OMG...I Want An Aprium!!!

This is the time of year when I begin to crave the deliciousness of summer fruits that are grown close to home.

But I think I will have to look very hard and very far to find an Aprium Orchard.

I am sure you have seen Melissa's Produce at your grocery store.  I can find this brand at Trader Joe's.  Some of my favorite Melissa's produce are beets and lentils and certain kinds of beans that are organic and precooked!!!

You can also get exotic fruits and veg from Melissa's--- which is online.  Here is a link to apriums.  

Almost forgot to mention that they are part apricot and part plum.  I have never tasted them but I would try them.  That is why it takes me so long to shop for groceries.  I am forever hugging the experimental aisle...

Anyone up for a peanut butter and aprium jam sandwich?

Book Summary…

Haunted by the 20 year old murder of a beautiful young painter, Lucien Glass keeps the demons at bay through his fascinating work as a special agent with the FBI’s Art Crime team. Currently investigating a crazed art collector who has begun destroying prized masterworks, Glass is thrust into a bizarre hostage negotiation that takes him undercover at the Phoenix Foundation-dedicated to the science of past life discovery-where, in order to maintain his cover, he agrees to submit to the treatment of a hypnotist.

Under hypnosis, Glass travels from ancient Greece to 19th century Persia, while the case takes him from New York to Paris to the movie capitol of the world. These journeys will change his very understanding of reality, lead him to question his own sanity, and land him at the center of perhaps the most audacious art heist in history---the theft of a 1500 year old sculpture from the Metropolitan Museum Of Art.

My thoughts…

Intrigue

Deceit

Murder

Mayhem

Mystery

And I almost forgot the inevitable romance…definitely romance.

All of the above plus more were included in this book by M. J. Rose who also wrote The Reincarnationist and The Memorist.

Personally, this is not my kind of book. Upon stating that…I can appreciate the amazing suspenseful tale that this author wove within this story. It is pretty much the story of Lucien Glass. He was in love with a woman named Solange 20 years prior to the real beginning of this story. Something horrible happens on a night they are to meet and, of course, this is where the story begins. It seemed to me that everyone in the world was after something in this story. There were lots of past lives being explored through hypnotism and untangling these lives was an integral part of the story. The FBI was involved and the Middle East was involved and museums and major pieces of artwork were involved. It was an international mystery.

Personally this is a difficult book for me to review. I am afraid that in telling you anything major about this book…I will spoil the story. It is a fierce heart stopping novel. It is a nail biter. You really do not know who the true good guy is and when you think you do…it sort of changes.

If you enjoy intrigue and tons of major art references, a fast pace, nonstop action and tons of surprises…M.J. Rose is pretty unbeatable.

I reviewed this book for Pump Up Your Book!!!



Missing My Summer Blooms...

I miss my deck plants...but we are getting ready for them this week end...this is my favorite back yard view.  The barn across the pond is really someone's house.

These are my favorite sipping and discussing the day chairs...

Do you have a favorite place close to home?

Uh Oh...I Did It Again...

Apparently May 10th must be the day this month when new books are released.  My Kindle was burning up with deliveries.  Amazing new releases for this month...books I have been waiting for. 

Here are a few of my titles.

Summer reading has not even really begun yet.  There are all of those wonderful beachy books out there by Nancy Thayer and Claire Cook and Elin Hilderbrand.

Whether it is a pond or a lake or a beach or a river or a kiddie pool to dunk your painted toes in...

What can't you wait to read or do this summer?

A Different Feel On This Day...

It is odd to actually not have a living mother to send flowers to on Mother's Day.  I keep her photo on my laptop because I need to look at it every day.  It is my third Mother's Day without a living mom and it does not seem to get any easier.  It just sort of stays sad.  I know how much she loved being our mom.  She loved all four of us.  She was devoted to us.  She would do anything in the world for us without question.  She would stay up with us when she was tired and laugh with us and eat Peanut Buster Parfait's with us late in the evening.  She was up for doing stuff with her kids.  My dad would go to bed but she would stay up for the fun.  Everyone who knew her thought she looked young and beautiful.  Everyone thought she was clever and funny.  Everyone loved seeing her ride all over town on her bike...her beautiful red bike.  My dad was forever fixing her tires and keeping it in riding mode for her.  When she needed a new one he searched everywhere for one with wide tires and no hand brakes...just a regular plain bike with a basket.  Her bike is still at my sister's house.  None of us can part with it.  When my sister and I were little she would let us play beauty parlor with her hair.  We would brush it and put stuff in it and she would pretend to pay us for our services.  We loved it.  We had a box with all of her hair stuff in it...curlers and combs and bobby pins.

We used to tease her about her Saturday routine.  It was her only really inflexible day.  She would do her hair in the morning and get her clothes ready for Mass at 5 o'clock.  She wouldn't go out or do anything all day long except sort of wait for church.  If we didn't go with her we would wait for her to come home...she would always be late.  She would stay to talk to friends or our priest.  Sometimes she would tidy the church pews...she would collect the Mass books and water the flowers...she would stop at a neighbor's...she would wander the town...it was her time...those hours after church.  She was funny that way. 

Then when she finally came home she would change her clothes and put on something comfy and we would make snacks and sit on the front porch and talk.  She kept this same Saturday routine even when we were married and only back for visits. We often teased her about it... not realizing then that it was her day, her time and she really didn't want to change anything about it.  So we would wait for her to come home...when we were there she would shorten her visiting but we could hear her as she was walking down our sidewalk proudly telling people she was in a hurry because her "kids" were home.  She would hurry in and change her clothes and Dennis would get in the car and drive up the street to bring us Peanut Buster Parfaits.  The three of us would sit on the front porch and eat them while my mom continued to say...I can't eat this whole thing and then in seconds it was gone...in all of its fudgey goodness.  My mom loved chocolate...more than anyone I ever knew.

I miss my mom.  I love our memories. 

Happy Mother's Day!!!