Claudia — Page 1103

I Caved

September 19, 2015 at 8:36 am by Claudia

I have been such a good girl lately. I haven’t purchased a new book in quite a while. Between the library and the eGalleys and advanced reader copies that I get in the mail or on my Kindle, I have more than enough reading matter to last me quite a long time.

My queue at the library includes Louise Penny’s newest, The Nature of the Beast. And I’m not all that far down the list. I told myself that I didn’t need to own the book, even though I had all of the other Three Pines mysteries on my bookshelves. Surely I would be just fine if I read the library copy. No big deal.

Then I stopped by the bookstore on my way to Target yesterday.

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I caved.

I justified this purchase with the fact that I’ve been sick for the last week and I’ve been sticking to my budget and I haven’t bought any new books in a long, long time and I’m on a diet from sugar and salt and I’m losing weight (thank goodness) and surely I deserve some sort of treat?

A resounding “Yes!” was my answer to myself.

Along with The Nature of the Beast, I bought Fahrenheit 451 because I have never read it. It’s shocking that I’ve never read this book about books and burning books and the need for words on the page. I’m going to remedy that.

And then I threw in Nancy Martin’s latest Blackbird Sisters Mystery, A Little Night Murder. Have you read any of the books in this series? They’re delightful and very well written. They take place in and around the Philadelphia area. As I lived there for five years, it’s fun to rediscover it all via Martin’s series.

We won’t even mention how many TBR books I have here already – both on my bookshelves and on the Kindle. We just won’t.

One of the things I had wanted to do this week when I went into NYC was visit The Mysterious Bookshop. Being sick put paid to that idea, so I guess I’m comforting myself in a way. Really, the fact is if I was given a big chunk of cash, I’d probably spend it on books. Not furniture, not clothes, not little things for the house, not shoes, not even food. (Maybe some miniatures…) No, I’d trot off to The Mysterious Bookshop and the Strand and spend, spend, spend.

9-19 morning glory

I’m about 90 pages from the end of The Girl in the Spider’s Web and then I’ll either start the newest Jan Karon (which has been waiting for me on the Kindle) or the Penny. Hmmm.

What are you reading at the moment?

Happy Saturday.

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A Parrish Sky

September 18, 2015 at 8:46 am by Claudia

9-18 parrish sky

That, my friends, is a Maxfield Parrish sky.

Don called me over to the door, where he had been checking on Scout while she was outside, because that sliver of moon was so beautiful in the evening sky.

Lovely, simply lovely.

Still coughing, still feeling under the weather, but every day I feel a little less so. So that’s good.

We have a friend coming on Sunday to spend the night, so I’ve been cleaning. A little here, a little there, nothing too taxing. There’s nothing like an impending visit to make you see all the dust and crumbs and dirty grout, is there?

I’m still reading The Girl in the Spider’s Nest. Normally, I would have finished it by now, but I haven’t always felt like reading or concentrating for any length of time. This morning, however, I read a nice big chunk. It’s really well written.

I had been planning on working on the Top Secret Project when Don was in the city this week for auditions. Those plans were scuttled when I got sick. Darn it! So there’s nothing new to report there. I plan to find some time this week to do some interior painting and flooring.

I forgot to pick a winner for the Coercion giveaway. So sorry! The winner is Karen. Congratulations, Karen! I’ve sent you an email.

Must include a flower photo, as it won’t be long until I have no more flowers to share with you.

9-18 hollyhocks

My surprise hollyhock is still blooming. What a gift this plant has been! Hollyhocks aren’t annuals here and this one was self-seeded, so I’m not counting on seeing it next year. But who knows? Some seeds may find their way into another garden bed. That’s the wonder of gardening, isn’t it?

Happy Friday.

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Recovering

September 17, 2015 at 10:15 am by Claudia

9-17 butterfly bloom

This is the only photo I have for you, friends.

There’s been no time and I have no energy. I made it through the day yesterday on about 3 hours of sleep. I’m glad I went – the meeting was a good one – but it took every bit of energy I had to be coherent and articulate while sucking on cough drops, trying to thwart any annoying coughing fits.

I took an earlier bus so that I wouldn’t be late this time and even then, the trip was 2½ hours rather than 1½ hours. I usually don’t go in that early in the morning so I’m sure it was due to the morning rush hour. I left the bus station and walked the 14 blocks to the rehearsal studios where we had last week’s meeting. No one was there. After some texting back and forth, it turned out the meeting had been changed to another venue and I (along with another attendee) had not been informed of the change. That meant I had to walk another 24 blocks. I wasn’t a happy camper. But I shook it off when I finally arrived and we had a good and fruitful discussion.

I was well and truly fried by the end of the day.

But I got a good night’s sleep last night and that makes a world of difference. I’m still congested, still coughing, still under the weather, but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks for all the great comments on yesterday’s post. I usually come home and reply to each and every one of them, but I was so exhausted that I simply couldn’t do it. Know that I read and enjoyed them. I wrote about the whole thing because I found it shady and deceptive and I wanted to alert any other potential readers who might make the same mistake I did.

More tomorrow when, hopefully, I’ll be feeling a lot better. Cross your fingers.

There’s a book review on Just Let Me Finish This Page today. I’m reviewing Dishing the Dirt by M.C. Beaton. Click here.

Happy Thursday.

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I Caved

A Parrish Sky

Recovering

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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