Blog Archives
A haunting I will go…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I’ve already started trolling the Halloween sites to check out what’s new in props and costumes. My neighbor and I might not carve as many pumpkins this year as we usually do so I have to fill up the porch somehow. Besides, I’m always up for a hauntingly good time and if we’re going to wow the kids again this year, it’s time to find or build the perfect props. I like to add something new each year.
Every year I do some changes to my costume but it stays somewhat the same. I did see one I think I might buy for a complete change. If I don’t buy the costume that caught my eye there is a fantastic wig I may go for to dress up my old costume.
I can’t help it it’s my favorite holiday. Dear Hubby seems to get a kick out of my delight in my Halloween props. He often brings a few small animatronics home that he’s found just to get me going. After all, they don’t hold up forever and we do lose one or two a year to wear and tear. Now if I can only get him to sit in that cardboard box with the tabletop on it and have his head on the platter…
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Bullfrog glamour shots and garden pictures
Posted by doggonedmysteries
After accepting a bribe of worms, Goliath obligingly sat still for several photographs tonight. He stayed still even with my use of a prop (a one pound coffee can) to show his size. Goliath frog is fat! I then downloaded his ‘glamour shots’ and the garden pictures I took last week. You will find them on our garden and pond page.
The garden pictures are from August. I’m always on the look out for black flowers and foliage. (I have a thing for them.) One of my favorite pictures is of my black elephant ears. We lost our black bearded Iris to the mice a couple of years back and we haven’t found another one to replace it. This year I purchased a couple of daylilies that are quite dark but not black. I like the black flowers and foliage because they make the other colors in the garden pop. They also go well with all the gargoyle statuary. 😉
I did forget to take a picture of our torch wielding gargoyle. Yes, the torch does work. I’ll get around to photographing it one of these days.
Posted in hobbies, Misc, my garden
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Fish, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Photgraphy, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
To can or not to can
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I can’t believe it. We’re halfway through our second jar of my Cousins’ homemade jam. The first jar we finished was his raspberry jam what a heavenly delight! This one is sour cherry-raspberry and all I can say is wow. I’m sorely tempted to open all the others to taste them but I will restrain myself and go one at a time. I’m not certain as to which one we’ll try after this jar is empty.
We have a number of choices. There’s the blueberry, the strawberry, the strawberry rhubarb, and sour cherry sitting in the cupboard waiting for us to dive in. My cousin and his daughter make tons of jams for the family every year. Another cousin makes a wonderful salsa.
I’ve also been hoarding a jar of my Aunts’ tomato relish—it’s my last jar.
I’m sorry to say that I haven’t done any canning in several years. I used to make this wonderful tomato pear chutney, a port wine jelly, an apple ginger jelly, and a jalapeño jelly. Dear Hubby misses the jalapeño jelly most of all. I quit canning when my dishwasher died, it was a portable, and we never replaced it because it took up too much room. It had a sterilizing cycle that I used to sterilize all my jars, lids, and rings. It’s too time consuming and too much work without it.
Posted in Food, hobbies, Misc, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Cooking, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Food, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Cooler nights now
Posted by doggonedmysteries
The last couple of nights have been wonderful. It’s been very good sleeping weather with the temperatures in the mid sixties. Our AC is off and the house opened up during the day with the low humidity and cooler days too.
I am saddened to see that the leaves are ever so slightly beginning to change color and some of the Tulip Poplar and Magnolia’s leaves have fallen. Summer has passed too quickly.
We’ll soon have to rake leaves. Dear Hubby and I hope to get the pond covered properly this year so we don’t get as many leaves in the water as we did this past fall. We never did get around to putting the netting up and I had a heck of a job cleaning the pond out this spring.
The bullfrogs are eating everything they can grab now, fattening up for their winter hibernation. Yes, for Goliath this includes any birds that happen to land too close to him.
It’s also time to change the Koi to their fall food. I’ll have to add that to my list to pick some up this week before I forget it.
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Fish, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
Lucy, you got some ‘splaining to do
Posted by doggonedmysteries
When Dear Hubby is away hunting this year, if he’s up to going, I have plans. My dear friend and I will clear out what we can from the kitchen, cover my table and chairs, and then we’ll prime and paint those ugly paneled walls. I’ve waited for too many years to have something done with that ugly kitchen.
The floor in there is lovely, the cabinets are too, but there’s this gosh darned ugly paneling on the walls that I’ve put up with for 36 years. This is the last year. I haven’t been able to find someone who, for a reasonable price, will rip down the paneling, tear down the drop ceiling, and put up dry wall. DH can’t do it. The best I can do now is paint over the danged stuff and at least make the kitchen brighter.
Sometimes DH dreads going off on his hunting trip because he knows I’ll have something changed when he gets home. This was his home all his life and other than the ceramic tile my friend and I put in the kitchen the room has remained mostly unchanged. All the changes we made here were because I did them or convinced him that it would look better if done.
He almost fell over from the shock when he came home from work the day I tore down the large doorway between the living and dining rooms, turning it into one large room. He loves it now especially since we also removed the hallway.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Home improvemnet, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, painting the house, Writer, Writing
My turn!
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Since Gavin wrote the post yesterday, Mom said it was my turn today. My name is Patty; I’m the lovely dark princess in the picture above. Mom says I’m no princess I’m a Peppermint Patty I have no idea what she’s talking about when she says things like that ‘cause I know I’m a princess. Daddy says I am his rescued Rumanian princess. I love my Mommy too but she cleans ears and stuff so I’d rather sit with Dad.
When I went outside tonight, I chased two of those green critters into the pond. They both screamed and hopped so high I thought they were birds taking off. I couldn’t help chasing the first one he was sitting right at the bottom step. I surprised him as much as he surprised me. Halfway to the pond the other one screamed and took off so then I had two of them bouncing green things in front of me. I was so excited! That is I was until they splashed into the pond. I don’t like to get wet so all I could do was try to see where they went. Mom said they hide under the water with the fishes and can stay there for a long time so I should stop looking and come in.
I told Gavin about the green critters that Mom calls bullfrogs. He says he’s heard them scream and splash into the water but never saw one close enough to chase it. I beat him on that one!
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, 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
We are one step ahead of the squirrels in the great tomato war
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Gavin here, Mom said I could write the blog tonight. Boy is Mom completely ticked off at the squirrels. Tree rats she calls them. While Patty and I were enjoying the AC, it seems that those sneaky critters went and built a nest in her magnolia tree. Then they started stealing tomatoes and had the nerve to sit on her bench by the back door and eat them!
Patty says she could scare them off if only she could climb the tree. We’ve both tried but we don’t have any cat blood in us so it didn’t work. The danged old tree rat laughed at us but then so did Mom. Now that it’s cooler outside we’re patrolling the yard more often.
The tree rat cusses at us from the top of the magnolia. Patty and I pretend we can’t hear him and maybe he’ll come closer.
Dad says it’s time to get out the have-a-heart traps again. He said something about relocating the fluffy tailed rats. I don’t know what relocating means but I growled about it at the squirrel tonight.
Posted in Dog related, My blog
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, 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
Hookers, Johns, and night-time photographs
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I know it’s weird that I take pictures of the gardens at night. The whole night-time photography thing started in a strange way…
I live in the center of town in a rather quiet area, slightly off the beaten path. For years, we had a high hedge along the side of yard. This attracted a certain problem. What was the problem you ask? Hookers and their Johns discovered it. At first, I’d let the dogs out and allow them to bark at the strange cars but I began to fear that these people might try to harm my darlings. My tactics changed quickly when one man became confrontational and we had to call the police on him.
After such an experience, you tend to try to find easy ways to move them off without being confrontational. Having a camera’s flash go off several times in their direction certainly does the trick. No, I don’t take pictures of them or their cars but they don’t know this. Should they try to confront me, I can prove that I am innocently taking pictures of my gardens and pond.
I’ve found that when I photograph the gardens at night the colors of the flowers and Koi come up clearer and most natural. There is that deterrent thing too…
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Fish, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
Never tell anyone who your tomato overflow person is…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
We planted five tomato plants. The counters and fridge are teeming with tomatoes. I have several neighbors who put in at least a dozen plants, no wonder they have so many.
Our tomatoes are coming in faster than greyhounds after a rabbit and so are all the neighbors’. Neighbors are scrambling to get rid of them and they are all getting the same response, “I already have a ton of tomatoes.”
I’ve made salsa, tomato sauce, and relish. We’ve had so many BLTS that they are coming out our ears. (I’m not complaining I love BLTs.) I have two people I give my overflow to before the harvest fills every shelf of the fridge and my entire counter top. Shhh, don’t tell anyone but my next door neighbor and my MIL are our tomato people. They welcome our surplus with glee. Dear Hubby takes a basket of grape tomatoes and a couple of the Big Boys over to his mom once a week. My next door neighbor has Big Boy tomatoes whenever she desires them.
When other neighbors complain that have no one left to give their tomatoes to I suggest taking them to the soup kitchens.
Posted in 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, Writer, Writing
Will multiple sidekicks work?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
With each book I write, Linnie’s sidekick could be the same. However, I think it might work to use a different one in each subsequent book. I have several characters who are clamoring for the job. In Doggoned Dead, there’s Perry. In Doggoned Bullseye, I think one of the other characters would work better. In Doggoned Bones, her cousin seems to fit the bill.
What do you think? In a series mystery, does it matter to you if the sidekick changes according to the storyline? I won’t mix and match several in one book I don’t think that would work.
Why am I writing a mystery series? I love reading them. I enjoy getting to know the characters. The idea of picking up a book that has a familiar set of characters appeals to me.
Do you read mystery series? What do like best about a mystery series? What turns you off? Come on people, let me hear your opinions.
Posted in 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, Writer, Writing
The night owl advantage
Posted by doggonedmysteries
From the hours of midnight to 5 a.m., the city quiets down. It’s so peaceful that, on the odd occasion, I can hear the trains from the other side of town. When I’m outside, all I hear is our waterfall, fountains, crickets, and frogs. The occasional siren or passing car intrudes but not too often.
Inside the dogs are snoring quietly and the phone is silent. Ideally, the TV is off. I write. The dinner dishes sit in the sink all rinsed and ready for washing. They will keep for a while.
With coffee close to hand and some inspiration, my nightly post grows. I read the comments on my blog and answer them. I reply to E-mails and my books take on new life. I play with words, phases, expressions, dialogue, and characters. I hope to take my readers on a journey into a good mystery with twists, turns, and a resolution at the end.
Around about 4 a.m., I take the dogs out, do my dishes, and go to bed.
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, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
I keep very strange hours
Posted by doggonedmysteries
My internal clock is different from almost everyone I know. How many people do you know that make potato salad at 3 a.m. for dinner the next day? I just finished making it and put it in the fridge. Do you know anyone who does dishes at 4 a.m.? I’ve been known to do that often. See? Weird.
I also do my writing after 11p.m. I’m never fully awake until sometime in the afternoon. Before that, I live on coffee to jump start my brain. Ask me a question before noon and I make no sense. Probably because I’m still in bed and sound asleep at that time.
I can’t help it. I’ve tried changing my circadian clock but before long, it is right back to where it was before. My mother told me many times I did this as a child. I drove her crazy with it. My dear Aunties have learned to take my crazy hours in stride. They let me sleep until I wake up when I visit. They also know never to phone me before noon and preferably not until sometime around 3 in the afternoon when I am completely functioning.
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing





