Shortbread is a classic Scottish dessert traditionally made with: 1 part white sugar (I use powdered) 2 parts butter 3 parts flour (I usually use rice flour) And a bit of salt Shortbread is so named because of its crumbly texture which is caused by its high-fat content, provided by the butter. “Shortening” is …
Category: Memories
Dec 21
Lockerbie
The Lockerbie Cairn, through its 270 blocks of red Scottish sandstone, memorializes the 270 lives lost in the terrorist attack on the United States when Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed Dec. 21, 1988, over Lockerbie, Scotland. It is a gift of the people of Scotland to the people of the United States, financed …
Aug 26
It’s Bittersweet This Year – Dog Day?
This is a post from last year but I’m sharing it again. Mimi didn’t quite make it to Dog Day this year. She died Sunday night, August 23rd. There will be a “memorial-type” post later, when I get my act together. Meanwhile, remember this: A dog is man’s best friend. National Dog Day …
May 25
Memorial Day 2020
Thanks, Grandpa… You weren’t American, but you fought valiantly for the cause overseas. I never met my grandfather. He had died in Peshawar, India, fighting for the Black Watch during World War l. Peshawar was on the northern frontier of British India, near the Khyber Pass. In 1947, Peshawar became part of the newly …
May 11
Is This Goose a Father-to-be?
I don’t know why geese fascinate me but they have for years. I love how the father stands watch over the family-to-be and when they’re crossing the street – mom in front, babies, then dad. Lately, I’ve been seeing goose families everywhere. When I went to an appointment pre-COVID, I noticed a goose family had …
May 09
NED for 14 years!
NED stands for No Evidence of Disease Amazing! It’s Been 14 Years, Already. Today is the fourteenth anniversary of my kidney cancer surgery. These fourteen years have been bonus years for me. What were the odds I’d get kidney cancer? According to my “risk factors”, I “should” have had colon cancer because both parents and …
Mar 15
Beware! The Ides of March
Everyone knows we’re supposed to beware the Ides of March and may even remember they’re from William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” but what exactly do they mean? The Ides of March marked the day the Julius Caesar was assassinated by members of the Roman Senate in 44 B.C.E. A soothsayer, or psychic, warned Caesar to beware …
Mar 01
My Ringtone: Scotland the Brave
“Scotland the Brave” (Scottish Gaelic: Alba an Àigh) is a Scottish patriotic song. It was one of several songs considered an unofficial national anthem of Scotland. My cellphone ringtone is Scotland the Brave. At any rehearsal, everyone knows it’s my phone, if one is ringing 🙂 I posted a bit about that here: http://maryoblog.com/2015/08/ Below, the …
Music
- 🛐 Hymn History: Since Jesus Came into My HeartThe Pender UMC Traditional Service Final Hymn “Since Jesus Came into My Heart”, Sunday March 17, 2024 was played by Hetty Jacobs on piano and sung by the Sanctuary Choir and congregation. This was the fifth Sunday in Lent.
- ✅ AA Open Meeting, WednesdaysDiscover a supportive space for new beginnings! Join us every Wednesday at 6:00 PM, in the serene ambiance of Pender UMC's Library. At 5:00 PM there will be a time of casual chat, known as the "meeting before the meeting". Engage in meaningful conversations and find camaraderie at our AA meetings, guided by the experienced […]
- 📚 STORYTIME at the Hirshhorn, WednesdaysGet ready for a whirlwind of fun and creativity with STORYTIME, where contemporary art comes alive through enchanting stories and lively movement for ages 3 and up! Every week is a new adventure, packed with a dazzling array of themes that are sure to spark the imaginations of young artists and their grown-ups.
- 🪨 Junior Geologists Lab, April 26Rocks and fossils get the spotlight in this STEM program. Bring in an interesting rock to identify and share, and explore the science of geology!
- 🤩 Seven Events happening on April 27See them all here.
- 🌱 Seedling Tray Planting & Plant Swap, April 27Earth Week is a great time to try planting your own herbs or small plants at home. We provide the supplies and instructions, you supply the care at home! Maybe you have a small plant you no longer love, so bring it in and swap with your neighbors to try a new one.
- 🪁 11th Annual Kite Festival, April 27Let’s go fly a kite, up to the highest height! Join us for this FREE event as we launch our kites to dance across Signal Hill Park skies.
- 🎤 Live Concert: Oh, The Places You will Go!, April 28It’s a small and beautiful world! If you had the opportunity to travel anywhere you wanted, where would you go? Come fly with us to some of our favorite places!
- ✨ Fairy Festival, April 27Enjoy a scavenger hunt along a magical wooded trail decorated with fairy houses, a face painting and tattoo station, moon bounces, whimsical crafts, and a gnome home contest!
- 🎨 Festival Of Colors 2024 Holi DC, April 27Join us at the Festival of Colors 2024. World’s Happiest and Most Entertaining Family Event. Eat, Drink, Dance, Shop and throw colors!!!
Little Free Library
- Dying To Date: Love, betrayal, murder—a great first dateBy a good friend of mine! When dying to date Mr. Right leads to finding Mr. Wrong—it’s deadly. Relationship expert Kristina Truly has a proven track record of dating the wrong men. However, her highly publicized romantic failures don’t stop her fans from attending her Finding Mr. Right, Not Mr. Perfect seminars and reading her […]
- The Poisoned PeerThe 99-year-old Earl of Middlemop has had his future cruelly snatched from him. Who could have poisoned the richest man in Wessex? The answer lies within the walls of Gripedown Hall where family secrets and bitter rivalries prevail. Senior sleuths Churchill and Pemberley investigate on the behest of their friend Tryphena Ridley-Balls. However, another friend […]
- Murder in the ManorMURDER IN THE MANOR (A LACEY DOYLE COZY MYSTERY—BOOK 1) is the debut novel in a charming new cozy mystery series by Fiona Grace. Lacey Doyle, 39 years old and freshly divorced, needs a drastic change. She needs to quit her job, leave her horrendous boss and New York City, and walk away from the […]
- Murder on a Midnight ClearA snowbound country mansion, a missing butler, and a Christmas case . . . Olive and Jasper have never been closer—except in one area. Jasper is still reticent about his frequent disappearances from polite society. With the holidays approaching and no paying client on the books, Olive decides to shadow Jasper when he’s unexpectedly called […]
- Discerning GraceAs the first full-length novel in The White Sails Series, DISCERNING GRACE captures the spirit of an independent woman whose feminine lens blows the ordered patriarchal decks of a 19th century tall ship to smithereens. Wilful Grace Baxter, will not marry old Lord Silverton with his salivary incontinence and dead-mouse stink. Discovering she is a […]
- The Thursday Murder Club: A Novel (A Thursday Murder Club Mystery Book 1)A New York Times bestseller | Soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment “Witty, endearing and greatly entertaining.” —Wall Street Journal “Don’t trust anyone, including the four septuagenarian sleuths in Osman’s own laugh-out-loud whodunit.” —Parade Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves A female cop with her […]
- Body on Baker Street (A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery Book 2)The amateur sleuths at the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop must call upon the powers of deduction in order to rid Baker Street of a ruthless killer Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson are busy managing the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium on Baker Street and adjoining Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room in anticipation of the store’s upcoming book […]
- The Devil and the Dark Water (A Locked-Room Historical Mystery)A murder on the high seas. A remarkable detective duo. A demon who may or may not exist. It's 1634, and Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Traveling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who […]
- Too Many WomenAh, sweet mystery, when Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin plunge into a case of murder brimming with luscious, lethal ladies. Who murdered Waldo Wilmot Moore? Well, there were five hundred female employees at the Wall Street firm where poor Waldo had worked. Any one of them might have done it. And there was also the […]
- Christmas Cupcake MurderAs December turns Lake Eden, Minnesota, into the North Pole, the heat is on in Hannah Swensen’s kitchen to honor two Christmas promises: baking irresistible holiday cupcakes and preventing an attempted murderer from succeeding the second time around! While Hannah speeds through a lengthy holiday checklist, drama in town grows like Santa’s waistline on Christmas […]