Honey Without Bees

As I switch between putting out the word about my latest book A Promise Is A Promise and work at the every day tasks I've been thinking about how much like the Amish my world is in some ways. Work wise that is. I don't profess to be as devout as they are in their faith.
Yesterday I studied the tall clover in our hayfield and remembered a 150 year old recipe I hadn't dusted off in years. Honey without Bees. We hear much about honey bees dying and no one knows why. That not only means a loss of honey but pollination for all our crops. I have no idea of knowing why the recipe for honey I have was devised by pioneers. I do know that my honey tastes very similar to the real thing the bees make. You have to collect clover and wild roses from a place that hasn't been sprayed with poison. Collect 45 red clover blossoms, 45 white clover blossoms and 25 rose flowers. Wash them and put in a large pan with a teaspoon of powdered alum and 10 cups of sugar and add 2 cups of water. Stir up and heat until the mixture comes to a rolling boil for 3 minutes. Strain the honey through a cloth. Makes 2 quarts. Wonder if Amish people know about my recipe.
Today I put 10 quarts of sweet corn in the freezer. On a hot day canning is no fun, but our Iowa weather has been very pleasant all summer. I've always enjoyed preserving what we raise. I like it even better to partake of my labors in winter months. We are blessed to have good food all year around.
I'm working on a new website now to be my bookstore for all my books. My bookstore is at www.booksbyfay.esmartbiz.com. I hope to have it up and running soon.
Gotta go
booksbyfay
Fay Risner
www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
booksbyfay@yahoo to order my books or
Amazon

I'm excited!

The proof for my latest book came last night and I'm excited and relieved. This has been the most difficult book to get published that I've done so far and the one that I'm the proudest of. For one thing, the content gets better with each time I write a book. That was a snap compared to how long it to me to struggle over the cover. I spent hours working on that cover and felt like giving up but I didn't. This was the first cover that I used a photograph that I took instead of clip art so the book is all my creation. I got up early this morning and looked at the book laying on the dining room table. It almost seems unreal that the book is finally here after months of worrying over getting it created. I thank Lightning Source Publishing client representative Joan Williams and Brent who gave me such good advice to get that cover workable. I'd still be struggling if I hadn't call them. One thing I've found to be great about Lightning Source Publishing is that I had someone to help me through the creation process for the cover. So I just put in my first order for "A Promise Is A Promise" at 6 a.m. this morning and now I can hardly wait for the shipment to come. Right now it feels like my birthday and Christmas all rolled up into one. Next thing you know I'll be ready to start another book.
Gotta Go
Booksbyfay
www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
www.twitter/booksbyfay
www.blogger/booksbyfay
booksbyfay@yahoo if you want to order "A Promise Is A Promise" or any of my other books

One After Another

Getting very close to finishing up my latest Amish book "A Promise Is A Promise" with Lightning Source Publishing and am already working on a booklet but this time it will be a very fast production. This book is a memory book for my 45th High School reunion. It's filled with bios, memories of school and favorite teachers. A look at the past and a glimpse at former classmates now. It's been fun reading about everyone as I type in what they send and look at the pictures they choose to put in with their bios. The book has to be done by the end of the week so a former classmate can take it to the printer the following week and on August 8 we will all be able to connect with our reminisce book in our hands.
Gotta go write,
Booksbyfay
Fay Risner
www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
booksbyfay@yahoo to buy any of my 16 books
sold by Amazon
My two Alzheimer's books are sold by me and at Lemstone Christian Bookstore, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Daylight

Back again. Maybe I am about to come out from under the workload I created for myself and see daylight. Finally after two and a half months I have submitted a cover for my latest book. Won't know until my proof come whether I will like the book's look or not but feel better that I have that out of the way. Now I'm working on a high school reunion book for my classmates to be done by Aug. 8th. That means I have to hustle to get all the bios and pictures typed into the book and get it ready for a classmate to take to the printer. Once that is done the pressure should be off. Between now and the Aug. 8 reunion I just have a birthday party to attend in State Center for a great niece and nephew. I think I see taking the boat out for a day of fishing. Iowa is having the coolest July on record and lots of rain. One of those cool days has to be a fishing day.
Just put a press release in www.tour.com and www.biblioscribe.com for a three day event in Belle Plaine Iowa in Franklin Park. It's a Civil War Days reenactment. Sounds like a good place to sell my Civil War book "Ella Mayfield's Pawpaw Militia" along with all the other books I've written. The reenactors come from all over so that might mean more sales if they take a few of my books home.
I'm all prepared to play the part of a Civil War era woman. I have a pioneer dress and bonnet to wear. Even bought a folding chair with a canopy so if I can't find a shade tree I will be shaded from the sun. Hopefully by then I luck out and have three days of sun instead of rain every other day like we have had for months. The first day of the event is for the school students. That should be fun to entertain them with my Civil War tales since the battles and escapades of Ella are true.
My goal for awhile is to keep you informed which sites I use to advertise my new book that should be out soon now that it has a cover so keep watching for "A Promise Is A Promise" ISBN 0982459505 and printed by Lightning Source Publishing.
The back cover says
Home Health Nurse Hal Lindstrom is assigned Amish widower John Lapp. She offers to stay with his children while he is in the hospital. Fifteen year old Emma takes care of the house. Her two small brothers are handling the dairy operation alone. Emma suffers from depression, Noah is withdrawn and Daniel sleepwalks outside, looking for his dead mother. Drawn in by this needy family, Hal soon realizes this family has a mystery they've swept under the proverbial Amish rag rug. The more she tries to help the deeper she gets sucked into the family's problem. Finally, Emma makes Hal promise to stop trying to unravel the tragic secret. When Hal's happiness is at stake she wishes she hadn't agreed, but a promise is a promise.
Gotta go,
Fay Risner
booksbyfay
www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
www.booksbyfay.twitter.com
booksbyfay@yahoo to buy my books or for information about them

Fellow writer

Just finished a western book by Howard K. Terrell from Anamosa, Iowa. Reminds me of some of the old westerns of the past written by a man who was very close to living the life. Just another author who is up and coming with his work.
Steve Weber author of Plug your Work is following me on Twitter. How about that! I happen to be familiar with his work since I use his book to help me figure out how to get my books on the Internet.
The storms are over for now. We sure have had a lot of warning and watches from wind, hail, flood and tornadoes. I know I'm safe for the moment. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the white Tom Cat is stalking a mouse in the hay field. Quite a contrast. The white blob is gliding on its stomach through the green alfalfa.
Looks like more cherries have turned red under the netting we put on the tree to turn away the robins. I'll be pitting cherries again today. Oh Joy!
Gotta Go,
booksbyfay
Fay Risner
www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
booksbyfay@yahoo to buy my books

Early Morning

I never thought I would be an early riser morning person, but now that summer heat has finally hit Iowa, the crisp morning air is better than air conditioning. I sit here typing while I listen to a jenny wren chortle. Robins hop across the lawn looking for a nightcrawler that forgot to slip back in it's hole at daylight. Goldfinches color up the landscape, flitting from tree to tree. The hay's made and we have been promised no thunder storms today. A good day to be alive.
Gotta Go
Booksbyfay
Fay Risner
www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
booksbyfay@yahoo to buy my books
Check out the Lemstone Christian Bookstore in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to buy my Alzheimer's books.

Grass Roots

Hopefully though we got an inch of rain night before last, we might get our hay made this afternoon. As I walked to the mailbox after the hay was cut, it occurred to me that had to be one of the better scents in the country. Even better than fresh mowed lawn. There is a sweetness in the air from the clover and alfalfa plants that only enhances as the hay dries.
I've lived my whole life in the country. It takes a particular smell or sight sometimes to bring back memories that go way back. Memories of hard working people that were a part of my family. It is memories like those that encourage me to write about country and small town life. With any luck, we will be able to bail our hay this afternoon late and put it on the hay conveyor and stack it in the barn loft. I will be itchy and scratched from dried hay stems, smudged with dust and smelling of sweat. How country is that?
Gotta Go,
Booksbyfay
www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
booksbyfay@yahoo to buy my books