A novel of suspense but not a mystery...huh?

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe
by Heather Webber

I almost quit this book and I'm so glad I didn't. It's as good as everyone said. Just a simple book about human beings, their frailties and fears and love. With a twist of maybe magic.

I liked this remark,

You get to be my age, and you start counting regrets at night instead of sheep.

Gardening Roots, Early March

Things are growing in the garden, but slowly. Which is great--we haven't been blasted with the hot, dry days that destroyed last spring. It's been cool, especially in the nights--mostly in the mid-forties. (Until today) I would have thought this was excellent beet-growing weather but I have not found a single beet sprouting. The Swiss chard looks good:







I transplanted most of my little bok choys and broccolis Sunday. Aren't they cute?


















And carrots in amongst the radishes--yahoo!

The series continues...even after the wedding? We will see.

Four funerals and maybe a wedding

Like all the Royal Spyness mysteries, the subplot is "what is Darcy doing with that woman and how will I ever trust him enough to marry him?" For a long time (long is metaphorical; the whole book only takes about two hours to read) I thought that was going to be the only plot. But at last it begins to get mysteriouser and mysteriouser-- "will Georgy survive long enough to find out?"

Standard Royal Spyness faire. Highly recommended for a stressful time in your life when you just want to sit down and let your brain be busy and sure it's coming to a restful conclusion in the end.

My failure to appreciate French (mostly) bread

In Search of the Perfect Loaf: A Home Baker's Odyssey

I read most of this, but not enough to feel like I can mark it done and give it a Goodreads rating. I thought I was interested in bread, and I am interested in bread, but apparently I'm not all that interested in bread. I failed halfway and gave up trying.

The details of aging and feeding the sourdough, learning the feel of the kneaded dough, smelling the starter for the best mix of bacteria, and judging the skin of the dough ball for just the right degree of stretchiness...well...he lost me. To be honest, his research left me with the feeling that I couldn't possibly ever produce a loaf of decent bread myself even if I followed his recipes and repeated a hundred times.  Yes, it's true he is in pursuit of an impossibly high, ever-changing standard. He admits his own notion of perfection changes over the months and years as he tries new techniques and ingredients. But even so, reading of all his hard labors left me feeling a little overwhelmed. It will be a while before I'll ever attempt Bread again...and when I do, I think I'll just throw a few ingredients in the machine and let it create its own, mediocre version.

Despite all the negativity I express, I think it's a great book and would recommend it to any baker who is obsessed (or wants to be) with bread.

Very forgettable indeed

All Fudged Up

Very forgettable light mystery. It's full of interesting people and places, but the mystery angle is thin. It would have been a better book without the murder mystery. And it's just too shallow and cutesy for me. I don't crave evil, violence or sadism in a mystery, but I do want some substance whether it be history, emotions, intellect or hilarity. None of that here.

Yet another cozy based on an interesting occupation--this time, estate sale planning

Another Man's Treasure

I listened to this on audiobook, and got so hooked I found myself making excuses to prolong my walks. I'm definitely seeking out the next one. The plot was excellent and the people really believable, even the villains. There's a lot of inter-character conflict or at least tension that could easily be exploited in future, even if she did make everything all lovey-dovey at the last.

However, be warned: she really like knocking her heroine around. After the heroine ended up in the hospital a second time, and then a third physical encountered loomed likely, I started to roll my eyes. Again?  And the heroine isn't exactly stupid about rushing off to meet the villain without even leaving a note behind to say where she's gone, but she's still pretty blind about it. in ways I can't reveal.

Gardening in my Roots, March 1st

I've been so busy gardening, I forgot all about documenting the progress. But of course most of it looks like this:











or this:

















Peas were planted a week later than I'd planned, but they're doing fine so far. It's the hot weather in April that will eventually defeat them.

Everything else was planted at least two weeks late. The soil is extremely dry and I wasn't watering--I'm starting now. But there's a chance of nearly one inch of rain Tuesday night and again on Wednesday. Come on, rain!


Soon it will looks like the plan.