Cow Cookies

Since we are all-things-cow lately

we made a batch of

gingerbread cow cookies:

the Belted Galloway sort

(the reddish ones, not the black and white Belties.)

Yum

xx

Newborn Calf

One of the surprises

and joys

of our move to Maine

has been 

the introduction to cows

(Belted Galloways)

through our granddaughter

and 4-H.

Today, a calf was born:

Newborn examination

Weighing

You probably won't be surprised

to learn that my next book

may have some 

cows

in it.

xx

Belties

Away in a manger

two Belties*

ate hay 

. . .

*These are Belted Galloways, otherwise known as Belties, or as Oreo Cows.

They live locally

and we love them.

xx

4-H

Here in Maine

we're learning a lot about 4-H

and farm animals.

Jupiter (above)

4-H-ers take on the feeding, grooming and training of the animals.

They also muck out the stalls and learn about showmanship, breeding, diet and health care.

So much to love here.

So very much.

xx

For more about 4-H, click here.

The Boy on the Porch: Fiction Enters 'Real Life'

When I wrote The Boy on the Porch, I was still living in western New York, with no plans to move, but by the time the book was finished, my husband and I were moving to Maine, following other family members, including two beloved grandchildren.

In The Boy on the Porch, a boy rides a cow. I do not know where that came from. However, several months after moving to Maine, my granddaughter joined 4-H and fell in love with cows.  She liked to sit or lie on their backs after feeding and grooming them:

Mind you, I don't think she had ever mentioned cows before this, nor had I ever heard of a child riding a cow before I wrote The Boy on the Porch.

*

In The Boy on the Porch, a boy is found asleep on a porch.  A week after we moved to Maine, I went out onto our porch and discovered a young boy curled up in a chair:

Okay, this one is not so strange, as I knew the boy, my grandson, but I had a moment's flash of that phrase "the boy on the porch" that initiated the whole book.

*

This is the story of the mystery of a child ('mystery' in several senses), and it is the story of the ways in which children and adults shape each other. 

My own children and grandchildren and all my students were mysteries (in many senses) to me, and I'm fairly certain we have shaped each other along the way.

Mm?

xx

Communing With the Animals

So:

We went to the an-i-mal fair

(you hear that tune in your head?)

the cows and the lambs were there

(changed the words a little)

. . . 

and young people, too

Why do I write for children?

Look at that joy.

That's why.

xx

Communing With Cows . . .

One of the beautiful by-products

of this move to Maine

is that

in the middle of unpacking the

boxes

boxes

boxes

and answering the

mail

mail

mail

and doing the

laundry

laundry

laundry

and other

work

work

work

is that

close by

are grandchildren

and one

is

communing with

newborn

newborn

newborn

cows.

Ahhhh.

xx

Cows

In the far pasture

the Belted Galloway cows

(the "Oreo Cows")

Zinny

(not a Belted Galloway)

the nose of

Zola

(a Belted Galloway)

Communion:

cow and girl

*

A year ago 

I finished a book

in which a boy loves a cow

not knowing that soon

my granddaughter would

love cows, too.

Cows.

Mm.

xx

Cows

Our granddaughter loves cows

and we love being able to see her with cows.

The black and white ones are 

Belted Galloways

also known as Oreo cows.

One odd thing we discovered is that 

the two cows she is touching, above,

share names with two of my characters:

Zinnie (at left, as in Chasing Redbird)

and Zola (at right, as in The Unfinished Angel.)

Heh.

xx