Free Poems; Poems About Life: A Rhyming Poem About the Color Blue

Excerpts from Cindy Lynn's Articles at Associated Content from Yahoo!



Do you enjoy rhyming poems? They're one of the first things learned in life (think of "Jack Be Nimble") and even people who claim they don't love poetry can recall favorite rhyming poems, as well as poems about life that touched their hearts.

This poem (below) is one that came to me when given an assignment to write about a color. Since blue is my favorite, it was easy to come up with a poem about life that tied the color blue to all five senses.

Shades of Blue

Blue looks like the ocean
At morning's first light
Or the dark, dusky sky,
Tucked in for the night.

Blue smells like an iris
On warm, summer days
Or the sweet scent of clover
That's made into hay.

Blue tastes like a grape
That's tender and sweet
Or like juicy, tart berries
The birds love to eat....

(Click here to continue.)
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If you want to read the rest of the poem, pop on over to my Associated Content page and when you're done reading, leave a comment and tell me which of the 5 senses was your favorite!


Giveaway: Coupon for Free Food and Green Giant Review




What's more exciting than a giveaway with cool prizes? Face it, the chance to win something in a giveaway is always a good time, especially if it's easy and doesn't require something complicated running all around the Internet and leaving comments in ten different places while howling at the moon at midnight.

Today I'm posting a review for Green Giant ® Broccoli & Cheese Sauce along with a link for an easy giveaway that runs from Feb 22-March 14, 2011.
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Review: What Green Giant Says About Their Boxed Vegetables
Green Giant Boxed Vegetables can help you stay on track to achieve your weight management goals in 2011. Twenty-nine delicious varieties are now endorsed by Weight Watchers®, and most have only a 1 or 2 PointsPlus® value per serving! Packed with flavor and ready in minutes, Green Giant Boxed Vegetables are available in a wide variety of flavors, many featuring mouthwatering sauces and seasonings. They're a terrific addition to any meal and a delicious way to achieve better health in 2011.

Don't forget to visit Green Giant on Facebook and Green Giant on Twitter and "Like" or "Follow" the brand to keep up with their latest and greatest products! For more information and great recipe ideas visit http://greengiant.com/.

Review: My Opinion
I love broccoli, especially when it's covered in cheese, and so I was excited about the prospect of trying out Green Giant's Broccoli & Cheese Sauce. One thing I loved right off the bat was that I could microwave the pouch, and it only took about 5 minutes to cook. There was plenty of cheese sauce for my liking and the broccoli tasted like it was fresh when they froze it. I intended to eat half the veggies for my lunch and save the rest for my hubby's supper. However, (bad, bad, me) I liked it so much that I ate the whole thing.

(I'm sorry, Sweetie, but on the upside ... I did have two servings of vegetables for lunch. And you do want me eating my daily requirement of veggies, right? :)


The Giveaway Rules
Leave a comment at the blog, Write Up My Alley, between now and midnight, MST, March 14, 2011. If you can't think of anything to say, you can always mention whom you like best—Green Giant or Little Sprout. Or tell your favorite way to prepare Green Giant boxed vegetables. And you might want to leave contact information so you can be notified if you're chosen as the winner. (Per the info at Write Up My Alley, if for some reason there is no winner, or the winner can not be contacted, there will either be a redrawing or the prize will be given to charity.)

The Prize



The winner will receive a free VIP coupon good for one frozen sample of Green Giant boxed vegetables, an insulated tote bag, serving bowl, spoon, and pedometer.

(The giveaway is sponsored by Green Giant and MyBlogSpark®. All information, plus the compensation I received in the form of a sample pack of broccoli & cheese, as well as a gift pack similar to the prize pack, came from Green Giant through MyBlogSpark. However, my opinions of the companies involved, and the quality of the products mentioned are my own. )

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True Story for Valentine's Day ... by Cindy Lynn

A Valentine's Day Story to Warm Your Heart

Don't you love a true story that has a happy ending? Almost everyone loves a true story that ends well, especially when it involves a beginning romance that takes place for Valentine's Day.

Here's an excerpt of one that I just posted at Associated Content:




"Sherlock Holmes Never Met Sir Galahad"

By Cindy Lynn

Like most teenage girls, I envisioned the love of my life as a shining knight who would ride up on a white charger, sweep me into his arms and we'd ride off into the sunset. Barring the white horse, romance could still flourish if my beloved rode up in a 1967 candy-apple-red Ford Mustang, swept me into the passenger's seat, and we drove off into the sunset of the California beaches.

In my sophomore year at an all girls' Catholic school, the nuns scheduled a movie for Valentine's Day, and invited the young men from the nearest boys' Catholic school. The sisters planned a kiss killer—a movie based on an Edgar Allen Poe story.

I went alone. Glancing around the room, I realized there weren't any Sir Galahads present, just normal teenage boys. That was fine by me because who wanted to say they met their erstwhile knight at a horror movie?

Following the film, I chatted in the hallway with my friend, Celeste.* She turned to me and said. "Let's go to the cafeteria for cookies."

I glanced further down the hall. Were there any good-looking hunks there? Nope, just a pair of freshmen with shirttails hanging out—pushing each other and belching.

Boys. Why couldn't they act suave, instead of resembling mountain goats with gas?
(Click here to continue.)
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If you want to know what happened next, pop on over to my Associated Content article and when you're done reading, leave a comment and tell me about something wonderful that happened to you on Valentine's Day.

Photo Slide Show 2: Fall Pictures and Autumn Leaves ... by Cindy Lynn


Photo © Cindy Lynn


You can't beat autumn leaves and fall pictures for a great photo slide show. I've posted a colorful slide show at Associated Content that includes a fall scarecrow, autumn leaves, a late hatch of ducklings and fall soccer games. Check out Photo Slide Show 2: Fall Pictures and Autumn Leaves for a fast and easy fall feast of photos.

And while you're there, drop off a comment and tell me which photo is your favorite fall picture. It's hard to pick just one, so my favorites are the scarecrow, the feet in the hammock, and the little soccer player under an umbrella.

Scary Story about a Woman Jogger ... by Cindy Lynn

Halloween is almost here, which means it's time for a scary story! I just posted one at Associated Content, and if you love fiction stories for Halloween, are looking for one that's full of suspense and has a twist at the end, you'll love this: Death in the Tamarisk.

Below is an excerpt from it:



Brittany cocked her head and stared at the paved trail running parallel to the Virgin River—was it safe to jog it in the early dawn light? Her bangs blew into her eyes as a gust of wind passed. Brushing them aside, she wondered for the umpteenth time about coloring her hair. Life just wasn't fair—prematurely gray at twenty-eight. It felt like a bad joke that Mendelian genetics had played on her.

She glanced at the dark sky, at the icy-white moon as it faded on the horizon, and at the two vehicles in the parking lot near the trailhead. Did the dented truck with rusted fenders belong to a mugger ... or worse?


The story even has five pictures at the top to show you the setting, so pop on over and check it out. Then let me know what you think!

Fried Green Tomatoes ... by Cindy Lynn

Or ... What Else to Do With All Those Green Tomatoes!



If you followed my suggestions on how to achieve a great tomato harvest, you probably ate plenty of ripe tomatoes but still have a lot of green ones on your plants ... and they aren't going to turn red because a frost is on the way. Don't despair, though, there are all kinds of things you can do with those green tomatoes. When you get a second, read my Associated Content article, "Veggie: Green Tomatoes from the Vegetable Garden." In it you'll find links to recipes for fried green tomatoes, tomato salsa, tomato hash, and even a green tomato crisp.

After that, put an Autumn Stew into the slow cooker, fry those green tomatoes, stir up a batch of Bisquick Cheese Biscuits and pop them in the oven (ooo, yum). And then, gather the family around for a heartwarming fall dinner.

Growing Tomatoes: Getting a Great Harvest

© Cindy Lynn


Photo © Wikimedia Commons

I've just finished an article that gives tips for getting a great harvest from your tomato plants. Below is an excerpt.

It's fun growing tomatoes, but are there ways to make your tomato plants grow bigger and produce more tomatoes? Yes, there definitely are things you can do for your tomato plants (beyond providing plenty of water and sunlight) to help them produce a great harvest. Below is a list of relatively simple tips to improve on last year's harvest and give you plenty of fresh tomatoes for your eating pleasure ...

The tips include a formulation of fertilizer that will give more fruit, pruning so the plant's sugars go into the tomatoes, and a special technique for setting fruit that many people don't know about. If you have a sec, head over to my Associated Content article, and find out things you can do right now to insure you'll have loads of red, luscious, tomatoes!

I'm planning to say more about tomatoes as we head into fall, so keep checking back. In the meantime ... what's your favorite variety of tomato plant? Better Boy? Beefmaster? Early Girl? Or is it one of the heirloom varieties?