Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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What Are You Reading?

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Right now, it’s 17 degrees and ‘feels like’ 7 degrees. It’s been this way all week long, as we’ve been locked into a frigid phase of the weather. It will start to warm up on Monday, thank goodness. We had light snow all day long yesterday – probably about an inch in total. When I went out to get the mail, I decided to shovel the driveway and give Don a break. It was quite easy, as all I had to do was push the airy snow with the shovel. No heavy lifting.

And so, we hunker down here at the cottage. Don has a gig tonight. The venue he’s going to cancelled last night’s entertainment, I don’t know whether they had a lot of snow or if it was for some other reason. I hope Don isn’t cancelled, but we’ll just have to wait and see. It’s north of here.

I’ve been having a bit of trouble finding a book I want to read, other than my assigned reading, aka Wolf Hall. At the moment, I’m reading Wolf Hall  and The Poppy War  by R. F. Kuang, the author of Yellowface  and Babel, both of which I read last year and enjoyed a great deal. I like it very much so far and it’s part of a trilogy. It’s in the fantasy genre, not something I usually read, though I’ve been surprising myself lately.

This week has been topsy-turvy, so I haven’t been reading consistently. I hope to get back on track this week.

So here’s my Saturday question for you: What are you reading?

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

Puzzle and Upcoming Readalong

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Finished! It’s not the best picture, but we have had dark and dreary skies all week long, so I had to use some artificial light. Sigh.

Will we ever see the sun?

Anyway, I finished it just before dinner time yesterday. I have yet to read the explanation of all the characters and symbols. I’ll do that later today.

I’m writing this early Saturday morning because we have to get some grocery shopping in before Don leaves for his gig.

I’m taking part in another readalong this year. Simon, the same lovely gentleman from England who ran the War and Peace  readalong is not only repeating it for those who missed out – he’s also presiding over a readalong of the Cromwell trilogy by Hilary Mantel. We start with Wolf Hall  on January 1st.

I am not generally a reader or even a fan of historical fiction but when Mantel died unexpectedly last year, I read a lot about her and her books. The raves about the trilogy were unqualified and unanimous. That intrigued me, and I remember vowing to read one of them in the near future. Fast forward to this year when Simon suggested Mantel and I was immediately onboard. Since the chapters aren’t as short as Tolstoy’s, we can’t do a chapter a day, so he’s gone through every book and mapped out a certain number of pages per week. For example, the first week of January consists of pages 1 -33. He also provides a guide to all the characters. I’m really looking forward to it. The book is right by my reading chair in the den and I’m ready.

A couple of months ago, I ordered a couple of hats and a sweater from a wonderful artist in Ukraine. She makes them to order so it took a while for them to ship and then to arrive at my door. This is one of the hats – or helmets, as the Blythe community calls them. Isn’t it adorable? (Chloe is still wearing her Christmas sweater because I realized how adorable she looks in red. And it’s really a winter sweater, right?)

So. Grocery shopping and cleaning are on the docket. I’m also getting anxious to reorganize things in this house. That happens to me every January.

I’m going to store the putz houses and put the Vintage by Crystal figures back in the upstairs cabinet later today. But the tree will be lit and loved as long as it hangs in there.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Post Season Chores and a Wonderful Read

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Yesterday consisted of lots of work outdoors, emptying pots and transporting them to the shed. (There are a few I have left there because, incredibly, they’re still blooming.) Don came out to help. We moved things around in the shed, Don swept it out, we reorganized a few things, the Adirondack chairs moved to the shed. Don moved the heavy vintage pots from the Secret Garden to the porch. Then I rearranged things on the porch, bringing all the outdoor furniture that sits on the Funky Patio and in the Secret Garden to the porch for the winter. Today, I’ll wipe off the cushions and store them under the staircase. Don will take that opportunity to swap out a guitar (we keep some of his guitars stored there.)

Because my back and our knees are a bit sore, we’ll get our tree tomorrow. But it felt good to finally tackle that job. Oh, I think I’ll hang our outdoor Christmas lights today, as well.

And start a puzzle.

Harper is modeling a dress from Miss Milupka, a mother/daughter team that sells the most magical dresses. The daughter lives in NYC, her mom is in Poland. This package came directly from her mom in Poland. I love, love it. I hadn’t decided which girl was going to model it, but then it hit me – it had to be Harper.

I’ll show you the cubbies and ‘wallpaper’ on Friday.

I have to take a moment to say how much I loved this novel. And I mean LOVED. I finished it yesterday and cannot get the characters out of my head. I want to keep them there, even to the point of not starting another novel. This is my first Patchett – for some reason, I haven’t read her work before – and I’m delighted by her beautiful writing style. It flows effortlessly. She’s what I call a ‘plot weaver extraordinaire.’ That is no easy task. There were some surprises; at least for this reader. Get it. Buy it. Check it out from your library like I did. I had to wait a long time for my place in the queue to come up and it was worth the wait. Thank you, Ann Patchett, for one of the best reads of 2023.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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