books — Page 178

A Big Book & A Vase of Flowers

September 23, 2014 at 8:22 am by Claudia

When I was out and about yesterday, and thank goodness I know how to navigate around West Hartford where I can visit Target, Trader Joe’s and Barnes & Noble all on the same road, I made a quick run into B & N. I was looking for a copy of Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, a simply wonderful book about the writing process, and one that I own, but…you guessed it, it’s packed away in the shed. (I wonder how many books I have purchased that are duplicates of the ones that I can’t get to?) Given B & N’s increasing lack of books, it’s a miracle that I found a copy, but I did. And I have to say that this particular B & N, one I’ve been to many times before, has changed during the past year. Less books, more tchotchkes and games and stuffed animals. Like all B & Ns, I guess.

Anyway, I also ended up buying another book, which was on the remainder/sale table.

hotel-books

Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George. I have a bit of history with this book. I have checked it out from my local library on three different occasions, only to return it, because, at a whopping 608 pages, it was impossible for me to read it in the allotted 3 weeks the library allowed me to have the book. Well, I suppose it wasn’t technically impossible, I’m a fairly quick reader. But the pressure I felt to get it read ended up being too much for me. So each time I checked it out, thinking “This time I’ll do it!” I ended up defeated before I ever really had a chance to start it.

It was on sale for $7.98. Aha! Now I have it, I own it, and I’ll get around to reading it someday when I don’t have other books to read/review. By the way, I love Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley mysteries and I’ve read most of them. So I really do want to read this one!

From Trader Joe’s:

hotelflowers1

Because every hotel room and/or temporary apartment needs flowers. – preferably easy-care, long-lived ones like alstromeria.

hotelflowers2

Yesterday was my day off. Theaters almost always have Mondays as the day off. But, for some reason, the theater where Don is currently working decided to make Thursday the day off during the rehearsal process. So, even though we are 40 minutes apart here and were excited to be able to spend time together, we can’t. What’s wrong with this picture?

Have to go. Today is the first day of rehearsal for the entire cast. A long day ahead and I have to get Dame Scout over to the park before I leave for the day.

She insists on it.

In case you missed it, I posted a lovely interview with Deborah Crombie on Just Let Me Finish This Page yesterday.

Happy Tuesday.

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Settling In And Big News Over On The Book Blog

September 22, 2014 at 9:38 am by Claudia

ontheroad - scout sleeping

Little girl is adapting pretty gosh-darned well. I’m very proud of her.

She goes a little crazy when I return after rehearsal. But that’s understandable. After all, she is in a place that is not home. Not her kingdom. (You know what, Scoutie? I feel the same way.) But all in all, she is handling it so well.

Not bad for 15½, not bad at all.

And this girl loves the city streets. She likes seeing all the people, even going so far as to stop when she sees someone coming in the opposite direction, waiting for what she is sure will be extravagant attention. That isn’t always the case, of course. But most people smile and if I had a dime for how many times people have asked “Is she hurt? What happened to her?” I’d be on my way to a nice, fat bank account. I usually say that she limps, but a more accurate description would be ‘hops.’ She does a little hop on her right front leg. Arthritis isn’t easy.

And she loves, loves, loves the park. We go over there at least twice a day.

Oh, by the way, the bike races, loudspeaker, blocked streets (I had to do some major maneuvers to get to rehearsal) lasted until about 6 pm. Oy.

Growing around the property as I prepared to leave for Hartford:

aster-like weed

Pretty little flowers that one might call a weed, but you know I don’t do that. There are also little purple versions of the same flower.

rosebud

I want to officially thank my roses for returning for a second bloom in these early days of autumn. I wish I could wiggle my nose and transport myself back to the cottage every day to see what’s happening in the gardens and water the plants. It would only take about 15 minutes out of my day and I’d have the best of both worlds.

Seems like a perfectly legitimate request, don’t you think?

Today is my day off and I’m going to head over to Trader Joe’s. Since this kitchenette has no oven, I need some microwaveable meals.

And some fresh flowers.

And now, my big news!

I have something to share with you over on the book blog and to say I’m very excited would be an understatement. Deborah Crombie’s newest book, To Dwell in Darkness, comes out tomorrow. (I’ll be reviewing it on this blog a week from today.) I decided to take a risk and and ask her publisher (through TLC Book Tours) if she would be willing to answer some interview questions. She graciously agreed.

Isn’t that neat?

So hop on over to Just Let Me Finish This Page to read my interview with Deborah Crombie.

Happy Monday.

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Potpourri on Tuesday (I’m All Over the Place)

September 16, 2014 at 9:18 am by Claudia

As Thursday draws nearer, I find I have lists and more lists all over the cottage. Errands to run. Things to pack. Phone calls to make.

And I’m more than a bit spacey. The other day I posted a photo on a blog post that I realized – several days after the fact – I had already used in a post last week. After rereading yesterday’s post, I worried that it was sort of the same thing I’ve said before. And it is. Ah, well. Sorry.

Forgive me if I’m a bit stressed. Packing for five weeks is always hard, but now I’m also taking Scout. And, unfortunately, for the first two weeks, we have to be in a hotel. After that, we will move to an apartment. It’s sort of a pain in the tush. I like this hotel. I’ve stayed there before. Everyone who works there is really nice. But how will Ms. Scout adjust? I don’t know. It’s a bit further from the park and Scoutie has a limp these days, so I worry about her.

Oh lord, I’m all about worrying. I’ve been that way since I was a wee girl.

If Scout doesn’t adjust to the hotel, she’ll move to her dad’s for a week or so. Hopefully, she’ll weather the change and be okay.

beatles sign on piano

Remember the sign I got Don for his birthday? We temporarily propped it up on the piano until we could decide on a good place to hang it. Eventually, we realized that we like it where it is. So, for the time being, it’s staying right there. I added a photo I took of Don when we were in Boston – he’s doing his best to recreate the famous Abbey Road picture.

beatles sign on piano 2

Stepping back. I am still so in love with that lithograph of the Aquitania.

Yesterday was gorgeous. Today is rainy. I took advantage of yesterday’s beautiful weather and took at least a hundred photos of the gardens and the flowers and bugs and things like that. I’m stocking up on photos for future blog posts. Rehearsals are pretty intense for the first week and I might not have time to walk around Hartford and take pictures. And when I do walk around Hartford, I will often have Scout with me, so there’s that.

Don, my love, more of your zinnias:

for don

for don 2

We miss you.

We’ve talked about the ad income I receive (believe me, it’s minuscule) from this blog before, right? That’s the only income I receive. I say this only because a sweet and lovely reader assumed I was getting paid for my book reviews and I wondered if other readers thought the same thing? I never thought about it before, but I can see where someone might think that is the case.

I do not get paid for my book reviews. I receive the book in exchange for my honest review. If I got paid, I wouldn’t be able to be completely honest in my reviews. Now, if I worked for a newspaper or journal or something like that, I would expect to be paid because I would be working for an entity that is neutral as to the books being reviewed. But, since I get the books from the publisher and/or author, accepting any pay would be tantamount to writing a post in which I would feel pressure to give it a thumbs up. That’s why I include that statement in every review that thanks either TLC Book Tours or the publisher or NetGalley for a copy of the book “in exchange for my honest review.”

Just wanted to clarify that.

I’m off to read my lists and make a plan for the day.

Happy Tuesday.

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A Big Book & A Vase of Flowers

Settling In And Big News Over On The Book Blog

Potpourri on Tuesday (I’m All Over the Place)

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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