Anniversary Art Challenge: Picture #8, #14 & #15 - The Frog Piper's Tale

To celebrate our anniversary, my amazing artist husband, Phil, decided that he would do a 19-day art challenge, drawing one new picture every day for 19 days. And I thought it sounded like fun, so I jumped right on the band wagon and declared that I would write a silly, one-page story to go with each picture he creates during this challenge. I'm not writing the stories in order, because I got behind. And I wanted to finish by the end of March, but that didn't happen. So I'll just continue to post stories as I can complete them until they're all here. :)

One great thing about falling behind is that I'm not actually tied to just one picture each day. When I started writing the story of Hopper MacNamara, the Frog Piper Phil drew to celebrate International Bagpipe Day (day 8 of the challenge), I realized that I could weave his story together with the Fort Knight he drew for day #14 and the legendary warrior of Irish and Scottish myth, Fionn mac Cumhail (day #15).  I had so much fun mixing these very different characters (and illustration styles) into one story! (Now, I'm looking at the remaining pictures in my queue and trying to dream up ways to mash them together as well.)

The Frog Piper's Tale

Hopper MacNamara stood silently as the last notes from his pipes echoed off the stones. 

The king frowned. He beckoned to his trusted advisors, and conferred with them in a whispered conference. 

Hopper stood in the center of the great ring of stones and tried to resist the urge to fidget. Only the best and bravest pipers would be selected to join the king's elite pipe and drum corps. And there hadn't been a frog in the corps since Hopper's own great, great grandpappy had been asked to leave. 

No one remembered exactly waht had happened, but there were rumors. They said Grandpappy MacNamara lead the army straight into an ambush. They said he was following a great cloud of particularly tasty flies instead of watching for the enemy. They said the king would be insane to allow another frog into the ranks. Even one as talented as Hopper MacNamara.

But Hopper had trained for years, and he knew he was ready. He only needed a chance to prove himself. So when the king shook his head and dismissed the frog piper with a casual wave of his hand, Hopper made up his mind. He would find Fionn mac Cumhail. 

With the help of the legendary warrior, Hopper could restore the MacNamara name, and the reputations of frogs throughout the land, to their former glory.

For days, Hopper traveled over moors and around lochs, trading his songs for shelter each night. Finally, after two weeks, he came to a fortress sitting high atop a hill. But when he approached the castle gates, he was met by a fierce knight, who refused to allow him to pass. 

Drawing his gleaming sword, the knight challenged the frog piper to a duel.

Hopper gulped. 

A peaceful amphibian by nature, he had never dueled against a weapon more deadly than a banjo. But taking a deep breath, he filled his pipes and played the mournful notes of his great, great grandpappy MacNamara's favorite ballad. A tale of love and loss, and the heroic adventures of Fionn MacCumhail. 

The knight lowered his sword and listened in rapt attention to Hopper's song. And when the last notes had faded away, the great knight bowed before the frog piper. 

"Welcome, brave little one," he said, throwing wide the doors to the castle. "All who are friends of Fionn are welcome here. Won't you join us for the Feast of Fables?"

So Hopper followed the knight into a grand hall, where Fionn mac Cumhail himself sat upon a throne glittering with diamonds and rubies. And when the legendary warrior invited Hopper to be his own, personal musician, the frog piper accepted without hesitation.

Anniversary Art Challenge: Picture #9 - Sparky McDuff, the Leprechaun

To celebrate our anniversary, my amazing artist husband, Phil, decided that he would do a 19-day art challenge, drawing one new picture every day for 19 days. And I thought it sounded like fun, so I jumped right on the band wagon and declared that I would write a silly, one-page story to go with each picture he creates during this challenge. Of course, I have to wait for him to finish each day's picture before I can write the story, so I should be one day behind him ... but I'm actually more than a few days behind. (Today, I'm once again trying to play catch-up! There will be multiple stories & pictures posted throughout the day, and eventually, all of the pictures & my stories will be posted on my website.)

The picture from Day #9 was a leprechaun, complete with a rainbow and a bubble pipe. (I kind of love this, because when we were in college, I used to keep a bottle of soap bubbles in my pocket, and I would blow bubbles while I walked across campus between classes.) It took me a few days to find the leprechaun's story, but here it is, only two days late for St. Patrick's Day. :)

Sparky McDuff tucked his pot of gold beneath the sprawling roots of a giant ash tree and leaned against the trunk to wait. He filled his pipe with the finest bubble solution and blew a long puff of air, sending iridescent bubbles shimmering through the air. Now, he only needed a rainbow to seal a lucky charm into his gold. This would protect it from any would-be thieves and bandits. 

He smiled at the clear blue sky and closed puffed away happily at his pipe. At least he had picked a nice day for it. When his older brother and sister had charmed their pots of gold, they hadn't chosen as wisely. Goldie had sat for three hours in a miserable, gray drizzle before the rainbow appeared for her. And Colin had endured a torrential downpour for forty-five minutes in order to find his rainbow. They had both been soaked and miserable by the time their gold had cured. 

But Sparky was smart. He checked the weather every day for a week until he'd found the perfect day. Blue skies and sunshine were much better for rainbow-watching than overcast, drizzly skies. There wasn't even a single cloud to ruin his wait.

He waited all day, happily puffing on his pipe, but the lazy rainbow didn't appear. And when night fell, Sparky had no choice but to remain with the tree and his gold. Without the rainbow charm, any random passerby could easily snag his treasure as their own.

For days, Sparky sat under the ash tree, but although birds sang merrily in the treetops and the sun shone brightly in the clear, blue sky, not a single rainbow appeared. Finally, on the ninth day, dark clouds rolled in and covered the sun. Sparky frowned and shivered inside his coat as fat raindrops splashed on his head. All of his careful planning had been for nothing. 

Tired, cold and hungry after more than a week of waiting for a rainbow that never came, Sparky now had to endure a rainstorm as well. But just as he was about to give up and go home, the clouds parted and a brilliant ray of sun burst forth, reflecting off the lingering raindrops. And suddenly, the brightest rainbow he'd ever seen arched through the sky and settled on Sparky's pot of gold.

Anniversary Art Challenge: Picture #4 - Fox in Socks

To celebrate our anniversary, my amazing artist husband, Phil, decided that he would do a 19-day art challenge, drawing one new picture every day for 19 days. And I thought it sounded like fun, so I jumped right on the band wagon and declared that I would write a silly, one-page story to go with each picture he creates during this challenge. Of course, I have to wait for him to finish each day's picture before I can write the story, so I should be one day behind him ... but I'm also really flighty, so I'm a few more days behind than that. (Today, I'm playing catch-up! There will be multiple stories & pictures posted throughout the day, and eventually, all of the pictures & my stories will be posted on my website.)

Day 4 was inspired by Dr. Seuss' FOX IN SOCKS, which was our son's favorite book when he was little.

"Chicks with bricks come. Chicks with blocks come. Chicks with bricks and blocks and clocks come."

– Dr. Seuss

Mr. Fox’s greatest pleasure in life was making rhymes. But grumpy Mr. Knox didn’t want to play the Fox-in-Socks Rhyme Game.

“I’ll show him how fun it can be,” thought Mr. Fox. “Everyone loves to rhyme!”

He gathered a group of chicks together and set them to work building stacks of bricks and blocks. They agreed to help, even though the three little pigs were really better builders. But when the fox tried to balance Mr. Knox on stacks of chicks and clocks, they decided that enough was enough.

“You can make a quick trick brick stack!” the chicks yelled. “You can make a quick trick block stack! Take your bricks and blocks and clocks back!”

Mr. Fox yelped and ran, ducking flying bricks and blocks and clocks. “That’s okay,” he said. “My friends Sue and Slow Joe Crow will help me teach Mr. Knox to rhyme.”

And he set off with a needle and thread to teach Sue how to sew.

Anniversary Art Challenge: Picture #5 - The Swedish Chef

 To celebrate our anniversary, my amazing artist husband, Phil, decided that he would do a 19-day art challenge, drawing one new picture every day for 19 days. And I thought it sounded like fun, so I jumped right on the band wagon and declared that I would write a silly, one-page story to go with each picture he creates during this challenge. Of course, I have to wait for him to finish each day's picture before I can write the story, so I should be one day behind him ... but I'm also really flighty, so I'm a few more days behind than that. (Today, I'm playing catch-up! There will be multiple stories & pictures posted throughout the day, and eventually, all of the pictures & my stories will be posted on my website.)

Phil is taking suggestions for his art challenge, and day 5 was inspired by the suggestion to draw the Swedish Chef (from the Muppets).

Light reflected on the razor-sharp meat cleaver as he flashed it back and forth. 

Henrietta closed her eyes against the blinding light and gulped. Sweat pooled between her shoulder blades and trickled down her back. The madman crept closer, ever closer, until she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. 

This was not what she expected when she signed up to do a sketch with the Swedish Chef on The Muppet Show.

Anniversary Art Challenge: Picture #2 - The Avengers of Poseidon

To celebrate our anniversary, my amazing artist husband, Phil, decided that he would do a 19-day art challenge, drawing one new picture every day for 19 days. And I thought it sounded like fun, so I jumped right on the band wagon and declared that I would write a silly, one-page story to go with each picture he creates during this challenge. I didn't post the first picture / story on my blog yesterday, because he drew a picture that perfectly fits with a picture book manuscript I'm already working on ... and I'm not sure if I want to share that story online yet. But here's a link to the adorable illustration. (Of course, because I have to wait for him to finish each day's picture, I am one day behind him. He's drawing picture number three today as I write story number two.)

Picture #2: The Avengers of Poseidon was inspired by a memory of my freshman year in college. Everyone in my dorm was supposed to go play capture the flag in the park, as a way to get to know each other and stuff ... So my friends, Will, Seth, Becca and I decided to form a third team. Armed with Super Soakers, we called ourselves The Avengers of Poseidon and ambushed everyone who tried to take the game too seriously. We made many enemies, but we also managed to convert several people to our side, and our rogue team tripled in size by the time the next capture the flag game happened. :)

I love this picture!! And here's my silly story to go with it. (I tried to capture the emotions of the real memory while making the events in my story fully my own creation... though I did steal names from actual participants!)

Adam crouched in the bushes behind Mr. Schaeffer’s tool shed. The red team’s flag flapped in the breeze on the other side of the garden, and Sheila was the only guard on watch. Piece of cake. He’d have that flag back to the blue team’s base before anyone even realized it was missing.
 
Slipping silently between the tall shrubs, Adam inched closer. He stopped at the edge of the bushes to wait for just the right moment. The three feet of open field between him and the flag might be tricky, but if he timed it right, Sheila wouldn’t even know he was there. He watched as she paced back and forth in front of the flag, counting the seconds each time she turned to survey the opposite side of the garden.
 
Ten seconds to sprint out, grab the flag and get back to the cover of the tool shed. No problem.
 
Adam took a deep breath and got set for the sprint of a lifetime. As soon as Sheila’s back was turned, he sprang forward, covering half the distance to the flag in one giant leap. Three more steps and his fingers closed around the bright, red silk.
 
And splosh! A stream of icy-cold water hit him right between the shoulder blades. He dropped the flag and turned to see Becca, Seth and Will, all with super-soakers pointed directly at him.
 
“Hey! No weapons allowed,” he said. “If you don’t tag me yourself, it doesn’t count.”
 
Becca smirked and grabbed the red flag, winding it around the blue one she already held. “Your rules mean nothing to us, mortal,” she proclaimed, and blasted Adam in the face with her super-soaker.
 
“What? Hey, who are you?” Sheila demanded. “Give us back our flags.”
 
“We are the Avengers of Poseidon!” Will declared, soaking Sheila with the entire contents of his water gun. “And we just kicked both of your butts.”

Crock Pot Gourmet: Chili with Pumpkin and Cranberries

One year ago today, I had a Twitter conversation with Summer Heacock (@fizzygrrl), Emily McKeon (@ERMcKeon) and my now-agent, Jessica Sinsheimer (@jsinsheim) that kind of changed my life in a way I didn't expect. We were talking about food, and favorite pumpkin recipes (because pumpkin is the best ingredient ever and November requires creative pumpkin recipes). I mentioned my Crock Pot Pumpkin Souffle, and Summer, Emily and Jessica told me that I should be sharing my delicious recipes with the world. So the next day (one year ago tomorrow), I posted my first Crock Pot Gourmet recipes for Meatball Stew and Pumpkin Souffle. And the response has been overwhelming. In the past year, I've posted many other delicious Crock Pot creations, as well as some favorite recipes that can be cooked without a Crock Pot. Today, I'm celebrating this delicious anniversary with a mouthwatering Pumpkin Cranberry Chili.

 

 You will need:

2 lb. dry beans (or 8-15oz. cans of beans)

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 Tbsp. chili powder

2 Tbsp. baking cocoa

1 large can pumpkin

1-5oz pkg of Craisins

2-15oz. cans diced tomatoes (I like the kind that have green chiles in them)

1 large onion, diced

I prefer to use dry beans when making chili for two reasons. First, I control all of the seasoning. I don't have to worry about my dish being over-salted, etc. And second, it's much cheaper. But if you aren't comfortable cooking with dry beans, or you don't have the time for these first steps, canned beans work just fine, and you'll still get a healthy, delicious dinner.

Wash your dry beans, and cover them with water. (The water should come up at least 2 inches above the top of the beans. You want them to stay submerged even after they've begun to expand.) Soak them overnight (or for at least 4-5 hours). I like to place the beans (still in the colander I used to rinse them) into a very large silver mixing bowl (or a clean and sanitized sink, if I'm using my mixing bowl for something else) filled with cold water.

 

When the beans have finished soaking (they'll probably be 2-3 times the size they were when you started), drain the water and rinse them thoroughly. (Soaking the beans in the colander makes it super-easy to do this.) Draining off the water you soaked the beans in and rinsing them before cooking makes the finished product less likely to cause gas. (Also, the more you include beans in your diet, the less likely they'll bother your tummy.)

Place the beans into your 7-quart Crock Pot (if you have a 3 or 4-quart Crock Pot, you can easily cut the recipe in half) with fresh, cool water. (Fill the crock until the beans are covered with 1/2 to 1-inch of water.)

 Add your cocoa, salt, garlic powder and chili powder.

 Cook on high for approximately 4 hours (or on low for 6-8 hours), until beans are tender.

 

The beans will continue to expand as they cook, and will look something like this:

 Add the tomatoes, Craisins, onion and pumpkin. 

You could, if desired, cook the onion with the dry beans in the first step, but DO NOT try to cut corners and add the tomatoes and Craisins early. If you add acidic ingredients to dry beans, you can cook them for hours and hours, and they will not get tender. If you're putting this chili together before work, and you won't be home during the day to add the acidic ingredients at around lunchtime, you can cook the beans overnight on low, so they'll be ready in the morning, or you can use canned beans (in which case, you would add the seasonings to the beans at the same time that you add the remaining ingredients).
 

I like to stir in the onion, Craisins and tomatoes first, then carefully stir in the pumpkin. (The extra juice from the tomatoes makes it easier to stir in the pumpkin.)

Continue to cook, on low, for 4-5 hours, or longer. Now that you've added the tomatoes and cranberries, you don't have to worry about the beans getting any mushier as they cook, so you can easily keep the chili simmering all day long, and the flavors will simply continue to meld together.

 Serve as-is (my favorite), or top with your favorite chili toppings (cheese, sour cream, corn chips...) 

We like to use the leftover chili the next day for things like Chili Omelettes and Chili Cheese Fries or served over the top of spaghetti noodles for a delicious Chili Sketti.