Hello There! 

Welcome to 'A Note from Tina'. A monthly note where you can catch-up on all the projects,  d.i.y.s,  crafts,  recipes,  and life here at Maples & Stone. I'll also throw in favorite idas, inspiration, small businesses, home decor, recipes, instagram feeds, favorite purchases, etc or get on my soapbox about the price of eggs and/or social media! So grab your favorite drink and join me for a few.  Thank you for being here! 

Hello sweet friends and Welcome to the first 'What I've Read' post of 2024!

American Predator 

Ted Bundy. John Wayne Gacy. Jeffrey Dahmer. The names of notorious serial killers are usually well-known; they echo in the news and in public consciousness. But most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history. The FBI considered his behavior unprecedented. Described by a prosecutor as "a force of pure evil", Keyes was a predator who struck all over the United States. He buried "kill kits" - cash, weapons, and body-disposal tools - in remote locations across the country. Over the course of 14 years, Keyes would fly to a city, rent a car, and drive thousands of miles in order to use his kits. He would break into a stranger's house, abduct his victims in broad daylight, and kill and dispose of them in mere hours. And then he would return home to Alaska, resuming life as a quiet, reliable construction worker devoted to his only daughter. 

When journalist Maureen Callahan first heard about Israel Keyes in 2012, she was captivated by how a killer of this magnitude could go undetected by law enforcement for over a decade. And so began a project that consumed her for the next several years - uncovering the true story behind how the FBI ultimately caught Israel Keyes, and trying to understand what it means for a killer like Keyes to exist. A killer who left a path of monstrous, randomly committed crimes in his wake - many of which remain unsolved to this day. 

All the Broken Places

Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same well-to-do mansion block in London for decades. She lives a quiet, comfortable life, despite her deeply disturbing, dark past. She doesn’t talk about her escape from Nazi Germany at age 12. She doesn’t talk about the grim post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn’t talk about her father, who was the commandant of one of the Reich’s most notorious extermination camps. 

Then, a new family moves into the apartment below her. In spite of herself, Gretel can’t help but begin a friendship with the little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back memories she would rather forget. One night, she witnesses a disturbing, violent argument between Henry’s beautiful mother and his arrogant father, one that threatens Gretel’s hard-won, self-contained existence.

All The Broken Places moves back and forth in time between Gretel’s girlhood in Germany to present-day London as a woman whose life has been haunted by the past. Now, Gretel faces a similar crossroads to one she encountered long ago. Back then, she denied her own complicity, but now, faced with a chance to interrogate her guilt, grief and remorse, she can choose to save a young boy. If she does, she will be forced to reveal the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting. This time, she can make a different choice than before—whatever the cost to herself….

A Year of Puttery Treats (January chapter)

Welcome to A Year of Puttery Treats. One gorgeous, life-enhancing little something to do for each of the 365 days in the year.

Housekeeping you see, can be terribly dull. A monotonous round of chasing dirt and moving objects that we should seek to enhance with the kind of decorative little to-do’s that gladden the heart and help to bring both order and authenticity in to our homes.

While the treats vary from the pretty to the silly, the fragrant and the celebratory, they are each designed to remind us that keeping house is about more than getting busy with a vacuum and a duster and should instead be about enhancing the lives of those that live in our homes. In reflecting the soul of the Mistress of the house and marking the lives of those she shares it with, puttery treats are quite the most lovely way to ritualise life within our own four walls and more than that to celebrate the art of homemaking and bring joy to domesticity.

In a Year of Puttery treats you will find seasonal tasks and little to-dos for annual holidays and national celebrations. You will discover ways to journal your days and create a living museum of family life. You will find tiny pampering treats and scrubby housekeeping tips, and in the midst of it all, right there in the heart of your home you will find yourself…

No Place for the Weak

"It was a scene from the worst nightmare you've ever had, I don't think any of us was prepared for what we saw." (Snowtown officer)

On 20 May 1999, the South Australian Police were called to investigate a disused bank in the unassuming town of Snowtown, in connection to the disappearance of multiple missing people. The police were not prepared for the chilling scene that awaited them.

The officers found six barrels within the abandoned bank vault, each filled with acid and the remains of eight individuals. The smell from inside the vault was so stifling that the police required breathing equipment. Accompanying the bodies were numerous everyday tools that pathologists would later confirm were used for prolonged torture, murder, and cannibalism. 

The findings shocked Australia to its core, which deepened still when it was revealed that the torture and murders were committed by not one, but a group of killers. The four men, led by John Bunting, targeted pedophiles, homosexuals, addicts, or the "weak" in an attempt to cleanse society.

No Place for the Weak is a chilling account of the "Snowtown Murders" (a.k.a "Bodies in Barrels Murders"), and one of the most disturbing true-crime stories in Australia’s history. Ryan Green’s riveting narrative draws the listeners into the real-live horror experienced by the victims and has all the elements of a classic thriller. 

Tablet, Phone, Laptop 

GUEST ROOM/OFFICE 

GUEST/ GRANDSONS ROOM 

DEN

DINING ROOM 

KITCHEN 

FOYER/ ENTRY 

STAIRWAY 

BONUS/ BEDROOM/ BATHROOM 

BACKYARD