A Discovery of Witches

by sssmahh303, posted in Reviews

Mary Ann

The world has had great lovers over the years.  There was Romeo and Juliette, Rhett and Scarlett, and Kathy and Heathcliff.  Their love stories have captured our imaginations and remain in a corner of our romantic selves.  However, there is another set of lovers that you might not know but would enjoy their story – Vampire Mathew Clairmont and Witch Diana Bishop.  

Author Deborah Harkness created a world of humans, witches, vampires, and daemons in the All Souls Trilogy that includes   A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night and The Book of Life.  A romance between Diana and Mathew blooms as their paths cross at Oxford. This is a forbidden love among the creatures. Vampires and Witches do not get involved – no dating app for them! The books captures the beginning of their love, time travel to the past so Diana can hone her weaver spell skills, and the struggles between the creatures as the peace between them is threatened. 

My own discovery happened when I read a review about the first book, A Discovery of Witches, bought the book, and fell in love with the characters.  I could not wait for the next book to be released. The story unfolds, and you just want to know more about the creatures and their world. 

Lucky us, the story does not end with the trilogy. There are two additional volumes, Time’s Convert, and most recent, Black Bird Oracle.  Harkness is a very clever writer in the tradition of J.K. Rowling.  A Discovery of Witches is Harry Potter for grownups.  Just as Rowling created owls delivering mail or a new game like Quidditch on flying brooms.  Harkness has memories stored in memory bottles and time travel is called time walking.  All fun!

In Harkness’s last book, Black Bird Oracle, the ending left the door open for more books.  There are questions that need answers. I can’t wait for the next adventure.  

There is a bonus with these books.  AMC+ made the books come alive in their three season TV series.  The shows follow the books carefully.  There is wonderful chemistry between Vampire Mathew (Mathew Goode – you remember him from Downton Abbey) and Witch Diana (Teresa Palmer).  Recently, the series have been featured on Netflix. Unfortunately, there are no plans to produce season 4.  However, you never know.  There is nothing like the love of a good vampire.

At this witchy time of the year, both the books and TV series are a fun way to enjoy the creatures of Halloween. I have loved the books and seeing them come alive on TV has been just a cherry on top! I hope that you will find this as well.

Violets

by sssmahh303, posted in Lifestyle

Mary Ann

When I was young, we visited my grandparents every weekend.  Upon entering the house, the aroma of baking bread tickled your nose, and the cacophonies of my grandfather’s clock collection ticked and chimed away to greet us. 

When you walked into the dining room, there were three large window that faced the outdoors.  Bright, filtered light flooded the room.  On each of the windows, there were several glass shelves (a forerunner of today’s floating shelves) filled with African violets.  Varying hues of pink, purple, white, and blue were scattered among the shelves.  There were about 30 little pots.  It was magical to me.  Violets always remind me of my grandmother.  

My grandparents lived in a small town away from nurseries, so her violet collection was probably generated through pass-along stems from neighbors and friends.  I am sure she shared her violets with them as well.

I have violets in my kitchens that live in front of a wall of windows with bright, indirect light -a perfect place for violets to grow!  There are three violets, two purple and one pink, that are nestled in a grapevine basket.  I have named the violets after my great-grandmothers, Millie ad Maggie, and my grandmother, Grace.  They make me happy, and I will often have a little chat with them.

In the language of flowers, violets symbolize faith, mystical awareness, inspiration, spiritual passion, profuseness, and sovereignty.  Purple violets represent love, and white violets represent innocence.   

Originally, violets came from the jungles of Tanzania and southeastern Kenya.  Violets are easy to grow – good light, watering once a week keeping the soil moist, and fertilizer when they stop blooming.  I use the same fertilizer as my grandmother – Schultz’s African Violet.  Violets can live as long as 50 years so you can have endless blooms for years to come. 

When my grandmother passed, I was living far away from the family, so I didn’t get back for the funeral. The following summer when I did come home, I took a violet to put on her grave.  It was a nice moment of closure.  My grandmother is with me always, and my violets remind me of her daily.  However, I wish I could once again smell her baking bread.

Dining Alone

by Cynthia, posted in Friends and Family

Some of my friends have lamented they are finding themselves alone for dinner.  In the past, many of us refused to go to a restaurant without a friend, a date, or possibly another family member. Personally, I rarely went to a restaurant alone, even when on a business trip.  It just felt awkward. Upon reflection, I imagine it was more a lack of self-confidence.  I mean, I ate.  I ate alone. Yet, I was alone in my hotel room or at home.

Have you dined alone this year?  If so, you are in good company.  OpenTable reported that 60% of Americans have dined alone at least once in 2024.  That figure is up 29% over the previous two years. One reason for this may be because people are working remotely. Or they are marrying later and thus living alone (which is quite a conjecture, in my humble opinion). Debby Soo, CEO at OpenTable suggests enjoying one’s own company is a result of the broader movement of self-care.

Reflecting on dining alone made me think.  At our age, many of us are finding ourselves alone for the first time, having lost a spouse or a family member or a friend. It’s a hazard of aging. Another reason may be that we are more discerning about how we spend our time and with whom. We no longer feel obligated to go out with acquaintances just to be with someone, especially those we tolerate, rather than enjoy.

I have spent most of my adult life as a single, professional, woman. I recall decades ago coming to the realization that I can enjoy dining alone.  I took to heart an article I read that suggested setting a lovely table, even if it is only for myself. That must be part of the reason I began tablescaping. Over the years I have found gazing out the window, listening to music, or enjoying the flicker of a candle while eating was as satisfying as being in a restaurant.

On another note, when eating at a restaurant, I would take along a notepad or a book.  If I began to feel conspicuous, I would simply pull out the book and read or jot notes about things that needed to be done.

In other words, I learned eating alone gave me another level of independence and confidence. And, when the opportunity presents itself to share mealtime with another person, I will always enjoy the company, knowing it is a choice, rather than feeling the need to have a dining partner. Bon appetite!

Little Provence

by sssmahh303, posted in Wellness

Mary Ann

I love everything French! I love the food, the wine, the country, the antiques, the museums, and the language – though I butcher it.  I am a Francophile!  

I own about 100 books both fiction and nonfiction about living in France.  I love the stories where someone leaves their lives and goes to a region of France and make a new life often restoring an old farmhouse and discovering villages full of quirky characters.  I have always yearned to do just that.  Peter Mayle’s adventures in Provence ignited that desire.  I have read every word he ever wrote. Provence seems like heaven on earth. 

So, when I did my patio garden over from an ugly, barren concrete slab, I had visions of French sugar plums dancing in my head.  This new garden was going to be French.  That meant tons of pea gravel.  Pea gravel makes everything French. The contractor delivered, and if I closed my eyes, the crunch of the pea gravel underfoot took me to Provence.

Then it was flower, flowers, flowers!  I found antique flower boxes that I hung from the garden walls and filled them full of calibrachoa that spilled over the boxes.  There was ferns, hostas, hydrangea, coleus, agapanthus, Angelonia, salvia, and moonflowers.  I scattered rusting, white wrought-iron furniture and planters around the garden.  I recently added a little frog fountain for a water feature.  I used wicker outdoor furniture with blue and white provincial fabric cushions for seating. Blue and white pots filled with colorful inpatients. nestled throughout the garden. It is a peaceful oasis in a frenzied world. 

A friend of mind called the patio garden Little Provence.  It is my outside happy place. From May to nearly November, I sit outside in the morning and enjoy my little piece of France.  I read, meditate, pray, do brain games, listen to my Merlin app – I have leaned many bird songs, and hope to see a hummingbird or a butterfly while I sip my morning tea.  I sometime hear bees buzzing as they harvested the nectar from the flowers.   The cicadas and crickets begin singing their songs as summer ends. If you were in Provence, you would be hearing the cigales, the French word for cicadas.

  

Beyond the garden fence is a hedgerow of trees.  They tower about, and you can see the birds and squirrels flitting around the branches. It has been found that trees give off terpenes that are like pheromones in animals. Each kind of tree gives off a different scent that addresses things like inflammation and mood enhancement for anxiety or depression.  It is being studied to see how the trees may help people.  The terpenes may be one reason that forest bathing is so popular today. 

My Little Provence is my peaceful retreat from the world.  All my senses (maybe the terpenes) are enhanced. I enjoy the serenity of the space, and my soul is enriched as I care for myself.  It is truly Joie de Vivre which is French for an exuberant enjoyment of life!   I wish that for you.   

Autumn Means Open Enrollment

by Cynthia, posted in Taking Care of Business

Ah.  It’s the time of year that television advertisements show senior adults in “granny” gowns acting confused about medical insurance.  We are incessantly bombarded with flyers in the mail, radio advertisements, and in some cases, door-knockers.  Yes, I am talking about the Medicare Open enrollment period which runs from October 15 through December 7.

Okay. I jest, a bit. Understanding your medical insurance plans is important, especially as we continue to age. Each year, it seems, something additional goes haywire in our bodies. Recently when dining with three other female friends, we laughed as we talked about groaning when we sit or stand.  Then, we all got up from the booth in which we were sitting and sure enough – each of us made noises. Then we all laughed.

Yet, our need for the right insurance is no laughing matter. Knowing which plan is the right one for our individual needs – current and anticipated – is a challenge.  One way to begin to make sense of our options is the Medicare and You publication. It is the government’s official guide to Medicare. This handbook is created each year to inform Medicare recipients of changes in their coverage.

I received my e-handbook in September as I had signed up last year for an electronic copy, rather than having the thick pamphlet sitting on my desk for months before I finally flipped through it and then recycled the book I didn’t read from last year.  Signing up for the electronic copy is easy.  Log into your Medicare account and select My account settings.  If you don’t have an online account, you can create one.

Under the Email and document settings section, select Edit next to Medicare & You Handbook. Then under “How do you want to get your Medicare & You Handbook?”  Select Electronically.  Remember to Save Changes.  And there you go!

According to the website, Medicare & You provides information about Medicare benefits, costs, rights, and protections; Health and drug plans; and Answers to common questions. See https://www.medicare.gov/medicare-and-you . The guide is 128 pages.  It is easy to read and quite informative.

At this point you are probably rolling your eyes and thinking, “Really?!”  Admittedly this is not as riveting as a favorite novel genre or catching up on stats of your favorite sports teams. We don’t always think about medical insurance coverage …. until we actually need it.  But as we continue to age, it is comforting to know that our medical insurance will help us through those times when our health isn’t as it used to be in “the good ol’ days.”

A Gentleman In Moscow

by sssmahh303, posted in Uncategorized

Mary Ann

When you read a book, do you ever cast the movie as you meet each of the characters?  I do, all the time.  Often, I cast Kate Winslet as a strong, independent women in a period piece, or I see Jennifer Lawrence portraying a complex, troubled, young woman.  It makes the book come alive for me!  However, the movie comes out, and the casting directors have picked totally different people.  How dare they?  

This was very evident when I read one of my favorite books, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.  The book is a story of Count Alexander Rostov, a Russian aristocrat that loses everything during the Russian revolution.  He is exiled to live in a luxury hotel, the Metropol, for the rest of his life.  Imagine trying to make a life in a box after having the best of everything?  You join the Count as he makes a life, finds purpose and love, and befriends the people who are the lifeblood of the Metropol. The Count meets life challenges with humor and kindness – a lesson for us all. 

In 2024, Showtime and Paramount+ produced an eight-episode series of the book.  In my mind’s eye, I pictured Jude Law as the Count. However, when the series was made, Ewan McGregor was chosen.  McGregor doesn’t just play the Count; he is the Count!  The production absolutely makes the book come alive.  

I was so totally wrong on my choice. That is why I am not a casting director.  I will continue pretending I am, however.  It is fun!   

Both the book and the series are wonderful – favorites!!  You can’t put the book down, and now you can binge the entire series instead of waiting with bated breath for the next episode each week.

 Amor Towles is a gifted writer. You might enjoy reading The Lincoln Highway, another of his best-sellers that is a tale of a youthful adventure in the 1950s.    I currently am reading his Tablet for Two, a collection of short stories.    Rules of Civility is on the horizon for me – I am excited for a future read.  I look forward to continued Towles’ masterpieces!   

 

Africa

by sssmahh303, posted in Uncategorized

Mary Ann

When you travel to Africa, it gives you a gift.  It varies from person to person.  The gift reaches deep into your soul. Maybe it is our ancient DNA feeling the deep roots where humans began. 

Some people I know had the gift of elephants.  Another friend had an experience with rare black rhinos that brings her to tears when she speaks about it.  For me the gift was experiences with the great cats. It is funny that a fortune teller once told me that in another lifetime I was a keeper of cats in ancient Egypt. I never gave it much thought. However, cheetah has always been one of my favorite animals.  Did I care for them in another life? 

Leopards

When people go to Africa, they are told that they need to see the Big Five – Elephants, Cape Buffalos, Rhinos, Lions, and Leopards.  For the most part you will see four of the five.  The leopard is elusive.  It is a solitary animal, nocturnal, and shy. So, when we came across a mother leopard and a baby in the daytime and the father was there as well, it was indeed a gift, a rare gift. Our guides told us that we were extremely lucky.  

  The leopards were in a gully that had heavy brush and some trees.   The mother and cub were lying on a bare spot in front of the brush. It was probably her lair. We were perched in our vans along the gully ridge.  Suddenly, the male leopard hoisted an antelope up a tree that was right in front of us.  We were having a National Geographic moment.  He remained in the tree with his kill looking at us.  The mother went into the brush, and you could hear her crunching the bones of something.  It was a powerful and chilling sound. We watched them for a long time, until a barrage of vans showed up to view this exceptional experience.  There is a grapevine among the guides so news travels fast on the savannah.

Cheetahs

The second big cat experience was at Mount Kenya. We were staying at Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, a resort on the equator in the mountains of Kenya that was once owned by actor Bill Holden. It is beautiful.  Prince William proposed to Princess Kate there at a camp above the resort. 

 Mount Kenya Animal Conservancy is associated with the resort.  There is an animal orphanage there. As we toured the compound, there are animals and birds walking around.  There was also a cage of three young cheetah.  My travel group of 7 talked to the cheetah caregivers and asked questions.  The two young men told us to hang around once the park closed so we did, and we got the surprise of a lifetime.  

At the end of the day, the cheetahs are feed.  We were given permission to go in the small feed cage and pet the young cheetahs.  The cheetah could have cared less.  They were busy eating.  When I went in, I kneeled and touched the body of the young female.  I swear I felt an electric shock as I stroked her body.  It was like petting a short-haired dog. I was overwhelmed with emotions.  If the cheetah turned around and ripped off my face, I don’t think I would have minded.  It was just the most incredible experience.  Maybe my cat keeper was coming out!  

Lions

The last experience was at the Masai Mara National Game Reserve near Narok, Kenya.  It blends into the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The Great Migration flows thorough these parks. 

As we did game drives, we came across a very big pride of lions of varying ages.  They were lolling around on a small mound under some shade trees.  We were very close to the group.  They were habituated to the vans.  I think they think they are another kind of animal. I talked to the teenage lions, and they were quite relaxed. As you spoke to them, they would slowly close their eyes just like your pet cat does when you coo to them.  Eye blinking must be a trait of all felines.  It was again special to visit with them.  

I am so thankful to have had these great cat experiences.  Africa gave me unforgettable memories.  I hope that all of you will have a chance to go to Africa and see what gift you will receive.  It will be magical. 

George and Amal Clooney

by sssmahh303, posted in Friends and Family

Mary Ann

I bet you thought that I would be writing about meeting George and Amal Clooney at a market in Provence, France.  I wish.  However, this blog is about another George and Amal Clooney who live in my neighborhood – a pair of red foxes.

Last December we started seeing two beautiful red foxes in our backyards.  They were courting, and the male was wooing his pretty redheaded vixen.  Hopefully, a family would result from all this romancing.  We hoped too that they would set up housekeeping in a den nearby. During this time, everyone on my lane called each other when we had a fox sighting.  Everything stopped to watch them chase each other.  

We decided to call the pair George and Amal Clooney.  George was the voice of Mr. Fox in the animated film The Fantastic Mr. Fox.  The foxes were equally as handsome as the original Clooneys.  They were the stars of our neighborhood!  Then suddenly they disappeared.  We missed them so much.  They brough such joy to all our lives. 

Time passed, and George and Amal showed up on the other side of our townhouse complex.  They settled behind a set of townhouses in a lovely, wooded area with a little stream running through it – a wonderful place to raise their kits. George and Amal then had their babies and the other half of the complex got to see them grow up.  I did not. I was and am GREEN!!!  The neighbors still call one another with each fox sighting.  The Clooneys have enchanted everyone and united the whole neighborhood in a unique way. 

However, I had my National Geographic moment. I was driving past the pond on a rainy day, and I spotted Amal hunting along the edge of the water.  As a mother, she now had several mouths to feed, and as the kits grew so did their appetites.  Amal was intensely searching for a mouse. Then, she leaped into the air in an arc that is a common fox hunting technique. She missed the mouse. At that moment, I lowered my car window to take a picture, and it made an eeeeeeeeee sound which caught her attention.  She looked right at me. and our eyes locked. This went on for like 30 seconds. We were looking into each other’s souls. Then she started to walk towards me.  OMG, was she going to yell at me for the eeeeeeeee sound and ruining her mouse hunt?  Meanwhile, I am fumbling around trying to find my phone in my purse and turn it on to get a photo.  Amal was still moving towards me then she turned and went over the bridge running in front of the car into the woods.  I finally found the phone and did get a shot of Amal running by me before she ducked into the woods. I shall never forget this encounters, a truly priceless moment for me.

The foxes have united our community in such a fun way.  With a world full of turmoil and negativity, George and Amal have brightened so many lives, and now there is another generation to carry it on.  I am still GREEN! 

Note – If you notice, Amal’s tail has no fur on it.  She probably has mange.  I have been in touch with our local wildlife center to figure out how to help her. They suggested we could trap her in the fall after her babies are grown and treat her.  The kits need her now.  However, her kits and probably George will get mange from her.  His tail is very bushy.  Apparently, a healthy animal can recover from mange, but if you read about it online, there is not much hope and so much suffering for the animal.  The history of mange is heartbreaking and why wild animals have it.  You can research all of this on the Internet if interested. 

More Than Pampering

by Cynthia, posted in Wellness

I just came home from my medical massage, feeling all ooey gooey, body relaxed. My granddaughter mentioned “lines” on my face – indentations from being face down on the massage table.

My first encounter with medical massage was about three years ago. Suddenly my back seized. I was in pain. It hurt to sit, stand, lie down, and move! Unsure how to deal with this phenomenon, I went to a favorite resource: Google!

The search yielded a couple of medical massage locations near me. The first one I called couldn’t get me in for a week. The other got me in the next day.  Upon arrival I met a lovely young lady (younger than me!) who had me explain what was going on. She took notes, drawing on an outline of a body. Satisfied that she knew what needed to be done, she asked me first to sit on the table.

After a series of stretches, I was invited to lie on the table. Then she proceeded with a massage, pulling and stretching along with the regular massage rubbing.  At the end of the hour, I was upright and mobile.  Judy gave me instructions to do some unique (to me) stretching exercises. Within a day or two I was completely pain free.

That was the beginning of a happy relationship.  Since that first encounter, I have seen Judy once a month. My monthly massage visits seem to keep me supple – moving better.  Granted I realized the importance of exercise, so I began with simple stretches, core building, and eventually walking and riding my stationary bike.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not an exercise nerd and by no stretch of the imagination (pardon the pun) an athlete.  I do enough to keep my 70-something body moving with minimal pain. The best outcome has been the friendship I have developed with this lady who is my daughter’s age. We have a mutual respect for each other’s skills and perspectives.  She is fun, intelligent, adventurous, and extremely kind, not to mention quite knowledgeable about the musculoskeletal system.  While I believe I get a lot more out of the relationship than she, I still believe it has been a winning combination for us both.

For more about Judy and her services, see: https://www.edmondmedicalmassage.com/

Sticking to the Mundane

by Cynthia, posted in Taking Care of Business

Literally!  I have become obsessed with stickers. In younger years I don’t recall using a lot of stickers but the more I learn about making my planner appealing, the more I have embraced my inner child.

Have you ever checked the sticker aisle of your local craft store? Oh my! Hobby Lobby, where I select many of my stickers, has an entire aisle designated just for stickers. An additional aisle for photo albums, planners, and calendars holds a section of stickers in pads made specifically for planners.

Bloom Planners also has great stickers. https://bloomplanners.com/collections/all-accessories Their stickers come in packets, usually by months or themes.  Several other sites sell stickers for planners, too.  I’m telling you this is a big deal!

There are stickers for every imaginable holiday and special events such as birthdays, weddings, vacations, and seasons. You can see flat stickers, glittery ones, puffy, and even three-dimensional stickers. Some are large, some are small, some are even itty bitty mini sized. Special stickers are available for food, drinks, health and wellness, budgeting, fitness, travel and transportation. Some stickers are for empowerment and encouragement. Some help with list making. The possibilities are endless!

With all of the options available, you would think I could find just the right sticker. However, I still have to use my creativity.  For example, on days when I have scheduled my workout that is targeted towards my spine, I use cute skeleton stickers. When the cleaning ladies are coming I slap on a vacuum or a feather duster.

When I can’t find exactly what I am looking for, I have to create my own stickers. I can use blank printables such as Avery brand labels which provides templates for using their various size and shapes. I bought a packet of round stickers and have printed pages of Reiki symbols, meditation scenes, and Zoom meetings so I can slap those on the scheduled day.

Obviously, using stickers is fun. It makes the page more interesting. But practically, it also signals at a glance what the requirements, meetings, and activities for the day will be. Embellished with colored pens and highlighters, looking at my daily deeds is cheerful and uplifting. And when I’m in a funk (we all have those days, now admit it!) I can add an inspirational quote as a reminder to take life a little less seriously.

Planning with stickers may not be your “thang.” Still, it can be a fun, creative activity when staring at the mundane pages of your calendar or planner. You don’t have to go crazy and have so many that they have to be categorized and filed, as I do. But if you decide to give it a whirl, just don’t be surprised if you end up finding a sticker on your arm or ankle. Happy Sticking!