Blog Archives
Escaping cabin fever
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I finally have my car back on the road. We had to buy two new tires to do it but at this point, I don’t care. I’m just happy to have Casper the van up and running. Nothing makes cabin fever worse than not having a vehicle to use and feeling truly stuck in the house.
We couldn’t even put the spare on the van for quite a while with the weather so iffy and all that ice. The day before yesterday a couple of our neighbors helped DH do that. Yesterday morning while I slept, DH drove the van over to a friend’s tire store and had the work done.
I shall go gallivanting today and make up for lost time.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Writer, Writing
Update on the gas explosion
Posted by doggonedmysteries
The news was grim. Four adults and an infant died in the explosion. G and I knew the elderly couple that died in the first house. We’d often walked past and complimented them on their lovely garden. They lived there at least as long as we’ve lived in our homes.
Eight homes were lost in the fires that followed the explosion. Twenty-four homes suffered damage. Having been through the aftermath of a fire in the house next door to us and the subsequent smoke damage our home suffered I truly sympathize with these people.
The town has rallied to make certain these people have support, shelter, clothing, and other needs taken care of at this time. Donations are pouring in and I do hope it is enough. Some of these people were renters and had no insurance. It is heart rending to know that they’ve lost everything.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Allentown Pennsylvania, Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Explosion, Family, Fiction, Gas explosion, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Writer, Writing
Gas explosion rocks the town
Posted by doggonedmysteries
At ten forty-five last night I thought my porch roof had fallen off. The entire house shook. I soon realized that it was an explosion a few blocks from our home. It isn’t the first one this city has had in the 37 years I’ve been in this home.
From the end of our street, you can see a huge cloud of smoke which at three a.m., has yet to dissipate since the houses are still burning. So far, eight homes are lost and sixteen are in danger. Two people are missing. I believe they were residents of the house that blew up taking the others in its wake.
The firefighters are still battling to control the blaze but can’t get in close enough to save the homes because of the live gas lines. Many homes and a high-rise for the elderly in the surrounding area were evacuated.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gas explosion, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Writer, Writing
The worst teacher I ever had
Posted by doggonedmysteries
He was a chemistry teacher. I was absent the third through the fourth days of school. When I walked into his classroom and sat down, he asked me where my worksheets were. “What work sheets? I wasn’t here to get them.”
He told me to go sit in the hall. When I asked him why, he opened his grade book and flunked me for the year. I walked down to the principal’s office and asked for a transfer to another class. I found out the teacher could prevent that, because he headed the science department. In fact, he refused to allow me to switch to another teacher. Oh, great.
Now normally I was a quiet student who managed to pass all my classes with A’s and B’s. However, since he’d already flunked me for the year, I was no longer a quiet student in his class. I figured if I was getting that F he was going to pay for it.
I became a real pain in his a**. If there was a wisecrack to be made, I spoke up. If he gave a test, I made certain to doodle all over it and write my own F on the page. The principal and I became good friends.
That teacher never taught summer school, he always claimed he had better things to do. My summer school chemistry teacher gave me straight A’s and asked why I was in his class. The man was shocked when I told him and then asked him if he would’ve done any work in the class knowing that he’d already flunked.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Writer, Writing
Rain + snow = fog
Posted by doggonedmysteries
There’s still a lot of snow on the ground and now we’re having rain on top of it. If you mix freezing cold ground with warmer air and rain you get fog, thick ground-hugging fog. Oh yeah, baby it’s foggy outside.
It’s what I call a Bela Lugosi fog. I love it because it is mystery, thriller and intrigue. It is the substance of fairy tales and nightmares. Fog is an eerie dance.
It captivates the imagination and inspires. It is a muse running freely.
Warm summer nights are when fog is the best. You can play in it. It’s too cold to play in this one.
Posted in Weather related
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Writer, Writing
The thermostat war
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Granted at my age I do have hot flashes from time to time. However, hot flashes aren’t what drive me up the wall DH and where he sets the thermostat does.
Due to his medications for his MS, DH is always cold in the winter. I am not.
If I’m sitting here sweating my buns off without a hot flash, that’s not a good thing. Checking the thermostat I find DH has it almost to eighty degrees. Is it no wonder that I’m sweating? I turn the thermostat down.
An hour or so later, DH walks past the thermostat and turns it up. I turn it down.
“What are you doing? I’m cold.”
“It’s freaking eighty degrees in here. If you’re cold go put on warmer clothes.” I walk into the kitchen to cook dinner.
An hour or two passes and I’m still sweating. I look at the thermostat. DH has turned it up again. I turn it down. I swear I’m going to buy that man electric under-drawers.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Writer, Writing
Note to self….
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Some days I’m writing even when I’m not sitting at the computer typing away. Scenes flash through my head along with fragments of dialogue. Gestational ideas need to percolate.
I grab a pen and write things down on a Post It, maybe two or three that I stick to my desk, computer, keyboard, lamp or anything that’s handy. I’ve had ideas hit me while cooking, sleeping, or even when I’m taking the dogs outside.
Hey, Patty get back here I need that note I stuck on your butt.
I have notes all over the house there isn’t a room in this house that doesn’t have a pad of notes and a pen handy. I also write notes to remind me of things I need to do. Those too are everywhere.
I drive DH and the dogs crazy at times but then they do the same to me so we’re even.
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Writer, Writing
My favorite sound
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I’m a night owl. One thing I love to do in warm weather is sit outside in the wee hours of the morning. Off in the distance I can hear trains going through the south end of town. I’ve always loved the sound of train horns and the sound of the wheels on the track.
Maybe my love for the sound comes from my maternal grandfather who was a railroad worker, a brakeman for the NY railroad. I never met him. He died when my mother was a very young girl. I do believe it was during the flu epidemic of 1918. Most likely because my mother barely remembered her father we know very little about him other than he’d lost a hand when two railroad cars crushed it while he worked.
My love of trains may come from visits with my elderly aunt and uncle. A train track passed by the end of their farm property. I remember watching out the window by my bed, falling asleep and listening to the night trains. I remember the clickety-clack of the wheels on the track and horns blowing as they went by.
No matter where it comes from, the sound of a train will always be my favorite sound.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Trains and Railroads, Writer, Writing
I will be happy for mud
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Do they make doggie ice skates? Gavin and Patty certainly could’ve used them yesterday. The yard has turned into a rather large ice rink. There has to be at least a two-inch layer of ice on the snow now.
I will be so glad to see all that snow and ice melt away that I won’t complain about having a muddy yard. Well, I promise not to complain too much. Hmm, maybe I should I hang a note up to remind of that when the dogs and DH track a ton of mud across the kitchen floor.
AJ has made out like a bandit with all the shoveling she’s been doing this winter. It has taken its toll on her though. I do adore this hard working woman who has kept the MIL’s and our walks clear for two winters now. I don’t know what we’d do without her.
Posted in Weather related
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Snow, Writer, Writing
Get write right when you write
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I admit it. I have been goofing off the last couple of days. Instead of writing I’ve been reading. (It’s my opinion that reading makes one a better writer.) Some of the books I read were stunning and well written.
Other of the books I read could’ve had their writers spend more time reading. At the very least, they should’ve had someone read their books before they published them. Glaring spelling and grammar errors jumped out at me. One was so bad all I can think of is that writer did a lot of cut and paste and never read it through afterwards. It had too many disjointed paragraphs and sentences that made no sense at all.
When my books get out there, I do hope I am giving you the very best that I can do. I’d be ashamed to give you anything less.
Nothing makes me scream in frustration more when reading a book than to see careless errors.
Do NOT depend on your spell checker to catch all mistakes. There are words that sound alike but have completely different meanings. Take for example the words write, rite, and right. If, you aren’t sure what spelling is correct, do use a dictionary and look up the word.
Read, read, read, and reread your book. Then have others read it before you send it off.
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Reading, Spelling and Grammar, Writer, Writers Resources, Writing
Happy Groundhog Day
Posted by doggonedmysteries
No shadow today! Does this mean that spring will soon be here? Or does it mean that the whole groundhog seeing his shadow is a load of crap?
I’m hoping for the former since we now have a coating of ice on everything.
Our power has flickered many times so I figure I’d better post this ASAP or forget it.
The dogs are not amused with the ice coating on the snow. I’ve been getting that ‘you want us to go out in that crap?’ look from them.
Y’all have a Happy Groundhog day…stay safe.
Posted in Holidays
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Groundhog Day, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Punxsutawney Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Phil, Snow, Writer, Writing
I’m glad I don’t live in South Dakota…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
On one of my snow posts, Chuck quoted something DH has often said …”Just remember that all you need to think about when you think you have it soooo bad you don’t always have to look to far to see that some poor schmuck always has it worse….”
That certainly hit home today. I received an E-mail from my ex brother in law and in it were 20 some pictures taken in Lead, South Dakota back on January 5th when they were hit with a major blizzard.
I’d post the pictures but I don’t know who took them so I can’t get their permission. However, picture if you will snow so deep that it makes huge snowplows look like toy trucks. Two and three story homes covered to the rooftops and people having to shovel their roofs because there’s at least six feet of snow on them.
Can you imagine looking out your windows and seeing snow packed up against them? How about opening your door to a wall of snow? YIKES! Yeah, my feelings exactly. Somehow, that makes the total of 29.9 inches for the winter so far not seem quite so bad.
Posted in Weather related
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Post A Day, Snow, Writer, Writing


