When I was making my bed yesterday, I kept hearing something like a branch hitting one of the windows--only there was no wind and no branch for that matter. Living in our house, stuff like that isn't unusual, but since it was cleansed for good several months ago, my first thought was "They're back." So I ignored the noise and kept at it, but the noise kept at it too. I'd just finished arranging too many pillows on the bed when I gave up and looked at the window to see the culprit--an adult male blue bird. My good friend and fellow author Anna Lee Huber and I commiserate sometimes about how … [Read more...]

Meet Molly, my soon-to-be 10 year old black Lab. Molly is the matriarch of our pack that includes Wylie, a 2 year old 90 pound yellow Lab who will always be a puppy, and Toby, our Jack Russell Terrorist who lives up to his moniker. Toby is a bully, and I was sure he was the alpha of the pack, but after attending an enlightening talk about wolves by Jodi Picoult, I learned that actually Molly is the alpha. The alpha, usually a female, tells the other dogs what to do, and nobody messes with her. I've watched Molly bark out orders (sorry I couldn't resist,) and do her part for the pack, often … [Read more...]

                                                                                                  After getting married almost 31 years ago, my husband Mike and I left home, I from New Ellenton, SC and Mike fromAiken,SC. Since then we've lived in St. Louis, Tampa, Charlotte, a little village just outside Milwaukee, and then back to Charlotte. Our hometowns have changed as much as we have over the years, but there's still something about driving down Whiskey Road in Aiken or the rolling hills between there and New … [Read more...]

Pardon me while I write a little rant about Bambi and his family who has twins 85% of the time and NO natural predators (there are NOT enough coyotes) to keep them out of my flowers. I KNOW you’re convinced this winter will NEVER end, but it will soon and Bambi and his obnoxious family will be lining up at your landscaping like it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet. And here’s another news flash, sure my bio says I have 126 rose bushes, but that was three years and many trips to Witherspoon Roses ago, still that doesn’t give deer the right to chow down on the roses or the rubeckia that is … [Read more...]