Kerrian’sNotebook

KN, p. 170 “Death at the Antique Fair”

 

Ferguson House, Cameron, NC
 

 

The cousins love antiques. Sheila’s Mom loved antiques and sold them after she retired from her teaching career. Sheila’s aunt loved antiques and had a thriving business that also included creating beautifully painted accessories for the antique furniture. Get the picture? It’s the unofficial family biz, although not under one umbrella.

 

We’ve acquired a few older pieces over the years as well; some were gifts, some were inherited, and some were garage sale/antique show finds. This past weekend, the yearly Antique Fair was held in a local community, the weather was gorgeous, and it was a great day to search through the vendor piles and stalls for the perfect bookcase. We have a LOT of books that need shelving and needed a unit that had a solid wooden back to it.

 

The Fair had everything from old furniture and glassware to handcrafted birdhouses and quilts for sale.

AntiqueFurnitureIMG_5274AntiqueBirdhousesIMG_5272

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little did I know that we would also find lots of places in which to hide/find bodies and/or methods with which to dispatch them. Lol

 

Ever watch a TV show or movie where poison or drugs were added to a drink? We found this ‘poison’ ring for $5. Soooo easy to open and dispense the deadly dose. 😉

 

AntiquePoisonRingDSC_1166

 

Need a quilt to wrap the body in?

AntiqueQuiltIMG_5287

 

Need a place to put the body while waiting for the ‘package pickup’ company to arrive?

AntiqueHopeChestIMG_5289

 

As far as we know, there were no murders committed while we were there, but there were quite a few large barrels and chests already packed by late afternoon.

Shovels anyone? 😉

 

 

*Photos: taken by Patti Phillips

 

 

 

KN, p. 170 “Death at the Antique Fair” Read More »

KN, p. 163 “Snow Shoveling & Heart Attacks”

 

SnowPile

Snow shoveling and heart attacks. It seems like every winter we hear stories of otherwise seemingly healthy men, pitching over in the snow. Back in 2016, I read about an off-duty cop (only in his 40s) dying while helping his neighbors dig out around their house.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/us-capitol-police-officer-dies-shoveling-snow-at-delaware-home/2016/01/24/b7f152d6-c2c4-11e5-8965-0607e0e265ce_story.html

 

Good guy on and off the job helping somebody in need, with a tragic ending to the story. And he wasn’t the only one. More than 100 people nationwide are reported to have died after shoveling snow each year in the USA. Canada numbers are even higher.

 

Why does that happen? And what can you do to prevent it from happening to you?

 

First, let’s talk about the ‘why.’

 

It’s not just about the physical exertion of lifting the wet, heavy, sticky snow that Storm Jonas delivered this past weekend to most of the Eastern Seaboard of the USA. The air is colder than we are used to breathing, and the cold air causes blood vessels to constrict. Also (and news to me) cold air can cause clotting, which could lead to a blockage. So anybody with a known or unknown risk for high blood pressure is immediately placing more stress on the body before he/she ever lifts the first shovel full of snow.

 

We tend to shovel snow without warming up and without cooling down – both actions placing more stress on the heart. Lots of arm action also increases blood pressure. Combine all those typical factors together, and anybody that is at-risk already, may be in trouble out in the snow.

 

http://theconversation.com/why-does-shoveling-snow-increase-risk-of-heart-attack-36899

 

How do we keep from keeling over?

 

  • Warm up for about five minutes with stretches and side bends/turns.
  • If it’s really cold wear a scarf around your mouth so that the cold air gets filtered and stays a little warmer.
  • Use a smaller shovel or lift smaller amounts of snow.
  • Breathe in and completely out while you shovel. Shallow breaths don’t help here.
  • If you feel tired, stop. Pay a neighborhood kid to finish the job.
  • Work for no more than 30 minutes at a time, then take a break.
  • If you’re breathing hard, stop.
  • When you’re finished, cool down and walk around upright for a few minutes before going inside. (The body doesn’t like the shock of going back and forth quickly between extreme temperatures.)

 

SnowStormGolf18

Make sure that you take care of yourself, so that you can enjoy life on the golf course after the snow melts.

 

 

*Photos by Patti Phillips, taken in North Carolina and Texas.

 

 

KN, p. 163 “Snow Shoveling & Heart Attacks” Read More »

KN, p. 162 “Fan Favorites of 2015”

 

TexasRangersMountedStatueIMG_3585

Kerrian’s Notebook readership was up again in 2015! Double wahoo!! More than ever, it seems as if readers and professional writers that follow the Notebook most enjoy learning about the nuts and bolts of crime as well as the crime fighters that take care of the bad guys.

 

The Top Ten favorites from 2015 are listed in reverse order. Click on the title to read that post.

Did your fave post of the year make the list? Let us know in the comment section below.

 

  1. “Irish Brown Bread” (p. 139)   Tasty, easy, and taste-tested by us.

 

  1. “Murder at the Conference” (p. 154)   Nefarious? Why, yes!

 

  1. “Could you be a detective?” (p. 134)   Do you have what it takes?

 

  1. “Could you be a sniper?” (p. 135)   It’s harder than just being a crack shot.

 

  1. “What does the TSA really do?” (p. 137)  It’s more than baggage handling.

 

  1. “Is that a body under the deck?” (p. 148)  The snakes were bummed that their own post (“About the snakes..”) didn’t make the Top Ten, but promised to keep the slithering to a minimum when they saw they had a mention in this post that did make the cut.

 

  1. “Who are the Texas Rangers?” (p. 144)  Many, many thanks to the Johnsons for their valuable insights, and years of service to the great State of Texas.

 

  1. “What does a Texas Ranger do?” (p. 145)  Soooooo much!

 

  1. “What poisons were in Agatha Christie’s books?” (p. 133)  Christie is a perennial favorite of mystery readers around the world and the poisons she used to dispatch many of the victims in her books were well researched.

 

  1. “How to Become a Texas Ranger” (p. 146) Apparently, there are either a LOT of people that are curious about the qualifications for becoming a Texas Ranger, or there will be a ton of books with Rangers as the featured characters published in the future. This post was read by more people than any other Top Ten Kerrian’s Notebook post in previous years.

 

To all the Kerrian’s Notebook readers all over the globe:

 

Your comments, reactions and enthusiastic participation through Facebook, Twitter, Google+, emails and on the site itself, mean the world.

Many thanks for continuing to follow us as we travel around the country doing research, collecting odd stories and sharing weird facts about fires, EMS scenes, crime, and the people charged with helping the community when bad things happen.

 

Kerrian’s Notebook fans are the best on the planet!

 

*Photo taken by Patti Phillips at the Texas Ranger Museum in Waco, Texas.

 

 

 

 

 

KN, p. 162 “Fan Favorites of 2015” Read More »

Scroll to Top