Ramblings and What Not ~

Good morning Peoples! It’s that most anticipated time again, time for Ramblings and What Not!  🙂

My birthday was March 15th. I had a good birthday. All cake, balloons and flowers! I love birthdays.  🙂 

One of our local coffee shops/bistros in town moved to a new location. It’s closer to our house! YAY! Anyway, when they moved, they GREW! It’s BIG! I walked into the shop for the first time, a few days ago and I was so surprised at the size, I stopped and looked around to see if I was in the right place. Then, I thought there were two businesses in the same building, but nope, it’s all the coffee shop. It’s nice. I walked to the cashier, ordered a chocolate/orange loose leaf tea, found a seat, got comfy and did read a book. The place is so big and there were so many people I thought it would be distracting to read. Mmm. There was a constant hum or buzz in the business ~ all the chatter ~ but I was fine. It wasn’t distracting at all. And the tea is good too!

Your Favorites, at the cottage, in March ~

Miss Phryne Fisher ~ March 16, 2018

Classic Movie Friday ~ Black Widow ~ March 16, 2018

Cozy Mysteries ~ March 12, 2018

The Lost Castle ~ March 27, 2018

I’m starting something new at the cottage. I will be directing you to a simply marvelous blog each month. Since so many of you have marvelous blogs, and I’m only listing one per month . . . well, you see how it is.  🙂  Without further ado, here is marvelous blog of the month ~

http://www.moonbunnycreations.wordpress.com

Hop, skip or jump on over and meet Horace and Oscar at Moon Bunny Creations! Oscar and Horace are the very best of friends and they have such good times and wonderful adventures together! Helen is their creator and she is very nice. Enjoy!

I joined Netgalley. I am probably the last person in the United States to join, but I did it. I have read one book. *applause applause* And! I have one book on my wish list and two books requested. As I write this that is the situation.  🙂

Have a great weekend.  It’s Resurrection Sunday!  Rejoice! 

Much love,

Kathy

 

 

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Chime and Punishment by Julianne Holmes

A Clock Shop Mystery

Ruth, our favorite horologist and amateur sleuth is back in the third book in the clock shop mystery. Ruth inherited her clock shop, the Cog & Sprocket, from her grandfather when he passed away in the first book, Just Killing Time. The town of Orchard, Massachusetts has a clock tower, which Ruth’s grandfather wanted to restore to it’s former glory. Now that her grandfather is gone, it is up to Ruth to see the task done and she is happy to do it.

Orchard has a town manager, Kim Gray, who is unpleasant, to say the least. AND! She has made a LOTTA enemies. When Kim is discovered dead at a fund-raiser to restore the clock tower, Ruth’s decides to investigate the mysterious and complicated death of the town manager.

I liked it. I’m a clock person. I have a cuckoo clock and I love my cuckoo. I consider the cuckoo an heirloom.  🙂 I didn’t have a problem with this mystery at all. There’s a strong sense of community in Orchard and plenty of support and encouragement for Ruth to solve the crime. The local law enforcement is Chief Paisley and he’s a good guy. I’ve kept up with the series and I’m looking forward to the next mystery. 5***** stars!

~ My Cuckoo Clock ~

My Awesome Photography

Classic Movie Friday!

Little Women (1933)

Katherine Hepburn ~ Joan Bennett ~ Spring Byington

Jean Parker ~ Francis Dee

Paul Lukas ~ Douglass Montgomery

Joe March (Katherine Hepburn) steals the show in this film adaptation of the classic story Little Women. This was delightful and entertaining. Of course, we all know the story. Dad (Samual S. Hinds) has gone off to serve with the soldiers in the Civil War, while his wife and daughters keep the home fires burning. Marmee (Spring Byington) struggles to make ends meet while trying to serve the community. The Civil War does end . . . This is one of my favorite classic stories. I don’t want to leave out Laurie (Douglass Montgomery). He adds a certain appeal to the story, entertaining us all.

This film is very similar to the film adaptation Little Women (1994) with Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Clare Danes, Trini Alvarado and Christian Bale. Loved both films.

Enjoy!

 

Pick Your Poison by Leann Sweeney

  Abby is our amateur sleuth, stubborn with just the right amount of sass in, Pick You Poison, by Leann Sweeney. Abby is sleeping by the pool when the dog barking attracts her attention and she soon discovers the body of the gardener, Ben. Well! That’s not nice. This cozy has quite a bit of humor and a good mystery.  🙂  Keep a bottled water handy because Texas is the location, with sweltering heat and hurricanes. The reader will travel back and forth between Houston and Galveston. And! Sergeant Kline never stops chewing gum!

I liked it. 4**** stars. It does have profanity.

The Lost Castle by Kristy Cambron

Publication Date: February 2018

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Complimentary copy from Netgalley and Thomas Nelson

The Lost Castle is a beautifully written story with courageous characters, set in the Loire Valley in France, with a fairytale castle, romance and vineyards. The story is set in three time periods, the French Revolution, World War II and the present. The multiple timelines are well crafted and easy to follow, flowing nicely from chapter to chapter.

I love stories of romance and courage during WWII, so Lady Vi’s story and her involvement with the French Resistance was my favorite.

4**** stars.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday!

Good morning! How could I resist? Well, I didn’t want to.  🙂   I love this week’s Top Ten Tuesday! ~Books That Take Place In Another Country~

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  🙂

    

You might have noticed *haha* Mary Stewart is one of my favorite classic authors. In Wildfire at Midnight, the author transports us to the Scottish Isle of Skye. Wonderfully written.

In Airs Above the Ground we fly to Vienna with Vanessa and Timothy and find ourselves involved in suspense and mystery. Loved it.

And my favorite, This Rough Magic where we discover ourselves involved in a mystery on the island of Corfu.  🙂

   

The Lost Castle by Kristy Combron takes the reader to France.

The Shetland Islands are the location of The Cottage by Michael Phillips.

The Red Door Inn by Liz Johnson transports the reader to Prince Edward Island.

   

Murder in An English is set in a hamlet in Walmsley Parva in the English countryside.

Olivia Twist by Lorie Langdon transports the reader to London.

Edinburgh, Scotland is the location of The Scottish Bookshop Mystery, The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton.

Prince Edward Island is the setting for Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery.

Happy Reading!

 

Good morning!

Hello peoples!  🙂 Baker Keller is having a spring giveaway on her blog.  🙂 Go check it out!

https://bakerkella.wordpress.com/2018/03/25/hello-spring-giveaway/

Have a great day!

Curses, Boiled Again by Shari Randall

Well, how about that? I’d like to say, I love the cute lobster shack on the cover of this book. Aunt Gully owns the new Lazy Mermaid Lobster Shack. I love Aunt Gully. I want Aunt Gully to be my aunt!!! She so full of love and compassion and she feeds everyone. Citizens and visitors alike, Aunt Gully cares for and feeds all of them. Her niece, Allie Larkin is an injured ballerina, trying to recover from a broken ankle. When someone is poisoned at the Best Lobster Roll contest and Aunt Gully is brought in for questioning Allie with help from her best friend Verity decides to investigate and prove Aunt Gully innocent.

Curses, Boiled Again is one busy cozy mystery. There are people everywhere and something is always happening. I liked it. It was a great read and I did solve the mystery. 4.5 **** stars!!! 

Classic Movie Friday!

An American In Paris (1951)

Gene Kelly

Leslie Caron

Oscar Levant

George Guetary

Nina Foch

I love Gene Kelly. Great dancer. So smooth and he seems to have so much fun dancing! My favorite classic dancin’ movie is On the Town (1949), but An American In Paris is good too. I just thought it was a little different.

Jerry Mulligan (Gene Kelly) is an artist in Paris. Adam Cook (Oscar Levant) is a composer/pianist. Henri Baurel (George Guetary) is a singer. Well, the three men are friends and two of them fall in love with the same woman (Leslie Caron).

I loved the music in this film. According to IMDB, the music is by George Gershwin. Not surprised.

Enjoy! Happy Dancin’!

That was interesting.

Hello everyone! I got this book from our local library and it’s listed as a fantasy. However, I think it’s more dark fairy tale than fantasy. Oh well. Fairy tale? Fantasy? I’m good with either, but it is dark. This story seemed to be getting a LOT of attention on the internet. I tossed it around in my mind ~ should I read it??? Mmmm. Maybe not??? I finally ordered it. There is a waiting list at the library.

I can’t say I liked the book and I can’t say I didn’t like it, but it is interesting.

My favorite character in this cold, wintry story is Vasilisa. I thought she was a breath of fresh air. She ran wild in the forest. She normally had leaves and twigs in her hair. Much to the consternation of her family and the people of her community, she was more woodland fairy or sprite than human. She learned to communicate with the horses and she was an excellent rider ~ which, once again, caused much distress to those around her. Sadly, her mother passed away when Vasilisa was an infant. When Vasilisa was a little older, Dad (Pyotr) decided to travel to Moscow and find a wife. Unfortunately, the woman he married was less than . . .  I don’t really know the word I want to use to describe Anna, but she was my least favorite character. When I first met Anna, I felt sorry for her. She cried most of the time and she lived in constant fear. She was isolated. She felt safe in the church and wanted to be a nun. However, that didn’t work out and she married Pyotr. As the story progresses, Anna changes for the worse and she becomes vicious. *shudders*

If you are looking to read a dark, medieval fairy tale/fantasy set in the cold, wintry north of Russia, this might be the book for you.

Have you read The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Happy Reading!  🙂