Cobalt Blue Tea Apron Giveaway

Please visit the Costume Blog to enter.

Big Bad Wolf Costume

Come to my Costume Blog to see what I did with this costume.

Wolf Costume

Plainview Sunset Pictures

Sunset in Plainview

Sunset in Plainview

 

Sunset in Plainview

Downtown Lockney Pictures

Downtown Lockney, Main Street, Hearts Desire

Hearts Desire is a lovely gift shop full of unique treasures. It is owned by Cynthia Bybee whom I was fortunate to meet. 

Downtown Lockney, Main Street, Coca Cola Ad.

Most of the stores on this stretch are now empty. I do love the Coca Cola advertisement painted on the side of the building. Much better to have a stylized advertisement painted on the building instead of graffiti. Not that I didn’t see any graffiti.

Downtown Lockney, Main Street, Open Grassy Building

This is a wonderful empty building that is grassy with benches inside. I do not know the story of the building or why it is open. If anyone knows, please share.

Lockney Water Tower

All the little towns in this part of the world have their own water tower printed with the population, except Aiken, whose water tower blew down a few years ago during a tornado.

Downtown Lockney, Main Street

 More buildings along main street. The second building is the empty grassy building, and the Coca Cola advertisement is at the end of this block.

Downtown Lockney, Main Street

Heart’s desire is just visible, the second building from the end. The cross shape on the brick part of the blue building contains a Masonic symbol. The masons were very big in this area (West Texas) and many of the buildings have the dedications with the Masonic symbol.

Downtown Lockney, Main Street

This is an abandoned warehouse. It’s across the street from the blue building.

The Daily Coyote Book Review

The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton is Ms. Stockton’s inspirational story about her first year raising an orphaned coyote. Along the way, Charlie also teachers her important lessons about herself.

Ms. Stockton also blogs at The Daily Coyote where you may find daily pictures of Charlie and her other pets, including Chloe, Eli, Daisy and Baby. If you don’t know who they are, check out her blog.

The Penderwicks Book Reviews

I recently finished The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy and The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall. I highly recommend these books, especially as read aloud stories for children. It is refreshing to find children’s literature that is pure fun instead of mischief and witchcraft.

The Penderwicks are four sisters, aged 4-12, a hound, and their adoring father (whom they adore). They have all sorts of child sized adventures. The author does an excellent job capturing the children’s spirits on paper and the reader is carried along with the Penderwicks on their adventures. Additionally, the children in the story are well-behaved and choose to do right, even when it’s embarrassing, and apologise when they make mistakes.

Lily Munster Costume

Lily Munster Costume Gown

 

Lily Munster Costume Cape

 

More pictures on The Costume Blog.

A quick note of thanks to Lacey at Sew Lacey who designed and built the cape. I couldn’t have done it without you. Sew Lacey specializes in customizable bags and aprons. Stop by her site today to place your Christmas orders.

Fall Colors at Mt. Charleston

 

 

The Lost Symbol Book Review

I finished The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown this weekend. It is a quick look at Masonic symbolism in Washington DC combined with a conspiracy theory story, much like Brown’s other books.

I must now visit Washington DC to see all the symbolism myself.

Some interesting ideas were addressed, like science proving God. Not a specific God, but a supreme being. It also presented the Bible in a more positive light, but tended to the Bible Code theory, rather than inspired Word of God.

The story was entertaining and contained familiar elements found in other Brown novels. Damsel in distress, evil villain out to take over the world, and third-party(s) pulling strings (though you don’t know, immediately, whose side the third-party(s) will take).

My Reading List (and some Book Reviews)

I enjoyed and recommend the books reviewed below. This is not a paid review and no one affiliated with any of these books, or Amazon has ever heard of me, as far as I know. I link to Amazon.com, but I am not endorsing Amazon in any way.

Boneman’s Daughters by Ted Dekker. A thriller about a serial killer who abducts young women and kills them by breaking their bones but not their skin. The protagonist, Ryan, must rescue his daughter from the serial killer before it’s too late. Creepy, compelling, and not too graphic. (I don’t do graphic).

Carolyn Hart’s Death on Demand series. My mother introduced me to these cozy mysteries* and I was hooked. Especially appealing, the hero, Annie (nearly Anna) who is short and feisty like you know who.

I’ve read the following titles (crossed off) in the past four months. (List copied from Carolyn Hart’s website.) I highly recommend these books. Ms. Hart is an excellent writer, her stories keep the reader entertained and guessing right up to the end. Her characters are three-dimensional and believable.

• Death on Demand, 1987
• Design for Murder, 1988
• Something Wicked, 1988
• Honeymoon With Murder, 1989
• A Little Class on Murder, 1989
• Deadly Valentine, 1990
• The Christie Caper, 1991
• Southern Ghost, 1992
• Mint Julep Murder, 1995
• Yankee Doodle Dead, 1998
• White Elephant Dead, 1999
• Sugarplum Dead, 2000
• April Fool Dead, 2002
• Engaged to Die, 2003
• Murder Walks the Plank, 2004
• Death of the Party, 2005
• Dead Days of Summer, 2006
• Death Walked In, March 25, 2008
• Dare to Die, 2009

* Cozy mystery:a subgenre of crime fiction whereby sex and violence are downplayed or treated humourously. (Wikipedia)

I interrupted my reading of the Death on Demand series to read some books that were recommended by literary blogs I read.

The Widow’s Season by Laura Brodie. A captivating story about a new widow who sees her (dead) husband three weeks after he died and must decide whether he is a ghost or not. It’s a mystery, and the author does an excellent job of keeping the suspense while the widow puzzles out whether her husband is alive or not.

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. A factual account of the early Mormon church intertwined with a murder mystery in a FLDS compound.

The history was interesting and didn’t paint the early Mormon settlers in a poor light. The history portion of the book drew from Anne Eliza Young’s (one of Brigham Young’s later wives) book titled Wife No. 19, biographies about early Mormon church members, including Brigham Young, and letters to or from the same people.

The present-day mystery introduces readers to the lurid practices of the FLDS church, including child brides and lost boys. Lost boys are boys who are excommunicated from the FLDS church. The author keeps the reader from guessing what really happened right through the end.

The author also has resources on his website that support his story and give the readers more information about the FLDS community.

What books have you read lately? What books would you recommend? (No paid advertisements, please.)