Richardderus thread 5 of 2014

“We are what we love to read, and when we admit to loving a book, we admit that the book represents some aspect of ourselves truly, whether it is that we are suckers for romance or pining for adventure or secretly fascinated by crime.”
― Nina Sankovitch, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading

I have a category called Orphans, which will still catch all the other reading I do.

My ORPHANED books ticker:




I want to treat the Short Story collection challenge as a ticker-to-itself thread, thinking 48 reviews as my goal. I'll keep the thread over in the Short Stories forum.

My SHORT STORY collections ticker:




I'm keeping a mystery-genre thread over in Crime, Thriller, and Mystery forum. Way way way too many of my reviews have been, in all forums, mysteries and thrillers, and while I love them, I don't want to get too rut-ified and read only those books while keeping up my self-made review writing census.

My MYSTERY & THRILLER books ticker:




THIS THREAD is the 75 challenge for 2014, which will be non-fiction and non-genre-fiction books published in 2013 and 2014, plus recommendations from other 75ers.

My last thread of 2012.
My last reviews of 2013 in this thread.

My 2014 NEW books ticker:




Books are reviewed in post:

1. The Dead in their Vaulted Arches...#76.

2. Grimoire of the Lamb...#282.

Are you open for business yet ?

And Kath wins first prize! I'm just puttin' up the ol' thread since #4 was at 300. *smooch*

I want the chair in #1 please. Yes I will have to get rid of nearly all of my belongings to make it fit in my butler's pantry but it looks so comfy and cozy.

Dunno, Stephanie, I'd worry about you sleeping bolt upright in that chair. And standing on it while you cook. And using it as a dinner table. And...

Yes, it's a problem. But I'll put it on my list for when I have more space.

*waves* Lovely new thread! I do love the color of that chair but I wonder if it would be cold in winter.

Green is gaudy but good RD. Looks comfy which is what you need for reading in. Congratulations on number 5 dear fellow - you are way ahead of last year's figures which I had hardly thought possible.

Not first. But early.

I'm worried about New Yorkers.

Richard, I've been meaning to ask you: Your link to the Mystery group goes to your 2013 reviews thread. Do you plan to continue using that one for this year's reviews as well, or should I be searching out a new thread that I've missed? I don't want to miss any more good recommendations from you!

Ooooooh ............ I love and want that chair! It looks like a good chair for sprawling. :)

>7 AuntieClio: Wise. Like an actual, separate living room-type space.

>8 leperdbunny: It's leather, so not really a problem...if anything, the opposite, getting a little close and sweaty in summer.

>9 PaulCranswick: ME?! Lookit who's a-talkin' here, o Six-Thread McGraw!

>10 EBT1002: Very early! Hope the weekend is lurvely, dearie me lass.

>11 rosalita: I'm going to keep using it, since I failed so signally to keep up with the goals last year. No sense abandoning a perfectly good thread.

>12 avidmom: I KNOW, RIGHT?!

Morning Richard :) I'll add to the chair love - though I'd like the back slightly higher for good curling into it.

Okay so grammatically that made no sense but I'm sure you catch my drift.

Hoping that the weekend finds you feeling at least somewhat better? Snuggles either way.

I hope the weekend will be somewhat better for you, Richard dear. xx

Here's your own Tuitjenhorn laugh:

I'll just say hello and hope that the ouchies are not as bad today.

Love the chair - great colour and looks comfortable to me.

Good morning RD.

Love the chair and the book by Nina Sankovitch - Een boek per dag.

I hope you feel better today.

Soothing, pain-relieving vibes in the ether to you, RD!

I wish all good things to you for today.

*smooches* from Horrible

Morning RD! Congrats on hitting #5! Hope you have pain-free weekend or at least at a low, manageable level.

Sending pain-free thoughts your way, friend. Happy New Thread!

I would like a dark red chair... my niece has the perfect chair... I want it.

How are ya today rd? I hope the answer is a bit better?

Hi, Rdear. Hope today finds you feeling a bit better.

I like the chair but would prefer a higher back, as others have mentioned.

This weekend will find me sloth-like, at best. I'm thinking books, movies (or old t.v.shows), and possibly some napping.

Everybody else locked in on the chair - I like the car! Detroit and company seriously needs to start putting fins on cars again... :)

Dig the chair and the car, Richard! Hope today is finding you with less pain and more doggy kisses.

Howdy do, everybody. Chilly and about to rain = aches are up; gout pain has gone down; net result, crippling around about the same as before. One step forward, one step back, cha cha cha.

>15 BekkaJo: Morning Bekka! I got it indeed. I love that color and the arms are the right height to enfold the sitter. I envisioned sitting side-saddle, legs over one arm and back against the other, when I saw it.

>16 wilkiec: HA!! Oh goody, a guaranteed laugh a day, thank you Diana!

>17 calm: Hi calm, I'm pretty confident you and I are different heights, so I expect you're among those the chair would simply enfold. Most of me would stick out, but it sure is a pretty color.

>18 connie53: Morning, Connie, glad you're here, and thanks for the well-wishes. Have you read the Sankovich? I found the quote, and then wishlisted the book. If you have read it, let me know so I can find your review, please?

>19 karenmarie: Hiya Horrible! *smooch*

>20 msf59: Morning Mark! I'd think I was dead if I woke up pain-free. I might actually die of fear thinking I was already dead, in fact, and nothing had changed.

>21 scaifea: Hi Amber, thank you! *smooch*

Morning, dear! Nice new thread you've got yourself here, and I love the quote up top. I brought you a little something.

And of course, you will need some coffee:



*smooch for you, BigDaddy*

>22 mckait: Ooo I'd love a dark red leather wingback...wait...we have one...well, I love dark red. Permaybehaps because it rhymes with "read"? Dunno...anyway, *smooch*

>23 Matke: Hi Danvers me sloth, I mean lurve, I'll be walrusing my way through the day here. Until I finally bow to the inevitable and do some laundry. Uccchhh.

>24 drneutron: Oh I know! I know! That 1960 Coupe deVille has *the*best*Cadillac tailfins. 1960 was a great year for fins...the Chryslers had excellent ones, too:



>25 LauraBrook: Thanks, Laura! The Filthy Beast was most naughty this morning. A pit bull that lives around the corner was walking at the same time we were and she went into "killkillkill" mode. Not good for my hands or shoulders or elbows as she does her damnedest to engage in mortal combat. *sigh*

Ohhhh Mamie, the pincooks and foffee are *perfectly* scrummy and well timed. I was just wondering what to do about food and concluded it was too much trouble. Thank you!

I'm not very good on reviews, Richard. But this is what I thought.

Here's a quote

Dit is een boek waar je over na blijft denken. Er zitten geweldige citaten in want als je een boek per dag leest, zoals de hoofdpersoon Nina doet, dan kom je natuurlijk vast wel wat pareltjes en wijsheden tegen. Ik vond het alleen allemaal een beetje te veel van het goede. Misschien voor een nuchtere Nederlandse iets te Amerikaans.

Here is the translation:

This is a book that keeps you thinking. There are some awesome quotes, because when you read one book a day, like Nina, the main character does, you have to meet some gems and profundities. The only thing was, it was a bit too much. Maybe a bit to American for a down to earth Dutch woman like myself.



You can read it on the book page

http://www.librarything.nl/work/10803377/101553560

Hi, sweet man. I know what you mean about not taking the effort to make the food stuffs when you are feeling the pains and strains.

Dogs when they go for it can be a challenge to the leash holding parts. i found a ginormous car-bean-er (I do not know how to spell the word that the mountain climbing people came up with for this piece of equipment) that has padded holding side, and other side to put two leashes on. When the doggies cross each other's paths, I just tun the thingamagig over and the leashes are untangled. It also cushions the impact of a dog trying to take off for the Kentucky Derby.

I hope to get off the computer here in the next few minutes and go read a book. Hope you are reading today, too.

>32 connie53: Interesting point, Connie, about the American-ness of setting that kind of goal. I think I'll enjoy that book even more now, with that outside perspective on it.

>33 maggie1944: I have a leash with a carabiner (which doesn't look right no matter how it's spelled) or I don't know that I could walk Stella. The local bunny, the squirrels, the other dogs...something gets her blood pressure up every time we go outside.

I'm going back to Flavia before too long. Cotton candy for the brain.

I'm sending thoughts of painfreeness as well, Sir.

On another topic, I think I'm still confused about where you post reviews (other than mysteries, which I know are on the mystery thread.) Is there a separate space? I apologize for dimness. I'm new.

Hi Kerri! I'm not writing reviews the past two months or so. No one reads them so why bother? *cue world's smallest violin playing world's saddest song*

I'm having an acute attack of self-pity. It will pass. Or I will, to paraphrase Seneca. and Amber comes in in 5...4...3... :-)

Well, I read the reviews. They are like candy to me.

*sniff*chinwobble* You don't either! Nobody loves me! Everybody hates me! I'm gonna go eat worms!

Actually, now that I think about it, vermicelli sounds good. A little butter, some dill, some mozzarella...mmmm

:-(

But I love reading reviews! It's my favorite thing.

Finished up the last thread (about 20 posts) and toddled over via the magic link to find a chair in one of my most favourite colours! I feel very much like that boy on that chair looking up at that pile of books but that's a good feeling: imagine if there were no more books, no more piles to climb! Far worse. So very sorry, Richard, that you are having so much pain these days and wish there were a way to help.

Wanted to say to ErisofDiscord on your last thread that her tremblingly brave words would not be judged as wanting by me or likely by very many of us here. We're all seekers and travellers on the Way. How that path gets illuminated for you is not for anyone but yourself to judge.

>39 DorsVenabili: It's a mood, I'll get over it. A big part of it is losing the 1600-plus followers I have on Goodreads as an audience, and feeling the lack. All self-pity. Plus it's started to snow. It's 38° and snowing. That's just wrong.

>40 tiffin: Precisely, Tui. No one walks on your feet except you. *smooch*

I love the idea of the bed over the front door! Loft living, or like this space old commercial space living, has a strange appeal to me...no dividing walls, just a big open space, and a lot of space for bookshelves!!

That's one of my favorite rooms yet of the ones you've posted, Richard. Filled with natural light and lots of lovely, lovely books. I'm not sure that couch is quite prime lounging space but I'd be willing to give it a tryout.

It's lovely, and space for more books!!

Morning Richard! Wonderful new thread, I see my mom beat me to the coffee today. Love the room above. The whole layout is perfect.

>42 richardderus:, Oh, love! I'd be afraid, though, that I'd fall out and down onto the kitchen counter! Also, they need to stop lovey-dove-ing and let that dog out!

>42 richardderus: I have the same attraction to wide open loft or old commercial space, RD. This one looks wonderful. I tried to convince my wife to completely open up the first floor of our house, but apparently taking out supporting columns causes the house to collapse. Who knew?

Oooh, I thought that chair was like vinyl, but you are right, it is leather. *waves*

I love the light but not the ladder. And I would need someplace to sequester either Jim or me for a little alone time. Otherwise, lovely.

>43 rosalita: Mine too, Julia. I'd replace the couch toot sweet, as the misspelling has it.

>44 connie53: OOODLES of book-space! OOODLES!!!

>45 Thebookdiva: Hi Abby! *smooch* I think it's darn near, if not perfect.

>46 scaifea: All that straight-people canoodling I can ignore in a photo that perfect.

>47 jnwelch: Dratted gravity! Such a nuisance, I agree.

>48 leperdbunny: Nope. Leather or never, as I've said so many times.

>49 ffortsa: I can't see this as a workable home-for-two, frankly. One plus guest is my thought, or the couple would end up slaughtering each other one fine day.

I love the loft bed, and the room and the light, and the idea that if I lived there I would be as happy as they are.
*cough cough*
I have a cold, or something. It is making me cranky. But I have scheduled in a trip to the library and a coffee already, so I think I will be alright :)

Happy new threadling RMD!

eta: those canoodling straight people might not be, ya know. How are we to know if they aren't brother and sister, or friends? Or (at a stretch now) colleagues? ;0

Richard,

Dropping in to say that Howl made its appearance in snowy Minnesota. I started it but I think it needs to be read in one sitting so I think I will start again from the beginning tonight after I get a fire and a gin and tonic put together. Thank you again.

>52 LovingLit: Better colleagues than brother and sister. Ew!

Feel better, Maudie.

>53 Oberon: Oh good! And good plan. It's a gulp, not a nibble for sure. I hope you'll enjoy it, Erik!

I agree, Richard - heaven for one person, although I still need better access to that bed. But there's this guy who keeps following me around, and he takes up room, and he makes noise, and he interrupts my reading, and SNORES. Can't get rid of him - he's like a virus.

*waves* at Richard, because I really have nothing to say.

No can do a loft bed: 3 steps up a ladder is my max.

Oh Rdear, poor fellow, I'm so sorry to hear that your foot still hurts so much. Send you a load of positive energy and vitamin.

But Richard, how am I to catch book bullets from you if you don't review your books? Silly man.

>55 ffortsa: heh, maybe we can build a bachelor hutch, like where Stephanie lives, for him out back.

>56 tloeffler: Hi TLo! *smooch*

>57 tiffin: OIC Well, this place is right on out for Tui then. Might make it UP but down...!

>58 Ameise1: Ohhh thanks Barbara! How beautiful and expensive that arrangement is. Yummy-looking, too.

>59 AuntieClio: This place is a shooting gallery, Stephanie, full of sniper-grade markspersons. No need for me to add to the flak.

Loft living has its attractions RD especially with all that shelf space. Would keep fit climbing the stairs to bed if the rungs could withstand my weight.

>61 PaulCranswick: I suspect your peeky-piker 90kg wouldn't strain the steps. My 200kg, now....



Saturday night book porn!

De-lurking *waves* to say that, if, as the quote at the top says, the books you love "represent some aspect of ourselves truly," then I am in so much trouble! Also, love the light and idea of openness in the loft room, but all that openness would be a bit much for me IRL. The room immediately above, however...! I'd need only a footrest of some kind to be perfectly happy there.

I was listening to some music I hadn't listened to in years and came across an old favorite by Dar Williams that made me think of you. It would have been more appropriate over the holidays, but oh well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9H9Fi4Qcus

One of your biggest fans here...what do you mean no one reads your reviews?! You have the best reviews in LT! Quit whining and get writing. Pooh on Goodreads. WANT the room in #42. : )

Fly to Portland to join us?

But, but... You write AMAZING reviews!!! I love them. I read them!! You can't just stop! :(

>40 tiffin: Well said words to Eris. That was very brave to share.

*smooch RD*. Great, big, huge feel better wishes heading your way!

Another who looks forward to your reviews with bated breath--don't deprive us!!

I like the chair, the color, but prefer cloth chairs for comfort. The couch has got to go in >42 richardderus:--there's no way I could relax into that, and my knees would no longer enjoy the climb to the loft, but I love the light and the bookshelves.

Ouchie whammies!!

>62 richardderus: OMG a lamp with an up-against-a-book-shelf-straightened-edge function!
That is awesome.

Morning is breaking. Snow. Blah. U O K?

#41 - I totally understand and will wait patiently for it all to pass.

Richard dear, not leave unpaid your sweet gesture (really, will make the recipe and told you how they come out :P) here is some Romanian heaven (or hell , depending how you look at it) that can become quite addictive:




kisses and hope you have no pain today and birds are coming to serenade you (here is quite warm, tomorrow they are saying will be 15 celsius dgrees which is wonderful. Next day we have sleet and rain , go figure weather this year.

((Hugs)) and xx smooches xx, RD!

Hiya dear! I hope you will feel better soon.

I love the Devilles! The Cadillac is not bad either. ;-)

xoxo to you and Stella

> 62
I love this place, took a seat and was fallen asleep 😃. But now I start reading. I hope you feel better, Rdear 😊

Review: 1 of seventy-five

Title: THE DEAD IN THEIR VAULTED ARCHES

Author: ALAN BRADLEY

Rating: 3.9* of five

The Publisher Says: On a spring morning in 1951, eleven-year-old chemist and aspiring detective Flavia de Luce gathers with her family at the railway station, awaiting the return of her long-lost mother, Harriet. Yet upon the train's arrival in the English village of Bishop's Lacey, Flavia is approached by a tall stranger who whispers a cryptic message into her ear. Moments later, he is dead, mysteriously pushed under the train by someone in the crowd.

Who was this man, what did his words mean, and why were they intended for Flavia? Back home at Buckshaw, the de Luces' crumbling estate, Flavia puts her sleuthing skills to the test. Following a trail of clues sparked by the discovery of a reel of film stashed away in the attic, she unravels the deepest secrets of the de Luce clan, involving none other than Winston Churchill himself. Surrounded by family, friends, and a famous pathologist from the Home Office--and making spectacular use of Harriet's beloved Gypsy Moth plane, Blithe Spirit--Flavia will do anything, even take to the skies, to land a killer.

My Review: Childhood's end comes to each of us at very different times, and in very different ways, but always comes in a single moment. Nothing is ever the same again. No perception is unaltered, no thought is ever again innocent. One minute you are a child, and preoccupied with child things, and the next you are not.

It's memorable, I suspect, for all of us, no matter the event that precipitates it or the age at which it happens. In this sixth Flavia de Luce novel, she leaves childhood behind. Bradley's description of the moment, of a great wooden cog on a vast gear moving a notch, is spot-on. I can't quote it directly because it would spoiler a plot point.

Now let me address a fact of the series novel's life. Some books in a series are middle books, like middle children. They are there, but somehow not quite noticed enough or given a good space of their own to occupy. There is not a single series in which this is not, eventually, the case. Who remembers Framley Parsonage? Do you even know it's the fourth in Trollope's Chronicles of Barsetshire? When enumerating the series, I frequently have to search for this book in the Dead Letter Office of my brain. It's not as if nothing happens in the book, either. (And there's a character in this series names after a pivotal character in this book. More on that anon.) The marriages and the resultant intertwining of the fates of so many plot threads in the series make it a pivotal book. But who ever cites it as a favorite novel, or even a favorite in the series?

Middle Book Syndrome.

This is a middle book. It's not at all a bad book, just a middle book. And the fun is just beginning at the end. What the book is not is a mystery, in the puzzle-solving, here-are-the-clues sense. The mysteries Flavia is solving this time are, to put it simply and still not spoiler anything, the ones we all must resolve to discover what, now we are no longer children, we are. Flavia's extremely well-developed sense of herself, unusual in a child, is at last made part of a world that the girl must join. Herself is explained to herself, if you follow that convoluted thought process.

The world awaits. And that's a giant risk Bradley is taking: The world Flavia is joining will either cause people to put the series down for good, or will cause them to send him nastygrams for not writing faster. It is that polarizing a development.

I'm on the fence. I can see this going horribly wrong as we sink into the Swamps of Seriousness, and I can see it being amusingly fluffily unserious. But what I can't see is why this particular development surprised me so much. After all, an eleven-year-old sleuth isn't the set-up for a long-term cozy series, is it? So something had to tie the bow on the tushie of her childhood. And here it is. Heart it or hate it, the next books will not be the same kind of cotton candy, and won't be in the same world that child Flavia saw in Bishop's Lacey and Rook's End (there's a chess joke in that name which I only just got reading this book) and the Palings.

Having finished this book quite late last night, I was ruminating on its connection to Framley Parsonage and was struck by a thought: The character of Adam Sowerby, introduced earlier in the series, recurs here; and Sowerby is the name of a pivotal character in Framley Parsonage...could Bradley be creating his own corner and his own take on my dearly beloved Barsetshire? I have lamented in other threads the absence of a 21st-century Angela Thirkell, an extender of the deep and abiding Englishness of Barsetshire. Might Bradley, the Canadian, be weaving us some more tales from the rag ends of Trollope's beautiful creation?

Gosh, I hope so.

Rdear, what a wonderful review. I love it. 😊

Richard I have heard wonderful things about the Flavia de Luce series but nothing ever has inspired me to take it up. Well my wonderful friend, you sure have now. Without even a warble. Just your thoughts on the evolution of the series. Thanks for that.

Lovely review! Thumb for you, dear! I have only read (well, listened to) the first book in the series, and you are reminding me that I need to get back to it. SO interesting what you are musing about because I had just assumed that Bradley was going to just leave her being eleven for always. Hmm...

Roberta - the audiobooks of these are fabulous treats. Narrated by Jayne Entwistle, they are guaranteed to delight. Just saying...

>63 Storeetllr: Hi Mary! *smooch* Trouble? Why ever?

>64 katiekrug: That's cute, Katie. I like the fireplace graphic, too. *smooch*

>65 Berly: Not NO ONE, just not an audience...I was reaching several thousand people Over There, and got used to that level of activity and discussion. My friends read and, for the most part, like my reviews, but they don't start many conversations. I'll get over it.

>66 EBT1002: As tempting as the shelves are, I can't. A flight of any duration is too painful to contemplate. I can make it through cocktails and dinner, but then I have to go lie down. A flight?!? No!!

>67 TinaV95: *smooch* You're very sweet, thanks! You see there's a new one here.

>68 ronincats: I tend to prefer cloth chairs too, because in summer they're less sticky. But that color...! Thanks for the whammies. It's cold today, but not very cloudy so the atmospheric pressure's on the way up. That's always a good development for me.

>69 LovingLit: The half-shade is a cool idea, ain't it Maisie?

>70 mckait: Morning can break all damn day, it's not gonna make me happy. *growl* So tired of hurting. Hope you're recovering!

#79 Mamie you know I love my audios!

>42 richardderus: Lovely room! All white and creams and light. I love white.

>76 richardderus: I read your review. All of it. Even though I'm not interested in the book.* So there. :P

*I read the first Flavia book and I found her so annoying I couldn't pick up another.

>71 DorsVenabili: Well, the wait was a short one, wasn't it Kerri?

>72 tigerlyly: Oh yum, Lyly! Thanks!!

>73 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! *smooch*

>74 luvamystery65: Roberta dear, schmoozle the Devilles' ears from me! I love the fins on that year's Cadillacs. So arrogantly elegant.

>75 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara! *smooch*

>77 Ameise1: Thank you most kindly! It was a book that took a risk with an established audience, so I felt moved to write about it.

>78 luvamystery65: I suspect it won't be a hooked-for-life experience, Roberta. I'd advise you to liberry the first one and see if it's for you.

>79 Crazymamie: Mamie my smoochling! It's a risk, what he's doing, and one that might alienate the core audience. I wonder if he can pull it off. Good to know about the audios, permaybehaps that will make it easier for otherwise resistant readers to get into the books. (see #82 below)

>83 Morphidae: Hiya Morphy! Well, thanks for reading it, even though the series isn't interesting to you. I can see why it's not something you'd fall in love with, and even with the current developments I can't see you caring enough to read more.

Afternoon RD, great review!

Hi Richard. I loved your review of the latest Flavia book so much I just put the first one on hold at the library. I usually avoid series but this one seems worth checking out. I also particularly loved the first paragraph of your review section about there being a single moment childhood ends because it applies to the book I just finished--We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. I hadn't really been thinking about that in so many words while reading it but your comment helps me see it more clearly so thanks!

Well, I tried the first Flavia book but just didn't find it appealing. Based on your review, maybe I'll try again, this time as an audio (thanks for the tip on that, Mamie).

Hope you're having a cozy-warm, relaxing and pain-free Sunday, Richard!

>86 Thebookdiva: Thankee Good Abigail!

>87 phebj: Oh good, Pat, that's a great result for me! I hope the series appeals, but you'll know right away. Nothing in the tone or affect of the books changes, even now in this sixth one. If it's not for you, bail with impunity, because you will not grow to like them more.

>88 Storeetllr: Audio all the way, then, Mary. I can't think of a book I'd more like to ear-read than this series' books, if they're done well. Actually, the books themselves remind me of old-fashioned radio dramas. Never thought about it that way before, but they do!

What a fantastic review Richard. Thank you.

>90 AuntieClio: My pleasure! Thanks.



So, so guilty.

So true!

>76 richardderus:: big slap dash star-a-roonie, Richard! And oh I hope so too! How I am awaiting the next one due out any minute now.

Thumbed that excellent review Richard. Nice nudge for me to start the series.

>91 richardderus: Boy is that true.

Nice review, RD. I've accepted all sorts of preposterous premises in my reading life, but for some reason in the first book Flavia was too precocious for me to believe in. Sounds like a dramatic fork in the road for those who are reading the series. I sure didn't see your comparison to Trollope coming.

>91 richardderus: Truth.

>76 richardderus:... I need to read those one day. xo thumb

Richard, that is a lovely review of The Dead in their Vaulted Arches. I read the first in the series and didn't stick with it, being less than an enthusiast fan of child narrators. But what I love about your review is the notion of the middle book. I haven't read Trollope (but now I want to) but as I think about other series of which I've been a fan, I do think you're on to something.

*toddles off to check the thumb on RD's review*

Great review of The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, Richard! It's good to see you reading and writing top-notch reviews again.

Thumb #8 is mine.

Likewise thumbed, Richard. You managed to make a series about an overly precocious 11-year-old (*shudder*) sound interesting, so kudos to you!

Richard, just stopping in to say I hope you're doing all right. *pain be gone!*

*whew* Pasta alle vongole and bloodys. The dinner of champions!

>92 phebj: Ain' it, Pat?

>93 tiffin: Thanks, Tui! This one's the 2014 entry in the series. I think it comes out in Canada next week?

>94 brenzi: Hi Bonnie, thanks for the upgethumbing for my review. I don't think you'll like the books very much, TBH. Borrow The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and, if it's not workin' for you at p50, bail and skip.

>95 jnwelch: Thank you, Joe. I think this series would end up causing you acute dyspepsia and severe gastric upset. Avoid at all costs! Even the fork...permaybehaps especially the fork...in this entry would cause you to roll your eyes so hard you'd see your brain.

You're too jaded by the comic books you read, I think.

>96 mckait: Yes, you do. Read #1 first! In this series it matters a lot.

>97 EBT1002: Thank you, Seahawks Lady! Very subtle message of support for the team there. *smooch*

>98 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl, I was energized by the left turn from the right lane the series took. Appreciate the eighth thumb!

>99 rosalita: A compliment to be treasured, Julia, but don't even *think* of reading the books! You'd never make it past page 10 without sobbing and begging the cruel goddesses for a swift death.

>100 AuntieClio: I''m not, thanks Stephanie, but I don't care because I ate so very well and a pitcher of bloodys will make almost anything jolly and gay. Especially me!

Childhood's end comes to each of us at very different times, and in very different ways, but always comes in a single moment. Nothing is ever the same again. No perception is unaltered, no thought is ever again innocent. One minute you are a child, and preoccupied with child things, and the next you are not.

This is the part of your review that really got me Richard. I just finished Out Stealing Horses and it so VERY different but most definitely about that moment of childhood's end. I was feeling very emotional about it. So with that feeling in mind I will try the first book and keep in mind that little Flavia will grow up.

I'm also rereading Harry Potter. I love those kids!

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about, Richard!!! That's one helluva review!!! HUGE thumbs up from me (number 11!). You're going to make me start ANOTHER FREAKIN' series???? And you have the guts to call Roberta a satanic book warbler??? ;0)

That was enough to make me pick up the first one, for sure!

Hmmmmm.......now you've done it. I just may have to go back and pick up Miss Flavia again. I wasn't impressed when first I met her, but your review certainly points me in the "take another look" direction.

Phew! The fans have won! A review from Richard, and a mighty fine one, too. Thanks. Smooch.

It's great to see you posting reviews again, Richard, I always love to read them.

Great review, but nope, not gonna start another series right now. I said no! NO!

Good morning Rdear. I hope you had a sound sleep.
For a start some coffee

Richard - Thanks for the review of The Dead in their Vaulted Arches - I currently await this next book in the series from the LT-ER program - and you have changed the way I'll look at it. You also offer hope that it will arrive soon.

Not only did I read your review, I thumbs upped it. I don't think I've ever thumbed a review.

Where's my cookie?

Good Morning Richard.. Smooches to you and Stella.... Once again catching up.. I had a busy weekend..

Adding my happy's to the pile - you should always post you reviews love - we all love your acerbic wit and acurate commentary (even in the instances whe we totally disagree with you ;) ). Smoochies from a cool but sunny and crisp Jersey.

I of course don't like you in the slightest. Trouble is I am also a dreadful liar.

Hope your Monday finds you with all the aches and pains ebbing away.

Morning, BigDaddy! It's Monday again...

This is my favorite truth about books and reading.

>104 luvamystery65: I read Out Stealing Horses a few years ago and wasn't impressed. What did I miss?

>105 TinaV95: *smooch* for sweet Mrs. Lisa, the SouthEASTERN Satanic Book Warbler. I'm just redressing the balance.

>106 tututhefirst: I wonder if it's worth it, Tina. I don't think five books of samey-samey and then a development that clicks facts and events in a new order and arrangement will be a worthwhile investment for a super-busy reader. Maybe start recommending it to cozy addicts?

>107 Berly: "Won"? *snort* The universe spins and dances along with no push from me. But I was finally moved to make a little skip of my own, and that felt good. *smooch*

>108 wilkiec: Thanks, Diana, for the kind words!

>109 scaifea:

>110 Ameise1: Good gracious, Barbara, perfection! I needed the coffee. Sleep will not let go of me today!

>111 Helenoel: Hello Helen, and thanks for stopping in to comment! I hope it arrives soon...I can't think why it wouldn't, since it's officially published now. I hope this isn't the first book in the series that you're reading!

>112 Morphidae:

*smooch* thanks for the upgethumbing of my review.

>113 MonicaLynn: Busy? Do tell! Stella sends slurps.

I enjoy the Flavia books on audio, though the level of precociousness did take some getting used to. But I like how Bradley slowly reveals more about the family and the relationships. The last one i read was the Christmas one, so I think I am now two (!) behind. The problem is my library being slow in getting the audios, and I don't think I'd like the books as much if I read them...

Anyway, I appreciate your review and am intrigued by where the series is going!

I hope today is an okay one for you. xoxo.

>114 BekkaJo: Hi Bekka! Thanks for the envy-inducing weather report. It's dank and nasty here. Makes me ache. Grumbling about weather is such an old-man thing to do, isn't it? But whoo eee does it have an effect on me these days. *smooch*

>115 PaulCranswick: I'd take any day at all in which my aches and pains ebb away. That would be peachy keen neato mosquito by me on Wednesday or Sunday too!

It's a Federal Monday Holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and that means no mail delivery...and me expecting packages...wah

>116 Crazymamie: Morning smoochling, ain't it just. Ow.

Oooh, iced sugar cookies with um... sugar balls or whatever those things are called. Huh, they are called "dragées."

>121 katiekrug: I'm not an ear-reader, so I can't comment on the joys of Flavia in audio. But two behind...!

Thanks for the well-wishes, too. *smooch*

>123 Morphidae: Yeah yeah yeah the fancy name is...that...but I still call 'em all sprinkles. And do my best to knock 'em off the food before I eat it, too.

> 120 - No Richard, I've read all the others- Not great literature, but lots of fun, and I enjoy the characters. We did see shadows of impending change in the last one-
Love the cookies- May have to make some to send to my college student- always an excuse to bake.

>125 Helenoel: OIC Well then, this book should be catnip to you, then! I was not taken unawares by the change, but the *nature* of the change was a surprise to me. I'm looking forward to reading your take on it.

It's a drowsy day for me, despite all the coffee I've ingested.

RD....thank you for allowing me to knock that series back off the list. I do have a couple of readers at the library who are always anxiously awaiting the next in the series, so at least I'll be able to borrow a few gems of wisdom from you to discuss with them.

Stay tucked in for the rest of the week....tis going to be evil wicked cold and even I, cold lover that I am, am NOT looking forward to being that invigorated.

I'm trying today to figure out how to use the Soda carbonator gizmo that our daughter gave me for Christmas. I do drink a lot of seltzer water (have ever since I quit smoking 26 years ago) so this is supposed to save me bucks, help the environment, etc etc etc. Trouble is it's just another thing to find a spot on the counter top for, and it has more than two moveable parts (my avowed limit for old age.) And since Bob's just announced that he's fixing a fresh pot of coffee, methinks the bubble maker is going to be abandoned again.

I'm all about best use of eyeblinks at this juncture of life, Tina. I think the two-moving-parts rule sounds like a winner myownself.

Many long years ago, when I was young and wanted to be Oscar Wilde (now I just want to be older every day), I bought a gasogene to provide bubble-water for my drinks. It was really expensive to get the rubber seals. I found that I got a lot of weird looks as I bought two or three bottles of cream of tartar in the grocery store, too.

>76 richardderus: a lovey review, RMD. And 3.9 stars isn't to be sneezed at. For once I clicked on the book page before reading the review so I could judge it by its cover first. And it did make me more interested to read the whole review. I still wont read the book though as, you know, I have a series phobia.

For now though, I have a nappy full to deal with (of what you will have to imagine) and a hurricane of household crap to pick up, and 2 boys to maneuver out of this house and out to somewhere they can run about.

Thanks, Maudie, for stopping in to say nice things but full nappies are urgent so go!!

Smooches! I'm baaack....

Did you ever receive that parcel, Richard?

RD--at least my bubble machine doesn't use cream of tartar (or not that I've seen in the directions yet) but does require that one go to a store of some sort to replenish the bubble cartridges - haven't gotten to the part where I search the web to find out the nearest store is in east slovakia or some such.

>131 cameling: Hi Caro! No, no parcel delivered as of yet. Did you send it media mail? If so, no worries yet.

>132 tututhefirst: Cream of tartar and baking soda are, at least, readily available. Trekking the Trans-Carpathian Trail to get more fizz sounds like more of a pain than a benefit to me....

No, no, no. Sprinkles are those waxy things that you put on ice cream.

And they must be colored not that chocolate-looking crap.

Any little colored doomaflotchie that serves no flavor-purpose = sprinkle, and should be eschewed or removed. Pointless damned things.

So...two of my favorite books last year were The Luminaries, which is the precise opposite of Chuckles the Dick's leaden, indigestible, flavorless, waxen-charactered Madame Tussaud's-caters-a-wedding-banquet borefests despite having a huge cast and many pages, and Hill William, a collection of short, spiky, deeply personal stories-cum-novella written very much in the modern flash-fictiony style.

I suppose it speaks to my eclectic tastes (positive spin)/demonstrates my barely controlled schizophrenia (negative spin).

I will read it sometime.. The Luminaries. I have no idea why I requested the book I did from vine. I think I was lured by the pretty cover. I am just not myself and I'm beginning to wonder where I have gone.

Oooh! I LOVE the description you have up there :)

leaden, indigestible, flavorless, waxen-charactered Madame Tussaud's-caters-a-wedding-banquet borefest

>136 mckait: You have bronchitis, your brain isn't getting enough oxygen and your boy aches from involuntary spasms aka coughing. OF COURSE you don't feel like yourself!! Lie down, sleep some more, drink more warn soothing stuff, and accept that it's boring to be ill! *smooch*

>137 LovingLit: Heh, glad you like my little truth-telling!

The body aches from coughing hurt my arms, my back and chest... terrible. How id you know?
I requested the book before I got sick.. but of course, my mind has been a mess since Thanksgiving.

I would lol @ cracked up kitties, but instead I guess I'll just smile. I'm afraid to laugh!

Just so's you know , your comment directed at Kath applies to me also.
I have stomach aches from coughing so much! Sheesh, it is meant to be summer. I wish me and Kath could sit by a fire together and read our books in peace, but alas, it is not possible (toady anyway).

*meow*
;)

Oh no... you have the plague too, Megan? I was hoping it was just a passing icky feeling for you... I am so sorry...( Hands over more Vitamin C)

And again, Thank you rdear... very much.. yum!

*dons surgical mask*

*brandishes spray bottle of bleach*

Away! Away, back to your germy sick-beds! I do not want or need any respiratory yuck around here!!

remote huggings only

*cybersmooch*

I'm in that "Can't Love Flavia" camp...read the first one, listened to the second one. (I thought the narrator did a much too fine job with her annoying voice and wanted to jump out of the car....which I was driving.) But I gotta admit, you make me want to know where Bradley is taking her. Can I skip 3 through 5 and just read this one now?

Just a smooch and a (((HUG))) for you and a thumbs up (#15!) for your Flavia review. Haven't read books 5 and 6 yet, but I know I'm in for a good time with Flavia & Co, regardless of a mystery or not. Just love the atmosphere and terroir of the books. Your references to Trollope make me want to read that series as well, something I didn't think I'd ever want to do! You are, by a huge margin, my favorite book reviewer EVER in any format, for any book, pants hands down! I've referred several friends to your reviews/blog/goodreads (pre-jerkface-Amazon-owning days), and they are all amazed by your intelligence, humor, and pitch-perfect way with words.

When are you getting published again? *taps foot impatiently, even though there hasn't been a whiff of such a thing happening. why is that?*

My buddy, Louis, says hello.

OMG, Katie, you need to SMOOCH THAT FACE RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND!!! How can you not?!? He is TOO CUTE!

Reading, laughing, snorfling, nodding, more snorfling and a big melty aw at Louis.

AHA... have found the refill CO2 bottles here in town!!! I can get them at Staples, or ignore my scrupples about exploitive companies and go to the now very close brand new Wally world. It's never easy.

Wait a minute. Megan gets "heh" and I get pictures of eye surgery?? Not only are you a curmudgeon, but you're a capricious curmudgeon! Hrmph.

You know, I love love love your review of the latest "Flavia" but I think I'm sticking with Julia and Linda in saving myself from the madness that is TBR. I didn't love the first in the series, so why should I acquire and read the second? There are enough other books -- and series -- to be loved. Vive la différence.

Hiya handsome! Loved the Flavia review - though I don't think the series is for me....I so could live out my days in #42. Sigh. (Actually as husband has just been made redundant - a pox on Telstra) we may seriously have to look at down-sizing....Hope your pains are but petty. Big *smooch*

Just watched the new Sherlock...season three...with Frumious Bandersnatch, I mean Benedict Cumberbatch!, doing his dead-level best to make me fall in love with him. Which *sigh* I did.



Proof that good looks are not everything. He looks like a praying mantis and a pole dancer reproduced. I don't care, his take on Sherlock is pitch-perfect in my ears. Martin Freeman (Watson) has a lot of fun in this episode, where Sherlock comes back from the dead. It was a hoot and a holler.

>145 laytonwoman3rd: Yes, you won't miss a single thing that needs knowing and isn't explained in this book. It's more fun to go through them all, picking up hints and cogitating on incongruities, but it's not urgent for the mildly curious non-fan.

>146 LauraBrook: *smooch* Base flatterer! But don't stop, I'm battening on it. My efforts writing reviews are meant to be read and thought about and hopefully chuckled over by as many as I can reach. I keep doing stuff to get the word out, but it's a slllooowww process. It was before, too. Oh well, back to Square One.

>147 katiekrug: AAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

such a schmoozle-ear-smoochface!!

>148 LauraBrook: I know, right?!

>149 tiffin: I'm glad! I think. I hope all those responses are in the proper places....

>150 tututhefirst: Six of one, half-dozen of the other. Wally World is closer, get them there. Staples doesn't treat people well enough to make a trip worthwhile.

>151 EBT1002: Capricious, thy name is eye surgery. *prim purseylips* And never you forget it. *smooch*

>152 PrueGallagher: Thanks, Prue! I suspect you'd hate the books with a raging mauve detestation.

I love that space, too. It appeals to my "reduce, reuse, recycle" side. Boo hiss boo on redundancy! Telstra shall be whammyed forthwith. Expect low earnings and business-model shifts.

Good morning, RichardDear. Please have a totally pain-free day - I know that's not possible but it sure sounds good, doesn't it?

(brownies, those Devil's spawn of caffeine and sugar, have zapped me. Here I am in the middle of the night, again, up and about. Blech.)

*smooch*

Just skimming, and admiring all the pictures, especially Benedict Cumberbatch. As Don says, the only actor to play Sherlock Holmes who has a sillier name than Sherlock Holmes.

That episode should screen in Australia in February. But I'll be watching it as soon as I get a downloaded copy...

I keep putting off watching Sherlock until I've managed to read some, well, Sherlock. One of these days...

good morning Sweet Prince... since I do not want to enjoy by myself this "wonderful" weaher we have, please have a little taste of a rainy coffee:

Ah yes, Sherlock — le sigh. And I love your riff on the 87th Precinct series with his name. :-) I still want to know how he did it, but I think the multiple scenarios in this episode were meant to tell us we will never know.

Good morning, Richard! Just passing through as I wake up with my coffee... there are plans afoot to watch the new season of Sherlock tonight, in fact, so I must scroll through the discussion in case of spoilers... have a lovely day!

Morning RD! I am also a Sherlock fan, I just saw the last episode of season 2. Have you by chance seen Elementary? If so, which one do you prefer?

Glad you enjoyed your Sherlock. Nice when there is something bright in your life, isn't it?
Hope the ouchies are a wee bit better today. Don't know how you endure, sometimes..
xo

Richard, I do like this version of Sherlock. Just saw the first episode of Season 2 and thought that while they got a bit silly at times (a bit too much in love with their little tricks and not enough of the mystery), I'm glad he's back. Agree with you about Cumberbatch and laughed out loud at your analogy. He is quite compelling, isn't he!

Actually, Richard, I think Benedict is HOT. Just my two cents though.

We watched our recording of "Sherlock" last evening, as well. I thought it was a delightful episode. They do fun suspense and I think Martin Freeman is brilliant (I know, he's not as nice to look at, but the chemistry between the two actors is perfect).

Bleeeuuurgh

Very painful day and snowing little stingy flakes. Have to hoard strength for the afternoon dog-walk.

Will come back & respond! *smooch*

Tuesday morning smooch for you, BigDaddy! Our internet seems to be working today, so I am hopeful. *crosses fingers* We love Sherlock - as Abby said, we just watched the last episode from the previous season, but we have not seen the new season opener yet. Can't wait!! I have been a huge Sherlock Holmes fan forever, but the Cumberbatch version is my very favorite.

Sending you a goawaypain whammy.

>157 wookiebender: Basil Rathbone/Benedict Cumberbatch....I call that a toss-up, silly-name-wise. Although Benny has him on syllables. And there's just no contest when it comes to hawtness.

Poor Rdear, I pity you :-(
Here, take a profiterole

>156 karenmarie: Hiya Horrible! Sorry about the devil-spawn brownies. More sleep whammy for tonight? *smooch*

>157 wookiebender: Oooh doctor! You're in for some fun times! I do love Watson's response to Sherlock arising from the dead. I see why, in the story, people are convinced that Sherlock and Watson are lovers, even though it's clear to the audience they're not.

>158 scaifea: Hi Amber! Skip it, dive in to the TV stuff. Different in many ways and really not comparable. BTW, the Blast has landed! Smoochings!

>159 tigerlyly: Hi Lyly, perfectly timed coffee and rain would work just fine for me since it's snowing steadily and that's causing some problems.

Chilly Tuesday snuggles!

#170 I'll take a dozen thank you... imaginary profiteroles can't hurt me, right?

>160 rosalita: Le panting, slightly drooly sigh. 87th Precinct riff? Frumious Bandersnatch is from Edward Lear's "Jabberwocky"....

>161 dk_phoenix: Hi Faith, how are you? No spoilers, but I promise you a really really fun evening of TV!

>162 Thebookdiva: Abby my sweet, good to see you here. I have watched the first two episodes of Elementary and, while I applaud their reinterpretation for being on-trend, I don't find it compelling viewing.

>163 mckait: Good morning, sweetness, it is nice when something distracts one from this vale of woe for a brief, shining moment. Enduring is the only appealing option, so I just...do. *smooch*

>164 tiffin: Howdy do, Tui, and glad my analogy made for some levity. It's what I was aiming for. I think he's the bee's knees indeed.

>165 leperdbunny: Weeelll...ummm...I doubt he'll be crushed that I myownself don't find him all that and a bag of chips.

>166 EBT1002: I think Martin Freeman is, well, serviceable in the looks department. Neither ugly nor handsome, he's got a good face for losing himself in his characters. *smooch* for my dear Mamie!

>173 richardderus: psst - Jabberwocky is by Lewis Carroll, right? It's that durn pain, I imagine. Hope it gives you a break today.

>169 laytonwoman3rd: Pretty much 100% with ya on those points, Linda3rd.

>170 Ameise1: Good evening (your time), Barbara! I would love a profiterole not smothered in chocolate. In Italy, it seems to be the default dessert, the chocolate-doused tough profiterole. Those look scrummy.

>172 BekkaJo: Thanks, Bekka, heartily returned I'm sure. Plus a *smooch*

So it is, Joe, so it is. It was in Through the Looking-Glass, wasn't it? So woozy from sheer unsleepification it's not funny.

Rdear, that's not a chocolate one. So take a big bite 😋

I think that's one with cherries!! Oehh I love just one. Just looking at them puts on weight.

good Evening RD!!

Frumious Bandersnatch is from Edward Lear's "Jabberwocky"

Ah, well it is also the title of an 87th Precinct novel. I am glad to know the original source of the phrase.

Add me (and everyone in my house) to the Sherlock fan club! :)

#153 I've found if you watch all the episodes in a short amount of time you find yourself accidentally "Sherlocking" perfect strangers on the tram.

Can't wait to be able to see the new episode.

Jabberwocky, Sherlock and a profiterole...I am happy!

yuck ickyptooptoo

owwies nasty can only watch netflix

Aw, Richard, so sorry about the nasty owwies. Thank goodness for netflix, huh?

I haven't seen the new Sherlock starring the Frumious Bandersnatch, which I think is a marvelous play on that guy's name. Going to check out the first season.

I am definitely a Cumberbitch - just love that series. So bloody clever - having a three-patch problem still makes me laugh. Can no longer bear to watch 'Elementary' - not even close to the same league. Only a week or two to go down under before we get the new series. But what short little series they are!

Richard, sorry the pain continues unabated. What'shisnose Benedict is too skinny for my taste. I'm sure he'll be heartbroken to learn that.

>153 richardderus: Frumious Bandersnatch
lol
I always call him Cumberbank Bendyditch. His name is TOO MUCH FUN!

In spite of not being a Cumberbitch, I think he is pretty cool.

*not na-naring at Ellen for avoiding being a recipient of eye-surgery pictures*
(for future reference I think its cos my cats looked like they were in pain)

Hmm, you must have been in pain today (yesterday by now, where you are) as I believe you called me Mamie. Now, I've been called worse and I'm really rather fond of Mamie, but this is very un-Richard-like behavior. I'm a wee bit worried about you!

I hope the pain eased enough for you and Stella to get in a walk. And I'm sending *major no-pain whammies* YOUR DIRECTION.

I wish I had that magic wand I used to have around here.....

xo sorry rdear.. hope it hurries up and goes away :(

It's not cold outside. Oh no. "Cold" is 25° or so. It's effin' FRIGID. -16&deg windchill = oh no no no. Homey ain' a-goin' outside, sorry puppy. I stand in the garage, door open, dog on leash, so she can go out into the snow and piddle. She'd love to go and eat street-snow and gambol about. Me? Nuh uh. TOO COLD.

The arthuritis is better. The gout's stable. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, and if not for Netflix I'd be a wreck.

>178 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! Hope you're well, and Switzerland isn't abnormally cold the way New York is just now.

>179 connie53: Connie! How much better the cherry ones are than the chocolate-soaked profiteroles are. Sending *smooches* Hollandward!

>180 rosalita: OIC! I didn't know that title at all. Heck, there were a minimum of 3291756 books in the series, so it's no wonder I don't know them off cold.

>181 avidmom: Have you seen the new season episode one yet? I about ruptured something in the first ten minutes.

>182 Kiwi_Jim: I hope you can very soon, Jim, it's amazing how good it feels to be back with your fictional besties in the vast wasteland of television.

>183 Berly: Ain't it grand, Berly-boo? *smooch*

>185 Storeetllr: Thanks, Mary. I'm extremely grateful to Pluto, gawd of the Internet, for all the marvels I've had until the effin' Supreme Court Inc. took away net neutrality. Go forth and Sherlock! Permaybehaps you'll enjoy it as much as many of us do.

>186 PrueGallagher: Hi Prue! Elementary definitely suffers from the existence of the modern Sherlock. Its advantage is that it's on every week, not every few months. A three-episode season is starvation rations.

>187 AuntieClio: Hi Stephanie! I don't find the leads at all sexually attractive, just so lovably real and flawed and marvelously talented that one can't help falling a little in love with them and their portrayals of these iconic characters.

Ellen, our Richard is just not himself. He called you Mamie, and he skipped me.

Good Morning, BigDaddy! Glad to hear that the arthritis is better and the gout is stable, but still, this is not good enough. Sending you some more healing mojo. *smooch for you and scratch behind the ears for Stella*

>188 LovingLit: He's got to be sick of hearing plays on his name...but I like that one best. *smooch* just don't push your luck re: cats. Eye surgery could show up at any moment. And not here.

>189 EBT1002: Hi Eulalia! Or is it Euphemia...can't keep these things straight...

*smooch*

>190 mckait: Thanks, sweetness. Not a good day today, too darn cold to be believed when out in the wind. Which I ain't a-gonna be no sirree bob.

>194 Crazymamie: Marynell? Is that you Marynell? *smooch* and a *slurp* from Stella, who is gazing at me reproachfully for not going out for a frolic with her.

Just saw this on Twitter:

Bid on a #Sherlock script signed by Benedict Cumberbatch & Martin Freeman in aid of charity Current bid £250 http://gavaid.auction-bid.org/micro2.php

>196 richardderus: That's nice! Debating on what to do today when I go volunteer. Normally I dog walk. it is -11 though. Ugh. Maybe I can play with kittens.

Bad.

Remarkable how few peace prizes I have won for this.

Ha! We are forever grateful, even if we can't award you peace prizes, Richard. Hope the pain continues to ebb and the better times start to flow. Hooray for Netflix for distracting you amid the worst of it.

Hi Rdear, in Zürich it's like early spring - no snow and too warm. At the moment winter takes place only in the Alps. I hope they are saving some snow because in mid-February I'd like to go skiing for a week.
Tonight's dinner is pasta casserole, perhaps you'll eat with us?

I like cold weather, I like snow, but this is beyond cold.....this is brutal, unnatural, unbearable, and criminal. I have the luxury of a warm home, no pets that require outdoors time, and a spouse who doesn't mind going to the woodpile twice daily. But that doesn't mean that just the thought of going out today to work a 5 hour shift at the library doesn't make me cry. We are in the town's original one room school house, built in 1817. Some of the town elders who went to school there (it didn't cease schooling until 1957) describe their trips to the outhouse and wood pile to keep the pot bellied stove going. The thought of those teachers having to keep 15-18 little ones stacked around that stove in weather like this boggles my mind.

We at least now have newer winders, some insulation and a gas space heater that heats the small area where the liberry lady works, but does nothing for getting heat into the stacks. Let's just say we don't see anybody sitting in their cars in the parking lot to access the WIFI!!!

But you my dear, must take care....are there no meds, or yum yums that will help you feel all better? Netflix is good, a good book is even gooder -- all for the soul, but your bod needs some relief. I just wish I had something to suggest to make the pain go away. Coffee, brandy (BTW the biggest selling beverage in the state of Maine is Allen's Coffee Brandy. If it works here, it might help you, so here it is. Just mix with milk, or pour over ice cream. YUM. Very therapeutic.



{{{{Smooches}}}}}

I see Tina has shared with you the Maine State Drink...what we here in Washington County like to call "Fat Ass in a Glass".

So many things to comment on since my last visit but first of all, I'm sorry you have been having so much pain and I hope things start looking up for you in that department.

I really enjoyed your review of the latest Flavia book. I read the first one and was only meh about it, but any book that has a reference to Trollope catches my attention. You know I loves me some Trollope! These books are at my local libarry so I may give #2 a try.

My son and I are enjoying the Cumberbatch Sherlock series as well. We've been watching it on Amazon Prime.

*smooches* to you on this frigid Wednesday!

I heart you and your brain fart moments Richard! Now stop acting like me and get better.

xoxo to you and Stella

One of The Devilles kept me up last night and he might become a hot dog. At least that's what I tell him but he never believes me. The little devil.

Once again I find myself skipping much to respond to an earlier conversation. ...

165 - I agree that he's attractive; perhaps not in the traditional "Adonis" sense, but in a way I can only think of as "smart sexy." Granted, it could just be that I find smart to be very sexy, and he plays a very smart (and, I'd argue, smartly written) character.

Either way, I'd have to rank him much higher than a lot of these other actor types. I really don't get the Ryan Gosling thing, but I suppose everyone has a type.

>199 richardderus: I love that one!!
I also thank you for not starting a war, an argument, or fisticuffs. And I thank the sweet sweet omnipotent one for coffee (on behalf of all mankind- which has been extended now to include women, I hear).

Hi Richard, thanks for the message my friend, it will be a tough day but whilst mourning him we will also be celebrating his wonderful life.

>199 richardderus: And I thank you for that, Richard, even if the rest of the world doesn't . Perhaps they are just not aware of what could be without coffee for you (and me).

Richard - I did send it media mail, but even so it shouldn't be taking THIS long. It's a little worrisome because I wonder if there was just that one batch of mail that may have gotten lost, because I sent another book to someone else on the same day and she's said she hasn't received it either. Curiouser and curiouser....

RD - Sorry to see you still under the weather and literally so at those "effin frigid" temps.

Well I sure wish I'd known about coffee brandy when I was in Maine last autumn! Although..."fat ass in a glass"..does this mean that you will get one if you drink it?

Richard, major healing thoughts to your knees, feet, and legs. I wish I lived closer. I could at least walk Stella for you.

>197 leperdbunny: In this weather, dog-walking is painful indeed. Kittens ho!

>200 jnwelch: Netfix! Netfix! Rahrahrah!! Oh wait, NetfLix, silly me. I'm deeply grateful for their service. Worth every dime of the $8 a month.

>201 Ameise1: Ohhhh Barbara! That looks so much better than the leftover white pizza I just had. Scrummy!

>202 tututhefirst: Oooo I'll have a nice big helping of Fat Ass in a Glass, please. Oh my yes.

I would need narcotics to feel less pain, and that's not an option for a person without insurance. I'm perfectly content with Netflix because I can't hold a book and the Kindle's recharging.

I agree this is flat-out brutal...the wind makes it unendurable more than the (too damned cold!) air temperature. -19° wind chill? Oh hell no! UnConstitutional!

>203 Cobscook: Hi Heidi! I don't really think the series will have more appeal now, if it didn't before...make it a borrow, not a buy, is my advice.

I really, really liked "A Scandal in Belgravia", the season 2 opener. What a creative re-imaging of the iconic story! That said, I don't adore the tricksyness of the choppy edits and camera angles. I understand why they do it, and still wish they'd do a little less of it.

>204 luvamystery65: Ah, a visit from the Southwestern Satanic Book Warbler...*smooch* and a solid ear-schmoozle to the Deville who kept you up, good poochie good good. *vengeful smirk*

>205 London_StJ: Hiya Crypto, yes Frumious Bandersnatch is attractive because he's Frumious Bandersnatch, not because he's one of the interchangeable eye-candy lads. I had to Google Ryan Gosling. Is he a thing? Why ever?

>206 LovingLit: Ohhhh coffee oooooo Womankind needs to be grateful, too.

I have a cat threshhold. Exceed it and reprisals are assured. I see no reason to belabor the point, though.

>207 johnsimpson: Hi John! EXACTLY how best to view it. I'll be thinking of you all tomorrow.

>208 Storeetllr: You have to think ignorance is the reason....

>209 cameling: Well, that would stink. I hope it's just a delay. I hate to think of stuff I send out just...evaporating...that way! *smooch*

>210 PaulCranswick: Me too, Paul, me too. *grumble*

>211 tiffin: Ya know what, Tui, I'd let ya! Poor Poochie. She SO wants to gambol and play in the snow, and I am just barely able to get her to the end of the drive. *sigh*

#211 Well yes, if you drink them to excess. I have know ladies to mix their brandy in a gallon of milk and carry that around......Just let that mental image sink in! LOL

Oh hi again Rdear!

*smooch*

Hi RD- Just checking in! Hope you are keeping warm & snug, my friend! I saw the bone-chilling temps!

Richard! Guess who found a package leaning against her front door when she got home from work today? And guess who ripped that package open to find a gorgeous copy of Crapalachia (complete with deckle edge, Miss Mamie) waiting to be devoured? Give up?

IT WAS ME!!!!!

Thank you so very much for the gift. It looks absolutely amazing and I cannot wait to read it. I will report back in full once I've done so.

*smoooooooooooooooch*

Hi RD! Wishing you many hot guys to bring you hot coffee and a big bone for Stella. :)

Crap, I've got to add Crapalachia to my WL. :)

I went to school in WV, so I think this is something I have to read.

>218 msf59: Hi Mark! ME watch for cold?! Chicago's Finest Mail Deliverer should heed his own advice!

>219 rosalita: Oh goody good good, it arrived! I'm amazed the one I mailed to Minneapolis arrived first. I hope you like it.

>220 leperdbunny: May all your wished come true, Tamara. Actually, tomorrow morning will be close enough because sweetienubbins is supposed to visit on his way through for an interview.

>221 mahsdad: Jeff, I had no idea you were a Mountaineer! Well, McClanahan pulls no punches. His world is unrelievedly poor and miserable, so be prepared.

I've never even watched Sherlock, but this line "he looks like a praying mantis and a pole dancer reproduced" made me snork a little. I almost woke up poor snoring, flu-infested Mrs. Tina! You are too much, Richard! I just love you! **SMOOCHES** for you and snuggles for Stella!

Well, Minneapolis is a big city. To get that book to rural Iowa probably took an extra mule team. :-)

Actually, I'm a Bobcat. I went to West Virginia Wesleyan, another hour south of Morgantown. But close enough. Given some of the people I knew and some of the service projects (building houses and such) that I did in High School, I'm not surprised that it would be a little bleak.

>223 TinaV95: *smoochiesmoochsmooch* Let the poor angel sleep. Life's hard enough without being jolted awake to hear a joke!

>224 rosalita: At the very least. I thought it was part of the Rural American Passenger Pigeon Service area.

>225 mahsdad: West Virginia Wesleyan. I hadda Google it, since I was sure you'd made that up. West Virginia scares the bejabbers out of me. Like rural Maine, a place you simply can't fathom belonging to a major economic powerhouse.

Chiming in on the Batch of Cucumbers thing: I don't find him attractive at the moment, but I suspect - and for reasons laid out my Luxx above - that I could easily become obsessed with him were I to watch Sherlock. And Tomm is pushing me to do so soonish... I don't get the Ryan Gosling thing, either. Really not my type.

xo rd. I wish you a better day today.. I am sending pain away mojo your way.

>198 richardderus: Just for making me laugh so much and giving me something to post on my Facebook feed. I give you this...

An oval library. I'd prefer having this to the Oval Office any day.

Ditto. Dibs on a chair by the fireplace.

Love that partners desk, too!

>227 scaifea: Gosling looks like everyone else. So do most of the hunks of today. They look like rentboys, buff buffed and orthodontured into smooth simulacra of sexbots. Once you've, errrmmm, achieved the desired happy ending, what's to keep you from falling deeply asleep? Conversation? Possibly, but not probably.

>228 mckait: Thanks sweetness, I'm feeling well enough not to scream and cry the way I was yesterday.

>229 Morphidae: yum

>231 jnwelch: Yeah, and a decanter of something old and mellow, and a book that's the same.

>232 rosalita: Hi Julia! It's a beauty indeed.

Hello lovely man. Stay warm but not too hot. Save that for the pretty boys. ;-)

Good morning, Richard! Hope the pain is less today and the weather warmer. *smooch*

Hi Rdear, between all the parents meetings I've got some time to read on LT. I hope you feel better today.
>233 richardderus:: Are you into lingerie or bodybuilding advertising

If I bring my own decanter can I come join you in the library? Very much in need of some peace and mellowness!

214/27 - I see a lot of these memes floating around:



Nothing about this appeals to me...

This one might be better for this crowd:

>235 luvamystery65: Hey there Roberta! *smooch* Prettyboy delivers himself to my evil clutches soon for purposes of debauchery, lechery, and dinner. Whee!

>236 ronincats: Warmer than what, Roni? Than the North Pole? Got that covered. Not, however, warmer than the South Pole. That's just WRONG.

>237 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! In answer to your question, yes.

>238 BekkaJo: Come and share, Bekka me lurve. I'm feeling expansive.

>239 London_StJ:, 240 What is the appeal of this bland little boy? If I've ever seen a movie he's made, I don't remember it. That's not a huge endorsement.

Hello Richard! way back up there at post 162 (i think), I totally agree with you about Elementary, it cannot stand up to Sherlock in my opinion. Though, I do like that Watson is a women. Trying to catch back up on the threads after being absent for a few days - yikes. I should never go so long without LT again.

>242 Thebookdiva: Hi Abby! Heh, the three digit unread messages notifications are just disheartening. Gotta log in and lurk even when you're not in a posting mood, sweetness. Steal the car and go to the liberry if you have to! *smooch*

haha, if only I could! Things just got really hectic around here, and my computer died. Being terrible at plugging my electronics in, it was some time before it got charged back up again. I will take your advice though and make sure I lurk even if I don't post!

Good to know

>244 Thebookdiva: It will save you many a pang and a tear, I promise. xo

>245 Ameise1: What an adorable GIF!

>243 richardderus: True dat.

>230 richardderus: *lust*

Hi Richard, that is all for now.

>241 richardderus: What is the appeal of this bland little boy? If I've ever seen a movie he's made, I don't remember it.
Oh, is he the same guy? Is he an actor? I thought maybe a model......for memes.....of just a guy.

I love the My name is....BEEFCAKE sticker up there on the mug, that is classic.

Fluffy bunny huggles to you RMD (cos of their softness) mucho good vibe and good health whammies.
*thwack*
There.

>192 richardderus:- just been away for 2 days and I almost missed my first * smooch*

oh, lordy. found you. drugs are stupidfying.

mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah,

Hope you are feeling ok dear fellow; it's awfully quiet (for you) over here.

That oval library, lovely.

I'm bad, so far behind that I only looked at the pitchers and read the coffee jokes, golly, how I love those. I haven't had my coffee yet.

Can't wait to read the Bradley - actually - listen - for some reason I adore the goofy narrator they have. Her voice would irritate me no end in RL, but as Flavia she is perfect!

Today I am spending only tiny amounts of time outside, lungs, eyes, cheeks, all were adversely impacted by time out there yesterday...... I have a little soft ball that I throw for Posey when the weather is hopeless, lots of that will be on the schedule for today. She loves it! It's nice, isn't it, how easy it is to please a dog.

So did the dry chops whammy work?

Do you feel better today?

Well, when you put it THAT way....

>247 Storeetllr: Hi Mary! *smooch*

>248 AuntieClio: *smooch*

>249 LovingLit: No, Maude, he's a famous actor. From what the fame derives is unknown to me. And thanks for the whammys!

>250 connie53: Got to be swift around these parts, Connie! *smooch* for good measure.

>251 mirrordrum: Hi Ellie! I know what you mean about stupidifying, but thank goodness they're available and effective.

>252 PaulCranswick: I had a guest last night and spent a chunk of my day reading the end of The Goldfinch, which is extremely good. It's a bracing -15C out there, but the sun is in her splendor and that makes everything better in the wintertime.

>253 sibylline: Hiya cuz! Good heavens yes, INDOORS!! Protect those irreplaceable body parts. Ain't nothin' you gots to have outside when it's this cold. (I revert to my grandmother's accent when it's cold. Hmmm. Paging Dr. Freud!)

>254 mckait: Nope. Chops were perfect, potatoes were rich and creamy, and I shared a tray of GingerOs with him for dessert.

I must be in love.

match made is heaven ?

No, but certainly a lot of fun.

I can't keep up, but I can flip through and look at pictures! Good ones, too, my friend.

Happy Weekend, please.

255 is cracking me up.

Just checking in to see how you're doing, Richard. It's too damn cold where you are and I know you've been having a painful week. Ergh. I'm hoping it's better.

239, 240 -- totally unappealing. Downright boring

>260 maggie1944: Thanks, Karen44, I sure plan to make it so. It's continuing to be cold, but the high-pressure system is in place so I don't have too many reasons to be crippling around. Whee!

>261 EBT1002: It's a good perspective check, isn't it? *smooch* Much better aches-wise, gout's not being miserable, so on balance okay.

It's Friday, BigDaddy, which makes me all kinds of happy!

I had to look up "Ginger-O's" and am now pea-greenily jealous of the both of you. Yes, it must be true love, because those things look amazing!

Hi RD- No, Maude, he's a famous actor.
He can't be that famous if I don't know who the heck he is ;) Me being the celebrity-watcher that I am (haha- not!)

Taking care out there RD? (the bag of bones covered in meat meme reminded me of Lady Gaga, if she ain't scary I don't know what is!)

>263 Crazymamie: Yay! *smooch*

>264 scaifea: To be fair, Jeremy buys me a case a month, so I'm really just sharing his cookies with him

Reluctantly.

>265 LovingLit: Gaga? Scary? Annoying, certainly, but scary? Michael Jackson's end days as a creepy white woman were scary. By that standard, what in the world can be described as scary?

^ The meat dress was scary. It grossed me out. Michael J, scary too.

#239-#241, #249 If anyone wants to know, he is Ryan Gosling, I can remember 4 movies featuring him that I have seen: Blue Valentine, Drive, Crazy Stupid Love and Ides of March.

And how could you forget The Notebook. Oh geesh, I'm ashamed I know that.

Isn't it wonderful that it's friday? I think Lady Gaga is slightly scary, but I agree that Michael Jackson was worse. Lady Gaga is more like a very very weird/slightly creepy kind of person.

>252 PaulCranswick: Never stays that way long around here, Paul!

Hi, RD! Glad you had a lovely day and evening yesterday. It's Friday! I remember when I was still working how happy those words made me. Enjoy the sunshine from inside the cozy warmth of the house!

Hi Rdear, wish y ou a lovely evening

>267 LovingLit: It didn't seem scary to me, just in questionable taste. Which one expects from youthful attention-seeking performers. Jackson OTOH was the real article. A sociopath, a narcissist, and deformed in body and mind by religion, fame, and pedophilia.

>268 PiyushC: Never heard of it, really? he was in that?, never heard of it, and what was that one?

>269 mahsdad: Never heard of it. Oh wait...wasn't that based on a book by that smarm merchant whatsistoes?

>270 Thebookdiva: It's always wonderful when the weekend approaches, I agree. *smooch*

>271 Storeetllr: I had a lovely evening, and today was a great deal less sucky than it could easily have turned out to be since it's still so effin' cold. It will be so hot tomorrow I'll need the a/c: 31°/0C! *whew*

>272 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara, wishing you a merry weekend!

Caught up but now I need a nap. I like that oval room. A good library should have a place to read heavy books without holding them.

>273 richardderus:. Yes. The only redeeming aspect is that it had Rachel McAdams, whom I find quite fetching.

Have you felt a disturbance in the Force, since I've been on LI? I waved at the exit for Hempstead off the LIE and blew you a smooch! My relatives looked at me funny...

I'll just bet they did! *smooch* back, and a patience *whammy* for tomorrow's snows.

Oh, I am so very sluggish lately, Rdear. However, I managed to hoist up my pajamas, tighten my robe,and lumber on over here.

Thank you for the excellent review of the latest Flavia (I'm thumb #20). I thought the first book was by far the weakest in the series. They'll probably not be in my top 25 series, but they offer light relief and an engaging setting. Of course your thoughts prompted me to buy the kindle edition. I need to read the Christmas book first, but I have to be in precisely the right mood for our Young Lady. And your comments about that moment when we cease to be children caused a powerful memory wave of Montana 1948; I'm eternally grateful to you for that little recommendation. Three more Watson books are waiting for me to get to them this year.

And Sherlock is indeed a great show. Netflix and roku have been life-changing for me.

>279 Matke: *smooch* for my buddy Danvers, happy you're here, we need to get you a warmer robe for the -11° outside.

I watched the third-season opener of Sherlock again, and was transported afresh by Watson's response to Sherlock's return. I totally believed it, and felt with him. Plus hilarious.

I very seldom watch TV anymore. It's never been my favorite thing (didn't own one for 22yrs). I don't like commercials, and never have. Now, with Netflix and my Chromebook, bye-bye boob tube!

So glad that Flavia is back in your queue, and thanks for the thumbs up. I enjoy the silliness of the series to date, but this new turn is a real risk. Interested to hear some more takes on it.

Montana 1948...oh my my my. Almost perfect. Such a beautiful book. Hey! What are you doing awake at 1am?! Go to bed!

Sherlock - wait until you see episode 3. Magnificent

Review: 2 of seventy-five

Title: GRIMOIRE OF THE LAMB

Author: KEVIN HEARNE

Rating: 3.6* of five

The Publisher Says: There's nothing like an impromptu holiday to explore the birthplace of modern civilization, but when Atticus and Oberon pursue a book-stealing Egyptian wizard - with a penchant for lamb - to the land of the pharaohs, they find themselves in hot, crocodile-infested water.

The trip takes an even nastier turn when they discover the true nature of the nefarious plot they've been drawn into. On the wrong side of the vengeful cat goddess Bast and chased by an unfathomable number of her yowling four-legged disciples, Atticus must find a way to appease or defeat Egypt's deadliest gods - before his grimoire-grabbing quarry uses them to turn him into mincemeat.

My Review: Set before the events of Hounded, this 30-ish thousand word novella is a treat. Bast the cat goddess gets Atticus and Oberon in a pile of scary trouble; Sobek the crocodile god is a complete nightmare; and Atticus isn't meeting them for the first time. It's stuff like this that makes the series such fun, this long memory of cool, scary stuff that, in another writer's sweaty paws, would be Utterly Portentous and Hypercharged with Meaning. Hearne, middle aged himself, writes the stuff like it's a middle-aged 2000-year-old Druid's bar stories. I like that.

The $2.99 the ebook costs is fine for entertainment received. At $1.99, I'd be insisting everyone buy it immediately. As it is, don't read this first but equally don't miss it. Atticus and Oberon (scandalously underutilized here!) are good value for money.

Hi Richard glad to see you are feeling slightly better and had a lovely time with your gentleman caller.

Thanks, Stephanie, it was a lovely time. I appreciate him.

#269 I am happy to report that I haven't watched The Notebook. I quite like Rachel McAdams too, specially after the Sherlock Holmes movie, in which she looks stunning!

#280 Sherlock is a special show!

Just saying hi! "Hi"

Just checking in..... Haven't done anything much but sweep snow and open my laptop. I need to move on in my day...

Nice weekend wishes to you. I hope it holds some happy surprises :)

Does your thingamajimmy get there today?

HEARNE! Must go find HEARNE! It's one I haven't read yet.

*runs off*

>285 PiyushC: *sigh* I suppose, having watched the Sherlock Holmes movie, I should know who Rachel McAdams is, but I don't.

>286 connie53: Hi Connie! *smooch*

>287 mckait: Morning, sweetness, hope today's events have begun and include coffee and surprise treats for you.

Not until next Wednesday, since it's sold by a third party. I got the electric blue one.

>288 Morphidae: *gleeful hand-rub* Wait 'til she finds out there's THREE novellas. Heh.

Morning, BigDaddy! LOVE the Iron Druid love, and your review gets a thumb from me. Please give Stella my love and take some for yourself.

*sigh*

Hello RD, that's my relationship status too. Love it. And Rachel McAdams played Irene Adler in the Sherlock Movies, I love her!

#291 you forgot Ginger-os!

The Iron Druid novellas are so well written. Have you read Two Ravens and One Crow? I'm glad you are enjoying this series Richard. ...this long memory of cool, scary stuff that, in another writer's sweaty paws, would be Utterly Portentous and Hypercharged with Meaning. Hearne, middle aged himself, writes the stuff like it's a middle-aged 2000-year-old Druid's bar stories. I like that. Exactly that!

I've gotten many of the books including one of the novellas from Overdrive. Check your libraries people!

Richard do you follow Hearne on FB or Twitter? He is hilarious. Oberon has his own Twitter @IrishOberon.

xoxo to you and Stella from me and The Devilles

>289 richardderus: HA! I've already read the other two.

ETA: And the short stories.

>292 Thebookdiva: Oh dear. I hope your status changes soon! I don't remember her from the movies, so she made little impression on me.

>293 luvamystery65: I have only read this one to date. I liked it well enough that I'll try more, though.

*smooch* and *schmoozle* from me, *slurp* from Stella

>294 Morphidae: Isn't it fun when something you like is abundant and easy to find? Happens so rarely.

What about >290 Crazymamie:? *sniff*

>290 Crazymamie:, 296 I didn't see it! *smoochiesmoochsmooch* So sorry sweetness, I would never *knowingly* neglect my snugglemuffin Mamie!



Will a Mary Cassatt painting of lilacs do as an apology gift?

Oh, yes! Thank you! That is so pretty!

Oooh - I keep meaning to read the novellas! I'm onto book 6 of the series and it's good to know I have tidbits to sustain me until the next book comes out :) Though I'm purposefully putting off the last book in order to eke it out...

Hope you are having a better weekend Richard? Hugs and puppies either way :)

#280 - Oh my stars, wait till you see The Sign of Three. XD It gets even better.

And His Last Vow, natch. Hehe, that episode ended me. D:

*hug* Good morning! Or afternoon for you... I hope no ouchies plague you today.

And seriously, I take great offense to the "praying mantis" and "strip dancer" comment about Benedict. That man is beautiful. I once attempted a portrait of his face and gained a new appreciation for it. The shadows and bone structure on his face are gloriously odd and defined, and that's what makes him so unique.

So yeah. Harrumph, harrumph.

And ooooooooooh, Mary Cassatt! *fangirl spasm*

Hi Rdear, I hope you have a great weekend
Help yourself on this rich Mezze

>298 Crazymamie: Oh good! Perkins! Please remove the Cassatt from the wall and wrap it for Miss Mamie, thank you.

>299 BekkaJo: Hi Bekka! Thanks for the hugs and puppies. I expect the weekend will come to its natural end, but frankly can't wait.

>300 ErisofDiscord:, 301 He's not a conventional beauty. I agree with what Mark Gatiss has Sherlock say: "Don't do that...you with your, your cheekbones..." But pretty he is not. Glad you like the Cassatt!

>302 Ameise1: *gobbleslobbergobblegobblesmacksmack*

Yum. Thanks, Barbara!

I'm not leaving. There are dolmades up there.

^ :)
I'll help you with the leftovers!