Fun Photos (Baseball Season)

 MinuteMail Park, home of the Houston Astros!

Visit more fun photos at Image-in-ing and Wordless Wednesday.

Happy Random Tuesday

Hello!  It's back to school time, which I'm happy to say doesn't mean I'm going back to work!  I retired two years ago (I'm in my early 50's).  What is does mean to me is that my husband and I can go on a vacation where we won't be competing with tons of summer crowds. Yay!  In about three weeks we're going to Dallas, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, and Big Bend National Park.  Should be fun!

Sign at Big Bend!

I've been hearing this phrase on TV shows a lot lately (keep in mind, I watch a lot of police shows and true crime) - dead to rights.  I've always wondered exactly how that saying came about.  It's a weird expression, and it basically means "completely in proper order."  

Let me explain. The word was first seen in print in 1859 in a book of New York criminal slang called Vocabulum.  The words seeped into public usage, and by the 1870's it was commonly used.  In that time, these words had different meanings than they do now.  "Dead" meant full or complete as in a dead stop.  "Rights" meant in proper order.

So, if a criminal was "dead to rights," that meant that he or she was fully and properly caught.  Everything was in order.  There is no wiggling out of a crime if someone is dead to rights.  And there is your etymology lesson for today!  LOL

Now onto the good stuff!

So true for me!

"these things" being the item that is in the box.  The box served its purpose!

Me, tooooo!

My husband has been playing golf lately!

This is valid!

And last, but not least...

Have a great week!

I'll be linking up with Happy Tuesday and Random Tuesday Thoughts.

Sunday Synopsis - The "Peyton Place" Murder

 

The 'Peyton Place' Murder: The True Crime Story Behind The Novel That Shocked The Nation by Renee Mallett


This story is actually about two things. 1) Grace Metalious, author of the racy 1956 book titled Peyton Place and 2) the true-life crime dubbed "The Sheep Pen Murder" from which Metalious took inspiration for her book.

Honestly I didn't really enjoy reading of Grace Metalious' life except the parts that fell during her writing career and on. The author went back too far, in my opinion, and included details about her grandmother, mother, and other people in her early life. Frankly, I felt the book started turtle-style-slow, and I almost put it down. Let's say I was nonplussed.

It became more interesting to me when Mallett told the story about "The Sheep Pen Murder" which happened in Gilmanton, New Hampshire in 1947, 9 years prior to the publication of Peyton Place. A young woman was accused of murdering her father and concealing his body under the floorboards of their sheep pen. The author set the scene for the time period, the family dynamics, the American culture at the time, and did an excellent job characterizing the players in this tragedy. However, toward the end, it was slightly repetitive.

The author did a fair amount of research for both parts of the book, and I admire that. Overall, though, I would classify this book as "okay."

I learned of this book through Book Bub, and got an amazingly low price, so it was worth it.  If you've never heard of Book Bub, and you enjoy reading, you should check it out.  It's free to sign up, and they will send you emails with great low prices, sometimes free, e-books in the genre(s) of your choice.  It works with Apple Books, Kindle, Nook, Google Play, and Kobo.  The above is not an affiliate link because Book Bub is completely free just like Goodreads, which I also recommend.  Happy Reading!

View all my reviews

Completed Crafts! Decor and Sewing

 Hello friends!  This has been a super crafty week, and I finally have completed projects to share.

A teacher friend asked me if I would make some planter boxes for her.  Not only that, she paid me to do it!  Let me show you what I got paid to do.  (My first "customer!" I'm excited in case you can't tell!)

I bargain-shopped for the planters!  I got lucky at Home Depot.  They are usually 10-20 depending on what you want, but I got them on sale for $3 each then spray painted them a dark purple.  I had quite a few flowers left from my daughter's wedding, but I went to dollar tree to get some onion grass and purple flowers, and I got some purple flowers on Amazon at a good price.  Here they are!

I also made her a fabric storage bin with enough interfacing to make sure it actually stands up like a basket.  I had a few of these at Easter, but I reviewed a video from a Youtuber who goes by Treasurie, and I gave this cute basket to my friend, and it is now on her desk.  Believe it or not, her district is already back to school, kids and all.

This is the top view

Regular View.  It's about 8-9 inches tall.

Thanks for visiting!  Next week I will show you the purse/handbag I just finished.

I'm linking up with Crafty Creators and Friendship Friday.

Awesome Aussie Words (T13)

 

I recently read the book What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty.  She is from Australia, so I came across some words we don't use here in the U. S.  Here are some of them.

1.profiterole- similar to a cream puff, but can be filled with things other than cream including savory filling or sweet filling, such as ice cream or chocolate.

2. pikelets- similar to pancakes but with thicker batter.  They are heavier than pancakes.  Another source said they were meat pies but I'm pretty sure in the story they were talking about pancakes.

3.  punnet- a basket or other container for fruits or vegetables..  Kind of like a measurement of how much you have.

4.  rusk- similar to toast but baked twice.

5.  foolscap- A size of paper approximately 13x 18 inches.

6.  lamingtons- Butter cake or pound cake dipped in chocolae and rolled in coconut.

7.  fe'te- a celebration or festival.

8.  tuckshop- Like a concession stand;

9.  paddlepop- an ice cream novelty.

10. fringe- What we call bangs.

11. rugged up- To wrap someone in warm blankets.

 12. petrol- gasoline

13. sultana and sultana bran- a sultana is a raisin

There were actually more that I wasn't familiar with, but these are fun!

For more fun lists, visit Thursday Thirteen.