Scraps of Life

Tuesday Reviews-Day: The French House

“An American Family, a Ruined Maison, and the Village That Restored Them All” Who wouldn’t be curious about a book with such an intriguing subtitle. Especially if that who happens to be me, at the time in the throes of purchasing my own home (which some would also have considered ruined where we just saw potential). In The French House, Don Wallace tells the story of how he and his wife Mindy came to own a falling-down house on the island of Belle Isle off the coast of Brittany, back in the 80s as fledgling writers living in Manhattan. 30 years[Read More...]

by Scraps — 06/10/2014 — 0 comments — Tuesday Revews-Day

Menus For An Average Week

I’ve been making weekly menus since I first got married in 1995. I couldn’t fathom going to the grocery store and not knowing what I’d need for the week or how other people did just that. It’s somewhat ironic that the menus fell by the wayside while I was in culinary school, but understandable when you consider that I worked until 5pm and usually ate a Lunchable or some such in the car on the way to classes that started at 5:30pm and went to 10:30 or 11 at night, four days a week. With so many ingredients on the[Read More...]

by Scraps — 06/09/2014 — 2 comments — Nibbles

The Next Stop on the Florida Writers Blog Tour

I don’t remember, now, if Sandi Hutcheson of LooksGreatNaked.com (and the novel of the same name) found me first or I her, but I know we bonded over cocktails and Limoncello on my cocktail blog, Sips & Shots. I love reading the exploits of her dachsunds, Laverne and Shirley, and her three-legged Australian Shepherd, Pancho, as well as her carefully constructed observations on life that she shares on her blog. Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, she’s happily settled her toes in the sand of beautiful St. Augustine, Florida, and is working on a new novel. Sandi was kind enough to tag me[Read More...]

by Scraps — 06/06/2014 — 2 comments — Creative Business

And they've even built us new railings on the ramp/stairs (the ramp is staying until we get moved-in, we figured it might make things easier for moving furniture).

Something That Looks Strangely Like Progress

I’m happy to report that things are progressing well, over all, at the Gingerbread Dollhouse, even though we haven’t been up there in a couple of weeks (first missed weekend was spent at a convention, then the next one we just needed a quiet weekend at home to recover from the previous one!). Of course, when we were last there, we (and by we, I once again mean Todd) went for another round with the hot water heater (which I realize is rather redundant, and yet I seem to always default to that instead of just water heater–I’ll work on it).[Read More...]

by Scraps — 06/05/2014 — 0 comments — The Gingerbread Diaries

54 | The Almost Universal Language of Food

Every industry has its own functional language. Sure, it might technically be English that the doctor, laywer, or programmer is speaking but for all intents and purposes it’s Greek to you! Whether you’re working with or needing work from someone in a different field, being able to understand some of the references they’re using, the jargon and buzzwords alike, will make it easier to accomplish whatever task is before you. If you’re lucky, you’ll go long stretches without needing to understand medical or legal-speak, if ever! And even though computers are everywhere, there’s a good chance that your average individual isn’t[Read More...]

by Scraps — 06/04/2014 — 0 comments — 64 Arts

Tuesday Reviews-Day: Captain Morgan 1671 Commemorative Blend

In 1671, the real Captain Morgan’s ship, The Satisfaction, sunk after raiding the Spanish in Panama. The folks at Captain Morgan rum have created the 1671 Commemorative Blend Spiced Rum as their best estimate of what rum aboard The Satisfaction would have tasted like, and even put it in a bottle reminiscent of those old bottles with the loop for easy carrying or tossing back a shot. They suggest this spiced rum is one for sipping on the rocks, but I find it still with one too many edges for me to drink it straight–but we all know I[Read More...]

by Scraps — 06/03/2014 — 0 comments — Sips, Tuesday Revews-Day

Mac & Cheese Doughnuts... because I could!

Challenge Accepted: Mac & Cheese Doughnuts

The Internet is full of strange and wonderful things, my friends. This isn’t exactly earth-shattering news, but there are a lot of people doing a lot of “interesting” things, and the ‘net allows us to catch a glimpse. Of course the vastness of the web is too much for even the most devoted digital subject, so it helps that our friends link us to various things, thus saving us the trouble of having to plumb the binary depths ourselves. Such was the case when a friend linked me to some Mind-Blowing Mac & Cheese Donuts that I felt missed the mark.[Read More...]

by Scraps — 06/02/2014 — 2 comments — Nibbles

Notes From the Road

We were, as you might guess, on the road this past weekend, specifically to and from Mobile, Alabama, for MobiCon. It was #3 on the circuit of 6 conventions I’m taking my book to this year and we had a fabulous time. We usually try to drive over the night before any given convention so we’re not road-weary when the show opens (usually around noon on Fridays for most cons), but that means grabbing dinner somewhere on the road. Since travelling is one of those times I try to be especially careful what I eat (so I don’t end up[Read More...]

by Scraps — 05/30/2014 — 0 comments — Just for Fun

Blood From a Stone, Funds From an Escrow Account–Same Difference?

“The time has come,” the Dollhouse said, “to talk of many things… Like, namely, when’re we gonna get the contractor paid for the roof?!” Good question, Dollhouse, good question indeed. Who knew our house was a fan of Alice in Wonderland? How Draws Work in a 203(k) Renovation–A Worst Case Scenario Guide Now, if you’ll think back to when we first went down the 203(k) road (back in January), you might remember that there are several moving parts to the renovation side of the mortgage loan. It’s not just the contractor’s numbers and a bump for just-in-case, there are fees for[Read More...]

by Scraps — 05/29/2014 — 3 comments — The Gingerbread Diaries

47, 54 | I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

This post is part of our ongoing exploration of The 64 Arts. Aside from being one of my favorite lines from The Princess Bride, it’s also a perfect lead-in to our next language art: 47 Speaking Regional Languages and we’re going to combine it with an Art further down the list (the randomness of the list is totally at odds with my linear left-brain!) 54 Knowledge of the dictionary Giving the Sanskrit equivalent of local dialects and popular jargon Sure, we don’t have a lot of use for Sanskrit around these parts, but idioms, jargon, and slang are very useful to know. In[Read More...]

by Scraps — 05/28/2014 — 0 comments — 64 Arts