This is NOT the Knott House! It's the house next door, but it's beautiful, too!
This white columned house below IS the Knott House!
Let's pause for a photo before we go inside.
Cute sign out front.
Here is an old photograph that is displayed inside the Knott House that asks, "Is that a ghost?" Do you see the white filmy figure to the left of the white lamp?
The dining room is below.
Mrs. Knott loved large mirrors.
The glassed-in sun room overlooking the city park.
Foyer
One of the bedrooms.
One of the rooms had some displays in it. Here is a large dollhouse that was made by some locals craftspeople.
Looking at the backyard garden from the second floor.
On President's Day, we went to Maclay Gardens. It was a little chilly in the morning, but warmed up while we were there. I like this sign at the entrance to the gardens.
This tree provided a good spot for a group photo.
Here are the Lyons looking at the lions.
This is the well-known spot where weddings are held. That's Lake Hall way in the background.
Another good spot for a group photo.
The camellias were carpeting the ground everywhere.
In the gardens is the Maclay home.
Below is the living room.
In the home were many displays about gardens, horses, dogs, and the Maclay family.
In the third paragraph is the name of Jan Snedaker, Alfred Maclay's ancestor. Jan Snedaker is also my 9th grandfather, so I am Alfred Maclay's distant cousin.
I like this charming vignette by the front door and the photo of Mrs. Maclay and her children.
Brick paths led us around the gardens.
A massive oak tree.
A pavilion provided a nice place to look out on Lake Hall.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The Fairy Tale Trap
My friend, Emily Casey, has written a book called The Fairy Tale Trap.
She's doing a blog tour and I invited her to be on my blog.
Below she gives us an introduction to her book.
Take it away, Emily!
Hey, thanks for letting me do this blog post!
First, a bit about the book. The Fairy Tale Trap is about a girl named Ivy who gets trapped
in a fairy tale: Beauty and the Beast. My main character is sarcastic (as most teenagers are)
and gets herself into all kinds of trouble as she tries to find a way home.
Here's the book trailer, to give you a better idea:
I'm publishing the book myself, so at the moment, it's only available as an ebook. (I hope to change that in the future, but right now I just don't have the resources.)
The easiest way to find The Fairy Tale Trap is by going to Smashwords.
Once you get a copy of it there, you can get it in any e-format.
Now I have some questions for Emily:
Who or what has been the biggest influence on your book?
Well, fairy tales obviously made a big impact on this story. I've always loved them and now I'm reading them to my daughter at bedtime, so fairy tales have been on my mind a lot lately.
Have you always loved writing?
Hmm.. Well, I think my mom saved a copy of the first story I ever wrote. I think I was 4
and it was two or three sentences long. I don't remember the finer plot points,
but I know it involved a princess who lived in a castle.
But I really got into writing about 5 years ago, soon after I got married.
I've been writing pretty steadily this whole time. It's been a great journey.
You have two young children--when do you write?
Nap time!
Honestly, I don't know what I'll do when my daughter doesn't need her afternoon nap after school. I'll probably have to write when they go down for bed.
It's hard for me to write when they're awake, even if they're in another room.
That sixth mom-sense is always listening out for trouble or wondering why it's so quiet.
What are some of your favorite books?
You're making me choose? Well, I'm listening to Harry Potter on audio with my kids right now. I'm falling in love with the series all over again, so that would definitely be up there on my list.
I also just borrowed a book from a friend that I loved called Seven Daughters and Seven Sons. It's a retelling of a middle eastern folk tale.
Are you working on some new books and can you share any of the story lines?
I'm working on Book 2, of course! It's called The Fairy Tale Twist, where Ivy gets
trapped in The Twelve Dancing Princesses and meets an interesting new character
that we'll hopefully see again.
Was it difficult getting your book published?
Yes! I mean it was fun, just exhausting. Aside from actually writing the book, there was cover design, editing, formatting, loading the book up onto Smashwords and Amazon, marketing (yuck!) and a whole slew of other things I never thought I'd have to worry about. Putting together this blog tour has been a lot of fun, though. I've met so many fantastic people. The blogging community has been really supportive! (Thanks!)
The Fairy Tale Trap is now available for download at Smashwords and Amazon.
For supper last night, I fixed Roasted Vegetables and Chickpeas, a recipe I got from Better Homes & Gardens (Nov 2011).
The hardest part was cutting up the raw sweet potatoes.
Every cut I made, I was afraid I was going to cut my hand. Next time I have to cut up raw sweet potatoes, I am going to buy skinny ones, not big chunky ones.
See those potato peelings in the background? They are going in my compost bin.
Besides the sweet potatoes, the recipe called for carrots, a red onion, and chickpeas.
The recipe did call for white potatoes, but we all know sweet potatoes are more nutritious, so I only used them.
Arrange the cut up peeled sweet potatoes in a greased 9x13 pan.
Next add the carrots--orange on orange!
In goes a cut up red onion! Next I mixed a little olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper and drizzled it over the vegetables.
An hour later (400 degrees, uncovered, stirring twice) the vegetables are cooked and ready to enjoy.
The dining room is below.
Besides the sweet potatoes, the recipe called
