Finally another reading post

69. MISS MARPLE'S FINAL CASES (Marple)
A very enjoyable collection of short stories that includes solving the mysteries of a man dying in a church, a buried treasure, a riding accident ... but also two additional non-Marple poltergeist stories!

Memorable quotes:
-"If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again."
-"There's such a thing as a secret inside a secret."
-"The worst of ill health is ... that one knows what a burden one is to everyone around one."
-"Her love had died and it was I who had killed it..."

Favourite Guest Character: Charmian and Edward from Strange Jest
Favourite Story: Strange Jest
Mystery: ****
Final Solution: ***
Entertainment: ****
11/15


68. THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN (Poirot)
Mimosas! A rich American is travelling on the Blue Train from London to Nice with half-a-million worth of rubies. But before she reaches the Riviera, she is murdered. Surprisingly (or not), her estranged husband and his mistress are also on this train, as is Katherine who unexpectedly inherited a lot of money, and Hercule Poirot. In this story, Poirot is a cat, a dog, a squirrel and a devil. And at the end, he's only Hercule Poirot!

Memorable quotes:
-"Any letters that a lady might write to me I should hold sacred."
-"A woman should be calm and sympathetic, and a good cook."
-"You see, unless you are good at guessing, it is not much use being a detective."
-"... being tied physically gives you lots of scope mentally."

Favourite Guest Character: Katherine, but also Comte de la Roche
Mystery: ****
Final Solution: *****
Entertainment: ***
12/15  


67. BLACK COFFEE (Poirot)
A physicist discovers a powerful (nuclear) explosive and just after he realises that the formula has been stolen, his coffee tastes a bit bitter... Poirot arrives too late but can still solve the mystery in which everyone seems to have something to hide. A family drama with way too much description of static action.

Memorable quotes:
-"... the truth is never horrible, only interesting."
-"Science should be of interest to all of us."
-"One should see the world one lives in."

Favourite Guest Character: probably Sir Claud Amory
Mystery: **
Final Solution: ***
Entertainment: **
7/15

Christmas mystery

With Christmas rapidly approaching, it's time to start thinking about this year's gifts and cards. The packages that have a looong way ahead of them have already been wrapped and mailed:

But even for the rest of you it's time I started thinking about it. Especially when I found out that some of the things I'm going to use take four weeks to dry!

Of course I will not spoil the surprise, just post some pictures to keep you intrigued :-)

Autumn cleaning

Ever since my trip to the deserts of Jordan my camera had dust particles on the sensor. Plenty of them. But somehow I never came around to cleaning it, mostly because I was scared of doing it. Now the camera is mostly used for documenting the renovation of our new house, which means more dust. I finally reached the point when I could no longer tolerate the spots on every single photo.

OK, some of the spots are on the wall, but the majority is actually on the low-pass filter in front of the sensor. A plain white wall looks like a teenager's skin.

Before:

After: 

 

You know what? Cleaning a sensor is very simple. It took me less time to clean it than to write this post.  

Green Ninjago T-shirt

Just in time for MiniMojcek Nr.1's sixth birthday I finally managed to finish the green Ninjago T-shirt!

Starting with two identical white long-sleeved T-shirts, I dyed one green. I just couldn't find a suiting plain green T-shirt in the shops.

Then I cut a "bib" out of the white T-shirt and sewed it on the inside of the front of the green one, creating the V neckline.

 Carefully cut the front...

And stitched it again.

Then it was time to start painting: first the additionall collar, then the silver pattern with black crosses, finally the belt.

But one should not forget the golden snake on the back!

Now he has a Kai sweater, a Zane T-shirt and the new Lloyd T-shirt.
He's happy.
For now.