MORNING ROLL CALL March 2025

[DaveMcK]

MORNING ROLL CALL MARCH 2025

Top of the morning to everyone on this First day of

MARCH 2025 

Happy Birthday to all of our MARCH Birthday members.

[MsStretch]

@SpringIsHereVA , I have plenty of pictures from this season's adventures, but mostly if you like looking at old cemeteries (frequently just fieldstones) and remnants and artifacts of old homesites.  Not everyone finds them interesting. 😁

No spectacular mountain views or waterfalls or sunsets. 🚫🌄🏞️⛰️

But let me cull through and find something.

[SpringIsHereVA]

I deleted my comment. Nicole  👵

[LisaS961881]

Nicole,

   I’ll add that I mourn the loss of Anne Perry, Shelia Connely, and M.C. Beaton (although Green has done a fine job continuing her series).  I so enjoyed Thomas Pitt and Hamish MacBeth !

[SpringIsHereVA]

I have deleted my comment. Nicole  👵

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[LisaS961881]

….and Sonsie, the wildcat ! 😺

[SpringIsHereVA]

I have deleted my comment. Nicole  👵

[LisaS961881]

This made me giggle!  I was an Elementary Special Education teacher for 38 years and have fond memories of April 1st.  All day long, I’d be bombarded with, “There’s a bug on your shoulder!”, “There’s a giant spider on the wall behind you!”….

i always gave Academy Award worthy performances of shock and surprise - which delighted my students.

im still smiling as I write this.  In retrospect, it was a simple way to brighten up that very long stretch between Valentine’s Day and Easter, and it didn’t cost a penny!

~ Lisa

[MsStretch]

@SpringIsHereVA , I generally go for historical fiction (no, not the swashbuckling romance kind) that are based on real facts and research, but the author adds fictional characters and dialogue to make it more relatable. Anything from prehistoric times through the Civil War.

Another source to try is BookBub.  I have an account and receive daily emails for the latest deals based on my preferences.  Bought a few books (Kindle, of course) from them.  Sometimes they offer books for free for a limited time.

To each his own, but I love my Kindle and Kindle app.  I can 'carry' a whole library on my phone to wherever I go.  And no stains or torn and dog-eared pages. 

[MsStretch]

@SpringIsHereVA , @LisaS961881 , do you still have used book stores in your area?  I used to score some good finds there.  Also, check out the little free libraries.

I'm a Kindle user myself and have been for years.

[LisaS961881]

Sadly, the used book store nearby closed years ago.

i do, however, score very well going to estate sales.  If I see hundreds of books in the preview photos of the sale, (I use estatesales.net), then I go to the sale on the last day within two hours of the close of the sale.  If I buy in bulk, I get paperbacks 4/$1 and hardbound books 2/$1.  Likewise, I shop Library Book sales when it is the final hours and $2 a bag. 😁.

…..I have to readily agree about how frustrating it is trying to find “clean” books though.  More often than not, if I am not the very first person to check out a “new release” in my library, these books often already have food stains on many pages.  But what annoys me even more is that the reader before me cannot even be bothered to use a bookmark, and “dog ears” the pages!  At the risk of sounding cranky, it just seems so disrespectful of what is communal “public” property.

…..I’ve just finished ~ The Mirror & The Light ~.What an amazing series!  I’m simply saddened it is over.    Now I’ll begin my cozy mystery!

Lisa 🏠

[SpringIsHereVA]

I have deleted my comment. Nicole  👵

[LisaS961881]

I just picked up this cozy mystery from Dollar Tree.  It will have to wait until I am finished with ~ The Mirror & the Light -.  It’s the final book in her trilogy about the final years of Thomas Cromwell.  The first was ~ Wolf Hall ~ , and the second ~ Bring Up the Bodies ~.  
I enjoyed the PBS adaptation, and want to finish this book before I watch the final segment on PBS.  

[SpringIsHereVA]

I have deleted my comment. Nicole  👵

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[LisaS961881]

Nicole,

   Maybe your Dollar Tree will have books soon too.  Mine only began offering adult books last November.  While they seem to only appear every three weeks or so, I’ve nabbed hardcover titles from J.D.Robb, Catherine Coulter, Lisa Gardner, Victoria Gilbert, and several cozy mystery authors !

When I see the books in stock, I buy a bunch. While they are not free, like the ones in the library are, I save them for a rainy day when I don’t feel like making a trip to the library.

(Or, on a sunny day like today, as my reward for putting down 8 bags of mulch this morning!). ….going to read outdoors for a bit! ☀️

Lisa

[SpringIsHereVA]

I have deleted my comment. Nicole  👵

[papawofboo]

I found them. Got 4 pkgs. As much as I have paid for them in the past, just bet these cheap ones do the trick.

Those high price tulips are starting to pop up. Hope to finish all my planting tomorrow. I had mulch and rock delivered today. After that all that's left is watering, feeding the birds, fixing the drink of the day and fireing up the grill.

[SpringIsHereVA]

I have deleted my comment. Nicole  👵

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[papawofboo]

Here is those 5 year bulbs I was talking about, these photos' are from past years but they are all coming up again this year.

[SpringIsHereVA]

I have deleted my comment. Nicole  👵

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[papawofboo]

the orange is a lily and the blue is called a ballon plant. They are planted in pots and in the fall of the year I take leaves and fill up the pot so that snow or sleet will not be directly on top of them. 

[LisaS961881]

Last Summer - looking out my back door!

[LisaS961881]

while it is still quite cold up here in NW New Jersey, this photo shows how well red pepper and peppermint worked to deter the deer.…..

I swear, when the deer see my hosta, they think, “Yippie!  Free buffet!”,but I’ve finally found the solution! 🙂

[LaDolceVita]

@catwoman500   I did not watch Marie Antoinette but with your recommendation I will watch on Passport.  I watched the first season of Sissy and it was on the trashy side, did not follow the book much and tried to fill it with salacious details and I  sort of gave up on historical dramas, fearing more of the same.  @MsStretch  very cute cats.   @SpringIsHereVA I am still reading The Magic Mountain by Thomas. Mann.  It is not a quick read, but worth the time!   It was a recommendation. on one of your threads so kudos on that 😀.  

[MsStretch]

@SpringIsHereVA , Mister is bringing you a gift!  Most sources I have read agree that the predatory instinct in cats, even domesticated and well-fed cats, is strong.  Since Mister views you as part of his social group, he is bringing you a live critter to teach you to hunt, since in their minds, humans suck at it.  A dead critter is providing for you, bringing you food.  Cats will often bring their prey to a place they are comfortable at.

Stellar (Giorgio's brother) was the hunter of the family.  But he didn't like to share.  He would parade around proudly with his prey in his mouth and then, he would hog it all to himself, although I did once observe him drop a live mouse in front of his mother (Willie Mae) and the chase was on, including me who was actually trying to give the mouse a second chance.  Willie Mae and Giorgio don't seem to be that much into stalking and hunting.  They will go after a critter they see, but I think it's mostly for the chase.   

[MsStretch]

@SpringIsHereVA , I get the kids' food from Chewy.  Used to get it from Walmart or Petsmart, but when they got picky and during Covid and there was a shortage of certain cat foods, went to Chewy.  Kids love Friskies shreds, but can take or mostly leave the poultry or beef varieties.  I am on auto-ship.  I don't get it as often since it's only Willie Mae and Giorgio now.  My own sweet Delilah (indoor) and Stellar and Armani and BUC are now only precious memories.  They eat a variety of dry food and love the crunchy treats, not so much the chewy ones like Temptations.  And to think when I first discovered a feral mama and her two babies living under my deck, they were ecstatic over the stinky cheapie DG-brand food I got them.  Their tastes have definitely refined over the years. 😼🙄

Yes, I did go on an adventure in Shenandoah NP yesterday.  We returned to an old cemetery that we visited over twenty years ago!  The reason for the return was I had an old picture of an inscribed fieldstone that we found then, and no one else had seen or found it nor was it documented in the updated cemetery files of the NPS archives (although I was informed that my picture was added to the file with the year found -- 2005).  So we were determined to find it again.  Sadly, we did not.  Probably covered over, trees might have fallen on it, greenbriar might have made it inaccessible (not that we didn't try, got plenty of scratches to confirm and a couple of new tears in my pants).  We did discover a few new fieldstones in a corner that we hadn't seen before, none of them inscribed.  So not a total loss and it was a good day for a walk in the Park.

[LaDolceVita]

@SpringIsHereVA   Most perennials will go dormant in the winter.  Will post pictures when in bloom, I hope!

[SpringIsHereVA]

I have deleted my comment. Nicole  👵

[catwoman500]

@SpringIsHereVA  Will let you all know about Marlow Murder Club when I find out.

@SpringIsHereVA, @LaDolceVita Not sure if either of you watched Season One of Marie Antionette, but season 2 starts Sunday. I really enjoyed the first season.

Marie Antoinette, season two

Sunday, March 23 | 10 p.m. on WHYY-TV 

In season two of this acclaimed series, Marie Antoinette and Louis prove to be compassionate and capable rulers, embracing modern ideas that prioritize rewarding talent over inherited privilege. However, enemies lurk in every corner, even within the halls of Versailles and disastrous consequences loom as the revolt rumbles on. Binge the entire new season the night of the premiere or catch up on the first one on-demand with WHYY Passport.

[SpringIsHereVA]

I have deleted my comment. Nicole  👵

[SpringIsHereVA]

I have deleted my comment. Nicole  👵