Miss Debbie

CONTENTS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

TENNESSEE LIFE

DOGS

PRODUCT REVIEWS

BOOK REVIEWS

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Happy Birthday Dad!
Figured I'd get a blog post out for his 81st birthday.

Sailor during Korean War

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TENNESSEE LIFE:
You know you live in a small town when the vet tech says she heard I went to driving school a week ago.
You know you live in the South when business acquaintances call me "Miss Debbie" and not "Ms. Buskirk".

Spring has sprung and I've come to realize that maybe I'm not a Winter Girl anymore. I do love snow. I used to love Winter days curled up on the couch under an afghan with a fire in the fireplace and just relaxing. But since going through Winter here in TN, I've realized that I'm now a 3-Season Girl. My love of curling up in front of the fire was because I used to work full time and a snow day was a total relaxation day. Now that I'm retired, I don't need that excuse to relax. I have this beautiful piece of property that I don't appreciate when it's cold outside and no leaves on the trees.

A few weeks back, our friend Petra from Massachusetts visited again. She is just like family. Scott and I can be totally be ourselves with her. We have such a great time with her. Hopefully, right after Labor Day, we'll try out the RV since moving back into a house and travel up for a visit.

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DOGS:
Our foster Lucky mentioned in my last post, was successfully adopted. No sooner was he gone, that I got a phone call of another pup in need. This rarely happened in NJ. So off I went to pick up Gunner.
Gunner was a fun 5 month old pup. Supposedly, the child was allergic. Whatever...He was an easy adoption. Hubby was not too happy, because he knew our friend Petra was coming. I usually sleep in the guest room with the foster dogs, so we didn't know how this would work. Well, Petra being the dog lover she is, welcomed Gunner into her bed and enjoyed his cuddles. So it all worked out great. Petra also went along with me to drop him off for the volunteer transport to get him to his adopters all the way to Wisconsin!!!

Gunner

A couple weeks have passed, and I just said to Scott how nice it is to have the  routine of just our own dogs. Well don't you know the very next day, I get a phone call of a dog in need in Nashville? Yes, I have another foster dog. I've named her GiGi meaning "G-G" for Good Girl. She was supposedly tied up to someone's house who has English Setters and left. This person kept her for a week, checked her for a microchip, checked local newspapers, craig's list, etc for a lost dog with no results. Unfortunately this pup kept escaping her chain link fenced yard. This family believe in keeping their dogs outside. Plus their two English Setters didn't really like having a new dog in their yard, so they decided to turn her over to rescue.

She is super SUPER sweet. She must have been a house dog at one point. She is housebroken and very easy care., She gets along great with our dogs. She is very skinny, but that is because she is not a good eater. We've had her just about 2 weeks and she's already spoken for and will be adopted to a couple in upstate NY.
Scott is now very accepting of fostering. I guess he doesn't have much of a choice.

Can you believe that guy in the chair is 58 years old????

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PRODUCT REVIEWS:
Canon PowerShot A710 IS
5 out of 5 stars

We have had this camera for about 15 years. We really are just a point and shoot type of photographer and have been very happy with this camera. We were looking for a camera mainly to take good photos of a black dog. Many cameras just wash out the dog and you just see a black blob. But our Canon did a beautiful job of showing off the beautiful black coat of our Flat Coated Retriever,Chance.

See how you can see all the waves in his coat? You can also see the unique Flat Coated Retriever shape of his snout/head. That is not a lab snout.
Recently, it's been acting funny. Not reliably turning on. So we decided to buy newer version of the

Canon Power Shot.SX160
$150. on Amazon
Jury still out on rating.

I don't think this has the contract of the black like the older Power shot, but still need some experimenting. The controls are easier. One simple button to take movies. But on the other hand, there is not an automatic flash. You have to flip up to open the flash. Seems a little backwards. Also, there is no eye viewer, only the screen viewer. Being an older person, I grew up with the eye viewer, plus in the sun, you cannot see the screen. I think I will continue to use my old Power Shot until it really bites the dust.




Wildlife Camera
Browning Trail Camera - Dark Ops
$132.00 at Amazon
My rating 4 out of 5
Easy camera to set up.
Fairly inexpensive
Long battery life.
Infrared flash so it doesn't scare wild life
I wish we had this while RV'ing. I think it not only would have been fun, or maybe a little scary to see what was creeping around our RV at night, but also may be a good thing to have for security in case of a break in.
The picture quality isn't great, but I'm just looking to capture what's going on while we're not outside. So far, we've only captured a few squirrels and my butt while clearing some brush in the woods.

BOOK REVIEW:

going insane by Tim Kizer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I should have known better. I don't enjoy short stories.
Plus, the main characters are definitely INSANE, with no moral, no remorse, etc. Just too much killing, like dropping dominoes.

Going Out in Style by Daniel Kelley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I should learn to NOT download short stories. I don't look forward to the beginning, story, ending in such a short amount of pages.
But, the 2nd story, "Bathtub Ripples", was disturbing, yet beautiful. I think I will always remember that story. So well described. I felt in a trance "listening" to this girl's story and how she ended up at the point she is.
I rate "Bathtub Ripples" 5 stars.

Deliver Me by Farrah Rochon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A nice light romance. I enjoyed the setting of New Orleans and the unique local flavor. Two Dr.'s trying to make a go of a relationship. One is lusted after by every female in the hospital, the other recently hurt in a relationship, yet she still takes a chance with Dr. "Hottie".
There is a sub-story included within the book that I really don't understand the purpose of, unless it is to establish characters for future books. The sub-story had nothing to do with the main story except for the fact that Dr. "Hottie" or "Super Doc" was their Dr. The sub-story only confused me in keeping track of development.
Not much depth to the story, but enjoyable. I don't think I'd buy the rest of the series unless they are free or under $1.99 downloads. The Holmes brothers are likeable characters and will make a pleasant series. The characters are mainly Black, but just normal people, almost not worth mentioning their race. No emphasis on race, just a couple of references so you know their ethnicity.

The Stranger by Harlan Coben
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book keeps you on the edge the whole time. Multiple stories, each involving a secret, switching back and forth. Just as something happens, or is just about to be revealed, or a question asked, we are switched to another set of characters and story. Constant cliff hangers!
Adam & wife
Heidi & daughter
Dan & son
John & son
plus the "Stranger" & accomplices.

A Highlander's Obsession by Vonnie Davis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hunky men in kilts. Mmmmm. An easy read and VERY enjoyable. I could easily become obsessed with this series. Creighton is a woman's fantasy man/lover/protector/provider/friend and to ice the cake, he's got the Scottish accent and many times wears his kilt. This is a total escape book. While reading the love scenes, all my surroundings still and dissipate and I am wrapped in my little world of perfect lovemaking. Let me cool down and talk about the actual storyline...
Paranormal genre with heavy romance thrown in. Characters with special abilities and evil counterparts. She describes her characters so you either love them or hate them. Not too many characters to get confused. Effie, also known as "Gram" is a really fun quirky character. She's old, wise, loveable, strange, and "bawdy", speaking her mind about her "heavy hung" late husband. I want to be like Effie as I grow into my senior years.
I will definitely continue this series. Smart move to offer the 1st in the series as a free Kindle download.

Word of Honor by Nelson DeMille
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

May be better read that listened to. This just dragged on and on and on. I increased the speed of my audio just to get through the slowness. I jumped for joy when I started part two of the audiobook. 11 minutes left of part two and I knew it couldn't end that quickly. UGH! There was a part three. I did finish, simply because I DID want to know the verdict/outcome, but it sure took a long time getting there.
Interesting in that the story reveals a soldier's side of Vietnam, I assume since I wasn't there. And you do wonder throughout the book if he is guilty by action or "just" association or not at all.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW:
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having grown up with Judy Garland and the Wizard of Oz and seeing the movie many times over, I'm very familiar with the details of this story.
Listening to the book was so interesting. To hear how the original story was written and the differences from the book and the movie. I enjoyed both versions thoroughly!
Anne Hathaway does an excellent job narrating.