May Monthly Blog
Happy Mother’s Day!
May Monthly Blog
“Tea! Bless ordinary everyday afternoon tea!”
― Agatha Christie
I like this quote. It’s very apt for my day on the last of April. Our poor Barnaby was sick to his stomach all morning. Apparently he cannot eat almonds and our next door neighbor had shared some with Barnaby yesterday evening. I don’t know whether it’s a common thing for doggies or what, but Barnaby simply can’t deal with almonds. At any rate, Barnaby would not locate himself in one room so I was following him around with the Swifter and Lysol spray to disinfect the various spots for a good part of the day. He’s fine now and sleeping like doggies do, snoring and chasing butterflies in his sleep. I’m having a blessed cup of tea now.
The morning had started with Tahlia coming over at 8:00 on her way to UCLA so we could work on our plans for interviewing an author. We’re rather excited over this and intend to do it like a podcast. Anna A. Armstrong is our first author interview which we will play for the July or August club meeting. So stay tuned for more information for that event. Diana, my daughter, came home from work at about 1:30 to see if she needed to take Barnaby to the vet. We decided that she didn’t and Diana cleaned up the area behind the couch that I couldn’t reach. Kudos to Barnaby that nothing was on the couch -- just the fake fur throw which can go to the cleaners. I had planned to transplant some of the perennials, but since Diana was working from home I put that off. I don’t like to mess around with potting soil and watering when she’s on the phone with clients. It tends to make too much of a mess.
The sun had another hour but I was due to speak to my former college roommate who lives in Atlanta. She and I talk most every week. Last week she told me that her sister-in-law had told her that she has something called fatty liver disease. Well, that set my friend off and she went on to research the disease. My friend’s sister-in-law generally refuses to see doctors claiming that she doesn’t like them. Meanwhile my friend assumed that her sister-in-law had told her husband, my friend’s brother, and her children, my friend’s nieces and nephew. When my friend mentioned the health situation to one of the nieces it was a complete surprise. Uh-oh! Talk about foot-in-mouth! Well, that’s happened to us all. It’s a common disorder unlike fatty liver.
All told, I guess I’m looking forward to May. The last day of April made sure of it. So, to get absolutely ready for the month I looked up my astrological forecast on the Astro Twins’ Monthly Horoscope for May for Pisces. I couldn’t believe what I read “May is abuzz with social energy, then ends on a more cozy and domestic note. For the first three weeks…This could inspire you to take things further. Record a podcast episode or start a mastermind group…” Can you believe it? How did the twins know that Tahlia and I are recording a podcast and that our next club meeting is at the end of May (our mastermind group indeed). This truly bodes well! I hope that all of you enjoy your stars and the glorious month of May!
What I’m Reading
Knifed in Nice: Travel P. I. Book One by Zara Keane is a fast paced cozy that takes place in Nice and surrounding areas. The main characters are Angel who killed a London gangster with a ketamine dart and Sidney Foggington-Smythe who appears to be a fashion-obsessed young man. The novel takes the characters on a chase across France during which there’s a corpse that keeps disappearing and then reappearing, a cat, and a wide variety of minor characters. It’s fun, not serious at all, and has lots of scenery.
Manuscripts, Meows, & Murder is by Kathy Manos Penn. It’s book 11 in her Dickens and Christie series. Kathy spoke to our group about a year ago and we promised to have her back after she’d finished book 11. I have to write to her and invite her back. She was an excellent presenter. This book is again about Leta. There’s a murder at a writer's conference. Leta is torn between writing her book or investigating the death. She feels that she must investigate because it’s her fiance that is accused of the crime. Leta calls her old friends together and the Little Old Ladies Detective Agency is off and running with solving the crime and proving that David, the fiance, is not the culprit.
Death of a Cad is by M. C. Beaton and one of his older books. I hadn’t read it before and I wish that I had. I loved the Scottish highlands description and the complications Hamish Macbeth finds himself in when he tries to investigate the murder of a guest at Priscilla Halburton-Smythe’s family’s party to introduce important people to Priscilla’s fiance. The fiance was a famous playwright and was the subject of great excitement among the towns’ people. Hamish is secretly in love with Priscilla. Priscilla feels that she’s honoring her father’s wishes to marry an “important” man but she secretly has feelings about Hamish. It’s a novel with characters missed opportunities, words left unsaid, and misunderstandings all handled with a light touch and a great sense of humor.
Enjoy your reading!
Cozy mystery reading regards,
Karin Diskin