Bleeding Heart

A few years ago I planted a Bleeding Heart for its nostalgic value. My mother had one, its clusters of heart shaped flowers so enticing to me as a small child I popped them in my mouth and ate them…or so I was told. Every spring when the green shoots pop, I anticipate the blooms: strands of tiny pink hearts spreading like necklaces  across the foliage. The sight of them and their distinct smell of the leaves zip me back to my childhood and to thoughts of my mother and her love for flowers.

Mom tended two large rectangular gardens in our backyard, which was actually a side yard. In the  larger garden, she planted vegetables: flavorful tomatoes for fresh eating and canning, green beans, cucumbers and dill for the best pickles around, and rhubarb for pies, torts, and jams. In the smaller garden closer to the street she grew flowers: among them shrub roses, poppies, tulips, zinnias, petunias, and geraniums.

Mom used to take cuttings of her geraniums and placed them in cans and wintered them in the  upstairs windows of our house across the street from the Catholic School.  The single cutting magically turned into full geranium plants  blooming  while the ground was frozen covered with snow. Once when I visited her, she showed me illustrated letters one of the teachers had her class write to her about the flowers in her windows. It pleased her so. That was a nice thing for that teacher to do.

So now, I surround myself with plants which remind me of my sweet mother:  her Christmas cactus, (It’s well over fifty years old), shrub roses, tulips, petunias, and bleeding hearts.

Bleeding Hearts

Midge Bubany, Author

Citizen Law Enforcement Academy: Week 3

Jessica Ellis Laine: Citizen Law Enforcement Academy: Week 1

Jessica Ellis Laine’s blog about the Citizen Law Enforcement Academy: Week 1.

Excelsior Bay Books- What’s right about indie bookstores

Last Saturday, I had an enjoyable and successful book signing in beautiful Excelsior, MN, at an indie bookstore called Excelsior Bay Books. What made it so pleasant was watching the personal and friendly exchange between the owner, Ann Nye, and customers. It’s fun to browse in a store this size, Ann has a large variety of titles. There’s even a seating area where you can sit down and look over a book before purchase or visit with other book lovers and friends. Let’s keep these wonderful treasures, the indie book stores, around for a long time. Support the indie bookstores!

Upcoming Events

In June, I will head to Northern Minnesota. On Friday, June 19, I will be in Detroit Lakes  at Book World from 1:00 to 3:00, and on Saturday June 20, I will head over to Park Rapids to Beagle Books where I will sign books from 11:00 to 1:00 as part of their author fest.  The next Friday, June 26, I will be at Book World in Baxter from 11:00 to 1:00, and on June 27 I will be in Grand Rapids at Village Books from 12:00 to 2:00. Drop by and say hi iif you are in the area!

Spring, Robins, and My Mother

Yesterday, I saw my first robins of the season. I always anticipate their return not only because it signals spring, (my favorite time of year), but because they remind me of my mom.  She was the sweetest, kindest woman I’ve ever known, and she liked birds, especially robins. She had us kids on robin watch in the spring and we were delighted when we spied our first ones. Mom kept a bird bath in her large flower garden and fed the birds in a feeder which hung on a maple branch in our front yard. It always amazed me how the birds didn’t seem to mind the feeder swaying widely in the brisk prairie breeze. I gave Mom this little robin years ago, and now that she’s gone I have it. I’ve placed it where I can see it and enjoy a few seconds of Mom with me again.

Next Event

My next signing event will be at Excelsior Bay Books in Excelsior, Minnesota, on Saturday, March 21 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Excelsior is a lovely town on Lake Minnetonka. Come explore the shops and restaurants, and stop by the indie bookstore to say hi.

Signing Events for Silver’s Bones

I am beginning to set up signing events for the release of Silver’s Bones, the second in the Cal Sheehan mysteries. Events in March are as follows:

Saturday, March 14, Barnes and Noble Maple Grove, from 1:00 to 4:00.

Saturday, March 21, Excelsior Bay Books, Excelsior, MN from 1:00 to 3:00

Friday, March 27, Barnes and Noble, Ridgehaven, (Minnetonka) from 7:00 to 9:00.

Saturday, March 28, Bloomington Writers’ Festival and Book Fair, Bloomington Center for the Arts, 10:00 to 4:00.

A Mystery Solved!

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been hearing a chittering sound in the house. The first time it occured was about 10:30 at night. I was reading along side my sleeping hubby. At first, I thought the sound could be a new, funky snore of his, but after leaning in and listening, I ruled it out. Heard the sound again, then it stopped, and I proceeded to fall asleep. Somewhat anxious about the sound, the next day I told my husband it sounded like an animal, a squirrel, perhaps, and that it was inside our house somewhere. I heard the sound again and again in the next few days and reported to my husband everytime, who must have thought I was hearing things, but dutifully went to check out our home, inside and out, after which he  assured me our house was tight and no creature could gain access. Then he heard it too. Thank God! But he couldn’t figure out what it was and thought it could be the wind causing something (like our wreathes) to move.

Then this morning when in our entryway, I heard the sound LOUD and CLEAR! I narrowed it down to a plant I’d brought in from outside this fall because it still looked so pretty and I didn’t want the frost to hit it. The coleus had long died, but the ivy was still alive so I kept it watered. I now knew the sound was coming from the plant, and realized it was from a FROG! My husband carried the pot back outside on our steps where it remains. I don’t want to think about what’s happening to the frog in twenty degrees.

Morale of the story: Don’t bring outdoor plant pots inside for the winter. They may be someone’s habitat!