Monday, January 04, 2021

January 2021, Jo Wake, IWSG, Rain, Whew!

 


 

On February 6 (the next IWSG posting), we would like all who want to participate to share a recipe that brings warm memories of friendship and love in honor of our blogger friend Josephine “Jo” Wake who passed away December 16, 2020. She was a dear friend, full of spunk and she wrote a blog:

JO WAKE about FOOD, Life and a Scent of Chocolate

I had the honor of meeting her and her husband Matt in 2019 and it was a great joy.  We spent three days with them in Canada. I miss her already.


The link to the Linky link is here...              HONORING JO WAKE RECIPE LIST





The awesome co-hosts for the January 6th posting of the IWSG are

Please go and visit their blogs and thank them for all their hard work! Also, visit the IWSG website and sign up, if you'd like. We are a great bunch of folks who do our best to help support others like us... meaning Insecure and yet Happy to write, even when we're not! There is a question every month to answer if you'd like. This month I'm not as I already have sooo much to write about.


So, in this "new" version of blogger, I can't seem to fix when this posted, so it's two days early. But oh well. That much longer to read it I guess. I also wanted to post about my newest work that is no longer in progress, but done, finished, out, and not just in ebook form. The new soft cover is ready for your buying/reading pleasure. I do hope you enjoy it/get something from it. For me the road has been long slogging my way through doubts, physically making myself write especially when I felt I was over being a writer, and some long talks with myself. These characters, these folks in this novel wouldn't leave me alone. Nor would my family, especially my husband and my mother. So I thank them, and all those who supported me, pushed me gently, and read it for me and gave me feedback. This book has finally blossomed into the life it was meant to live. 


                                     AVAILABLE ON AMAZON NOW IN SOFT COVER




The past is not an easy force to be reckoned with

 

For Annalyn and Jack heartache is unexpected. After a whirlwind romance and marriage, a shattering secret tears them apart. Desperate to escape, each embark upon separate journeys to try and heal, to rebuild faith in life with new loves. But moving forward, they discover that rebuilding their futures depends upon coming to terms with their past. Will facing the truth allow them to find, and accept, the love and healing they each so desperately need, or will the secret continue to break lives—and hearts—apart?


AVAILABLE ON AMAZON NOW IN SOFT COVER



13 comments:

  1. You were so fortunate to meet them.

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    1. I do count myself lucky. She was a feisty gem.

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  2. Hi Lisa - that was a great tribute to Jo ... lots of delicious asparagus recipes ... a sign of hope when asparagus comes back into season in the future is my thought. Meeting Jo and Matt must have been so interesting. Congratulations on your new published book ... well done - it must be so satisfying ... great post to start off 2021 ... take care - Hilary

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    Replies
    1. I will always think of Jo now when I think of asparagus. I wanted her to teach me how to pickle them, but never got the chance. Thank you!

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  3. Jeanie Hutchinson’s Poor Man’s Cake

    1 box Raisins
    2 cups Sugar
    3 cups Water
    1 cup Crisco OR ¾ cup oil
    4 cups Flour

    Bill had been away during World Ward II for the last four years. Stationed somewhere in Europe, the letters he sent were always blacked out by the censors so as not to give the enemy any advantage in a war that had gone on far too long. But for Bill, the war had finally come to an end. Jeanie’s grandmother had received a telegram just yesterday that Bill was in an army convoy headed towards Pittsburgh and he would be dropped off along the way.

    2 teaspoons Cinnamon
    1 teaspoon Nutmeg
    1 teaspoon Salt
    1 teaspoon Allspice
    1 tablespoon Baking soda

    The telegram was frightful at first. Receiving a telegram from the Department of Defense usually was the equivalent of a death sentence. At the beginning of the war the DOD used to send a casualty notification officer in a crisp uniform personally to the door to deliver the bad news. As the war dragged on, the bean counters in Washington instituted cost cutting measures. The only thing a family received now was the yellow Western Union telegram delivering the horrific news.
    With condolences.

    Boil 1 box of raisins in 2 cups of water for 5 minutes. Put a lid on the pan and remove the pan from the stove. Add two cups sugar and 1 cup Crisco. When the Crisco has melted, add 1cup cold water and cool. Pour everything in a mixing bowl and add 4 cups sifted flour, 2 tablespoons cinnamon, 1 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. allspice, and 1 tablespoon baking soda. Beat hard.

    Thank God that wasn't the case, today. Jeanie was on cloud nine as she continued to stir the batter in anticipation of Bill’s return. Jeanie fell asleep waiting for her big brother’s arrival.


    Place the mixture in a 9 X 13 floured and greased pan and bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour.

    SAUCE
    ½ cup Sugar
    1 cup Boiling Water
    1 tablespoon Corn starch or 1 ½ tablespoon Flour (mix in a little water)
    2 tablespoons Butter
    ½ tablespoon Vanilla

    To the boiling water, add sugar, butter, vanilla and cornstarch. Cook until slightly thickened.

    Pour the sauce over the cake. Serves four.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Linton! I'll see if I can post it in February!

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  4. I got to meet her in NC about 10 years ago. They were bowling - of course!

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    1. Of course! I think of all the things they used to do, as a couple, then Jo on her own, and it makes me smile, but also makes me sad to think that life is over now...

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  5. Congratulations on your latest book, Lisa. Great way to end 2020 and start 2021.

    I've joined the tribute to Jo. See you on the Feb. 6.

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  6. Congrats on your new release. Characters have a way of whispering/yelling at us to finish their story. How exciting that you did. Best wishes.

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  7. Congrats on releasing RAIN. I know you're glad to finally see it in print.

    I'm tardy in making return visits for IWSG because I was helping my mom move last week.

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  8. Congratulations on your new release, Lisa! I hope it does tremendously well.

    I'm sorry I didn't get over here sooner, before I'd written February's IWSG post, because I would have happily shared a recipe for Jo. I didn't know her, but she sounds like a woman after my own heart. I'm so sorry for your loss.

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  9. Thank you for honouring Jo. I do hope she realised just how much she was loved before death claimed her.
    I think that characters who are strong enough to tell the author just where they are wrong are the very best kind, and make for a MUCH better read. Good luck with your WIP.

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