We are in the middle of August, buzzing August. The hot weather has slacked off, at least for now, and the landscape has a slightly frazzled late summer look that perfectly captures the way I feel.

In May, Clif suggested we create a podcast called Tales from the Other Green Door. This involved writing a new story, and I came up with The Wings of Luck, a twelve-episode spin-off from my Great Library series. Running at about ninety pages, The Wings of Luck could be considered a novella, and last week I finished tightening and tweaking it. In between, I gardened furiously in May; put together an information packet for the cover to Out of Time, my fantasy novel that will be coming out in November; and dealt with the ongoing stress of life during a pandemic.

And now, to borrow from Bilbo Baggins, I feel like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. I need a break, a week off where I bob through the days and rest from time to time, like this turtle on the rock.

Clif and I have decided to make a proper staycation of it, with various treats—mostly low carb and low cal—and drinks on the patio when the weather allows.

Then, it will be on to recording the podcast. I will also be getting Out of Time, Book Three of my Great Library Series, ready for printing this November.

Have a good week, everyone.

I’ll catch you on the flipside.

Once upon a time, I used to write real book reviews where I read with great care, marked passages of note, and labored on the actual review. Alas, those days are gone. With a book coming out every other year, all my energy is going into my own work. I feel bad about this as I really enjoy bringing attention to other people’s books.

So for the past few years, it’s been all or nothing for me: Because I didn’t have the time to write a proper review, I didn’t write anything. Then I had a belatedly brilliant flash—it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. When I come across books of interest, especially if they’re written by friends, blogging or otherwise, I can simply feature the book on my blog and write a few lines about it.

Therefore, here is a book I’d like to bring to your attention—Twigs in My Hair by Cynthia Reyes. Twigs in my Hair is for gardeners and would-be gardeners or for people who simply like looking at gardens. Also, for those who are interested in a memoir told through gardening stories past and present. And surely Twigs in my Hair must be one of the best titles ever. (Full disclosure: My husband did the page layout.)

Cynthia, a blogging friend, has a warm, vivid writing style that pulls a reader in. The book features gorgeous pictures taken by Cynthia’s husband, Hamlin. I am not ashamed to admit that I had an acute case of gardener’s envy as I read Twigs in My Hair.  Readers, put this book on your TBR list, and with the holidays just around the corner, it would make a lovely gift for friends or family.

From books we go to food, a subject that is ever on my mind. As I’ve written in previous posts, my husband, Clif, is on extremely low-carb diet. We are a carb-loving family, and cutting back on carbs has proven to be a great challenge. Fortunately, we have found ways to eat a low-carb diet and even enjoy it. Joseph’s flax, oat bran, and whole wheat pita bread is one reason why. This pita is a soft and tasty bread substitute. It can be folded in half, toasted, and used as a taco shell. Untoasted and folded, it makes a dandy roll for a burger. Or sausage. Or whatever.

How low carb is this pita bread? Take a look, and keep in mind that a whole wheat roll has about 20 grams of carbs. (Clif aims to keep his carb intake to around 70 grams a day.)

I do want to emphasize I’m not getting any kickbacks when I endorse a product. I am to Joseph’s as a flea is to an elephant.

Finally, what’s not to like about a finch taking a drink from a birdbath at dusk as you sit on the patio? Nothing at all. Pure happiness to watch that little beauty.

To read what small pleasures are making Thistles and Kiwis happy, click here.

This week’s happiness post is a humdinger. James Egan, the brilliant designer at Bookfly Design, has created a fabulous cover for my upcoming book, Out of Time, which will be released in November 2020.

This is Book Three in my Great Library Series, where the heroine, Maya Hammond, must find a way to defeat Cinnial, the fallen librarian, whose burning ambition is to control the Great Library, where all information in our universe flows.

The mission to defeat Cinnial has taken Maya across the universe. In Out of Time, Maya travels even farther. She goes to a dimension called Elferterre, which is ruled by Magic rather than by Time, the dominant force in our universe. With her new team—Will, Jay, and Lexie—Maya embarks on a quest to steal a lock from a powerful elf named Galli. The lock will help Maya trap Cinnial.

In Elferterre—green and mysterious with a touch of steampunk—Maya, Will, Jay, and Lexie encounter allies and foes, including a talking cat, a witch, sprites, ogres, imps, and a mechanical horse. All the while, Magic swirls around Elferterre, enhancing the good and bad in every creature that Maya and her team meet.

Maya falls in love, treks again across the universe, and encounters her biggest challenge yet.

Will Maya have the courage to face this challenge? Or will she falter?

Readers, I will be sure to let you know when Out of Time is published. My first two books—Maya and the Book of Everything and Library Lost—are available through our Hinterlands Press website.

And that’s it for this post, even though I usually include three things that are making me happy. After all, what can top a new cover?

To read what small pleasures are making Thistles and Kiwis happy, click here.

Once again, we got lucky at our home in the woods. Because the hurricane moved west, Maine got scraped rather than directly hit. But it was a hard scrape, and over 91,000 customers lost their electricity as trees came down across power lines.

Although plenty of people in Winthrop lost their power, we did not. The lights flickered several times, but that was it, and I awoke to the comforting hum of the refrigerator.  Such a relief. We have two freezers—one upstairs and one down cellar—and it would have been hard to lose all that food if the power had been knocked out for days and days, the way it often is on our rural road.

In a little while, Clif and I will head outside to put the patio back in order. The birds really depend on the bird bath for water, and yesterday they couldn’t figure out why the bowl was on the ground. They just sat on the pedestal and looked around, wondering where the water had gone. I felt bad for the birds.

Here’s a picture of our lonely patio. Soon the table and chairs will be back, and the bird bath will be put together so that there will be plenty of water for the birds.

Other parts of the United States weren’t as lucky as Maine. In particular, the hurricane hammered North Carolina, New Jersey, and other states on the Eastern Seaboard. I’ve heard from one New Jersey blogging friend, and all is well with her. I hope the same is true for other blogging friends whose homes were in the path of the storm.

And for all those who were hit by the hurricane, may the recovery  be swift.

Here we are as July tiptoes into August. The weather has rocked between hot and humid and nice summer days.  Even in my shady yard, flowers bloom. Then they go by, and more flowers bloom.

On the edge of blooming are the black-eyed Susans, that lovely flower of late summer.

As a bonus happy point, these flowers last a long time, providing a burst of yellow in gardens that might be past their best.

Regular readers of this blog know that my husband Clif has Type 2 diabetes and has gone on a low-carb diet. Not long ago we discovered these tortillas wraps that have 5 net carbs per tortilla.

The tortillas are tasty, and we use them for wraps for lunch nearly every day.

But a few weeks ago, I figured out that they can also be used to make low-fat, low-carb chips to go with salsa.

The process couldn’t be easier. Put the tortillas on a cookie sheet, and cut into a dipable size. A pizza cutter works really for this. Brush the tops with a little olive oil and sprinkle with some salt. Bake at 375°F for ten minutes.

Et voilá! Crunchy, low-carb, low-cal chips that, as my Yankee husband notes, are pretty darned good.

And last, another Tiny Desk Concert. This time Aimee Mann. Readers might remember her when she was in the group ‘Til Tuesday. Aimee Mann’s songs are rueful, sad, and beautifully written. She’s as much a poet as she is a musician.

To read what small pleasures are making Thistles and Kiwis happy, click here.