...winter & the gardening heart...

“No winter

shall chill

my gardening heart”

~Blake Schreck

 

The meteorologists are announcing snow here in Central Virginia, which means as my brother and I joke, it’s time to make French toast! (Ha ha ha, get it? Because folks run to the grocery store for bread, milk, and eggs! Um, anyway…)

While I’m trying to squeeze out the final 1000-2000 words of a draft for a chapter I’m writing before heading back for the Spring semester, I thought it would be the perfect time to show off some of my cute household plants.

...book review: _Vampires on the Run_...

Vampires on the Run: A Quinnie Boyd Mystery (March 1, 2017) by C. M. Surrisi

Age Range: 10 - 13 years

Grade Level: 5 - 8

Hardcover: 296 pages

Publisher: Carolrhoda Books (March 1, 2017)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1512411507

ISBN-13: 978-1512411508

Description:

In the months after Quinnie Boyd cracked the mystery of her missing teacher, she expected life in her small Maine town to snap back to normal. But two writers from New York City have arrived in Maiden Rock, and there's something not quite right about them. Sure, Ceil and Edgar are pale. And they dress in all black. And they don't go near the sunlight. But could they really be vampires? To find out, Quinnie turns to Dominica new kid in town who's an expert on everything geeky. Together, they'll risk their necks to find an answer . . .

I'm always looking for a good book to fit into my Adolescent Literature course. I decided to read this book based on the description (and because it has vampires!); it turns out that the story itself was even cuter than described!

Main character, Quinnie Boyd is 13 years old and has a knack for solving crime, that is when she isn’t getting grounded for going out in the middle of the night with new neighbor and potential crush, Dominic (described as wearing a “Black t-shirt with a small pi symbol on the chest. Not-too-baggy jeans. Vans). Okay, so I even had a little crush on him. One of the parts that I loved was that Quinnie and Dominic hang out without all the older YA flirting. Gasp! They’re actually friends! 

I didn’t realize until I was already into the story that this novel is part of a series (sigh! Why is everything part of a series now?!?) The Maypop Kidnapping (2016) was the first novel but Vampires on the Run completely works as a stand-alone novel with only a few references to the previous book and Quinnie’s adventures.

The basic plot is that novelist Victoria Kensington, which is actually the penname for Ella’s (Quinnie’s best friend) aunt and uncle writing-team, Ceil and Edgar, who may or may not be actual vampires! They’ve just released their latest novel Transylvanian Drip and come to the small town of Maiden Rock, Maine for a bit of rest. The town is so small that Quinnie’s mom is the real-estate agent, mayor, postmaster, and sheriff! And just like many small towns, news travels fast so everyone wants to read the famous author, especially since rumor has it that a real vampire tells Kensington the plot to each of her novels.

Because the famous author is in town, Quinnie’s teacher, Ms. Stillford decides that they will do a comparison of Transylvanian Drip and the Dracula. I love that this was included and Ms. Stillford seems like a great teacher although respectfully, I’m really not sure that the author C. M. Surrisi has even read Dracula. Much of Quinnie’s comments reflect some major misunderstandings; I’m chalking that up to unreliable narration since Quinnie is 13. And, because I have the Norton Critical Edition right beside me…seriously, I do!, I don’t know any Eighth Grade teacher who would assign 327 pages of Dracula plus whatever the length of the fictional Transylvanian Drip during the last week of school before summer break. But, it does fit into the plot so again, I’m not complaining.
While reading Dracula, Quinnie becomes completely freaked out by the story and cannot sleep. She texts her new buddy, Dominic and the two decide it’s a great idea to go walking on the beach together. It’s all good clean fun until their parents find out… and until they realize there is a mad dog/coyote/wolf/ vampire on the loose.

Quinnie’s imagination becomes overactive as she notices how Ceil and Edgar both dress in black, have white skin, bloodred [sic] lips, creepy long nails, and they cover the mirrors in the house. I overlook these stereotypes because Quinnie really isn’t a reader of vampire fiction (her words) and she tends to jump to conclusions.

While Quinnie is focused on vampirism, she and her friends actually expose a pretty serious scheme that leaves readers engaged until the end of the novel.

One of my favorite parts- Quinnie considers Dominic’s bite on her neck with fake fangs as her first kiss. Well, there is an opportunity for a real kiss but as Quinnie says, “There’s the whole summer ahead for that.”  I also love that Quinnie and her friends remind me so much of the collective characters in Dracula during their ongoing chase scenes. It’s also a little bit like The Lost Boys (1987) and the Scooby gang.

...a brighter night with bats, unicorns, and gardening...

“There are years that ask questions

and years that answer.”

~ Zora Neale Hurston

I’m really not a fan of years that end in six. 1996 was my first marriage- blah! In 2006 my sweet Doberman died! 2016 passes; Good riddance!

Since before Christmas Eve, I’ve been home sick with a bad cold. Before that, we’ve still been in mourning. There are plenty of topics that I could have written about but I just couldn’t open up. I wanted to be tucked away inside. We canceled Christmas visiting and determined to keep our holiday small and private. We had a really nice Christmas day even while I was sick.

We swear that's a bat on top of the cactus!

On the 29^th, I read the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden blog post, “Racial Healing & Transformation” by Duron Chavis, the garden’s community engagement coordinator, and it filled my little black heart with hope. His post reminded me of Grace Arents, the benefactor whose front page obituary in 1926 ( <- see years ending in six can suck it!) could not possibly include all of the public institutions  (libraries, schools, churches, hospitals, etc.) she supported; the post also reminded me of how plants have the power to heal. My own personal journey as a gardener resonates with that.

Having read the post and realizing that I was actually feeling better, I decided that my fella and I needed a Christmas outing! If you’re read this blog for a while or if you know me, you know that my Christmas continues until Candlemas on February 2^nd.

Who is that creeper hiding under the bridge?!?

I was so excited to get dressed and put on makeup that I was ready nearly an hour before dark. We headed for the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens GardenFest of Lights: Living Color event. As their Executive Director, Shane Tippett, writes in a November post, “In a world where it is sometimes hard to know what to do, this is something we can do: brighten the night.”

The event lifted our spirits.

Today is a fresh start, a clean slate! In Virginia, it has also been a super sunny day in the high 50s. I’m thrilled to report that I went for a 10K walk. It wasn’t intentional; I don’t have a list of resolutions. It’s just that today was the first day where I haven’t been sick and I haven’t had a swollen foot from October’s train fall. In fact, I even have a brand new toe nail if you must know ;)

Off I went to see how my tiny town had changed. I’m happy to report that it hasn’t changed so much that I didn’t recognize it. 

I also took some time to tidy up our kitchen windowsill. Not exactly gardening but it will have to do for now. I'm growing garlic; there's an air plant, some hens and chicks that I brought inside even though they are cold and drought hardy; and, there's the tiny cemetery terrarium.

We do not yet know what this year will bring. For now, it’s better to live in the present and appreciate today.

Happy Holidays!

"...muddle through somehow"...

“December, in my memory,

is white as Lapland,

though there were no reindeers.

But there were cats.”

~ Dylan Thomas, A Child's Christmas in Wales

 

We had hoped that December would be better than November. It started off with a cemetery tour at Hollywood Cemetery with the River City Cemetarians and then led into the annual Krampus walk. It was a day full of friends, raucous fun, and happiness. I had been planning my outfit for quite some time; and, I had planned my latest extravagant Krampus necklace since January when I purchased a Krampus brooch from the Czech Republic. Along with a Weiss Christmas tree pin and a gorgeous garnet brooch, I was all set my favorite jewelry necromancer, Kay Adams to work some magic. She did.

I added a little mask on my underage friend so creepers can move along elsewhere while I protect the young ;D

That day the temperature was a bit too warm for my original outfit. I’m glad that I have a closet versatile enough that I could create a back-up outfit for the Krampus walk.

We had a great deal of fun and then headed to dinner. Hours later when we arrived home, we were ready to snuggle in when our little four-paw family member meowed that something was wrong. Within hours, everything went terribly wrong and our household has gone quiet as we’ve lost a loved one. All I want to write about is how much I have hated 2016 and how all the magic is gone, and no one wants to read that. I started to write holiday cards because I really, really like my cards this year (I usually do but this year they make me laugh). I wrote the first card and it came across as so dreary that I had to stop and set them aside. We’re just going to mourn for a while… and then a while after that. 

We both have given each other flowers. I gave my fella a Christmas cactus not yet in bloom; he gave me roses with a candy cane stick. 

We did not feel like it but we put up our Christmas trees and decorated the house (including our Krampus ornaments below).

One day we will feel normal again. "Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow."

Apologies on the moppiness.  I promise that my next post (about a candy historian's lecture) will be much more lively.