EGADS! There's a bear in the woods. No really, there IS! He's a bit late this year. He usually passes through during the month of August, at times lingering for a bit some years all the way until the end of September. But this year he's LATE! Not sure why, as I'm not prone to keep an eye on a bear's yearly planner, but the least he could do was phone first! The nerve of some wildlife ...

The local raccoons also seem to be a bit off schedule and have decided to embark on their nightly excursions onto my back porch several months early. They usually show up in the dead of winter looking for something, ANYTHING edible. They hit the jackpot last night and supped on my cat's dinner. The audacity! My cat thought it was rather rude of them as well. I chased them off the back porch with a fire place poker. Not the best tool to use. A water laden mop usually works best ...

Ahhh the country life. I'm home today from my day job. Got my schedule changed so now I have more time to write. It's NaNoWriMo month! And though I'm not officially contributing to the word count, I am taking the month of November to write a book. No, not a Time Master book ... That takes a bit more than a single month. No, I'm crossing over to the other side for a bit while looking for a new home for TM, and in the interum, I'm writing something for Harlequin.

Now stop that gasping! It's not all THAT bad! So it's not exactly science fiction or fantasy. It's still fun and it's still exciting! No I'm not going to be writing for a suspense line as some of you have already asked. I'm writing a book for Harlequin Romance. A line that meets my needs as a writer. Those of you who have read Time Masters know how I love emotional roller coasters! And of course, Happily Ever Afters. And I like a challenge. And fitting a bit of suspense (I can't help it you know) lots of emotional tension and a satisfying ending all into a tight little fifty thousand word package is a challenge! Let's face it, Time Masters was 219K words! I'm long winded! So I thought a wee challenge would be just the ticket. Besides, those girls are having fun!!!!! And so I decided to join the party.

Well I must be off to go do another chapter. See you all at the end of the month!

OK so who'd a thought my posting what I was making for my dinner tonight on face book would cause such a stir! But here it is! Cranberry Pot Roast!

3lb. beef chuck roast
2 Tbls. olive oil
2 Tbls. flour
2 cups fresh cranberries, but sometimes I just use a can if I can't find any fresh.
1 cup water
salt and pepper
1 orange

Coat the roast with flour, salt and pepper and sear in the olive oil until brown on all sides. Cook the berries if you have fresh in the one cup of boiling water just until skins pop. Add the berries and cooking water to the meat along with the orange (cut it into about eight pieces). Simmer on low in a covered dutch oven, about three hours adding water as needed.

I sometimes cut the meat up into large pieces and add a little wine. All depends. You can play with it. Nice recipe and not really very fattening at all. I added Brussel Sprouts to it the last hour. YUM! I do love good old fashioned cooking! Thus my penchant for collecting really old cookbooks I guess!

Enjoy all!

Geralyn