Claudia — Page 1146

Lilacs At Their Peak

May 12, 2015 at 9:19 am by Claudia

On Sunday evening, after a day where the temperature hit 90° – yes, you read that right – Don and I ventured out to the porch and sat for a while on the glider. We’d visited our local nursery earlier in the day. I’d been feeling sad this Mother’s Day, so we decided that the nursery just might bring a smile to my face, and it did. I came home and potted plants, adding some hanging baskets, and the porch was now adorned for the season.

There’s nothing prettier than the view from the glider; lush green everywhere, the sugar maple arching over the big garden bed, and the lilac bush blooming in the distance. Birds were calling back and forth, a breeze had finally kicked up, and we sighed with contentment.

This is what we wait for in the last days of winter, when spring seems an impossibility.

Of course, temperature-wise, we’ve sort of skipped spring. Yesterday was 87 and humid, today it will be 89. But tomorrow? Back into the sixties. What a bizarre season it has been so far!

I did some more work outside yesterday until the oppressive heat, along with the pollen that is everywhere, did me in. My cough came back and I realized that I have to lay low today until tomorrow brings some relief.

At the end of our time on the porch, we ventured over to the lilac bush to catch some of its heady, heavenly scent. Camera in hand, I took some more photos of the lilac at its peak. I also took some photos of the flowering quince and the wild honeysuckle (tomorrow’s post).

Here you go, lilac lovers:

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Close your eyes and imagine the scent.

The tiny bush I planted over seven years ago is now just about six feet tall. This year’s bloom has been the best ever. I can’t bring myself to cut any of the blooms. I’m that way with a lot of the garden flowers. I like them in the garden.

For so many years, coaching took me away from home at this time of year, so I never take the sight of any of this for granted. It will take me away again for three weeks in June and early July, but three weeks seems like nothing compared to the ten I used to spend away from home.

I travel to Hartford on Thursday and again on Sunday and then my work on Kiss Me Kate will be done. I can’t wait to see it onstage, with the set and costumes.

Happy Tuesday.

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Book Review: Lowcountry Boneyard by Susan M. Boyer

May 11, 2015 at 8:33 am by Claudia

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Today I am reviewing Lowcountry Boneyard by Susan M. Boyer for TLC Book Tours. As always, I am provided with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

About the book (from the publisher): Where is Kent Heyward? The twenty-three year old heiress from one of Charleston’s oldest families vanished a month ago. When her father hires private investigator, Liz Talbot, Liz suspects that the most difficult part of her job will be convincing the patriarch his daughter tired of his overbearing nature and left town. That’s what the Charleston Police Department believes.

But behind the garden walls South of Broad, family secrets pop up like weeds in the azaleas. The neighbors recollect violent arguments between Kent and her parents. Eccentric twin uncles and a gaggle of cousins covet the family fortune. And the lingering spirit of a Civil War-era debutant may know something if Colleen, Liz’s dead best friend, can get her to talk.

Liz juggles her case, the partner she’s in love with, and the family she adores. But the closer she gets to what has become of Kent, the closer Liz dances to her own grave.

My review: I reviewed Lowcountry Bombshell by Boyer a couple of years ago. I enjoyed it. Then, as now, Boyer writes a tightly plotted mystery where Charleston and the island named Stella Maris, where Liz lives, are lovingly described in rich detail. This series is written by a Southerner who clearly loves her chosen home. I tip my hat to her – her words make Charleston and Stella Maris come to life.

Liz is a strong female protagonist, who balances her tough work as a private investigator with the demands of family, lover, and friends, with a running commentary on what designer handbag she’s carrying or outfit she’s wearing. In other words, this mystery series is a combination of the American version of a cozy mystery and Chick Lit. It’s very entertaining and a perfect summer read.

I love the other-worldly character of Colleen, Liz’s best friend who died too young. Only Liz can see her and she flits in and out of the story, all the while keeping her protective eye on Liz. It’s a lovely eccentric character detail in a series that honors and nurtures the eccentric.

But that leads me to something I must address. Liz’s family is portrayed as a group of endearing Southern eccentrics. There is one scene in which Liz goes to her parents’ house for dinner, a dinner where they are to meet her sister’s new boyfriend. I won’t go into detail, but the successful efforts of her father to rid the backyard of tunneling rodents with gasoline and bullets was too much for me. This reviewer, who cannot bear to see cruelty to animals – any animals – found it very hard to read. I have to admit that it put me off the book for quite a while. I love eccentricity as much as the next person, but there are lots of other ways to make that quality come to life on the page. I think this particular choice was an unfortunate one. I’m fully aware that many readers will not even blink an eye when reading this scene. Nevertheless, you’re reading my reviews in great part because they are honest and forthright, so I have to share my reaction with you.

That being said, I think Boyer is a very good writer. The Lowcountry series is richly Southern, with fascinating characters and compelling plots. There’s a nice dose of humor, as well. The plot has lots of twists and turns that will keep you guessing while following along with Liz as she methodically sifts through clues, interviews suspects, and tries to figure out who is telling the truth and who is not.

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About the author: Susan M. Boyer is the author of the USA Today bestselling Liz Talbot mystery series. Her debut novel, Lowcountry Boil, won the 2012 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, the Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, and garnered several other award nominations. Susan loves beaches, Southern food, and small towns where everyone knows everyone, and everyone has crazy relatives. You’ll find all of the above in her novels.

Susan lives in Greenville, SC with her husband and an inordinate number of houseplants.

I’m giving away a copy of Lowcountry Boneyard. Just leave a comment here and I’ll pick the winner on Thursday evening.

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Monday.

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On This Sunday

May 10, 2015 at 8:26 am by Claudia

Grocery shopping, recycling, lawn mowing, bramble pruning – our day yesterday was productive and busy. It feels so good to be outside working; whether it be in the garden or on the porch or pushing a lawnmower. After the long, long winter and then, just when I was ready to hit the ground running, a sinus/allergy/cold/whatever thing that knocked me out for several days – glory be.

This is my happy time. This time, when spring has sprung, when plants are emerging from the ground and the garden needs tending and weeding and mulching, when seeds need to be planted, when pots need to be filled with flowers, when the porch needs to be restored to its role as our outdoor room, when the funky patio is decorated, when I see birds in the birdbath for the first time this year, this time is my favorite. Time enough for the heat and humidity of mid to late summer, when there is nothing for me to do in the garden. Right now? Happy Claudia.

On another note, today is Mother’s Day and I wish a very happy one to all of you who are moms, whether to human children, children of the furry variety, or to nieces and nephews, or students, or neighborhood children. We all function as mothers.

It’s also a poignant day for some; the picture perfect mother-child relationship is not the norm for many, some have never known their mothers, there are mothers who have lost children and those who struggle to conceive. And some, like me, have lost their mothers. This day is a tough one for me, there’s no getting around it.

I’m a mom – a mom to all the students I have ever taught, a mom to my beloved pets, past and present. A mom to Winston, and Riley, and Scout.

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What a privilege it has been to be a mom to this girl. She is ‘the best girl in the world,’ something I say to her a hundred times a day. She’s my baby, my girl, my daughter.

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Happy Sunday.

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Lilacs At Their Peak

Book Review: Lowcountry Boneyard by Susan M. Boyer

On This Sunday

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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