Category Archives: My blog
The Idas
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Hurricane Ida is throwing a lot of wind our way. It hasn’t rained much although it’s been overcast for days. It did begin to rain a bit around 3 a.m. though. How do I know this? Because the pups wanted to go out. Not a peep out of them all night until it began to rain.
Hurricane Ida is feisty and makes me think of another Ida I knew. She lived with us. She had white hair, wore glasses, was under five feet tall, and was almost as round as she was tall. Ida was a lively woman who loved to walk. She could walk all of us grandkids into the ground on any given day. She learned to do the twist when she was in her seventies.
Oh, that woman could bake! The cookie jar was always full and the house was scented with baked goods for as long as I can remember. My baby sister loved peanut butter cookies and she often made them for her. I loved her chocolate drop cookies, oatmeal and raisin, and Snickerdoodles. She had a true weakness for chocolate, dark chocolate being her favorite. I know she passed that obsession on to me.
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Food, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Gavin met Madison
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Madison, who always looks for me when they walk past the yard
The nose knows
Gavin finally met Madison today. I was so proud of him he was a perfect gentleman. He didn’t bark or show any of the hostility he has shown to many of the dogs people walk past our yard. Could it because she’s also a BT? I’m betting on it.
Madison wasn’t too sure of him at first since she’d only moments before met with a hostile Pit bull who had snapped and growled at her. Gavin was all tail wags and happy little whines of greeting. What a flirt he was, trying to get her to come closer for a smooch. He was thrilled when she eventually came to the fence to become acquainted. That boy certainly loves the girls.
Patty wouldn’t have been nice with Madison since she doesn’t like any other dogs. Gavin is her one and only dog pal. This all stems from the time a Pit bull attacked her through our back fence a few years ago. It’s a shame because Madison has the energy to keep up with her (not that Gavin doesn’t) but another playmate for her would be nice. However, she’d rather stick to her Gavin.
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, Writer, Writing
His balance and mobility are limited with MS
Posted by doggonedmysteries
We keep a supply of ice packs on hand at all times. Balance and mobility are not Dear Hubby’s strong suit. His neurologist and I want him to keep a cane or walker by the bed but he’s stubborn and seldom does. At least twice a week I hear him take a tumble upstairs after he’s gone up for the night.
My heart does a rabbit run and I bolt up the stairs to find him sitting on the edge of the bed.
“You okay? What happened?”
“Yeah, I fell onto my knees getting up is all.”
“You scared me to death. Did you hurt yourself?”
“Nope, I’m fine.”
My heart settles back into a normal rhythm again. I stand there and watch him for a bit, drinking his image in. I love him so much that when he hurts, I hurt.
We keep a mobility cart out in the yard so he can play with the dogs, but it’s only good in the spring, summer, and fall weather. Once winter hits the cart becomes a useless thing that takes up space on the back porch. He doesn’t get out as much and often becomes more depressed than usual.
The pups and I do our best to keep him smiling. A laugh or two a day does him good and even eases his pain. Friends, who remember him and visit, especially during the winter months, are like precious gems.
Posted in MS related, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
What foods do you crave when the seasons change?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I find my cravings change with the seasons. Right now, in the fall, I begin to crave vegetable laden soups and stews, crisp tart apples and apple cider, herb teas, pecan and pumpkin pies, and acorn squash. Dear Hubby wants slow cooked beef and pork roasts with mashed potatoes and carrots or corn. He wants apple crisp, bread pudding, and rice pudding with raisins all still warm from the oven.
My father would make a wonderful turkey soup after Thanksgiving. He’d boil down the turkey carcass, put in everything but the kitchen sink, and never wrote the darned thing down, he died in 1995. I’d almost perfected his recipe after years of trial and error when DH decided he no longer liked turkey. That was the end of that. Now I make chicken soup with a PA Dutch flair.
DH’s mother used to make one thing very well. She made an applesauce cake to die for however, she no longer bakes. No matter how often DH asks for it I won’t make her cake. Why? Because no matter how good it is, it can never compare to the memory of his mother’s.
It is fall, and I still crave Dad’s soup. DH still craves his mother’s applesauce cake. What foods do you crave when the seasons change?
Posted in Food, Holidays, Misc, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Fall, Family, Fiction, Food, Holidays, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Tons of leaves and two dogs
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Our yard has three trees, a large magnolia, a very tall tulip poplar, and a sweet gum tree. In the spring and summer, I love them. They shade our yard and house and keep us cool. In the fall, I’m not so fond of them. In the fall, they drop a ton of leaves.
I raked leaves today. Raked, and raked and raked them. I raked leaves until I thought my arms would fall off. I raked up enough leaves to hide several bodies in the piles if I wanted to. Each pile is waist high and at least twelve feet long.
Ah, yes the piles of leaves. If you have kids (I don’t), they are a magnet. You would think I’d have it easy without kids around. However, I have two dogs who think they are kids and—you guessed it, the leaf piles are magnets to them.
Our city will pick up the leaves if they are out on the street. I need to haul those two huge piles of leaves out there. Well, I will move them if I can keep the dogs out of them.
I raked leaves. Patty flew out the door and leapt into the nearest pile with great glee. I raked the leaves back into the pile. Gavin decided that she looked as though she was having fun so he followed suit and barreled into the other pile of leaves. I raked again. They both dashed through the first pile of leaves. I raked. With every trip outside—they played and I raked.
My work gloves didn’t prevent the blisters from appearing on my hands. I’m pooped. Tomorrow the pups will be going outside on leashes until I can move the leaves out of the yard.
Posted in Dog related, Misc, My blog, my garden
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, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Peeling back the layers
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Every person has layers, like onions. They have layers to their personalities, their life experiences, and even their dreams. In creating characters, we need to remember this. We need to give them those all important layers. Without them, our characters fall flat.
We don’t need to write every detail but we need to know the minutiae behind our characters. We need to know the little nuances that will make them unique and real to the readers. We need to bring them to life.
How do we do this? Some people make complicated charts, lists, and countless outlines. I’m lazy I don’t. I have a one paragraph character description, maybe two, or three for major characters, in a file for each book I’m writing. The most important thing is to peel back the layers and show the character’s goals, needs, and morality.
You need to show what drives the character. Once you know what drives each character, what is beneath each layer, you’ve given them those all important three dimensional lives that will make the readers come back for more.
Posted in My blog, My books, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
16 lbs of candy and a ton of smiles
Posted by doggonedmysteries
It was interesting to see which costumes were popular among the Trick or Treaters this year. We had a great many firemen and a few other super heroes among the boys. There were more pirate wenches than there were pirates. The girls that visited brought more variety, dressing as vampires, witches, fairies, fairy princesses, princesses, and the pirate wenches I mentioned before.
We seldom had a lull. At times, the line of T or T’ers stretched for a block. At other times, they came from two directions. All of the children were polite and said thank you. Wow, was that delightful.
We played music and had plenty of flashing lights, which contributed to several impromptu dance parties in the street. (It’s a good thing we’re on a side street and not a main street.) I even handed candy out to some people who drove by and commented on our display. All the smiles, children’s and adults’ that we saw Friday night were priceless.
Posted in Food, Holidays, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Food, fun, Halloween, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Trick or Treat, Writer, Writing
Halloween break 2009
Posted by doggonedmysteries
This is my ‘see you in two days’ post. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be busy getting ready for Friday’s festivities. I’ll be back on Saturday with pictures of our fun. I’m hoping to snap plenty of pictures of the little monsters who show up at our porch. That all depends on fast they come through though. Last year we had so many large groups arrive, I never got a chance to take pictures of them.
You try taking pictures when you have to work the fog machine and hand out candy at the same time. We did have fun though. Maybe if I beg Dear Hubby enough he’ll be willing to snap a few pictures.
Have fun! Many thanks to you for stopping by. For those of you who take the time to comment on my posts, I am grateful.
Posted in My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Food, fun, Halloween, Holidays, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Trick or Treat, Writer, Writing
Stitching seamless scenes
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Do your scenes give your reader the maximum effect? Does each one move your story forward? They do? Well then, you are well on your way. All you need do now is seamlessly connect the scenes. Make the story flow, be logical, and compel the reader to keep turning the pages.
Cue the sound of car tires screeching to a halt. “What?”
Not so easy is it?
As many writers do, I agonize over each scene I write. Did I build the tension in that one? Have I thrown enough conflict at my protagonist? Did I end the last scene with enough oomph to carry on to the next one? Are the goals clear enough? And on and on….
If your scenes fall flat and the connections are rough, sometimes you need to step back for a day or two and then read what you’ve written with fresh eyes. Read from the last scene to the first one. This can often make the raw connections jump out at you and you’ll see where you need to fix them.
Dear Hubby says that some days watching me write is painful. I tell him, that some days writing is like wrenching each word out of my brain with an upholstery needle. On good days, the words flow and the scenes stitch together as if run off on a sewing machine.
Posted in My blog, My books, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
It bugs me that…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Dear Hubby is always in pain and I can do nothing to help ease it.
We can’t visit my Aunts and Cousins more often. I do wish they lived closer to us.
I get an average of at least 50 hits a week on my Bottom Line Books scam post. This indicates that the company is continuing to rip people off at an alarming rate.
I have inconsiderate neighbors who think nothing of blocking our driveway. This means I have to waste time hunting someone down to have him or her move his or her vehicle in an emergency when I need to get my car out of the driveway. I know this because I’ve had to do it more than once when DH’s mother has fallen or when he’s needed me to take him to the ER. I’d have them ticketed, but by the time the police show up, they are gone. These are the same people who persistently honk their car horns at all hours, crank the car stereos up so high that my walls shake, and they leave their dog outside to bark all day long no matter what the weather.
The summers go by so quickly and the winters seem to stay longer. Of course, I thought they did this when I was a kid, but it seems to go even faster now.
What’s bugging you?
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, bugging me, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Rants, Writer, Writing
That’s a wrap…for this week.
Posted by doggonedmysteries
It’s been a long week. In the last two days, the weather improved drastically. We had a temperature of 75 degrees today and plenty of sunshine. Whoopee!
I now have a working oven light. Another whoopee! I no longer have to use a flashlight to check on things cooking in there. My next door neighbor’s dear son came in today and was able to remove the end of the broken bulb. Thank goodness for tall people with long arms!
Dear Hubby is feeling much better since the oral surgeon removed the stitches. In addition, I realized I haven’t heard him complain of a headache since the removal of those broken teeth. That one deserves a big yippee!
The pups are happy and healthy. {Knock on wood there.} I posted a new picture of Patty in the Bull Pen, and if you scroll down a few posts, you’ll see Waldo the owl.
I managed to finish another chapter in my book without going postal.
My kitchen is clean and I did some yard work today. I do need to figure out how to plug the hose for the little gargoyle fountain since I’m worried that he might freeze and crack over the winter. I’ll be bringing him in with all the other garden statuary until spring rolls around again.
Posted in My blog, My books, my garden, Writer, Writing
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, Food, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
Green tomatoes are good in everything…right?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
My potted vegetable garden
I love green tomatoes. I’ve picked them early to fry them when I couldn’t wait for the first frost warning. I’ve mooched them from neighbors on years I didn’t grow any. Last year I planted two tomato plants in a pot, this year I tripled that because last year I had no green tomatoes at the end of the season.
I harvested all the green tomatoes left on my vines before we had frost this past week. Now I have a basket full of them. We’ve had them fried, made into chutney, green tomato salsa, and diced and sautéed with the onions in a chicken liver curry. Remember, DH is on a soft diet. (Nevertheless, the curry was very good!) Now I am dredging up all the green tomato recipes in my files.
I think tomorrow, I’ll make green tomato pie but that only takes three and half cups. Maybe more chutney is in order to use up what I’ll have left. I could dice some into the chili I plan to make on Friday. I bet that would be good. Hmm, there’s that recipe I saw for green tomato bread—that’s it, next year I’m planting more tomatoes.
Posted in hobbies, My blog, my garden
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Doggonedmysteries 