Blog Archives
Wow, my 200th post
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I wasn’t sure if I was going to write about anything tonight.
My head feels as though it’s been stuffed with wet insulation and my chest sounds like that blank spot on the end of a record album. Oh, wait. That would be difficult for many people (under a certain age) to understand. How about this, my chest sounds like it’s full of pop rocks and I’ve been coughing up pieces of my lungs. EW, nasty sounding isn’t it?
The pups snuggled with me every time I managed to sit for a few minutes today.
I can’t be sick. I have too much to do.
Posted in Dog related, Uncategorized
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
I stimulated the economy today
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Boy did I ever. There are two things I can’t resist buying, books and plants for my gardens. Today my friend, her husband, and I went to a garden shop. I couldn’t help myself. I was like an addict pulling out plants and putting them on the wagon. Someone should put me on the wagon.
I’m sure I drove my friend crazy because right now I have a cold and can’t smell a thing—this place carries herbs by the tons and I love growing herbs. Every time I found something, I thought I might like to add to my garden, I’d call her over to smell it for me.
“Hey, G. Come here and smell this for me, please. How does it smell?” I would wave her over from one end of the shop to another.
She would then rub her hand over the leaves and waft the scent to her nose. “Oh, that one’s nice.”
“What about this one?” I’d shove another plant under her nose.
One particular one almost made her gag—wish I could remember the name of it now. She took a sniff, gasped and said. “Ew, you wouldn’t like it.”
It’s a good thing I trust her judgment and our tastes run the same. I can imagine what a stench I’d have in my garden if that were someone else.
Our next stop was the pond garden shop. Yep, blew some bucks there too.
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, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
The pen is mightier than Dear Hubby’s daily complaints
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Dear Hubby’s temper finally hit the boiling point last week and although he created quite a bit of commotion, he didn’t get a response from the rehab’s management. He came home fuming. After listening to him rant for hours, I decided to put my computer research and writing skills to work.
It didn’t take me long to find the corporate headquarters E-mail address. I Then wrote the CEO a caustic letter about the lack of proper care DH’s mother has received at their local facility. I listed every single problem from her cold meals to her not getting her medication for over a month and a half. The list was long and I incorporated the words negligent and incompetent into my letter.
I didn’t get a reply.
However, the day after I wrote that letter, management and staff members here have been bending over backwards to keep DH from complaining about his mother’s care. I’m guessing a ton of sh** rolled downhill and more than one person was presented with the gift of a freshly reamed A$$.
Posted in 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
Malcolm’s Mayhem 14
Posted by doggonedmysteries
(Someone asked me if I was ever going to do more Malcolm’s Mayhem stories. So I thought I’d post another one tonight.)
There is no such thing as an indestructible toy. It’s true, I speak from experience, Bull Terrier ownership, and I have the vet bills to prove it. There is no toy made that a BT can’t destroy in minutes.
Dear hubby came home with a large rubber toy one day. The labeling on the box claimed it to be made of indestructible English rubber. He was excited to have found a toy that Malcolm couldn’t destroy. Me, well I was skeptical about the whole deal. I’d seen him pop a professional basketball in two seconds. This dog thought a bowling ball was a chew toy.
Therefore, I made a bet with DH. If Malcolm didn’t destroy the toy, I’d wash his truck. If he did destroy it, DH owed me a dinner out at the restaurant of my choice. He pulled the toy from its box with a flourish. Malcolm danced around him giving him gimme, gimme barks. DH tossed the toy into the air. Malcolm caught it, and took off like a shot.
Five minutes later, I was getting dressed to go out dinner. DH was cleaning up little pieces of indestructible English rubber. Dang, I loved that dog!
Posted in Dog related
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
Patty’s trip to the vet–always an adventure
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Unlike Gavin, Patty seems to enjoy going to the vet’s office. Granted, there was a minute or two where she shook a tiny bit, but I think that business started when we once brought her along with the great and cowering Gavin. We won’t do that again. This time she was only there for her rabies shot and check up. She was a very good girl and ended her visit with a demonstration of her favorite ‘stick ‘em up’ trick, lots of treats, tail wags, and plenty of pets. She knows how to get treats out them even after her vet tells her she needs to cut down on her snacks.
In the waiting room, she was a little ready to scuffle with two of the dogs she saw, but I kept her under strict control. She hasn’t been good with other dogs since the year a neighbor’s pit-bull came through our fence and tried to chew her up. Patty never quite got over that incident and became dog aggressive after that with all dogs except Gavin. We’ve been working on having her ignore other dogs and she’s getting the idea. However, I wouldn’t trust her without supervision.
That dog was the reason we tore down the old fencing and hedges and installed the new fencing. The owners were too lazy to keep the dog under control and in their own yard. I blame them for the entire problem, not the dog.
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
Rain, rain, and more rain
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I hope tonight’s rain is the end of it for a while. The gardens and yard are well watered. The magnolia blossoms have covered the ground in pink and white, and the poor pups are dying to get out into the yard and stretch their legs. With all this rain neither one stays outside for long.
The advantage of all this rain is my grass is quite green and thick. The gardens are blooming like crazy. My bleeding hearts are already over two feet tall and covered with flowers. The daffodils and the tulips are almost finished, a shame because they were gorgeous this year. I wish they bloomed longer.
My blueberry bushes are budding. The tulip poplar and the sweet gum are beginning to show their leaves. The sweet almond is almost fully leaved and blooming, while the miniature lilacs are ready to send forth fragrant blooms. The large lilac bush will also be in bloom in the next few days. I’ll have to send some clippings with Dear Hubby when he sees his mom.
Soon I’ll be harvesting some of the rhubarb. I can’t wait to make rhubarb custard pie, one of DH’s favorites.
Posted in Dog related, 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
Get thee to a writers’ conference
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I’m a night person. I hate getting up in the morning. In fact, it’s usually early in the morning when I’m finally crawling into bed. However, there is one long weekend a year where you’ll find me up early and eager to go. That’s when I’m at my annual writers’ conference. It doesn’t matter how late I’m up each night, I’m downstairs and having breakfast with the early birds for three days.
This, of course means that after I get home I crash land and sleep for about sixteen hours straight. It’s worth it. If you are a writer and you’ve never attended a conference, you have to go to one at least once. Spending two or three days with other writers is something you shouldn’t pass by. There are all sorts of writers’ conferences out there. Some are genre specific and others, like the one I go to, are for all writers.
Over the years, I’ve made wonderful friends. Found some great contacts. Moreover, I found my agent at a conference, or should I say, she found me?
This year’s conference date is approaching fast and I can’t wait to see all my old friends and meet new ones.
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
Yippee for lots of sun and warm weather
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Wow, two days of glorious warm weather! We had plenty of sun and temperatures in the mid seventies. I managed to plant the flowers left over from the planters on the front porch. I worked on the pond—the magnolia is dropping petals like crazy now so I’m skimming the pond every time I turn around. I would stay out in the yard all day if I could. It smells wonderful out there with the tree in full bloom.
The birds are fun to watch right now, they are arriving by the dozens to take baths in the waterfall. The robins are real clowns in the water. Each one has a unique personality and method of bathing.
The pups collapsed into a deep slumber after romping in the yard all day. Maybe it’s a good thing that tomorrow is supposed to be cloudy with possible rain. Gavin is sore after two days of tons of activity. Poor baby, it was a long winter and he spent most of it as a couch potato.
Then, didn’t we all? I know I paid for it later after I spent a few days weeding the gardens back when we had our first hint of spring weather.
Posted in Dog related, 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, Fish, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Eight ball, side pocket
Posted by doggonedmysteries
8 things I’m looking forward to:
1. Pennwriters Conference, seeing all my friends there.
2. Finish writing my books.
3. Selling my books.
4. MIL’s release from the rehab.
5. Going to my cousin’s wedding
6. More lovely days like today
7. Meeting Lisa Scottoline at PW
8. A quiet evening
8 things I did yesterday:
1. Worked on my books
2. Visited my friend’s shop.
3. Played with my dogs and my friend’s bulldogs
4. Wrote my blog post
5. Cleaned the bathroom—had to do something constructive didn’t I?
6. Sorted laundry—no I didn’t do it yet, it was too nice to be inside today running two flights of stairs to do laundry
7. Drank a gallon of coffee
8. Had DH order pizza for dinner
8 things I wish I could do:
1. Visit my cousin in NM
2. Go to the Mad Anthony conference
3. Have someone do all the work on my house that needs to be done
4. Build a deck and a pergola
5. Move out this house
6. Move out of this city
7. Kick a certain someone’s a$$
8. Talk to my Uncle
8 shows I watch:
1. Castle—rapidly becoming a favorite
2. All the CSI’s
3. The Mentalist
4. NCIS
5. Bones
6. House
7. Medium
8. Two and a half Men
8 people I tag:
Any eight people who wish to be tagged
Posted in 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
Damn, we should be able to delete and rewrite
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Have you ever wished that life had a delete button? Imagine if you could delete embarrassing incidents or nasty people from your life at the touch of a button. Maybe even have a chance to do a rewrite.
Were you the one who drank too much, danced on the tables in bar, and had a friend post it on You Tube? Uh oh, delete, delete, delete. Did your Aunt Betsy regale everyone with every little detail of her recent surgery during your wedding reception? DELETE!
How about when Nurse Nocompassionatall treated you like a side of beef with cooties? I bet you want to rewrite that scene now that you’re no longer drugged to the gills and have had time to think of what you should have said to the nasty b@$*!
Come on, don’t be shy, tell us what happened in your life that you’d change. Or, better yet, hit that delete key and give us a rewrite!
Posted in Misc, My blog, 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, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
What do you do when your train of thought jumps the tracks?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
This happens to me all the time. I’ll be writing away at break-neck speed and Dear Hubby will decide that it’s time to start a conversation with me. Screech! Crash! Bang! My train derails.
I sigh, lift my hands from the keyboard, turn, and I look at him over the top of my glasses, “What?”
He knows he’s derailed me. He has the grace to look sheepish and then mumbles something about the TV program he’s watching.
I do try to hold my temper in check. “Sweetie, do I look as though I am watching TV? I have no idea what you are talking about, I was writing.”
At this point, he either restates what he’s said to me or says he’s sorry for interrupting.
Now comes the part about what do you do? I can sometimes read back over what I was writing and get right back on track. However, if I find I’ve completely lost my momentum, I have to take a break. This is the best time to grab another cup of coffee, take the dogs out, or move to my chair and have a gabfest with DH.
Posted in My blog, My books, 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, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
How do I get one of those?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I’m the one gal in my family who was born without the shopping gene. Yes sir, this gal doesn’t like to shop. Dear Hubby is more willing to go shopping than I am. (Talk about your role reversals.) The man has ten times as many shoes than I do. His clothes take up at least three times as much room as mine. He has dragged me out shopping for clothes because my jeans were getting too ratty for his taste. Hey, faded, ratty jeans are soft and comfortable jeans. Some people would even say they were stylish except that mine were indigo in color and had no holes or wear marks when I bought them.
Have you seen the commercials on TV where someone is shopping for a computer and when they find the one they want (for under a thousand bucks) the ‘sponsor’ pays for it? Hell, I’ll shop my little buns off; for as they long as they want me to, if they buy me one, and I HATE TO SHOP. However, I sure as heck could use a nice new lap top so I can drag my manuscripts along with me wherever I go and work on them anywhere.
See me? I’m jumping up and down, waving my arms…Yoohoo! Look at me I’ll shop. I will, I’ll do it! Aw, come on. I’m offering to do the one thing I hate most.
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, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, shopping, Writer, Writing
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