Mermaids of the Lake Blog

Lake reflections

By Mermaid Shelley

Debbie, Jennifer and I call ourselves Mermaids of the Lake for good reason. Not only do we live on or near Liberty Lake, but we absolutely love bodies of water. We just can't get enough! We have collected several of our favorite lake recollections and posted them to our e-zine. Our goal is to continue to build this reservoir of humorous, delightful and meaningful memories. And, you dear reader, can be part of it!

Here are a few of the Mermaids' Lake Reflections.

We would love to hear your Lake Reflections, be they exciting, meaningful or funny. Tell us about times at your favorite lake, especially if they include family and friends. Here are our Lake Reflection guidelines:

• Keep it around 200-300 words
• Mention the location and name of the lake for which you are writing
• Tell us about unique features, or the uniqueness of the lake
• Communicate one thought or memory
• Write in the first person
• If you can, submit a photo to complement your piece. This makes the story really fun! 

A couple of my favorites submitted to us are Take Off Your Shoes and Run, High Diving Bravado, and Young Summer Love.

Come on! Dive in!

Pink Saturday Giveaway!!!

Happy Pink Saturday! The Mermaids are excited to host a series of Giveaways in the next few months. We are starting off our "Giveaway Season" with this wonderful scrapbooking kit.

This large box contains over 1, 125 pieces and an idea guide to get your creative juices flowing. How about making some beautiful cards with it too?

• 30 - 12" x 12" patterned papers
• 10 - 12' x 12' solid papers
• 10 - flowers
• 50 - chipboard letters
• 31 chipboard shapes
• 18 epoxy stickers
• 673 - stickers
• 312 punch outs

We have also made the fun decision to ALWAYS include chocolate in our giveaways!

To enter to win this giveaway, please follow the instructions below. We will draw from all of our entries on Friday, September 11 at 10:00 am Eastern time. The winner will be announced on Pink Saturday, September 12, 2009.

You can do one or all. For each step you take, your name will be entered again. Let us know with a comment which steps you took! If you have already completed the additional steps let us know that too.

1. Leave us a comment and tell us that you would like to be the winner!
2. Follow this link to our Mermaids of the Lake website/ezine and sign up for our free newsletter.
3. Visit our Homepage and tell us which story or section of our ezine most interests you 
4. Follow us on Twitter
5. Join our Facebook fanclub
6. Mention this giveaway on your blog

Have a wonderful weekend and be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. She is our hostess for Pink Saturday. She also has a list of all of the other Pink Saturday participants.

Beverly issued a challenge to all of the Pink Saturday participants. She asked us to go to a blog we had never visited before and mention them on this post. We choose Jo at Captured on film. Please visit her and tell her we sent you. She has a beautiful blog and it is her first Pink Saturday.

Facebook fan club

The Mermaids have a Facebook fan club. If you have a Facebook account please consider joining our fan club!

Here's the link. Check it out! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=103387&id=529267868&ref=nf#/group.php?gid=44458472503

Take a deep breath

By Mermaid Jennifer

Is stress getting the best of you today? Take a minute (literally) and do this simple breathing exercise from Exercisetv. It will calm you down and help you to get on with your day!

Click here for the brief breathing exercise.

Also, once you are relaxed, don't forget to sign up for our E-Newsletter - a new issue comes out on Tuesday Sept. 1 and it's going to be great!

Sign up for our free Mermaids of the Lake newsletter

Mermaids of the Lake is an Inspirational online magazine for women; featuring interesting stories, delicious recipes, helpful tips, products we love, and so much more, including a fun gallery page with photos of our reader's pets, favorite bodies of water, mermaid art, and events we have attended. Here is a link to our homepage. Please visit and see what we are all about!

We publish a new issue every 2 months.( Jan-Feb, March-April, May-June, July-Aug, Sept-Oct, Nov-Dec.) We send a newsletter (6 per year) at the beginning of each issue to remind our faithful readers that our fabulous e-zine has arrived and is only a mouse-click away!

An additional newsletter, highlighting specially selected aspects of the e-zine, will be sent on the 15th of the month.

Please join the thousands of women (and a few men) and become part of the Mermaids of the Lake Inspiration Sensation!

Sign up for our free newsletter now!

Mermaids of the Lake is an Inspirational online magazine for women; featuring interesting stories, delicious recipes, helpful tips, products we love, and so much more, including a fun gallery page with photos of our reader's pets, favorite bodies of water, mermaid art, and events we have attended. Here is a link to our homepage. Please visit and see what we are all about!

We publish a new issue every 2 months.( Jan-Feb, March-April, May-June, July-Aug, Sept-Oct, Nov-Dec.) We send a newsletter (6 per year) at the beginning of each issue to remind our faithful readers that our fabulous e-zine has arrived and is only a mouse-click away!

An additional newsletter, highlighting specially selected aspects of the e-zine, will be sent on the 15th of the month.

Please join the thousands of women (and a few men) and become part of the Mermaids of the Lake Inspiration Sensation!

Sign up for our free newsletter now!

Pink Flowers for Pink Saturday

Happy Pink Saturday! Please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound and see the list of Pink Saturday participants.

Thank you so much for leaving us a comment. We love to hear from you. Please visit us during the week and look for our fun GIVEAWAY announcement.

Flowers from Mermaid Debbie's porch

 
Pink Begonia

 
Geranium

 
Begonia

Zucchini season!

By Mermaid Jennifer

Who doesn't love the prolific zucchini born of hot August days? This semi-firm green fruit is a versatile cousin of the wonderful squash family that we can enjoy later in the season.

Zucchini was made to feed the masses, and during this month you can really take advantage of its production in soups, casseroles, salads, and quick bread.

Here is one of my favorite zucchini recipes - please send us  yours and we'll publish them!

 Zucchini Bread

Prep: 15 minutes    Bake: 50-60 minutes    Temp: 350 degrees

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1 cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 egg
1/4 tsp. shredded lemon peel (or a squirt of lemon juice)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)   

Using a mixer, blend together the sugar, cooking oil, egg, and lemon peel. Add the dry ingredients; flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Blend all together and add the optional items such as chocolate chips, walnuts, or raisins (dried cranberries could also be used instead of other items.)

Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Stepping out

By Mermaid Shelley    

Do you ever find yourself committed to an event or gathering and when the times comes to show up, you really wish you hadn't said you'd be there? That happens to me every so often. I get all caught up in an idea that a party or some get together sounds fun. But, dang, that hour or so before hand I myself dreading it.

What's that about? Often it's because I load up my days and evenings with too many commitments and am just tired. But, sometimes it's just plain and simple insecurity. Now I know, that comes as a shock to some of my friends. But, silly me, I entertain such thoughts as "I won't know anyone and I won't make any friends" or "I don't look as good as everyone else there" or "nobody will care that I didn't show up." Ridiculous?

Just about every time I push through and step out, I end up having a wonderful time! I meet a new friend or I make a connection with someone in a way I hadn't before. Sometimes I end up simply having a ball with my best friend, making no new connections, and just having fun.

How often do you hold back because of insecurity? Boy, we sell ourselves short sometimes! The energy that is generated by people having fun is an amazing mood booster. Is there a party or event you are dreading? How about that class reunion? The office summer picnic? Your niece's wedding? Try to switch your frame of mind and know that you are going to gather with others who are looking to have fun. Get gussied up, know you look the best you can, put a smile on your face and step out. It works for me, I bet it will work for you!

You might find Loving the Body I'm In helpful, too. Step out and have fun. Make memories, make connections.

Pink cupcakes for a sweet Pink Saturday

Who doesn't love cupcakes? The Mermaids sure do! They are such a sweet reminder of childhood. Bake yourself a batch today; enjoy decorating them with creative abandon; take your inner-child out for some fun and sink your teeth into a soft, luscious cupcake!

Spread the sweet Pink Saturday love and visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for her Pink Saturday list.

 

 Rose Petal Cupcakes. Click here for the recipe!

Scroll down and see our fabulous recipe for Luscious Lemon Bars. Have a wonderful day, a fabulous weekend, and an even better week!

Luscious lemon bars

2 cups butter

2 cups flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Cream together. Press into a 13 x 9 " pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes

4 eggs

1/4 cup flour

2 cups sugar

6 tablespoons lemon juice

Beat together. Poor over crust and return to oven for 20 minutes

Additional powdered sugar

Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cool before cutting

These are amazing! This fabulous recipe is from our wonderful friend, Christine Chambers from xtinedraws. She is an awesome artist, fabulous cook and fun, interesting person! Please visit her and leave her a comment to get her blog going again. We want to see more of her creative magic!

For more recipes visit our Mermaids of the Lake website/e-zine.