Hi! My name is Margot. My blog is about the things I love to do. That could be what I'm reading, places we visit, my family, food, or whatever else is happening. I hope you'll stay and visit a while.
Contact me by email: margot (DOT) peck (AT) gmail (DOT) com.
Currently Reading
The Art of Racing In the Rain
Peril At End House
Eternal On The Water
My Book Rating System
A = Exellent Book . . . .
B = Very good story . . .
C = Good/Average. . . .
D = Poor . . . . . . . . . . .
F = So poor I couldn’t finish it
We are on a Chinese Take-Out binge this week. We’ve had it twice. All the leftovers make for a nice smorgasbord perfect for watching movies. I suppose for this movie we should have had Italian, but we didn’t think of it.
The Story: Lucy Honeychurch is visiting Florence, Italy with her older cousin Charlotte Bartlett. When the pensione where they are staying does not give them rooms with nice views as promised, fellow travelers, Mr. Emerson and his son George, agree to exchange rooms with them. In the days to follow they often find themselves together along with other English travelers. George finds himself attracted to Lucy and, on a picnic, sweeps her in his arms and passionately kisses her. He has fallen in love.
That is their only encounter and once back in England Lucy agrees to marry Cecil Vyse. The viewer can see that this is not a good match. Fortunately, fate intervenes when the Emerson’s lease a villa nearby. Lucy’s younger brother Freddy becomes good friends with George so he is at the house often on weekends. And then, as they say, the plot thickens.
What I Thought: Visually, this movie was stunning. I would have loved to have seen it on the big screen. The panoramic pictures of Florence and then the English countryside were like viewing classic paintings. The colors were soft and muted. I know breathtaking is a cliche, but the beauty did make me gasp in places.
There were also some outstanding performances. Maggie Smith as Charlotte and Simon Callow as the vicar were my favorites. I thought the actor who played Cecil was very good and was surprised to learn it was Daniel Day Lewis. Judy Densch had a small part. Lucy was played by Helena Bonham Carter and has gone on to quite a nice career. She’s been in the Harry Potter movies, the new Alice In Wonderland and others.
This is an adaptation of E. M. Forester’s classic novel by the same name. I found a little clip on YouTube so you can have a little taste of this film. Beware: There is a five-second scene of male nudity. In case you read German, there are also German sub-titles.
What did I do before I started playing this word-hunt game every Wednesday? I have managed to find new-to-me words every single week for over a year. I see them everywhere. I must have been reading in a fog all those years. Here’s what I found this week.
1. collation: “I’ll go for water while you prepare the collation.”
This next one I found in an interview with author Michael Connelly in Bookmarks Magazine:
2. tectonic: “Tectonic shift, social shifts, the haves and have-nots, it seems to all the part of the canvas that is the City of Angels–or the City of Angles, as some would have it.”
Tectonic refers to the structure of the earth’s crust and the large-scale processes that take place within it.
3. dyspepsia: “Sensible girl, to spare herself yours of mortal dulness, gossip, and dyspepsia,” was the placid reply.
Dyspepsia is indigestion. I found this word in the short story, Scarlet Stockings by Louisa May Alcott.
Wondrous Words Wednesday is sponsored by Kathy at Bermuda Onion’s Weblog. Visit her for more new words or to play along with words of your own.
Last month I introduced you to Charlotte (Charlie) McNally. She’s the (fictious) investigative reporter for Channel 3 News in Boston. She was the star in the book, Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan. The author has written three more books.
All four of the books feature Charlie, and I’m glad they do. Charlie is a great character and I have to tell myself she is not real. Charlie is single although in Prime Time she meets the love of her life and he is still with her in the fourth.
Charlie has a great career and she’s very good at it. She’s very curious and seems to have that sixth sense for a good story. Each one of the books investigates a story that I swear I seen or read about. Charlie and her bottomless pit of a tote bag are always willing to risk everything to see a project to it’s end.
As I was reading the books I saw the author in the role of Charlie. Hank Phillippi Ryan is also an investigative reporter for a Boston TV channel. I can’t help but wonder if what I’m reading actually happened. Knowing the author’s background really enhanced the story for me.
Lucky for me, I had all four books. Once I finished one I picked up the next and started in. By the time I got to book four I slowed down. It was fun and I didn’t want it to end so I read just a little at a time. I decided to tell you about the last three books all at once in this post. Her is a short synopsis of each one.
In Face Time Charlie fights for justice, journalism—and the battle against on-the air aging. (And for that dishy professor she met on the job.) The good news: she’s got explosive evidence to free an innocent woman from prison. The bad news: that makes Charlotte—and someone she loves—the killer’s next target.
Who better to crack the story than Boston’s own version of Brenda Starr? Unfortunately, the prime source won’t talk, the attorney general is trying to block the investigation, and the more Charlotte snoops around, the more people turn up dead.
An extended visit from her persnickety mother isn’t helping And the incredibly sexy new love of her life may be the picture of perfection, but that includes a close up of a prickly preteen who isn’t keen on sharing her daddy with Charlotte.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In Air Time Charlie enters the glamorous and high-stakes world of high fashion…and soon discovers when the purses are fake—the danger is real.
To break her latest big-money blockbuster, Charlotte must go undercover—but what if the bad guys recognize her? This savvy TV journalist must face more than her fear of flying when her inside scoop on designer duplicates suddenly turns deadly.
Carrying a hidden camera and dressing to deceive, Charlie finds she’s not the only one disguising her identity. Nothing—and no one—is what they seem. And that means nothing—and no one—can be trusted. In her high-risk job and in her suddenly steamy love life, how can she tell the real thing?
Charlie is forced to make some life-changing—and life and death—decisions. With only a split-second to act and with her own life in the balance, Charlie knows if she chooses wrong it will be the last decision she ever makes.
~~ ~ ~ ~
In Drive Time Charlie is an expert at keeping things confidential, but suddenly everyone has something to hide—and even Charlie realizes it’s possible to know too much.
Her latest television scoop—an expose of a dangerous car scam, complete with stakeouts, high-speed chases and hidden-camera footage—is ratings gold. Now, in the prime time of her journalism career, it seems like Charlie’s dreams are about to come true. If she can just balance her career and her upcoming wedding—perhaps she can really have it all.
But soon Charlie’s personal and professional lives are put on a terrifying collision course. Her fiancé is privy to information about ugly phone calls at an elite private school, threats that are suddenly turning deadly. There’s a mysterious death. And then—another. Her soon-to-be stepdaughter may be in danger. Her fiancé comes under suspicion. Then Charlie’s career takes a turn she never could have predicted.
I guess you can tell I really liked these books. For a great behind-the-camera look at TV news, you can’t beat these fun and page-turning books.
Harry Lennox has been away from town for five years and is back visiting his sister Kate. Kate has become friends with Belle Morgan, “a nice, bright, energetic, warm-hearted dear.” Harry hasn’t met Belle yet but he likes to watch her pass by wearing her scarlet stockings. Harry would like Kate to introduce him, but Kate knows how Belle feels about Harry. Belle said she “wasn’t fond of peacocks.”
Harry does seem full of himself but he finally makes the acquaintance of Belle. I don’t think Belle is exactly what Harry was expecting. Belle is very “principled” about various issues in life. She is passionate about caring for the poor and sick, she walks five to six miles a day, and she knits large socks for unknown soldiers going to fight for the North.
As Harry gradually comes to understand Belle, his usual swagger and “peacock” ways begin to change. When his month’s visit to his sister is over, he is unhappy about leaving both his sister and Belle. Although Belle has changed her opinion of Harry, she still can’t give her affections to a man who is not patriotic enough to fight as a soldier for his country.
So Belle finishes her knitted socks and makes a few other items for an anonymous soldier who will be her “substitute” in the war. Belle’s father agrees to take the items to the anonymous soldier prior to their departure for the battlefield. As the troops set off they march through the streets of town. Belle is shocked when she sees the “substitute” soldier who is marching off to war.
This short story was pure Louisa May Alcott. It was the same old-fashioned, stiff writing as Little Women, but the characters shine through. In this short three-chapter story, the author gave us nicely developed characters, especially Harry and Belle. It was nice to find the short stories of Louisa May Alcott. I can recommend this one, if you like Alcott’s writing but don’t want to wade through her novels. You can find this short story here.
If you’d like to read other bloggers who have posted short stories or if you’d like to join in, visit John at Book Mind Setfor more Short Story Monday.
Today I am on a train – again. I’m heading back to my husband in Northern California. After three weeks “entertaining” my mom, I’m ready to go home. I decided to run a Favorite Place I’ve shown before. Mom and I watched, then talked about the PBS/Ken Burns special on the National Parks. This past week they covered how Denali National Park came into existence. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to show this again.
Denali National Park is so vast that it staggers the imagination. You can see for miles and miles. It’s as if it will never end. Since the park contains six million acres, it’s no wonder it feels so huge.
There are very few man-made structures so, when you visit, you can see this area as it has looked for thousands of years. The natural beauty has not been touched.
There is only one road in the park and it is limited. Private vehicles are allowed only on the first 15 miles. The picture above is what you see at the 15 mile area. It was great for animal-watching, so we drove out here every day.
If you want to go past that point, you have to ride one of the limited buses. It’s best to have reservations. The goal is to protect the animals and the vegetation from human encroachment.
Twice we were able to ride one of the buses. One day we went out about 45 miles. Another day we rode to the end of the road – 91 miles to a small village, Kantishna. If you look carefully in the above picture you can see that one lonesome gravel road.
Snow is the normal ground cover here, except for four or five months. But when it is green, it is so lush and the wildflowers pop up to add to the beauty.
Denali National Park is home to Mount Denali (formerly Mount McKinley). Only once were we able to see the mountain and that was a very brief look. The guide told us we were lucky, because in the summer it is only visible about 20% of the time. There are plenty of other mountains around however, to satisfy those of us who have to have their mountain fix – me. For mountains and vast open places, Denali National Park is definitely one of our Favorite Places.
That old song I quoted in the title reflects a time when entertaining involved a special cake served to guests. Our entertaining life is different these days. Very rarely is cake served unless it’s a child’s birthday or some other special occasion.
When I was a child nearly every adult female I knew had a special cake that was theirs alone. Recipes were shared, but it wasn’t polite for a homemaker to show off with someone else’s cake, unless they weren’t around of course.
My mom has a wonderful file box filled with many of these cake recipes. The recipe card says the name of the person and then the title of the cake. For instance, my grandmother’s cake was called Little Grandma’s Heaven’s Food Cake. My mom’s was called Marian’s Lazy Daisy Cake. Our neighbor’s cake was so popular it was known simply as Mrs. Schmidt’s Date Cake even though it’s real name was Duchess’ Delight.
Homemakers in the 1930’s, 40’s and early 50’s had to be quite creative. Sugar was first expensive and then rationed during World War II. Cake recipes that called for low amounts of sugar and/or few eggs were popular. Cake was a treat but still served often, although not every day. If I saw my mom baking a cake, I always asked, “Who is coming over tonight?”
I began my own search for “my” cake when I took Home Ec in seventh grade. I wanted something exotic like Sauerkraut Surprise Cake (I still have the recipe) or Buttermilk Apple Cake (that one’s lost). My friends and I were excited when we found the Tomato Soup Cake. It was new within our area so many of us adopted that one. Later I added other cakes like Carrot Cake and Red Velvet to my repertoire.
Making those cakes gave me a lot of cooking confidence. Remember those were the days prior to KitchenAide or electric mixers of any kind. If you make a cake, it was all by hand. In addition to beating by hand, there were other little tricks. For instance, after you filled your cake pans with the batter, you let the pan drop gently on the counter until you got enough bubbles. And for some reason we always tip-toed around in the kitchen if a cake was in the oven. We wanted to cake to rise.
All of this changed for us when Betty Crocker came along with her cake mixes. It was just too easy to make a quick cake with them. Gradually we learned to adapt the cake mixes and make them our personal signature cakes again. My Tomato Soup Cake is still possible, only now with a mix.
I know some of you are wrinkling up your nose at the thought of these items together. If I could just serve you a piece without you knowing that it contained tomato soup, you would be amazed. You have to trust me on this one. Here’s my recipe:
Tomato Soup Cake
Ingredients:
1 box of spice cake mix
1 (15 oz.) can of tomato soup
1/4 cup of water
Eggs and oil in amounts called for on the cake mix box.
1/2 cup raisens
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Directions:
In a bowl mix the soup and water. Add all other ingredients called for on the cake mix recipe. (Do not use the amount of water called for on the box. The 1/4 cup and the tomato soup will be the liquid.) Stir everything together.
Add the cake mix and stir.
Add the raisens and nuts and stir again.
Grease and lightly flour (or use cooking spray) the pans. (Use round pans or a 9 x 13″ pan.)
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool on a rack.
Frost with your choice of frosting. I usually use a butter cream frosting. You could also buy those little cans of frosting. I hope you’ll give this one a try. If you’re looking for something to go with a retro-party, this one could work. It originated in the 1930’s. I hope you enjoy it.
Talking about food is a regular feature on my blog and others as well. Visit Beth Fish Reads for other bloggers who are participating in Weekend Cooking.
A high school English teacher introduced my mom to the books of Emilie Loring. Emilie Loring (and that teacher) started my mom on a life of reading. Mom didn’t keep a list of which books she read, but she believes she read about “a hundred” of them. Her librarian would always let her know when there was a new one. Eventually she read them all and she drifted off to other books.
Now my mom is in her late eighties and suffering from dementia. Life is different. She has forgotten many of her skills – knitting, sewing, quilting, baking, and she is too weak to take care of her roses. The good news is that she still has one skill left which gives her great pleasure: READING!!! Thank God for that.
She doesn’t remember any of the books from the last fifty years and isn’t pleased with some of the others we get for her. She talks with so much fondness of her high school favorites, Emilie Loring’s books, that I had to find them. I made it my mission to get them. I was surprised that it really wasn’t that hard. They are available at used book stores through Amazon and in packets on e-bay.
To get started I ordered three and they came quickly. Mom was thrilled. She read one within a couple of days and was able to talk clearly about it. However, with the evilness that is dementia, within a few days she didn’t remember that she had read that book and just started reading it again. I may not need to buy any more, except that having them sit right there for her gives her so much pleasure.
[I'm sure everyone who is reading this is also a lover of books. I hope you can see the hope in this story of my mom. I do. I pray that no matter what happens to me in the years ahead, just please let me be able to read. Get me my books!]
With Mom receiving so much pleasure from these books my curiosity was aroused. It drove me to read one of them. This is the second book Emilie Loring published in 1924.
Here Comes The Sun
Fleeing from the train that was to take her to her prospective but uninteresting fiance, golde-haired Julie Lorraine became caught in an unexpected sequence of events. Hours later, she found herself married to the handsome stranger who had followed her from the train.
Political intrigue and the threat of a deceitful woman threatened both their futures. Only Julie’s courage and questioning spirit saved them–and revealed the true instincts of her heart and the man who had always loved her.
Now I love a good romance novel, but this one was a little far-fetched for my taste. The book was way too clean. By that I mean it didn’t seem real. I find it hard to believe that men and women, even in the 1920’s, talked so pure. And, there is not one hint of sex in this book. Yes, way too clean for me.
Another problem for me was that the best and only possibility for a woman in this book was to become a homemaker. Ugh. However, all these things that I disliked about the book are irrelevant. It’s what makes it a gem in my mother’s eyes. And, that’s good. I didn’t buy the books for me. The books are all hers.
About the author:
Emilie Baker Loring (1864 – 1951) was the daughter of a playwright and publisher and the wife of an attorney. She was a homemaker until she began writing at the age of fifty. She kept on writing until her death. Within that thirty-seven-year writing career she wrote over fifty books. Twenty of those books were published after her death.
The Story: Lucy Honeychurch is visiting Florence, Italy with her older cousin Charlotte Bartlett. When the pensione where they are staying does not give them rooms with nice views as promised, fellow travelers, Mr. Emerson and his son George, agree to exchange rooms with them. In the days to follow they often find themselves together along with other English travelers. George finds himself attracted to Lucy and, on a picnic, sweeps her in his arms and passionately kisses her. He has fallen in love.
NORTHERN CALLIFORNIA