Category: Essay
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Book Review: Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
Cozy murder mysteries are my favorite genre, yet somehow I missed the buzz on Finlay Donovan is Killing It when it came out in 2021. So, late to the party, I finally checked out the ebook from Libby. Well! I flew through this book in four days–even though I didn’t read for two days in-between…
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Book Review(s?): The Rom-Commers and Hello, Stranger by Katherine Center
A colleague of mine recommended a book to me at the start of this school year, Hello, Stranger by Katherine Center. She said it was one of her favorites and that I should read it. So, in December, I did. And I liked it. It was about something I didn’t know anything about, face blindness,…
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Good Friday: Behold, Your Mother
Yesterday, Good Friday, my church parish had a new liturgy at noon, The Seven Last Words of Jesus. These are phrases attributed to Jesus during his crucifixion. A string quartet played an orchestral piece composed by Joseph Haydn designed specifically for this service. More info about this piece of music is here: Seven parishioners were…
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The Arm That Embraced Our Lord
https://cathstan.org/news/local/relic-of-the-arm-that-embraced-our-lord-venerated-at-st-jude-parish
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Happy heavenly birthday to my mom
Taking a moment today to give a prayer of thanksgiving for my lovely mother, Margaret Harvey Blanchard (bottom of photo) on her birthday. She would be 91 today. I have missed her so much, especially since my dad is also gone. Today is also the Feast Day of St. Margaret of Scotland, which was so…
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This is Heaven; How May I Help You?
TikTok is an ocean of possibilities. I have an account but I don’t ever open it. I do, however, frequently watch TikToks that are cross-posted on Instagram or Facebook, and that is how I stumbled upon 26-year old Taryn Delanie Smith, a former beauty queen who is as of this writing sitting pretty with 1.3…
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Book Review: Mrs. Porter Calling by A. J. Pearce
One of my favorite books of 2019 was Dear Mrs. Bird by A. J. Pearce, which I read just before the lockdown and the horrible pandemic thing ensued. I love that book so much that my family finally did an intervention and asked me to STOP talking about Emmy and her friends. Since then, I’ve…
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Puccini Ardillo, an Ode to a Fine Dog
After a brief illness attributed to old age, Puccini Ardillo, born February 8, 2007, passed away on October 31, 2022, in the loving arms of his family. A dog of many monikers, he was known as the little prince, boo boo, Pucci, and rascal. He is survived by Michelle and Tom, and his sissies Margaret…
Michelle Blanchard Ardillo 