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Wringing the most out of a character...

As I look out the kitchen window rain hits the wooden deck at a steady pace.
Today I'm making tuna salad and iced tea in anticipation of sunshine and spring when I might take a tuna salad sandwich and eat it at the bench under the big tree in our backyard. I made a coffee cake from a recipe from Ladies Home Journal, Feb. issue, pg. 128. I put in extra walnuts and orange zest in honor of my mother who went through the depression and used not only the fruit but the peel whenever she could. Some of her frugality rubbed off on me - not all mind you but some. I zest every orange and lemon that comes into my kitchen, freezing it, and plenty comes in as we love citrus fruit.
I try to use every bit of food we buy and rarely throw anything away if it can be used. (BUT I don't like leftovers, go figure.) I cook shriveled apples and we eat them on homemade biscuits. I use the last potato in the bag. Okay I throw the really bad ones away. But I get the most out of everything I can.
Perhaps that's why I'm trying to wring everything I can out of the characters in my current story. I want to make them rise off the page and dance.
They haven't done that yet. But they are having a ruckus in the metallic blue bomb of a station wagon as they head South. Daisy Dunn my main character is only eight, but she's an old woman in a child's body. A big headed bald baby whose body has finally caught up with her head. Everyone in the car has a secret. Old Frank didn't give his wife her last wish before she died. Lily, Daisy's mom and driver of the car, has taken money - quite a bit of it - from her cheating boyfriend, and Daisy has taken a beagle named Tick without the owner's permission and has him in her duffel bag where he is sleeping off the "resting" pill Daisy gave him before leaving home. They can't get down South too soon. But I have a feeling it's going to be a long trip for everyone.
I'll let you know as we continue our journey. Blessings!

Comments

  1. This story just sounds like so much fun. :)

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  2. mom, how is it that you are frugal like your mother - and I throw things away quicker than they can go bad in my refrigerator??? total opposites...!! Can't wait to read more of the story you are working on.

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  3. We save and use 'til things are all used up.

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  4. I'm frugal as well, learned from my mother and former mother-in-law who were children of the depression. Also from 28 years in social services, marveling at the resourcefulness of some people who had very little. I love traveling, and being frugal has allowed me to accumulate resources that allow me to travel where I choose. In particular, I'm challenged by using up all the food in my cupboards and refrigerator, leaving as little waste as possible. Also remember--there is a difference between being frugal and being cheap!

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  5. I try to be frugal, too, but we still end up throwing away too many left overs. Your characters sound great. I bet their trip will be one to remember.

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