Monthly Archives: January 2009
This old house is a half bubble off plumb
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Maybe even three quarters of a bubble off plumb. We probably would never have noticed if it weren’t for the new curio cabinet. There I am trying to take a picture of it for a friend of mine when after snapping a couple of shots I couldn’t help but notice that in each picture the cabinet looked crooked. It’s not the cabinet, which is perfectly square. It’s my floors.
I should’ve figured that out right away because this house is well over one hundred years old. However, I’m sure others will agree that a crooked house isn’t the first thing that you’d think of at the time. Nooooo, you go ACK! My new cabinet is crooked. For what I paid, it should be straight. It’s after that initial outburst, that you realize it’s not the cabinet.
Maybe the day we put in new flooring our cabinet will be level…or not. With a century old house, you never have any certainty other than it is still standing after all these years. Yes, it is old but this house has character, a history, and it will probably last another century. You can’t say that about new houses.
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
A place for everything—well, at least some of the things.
Posted by doggonedmysteries
We’ve collected Bull Terrier figurines for twenty-eight years but have had no real way to display most of them. Nearly all of them I’d carefully wrapped in bubble wrap packed them in boxes and stashed them in our attic. We kept telling ourselves that one day we’d be able to unpack them and set them out in a curio cabinet or something. I don’t like clutter, things scattered about on bookcases and tables, collecting dust, and, with OUR DOGS getting broken.
Yesterday, on a whim, we went bargain shopping. We managed to find a bargain basement priced curio cabinet. A local high-end furniture store is going out of business and has a huge sale going on. (Who can resist that?) This morning our curio cabinet arrived, much to our surprise, we really didn’t expect it for a few days since they had to bring it in from one of their other three stores. Dear Hubby and a neighbor went and picked it up. I woke to find our new cabinet all set up except for the glass shelves. They left that to me. (Smart men!)
Unfortunately, it didn’t take me long to fill it and I think there are still a few stray Bull Terrier figurines hiding in the attic. However, it looks wonderful. Instead of clutter, I have a beautiful cabinet filled with our lovingly chosen Bullies. We purchased most of them at dog shows where I was showing our dogs, so they all have wonderful memories connected to them. A few were given to us by dear friends. One little one is very special to me since my baby sister gave it to me two years before she died and I’m glad to be able to see it every day now.
Posted in Dog related, hobbies, Misc, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, gifts, Home, Humor, Life, Love, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Hero pilot and the “miracle on the Hudson”
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Isn’t it wonderful to hear good news for a change? I want to add my praises to the long list of others who have already done so. Three cheers for the pilot of the US Airways jet who landed the Airbus in the Hudson. This man then proceeded to go through the plane twice to make sure that all his passengers were safely out. I wasn’t surprised to hear he was a former US Air Force fighter pilot.
I salute you sir. I’m a daughter of a USAF Officer and I am proud of you and your crew.
Chesley Sullenberger, his co-pilot Jeff Skiles, and the entire crew of that jet deserve all the kudos they can get. They kept their heads and saved over one hundred passengers. As I watched the news last night the story about these people, the rescue workers, and other civilians who helped get the passengers safely to dry land had me choked up. I cannot applaud them enough. Well done people!
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Will CSI continue to be as interesting without Grissom?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
As a mystery writer and the wife of a retired Police Officer, I know that what you see is not what you get in real life from a CSI unit. Nevertheless, I enjoy the show. I’ve listened to Dear Hubby say, “there’s no way they’d get the results that fast.” At a writer’s conference I sat in (author of Police Procedures and Investigation a Guide for Writers) Lee Lofland’s ‘CS I don’t believe it’ session. He told us the same thing DH had told me. I still enjoy the show.
I’ve watched CSI from the start. It is the best of the three CSI programs. I will miss Gil Grissom’s (William Peterson) unassuming persona. I am thrilled that they didn’t end his role violently as they did Warrick’s (Gary Dourdan). It’s time they had a character leave with happy results. Gil Grissom has gone to Costa Rica to be with Sara.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to seeing what they do with their new cast member Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne). However, I do wonder if the show will ever be as good. I hope so. Fishburne has some enormous shoes to fill.
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, TV Shows, Writer, Writing
A cold day in…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Wind chills are dropping the temperatures down into the single digits. Do the pups want to go out? Only if they have to. I’m sure if they had long double coats they might want to be out more but they don’t. Tomorrow is supposed to be colder so I suspect we’ll have to use a crow bar to pry them from their favorite warm places.
They didn’t volunteer to go outside once today. For a change, the bells on the back door remained silent. We have a string of sleigh bells nailed on to the door that they ring when they want to go out. On warm days, Gavin will ring the damned bells every five minutes. On warm days, I’m tempted to wring his neck and I curse the day old Sadie taught him how to ring them.
Late tonight, for their last out, I sent Patty into the backyard, she ran out a few yards, squatted, and dashed back in the door. Gavin went out, took about four steps, raised his leg on a planter to the right of the door, and sprinted inside. Both gave me looks that said, “You woke me up for this? It is friggin’ cold out there!”
Posted in Dog related, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Snow, Writer, Writing
It wasn’t an easy day for Dear Hubby
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Dear Hubby had a pain management appointment today. He’d had to reschedule after last week’s minor fender bender that he had on the way there. He didn’t get the usual late afternoon appointment he prefers. He had to be there at nine in the morning. Not trusting himself to get up on time, and stay awake enough to go, he asked me if I minded playing alarm clock for him. Since it meant staying up only an hour or two longer than I normally do, I said I would.
Before I woke him, I took the pups out, fed them, and made a pot of coffee. This way when he came down there was nothing he HAD to that would tire him out before it was time to leave. I also had him take my car instead of his truck when I saw his windshield had ice on it and mine was clear.
I often drive him to his appointments but he’d already planned to go alone this time. I believe he thinks I need a break from running him to all his doctors and with the cold weather, he feels well enough to drive himself. I kissed him goodbye, told him to drive carefully, and headed to bed.
When I came down later, I could tell he’d had a rough day. The pups were snoozing in their crates, DH kept dozing in his chair, and he avoided walking unless he absolutely had to. It seems that the pups decided today was pester DH day. Once he arrived home from his appointment, they didn’t give him a moment’s rest.
Posted in MS related, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Snow, Writer, Writing
Looking for caption ideas
Posted by doggonedmysteries
The two dogs on the top of this page are our present dogs and that is one of my favorite pictures of them. The white Bull Terrier is Gavin and the dark one is Patty. You have no idea how long it took to get that shot of them. When one pup would stay down the other would pop up. If they weren’t popping up and down, one or the other would decide to wander off as soon as I had the camera ready.
It does look as though they are grumbling to each other. Occasionally, I change the caption under their picture. I’ve had a couple of suggestions from friends as to what those two nut ball dogs are saying. I haven’t used them yet.
Now I’d like to hear some suggestions from my readers so please tell me in the comments section here. I only ask that you please keep it clean, silly is fine, and if it makes other readers read on through the blog, all the better!
I’m quite excited that today my blog stats showed it passed the 20,000 mark in hits in less than four months. Thank you!
Posted in Dog related, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Snow, Writer, Writing
Have you laughed today?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I’m talking about a giggle, a titter, a chuckle, a belly laugh, any sort of laughter will do.
Dear Hubby and I are fortunate because we always have laughter. He has a wonderful dry sense of humor that sneaks up on you, pulls out a baseball bat, and whacks you in the head. It’s fast and seldom painless. Think groaningly bad, but hysterically funny puns and jokes. You begin to giggle. Then you find it difficult to stop because your brain keeps hitting replay.
Everyone needs a good giggle occasionally. Like when you were a child and got into a fit of giggles that nothing, not even threats from exasperated parents could stop. These incidents usually happen during dinners. Siblings or other members of the family (yes, dear cousins you have done this too) usually egg the giggles on. In my case, DH keeps me going once he gets me started. He gets a kick out of me clutching my aching sides and laughing myself weak.
The pups are also good for a few daily laughs. Eventually one of them manages to make us chuckle with one stunt or another. Today Gavin dug out his favorite toy, a rubber ball that looks like basket weave. He bugged DH to throw it for him several times. Patty sat on the couch to observe this ritual. Finally, she decided to join in on the fun and the game of fetch became a tug of war between the two dogs. SHE thought it was fun. Gavin was not pleased but with us telling him he was ‘such a good boy for sharing’, he behaved admirably.
Posted in Dog related, Misc, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Snow, Writer, Writing
More snow, it’s going to be a long winter
Posted by doggonedmysteries
When I woke up today, we already had a few inches of snow on the ground. Since then it’s been steadily falling. Sure, it looks pretty but only if you don’t have to shovel it. At least with the full moon tonight it’ll be bright enough for me to go outside and clean off both our vehicles. What am I waiting for? I’m waiting for it to slow down somewhat maybe even stop.
Our sidewalk shoveling angel came by late this afternoon. This time I caught a glimpse of the person and it is exactly whom I thought it was. I’m going to have to figure out a way to thank him.
The pups like this snow. Unlike the last storm where it was all ice coated, hard, and slick, this time it’s soft, fluffy, and fun for them. Patty galloped around the yard. Gavin wanted me to toss a few snowballs for him. Short romps for them though their coats are too short for them to stay out there long. Once back in the house they were content to share the couch and laze out for several hours. Both Dear Hubby and I did the same in our chairs. It was the ideal sort of day to do nothing.
Posted in Dog related, Misc, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Snow, Writer, Writing
Weaving the fabric of a novel
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Today I printed out my book, all 200+ pages. Now I can go through it, edit, make notes, and find continuity problems, double check plot points. I can do it anywhere instead of at my desk and my bedroom floor seems to be an ideal place. This also lets me lay out the printed pages and (by using colored sticky notes and paper clips) visualize where the book’s strengths and weaknesses are.
Why am I doing this? I have reached the dreaded sagging middle. The spot in the book where you know you must up the ante, raise the stakes, gracefully weave the threads, and make sure you aren’t boring your reader to death.
I have the ending written. I have a basic outline. What I need is to work all my threads together into a tight weave and join that to the ending in a seamless bond. That’s not as easy as one would think. I may have to clip a few threads, tug them out, and possibly work a new thread or two into the story.
This does sound like weaving fabric doesn’t it?
Posted in My blog, My books, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Love, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Beads and bedlam don’t play well together
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I wanted to sit down, listen to my French course, and work on a necklace for which I had an idea. I needed to get my mind off my book for a little while and relax. It didn’t happen. When I pulled out my boxes of beads Gavin started shaking his head repeatedly. This is not a good sign since he’s subject to a chronic ear infection.
Gavin’s ear was bothering him again so I spent some time cleaning it out and babying him. Poor dog hates having his ears cleaned but with a few cookies to aid me, I got the job done. Tomorrow we’re making an appointment to take him to the vet. He hates going there so this should be fun-NOT!
Once I settled Gavin down, I started to get out my beading board. Then I looked at the clock, realized that Dear Hubby was hours late returning home from his pain management appointment, and began to worry. Trying to call him on his cell phone didn’t help since all I got was a busy signal.
Then DH arrived home, he hadn’t made his appointment, instead he’d been in a minor fender bender and sat for over two hours waiting for the police to arrive. Don’t worry he’s fine and his truck only had some paint transfer on it.
It’s no surprise that at this point the whole idea of working on a new necklace design escaped me.
Posted in Beads, hobbies, Misc, My blog, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
“I want my kidney back.”
Posted by doggonedmysteries
A New York man donated a kidney to his wife in 2001 and now he wants it back. This is all part of a bitter divorce. He says he wants the kidney or 1.5 million dollars. He’s a doctor he’s not poor. He’ll survive, has plenty of money, and the ability to make tons more. It seems to me it’s simply spite and greed on his part.
Granted, if what he claims is true, that she had an affair and then filed for divorce in 2005, the man has a right to be pissed. But there’s pissed and then there’s crazy pissed. This to me is crazy pissed.
Is a donated kidney something one normally lists among one’s assets in a divorce procedure? (I don’t think so!) Are body parts a marital asset? (If so, then will all those husbands who paid for boob jobs, face lifts, tummy, and butt tucks before their divorces sprint to court for refunds?)
Another thing, can you picture a judge ordering her to give the kidney back? Not gonna happen.
On the other hand, if it should occur, what surgeon in his/her right mind would do the surgery?
Posted in Misc, My blog, Uncategorized
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
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