Kate Collins's Blog, page 132

Getting to Know You…

Welcome Debbie Lestz Teahan. Thanks so much for doing the interview.Nothing more fun than getting to know each other. 
I live in Rochester, NY, and lost my 3 beautiful cats all in the same year 2 years ago so still in mourning. They were all 14 yrs old and it was terrible losing them all. Almost ready for a new kitten but not quite yet.

Love growing dahlias which is a big commitment. Also have a rose garden. Also grow peonies and many others. We have our beds timed so we start with hyacinths, crocus then get daffodils, forsythia and tulips. Lilacs and peonies follow then all the summer beauties. Ours is not a low maintenance yard.
Theater is my life and passion and I have an interactive mystery theater company - The Mystery Company. Almost 25 years in business. We do both interactive stage theater as well as Mystery dinner theater. Dinner theater pays the bills. Met my husband at Keuka Lake when I had a cottage there and we try to rent there almost every summer.
I'm an ocean person and try to get there as often as possible. Bermuda is the best but also love Cape Cod  and Virginia Beach. If it's been too long I shrivel up inside until I can see the ocean and smell it and hear the waves and dip my toes in it. I come alive again and the world resets itself. Right now I'm mostly shriveled.
I love every kind of color blue there is, but teal and turquoise are my favorites. You know, ocean colors. I am drawn to it and it makes me smile all over. I have touches of turquoise everywhere.
My Dad introduced me to mystery and sci fi at a young age. I am a voracious and fast reader and can read 3-4 books a week if not writing a script. Love Castle, Bones. Monk was a favorite and Psych.
My favorite classic authors are Dame Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Martha Grimes, and Dorothy Sayers. Martha Grimes I believe is one of the all time masters of characterization. She makes people really come alive and their story so compelling. There's a book she wrote about an rich heir orphan I cannot reread because it is so heartbreaking and the child so real. I feel the horror of her murder still.I think I have read all of Christie's books at least 3 times. "The Secret of Chimneys is my favorite and I reread that and a couple others from time to time. 
Favorite new authors are you, Donna Andrews, and Rhys Bowen. Reread all of these. Also reread Tolkien and Jk Rowling every so often. Can't remember my first mystery but it was probably Holmes. Would love to hang out with Castle. He seems like he's really fun. 
I think mystery is the exciting wonderful part of everything around us. Every story is heightened with a touch of the unknown that must be solved. To get me excited all I need is something like:
He walked into the room and knew immediately something was wrong. Very wrong. And it was missing!Now add wit and whimsy and fun characters and I'm yours. Oh, and a well constructed plot line and realistic dialogue with no ridiculous similes.

MINT JULEPS AND MURDER: THE HARPER SISTERS TELL ALL!

By Mary Kennedy                             
      
Hi ya'll! Rose and Minerva Harper here, from the Dream Club Mysteries.

Rose: Let me give a quick introduction. My sister Minerva and I have lived in Savannah for over eighty years and lately we've been so caught up in our Dream Club meetings and solving murders, I haven't had time to get back to my first love which is genealogy. You see, my family...

Minerva: (interrupting) Rose, land's sake, nothing you do is quick. Let me tell folks who we are. All they really need to know is that we are two of the founding members of the Dream Club, which meets at Ali and Taylor Blake's apartment once a week. They live right above their vintage candy shop, Oldies But Goodies, and they are just the sweetest girls...
                                                         
 Rose. (interrupting). Sometimes we meet more often than that. If we're hot in the trail of a murderer, we usually call emergency meetings. That's the best way to discuss details we uncover in our dreams that may lead to the real killer.
                                                       
Minerva, (heaves sigh). Well, yes, Rose, don't be so persnickety. Folks want just the facts. And the fact is we've already solved three murders in Savannah by finding clues in our dreams.

Rose (interrupting again). Just the facts, ma'am! That's what they used to say on Dragnet.

Minerva. Stay on topic, Rose. Focus. 

Rose, (sounding aggrieved) Well, can I least tell them about our meetings? The food is fantastic. Ali and Taylor have opened this darling little café in the candy shop and they love to try out all their recipes on us. We're beta-tasters, that's what they call it. They have all the southern favorites, everything from peach crisp to coconut cake and blackberry cobbler.  I think I've gained five pounds just from going to the meetings. (chuckles)
                                                             
 Rose (still talking). In fact, Sybil said she used all her "points" up for the whole day on just one Dream Club meeting and she was shocked!

Minerva. Well, I don't know why she was shocked, she always samples every single thing Ali and Taylor serve. And I don't think Sybil would appreciate you talking about her personal business, Rose. Some people are touchy about their weight and she's goin' to meetings and everything. Bless her soul, she's doing her best. And let's face it, those desserts are just way too tempting.                                      

Rose. Can I at least tell people about the lovely lunch we had at Beaux Reves? The mistress of the estate, Abigail invited us because she was having frightening dreams. She had a premonition of her own death and she wanted us to advise her.
                                                         
                                                
Minerva. Well, now that you've let that cat out of the bag, we might as well go whole hog and tell folks that we solved a murder mystery in that book, too.   It's called A Premonition of Murder and folks can order it right now, if they want.                                     
   Rose. Some folks might want to read about our other books and see how we use dreams to solve crimes. Minerva. For once, I have to agree with you, Rose. Nightmares Can Be Murder is a good place to start. It tells all about the Dream Club and how we happened to form the group. And our work continues in Dream a Little Scream. Rose: Can I give them Etta Mae's recipe for Blackberry Cobbler?  Minerva. I can see that you're going to keep asking, so yes, give it to them.  Rose: It only has four ingredients! Flour, sugar, milk and butter. (she claps her hands together and smiles) Minerva (sighs). Five, Rose, Five. You forgot the blackberries.  Rose (abashed.). Okay, well, here goes.  Ingredients:  one cup milk one stick butter, melted one cup white sugar one cup all purpose flour one package fresh blackberries (you can use other fruit if you want) Directions: Mix milk, butter, sugar and milk. Pour into greased 9 by 9 pan. I use Pam.Now, sprinkle blackberries over the top and bake at 350 for one hour. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.  It is delicious!! By Mary Kennedy                                                       

Recipes!

by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett


Did you get our latest newsletter?  It went out on Tuesday.  If you missed it, please check your SPAM filter -- or you can click this link.

In it we let our readers know that now there's an easier way to find all the recipes the Chicks have posted over the years.  On the lefthand column, just down a ways, you'll see a listing of the Chicks names that links to their blog posts.  Near the bottom are links to all our wonderful recipes.  When you click on those links and check out the recipes, and want more -- just look on the bottom left for a link that says OLDER POSTS and that will take you to more of our recipes.

Mmmm...good food.  Like cookies, cakes, pies, and much much more.

What's on the menu at your house this weekend?

What's the worst that could happen?

By Mary Jane Maffini aka Victoria Abbott

In writing, 'what's the worst that could happen?' is a useful plotting tool for the author. In real life, not so much. So last week, we had record rainfall after a heavy snowfall, temperatures well over freezing and a power outage in January: what could go wrong with that?


If you said my finished basement could flood, you would be right on.  Just as we were relaxing and    curled up waiting to see the latest Downton Abby on PBS, the lights flickered ominously three or four times and went out.

Part of the basement in happier days!
No biggie, we said, and lit a few candles in hurricane lamps.  
The power company estimated two hours before service would be restored.  Again, no biggie. The house was warm and dry and we could chat or nap. With luck, we’d see the episode before midnight. Eleven came and went and the moment we dread arrived.  Water started to rise in what we call ‘the pump room’. The pump room is that hideous little space where the sump pump works to keep water out of the basement.  It is powered by electricity.  



Mysterious and hideous, but VERY useful sump pump area. Try to imagine in it in the dark.
 Time to start bailing!  How long could that  power be off?   No pix here. I never want to see another bucket again!
Each call to the power company resulted in a later estimate.  Never mind. Bail! Bail! Bail!  I became the bailer.  I was glad I’d been lifting weights.  The Hubster would take the buckets upstairs and toss them out.   He must have hauled a hundred buckets. Meanwhile we filled huge storage buckets with water, but as the hours rolled on and the temperature rose, the water came in faster and faster. 
By two forty five. we had lost count of buckets and the water had reached the top of the sump pump opening. It didn’t matter how fast we bailed, the water was faster.  Soon it crested and began a slow creep along the floor of the pump room and toward the finished part of the basement. Bail! Bail! Bail!  Too little, too late. 
The water reached the carpeted area at three a.m.  It had also begun to seep in other directions toward other rooms.  Perhaps I should mention that our basement is finished, with an area to relax and watch TV and space for guests, plus two office areas, but as I may have said, it is furnished mostly in books. Thousands of them. 

While I bailed and filled more large containers to try to slow the spread, my husband raced from bookcase to bookcase taking everything on the bottom shelves and stacking the books, papers, files on tables, chairs, and desks.  Where he could, he took the actually wooden shelf as well.  He worked in the direction of the water spread and at high speed.  We lifted up chairs and anything with a wood bottom or legs. Computers, printers and other equipment were unplugged and plunked somewhere safer. 
This was all in relative darkness with flickering (and formerly romantic) hurricane lamps.  At some point there was a lively discussion as to why we didn’t have a battery back-up pump and a generator.  Why indeed?
Just as the water reached across the first room and started to spread into the  furnace room, the lights came on.  Three thirty a.m. 
We looked around at chaos.  Water had crept around the perimeter of one side of the basement and reached walls behind the bookcases.  In the two bedroom areas, we lifted bed skirts and moved chairs. We knew then we were too late to save the carpet and some of the walls.  We didn’t lose a single book though, although some of the book cases are goners. 
In the morning, a crew sent by the insurance company arrived, a bit later than I would have expected.  Apparently, we were not the only ones and we weren’t the worst by a long shot. We had something to be thankful for.  Their first job was to pack and label books and stack them in a dry part of the basement. Good thing there was some space where the water hadn't reached.  These boxes represent about half the books.  All those that were still in a dry place will need to be moved to change the floor.




Their second job was to cut out the affected carpet and then to cut out any drywall that the water had reached.     



I don’t envy them their job.  It’s a tough one and they are dealing with very stressed people as a rule.  Because we hadn’t lost a single book or picture, or even a piece of equipment, we were pretty agreeable. In fact, we’d always hated that carpet which had been installed just before we put in an offer on this house.  Of course, we didn't hate it enough to change it.
Finally, giant dehumidifiers and blowers to brought in the make sure it all dried out.  





No one was hurt. We were home and were able to limit the damage by bailing and hauling water out. Our house is still standing, we have other areas that we can work in and we know that many people are not lucky enough to say that. That’s the good news. 
The bad news is that we will now go though a few months getting our place back to normal, there will be hammers and saws and nail guns and workers and the thump of boots. Those are rarely a writer’s favorite sounds.  Everything will have to be packed and moved, once to fix walls and replace flooring and then back again.  
The other good news is that we now have a generator, in case Mother Nature decides to ‘bring it on’ again. It’s a big sucker and it’s now rigged up so that it will be easy to switch to it if we have to, although first it will need to be wheeled out of the porch and away from the house.  Exhaust from generators has been fatal more than once around this area, especially during the eight to ten days of power outage during the ice storm o 1998. 
There’s a lot to be thankful for. I like the generator. It’s a Champion and it has a heroic aspect to it. I think I’ll name it.  Max?  Thor?  Godzilla? If you have a suggestion for a name, I’d love to hear it.
Next we’ll pick up a pump with a back-up battery. Soon (although not nearly soon enough) we will have new floors and repaired walls in our basement.  
Eventually we’ll get back to normal.  You’ve seen some of the ‘before’ photos. Would you like to see the afters when the time comes? 
And now, how about you? Have you had a flood to contend with?  How did you manage? I hope you were able to recover!

What’s January Good for…

I wish 
I could think of something to save this month from being totally rotten. It’s always been a bad luck month so what I’ve done the last two years is just rip January off the calendar. Ta-da. No more January.
That works a little but there’s taxes that are due, the cost of Christmas becomes a reality with the January credit card statement. Ouch! Snow is here for real, cold is here for double real. It’s gray and cloudy.
So to get over it I bought myself a bag of color marshmallows. They taste like dung but the colors make me happy and I’m sitting here thinking of good things about January to help get though it.
Hey, the days are getting longer. Yippppp for that. It’s a good month to write, there’s no yard work to tempt me outside. I made it to 2016.  At my age you take success where you can find it. 
The cats actually cuddle. I tell myself it’s that they adore me but we all know it’s to stay warm. All the crappy weather makes me really appreciate spring when it gets here. I have 11 months to get my Christmas shopping done.


Okay, I feel better now. There are some good things about January. So do you have anything to add to my list? Is there ANYTHING you like about January?

Pet Memories

by Maggie Sefton




Serena sent me this great photo 


That's it.  I cannot resist, so I'm throwing in the towel and joining in the "adorable pets" photo post.  Let's face it.  We all love to look at cute photos of other people's pets.  And sometimes our own.  But my Border Collie Katy would be appalled at the suggestion that she wear a garment.  Plus, she would never hold still enough for me to put it on her.  She would wiggle and twist and have that sweater off in 2 minutes.  The same goes for Blue Tick Coon Hound Max.  Max would probably let me put a sweater on him, but then he'd wiggle and twist (Coon Hounds are lithe and limber) and have it off in 2 to 3 minutes.  And then, he would eat it.  As far as Hounds are concerned, if it's lying around and doesn't move, then they'll sniff and then have a taste.  They are perpetually hungry eating and running machines.  And the squirrels in my backyard give both Katy and Max a workout.


Serena & Jeff's French Mastiff puppy Boss and Sweet Dachsund  Oscar with the "Devil Eyes."  


So Today, I'm posting cute photos of daughter Serena's and s-i-l Jeff's sweet Dachsund Oscar.     Yes, I've posted many, many photos of Oscar over the last two+ years that Serena and Jeff have been together.  Plus some photos of my doggies.  Mary's post yesterday about their adorable Dachsunds inspired me.  Plus, Oscar let's Serena and Jeff dress him up.  But I'm also compelled to give our friends who are Cat owners and lovers some love first.  :)


I grew up in a home where we had both a dog and a cat.  Our Kitty was named "Kitty."  A deceptively innocent name for our big bruiser of a Tabby.  Our "Kitty" loved to stay out late at night and fight.  And he was good at it.  Needless to say, Kitty was "intact," if you know what I mean.    His only war wound was a slightly mauled ear.  But he was a silly lover boy whenever he was at home with us in a house with 3 women----my grandmother, my mother, and me (a child to be accurate).  Kitty could count on us to ooooh and ahhhhh and pat him incessantly.  



Oscar in one of his Holiday outfits


Our doggy was a sweet-natured black Cocker Spaniel named "Tippy."  Didn't everybody back then have a dog named Tippy?  A real homebody, Tippy did her part by barking if someone came to the front door, but she would have licked any intruder to death if one had ever ventured inside.  Once Tippy died my Mom grieved so that we didn't get another dog.  Until I was married and my husband and I decided on a gorgeous Irish Setter, named "Maggie."  She was beautiful and loved us all and loved to escape our home in West Lafayette, Indiana and go "Walkabout."  In Maggie's case, however, it was "Runabout."  She'd tease us when we went chasing after her.  She'd stop just far enough ahead and look back at us, as if to say 'You gotta run faster to catch me!"  We never did.  We'd ask some student who was passing close by (Purdue University is in W. Lafayette) to grab her collar, then we could capture her.




Border Collie  Katy  at Vet's office


And of course, a great many of you remember my Sweet Rottie Carl that I've posted about many times. Cancer took my sweet boy in 2008.  I always said Death came calling for Carl 3 times.  The first time Carl eluded the grim reaper was when he was just a 10week old puppy and had a terrible dog influenza that takes lots of young
puppies.  With the Texas vet's help, puppy Carl fought it off and survived to thrive. The 2nd time the reaper came calling was in 2007 when the Canine Influenza swept into the U.S. by way of the racing greyhounds in Florida.  That canine flu was a new strain and worked its way through the entire U.S., killing off dogs everywhere.  No dog had immunity.  Plus, most vets didn't even recognize it at first because it mimicked Kennel Cough.  That flu also had a cough with it.  Consequently, some dogs didn't get treated in time.  Thankfully my Ft Collins vet Dr. Mulnix told me that he though Carl had that new flu, then handed me 3 vials of Carl's blood and told me to get Carl to our Colorado State


University Vet School Clinic immediately.  He said he called them and they had a "triage team" waiting for him now.  He loaded Carl into my Explorer and I drove as fast as I could to the Vet School and sure enough, they were standing outside the front door of the large Vet Hospital with a gurney and a team, waiting.  They rushed Carl into Intensive Care and started him on their own "new experiemental" vaccine they were developing against this very flu.


Blue Tick Coon Hound  Max  hoping the Vet has forgotten or lost that dreaded thermometer.


Thanks to their excellent care and that vaccine, Carl recovered quickly and went back to his healthy self, galumphing around the backyard with Border Collie Katy bossing him around.  And you all know that Death came calling for Carl a 3rd time in 2008 with Cancer.  A virulent fast-growing tumor that spread quickly.  He passed peacefully without pain (thanks to the Vet) in my arms at the Vet's office.

Goodness-----I didn't mean to regale you folks with the entire story all over again.  But. . .I guess it's just a reminder of the powerful hold on our emotions and our memories that our Beloved Pets have.  Does anyone want to share a loving memory of your own?  Share with us.

CATS IN HATS, DOGS IN DENIM

By Mary Kennedy
                                                            
Sometimes I think there are two types of people in the world--those who love to dress up their pets and those who think it's a wacky idea. I have to admit, I fall into the first camp; I enjoy cats in bowties, dogs in fedoras and everything in between.  But wait, let me clarify. I enjoy seeing other people's pets in costumes, my six unruly cats would never let me dress them up in anything! I even promised them liver treats if they would don a Halloween costume and it was a no-go.
                                                           
 Some pet outfits are practical and make perfect sense. Check out Duncan, Fred Yoder's adorable dog, braving an Indiana winter in his parka. What's not to love? Duncan's outfit is practical (and he looks darn cute)                                                                                            The same goes for doxies in raincoats, certainly these adorable little outfits serve a good purpose.  And some outfits veer toward the bizarre. The dog above is ready for his Bark Mitzvah.                                                                                                     A cat wearing an apron may (or may not) be practical. Yes, she looks cute helping Mommy in the kitchen, but seriously, how much can she accomplish?  (And what would the Board of Health say!)                              A pair of glasses can make a cat look thoughtful....                                                            ...or ready to run for office. Hank (pictured below, wearing a bow tie) ran for office in Virginia. The bow tie adds a certain gravitas, I think. Think "Tucker Carlson." .                     A hat can make a dog look like a Skipper ("Aye, aye, captain!")                                    Or just plain cute...  And who can resist a cat in a Santa hat?     A costume can turn a dog into a leprechaun (sort of)   Some people say that cats and dogs don't need cute outfits, they're perfect, just as they are.     What do you think? Would you dress up your pet? I'd love to hear your thoughts. By Mary Kennedy                                                          

Getting to Know You…

Just like we promised here are interviews from our wonderful readers. This week is Bob Giddings!! What a great guy…
Tell us a little about yourself Bob…
-Where do you live now? Southwest Michigan
-Where were you born? Kalamazoo, MI
-Pets? Kids? Hobby? Currently no pets or kids.
-What do you do for fun? Read, volunteer, watch high school and college sports
I read most of the children's series Tom Swift, Rick Brant, Hardy Boys, then moved to Earl Stanley Gardner, Ellery Queen, Margaret Truman, etc. Got hooked on cozy when I came across JoAnna Fluke in the library.
Thanks, Bob!! If you’d like to be interviewed email: DuffyBrown@DuffyBrown.com or message authorDuffyBrown on FB. 

Spotlight! Your personal tour of historic Van Alst House

In our area, house tours are a big deal. People buy tickets to traipse through high end and interesting dwellings. So we thought you might like a personalized tour of the historic home we are most interested in.  Welcome to Van Alst House, home of Harrison Falls’ leading (and most hated) family and the primary setting for our book collector mysteries.  Your guide will be Jordan Bingham, Vera Van Alst’s research assistant.  Like Jordan, we think that the covers of the book collector mysteries give you a sense of this grand old book-filled house.


Jordan here! Are you ready to start the tour?   Look out for the little pug, Walter. He's my 'aunt's' dog, but he spends all his time with me. He'll scamper along trying to cadge treats. Just be careful not to trip over him.



Since Great grandfather Van Alst established the shoe factory in the nineteenth century, the family’s fortunes swelled and the Van Alst influence grew.  When the factory went out of business, the community was devastated and many people hated Vera, the last of the family, perhaps because she had just enough money left to continue living in her ancestral home, not so opulent, but still way above what most people had.  Of course, Vera is a recluse and a noted curmudgeon, so that didn’t help.Still, while the fortune was pretty well gone, the sprawling granite pile (Scottish baronial perhaps?) lingers on in the middle of acres of still manicured grounds, fringed with evergreens on one edge and stately maples on the other. 
Come on in!   We just have a short time, so let’s make the best of it.Here in the grand foyer, you can see in both directions what I like to think of as the endless corridors running in both directions.  Vera, as you know, is in a wheelchair, as a result of a long ago accident and that elevator gets her to the second floor where her suite and the guest suites are.  Off limits for us, I’m afraid.

Except for Vera taking the elevator, we rarely use the foyer.  Everyone in Van Alst House resists answering the door, so it’s lucky I was here to let you in.  Anyway, our life in Van Alst House mostly takes place in other parts of the house.

I call this the ‘mile-long’ corridor although that may be an exaggeration. Am I walking too fast?  We are heading past the ballroom and the parlor.  We rarely use those, although at one time, celebrities, politicians and even minor royalty might have danced and chatted there. On the walls, those oil paintings are of Vera’s ancestors. Yes, they all do look rather constipated. Yes, an unfortunate gene pool. 

Here is one of my favorite rooms: Vera’s study!  The Sheridan desk is worth a fortune.  I love the ten foot windows and the faded velvet drapes and the fainting couch, which is now faded to a pale amethyst. Yes, that is an Aubusson carpet on the floor.  Vera likes to lord it over people from behind that desk.  I am still recovering from my interview in this space. 

Let’s hurry along so we can be into and out of the conservatory before Vera shows up for lunch.  Your day will go better if we don’t run into her.  Not far now!  And ta da!  Here it is:


I love the conservatory and we eat breakfast and lunch here every day.  We would be Vera, me, my Uncle Kev who is a general helper around the place when he’s not blowing things us. Meals are served by Signora Panetone, who has been here since Vera was a child back in the sixties.  That swinging door leads to the kitchen, but the signora prefers not to have a lot of people there.  She did, however, prepare this wonderful Italian sponge cake and these almond cookies for you as well as the vat of coffee.  




While you have a snack, I can point of Vera’s New York Times crossword. She does one every day. Um, sorry, but I wouldn’t touch that, in case. 


Yes, it’s very comfortable and beautiful in this room.  And we do enjoy the view of the property from the glass expanse here in the conservatory.  As you can see, Uncle Kev has been making snow angels instead of whatever he was supposed to be doing. Still, like Uncle Kev, snow angels are pretty cheerful. 


Now, on to the dining room.  Go ahead, have a seat at the table, but watch your legs.  There may be a cat seeking an opportunity to give you a swipe.  It is grand isn’t it?  I sit at this end every night. We dine as eight and proper dress is required. Sorry about that. Bad Cat likes to claw. Good Cat likes to cuddle. Hard to know who's under there.  I always wear high boots to dinner for that very reason. I’m sure Uncle Kev can find you a bandage. 

Good Cat or possibly Bad Cat
The black walnut sideboard is priceless as are the Georgian silver candle sticks.  I love having dinner here and as Vera’s at the far end of the table with Uncle Kev in the middle, it’s not too bad socially.  The food is always wonderful. You can see another swinging to do the butler’s pantry and the kitchen.Let’s head along to the library.  This is why I work here. You may know that Vera is a noted book collector of fine first editions, with a specialty in mysteries from the Golden Age of Detection. I help with improving the collection, buying and selling.  The library is very special and I had to plead to get permission to let you in.  Security is tight around here and we require a pass to get through the door. Uncle Kev will make sure no one leaves with anything and of course, we have security cameras.

You’ll notice that the room has a specially build mezzanine.  Vera’s collection is spread over both levels. I love the wrought iron circular staircase and the balustrade. The rosewood bookcases were also custom built. They add such warmth and richness to the room.  Again, the rugs are Aubusson. I can’t even imagine what they cost.  The artwork and bronze statues were bought by Vera’s father and are very important to her.  Yes, the leather chairs are amazing.  I don’t get a chance to relax in here, but if I did, I’d pick those chairs.  I love the scent of the library, all rich old wood, leather and books. Everyone inhale. You can’t beat that.

It seems that we are out of time. I had hoped to show you my lovely little apartment on the attic level, in what was once the maids’ quarters, but perhaps you’ll visit again and we can complete our tour.Now if we play our cards right we can lock up, dash along yet another endless corridor lined with Vera’s unappealing ancestors and, if our luck holds, we can be at the front door before she descends for lunch.   
I’ll let you all know when the coast is clear and you can come again for part two.  In the spring or summer you’ll be able to walk in the gardens including the signora’s quite eccentric kitchen garden. Stay out of the woods though. Who knows what Uncle Kev had been cooking up there.In the meantime, Signora Panetone has packed up little packages of chocolate almond biscotti for each of you.  Thanks for visiting!  Now run for your lives!
By Victoria Abbott aka Mary Jane and Victoria Maffini 

Christmas After Math

by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett

Well, the holidays are over. Sort of.  It took me a week to decorate my tree (okay, I only worked on it during the evenings), and now I'm rather reluctant to take it down. It's so pretty, and it makes Mr. L and I very happy to look at it ... so it might stay up for another week.  (Because, frankly, I'm too busy to take it down right now. Maybe next week.) This picture really doesn't do it justice (you can't see the nine million ornaments on it).

I was REALLY good in December.  I didn't indulge in the usual holiday foods. I wasn't exercising as much as I should, but I was maintaining and was pretty happy about it. I made 5 dozen cut-out cookies, but did not have one of them. I made a mince pie, but did not have a slice. I made banana bread, and had one tiny piece. I was REALLY good.

 Then Christmas day came and all of a sudden there were boxes of candy.  Many Boxes And Bags Of CANDY which were given to me.

I can go months without eating candy, but now?  If I make it a few hours without sneaking a piece of candy, I'm lucky. 

So it's back to the daily grind of exercise with my buddy Leslie Sansone and trying not to walk within a few feet of the jar of Quality Street.

I'm not one to buy a lot of junk food. (Mr. L ... not so much.) My theory is if you don't have this stuff in the house, you cannot eat it and get in trouble with the scale.  But it's here, and it's calling to me.

Do you have a strategy NOT to pack on the pounds from holiday food?  If so ... PLEASE SHARE!!!