Earth Day 2023

I’m crawling out of writer’s block cage for my annual Earth Day check in. As in past years, I’m sharing some products I love (which may have affiliate links), and some better for the planet habits I’ve tried to develop. Unlike other years, there won’t be a bunch of extraneous text and I’m not taking the time to make this post look pretty.

The Good

1) I (finally) tried laundry detergent sheets. I really like the Earth Breeze Laundry Sheets in the Fresh scent. When you first open the package, the scent is overwhelming. I store mine in a resealable plastic bag (I know, I know – so much for kicking plastic – but it’s not single use). The scent is subtle on laundered clothes. And, wow, do these sheets clean. They have gotten out grass, mud, blood, and tomato sauce with no additional scrubbing. I do not recommend these for water resistant fabrics, and for towels I use a different detergent – the 9 Elements liquid. The vinegar in the 9 Elements keeps the towels so fluffy, no-one misses fabric softener.

2) The Air-Fryer. We were late to the party on this one – only adding it about a year ago, but I love that I make french fries and peach crisp without turning on my oven in the middle of summer. It takes so little time – maybe 15-18 minutes of energy – unlike my oven which can be adding heat to the home for about two hours by the time it preheats, cooks, and then cools down. The added environmental benefit? The A/C doesn’t have to work overtime.

3) My Pela Phone Case is adorable. The link is to the basic, but I went fancy with flowers. I bought an Alice in Wonderland case from one of the designer brands. It lasted 3 weeks and was a horrible waste of plastic. The Pela case cost a few dollars more, but looks brand new after 5 months of use. When I’m done with it, I can toss it in the compost.

4) Taking my lunch to work. I have an adorable pink flamingo lunch box. I don’t use extra gas in the car to get lunch somewhere. I usually take “plan-aheads” or make my own “single serve” cottage cheese by scooping from a large container into a reasonable portion.

5) My prairie rain garden plants are thriving. By using native plants and collecting rainwater, I have made my backyard a lovely place to relax, at least when it is not full of neighborhood kids playing Spikeball or Cornhole. And when it is full of kids laughing and having fun, it’s a lovely place for an entirely different reason.

The Bad

1. I cannot manage to quit string cheese. All those single serving plastics protect much deliciousness. I limit myself to two a week, but that still seems extravagant.
2. I don’t compost year round. There has to be some way to do better composting in the winter that doesn’t involve a $500 countertop model. My countertop is too full already.
3. And this is where the issue with words and writing for an audience comes in. There is so much more I could say about what I would like to work on, like how I would like to plant more clover in the yard or stop consuming out of season fruit, but I have my doubts that anyone reads these or cares what I have to say. I have lost my motivation to set forth a public accountability.

Whelp, that’s all for this year’s Earth Day post. If you’ve made it this far, be kind to bees, and Mother Earth. Maybe if we’re all a little nicer to her, she’ll dial back the crazy weather.

Done with it

By which I mean Twitter – but maybe more.

I’ve been sitting on the sidelines of the writing business for a while. If I’m perfectly honest, the flop of my last book has weighed heavily on me. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Sidetracked, and based on the handful of reviews for it, readers have loved it too. But I never cracked the visibility code.

Sidetracked is not as trope heavy as most of the successful holiday romances. Romance is a trope focused business. Even though the “Grump and Sunshine” trope is popular at the moment, my “Grinch and Holiday Train fanatic” don’t fit the mold. I’m trying to figure out where my writing fits. The scraps of story I play with these days fall under mystery, fantasy, women’s fiction and more. The only thing I know for certain is I am not writing Amish fiction.

This brings me to Twitter. I joined Twitter years ago because I loved the writing community I found there. Romancelandia on Twitter was brilliant and fun and insightful in 140 characters. Producing a good tweet provided a certain intellectual challenge. You could engage with anyone, but really, the romance authors were the best. But those days are all in the past.

I became disenchanted with Twitter when it switched to longer posts and paid algorithms, but there was still enough fun to be had, insights to be gained, and connections to me made. Then came the hate and haste. It was one thing for people to post content that showed what an idiot they were. Continue to follow the wrong person for an hour after their scandal broke, and you could find yourself blacklisted or blocked without knowing why. Context became irrelevant. Instead Twitter functioned as a social hierarchy so complex, ever shifting, and mysterious that if you missed an hour, much less a day – you could look like an ignorant buffoon, and there was no shortage of people ready to call you out, both publicly and in your DMs. It got to the point where I pretty much quit writing tweets. I just went for the memes.

The assumption on Twitter was you did everything with intent, but intentionality on Twitter went away when the tweet size doubled and bots took over with the sole purpose of getting attention. Accounts you had no connection with would tag your name with their questionable product so it looked like you had endorsed something. I stayed on because Twitter is where the writers are, but I engaged less and less. It didn’t matter. I saw less of what I wanted to see (cute animals, bad weather, clever authors) and saw more politicians screaming, more public shaming (which does serve a purpose, but only when it allows for a growth mentality), and more dick-pics sliding into my DMs. It’s only gotten worse in the last month.

Twitter isn’t fun anymore. Finding photos of Buffalo under six feet of snow should not have so hard. Instead I had to wade past the bot driven irrelevant posts, or worse – ones spouting harmful messages – before getting into the good stuff, like opening garage doors and puppies frolicking in the snow. I have no time or life energy to waste on wading through the anger and hate. I’m deactivating my account -as soon as I archive it. Until I find something better, I’ll be on Facebook.

PS – If you are looking for something fun, Sidetracked is going on sale Nov 25-29th. Pick up the ebook for $1.99.

Earth Day 2022: Sustainability

I haven’t blogged much lately, but I am committed to my Earth Day environmental check in. 2022 has brought a lot of challenges for me, and well, pretty much everyone else. I still haven’t managed to kick the plastic habit, but I have been taking steps toward living more sustainably. Some have worked out better than others.

Step 1: Mending clothes. I worn second-hand jeans exclusively for over a decade – ever since learning about the environmental cost of producing new denim. I save money and the earth. It’s a win-win. When fitting rooms closed during Covid-19, I wondered what more I could do to prolong the life of my denim. Enter the sewing machine. I learned how to reinforce weak seams and do two types of patches. I haven’t figured out how to do a good hem, but I love how cute these butterfly patches turned out.

2. Native plants: My backyard is often soggy, the side effect development and living near a marsh. With carefully selected native prairie grasses and flowering plants, I turned my sump-pump runoff into a faux riverbed. The rocks redirect the water, sending it away from the lowest part of the yard. These native plants are absolute sponges with deep root. Plus they give me something pretty to look at, pollinators a place for a snack, and my family a place to play bocce or croquet. This was an absolute win. I shopped at Minnesota Native Landscapes, but that won’t help you if you live in say Phoenix, AZ or Cardiff, Wales.

3. I tried toothpaste pellets. I won’t say which brand, but it was a no-go. I was disappointed. I still love the idea of toothpaste in a refillable glass jar. If you have a favorite brand, I’d love a recommendation.

4. Bambody Period Underwear. Maybe this is TMI, but between the plastics, adhesives, and bleach used in traditional feminine hygiene products, I made the switch to more nature friendly products about 8 years ago and FINALLY I have found one worth talking about. Other brands I have tried either fell apart after two washes, fit poorly, were itchy, had a funk, or (again maybe this is TMI) made me sweaty. Bambody is the opposite. They are so soft and comfortable, that I wear them on days I don’t need them. I bought my first pair eighteen months ago. My most recent purchase was two months ago. If I put the same color pairs side by side, you would not be able to tell the difference. No fading, no weird stretching, and best of all no funk or sweat. Click here to see more.

To sum Earth Day 2022: Try the Bambody, add native plants, patches can be cute, and please let me know if you found a decent toothpaste pellet.

These endorsements are entirely my own. I have not received compensation for any product mentioned. However, some items may contain affiliate links.

My backyard revisions meet a drought

The 2021 garden season was the culmination of a three year project to transform the damaged deck and perpetually soggy backyard into a functional space where kids could hang with friends, the cats could enjoy the outside from the safety of a screened in porch, my native pollinator garden, needing no extra water, would be in full bloom, and the abundance of pollinators would guarantee a good tomato yield.

That dream is not fully realized this year. Between Covid-19, smoke from wildfires, high heat, and drought, the plot twists did not work in my favor. (BTW – neither did technology – this is take two on this post. The first one poofed when I tried to fix a typo.) Even though the garden photos are not as lush and in bloom as I would have liked, I’m happy to share some photos.

Before: A deck that heaved every winter, stairs that ended in a hill.

After construction, before landscaping. And yes, there are mud puddles.

Year Two in progress. The retaining wall redirects the water away from the flat part of the yard.

Phase Two complete. The sump pump empties into the rock river bed under the stairs.

Year Three! The plants are a little droopy. In a wetter year, it would be easier to see the yellow and pink blooms along the rock river bed. The pollinator garden is on the left side, and the right has prairie grasses. The lawn has a mix of grass and clover, and is a great place for soccer or bocce.

The process of revising the back yard is a lot like revising a book. It takes time to plan, build, fix what is not working, and at some point you have to accept that while it may not be quite what you first envisioned, the end result is satisfying.

A very hungry bookworm

We lost a literary giant yesterday, Eric Carle passed away at age 91. His life, art, and gift for words inspired many a youngster, including me.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar was one of my absolute favorite books to get from the library. The holes in the page were the icing on the (chocolate) cake. I spent a lot of time putting my pinky finger in the hole on one page and very carefully turning to the next to solve the important mystery of how everything lined up. Eric Carle taught me that books were magical.

Another sort of magic from The Very Hungry Caterpillar? I was inspired to try new foods. I liked strawberries, apples, lollipops, and chocolate cake. So did the caterpillar. I distinctly remember being excited to try swiss cheese because the caterpillar ate it. I also learned the valuable lesson to have some salad if I’ve overindulged.

My kids adored Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and the companion Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? Carle did the illustrations, and Bill Martin Jr. did the words. They preferred these books to The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We had board book versions of both and the corners were well chewed as if the kids were trying to eat through the pages, but the board book lacked the intriguing finger holes of paper version I got from the library.

My youngest liked to play a game inspired by Brown Bear. He would ask “Mommy, Mommy what do you see?” and I had to answer with something I saw in the room “looking at me.” We played this in the car, in waiting rooms, at home, pretty much anywhere and he would bust my chops if he thought I picked something (say a potato or a painting) out of the sightline of the last object named. At some point, one or the other of us would have to recall all of the items mentioned previously. It was a good mental exercise for both of us.

My oldest liked to look at the art and try to figure out how it was made, noticing little details like how the collage parts lined up. Carle was a truly talented artist, mixing media, color, and form to make the world anew. I was not surprised when I learned one of Carle’s artistic influences was Marc Chagall. I see a similarity in how they blend multiple tones and hues to create a color. Because of copywrite concerns, I won’t plunk the images here, but click on names to see what I mean. In both cases, I linked to images featuring the color blue.

Eric Carle reminds us to find the joy and beauty in the world. Take a moment today to honor him by seeking out wonder and beauty.

Links to books on Amazon contain affiliate links.

Earth Day 2021

The past 12 months have been challenging for this lazy person committed to both supporting local business and adopting small changes to help the Earth. The pandemic caused me to discard the old syllabus. I hope Mother Nature is grading on a curve.

In an effort to support local restaurants, my family and I got takeout at least once a week. That generated a lot of takeout containers, most of which were not recyclable. Some got repurposed into craft projects or places to start seedlings, but eventually, they went to the trash.

On the other hand, my takeout dollars went to small businesses in the area. Not every place survived, but I banded together with a group of moms in my area and we shared information about struggling small businesses, especially those owned by women and BIPOC communities, and those who used locally sourced ingredients. Owners of five restaurants and three other businesses have acknowledged the moms as the reason they made rent and kept doors open.

Even if I don’t like the accumulated takeout containers, I am making a difference for people in my community and that feels pretty darn good. Fingers crossed these “Foreverwear” containers become wider spread.

When I look at this year and how my baby steps worked there are plusses and minuses.

The bad and the ugly:

Takeout containers use increasing.

Overall increase in packaging – from deliveries to not using reusable bags, it all adds up.

The hubs “cleaned” a garden bed and got rid of my swamp milkweed patch.

Swamp Milkweed – the pinkish purple flowers are prettier than the name.

What went well

Reduced carbon emission from travel. No flights, and not too many miles on the car.

Increased the number of native plants in the yard. Got promise from the hubs he will restore the milkweed.

Better meal planning meant less food waste and fewer trips to the grocery store.

Reduced impulse purchases. We tried to reduce packing by ordering only when we had a list. There was no “Oh this looks cute” or “that smells great” items dropping into the cart.

More clothing repair. The kids are still growing – we cannot stop all clothing purchases, but I learned to patch jeans and reinforce seams.

My Green Living goals for the next year:

Grow more vegetables and herbs. Buy plants from the local greenhouse.

Add more native plants. How cute are these Pocket Prairies? Very, in my opinion. Maybe there is something similar in your neck of the woods.

Be intentional in my purchases and my travel. Both will happen again at some point.

It’s a short list. Share your green living hints to give me inspiration.

PS – I added an image after a reader mentioned needing to look up Swamp Milkweed. I guess I’ve lived in Minnesota long enough that I forgot how uncommon it is elsewhere.

Thinking Spring and Bees

My Minnesota backyard is still covered in snow, but some of you are already enjoying flowering spring bulbs. This is the time of year I start getting serious about what my summer garden should look like. I should be planting more swamp milkweed this year, and hopefully my tomatoes will be happier in the 3 foot by 3 foot bed that is being added to the back yard.

One longed for addition will not happen. My town council decided not to allow backyard beekeeping. Ever since I moved to this house, I’d been aware of efforts to change the town rules to allow for backyard chickens and bees. The council voted last month to allow chickens, but not bees. Having been pecked by my grandma’s chickens more times than I can count, I have zero interest in chickens. What surprised me the most was that although more individuals in a survey of citizens said they would keep chickens, the percent of the population who opposed chickens was about 15% higher than those who opposed backyard bees, but the city stands to collect more in licensing fees from the potential chicken wranglers than from bee keepers.

My current writing project features a bee keeper who hates chickens. Personal curiosity drove my research into pollinators and bee keeping, which in turn fed my manuscript and efforts to change town laws. I won’t be able to set up a backyard hive, but I am looking forward to welcoming bees and pollinators to my yard with a variety of colorful blooms and native plants.

A few favorite gifts

Time is growing short to find the right gift for yourself or someone you love. I wish I could say I made money off affiliate links, but I don’t. I’m simply a struggling author sharing some things I love that you might enjoy.

This is my Sphynx Juno. She’s 12. Rather than drinking from the Catit flower fountain like a normal cat, she prefers this pose. She has tried this on other fountains and bowls, tipping them over. This one is Juno-proof!

All our cats love this fountain. We no longer worry one kitty will develop kidney problems from a lack of water.

It’s cheap, cute and easy to clean. I got it from Chewy.

A 2020 Christmas Ornament. Normally we add an ornament to the Christmas tree that commemorates some place we went during the year. But this is 2020. Out of virus concerns, we followed public health recommendations and stayed home. My family hasn’t had the big reveal so no pic yet, but Etsy.com has a delightful variety and you can support small businesses hurt by the shuttering of craft fairs and other in person outlets. If you want to shop local, Etsy gives you that choice as well. Claire of Sidetracked supports Etsy.

Books – ebooks and physical books!

Seriously – feed an author, buy a book, and give the gift of entertainment.

Gift Cards from local restaurants. Support those places you love, but also treat people who don’t live with you to a great meal from some place local to them.

Some local bakeries and ice cream places will ship across country which can be a wonderful taste of home for someone who can’t travel or has special dietary needs.

Personally, I’m excited about the AandJbakery.net gingerbread house kit that arrived at my house this week. As a food allergy family, finding a gingerbread house we could safely build was a challenge until we learned about A&J. The pic is last year’s model. The gingerbread is the best I’ve ever had.

Wishing you peace, Lola

Thanksgiving Tips and Why I don’t make Gravy.

For some people, 2020 will be the first time they have prepared a Thanksgiving dinner rather than bringing a dish to share. It can’t be any worse than my first time making a turkey.

The hubs and I had been married a little over a year and had moved into our third residence. We had new jobs, little money, and no vacation time so traveling 10 hours to visit the “close” parents was not an option. My mom felt bad enough that she flew from Chicago to Newark, NJ to help us out. For three people, we had a 15 pound bird.

Helpful hint #1 – Unless you are feeding 5 or more, get a turkey breast or a 7-8 lb bird.

Naturally, the hubs and I had to recreate ALL the dishes both sides of our family made so we could both have the taste of home. This meant two types of mashed potatoes, two types of cranberries, and two types of stuffing. This also meant we ran out of cookware and places to set prepared food in our tiny kitchen.

Helpful hint #2 – For a small group, streamline the menu. Pick your favorite 5 or 6. In our household of 4, we have turkey, cranberry relish and each person picks one other dish. You can always make a different side dish for the inevitable left overs.

My mom alternated between shaking her head at the hubs and my folly and giving us helpful instruction gleaned. She gave me the task of making gravy from the pan drippings while she coached the hubs through some other task. Her instructions to me went something like “heat in the pan, add cornstarch, whisk until smooth and thickened.”

So I whisked, and I whisked, and I whisked. I got the gravy smooth but there was a problem. “Mom? It’s not thickening!”

“Add some more cornstarch.”

So I grabbed the box and poured in some more. I whisked, got the gravy smooth, but it still didn’t thicken. Mom and I repeated our dialogue to the same effect. I made four additions.

When she finished her project, she came over to check my work. She picked up the yellow box I’d been using. She put her hand on my exhausted whisking arm.

“Honey, no matter how much powdered sugar you add, that gravy isn’t going to thicken.”

Helpful hint #3 – Cornstarch and powdered sugar are not interchangeable.

It’s been over 20 years, but I am still not allowed to make gravy.

If you have a helpful hint for preparing a small scale Thanksgiving dinner, please feel free to share in the comments. It’s a strange year for many of us, but we can all learn something new and we can all use a good laugh.

Press Release: Sidetracked: A Small Town Contemporary Rom-Com

MINNESOTA AUTHOR PUBLISHES SIDETRACKED: A SMALL TOWN CONTEMPORARY ROM-COM

October 13, 2020

Lola Karns is pleased to announced her latest Christmas romance. Sidetracked will release on October 13, 2020 and will be available at major ebook retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, and others. A print version is anticipated shortly. Her previous Christmas romance, Winter Fairy, was a best seller and featured in USA Today.

Lola’s penchant for making things up began in childhood. As she went through school a number of teachers encouraged her to pursue writing. Although many of her jobs involved writing everything from marketing copy, encyclopedia entries, and technical manuals, she didn’t pursue fiction until after her children were born. Many of her stories feature children or adults acting like mischievous children.

A lifelong interest in miniatures and model train displays informed Sidetracked. Because Lola never could reassemble her doll house properly after a move, the idea of relocating an elaborate train display fueled a series of “what if” and “why” questions in her mind. Through the years, she hid in the crowd shouting lot of questions at the engineers and stewards of models both across the country. They gave facts and she made up the rest.

Sidetracked retails for 3.99 and will be available first in ebook with print to follow. For more about Sidetracked follow this link. Ready to get Sidetracked?

Available for ebook pre-order at selection locations. Wide release on October 13, 2020.