1211 (35% done) YEA!!

 First, just let me give a big shout-out to my good friend Tex who I now has been religiously reading every blog and every social media post I have been able to produce lately. You don't know how much that means to me. I love technology...I'm not good at it, but my daughter is, and she showed me the ISP of several frequent flyers;  you're one of the top contenders, Tex!! Oh, you have made my heart sing.  You have danced on my soul, and I appreciate it. Thank you. If I can bring a smile to your face, I will praise the God we love, and consider it a blessing to do so.

    That being said, my book "1211" is 35% written. What? Yes, it is true. I am getting into it now. Let me say, I'm loving it. Mercedes is about to describe the women of the house, and we're about to find out that there's a ghost of a chance that someone dead is still very dead in the basement and he's not being all that quiet about it. 

    There's an arson to report. There's a car show coming up, and the First National Bank will suffer one of its biggest robberies tomorrow -- not in true time, not in reality, don't go off telling the FBI that I said I was robbing the bank! No. The bank in my book is the First National Bank, and in my book, this very very fictional, not-real book, it will be robbed. Do you think I made the point that it isn't really going to happen? I hope so. Of course, I would die laughing if they were robbed tomorrow and I am sitting here with this blog out there in front of God and everyone.

    Tonight will be a good night. I'll read more of my Perry Mason story, the one I'm gleaning information to spice up my book a little. I do that. I don't plagiarize God knows I'd hang myself first; I do borrow things and recreate situations. I do give credit, and I also twist and uncover ways to say the same things someone else said without being a thief about it. There is nothing new under that old ball of fire in the sky, you know, so I can say something that someone else said without being held accountable to anyone. I am very careful not to be a boo-bear in those terms.

    So, Elaine found out today that her husband had been intimate, or maybe he had been intimate with a very famously gorgeous superstar after they had said their international goodbyes about eight years prior. She's not going to let that happen again - - no sirree!! She's got her painted nails dug very deeply into the man, and he doesn't want to be anywhere but where he is.

    It's a good book. I like it.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia.com  (Mabel Normand)

1211 (Finished with Chapter 9) Woot!

 If I'm going by all the other novels I've written, then I have to say that the average word count is about 86,000 for each. I'm at 25,000 basically, and that means I'm more than 25% finished. I'm about 29% finished. Woot!!

    Right now, at the end of Chapter 9, I'm about to bring Nick back to the front porch of 1211 W. Garvey to talk with Mercedes about the women who live in the large housing unit. She's explained the behaviors of all the men who live in it, but the women may prove to be the undercurrent of the murky waters that seem so still and quiet above their rocky beds.

    I'm keeping MacRae and Ferguson in the picture by adding conversations with them. Posh just met a new helper who will prove instrumental in proving his father's murder was in fact a murder, and maybe he'll get somewhere with the new District Attorney of Canadian County; maybe someone can be investigated and brought to justice. We'll have to see what happens.

    For now, suffice it to say I am having a blast writing this particular book. I knew I would. I knew it would be a fun and eventful time for me. I'm making crap up, I'm recalling things that really happened, and I'm just living the life...the life of an author that is, not necessarily the good life. I'm living my life.

    One of the things I love about this book is that it can't be too weird or peculiar. Nope, this one is one quirk after the other, and with good cause. I lived that life for a while in a creepy old house that had a history to not only speak of but to keep quiet about. Yep, you guessed it, there really was a 1211, but I can promise you I didn't murder anyone there; he was dead long before I got there.

Photo Credit: Canva.com

1211 (Chapter Six is DONE!)

 I don't know why I took almost a full month off from writing, but I was just not feeling it. I was not there. It was not there. I was and am thinking of other things. I need to stop that and keep the flow going. The writing is what I need and the writing is what will happen. Thank you, Jesus.

    So, I'm about to start Chapter 7 of the book now, having just finished 4, 5, and 6 today. I'll probably do 7, 8, and 9 tomorrow, and then at least 2 chapters a day from Monday through Friday, so that's another 10 chapters. If I'm at 7, 8, 9, tomorrow, and then 10 more, that's 19 chapters expected by this time Friday, and if I do 3 more on Saturday and three more on Sunday, that's 25!! Woot. I could be so close to finishing the book!! Oh my!

    It doesn't always happen that way. As you see, I took off a month and just hit it hard today. I'm loving it, and I'm about to start the process where I pull out the cards and start writing what I think should happen from one chapter to the next, but I'm not quite there yet. I am not at the point where the characters are branching off and doing things that begin to take over my brain yet - - it's coming, I promise you that.

    I've got one of the 9 household residents described. She's a hoot. She'll have visitors and "visitors" coming by to see her soon enough. Right now, the family is getting all settled into their new city; they just got married, they'll find a home soon and little Alistair will enroll in school. He'll be going to the same school my mom went to; just so you know. 

    I'm really looking forward to writing this book. It's quirky, fun, uplifting, interesting, weird, and downright strange at times. I can't wait to dig into it and really get the stories going. Some of them actually happened to me, that's why I'm so excited to leak them to the world and pretend I have no idea what I'm talking about...all the while I laugh in one of those subdued voices.

    Soon, and very soon, there will be naked people in the hallways, and bathtubs overflowing without anyone taking credit for the prank. There will be mishaps, murder, mayhem, and mayonnaise, and when I say that I am implying that the mayonnaise could have something to do with the mishaps, murder, and mayhem. It's a ride...it's a whipping-the-head-around ride, and I am so looking forward to writing it. I don't care if I don't sell a single book, I am going to have too much fun writing this one. I may write two just so I can get all these stories out of my head!

    Good luck trying to stop me from laughing, because this story, this book is a killer - - and then again, the murder was so long ago that it's a bit dusty at this point. 

Photo Credit: Getty Images Westend61

The Seventh Time is the Winner! (Not Recommended)

 By now, you should know that I am an author. I auth. It's what I do. I write books, and I publish them for free -- or nearly for free, and then, sometimes that doesn't work out for me as I expect it to. This is one of those times.

    The book "Edinburgh" is my 9th or 10th book to write, I'm not sure, but it was my 3rd book to write in 2023.  I wrote it in the summer and I wrote it rather quickly, as I didn't have to think too hard about it. I finally finished it in late August, and I think I submitted it for publication on the 1st of September. 

    I always write the book, go through it a few times, and submit it for publishing before I go through it hardcore to make any changes. The reason for that (though I've changed my mind about that very recently) is that I can't find my mistakes when I go back over the manuscript soon after I write it. I need a couple of weeks of it being out of my head before I can see the mistakes. Allowing it to be published puts the book into pressed and printed form, so I can hold it, go through it, circle the mistakes, then take the book out of print and correct it.

    There is a chance that during that time the book will sell a couple of copies.  The book "Of Kilted Pleasure" sold 47 copies before it was corrected, to which I have to somehow find all those people and apologize. I don't think I'll do that again, I'm serious, I think I've learned my lesson. It was a good thought, but it doesn't work out for those paying for the book only to have it come to them with errors - - mind you, however, that they will own a collector's item at that point!! 

    Anyway, "Edinburgh" had 29 errors and boo-boos. I fixed them in the Word document and I sent it back to Ingram Spark. They sent it back saying the file was corrupted. They don't tell me HOW the file is corrupted, just that it is, and I'm supposed to both read minds and assume I know the way to fix the issue. I reprinted it in PDF which flattens anything and it embeds all the fonts (don't ask me what that means, but it does have to be done), and that didn't help. It was returned again.

    After making more "corrections" which I really didn't, but said I did, I resubmitted the file. Guess what, they accepted it, but when they sent it for approval, there were spacing issues that I didn't do - - they had to. I complained, but no one responded. They just said I could fix it and resubmit it. OK, but they screwed up, and that won't be on my original file! I had to resubmit the file I had, and they sent it back again, again saying it was corrupt -- I searched and searched. I didn't see any issues, but apparently, they did, so I had to resubmit it once more.

    Finally, they accepted it again. I tried to approve it, but now they had removed a couple of my blank pages which would give better spacing for things like the "Thank You" page and so forth. I tried to correct it, and I tried to resave it, but the file manager would not allow the correction. I would have had to redo the entire thing - - not going to do that. I approved it as it is, but when you or others buy it, you'll just have to deal with the lack of pages for the spacing that I truly wanted.

    When I am really famous some publisher will take all my books and redo them the way they want to redo them, and I won't have to worry about it -- until then, I have the right to complain, fuss, and cuss a a little. The service at Ingram Spark is virtually free, and they do a relatively good job; it's not perfect, but it gets my books into Amazon and Barnes & Noble, so I'm OK with it. I just can't figure out how they can delete pages and my files aren't being saved correctly. I shouldn't have to mess with a file once it's been corrected on my end.

    It is what it is - - which is a harsh statement. I could take the time, redo it, force the issue, and be upset about a page or two, but I'm not going to do that. There was one submission I had to redo because they added random pages in the middle of the book!! GEEZ!!  When I complained to their supervisors I did get somewhere, but again, I shouldn't have to do that. People should just do their jobs...really, they should.

    The book is on Amazon. Here is the link. If you buy it and it was the one that was left before the correction, please write back to them and say so. They will replace it. I can't, but they can. THANK YOU.

http://tinyurl.com/StringfellowEdinburgh

Photo Credit: Me.

    

My Bad!! (My Mistakes)

 As a writer, I write. As an author I auth, but I don't like correcting my mistakes. I mean, yeah, I do it, but I don't like it. I don't (a) like to admit that I make mistakes, (b) like to find them, and (c) like to correct them.  When I write I type. I also write it out in longhand in some ways, but not the entire book; what I do is write out the plots, the twists, my storyline, or my thoughts in longhand, then I type them up on my keyboard into the computer using Word. I paid for Word. I think it should correct my boo-boos.

    I wrote five novels last year starting with January's release (or early Feb.) of "Of Kilted Pleasure" and then I decided to get the ball rolling on the Nick Posh thrillers, so I wrote "Murder Book" for an April release I think. Next came "Edinburgh", another romance book that takes place in Scotland, but it is a modern romance, whereas "Of Kilted Pleasure" is a Highland Romance that takes place in the 18th Century.  "Edinburgh" wasn't finished until July, which makes you wonder what I wase doing in May and June! I was studying to become a Claims Adjuster.

    In August or early September I released the sequel to "Murder Book", it is titled "Pinball".  That's a roller-coaster book for sure. Then, just before the year ended, I released another book, this time a drama/romance titled "Bay Sorrel Ranch".  BSR takes place in Oklahoma and it is set in modern times. It's a drama novel, but it has twists and peaks in it. There's a romance, there's a murder, there's an investigation, there is some travel, and yeah, there is sex. Not gonna lie about it.

    When I write I write. I make tons of mistakes, but I don't immediately find them. If they have red or blue lines under the words I see them, but if they don't, I don't. It's a fact.  I paid for editing with "Of Kilted Pleasure" and that didn't happen. I've made that mistake before, and again, before, it didn't happen. I don't know why I thought paying for editing the next time would make a difference. It did not. I didn't realize I had made over 30 mistakes in the book until it was released and I bought a copy and read it!! (and then subsequently corrected it)

    So, what I did with the next 4 books, having published "Of Kilted Pleasure" through a house, and having self-published the others, was to write the books, go through them before I have them published, and I did try really hard to make the corrections before sending them up to be published - - until it didn't work. I literally thought I sent up the right file for "Bay Sorrel Ranch" the one with the corrections, but NOPE, I did not. I sent up the one with the 84 mistakes. When I sent it out, it was published, and when I bought it and read it I found the 84 mistakes. I have since (yesterday) corrected them and resubmitted the book.

    It really isn't hard to make the mistake I made in sending up the wrong file to be published. I named it too close to the one that didn't have the corrections, and when I should have deleted the other file, I didn't. I sent it up to be published. Wow!! So, that's a good lesson for me to learn -- when I write a book, I correct it. When I make changes, and save the file, I should always delete the last one. I keep thinking maybe I will need it, but I should just delete it. I also save it 5 times on my computer on my desktop, documents, downloads, and on two different flash drives. JUST INCASE!!

    So, what I'm going to do now, is to go through all the files I have on my computer for all the books I've written. I'll save ONLY the corrected versions, and delete the others. I'll save the corrected versions on all the platforms, but only the corrected versions. Maybe my new book, "1211" will not suffer the same fate - - maybe my readers won't suffer the same fate. The good news (and it's not really that great of news) is that I haven't sold many books so it won't make that big of a difference. If anyone wants to exchange their book with mistakes for one without mistakes, I can do that probably, or they can keep it as a collector's item!!

    I did have to change the cover for "Bay Sorrel Ranch" too since it had a nasty back cover that was off-center, and the photo needed attention. I corrected it. It should be up on Amazon in a week. We'll hope the others don't get sold or if they do someone will reach out to me complaining and I can change books for them - - that's the hope. If it doesn't happen and they want to give me a poor review, well, I can't stop that. I know I make mistakes; at least I admit it when I do.

    Right now, I'm watching old movies to get ideas to describe things in my book "1211" since it takes place in 1930. I'm watching old movies and looking at the dresses, the men's clothes, the cars, the street signs, the house decor, and so forth. I want it to be detailed and authentic. I'll end up screwing up and adding something from the '40s probably, but hey, we make boo-boos from time to time - - if we didn't we'd be robots and there's no fun in that.

Photo Credit: Me (but I'll change this cover since I need to reword the blurb on the back a bit)

    

    

"Murder in the Blue Room" (A good old funny film)

 I decided to watch a couple of older movies that deal with murder so I can get a few ideas for my new novel "1211".  It's going to be to research this way; I love old cheesy movies anyway, and those that have murder as a theme make me smile. I'm not smiling because there's a murder, per se, but you know what I mean. There are always detectives wearing Fedora hats, and women with stupid expressions! I love it.

    Universal Pictures put out a film in 1944 with June Preisser and others. The movie is "Murder in the Blue Room", and it didn't disappoint. It was cheesy, it was lame, it was one of the worst films out there in terms of actual acting, but let me just say I loved it. I'll recommend it to anyone who wants to spend an hour of their day watching dance routines, listening to old tunes, and trying to figure out the plot.

    I'll admit, I knew who the killer was almost right away, but I didn't see some of the twists that were thrown at me. I didn't particularly like the "ghost" as he was not only faker than fake, he was just too - - well, lame. I can't find another word, even though I have already used it. The ghost was lame for sure. He's not needed or necessary, but he's there, and it does make you shake your head and giggle - - so maybe he did his part.

    June Pressier is the smaller of the three "actors" who come and perform for the guests in the house. She is an amazing acrobat and performer. She used to dance in the streets to get money for her family back in the late '20s. Just such an amazing soul - - look her up on Wikipedia and learn something fun. Here's the link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Preisser

    When you have nothing else to do - - and you're not even writing a sequel to a murder book, you too can watch the movie on YouTube and just laugh a little. I'd suggest grabbing some popcorn and making a thing of it. Don't expect too much, OK? Don't think it's gritty, gutsy, or even glamorous. It's pretty...well,  I shouldn't use the word "lame" again, but there it is. It's lame, but it's amazingly so. I loved it.

    Now, I can come up with a few cheesy things for my characters in "1211" to do or say. I like having real inspiration and being able to credit it. I will too!! I'll write something in the book about the movie, even though the movie doesn't take place until 1944 and my book is placed around 1931...I can figure it out. I can make it happen. If nothing else, I'll leave a link in the back of the book - - and I guess I can leave it here too. Enjoy! ("Murder in the Blue Room")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsHnvXj22FU

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures / YouTube

Perfection in a Dish. (Orange Chicken over Rice)

 So, if you know me, you know I cook. You also know I write, and there are times when I compare cooking to having sex - - usually when I'm writing, and trying to hold the attention of my readers. Today, joy of joys, I'm just going to talk about cooking and leave all the bedroom innuendoes where they belong - - which is in the bedroom. Today, because I can, I'll talk about making perfected orange chicken over rice. (It's not hard)

    First, you make a choice to either buy the orange chicken in a bag at Trader Joe's (they do a great job) or if you're going to make it yourself using the raw ingredients. If you go the T.J. route, the entire thing only takes about 20 minutes once you soak the rice and you're done. I'll start with this method.

• Buy the long or jasmine rice.
• Buy the bag of orange chicken.
• Soak your rice for 10-15 minutes and rinse twice.
• Refill the rice cooker with enough water to only cover the rice that you're cooking. You don't want too much water. Start the rice cooker.
• While the rice is cooking, not soaking, you open the bag of orange chicken, remove the duck sauce packets and you spray a pan so you can load the pan and put it into the oven on 400  for about 20 minutes. (The rice will just about be done when your timer goes off.)  
• Once your timer goes off, remove the chicken, put it into a bowl mix it with the duck sauce, and place it back on the pan/cookie sheet to warm in the oven you just turned off while you make sure the rice is actually ready.
• Wash your mixing bowl so you can get that out of the way.
• When the rice is ready, you take the chicken out of the oven, and you stack the rice on your plate, add the chicken, and if you need more duck sauce you squeeze the little packets you were about to toss into the bin.

    OK, now for the real way, the more satisfying way in my opinion. Preheat your deep fryer and get it ready with new grapeseed or olive oil (extra virgin is best, and you don't need to fill up the fryer, if you're using a smaller fryer that's better anyway, you only need to use about 2" of oil) You do NOT want your oil to be too hot. You want it to be hot enough to fry but not to burn the meat on the outside. (Check your instructions on the machine you use, if you use an open pot on the stove, be sure to not plop your pieces into the oil. Lower them with a slatted plastic spoon.)

• Buy your rice and chicken.
• Buy flour, eggs, and milk too. (to make a good batter)
• Cut the chicken into small pieces (1" pieces or smaller)
• Soak your rice for 10-15 minutes. Rinse twice, and fill up the rice cooker to the point that your rice is covered, but no more. Start the rice cooker.
• Mix the flour (1/2 cup, 1 egg white, and some milk) into a bowl, and give the egg yolk to your dog who by this time has realized you're in the kitchen and should be there to help you.
• Dip the chicken pieces into the batter and get them all battered up and ready to be fried.
• Put the chicken CAREFULLY into the deep fryer, a few pieces at a time. When they are floating, let them turn golden brown, remove them, and add more chicken pieces.
• This process takes about 8-10 minutes, so be sure and time it correctly so your rice is not still cooking. You want both the rice and the chicken to finish at about the same time. (I could absolutely have added a sexual comment right there, but I am refraining. Have you noticed how many times I have possibly restrained?)
• When the rice and the chicken are both done, you can start the duck sauce. It's really fun.
• You'll need: orange or apricot jam, chili or cayenne sauce, soy sauce, a bit of white vinegar, and garlic. It's 100% up to you as to how much of each you use. I use the following:

1. 1/4 cup of jam
2. 1/4 cup of soy sauce
3. 1 tsp garlic
4. 1 tsp cayenne pepper
5. 3 tablespoons of white vinegar

Mix the ingredients together, and pour them over the chicken or keep them as a dip, it's up to you. Once you top the rice with the chicken you can say your prayers and enjoy your meal. I hope you have learned something today - - if nothing else, you have learned that I don't always have to mix my fantasies with my recipes, but you also know me well enough by now to know I did so in my head.  That invisible Scotsman who often likes to join me both in the kitchen and the bedroom made his appearance at least a couple of times during this blog -- he is just too cute for words.  Sigh....oh...Craig! Not here, wait...sigh.

Photo Credit:  Me

Earthquakes in Diverse Places. (Like Oklahoma)

 It's been several years now, but one day I was in my apartment living right here where I live now as far as apartment complexes are concerned. I lived upstairs and I had a really sweet neighbor whose son had just moved back with her for a few weeks to save money to get into his new house. Well, I poured myself another cup of tea and was just about settled into my cozy couch to watch the OU/OSU Bedlam game, when that man decided to make so much noise that it literally shook my apartment!

    I jumped out of my skin, to say the least, and I ran out to the balcony of my unit to glance down to have a good holler at the man when I saw him flying out of his apartment below me and he was about to fuss at me for doing something to interrupt his game watching too!! 

    Both of us just sort of stared at each other, and I said something like, "Wait, that wasn't you?" He retorted, "No, I thought you did something bad enough I was gonna have to come save you or something."  Then we both sort of felt something else, but this time without the noises; it was just the rumbling of the ground...EARTHQUAKE!!  That was in 2015 I think. I would have to go look it up to see how big it was, but it was in Edmond, Oklahoma which is about 15 miles north of where we were living.

    Today, just about noontime, I was again, sitting in my cozy chair reading a book with my dog by my side and though I'm in the same complex, and I'm still living upstairs, I felt the livingroom shake -- I wasn't sure if the whole apartment shook, but again, I thought maybe the neighbors below me were playing hockey or something; maybe crashing into the walls with their pick up truck. I just wasn't sure. 

    Today's temperatures plummeted from 62 degrees yesterday to about 11 degrees today, so that can cause the earth to make really funny noises and it can cause disruptions in or near faultlines as well -- and that's what it was! Up there in Edmond, Oklahoma again, the world was coming to an end! We had a 4.4 Mag Earthquake, and then a few minutes later there were a couple of smaller aftershocks; one of them right up under my brother's house and the other under my sister's nose!

    My dog and I just sort of hung out in the chair blaming the neighbors when one of my friends posted something about it on social media, and I put two and two together. I called my daughter out from the other room to let her know we had survived the earthquakes. She was happy to know it, and we did the little praise dance; as it really is a reason to thank God when you are spared the tragedy that some are not spared. 

    If you look at Oklahoma on a map, you'll not only see that we are plumb right on top of Texas, which is where God intended us to be, but we are also nowhere near a fault line of any sort whatsoever -- so why do we have Earthquakes? Some say it's fracking, and I don't doubt that one bit - - but whatever the reason, we have had a few rather good shakes and it makes me think of the Bible verse that in the End Times, there will be earthquakes in diverse places.  The Bible doesn't say ONLY those places with fault lines -- it says diverse places. We count!

    Now, if we're having alien sightings, which some say we are, and we're having earthquakes in weird places, and we're about to see Damascus taken out to the point that no one can ever live there again (think nukes) - - then maybe we're looking at the last days of the last days, and we're about to go home soon! Wouldn't that be awesome?  Say yes, because if you say no you're literally saying Jesus isn't as important as whatever it is that could possibly keep you here on this earth. God really needs to twist your spirit if you're thinking that way.

    LET'S GO HOME!!!  That's what I'm thinking. That's really really really what I'm thinking. For now, I'll just keep the dog close, the book pages turning, and my ear to the ground -- I mean, it could have been my weird neighbors too, but this time, it was legit.  The ground moved.

Photo Credit: USGS.gov

Southern Women Rule (You Need to Know This Fact)

 I am an American. I say that proudly, and I will never give up my American citizenry. I may end up moving to Scotland, but I will go back and forth as long as I can, and I will always be a Southern American woman when someone inevitably asks me where I'm from. They can't not ask; (double negative) it's in my voice, it's in my actions, it's in my demeanor - - making me a bit de-meaner than some I suppose. 

    Having fallen in love with Scotland, and all things connected to the great country, I can't help but want to visit it as often and for as long as I can each time I go. I can't tell you the heartbreak that happens when I have to leave it. I implode to a degree. My daughter has a VR set and she'll look up videos and 360s of Scotland and I'll just sit there for 15-20 minutes and stare - - wish, dream, think.

    Today, because I'm so very connected to all of my roots, I decided to make a great Southern breakfast for myself and think of all the Scots who would pay me good money to bring this particular meal to their neck of the woods. I made myself biscuits and sausage gravy. Now, in the US when you say "biscuits and gravy" it's always (almost always) assumed that the gravy will have pork sausage in it.  Mine is a bit different. I put a little gravy in the sausage. I'm going to pile that sausage pretty dern high up on top of my biscuits and you'll see the gravy of course, but you'll know the main characters for sure. For me, and maybe it's because I'm not only a Southern woman but also an Oklahoman, I will pile that sausage right up there.

     I tried a dozen times to make scones, I promise you I did, but it just never worked for me. I wanted to do it - - I did. I followed YouTube videos and I watched so carefully. I read up on it, I Pinterested the subject, but no matter what, my Southern oven just wouldn't do it. The ingredients just felt too close to those of a good old-fashioned biscuit, so that's what comes out of my oven each and every time I tried to scone it up for good measure. I have come to grips with it; I may be 48% Scottish, and even another 47% English, but I am 100% Okie, and there's just not going to be a high-topped floured treat in my life...unless I buy it.

    So, today, and other days, I decided to make biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast. I have the cutest little tiny food processor that processes the one cup of flour and 4 tablespoons of butter that I need to make 8 good round biscuits. I added the other ingredients as well, but of course, the milk comes last. I really do prefer the food processor to me trying to fight the slicing and the blending. It's more even, and though my Granny and my Aunt Wilma may give me a stare or two from above, I'm satisfied that some things are better in 2024 than they were in say...1924.

    I will say that I remember my Granny being able to make taller biscuits than me, but I was quite a bit younger at the time, so maybe it's just a visual perception. I don't know. What I do know, is that I can't scone for anything. I just can't. I have given it my last go - - until I decide to try again and become just as disappointed as I usually do. The thing is, I wanted to make scones so I could say I did it - - and to be able to split one in half without it falling apart. You can't do that with a biscuit, not a good biscuit. They crumble when you try. That's the basic difference I suppose.

    Maybe my biscuits have more flour. I could play around with that, but in the end, it's the same. I like thinking of scones with clotted cream and jam, and I end up doing the clotted cream and jam, but only with biscuits, and it's not as "regal" or pretty. It's flatter and more crumbly - - broken up and pathetic really. They do taste good. I will say that, the biscuits with the clotted cream and jam do taste good -- they just won't win any awards for aesthetics.  My biscuits and sausage gravy may not win any beauty contests either, but I will say that mine are better looking than those that have only bits of sausage in the mix - - yeah buddy! 

    So, there you go - - ask me -- I'll tell you, I was born in the United States of America, right in the middle of Oklahoma City. I was raised in a good old-fashioned Baptist home (we eat a lot) that believes in being able to make food for the congregation from an early age. I was under the age of 10 I know, when Aunt Wilma dragged me into the basement kitchen of the 40th Street Baptist Church to peel potatoes and boil them. She would have tanned my hide if I had cut myself too; just telling you the truth. No blood in the water! She would have spanked me good if I had bled without permission!

    Growing up in the South (Southwest) meant that we ate a lot of biscuits. We ate them with gravy, with butter, with jam, with bacon, with meals, with eggs, and just all by themselves. There are few ingredients, and they're cheap to make. A good biscuit can last a week if the weather isn't too hot outside; but you do have to sort of heat them up now and again - - please don't tell my Aunt or my Granny that I use the microwave and a wet paper towel to make that happen. I think Granny put a damp cloth over the pan and let it steam the biscuits on lower heat. 

    There you go - - Scones will be purchased or eaten if someone else can make them. They will be gloriously appreciated as well. I don't have to worry if anyone likes my biscuits. I never have a single one to heat up again unless I'm making them for myself. I can't seem to use less than a cup of flour, which makes about seven or eight.  I've been on the other end of that where we used over 10 pounds of flour to cook enough for all the people at the church who were counting on the kitchen ladies to feed them on any particular Wednesday night. I miss those days. I really do.

Photo Credit: Me. (The gravy back there only has a bit of sausage now, I added much more later)

    

New Routine! (Love it)

 As previously discussed in another blog, I have decided to do more in terms of relying on God, and less of relying on myself. This has been the most free-feeling event of 2024. I can, without lying, tell you that I feel really safe, secure, and taken care of. I don't necessarily feel as if I'm in control of anything because quite literally, I gave up all of my control. (Not that I really had that much of it to begin with, mind you.)

    So, one of the new things I'm doing is something I did about three years ago actually, I'm choosing to spend about an hour of my day listening to my preacher Charlie Garrett. It's not hard to do; let me just say that right off the bat. Charlie has probably 3000+ sermons out there, so yeah, spending an hour listening to him on video (YouTube) isn't difficult. The hard part is knowing that I'm only 1/3 of the way through the Genesis sermons. There are 130 I think -- then we go to Exodus. I'll be here a while.

    Charlie was preaching in Genesis about 12 years ago, I think these videos are from 2012. That tells you straight up that the rapture will happen before I get through to the end of these Bible teachings, but hey, that's OK, eternity is a very long time, and I'll sit and listen to him preach in person when we get to Heaven. He'll still be doing it, and he'll still be barefoot on some beach somewhere. That much I know.

    Listening to him go into deep and dedicated detail of whichever verse he's preaching on in whatever video he's preaching in, I find myself learning stuff. I find myself saying to myself, "You know, I remember my other preacher talking about that, but Charlie thinks further, farther, wider, deeper, and he just won't let something sit on the surface. He digs."  I learned today, since we're talking about it, that Abraham didn't sin or show a lack of faith when he asked his wife (who was also his half-sister) to say she was his sister - - so the Egyptians didn't kill him to keep his wife.

    Abraham, according to Charlie, actually acted in faith because he didn't tell her to lie; she was his half-sister. He did it so that he could guarantee his safety, as God had promised him that he and his wife would bear children; they hadn't yet. He didn't want to end up dead; so he bought himself some time. As it turns out, the Pharoah gave him much in terms of a stipend for allowing his beautiful wife to be in his court; there was no inappropriate behavior reported. Most preachers just jump to conclusions and say things - - they don't dig. Charlie digs. I like that.

    So, I'm finding that spending an hour or so every day listening to the Word is good. I know it is, but I'm discovering it all over again. I learn every single day, and I look forward to the next chapter -- or verses; whatever is going to be taught. I also find that I can pause Charlie when I need to, take a break, eat, walk the dog, whatever I need to do, and come back to the video without missing anything really cool. You can't do that when the preaching is live you know - - just sayin'.

    Most of you already know I pray inside a real closet, and I take my dog and sometimes my cat if he's hanging out in the closet before I get into it to pray.  The dog sees me take off my glasses at the computer, and she knows I'm about to hit the closet. She jumps onto the chair before I can get there; it's hilarious. She's a keeper. Two hearts, one mission. She loves Jesus too. It does make me think that I was right in my assumption that animals are actually angels -- they are God's detectives; they tell Him exactly what we're doing!!

    Anyway, this is my new life, and it's a worthy thing I'm adding to my new life. I need it. I want it. I look forward to it. If you need encouragement, or enlightenment, even if you just need to learn more about God -- tune into Charlie Garrett with The Superior Word on Sundays and Thursdays. He's on Rumble. I'll add the link.  The YouTube sermons are the older ones. I'll link those too.  Yes, he looks like he belongs on Duck Dynasty -- and no, he really doesn't wear shoes. He's barefoot most of the time. 

    Charlie was in the Air Force, and spent many many years in high maintenance and development of wastewater management around the globe; he's one of those smarty pants you hear about. To think he's a preacher now, and living on the beach basically down in Sarasota (in a house with his wife of 39 years and their 8 Chihuahuas) you'd never know he has had such a diverse life...but he has. You'll like him, you can't help but like him. I hope you'll listen to him too.

LINKS:

https://rumble.com/c/TheSuperiorWord

https://www.youtube.com/@SuperiorWord

The Genesis Sermons:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=charlie+garrett+genesis+sermons

Photo Credit: Pinterest.com