Monday, June 30, 2008

Monday June 30

I spent the night in a British movie about life in the colonies in Victorian times, like Passage to India. (I mean it was a dream.) I was making instant wine, from powder, like instant coffee.

And so I belong to history. I have been reading an article about *Our Bodies, Our Selves* and the feminist movement, back in ancient history.

Went back to bed, slept until 1 PM. Woke up feeling rested. Strange.

PPQS met tonight. In the course of conversation Lea mentioned that during the War with Mexico, the Mexicans printed broadsides enticing the Irish Catholics to desert the American army. And some did. (Lea is an archivist and would like to have one of those broadsides.) I never thot of the Mexican war as Interactive.

BOOK REVIEW:
I gave away *Beach Road*. After three or four chapters I succumbed to the temptation to read the last two chapters. Patterson has violated the Prime Directive of the mystery story. I gave it away.

Ellen Hart, *The Mortal Groove*
I have no idea what that title has to do with the book. This is one of a series about Jane Lawless, a Lesbian restranteur in Minneapolis. Minnesota. Jane has a friend, Cordelia, whose girl friend is an investigative reporter. The reporter is knifed when she starts investigating an old unsolved murder from 1971.
I was wondering how that got into the story and now I remember. Jane's father is running for governor. The reporter is doing background investigating of the campaign manager who is involved somehow in that murder.
I was in suspense. I don't know how that can be when I know Jane survives for another book. Anyhow, I enjoyed the book and recommend it to liberal minded women. After all, the heroine is a Lesbian.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Sunday June 29

I did it again. I said to the dogs, "D'y'all want to eat?"

I woke when the alarm rang. Before the second alarm after the snooze button, it began to rain buckets. I drove home last night in a horrible cloud burst. So I have had enuf. I turned off alarm and went back to sleep. I ache all over. Another front must be coming in.

I was too tired to even take dogs to the park.


BOOK REVIEW
Gillian Roberts, *The Mummer's Curse*.
Philadelphia has a tradition of a Mummer's Parade on New Year's Day. Mummers date back to the middle ages in various forms. Mummers seems to mean "masked". In Philadelphia there are social clubs composed of various ethnic communities, blue collar workers.
There are four categories of groups, Fancy, Comic, string bands and something else. The Fancies just march in complex costumes. There are competitions and prizes.
Our heroine is Amanda Pepper who is now cohabiting with a homicide detective. Amanda is a high school English teacher. One of her fellow teachers is an ardent mummer and takes Amanda to a rehearsal of their club. So Amanda and C.K attend the parade in order to watch her friend's club. As the group passes in front of Amanda, one of the mummers is shot. Eventually her friend becomes the chief suspect. And the game is afoot.
Recommended for women only.

Hugs, Dr. Liz

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Chesapeake

Off to Ft. Woof as fast as we can. I have things to do today. The dogs were quiet this morning. Nobody moving, esp that pesky little chihuahua next door. Dog named Benji.

Sat morn and parking lot at Gateway is crowded with tailgate picnics. Lady Chica loves the weekend. So many cars. She directs traffic. At first there were twenty people. I counted. By noon we were left alone with only a three legged dog.

Attended Circle Theatre. See review below. Then I scorched over to Primary Purpose for open AA birthday night. I brot a Key Lime pie.

THEATRE REVIEW:
Saw *Chesapeake* by Edward Blessing. That is the strangest play I have ever seen and certainly the most sophisticated. This is the last weekend; so I can't spoil it for anyone.
Our hero is a performance artist. One actor performs all the way through the play. He rants and raves about the futurists. When the senator from his state is advocating closing the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts), our hero decides to dognap the senator's dog. The senator uses his dog in his campaigning. Well, both hero and dog are killed in an accident.
The curtain for Act II raises on our hero who has been reincarnated as a dog. He can use the computer to communicate and convinces the senator that he is a messanger from God. So the senator supports the NEA. The senator's wife gets him tossed out in the middle of Chesapeake Bay. The dog is a retreiver and drags the senator to land, and they live happily ever after.
The dog is a Chesapeake Bay retreiver.
The play uses the term neonancy, a term I have come to love. Neonancy means late development of certain traits. Dogs are wolves who remain puppies. Homo sapiens are apes who remain in a foetal state. Julius Huxley wrote a novel about this in the 1930's, *After Many a Summer Dies the Swan*.
How did I like the play? I was on the edge of my seat but the man next to me slept through most of it.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Nora Roberts

Got up at my usual hour of 9:30 am. Dogs were busy this morning. Probably neighbors were out talking. I could not take the torture of exercise.
I have sort of hung around all day, cutting out pieces of shirts. Listening to another Gillian Roberts, Amanda Pepper in Philly. It is rather slow.
I took two naps. One in the aft and one in the evening. Got to Ft. Woof about 7:30 PM. Lady Chica and Blitzen raced a pack of big dogs along the fence. two of them were racing greyhounds.
I had a literary conversation with two people. One of the women remembers what I read last week.
Came home and sat out with the neighbors for a while. The old ladies sit around, Marilyn in a wheel chair. Mildred and Ola Mae are helping take care of her.




NOTES ON BOOKS:
j.d. Robb is Nora Roberts. I looked her up in Wikipedia and she began writing in 1981. She has three nom de plumes because her publishers wanted to publish more books.
The series about Lt. Eve Dallas are called "police procedurals".
BOOK REVIEW
Gillian Roberts, *Found Dead in Philadelphia*
another nom de plume
I found this book rather slow but the ending was a vast surprise and eminantly satisfying.
The protagonist is Amanda Pepper, a high school English teacher. A fellow teacher comes to her house early in the morning and begs sanctuary. When Amanda comes home from school the teacher is found dead in her living room.
The story is told in first person with much inner dialog. I would say this is a woman's book.



Hugs, Dr. Liz

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Thursday June 26

Phone call woke me at 9:30 am. I have no intention of going outside until evening, altho I do need to walk dogs. Most of my pain is gone.

I went outside and changed my mind. Off we went to Ft. Woof to spend two hours with Judy and Szabo. The day is getting warmer, however. I stopped at Town talk for dog food. Got some organic black berries and blue berries.
Came home and sat outside chatting with Ola Mae, Marily and Mildred.
Took a three hour nap.
Made a library run to return tapes. Sat around this evening, hand sewing and listening.



BOOK REVIEW:
J.D. Robb, *Memory in Death* (Nora Roberts)
Roberts has written more than 150 books. She is getting better with mysteries. I am enjoying this as a mystery, altho it is still soft porn.
Her protagonist for the series is Lt. Eva Dallas of NYPD. Her name is Dallas bc she was found on the streets there. No ID and no memory. For a while she was in foster care. (I find the chronology of her childhood somewhat fragmented.) In this novel, her foster mother comes to New York to get money from Eva, whether by pity or by blackmail. Mother is found beaten to death in hotel room. Happily, Eva and her husband have alibis. The hunt is on. Let the game begin.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Wednesday June 25

I rarely take a shower *before* exercise but I felt like it today. I must be feeling better. Off to exercise and grocery bingo.

Exercise was pure torture today. Torture. Stayed for grocery bingo. Got a water bottle with a stem I can freeze. Then soup was furnished by a home health care company.
Now for a nap at 12:45 PM (noon).
Slept for almost three hours. Pain in shoulder has diminished. Finished Cat Who book. Now to start tapes of Gillian Roberts.

My dogs were models of obedience at the dog park. When I shouted "Time Out" Blitzen stopped humping the puppy. blitz was just socializing him into the pack. With one clap of thunder Lady Chica sought me out. We were just at the car when the heavens opened. We are having heavy rain. This must be why my shoulder has been hurting so badly.

BOOK REVIEW
J. D. Robb, *Naked in Death*.
J.D. Robb is the nom de plume chosen by Nora Roberts when the author of romance novels changed to mystery.
This is soft porn for women. Romance. Every woman's secret fantasy. The richest man in the world falls in love with her. Meanwhile Lt. Eve Dallas is a police officer solving a murder.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Stone Kiss

One victim of the gas crunch -- victims of the gas crunch are the antique malls in Arlington. Vendors cannot afford to drive around searching for sale items. This is one change I had not anticipated.
Peach cobbler for breakfast. Off to Baptist Center.

This afternoon I listened to tape of Faye Kellerman, *Stone Kiss* As the final casette rolled I suddenly knew how it turned out, that I had read this before.
The title comes from the Biblical story of Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau were the sons of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Esau was the oldest by ten minutes and would receive his father's blessing and the largest share of the inheritance.
Jacob was wiley, however. One day Esau came home from hunting, voraciously hungry, and Jacob talked him into trading his birth right for a mess of pottage (some kind of bean soup).
After their father died, Jacob decided to bug out. He went far away to live with his cousin or uncle or some kin. Many years later Jacob came home with his two wives, children, and herds. Esau came out to meet him and kissed him and they lived happily ever after.
Rina said, however, that some Jewish scholars believe that Esau did not intend to kiss Jacob, that he intended to bite Jacob's throat and kill him. When he tried to bite Jacob's throat, God changed the throat to stone. Hence stone kiss.
How that applies to the story you have to read and find out.

We went to the park tonight. I am so tired. I did not get to sleep this afternoon.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Monday, June 23, 2008

Tuesday June 23

I guess the dogs missed me. They required attention all night. Lady Chica is vastly interested in my new bracelet. She knows they are bones.
My bracelet was made in Tibet. So I dreamed I was in Tibet. I don't know why I was there. What I remember is wrestling my car from falling into a pond of robin's egg blue viscous liquid.

No tai chi. Our instructor still is suffering from poison ivy. I made a grocery run. Got joint juice. glucosimine etc.
Tonight was the meeting of PPQS. Sienna, Lea's grand daughter, is a doll. Lea baked a special dish of peach cobbler to send home with me for a birthday cake. Sienna helped bake it.
More fabric. Some Lea will take to Senior Ladies in Keller who make things to give away, like bags for walkers.

BOOK REVIEW:
*Stone Kiss* has eleven cassettes and I am only half through. Started reading *Cat Who Trailed a Thief*
I read cat who out of sequence and some characters are alive who are later kicked off.
Qwill lives 400 miles north of everywhere. (One web site suggests Schoolcraft County in UP Michigan.) He has two cats, Koko and Yumyum. They solve mysteries. In this book, some thief is stealing small articles, like an antique dirk.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Sunday, June 22, 2008

June 22, 2008

Feeling better this morning. That heating pad helped my shoulder a lot.
Went to Sunday School and church. ate lunch with Bette. Then came home and walked dogs.
Today was my birthday. Martha and Jeff had a cookout. rib roast. mashed potatoes with sour cream and chives. Then strawberry shortcake for dessert. Persis, she used angel food cupcakes.

We just hung out and chatted. I took two little naps. Martha gave me a yak bone bracelet for my birthday. (That understates it. It has turquoise and coral set in each piece. )

BOOK REVIEW
Faye Kellerman, *Stone Kiss* (on tape)
This is one of a series featuring Peter Decker, homicide detective in Los Angeles, and his wife, Rina. Both are modern orthodox Jews. Jonathon,Peter's half brother, calls. Jonathon's wife's brother has been shot and the wife's niece has vanished. The victim is found naked in a hotel room, and he had been with his fourteen year old niece.
I am a Faye Kellerman fan. I have read all her books over the years. Recently I have begun to read consecutively in chronological order all her books over again. I know tht in this book Peter is badly shot up bc in the following book he is convalescing.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Summer Solstice

My body hurts like a storm is coming. My left arm aches a lot. I went to sleep at 3 am and slept until 11:30 am.
I am sorting my new fabric and cutting out one satin caftan shirt. Martha suggests I start sewing my mother of the bride outfit. They intend to marry in two years, giving me plenty of time.

Went to the dog park at seven. Not many there. Ray was spraying the area with detergent. And so it goes.


BOOK REVIEW
Rick Riordan, *Rebel Island*
This is the latest in a series featuring P.I. Tres Navarre in San Antonio, TX. Tres has a PhD in English and became a PI when he could not get a job teaching. I identify with him a lot. Now he teaches part time at UT San Antonio.
Riordan also writes children's books, and his Navarre books are more adventure stories than classic mysteries. I enjoy them thoroly. He throws in the essence of South Texas.
Rebel Island is an island in the Gulf off the coast of Texas near Port Aransas. He and his pregnant wife are having a honeymoon and run into all kinds of difficulties including a hurricane.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Friday, June 20, 2008

Friday June 20

Water was turned off from 8 to 10 but I slept in until eleven. My shoulder hurts badly. A front must be coming in. And my massage therapist has canceled. I think she is getting a biopsy.
Martha called on her long drive home from Laredo. She says Arlington has been getting a lot of rain. We always have such a good chat.

The afternoon wore away. Even at 7 PM the park was hot. Lady Chica was so eager to go home after only 40 minutes that she waited for me at the gate.
And so it goes.

BOOK REVIEW
A reader sent me a newspaper story about how a mystery has been solved. Seventy-five years ago a horse was accidently killed with arsenic. Used in ointments.

Nevada Barr, *Flashback*
The flashback is a box of letters sent to Anna by her sister, letters written by her great great aunt in 1965.
Anna Pigeon had been sent on temporary duty to Dry Tortuga National Park. This is an old fort on a mound of sand in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. During the Civil war it housed Confederate POWs and after the war two conspirators in the assassination of Lincoln.
Anna reads the letters written by the wife of the Fort's commander. being Anna she imagines the scenes of the ancient fort.
Meanwhile, in the present, I have gotten to cassette three of eleven and a cigarette boat has blown up within park boundaries, probably by accident when they did not clear gas tanks.
Yes, gentle readers. A cigarette boat is a fast boat used by drug runners. See Wikipedia.

Later. I have heard six of eleven cassettes and Anna has had her scrape with death. What happens now?


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Continued

Woke up stiff from toe to finger but moving around has loosened me up. I wonder if
I have been reacting to approaching front. Mild thunder storm this morning. We purely needed that rain.
Dogs set up a ferocious barking. I explained to them it is Charter workmen who are
setting up a phone or tv or something. They quieted down. Miracle.
Sometimes I feel like a herd of cattle that Lady Chica is guarding. She watches my every move. Now she has added the tape player to the repoitoire.

BOOK REVIEW
Laurien Berenson, *Underdog*
Chick flick. Don't bother.
Melanie Travis receives a standard poodle from her Aunt Peg, on condition she learn to show the dog. This dog does nothing to solve the mystery. The dog trainer is poisoned with arsenic. Did you know that in the past dogs were given slight doses of arsenic to give them a better coat. That is how the killer gets the arsenic. The killer maintains it was an accident. She did not mean to kill.

Nevada Barr's novels follow a formula. A body is found on National Park land. So Anna is involved in the investigation. At the end Anna goes through some terrible physical crisis. What makes the books interesting to me is that she gives a long description of some national park. Also the crisis scares me, altho I know that Anna survives because there is another book.
Hugs, Dr. Liz

Thursday June 19

Will go to the next blog.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Hunting Season by Nevada Barr

Aches and pains this morning. I get a lot of exercise volunteering at Baptist Center. I sit and stand up, sit and stand up, handing out sack lunches.
I have found two fleas on Blitzen. Park sevice puts ground up corn etc on park. The wind has been too heavy to put any down this spring. It would not stay. I will give Blitz a shower with flea soap. he hates showers.
As it turned out, Blitzen did not resist taking a shower. he even seemed to enjoy it. Of course, Lady Chica was there, too. She begs for a shower.
I seem to be so tired this aft. It may be allergy and I can't breath. Listening to *Hunting Season* on tape. Nevada Barr. I have read this before. I know *how* the murder was done but not who.

I kept busy all day but I don't see much result. Sorting fabric for one thing. We went to the park at seven. Ray was there with Charle and Maggie and Miles with Mickey and Avery.
Lady Chica patrols the fence during all the time. If a dog comes near she snarls at him. Sometimes she just looks, with that mother look. (Anna Pigeon says that mother look is more frightening than anything.) Today a little, little dog chased her away. Amazing. She went back however.

BOOK REVIEW
Nevada Barr, *Hunting Season*. I knew when I took the tapes out of the library that I had read this book. I knew from reading the dust jacket. Within two or three chapters I remembered the *how* of the murder. The pivotal mystery in this book is *how* the victim was killed.
Anna Pigeon, the park ranger, has been transferred to the Missippi Trace. A dead body is found and the investigation begins. This book has less description of the environment. I have my suspicions of the murderer. Listening to tapes is more fun bc I can't read the last chapter. I am tempted sometimes to listen to the last tape.

Hugs, Dr. Liz

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Joe Grey, talking cat

Off to Baptist Center. Still asleep altho walking around. 8 am

10:37 am Well, things are slowing down. On nice days we get a lot of people. Actually we only gave out 180 sack lunches. At 11:30 we had a crush of people seeking groceries, about five at the same time. I find that confusing. I have to look up each in the data base. They are allowed to come in only once every thirty days.
Came home. Could not get to sleep. Grp Con meeting tonight. I am Primary Purpose AlAnon secy. Must read minutes.

I am so tired tonight. Last night I went to sleep while the book on tape was playing. Took dogs to park. Ray brings Maggie, and she sat under a tree waiting for her person.

AlAnon meeting was intense tonight. Topic was Step Six, about letting God remove your character defects.
Short grp conscience meeting.

BOOK REVIEW
Shirley Rousseau Murphy, *Cat Breaking Free*. Her hero is Joe Grey, a cat who talks. There are three talking cats. I could deal with that but they can also read. If one does not think about that too much, the books are delightful. Again, girl flicks. Do not recommend for a man.
I have also started reading James Patterson, *Beach Road*. I am trying very hard not to read the last chapter.



Hugs, Dr. Liz

Monday, June 16, 2008

Karen Grigsby Bates

Slept in. The dogs want to play this morning. Seeing that squirrel seems to motivate them.
The squirrel is a normal size. I meant that it was six feet away from the window.

Spent the day listening to tape and sewing. And now I have four more bags full of fabric acquired this evening. A friend of Lea gave her boxes of fabric, mostly satin. Sienna and I divided it tonight.
Sienna is Lea's grand daughter down for a month from Alaska. She is a doll.

Happily I can take my dogs with me to Lea's house. I don't have to walk them when I get home. Actually they will flake out for about 48 hours.

I am exhausted. Getting that fabric was so exhilerating I am exhausted.

BOOK REVIEW:
Karen Grigsby Bates, *Chosen People*
This is what I call "chick flick" fluff complete with recipes at the end. I enjoyed it thoroly.
The author is black and most of the characters as well. Otherwise it reads like any other book. This is an enjoyable read for a mystery afficianado (as I said, my spell check ends my internet session).
As a sociologist I was glued to the page. This is blacks assimilating into white culture, like Tony Hillerman's Navahos.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Nevada Barr

We nearly tore the house down this morning. There was a squirrel in the tree outside our window. The width of the sidewalk. These are not trees they are ??? mimosa???? Anyhow, it gave a clear view.
Editing: The squirrel sat in the mimosa which has no bark and gave us a clear view. I think he heard the dogs barking.

This will give the dogs something to do while I am gone all day. I am going with Martha and Jeff to something at Bass Hall.

I think the squirrel has taken up residence in Sunset Gardens.

Paulette: eighty-six is rhyming slang for nix

Martha wanted to know if I was on speed. I think I drank a lot of water yesterday and that gets me high. You have to be careful how much water you drink.
We went to the Reata, a restaurant in Ft. Worth. We had an appetizer of pecan mashed tamales. Then I had salmon chowder. Then molten choc cake. I cannot even describe it.
We dawdled in Barnes & Noble. I tried to read an article in Harpers but it was obscure.
Off to Bass Hall to see the Chinese gymnasts. Oh my goodness. I said that Silver Sneakers has given me an appreciation of what they are doing. I have come home to try getting up off the floor.
Came home to take a nap after I get off the floor. Martha is driving to Laredo. Car thermometer said 102. it feels like that.

I slept for a couple hours. We went over to the park about 8 when the temp had cooled. A dozen people there, coming and going. Miles was there with Mickey and Avery. Nuka was there with her person. Blitzen couldn't get the big dogs to run the fence with him.

So tired. It was exhausting watching those gymnasts.

Book Review:
Nevada Barr, Falling Liberty, on tape
Anna Pigeon's sister falls ill and Anna goes to New York to be with her. She stays on Ellis Island with a friend in the Park Service and enjoys wandering around the abandoned buildings thereon. of course we have a minute description of her wanderings and the buildings I have a vague feeling I have read this book before. I remember action in abandoned buildings on Ellis Island.
At the dog park I am reading *They Marched Into Sunshine*, author to be supplied. It is a book about Vietnam and riots at U of Wisconsin, juxtaposed. I was teaching in a university in 1967 and I heard about the war from returned vets. I went to teach-ins organized by returned Air Force pilots.
Shelby Foote wrote four novels before he wrote *The Civil War*. It is easy reading. He describes Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln. He seems to think Lincoln devised the shelling of Ft. Sumter in order to force the South to start the war.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Flag Day

I must look up flag day in Wikipedia. Have you ever thot that Wikipedia is returning to the way the Bible was written?

June 14, 1777, Second Continental Congress adopted the flag.

10 am and Lady Chica has been determined to get me out of bed. She doesn't want anything. She wants me to look at my email. (Well, she just knows I sit at the computer.) She has gone back to sleep, but a watchful sleep. She reminds me of my uncle's cow dogs. At milking time they herded the cows back to the barn.
I call this the "Lassie Syndrome". In the original book, Lassie traverses the length of Scotland bc she needs to be at the school at 4 PM to pick up Timmie.

DOES ANYBODY WANT AN AGING DACHSUND NAMED MAGGIE? Ray is providing a foster home. He says two months. I cannot imagine him putting her down.

The sudden death of Tim Russert shocks me, as it does most of America.

1 PM Why do the dogs need to go out just when the story reaches its climax? (including tv programs but at least with a tape I can pause). I have a hunch they may pick up some nonverbal cues on my part.

The Plus size thrift store has been replaced by a regular thrift store with small sizes. Alas. I need to lose a size or get a new swimming suit. Probably Walmart.

BOOK REVIEW
The Whited Sepulchre has asked for book reviews of what I read.
*Blind Descent* by Nevada Barr is too slow for mystery readers. It is a fascinating description of what it feels like to descend into a cavern. Nevada in each book describes what Anna Pigeon (her hero) is feeling. The end of the book is usually scary.
At present I am listening to tape 7 of 9, and Anna and a friend have begun to discover a person buried for four days in a cave-in. at that point the dogs demanded to go for a walk.

We went to the dog park at seven. Ray was there with Charlie and Maggie. Miles with Avery and black dachsund. Somebody with Tiger who is a chatahoula. Women chatter and chatter and chatter.

At library I took out Shelby Foote, Vol I of the Civil War. It is a huge book and I do not expect to read all of it.
Hugs, Dr. Liz

Friday, June 13, 2008

Friday the thirteenth

My Motto: I march to a different accordian.

Last night was one of those nights when I could not get to sleep. I did not want to start listening to a tape where Anna Pigeon is hanging on a rope descending into that cavern by El Paso.Carlsbad Cavern. After four cups of coffee I feel fine this morning.

Our little walkabout in the complex was so exciting. We (Blitzen, Lady Chica and I) saw a squirrel. He sat in a tree and chattered at us.

Finally began to listen to *Blind Descent*. Sewing and then fell asleep.

We waited until 7 PM to go to the park and even then it was too warm. By the way, Maggie who was quarantined now lives with Ray. Maggie is a weiner dog who nipped a little girl. She was quarantined at home, that is, at the place where Tom the owner was staying. Tom was staying with his niece, and the husband wants Maggie put down.
Does anybody want a weiner dog age 10 or so.

Hugs, Dr. Liz

Thursday, June 12, 2008

June 12

Woke up at 4 AM (probably dogs barking at paper delivery), found I had gone to sleep with tape playing. Rewound tape and finished listening. Made myself an omelet for breakfast. Returned to sleep. Now 9:45 am. Planning to meet Judy b at Ft. Woof.

At the Southern Baptist Conference convention, a resolution was offered to oust Broadway Baptist from the convention. This is so strange bc we seceded years ago to join the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Judy and I spent a happy two hours at the park. Blitzen and Szabo are each dominant alpha males. They seem to have come to an agreement to live and let live. They wander around side by side, sniffing at the grass. I have seen them double team another dog.

Came home. Rested and listened all afternoon.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

11th Michigan

I woke up from another nightmare where I flunked a test. What is that all about? I must be under stress somewhere. Of course, I went to sleep after I turned off tape where Anna Pigeon is holding double bladed axe over sleeping man. Anna is a Park Ranger in a series by Nevada Barr who really is a park ranger.
I woke up hungry but did not feel like eating. Note past tense. I ate some cereal.

I spent the day resting. Again. This is a good idea. I don't have the pains I was having. I did make a library run. Needed more tapes. And a trip to Kroger for some bread. I ate one home made loaf in two days!!!
There was the cutest young lady at Ft. Woof. She was pretending that two stuffed dogs were alive. Even to picking up imaginary poop. So cute.
9 PM Temp is 95 degrees but wind of 24 mph keeps it mild.


My favorite genealogist sent me info on my great grandfather. He enlisted in 11th Michigan in 1861. In 1864 they were camped outside Atlanta. Their enlistment was up and they went home.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Black Hat Brigade Michigan

At 2 AM Lady Chica was howling. That is only the second time I have heard her howl.
Resting all day was good. My muscles have recovered. I feel great. I ran out of bread yesterday; so I baked a loaf. As usual, I put dried cherries in it, and it tastes like cake. Texture would not make it at the county fair. (I used to exhibit bread when I was in 4H.) in my day girls exhibited food and dress.

Looked up Black Hats. 24th Michigan They were "The iron Brigade" or "The Black Hat Brigade". I need to look them up further.
They enlisted in Detroit. My great grandfather enlisted in Niles,MI.
24th MI suffered most casualties in Union Army at Gettysburg.

Came home from Baptist Center and took a nap. Leta invited me over for cocktails and dinner. I gave the dogs a short walk.
We started with white sangria wine. Then we had squash soup. Meanwhile Leta fixed a salad at the table. She mixed up brownies and baked them. I brot mine home along with a carrot muffin.

We attended AlAnon meeting. Topic was Sixth Tradition.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Monday, June 9, 2008

Monday June 9

Lady Chica lies on the floor beside me, totally flaked out. She has spent the last two days in Lea's back yard, digging for mice.
I am admitting my limitations. I plan to spend the day lying in bed listening to books on tape. I have 19 hours of Nevada Barr. I don't like her narrator.
I guess I will give up the fantasy of flying around the world. Sitting leaves me stiff.

I am motivated to read more about the Confederate Army. At the Scottish Games I saw a booth devoted to enlisting re-enactors. I went over to see it and was shocked to see the men wearing grey uniforms!!! Grey!!! I learned that Texans had been at the battle of Gettysburg.

This morning I looked up John Bell Hood in Wikipedia. Ft. Hood was named after him. My great grandfather was with Sherman opposing him during the seige of Atlanta. Yesterday I was told that the Michigan regiments were considered ferocious fighters.

At six PM, we went to Ft. Woof. I actually was chilly. Funny puppies were there.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Glen Rose

At the Scottish games I watched a demonstration of sword work. It looks just like tai chi, with the sword an extension of the arm. I watched the swordsman's feet.
It reminds me of the poem:
Ill fared it then with Roderick Dheu
When on the field his targe he threw,
For trained abroad his arms to wield
Fitzjames' blade was sword and shield.

For the first time last night Lady Chica barked ferociously w/o waiting for Blitzen who huddled under the covers growling softly under his breath. For a long time she has never barked. She has been learning from Blitz. I think the pack structure is shifting.

I will get to SS today. We are giving pastor a gift, a hat. Also this is his last sermon as our pastor.

Our pastor preached his last sermon and I said goodbye. Then I picked up the dogs and raced over to Lea's house. She, her sister and two grandkids went with me to Glen Rose State Park where the dinosaur tracks are. I am just too tired to write much. We climbed down steep hills to each of two ponds. I never did see the tracks which are on the other side of a pond only crossed on stepping stones. I did not dare try crossing. I had one of the kids take pictures for me.

This is when I miss Libby. I wanted to tell her how much the place has changed since we went there in 1990.

We had dinner in Glen Rose and drove home. We played car games in a hilarious fashion. Like the grandmother's basket game. Lea had grandma empty her basket of apples, bananas, cranberries, dates etc. Gino added ninjas.

Hugs, Dr. Liz

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Scottish games

Up at the ungodly hour of 8 AM. I will do chores and sew until noon. Then we go over to Lea the librarian's where the dogs will play in the back yard while Lea, her sister, two of her sister's grandchildren and I go to the Scottish Games.

The Fort Worth Fire Department is apologizing after a large grass fire broke out at Gateway Park Thursday night, NBC 5 reported.

I have a pair of modern cargo pants. The side pockets are small for cell phone.
6:30 PM I am happily exhausted, can barely walk. The Scottish games are held at UTA Maverick Stadium. We make the rounds of the vendors. Lea is Clan Henderson and visits the Clan tent. Martha is Clan Bruce and I got a brochure for her. I think really that clans are patrilineal. Lea got her annual shot of whiskey. I had a root beer float.
Hugs, Dr. Liz

Friday, June 6, 2008

Friday June 6

Last night at 10 PM heat index was 94 degrees. Last night the girls Olympic softball team played at Gateway Park. After the game fireworks were set off and the sparks set a grass fire. This morning I watched Channel Eight do a segment on it

I got up and went immediately to exercise class. Did not pass GO. Then there was a dark cloud in the sky so we went directly to Ft. Woof. No other small dogs there. Everything had been tidied up from the softball game.

Stopped by Town Talk. Bought some cases of miso soup, boxes to microwave. Organic. Food pantry and town talk often have organic stuff that must not have sold.
Now I am going to have lunch and take a nap.

I slept deeply for three hours. When I awake it seems like another day. Listening to tape of the Cat Who Played Brahms. Finished hemming some silk pants. Horrible job. Now working on another shirt. Lea invited me to go with her and her sister to Scottish games.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Thursday June 5

3 AM. I was dreaming about listening to a tape about listening to a tape. Complex dream.

I intend to get up and go directly to Ft. Woof. The park closes at noon bc Olympic soft ball team will be playing at Gateway Park. I saw little houses and thot they had set up new porta potties. It turned out they were ticket booths.

By not looking at my email I reached Ft. Woof by ten AM. Judy, Ken and Szabo turned up. No other small dogs. Stiff wind. We had a nice chat about the political campaign etc. Came home and am fighting my ISP.

Took my usual nap. I have been alternating reading C.J. Box *Bloody Trail* and listening to CatWho Played brahms on tape.

Lady Chica is a pill. She stood by the door, which means she wants to go out. I put on my shoes and got down the leash. Blitzen came bouncing out of his den under the bed. Meanwhile Lady Chica went whipping back into the bedroom to get the bone on which Blitzen had been chewing.

Heavy wind tonight but I think the storm will pass west of us.


Hugs, Dr. Liz

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Wednesday June 6

Skipping exercise class and going directly to Ft. Woof, not passing GO. I want to attend speaker meeting at aa tonight. What is the connection? I don't want to attend Ft. Woof in mid day. Altho by now I would be thru Silver Sneakers at 10 am.

I find this humorous. (if I do spell check it upsets my ISP). I have been listening to Margaret Maron's series of novels featuring Judge Deborah KNott. I dreamed that Judge Knott planned to resign her judgeship. Listenin to books on tape really draws me into the book.

Yes, shug is sugar. Southerners are always calling evrybody honey, shug, darlin.

A brisk breeze kept the park cool and pleasant. the cops were packing up. So Blitzen did not try to dig under the fence. Two other dogs were in the little dog area, one a chihuahua who was racing the big dogs along the fence. They packed up and went home. Lady Chica gave me a hard time when we packed up. I know that she is just playing chase bc she always pees just before we go home.
Made a library run. Got the latest Maron novel and the new C.J.Box novel (a Joe Pickett)

Just in time for lunch Ola Mae and Russ brot me warm corn bread, bean soup, boiled cabbage, and a huge bowl of ribes.

I have meals for the rest of the week. I took a nap. Speaker tonight at AA was Carl, husband of Gail. i have known both in AlAnon for a while. Carl has a PhD and talked about being in grad school. I have heard Gail speak, and their perspectives on grad school are interesting. I feel so old, however. He is a generation younger than me.
Hugs, Dr. Liz

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Tuesday June 3

Baptist Center 10:13 am Heavy sack lunch. 100 so far. ......... Then it slowed down and by eleven I am bored. Read *Can this marriage be saved?* in Ladies Home Journal.

I came home and slept for three hours. It always seems like another day when I wake up. Avoiding the heat, we did not go to Ft. Woof until 7 PM. Another dozen or so dogs came and went. Miles came with Mickey and Avery. Lady Chica's behavior was fascinating. The shade having moved with the sun, I sat down on a bench at the far side of the area. LC hung around until she ascertained that I was established there.

Margaret Maron's series uses southern dialect. Somebody wrote her web site asking what "shug" means. I laughed. Then a day later somebody here called me "shug".

Came home, had a snack, listening to another Maron novel. where the hero and the heroine get engaged.

Monday, June 2, 2008

June 2, 2008

Woke before the alarm rang, feeling great. No pain. Off to exercise and breathing class. I could go back to sleep.

I had one hour of Silver Sneakers and one hour of yoga stretching. Then a library run and I came home to lunch and to lie down. Our tai chi teacher has a bout of Poison Ivy. Leaves of five let them thrive. Leaves of three let them be. He had a bad case when he was nine years old and it comes back annually.

I was lying down when Martha appeared with leftover ribs and artichokes from yesterday's cookout. Yum yum. We had a mo-daughter chat for a couple hours. Good to see her. Then I took a nap. PPQ Society meeting tonight.

I take the dogs with me to run in Lea's back yard. As usual Lady Chica ran around, playing tag when it was time to go home. And lea's dog, Pup, ran out and across the road to say hello to two lady dogs. What a life!!!!

Finished listening to *Winter's Child* by Margaret Maron.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Sunday June 1

Made a decision not to attend church. Off to Ft. Woof.

Uneventful hour at Ft. Woof. Cute little puppy playing with a puppy Italian greyhound. Came home and listened to all of a book on disc, *Rituals of the Season* by Margaret Moran. As usual the killer was a surprise.

The heroine gets married at the end.

Attended AlAon tonight. Only three of us there. Starting another novel on disc.
Hugs, Dr. Liz