About
Having been raised on a cotton, corn and tobacco farm near Smithfield,NC, I learned the value of hard work. Not only does it bear fruit but it also brings joy, plus the fact that getting your hands in the soil is very theraputic. When I became an "empty nester", I went into real estate for 26 years. After many years of city life and traffic, I retired to become matron of Bethlehem Retreat in the beautiful mountains of southwestern Virginia, though I still maintain a home near Charlotte NC to be near 2 of my 3 children. I also have 21 grandchildren and 9 great-granchildren. Most of my time now is devoted to reading and writing children's books, two of which have been published, "Arthur the Talking Goat", "Arthur's Friend, Hazel the Hen" and "What Do You Do With Your Hands at Night?".
Story Behind The Book
We needed some animals for our small farm. We saw an ad in the paper for some goats. One of the goats was named Arthur. He love to be talked to and petted. One day my son went to the apple tree to get some apples and he thought that Arthur might like an apple. So, he went to Arthur's pen and kept talking to Arthur and telling him to say "apple". When he made a noise like "apple", my son gave him an apple. He came back to the house and said "Mom, Arthur can talk. He said 'apple'! You ought to write a book about that." and I did.