Murder in Mesopotamia - Book Review

I am reading through the novels of Agatha Christie in the order in which they were written and writing a review on each one.

Murder in Mesopotamia

1936

Description

An archaeologist’s wife is murdered on the shores of the River Tigris in Iraq…

It was clear to Amy Leatheran that something sinister was going on at the Hassanieh dig in Iraq; something associated with the presence of ‘Lovely Louise’, wife of celebrated archaeologist Dr Leidner.

In a few days’ time Hercule Poirot was due to drop in at the excavation site. But with Louise suffering from terrifying hallucinations, and tension within the group becoming almost unbearable, Poirot might just be too late…

My Thoughts

This is the 26th book by Agatha Christie and the 13th Poirot Mystery


Is it awful of me to say that I was happy about who was the victim in this murder mystery?

I do like this book and feel for many of the characters in it.  Miss Christie wrote it well giving us positions and timings to consider carefully for alibis and has carefully portrayed relationships between many different characters.

As usual if we read it carefully we will see the clues but as is the case in the best books there are many facets to the characters here which mean that we do have quite a few suspects to dwell on.

How long does it take to wear down someone before they snap?

How long ago can an incident have happened but still have repercussions now?

Can we recognise people years later?

How long can someone wait to take revenge?

Which types of people can plan for a long time before acting?

Which types of people can act on the spur of the moment?

These are all questions to be considered in this one. 

If you would like to know more about this book then click on the title or picture above.

 Here is a link to a list of her novels on Amazon
Books by Agatha Christie

If thinking of reading this book in the future why not pin this pic to go back to later.

The 5 Best Board Games - Need Help!

Everyone loves at least one Board Game.

When we have some people round to our house for a meal we often get out a Board Game.


Several years ago I tried to get our kids (when they were all here visiting at the same time) to decide which games should go and which could stay expecting our second son to tell us he wasn't interested in any of them because he hadn't wanted to play any games for a few years, but instead he decided the very first one I presented was too good to go and we ended up playing it and not even looking at any others.


Then the following year that same son and his wife had a Board Game Theme for the table decor at their wedding reception.


Now again I am thinking of what things can go as I am once again Decluttering & Organising Our Home.  So thinking about the Board Games I decided that at least the top 5 could definitely stay.


Basing this on what we all might play together and the ones we have been playing with others in the past year or so here are my Top 5 Board Games.


Just click on the name or the picture to find out more about these games.

CLUEDO  or  CLUE (US)

Being a Murder Mystery Fan I have always enjoyed the puzzle that this game brings but unfortunately even though I'm good at solving puzzles and have a very mathematical & logical mind;  I am always beaten by our first son or my husband.   But I'm a gracious loser.





RISK

Now to be honest I have only played this once but got hooked for that game and didn't want to stop it until all the world was conquered but others of us wanted to go to bed.  This is however the favourite of our first son and all his friends.  They started playing at university and had many games lasting all through the night until breakfast time and they still like to play it when they meet up at each others homes now 15 years later.




UPWORDS

I know most people would play Scrabble  and on my iPad I play Scrabble but I do prefer the Board Game UpWords  because it gives so many choices for creating more words.

I have one of my Pastor's from a previous church to thank for introducing me to this one.
Plus this is the game I do better in than my husband.





JENGA

I never thought I would enjoy this one but I was wrong.
Our son & daughter-in-law also use a large block version of this for guests to write comments at their wedding instead of a guest book.
Sometimes we have a couple of younger lads from our church for a meal and one of them is so good at this game and has great fun in beating the rest of us.





PICTIONARY  or   TABOO






I just could not decide between these two.


I suppose I just love the first one when I feel more like having a fun laugh a lot at crazy pictures kind of mood and the second when I am more ready to concentrate on linking words. If Fred & I are playing in a team together then I go for Taboo as we can use all our 45 years together and know words which will remind us of places we have been or events that have happened to help each other guess the correct word.

Now I know this is not really a board game or at least I would never have thought of it as one but I have to share this game too because this is the one that our son said could not be thrown out, the one that he decided he liked so much that we played it and played it and played it and didn't get around to throwing out any of the Board Games.



BINGO

Stop & Let The Ducks Cross - A Dose of Encouragement

Thinking back to some years ago there was a Saturday that was just too busy a day.

Had to have a lie-in because it was Saturday and on Saturdays we have a lie-in followed by breakfast in bed unless we absolutely have to travel somewhere early.

Then preparation for packing for the drive back to our hometown for a family event only staying overnight but outfit for the event needed and then clothes to wear travelling, pyjamas, coat and of course all the things we will not leave without like the iPad, phones, etc.

Next came the Skype call with our daughter to talk about the notes I had made while proof reading her latest script. That was a long call well 3 calls actually because there was bathroom break and another break to check up on my husband Fred to make sure he was getting ready to go away and sure enough no, he was reading instead.
His punishment was to make the very late lunch but it was a very easy lunch to make.

Then the packing and the gathering up of the Sunday School materials & other things which had to go with us to be dropped off at church on the way.

A few other texts and phone calls fill in the gaps and we are finally ready to leave at 3.30pm to be at our first destination by 5.30pm and the journey will take us almost 2 hours. We actually needed to arrive before 5.30pm to get parked and walk to the location where our younger son Daniel's band was playing at a culture event in Londonderry.

Then over to my sister's house for a light meal and chat and introduce Daniel's girlfriend Suzie to my side of the family. Change of clothes and on to the restaurant for the Surprise 40th Wedding Anniversary Dinner for Fred's brother and his wife. Time to introduce Daniel's girlfriend to the other side of the family.

Back to my sister's around 1am and flop into bed.

At least we weren't driving up the road to Belfast like Daniel and Suzie.


There have been many days when it has been just one thing after another and I feel like I'm going through one stage just as the preamble to the next and so on, never really savouring each part of the day.

One such day was when we were on a trip to Belgium in 2004 to find a school for our daughter and find our way around before finding a house and moving there to live for over 6 years.

We were driving in an area near the airport and not sure of the road at all when we came to a lake. The road ran alongside this lake and it was the approach to a small town.


          Suddenly we had to stop at a zebra crossing.



                    What was unique about that then?

Crossing the road on the zebra crossing were a duck and 3 little ducklings.

We laughed hard at the fact that the duck was taking her ducklings across the road via the crossing, was she a very clever duck or was it just by chance?

Whichever it was it caused us to stop, be amused and it brightened our hectic day. I just wish we had had a camera ready for that moment but regardless of the lack of a picture the memory hasn't faded.
I often think of it fondly and remember how we enjoyed that simple action.

That is actually the thing I remember most about that short trip to Belgium.

We need to remember to stop and wait in the busyness.

When we are very busy we just go through the motions of everything but when we are forced to stop and wait at times we can find so many other things we didn't expect.

We can find amusement in a little snippet of life.

          We can find a source of peace and contentment.

                    We can find gratitude to God for the unique times in our lives that are so special.

                              We can find joy.

We need to remember to stop and wait a while with God in the middle of our busy days as well as in the not so busy days.

Not thinking about always sitting still and not doing anything else but thinking of always being ready to think of Him in all the busyness of our lives while we are in the midst of each of those busy days.

You know we don't need to let the busyness take over and swamp out our thoughts and prayers because we can still pray as we go, as we make the decisions that we face each day as we do all the practical, usual or sometimes unusual things we have to do.

In stead of having our minds dwell all the time on what is next on the list to be done we can be more aware of how God has said He will always be with us and that means even when we are busy, not just when we are sitting down saying "Ok God my to-do list is complete, I have time for you now."

He always has time for us.

Smile God Loves YOU! Romans 5:8 - Sunday Scripture

This Sunday's Scripture on God's Love is Romans 5:8

As I read through this one I thought of the 6 Question Words as I call them when teaching English as a second language.

Who, Where, What, When, Why & How.

So that's how I want to look at this verse today.

Who's Love?        It's God's Love.


Who to?      Us.  Everyone because all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God.


How?       By giving His Son to die in our place.


When?        While we were in our sin.     When we were separated from God.


Why?       There was no other way.      No other substitute would have been good enough.


Where?      On the cross at Calvary.


What does it show?      The perfect Love.    The perfect sacrifice.


Who is it for?         The Imperfect People.

The Perfect for the Imperfect.

The Perfect Father 

because of His Perfect Love 

gave the Perfect Son 

as the sacrifice for the Imperfect People.

The Magpie at the window. - Coffee & Conversation

Sitting at my desk in the study one morning I had a visitor.

I don't get many visitors to my study as not many people get near that room in our house because it is not very tidy most of the time.

But that day sitting in the quiet, which I enjoy as I blog and work on things for church, a Magpie perched on my windowsill and made those cute bird noises as he watched me through the glass.

I smiled and said hello, I like Magpies and we often see them in the garden but never so close to the house except for the times they perch on the roof and then run around for a while.

There was another magpie on the grass but this one had decided to sit a while at the window with me.  We usually see the two together somewhere on the grass or fence or in the trees just on the outer side of our fence.

I took a break from the computer and just watched this brave and perhaps curious magpie, it seemed so unimpressed with anything but so contented and carefree on the windowsill.

Then a few minutes later it was off again.

I realised I had not even thought to try to take a picture of it but it probably would have flown off if I had moved to get the camera.

A break of even a few minutes can be good for us.

       
Sometimes life can be too busy or we can make each day too busy.

          Always something to be thinking about or doing or planning to do.
                    Always "What needs to be done today?" or "What's next on the Todo list?"

   Anyway

I think that little break of a few minutes was good for me.

The Simplest Easter Egg Hunt! - Xtra Special Day

Last year we had our first Easter Egg Hunt.

Yes we are not young, in fact we are grandparents yet up to now I have never had an Easter Egg Hunt.

But now we are grandparents and I decided that we were going to have one.

So I planned that I would hide them all around the back garden for Matthew last year when he was 17 months old.  He was well on his feet and always full of energy and loved running around playing with nanny, grandpa, aunt or uncle or whoever would be around when he would visit our home on a dry day.

Hence my idea was to get some eggs that were a decent size for him to find easily and some Cadbury Creme eggs (really these ones would be for the grownups) and I would hide them all around the back garden.

BUT!  It wasn't a dry day.

Plans had to be changed easily and quickly so it became an indoor hunt with eggs hidden (well sometimes almost in plain view - he was very young) in the hall, lounge, sun room, and guest bedroom.  5/6 hidden in each room some easier to find than others so that he could get some by himself and so that uncle Jonathan could help him while his mum and dad had a little sit down and catch up with social media on their phones.


In the Sun Room Matthew immediately decided he would have to get into the TV unit

then he jumped around to look behind the furniture so fast that I could hardly get a picture that wasn't blurred.

With the eggs found from that room he headed off down the hallway and immediately spied one on the little flower stand there.

We had not hidden any in Fred's Office because Matthew loves to play the drums there and might have got a bit distracted but we were surprised when he didn't even ask to go into it at all.


Next was the guest room where he sometimes stays overnight or takes a little afternoon nap.

After finding one beside the teddy bear doorstop and a few others on one side of the bed he quickly ran over to the wardrobes and found one behind a briefcase.

Now there were several more still to be found in the guest room and he needed a little help for some of them as you can see in the short video.

Then back up the hallway because he thought maybe some would be upstairs and he went so quick he missed a very obvious one

so we had to call him back.

He was now so good at this hunt that he easily found the ones in the lounge and then

it was time to make sure they were all in the crystal basket (yes I hadn't thought to buy an Easter Basket so we had to improvise).

We counted the eggs to make sure he had now got all of them and he was rewarded with a few to eat straight away and the rest were put into a bag to go home with him.

Sometimes the simplest things are the best.

It was such a simple easy hunt to prepare but such fun to watch him enjoy running round and searching excitedly for each one of those tiny eggs.  

The quick, simple, inexpensive things we do together can be as much fun as big outings or more expensive adventures - we just judge things by how many laughs and smiles we hear and see because a joyful time together is an Xtra Special Time.