Cats are such helpful creatures. No one knows that better than Cat Lady Dee White. She shares the tale of Mice-Capades, a story of thoughtful kittens just doing their job.

Click here to either read the story online or, at the top, there is a Send To Kindle button. If you select the Send to Kindle button, you can log on to your Amazon account and have the story download directly to your kindle.

As always if you have a different reader, send me an email or comment and I can send you an epub file for your reader. (Sony, Kobo and Nook really need a “send to” button…)

Under Witch Curse is now available as a print book for those of you without e-readers!

Amazon has it on sale for $8.99 with free shipping for orders that reach 25 dollars. The regular price is $9.99.

No, not together. Some of you know about this already (you know who you are–thanks!). I’ve written a short story for the Sedona O’Hala series and one for the Moon Shadow series. I can’t tell you when the Sedona story will be released. I’m still working on a date for that. The Moon Shadow short, Under Witch Ghost, will be released on or about July 14th. Set your calendars to find out what Adriel, White Feather and probably Lynx, are up to these days. Check back here for details!!!

Our guest post today is from the heart of America and a gentleman who has often traveled back and forth across many states making deliveries for various companies. Leo enjoys finding gems during his travels–particularly when it comes to great eateries. Maybe someday he’ll write a book review and let us know some gems in the reading world where he travels. Meanwhile, he recently made a discovery close to my home base near Austin:

Leo the Traveling Food Critic

Good Mexican food is such a treat.

I really like Mexican food. Unfortunately spicy things don’t like me at all so there are a lot of good Mexican, Chinese and other dishes that I have to avoid no matter how great they look. When I find something really good that likes me as much as I like it I consider it an absolute victory.

I had a major victory on Memorial Day. I’ve made it a point to stop in Elgin, Texas, whenever I’m on 290. There is really good barbecue there and a while back I found an antique mall that has lots of cool stuff to check out. On Memorial Day I went to the antique mall and afterward went next door to eat at Morelia Mexican Cafe (197 Highway 290 E, Elgin, TX).

Morelia’s is a nice place but not fancy. The meals are what you’d imagine being served if you were at the family table somewhere in the heart of Mexico. The servings are generous and the prices are very reasonable. I had chicken al carbon chalupas. They were excellent and the guacamole was perhaps the best I’ve ever had.

I don’t get out that direction as often as I used to. That just means I’ll be making more trips to wander the antique shop and eat at Morelia’s. I will definitely be going back and highly recommend a stop for anyone passing that way.

Despite the summer heat, we still take our 2 mile walks in the morning. We mostly go through the woods because of the shade. If it rains, we take to the sidewalks for a day or so. With the better rain we’ve had this year, there have been a few more critters in the woods. Including this morning’s sight which nearly gave me a heart attack. We were walking along, husband in front. I saw movement off to one side on the ground. As I looked, the thing slithered right in front of husband’s back foot and BARELY made it under his front foot coming down. Thank God he didn’t step on it. There was no mistaking the bright colors of a possible coral snake. I stood there and sputtered. Husband turned and saw it as it floated into the leaves with me muttering like a madwoman, “Red on yellow, kill a fellow.” I couldn’t remember the rest of the rhyme, but I was pretty certain that was all I needed to know. We double checked on Google when we got back because I know that the Scarlet King snake, a good predator and eater of the Coral Snake, has similar colors–but never red and yellow together. It was definitely a coral snake, one to be avoided.

GAH! It’s always amazing to me how absolutely stunning Mother Nature’s colors can be–and how deadly.

Elisabeth!

Elisabeth, send me an email and tell me whether you’d like to escape clean (soap) or run off with the book bag. In the email, please include your mailing address.

For next month, another hint: Earrings. A book. A bag? Or???

Keep reading, stay cool and keep smiling!

Today is the last day to enter the giveaway for this month. Just tell us: What was the best book you read in May?

For next month, Adriel agreed to hunt around Santa Fe and find Amber (you may remember Amber as the artist in Under Witch Curse) to see what awesome creation she can come up with for you. Amber is very talented when it comes to jewelry, and I expect something very special. Set yourself a reminder–it will start the first week of July. I’ll post a picture soon.

In other news, I’m working on two short stories, one in the Moon Shadow series and one in the Sedona series. I’ve found a couple of blogs to sponsor the Moon Shadow short story. A sponsor means that the story will be available for download for free via the “send to kindle” button. At least that is the plan! If you have a blog and are interested in hosting a story, please contact me via the contact button on the left sidebar (scroll down). We’ll chat!

You know things will eventually get interesting when you have a mystery writer, an engineer, a camera…and a crime. Yes, we finally caught the perp who has been digging up our trees. For those of you unfamiliar with the start of our vandalism tale, start here.

For the rest of you, we woke up Wednesday morning to find our baby oak tree pulled up by its roots and flung across the yard. The first review of the camera tapes yielded…nothing. We were greatly disappointed.

But then, a further review showed the culprit had actually done the crime much earlier in the day than suspected. Oh, he thought he was clever. Rode his bike by. Nothing bad happened. He started to ride by again, but this time he stopped just past the driveway and backed up, step by step. Paused at the top of the driveway and then turned the bike in. Rolled it over to the tree and its protective little gate. He never looked up at the camera. No, the fiend leaned over and yanked hard on the innocent oak tree. Up it came with nary a scream to mark its passing.

He studied the tree for a second and then flung it into the yard. Dirt clung to his guilty fingers. He shook his hand to free himself of bothersome evidence. No, he did not wear gloves. He turned his bike, unknowingly giving us a perfect side-view of his very unique spokes. He paused long enough for a nice view of his sneakers, his hair and his profile to be recorded. Thank you, young fiend.

Being a mystery writer, I began plotting an ambush that involved long-range water rifles with blue ink, skunk oil and stinging nettle juice. Husband, being a more practical engineer, took a walk around the block, studying bicycles that were lying about on various porches. His eagle eye and sleuthing skills came in handy. While I was still busy extracting nettle juice and wondering if cactus spines would clog the water gun, he found the vehicle used in the crime.

Before taking the evidence to the authorities (parents) we wanted some confirmation of the ID. We don’t spend much time (none) playing with the kids in the neighborhood and know only a few by name. We took the tapes over to a nice couple who live in the middle of the block–and have a kid who plays with numerous other kids.

The ID was confirmed.

This morning, we took the evidence to the authorities and stood with arms crossed and accusing stares as they viewed the tapes. The mother sighed. “That looks like my son. And those are definitely his sneakers. We just bought those. WHY on earth would he pull up your tree???”

Yes, well. We are not only wondering the same thing, we’d like to know why he has destroyed FIVE of them. Of course, we don’t have all those instances on camera. But we are watching. Yes, despite reassurances from the authorities that the crime has been solved and will not re-occur, the mystery writer has visions of the engineer decorating the entire perimeter of our property with hidden cameras.

Ignore the woman in the bushes with the water gun at your peril. She is waiting. And watching.

Just a note about the giveaway–I’ll leave it open all week and choose a winner on Monday. Keep those book rec’s coming!

In other fun news, I picked a gorgeous zucchini this morning. There may be more beet/zucchini soup in my future. I also have enough green beans for lunch today.

For some fun pictures that depict scenes from various authors’ book or just objects that are in the books, see this link. If you click on a picture, it *should* tell you what book goes with the picture. You’ll recognize a few of the books because I’ve talked about them on this blog. Feel free to join the group if you are on Goodreads.

Okay folks, here’s the start of the giveaway! Leave a comment (make sure you fill out the spot for your email address. Don’t worry, no one can see it so it is safe from spammers.) Tell us the best book you read in May! Feel free to expand on why it was such a good book. We all want to know about the good ones.

At the end of the week, Junior the cat will select one random comment and that person will receive his/her choice of an awesome book bag made by me OR a fabulous bar of olive oil soap made by me. The prizes each month will be different for ‘best of the month club.’

In the event that Junior is unable to decide on a winner, Scamper will pick one. And believe me, her choices are FINAL.

I enjoyed all the books I read this month, including Chance in Hell by Patrick Kampman – Good book. Recommended if you like young adult urban fantasy.

Susanna and the Spy – Anna Elliot – was a good romance book. Pretty improbable, but fun.

Graveyard Shift by Angela Roquet – Worth the read. Recommended for urban fantasy readers.

DRUM ROLL. But the best read for the month goes to:

No Money Down – Julie Moffett

Your turn! What was the best book you read in May?

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Sometimes I just don’t know what to make for lunch. Mainly because I’ve just been to the store, but seem to have spent 100 dollars and come home with no food. At any rate, today for lunch I decided to make zucchini soup because I had two decent-sized ones from the garden and didn’t need them for dinner. I threw them, garden onions, garden beets, garden parsnips, some mushrooms that needed to be eaten, garlic, thyme, marjoram, pepper, tarragon, some celery and olive oil in a pan. I sauteed everything really well. Then I added some frozen chicken stock. When the mess was cool enough, I pureed it with an avocado and some half and half. The avocado adds creaminess without the “bad” fats of the half and half. Potatoes work as as substitute for some of the half and half too, but with all the other stuff in there, I left those out this time.

Back in the pan to warm and some cilantro for decoration and we had lunch from the garden.

Husband was very suspicious of the purple color, but he ate half the pan before all was said and done, so I guess it tasted okay.

All of these will make my recommended books under 5 list.

Chance in Hell by Patrick Kampman – Good book. This is really YA or more accurately the new genre being labeled “new adult.” It’s college-aged protags (unless you count the vampires, which we all know can be 12 or 342 plus). The humor falls right in there with typical guy humor of that age — groaningly bad puns on occasion, innuendos and eye-rolling type humor. But it fits the characters perfectly and sounds and feels accurate, especially if you have brothers. The mystery is a magical object rather than a “who is the bad guy” and it works well. There are plenty of creatures. Some of the explanations of vamps, weres, trolls and their “cultures” could have been trimmed, but then again, the author does wiggle the more typical rules for some of them and that has to be made clear.

I’m always amused by guys trying to figure out women–this book has just enough of that sort of pondering. It has hot cars, hot guys and hot chicks–and one heck of a mess.

Recommended if you like YA/UF.

Susanna and the Spy – Anna Elliot – I don’t know how to rank this since I don’t read a lot of romance. It has a nice mystery, although it’s a fairly linear story, and I knew the whodunit early on. It’s farfetched in the extreme in a few places, but this isn’t read for believability. It’s the characters and the fun and the book comes through in those cases. It’s light and clean and enjoyable. I usually ask for a bit more plausibility from a book, and I do think Elliot’s writing and plotting is much more mature in her Urban Fantasy work (Demon Hunter with Baby). This is a comfort read–when you’re looking for chocolate and tea and book with a happy ending, this book fits the bill.

Graveyard Shift by Angela Roquet – Worth the read. Stronger first half than last. Some unique concepts, some good humor. I thought it could have used another editing pass for some minor annoyances. Strong characterization, although I did feel that there were some personality changes that were rather jarring. The main character makes the book and the secondary characters are generally well-done, but fell short near the end. The plot was well-done, with a nice reveal in the who-dunit. One of the important battles could have been smoothed out–the placement of a couple of the characters was either odd or confusing and it took away from the scene for me. I read that scene twice and couldn’t sort it.

Nevertheless, considering the price and the enjoyment value, worth reading. Recommended for UF readers.

Are y’all ready to tell me the best read you read this month??? Don’t forget to keep track!

I buy particular varieties of tomato plants because over the years, I’ve learned which ones taste best and which ones produce enough to matter. Last year I grew an Amish Paste from seed and it was delicious. Not particularly hardy, but it produced well-enough and the tomatoes were wonderful tasting. They made great salsa and great tomato sauce. Of course I had to grow it again this year. Seedlings can be finicky so when I lucked upon a plant at a nursery already 8 inches high, I snapped it up. Sure, it was early, but I re-pot and protect them until it gets warm.

Amish Paste is a bright red roma tomato, similar to the red ones in the picture below (those are actually Italia Viva). Quite unlike the tomato shown in the center that I picked this morning from my “Amish” plant.

Not a very good disguise, Mr. Striped Roman.

In other failed camouflage we have lazy cat Scamper pretending to be a board. She’s not quite flat enough.

Amazon has introduced a way to send blog posts or short stories directly to Kindle devices. A few (hundred?) years ago, a little magazine published a story of mine called Top Secret. Since the story ran on that blog, I never published it to Kindle.

But now, for anyone wanting to read a VERY zany and silly short story just for fun, visit This Page and select the “Send to Kindle” button at the top. You will be asked to log into your Amazon account and okay the “send.” I had to do it twice before it actually arrived on my Kindle. I do not know why I had to do it twice, but the first time, it just didn’t show up on my Kindle.

If you don’t have a Kindle and want to read “Top Secret” you can click the link and read the story online.

If you send the story to your kindle, let me know how it works and whether you like the idea. (You can also tell me if you liked the story.)

The story is a cozy read and contains no paranormal elements.

EDITED TO ADD: I’ve had some requests for epub format. I can’t send epub format directly to anyone’s reader, but I do have the story in epub format. If you would like to read it in epub format, leave a comment (there’s a field that only I see where you can put your email) and request it or email me and request the format. I would be happy to email you the epub format.

Austin recently banned stores from providing non-resuable plastic bags. You know the ones. Everyone uses them in grocery stores, Home Depot–your typical plastic bag, just like the one blowing outside in your street this morning.

Before you start thinking too highly of Austin being great environmentalists, the truth is: They are out of dumping grounds. They’ve been fighting for years to expand or to buy shares in neighboring landfills. They are having to pay higher prices to get rid of trash and truck it further away. Thus, they are taking various steps and one of them was to ban the typical plastic grocery bag. Millions and millions of them clog the landfills.

I shop in Austin stores now and then since I’m right on the border of it and Cedar Park. One of the larger HEB grocery stores is on the Austin side and they are affected by the ban. The first time I shopped there after the ban, hardly anyone had their reusable bags, despite numerous notices. These days, a mere month later, almost everyone has them. If they don’t, rather than pay for bags, they will usually just throw everything back in the cart and then into the car.

Think about it. A month. In a very large city. Almost No One is using plastic, throw-them-out, bags. Sure, there are still millions in cupboards, those ones we all save for the “I might need a bag.” But instead of getting millions more, the entire city of Austin is now re-using bags. Some of them are plastic, but they are larger, thicker and have handles. They cost money so aren’t likely to be tossed aside after one or two uses. 900,000 people are going to the grocery, to the hardware store, to Wal-mart and they are not getting one-time use plastic bags.

The lady in front of me today had a full cart of groceries. If she had bagged that the old way, I estimate it would have been fifteen or more plastic bags. Instead, her groceries were packed tightly into five large bags (two were cloth and the others looked like sturdy plastic/cloth mixed.) And she’ll use those bags again.

In one month, I wonder how many fewer bags made it to the landfill? Think about it. In one year, one city, how many fewer bags will be in a dump, in the street, or wrapped around a light pole?

I’ve used cloth bags for going on twelve years. Every now and then we’d get a plastic bag at a store, but those bags were always stashed and re-used because where else do you put that noxious xyz that you don’t want directly in your garbage can?

It’s not hard to do once you’re in the habit of stashing cloth bags in your car. The ones I have are called boat bags and they can handle 4 bottles of 2 liter soda or two gallons of milk. In the case of today’s shopping expedition, 10 bags of pasta, tortillas and mushrooms. I own several of the canvas bags, as well as smaller bags and a cold-case bag that is lined and insulated for milk and cheese. Dang. I forgot to buy ice cream…

I’m kind of amazed at the bag ban, but it’s really great to see people bringing their own bags. Most don’t seem to mind one bit. It’s just a habit.

One of my bags is a GreenBagLady bag. And it turns out, she is giving away bags this morning. Entry is easy. Enter your email address in the comments (disguised so it doesn’t get picked up by spam bots). She selects winners and sends out free grocery bags. They are good for potatoes, onions, pasta…you name it. The patterns are beautiful (mine is paisley) and the fabric is donated by various fabric and sewing companies.

I wonder how much petroleum it takes to make one million bags?