Sepia Saturday

I'm posting at Sepia Saturday today.
This week's challenge is:
165 23 February 2013 : The photograph is called Group Portrait Of An Unknown Family. We all have some unknowns in our collections and this is their special week.

I know that the man on the right (in lighter gray suit) is my paternal grandfather Thomas. I don't know who is standing beside him, but I am guessing it might be his brother as there is a strong resemblance to my Uncle Tommy named after his father, my grandfather. 

I wish I knew where this was taken in Dublin.

Both my grandfathers were named Thomas.

I will have to take the time to restore this photo some day.

Here is my Uncle Tommy as a boy he is on the left. I don't know who is on the right so two photos with unknowns!.

Saturday Snapshot

 

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books.

Claremore OK is considered the home of Will Rogers. Known as Oklahoma's favourite son, the turnpike is named after him.

Rogers was born nearby in a rough log cabin "halfway between Claremore and Oologah on November 4, 1879. He rose from a vaudeville career as a sideshow rope‑tricks artist to become one of the most popular humorists in America.

The New York Times syndicated his weekly newspaper column from 1922-35. Going daily in 1926 his short "Will Rogers Says" reached forty million newspaper readers. He wrote frequently for the mass-circulation upscale magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, where Rogers advised Americans to embrace the frontier values of neighborliness and democracy on the domestic front while remaining clear of foreign entanglements.

Will says "all I know is what I read in the papers".

Rogers was famous for his saying "I never met a man I didn't like".

Rogers even provided an epigram on his most famous epigram:

When I die, my epitaph, or whatever you call those signs on gravestones, is going to read: "I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I dident [sic] like." I am so proud of that, I can hardly wait to die so it can be carved.


The Will Rogers Hotel was built in 1929 during a period when the discovery of ‘Radium Water’ created a health craze putting several new hotels and ‘health spas’ in the City of Claremore. It is now a senior citizens' home.

All photographs are my property unless otherwise stated.

Friday Finds - Books

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).



Gods of Mischief

Black Irish

The Dinner

Orange You Glad It's Friday?

I am posting at Orange You Glad It's Friday this week.

Another photo from last night's sunset in Mazatlan Mexico.

Skywatch Friday

I'm linking up over here today!

We're in Mazatlan this week and while Thursday was an overcast day the sunset was amazing.

Wordless Wednesday

 

I'm posting at Wordless Wednesday today.

 
Also posting at Signs, Signs.

The Strip Las Vegas February 2013

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I am in transit today so I scheduled my post ahead of time on a book I read a week ago.

My selection this week is from The Betrayal of Trust by Susan Hill.

Her bedroom curtains were always left slightly open and she could see lights in the windows of the two houses opposite. People would be awake tonight up making tea, checking windows, hoping there were no slipped tiles on the roof.

Ruby Tuesday

Taken at The Mob Museum in Las Vegas January 2013.

Louis "Lepke" Buchalter (February 6, 1897 – March 4, 1944) was an American mobster and head of the Mafia hit squad Murder, Inc. during the 1930s.

In 1936, Murder, Inc. killers, acting on Buchalter's orders, gunned down a Brooklyn businessman and candy store owner named Joseph Rosen. Buchalter became the only major mob boss to have been personally convicted and sentenced to receive the death penalty in the United States after being convicted of a specific murder. He was sent to the electric chair at Sing Sing (an object that is also part of the collection). He set the record for the richest man ever executed in America.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. For this meme, bloggers post what they finished last week, what they're currently reading, and what they plan to start this week.

My comments are not meant to be recaps of the story lines as I include a link to Goodreads for their synopsis of the book. I am merely stating how I felt about the book without giving any spoilers.

My 2013 reading list can be found here.

We will be heading to Los Angeles today for a flight to Mazatlan Mexico tomorrow where I hope to get lots of reading in!!

FINISHED THIS WEEK:


Synopsis here.

I hadn't read anything by Susan Hill before and this is number six in the series. Being the sixth book in a series didn't really matter to the storyline other than some cryptic references to previous occurrences that had no impact to the plot.

 This is a classic British police procedural with the usual trappings: fictional cathedral town, budget cuts and a lonely attractive senior detective with an eye for the ladies.
This was touted as a cold case, however, I was more interested in some of the side stories taking place. A vast amount of the plot involves a character with an incurable disease planning a medically-assisted suicide, a character whose partner has violent dementia and keeps getting kicked out of care homes, and a woman tied to her older bedridden husband. 
The reader will wonder what part these three women play in the cold case scenario.
So a good read, but I am not rushing out to buy anymore of the series especially since I was not happy being left hanging at the end of the book!

STARTED THIS WEEK:



Ireland 1963. As the Irish people prepare to welcome President John F. Kennedy to the land of his ancestors, a German national is murdered in a seaside guesthouse. Lieutenant Albert Ryan, Directorate of Intelligence, is ordered to investigate. The German is the third foreigner to die within a few days, and Minister for Justice Charles Haughey wants the killing to end lest a shameful secret be exposed: the dead men were all Nazis granted asylum by the Irish government in the years following World War II.

A note from the killers is found on the dead German's corpse, addressed to Colonel Otto Skorzeny, Hitler's favorite commando, once called the most dangerous man in Europe. The note simply says: "We are coming for you."

As Albert Ryan digs deeper into the case he discovers a network of former Nazis and collaborators, all presided over by Skorzeny from his country estate outside Dublin. When Ryan closes in on the killers, his loyalty is torn between country and conscience. Why must he protect the very people he fought against twenty years before? Ryan learns that Skorzeny might be a dangerous ally, but he is a deadly enemy.

Blue Monday

I'm linking up at Blue Monday today.

Aria Casino Resort in Las Vegas January 2013

Dreaming of France

The rules for this meme are: Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
Maybe we can all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.


These were taken in the town of Les Andelys August 2012. We were on a Seine river cruise aboard the MS Avalon Creativity. We had docked and we chose to wander into town on our own with our friends.
This was the view from our cabin window.

The town of Les Andelys lies in a tight bend of the Seine. The valley has been shaped by the river, forming white cliffs. A walk on the riverside offers beautiful views on the ruined castle Chateau-Gaillard, the old houses of Petit-Andely and the Seine valley.

Meal Plan Update - Week 7

We didn't manage a new recipe for this week since it is our last week in the LV condo and we are out and about as well as we need to finish as much of our perishables as possible.

Sunday - relax at "home" and had a great breakfast of grapefruit, juice, bacon, eggs, tomato, potato cakes and mushrooms
Lunch - each to his own
Dinner - Spanish stewed chicken thighs with carrots and turnip added to stew, served with steamed lemon broccoli, pickled beets (homemade) and crusty cheddar cheese bread.


Monday - staying at TI and going to show at Harrah's
Lunch - leftovers
Dinner - appetizers at TI

Tuesday - Donny and Marie Show at Flamingo
Lunch - leftovers
Dinner - leftover chicken stew with broccoli

Wednesday - DH golfing
Lunch -  
Dinner - hamburger stew  with carrots and brussels sprouts and cheesy mashed potatoes.  

Thursday - VALENTINE'S DAY Visit wedding chapels along Old Las Vegas
Lunch - tacos and quesadillas at Mickie Finnz
Dinner - crab legs and lobster tails with salad crusty bread.

Friday - DH Golfing
Lunch -fried mushrooms
Dinner - Fremont St Heart Attack Grill we decided we really didn't need to eat here as it is fast greasy food. We decided to finish the stew and pickled beets with crusty bread.

Saturday - Fremont St
Lunch - burgers at 5 Guys - the worst I've had at that chain
Dinner - fajitas Luna Rossa rigatoni a funghi and spaghetti and meatballs with caesar salad.

Saturday's Photo Hunting

Keyhole Pictures this week's theme is FOOD.

August 2012 aboard the MS Avalon Creativity  the food and its presentation was amazing.
Lobster is one of my favourite foods.

Weekend Cooking

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

May 2009 - Beijing China
When we arrived in Beijing after our long flight we were so excited that we headed to Wangfujing St which is a huge shopping area for pedestrians. You name it and you could find it there!

After having a beer we headed to the Night Market for some dinner sampling.

Wow lots of scorpions, sea horses, star fish, snails etc on sticks. We had donuts (delicious) deep fried cabbage rolls and noodles. Back to the hotel to relax and hit bed around 11PM having been up for 30 hours (not a record)!

NY NY

We stayed at New York, New York Hotel and Casino in January 2013 and enjoy the ambiance, the feeling of being in New York.