PART ONE. THE CASE OF THE MISSING BLOGGER.

PART TWO. THE CASE OF THE MISSING DETECTIVES.
The story so far...Friends of a blogger, who normally liked to write about herself every day and had not been blogging for a week, were concerned. They had hired the detectives, Tyalskye and Pacy to find out if she was alright. Gina Summer was the contact and had regular contact with the missing blogger. Macy Pacy (through an ex, an expert in I.T.) managed to get the missing bloggers address from her email address and with Celeste Tyalskye, had driven to rural Wales to look for her. They found the wooden house surrounded by tall trees and met a woman carrying a basket full of vegetables from the garden. She invited them into the wooden bungalow.

Now read on.....................

Helen McGraeme stamped her worry lines more firmly on her face as she polished her glasses in a distracted way. Damn! She was almost out of those licorice sweets! She would have to get some more from Waitrose.
How could she be thinking about sweets when her bosses had gone missing! She decided to do something about it. She was not an impulsive person usually and was happy to just chug along doing the same things, but a crisis had loomed and she loomed also, to meet it.
She did want to consult another though. She picked up the phone and consulted a piece of paper for the number.

"Hello? "Can I speak to Gina Summer please?"

"This is me."A voice said. "Do I know you?"

Helen explained in her Highland twang that she was ringing her, because
she was the secretary to Tyalskye and Pacy, the detective firm she had hired to find the missing blogger. Something had come up in connection with the case.
"What has happened?"Asked the polite voice.

"Well,"said Helen, "Celeste and Macy went to Wales to the address they got for the missing blogger on Sunday. It is now Tuesday and I haven't heard from them. They are on vodaphone, so maybe they can't get a signal there. Apparently there are a lot of tall trees around the house."
"What are you going to do?" Asked Gina.
"Well, I guess go and find them," said Helen, "it's early, so I'll have to drive to Wales myself as there is no phone number for the missing blogger."
"I'll come with you," said Gina, "I only live on the other side of town, I could meet you somewhere."
"Outside Waitrose," said Helen, thinking she could get more licorice sweets first.

Gina said that she was online at the moment, and she would see if another friend of the missing blogger called Esther would come as well.
"Yes, she is online. I will send her a personal message asking her to ring me and I will explain all to her."

They had agreed to meet in one hour. As Helen stood there clutching her licorice sweets, she realised that she didn't know what Gina or Esther looked like, and hadn't thought to ask. They didn't know what she looked like either.

"Hi. Are you Helen?" A woman, wearing a pair of colourful 'Crocs' and glasses asked.
They established who they were and looked for signs of Esther. They both looked at each other at the same time as there was standing, outside Waitrose, a young woman with a short purple skirt, sandles and a skimpy top. She looked great. Helen was surprised that a blogger could be so, well, trendy.

They settled into Helen's car and each shared a little about herself.
Helen handed out the licorice sweets. The bag was soon empty. Luckily she had bought two bags.

Esther worked in a home for Estonian Refugees and had just finished her shift after taking a young boy to Casualty who got his head stuck inside a saucepan.
Gina, it turned out, was a writer. She wrote romantic fiction for Mills and Boone.

They eventually reached the village near to the blogger's house and asked directions. They were told to look out for the wooden house and stone steps leading up to it from the road. They drove along slowly.
"There's Celeste's car!" Helen shouted as they saw a natty red sports car parked on the side of the road. Helen parked in front of it.

"Well, here it is!" Said Esther, walking ahead up the stairs.
"I'm a bit nervous," said Gina quietly.
"Me too," said Helen, "I wonder if I should have called the police? What if something awful has happened here?"
They followed Esther to the front door with some trepidation. They couldn't help but smile as they all looked around at the quaintness of the wooden bungalow, with scalloped eaves on either side of the roof.
"What a lovely place!" Said Helen. The others agreed.

They all stood in front of the front door, complete with four small portholes above the letter box.
As they all chewed a licorice sweet, Helen knocked on the door.

TO BE CONTINUED........................

I just wrote part 2 of the story, but cooked dinner half way through and then went back to it. After I saved it, I had to log in again and lost the bloody thing! Now I know, that I can't take long breaks in between writing a post.
However, I can remember it, and will write it after supper again.
It is called:
THE CASE OF THE MISSING DETECTIVES

I hope that tickles your fancy and that you will tune in later to read about the exciting exploits of ...da da ...da...daaaa!
Tyalskye and Pacy, natural and supernatural detectives.

p.s.
Menu of the Day
DINNER
Lamb Curry - homemade with own tomatoes, parsnips, spinach and onions.
Basmati Rice.

As I reached for another licorice sweet from that provocatively yellow and black plastic package, the phone rang.

I looked across at Macy, she was engaged in painting her toenails a sky blue colour and had little tufts of cotton wool in between her toes. I suspected that a similar tone of blue was going to appear in her next outfit.

"Hello, Pacy and Tyalskye, can I help you?' she said giving me a coy smile, as if she hoped I wouldn't notice that she had turned around our names. Mine was usually first. I would have to have a word if she persisted in this petty foible.
'Uh huh. Yup. Ok.' This monosylablic chattering was another thing that reeked of unprofessionalism. I was starting to get irritated. I reached for a licorice sweet.

'Righto. Got that. No probs. Bye.' She turned to face me with a sweet smile on her face. She knew exactly how to wind me up. She knew how to wind me down though as well.

Ok, got a missing blogger. That was a Ms Gina Summer, a fellow blogger who, along with several others is a friend of this blogger who has not been blogging for almost a week. Apparently she is usually quite regular. They are concerned and want us to find out if she is alright.' Macy announced this like a newsreader, she was trying to get back into my good books by sounding together and professional.

'Got an address?' I asked.
'Nope.' Macy answered.
'Got a phone number?' I persisted.
'Nope.' She said, almost smugly. There had to be a catch in this. She was sounding too confident.
'Well,' I said, 'how are we going to trace her?' I didn't expect Macy to have any answers, but it was a bit of fun to put some pressure on her.
'No probs. I have an email address for her.' She announced.
'I didn't think you could get a home address from that, and if she isn't answering her blog friends' she wouldn't answer us.' I said. Touche I thought.

'Kev, my ex is a computer wizz, he can find out her home address. I'll give him a ring.' She said quietly. She knew it was game set and match this time.

We discovered that the missing blogger lived in Wales. This was about a 2 hour drive away.
'It'll be a nice day out in the country.' Macy said. 'It sounds nice where she lives, a wooden house surrounded by trees a mile from the beach.'

I was thinking about this blogger. She like to let everyone know all about her life, where she lived, though not exactly where, her routines and family got written about. She obviously loved to chat about herself, so why had she not been keeping up her blog entries?
I reached for another licorice sweet to think about this.

We set out the next day in my sporty car. We could have the top down and with my Doris Day headscarf I felt like I was in the Thelma and Louise movie. It was a nice day until we reached the Welsh Border. It then started to rain. I reached for a licorice sweet for consolation. With a bit of coaxing we got the top up and managed to stay dry.

After several wrong turns and junctions, we found the village near this bloggers house. I took another licorice sweet as we started to look in earnest.
'There it is, as written in her blog, stone stairs leading up to the wooden house, with woods either side and a stream at the bottom running along the road.' Said Macy as I slowed down to look.

We got to the front door and took a good look at it as I reached for a licorice sweet to chew whilst looking. It was very unusual. It had 4 little portholes in it above the letter box, it looked like it came from a boat.

'It does.' Said a voice coming from around the side of the house.
A woman carrying a basket with earth covered vegetables came up to us with a smile.
'What does?' I asked, puzzled at her statement.
'The door does come from a boat.' She said, smiling wider as she opened the door and wiped her feet on the mat.
'Wipe your feet as you come in please.' She said as she turned into one of the rooms.

It was a bungalow, and entering the hallway, I could see there were 6 doorways into rooms. It seemed very light and airy. I explained we were there on behalf of Gina Summer and fellow bloggers who were concerned about her absence from her blog site.

'Well now, this is quite a story, so I'll put the kettle on and tell you all about it, how about that?' As I reached for a licorice sweet, I had an epiphany.
'Would you care for a licorice sweet?' I asked.

TO BE CONTINUED.............................

Damn blast and bugger!
The Case of the Missing Blogger has disappeared!
So, it is now, The Case of the Missing Story about the Case of the Missing Blogger..........

It was a good 'un as well.

I shall rewrite it shortly, not tonight though Josephine as I have an early start tomorrow.

Damn and Blast!

DINNER
Homemade Prawn Curry
Basmati Rice
Naan bread
Superb Lime Pickle (Pataks)

BUGGER!
Tomato and Onion Salad

DINNER
Starters: Fresh Asparagus in butter

Monkfish in Spicy Tomato Sauce with Red Wine
Basmati Rice

Blooming 'eck, it were bloody fantastic that meal! I love monkfish, and it goes well with a tomato sauce. Also in the sauce was last of the runner beans from the garden, and onions.

Mr A has stripped the front of the house off. The wood has been taken off and the underneath insulated. On top of the insulation is paper. This is special building paper, it is bright sky blue, so it looks as if the house has been gift wrapped, all it needs is a shiny ribbon round it with a bow. The timber has been treated with smelly stuff which permeated into my room, so I haven't been able to get in to blog because of the smell.

The shed has arrived! Or shed number one I should say, as this is a B & Q job, the second shed will be hand built and probably end up looking like Brighton Pavillion. So, it is flat packed and leaning up against the wall at the side of the house. The area has been cleared, that means all the stuff that was there has been moved elsewhere, on top of the septic tank. It'll mean that the lean to on the house can be emptied of tools and be used for something else, like a kitten house.

There are 2 female half sister tabbies that Mr A is keen on, otherwise, there is a black and white female that I am keen on. No, we won't be getting all 3.

I now have 3, yes, count 'em, 3 fans. There is the large one next to my bed that I have on when Mr A is away (it's noisy). I have the small battery one which is portable and can be used anywhere. Lastly, the handheld paper one which I use in bed, cos it is quiet. I do feel like madam Pompador fanning myself. 'Ah madamoiselle! You 'ave such an 'ot flush!'
Yes, indeedy, ladies of a certain age will know what it's like, the internal combustion engine starts cranking up and then, like a geyser, it fountains through the body. The accompanying drench from non-smelling sweat is another delightful symptom that leaves clothes clinging, but not in a sexy wet teashirt way.

We have visitors here at the mo. Mr A is playing backgammon and I am ignoring them in traditional Avrilo mode. They seem to be chatting away ok, and I don't really feel like talking, so we're all happy!
You know sometimes someone is talking to you, maybe a bit intensely and you feel like escaping from the conversation? Or they talk 'at' you and not 'to' you? I drift off when I meet people like that, and I'm sure they can see the disinterest on my face. Still, I can't be arsed to pretend anymore, life's too short to be playing mind games.
Mind you, this doesn't happen very often and I don't know why I'm mentioning it.

Finally, the Scarabella web page is to be updated to include audio clips from our cd. Bout time! As soon as we find someone who knows how to do it and doesn't mind being paid in peanuts I'll let you know.

I am at work, supposed to be printing articles on obstetric emergencies. I have printed loads out, so taking a break to blog, quick like.
The funeral service on Saturday was beautiful. The 19yr old's coffin was white and her mum and some old school friends had painted it with red and gold patterns, almost like a sarcophogus. The person reading the service is affiliated to the Centre for Spritual Awareness, so a guy who is sensitive and used to acting in a sacred manner. There was a Bob Marley song, 3 little Birds, one of her favourites, performed by a friend. Then we, Scarabella sang a gospel song. Brenda broke down a bit at the beginning and she was helped out by our friend who used to sing with us, whose daughter was in the coffin. A very touching moment, as she has the most beautiful voice. It was quite a loss to us when she left the group, but she had to care for her daughter full time so her hobbies etc dwindled into the background. She was very strong, greeting everyone, we all were given a flower from one of the beautiful wreaths.
We then went to a reception at an art gallery (where we used to practice.) Small talk which I couldn't really get into with people and eating. There were also exhibits to look at and some wonderful glasswear that's for sale.
A bit of a sad day, there were a few tears and old friends, not seen for a while. My admiration for the mum though, as she got through it with dignity and style, even managing a laugh now and then.
So, I just managed to minimise the page when another member of staff came in the room...phew! I'd better go rather than chancing my luck chatting to you lot.

We are getting a kitten, or maybe 2 of them soon!

More Menu of the Day to come.........

Eat well, live longer.......

DINNER
Cauliflower Curry
Basmati Rice
Naans
Salad a la Moi

Molly and Eve are here from yesterday, going back soon. Eve said dinner was very nice. Molly says she wants crisps! Cheek!

Thanks for your kind comments on my friend's daughter's funeral which is tomorrow. I shall reply to each comment in time. Appreciated very much though.

Working today, so I have to get a move on. Just seen 'Cows with Guns.' A very mooving cartoon which is funny and poignant. I have just explained what poignant means to the girls. They say 'mmmmmm....'

It's been nice and sunny in these parts yesterday and today but there is that autumn chill in the air. Tomatoes are still green on the vine but eating lettuce and had a couple of corn on the cobs - absolutely delicious!

DINNER
Bought Welsh Black Beef Pie
Salad a la Moi with lettuce from the garden

After posting about my friend's daughter passing away last week I haven't felt like posting anything else, this is a phase and I hold my hand up to showing my human nature from time to time.

The funeral is on Saturday. As the 19yr old loved a bit of glitter we are going to wear a piece of sparkle for her. My friend has kept busy and organised the service. As she used to be in our singing group she will join us in a gospel song which is very beautiful. It will be a miracle if there are any of us left not shedding some tears for the passing of our teenager friend. Some of her art work will be on display and her mum and a couple of school friends will paint a flower on the white coffin.

I am working 4 days this week, so quite busy, what with this and that, you know how it is. I think I will be more blog user friendly after the funeral. Thanks for the kind comments some of you have left - much appreciated.

My earlier post mislead into thinking we were going to get a take away from the Ferry Cabin for dinner. Not true. I decided to go shopping, and so:

DINNER
Chorizo and Lamb Kebab sliced with onion, garlic, crushed Cashews, dried apricots, yellow pepper, and carrots in a tomato/red wine sauce
Basmati Rice
Homegrown Runner Beans
Salad a la Moi with Homegrown Lettuce

I called it 'Morrocan Surprise.' Morrocan because of the dried apricots and surprise because I actually got around to making it, rather than getting a take away. It was really delicious, tasty and filling.

I apologise for breaking a promise to write a story tonight. I am too aware that one of my best friend's daughter has just died. My mind is in a state of delayed reaction to the news. I wrote about it in my earlier post, but I don't think it had quite hit me. We have lived with the threat of this coming for quite a few years, but thought it would never happen so soon, she seemed to be managing ok. So, I am going to bed, offering prayers and condolences, thinking about the shortness of this beautiful young woman's life. Sending strength to my friend who will need it, in buckets, to get through all the details, paperwork and the emotional rollercoster that comes now her daughter has died.

DINNER
Something nice from the take out selection at 'The Ferry Cabin.'
This is a very good restaurant/cafe in our village (a mile away.) They cook fresh fish with real chips, so that may well be the direction that my palette is heading.....

Heard some sad news this morning. The 19 yr old daughter of a friend of many years passed away yesterday. She had an ongoing illness that affected her breathing and had been in and out of hospital many times to try and make her more comfortable. I hadn't heard from her mum for a few weeks, and there was the usual latest treatment but no serious news then, so it was a bit of a shock. The daughter was very talented in art and had a great sense of humour. She would babysit for another friend and the children loved her because she was so gentle and easy to be with. She will be greatly missed, especially by her mum, who cared for her constantly and her brother, who had to step aside for attention as she needed so much. Her mother, my friend, is the sort of person who is always there for others when they need help with something. I remember for my 50th birthday her and her daughter did loads of cooking and provided all the food for it, including a cake. At that time I had a lot on my plate (not food though) and she really helped by stepping in and taking all that responsibility to organise the food for the party.

I really want to give her lots of support now as she must be in shock. However, she is not answering her phone and, I think, she does not want to talk to anyone. She is an ex member of my singing group. She had to leave when her daughter needed constant care, which also involved travelling to Cambridge to Addenbrooks Hospital for treatment. So, the rest of our group all feel for her loss, as we shared the news of the ongoing illness of her daughter for about 6-7 years, over which time it has got progressively worse.

It must be so hard to lose a child. After birthing and bringing them up to see them change so much with time. Our hearts, thoughts, prayers and love are with her right now. The 4 of us feel really gutted. This news doesn't really affect anyone else on this blog site, but I just wanted to put it out there into the ether, this is a sort of journal, after all.

On another note (ha ha) I've been listening to the cd's I brought back from the WIT camp with me of 2 of the musicians that played there. I can recommend:
Jan Allain (website of same name) a singer songwriter guitarist and harmonica player with a beautiful Karen Carpenter type voice. She sounds like velvet, or soft toffee, and her songs are memorable and haunting. From blues to ballads (not corny at all) writing really good songs.
Lucy Ray (also has her own website) is another singer songwriter and excellent guitarist. Both these women play the guitar really well and it is a pleasure to listen to them both. Lucy Ray sings more acoustically and tells stories in her songs. The sort of songs you find yourself whistling as they are so catchy.

I did promise Going Somewhere that I would write a story, as it has been a while since I last wrote one. I have to go to the shops now, but will be back later and fill you in on the latest escapade of Celeste Tyalskye and her partner in the detecting business, Macy Pacy.

Till then, a loud 'HUZZAH!' For some unfathomable reason.......

DINNER
Mediterranean Vegetable Pizza

Cooked by Mr A after we both had a long day at work, I got home about 10.30.

More memories:
Watching a dancer on stage performing with a cellist and her 4 year old son, (no babysitter), who joined in the performance copying the dancer's movements. He was very good and unselfconscious. He loved the applause!

The closing ceremony, a spiral dance with us singing as we moved around. There were a few tears, meeting eye to eye it was easy to feel the goodwill radiating.

Watching the 'signers' as they interpreted the words of songs from performers on the main stage. WIT pays signers so that deaf women can know what songs are being sung, also what stories are told and what the compere is saying on stage. They don't just sign with their fingers and hands, they move their body to the rythmn of the music. Wonderful to watch, like a piece of performance theatre as they create a visual picture for the disabled women.

Watching a punk band singing such memorable songs as 'chuck it out', an anti-recycling song and 'total disgrace' listing all the bad habits and anti-social behaviour the singer (a teacher) has!

Performing my country and western songs called, 'How Can You Be a Back Seat Driver, When You're Sitting Right Next To Me,' and my anthem to my old Robin Reliant 3 wheeler car called '40 M.P.H.' and remembering all the words!

Performing in Scarabella, our 5 piece acappella group. Many of the audience had seen us before and were fantastic in their appreciation! Like being a Broadway star for 20 mins! We sold many cd's and I even signed a few. Phew, they'll be interviewing me in 'OK' next! (Fat chance!)

Seeing Rowan, who is completely paralysed and lies on a cart with wheels enjoying all the different acts and being included in so many events...