With Time on My Hands

With Time on My Hands

Retirement–that longed-for Utopian state for which I worked for decades. Lovely, unhurried mornings, peaceful, sunny days of travel, visiting coffee shops. Plenty of time for cleaning a house and keeping it sparkling, baking cookies, taking long walks. And, oh, my goodness, all that accumulated wisdom. Just a whole headful of good advice gleaned from years of […]

Looking Back Without Stumbling

Looking Back Without Stumbling

Sometimes, when beginning a new year, I like to look back at the old one. So, yesterday, I not only looked back at 2014, I went way, way back to 1953 and a 5-year diary my mother gave me in 1952. It was full of a young girl’s thoughts and experiences. Some of them were […]

A Grisly Find in the Old Graveyard

A Grisly Find in the Old Graveyard

For those of you who haven’t yet read The Cemetery Club, here is part of the first chapter that began the whole Darcy and Flora, mother and daughter sleuth series. When I awoke to sunshine, blue skies, and the fragrance of freshly perked coffee that morning, I had no inkling that a few hours later […]

St. Swithin’s Day? No, Not That

St. Swithin’s Day? No, Not That

I kept thinking, this morning, that December 27 must be of historical significance or religious significance. St. Swithin came to mind. I looked it up and since it is July, this can’t be the day to celebrate that good saint. It is significantly wet here in NWArkansas and, although Christmas Day the sun shone, the […]

‘Twas Christmas Eve

‘Twas Christmas Eve

I woke up this morning and sprang from my bed, with thoughts of a busy day rife in my head. Now on with the coffee pot, on with my blog; fill the bird feeders and also the dog. Quick, to the kitchen I go in a hurry; from counter to stove top I scoot and […]

A Night Prowler

An excerpt from The Cemetery Club: Sleep vanished as a sound penetrated my consciousness. I sat bolt upright. What had awakened me? My bedroom curtain moved as a breeze blew through. Had the wind knocked something off my dresser? Throwing back the sheets, I padded to the window. The full moon lit the front yard, […]