Kate Collins's Blog, page 39
April 1, 2019
A Look Back
by Maggie Sefton
Mary's post on Monday brought back all sorts of memories about those annoying robo-calls. I do believe the increase in those calls jangling our phones started years ago. Most of us tried several methods to reduce all those calls. I started out by answering the calls, listening to them give about ten seconds of their spiel, then---in a cold voice---replying "I'm not interested." Then I would immediately click the phone off before they could start another part of their script. I am told telemarketers use a script that's provided to them on a computer screen.
However, instead of reducing the number of phone calls I received, I started to receive even more. Clearly, engaging with the callers encouraged them. Soooooo, I tried ignoring the jangling phone calls. That was REALLY annoying. After a few months, I bought a recommended answering machines. I would set the machines to answer the phone after the fourth ring, give a recorded message that I wasn't able to come to the phone but please leave a message. . .blah, blah, blah. Later that day I would check the messages and return the calls of legitimate businesses. So, that method seemed to solve the problem-----for a while.
That was MANY years ago, folks. My former husband and I had one of the first cell phones that sat on the floor between driver's and passenger seats. It was called a "Brick phone." It was square and boxy and plugged into the car's cigarette lighter outlet. Believe me, we weren't using those big, boxy phones to call friends and family. It was purely for emergencies. What were we using to call friends & family? This was the early 1990s time period, so I remember using one of the early Nokia flip cell phones. It made calls and retrieved limited amounts of information. There were T-Mobile cell phones and Android and Samsung phones which retrieved more information. I actually eliminated my land line phone entirely since the only calls were from telemarketers.
We were using our cell phones to call friends, family, business associates, and other businesses we dealt with regularly. We were on the brink of a whole new world. And it came bursting through when Steve Jobs brought out the first iPhone. And we were off to the Races. :) Whatever you choose to use, folks, remember the most important point: Don't forget to plug it in and re-charge it regularly. :)
Mary's post on Monday brought back all sorts of memories about those annoying robo-calls. I do believe the increase in those calls jangling our phones started years ago. Most of us tried several methods to reduce all those calls. I started out by answering the calls, listening to them give about ten seconds of their spiel, then---in a cold voice---replying "I'm not interested." Then I would immediately click the phone off before they could start another part of their script. I am told telemarketers use a script that's provided to them on a computer screen. However, instead of reducing the number of phone calls I received, I started to receive even more. Clearly, engaging with the callers encouraged them. Soooooo, I tried ignoring the jangling phone calls. That was REALLY annoying. After a few months, I bought a recommended answering machines. I would set the machines to answer the phone after the fourth ring, give a recorded message that I wasn't able to come to the phone but please leave a message. . .blah, blah, blah. Later that day I would check the messages and return the calls of legitimate businesses. So, that method seemed to solve the problem-----for a while.
That was MANY years ago, folks. My former husband and I had one of the first cell phones that sat on the floor between driver's and passenger seats. It was called a "Brick phone." It was square and boxy and plugged into the car's cigarette lighter outlet. Believe me, we weren't using those big, boxy phones to call friends and family. It was purely for emergencies. What were we using to call friends & family? This was the early 1990s time period, so I remember using one of the early Nokia flip cell phones. It made calls and retrieved limited amounts of information. There were T-Mobile cell phones and Android and Samsung phones which retrieved more information. I actually eliminated my land line phone entirely since the only calls were from telemarketers.
We were using our cell phones to call friends, family, business associates, and other businesses we dealt with regularly. We were on the brink of a whole new world. And it came bursting through when Steve Jobs brought out the first iPhone. And we were off to the Races. :) Whatever you choose to use, folks, remember the most important point: Don't forget to plug it in and re-charge it regularly. :)
March 31, 2019
THOSE PESKY SALES CALLS!
By Mary Kennedy
I admit it, these sales calls are getting me stressed, frazzled and exhausted! How about you? I know I should just ignore them and delete them at a later date, but they interrupt my train of thought and I can't concentrate with that irritating ringing.
Both the landline...
And the cell...
I'd like to think there was some easy solution. In the beginning, we all thought that signing up for the DO NOT CALL list would do the trick. Hah! I know better now. I've signed up over and over and I still get irritating voices trying to entice me to buy products I don't need or want.
Here are some solutions my pals have come up with (besides the obvious one of just not answering the phone.)
One friend said she has gotten rid of calls by simply picking up the phone, holding it silently for however long it takes the telemarketer to hang up. (usually 10 seconds.). Try it and see what you think.
Another friend keeps a small tape recorder by the phone and plays the sound of a fax machine when she recognizes a spam number on her caller ID. I haven't tried this but it's intriguing. I wonder it works.
Another friend picks up the phone, pretends to be a real estate agent and tells the caller that the party no longer lives there.
Another friend complained to her provider and a big chunk of the robocalls disappeared.
Hmm. What do you think? Would any of these techniques work, or do you have a better solution? I'm open for suggestions!
Gratefully yours, Mary Kennedy
I admit it, these sales calls are getting me stressed, frazzled and exhausted! How about you? I know I should just ignore them and delete them at a later date, but they interrupt my train of thought and I can't concentrate with that irritating ringing.
Both the landline...
And the cell...
I'd like to think there was some easy solution. In the beginning, we all thought that signing up for the DO NOT CALL list would do the trick. Hah! I know better now. I've signed up over and over and I still get irritating voices trying to entice me to buy products I don't need or want. 
Here are some solutions my pals have come up with (besides the obvious one of just not answering the phone.)
One friend said she has gotten rid of calls by simply picking up the phone, holding it silently for however long it takes the telemarketer to hang up. (usually 10 seconds.). Try it and see what you think.
Another friend keeps a small tape recorder by the phone and plays the sound of a fax machine when she recognizes a spam number on her caller ID. I haven't tried this but it's intriguing. I wonder it works.
Another friend picks up the phone, pretends to be a real estate agent and tells the caller that the party no longer lives there.
Another friend complained to her provider and a big chunk of the robocalls disappeared.
Hmm. What do you think? Would any of these techniques work, or do you have a better solution? I'm open for suggestions!
Gratefully yours, Mary Kennedy
March 30, 2019
Julia was right!
Welcome to the Cozy Chicks kitchen! Pull up a stool and let us pour you a cup of coffee. We’ll have a chat as a pot of tomato basil soup bubbles on the stove. While the soup is simmering, feel free to sit back, relax, and listen to the sizzle of lemon chicken cutlets crisping to a golden brown in the frying pan. By the time we catch up on work and family and start discussing the last book we’ve read, the buttery, cinnamon scents of the apple ginger pie baking in the oven will curl around our shoulders like a warm shawl and coax a sigh of contentment from our lips.
Amazon | Kindle US | Kindle Worldwide | Nook | Kobo
Apple Books | Smashwords
March 29, 2019
Smile for the camera?
by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett
After a lonely eleven months without cats, five weeks ago we got our new furbabies Emma and Poppy. They're adorable and they are a pain in the butt. We haven't given them the freedom of the whole house yet. During the day, they are with us in our offices, climbing up on our desks and walking over our keyboards. We're getting lots of work done. NOT.
They have beds they can sleep on or a cushion next to the heater in my office, but they prefer to sleep on our office chairs. (We both have two desks with chairs.) They are also what I call wiggle-worms. They roll around a lot. They roll off the chairs sometimes. Yesterday, Emma rolled off while sleeping.
Emma ... just after she rolled off the chair.
Emma (the silver tabby) will "sit pretty" for just about anything. When she's curious, when she's looking out the window, at dinnertime. But can I catch her doing it when I've got my camera or phone in my hands? Nope. They are incredibly cute until I pull out the camera--either that, or they'll be doing something cute and before I can snap a picture or hit the video button, they stop and/or leave the area. They are definitely camera shy. From these pictures, you'd think they live very quiet lives. Nope. They sound like a herd of thundering elephants.
They have toys everywhere and two are favorites. First, their tunnel. Cozy Chick emeritus, Ellery Adams, sent the girls a bag of toys and the tunnel. They play in it every day, They race through it, have life-and-death wrestling matches in it. Good clean fun for a couple of hours a day.
Their other favorite toys are crinkle balls. (That's what it said when I Googled it.) The bag Ellery sent had a few of them in it, and then (current Cozy Chick) Mary Kennedy sent them an entire bag of crinkle balls. Holy cow! When we need to work, another on gets tossed on the floor and we're guaranteed at least 20 minutes to sneak in some work.
Emma has been sneezing, so we're going to the vet this afternoon. She did not like the carrier when we took her for her shots, so this should be an adventure. Poppy hasn't been left alone. She'll either be freaked out, or yawn and take a nap.
Either way, my camera won't be far away. But I think I might need to buy another photo card. With these girls, I think I'm going to need it.
What are you pet's favorite toys?
After a lonely eleven months without cats, five weeks ago we got our new furbabies Emma and Poppy. They're adorable and they are a pain in the butt. We haven't given them the freedom of the whole house yet. During the day, they are with us in our offices, climbing up on our desks and walking over our keyboards. We're getting lots of work done. NOT.
They have beds they can sleep on or a cushion next to the heater in my office, but they prefer to sleep on our office chairs. (We both have two desks with chairs.) They are also what I call wiggle-worms. They roll around a lot. They roll off the chairs sometimes. Yesterday, Emma rolled off while sleeping.
Emma ... just after she rolled off the chair.Emma (the silver tabby) will "sit pretty" for just about anything. When she's curious, when she's looking out the window, at dinnertime. But can I catch her doing it when I've got my camera or phone in my hands? Nope. They are incredibly cute until I pull out the camera--either that, or they'll be doing something cute and before I can snap a picture or hit the video button, they stop and/or leave the area. They are definitely camera shy. From these pictures, you'd think they live very quiet lives. Nope. They sound like a herd of thundering elephants.
They have toys everywhere and two are favorites. First, their tunnel. Cozy Chick emeritus, Ellery Adams, sent the girls a bag of toys and the tunnel. They play in it every day, They race through it, have life-and-death wrestling matches in it. Good clean fun for a couple of hours a day.
Their other favorite toys are crinkle balls. (That's what it said when I Googled it.) The bag Ellery sent had a few of them in it, and then (current Cozy Chick) Mary Kennedy sent them an entire bag of crinkle balls. Holy cow! When we need to work, another on gets tossed on the floor and we're guaranteed at least 20 minutes to sneak in some work.Emma has been sneezing, so we're going to the vet this afternoon. She did not like the carrier when we took her for her shots, so this should be an adventure. Poppy hasn't been left alone. She'll either be freaked out, or yawn and take a nap.
Either way, my camera won't be far away. But I think I might need to buy another photo card. With these girls, I think I'm going to need it.
What are you pet's favorite toys?
March 27, 2019
Eat In Or Dine Out?
by Karen Rose Smith
As I mentioned last week, we recently returned from a trip half way across the country to visit our son. The question each day was, "Are we eating in or going out for dinner?" It turns out that we divided our meals between the two. We dined out our first and last nights of the visit and did some home cooking for the other two meals. We chose restaurants that are not near our home in Pennsylvania but were close to our son's house--Cracker Barrel and Red Robin. While I love a good home-cooked meal, I also enjoyed dining out and spending family time with my husband and son with no worries about prep or cleanup.
Back at home, I was rapidly faced with the question my husband and I debate each evening before going to bed--"What's for dinner tomorrow night?" That usually requires pulling something from the freezer or stopping at the store. I love to cook and create new recipes for my Caprice De Luca Home Staging Mysteries and Daisy's Tea Garden Mysteries. But then again, I never mind when he suggests we go out or order home delivery.
Here are some of the advantages of both:
Home-cooked meals
Can adjust recipe to your taste Can control the quality of the ingredientsMore economicalThere are often leftovers for another meal Can eat at the table or in front of the television--your preferenceDining OutNo prep or cleanupCan order food that you would not normally make at homeCan try new dishesEach person can order their own meal preferenceRelaxing time to connect with your family without distractions at home
Italian dining at a restaurant
Italian dining at home
Breakfast at a local restaurant
Homemade breakfast scones
Hearty soup at home
Pretzel sandwich at a local eatery
Lemon tea cakes (A recipe I
developed for my book
MURDER WITH
LEMON TEA CAKES)One of my favorite parts of dining out is dessert, though I'm usually too full to enjoy it...and, of course, the calorie count tells me I should avoid decadent desserts. Sometimes I just pick up a few Whoopie Pies at our local Amish market as a special at-home dessert if I'm not experimenting with a new dessert recipe for one of my books. My husband particularly likes when I'm creating new recipes because he gets to taste test the finished products until they are perfected. I'm pretty popular too with our neighbors because they often get to sample the new goodies.
An antipasto tray I prepared
for New Year's Eve
Fruit and relish trays from
Sam's ClubWhen I threw a viewing party for the release of A VERY COUNTRY CHRISTMAS, a movie on the UPtv Network based on my book HIS COUNTRY CINDERELLA, I decided to purchase a cheese and fruit tray and a relish tray from our local Sam's Club, because I've always been impressed with the quality of their party trays. They were a time-saver and were as tasty as anything I could prepare. But for New Year's Eve I chose to prepare my own antipasto tray, using my favorite ingredients.
Do you prefer to cook at home or dine out? Is your family satisfied with a purchased dessert? Do you prepare your own party trays?
I think I prefer an even balance of eating at home and dining out, but you sure can't beat home cooking! Purchased desserts usually look better than they taste. It's hard to beat a homemade apple pie. And my party tables are usually a combination of items I purchase and homemade specialties...the best of both worlds.
As I mentioned last week, we recently returned from a trip half way across the country to visit our son. The question each day was, "Are we eating in or going out for dinner?" It turns out that we divided our meals between the two. We dined out our first and last nights of the visit and did some home cooking for the other two meals. We chose restaurants that are not near our home in Pennsylvania but were close to our son's house--Cracker Barrel and Red Robin. While I love a good home-cooked meal, I also enjoyed dining out and spending family time with my husband and son with no worries about prep or cleanup.
Back at home, I was rapidly faced with the question my husband and I debate each evening before going to bed--"What's for dinner tomorrow night?" That usually requires pulling something from the freezer or stopping at the store. I love to cook and create new recipes for my Caprice De Luca Home Staging Mysteries and Daisy's Tea Garden Mysteries. But then again, I never mind when he suggests we go out or order home delivery.
Here are some of the advantages of both:
Home-cooked meals
Can adjust recipe to your taste Can control the quality of the ingredientsMore economicalThere are often leftovers for another meal Can eat at the table or in front of the television--your preferenceDining OutNo prep or cleanupCan order food that you would not normally make at homeCan try new dishesEach person can order their own meal preferenceRelaxing time to connect with your family without distractions at home
Italian dining at a restaurant
Italian dining at home
Breakfast at a local restaurant
Homemade breakfast scones
Hearty soup at home
Pretzel sandwich at a local eatery
Lemon tea cakes (A recipe Ideveloped for my book
MURDER WITH
LEMON TEA CAKES)One of my favorite parts of dining out is dessert, though I'm usually too full to enjoy it...and, of course, the calorie count tells me I should avoid decadent desserts. Sometimes I just pick up a few Whoopie Pies at our local Amish market as a special at-home dessert if I'm not experimenting with a new dessert recipe for one of my books. My husband particularly likes when I'm creating new recipes because he gets to taste test the finished products until they are perfected. I'm pretty popular too with our neighbors because they often get to sample the new goodies.
An antipasto tray I prepared for New Year's Eve
Fruit and relish trays from Sam's ClubWhen I threw a viewing party for the release of A VERY COUNTRY CHRISTMAS, a movie on the UPtv Network based on my book HIS COUNTRY CINDERELLA, I decided to purchase a cheese and fruit tray and a relish tray from our local Sam's Club, because I've always been impressed with the quality of their party trays. They were a time-saver and were as tasty as anything I could prepare. But for New Year's Eve I chose to prepare my own antipasto tray, using my favorite ingredients.
Do you prefer to cook at home or dine out? Is your family satisfied with a purchased dessert? Do you prepare your own party trays?
I think I prefer an even balance of eating at home and dining out, but you sure can't beat home cooking! Purchased desserts usually look better than they taste. It's hard to beat a homemade apple pie. And my party tables are usually a combination of items I purchase and homemade specialties...the best of both worlds.
March 26, 2019
Family...the good, the bad and the not so good.
Hi, Everyone, Reagan Summerside here talking about families and there are no families on this here planet closer than Southern families and that includes the Summersides. We’re all different for sure...Mamma and KiKi were sisters. At birth the muses tangoed over auntie’s crib turning her into Savannah’s dance diva and they wrapped mamma in a blanket with little elephants resulting in this campaign and me getting the name Reagan.
but we’re there for each other when it counts like now when Mamma’s running for office!
“People are going to hate me if I do this,” I said to Auntie KiKi. “They’re going to cuss a blue streak and call me names and tell me to mind my own blankety-blank business and then slam the phone in my ear.”
“Oh for crying in a bucket, Reagan.” KiKi shoved a computer printout at me. “Time to put on your iron-clad bloomers and dial the numbers on this here sheet. It’s your very own mamma everyone in this room is trying to get elected to city council.
The last thing on earth I want to do is make campaign calls but I will because it’s for Mamma. I keep reminding myself this is the woman who single-handedly raised me after Daddy went boar hunting with the good old boys proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that guns and Johnny Walker Red are indeed a mighty poor mix.
Mamma and Auntie KiKi have always been there for me not rubbing it in when I divorced Hollis Beaumont the Third when they both told me from the get-go he was a horse’s patoot.
Usually I let them have their way because they are my elders and the fact that they don’t listen to me any more than I listen to them but on occasion I put my foot down and get my way.
I studied Mamma and Auntie KiKi and Bruce Willis, a huge wave a thankfulness that we were still here in this kitchen sucking air pouring over me. “We need a group hug,” I blurted. “Honey,” KiKi said in her best auntie voice. “This isn’t California, we’re Republicans. We’re more a kiss on the forehead you’ll be fine as a fiddlekind of family then we just move on with life.”I folded my arms across my too tight green warm-up suit and held my ground.
And then there’s my wedding...
…you’re walking me down the aisle, BW is the ring bearer, Mamma is officiating and we’re having pot roast and mac and cheese for dinner. You got to admit that’s better than rubber chicken. And of course the best part is I’m marrying the best guy ever.
Okay, so you know my family and now I want to know about yours. When was the last time you did something for them when you reeeeeally didn’t want to? Dog sit? Kid sit? Throw a party for obnoxious Uncle Harry?
March 25, 2019
DYEING UP LOOSE ENDS
by Maggie SeftonDon't forget about Kelly Flynn #16, everyone. It was released in hardcover from Penguin Publishing's Berkley Prime Crime in July of last year, 1918. The mass market paperback edition of DYEING UP LOOSE ENDS will be released in June of this year, 2019. I'm literally tying up a lot of loose ends in this Kelly Flynn mystery, so if you haven't read it yet, you might want to give it a try.
Four years have sped swiftly by, and Kelly Flynn and friends are all busy with children and careers. Baby Jack is now a rambunctious four-year old pre-schooler. The folks at Lambspun knitting shop are all immersed in the wonderful world of fiber until they are shocked by the murder of one of the café’s lovable staff.
Kelly’s sleuthing instincts immediately go on alert, and she starts asking questions. But the answers are even more surprising---and dangerous.
March 24, 2019
WHICH COMES FIRST, THE CHARACTERS OR THE PLOT?
By Mary Kennedy
A reporter asked me this question and I gave a flippant reply. "The check, or course!! The check comes first." She didn't know about advances so I explained that I received an advance before my fingers hit the keys.
But that got me thinking. Which does come first? It's an interesting question. When I came up with the idea for Talk Radio Mysteries, the character of Dr. Maggie Walsh intrigued me. She's a psychologist who closed up her Manhattan practice to move to sunny south Florida to work as a radio talk show host. And she solves a murder in every book. The character and plot are intertwined. The zany crew at WYME Radio and Dr. Maggie and her sleuthing are all connected.
When I was writing young adult novels, the plot and character often came to me together. I was sitting at the News Cafe in South Beach having iced tea. A beautiful spot, with the bright Florida sunshine shaded by an umbrella. And bingo! I had an idea for a novel set in South Beach.
There were beautiful people strolling by and one particularly pretty young blonde girl. She was the inspiration for Amber Fielding in GOLDEN GIRL I watched her, fascinated, as she made her way to an Art Deco hotel and gave a friendly nod to the doorman. She was loaded down with shopping bags and I decided that she must live there.
Golden Girl is part of the Hollywood Nights series for teens. The series has three books, two set in Hollywood...
and one set in South beach. (which is known as Hollywood East because so many films are made there.)
I've been meaning to go back and write a sequel to Golden Girl and add to the series but life keeps intervening! I'm sure you all have had the same experience. The desire is there but there are only so many hours in the day.
The two Hollywood books in the Hollywood Nights series are MOVIE STAR and CONFESSIONS, the sequel.
Here's Confessions, the sequel...also set in Hollywood.
In all three books, the plot and characters seemed to come at the same time!! I wonder if most writers have this experience. I'll have to poll my friends and see what they say.
By Mary Kennedy
A reporter asked me this question and I gave a flippant reply. "The check, or course!! The check comes first." She didn't know about advances so I explained that I received an advance before my fingers hit the keys.
But that got me thinking. Which does come first? It's an interesting question. When I came up with the idea for Talk Radio Mysteries, the character of Dr. Maggie Walsh intrigued me. She's a psychologist who closed up her Manhattan practice to move to sunny south Florida to work as a radio talk show host. And she solves a murder in every book. The character and plot are intertwined. The zany crew at WYME Radio and Dr. Maggie and her sleuthing are all connected.
When I was writing young adult novels, the plot and character often came to me together. I was sitting at the News Cafe in South Beach having iced tea. A beautiful spot, with the bright Florida sunshine shaded by an umbrella. And bingo! I had an idea for a novel set in South Beach.
There were beautiful people strolling by and one particularly pretty young blonde girl. She was the inspiration for Amber Fielding in GOLDEN GIRL I watched her, fascinated, as she made her way to an Art Deco hotel and gave a friendly nod to the doorman. She was loaded down with shopping bags and I decided that she must live there.
Golden Girl is part of the Hollywood Nights series for teens. The series has three books, two set in Hollywood...
and one set in South beach. (which is known as Hollywood East because so many films are made there.)
I've been meaning to go back and write a sequel to Golden Girl and add to the series but life keeps intervening! I'm sure you all have had the same experience. The desire is there but there are only so many hours in the day.
The two Hollywood books in the Hollywood Nights series are MOVIE STAR and CONFESSIONS, the sequel.
Here's Confessions, the sequel...also set in Hollywood.
In all three books, the plot and characters seemed to come at the same time!! I wonder if most writers have this experience. I'll have to poll my friends and see what they say.
By Mary Kennedy
March 22, 2019
Something to get lathered up about
by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett
I like soap. When I was a little girl, my next-door neighbor used to bring back all the little cakes of soap from her business trips and vacations. I was fascinated by all the different wrappings. I had an extra Barbie doll case where I stored all these wonderful little soaps. I also remember swiping a British Rail soap for my collection when I was ... cough cough ... we won't go into how long ago that was.
Anyway, I'm still fascinated by soap. I often buy sample sizes because I like the wrapping or the scent. I currently have enough soup to bathe most of Western NY. Part of that is because I have a big glass jar that sits on my bathroom vanity and is filled with Yardley Oatmeal and Almond soaps. (The jar will hold at least ten bars.) My mother told me that the old soap lasts longer than new soap. Is that true? I don't know, but I rotate the soap when the jar is half empty and I stock up.
Right now I'm using a sample soap that's got olive oil in it. Stacked up in waiting are soaps that smell like lilac, lemon, and goodness knows what. I stayed in a hotel in Ottawa once that had apricot-scented glycerine soap. Wow -- I liked that a lot. So for a year or two, I bought a bunch of glycerine soaps because they give you nice, soft skin. I bought this little square of black current & olive butter soap last summer and have hesitated to use it. It smells wonderful, but I just love the packaging and don't want to lose it.
I had a very nice soap I opened in January that had a nice scent, but I noticed that the more I used it, the less it lathered. So I googled "my soap doesn't lather" and found out that ... for a soap to work, it really doesn't need to lather all that much. Something about dirt and the surface tension ratio of soap to water. It sounded reasonable, but I chucked it because I like more lather than it was giving me.
And then there are those foaming soaps. My hairdresser gave me one for Christmas and I like the foam, but the Cherry Chill scent was overpowering for me. I think it will live in my powder room. I like "bar" soaps best.
So, what's your favorite soap?
I like soap. When I was a little girl, my next-door neighbor used to bring back all the little cakes of soap from her business trips and vacations. I was fascinated by all the different wrappings. I had an extra Barbie doll case where I stored all these wonderful little soaps. I also remember swiping a British Rail soap for my collection when I was ... cough cough ... we won't go into how long ago that was.
Anyway, I'm still fascinated by soap. I often buy sample sizes because I like the wrapping or the scent. I currently have enough soup to bathe most of Western NY. Part of that is because I have a big glass jar that sits on my bathroom vanity and is filled with Yardley Oatmeal and Almond soaps. (The jar will hold at least ten bars.) My mother told me that the old soap lasts longer than new soap. Is that true? I don't know, but I rotate the soap when the jar is half empty and I stock up.
Right now I'm using a sample soap that's got olive oil in it. Stacked up in waiting are soaps that smell like lilac, lemon, and goodness knows what. I stayed in a hotel in Ottawa once that had apricot-scented glycerine soap. Wow -- I liked that a lot. So for a year or two, I bought a bunch of glycerine soaps because they give you nice, soft skin. I bought this little square of black current & olive butter soap last summer and have hesitated to use it. It smells wonderful, but I just love the packaging and don't want to lose it. I had a very nice soap I opened in January that had a nice scent, but I noticed that the more I used it, the less it lathered. So I googled "my soap doesn't lather" and found out that ... for a soap to work, it really doesn't need to lather all that much. Something about dirt and the surface tension ratio of soap to water. It sounded reasonable, but I chucked it because I like more lather than it was giving me.
And then there are those foaming soaps. My hairdresser gave me one for Christmas and I like the foam, but the Cherry Chill scent was overpowering for me. I think it will live in my powder room. I like "bar" soaps best.
So, what's your favorite soap?
March 21, 2019
Visiting the Grandkitties
by Karen Rose Smith
We just returned home from spending a few quiet days of family time with our son who lives half of the country away. His house is, like ours, filled with pets. I always look forward to interacting with his two cats--Willow, a beautiful long-haired calico and Mina, a short-haired calico with unique markings.
Willow is the inspiration for Sophia in my Caprice De Luca Home Staging Mystery series. She appears in all of the books and is always part of the interactions when a scene plays out in Caprice's house.
Willow always greets us at the door when we arrive and does not hesitate to curl up in the bed with me.
Mina, on the other hand, is only two years old. She is much more shy. During our visit shortly after she arrived at her forever home, she hid in the bedroom until the night before we were scheduled to return home. Then she slowly made her way into the living room to join us and cautiously engaged in some play with the cat wand. Now, three visits later, she still scurried to hide but reappeared within a few hours and enjoyed playing. This time she even allowed me to pet her for a short time. I know patience is important when dealing with new arrivals and that the time distance between our visits is not ideal to building trust, but hopefully the next time she will be at the door to greet us like her sister.
Mina does enjoy spending time watching the fish in our son's many aquariums. Her favorite is the Molly tank. She perches on top of her scratching post and watches the activity, ignoring everyone else in the room. When she tires of watching, she can sametimes be encouraged to play for a while before retreating to one of her hiding spots.
Although I enjoyed visiting the grandkitties, I still missed my own fur babies. I would like to think that they missed me as much, but our pet sitter does such an excellent job of caring for them that they didn't seem to notice that I was gone.
And today...everything was back to normal!
Special effects make Willow's portrait look like an oil painting.
One of our son's salt water aquariums.
We just returned home from spending a few quiet days of family time with our son who lives half of the country away. His house is, like ours, filled with pets. I always look forward to interacting with his two cats--Willow, a beautiful long-haired calico and Mina, a short-haired calico with unique markings.
Willow is the inspiration for Sophia in my Caprice De Luca Home Staging Mystery series. She appears in all of the books and is always part of the interactions when a scene plays out in Caprice's house. Willow always greets us at the door when we arrive and does not hesitate to curl up in the bed with me.
Mina, on the other hand, is only two years old. She is much more shy. During our visit shortly after she arrived at her forever home, she hid in the bedroom until the night before we were scheduled to return home. Then she slowly made her way into the living room to join us and cautiously engaged in some play with the cat wand. Now, three visits later, she still scurried to hide but reappeared within a few hours and enjoyed playing. This time she even allowed me to pet her for a short time. I know patience is important when dealing with new arrivals and that the time distance between our visits is not ideal to building trust, but hopefully the next time she will be at the door to greet us like her sister.
Mina does enjoy spending time watching the fish in our son's many aquariums. Her favorite is the Molly tank. She perches on top of her scratching post and watches the activity, ignoring everyone else in the room. When she tires of watching, she can sametimes be encouraged to play for a while before retreating to one of her hiding spots. Although I enjoyed visiting the grandkitties, I still missed my own fur babies. I would like to think that they missed me as much, but our pet sitter does such an excellent job of caring for them that they didn't seem to notice that I was gone.
And today...everything was back to normal!
Special effects make Willow's portrait look like an oil painting.
One of our son's salt water aquariums.
