Saying Good-bye to a Cozy Critter

Saying Good-bye to a Cozy Critter

(Cover picture is by Jane Barron.) We filled the round booth in the back corner of the cafe. A bouquet of flowers sat on the table. Gathered around were five Cozy Critters, Carolyn, Peg, Nancy, Jane, and me. We laughed, took pictures, and ate. But, at the center of it all was a bit of […]

Frustrations and the Herb Garden

Frustrations and the Herb Garden

We’ve had so much rain lately, that I hadn’t been able to stick the last of my little herbs into the ground. I didn’t want to dash out between lightning flashes and plant them in the mud. But, finally, a sunny day. I pulled up the grass and weeds that had dared to poke up […]

When the Storm Becomes Vicious

When the Storm Becomes Vicious

This time it was Dayton, Ohio, who received the fury of a turbulent storm. As I read about this, I thought how quickly and without warning people’s lives change; often, that change is forever. In a few moments time, a violent, twisting wind, or rising flood waters devastate lives and rearrange the future. Arkansas and […]

Welcome to a Wet, Soggy World

Welcome to a Wet, Soggy World

The picture of the mother robin and babies isn’t mine, but it might as well be. The nest is on a brick ledge like mine and the mama and her babies look exactly like the ones here at my house. The babies have hatched! The weeks of sitting on those eggs and keeping them warm […]

The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up

The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up

  Many of us have been experiencing rain, rain, and more rain. And, flooding. Flood records are being broken as creeks and rivers overflow and dams are strained to capacity. What a wet month! A few years ago, when I was writing the fourth Darcy and Flora cozy, Grave Heritage, Tahlequah experienced the wettest July […]

A Home of Sticks

A Home of Sticks

She sits on her little nest of sticks and feathers and this and that. It’s sort of a hodge podge of building materials, but it suits her and it’s home to those tiny blue eggs she warms patiently, day and night. Robins’ nests aren’t known as architectural wonders. And, although they do their best, mama […]