Saturday, October 5, 2024

September Books

September was another "quiet" reading month. But it included two wonderful mysteries and a peek behind the royal curtain.

"The Last Devil to Die" by Richard Osmun

The trouble with Richard Osmun's "Thursday Murder Club" series is that the books are so delightful that one doesn't want to finish them! Yet, they are so good, you keep reading (and reading and reading), turning pages as fast as you can. A true dilemma!

His most recent offering in the series finds the group concerned about the murder of an antique dealer who was a friend of both characters Bogdan and Stephen. The death was apparently related to drugs but the police department seems less concerned about finding Kulesh's killer than it does the heroin that may well have led to his murder. So, detectives Chris and Donna, along with the senior gang at Cooper's Chase, launch out independently and immerse themselves in finding the murderer -- and the heroin.

As always, Osmun's characters are finely drawn -- former spy Elizabeth; one-time nurse Joyce; psychiatrist Ibrahim and one time union organizer Ron, along with the Polish Bogdan and detectives Chris and Donna. So, too, are some of the potential suspects -- art forger Susanna and her partner, Garth and drug dealers Mitch and Luca.

There are many smiles in this book -- there always are in this series of improbable but delightful situations. But there is also great poignancy and yes, a few tears. It is a worthy offering.

(The first book in the series is currently being filmed with Helen Mirren as Elizabeth, Pierce Brosnan as Ron, Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim and Celia Imrie as Joyce.)

"Spare" by Prince Harry


I'll admit I have a fascination with the British royals and have for years. But I decided to wait til I could either get Prince Harry's controversial memoir, "Spare," in paperback, used or on sale. I finally got a copy and dug in. 

For those who neither know (or care) about the royals and the feud between Harry and his brother, William and his father, King Charles, the book has received a lot of notice as a tell-all, filled with horrible stories about his family. I suspect a large percentage of the reason the royals are so upset isn't so much the content in the book but the fact that Harry broke the cardinal rule of "Never complain, never explain" in telling his story. But what results is a candid and intriguing look behind the curtain at the world's most dysfunctional family. 

Harry begins with his childhood and of course, the death of his mother, Diana. At the time he was 12 and in the "suck it up, Buttercup" world of the royals, the grieving process was difficult and complicated. The early chapters of the book reveal how he internalized much of the events of that time, even fantasizing (for years) that his mother hadn't died, but had disappeared to start a new, private life and soon would return for Harry and his brother. (As one who spent a decade working with grieving children about Harry's age at a children's grief center, those stories and emotions ran all too true to form. The difference was, at our center, the kids had a safe place to share those feelings with others experiencing similar situations.)

The second part of the book deals with Harry's experiences in the Army, where he truly found a home and a calling. It wasn't easy -- after many months in Afghanistan, he was pulled because he was considered a target for kidnapping and consequently, a danger to his own team. I found the sections on the army especially interesting and well written and explained.

He also candidly deals with his behavior during his teen and young adult years -- often ill-advised -- including drug use and acting out. And, he makes very clear that his passion for Africa and for service, including his role in creating the Invictus Games, is deep and powerful.

Within the first two sections of the book, it is clear that Harry's issues with his brother went back far into their youth with a good deal of sibling rivalry and "the heir" always claiming power over "the spare." Harry has a lot of anger about this and he tells of numerous events in which he wasn't allowed to work on a project he had interest in, either because William claimed it first or vetoed it. And yet, he always indicates there was a good deal of love between the two, if not always understanding. 

The third section of the book deals with more recent times, including Harry's passion for Africa, his relationship and courtship with his future wife, Meghan Markle, the years of their marriage to date and finally, the couple's decision to leave England for America -- seemingly the nail in the coffin of Harry's relationship with both his brother and father. He makes an excellent case for himself -- along with a desire to serve his father, the King. 

So, of course I have to ask myself, "if you were Harry or Charles, how would you feel about this book (and Harry's controversial interview with Oprah and the couple's Netflix series.)" 

And my answer is, "Get over it, guys." Actually, I have NO idea why Charles is bent out of shape, unless he is being encouraged by William. The words Harry writes about his father (and Queen Camilla) are honest in his point of view -- but absolutely no worse than any kid might think about a parent or step parent when times are tough.

William has a bit more room to be ticked off. Harry was brutally honest in his feelings about his brother -- and they are complicated, based on history, competition and love. That wound will take longer to heal and it will require both parties to let go. Stay tuned, royal watchers.

"The Children Return" by Martin Walker

Martin Walker's character "Bruno," chief of police of the French Perigord town of St. Denis, returns in a well conceived mystery that keeps one involved to the last page. In this outing, Bruno is dealing with three significant situations, and as complicated as it seems, Walker makes them all easy to follow in this information-packed book.

The "children" who return to St. Denis are a young Muslin man with Autism, Sami, who has been away for many years, first at a Muslim school in Toulouse and then -- where? It turns out that he has escaped from Afghanistan where he was forced into making explosive devices for the Taliban. It becomes apparent to Bruno that Sami is also a wanted man by the Taliban, who want to kill him for all he knows about the organization. Bruno, with the help of the Brigadier, must remove and protect Sami from harm, along with his adoptive parents. They are taken to a heavily-guarded chateau where the young man will be evaluated by a psychiatric tribunal to see if he is capable of standing trial as a terrorist. Meanwhile, the Taliban (and the media) are out to get him.

As Bruno negotiates working with the Brigadier, a lovely American diplomat with an FBI background named Nancy, and the three members of the tribunal (while negotiating his own safety), he is also part of a group in the town who have received a letter outlining a potential legacy bequest from a Jewish man who had been sheltered, along with his sister, from the Nazis in World War II. The bequest would fund a project that would, in some way, thank the town for having supported children such as they were, during that time. It is up to Bruno, the mayor and their teacher friend, Florence, to develop a project that will bring this gift to the town.

The third plot involves Bruno's friend, the doctor Fabiola, who is having relationship issues with the man she loves. It appears that Fabiola has a back story, perhaps one involving assault, that is preventing her from moving forward with the relationship. When she reacts negatively to a member of the psychiatric tribunal evaluating Sami, Bruno realizes that perhaps there is more to that relationship than it seems.

The three stories intertwine, revealing new depth to some familiar characters and, as Walker always does, developing into a fascinating mystery with more than a bit of contemporary focus along with a good bit of terrifying action.

I've read many of the Bruno books and this may be my favorite to date. It's well worth a read.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Hopping the Pond!

Rick and I are off for a bit. After my most stressful summer in years (ever?) we hope to get some real R&R in Bath, London and elsewhere in England! Hopefully, I haven't overpacked!

I will probably not commenting or reading blogs much or blogging from "the road." I do have a couple of pre-posts scheduled, including the September book post.

Our agenda (to the degree we have one!) includes theatre, concerts, sightseeing, and meet-ups with some blog friends! (That will be the best!) Maybe even a rugby game if it isn't rained out!

The curtain of the Wyndham Theatre, London

Please stay well. If you are in areas badly damaged by the recent Hurricane Helene, I hope your recovery is going well and that you remain safe. I know many bloggers are in this position and I will try to check in. The same goes for blogger Duta in Israel and others dealing with the war in the Middle East.


Enjoy the beautiful fall colors and I'll be back with loads of photos (probably more than you want to see!)

 
(And thank you for all your comments and support about Lizzie. I was so relieved when she returned. To the bloggers and visitors I have never seen comment before, I was especially moved that you came by and took the time to do so. If you have a blog, I will try to visit before I leave; if not, after. Thank you, thank you.)

Sunday, September 29, 2024

She's Back!

Look how the cat dragged in! She's back!

She came mewing at the front door about an hour ago. Rick heard her. Hungry and home. Thanks for all the comments on THIS POST. I'm graateful for your ideas, good thoughts, and prayers. Thank you, thank you.

 

 

 

Lizzie Is Missing

A quick post to alert you to something very sad that has happened -- and right before we leave on Wednesday for England.


My sweet Lizzie has disappeared. Vanished. Put on the cloak of invisibility. And I am frantic and bereft.


We had a work day at the lake Saturday -- lots of cleaning, scrubbing, vacuuming. It's a rough day for her and she hid under the biggest and heaviest bed in the cottage. I finally got her out and into her cage for about an hour or so before we left. 


The trip home -- with some necessary stops -- took longer than usual. When we got home I fed her right away, which she gobbled, and used her litterbox. I settled down to check email and watch a little TV for about 45 minutes before bed.


She always looks forward to bed, often getting there before me, because she gets treats. This time she didn't come, which is unusual but since her eating schedule was off (she was fed about 9:30) I only worried a bit when I couldn't find her. 


But after a sleepless night with multiple searches and no morning action on food or litter or puppy pads, I became very worried. I searched everything. Rick searched everything. Friend Kate and her husband came and searched every embarrassing nook and cranny, along with the exterior of the house. 


I drove around the neighborhood looking for accidents and asked walkers and neighbors to keep and eye out, and have posted on pet finding and neighborhood sites.


Now all I can do is hope and pray that she is all right. I don't know what else I can do.

We don't know if she had a stroke or aneurysm and found a place to die (and if she did and it's inside, she's better than us because we've been everywhere). Or, if she got out when I got the mail (highly unlikely but possible. She's never shown much interest in getting out.) 

We do have a bit of a plan if she isn't back, but I don't even want to think about that. So please send up prayers, good juju or all the best thoughts you can before Wednesday (and after, if she isn't back by then. We need all the help we can get. She's my sweet, funny, sassy little girl and I need to know what has happened to her.

Friday, September 27, 2024

You Asked, I Answer!

Sometimes blog friends ask questions -- and I try to respond personally if I have an email for them, but otherwise, they sometimes end up in the ether! And lately, I've been negligent in responding to anyone (that will only get worse in October when I'll be on blog break!)

So, I thought I'd answer a few of them!

About the Cottage 

Erin said, "Wow, I didn't realize that your family actually lived there."  I probably wasn't clear. We never lived at the lake full time -- only in the summers. From the time my mom was a kid, and through my teen/college years, we would spend summers there. But didn't live there full time.

Beach time with the cousins, c. 1978

Erin also asked, "Do you ever stay up there for fall?" We sure do! It's nippy at times -- we have a fireplace and space heaters and that's it! But it's gorgeous. You can see a couple of posts with images from up north in the fall here and here.

"I wonder why you only stay here in the summer. It's such a beautiful place...I think I'd live there all year long," Deb of Readerbuzz said. Beautiful, yes. But it would drive me nuts. The town doesn't have much to offer in terms of culture and the arts and I'm definitely not a winter person or into winter spots. Also, the community is extremely conservative. I fear I would go politically insane! (And, as I mentioned above, we don't have heat!) So fall is as far as I go!

 

Other Things!

What kind of bird is Harry? asked Judy (but no blog listed!) Harry is a Great Blue Heron. He hangs out at our neighborhood pond (called The Ditch) from spring until fall. Last year I saw him well into November. Harry North (and his partner) are also great blue herons but are seen up north at the cottage.

Carola asked: how do you use a fork when working with watercolor? And the answer is: Very badly. Part of the challenge I was doing was to use tools you never used for art before. (Examples, bubble wrap for texture). I used a make-up sponge, a straw and a fork. The fork was least successful. I thought it might make for nice snow dots but they were all too "in a row." I tried scraping some texture in but watercolor is so transparent, that wasn't very effective either. Finally, I just globbed on some gouache and made snow on the branches. I don't recommend it!

Jean from Misadventures in Widowhood wrote: "I also notice you had a straw with your paints? One of the ladies here was experiencing with putting paint on the end of a straw and blowing it around the paper. Didn't turn out very well, in my opinion, but she kept trying to prefect the process."

The straw was also part of that class challenge with three or more "new" items. It actually worked pretty well for adding snow to branches and small line details.

Carola also asked: When are you leaving for England and how long will you stay? Will you be staying in Bath the entire time?


 We leave for England on October 2 and will return on the 24th. We'll be in Bath for a week (doing side trips as well as enjoying the city).

The Roman Baths

We're especially excited to be staying in a lovely house a few miles out of the city. We stayed here before and it will be a wonderful and relaxing way to begin our trip.

Morgan's Forge

Then it's on to London for the remainder of the trip, with a road trip in that time! 

Steve from Shadows and Light asked: I wonder what Viola means about paying for "3 or 4 slats in the Venetian blinds"? Is she trying to say it was expensive or cheap?

This refers to the vintage postcards from the lake on this post. Viola wrote a note on her postcard about paying for slats in the Venetian blinds and was not at all impressed on the restaurant. I tried to find prices of Venetian blinds in the 1940s online with no luck. But my guess is she was saying it was expensive. Anyone have an idea?


Thanks to many of you who weighed in on the "bald" cardinal from this post. The general consensus seems to be that he is moulting. Makes sense to me!

Finally, I will be off blog for our trip and sadly, not visiting you. I doubt I will post we're gone but will look forward to catching up with you when you return and have all sorts of fun photos to share! I hope I don't miss TOO much here! Thank you again for all your comments. Hopefully after we settle back, I'll be able to get more in my practice of replying more directly to your comments.

Have a lovely fall and I'll see you next month!

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Here and There

The time leading up to our departure has been hectic. Loads of doc appointments, trips to the lake, time with family and friends. Here's a brief update.


My friend Lin came to visit from Columbus. She was my teacher in high school (theatre) and very influential in guiding me in terms of university and major. She's not that much older than I, so she is more like a big sister! 


We visited some of her old haunts -- places she'd lived and also the high school where she taught and where we met. (We tried to get in but with no appointment, security was having none of it!) Still, a good visit. Then a bit of shopping in Old Town and a lovely dinner with Rick and another friend. All good.


Then it was up to the lake to bring things back home. It was just Lizzie and me this time, as Rick was tied up with his landlord activities. The best part was spending time with my cousin Mutty and her husband Howard. I hadn't seen Mutty in more than a year, since we were at a wedding together, so it was a very good time with lots of laughs and good food!

I also took some walks -- the weather was unseasonably warm and just gorgeous. Even got in a dip in the lake!  I don't have a photo of Harry North, but we had a remarkable sighting. He has a lady friend! More than once we saw the two streak across the sky together and it was a magnificent sight. Photograph of the Heart and Memory. But yes, colors are coming in -- slow, but sure.

I hit the farm market and bought a half-bushel of tomatoes, so in the time between the minute I stuck them in the car and when we leave I have to make pasta sauce. I realized my freezer at home is too big to store them all till I return. It might be a good time to clean the freezer. 

The little market was humming and boy, did that produce look good. I got some apples and peppers, too. And contemplated squash, but I'll never get it used before we go.


Rick and I went to a volleyball tournament in which his cousin's daughter was playing. I'd never been to a volleyball game before and it was fun. Here was Kate's Fan Club!

And, I took a brief trip to London, Ontario, to see my friend Suzanne and go to Stratford, where we saw the musical "Something's Rotten."

The productions are always terrific and this did not disappoint. Equally fun was walking around the town of Stratford.

It used to have loads of swans but it seems the Canada geese have taken over. There are tons of them, everywhere, by the river, and they cause their own traffic jams.

A walk by the river, nice dinner out and some shopping (we scored big at the used book store) -- it all makes for a great two days.


Best of all is hanging with a friend you've known for more than 50 years! 

In between other things (like figuring out how to live from a carry-on bag for three weeks and hitting more doc appointments than a woman should have), I've been trying to get a handle on the mess called the front yard. As I was clipping and raking I discovered this fellow.


Great eyes! I don't have an ID but I'm wondering if it's in the Praying Mantis family. Here's a longer view of his body.

Any ideas?

A bit of a crazy week coming up. More appointments and Rick and I will head to the lake for a final closing. Always hard.


Boy, time moves fast!

Monday, September 16, 2024

Oops. Deleted Comments!

Oops. 


I accidentally deleted all my comments from September 1 on when I was deleting a bunch of spam messages (I'm hurrying too fast.) Sorry about that! They won't be reinstated (I have no idea how to find deleted comments) but they are appreciated and each was read!

UGH. I've got to slow down.  (My post on "Surprises at the Ditch" is below -- or next! Deer and egrets and herons -- oh my!)

Saturday, September 14, 2024

Back Home -- Surprises at the Ditch

A gorgeous September day. Not too hot, not too cold. Goldilocks would love it. And, it was a perfect day to visit the ditch.

 

I didn't know what to expect but I was certainly surprised at seeing a pair of deer -- I think mother and young'un, in the distance. I never see deer during the day there, or very rarely. 

Thursday, September 12, 2024

The Books of August

I was hoping to read a bit more in August but it just wasn't happening! Add to it that one book was close to 600 pages and I've come to the conclusion I shouldn't beat myself up about that! This month's books included a two historic fiction books (one based in biography, the other loosely on a factual incident) and a mystery by an author who surprised me.

 

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