Hi everyone, how’s life? MUSICA?  OUI! I’ve heard there are terrible fires in San Diego and snow in northern Illinois (of all the disheartening things); and here on the island the forecast was for a week of clouds and rain. But they were wrong!!! It’s been just the opposite.  We have been waking up to blue skies and 70 degrees ~ we walk every day, making hay while the sun shines.  We’ve been gardening every day too (it’s looking so cute out there), and doing a true deep and rewarding spring cleaning.  I am ON the kitchen now, every bowl and plate in my open cupboards is going into the suds today for sparkle upgrade.  The silver is going into the aluminum foil ~ but I look out my studio window right now and I can see butterflies floating around the garden . . .

I keep the kitchen doors wide open while I work because the birds are singing their hearts out, and just like now, when I feel the need to procrastinate due to spring fever, I go out and pick wildflowers like these.  You all realize we have not seen anything like this for a full year?  How exciting!   So pretty!  Free ~ like the best things in life!

This is what our entire neighborhood smells like right now. Lilac. This, plus wisteria, plus Lily of the Valley. All in bloom right now.  Help, I’m going mad with something I don’t know what it is. Perfumorama Virus.

It was my girlfriend Lowely’s birthday on the 14th . . . she asked for that Lemon Roll I showed you on the blog last week . . . I’d sent over a couple of pieces to her and John for tasting, so she asked for another one for our girlfriend’s lunch Birthday Party for her . . . instead of forsythia petals like I did on the first cake, Lowely got a little bouquet of wild violets and Lily of the Valley.  Isn’t it fun to decorate cakes with gatherings from the yard!  Happy Spring!

How’s this for seasonal segue and non sequitur all rolled into one? How dare I say Happy Spring and Delicious Autumn in one breath!  Well, because this is part of what I’ve been up to lately, planning ahead ~ we know we love fall, maybe not right this moment, but we still love it. And I finally did it!  I have started to reprint some of my older books.  And AUTUMN is going to be the very first one.  It will go off to the printer at the end of the month.

And because we are in charge of this book, it is going to be printed in the good ole’ US of A!  Made in America.  Totally.  Are we happy?  Yes we are.

As with anything, there are good things and bad things about doing it ourselves.  One good thing is we get to choose where it’s printed, the only bad thing is we aren’t able to print a zillion of them like a big publisher would, although

. . . we did become our own publisher for this.  Yes! That’s the other thing I wanted to share with you.  We are actual publishers now! That’s our logo ↑ ; it will be used for the first time (but not the last) in the new printing of AUTUMN.  If ever you would have told me that sometime in my life I would a.) be an author or b.) be a publisher, I would have (and did) laughed out loud.  This is what I like about life. You just never know.

Autumn will be our first project.  And as the publisher we get to decide important things, like ribbons.  If you figure out which book is Autumn in that pile above, you will see that it has no ribbon. But since we are doing our own publishing this time, guess what?  No one can tell us “no” but us and we would never do that. We are really nice to us.  We would like a ribbon.  Of course, my darlings, you may have one.  Could we have our book printed in the USA?  Yes, dears, we know that means a lot to you.  

No one can say no!  The publisher has to pay more for these things, but since that’s us, we can choose what we want.  We have all the power.  (None of the money of say Random House, but ALL the power of “that little old ant,” with high hopes of moving a rubber tree plant.) MUSICA.

Other than than having a ribbon and changing the publisher’s name to ours, the book will be just the same.  If you already have one, I didn’t add anything new . . . so you won’t miss a thing.  But if you’re new to me and my blog . . . or your daughter has grown up and has a family of her own now, here are some of the goodies I have for you inside this book:

Melt in your mouth EASY Pumpkin Cheesecake . . . well worth the price of the book all by itself.

But there’s so much more, like my Texas-style Chili, Corn Pudding, and Spicy, Sagey Corn Chowder ↑ you can serve alone or ladled over creamy Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes.

There are delicious appetizers like Red Chili Onion Rings, and ideas for gifts like brown sugar and cholula Spiced Pecans, Butter-Bit Croutons, or . . . 

 There are”Jack-Be-Little” Pumpkins stuffed with butternut squash, leeks, and apples you can arrange around the turkey platter . . .

September will be time for back to school, and what says it better than . . .

. . . Chocolaty, Chewey, easy to make, the best brownie recipe in the world? Nothing really . . .

Recipes and ideas for all the seasonal celebrations like Halloween are included . . .

There are special salads . . .

And at Thanksgiving, the recipe for my Grandma’s famous Turkey Stuffing . . .

And beside recipes, there are stories like My House and Morning Science; Decorating and Entertaining for the season . . .

. . . decorating the table, fixing up the Guest Room, making Gift Baskets, interesting ideas for Fall Collections, recipes for Afternoon Tea, things to do in Sweater Weather, fall Cocktails and everything else our vagabond Autumn hearts desire.  

I’ve been reading it over while getting the art ready to go to the printer, and despite the birdsong and the smell of wisteria, or maybe because of it ~ I’ve enjoyed it. I’m sure you can tell I’m very excited.  If this goes OK, we’ll do some more!  We hope to have the new printing in the studio the first of August, just when we’re all longing for Autumn and wishing for those cooler breezes and thinking about hot apple crisp with crunchy topping and vanilla ice cream.  It’ll be for sale in bookstores too, but as usual we’ll make sure you have first crack at them, trying to make sure we have enough for our Girlfriends first ~ we’ll also keep signed copies for you in our webstore.

So you know, in a couple of weeks I’m going to New York to Book Expo, then to Connecticut to give a talk at the Gladys Taber Reunion, then my best high school girlfriends are coming from California to stay here with us on June 20 . . . can you tell we are going to have fun?  Oh yeah.  That’s Karen second from the right, the one I met the Beatles with. But before I go clean up the house (!!! now you see the situation, nothing like company to get a house clean!), here are a couple more pictures of island spring!

. . . This is morning light on our house through the Linden trees . . . I keep getting up thinking I will see rain, and this is what I see instead.  Lucky! Dreamy ~ after that winter.

Joe and I drove out to a part of the island called West Chop just to see these white daffodils blowing in the wind next to the sound.

And here’s me, muddy-kneed and happy, putting in some petunias..

and one of my favorite low-growing mounding plants called Brachyscome.

So, that’s it for today Girlfriends. I hope you enjoyed Spring and Fall all in one post!  We have another big surprise for you coming soon.  June 11th is the 3rd anniversary for my Blog; it’s also the anniversary of our first post on FACEBOOK ~ so we have decided to combine forces to make a wonderful drawing, to say thank you for your support, and for the fun you have brought all of us, me, Kellee, Sheri, and Alfredo (and Joe too!) Not to mention Jack and Girl . . .♥   Have a wonderful day!