Author: Becky

Hump Day


Since I mentioned author Donna Leon in Monday’s post, I decided to poke around and see which novels in her series I hadn’t yet read. There are two, and I’d forgotten I downloaded one of them quite a while back (and I immediately added the other). I’ve been kind of low-energy this week, so though I’ve done some writing, I also began reading Give unto Others (number 31 in Leon’s Commissario Brunetti series).

Along the way, I was struck by this excerpt and copied it, redacting information that might constitute spoilers.

These words from Leon so perfectly summed up a character in the Neverending Saga whose actions in the past (before my narrative begins), and years later in the first book of my series, negatively impact people’s lives for decades.

I can think of only three characters I’ve ever written who are irredeemable. Do I think people like them exist? Yes. Everyone is capable of redeeming themselves; some never make that choice. Unlike in life, where you often read about the irredeemable in the headlines, when you’re a writer, you get to mete out a satisfying justice for those characters.

There were a few things from the overall series that I missed from Give unto Others, but those made sense in context of the time it was set. As soon as I finished it, I started reading number 32, So Shall You Reap. Just as with the Martin Walker books, I learn so much about culture and history from the many details authors deftly weave into their plots. Some of those things I missed from the previous book were back, to my delight.

I believe the next novel in the series comes out in July. The next Martin Walker novel in the Bruno series is due out in September. These are things I can look forward to while I write my way through the summer and fall forecast of heatwaves and hurricanes, and I also have a couple of other favorite series/authors with books just out or on the way.

Tiny Tuesday!

A new action figure from FCTRY has arrived at Houndstooth Hall.


It’s Mayor Pete!

Meanwhile, a question for Blue Sky Boy: Lurking in the background, is this the Katnip you were inquiring about in comments to the Sunday Sundries post?

ETA Wednesday morning: Tom: “Did you mean to put water in that vase?” Becky: “I wondered why those roses looked so sad last night.”

Explanation: One of the roses was broken, so at the same time I was starting a meal in the crockpot, I went to get that small silver vase from a cabinet, cut another rose to the same length, and put them with water in the silver vase. However, I forgot I’d never put water in the cobalt vase before I moved it to the table. When you are older, these are the moments that make you question, Is this the beginning of [dementia, Alzheimer’s, whatever]? And hope it’s just a sign of doing several things at one time.

Mindful Monday

I’d saved that a while back, but over the last few days, it really hit home for me as I read the three Martin Walker ebooks that had been waiting on my iPad for a while. I’ve already posted about the other two; this was the third I finished Saturday night:

There’s another in the series coming out in the fall. I’m really looking forward to it.

In the last two novels, Walker scattered a lot of global topics among the mysteries, the denizens of St. Denis, and the food (always the food!). I found these new storylines riveting (and not cumbersome): election interference, countries on the edge of war, the manipulation of public opinion via social media and disinformation, global politics, the rise of tech billionaires, the historical and cultural significance of migration from centuries past. There are many cozy things about the Bruno books, but the books themselves are not cozies. They fall into the same smart writing as Donna Leon and Louise Penny, two others among my favorite writers (with series set in Venice and Quebec, respectively), in which family, friends, and fellowship are always part of the theme but aren’t the full stories of their characters’ lives.

In Walker’s series, Bruno himself seems to be changing, but in all the ways that matter, he’s still the good human he’s always been.

Wikipedia background on Martin Walker: Born in Scotland…Martin Walker was educated at Harrow County School for Boys and Balliol College, Oxford. He lives in the Périgord/Dordogne in Southern France with his wife with whom he has two daughters.

Walker was on the staff of The Guardian from around 1971, working in a variety of positions, including bureau chief in Moscow and the United States, European editor, and assistant editor. Walker resigned in 1999 after 28 years with the newspaper.

Walker joined United Press International (UPI) in 2000. While at UPI he was also an international correspondent. He is now editor-in-chief emeritus of UPI. He also holds a variety of other positions, including senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.; senior fellow of the World Policy Institute at The New School in New York; member of the board of directors of the Global Panel Foundation (Berlin, Copenhagen, Prague, Sydney and Toronto). He is also a contributing editor of the Los Angeles Times’s Opinion section and of Europe magazine. Walker also is a regular commentator on CNN, Inside Washington, and NPR.

Sunday Sundries


Shells.

I’ve been doing Button Sunday posts since September of 2006. I feel like I’ve exhausted my ability to find new ones either among my own collection or online. I still want a Sunday theme. Not wanting to get locked in to any one topic, I hit on the word “sundries” as a word that not only means miscellaneous but sounds like Sunday. I think it’s wide open for things that I could photograph (including right here in my home). I’m seeking ideas, suggestions, even challenges. You can tell me in comments to this or any other post, any time, and I’ll start a list. I always see all the comments. Or email me. Or text me. Or call me. Or tell me when you see me in person.

Give me nouns, and I’ll start a list of your suggestions for future photo opportunities. Can’t think of anything? All you have to do is look in your own space. What do you see? A bird? A phone? A fan? A shoe? Or you might think about things people collect, e.g. books (book covers? specific kinds of book covers? some of my favorite mysteries?), teacups, something old something new something borrowed something blue–who knows? You don’t have to think about the size–remember, I have a house full of things at smaller-than-lifesize scale.

Help me share Sundays with you in photos and give me a reason to use my camera.

ETA: In honor of Father’s Day… Whatever role you took as a parent, or whoever parented you…
Whatever path got you to the ones who needed you, or who were there when you needed them…
I celebrate you and your shared bond. Since my theme today is “shells,” it occurred to me to share a photo of this box.

After my father retired from the many places his desire to work had taken him, he volunteered his time with the elderly. At one of the places where he volunteered, a lady made this embellished cigar box for him as one of her crafts. My mother kept it after he died, and when Mother died, for a time, Lynne kept it in her guest bathroom, which had an ocean theme. When she moved or redecorated, she returned it to me. It’s next to those shells I featured in the other photo, many of which came from Lynne’s sister. The bowl those shells are in was a Christmas gift to Tom’s mother on the Christmas Eve she went into labor with him. Lots of family on that shelf.

June Is Bustin’ Out All Over

The title of this post is taken from a Rodgers & Hammerstein song from the musical Carousel, a production of which I saw at a dinner theater with my mother, nephew Daniel, and Daniel’s mother Terri in 1986. At that time, I believed (right or wrong) the musical was a favorite of Lynne’s, and since I wasn’t familiar with it, I looked forward to seeing it. Had I known some of the plot, theme, and sorrow of it, I might have realized I was seeing it at the wrong time considering my reality during 1985/86, but…as Jim likes to say, “It is what it is.” It was a night out in company I enjoyed, and I remember that part of it with affection.

One of the advantages (for me) of getting older and a little wiser is that during particularly difficult times (however that difficulty manifests), history reminds me that everything is not all bad and forever and never has been all bad and forever. Though June this year has been challenging and expensive, it’s just… June. Just right now.

Yesterday, when the dogs and I had to be out of the house from early morning to well after dinnertime, we were in a quiet, cool place together. Meanwhile, Tom was overseeing and doing lots of things at Houndstooth Hall that will be beneficial in the long run, and I got to read two of three books by a favorite author, Martin Walker, that I’d downloaded via Kobo to my iPad quite a while back (meaning I still have another ebook to look forward to from him!):

I can never regret a day spent reading this ongoing series set in France, full of people, places, dogs, horses, and gastronomical feasts (without consequences like calories and hangovers!). I read all of the short stories yesterday, and finished the novel today. It was a joy once again to be in the company of Benoît Courrèges, aka Bruno, Chief of Police, in the fictional town of St. Denis.

I’m so grateful for writers.

Let sleeping dogs lie

Sorry for a belated post. We have a few things going on at Houndstooth Hall. Lots of people in and out not for fun, but working on things, and that will continue through Friday, late afternoon. Plus Tom and I have been sorting out some of the computer issues that have challenged me for…well, the last four years, when one of our computers died, and one performed badly, leaving me mostly with my laptop, which is now showing signs of exhaustion.

All of this has kept me busy and the dogs in a constant state of WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE DISTURBING OUR PEACE? So, whenever we can, we let them sleep where they fall.


Anime on a dog bed in the living room.


Delta, stretched across pillows on the living room sofa.


Jack on a dog bed temporarily moved to the dining room.


Eva, on another dog bed that ended up in the dining room.

We hope they’ll be back to this favorite activity soon, with less interruptions. So tough to work as guard dogs…

Catching Up

I think I never posted any photos from Jim’s visit in March. I was pretty much a homebody; Tim and Jim did more going and doing this trip, and even that wasn’t a lot (though it did involve a jaunt to that shopping mecca, the Galleria). Mostly, there was: cooking, eating, talking, spoiling dogs, and playing cards.

We figured out a way to work around Jack. He stayed with Debby during the day, except to eat breakfast and dinner at home, and at night, he slept here. We handed over the master bedroom to Jim, because it has its own bathroom. That way, once Jim turned in for the night, he closed himself in, whereupon Jack came home. The first night, other than sniffing at the bedroom door, Jack seemed mostly unaware that we had a visitor, and they never saw each other face to face. It’s a shame that a dog who is so smart, loving, and good with us doesn’t like or trust but six people, and Tom is the only one of his six-pack who’s male.

The other dogs, however, were delighted to see Jim and give him lots of love.


Delta and Anime on the living room sofa with Jim. Jim is the one who gave Delta her name, and this time she gave him more affection and attention than on his 2017 visit.


Anime got her time in with him, too.


As did Eva.


Cards and apple pie.


Lynne and Minute were here this past weekend, which meant more cards, more food, a bit of errand running, and I read four new chapters from the Neverending Saga aloud to her.


Minute slept through the chapters; fortunately, Lynne did not. =)


In progressive rummy, low score wins, so it was a good night for me. That is NOT usual.

I have more dog stuff to share later. Another update: On Monday, the pile of tree limbs and other tree debris was finally picked up from our curb after the storm of May 16. After doing only a little driving around after that storm, I’m not surprised it took so long. There were a LOT of piles in front of a lot of homes.