Love/Hate


I am really having a love/hate relationship with a number of things right now.  The most predominate is beautiful spring versus vicious allergies.  Truthfully, the weather we are having now is really our summer because, come June, weather here in Texas can turn from summer to Hades in a flash which means we are housebound for weeks.  Last year we had 100+ temps almost all summer which made me sad that we didn't take advantage of the beautiful early spring we had -- who knew?  This year, remembering last year, we are trying to make the most of spring but wouldn't you know, this is the worst pollen season on record -- EVER! So, what is a person to do -- options -- take meds all the time and go outside or take meds some of the time and never go out.  We are being attacked just walking to the car or into a store -- it is pretty miserable and I am not sure that any of the options are great.

Then, there is the love/hate relationship with computers in general.  I have a little netbook as well as a desk top with enough power/memory to man another country.  However, I like the little netbook which allows me to sit and surf in front of the tv which is probably the least healthy thing in the world.  Anyway, the little netbook needed a new battery which we ordered and installed -- not rocket science -- and now it doesn't want to talk to the wireless router.  I am not such which has gone silent but it doesn't matter -- it is causing me much sadness and a little stress to not be able to do my unhealthy thing.

Then there is Facebook.  I joined FB when it was brand new, didn't know what to do with it and nobody else was on it.  Same with Twitter which I still don't understand.  I had a myspace account as well and was reasonably comfortable with that for social networking but I relied on email (and actually, the telephone) more.  The great exodus to FB commenced and myspace became a dinosaur as did my email, apparently.  Nobody emails me anymore.  I have over 3000 emails in my inbox and 99% of them are ads relating to online searches.  I rarely get emails from people anymore.  I also started blogging a long time ago, switched from blogspot to wordpress a couple of times before finally settling on blogspot, started reading other's blogs which is one of my favorite pastimes on the netbook but even that gets pushed aside for FB.  I have decided that FB is good but getting less so as time goes on  -- the most recent revelation is that of FB declaring that it owns the word "book".  Whatever.  I would get off the FB treadmill but the truth is, that is the only way I keep up with anybody anymore.  It is really sad.  I remember people saying how bad it is that with the advent of modern technology from the telephone on down, interpersonal communication has dwindled to nothing.  People don't write anymore, in cursive or otherwise, they don't even talk on the phone anymore, they text -- a phenomenon that is keeping teenagers from having face to face conversations.  People wonder what is happening to our society with everything from obesity to drug/alcohol abuse, physical abuse, depression, etc.  Could it be people are lonely?  I live in a house in a garden home community where the houses are very close together yet we could all be on islands because the houses are built for extreme privacy and honestly, we never see our neighbors.  Could it be that we really need that face to face, over the back fence, chat?  Could it be we really need the phone call or the handwritten note?  Personally, I think we do.  I just don't think we can sustain ourselves as human beings with other human beings being replaced by technology.  If you ask the younger generation I am sure you would get a completely different answer but for those of us who grew up in a different place and time, all this technology has the potential for a love/hate situation. When I first dipped my little toe into the computer/internet world, I was fascinated.  I would spend hours on the internet but over the course of time I have found that, while the instant gratification of instant information is very compelling, it is also very overwhelming.  I am finding myself going back to reading the newspaper and listening to the radio.  I have three e-readers yet I still carry a paperback in my purse and love the feel of a nice, hardback with the dust jacket in place to mark my place.  I went into the library a few days back to renew my card and was taken back to my days at the San Pedro Public Library where I had a favorite corner and my goal was to read every book in that corner -- all my favorite authors.  I have also discovered that my favorite sound is silence -- and I don't mean Simon and Garfunkel.

I guess I you could say that I am in generational limbo -- but haven't all previous generations been in the same predicament?  New technology all the time for eons, yet now, this new wave of technology, seems to be more menacing to our well-being than, let's say, the electric light bulb.  I am sure, back then, people complained about that too but I just feel like what we have now, while wonderful on so many levels, is maybe just a little too advanced.

With that said, hee hee, I just downloaded a gadget to my homepage that allows me to send texts to phones from my computer! Now all I have to worry about is how invasive that is, how dangerous to my privacy that is and how addictive that could be.  Oh dear -- I guess I am still "finding" myself.


Have a great Monday!

And, in honor of my Irish roots I would like to share a photo of my great-great, grandfather, Henry Patrick Conn whose grandfather came from Ireland. I always had a mental picture of Henry Patrick, similar to the actor who played the wizard in "The Wizard of Oz" but I was proven incorrect when I ran across these photos.  I think he is rather handsome, myself.

I would be remiss if I excluded my husbands gggrandmother,Mary Edna McGee, whose grandfather hailed from County Tyrone, Ireland. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day, GGGrandfather Henry, GGGrandmother Mary and to all!

A View From My Window (Door) and some random stuff


I am finally posting one of my views on the day it is supposed to be posted.  Again, not much has really changed except spring has sprung! It came early this year after virtually no winter but I am ok with that -- spring and autumn are my favorite seasons, after all, with October and April being my favorite months.  That info sort of falls into the random category of my title.  So, here are the photos for this week.

The Hubs did a good deal of work in the garden a couple of days ago and I have more photos of the verbena that seems to be on steroids along with the hyperactive mint.  I will post those soon.

In other news, the girl that has been doing my hair for a long time has had a beautiful baby boy and decided to take off for a while -- can't say as I blame her.  However, it left me looking for a new person to cut my hair.  I had options and I think I took the right one.  The new girl listened carefully and did exactly as I asked and I am thrilled.  I took the plunge and I am a little closer to Judi Dench than I was before but I am so happy with the way it looks and feels -- I almost don't mind being gray.  Well, I guess I don't really mind at all because if I did I would do something about it but, you get the picture.  So, that was my big news this week.

I have been doing a bit of sewing this week as it is spring break and my teacher daughter is home with the Bean and I am left to my own devices.  I have been doing some rearranging of my sewing things and doubt I will ever , ever get the space right but I have been working toward getting some unfinished projects done, some new ones started and look forward to using up some of my stash so that I can reduce my crafting footprint!  I like sewing/quilting/stitching/crafting but my one little area for all those activities just can't hold anymore supplies so I need to use up before I buy more.

I am in the market for a new bedspread.  I have been dealing with dust ruffle/comforter/pillow sham combo for years and just have a huge dislike for pillow shams.  The Hubs HAS to have his pillow covered at all times so there is no casual stacking of multiple pillows for the cushy look so I am looking for a bedspread that will cover the pillows when made up -- really old school and not so easy to find.  I have been checking out the offerings at Bates Mill Store and even called for swatches.  I have chosen a couple of styles to pick from and narrowed the color down but for the life of me I think that they are too expensive.  Now granted, they are made in the USA which, for me, is a plus --- I like to buy domestic when I can and they are preshrunk which is another plus as I have been known to shrink things in the dryer from time to time.  My other option is to make a quilt myself which I keep thinking about but I have a king size bed and that just seems to be a lot of work and no instant gratification.  So.....decisions, decisions, decisions......

I am reading "The Red Queen" by Philippa Gregory and it is really good.  It is one that I received for my birthday and I am really enjoying it.  I am about halfway done and will review when I am finished.

So, that is about all I have been up to -- no shopping, no cooking, nothing of any excitement at all.  I will see if I can remedy that over the weekend!

Booking Through Thursday


The question on today BTT is "Which non-series book would you like most to read the sequel to?  Do you have any wishes for what might happen in it?

This is a difficult question for me as I do enjoy and regularly read series books.  The Aunt Dimity series as well as the Mitford series come readily to mind.  However, these books naturally lend themselves to the serial format.  I don't enjoy reading sequels to books that begin, progress, and end well on their own without leaving an open door.  The last few books I have read would not be good serialized, in my opinion so I probably wouldn't read a sequel to any of them.

As far as what might happen in a sequel -- well, that sort of depends on what the story decides, isn't it?  I believe that stories, good stories, write themselves -- they just evolve and I think  a sequel would be the same.  If an author has to work too hard at a sequel then maybe it isn't meant to be.

I don't think I really answered the question.

The School of Essential Ingredients

When I was about fifteen years old, I attended school in an old school in a historic part of town.  You know the sort of area, houses built with at least a 200 year lifespan by the influential leaders of the city with each house being different from the next -- no two houses alike.  I used to sit in "study hall" in the library gazing at these houses through large, multi-paned windows.  On the days when I didn't have homework to do I would pick out a house and create a story in my mind about the family that lived in it.  Now, granted, I knew some of the families that lived in some of those houses so I just skipped over those.  I chose the ones I knew nothing about.  That is what this book reminded me of -- a whole book full of little stories about individual people.

The first story is about Lillian, the owner of a restaurant who also gives cooking classes on Monday, in the evening.  It begins in  her childhood and ends with her "present".  Each chapter concerns itself with a member of her current cooking class.  Each character has a story and each is very realistic, I am sure all readers could identify with one or two, if not all of them.  As these characters participate in the cooking class, their lives become intertwined and blended just like the food they create.

Then, that brings us to the food.  The way the author approaches the food is the way almost anybody who is serious about cooking as an art form approaches the food.  She relates the food to the people, she depicts food as an essential part of relationships as much as a necessity of life.  Honestly, the way Bauermeister writes about the food makes you want to sign up for a cooking class because it is so much more than following a recipe -- it is following an instinct.

This is Bauermeister's first novel.  I don't know how she is going to out do herself.  This is a beautifully written book.  The settings are so well described that all you have to do is close yours eyes and you are there.  You can taste the food, you can feel the pain and joy and sorrow and love that all the characters exude.   It is a fantastic book. 

I recommend this book with one reservation -- don't read it unless you have already eaten!

From Jake at Junkboat Travels

and wouldn't it be fantastic to have a bookstore such as this somewhere close -- like just down the road within walking distance with a coffee/tea shop near? If only Fort Worth was supportive of independent business like Austin is -- I could see running a little shop --- with coffee and tables and maybe even a little dog.  I can see all sorts of possibilities if the environment were right which it is not.  Oh well, I can dream, can't I?

March 6, 1836 --- Remember the Alamo!

I think I would like to go home now.

If They Gave An Award --

for the most inconsistent blogger I would win hands down.  At the first of the year I had great plans to post magnificent little posts each day complete with photos taken by moi.  I was going to participate in my usual challenges and dazzle the world with my witty, insightful book reviews.  Well, the best laid plans and all that -- it didn't happen quite as I had planned so again, I am playing catch up but there are photos -- I promise.

The first thing I need to get to right away is my View from a Window on Thursday.  I was doing pretty well with this but we have had such a mild winter (actually, NO winter) that all my photos looked the same.  These most recent ones which should have been posted last Thursday are the same so I added a few more photos of the yard to show what February in Texas looks like -- well, this year anyway.

See, they don't look any different!  The next photos, however, will give you a glimpse of our pear trees and crabapple tree coming out -- very early.  This has not been a normal winter.

The Verbena

The Pincushion Plant

The Hyperactive Mint

The Crabapple

One of the pears

Unless we have a very late freeze, these trees will be in full bloom by the end of the week!

I had a birthday on the 28th which allowed me two dinners -- one with each child and his/her family.  It was a good time which also netted me a whole stack of my favorite things -- books.  My children gave me books and they did a good job of picking them out, as well.  They know me well.  The Hubs didn't know what to buy me -- I was lobbying for my fourth Nook and that didn't go over well.  I suggested skin care products and that just produced "the look" so I chose several books, handed them to him and said "here, pay for my birthday present".      I guess I can see where anti-aging skin lotion wouldn't seem too birthday-- like to him.  So, these are my gifts from my family and I am thrilled.

I haven't started any of these because I am in the middle of "The School of Essential Ingredients"

 and would like to finish it before start on my new stack which is sitting on my chair side table just waiting for me. 

We took a short trip to Austin this weekend to visit a friend and see her new baby.  Baby is cute, food was good, traffic was awful and we were all conflicted as to whether we should take the extra hour drive to San Antonio to have some Tex-Mex at our favorite restaurant, Jacala's.

 However, we decided to save that for another trip and headed home.  It was a good time but we all got ridiculously tired and I am not sure why -- guess this recent birthday just pushed me over the edge!  Oh well, I enjoyed it anyway.

Back at the beginning of the year I also said I was going to start watching and reviewing some vintage movies.  Well, I have watched a couple, one being "The Children's Hour" with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine (1961).

 When this movie came out I was too young to see it due to it's controversial nature.  Actually, when I look back at most of the movies of the 50's and 60's, many of them were controversial in nature, just not as graphic as they are now. I watched this movie one afternoon by myself and thought the sets and the setting were wonderful.  If you haven't seen the movie, I won't spoil it here but the basic story line is that of two women teachers running a private school for girls in their home.  One of the girls, a complete brat, started a rumor that the relationship between the teachers was not appropriate and as a result the school suffered as did the lives of all the characters.  I won't say more, just watch it.

Tonight I talked the Hubs into watching another vintage film that I think I actually did see but I guess my parents thought I was too young to understand and I probably was but I found it boring now so I would guess I slept through it then, as well.  Tonight's film was "Room at the Top" with Laurence Harvey and Simone Signoret.   

It was made in 1959 and was part of the British New Wave of films coming to America.  It was a good movie but it was slow -- I guess I am just used to the action adventure movies The Hubs likes to watch --- this movie was sort of like watching paint dry.  All month on TCM there with be more British New Wave movies on -- maybe I can catch a couple of them.

So, that is about all I have been up to.  Hopefully I can be a little better at blogging but sometimes -- for those who know me this statement will be difficult to grasp -- I just don't have anything to say! Guess I need to do some more interesting things -- I will work on that tomorrow.

Catching Up and a Couple of Book Reviews


I am still playing catch up after my two week babysitting gig.  I did ok the first week but the second week found me a bit tired toward the end.  It would be fine if there wasn't so much getting up and down off the floor.  Now that Bean is pushing two, however, there isn't nearly as much lifting which is a blessing and considering that she is the independent sort, she does a lot for herself.  Aside from having the opportunity to spend time with Bean, the time I spend at her house does afford me a good amount of time to read which I really enjoy.  She still takes a good afternoon nap so I have at least two hours of uninterrupted time to get into a really good book.  I have  been able to finish or almost finish a couple of really good reads in a short amount of time -- for me -- this way.

The  first book I finished was The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons.

 I discovered it when I did a search on Downton Abbey and several complementary books were recommended.  It is the story of a young Dutch Jewess who was shipped off to England at the beginning of World War Two to work as a domestic in a big house, even though she was somewhat aristocratic in her own right.  She was dispatched to Tyneford house where she learned all the ins and outs of British aristocracy.  She also learned of love, loss -- great loss, and of starting over again and having strong resolve.  This book was a page turner, I couldn't put it down and would recommend it to anyone.

The second book I have been reading, and am about to finish is The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.

This book presents more of a challenge than the first.  It is longer and much more detailed as it presents the story of three interconnected women.  Each chapter is devoted to one of the three women's story and you have to pay close attention to the intertwining of these stories -- one from Victorian England, one from mid-twentieth century Australia and one from current Australia/England.  Through part of the beginning of the book, when so much historical foundation was being laid, I felt as if I should take notes!  However, as I am nearing the end of the book, it is all pulling together nicely, making sense, and making me sorry that the end is so near.  To make a complicated story shorter, it is about three abandonments, so to speak -- Eliza who was orphaned by death, Nell who was kidnapped, and Cassandra who was left with Grandma by a self-absorbed Mum who was needing to find herself and have fun while she was at it.  In addition to all these women being related that would be the common link.  It, too, is a page turner -- some of those turns going backward to re-read sections. I can't wait to get back to it today and finish is up although I am sure I am going to be sad when it is done.  I will probably have to seek out a copy of another Morton book -- The House at Riverton.  I am certain it will be as captivating. I would recommend  The Forgotten Garden hands down with one reservation -- it might make you want to create a magical secret garden -- I know it has made me want to work in my yard!

Another activity this week, unrelated to babysitting or reading, was Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day, or Fat Tuesday -- whatever way you want to say it.  This was actually the first time we ever attended because, in the past, The Hubs was always at work at the time most of our church events begin but, clearly, this year was different.  So, we decided to join Bean and her folks  in the festivities.  The parish hall was decorated in the usual gold/green/purple and there were beads abounding -- all anybody had to do was grab them  off the table.  Bean looked lovely in green -- really went with the red hair.  There were literally piles and piles of pancakes and waffles, bacon  and sausage and bowls of fresh strawberries.  Whipped cream and maple syrup completed the buffet table along with milk, tea and water.  It was a feast, for sure, and none of us took a camera.  You would think that at my age I would realize that every day has its Kodak moments and carry a camera with me at all times!  I will work on that and in the meantime, I will see if I can "steal" one from the good Father Klein off the church website.

So, all of this coupled with beautiful spring weather (almost 80 a couple of days-- makes me fear for July) it has been a fantastic week with another just like it on the way!  I may get out and work in that garden yet -- I just need a gate!

Happy Valentines Day!

Quilting


My first exposure to quilting was when I was about four or five years old at the side of my great-grandmother.  I remember the evening well.  My mother and I were visiting her at her house on Edison Drive -- an old, white Victorian with a turnkey door bell which I loved, much to everybody's aggravation.  She was born in 1875 so she was close to 80 at this time.  We sat in her living room waiting for my dad to get off work and she and my grandmother were piecing a quilt top.  They weren't using a sewing machine -- although she did have a lovely treadle model -- they were using a needle and thread as they sat and rocked and talked.  The fabrics they used weren't  co-ordinated lines they purchased at their local quilt store -- they were scraps from sewing and old clothes.  They were making utility quilt tops to be put aside and quilted out when somebody said they needed some cover.  I was fascinated with the fabric and the process and even tried my hand at it that evening.  Although I didn't start quilting until much later, the fascination stayed with me as did my love of fabrics.  So, when I started quilting, I started with a sewing machine and modern tools although I did hand quilt my first quilt.  I love most of the process and the instant gratification of being able to get a quilt finished in as little as a weekend was certainly appealing.  A few years ago I purchased a fancy new quilting edition machine that has all the bells and whistles.  It is great but....it is in the laundry room so if I want to sew in the evening that means I am in the laundry room and Hubs is in front of the tv.  Not a good scenario so I decided to revisit the idea of hand piecing.

A year or so ago I decided I wanted to try some English paper piecing, a common pattern being Grandmother's Flower Garden.  I downloaded the page of paper templates from an online site and started cutting out hundreds of little hexagons and making little fabric hexies.

I sat down one evening and started sewing and couldn't believe how quickly you can make millions of these little things.  Then I decided I needed to see how easily they go together and I made a few of those (bottom photo).  I am going to applique them onto squares for a baby quilt after a get a few more.  I think they are so cute!

Of course, doing everything by machine these days is the way "it is done" but recently, however, I have noticed in the quilting magazines that there seems to be a trend toward handwork again so I decided to try it.  I wanted to buy the Marti Mitchell templates but I couldn't find them locally and they were pretty pricey so I opted for the Omnigrid 3" square template set which has a square, a half square triangle and a quarter square triangle template.  They are heavy acrylic with the seam allowance already included.  I also bought a quarter inch ruler to mark my sewing lines.  I put the whole thing aside for a week or so until the other night I decided to give it a go.  I fished around in one of my many drawers of fabric and found some pre-cuts that I wasn't in love with -- not sure why I bought them except to maybe have some experimental fabric -- you don't really want to experiment with quilt store fabric -- that stuff is like gold.  Anyway, I did a bit of marking with a plain ol' mechanical pencil, did a bit of cutting and a little bit of stitching and this is the result.  This may end up being my first real scrap quilt!

front of some really random fabrics sewn into four patches

backs of same four patches

Front of quarter square triangles

Backs of quarter square triangles -- clearly not ironed yet

So, that is what I have been up to the last few days -- I even opted to do this rather than look at the snow last night! This is truly addictive and very relaxing.  I might never get a quilt finished but at least it is cheaper than therapy!