Help!

I'm drowning in fruit. We've got an apple tree and a pear tree in our back yard that have been producing loads of fruit since we arrived. We've also got grapes which will be ripe any day now. Then there's our gruff neighbor Fred. He brought over several pounds of plums the other day. And by several I mean a LOT.

Considering how expensive groceries are and how many kids I've got to feed, I can't complain about the plethora of fruit. The problem is, I don't know what to do with it. Can it? Bake it into bread or cake? Freeze it? What does one do with ripe fruit other than snack on it?

I've looked up recipes and have so far made pear/plum jam, several loaves of pear bread, an apple pie, a pear pie, zucchini bread (zucchini compliments of our neighbor Leonora). At this point, I'm sick of peeling fruit and I'm tired of baking. Which is saying a lot seeing as how I love to bake.

So, if anybody knows a way to freeze fruit without it getting gross and brown and mushy, I'd love to hear it.

After the Storm

My sister already has electricty. She's fortunate. I know a lot of people in Houston are still without power. She sent me some pictures of the damage to the neighborhood and the cute picture above of her two sons playing in the dark (dad is holding a flashlight on the game). It makes me thankful to have lights and working bathrooms and so many other things that I take for granted.

We're really blessed in this country.

Hurricane yIKEs

Above is a picture of my sister's boarded up window as well as the sky above her Houston home yesterday evening before the hurricane hit. Last night, she, her husband and two kids rode out the storm. Since the eye of the hurricane never went over their town, they had hours of high wind with no reprieve. Sara said the house was literally shaking beneath the force of it. We're so thankful the house is still standing, but more thankful that Sara and her family are okay.

Let's all remember to pray for those that weren't so fortunate. There's a lot of devastation in Houston and the surrounding area and many people will need support in the weeks to come.

New Inspiration

When I wrote my first published book, I had been inspired by Smith Mountain Lake. My mother-in-law had just had a house built, and the beauty and serenity of the place touched something deep in my soul. Every time I visit Kitty, I am reminded of Romans 1:20 - For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

There is so much beauty in this world it is seemingly impossible to believe that it happened by chance. Creation cries out, demanding our attention, commanding us to acknowledge the truth.

Here in Spokane, I look at distant mountains and deep blue sky, I hear the whisper of wind through fields of long grass and I want to drink it all in, write it all down. I am not an artist who paints or draws. I am a word artist. My books are my canvas. My words my medium.

And this new place I've come to is ripe with inspiration.

What inspires you?

New Covers

Well, after several years of covers with no people, I've got two covers with people on them. I guess the hunky Sinclair brothers really did deserve to be put on the covers of their books. The above hunky hero is Grayson Sinclair. I've never been much for covers that have people on them. I think, though, that if I saw this in the store I'd pick it up. Good looking guy. Nice colors. What more can an author or reader ask? Besides a good story that is!