Mini vacation

We headed to Harper's Ferry, WV for a short over night trip. With gas prices so high we just wanted a couple day trips that wouldn't be too far. It was nice to check out the history and the weather was beautiful for some sightseeing and photo taking. Found some beautiful shots of the river that would make good paintings. Today we might hit Brandywine for the Wyeth Museum. Depends on what time we get out here.

Finished Barbara Delinsky's "The Secret Between Us." She's a very good author and the book was very enjoyable. It started with an accident on a rainey night. The sixteen year old daughter was driving and the mother was the passenger. Just before they arrived home they hit a jogger. Not their fault but for some reason the mother took the responsibility for driving. She didn't really lie; just kept saying "we" when she was talking to the police implying that she was the driver. Lies, guilt and secrets were the name of the game throughout the whole novel. Starting Dean Koontz's "Odd Hours" which is a sequel to his character Odd Thomas. Can't wait to have time to finish this one.

Another book.......

I got a lot of reading done over this holiday weekend. I finished Mary Higgins Clark's "Where Are You Now." Lots of characters and her usual "who done it." This one invovled a wealthy family that's son disappeared 10 years ago but contacts them every Mother's Day to give his less than one minute message that he's alive and not to try to find him. The father was a victim of 9/11 so it was just the Mother and Sister left to wonder where he was and what had happened to take him away from them. The Sister is on a mission to find him. Her investigation puts her Brother in the limelight and he's suddenly accused of being a kidnapper and serial killer. She now has to find him and clear his name. Ms. Clark is a wonderful writer who isn't necessarily in the league with other crime writers but does a wonderful job none the less.

Memorial Day

I made potato salad, cole slaw, and chicken is ready to be fried but no one has showed up. I wanted to be prepared just in case but looks like it isn't happening. I thought I might get a visit from the oldest granddaughter but I got a long phone call instead. Looks like hubby and I will be feasting on the above mentioned items for the majority of the week.

I finished the second "Dexter" novel last night. This one is "Dexter in the Dark" and it was okay but not near as good as the first one or the television show. His story line is usually very believeable but in this one he took a trip down "Stephen King highway." Little to sci-fi! When you start hearing music in you head that makes you follow it to some weird cult gathering than it goes to a different level of novel for me. Hope he doesn't continue in this way into his future books. Now I'm taking on a Mary Higgins Clark novel which should be much calmer.

Dearly Devoted Dexter

After getting hooked on the television show, "Dexter," I decided to read the books. I finished "Dearly Devoted Dexter" by Jeff Lindsay. What a warped mind! I've read so many books that have description in it that is just so boring and doesn't make a bit of sense but this guy knows how to write descriptively. You're right there with him. I could see bits and pieces (no pun intended if you're a fan of the show) in the book that ended up on the little screen. The story brought new meaning to the old sick joke, "What do you call a guy with no arms or legs?" Doesn't matter; he's not going to come anyway! Just have to read it to appreciate it. I'm definitely going to delve right into the second book. I was going to try something light, like Mary Higgins Clark, but she'll have to wait.

Granddaughter's graduation

My step granddaughter is now officially an RN. We're very proud of her accomplishments since she did this while raising 3 children. She's determined to continue going further in school and I believe she'll do just that. Way to go girl!

Oops! I did it again........

I took another fall today. I was leaving for the office and stopped for the mail. Next thing I know I was on the ground with my knee in shreds. I hobbled back to the car and managed to limp to the bathroom where hubby proceeded to hose my knee down with wound wash and peroxide. I look like a little kid with all the bandaids and tape. Just hoping I haven't done any damage to the neck area. Memories of the last driveway fall and the happenings after that. Won't be doing my office duty tonight afterall. When I wore high heels, I never fell like I do now that I've gone to wearing flats.

Tomorrow is my daughter's birthday and since she doesn't like her age given out, I won't mention that she's two years younger than her brother. See below! I was off by a day all week and thought today was the birthday instead of tomorrow. Got to start looking at the calendar more closely. Anyway, I hope my darling baby girl has a wonderful birthday and knows how proud I am of her and all she's done. She's a great Mom and wife.

Since I'll be alone most of the weekend, I should be able to catch up on lots of reading. I haven't fallen out of bed in years so that's probably a safe place for me to stay with my books.

Careless in Red

There aren't too many murder mysteries that I can't figure out "who dunnit" well before the end but this one kept me guessing right to the near end. Elizabeth George writes a series of novels featuring Detective Lynley and his sidekick Barbara Havers. A couple books back she killed off Detective Lynley's wife and unborn child and in this book he's wandering the cliffs of England trying to get his life back on track. With nothing more than a sleeping bag, he has headed out on the paths along the sea. Unkempt and unbathed this now former detective comes across a dead body. Since he's first on the scene he reports it and becomes a suspect. Once he can prove who he is he is roped into helping solve the case. The body is that of a young adventure seeker who was "climbing" alone at the time of his fall to death. It was discovered that his gear had been tampered with and now it's a murder case. Everyone is a suspect in the small town. Even when the killer is discovered he has set up the murder in such a way that it can't be proved. I was glad to see that Detective Lynley is back on track and hopefully there will be more books about him in the future.

Our last oil painting class is tonight. I left a little to be done on the "rooster" that I'm painting and I have a landscape that needs a few more details added. Hubby is hard at work on his lighthouse. Looking good! I don't know if I'd take another course from this instructor. I was hoping for a little more guidance and structure. Like here's an apple, banana, and orange and this is how you paint it. His version is bring in a picture of something and paint it. This guy wanders the classroom giving a few minutes to the eleven of us so that at the end of the evening we've had maybe 5 minutes of one on one time. I took a finished (I thought) piece to him and he told me it was floating and needed to be grounded. What? Apparently adding a little shadowing makes something grounded. I might look around for a more advanced class to see if I have any talent or if I just like to waste paint and canvases.

We've gotten things straightened out for my daughter's settlement tomorrow. No survey was needed once I pulled in the original title company that had done their last settlement on the old house. Apparently when there's a railroad running behind you house that's considered an natural boundary and therefore whether the deed is wrong or not you can't go further than the natural boundary. The current title company should have known that and allowed for it and we would have settled already.
I feel the old title company should have corrected it and we wouldn't have had to endure this current mess. Keeping fingers crossed for tomorrow!

The best comedy on television right now has to be "The Big Bang Theory." There isn't a better group of actors with better timing anywhere. It's season finale was last night but here's hoping that they keep running reruns all summer. Monday nights at 8:00 on CBS!