Next Dry Creek coming fast!

For those of you following the Dry Creek series, you will know that it is Jasmine's story that comes up next. Well, some of you might think it is Jasmine's and Conrad's story, but I decided the two of them weren't meant to be so Jasmine goes first in "A Silent Night in Dry Creek." I must say this is one of my favorite Dry Creek books yet. I love the hero -- I can't wait for you to meet him (he works undercover for various sheriff departments and thinks he's coming to Dry Creek to do suveillance on Jasmine, who (you will remember) is an ex-con). I don't want to tell you too much about the story, but I will say that there's lots of excitement and tenderness, too, as Jasmine makes her peace about the identify of her father and learns to give love a chance. And, of course, it's a Christmas story -- I love a good Christmas story.

Chokecherry Days

Choke- cherries play a special role in the life of Dry Creek, Montana. Mrs. Hargrove-Nelson (or Edith as she's often called) used to think she resembled the tart, resilient berry. All Montana farm women did, in her opinion. They had to be tough to survive the hard work and the harsh weather. In several of the Dry Creek books, Mrs. Hargrove makes chockecherry jelly and her special soda biscuits. I remember as a child picking chokecherries (they're small and it takes a lot to make jelly). My mother had planted some bushes that grew in the trees by our house, but we also picked berries on the wild bushes by the coulee that led down to the river. There's nothing like picking berries as a child (although these berries were too tart to eat from the bucket). Did you pick berries as a child? What kind?