Where's the ball/s??

CONTENTS

TENNESSEE LIFE

RV

PETS

BOOK REVIEWS

CRAFTS

CHUCKLE

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TENNESSEE LIFE:

We went through a really bad cold spell under freezing for many days a couple of weeks ago. But just since those couple of weeks, the weather has blossomed as have the daffodils! Scott and I enjoyed some time outside on our porch, reading. Since we now have both front and back yards fenced, we can enjoy the company of our dogs on any section of our covered porch. Ahhh, the country life!
Scott has gotten into bird feeding and now bird watching. I cleaned out the bird houses and have them back up waiting for new residents.

I have thought about gardening, but just don't want to bother. I'm surprised by that. I was so excited to grow our own vegetables, but I admit, I've gotten quite "lazy" and just enjoy living the life of a senior citizen. I guess I'm a little young for that at 58, but this is what I like to do.

Speaking of lazy....

These are still sitting on our porch since we emptied our storage unit. These 3 boxes are things I THOUGHT I would put in the house. They are just a lot of knick knacks...mainly dog themed, but I have lost my need? want? for all these dust collectors. So I'm still purging even though we have the room now. "Things"/ "Stuff" just collects and makes more work...dusting. Our house is VERY dusty. I think it is from the 5-6 dogs and lack of grass through the Winter. We use the coffee machine every day and yet, even that gets a layer of dust on it! Do I really want to be moving and dusting all these cutesy dog figurines?? No!
FULL TIME living in an RV has changed my whole attitude about our possessions. I want things to be functional and better yet, mult-functional and even better, compact too.

We were informed that our the previous owner of our house committed suicide. This was to be her retirement home with her husband. He died of cancer. She kept the house for a year after, but decided to sell it to move closer to family. She shot herself on Valentine's Day. She was only about 50.
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RV:
I found recently that our 5th wheel is not an RV, since it is not a vehicle. Oh well, it's still an RV to me. You all know what I mean. I'm not missing the RV as much as before. I think it's because I'm really enjoying the freedom the dogs have with our huge fenced yard. Also, I'm enjoying the convenience of a large refrigerator and regular sized kitchen, stove and sink!
Of course, having a washer/dryer just waiting to be used on a whim and not scheduled is really nice also.
We'll be giving her a good cleaning, some lubricants for the slides, etc. and close her up soon. Sigh.
Next post, I'll have a product review for something you RV'rs may be interested in purchasing. I wish we had this when we were on the road.
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PETS:

Lucky

It's still a revolving door of dogs in our home. We are now fostering Lucky. He is about 5 years old and very sweet to people. He's a nervous dog and has to be separated from our dogs, because if they get too close, he attacks. He attacked our 11 yr old deaf dog, Lyla. She is a total sweetheart, but damn! She gave it right back to Lucky. We saw blood and thought it was from our sweetheart, but nope, she bit his ear!!! He didn't learn his lesson though. Thankfully, he is being adopted at the end of the month, by a single man with no other pets.

Now on to BALLS!

Our Gordon Setter is 7 months old and 67 pounds! He is definitely going to be a big boy! He has started to show signs that his testosterone is kicking in. He's starting to mark where the other dogs pee and once in a while, lifts his leg to pee. Well, we'll nip that in the bud!!! Cut em off! Yep, his balls are gone! Funny thing, we think he keeps looking for them. He has become balls obsessed! Ryan loves chasing tennis balls, to the point of obsession. It's a good bonding time for Scott and Ryan.

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BOOK REVIEW:
Fallen Palm by Wayne Stinnett
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Not my cup of tea. Very detailed descriptions of the Florida keys, boats, etc. Too much for me. I want to get into the storyline. I'm sure others find the descriptive writing about the Florida Keys very interesting. Just not for me.
I may return to this book because the base story sounds interesting, but just couldn't get through all the details.

Freefall by Tess Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As "Aura" stated in her review...
"Nix is totally best-book boyfriend-ever material. He's sweet enough to swoon for, Alpha enough to want to obey, and sexy enough to drop panties for. Then again, I have a soft spot for artists and good men with rough edges."
Add to that the damsel is not only in distress but has a handicap (mute).
Nix is a modern knight in shining armor.
The story can be somewhat slow, but I enjoyed the characters so much, I was interested in the little details of their lives.

Frenched by Melanie Harlow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The main female character reminded me of myself. I am a constant list maker and like things to be planned. And in my younger days, I have very pleasant memories of "romance".
Nice story, predicable. Great girl book. Much of the book was hot, raw, but not raunchy sex scenes. Although I really enjoyed them and thought of my own past, it did get to the point where I just scanned over the sex to find out what happens next. I scanned the sex because, Lucas ALWAYS hits the sweet spot, they ALWAYS seem to have simultaneous orgasms. Only so much I could take. I'm very envious.

A Game of Proof by Tim Vicary
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Detailed courtroom drama. At first I had a difficult time getting used to the English terms and English court system, but soon grew accustomed. Also, many abbreviations were used for detective, policemen, etc., which I didn't know what they stood for.
Excellent storyline. The barrister, Sarah is not a likeable character. She is driven to obsession with her career, claiming it is for her son to have a better life than she did, but at what sacrifice? Now he is grown and accused of murder.
She is having trouble dealing with not only her grown son, but also her teenage daughter and her loving husband. All seem to be put 2nd to her career and they lash out.
A possible serial murderer/rapist is in York. Or is it two guys working together? Or is it the guy Sarah just got cleared of rape charges, or is it her own son? Read on to find out.

A Gift of Ghosts by Sarah Wynde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cute story about a community with "quirks" or special powers. The main character can communicate with ghosts. Sweet characters, a little danger, some romance. Most of the ghosts reminded me of young married couple that are ghosts in "Beetlejuice". Cute.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: 
Sycamore Row by John Grisham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very good court drama about the legitimacy of 2 different wills. I kind of saw the ending ahead of time, but still held my interest. Typical Grisham courtroom...

Triptych by Karin Slaughter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My husband recommended this to me. He kept asking if I liked it as I'm reading. Yes, I did like it. The beginning was a good read (3 stars), but as you get further into it, and learn of everyone's past and how it has evolved into the present, the book got better.
Even though I pretty much could tell who the real villain was fairly early on, my interest held because I wanted to see the delicate dance between the accused, and the real killer, how the detectives investigate, etc.
Very, very good. Not quite 5 stars but a solid, 4.5 star read.
Narrator was good for the most part, but sometimes the southern accents just seemed to blend into one another.

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you like Zombie books, this is the book for you. I'm a Vampire fan and did not like the characteristics of the Vampires depicted in this book. And no-Vampires don't have to be sexy, but I don't like them mindless which is how most of them are described here. To me, that is more Zombie behavior.
The beginning of the book was good. I was looking forward to the mystery evolving of the plane landing with unusual circumstances. The middle of the book was kind of boring (for non-zombie fans), then the ending was exciting.
The book definitely left a typical opening for continuing the series.
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CRAFTS:
I'm really enjoying my Jackon Underground Knitting group. We eat at a great Japanese restaurant, laugh, do show and tell, etc.
I am thrilled with retirement life and being able to knit for hours if I want. Sometimes when I need a break from the dog rescue work, I just listen to an audio book and knit and knit and knit. My knitting friends think I'm a fast knitter...no...I just have more time to knit than they do.
I'm still enjoying MKAL's (Mystery Knit A Longs). I've completed 5 so far in 3 months. Here's my latest called, The Lightning Thief

The top middle section of zig zags is supposed to look like lightning bolts. This has a lot of beads which can't be seen in this photo. I ran out of yarn for this. There wasn't supposed to be a different color border, but I like it a lot. I used leftover yarn from another finished project. The lighter yarn is silk from The Kangaroo Dyer and the darker yarn is silk/merino from Knit Picks called Gloss.

An earlier MKAL this year, called Triangle of Happiness. Mine does not look like a triangle because I did an extra wedge to make it larger.

This one is also beaded, but only a few. For this pattern, I was just using stash yarn given to me, Paton's Lace. This is mostly acrylic with some mohair and wool.

I still don't know what to do with all these finished items.
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CHUCKLE: