Reading Update

First off, I got flowers! I GOT FLOWERS for absolutely no reason! Yellow roses, my favorite because I am, after all, a Texas gal!  Ok, I just had to share.  Back to the books.

I have completed two books for my challenges this week.  The first one, a gift from my daughter, is The Cross Country Quilters by Jenifer Chiaverini, the third in the Elm Creek Quilt series.  The second was a 1959 Bobbsey Twin book entitled The Bobbsey Twins at London Tower.

I started the Elm Creek series a couple of months ago after receiving the first book as a gift from my daughter and son-in-law.  These books are right up my alley as they deal with current events, contemporary problems, yet they do it with humor, camaraderie and determination. This book, like the prior one, explores the lives of several women, delving into their unique situations, their problems and solutions.  The underlying theme is their connection through their quilting and their association with Elm Creek Manor.  These women, from all different walks of life, have one connection -- quilting -- and that connection is all they need to provide friendship and support through all the ups and downs of their lives.  These books are realistic yet uplifting.  I can't wait to start the next in the series.

The second book I completed was The Bobbsey Twins at London Tower.  This was a re-read for the 2013 Pre-1960 Children's Challenge that I am participating in -- sort of.  This is only my second book so I am clearly not clipping along at a good pace.  At any rate, I received this book for Christmas when it first came out and had it read, even then, in a day.  I have always had a fondness for all things England -- it is my motherland, after all -- so this was of huge interest to me even back in 1959.  It involves the Bobbsey clan getting to go on a trip of a lifetime when their father had to represent his company at a convention in the UK.  Of course, there is a mystery involved that began near their home in  Lakeport and followed them all the way across the great pond to the UK where the pursuit of a couple of thieves continued.  Of course, the mystery was solved, the thieves apprehended and the family returned home feeling accomplished and pleased that they were able to help their friend, Mr. Warwick recover some of his property and they were able to acquire some special miniatures for the castle they built for the local children's hospital.  In re-reading these books in adulthood it is sort of comical that these children possess such adult characteristics and are so in control of situations that most children wouldn't be.  They aren't, for the most part, realistic but they are enjoyable for sure and this won't be my last re-read for this challenge.

So, with that, I am off to make potato salad for Easter supper and dust my furniture.  A Happy Easter to all!

Palm Sunday

It is Palm Sunday -- the first day of the most holy week of the year.  I think this is my favorite week of the year because of the promise it holds.  Yes, we see the death of our Lord but we see the Resurrection of our Lord -- the ultimate promise of God to His people. It just takes my breath away every year -- it never becomes mundane or ordinary to me.  The idea that when I look at Christ on that cross I see my sin on that cross and the fact that someone would do that for me is just the  most awesome thing in the world. 

It's Baaaaaccccck! That Would Be Winter!

I have lived here all my life and I KNOW the weather is changeable but really?  We have gone from summer to winter more times in the last six weeks than I can count.  It is just a bit hard on the old joints and the allergies as well.  So, today I am sitting here doing really almost nothing.  I am marginally cold even though I am in jeans and a long sleeved shirt and SHOES! I never wear shoes! However, the stone floors are not being nice to my plantar fasciitis so I am trotting around in my croc flats which make my right foot swell up.  Ain't being a grown up grand?

Anyway -- it hasn't been a very eventful week.  My commute to babysitting is miserable because some brilliant city planner has decided to tear up every highway in the area all at the same time.  I went a new way yesterday which wasn't good because I didn't know my way and, in the process, I almost killed a huge, HUGE, red pick up.  The truck flew out of a convenience store driveway between cars and I couldn't  see around the monster truck next to me and never saw the guy.  I didn't hit him but it really shook me up and the seat belt hurt my chest.  If I ever go that way again, I have to remember about that driveway.

On my struggle journey to get home in the afternoon, I see some really amazing drivers.  While standing in the queue to get through the major  intersection that is torn up (it takes about an hour to travel two blocks) I have seen a person drive across a median and up the wrong side of the road to get out of line.  I have seen a person make a left hand turn from the far right lane in front of two lanes of oncoming, albeit non-moving, traffic and the best of all -- a woman in front of me decided it would be a good idea to turn on her hazards, do a bit of work, phone calls and then get out, open her hood and close it immediately, open her truck and close it immediately, get in, turn off the hazards and drive off after keeping traffic stopped for almost 20 minutes.  I have always been able to honestly say that I have never, nor do I now, hate anybody or anything but I am coming close with this afternoon foray into traffic hell.

I have discovered, on my journeys, that I can no longer listen to music on the radio -- it is too distracting nor can I listen to conservative talk radio -- it is too infuriating (and I am a conservative!).  I can't sit in the car with nothing going on because that is too boring so I went to our neighborhood used book store the other night in search of an audio book to see if I could listen to that and not get distracted or angry.

I came across "Folly Beach" by Dorothea Benton Frank.

It is twelve discs.  I have started the first and have listened to two chapters.  I had never listened to an audio book before so I didn't know what to expect but it is a bit like listening to a radio program and I found it to be quite enjoyable.  I look forward to my commute next week so I can find out more of what is going on with Dorothy Heyward and Cate Cooper.

While I was at the used book store I managed to find a copy of The Bobbsey Twins at London Tower.  I used to have this book and even remember when it was purchased.  My mother was Christmas shopping at Toudouze Market and I found it and asked for it.  She said yes but that I had to wait until Christmas for it.  However, as I followed her around the huge store, I read most of it so she just gave it to me when I got home.  I am not sure what happened to that book -- I will probably find it now that I have replaced it -- but I intend to read it for the children's book challenge I have joined and only read one book for.  I am not good at challenges!

I also managed to score a very nice hard back copy of The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe.  I enjoyed a previous novel that I read of hers -- The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and hope this one is just as good.

However, right now I am reading The Cross Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini and completely enjoying it.  I am three fourths the way through it and I know I am going to hate to see it end.  I wonder if there is a challenge for reading a series?  I could probably do reasonably well with that since I am hooked on this series.

So, let's see,  that is about all that has happened this week.  The Hubs has killed the computer three times this week and can't seem to get it back into working order this time. I am protecting my little netbook from him -- he is dangerous.  I also signed up for a one week free trial of Hulu.com.  So far, it is looking good -- has a lot of stuff on it but we will see how much we watch it during our free trial.  At only $7.98 a month, though, I think it is a better deal than Netflix streaming.  Just saying.

Well, that is all my news.  Think I will get back to my book before the urge to take yet another nap gets the better of me.  I am so ready for summer!

Ramblings


We are in that awkward time between winter and spring -- you know, that time in Texas where you wake up in winter and go to bed in summer -- going from heating to a/c during the course of the day.  This week has been a good example -- near freezing one day, 88 high another, windy, cloudy -- all changeable in a matter of hours.  I have always lived in Texas and will never live anywhere else but sometimes the weather is just, in a word, annoying.  I was raised in South Texas and lived there the first 40 years of my life and I honestly say I prefer the climate there. It is hot, but not as hot as North Texas, it is tropical with breezes coming off the gulf -- not a dry heat like here.  It is humid for sure and I had lots of allergy issues there but I am not devoid of the allergy issues here and sometimes I just miss being able to sit out on the porch, watch the stars, feel the breeze, I miss the vegetation, I miss seeing the things I grew up with --our houses, my grandmother and great-grandmother's houses, my schools -- maybe I just miss home.

Another thing that I miss is NOT having Daylight Saving Time.  I really don't enjoy the time change and I don't find it that appealing having so much daylight in the summer.  It is just jarring to my system and I don't really think it is necessary.  I guess I just don't understand it but it seems to me that there are just 24 hrs. in a day and roughly 12 of them are daylight and I don't care what the clock says, you just can't change it.  From 1945 to 1966 there was no uniform time law in the US with some states adhering to DST and others not.  In 1966, in an effort to reduce confusion, the US passed a law that all states would subscribe to DST.  I remember it well.  I didn't like it.  I still don't.  I don't know what is wrong with just living on God's time and not having to sacrifice an hour of sleep -- I need that hour. Really.

Went out this evening to check on the mint and it is growing quite well in the grass -- not so well in one of the flower beds.  The basil that died ever so dead last year is coming in thick as well as is something else that I can't remember what it is.  The pear trees are blooming, the crabapple is too and the verbena has gone
         c
           r
             a
               z
                 y!!!!!

I just hope we can enjoy all of it before the 104 temp hits and decimates it all and the West Nile carrying mosquitoes come and keep us from going outdoors.  Love/hate summer.

Ok, I think that is all I have to rant about today.  You don't even want to get me started on the traffic and the insane drivers who see nothing wrong with driving over medians and up the wrong side of the street to avoid sitting in a queue for five minutes. 

Ok, done.

This and That


What a Saturday this has been.  Usually my Saturdays are really lazy days -- REALLY lazy days -- in that I do pretty much nothing.  My weeks are busy what with babysitting the not-so-much-of-a-baby girl and driving back and forth so I always feel like I should just "rest" on the weekends and I have decided that I get more tired relaxing! Plus, I have been staying in and staying quiet a lot due to the allergy issues and not wanting to catch anything else, like the flu, and I pretty much feel like a hermit and not at all well.  So, I decided today would be different.

I got up a little before 7 a.m. -- I am  usually up at 5:30 a.m. and I ate a bit of breakfast and checked email.  I woke up hungry which is unusual for me but then, I didn't eat dinner yesterday so I guess it would be expected. Then I decided to revisit an activity that I hadn't really done for years --  now, don't let your imagination go wild -- I am talking about couponing!

When my kids were little, I tried to have a coupon for everything in my grocery basket (we were young and on a budget -- I had to make my fun wherever I could find it!).  I guess I was one of those crazy coupon ladies before it became trendy.  I even had file bin that I would carry with me.  It was chock full of coupons and sadly, one day, I left it in the basket at the store and I never saved another coupon after that.  I have clipped them from time to time and left them at home or dropped them on the floor or whatever -- my heart just wasn't in it.  However, today I decided to see if I could get back on the bandwagon to some degree.

Things have changed a bit since those "old days" of couponing.  Now you can download coupons on to your store reward card! Now that is my kind of coupon clipping -- sitting around with a cuppa and ticking off a box on the computer!  I wasn't sure if it was going to work so I had a plan.  At one store I was going to shop for just those items to make sure that the concept worked and it did.  The
next store it worked as well and as I perused my receipt I realized that I got multiple discounts on some items -- the sale price, the e-coupon savings and, on some things, a senior citizen discount.  I still smart at that "sr. citizen" thing but on several items it was like 10% so I guess I can suck it up and be a big girl about it.

So, here is what my savings looked like --

Tom Thumb   $10.39
Kroger  $16.98
Target  $11.20

That doesn't look too shabby for less than an hour at the computer and sorting coupons.  One thing that I plan to do differently now than I did back in the day is I am only going to use coupons for stuff I really use and be careful not to go off buying stuff just because I have a coupon for it.   Oh, and of course, I  got a few
coupons with the receipts as well.  One of them is for a free dessert with coffee at the Starbucks in Target.  I can handle that, for sure!

The next thing I am going to do is get a Target Red Card.  It is a debit card linked to my bank account, just like my bank card, and it automatically takes 5% off everything you purchase there,  in addition to any coupons.  Sounds like a good deal to me.

In the middle of our runaround, Hubs decided he was hungry so we went to Cooper's Barbecue down in the middle of the Stockyards.

They have really fantastic barbecue -- the first bite of the brisket was pure heaven.  I had chicken (even though I nibbled at Hubs beef), potato salad and beans.  There was enough left to bring home for dinner and we refilled our bean bowls (the beans are self-serve) and brought  those home as well so dinner is done! I love it when  I go out and end up with two meals for one.  That is one perk to being a bit older -- we can't eat as much and we have learned to ask for to-go boxes and it is certainly profitable.

So, what is usually a lazy day turned out to be a get up and go day and I feel so good for it!  Three stores and lunch out! I am almost giddy.

What else has been going on -- let's see.  Well, I am currently reading "Round Robin" by Jennifer Chiaverini -- the second in the series and I am having a hard time putting it down.  As I said before, small town, quaint quilt shop, characters you can relate to -- all the makings of a good story.

And besides, the covers are just so great.

Hubs and I have been enjoying our Roku and haven't really missed the half of our cable service that we eliminated a month or so ago.  We really like British mysteries and comedies so we subscribed to Acorn and have already enjoyed a Poirot, a Cadfael, and a Callan.  I have watched several episodes of "A Fine Romance" with Judi Dench so I definitely think we are getting our money's worth there --$29.95 a YEAR. 

Oh, yeah, I have taken to playing the lottery.  When I win big I will be sure and give you the address of my Swiss chalet (no, too cold) or my beach front house in Hawaii (hmm..too expensive even for a lottery winner) or maybe my NY penthouse!  You can see it has gone to my head, for sure -- wonder what would happen if I actually won something! LOL!  I am probably never going to have to worry about finding out!

Stop It!

Ok, here's the thing.  I love to blog.  I don't do it often enough and I don't do it well enough but I find that blogging serves lots of purposes -- it provides me an outlet to write, which I love to do; it provides me an outlet to vent which is sometimes necessary; it provides me an outlet to share and to get to know other people.  I run  a clean blog.  I am NOT a person who enjoys or participates in the seedy side of life.  I am religious, I am patriotic, I adore my family,  I am an advocate for those who need one and I do it all in a wholesome way that I am not ashamed for anybody to look at or read -- that is why my blog is public.  However, it seems that, for some reason completely unfathomable to me, my blog is being visited by porn sites as is registered in my "stats".  I understand that is just an undesired risk when you have a public blog but, really?  What in the world could be attracting this sort of reader?  I have noticed that this has happened occasionally but it seems in the last week or so it has increased a lot and I am not appreciative of it.  I am concerned about it, I am not sure why since the readers don't comment or make their presence known in any way, but it bothers me and if it continues I will be forced to make my blog private which I really don't want to do -- but I will if I have to. 

I read lots of blogs, I find them very informative and enjoyable, and I try not to just "lurk" but rather leave a comment that I was there.  I don't always but I try to.  It bothers me that my blog is attracting this sort of people and, unless I look at the stats on the dashboard, I don't know it -- it feels like a violation of sorts.

So, to my unwelcome friends --- please go away or make yourself known.  There is nothing here that should be of any interest to you and I am not comfortable with the idea that you are here.  Thank you.  Have a nice day.

Intuitive Cooking -- Who Knew?


A while back my daughter, faced with meal planning for the week, make the statement  that she wished she could just cook -- no recipes, no cookbook, just go to the store, buy what appeals to her and make a meal.  Sounds reasonable to me.  She and I have pretty much the same attitude toward cooking -- a necessary evil and the more  involved it becomes the more evil it becomes. I have two shelves in my library devoted to all manner of cookbook and I never open them.  The only one I have studied at length is Mark Bittman's  How to Cook Everything.

So, I was sitting here today watching Martha Stewart make vegetable stock and I started thinking about what my daughter had said.  That led me to think about my mother who was a fantastic cook and we didn't have a cookbook in  the house.  She would go to the grocery store -- ONE grocery store -- not a day's worth of gadding about with grocery ads in her hand, no gourmet shops, no farmers markets. She went once every two weeks and picked up milk at the convenience store in between.   Her idea of meal planning for a week was seven meats, seven starches, two veggies per night and an occasional dessert.  Then there were the staples -- bread, milk, butter, blah blah blah -- you get the picture.  Same thing each week regular as clock work but she worked magic with those basic ingredients.  At the beginning of the week, usually a Sunday we had a big meal -- roast, potatoes, carrots, etc and leftovers the next day.  As the week would wind down to Saturday we would have what she called our "poor" meal -- usually beans and cornbread or soup or stew and she always had a cake or pie.  Didn't sound too poor to me!  And.....she never used a recipe or a cookbook.  There wasn't one in the house.  She said she remembered how they made some things  in Home Ec in junior high school which was great for Floating Island but she just seemed to have an intuitive knack for cooking, seasoning, and getting everything on the table at the same time -- all done.

So, when I started searching the internet for "intuitive cooking" it dawned on me that that was what my mother did before it became a "style" or "technique".  Then I realized why my daughter gets slightly exasperated with me when she asks me how I cook something -- I simply can't tell her.  She wants numbers, people, in  cups and teaspoons.  I don't cook like that.  I have told her that she needs to decide to cook something, look up how to do it and then, just do it.  The simpler the better.  Learn to make a great salad, roast a chicken, a pork loin -- all simple and good. I no longer cook large roasts because it is just too much for us and Hubs really doesn't care for leftovers -- something I just can't change his mind on.  So, instead, I braise really lean stew meat with onions and garlic, let it cook for a while and voila! beef we can cut with a fork.  My daughter even likes it and she was the only child vegetarian I knew in the 80's. 

So, as I read several blogs on the subject of intuitive cooking -- the rules for intuitive cooking and even recipes for intuitive cooking (????), I realized I had a few of my own so here goes:

Buy the best you can afford to buy keeping all the food groups in mind.  Realize that  shopping at the overpriced, gourmet store doesn't necessarily mean better.

If fresh isn't so fresh, buy frozen.  It works.

Start simple -- learn to roast a whole chicken really well.  It isn't hard and you have lots of meat left over for all sorts of chicken-y things -- like chicken salad.

When you have that done, move on to beef.  Salt and pepper is the best seasoning for beef.

Remember to keep your plate balanced with protein, starch and veggies -- be colorful.  Protein doesn't necessarily mean meat.

Make a simple vinegar dressing and  experiment with herbs and seasoning.

Learn to love olive oil.

Frying isn't your friend but steaming and sauteing is.

Onions, celery, parsley, garlic are basics -- like white underwear.  ALWAYS have it on hand.  Always. You can buy frozen chopped onions or you can do your own -- they freeze very well.

Keeping your junior high school home ec class in mind (oh,  they don't have that anymore, do they?) Well, anyway remember balance and portion control.

Have fun -- cook what appeals to you -- what you like.  You are doing the cooking for you --- do what you want.

None of these rules apply to baking.  However, I don't bake so who cares.

My daughter has perfected a few dishes and is more and more willing to try new things even though she still wants a recipe and that is ok.  At some point, she will discover that she has just gone in and cooked a meal without thinking about it and she will be pleased.

My goal --  to stock my freezer with homemade stock.  I love stock. Now I am hungry for chicken soup.  Damn.

Musing Monday -- February 18, 2013


Tell us what you are reading right now -- what you think of it so far, why you chose it, what you are (or aren't) enjoying about it.

I am currently reading Round Robin by Jennifer Chiaverini.  It is the second book in the Elm Creek Quilts series.  My daughter purchased the first book in the series for me and she brought me this one yesterday.  I am reading it now because I just finished The Quilter's Apprentice, wasn't ready for it to end so I am ready to jump into this one. 

I started it last night when I went to bed so I haven't gotten too far but it takes up where the first one left off and it has drawn me in immediately.  Even though I haven't read enough to say whether there are things I won't like, I really doubt it.  I really enjoy these sorts of books and I like reading series so I am sure it will be very enjoyable.  I will review when I am done.

Book Reviews -- 2013 Goodreads Reading Challenge


The last couple of weeks have been good reading weeks for me.  The books I completed were completely different in nature but they were both quick reads and page turners for different reasons.

The first book is "The Quilter's Apprentice" by Jennifer Chiaverini.  This book was a gift from my daughter and, let's just say she knows me  well.  While I have heard of Chiaverini through quilting sources, I had not read her books and I have to say that I was definitely missing out.  The book is about two young people, Sarah and Matt McClure, making a new start  in a new place -- a small college town in Pennsylvania.  Matt is a landscape architect and has landed a job at Elm Creek Manor, the family home of aging Sylvia Compson.  Sarah, looking for a change in career and unable to make any acceptable connections, accepted a position as personal assistant to the testy Mrs. Compson -- her job being to help Mrs. C prep the manor for sale.  Without saying too much, let me just assure you that there are relationships formed, relationships mended, realizations, new starts for everyone all around and a very happy ending.  This is a feel good book.  There are conflicts but not horrible conflicts.  There is sadness but not so sad that there is no comfort.  For a quilter, this book is a little bit of heaven.  I mean, what is not to love about a small, picturesque town with a quaint quilt store.  As I read along I caught myself doing the rocking stitch in the air -- I guess once it is part of you, you never really quit.  It really made me want to try to do some hand quilting again, I will just have to go slow so the hands don't hurt so much.  I can hardly wait to start the next book in the series.  Thank you, daughter!

The second book I read was "Wench" by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.  This is a work of fiction based on a real place -- the Tawawa Resort in Xenia, Ohio. The resort opened in 1852 and closed in 1855 due to declining business resulting from  the displeasure of the  northern white patrons with the southern white patrons and their slave entourages.  The property changed hands and became the Ohio African University in 1856.  Enrollment decreased during the Civil War and the university eventually closed. in 1863 the property was purchased by the African Methodist Episcopal Church and became Wilberforce University which continues to be the nation's oldest African University.  It is believed that many of the first students were the children of the slave women and their white owners.

As I said previously, this is a work of fiction detailing the summer vacations of four slave mistresses and their white masters.  The strength of this book, in my opinion, is the characterization.  When this book first caught my eye I shied away from it because of the subject matter.  I couldn't imagine a book about slavery being "entertaining" and I certainly wouldn't use that word to describe this book.  As I began, I felt bad reading about these women in their deplorable situations -- some true slaves, some in love with their masters, some whose masters loved them -- but then I realized that these women wanted me to read about them, to "know" them, to see that these women were women like any other with the strength, knowledge and abilities to get them through -- just like all women of the ages.  One of the most compelling  themes is the need, desire and endurance of relationships between these women.  I am not talking about romantic relationships but rather the relationships that uphold us all through birth, death, joy, sorrow and loss.  Slaves were viewed as being pretty much inhuman and this book dispells that notion by showing how these women dealt with the "stuff" of life, how their strengths, frailties, and faith were no different than any woman -- then or now.

I was afraid that the graphic nature of this book would be more than  I could  handle.  I do read for pleasure and I couldn't imagine reading about cruelties toward these women being pleasurable and it wasn't but there was only enough of these scenes to move the story along-- it wasn't overdone for shock value.  It was a compelling book and these women drew me in.  I found myself thinking about how I would react in each of their situations and which one I identified with most.

With all of this said, it was a page turner, it was enlightening and it did have a happy ending -- a couple of them actually.

I would recommend this to anybody interested in history.  If you are looking for something light and airy -- pass this one by.

Super Bowl Sunday

Well, not for me.  I am not a professional sports fan so I am reading my way through this game although my husband is watching it.  I am yearning for "Downtown Abbey" but it will have to wait a bit.

 "What am I reading", you might ask.  I am reading through my blog list which I try to do every day.  I have a very nice variety of blogs that I enjoy reading that cover a variety of subjects.  I get such pleasure and inspiration from these blogs and feel that I have actually made friends with many of the authors.  I start my day out reading a specific few and, as I sit with my cuppa and my computer in the early morning, I feel like I am having a nice visit with a friend.  Reading blogs is such a different experience from social networking (i.e. Facebook) -- much more rewarding and a lot less manic (read "political").

I am also reading a couple of new books.  One I am enjoying a great deal, the other, not so much.  "The Quilter's Apprentice" by Jennifer Chiaverini was a gift to me from my daughter.  She certainly knows me well and knew that I would enjoy getting into this series.  What's not to love?  I mean, quilting, a beautiful old mansion in Pennsylvania, a woman trying to "find herself", an older woman looking to/needing to connect -- I love books involving the human condition and this is brimming with that.  Throw in a quaint quilt shop (would love to own one!) and I am in reading heaven.  This book is a page turner and even though I am only about half done, I would definitely recommend.

The second book that I am reading --or trying to -- is one that caught my eye months ago but I was hesitant to acquire it so I waited until I found it on the discount shelf at the bookstore before I bought it and I am glad I waited.  It is "Wench" by Dolen Perkins-Valdez and, while it has my interest, I am afraid it is going to be a lot more graphic than I like.  I am sure it involves the human condition as it concerns a posh vacation spot where wealthy plantation owners would frequent with their slave mistresses.  I am not sure I am going to get very far into this book as I don't think I will be able to handle the subject matter.  I will see and let you know.  I don't usually give up on books but I do read for pleasure and I am not sure this is going to be pleasurable.

I am finishing up some cross stitch Christmas ornaments that I started a while back.  They were supposed to be done for Christmas but I got sick and, well, it just didn't happen.  Oh well, there is always next year!  I especially enjoy doing the ornies from Little House Needleworks because they are challenging enough but quick enough to almost qualify as instant gratification -- providing you don't get sick!  These are the ones I am currently working on.

 

I had planned a flat finish for these but I really enjoy a pillow-type finish with ribbons and things so I think that is what I will do -- maybe with a velvet backing.  I have a lot of time to figure it out!

It has been a quiet weekend.  My knee and foot are killing me so I haven't been up and around very much.  I already have arthritis (first diagnosed at 34 years old! A couple of years ago) and then I twisted it badly trying to get up off the floor while babysitting.  I am ok once I am down but if I have to do much getting up and down, I am done.  So, between that and the plantar faciitis in my right heel, I am fairly useless.  In spite of that, and the headache I can't get rid of, I did do laundry today and rearrange my kitchen counters and swap some flour/sugar into new canisters. I wasn't entirely idle but I did do a bit of resting as I went.  All of this knee/foot pain is really tiring and I missed church today because I just wasn't moving around very well and, honestly, exhausted.  It took me all day to get any energy and it didn't last long.  I sound like an ancient, old crone but I am not -- however, I think my knees are at least twenty five years older than the rest of me.  Ouch.

On that note, I am back to my book.  I will review it later on.

2013 Reading Challenge

I just finished the second book for my 2013 Reading Challenge hosted by Good Reads.  The book is "Birmingham Rose" by Annie Murray, a British author new to me.  First off, let me say that this book would make a wonderful movie!

This novel, for me, was a page turner.  It began in 1931 in Birmingham, England and revolves around the Lucas family.  They were a poor family living in a poor area and sharing all the problems of a family in those conditions.  The main character is Rose -- the eldest daughter  of the Lucas family who dreams of "getting out" and strives to do just that.  In the process she endures a personal attack, an unwanted pregnancy that  ends tragically, the loss of her mother, the remains of her family pretty much falling apart.  After the start of World War II, she joins the British military and ends up in Italy where she falls in love with a person that was destined to be linked to something else -- the Catholic Church.  After the war, Rose returns to Birmingham, has a less than wonderful marriage, a child and a dream.

Yes, the dream comes true in the end but I have given you enough information.  I am not sure if the book is available in the US as I borrowed it from a British friend.  It is a definite recommend, however.