Issue #54 Touching Lives And Making The Move To Substack
And…
Speaking of touching lives.
Paul Hollywood.
For the three of you out there who have never heard of the “Great British Baking Show”, (or “Bake Off” as it is affectionately called by its devotees) Paul is a professional baker and judge on one of the most popular TV shows ever to emerge from the UK.
He is regarded by millions of bakers (and, indeed himself) as the definitive expert on all things bread.
And, one day, on an episode of something “Bake-Off” related (I think it was a regular episode but it might have been one of the specials – there is so much Paul Hollywood out there it’s dizzying) Paul casually picked up a serrated knife and changed my life.
He used that knife to slice open an English Muffin.
Gasp!
If you are not a regular consumer of what is, perhaps, the best delivery system of melted butter ever invented, you may not understand what a big deal this is.
The big thing that makes an English Muffin special is all those nooks and crannies that hold just about as much butter as you can throw at it.
There are heated debates about what kind of muffin is best – the ones already sliced for you at the factory or the ones you are supposed to open yourself by using a fork.
The fork people swear this is the only way to guarantee maximum butter capacity.
I have spent many years brainwashed into wrestling with tined flatware and uncooperative muffins.
The worst is when you don’t keep your fork line consistent all the way around the circle and get a big lopsided mess.
Not so much wonderful nooks and crannies as weird holes and lots of crumbs.
The minute I saw Mr. Hollywood, so casually, so effortlessly, so unconcerned about public opinion, slice that sucker open, I was off the hook.
I tried it.
If anything, I got MORE pockets of butter pooling goodness.
And I’m not going back.
Copyright© 2024 Anne Morse Hambrock All rights reserved.
One of my favorite, and appropriate today, comics by my dearest hubby, creator of “The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee”.
Appearing courtesy of King Features.
(If you would like to read Edison regularly please click the link and subscribe.)
Substack
I have now, hopefully, successfully transferred all of you to my new Substack mailing list.
I sent out a note last week titled “Under Construction” and the sender said “Anne The Passive Agressive Poet” instead of just “Anne”.
If you got this email without incident you don’t need to do anything.
If you missed it, or didn’t know what it was, you might want to go look for it and make sure it didn’t land in your spam folder.
If you cannot find it, or got nothing, please let me know at anne@anneandgod.com so I can try to do some troubleshooting on my end.
Next week the newsletter will come from the new host so please be on the lookout for the new sender and subject of Issue #55
Next Book - Sneak Peek And Pre-orders
Here is a peek at the cover of my next book! I’m working hard on it for a launch in the next 4-7 weeks.
Thank you for your earlier feedback - I will be sticking with the spiral bound format.
This means I cannot use “print on demand” services. Instead, I will be placing a bulk order with my printer. It would be super helpful to me if folks start placing “pre-orders”.
I don’t need any money from you - just an indication that you are going to want a copy (or a few copies). This way I hope to order an amount that is neither insufficient or naively optimistic.
You can message me at anne@anneandgod.com or hit reply to this newsletter.
Speaking Of Books
For the past month one of the payment options on my website has been experiencing thousands of incidents of “card testing”.
This is when credit card thieves test stolen credit cards and credit card info to see if they can be used.
This attack has affected my “Stripe” payment gateway and, until the matter is fully resolved, Stripe is not allowing any payments to me through their gateway.
So, if you wish to buy anything from my store right now, you need to either choose the “PayPal” gateway or the “WooPay” or “Apple Pay” gateways.
A clarification regarding PayPal - you don’t need a PayPal account to use the gateway. It will process whatever credit card you would like to use.
Fancy Tulips!
These beauties don’t even look like tulips to me as much as peonies. I only have a few but I love them!
More From The Garden
We used to have a beautiful giant lilac bush but it fell victim to a super storm. We replaced it last year and now have our first blossoms. (Top half of photo)
And the peonies are shooting up all over the place as well. (Bottom half of photo)
Something to know about peonies. They are picky about their location. If you have some that are not doing much, divide them up and try some different spots in your garden until you find their “happy place”.
A few years back I moved some dismal ones that have been hugely prolific ever since.
Keep The Messages Coming!
A big “thank you” to all of you who have messaged me commented or hit “like” after reading my poems and commentary!
I appreciate the feedback and knowing how often I have struck a chord with your lives.
Archives
Remember, you can always hit the “archives” tab to see more or catch up on posts you may have missed.
