D.F. Krieger: Ruff Love

Welcome back D.F. Krieger! This lovely lady has a thing for animals, in case the cat in her profile picture didn't give it away. What was your first pet? How long did you have him/her?

My first pet was a black cat named Ebony ( really wanted to name him Mordor, but for some reason my mom didn't think a 6 year old child should support the dark side.) I had him for about 5 years before I lost him to a medical condition. I still blame those blasted hobbitses to this day!

Nasty hobbitses! How many animals have you adopted? Do you plan to adopt more?

I've adopted countless animals, and adopted out even more through rescue. Many of the animals I choose to adopt and keep either have limited time due to health issues or severe disabilities. It's great because they don't make fun of me for mine. :) I currently have 5 cats, 2 dogs, 2 ferrets, and a ridiculously huge gerbil.

Haha, a hobbit himself, perhaps? Eating his second breakfast? Is it hard choosing which one to adopt?

Ramblings in Ireland - Kerry Dwyer

Today I am lucky enough to be part of a blog tour for Kerry Dwyer. Her blog is interesting and varied with a host of ramblings.

You've made a book of your ramblings. Did the book evolve out of the blog or vice versa?

Neither really the blog didn’t start to promote my writing or even to tell people about my life in France. It started with a conversation I had with a friend about how I avoid ironing.  Then, a couple of weeks later when she was in a panic to go out and still had her housework to do I told her about my philosophy on housework. She said I should write a book about it. I didn’t think it was enough to write a book about but maybe a blog post or two. I wrote the Slut’s Guide to Housework. That was really the beginning of my blog. It has evolved considerably.

The book was inspired by a walking holiday in Ireland. I was so enthralled with the place and the people and the different sort of relationship I had with my husband whilst we were there. We hadn’t been in each other’s company quite so intensely for a long time. As we were walking, ideas for the book kept popping into my head. Something would happen or we would talk about something and a new chapter would formulate in my head. The book almost wrote itself by the time we got back to France. I then updated the blog to tell people about the book, at that time I thought publishers would be lining up to put me in print, little did I know.

I can relate to ideas popping when walking or driving, best when riding, that way I can write them down! You post regularly. What is your go to when you need something new to ramble about?

The Seawitch! - Reviewer and well, witch!

Okay, so she's not really a witch (or if she is, that didn't come up in the interview). The Seawitch has a blog where she reviews books and talks about her life. I was lucky enough to cross paths with her during the POW bloghop in September. Your reviews are interspersed with much of your daily life. What is your family's response to your blog? I'm thinking specifically of the younger people that appear in some photos.

My kids like to see themselves on my blog, my youngest gel Maddy (9) thinks she's famous now. My oldest, Stephanie (27) is a contributer and known as Gel Friday is also in a lot of my posts as we are always on the lookout for a husband for her. In fact, let me continue my head hunting here.

I might be wrong, but this is Stephanie.

Stephanie is 27, a graduate of West Virginia University majoring in Environmental Protection (tree-hugger) with a minor in Native American Studies. She went back to school to work on her Wildlife Biology but is taking a break. She loves animals and nature. She was working at AutoZone in RI until recently when she quit and moved back to West Virginia. She is about 5'3" or 4" and about 115 lbs. Quite lovely and loves to read and bake. She would like to meet an Irishman or Scotsman with the sexy accent please.

Day 29 #blogflash2012 - Masquerade

Well, this one seems obvious. Let me remove this mask as I have a few times before and let you see the face behind.

That's me, with my husband and daughter (aren't we cute!?). I am not the girl with flowers on her back, though I might wish I was. I'm the woman with ample curves who could stand to lose a few pounds (forty?) and has found her first grey hairs.

Does my family know I write erotica? Yep. My husband loves it. My mother hasn't said a lot, but is supportive. Y'know, I don't think my Dad ever said anything about it? My in-laws haven't talked about it either, but I won't be surprised if they never read any of it. That might be more embarrassing actually!

Okay, you know what, forget this, I'm putting the mask back on. This is me: Angelica dawsonii is a native plant of Alberta. And now you know how I got my name. I'm a botany babe.

Day 23 #blogflash2012 - Cooking

I touched on this very briefly in my last post. Cooking while camping is a little more complicated and time consuming than cooking at home. That said, I've never been afraid to make something on a camp stove that I make at home. I just find it more fun to have specific specials for campsites. Here are a few of the favourites:

Green onion cake
Yes, I could make this at home, but there's something about the smoke that make it even better when camping. I make a biscuit style dough, add some green onions and fry it up. Delish. (note: no real recipe. Flour, water, a touch of baking powder and salt, oil in the pan and green onions)



S'mores

Everyone knows s'mores can only be made when camping. The only twist I have is using the really good 80% dark chocolate. Mmmm

Oatmeal
Yeah, I make this at home in the winter, but in the summer, when you wake up after a rather cool night, it's great for warming you up. Plus it doesn't require milk, which will spoil when you don't have a fridge.

Trail Mix
I don't make my own (I could and should, but that would be done at home prior to camping anyway). We don't buy it much during the rest of the year, but take it for our hiking snack. Great for tossing back while walking.

There are a few of the obvious. Corn on the cob comes to mind. Lots of fresh fruit is a must. When I get back, I will have no doubt made and thought of others. I'll let you know. However, I am now indulging in a real shower in a hotel room. One can only camp so long, especially when one must prepare for a wedding on the weekend!

Day 22 #blogflash2012 - Holiday

This post was written in advance. Currently, I am at a campsite near Wembly, which is near Grande Prairie, which is many miles northwest of Edmonton (and that still assumes you have any idea where Edmonton is). Technically, I have internet. There is cell service, so I can check my mail periodically, but well, I'm tenting. So I don't have a power outlet and my devices are, in general, left off.

This is my idea of a holiday.

We are roughing it. Living out of our tiny Echo and a tent. We might move to backpacking one day, but car camping is working for us. We scoff at the giant RVs that surround us. We don't have a satellite dish. We have a propane stove, a fire, a clothesline, a washtub. This is actually my idea of fun. It take a little extra planning, a little extra effort to make each meal and clean up after, but, well, there's nothing else we need to do. We go on walk of exploration, swim in the lake and come back to cook ourselves something for lunch, then we head out and do it again.

The perk this time, is that we are near my husband's family. One afternoon, we can leave our tent with all our gear inside and drive into town to visit, get something actually cold to drink, and then return just as things cool off for the evening.

This is a great holiday.

When Life Gets Rocky, Add Some Scotch

Karen DeLabar has a diverse blog that covers everything from from twitter tips, to shoes, to snowboarding. Each post is independent, lively and enjoyable. With so much variation, though, do you find one topic is more well received than another?

I started blogging last year with a friend of mine, Susi Nonnemacher. Our intention was to write posts focusing on writing: how we write, what we write, what inspires us and the like. Before we decided to split up and blog on our own, we had a very good following and reception in regards to the topics we were writing about. However, my best received posts were ones where I put more of myself into them. Posts about my family, my crazy antics (like leaving the house without any pants on… by accident, mind you) and other personal stories brought not only people to our site but the comments, too.

With my own site I don’t really have a theme; I probably should and I guess if you press me for one it would be: me. I’m not a person with one niche. I’ve tried to write about one thing and I went batty. My posts became stale, sterile, and boring. I get inspiration from anything and any one, be it for professional or personal reasons. If it’s interesting to me I’ll share it. My two best received posts last year was one about how to be a person on Twitter and not just a book seller and the other was about my scare with breast cancer. One professional, one personal. So, I guess you could say that people like my diversity, which is good, because I’m too lazy to change. :)

Blog of the Day

Another quick blog of note. Vicarious Lines features very personal stories and experiences. I hope to contact the Storyteller and find out where and how she lines all these people up. They are diverse, disparate and very interesting! This is an excellent blog that should definitely be followed.

The curator can be found on Twitter as @kungfupussy