The Whiskey Pines Journal

All Stories

News, recipes, crafting patterns, investigations, and the ongoing chaos of small-town life on Lake Michigan.

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Mabel Hutchins and her marmalade
Crime & Community

The Mystery of the Missing Marmalade

Mabel's prize-winning marmalade has vanished from the church bake sale table. The town is shaken. Sheriff Waverly is investigating. Nobody is safe from Mabel's stare.

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Pines and Needles doors opening
Crafting Colony

Crafting Season Opens at Pines & Needles

The doors swung open, three hundred new fabric bolts arrived, and Hazel Pike received a mysterious package with no return address. She's monitoring the situation.

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Roxie at her writing desk
From the Desk

Notes from Roxanne's Writing Desk

Kenzie has claimed the velvet footstool as her throne and issued telepathic opinions on plot developments, nap schedules, and the strategic allocation of biscuits.

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Whiskey Pines Harvest Festival
Town Events

The Annual Harvest Festival Returns

The seventy-third year. Margaret Chen has been planning since June. She has taken up welding. The Hendersons are worried about the scarecrow competition.

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Della Mae's blueberry muffins
Recipes & Food

From Della Mae's Window: Four Muffins

Blueberry. Brown sugar crumble. Maple walnut. Lemon poppy seed. Four recipes, four strong opinions, and one firm instruction about what a muffin is and is not.

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Crocheted granny square potholders
Crafting Pattern

Opal's Granny Square Potholders

A crochet pattern that has protected Pines & Needles hands for decades. Use 100% cotton. Acrylic melts. Opal has seen it happen and does not want to discuss it.

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The scene of the gnome crime
Crime & Investigation

The Case of the Purloined Garden Gnome

Mr. Pemberton — twenty-seven-year sentinel, forty pounds of ceramic, one red hat — has vanished. Gerald is devastated. The town has theories. There is a $50 reward.

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Earl Lundgren's announcement
Local Business

Lundgren's Market: Emergency Declaration

Earl Lundgren addressed a crowd from a milk crate regarding panty liners, furniture dusting, and what he called a situation that has gotten entirely out of hand.

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