New #audiobook #historicalromance #Novel Traitor's Legacy

Journey back to the intrigue of the American Revolution, where spies can be anyone and trust may prove deadly. This gripping era comes to life in the rich tones of the audio book narrated by Lisa Valdini. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the story unfold and I already know what happens. If you like mystery, history, adventure, and romance, Traitor's Legacy is for you.

Traitor's Legacy Blurb:

1781. On opposite sides of the War of Independence, British Captain Jacob Vaughan and Claire Monroe find themselves thrust together by chance and expediency.

Captain Vaughan comes to a stately North Carolina manor to catch a spy. Instead, he finds himself in bedlam: the head of the household is an old man ravaged by madness, the one sane male of the family is the very man he is hunting, and the household is overseen by his beguiling sister Claire.

Torn between duty, love, and allegiances, yearning desperately for peace, will Captain Vaughan and Claire Monroe forge a peace of their own against the vagaries of war and the betrayal of false friends?

Traitor's Legacy is available in audio at Audible and Amazon. Also available in kindle and print at Amazon, and in eBook from all online booksellers.

While written to stand alone, Traitor's Legacy is the sequel to award-winning historical romance novel Enemy of the King. Traitor's Curse is book 3 in The Traitor's Legacy Series.

April Online #Herbal Lore Class–Beth Trissel

If you missed my other classes, or want to catch the updated version, I'm giving my Herbal Lore and the Historic Medicinal Uses of Herbs class in April for Charter Oak Romance Writers. Non-members are welcome to join in. Register at this link. Scroll down: http://charteroakromancewriters.com/on-line-classes-2018

(Dill and heirloom poppies from Monticello in our garden)

This workshop spans centuries of herbs and their lore from the ancients, through the British Isles, Colonial America, Native Americans, the Granny Women and the Mountain People of the Blue Ridge and Alleghenies (general Appalachia).

Mountains are all around us here in the Shenandoah Valley. This area is rich in history and plants, and people who went to great lengths to thwart witches. Seriously.

There's so much fascinating stuff to cover. Too much, so I encourage participants to download and save the files for later. I also welcome discussion and questions. It's more enjoyable with participation.

My aim is for this class to be fun, informative and useful. I often incorporate herbs into my writing and into my life. Some of the more archaic uses are frowned upon today, and/or illegal. I recommend avoiding those practices.

Class members will receive the eBook of my herbal, Plants for A Medieval Herb Garden in the British Isles (also available in print if anyone's interested).

This is my class outline, but I guarantee I will post even more than this. I have a wealth of information to share, and am accumulating more.

Week One:

Introduction to the workshop and meet & greet.

The wisdom of Native Americans. A focus on Native American herbs.

The Granny Women. A focus on the mountain people and old time cures, both herbal and some white magic.

Week Two:

Colonial American herbs (Part One)

Colonial American herbs (Part Two)

Week Three:

Plants for a Medieval Herb Garden in the British Isles

Other related posts on herbs in the British Isles, including the Druids.

Week Four:

‘What can kill can cure’ but definitely kill and watch out for werewolves (Poisonous herbs and those believed to have power against werewolves and vampires)

For protection from spells and enchantment, the sacred, healing herbs

Knock yourself out and Ward off the Plague: Dwale, an Old-English Antiseptic

The Vinegar of the Four Thieves

An opportunity for final sharing from participants. 

“As Rosemary is to the Spirit, so Lavender is to the Soul.”
– Anonymous

Here's the registration link again: http://charteroakromancewriters.com/on-line-classes-2018

Chronicling Spring in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia

I am a gardener, animal lover, author... Fortunately, I haven't had to choose a single focus and incorporate my loves into my writing. Among my greatest passions is the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in general, and our farm in particular. The meadows are covered in a wash of green and looking far more hopeful than the brown hue we've lived with since November A blanket of snow is pretty but we haven't had much snowfall this year. Thank heavens the rain has returned after months of drought.

Our drained and dug out farm pond is finally beginning to fill back up again. It was a dry crater all fall and winter like something on the moon. The barnyard geese were suspicious at first, but now go for swims. We are watching for the migrating waterfowl and birds who were once regular visitors here. Sadly, our place was off their radar last spring. Having an alive pond again is exciting. We're consulting experts about what to do regarding fish, and I'm toying with getting ducks. The original pond had filled with silt over the decades and had to be redone. It's located in a marshy spot in the meadow fed by wet water springs and is the head waters of Cooks Creek, which ultimately feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. Fencing keeps the cows out. We have planted some trees and shrubs around it and will plant more.

(Geese enjoying the new grass. Ruins of an old barn visible back behind our farm)

I'm in my 'giddy about the earth awakening mode', or was, until the wind storm hit. My spirits are a little battered, and the crocus are kind of sad after the roaring bluster. But I trust the blossoms will revive and new ones will open when this gale finishes with us and sweeps away. March really roared in this year. Inclement weather is a trial to gardeners everywhere. We hopeful souls go on. We must. I'm chronicling spring as it unfolds in my bit of earth.

Early crocus and snowdrops below.

I saved a lot of seeds last year, ordered many others, and started some early varieties of flowers, herbs, and vegetables in my little greenhouse. One late February day was so balmy, it felt like May. I planted my early salad greens in the garden during the warm spell. Then the lion returned, and the seeds will slumber until the warmth comes back.

"Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps;
Perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvest reaps."
~A. Bronson Alcott, "The Garden," Tablets, 1868

"It was such a pleasure to sink one's hands into the warm earth, to feel at one's fingertips the possibilities of the new season." ~Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden

(Miniature iris return faithfully each year)

(Yellow crocus)

***For more on me follow my Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Beth-Trissel/e/B002BLLAJ6/

Old-Time Dandelion Salad Recipe!

Socked full of nutrients, dandelions should probably be eaten more often than zapped with herbicides. We've been taught to look upon this humble wildflower/weed/herb as a plague in our lawns and flower beds, but perhaps we should have more respect for the much maligned dandelion. 

To further that end, I've searched out an old Mennonite recipe for a tasty hot dressing to pour over the tender greens. It's essential to gather the leaves quite young or they will be entirely too bitter. I'm sure you can also use this dressing for other greens, too, like watercress and endive.  My mother in law used to make it for dandelion salad and then forgot her recipe. But I found it, at least this sounds like what I remember more or less. I gathered new greens and prepared the salad this week. Very good, though not quite as delicious as hers.

For The Salad itself:

4 cups chopped dandelion leaves

3 hard-boiled eggs

3 slices of bacon

For The Hot Dressing:

1 1/2 Tablespoons flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1 egg, 2 Tablespoons sugar, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 cups milk or water

Wash and chop dandelion leaves. Cut bacon in pieces and fry. Remove bacon from drippings. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients, add egg, vinegar and water or milk. Stir until well blended.

Cook this mixture  in the bacon drippings until thickened and cool slightly.  Pour over dandelions and mix lightly. Garnish with sliced eggs and bacon.

For those of you who are reluctant to use all that bacon fat in the dressing, I suggest substituting butter which is better for you than margarine. You could probably even leave the bacon out if you're vegetarian, but bacon makes everything taste better.