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My favorite charity is Rise Against Hunger. They are feeding many people around this troubled world of ours, even though extra challenges abound in this era of the virus. If you're looking for a worthy cause to support and follow, kindly look them up at riseagainsthunger.org.
As CEO Barry Mattson told me, “Anything helps.” He landed in his position on the first day of the pandemic, but he is not daunted. His passion to eliminate world hunger in our lifetime is shared by his crack team of experts who feel the same urgent need to succeed. Rise Against Hunger “is growing a global movement to end hunger by empowering communities, nourishing lives, and responding to emergencies.” This non-profit organization declares, “Hunger doesn’t have to exist – let’s end it together.” For on-going support, you can choose them as your charity when you shop on Amazon. Go to AmazonSmile at smile.amazon.com. All you have to do after choosing Rise Against Hunger there is log into AmazonSmile whenever you go to shop on Amazon. Whatever you buy there benefits this worthy non-profit, with no hassle to you. Thank you, my friends. I often ponder the Scripture words, it is more blessed to give than to receive, and how true that is.
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Play it in your group today, without buying anything! One day, I was looking through some magazines before I recycled them, and found some funny pictures. I tore them out, thinking I could make a game out of them. So, after our next French dinner, my friends and I played it. Here’s how you can play it, too. You’ll only need: Pictures from magazines that can tell a story or merit a caption. A whole page is best, but you can tape a smaller picture to a page of letter paper. A pad of sticky notes. Or, paper cut into 3x3” squares, with tape handy. Give a supply of papers and a pen to each player. One person, the Keeper, shows the magazine picture to everyone. Pass it around so they can peruse it for a minute more. Everyone writes a caption on their paper and signs their name. This can be anything that pops into their head: a caption, the thought of the person or animal in the picture, or what they’re saying. The Keeper collects them and sticks all the papers to the back of the picture. He or she reads them aloud while everyone listens. The second time they are read, people can call out who they think wrote it. Each writer admits it if it’s theirs. Here is an example from my FORBIDDEN ARABELLE book page instead of a magazine shot. On the right is what the back of the picture looks like with three captions added.
This game is that simple. It’s meant to be a fun, non-competitive ice-breaker. We’ve had brilliant words from shy people because they don’t have to talk before the group. Writers and non-writers love it.
We have played this with 4 to 30 people, and it’s hilarious every time. One six-year-old wrote such a clever observation that I encourage adults and teens to let the young ones play. If they’re too little to write, they can whisper their words into an older person’s ear, who can write it for them. Notes: The one who holds the magazines and reads can be the Keeper the whole time, and participate with their own captions. Or, the stack can be passed around so everyone gets a chance to lift up the next picture and read out the captions. If someone’s writing is hard to decipher, the Keeper should go to the person who wrote it and ask them to whisper what it says before reading anyone’s captions aloud. Encourage players to write clearly. I keep my games with all the notes stuck to the pictures because I enjoy reading them later, and laughing. To replay the same pictures, I use different-colored sticky notes for each party, and just stick them over the previous ones. What people write shows their viewpoint and personality. That’s really enjoyable, and often surprising. If you play this game, please write to me about it on the "Contact Me" page, or click "Comments" above. (It's a tiny link.) In A LADY IN DISGUISE, Wookey makes Lady Briana her favorite comfort food: English Bread and Butter Pudding Remove crusts from 6 pieces of white bread (best if day-old). Butter and dice to no larger than 1” squares. In a buttered pie or square pan, put down a layer of bread pieces. Drop lots of raisins over them so that every bite will have one. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg. Do this with more layers of bread, raisins, and nutmeg. Whisk: 2 eggs 1/4 cup sugar 1 3/4 cups milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Pour over the bread. Push down any bread bits that aren’t soaked. Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes. You can cover loosely with aluminum foil until the last 10 minutes unless you want a slightly browned top. From my pen friend, Viv, in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, England, who sent me good history books from her town. I met her years later, much to my joy. (The picture below does not have the crusts cut off. It looks prettier if you do trim them, but it tastes just as yummy either way.)  Do you like to make friends? Do you miss letter-writing? What better way to learn about other countries and cultures than by striking up a friendship with someone far away? I have pen friends in many countries because, years ago, I joined International Pen Friends. It's still going strong, with members in hundreds of countries around the world. Many of the people on my first list of pen friend names are now wonderful, long-time friends. We've visited back and forth, and I still find joy in every trip to see them. We do all kinds of fascinating things together. I gather inspiration for my books from the places where they live. I highly recommend this kind of real friendship. Scroll down for how you can join IPF, too.
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