The All You Can Dream Buffet Read Online Free Page B
Author: Barbara O'Neal
attention, and Ruby stumbled over it one night and invited Ginny to join the conversation with the others.
At first they spoke mainly of the technical and marketing issues of blogging—how to manage “backbloggers,” the regular responders, who might try to take things over or stir up trouble; how to deal with the vagaries of blogging software; how to maximize views. Ruby and Ginny shared a love of good photos, though Ruby just liked to scour the Internet for hers. Valeriewas their droll, worldly-wise voice. Lavender kept them laughing.
Funny, Ruby thought now, yawning. Funny that they were so different and had become so much a part of one another’s lives across so much time and space. Three of them—Ruby, Lavender, and Valerie—had met only once in person. Ginny had not come to that gathering, and none of them had met her face-to-face.
But it didn’t matter. The friendships were true and strong.
She lazily clicked on Ginny’s “Cake of Dreams” and caught up on a couple of posts she’d missed. Valerie had not posted anything since her husband died two years ago, and Lavender still had the Blue Moon Festival posted. It would take place next weekend.
Then, sleepy and with her guard down, she clicked on Google Maps and zoomed in on a Seattle address, then took the little man from the map and put it down on the street view, so she could admire the house. It was a two-story brick with a peaked roof and plenty of windows, some of which overlooked the Sound and the Olympic range in the distance. It was, she knew from her research, a prime Seattle neighborhood, so even though it was one of the smaller houses in the area, it was worth nearly a million dollars. Zillow told her that it was 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, with 3,540 square feet. Azaleas and boxwoods grew in front, and there was stained glass upstairs.
Really, it was just creepy how much information you could get between Zillow and Google Maps. Stalker heaven.
Ruby was not actually a stalker, however, because the house belonged to her mother. Or, rather, to her mother’s husband, because her mother was a stay-at-home mom to three soccer-playing kids, two girls and a boy, the youngest. She drove a mini-van, which was sometimes parked in the driveway in thephotos. Once, electrifyingly, the satellite photo had captured Cammy herself, in lean blond perfection, carrying groceries into the house. The picture was so detailed that Ruby could read the Whole Foods Market logo on the recyclable grocery bags.
That photo was long gone, but this one seemed pretty new. The lawns were green.
Eased, Ruby exited the program and slid the laptop back into its place. She closed her eyes and imagined living in that back bedroom with corner windows overlooking the water, with the smell of food cooking in the kitchen and her mother’s voice talking on the phone.
She slept.
A Good Cake for Travel
This is a homey little recipe, super-easy, that makes a sturdy coffee cake you can easily take with you on a picnic or in your trailer when you travel.
Yes, EEEK! I’m leaving on my big adventure in the morning.
Super-Easy Streusel Cake
2 cups flour
½ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
⅓ cup butter, very soft
1 beaten egg
½ cup buttermilk
Topping
½ cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 T melted butter
½ cup chopped walnuts
Measure the dry ingredients for the cake and mix well in a bowl. Mix together wet ingredients and stir into the dry. Pour into a greased 9x9-inch square pan.
In a separate bowl, mix together topping ingredients. Sprinkle on top of cake.
Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven.
87 Comments
Hilda12
Have a great trip, Ginny! Jealous, jealous, jealous!
Nancyb
I used to make that little cake for my children after school. Brings back such great memories of autumn afternoons and the smell of cinnamon in the air!
CrochetPeg
Have a total blast, sis! I’ll be reading along every day. Love you!
Pippin987
Nancy,
At first they spoke mainly of the technical and marketing issues of blogging—how to manage “backbloggers,” the regular responders, who might try to take things over or stir up trouble; how to deal with the vagaries of blogging software; how to maximize views. Ruby and Ginny shared a love of good photos, though Ruby just liked to scour the Internet for hers. Valeriewas their droll, worldly-wise voice. Lavender kept them laughing.
Funny, Ruby thought now, yawning. Funny that they were so different and had become so much a part of one another’s lives across so much time and space. Three of them—Ruby, Lavender, and Valerie—had met only once in person. Ginny had not come to that gathering, and none of them had met her face-to-face.
But it didn’t matter. The friendships were true and strong.
She lazily clicked on Ginny’s “Cake of Dreams” and caught up on a couple of posts she’d missed. Valerie had not posted anything since her husband died two years ago, and Lavender still had the Blue Moon Festival posted. It would take place next weekend.
Then, sleepy and with her guard down, she clicked on Google Maps and zoomed in on a Seattle address, then took the little man from the map and put it down on the street view, so she could admire the house. It was a two-story brick with a peaked roof and plenty of windows, some of which overlooked the Sound and the Olympic range in the distance. It was, she knew from her research, a prime Seattle neighborhood, so even though it was one of the smaller houses in the area, it was worth nearly a million dollars. Zillow told her that it was 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, with 3,540 square feet. Azaleas and boxwoods grew in front, and there was stained glass upstairs.
Really, it was just creepy how much information you could get between Zillow and Google Maps. Stalker heaven.
Ruby was not actually a stalker, however, because the house belonged to her mother. Or, rather, to her mother’s husband, because her mother was a stay-at-home mom to three soccer-playing kids, two girls and a boy, the youngest. She drove a mini-van, which was sometimes parked in the driveway in thephotos. Once, electrifyingly, the satellite photo had captured Cammy herself, in lean blond perfection, carrying groceries into the house. The picture was so detailed that Ruby could read the Whole Foods Market logo on the recyclable grocery bags.
That photo was long gone, but this one seemed pretty new. The lawns were green.
Eased, Ruby exited the program and slid the laptop back into its place. She closed her eyes and imagined living in that back bedroom with corner windows overlooking the water, with the smell of food cooking in the kitchen and her mother’s voice talking on the phone.
She slept.
A Good Cake for Travel
This is a homey little recipe, super-easy, that makes a sturdy coffee cake you can easily take with you on a picnic or in your trailer when you travel.
Yes, EEEK! I’m leaving on my big adventure in the morning.
Super-Easy Streusel Cake
2 cups flour
½ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
⅓ cup butter, very soft
1 beaten egg
½ cup buttermilk
Topping
½ cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 T melted butter
½ cup chopped walnuts
Measure the dry ingredients for the cake and mix well in a bowl. Mix together wet ingredients and stir into the dry. Pour into a greased 9x9-inch square pan.
In a separate bowl, mix together topping ingredients. Sprinkle on top of cake.
Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven.
87 Comments
Hilda12
Have a great trip, Ginny! Jealous, jealous, jealous!
Nancyb
I used to make that little cake for my children after school. Brings back such great memories of autumn afternoons and the smell of cinnamon in the air!
CrochetPeg
Have a total blast, sis! I’ll be reading along every day. Love you!
Pippin987
Nancy,
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