
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
2 cups celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 - 8oz cans tomato sauce
2 tsp each: oregano, Accent seasoning, and cumin
4 tsp sugar
4 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Wash beans. In a heavy, large pot cook bacon until fat is rendered but not crisp. Add water and other ingredients, bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered. As beans soften, mash on the side of pot with a large spoon. Cook 2 or 3 hours until beans are soft and mashed. Serve with fresh chopped onion, hot peppers, and cheese.

Tuesday Giveaway

School's out and vacation time is approaching for many. (Not me, I have to finish current manuscript and write another book by July 31st). To celebrate, one lucky winner will win a $25.00 gift card to Amazon or B&N for your summer reading.

Just leave a comment about your summer vacation plans and you'll be entered. If you can't post for some reason, then leave a comment on my FB fan page and you'll still be entered in the drawing.

Have a happy summer!

Happy Memorial Day

Today is when we remember the military men and women who have put their lives on the line for our country. In rememberance of those brave souls and their ultimate sacrifices let's honor their service.

Who are you remembering today? I'm remembering my brother who served in the Navy as well as my father-in-law who was a Pearl Harbor survivor. Have a day filled with love and warm memories. Lori

Mama Wren on my front porch

Hubby captured this on our front porch.

Live Online Event

I'm having an online party for the release of Kiss the Bride. We'll have a reading, a Q&A, and talk about sexy heroes, but most of all there will be prizes for EVERYONE who attends the event!

It's May 30th. You'll need to preregister @ (http://loriwilde.eventbrite.com/)

But it's absolutely free. Everyone will receive either a book from my backlist or a $5.00 gift card to Amazon, your choice. Hope to see you there!

Homemade Laundry Soap

 

Ingredients:

• 1 bar of soap
• 2 5-gallon buckets or containers (and cover for at least one, plastic wrap works too)
• 1 Cup Borax
• 1/2 Cup Baking Soda
• Cheese grater
• Large spoon with 'slots' for mixing
• Small pan for melting soap
• Hot water
• Lots of bottles/containers for storing soap

Instructions:

1. Grate your bar of soap into a pan which will be melted on the stove with water. Add just enough water to melt the soap, the exact amount doesn't matter as you will be adding more soon. Your soap will probably foam a little bit, that's normal. Stir until your grated soap is completely dissolved.
2. Fill one of your 5 gallon buckets about half full with hot water. Add your melted soap, 1 Cup of Borax, and 1/2 of Washing Soda, mix well.
3. Fill the bucket the rest of the way with hot water, cover, and leave alone for 24 hours.
4. After your laundry detergent mixture has been allowed to sit for 24 hours, it will somewhat solidify, almost like a bucket of slime. Now comes the fun part... Mixing! Using your spoon with the slots in it, stir your homemade detergent to break it up as best you can.
5. Get out your second 5 gallon bucket and split your mixture between the two containers. Fill the buckets with hot water and give one last good stir.
6. Using a funnel, fill your homemade laundry soap into bottles/containers (2 liter soda bottles, juice bottles, and old laundry soap containers work great)
7. Use 1 Cup of your easy homemade laundry detergent per load of laundry. Also a great pre-treater for stains.

Yields 10 gallons of soap

"Sage" Advice for Gardeners

FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING , PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS :

 1. Peace of mind

 2. Peace of heart

 3. Peace of soul

 PLANT FOUR ROWS OF SQUASH:

 1. Squash gossip

 2. Squash indifference

 3. Squash grumbling

 4. Squash selfishness

  

 PLANT FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE:

 1. Lettuce be faithful

 2. Lettuce be kind

 3. Lettuce be patient

 4. Lettuce really love one another

NO GARDEN IS WITHOUT TURNIPS:                                                                

 1. Turnip for meetings

 2. Turnip for service

 3. Turnip to help one another

 TO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN WE MUST HAVE THYME:

 1. Thyme for each other

 2. Thyme for family

 3. Thyme for friends                                        

WATER FREELY WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH LOVE. THERE IS MUCH FRUIT IN YOUR GARDEN BECAUSE YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

 

Victorian Homes

I love Victorian style homes. They often appear on the cover of my books. I think these homes are so romantic. I have learned there are many different styles of Victorian homes.

Second Empire

Jacobethan

Gothic

Renaissance Revival

Scottish Baronial

Stick

Romanesque Richardsonian

Queen Anne

Can you guess which style of home is on the cover of my book Kiss the Bride? 

 

Kiss the Bride

Kiss the Bride hits store shelves today! This volume is a reprint of two stories in one. There Goes the Bride and Once Twice Smitten, Shy. Two books for the price of one! How cool is that?

To celebrate the release, on May 30th, I'm having an event at


 (http://loriwilde.eventbrite.com/)

You'll need to register for the event, but it's free. Everyone who comes to the live chat will receive a gift. Either a book from my backlist or a $5.00 gift card to Amazon, your choice. Hope to see you there!

_________________________________________________

Winner of the Summer of Love candle is Dani. To claim your prize, Dani, please email me @ loriwilde@aol.com.

Spurs

Spurs are needed to make a horse move forward and to the side.  Spurs can be a very effective tool for a horseperson if used correctly. There are many kinds of spurs. One of the main differences is the shape of the rowel.

Cutting Horse Spur

Bull Riding Spur

Team Roping Spur

Cavalry Spur

Spanish Spur

Barrel Racing Spur

Polo Spur

:)

Old-Time Buttermilk Pie

1/2 cup butter softened
3 rounded tablespoons flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar
3 eggs beaten
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Cream together sugar and butter. Add flour and eggs, beat well. Stir in buttermilk, vanilla, and nutmeg. Pour into unbaked 9" pie shell. Bake for 45 minutes at 350*.

Garden Update

My garden is really starting to grow. Here is a picture from back in February.

Here it is today.

What a difference huh?


It won't be long until I harvest some new potatoes!

We have been eating fresh lettuce in our salads. Yum.

\

The snow peas are doing well.

And the broccoli is very happy.

How is your garden growing, if you have one?

Do You Remember?

You might be a boomer if you remember…

# All the girls had ugly gym uniforms?
# It took five minutes for the TV to warm up?
# Nearly everyone’s Mom was at home when the kids got home from school?
# Nobody owned a purebred dog?
# When a quarter was a decent allowance?
# You’d reach into a muddy gutter for a penny?
# Your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces?
# All your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done every day and wore high heels?
# You got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, all for free, every time? And you didn’t pay for air? And, you got trading stamps to boot?
# Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box?
# It was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents?
# They threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed. And they did it!
# When a 57 Chevy was everyone’s dream car…to cruise, peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady?
# No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked?
# Lying on your back in the grass with your friends? …. and saying things like, ‘That cloud looks like a… ‘?
# Playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game?
# Stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger?
# And with all our progress, don’t you just wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace, and share it with the children of today.