Saturday At Home!

There is something about a beautiful fall day that makes me want to relax, watch television and read. For some odd reason I am watching Blade...I think because of the vampire special that was on last night. Later we will watch Grimm and Dracula!

I am settled in the family room with Steelheart and Blade...lol...my Saturday chores are done...Den is on the deck cleaning off the deck furniture and putting it away...there are spiders...ick...and stink bugs hiding everywhere plus we found a wasp nest under a wicker coffee table...plus there are little black bugs sticking onto the house...what is going on with bugs in the fall?

We were supposed to go out but we don't want to...so this is dinner and it could not be easier.

Pasta...look at all the shapes in one box!





Yummy sauce...I will thaw and cook it!





Meatballs from our country butcher...I will bake them.





Salad...I will toss it.





Dessert...I am not quite sure what this is...but it looks really pretty plus all I have to do is open it! It's sort of a pastry apple something or other!





All I have to do is sort of thaw and heat...lol...and wait for Den to finish all of his outside stuff.

Back to Blade!

Happy Reading!

The Candy Dilemma...Part 2! The Leftovers!

In spite of telling myself we had enough candy...Den worried and stopped to buy two more small bags. We barely had ten trick or treaters. We also had to make certain one of us actually held Roxie while the other opened the door. At least I thought that was our plan. When Den answered the door I caught and held Roxie...when I answered the door he yelled she is coming...she is on her way to the front door so I was forced to slam the door shut on people and wait while we had her in hand. Den's excuse was she was way too fast for him. I know how to catch her and won't open a door until I have her in my arms. I had nightmares of this tiny thing getting outside...OMG...I can't even think about it...seriously. An hour earlier she escaped into the garage and we were in panic mode. Den continues to believe that she will not go out an open door if you are standing there...silly foolish boy! She was under the cars while he was yelling for her. He beeped the car horn which only freaked her out even more. She started crying and crying but was too afraid to come back in! Garage doors were closed so it was just a matter of calming down and getting her to us...but her cries were so heartbreaking! We are having way too much kitty drama lately!



Reading this...this...and this! So unlike me!


















I sort of stopped reading my Helen West...three in a row is over the top even for me...
the middle book is a YA and one I need to review and Steelheart is one I bought and the one that has totally captured my attention! It is so good!

I am taking today off! Books...games...kitties...puzzles...no cooking either!

Happy reading!

The Halloween Dilemma!

We never know how much candy to buy...and we always get it wrong! If I buy tons...we have just a few kids...if I buy just one giant bag...we run out...there are really no kids in our neighborhood any more plus we aren't a normal block that can be walked to...thus the dilemma...plus I want to just put out a big bowl and kids can take their own...Den wants to see everyone...and we also have to worry about capturing Roxie before we open the door! Whew!

I hate to say this but when I taught second grade...thus was a huge headache of a day. Parties and parades did not start until 2:00 but every child at exactly 9:00 began asking me this...when is our party, when can we change into our costumes and are we going to work today? Plus parents and grandparents started trickling in just to say hi at 1:00. I could predict this every year! This year it's even worse for teachers because Halloween is on a Thursday...guess what those little hands will sneak into school on Friday...lol!

Happy Halloween and Happy Reading!

I am making these for dinner with a yummy chopped salad! Thank you Barefeet In The Kitchen for another great dinner!

Obsession!

I just finished my second Helen West mystery...so cozy mystery good! I love these books! Thank you so much to Danielle from Harper Collins. I might never have found them on my own!

The only weird thing about them is that they are being rereleased from the UK and they have different US titles...sigh! And the author has written a ton of books...even some under a different name...it's a plethora of mysteries that I am working my way through.

But at this point in time I am obsessed with Helen...seriously obsessed. I think I might want to be her....oh my! She is a barrister, she has a garden, she lives in a basement apartment, she has a cat...I could be Helen West...in another life! I feel the same way about her as I felt about reading and rereading Nancy Drew books a million years ago.

Look at these totally weird covers! And...I may or may not have read these...because of the cover/title changes...I am not sure. Lol?



































I do know that I read and loved these...they are so interestingly plotted...so unique...so unputdownable...sigh...just so very good! Many of them can be pre ordered for your Kindle or Kindle App at Amazon...they are $2.99!
















I am off to start my third Helen West...I imagine her wearing great black business suits, she has a tumble of controlled wavy dark hair, creamy skin and vivid red lips. Perhaps a discreet gold pin and tasteful gold earrings earrings. At the end of her day she walks into her messy garden apartment, throws off her heels and sits in her small overgrown garden sipping a glass of red wine as she absently strokes her beloved cat.

This is the book I am reading now...



This is the list of Helen West novels. The one I am reading is not listed there so I am thinking that the title was changed...and they are old, too! But I still love them!

A Question of Guilt (1988) nominated for an Edgar Award
Trial by Fire (1990) [US Title: Not That Kind of Place] Rumpole Award
Deep Sleep (1991) Silver Dagger Award
Shadow Play (1993)
A Clear Conscience (1994)
Without Consent (1996)


Happy Reading!

It's Always About Books!

It's always sort of magical...these surprises that come in the mail...I always love it!

Here they are!

Described as "luminous, evocative, literary"...


Fantasy...described as " a novel of royal intrigue.” --- Kirkus


Kirkus Reviews..."Devine’s examination of the teenage boy's need for adrenaline is admirably complex . . . Astute and riveting."



Memoir...


Described as "powerfully moving and lyrically written"...it's about a student at Oxford and his affair...his life changing affair!


This one just looks scary!


Has anyone watched Dream School on the Sundance Channel? So good...15 kids kicked out of regular school get a month to earn credits and graduate...they are taught by Oliver Stone, Suze Orman and a huge cast of others. It's both fascinating and scary. The one I watched today was about a chef teaching these kids how to eat healthy foods...there was a pregnant teenager who refused to look at vegetables. She only wanted to eat chips...all day long...and she slept all day...but didn't get that nutrition had anything to do with it.


And...I just saw the first teaser for this...I wonder how this is going to be!



Happy Reading!

Monday...

Reading this...I am sort of in love with these gentle British mysteries. I love series books like these. It is my plan to read all of them...and as soon as I figure out how to use Amazon Instant Video on our TV...I am going to watch the series. This is my second one but there are lots more...thank goodness! I know I have said this before but think Nancy Drew all grown up!


Finished this...YA, really good...and different. Zoe exchanges little pieces of herself to go to where her father lives now...and he is pretty dead. She makes short visits but on her last trip she gets sort of trapped there...the fun scary part is how she gets out.


Finished this, too...interesting...but I think it has fulfilled any need I had for a sweet romance sort of predictable book in the near future!



Both kitties have vet appointments today...I am prepared for getting cold kitty shoulders on our return. Sigh!


Roxie says....vet? Moi?


Lucy in hiding!


I will be kitty wrangling soon! Hee yaw!


Happy Reading!

Sunday...The Usual Routine!

Finishing this today...it's sort of girly but still good...I will read while Den hoots and hollers for the Eagles and the Broncos! Go teams!


Part of Den's birthday package is that I am making him a toasted/grilled cheese sandwich for lunch today using Velveeta cheese...at least I hope it's cheese. But it's the way our moms made us toasted cheese and it's the way my school cafeteria made toasted cheese so I am replicating it! It will be melty, crispy and nostalgic...lol...hopefully the chemicals won't hurt us that much!

Did you know that there is an actual recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich? This one is from The Kitchn and it says to slice the Velveeta very thin. I am beginning to think that almost everyone's mom or dad made grilled cheese sandwiches with Velveeta...lol!




Happy Reading!