Ramblings And What Not ~

Hello Peoples! It’s the end of October!  🙂  The snow storm was a funny surprise, but it was a great month. I was walking to the bakery three days ago. I was in front of a home where there is a considerable amount of renovation happening. There was heavy equipment in the front yard and sidewalk, so I walked around it. When I took a step onto a pile of leaves, my foot was suddenly in wet concrete!!! I yelped and pulled my foot out of the mess. My shoe was half covered in gray concrete! One of the construction workers was on the roof of the house. I yelled up to him.

Me: Hello! I stepped in concrete! Do you have a water hose, so I can rise the concrete off my shoe?

Construction worker: Concrete??? We haven’t poured any concrete. It must be mud.

Me (laughing): Well, it looks like wet concrete. Do you have a water hose?

Construction worker: Yea. Walk around to the back of the house and tell the guys back there. They’ll help you out.

Me (laughing): OK. Thanks.

I walked around to the back of house, wondering how fast concrete dries. I was certain it was concrete, because of the color. We don’t have gray dirt!

When I arrived at the back of the house I said, raising my voice: “Hello. I stepped in concrete. Do you have a water hose? The guy on the roof said you have a water hose.”

Construction Worker Number 2: Concrete!!! We haven’t poured concrete!!! Yes, I do have a hose. Come on over here and I’ll clean your shoe.

Me (still laughing, pointing to my shoe): Does that look like concrete?

Construction Worker Number 2: It looks like what it is.

Me (a puzzled expression on my face): Mmm.

Construction Worker Number 3: Concrete!!! We didn’t pour concrete!!! Yes! Yes! Rinse off her shoe. We can’t allow a perfectly good walking shoe to be ruined.

As he spoke, construction worker number 2 was rinsing off my shoe. He then handed me a towel to wipe off my shoe and pant leg. When I finished, I thanked him and returned his towel to him. I walked around to the front of the house to continue my walk. Construction worker number 3 was putting a board over the wet concrete so no one else would step in it.

Construction Worker Number 3 (chuckling): No more mud pies. We can’t have you making a mess!

I laughed, thanked him and waved as I continued walking. The entire situation was so ridiculous I laughed the entire time. When I arrived at the bakery I told the owner about my concrete experience and he really laughed!!!  🙂

 

Favorite Word ~ discombobulated 

Your favorites, at the cottage, in October ~

October 24 ~ 25, 2018, The Counterfeit Heiress by Tasha Alexander

October 12, 2018, Classic Movie Friday, California or Bust (1956)

October 12, 2018, Ramblings And What Not

I would like to direct your attention to ~

http://www.fernwehscall.wordpress.com

Hop, skip or jump on over and meet Amy. She’s a law student and she’s got herself a fun and interesting blog. She writes short stories, that are real life experiences, that make me smile and she posts photos at times. She does write a book review now and then.

Much love ~

Kathy

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And Only To Deceive by Tasha Alexander

Lady Emily agreed to marry the Viscount Ashton, Philip, to escape her dreadful mother. Only six months after they are married, Lady Emily is a widow. Her husband, Phillip, passed away from a fever whilst he was in Africa. After his death, she discovers his journals and learns there is so much more to him, more than she realized. He was very much in love with Lady Emily and he was a scholar and he had an interest in antiquities. As a result of reading his journals and learning more about her late husband, Lady Emily finds herself involved in a mystery that involves stolen antiquities. The book is well researched.

I loved this book! If you decide to read the series, I recommend you read this book first. It will give you needed background into Lady Emily and Colin.

Lady Emily is a strong protagonist. She’s intelligent and she doesn’t scare easily. She isn’t interested in the dictates of society and has a tendency to shock people on a regular basis. Her mother is another story! Oh my. That woman . . .  🙂

I thought the story had a wonderful romantic atmosphere. And then, there’s mystery and travel. And I don’t want to forget the mysterious Colin.

There is a journal included in the story. I enjoyed reading Philip’s journal. I though it offered me a clear look into the man the reader will never meet.

5 ***** well-written stars!

 

 

Classic Movie Friday!

The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)

Fred MacMurray   Nancy Olson

Keenan Wynn   Tommy Kirk   Elliott Reid

Quite unexpectedly, on his wedding night, Professor Brainard (Fred MacMurray) invents flubber! That’s right, there’s an explosion in his lab, he’s knocked unconscious and when he wakes up, he discovers he not only missed his wedding for the third time, but he’s invented flubber! I would describe flubber as an anti-gravity substance. And, there you have it! I loved Professor Brainard and his dog Charlie! Charlie seems to know everything about science that the Professor knows. Brainard talks to Charlie and tells him everything. I love Charlie’s ears. They go up and down and he tilts his head from side to side. Charlie’s a great dog.  🙂  They couldn’t have chosen a better actor for the role of Professor Brainard. But! The good but absent-minded Professor, wants to convince his fiancé, Betsy, (Nancy Olson) he’s invented flubber. She just happens to be mad at him because he stood her up at the altar three times! She’s dating another man (Elliott Reid)!!! Not good! Underneath that mild mannered demeaner of a Professor, there lurks a desperate heart. He’s out to win his girl back and he’s going to use flubber to achieve this. So! He puts flubber in shoes and in the engine of his Model T car. Good times ensue with a whole lotta chuckles!!! This is one of my favorite classic, Disney films.  🙂

Enjoy!

The Counterfeit Heiress by Tasha Alexander

Estella Lamar is a famous adventurer, traveling the world, her exploits on the front pages of newspapers. One night she arrives at a masquerade ball, to the delight of many. However, Cecile, Estella’s closet friend encounters Estella at the ball and exposes her as a fraud. The imposter runs from the ball and later is discovered dead ~ murdered. Lady Emily, along with Colin, is attending the ball and soon find themselves investigating the murder of the mysterious imposter.

This book was so good. It grabbed my attention and held it. It is so captivating. As I read the story, I was with Lady Emily and Colin every step of the investigation. I knew I would never solve the mystery, so, I walked with them, gathering clues, finding evidence as they did. The book is so well written and well crafted. And! I love the cover art.

Lady Emily is a little unorthodox for the time. She examines dead bodies and investigates crimes scenes. Ladies didn’t do that! Shocking, I know! Colin is a take charge kind of guy. Him and Lady Emily work well together. Jeremy, a friend, is great. His bantering is fun and he helps solve the mystery any way he can. The mystery is creepy and the story moves along at a good pace. At the end of the book, when all is revealed, I was aghast. 5 ***** horrifying stars!!!

I will be reading books by this author in the future.

 

Deceased and Desist by Misty Simon

Publishing Date: November 27, 2018

Publisher: Kensington Books

Complimentary copy from Kensington through Netgalley.

This book was comical. I found myself chuckling throughout most of the story. After her divorce, Tallie Graver starts her own cleaning business. While she is cleaning windows at the bed & breakfast, she sees a man dead on a bed, his neck broken. She’s convinced the man was murdered. However, the authorities are convinced he died from a heart attack. Thus begins an entertaining mystery with Tallie, a lovable sleuth and her best friend Gina. Tallie’s family own a funeral home and they drive her nuts, but she manages to investigate around them. This is a fun mystery with likable characters and plenty of entertaining situations. 4 **** stars!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Kensington through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

 

 

Ramblings And What Not ~

Hello Peoples! It is cold! Wowzer! There is a horrible wind chill outside today. Brrr. Well, as many of you know, Rick and I own a historic home. Yesterday we decided to start a new home improvement project. What were we thinking??? Our dining room, as far as we know, has always been carpeted. I have suspected for awhile, since we bought the house, there be hard wood floors under that carpet matey! 🙂  So, yesterday afternoon we ripped up the carpet and the padding. Mmm. We do have the original hardwood floors for the house. They do need a little work. They’re painted grey around the entire edge and stained and painted brown in the center of the floor. Apparently, the original wood burner for the house was in the dining room. There is a square hole that has been covered up with a square board. So, we have little work to do! Right now, we’re trying to decide if we want to repair the covered hole and refinish the floor or install new padding and carpeting. Mmmm. Rick is working in the dining room right now, measuring, sketching and thinking.

Favorite Word ~

confusticate

As many of you know, I frequently walk to the bakery and enjoy a decadent, large hot dark chocolate! The bakery is my favorite place to read when I leave our humble abode. I can sit and read for hours and drink chocolate. Well, the bakery has a new employee. I will call her T. I love her to pieces. She’s friendly, polite and respectful. T talks to all the customers and gets to know them. Well, T soon realized I was ordering hot dark chocolate frequently and one day T said to me, I’ve decided to call your hot chocolate, “tall, dark and handsome!” We laughed so hard!  🙂  From that day forward, every time I order the chocolate, I order a tall, dark and handsome! All the employees now know exactly what a tall, dark and handsome is.

Oh my word! If you enjoy kid’s chapter books, you should read, The VanderBeekers and the Hidden Garden, by Karina Yan Glaser. This is the second book in the series and I loved it.

Poor Mr. Jeet, a most beloved neighbor, is seriously ill. The VanderBeeker children get together and think of a plan to help Mr. Jeet recover. What a great plan it is! They decide to create a garden, on an abandon property next to the church. They encounter a couple of obstacles and there are some difficulties, but the kids persevere! They have so much love in their hearts for Mr. Jeet. There are precious illustrations in the book. Highly recommend! 5 ***** stars!

Enjoy!

Much love ~

Kathy

 

The Body In The Attic by Judi Lynn

Publication Date: November 27, 2018

Publisher: Kensington Books, Lyrical Underground

Complimentary copy from Kensington/Lyrical Underground through NetGalley.

I’ve always been intrigued when mysteries are in an attic or a secret room or a hidden stairway. So, when I read the title of this book, I decided to read it. I mean really, The Body In The Attic! What more could a mystery reader want? And! It’s the first in a new series.

Jazzi and her cousin Jerod flip houses, so much of the book is describing the work they do. They purchase the home of Cal Juniper and have every intention of flipping it when they are finished cleaning out the debris and doing the work to ready it for a sale. While checking out the attic, a body is discovered in a trunk! It is soon revealed, it is the remains of Jazzi’s Aunt Lynda who went missing twenty-six years earlier!

In the beginning the story intrigued me. This mystery is a very cold case. I wasn’t certain the detective in the story was going to be able to solve it. He persevered. And! He had Jazzi’s support. As the story continued, I was a little disappointed. There is food and family and friends gatherings. The work on the flip house is described, but the mystery didn’t make it for me.

After a break-up with his girlfriend, Jazzi becomes involved with Ansel. I thought the relationship was superficial, to be sure. There were several adult comments in the book, I thought were unnecessary, so I would not recommend the mystery for teens. 3 *** stars!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Kensington through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

 

 

Classic Movie Friday!

Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

Joel McCrea

Veronica Lake

Well! Veronica Lake is certainly a cute boy in this film! Maybe I should start at the beginning. I had never heard of Veronica Lake until a few weeks ago. She seems to be best known for the Noir films she did with Alan Ladd. I haven’t been able to see the Noir films yet, however, I did find this movie. It was certainly educational and an eye opener.

John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) is a famous and wealthy movie director. He feels he’s always had it easy in life and never faced trouble or experienced the real world. So he decides to temporarily leave his film making life behind, dress as a hobo (homeless man) and experience the real world. Interestingly, he has difficulty getting his famous life to leave him. He continues on his journey and meets The Girl (Veronica Lake). She convinces Sullivan to take her with him on his journey. So, she dresses as a boy and they set off into an adventure unknown. They jump on trains, which is very amusing. They sleep in overly crowded shelters and they’re usually hungry. All the while, he has millions of dollars he could easily access if he wanted to. They’re dirty, smelly and experience insects. Yuck! Eventually the two friends are separated and trouble does find Sullivan. There is a twist of events.

Sullivan thinks of a plan.

Veronica Lake as a boy!

Enjoy!

Blue Sky Smiling

Good morning Peoples. I haven’t participated in a tag in a long time, so I thought I would get involved in this one! Run on over and meet Belinda at themomfred! She’s great.  🙂 Thanks Belinda!

https://themomfred.com/

Belinda joined in on this meme from https://rachaelritchey.com/blog-1/

Rules:

~ Use the BLUE SKY banner Rachel Ritchey designed.

~ Mention the person who tagged you. That would be themomfred. She tagged anyone who is interested. I decided I was interested.  🙂

~You need to ask the eleven (11) questions set by the tagger.

~You will need to make up eleven (11) original, funny or interesting questions for those you tag.

~You need to tag 11 people.

Belinda’s questions ~

1.) Which would it be if you had to pick, books or movies?

Yes!  🙂  Sometimes I enjoy a good movie. I watch MANY classic films. I also enjoy a good book! That’s a tough one. Mmmm???

2.) If you used Facebook or it’s ilk, did you like your friends and family better before, or after, they accepted your friend request?

It’s been so long since I’ve been on Facebook. I did enjoy reconnecting with people I hadn’t seen or lost touch with for a long time. That was the fun on Facebook. Another good question.

3.) If you could time travel, where would you go and why?

I would love to arrive in America for the first time, with the first settlers, and see this great land so early in our history.

I would travel to World War II, join the resistance, and help out in any way I could. Scary time, but everyone was scared.

4.) Would you wish to relive your same life if you could?

Yes, maybe to make better choices and to do a few things differently.

5.) If you could change the number of siblings you have, would you?

Yes I would. I was raised in a large family and I didn’t like it at all.

6.) Do you really have a favorite color, or are you just saying that you do? Really think about it. If you hadn’t been asked the question before you can remember, would you?

Yes, I do really have a favorite color BLUE!  🙂  It’s always been my favorite color. I don’t remember being asked this question in the past.

7.) Can you dance, beyond just shaking it up? Silly question really, but I am curious how many people have ever really learned how to dance?

No. I can’t dance.

8.) Name one thing you are afraid of, and why, If it doesn’t terrify you that is.

Public speaking! I’m not sure why??? Maybe, harsh criticism from those who hear what I say???

9.) Are you an adventurous or picky eater, and why do you think you ended up as such?

I’m somewhere in the middle. I enjoy trying new foods, but I have an allergy, so I need to be picky at times.

10.) Can you name a common place item from your lifetime that you think will disappear before you do? For instance, the dial telephone in mine.

I don’t know. I can’t think of anything right now.

11.) Do you like your name? Is it one you had to grow into love, or are you still irritated with your parents for giving it to you?

Kathleen is my name, but I would have preferred Katherine. Everyone calls me Kathy and I like that just fine. Rick and I had a foreign exchange student live with us for ten (10) months a few years ago and she couldn’t pronounce the “th” sound, so she called me Katie. That was fine, but I prefer Kathy. Of course, I would really prefer being called, Wonder Woman!!! *ahem* No, I’m not irritated with my parents for my name. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t like Kathy.

I’m suppose to tag eleven (11) people!!! YIKES!!! Belinda tagged anyone who wanted to participate. Mmmm. Good idea!  🙂   I tag the first eleven (11) people who read this.  🙂  Don’t be shy.

Now for my eleven (11) questions.

1.) Do you enjoy wearing hats? Why or why not?

2.) Do you enjoy singing? Have you ever sang publicly?

3.) When you have traveled, what was the strangest sight you have ever seen?

4.) Have you ever been to the Olympics as a spectator or participant?

5.) Do you collect anything? What do you collect?

6.) Do you prefer milk chocolate or dark chocolate?

7.) What is the furthest away from home you have ever traveled?

8.) Can you name all the Dwarves in The Hobbit? Go ahead and name them!  🙂

9.) If you had the opportunity to assist classic Sherlock Holmes solve a mystery, would you?

10.) Do you play a musical instrument? Which one?

11.) How long have you been blogging?

 

YAY! Check out themomfred and Rachel’s blog! I’m still having problems with my blog. The “like” doesn’t always connect and I can’t always leave comments, but I’m still here reading and enjoying your blogs. 🙂

Much love ~

Kathy

 

 

 

 

 

Mistletoe Murder by Leslie Meier

Mistletoe Murder is the first Lucy Stone Mystery! A few weeks ago I read, French Pastry Murder and decided to start at the beginning! I really enjoyed this first mystery and I’m going to continue to read the series. Lucy Stone is working nights at, Country Cousins. She’s experiencing some difficulty staying awake and decides to take a short walk in the cold, winter air. While she is outside, she discovers Sam Miller dead in his automobile, apparently suicide. The authorities soon discover he was murdered. So begins the investigation into Sam’s unfortunate death.

I loved Lucy Stone and her family. She has a son named, Toby! Isn’t that the cutest name for a boy!!! I love his name.  🙂  I thought the story was a lighthearted, fun read with amusing family time and fun girl talk with Lucy and her friends. Lucy’s husband is a light-hearted fun guy. And! I don’t know if Lucy will continue to pursue it, but she has discovered an area in their town which could use some help. I didn’t really try to solve the mystery, but I had a few suspects. I wasn’t surprised when all was revealed. 4 **** stars!

Tippy Toe Murder is next in the series!