Grandma says: "Now, my dears, what could be better than sinking your teeth into a thick slice of hot homemade bread, fresh from the oven and oh-so-delicious?"Your kitchen will smell lovely with the scent of baking bread. This recipe is one of the best I've come across, handed down to me from my Grandma Dot. If you've always wanted to master bread-making, this is the recipe to end all recipes. It will help you to achieve fail-proof results.Everyone who tries this bread wants the recipe!* How t... Read Full Story

The last few weeks have been exciting and tiring. As readers will be aware writer, publisher, and illustrator have been putting the finishing touches into the first bedbug story!AND . . . I think my granddaughter is a budding writer! She has suggested different ideas for future books and then blew me away when she started rhyming a verse off the top of her head! She had heard the second story in the Bedbug Series and she used words from that to try to make her verse sound similar.Little Zee i... Read Full Story

The act of breathing is often overlooked, relegated to a function that runs in the background but one that doesn't get much attention-- yet, it is so very important to so many areas of life.Today, I'm including a video for readers to watch and enjoy. Let's celebrate life by . . . breathing! Read Full Story

It's coming! The BOOK . . . the BUG . . . in the BAG.Each BEDBUG BOOK and BEDBUG TOY comes in its own little BAG, so that young ones can carry it with them wherever they go and hopefully prevent BEDBUG from getting lostI mentioned in a recent post that some children had begged for the publisher's BEDBUG TOY. The mother of the tots related that she found BEDBUG wrapped up in towels in the dryer and even out on the clothesline! That must have been such an unexpected but cute sight.If young ... Read Full Story

Bedbug dropping in to bug you! Grandma and the publisher have been hard at it, working the "bugs" out of the forthcoming book. Whew! I never realized just what is involved in making a children's book!!Thank goodness I just have to be cute and that kids actually WANT me in their beds . . . of course, they will have to get their own little BAG, with the BOOK and the BUG (me!) tucked away inside. Little tykes all over the world will be able to carry the BOOK and BUG around, in the BAG we live i... Read Full Story

Autumn gives us a wealth of colors and natural materials that make a perfect medium for fall projects. Brightly hued seasonal materials can be used to make attractive decorations for the home.Creating an autumn table decoration is a neat way to mark the autumn season.An autumn table centerpiece adds an especially nice touch when entertaining. If you are planning a family gathering, why not dress up the table with a pretty, budget-friendly autumn table centerpiece?Learn more about autumn table... Read Full Story

My granddaughter has seen the book draft! I read her The Bedbug Who Wouldn't Bite (copyright, Melody Rhodes, 2009). I wanted to gauge her reaction to the story, pre-publication.After all these months of working on the story and seeing it emerging into a book, this was a special moment!Zee was very excited! This is the first time she heard the story while seeing it with the actual illustrations. I'm sure she's pictured scenes in her head but this was something tangible. (What would we do with... Read Full Story

A friend of mine has written an excellent article Getting Plants Ready for Seasonal Changes--Autumn and Winter.I thought I had a good idea of yard and plant preparation but this article provided some fresh insights.If you regularly prepare your flower beds for winter and rake your yard so the leaves offer added winter protection, you may find this article on how to protect plants and helpful.Autumn Offerings*Fall Gardening--Protecting Potted Mums Over the Winter*Mulch is a Must for a Healthy,... Read Full Story

Hello EveryoneAs you can imagine, it has been a busy couple of days. We are still busy tweaking the first Bedbug story. Final decisions are being made as the book continues to evolve to the point where it is ready for publication.I'm thrilled that we are at this stage and I've developed a deeper appreciation that so very much goes into the making of a book: many, many decisions and changes and last-minute tweaks so that the final result is that much better.My hat goes off to my publisher. She... Read Full Story

Yesterday, October 12, was very special. Why? Grandma got a sneak peek at her book!The publisher sent the file showing the photo-illustrations with text overlaid on them. It is an incredible feeling when you see your book come to life: vivid pictures and text combine to create magic.We Are Now Busy TweakingYesterday, we discussed word changes-- Grandma changed one word in the verses because after seeing the photo illustration she thought this particular word would work better and add to the ... Read Full Story