Peering Through Life's Window

I've been excited about Hair Calamities and Hot Cash since the day I planned to write it. It's inspired by my mother's beauty shop, set in the awe-inspiring North Carolina Mountains. Mother's shop was at the foothills of these magnificent peaks, but I placed the fictitious shop, Eve's Clips, at a higher elevation to allow for the breathtaking scenery. Yet, it was the atmosphere my mother created and the people who frequented the shop that motivated me to write about them. Getting a "do" at her salon served as a social gathering as well as a service. Customers who knew each other discussed how to make the latest recipe, what to do about world affairs and everything in between, including family relations, births, deaths and weddings. Clients planned showers, graduation parties and get-togethers for new neighbors while hair flew. Mostly townspeople showed up, and the spirit of the community overflowed. The residents had close friends, acquai...

A Warm Welcome to Catherine Castle Hi Catherine, Thanks for sharing a sweet devotional! When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Pie photo courtesy of Wikimedia commons We’ve all experienced it—that thing or things that bring us down. Maybe it’s a health problem, the loss of a loved one, a broken heart, or disappointment at work or home. Whatever life-lemons you are handed it can be very hard to see the sweeter side of the problem. There’s a lovely elderly lady in our church who has dementia. She’s at the stage where she knows she’s not remembering things. She can’t cook anymore because she can’t remember whether or not she’s added an ingredient, and most of the time she can’t remember the recipes she once knew by heart. We often eat supper with her after church and she sometimes can’t remember what she ordered. The ladies at the table watch out for her to make sure she gets the right drink and meal. Dementia is one of the scariest diseases I know, yet Laurie (name...