Changing Times

Changing Times

I have an 1888 Noah Webster blue-backed spelling book. It’s fascinating to look through at the illustrations, words, and stories. Times have changed greatly and so have teaching methods, even the words we use. The book has some fables and other short stories. This is one of them: Of the Boy That Stole Apples An […]

October Highlights

October and Fall   The Spider and the Fly “Will you walk into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly,  ‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;   The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,    And I’ve a many curious things to show when you are there.” “Oh no, no,” […]

Opals and Marigolds

Opals and Marigolds

Lucky you, if you have an October birthday. Your birthstone is an opal and your two flowers are marigold and cosmos.  Cooler air is arriving right on time. It’s cooler this morning and maybe, just maybe, a first frost tonight? Brrr. Wasn’t it only yesterday that temps reached eighty degrees? Fall always puts me in […]

A Real Life Mystery

A Real Life Mystery

Last night, I was watching a live presentation from a flooded area along the Texas coast. The reporter was standing on a higher, safe place, out of the water, and reporting on the flood in this coastal town. The streets were swimming with water, impassable. One stalled car already half-floated near the curb. The water […]

Flavorful Cozies

What flavor do you like in a cozy mystery? One of my fellow writers mentioned the other day, that there’s a wide range of topics and writing styles under the broad heading of Cozy Mysteries. They all have similarities, certainly, else they wouldn’t be cozy. Some of them, however, have a bit of supernatural and […]

Gardyloo and That Means You!

Gardyloo and That Means You!

Words are like people–they have interesting backgrounds. One such word is gardyloo. It originated in France, but was used in other countries too, as a warning that something unsavory was about to happen. What, you may ask? Suppose that you were walking along the street of a European town in the year 1650. Suddenly, from […]