The Dabbler

The newest editions to my COVID reading list is a series with a retired schoolteacher, Dorothy Martin as its main character. Dorothy grew up in a small Indiana town, became a grade schoolteacher and married Frank Martin, a college professor. The Martins had spent time in England while Frank was teaching at a small English College. They absolutely fell in love with England and decided to retire there; unfortunately, Frank passed away before they could move. Dorothy decided to move anyway. She purchases a 17 th century cottage in a town that’s a hour-ish outside of London. It’s here that she starts her retirement escapades as a solver of crimes. Dorothy has an attraction for wearing hats, some of them are quite unique and each book mentions one or more of the hats in her repertoire. Along the way the author describes events in British historical events and landmarks located near the site of the murder or places encountered along the way.   There are also continual Englis...

 

Tea Shop Mysteries by Laura Childs, Broken Bone China, Death by Darjeeling, Plum Tea Crazy, Seeped in Evil & Ming Tea Murder    I never knew there were so many different flavors of tea! Each book introduces new (at least to me) flavors of tea, and, either in the text or as a footnote provides more detail on teas consumed by the characters. In addition, the books main tea shop serves pastries and other foods for which recipes are provided at the end of the book. The books are entertaining, educational, and, menu pleasing. The heroine of this series is Theodosia Brown, a fiery red-head who is also owner of the tea shop featured in the books. She is assisted in her sleuthing by her staff, Haley, a 20-ish cook extraordinaire; and, by Drayton, who tea maker. Together the trio work to solve a murder mystery which often draws one or all three into harm’s way.          Recipes, for scones, sandwiches, soups and other desserts served at ...

In many forms affects persons of every race, creed and, color. People I personally know have had Uterine Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Melanoma, Lymphoma, Leukemia, Liver Cancer, and Lung Cancer…the clinical names may be different. In some it metastasized and moved on to death.  In others it was caught early and life goes on, at least for now.. For everyone the diagnosis was terrifying. How would you react if diagnosed with cancer? Overwhelmed? Scared? Lonely? Denial? None of us can really know what we would do; whether we would act or react; calm or irrational? Persons making drastic changes in their lives is very common. Last Holiday is a movie about a women who receives a terminal diagnosis. She quits her job, withdraws all her money and goes on, what she believes, is her last chance to do anything. This reaction is whimsical; a way to spend your final days having a really good time. Then there is the opposite action by people who grow ...

I am reading  Where the Heart Lives Collection . The series follows three siblings who were born in Chicago latter half of the 1800’s. At the ages of 13, 10 & 6 yrs. old) the children, after their mother dies, are sent to live with western families. The following excerpts touched a chord with me. What would you think of a person who says the following...    ...”And you were never at fault…You were an innocent victim…my resentment…my complete selfishness…I’ve said I’m sorry, but I know words don’t mean much…I can’t undo it. Not any of it. No matter how hard I try, I can’t change the past…”*            What, then, if the person continues to engage in the offending activity? Might as well never have said anything. Which is more important: speaking words or expressing those words through actions? Shouldn't integrity and respect take precedence over fulfilling the desires of your ego? At least the character, in the book, admi...

Several years ago I was stopped at a stoplight in St. Paul at the corner of Larpenteur and Edgerton; I was on Edgerton. When the light turned green I tried to move my foot from the break to the gas pedal; however, the soul of my tennis shoe had caught on the brake pedal. Not sure how the shoe became caught but it did. It didn’t take long to free the shoe and prepare to enter the intersection-thirty seconds, maybe a minute after the light had changed. I looked up, before I proceeding into the intersection, just in time to see a vehicle speed through the intersection heading south on Larpenteur. Had my shoe not caught on the brake pedal that car would have hit me broad-side. Was this a coincidence or destiny? Approximately a year after I moved to Las Vegas from St. Paul, the I35 Bridge collapsed. I had used that bridge every day, after all it was only five minutes from my home. There was a women who avoided that bridge; however, the day it fell she was on it. She died. Destiny or bad ...