An extremely rainy summer in New England has given way to a pleasant autumn along the coast of Maine. What a wonderful time for writing and reading books! Crisp leaves stir underfoot, acorns drop from oak trees on sunny afternoons, and the apple harvest at my local pick-your-own orchard has been bountiful.
Apple-peelers are handy devicesCold storage is best for applesMaking Apple Crisp
Leaves, beautiful leaves
A small maple tree spreads its delicate branches in a local forest preserve
Most of the tall oaks still haven’t lost their golden leaves, but the first light snowflakes began to fall about a week ago. Usually the first flakes strike a bit of fear into my heart, because winters are very long in Maine.
But this time I enjoyed the brief wintery spell because it set the mood for the final touches on my upcoming book, a mystery novella that’s set in December: The Ruins of Reverie.
New Book!
Did you know that central France is home to forests, rugged terrain, and geothermal hot springs? Wildcats also live there, interestingly enough.
These are just some of the fascinating features I learned while researching the area for the fourth volume of the Stonehaven Mysteries.
For any of my readers who have been mystified by the origins of the winged Cat, check out this final installment in the series!
It’s June and lupines are blooming along the coast of Maine!
Rainstorms and lingering clouds have kept us relatively free of the wildfire smoke that’s been blanketing New York and other eastern cities with a thick orange haze. Here in Maine, our summer might have been cold and gray so far, but the skies seem to be clearing up at last.
Many species of wildflowers burst into bloom this month and right now the lupines are putting on a fine show.
Wild Strawberries and Rhubarb
Most of the coastline is heavily forested here, but wherever you find a grassy field or pasture, you’ll find wild strawberries too. Rhubarb patches are common around old homesteads.
Wild strawberries are tiny, soft, fragile fruits, so collecting a large quantity of them is impractical, but these little goodies ripen at the same time as rhubarb. Just a handful can pack a burst of flavor.
Wild Strawberries ripening in my back meadow – tiny but bursting with flavor
Rhubarb stalks in a shady patch next to my barn
Easy Recipe for Rhubarb Sauce with Strawberries
You can substitute stalks of purchased rhubarb and finely diced regular strawberries in this recipe.
Fresh rhubarb (enough to make about 2 cups of diced chunks).
Fresh wild strawberries (about 1/4 cup)
Sugar to taste
Rinse fruit. Dice the rhubarb stalks. Place rhubarb chunks and whole wild strawberries in saucepan with 1/4 cup water. Cover and bring to a boil, then quickly lower to a simmer.
Continue to simmer until the fruit is tender, about 5 minutes. Rhubarb is naturally very sour, so you’ll need to sweeten up this sauce with white or brown sugar. (Start with 2 TBS and add more if desired.)
Enjoy warm or chilled.
Recently I came across a great source of recipe ideas from the Maine Cooperative Extension. Many of the recipes feature produce and other staples of Maine. Here’s the link:
When I first started working on Hidden Cove, I never realized that artificial intelligence would spread so quickly and become such a big part of our lives. This summer I’ve been thinking a lot about AI as I draft the follow-up.
As Kiri’s story continues in the sequel to Hidden Cove, she’ll have to come to grips with envy… and with the ancient menace lurking in the waters. And DreamReader’s innovate airborne device won’t be the only technological threat on the horizon.
While I’ve been drafting the sequel, I’ve given a new look to Hidden Cove with a cover that reflects its remote location and suspenseful tone.
It’s April – and it’s snowing again in my New England meadow
The Calendar Says It’s Spring
I can hear the sounds of spring. Birds are chirping and warbling somewhere outside. But what I see is SNOW.
Yes – it’s snowing again! And there are still no leaves on the trees.
This is New England, where it snows even in April. At least the snow melts quickly in this season. On the other hand, when the snow melts there’s LOTS of mud.
The snow melts quickly in April! Downside: then there’s LOTS of mud!
Do I Have Any Choice in Footwear?
The other day I chanced to be in a store where I saw some good-looking footwear on sale. To buy or not to buy? The styles were attractive and the sale prices were tempting. For a moment I wavered – and then I remembered all the mud.
There’s only one real choice in footwear in this season
My practical pair of boots can handle all the mud around these parts. Not very fashionable, but they do the job.
Evergreens and Pink Skies
Without any spring flowers or new leaves there’s not much color. But there’s still some – the needles of evergreens provide a muted green and the sky is often pink with color at sunrise and sunset. Do you like the smell of evergreens? Their scent is supposed to be especially energizing. If you’d like to try an aromatherapy essential oil, check out this link to the folks at PlantTherapy. They carry a wide range of oils including spruce and balsam fir. I’ve used their spruce and fir holiday blend and can vouch for an authentic scent.
Color, fabulous color! The trees don’t have any leaves, but the eastern sky can be a luminous pink at sunrise
More plusses to counter the mud: Around here, the air is always fresh. Your drinking water comes from a well that pumps from a subterranean reserve under your own property.
The coast of New England is also a quiet place to write and think. It’s far away from traffic and the bustle of cities. OK, so the internet’s a little sketchy here – I don’t have any internet service at home, in fact. But that makes it easy to spend time imagining story dialogues and scenes.
Or to imagine the coming of spring leaves and flowers at last!
Walking and writing, reading and thinking, being with my kids… there are so many lovely forest paths nearby. This one leads through a coastal fog forest. I snapped the photo about 3 months ago – before it became freezing cold here on the New England Coast!
I snapped this photo near my home. Maples in New England can flame with color, can’t they? The quote from the poet William Wordsworth seemed just right, so I paired it with the picture. (Many thanks from this author for the free GIMP software that’s available!)
Wordsworth was a poet who thought that people should set aside books (which he equated with analytical thinking) and go outside, into nature, to learn about life in a better way.
I think I agree with him – some of the time. But not all of the time. There’s a place for study, for analysis. It does tend to take over our lives, though, and we need to control it.
In Threshold of Destiny, my hero knows all about poetry, having written quite a bit himself during the English Romantic Era. Besides the fact that he’s a vampire, he’s also very opinionated and well-read. He doesn’t necessarily agree with Wordsworth and speaks his mind on this -and all topics – except when he’s hiding his true nature from the heroine.
