At last it caught up with me, that horrible, awful something called the Grunge. It snuck in when I wasn’t looking, and before I knew it, it bit! I was infected! I’m much better than I was but still yucky. My children have been bringing me food and offering sympathy but the Grunge is a hard thing […]

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 […]

A Mystery Writer’s 12 Days
This is Twelfth Night, the Epiphany, the impetus for the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas. With my family’s help, I added words that might be appropriate for a writer of cozy mysteries. Thanks, Matt, Dawn, Sara, Nathan! A Cozy Mystery Writer’s Sizzling Twelve Days of Christmas On the first day of Christmas, Santa brought to […]

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 […]

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
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 […]

