Dear Abby - Meet Lady (A Rescued Pet Spotlight)

Dear Friends,

I hope you are having a wonderful week in your part of the world!  I have a special friend for you to meet today.  

Lady is a 4 year old Dachshund/Terrier mix.  She was rescued during a scary flood in Oklahoma.  Even the animal shelter was flooding!   

She is a very pretty girl, and we Dachshund/Terrier mixes have to stick together.  Read on to learn more about Lady's dramatic story.

Abby:  What is your background and how did you end up in rescue?: 

Lady:  I’m not sure how I arrived at the rescue but I wasn’t there very long until the heavy rains started to seep under doors and before long it was flooding the aisles.

People who volunteered at this shelter tried to get the cages out but soon the water was so deep that they asked us to swim out. They watched us but I was able to swim and soon was reached by someone on higher ground. They dried me and put me in a crate. Then they took us to an old fire station that was on high ground.

The people who ran the shelter sent word out on TV and begged people to please adopt us if they could give us a good home.

A number of people responded. I was a little afraid of some of the loud little people but then my mom came in and she walked straight to me. She did some signing and then took me in to get a shot.  I wasn’t really afraid because she held me and I felt loved.

Abby:  How were your first days at your new home?

Lady:  My new home had two dogs that lived there, both bigger than me. One was friendly but one was a little unsure of me. My mom made sure I was not left alone with them until she was sure they both accepted me.

Abby:  What are a few of your favorite things?

Lady:  I love to have something in my mouth. It may be a little piece of paper or a sock. I especially like socks. Mom bought me a toy that I love to play with, throwing it in the air and catching it.

Abby:  Do you have any tips for people who want to adopt a rescue pet?

Lady:  I want my friends to have someone who will not neglect their care. The people who rescue us should love us but not just for a little while. We need a forever home and good food. We want to be loved and will give our entire loyalty and love in return.

Abby:  Is there a rescue group you want to send a shout out to?

Lady:  A group in Madill, OK called SOAR Southern Oklahoma Animal Resources is great and a no-kill shelter.

Lady, thank you for visiting my blog today and sharing your story!   My Momma and your Mom are bookseller friends, and I have heard that your Mom is a wonderful, dedicated animal lover.

Friends, if you have comments for Lady or just want to say "hi," I would love to hear from you in the comments section below.

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Abby xoxoxo

Book Review - Rare Objects by Kathleen Tessaro

Book Synopsis
In Depression-era Boston, a city divided by privilege and poverty, two unlikely friends are bound by a dangerous secret. . . .

Maeve Fanning, a first generation Irish immigrant, was born and raised among the poor, industrious Italian families of Boston’s North End by her widowed mother. Clever, capable, and headstrong, Maeve is determined to better herself despite the hardships of the Great Depression. However, she also has a dangerous fondness for strange men and bootleg gin—a rebellious appetite for experience that soon finds her spiraling downward in New York City. When the strain proves too much, Maeve becomes an involuntary patient in a remote psychiatric hospital, where she strikes up a friendship with an enigmatic young woman, who, like Maeve, is unable or unwilling to control her unladylike desire for freedom.

After her release, Maeve returns to Boston to start over again, landing a job at an antiques shop catering to the city’s wealthiest and most peculiar collectors. Run by an elusive English archeologist, the shop is a haven for the obscure and incredible, supplying one-of-a-kind artifacts to its customers while providing Maeve with unique access into the world of New England’s social elite. While delivering a purchase to a wealthy family, Maeve is introduced to beautiful socialite Diana Van der Laar—only to discover she’s the same young woman from the hospital.

Reunited with the charming but increasingly unstable Diana and pursued by her attractive brother James, Maeve becomes more and more entwined with the Van der Laar family—a connection that pulls her into a world of moral ambiguity and deceit. Bewitched by their wealth and desperate to leave her past behind, Maeve is forced to unearth her true values and discover just how far she’s willing to go to reinvent herself.

A rich, universal story of ambition, transformation, desire, and betrayal, Rare Objects is acclaimed writer Kathleen Tessaro’s finest work to date.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

My Review

Opening Rare Objects is like entering another world.  This exceptionally engrossing novel will transport you to Boston in the 1930's.  You will meet Maeve Fanning, who aspires to a life beyond her working class background, and who reinvents herself among the social elite in order to pursue a new future.

I love historical fiction and found the setting and time period of this book unique and interesting.  I rarely seem to find historical fiction set during the Depression Era.  

Maeve is an unusual character.  I did not always like her, but I always found her interesting, and I kept reading to see what would happen next, especially as she began work at the antiques shop and met Diana again.  Maeve's life in two worlds was fascinating.   I felt a bit of anxiety at times, worrying about Maeve and her double life.  As Maeve declares early in the novel:  "... if you can convince others, there's a chance that someday you might just be able to convince yourself" (p. xiii).

As a lifelong fan of all things vintage and antique, and a vintage seller, I especially loved the details of the antique shop, with the rare objects there, and the map with pins detailing the travels of the shop's mysterious owner.

The writing is beautiful.   I loved this passage, describing the antique shop, so much that I have to share it with you:

"There was a sense of solemnity and guardianship, like being in a library or a church.  And like a church, the shop had a muted, far-removed quality, as if it were somehow both part of and yet simultaneously annexed from the present day.  The essence of aged wood, silver polish, furniture oil, the infintesimal dust of other lives and other countries, hung in the air.  I could feel its weight around me, and its flavor lingered on my tongue.  Time tasted musty, metallic, and faintly exotic.  

Almost everywhere else, time was an enemy, the thief that rendered food rotten, dulled the bloom of youth, made fashions passe.  But here it was the precious ingredient that transformed an ordinary object into a valuable artifact - from paintings to thimbles" (p. 67).

The narrative of this story is so dense and detailed, but it moves quickly along, thanks to multi-faceted characters and well written dialogue.

Rare Objects is a rare book.  I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Author Bio

Kathleen Tessaro is the author of Elegance, Innocence, The Flirt, and The Debutante. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her husband and son.

Find out more about Kathleen at her website and connect with her on Facebook.

I received this book from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Did You Know Tuesday - Fun Facts About Scrabble

April 13 is National Scrabble Day!   I love Scrabble.   My two all time favorite board games are Scrabble and Monopoly.

The idea of Scrabble is so simple.  You have a playing board with a grid, and little wooden letters.  When it is your turn, you make words with the wooden letters.  Each wooden letter tile has a point value, so you want to make a word with as many points as possible.

This game was created in 1938 by American architect Alfred Mosher Butts.  It was originally called Criss-Crosswords, and he could not find a toy company that wanted to buy.

James Brunot bought the rights to this game in 1948 and made games with his family in Connecticutt.  Jack Strauss, the president of Macy's, played the game on a vacation trip and loved it.  He discovered Macy's did not carry the game ... and he changed that.   It was a huge hit!

Selchow and Righter bought the game rights in 1952.  Rights later went to Coleco, and then Hasbro.

Here are a few fun facts:

Scrabble was a game show on daytime tv beginning in 1984.  It was hosted by Chuck Woolery.

April 13 is Scrabble creator Alfred Mosher Butts' birthday.

Scrabble comes in a Braille edition.

The highest tile points are for Q and Z (10 points each).

The highest possible score word, with 1782 points, is OXYPHENBUTAZONE.

Over 30,000 Scrabble games are started each hour.

Over 150 million Scrabble games have been sold.

53% of all homes in Great Britain own a Scrabble game;  in the United States this number is 33%.

Scrabble tiles have been featured on record album covers by Crowded House and World Party.

A number of books feature Scrabble games, including The Handmaid's Tale, Lolita, and Rosemary's Baby.

Prince Charles and Scrabble both turned 60 the same year.  A portrait of Prince Charles was created with Scrabble tiles to commemorate the event.
 
Scrabble entered the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2004.

I would love to find a Scrabble app for my phone that doesn't drain the battery.  I love Words With Friends, but it really does a number on battery usage!  Is there another app you recommend, or perhaps a tip for Words With Friends usage that will reduce battery drain?

Do you enjoy Scrabble?   Any Scrabble memories?   I'd love to hear from you in the comments, below.    

Music Monday - "Mercy" by Duffy (2008)

I'm usually all about retro music here, but I do enjoy some newer music as well!  "Mercy" by Duffy was a 2008 hit.  It has a great, soulful retro sound that I just love.  Her voice is very distinctive -- she reminds me a bit of Amy Winehouse and a bit of Dusty Springfield as well.  This song was used in one of my all time favorite So You Think You Can Dance numbers as well, a contemporary dance about a relationship starring Katee and Twitch.

"Mercy" was on Duffy's second album, and it was a radio hit in 2008.  The song was written by Duffy and Steve Booker.  She has written:  "The lyrics were about having a feeling towards someone, whether it’s a romantic feeling or just some chemistry that you don’t want, and you desperately want to be released from that feeling."  This song captures that feeling so well!

Do you remember this one?   Any other Duffy songs that you recommend?  I'd love to hear from you in the comments, below.

Dear Abby - Meet Riley (A Rescue Spotlight)

Dear Friends,

I hope you are having a great week!  Except for one night with thunder and hail (!), this has been a nice relaxing week here.

I'm excited to introduce you to my friend Riley today.  Riley is an adorable 2 year old Chihuahua/Dachshund mix.  I love her story and cute pictures, and I think you will, too!

Abby:  What is your background and how did you end up in rescue?

Riley: I was left in a box in a hotel bathroom, and when the hotel housekeepers found me, they called Animal Rescue Foundation of Louisiana to come and pick me up. I ended up living with a beautiful foster care momma, Lisa. I still remember her whenever I see her every year at adoption events! My momma loves bringing me, it means so much that we can keep in touch with Lisa!

Abby:  How were your first days at your new home? 

Riley: My first night at my new home was tough. I was nervous about these new people that I hadn't met before. I stayed up all through the night. The next day, I realized that this new lady was my new mom, and the man was my daddy. I immediately fell in love with them both, and we have been inseparable ever since.

Abby:  What are a few of your favorite things? 

Riley:  My top three favorite things are Lambchop toys, puzzle toys and jerky treats. No matter what size Lambchop, I love them all...I have one that is much bigger than me, smaller than me, and MUCH smaller than me! I just love Lambchop! Puzzle toys are so much fun to play with because it makes me think and I love figuring things out. I'm a very curious little girl. Jerky treats are my all-time favorite treat. I'm not super picky about the flavor.

Abby:  Do you have any tips for people who want to adopt a rescue pet? 

Riley: Doggies oftentimes deal with separation anxiety in the beginning. You just have to be patient with us and spend time with us. Taking us to doggie day care classes or leaving the TV on with music really helps. My mom has written about some great tips about adapting to life with a new rescued dog: http://www.dearfriendsblog.com/blog/pedigreepetmonth

Abby:  Is there a rescue group you want to send a shout out to?

Riley: I was adopted from Animal Rescue Foundation of Louisiana. They are wonderful people and I'm so blessed to have spent the amount of time I did with them. Here is their website: http://www.arfla.org/ and their Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arfla.

Riley, thanks for visiting!  It was fun talking to another pup who is part dachshund and who loves Lambchop toys as well.

I really like Riley's tip about leaving the TV on with music.  I like listening to oldies music during rainy weather, and find it very comforting.

My Momma said she thinks Riley and I have a slight resemblance.  I take that as a nice compliment!

I'd love to hear from you in the comments, below.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Love,

Abby xoxox