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The End Of Summer
I hate to break it to you but summer is over. I know this because my son went back to school yesterday and my daughter goes back tomorrow. We all know that it is the school calendar that dictates the start and end of summer and the school calendar declares summer over. We will ignore the fact that yesterday it was almost 90 degrees. Today it is about 70. I was able to bake banana chocolate chip muffins without heating the house up to an ungodly temperature. My gardens are getting that blowsy, overdone look and the nights are cooling down. My thoughts are turning toward big pots of chili…
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Thoughts On One Year Of Blogging
I started this blog one year ago this week. I feel like this post should be headed by a photo of a big number one shaped balloon, possibly a bit of confetti, and maybe a cake. Instead, you get a photo of a thistle. Take from that what you will. So here I am, one year into blogging, This is what has and hasn’t happened. I haven’t acquired hundreds and thousands of followers. It is much harder than I thought to get people to read my ramblings. I knew I wouldn’t instantly have a huge number of followers but I did think by now I would have more than I…
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A Place In The Country
Sometimes all you need is a place in the country. An old farmhouse is ideal, with well-worn couches and creaky floorboards. It should have a front porch to drink tea on in the mornings and a well-filled woodshed for campfires at night. It should be set in the middle of nowhere so you can pretend that you are the only people in the world. Ideally, it should have a reading nook and bookshelves jammed with books by Josephine Tey and Wilkie Collins and Dorothy Dunnett. You should be able to walk out the door onto dirt roads that seldom see a car. You will want to happily meander down them,…
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Comfort Me With Books
I buy books when I am stressed. I also buy books when I am bored. And when I am happy. And when I am…well you get the idea. I buy books. I buy books a lot. I have been trying to cut back but I gave that up as a lost cause as you will see when I list all the books I have gotten lately. In my defense, I am feeling less stressed, bored, and unhappy after all these purchases. Why mess with what works, right? I saw a review of Love by Elizabeth von Arnim on Heavenali’s blog. I have read a number of Elizabeth von Arnim’s books but I…
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Book Snippets
One of the interesting things about reading is the words that strike a chord, the phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that make you stop. Sometimes you stop because they make you think, sometimes because the words say it so perfectly, sometimes just because you like the way they sound. Here are a few things that have struck a chord with me recently. I just finished Assignment in Brittany by Helen MacInnes. I read all her books years ago but I don’t really remember them. They are great spy and intrigue novels, fun and enthralling. In this one, MacInnes writes an introduction in which she discusses how accurate her novels are in…
