reading — Page 79

Reading and Quilts

August 6, 2008 at 4:23 pm by Claudia

Just getting over my second cold of the summer. My husband got it first, then I did. Thank goodness this one was much shorter in duration than the last! So I’ve been taking it easy. Today is the first day I’ve been perky enough to do some chores around the house, other than the daily swiffering and vacuuming. While I was down and out I read Fractured by Karen Slaughter. It was so engrossing that I polished it off in a little over a day. If you love mysteries, especially gritty ones, you will love her books. She’s written several. The first time I read one of her mysteries, I was on a plane to Florida. When I got there I had finished it and couldn’t wait to get all of her books so that I could read every one of them – in order. Every time my sister and I were out I had to stop at a bookstore and look for more of her books. Don’t you just love it when you discover an author and can’t wait to get your hands on all his/her books? I was that way with Anne Perry, also. My mom had read her Victorian mysteries and recommended them to me, but for some reason I had resisted them. When I finally came to my senses and read one, I was hooked. “Catching up” on all Anne Perry’s books involves a ton of reading as she is very prolific. But it sure is a pleasure. I’ve now started The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen – another mystery involving a female police detective, apparently the second in a series. I haven’t read the first, so we’ll see if I have that “I’m hooked” feeling at the end of the book!

The photo above was taken in the upstairs hallway of our cottage. The large quilt hangs on the wall right above the landing – you can see it from the living room. At certain times during the day, the sunlight from our upstairs skylight hits the quilt and it is beautifully illuminated. I made it from a pattern by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes. Its a pansy quilt. (By the way, I believe it is hanging upside down, but by the time my husband and I were finished wrestling with it I was in no mood to do any re-hanging. I rather like it this way.)

The other quilt is made out of 30’s reproduction fabrics and is a basic nine-patch. It was one of the first quilts I ever made. One of the first things I did when we closed on this cottage was drape it over the railing and there it has stayed.

Another view of the Pansy Quilt.

More later.

Happy Trails

August 1, 2008 at 4:12 pm by Claudia

Look at these two – all decked out in new bandanas, looking quite spiffy if I do say so myself. My husband is now calling them Roy and Dale and the sound of Happy Trails to You is in the air. Pardon their squinty-eyed look, the sun was directly in their eyes. By the way, my husband met Roy Rogers once – I believe it was in a restaurant in California. He got Roy’s autograph but laments the fact that he somehow misplaced it.

The day is a hot one, but tomorrow promises to be cooler. I mowed another section of the yard,cleaned up dog poop (yes, it must be done) and went grocery shopping. For my pains, I stopped at the bookstore as a treat and picked up some magazines (Quilting Arts, Country Gardens) and the new Karen Slaughter mystery. She is a wonderful writer: the mysteries are complicated, somewhat violent but not gratuitously so and beautifully written. I perused the Stephenie Meyer section since all I have been hearing or reading about are her books. I’m not sure yet how interested I am in them, having been through an Anne Rice phase long ago. Are they different? If anyone can give me their thoughts on them, I’d sure appreciate it. The Barnes & Noble I was in is having a big launch party for the newest Meyer tonight at 11:00 p.m.

I so appreciated your compassionate thoughts about the root canal. Things are much better now, no pain, just a little tenderness here and there.

Hope your trails this weekend are happy ones!

Note: After reading this blog entry, my husband corrected me. He got the autographs of both Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. And lost them.

Garden Dreams

March 16, 2008 at 5:18 pm by Claudia

Oh, I am yearning to start gardening! I’m reading every gardening article I come across, looking at catalogues, reading favorite gardening books. I’m doing what I always do at this time of year – planning, dreaming and making lists. This time of year in the Northeast is a tease. The sun shows itself a bit more, snow and ice begin to melt, the garden soil becomes visible again and the smell of spring is just beginning to fill the air. You start to think, oh good, spring is here. Oh no. It might be, but it may just as likely snow again. There are no buds on any trees, no sign of daffodils beginning their push toward the sun. There’s just the possibility. The possibility of green, of rebirth, of warmth on one’s face again.

I want to clean up the twigs and sticks that are strewn all over the yard. I want to rake the gravel that has traveled from the driveway onto the grass and into the garden back to its proper place. I want to prune where necessary and prepare the soil. But its only March 16th and that is way too early. Around here you are told “don’t plant anything until the first week of May.” Of course, I usually cheat a little, but not by much.

I read so many blogs and I admit I am jealous of those bloggers whose gardens are already being planted – how lucky you are! I used to live in California and I know what that feels like.

For now, I’ll keep reading and dreaming. The lovely pictures in the book shown above are from “down-to-earth gardener” by Suzy Bales. I recommend it highly.

Reading and Quilts

Happy Trails

Garden Dreams

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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