So Much Sky: In the News!

Check out the June 2012 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine which features a little news nugget about So Much Sky. 

You can also WIN A FREE copy of the book at the blog Rural Living Today. Leave a post at the end of the blog by June 14th to enter the giveway.

A Riot of Roses

'Seven Sisters' rose. She's been living at this farm longer than I have. And she is, undoubtedly, older than I am (but looking fresher than ever). This grande dame rose is the grandstand garden event in our garden in early June.
She used to scramble over the top of the LP tank, but we moved the tank and gave her something more elegant upon which to ramble.

An old garden fence (salvaged from a Midwestern cemetary) now gives her ample traveling space. And travel she did. She root-tipped herself from one end of the fence to the other. Sort of like a monorail of roses.

Ambitious and beautiful. Old farm roses. Gotta love them.

Nosing through Lotus

I love to kayak. And while that may make me sound sort of sporty, I'll be the first to admit that I prefer calm leisurely water to running rapids: Lakes, slow-moving creeks, glassy bays are my speed. In a kayak you can be a nature voyeur. And sitting in a 12-foot kayak just inches above the water's surface there's lots to see from up close.

A couple months ago I visited Mobile, AL and had the opportunity to kayak in some amazing water. From 5 Rivers' Bartram Canoe and Kayak Landing we set out on an easy paddle. Still waters were dotted with the eyes and snouts of alligators (that took a little of the serenity out of the trip!) We paddled through a gnarled mass of lotus. It was simply surreal to nose the kayak through dinnerplate-size leaves and giant yellow flowers.

Bartrum Landing is named after the plant explorer and naturalist William Bartrum. I like to think that the flora I saw on my kayak voyage was what Bartrum found when he explored this area in the 18th century.

There's nothing like doing a little time travel in a kayak.

To read more about my kayak trip in Mobile Bay, pick up a copy of Country Gardens, Spring 2012. My "Slow Lane" column shares more highlights.

I'm going to Round Top, Texas!

I guess I should accentuate that statement with a "Yee Haw".

Through some sort of cruel trick of fate, I've never been to the giant extravaganza antiques sale in Round Top, Texas. But I'm fixing that life omission this spring.

The So Much Sky book tour is headed down I-35 from Iowa to Marburger Farm in Round Top. I'll be there from Thursday April, 3 through Saturday, April 5. Yep, and I'm driving down in a BIG vehicle so I can cart home something that I've fallen in love with. Hopefully it's furniture ;-)

I'm going with friends Sundie and Brad Ruppert who are regulars there. They are the masterminds behind the cool characters of Vintage Sculpture. I have a number of their pieces; my prize is the horse they made using real horsehair clipped from my ever-patient quarter horse Yukon.

Please join me at Marburger Farm near Tent G for my book signing times:

Thursday, April 3, 2012
10 to noon, 2-4 pm

Friday, April 4, 2012
10 to noon, 2-4 pm

Saturday, April 5, 2012
10 to noon

The rest of the time, I'll be shopping (and, no doubt, buying stuff too big to fit into my car...)

Chickens in the Mail

Although it's still the end of January, I'm thinking forward to spring: seed starting and chicks! I'm eager to start lettuce greens. And we’ll be making our spring chick order from Murray McMurray Hatchery soon too. Then, we'll get the early morning phone call from our local Post Office that our box of chicks have arrived.

Chicks travel through the mail? Read more about that in my “Slow Lane” column in Country Gardens magazine; the Early Spring 2012 issue is on the newsstands now. Here’s an excerpt:

“A small box of live chicks is a funny sight. So we stare down at them for a long moment—taking in the strangeness of a world where chicks can be sent through the mail like birthday cards or electric bills—then close the box and drive home."

Book Signing At Beaverdale Books, Des Moines, IA

My next book signing of So Much Sky on February 4 from 2 to 3 at Beaverdale Books, a great little independent book store in Des Moines, IA.

It's being sponsored by Country Gardens magazine (thanks James, Heather, and Nick!!).

My last book signing was at Picket Fence Creamery where I was upstaged by a basket of Jack Russell puppies for sale. It's hard to compete with puppies. Darn hard.

So come to Beaverdale Books. But leave those puppies at home.

Iowa Public Radio: Talk of Iowa

Check it out! I'm going to be interviewed about my new book So Much Sky by Charity Nebbe on her cool talk show "Talk of Iowa" on Iowa Public Radio. I'm on Tuesday, January 17th from 10 to 11 am; a recorded version will be available for streaming or downloading if you miss it. ;-)