Fiction: Miss Grace and the Bet

This July's Words for Wednesday is hosted by Charlotte at Uglemor-Mother Owl's Musings over here. The week of July 12 prompts are: Scarf, Flower, Shoes, Pick, A bevy of quail, Leaves, And/or Branches, Unlucky, Wind, Major, Gnome, Fingers. The week of July 19 prompts are: Dates, Plan, A wedge of geese, Door, Shovel, Enemy, And/or Huff and puff, Clock, Treasure, A knot of toads, Invention, Sure. I used the first set of the two week's prompts except for A bevy of quail which somehow I couldn't use so I used quail only. (Note: This is set in the same village as the previous story (link here) but you don't have to read that.)

Fiction: Miss Grace and the Bet
On a late January night, Mrs. Monday woke after an alarming dream - Query St. James's only baker, Mr. Hornsblower, was attacked in his bakery. Mrs. Monday got out of bed, wrote a note and despatched her housekeeper's grandson to take it toward the bakery.
    When Mrs. Monday woke in the morning, she thought of going to the bakery but it was early and Mr. Hornsblower always kept late hours. After Mrs. Monday had her breakfast, her neighbor, Mrs. Quail, came to call. She was known to talk extensively. Mrs. Monday didn't much care for the lady but she was full of information. Whether or not Mr. Hornsblower had read her note, Mrs. Monday would never know for the man had fleet before dawn and was not seen by anyone afterward. The next day, Mrs. Quail came to Mrs. Monday again with the news that the bakery had been sold and already the new owner had plans to re-opened the shop.

2nd Blog Anniversary

home, 2023

Today, July 17, 2023, is the 2nd year since I started this blog so I thought I share some thoughts on blogging.

01 - Blog anniversaries — I've been celebrating every blog anniversary and every time I reached 100 or 200 or more posts for every blog that I have actively blogged in but these days, I don't know if it's all that important anymore. But reaching such milestones is kind of an accomplishment for me. I have a (maybe) terrible habit of changing url's. I don't want to say I have settled here (on this blog) but I guess I did sort of arranged the so-called furniture in their proper place and may have tweaked everything about a million times but it's my blog home.

02 - Commenting — I believe blogs are for readers so I would never turn off comments. But I did once thought of turning off comments because it's a bit of work sometimes because I like to reply to all the comments left on my blog as a way to let readers know I have read/noted their comments. Not to say all bloggers have to reply to comments but if there's a question, I think that comment deserves a reply
    I know of one blogger who turned off comments so that if a reader wants to say something referring to one of their posts, they would have to send an email which is not necessary a bad thing. Some bloggers do prefer replying to comments by email (mostly Wordpress users) but you can't really do that with Blogger as some user had set it so that their email cannot be used for email replies.    I prefer to reply to comments in the posts so that conversations can carry on better as I think readers will have forgotten what they had read but mostly, I reply too late for anyone to remember what they had read.

03 - Is blogging on the decline? — I guess in some way blogging is on the decline seeing how people always list their social media places (ie, facebook, instagram, twitter, etc.) rather than a blog link or even a website. New social media keeps coming on and the list of icons keep increasing and yet, no one is quitting any of those social media. I've not seen anyone announcing a new blog or website for a long while but I think as long there are people blogging, there will always be blogs around.

04 - What have I learned in these years of blogging? — I like to say I have learned a lot and then proceed to list those lessons but I have forgotten all of them. I think the important thing is to just do what you like, it's your blog. And don't be an asshat even when people are rude. Okay, maybe a tiny bit if someone's particularly being an asshat themselves.

05 - Still enjoy blogging — I still enjoy blogging but maybe not as much as I used to compare to ten years ago. I suppose my blog (whatever the url) changes along with me or rather with my mood. These days, it wouldn't bother me much to not blog for a long while. I'm not on any social media so the only place you'll find me is here on my blog and probably will be for a long while unless google decides to shut down Blogger. There are other platforms, yes, but, they are not the same.

If you're a blogger, do you still enjoy blogging? Or if you're only a reader, do you still enjoy reading blogs?

June 2023 Books & Shows

During June, I didn't have much desire to read or do much so my usual fallback habit whenever I'm unmotivated, I watch a lot of tv shows, most of them shows I have already seen. I guess a person's state of mind and taste changes as they grow older because the shows I used to love, I sort didn't love them as much. For this reason, I don't re-read books as much as I used to since I might not like them anymore. Anyway, it was a lazy month if I don't count work. Here are the media's I consumed in June 2023:

Books I read:

01 - The wonderful wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum > link
In the introduction, Baum stated, it's a 'modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out' - so did the book live up to this expectation? Probably but having men/animals/creatures getting their limbs and heads chopped off seemed like a nightmare to me although there was no specific details of these chopping but it was told in a blunt way so you clearly could not mistake it for what it was. And didn't Dorothy had heartaches because she constantly longed for home even though that home was grey and dull? But I do think there is wonderment and joy in meeting the four travelers - Dorothy, Tin Woodman, Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow and their friendship was endearing. And Toto was great too. I really like the beginning but then the story sort of have repeated themes so you know exactly what's going to happen next but still, it was a decent read. Although I like the movie more though it isn't like the book all that much.

02 - Writing the cozy mystery by Nancy J. Cohen > link
It's a short book so most things are summed up which I actually liked as I found long explanations often not as helpful. The useful bits are at the beginning as the last few parts of the book are about publishing and publicity and social media. Since I've been writing for years, this wasn't all that useful but I think it's useful for checking to see if the book you're writing have all the right elements. As I found most how-to books subjective, they are only useful if you find the information useful otherwise it's just another book.

Shows I Watched:

03 - Unnatural > link
The subject matter of deaths, murders, and dead bodies can be overwhelming but I thought this was a good show but sadly too short with only ten episodes.

04 - Don't call it mystery > link
This was quite an intelligent show and made you think about so many things about life and death. And the main character is quirky and fun although he might thought of himself as a serious-minded individual, he's just delightful. I enjoyed this although death and murder is not really something to enjoy but this was quite a thoughtful show.

05 - Sell your haunted house > link
This was good and I liked it but didn't love it. I like that they didn't try to make a romance out of the two leads as I think it didn't need it. It seemed like they might make a second season like all shows with a sort of opened-ended ending but at least they completed the larger plot.

06 - Ms Ma, Nemesis > link
This is an adaptation of a few of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novels with a larger plot about a woman being accused of murdering her daughter. I really liked the smaller mysteries (most of them plots from Miss Marple books) more than the larger plot which sometimes overwhelmed the show and if the viewer suddenly forgot it, it will remind them with a little tibit with a scene from the past.
    Ms Ma is liked Miss Marple with her knack for solving mysteries and she even knits but she's a loose representation as her concern is more with who killed her daughter. At 32 episodes, I thought there would more mysteries for Ms Ma to solve but no, the larger plot kept getting in to remind us that's not what they show is about. There is a twin theme running throughout or at least, I thought so since there are many instants about it. Overall a good show but definitely not a cozy mystery.

How was your June? I hope July is being good to you.