Sunday Serenity - Psalms 23 (Goodall)

Books - October, 1999

I've been away, both physically and mentally, for about six weeks. Not only have I not posted, I haven't done my usual and pleasurable visiting of others' blogs. My apologies to my friends; I've not forgotten you but, perhaps worse, neglected you.  I would like to say that I'll change my ways immediately, but that would be more of a wish than an actuality.  I will say that I'll try to be back on a regular schedule as soon as I can.

This post will finish 10/12ths of the (seemingly) interminable list of books I read during 1999.  Aren't you glad the year is almost over?

I must have had some time on my hands that month, as I count 17 books and 1 book-on-tape on my list.  You may be relieved to learn ahead of time that the list drops off significantly, with only twelve books read during the remainder of that year.  I didn't keep reading records after that, so you'll be seeing no more similar posts.

Dover Clip Art

Without further ado:

Watchers - Dean Koontz
Last Days of Summer - Steve Kluger
Thrones, Dominations - Dorothy Sayers & Jill Paton Walsh
Murder at St. Adelaide's - Gerelyn Hollingsworth
Murder & Other Acts of Literature -  an anthology
The Sixteen Pleasures - Robert Hellenga
Candle for a Corpse - Ann Granger
Murder at the Watergate - Margaret Truman
Dr. Nightingale Comes Home - Adamson
So Faux, So Good - Tamar Myers
Quaker Testimony - Irene Allen
Murder Among Us - Ann Granger
Dead Over Heels- Charlaine Harris
Biggie and the Mangled Mortician - Nancy Bell
The Pilot's Wife - Anita Shreve
Lucy - Jamaica Kincaid
A Torrid Piece of Murder - C.F. Roe
ICON - (audio) - Frederick Forsyth, read by Stephen Lang

Links lead to Amazon.com, with which company I have no relationship other than as a customer.

Tomorrow is also a day. Thanks be to God.

Books and More Books - September, 1999

I've been so busy with "card stuff" and church duties that I failed to post my regular installment of books read in 1999.  Having somewhat of a breather this evening,  I decided I'd better get with the program before the month is over.

The Zero Hour - Joseph Finder
Something To Kill For - Susan Holtzer
Curly Smoke - Susan Holtzer
The Dancing Floor - Barbara Michaels
The Bestseller - Olivia Goldsmith (not actually read, this was a book on tape)
The Face Changers - Thomas Perry
The Coffin Dancer - Jeffrey Deaver
Murder Must Wait - Arthur W. Upfield (one of the numerous Detective Napolean Bonaparte ("Bony") series set in Australia. "Bony" is half English, half Aborigine, and a very clever fellow)
Rattlesnake Crossing - J. A. Jance (A Joanna Brady mystery)
Bleeding Maize & Blue - Susan Holtzer

It was a treat to remember many of the plots, if not the fine details of most of these books.  I was (and still am) a fan of the "Bony" mysteries.  Looking at the long list of Upfield books while I was copying the link to this particular book made me want to read them all again.  Perhaps I shall do so, one of these days.

All links lead to amazon.com, with which company I am associated only as a customer.

I'm currently reading (on Kindle) Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart.  This came  recommended by Arkansas Patti of The New Sixty and I'm really enjoying it.

Tomorrow is also a day.

Bits and Pieces

The early morning air is humming with the sounds of lawnmowers as neighbors take advantage of the still-under-sixty-degrees weather.   The cats have found a warm spot on my small patio and are stretched out, getting their daily dose of sunshine.  I leave the doors into the house ajar so that they can flee to safety when startled by the bark of the neighbors' dogs.

We've had a lovely weather week, with morning temperatures ranging from the high forties to low fifties.  The humidity is low and it's a pleasure to be outside.  I need to enjoy this break in the weather while it's here; while we've had highs only in the low 80's for the last few days, a warming (or should I say "hotting") trend is on the way, and central Arkansas will be back into more seasonal weather all too soon.

* * *

While I should have been outside more during the wonderful weather,  I've been doing other things, indoors. My stamping buddy and I will host a Stamp Camp on Sept. 16. I designed three cards and cut and packaged materials for twenty of each.  I'm also leading the make and take sessions at two other stamping groups, one on Saturday the 17th and the other on Monday the 19th .  I'm a glutton for punishment, I guess!  While we have several Stamp Camps during a year, I teach only once a year for the other groups.  I usually select September as my teaching months, since it's easy to remember that my responsibilities fall around birthday time.

* * *

I have four wonderful children, three daughters and one son.  Son and two daughters have lived within a few miles of me for many years, while youngest daughter has roamed the world with the U.S. Air Force until her retirement to Nebraska two years ago.  Son has recently accepted an excellent job in a small southeastern Kansas town about 5 hours away.  He and his wife have purchased a lovely older home there, and are in the process of moving their household goods. Daughter-in-law has stayed here to cope with packing and real estate agents and the like, and Son comes back to Arkansas on weekends to help with the heavy stuff.    To their delight, even in a very slow real estate market, their Arkansas home has sold, and they will vacate the premises by month end. I'm looking forward to visiting them in their new digs, but will miss having them close by.

* * *

I marked the milestone of yet another birthday this past week.  My natal anniversary falls on Labor Day every few years, and this was one of them.  The whole nation took a holiday to help me celebrate  Ha ha!  I had a lovely dinner with my children on Sunday night, followed by a quiet Labor Day/Birthday with absolutely no hoop-la --  my kind of day.  I even got in an afternoon nap.  The evening brought a small gathering of my closest friends. One of the ladies also has a September birthday, the day before mine, and we have a joint celebration.  We enjoyed a good visit, exchanged gifts (with the other birthday girl and I on the receiving end of gifts from the others).  We also shared a delicious cake that has become "our" birthday cake.  The cake, called "Summer Fruit Tart," is made by Silvek's European Bakery in Little Rock (look here for a photo of our cake and other delicious treats they prepare), and it's been our birthday treat for the last four or five years.  Birthdays do have some nice things about them.

* * *

When not doing card stuff, I've been reading. Light reading only; I'm not up to material that requires a lot of brain power to digest.  I'm finally comfortable with my Kindle, and have read seven books in the last ten days, four of them, by the same author, in two days. If you're interested, the seven "cozy" books I read were by authors Robert Spiller and Judy Christie, and are listed in "Books Read in 2011" on my sidebar.   Other than tiring my aging eyes a bit, I've thoroughly enjoyed the quietness of entertainment that doesn't require sound. I had been watching far too much television.

* * *

Speaking of TV's -- my Gardening Daughter's husband gifted me with a huge surprise for my birthday, a new-to-me wide screen HD TV!  He's a "latest and greatest" techie and a big time movie buff, and recently acquired one of the 3-D televisions.   Having no room in their home for another wide-screen TV, something had to go, and the sweet boy was kind enough to replace my old, beginning-to-get-fuzzy television..  The television set that used to be in their living room is now in my living room.  I'm still getting used to being able to read all the fine print on the commercials!  Gardening Daughter assures me that it was entirely his idea to pass the still good-as-new TV on to me, and he delivered and set up the unit (and a new DVD player) while I was away from home for a day.

Guess that's about it.

Tomorrow is also a day.

New Blooms

Sweet Autumn Clematis

Imagine, if you will, opening your front door and walking into air heavily laden with the scent of sweet honey.  That's what it's like at my house these days.  Sweet Autumn Clematis, which is twined around the three columns that support the small section of the roof that shelters my front entryway, is in full bloom.  The blossoms are small, about 1.5  to 2 inches across, but full of fragrance, and there are thousands of them on the three vines.

Although I didn't capture any bees in these photos, I do have to be on the lookout for them when I bury my nose into a clump of blossoms.

I don't recall when I first discovered this late-summer blooming vine, but several years ago I started with one vine, which I planted on a trellis outside one of my bedroom windows.  Autumn Clematis is evidently a good self-seeder, as the three vines now gracing my front walk were all 'volunteers' which I discovered in various parts of the yard.  The oldest plant (the one pictured) is on the northwest corner of the little porch, and gets the most sunshine, making it, so far, the heaviest bloomer.  I've also treated the volunteer plants as pass-along plants, and several of my friends are, I hope, currently enjoying the blooms on their own plants.

I always look forward to having these sweet blooms outside my window and door.  Next spring, I'm going to be on the lookout for some more 'volunteers.'  Methinks that some portions of my chain link fence in my back yard would be improved by planting some vines at the base.

* * *

I hope all my blog buddies are well, and escaped any damage from Hurricane Irene.  I've been saddened to see the destruction left in its wake.

Tomorrow is also a day.

Delighted

Today is Gardening Daughter's oldest daughter's birthday.  She's twenty-three years old -- not a child any more; in fact, she has a beautiful 2 year old daughter of her own. 

Of course, I made her a birthday card.  That's what I do.  I hasten to say that the butterfly images are not "stamped" but were already printed on some lovely papers I acquired at the local scrapbook store. For those who might be interested, the paper patterns are from the "Gabriella" collection by Bo-Bunny.

While I don't often blog about the cards I make, I was pleased with how this one turned out, and since she doesn't read my blog,  she won't see her card until I give it to her this evening.

This is what it looks like when it's closed:

When it's partially opened:

Fully open:

I hope she likes it.

* * *

Did you hear about the electrician who lost all his incandescent bulbs?  He was delighted.

Tomorrow is also a day

Hooray!

lycoris squamigera

It's a lovely, lovely morning here.  At sunrise, the temperature was 68 degrees; the wonderful coolness makes it pleasant to be outside. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting at the table on my little patio while I drank my first cup of coffee and watched the cats stalk imaginary (or real) creepy crawlies in the grass.

Today is going to be a mowing day.  The much appreciated rain that we received last week, a total of five inches, has caused the grass/weeds in my yard to grow with abandon.  If I don't cut it soon, one of those threatening letters from the city fathers will show up in my mail box. Yarrrgh!

The lycoris squamigera , otherwise known as Naked Ladies, that I received two years ago from Carol and her husband (Coward's Corner with Luckie) have bloomed!  I am tickled pink! (pun intended) Naked Ladies get their name from the fact that, at flowering time, the plants send up only a bloom stalk - no leaves.  Each blossom-bearing stalk that you see in the photo above was, in April, preceded by the leaves of the plant, which emerge to gather energy for the bulbs from which the later flower shoots will emerge.  Mother Nature has provided an unusual, but efficient, method for blessing our gardens twice.

Closer view of the blossoms

* * *

Did you hear about the chef who had to be fired after burglars took his stove?  He had become deranged.

Tomorrow is also a day.