Mother's Day Weekend

                                                        

This year, my Mother’s Day lasted for three whole days. On Friday night, my daughter, sister and I went to dinner and then to the movies to see Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp. Loved the show, anything with Johnny Depp is a pleasure.

                                                          

Saturday I worked on my garden and then went to a family party for a first Holy Communion.

                                                 
Got to spend time with the grandsons and Nicole was beautifully dressed in her white Holy Communion dress.

                                                      

                                                                   

Sunday, my husband and I started the morning over at my daughter’s house. She and her husband were making breakfast for all the parents and his sister’s family. I don’t know how they managed to feed all of us and still make it look so effortless. The breakfast was delicious.

                                                           

After breakfast, my husband and I met with two good friends and went to a casino in Atlantic City. We were hoping to win,

                                                                          

But no such luck.

                                                                      

After a small lunch we headed back home.

                                           
                                     I’m wishing all the other Moms, a great Mother’s Day

                                                  
                                                      now and every day of the year.
                                                       

                                                                   

Part Fifteen of Lilith's Escape

                                                                                                                                                     

They stood outside the cab, guns aimed. Edward’s shooting arm was dislocated and he was unable to reach for the gun with his left hand. His vision was blurred, probably a concussion due to his head making contact with the window. For the second time in his career he was helpless and so he waited for his execution, which was sure to come.

                                                           

Suddenly from nowhere there came a bright flash, followed by screams and then nothing. He had no idea what had happened to his attackers, but Edward’s head was throbbing and he felt himself giving in to the darkness …

                                                  

…He awoke to find himself in a hospital bed and a detective from Metro sitting patiently on the chair near his bed. “What happened?” he asked the officer.

“You tell me,” the detective replied.

                                                        

“I don’t know. We were hit by another car…how is the taxi driver?” Edward’s head was throbbing and his shoulder didn’t feel too hot either.

“He didn’t make it,” the detective replied.

Edward felt badly for the man and wondered if the driver left behind a family.

“Do you know who burned the limo and the armed men?” the detective asked, not giving Edward a chance to gather his wits.

                                                   

“Burned? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Edward replied, but he remembered the bright flash of light and decided to keep the informtion to himself.

The detective gave him a suspicious look and said, “Someone called in the accident and when the local police arrived they found the taxi driver dead and you unconscious. The limo was totally destroyed with the driver still inside. The two who were found near the taxi…well let’s just say they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

                                                     

“What happened to them,” Edward asked, as he rubbed his shoulder.

“See for yourself,” the detective said and handed a photo to Edward.

                                                                                                              

The bodies were burnt beyond recognition, but you could see the men’s outline and the weapons they held in their hands. How was this possible? What did he get himself involved with?

“I don’t know what happened,” Edward repeated as he handed back the photo.

“You’re not from the Yard, but you have a badge. I did some investigating and found out you’re on a forced leave of absence from MI 6. You’re involved in this some way,” the detective snapped.

                                                                                                           

“I don’t know the men who were killed except for the taxi driver and he was only taking me back to the city. We were hit by the limo and that’s all I remember.” Edward was done answering questions. Now it was time to start asking. “Who were the men? Did you identify them yet? Who owned the limo?”

                                                       

“We’re working on finding out,” the detective replied as he stood to leave. “We’ll need to ask you more questions, so don’t leave London.” He then left the hospital room.

Edward rang for the nurse and when she entered the room he said, “I’m leaving. Please bring me my clothes.”

                                                     

She argued that he was still too weak to go home, but Edward pulled his I.V. tubing from his arm and slowly sat up on the edge of the bed. She ran to get the doctor.

He needed to get back to his apartment and make some phone calls. He wanted to know exactly how his contact had first met with the mysterious Lilith. Even though he never saw what  happened to the men who were about to kill him, he knew that somehow, Lilith was involved.

                                                          

When the doctor returned with the nurse, Edward was already gone. He had found his clothing and after dressing, sneaked out of the hospital.

                                                  

Gardening, Avengers and Dinosaurs

                                                                  

This weekend was fun and I was able to get to working on my secret garden and planting some vegetables in my small makeshift vegetable section.

Here is the pond in our back yard with one of the two large bullfrogs who live in the pond along with the eight carps.

                                           

This is the smaller of the two frogs.

                                

This is the entrance to the secret garden.

                               

This is the gnome and fairy section.

                                                

I have parsley, tomatoes and peppers in the pool.

                                               

My daughter, three grandsons and I went to see The Avengers and it was awesome

                                         

I was told it was a good movie, but it surpassed what I had expected. There was adventure sprinkled with well-placed humor and bonding between the Marvel characters. I hope there will be a sequel. Make plans to go see the movie because you won’t be disappointed.

                                       

Nathan slept over and we went to the Academy of Natural Sciences on Sunday. He has his favorite spots and I have mine.

                                            

The Academy has everything including this mummy, who when alive, was a second ranking priest of Egypt. I know this because I did the mummy classes there.

                                                

                In Outside- In, we stopped by to check on the turtles.

                                                                                           

Here we are trying to find all six of the wood frogs. We were only able to find four.

                                            

We can’t call it a day until we stop and visit Dinosaur Hall.

                                             

If you have a chance, come visit this museum. You won’t be disappointed.

                                                                  

Part Fourteen of Lilith's Escape

“No, not female,” The supervisor replied. “The man, who was here earlier today looking for Levi, also said he was from Metro police.

                                                        

“What did you tell him?’ Edward asked.

“The same thing, I’m going to tell you. I haven’t seen Levi in a week,” the supervisor replied.

                                                

“Did this other officer leave a name?” Edward asked.

“He was wearing a high priced suit just like you and if this is the new uniform for Scotland Yard, then I’m in the wrong business,” the supervisor replied.

“Did he leave his name?”

“Yes, but I’m sure it’s fake, just like the one you’ll leave,” the supervisor snapped and turned to walk away.

“What kind of worker is Levi?”

The supervisor turned back and gave Edward a hard look as if sizing him up. “He’s a hard worker, but keeps to himself so no one really knows anything about him. I hope he’s okay because I don’t want to lose a good man.”

                                                                                                                                                
    The supervisor reached into his shirt pocket and took out a card. After handing Edward the name of the other officer, he headed towards the dock and his men.

Edward studied the business card. He would call his connection inside Scotland Yard to find out if this officer even existed. He walked back to the taxi and asked the driver to take him to the nearest phone booth.

                                                   

“So did you find your man?” the taxi driver asked Edward after he had finished his phone call.

“Unfortunately no,” Edward replied as he climbed back into the taxi. The officer, who had visited the docks, did not exist. So who else was looking for Levi? Was it the person or persons who were responsible for the break in and the blood left on the rug?

                                                                    

They were on the road no more than 20 minutes, when the driver yelled out, “What the hell?”

                                                              

Edward never saw it coming, but the taxi was hit from behind with such force that Edward found himself airborne. His head collided with the glass partition, which separated him from the driver. The driver was hurt, there was blood seeping from his ear. Edward’s vision was blurred and it felt like the bells of St Mary were ringing inside his brain. He tried to open the door, but his hand would not obey.

                                                          

“Hey pal. Are you okay?” he called out to the driver. A gurgling sound was the only reply.

He looked out the window of the cab to see the limo pulled to the side of the road. The back door opened and two men got out. Edward saw what they had in their hands. They weren’t there to help the injured.  

                                                              

My Interview with the fabulous Joe Wojie of Grim Philly Twilight Tours

                                                                       

A few weeks back, my ghost hunting buddies and three family members had the opportunity to go on the Vampire, Sex and Ghost twilight tour, which is the brain child of Joe Wojie.

                                                      

I wrote a blog about the experience and posted some pictures with the promise of my interviewing Joe. The tour was educational and fun, lots of fun and I was curious as to how Joe Wojie became involved with creating and doing the tours.

                                                           

Joe was kind enough to answer all my questions, so without further delay, let us begin.

Tell us a little about your background.

I have a Graduates Degree with the University of Pennsylvania and for the last seven years, I’ve been teaching world history at Rider University.

What inspired you to develop the Twilight Tours and the Blood and Beer Tours?

I’ve always wanted to develop a tour that was both historical and fun with the right amount of interesting ghost stories.

                                              

Where did you get most of your information?

Lots of research went into developing the tours. I’ve conducted a comprehensive amount of research using primary source documents from the Library Company of Philadelphia, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, American Philosophical Society, the University of Pennsylvania archives: and was accepted to a National Endowment for the Humanities program with a small group of other college professors from across the country where we had the chance to study numerous archives from the aforementioned as well as having professional development through lecture attendance by a number of local Philadelphia historians from area colleges.

How long have you been running these tours?

This will be the second summer we’re doing the tours.

Do you work with the Independence Visitor Center?

I have a contract with them as ticketing partners.

                                                                                                                       

Joe, I was on the tour and loved it. I’ll be recommending it to all my facebook and twitter fans. Thank you so much for this interview

                                                                          
                                                                   

You will find Joe’s site at Grimphilly.com where you can check the schedule for upcoming events and order your tickets. You can also pick up tickets at the Philadelphia Visitor Center at 6^th and Market. Check out Grim Philly Twilight Tours on Facebook.

 Make sure you check out the Blood and Beer tour. On Friday and Saturday, they start at 1 p.m. and last for two hours. On Sunday they start at 3. This tour ends at the Triumph Brewing Company.

                                                                    

My friends and I will be going on this one soon.