books — Page 56

Day Three Hundred Seventy-Five

March 23, 2021 at 10:17 am by Claudia

It’s officially Spring. That is not determined by the calendar, but by the reappearance of peepers (tiny frogs) who live in and near the pond next door. They peep throughout the night and it’s the most wondrous sound. We first heard them last night, along with the bullfrogs that also live there.

Now I start my nightly ritual; I stop by the window at the top of the stairs, listen to the peepers, and call out a hello.

The light this morning.

I received some miniature books in the mail yesterday from Landau Books on Etsy. I’ve ordered from her before.

I also ordered a pack of Arthur Ransome books (of Swallows and Amazons fame) but the photo is too blurry to post here. The shelves are gradually getting filled, but I realize that I need to order a few books from other miniaturists so that there are various book sizes. Landau Books features a lot of British authors, which fits in perfectly with my English Cottage.

The puzzle is almost done but I’m in the midst of many black and almost black pieces and distinguishing the difference requires a certain quality of light. And patience. I got a lot done yesterday and I’m thinking I’d better order another puzzle pronto.

Tonight we will finish A French Village. Sob. I’ll really miss it. I’ve also started Snow by John Banville, an Irish writer – a mystery. I’ll just say that I’m not all that far into it and I’m already blown away by his writing. His descriptions are brilliantly written.

Okay.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Day Three Hundred Seventy-Four

March 22, 2021 at 9:56 am by Claudia

Current puzzle. I know I said it was dark and moody and it is. The left hand side is where the lamplight casts its glow in this apartment. The other half is very dark, which is why I’ve worked on the more colorful sections first. They’re just easier to complete.

Gosh, I love a good jigsaw puzzle!

Sunny and warm (relatively) again today. We were going to take a drive but Don has a commitment at 3:30 and, quite frankly, we’re feeling lazy. We’re excited that we can finally say that our second shot is next week. On Monday, Don gets his shot from his eye specialist and on Wednesday, we both get our second dose of the vaccine. By the way, someone (sorry, I can’t remember who it was) mentioned that we should make sure that getting another shot around the same time as our vaccine shot is okay. Don called his eye doctor who quickly said this kind of shot has no impact on the vaccine and the vaccine has no impact on it. So, we’re fine.

We had a great FaceTime chat with Little Z and my sister yesterday. Z is into zombies at the moment, so we learned a great deal about them. Z illustrated the sounds that come from baby zombies and adult zombies and we also learned they like to chase chickens. I mentioned to him that my neighbor has chickens and we imagined what it would be like to try to chase the zombies away from the chickens. He also got to ride an elevator in the parking garage next to his doctor – as you know, Z is obsessed with elevators and COVID has kept him from exploring different elevators every weekend. He’s missed that.

I just finished The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz – he’s so darned clever! Now I have to choose my next book. I certainly have a lot of them to choose from in my TBR pile. I’m leaning toward a mystery by John Banville – a new-to-me writer. His mysteries take place in Ireland. I think I first heard about this book, Snow, through The Mysterious Bookshop’s newsletter.

Oh, I can’t wait until the day I can visit the city again, if only to visit The Mysterious Bookshop and Tiny Doll House – two shops that are on opposite ends of Manhattan – one in Tribeca, the other on the Upper East Side.

I’m off to do a little work on the puzzle.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Day Three Hundred Sixty-Seven

March 15, 2021 at 10:31 am by Claudia

Wind, wind, wind. It has finally stopped, leaving us with much colder temperatures. It’s 24 degrees as I write this and the high will be 36. The same holds true for tomorrow and then it will start to get warmer. But it’s sunny!

It’s the Ides of March today.

A word about A Chelsea Concerto, which I finished yesterday. If you’re at all interested in WWII history, I strongly recommend this book. It’s beautifully written, helped by the artist author’s attention to detail. It’s also heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. It was originally published in 1959, the same year that the author died from cancer – far too young. It’s been out of print for years, and Dean Street Press just reissued it last month. That’s how new this copy is. I spent a lot of time talking to Don about it and it lingered with me all day yesterday and into today. This isn’t a review – I just recommend it highly. It’s important to remember.

I started a new puzzle yesterday, this one a New Yorker cover from the 30s depicting a seaside village. Much brighter colors!

More egg cups. Among them, my other Snow White (I have two). Some of my favorites are here: bunnies holding up egg cups, living in egg cups, painting egg cups. A bear pulling an egg cup. Little dogs and little boys. Chicks. Bluebirds from Germany. Lustre ware. Groundhogs in the Alps. Funny faces and a wooden girl wearing a knit cap.

And my tiny silver egg cup from Paris. I’ve since polished it because it was tarnished. The blue and white cup at the top is ironstone and very old. And the egg next to it was a gift from my mom, who, as soon as she learned I was collecting them, enthusiastically looked for egg cups wherever she went. I miss her.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Day Three Hundred Seventy-Five

Day Three Hundred Seventy-Four

Day Three Hundred Sixty-Seven

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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