books — Page 89

Flowers, Ferns, Friends & What Are You Reading?

October 11, 2019 at 10:27 am by Claudia

Soon it will be time to bring the fern inside for the winter. I’m not sure where the heck I’m going to put it – probably upstairs in the office. The ideal place for any plant in this house is the kitchen table, but now Don is no longer allowed to eat lunch on the sofa in the living room, we eat at the table. Last year, if you remember, we had the fern on the table and it took up most of the surface.

Just for comparison, here’s how the fern looked when I first put it back outside in the spring. And when it had fallen twice due to high winds. It’s come a long way.

We won’t mention what’s happened to the sideboard.

Although, to tell you the truth, I really like it this way.

Yesterday I was out running errands and I stopped at a favorite antique center. I’ve mentioned Fox Run Antiques before, as I have purchased several things from her – including the egg cup cubby. Well, I met her yesterday! She happened to be working on her booth. So nice to finally meet someone I admire. Sydney has excellent taste. Her first words to me, after I introduced myself, were “Kindred spirits!” And we are.

Seven morning glories were in bloom yesterday on this little patch of vine. I love my morning glories and I’m so grateful that they survived the deer onslaught and are blooming. Lots of buds visible, as well, so we should have blooms for the next two weeks or longer – I don’t see any hard frost temps on the long-range weather forecast. Fingers crossed.

Don’s off to recycle and take some portraits. I’m going to do some cleaning.

I wanted to tell you about the relief pitcher for the Washington Nationals – Sean Doolittle. He is a big reader and a fan of Independent Bookstores. He’s made it his mission to visit a bookshop in every city he travels to and then post about it on Twitter. His handle is: @whatwould DOOdo – and his name on Twitter is Obi-Sean Kenobi Doolittle.

Is it too soon to ask this question again? (I asked about two weeks ago, but two weeks is a long time in book reading and I figure you might have some new titles to share.)

Anyway, here it is: What are you reading?

Happy Friday.

Back in the Blogging Saddle

October 10, 2019 at 10:13 am by Claudia

I’m back. I called my internet provider on Tuesday and the tech said that the signals coming from our modem were very weak and he scheduled an appointment with another tech yesterday afternoon.

In the meantime, the modem was in and out all morning long yesterday, so each time I started to write a post, the wifi/modem would go out. I finally gave up, posted on IG that we had internet problems, and hoped you all would check there. If I can’t post and I can get to my IG account, I’ll always let you know what’s going on.

The tech arrived, couldn’t find anything wrong with the modem (though we agreed that it’s probably time for a new router) and he went outside and checked the cable going into our house and then drove down to the road and climbed a huge ladder. At one point I heard voices and realized my neighbor was out there talking to him. I ran outside to chat with her and, sure enough, they were having problems, as well. Then, as I was headed back inside, my other neighbor walked down her driveway and talked to the tech. Clearly, it was a neighborhood thing – which the tech confirmed. He found out there had been a crew working all morning elsewhere in the neighborhood and everything looks okay now. A day or so before I called them, I noticed them working at another neighbor’s house. So it’s been ongoing for a week or so. More info than you really needed, but there you go.

Leaves and more leaves. Today it’s supposed to be a bit windy…so more leaves. But it’s awfully pretty out there.

I’ve started reading Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers. I’m not too far into the book yet, because my time has been taken up by wifi/internet. But I like it so far. Oh, forgot to say, yesterday’s impending visit by the tech necessitated a major desk cleanup by my husband because that’s where the modem and router are. I had been gently asking him to clean up his part of the office for quite some time – to no avail. It was a MESS of stacks of paper, photos, mail, files, memorabilia from the run of Escape to Margaritaville, camera stuff, etc. With a deadline, Don had no choice but to go through everything with a ruthless hand. Huzzah! It looks much better now.

I’ve never seen the limelight hydrangeas look as spectacular as they do this year. That color is so intense! Gorgeous.

We’re into Season 2 of Goliath on Amazon Prime. We really love it. I’m partial to Billy Bob Thornton, who is one of the most honest actors I’ve ever seen. Not a false move. And Tony Award winner Nina Arianda, his costar, is the same. She is simply wonderful. (Don’s crazy about her.)

I just finished Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnick, a series of essays he wrote for The New Yorker, when he and his family lived in Paris 20 years ago. I recommend it highly if you’re at all interested in Paris, Parisians and the differences in our cultures. Gopnick still writes for The New Yorker and I’ve been a fan for a long time.

A reminder that I’ve disabled my comment reply plugin, so you’ll need to check back if you want to read my reply and the comments of your fellow readers. Thank you!

Okay. Glad to be back!

Happy Thursday.

A Bit of Self-Care

October 8, 2019 at 10:06 am by Claudia

Don was in the city yesterday and I was home. After I finished writing my post, I had the thought that I should do something that makes me happy. I’ve been battling anxiety lately, as you know. If I did something that made me happy, I just might be able to dampen that anxiety down to a manageable level.

What makes me happy? Books and bookshops. So I got in the car and drove an hour in the rain to Oblong Books and Music, the shop in Rhinebeck that Don and I recently visited. The drive even made me happy. I listened to classical music, the rain was actually calming, and I found a good parking place. As soon as I entered, I felt like I had found a sort of refuge.

This time around, I noticed more details, one of which was this:

I must have walked past this the first time I was at the shop, but they have a display of the Very Short Introductions published by Oxford University Press. You might remember I first saw them at that wonderful independent bookshop in Las Vegas.

This is one of the differences between a chain and an independent bookstore. Chains, as a rule, would not stock these books. Independent Bookshops do.

Heavens, I like this shop.

In the Classics section, they had three different editions of To Kill a Mockingbird. Very impressive.

Of course, I purchased some books.

I had my eye on the latest volume of Alan Bennett’s memoir; I’d seen it on my first visit and hadn’t been able to forget it. I haven’t read the previous volumes, so it looks like I’ll be reading them in reverse order. I’m a huge fan.

I bought a book by Jane Gardam on my first visit – I’ve yet to read it – but this one was on sale for $5, so I snapped it up. I’ve heard nothing but good things about her novels.

I’ve been reading a lot about Melmoth lately on Instagram and wanted to buy it, but I also haven’t read Perry’s first book, The Essex Serpent, so that’s why they’re here.

And Gaudy Night was part of a wonderful display of Olive Editions by Harper Perennial – favorite books from their publishing past that are limited editions – $10 each. The display was right next to the Mystery section and all the books in the display were mysteries. They’re on the smallish side and the artwork/design is wonderful. I’m such a fan of mysteries, but for some reason, I’ve never read Gaudy Night.

My weaknesses are books, egg cups, McCoy and Roseville pottery, and miniatures. Books are a constant. The others ebb and flow.

Anyway. I’m glad I went. My anxiety level was reduced to nothing, I happily drove back home in the rain, stopped at the supermarket to pick up a few things, and I stayed calm the rest of the day. And I found some interesting books to read.

A side note: I’ve been reading Mo Hayder’s thrillers and I just got two from my local library, but I realized yesterday – right in the middle of reading one of them – that this wasn’t the best time to be reading them. They’re a bit too scary and bloody. So I’m returning them and I’ll read them sometime in the future.

Self-care is a good thing.

Happy Tuesday.

Flowers, Ferns, Friends & What Are You Reading?

Back in the Blogging Saddle

A Bit of Self-Care

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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