karenmarie's 2017 reading and occasional other nonsense - part 4

Humming along, I'm grateful to all who visit! I seem to be about one thread per month so far this year.

I would like to read a minimum of 100 books and seem to be on track with 26 read the first quarter. I read 93 in 2016 and I seem to be reading more chunksters than in previous years. However, I also have started keeping track of pages read and I read 31,717 pages, so applying the same percentage would create a goal of 34K pages.







And I am reading the Literary Study Bible for the entire year, and am tracking the number of pages read. I'll update it at the end of every month.




*******************************

Here are most of the books in the Sunroom - all, except for Hot Guys and Kittens unread and just waiting to be picked up in 2017!

.....

My take on the Pearl Rule:

Karen's Rule "If for any reason you don't want to continue reading a book, put it down. You may keep it, get rid of it, re-start it, never finish it, finish it from where you left off, but put it down." A different way of saying it is that I abandon books with glee if they're not working for me.

Apologies to @SuziQoregon (Juli) - I have appropriated your 2016 subject line because I like it so much!

And for my own future reference, here's Louise's List of NC Bird Sightings: Louise's NC Bird List

Books read in 2017

01. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J. K. Rowling 1/1/17 1/3/17 **** 318 pages hardcover
** Defining the Wind by Scott Huler abandoned after 61 pages read
02. The Stolen Bride by Jo Beverley 1/3/17 1/3/17 ** 269 pages trade paperback
03. The Patriotic Murders by Agatha Christie 1/8/17 1/9/17 *** 211 pages hardcover
04. Black Coffee by Agatha Christie 1/10/17 1/11/17 ***1/2 184 pages hardcover
05. The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories by Agatha Christie 1/13/17 1/14/17 ***1/2 185 pages hardcover
06. American Tabloid by James Ellroy 1/4/16 1/19/17 **** 592 pages trade paperback
07. Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham 1/23/17 1/26/17 **** 378 pages Kindle
08. Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell 1/27/17 1/27/17 ***1/2 144 pages trade paperback
09. The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths by Harry Bingham 1/28/17 1/29/17 **** 398 pages Kindle
10. Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie 1/29/17 1/30/2017 ***1/2 201 pages hardcover
11. One Good Turn by Carla Kelly 1/31/17 1/31/17 **** 215 pages mass market paperback
12. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway 2/4/17 2/5/17 ***1/2 140 pages hardcover
13. The Dutiful Daughter by Vanessa Gray 2/1/17 2/5/17 ** 216 pages mass market paperback
14. Verdict of Twelve by Raymond Postgate 2/6/17 2/7/17 *** 250 pages trade paperback
15. The Crossing by Michael Connelly 2/8/17 2/10/17 ***1/2 388 pages hardcover
16. The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly 2/10/17 2/12/17 **** 400 pages hardcover
17. My Dark Places by James Ellroy 2/13/17 2/16/17 **** 427 pages trade paperback
18. Jeremy Poldark by Winston Graham 2/17/17 2/19/17 **** 344 pages trade paperback
19. This Thing of Darkness by Harry Bingham 2/21/17 2/24/17 **** Kindle 562 pages trade paperback
20. Bleak House by Charles Dickens 2/1/17 2/27/17 Kindle 830 pages hardcover
21. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders 2/20/17 3/1/17 ***** 343 pages hardcover
** The Xibalba Murders by Lyn Hamilton abandoned after 122 pages read
22. Warleggan by Winston Graham 2/27/17 3/9/17 **** 471 pages trade paperback
23. The Black Moon by Winston Graham 3/10/17 3/13/17 ****546 pages trade paperback
24. The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie 3/14/17 3/18/17 **1/2 214 pages hardcover
25. The Four Swans by Winston Graham 3/19/17 581 pages trade paperback 1976
26. Birds Art Life: A Year of Observation by Kyo Maclear 3/28/17 3/29/17 ****1/2 221 pages
hardcover
27. His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis 3/1/17 to 4/3/17 **** audiobook, 14.75 hours unabridged
28. The Angry Tide by Winston Graham 3/30/17 4/9/17 **** 612 pages trade paperback
29. The Twelve Terrors of Christmas by John Updike 4/13/17 4/13/17 12 pages hardcover
30. Amok by Stefan Zweig 4/14/17 to 4/14/17 ***1/2 121 pages hardcover
31. The Stranger from the Sea by Winston Graham 4/9/17 4/17/17 ***1/2 499 pages trade paperback
32. Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama 4/3/17 4/19/17 ****1/2 audiobook, 7.5 hours abridged
33. The Big Year by Mark Obmascik 248 pages, 253 pages trade paperback 4/18/17 4/21/17 **** 250 pages trade paperback
34. The Miller's Dance by Winston Graham 4/22/17 4/26/17 **** 485 pages trade paperback

Reading:

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari 3/16/17 416 pages hardcover
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt 11/15/16 318 pages hardcover 2012
The Literary Study Bible by Leland Ryken and Philip Graham Ryken 1/1/17 1879 pages hardcover plus 15 pages Preface, Introduction, and Features 2007

Adds in 2017

January - 18
1. Amazon Gift Card American Blood by James Ellroy suggested by Ameise1
2. Amazon Gift Card The Cold Six Thousand by James Ellroy suggested by Ameise1
3. Amazon The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood - suggested by SGiV
4. Bookmooch hide and seek by Ian Rankin
5. Friend Louise Killer View by Ridley Pearson
6. Friend Nancy I Am Radar by Reif Larsen
7. Amazon Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler
8. Amazon The Assault by Harry Mulisch suggested by Paul C. and Anita
9. Bookmooch A Knife to Remember by Jill Churchill
10. Bookmooch Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost
11. Amazon Quiet by Susan Cain
12. Bookmooch Creation by Gore Vidal
13. Amazon The Three-Body Problem
14. Mom Holy Bible
15. Mom Bottom Line's Secret Food Cures
16. Mom Bottom Line's Best-Ever Kitchen Secrets
17. Mom Bottom Line's Best-Ever Home Secrets
18. Mom Hummingbirds by Esther Qusada Tyrrell and Robert A. Tyrrell

February - 42
19. Amazon Verdict of Twelve by Raymond Postgate recommended by @jillmwo Jill
20. Thrift Shop Idiot's Guide to Conversational Sign Language
21. Thrift Shop I Am America (And So Can You) by Stephen Colbert
22. Thrift Shop Night Film by Marisha Pessl
23. Thrift Shop The United States of Europe by T.R. Reid
24. Thrift Shop Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener
25. Thrift Shop Closed Casket by Agatha Christie
26. Thrift Shop Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton
27. Thrift Shop Simply Tai Chi by Graham Bryant and Lorraine James
28. Thrift Shop Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky
29. Thrift Shop Apes, Angels, and Victorians by William Levine
30. Thrift Shop My Reading Life by Pat Conroy
31. Thrift Shop Four in Hand by Stephanie Laurens
32. Amazon The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly
33. Circle City Books My Dark Places by James Ellroy
34. Amazon Racing the Devil by Charles Todd
35. Friend Karen The Trouble with Islam Today by Irshad Manji
36. Friend Karen Goddesses: An illustrated journey into the myths, symbols, and rituals of the goddess by Manuela Dunn Mascetti
37. Friend Karen The Eagle and The Rose by Rosemary Altea
38. Friend Karen Last Call by Daniel Okrent
39. Friend Karen Wildflowers in Color: Eastern Edition by Walter
40. Friend Karen Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
41. Friend Karen The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
42. Friend Karen Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West
43. Friend Karen Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas by Tom Robbins
44. Friend Karen Jerusalem, Jerusalem by James Carroll
45. Friend Karen Sweet Thunder by Ivan Doig
46. Friend Karen The Warrior Queens by Antonia Fraser
47. Friend Karen Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof
48. Friend Karen Invisible Acts of Power by Caroline Myss
49. Uncle Oren - New Testament
50. Thrift Shop - The Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer
51. Kindle - The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths by Harry Bingham
52. Kindle - This Thing of Darkness by Harry Bingham
53. Kindle - The Dead House by Harry Bingham
54. Amazon - Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
55. Amazon - Warleggan by Winston Graham
56. Amazon - The Black Moon by Winston Graham
57. Amazon - The Four Swans by Winston Graham
58. Amazon - The Oxford Companion to the Bible
59. Costco - The Rainbow Comes and Goes by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt
60. Amazon - The Xibalba Murders by Lyn Hamilton

March - 7
61. Bookmooch - The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
62. Amazon - A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
63. Costco - Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
64. Amazon - My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
65. Amazon - The Angry Tide by Winston Graham
66. Amazon - The Stranger from the Sea by Winston Graham
67. Amazon - The Miller's Dance by Winston Graham

April - 61
68. Friends of the Library free for donating time - Dead Man's Time by Peter James
69. Friends of the Library free for donating time - The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough
70. Friends of the Library free for donating time - Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre
71. Amazon - A is for Arsenic by Kathryn Markup
72. Thrift Shop – You Suck by Christopher Moore
73. Thrift Shop – Mansfield Park Revisited by Joan Aiken
74. Thrift Shop – Festive in Death by J.D. Robb
75. Stasia - The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
76. Amazon – The Miller’s Dance
77. Amazon – The Stranger from the Sea
78. Amazon – The Angry Tide
79. - 123. Friends of the Library Book Sale: 45 books

The 26 Letters by Oscar Ogg
Astray by Emma Donoghue
Enemy Women by Penelope Jiles
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
A Judgment in Stone by Ruth Rendell
Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews
The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood
Not Dead Enough by Peter James
Dead Like You by Peter James
Not Dead Yet by Peter James
The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
Death's End by Cixin Liu
The Book of Abraham by Marek Halter
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
Mass Market Paperback - O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King
Audiobook - Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
The Covenant by James Michener
Alaska by James Michener
Caribbean by James Michener
Chesapeake by James Michener
Return to Paradise by ... you guessed it..... James Michener
The Man of Property by John Galsworthy, slipcased
Amok by Stefan Zweig
The Life and Campaigns of Napoleon by M.A. Arnault and C.L.F. Panckoucke - 1852
Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot - 1935 - first US edition with tattered dust jacket
The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron
Mission to Malaspiga by Evelyn Anthony
The Poellenberg Inheritance by Evelyn Anthony
van Loon's Lives by Hendrik Willem van Loon
Adam and Eve and Pinch Me by Ruth Rendell
The Incongruous Spy by John le Carré - two novels, Call for the Dead and A Murder of Quality
The Twelve Terrors of Christmas by John Updike with Drawings by Edward Gorey
The Poems of James Russell Lowell
The Library Paradox by Catherine Shaw
The Victoria Vanishes by Christopher Fowler
Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido
The Ludwig Conspiracy by Oliver Pötzsch
The Missing File by D.A. Mishani
New Orleans Noir edited by Julie Smith
The Kookaburra Gambit by Claire McNab
Wartime Writings 1939-1944 by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Blackwater by Kerstin Ekman
Copper River by Willliam Kent Krueger
The Ogden Nash Pocket Book by Ogden Nash with Introduction by Louis Untermeyer

124. Cordelia by Winston Graham
125. Amazon – Peterson Guide to Eastern Birds by Roger Tory Peterson
126. Amazon – Bella Poldark by Winston Graham
127. Amazon – The Twisted Sword by Winston Graham
128. Amazon – The Loving Cup by Winston Graham
129. Bookmooch - Tomorrow Will Be Better by Betty Smith
130. Friend Louise - The Appeal by John Grisham

Culls for 2017

1. The Stolen Bride by Jo Beverley Drivel
2. Defining the Wind by Scott Huler I will never read this book
3. Tishomingo Blues by Elmore Leonard started, abandoned
4. Touch by Elmore Leonard bookmooched but won't ever read
5. Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener duplicate
6. Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener triplicate
7. The United States of Europe by T.R. Reid duplicate
8. The Dutiful Daughter by Vanessa Gray too stupid to keep
9. A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly duplicate
10. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster duplicate
11. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith duplicate
12. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith triplicate
13. A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey duplicate
14. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie duplicate
15. Angels Flight by Michael Connelly duplicate
16. Anna's Book by Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara vine duplicate with Asta's Book
17. Balthazar (Alexandria Quartet) by Lawrence Durrell duplicate
18. Black Orchids by Rex Stout duplicate
19. Clea (Alexandria Quartet) by Lawrence Durrell duplicate
20. Justine (Alexandria Quartet) by Lawrence Durrell duplicate
21. Mountolive (Alexandria Quartet) by Lawrence Durrell duplicate
22. A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly duplicate
23. Dinner at Antoine's by Frances Parkinson Keyes duplicate
24. Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell duplicate
25. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift duplicate
26. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift triplicate
27. Cat People by Bill Hayward duplicate (I bought one copy, a friend gave me a second, so I'm keeping the second out of sentimentality)
28. The Xibalba Murders by Lyn Hamilton abandoned after 122 pages
29. A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler meh didn't want to read
30. The Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer got a new trade paperback
31. David Coperfield by Charles Dickens, duplicate
32. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, duplicate
33. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, duplicate
34. Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand translation by Brian Hooker duplicate
35. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer duplicate
36. The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene duplicate
37. The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
38. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
39. Miracle in the Hills by Maqry T. Martin Sloop duplicate
40. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad duplicate
41. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
42. Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith duplicate
43. Roots by Alex Haley duplicate
44. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence duplicate
45. Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling duplicate
46. The Road by Cormac McCarthy duplicate
47. In Search of J.D. Salinger by Ian Hamilton duplicate (kept SGiV's copy)
48. Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey triplicate
49. Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey triplicate
50. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey triplicate
51. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey triplicate
52. The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey duplicate
53. Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey duplicate
54. A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey duplicate
55. The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey duplicate
56. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder duplicate in Thornton Wilder Trio
57. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll triplicate
58. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen duplicate
59. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain duplicate
3-20-17
60. Casual Day Has Gone Too Far by Scott Adams duplicate, given to daughter
61. Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers duplicate
62. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers triplicate
63. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers triplicate
64. Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers duplicate
65. Verdict of Twelve by Raymond Postgate don't want to keep
66. The Mayor of Castorbridge by Thomas Hardy duplicate
67. A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain don't want to keep
68. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy triplicate
69. Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman duplicate
70. Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs duplicate
71. The toplofty Lord Thorpe by Kasey Michaels 2.5 stars taking up shelf space
72. The Beleaguered Lord Bourne by Kasey Michaels 2.5 stars taking up shelf space
73. The Ruthless Lord Rule by Kasey Michaels 2.5 stars taking up shelf space
74. The Enterprising Lord Edward by Kasey Michaels 2.5 stars taking up shelf space
3-22-17
75. Journey to Ixtlan by Carlos Castaneda duplicate
76. Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind by Donald Johanson duplicate
77. the lives and times of archy and mehitabel by don marquis duplicate
78. Lord Peter by Dorothy Sayers duplicate
79. QB VII by Leon Uris duplicate
80. Seabiscuit by Laura Hilldebrand duplicate
81. No Second Chance by Harlan Coben duplicate
82. The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff duplicate
83. the Floatplane Notebooks by Clyde Edgerton duplicate
84. Shining Through by Susan Isaacs duplicate
85. Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford duplicate
86. The Woods by Harlan Coben duplicate
87. The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles duplicate
88. The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout duplicate
89. The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout triplicate
90. Tutankhamun:The Untold Story by Thomas Hoving duplicate
3/23/17
91. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy duplicate
92. The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy duplicate
93. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy duplicate
94. Life's Little Instruction Book by H. Jackson Brown Jr. duplicate
95. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner duplicate, contained within anthology
96. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame duplicate
97. Royal Escape by Georgette Heyer duplicate
98. Bulfinch's Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch duplicate
99. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather duplicate contained within anthology
100. The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith duplicate
3/25/17
101. The Sherlock Holmes Novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle duplicate
102. Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers duplicate
103. Unnatural Death by Dorothy Sayers duplicate
104. Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers duplicate
105. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers duplicate
106. Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers duplicate
107. The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers duplicate
108. The Balloon Man by Charlotte Armstrong duplicate, contained within anthology
109. The Witch's House by Charlotte Armstrong duplicate, contained within anthology
110. The Gift Shop by Charlotte Armstrong duplicate, contained within anthology
111. The Turret Room by Charlotte Armstrong duplicate, contained within anthology
112. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins duplicate
3/26/17
113. Austenland by Hale, Shannon 2.5 stars
114. The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman by Brown, Nancy Marie 2.5 stars
115. Einstein's Dreams by Lightman, Alan 2.5 stars
116. The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy by Slater, Maya 2.5 stars
117. The Great Influenza (The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History) by Barry, John M. 2.5 stars
118. 'Tis by McCourt, Frank 2.5 stars
119. Fire and Ice by Stuart, Anne 2 stars
120. Justinian's Flea: Plague, Empire, and the Birth of Europe by Rosen, William 2.5 stars
121. Fangs But No Fangs (The Young Brothers, Book 2) by Love, Kathy 2.5 stars
122. Fangs for the Memories (The Young Brothers, Book 1) by Love, Kathy 2.5 stars
123. I Only Have Fangs for You (The Young Brothers, Book 3) by Love, Kathy 2.5 stars
124. The Giver by Lowry, Lois 2.5 stars
125. The Member of the Wedding by McCullers, Carson 2 stars
3/28/17
126. The Assault by Harry Mulisch started it, didn't like it
4/1/17
127. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante started it, didn't like it
4/12/17
128. Astray by Emma Donoghue duplicate
129. van Loon's Lives by Henrik Willem van Loon duplicate
130. The Man of Property by John Galsworthy duplicate
131. Sandy Koufax - Strikeout King by Arnold Hano - will never read

Year-to-Date Statistics through end of March

26 books read
9,646 pages read, 183 of those pages of abandoned books, 446 pages of The Literary Study Bible

Author
Male 65%
Female 35%

Living 58%
Dead 42%

US Born 31%
Foreign Born 69%

Medium
Hardcover 42%
Trade Pback 35%
Mass Market 8%
Audiobook 0%
e-Book 15%

Source
My Library 96%
Other 4%

Misc
ARC/ER 0%
Re-read 0%
Series 62%

Fiction 92%
NonFiction 8%

Author Birth Country
Australia 4%
England 65%
US 31%

Original Year Published
1852 4%
1939 8%
1940 8%
1950 4%
1952 4%
1953 4%
1961 4%
1973 4%
1976 4%
1980 4%
1990 4%
1995 4%
1997 4%
1998 4%
2001 4%
2012 4%
2015 19%
2016 4%
2017 8%


Genre
Fantasy 8%
Fiction 8%
Historical Fiction 19%
Literary Fiction 4%
Memoir 8%
Mystery 42%
Romance 12%

Next one's yours!

Awaiting final construction of the NEW THREAD!! Congrats. : )

Hi Berly! Thank you. I do so love cut and paste!

AMEN to that! Happy weekend. I might steal your idea of breaking down my books read by genres later today for the stats. Maybe. Feeling kinda lazy...

Happy new thread, Karen! Have a great weekend!

Checking in on the new digs!

You certainly are humming along Karen. This will almost certainly be your most productive year posts wise. Last year was at that time your best total 1,310 posts. You are already at 60% of that total!

Happy new thread and have a wonderful weekend. xx

Happy New Thread!

I see you didn't like My Brilliant Friend. I liked it much better after the amazing book club discussion that we had - now I may well go on to read others in the series.

I am so thankful for the great group in my RLBC; not only do I read things I otherwise wouldn't, but their insights are amazing.

>9 Berly: Laze away. Berly!

>10 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! Thank you.

>11 alcottacre: Hi Stasia!

>12 PaulCranswick: Yes I am, Paul, thanks to you and all my other friends here on LT. It’s quite exciting. Thank you.

>13 streamsong: Hello Janet. I felt the same way about Room by Emma Donoghue. I actually hadn’t read it, unlike you having actually read My Brilliant Friend, but after the discussion I was highly motivated. One of the women in the bookclub loaned me the audiobook and I consider it one of my best reads.

I feel the same way about my RLBC, mostly. A few books seem to merit in-depth discussions, and others we sorta go round saying we liked it or didn’t without digging in.

And on the birding front, husband came into the sunroom and was looking out at the pasture. He said there's a bluebird on the fence and sure enough, there was an adult male! We have bluebird houses at various points around the pasture fencing and they get used every year.

Happy newish thread Karen!

Congrats on your shiny new thread, Karen.

Happy new thread, Karen.
You are going well, more books culled than added ;-)

>15 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! Thank you. good to see you out and about visiting again.

>16 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara! This is a banner year for me regarding postings. I'm rather excited about it, to tell the truth!

>17 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita! So far so good on the culls-to-acquisitions ratio, but next week's Friends of the Library sale may put that good ratio in jeopardy. I never know what I might find and am totally self-indulgent at the sale on Thursday. Saturday is $5/bag day, and I usually pick up another bag or two. I got 76 books last April and 51 books last September.

Happy new thread, Karen. You are reading up a storm. Looks like you are into the retirement groove.

Happy new thread Karen my dear, I am trying to keep up with you on pages read but I am reading some big books this year.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread! I donated maybe 10 books today. My goal is to get rid of 50 too make room for the Leesburg Dale in June. I bet I'll do it. I'm itching to meet the NY Times desk reference and replace it with a Kindle version. That's about 1400 pages.

Do you get donater's remorse?

>19 Familyhistorian: Thank you, Meg! I’m reading things I like and have found a couple of books this year that I wouldn’t have picked except for my dear friends here on LT. Retirement is very very good to me…..

>20 johnsimpson: Thank you, John. I’m having fun and hope your reading is as much fun for you as mine is for me. Sending love and hugs.

>21 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

>22 SomeGuyInVirginia: Thanks, Larry, and congrats on cleaning your shelves in anticipation of the Leesburg Sale. Be ruthless. Do you have any rule against boxing things you want to keep permanently but don’t want in the traveling library?

No donater’s remorse so far. Of course my daughter goes through them first, then I donate them to the PTA thrift shop.

**************************
OMG them ‘Heels! They just about gave my husband a heart attack and I wasn’t faring much better. 77-76, missing their last 4 free throws but rebounding both times. If not for Kennedy Meeks it would be an Oregon Gonzaga final; as it is, I have Gonzaga and UNC for the final. Whoo-yah bracket!

HOLY MOLY!!!! The Heels managed not to lose that one. I'm happy anyway, and I trust that Roy will sort them by Monday!
Oh --- and Happy New Thread!

Happy Sunday, Karen.

Happy Sunday, Karen! Happy New Thread! New threads have been popping up like spring flowers around here.

My feeders were really hopping yesterday, when I got home. I am such a geek, but I can just watch and watch...

>24 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! Thank you re my new thread. And those 'Heels. Managed to not lose is definitely it. Meeks really stepped up because Berry literally couldn't. We're very happy too and like you hope that Roy 'sorts them' by Monday. I don't know what you can do to heal sprained ankles in 2 days, though.....

>25 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara! I just sat down with my first cup of coffee. I had to fill the bird feeder outside the Sunroom first, and then clean the railing. There are signs of squirrel invasion on this side of the house, red Chatham County clay smears on our newly-painted white railings. Harrumph. I might have to bring this one in at night.

>26 msf59: Good morning Mark, and thank you! You're right, lots of new threads. I'm glad you're getting so much feeder activity. I'll go over to your thread and see if you've been reporting on your visitors.

And I sent the book back to you yesterday. It took an extra day because I knew I had a mailer around here somewhere but it took an extra day to find.

Today is lots of nothing. Relaxing, reading, maybe a Lowe's run to see if they have a good cotter pin for a roller on the mower deck and possibly some bulbs for the under-the-counter lights in the kitchen. Much excitement, for sure.

I take the Claritin-wanna-be loratadine every single day of my life, otherwise I'd have gotten gobsmacked by the pine pollen this year. I never remember when pollen starts up until I see the yellow-green smears on everything and by then it would be too late to prevent an allergic reaction. Here's my porch this morning:

Ohh a gorgeous porch! We have a sunny day today ! Full on sun! But with quite a wind. I'm fortunate not to suffer with allergies. One of my sons was so bothered by allergies that after trying several Claritin sort of pills, the doctor gave him some sort of inhaler thing. He just needs it over the summer, if he's going to out with a lot of grasses etc. I think know at 27 he is doing without it - it was mainly when he was younger and forced out in the fields with P.E. at school and at a job he had with kids. He'd get big black circles under his eyes, and feel so tired , in addition to sneezing like crazy.

Hope you are doing okay with your allergies.

Happy Sunday Karen

I very much like your lists. I am sure it was very time consuming. Congratulations on reading so many books thus far in 2017.

>29 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deborah! We had this house built in 1998 and had the entire house repainted last fall. At that time, rather than get the porches stained again, I broached the subject of having them painted gray. Husband acquiesced although I'm not sure he was 100% behind it, but once they were done he fell in love with them.

Because I take the loratadine, I very rarely get an allergic reaction. Even though, it will be a sneezing fit or two, but no dark circles, tiredness, or anything like that.

My daughter had cough-variant asthma from about 4 until 7 or so. And thank goodness for the Internet, because after a year of her constant coughing I figured out what the problem was. Her pediatrician wanted to put her on ANOTHER antibiotic. I said no, it was cough-variant asthma and I asked for albuterol. He didn't like it but gave me the prescription. I gave her a teaspoon of the syrup and that very night she stopped coughing. We had her on syrup or inhalers for about 3 years and then it went away. So far never to return.

>30 Whisper1: Hi Linda. Thank you! Making the lists at the beginning of the year took some (loving) time, now I just add books read, books acquired, books culled, and update my spreadsheet with books read and pertinent information to provide the statistics. I'm a lists girl and a spreadsheet girl. I've really enjoyed the books I've read so far this year and look like I'm right on target to meet my year's goal of 100 books.

Wishing you a great start into the new week, Karen.

Thank you, Barbara!

Today will be all day at the library, volunteering with the setup for the Thursday - Saturday book sale. All the books/media were brought into the library's meeting room yesterday. (I didn't participate in that.) Today will be making sure mysteries are separated from fiction and in their proper locations, and whatever else they want me to do as long as it's not heavy lifting.

Holy cow, the tree pollen is nuts this year. I started taking Claratin in January so no tiredness and feeling like I've got the flu, so far (knock on wood.)

His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis
3/1/17 to 4/3/17





The description from Amazon:
To this landmark biography of our first president, Joseph J. Ellis brings the exacting scholarship, shrewd analysis, and lyric prose that have made him one of the premier historians of the Revolutionary era. Training his lens on a figure who sometimes seems as remote as his effigy on Mount Rushmore, Ellis assesses George Washington as a military and political leader and a man whose “statue-like solidity” concealed volcanic energies and emotions.

Here is the impetuous young officer whose miraculous survival in combat half-convinced him that he could not be killed. Here is the free-spending landowner whose debts to English merchants instilled him with a prickly resentment of imperial power. We see the general who lost more battles than he won and the reluctant president who tried to float above the partisan feuding of his cabinet. His Excellency is a magnificent work, indispensable to an understanding not only of its subject but also of the nation he brought into being.

I listened to the audiobook of this excellent biography of George Washington. Ellis made him accessible, understandable, and vivid where most people think of George Washington as austere, vague, and perfect in every way. There are many pertinent quotes from his writings and many facets of his personality that seem surprising only in that Washington’s greatness tends to make him god-like. There was an immediate rush to glorify him after his death, and many stories about him are simply not true at all. He was not formally educated yet had a near-perfect perception of power. He kept slaves yet wanted to free them, wouldn’t sell them because he didn’t want to break up families yet also leased slaves. He abhorred debt and was a combination of parsimonious and extravagant. The contrasts in his personality are what make him so interesting.

Hi, Karen. The Washington bio sounds good. I have read a Jefferson bio by Ellis, that I enjoyed.

The received the book. Thanks for sending it back so promptly and I am very glad it was a worthy read.

Go North Carolina!!

Holy Moly! I'm leaving here and setting up for the duration.....
(3 nose sprays, including Flonase-clone, keep me going. I hope that everybody not from around here noted that your porch is gray not yellow-green. We are close to being through the pine pollen, thank goodness.)

GO TAR HEELS!!!!!!!!!!

> 35 karenmarie

Somewhere long ago I read that Martha would not allow George to free their slaves -
any truth from Ellis to that claim?

Thank you.

>28 karenmarie: Your porch looks very inviting, Karen!

I must go and look for the Washington book.

Just dropping in before I crash into bed. Congratulations Tar heels fans! :) That was an exciting game.

Good morning, Karen. wishing you a lovely day.

Will it be a day?

^Hooray!!

>35 karenmarie: I get to dodge that BB as I have already read that one. I find Ellis to be very good.

Happy Tuesday, Karen!

HOW 'BOUT THEM HEELS!!!!!!!
(That's the best the Fire will let me do.)

>14 karenmarie: Do you include mealworms in your feeder offerings for the bluebirds, Karen? I'm considering adding them to the menu we offer our birds.

Go Heels!

>36 msf59: Hi Mark! I love Ellis’s books. He uses original sources as much as possible and goes from the ground up, as it were.

You’re welcome re Birds Art Life. I’m sure it will be one of my top reads of the year.

HOW ‘BOUT THEM HEELS!!!!!

>Hi Peggy! Yipes. It sounds like your allergies are much worse than mine. Pine pollen about done, lots of other things to follow, unfortunately. I power washed the front porch yesterday – I didn’t need to power wash it per se, but the spray head was a good width and I mostly used it to just push the pollen down between the boards and off the end of the porch. Also did the railings and columns. It looks good.



Note Kitty William getting a breath of fresh air.

>38 m.belljackson: Hi Marianne! According to Ellis, ”Another mitigating factor, admittedly more speculative, was Martha. There is no diredt evidence – and if there was, it disappeared with the letters she burned after Washington’s death – but there is reason to believe that Martha did not share her husband’s principled adversion to slavery or agree with his emancipation plan. As noted earlier, that scheme created problems for her dower slaves, which she fully intended to pass on to her surviving heirs in the Custis and Dandridge lines as part of her estate. (Indeed, in a strictly legal sense Martha did not own the dower slaves. They were part of the Custis estate which had to be passed on to her descendants.) One of the possible reasons why Washington did not like to talk more openly about his decision to free his slaves is that it was a sore subject within the household, for it raised doubts about Martha’s status after her husband was gone and about her own control over her financial legacy. pp 260-261

Hope that helps! Thank goodness for appendices.

>39 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! Thank you. Perhaps you’ll be able to come out to North Carolina some time and we can have a meet up! We love both porches, but prefer this one for sitting.

I think you’ll find it an interesting and different look at Washington and the events that created the American Republic. He’s a fabulous writer, IMO.

>40 nittnut: Hi Jenn! Whoo yah! It was incredibly nervous making. Husband was disgusted with about 7 minutes to go and said that neither team deserved to win and that he was thinking of turning it off. I got hot and said that one team had to win even if it was ugly, that it might as well be the ‘Heels, and I wanted to watch. He calmed down a bit but was texting buddies who were as disgusted as he was. But I won! And am in the top 99.7% of the ESPN bracket.

I was wired until about 1, and didn’t get up until 9. Still on my first cup of coffee, after putting all the bird feeders out (squirrels, drat them) and making some bacon for breakfast.

>41 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! Thank you. It just might be. It’s supposed to get to 82F today. The porch is clean, I have no obligations, and the skies are blue.

>42 msf59: Thank you Mark!!!!

>43 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia. I’m glad you dodged it by having read it. I have Founding Brothers on my shelves, started and set aside last year. I also have American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies in the Founding of the American Republic. Perhaps this year. Too many books, too little time!

>44 LizzieD: Oh, Peggy! Yes!! HOW ‘BOUT THEM HEELS!!!!!!! Nail biter and ugly but as I wrote above, one team had to win, so why not Carolina. Meeks and Jackson and Berry capitalized at the end and that’s all she wrote.

>45 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! I’ve never bought mealworms. I’m sure the bluebirds would love them. I have a friend who buys them by the pound, but I’m not sure I want to expand my repertoire just now. We have 4 bluebird houses scattered around the property; I can’t see a single one directly from the house.

>46 SomeGuyInVirginia: Thank you, Larry! Happiness is a new National Championship t-shirt. We’ll get them sometime this week. Husband wants a hat, too, for some reason.

Louise saw two turkeys yesterday, her first ever in NC. She said they came up from the wilderness that used to be the backyard of our neighbors John and Rosalee. This may require some focused bird watching at the tree line some morning. I’m jealous.

And yesterday was a herd of cowbirds at the feeder. Seriously, two males and three females. I thought 2 were fun and cute, but I don't want them dominating the feeder.

Hi Karen, are you putting in a vegetable garden this year? I am wondering if you would share your pickle recipe, and which variety you plant.

Hi Karen, hope you are having a nice day my dear.

>48 beeg: Hi Brenda! I plan on planting tomatoes and cucumbers. I plant burpless cucumbers for my pickles. I make my great-grandmother's 8-day sweet pickles (cider-vinegar), and my husband's great-aunt's 13-day sweet pickles (white vinegar). I'll be glad to share both recipes.

>49 johnsimpson: Hi John! Yes, I am having a nice day. I've been reading, bird watching, hammock sitting, and talking with my daughter. All good. Sending love and hugs to you and Karen.

Burpless cucumbers? Blimey. I have never come across such a thing. I shall have to investigate. Maybe they'd be a cucumber TheBF's dad could tolerate, as his digestive system doesn't appreciate normal ones. I've never had a problem, but then I have a fairly cast iron digestive system.

>51 lunacat: Hi Jenny! Yup. Burpless. According to Wikipedia: Burpless cucumbers are sweeter and have a thinner skin than other varieties of cucumber, and are reputed to be easy to digest and to have a pleasant taste. They can grow as long as 2 feet (0.61 m). They are nearly seedless, and have a delicate skin. Most commonly grown in greenhouses, these parthenocarpic cucumbers are often found in grocery markets, shrink-wrapped in plastic. They are sometimes marketed as seedless or burpless, because the seeds and skin of other varieties of cucumbers are said to give some people gas.

I swear by them, both for making into pickles and for eating. I still peel and seed them, however, to eat, even though I, too, have a mostly cast-iron stomach. Maybe they will be good for TheBF's dad. Perhaps at a minimum you could peel and remove the seeds of the ones from the grocery store or from what you've already planted.

I usually buy six-packs of seedlings and have them climb my raised bed chicken-wire enclosed small 4' x 16' garden. I used to plant a huge garden, but it got away from me and now I have a small, easily managed area. Even then, sometimes it gets out of hand. I usually plant at the end of April, after danger of frost is over.

For tomatoes I plant Better Boy (red, acidic), German Johnson (sweeter, pink), and cherry or grape tomatoes (sweet), one or two plants each.

>52 karenmarie: - I know those cukes as "English" cucumbers, and i also prefer them to regular ones...

Hi Karen! Yep I always plant burpless as well, I would love to take you up on your recipies.

>52 karenmarie: We've had mixed success with cucumbers but usually plant some. I tend to use them in cucumber salad, which I eat by the gallon (bushel?), but Erika also has made some very good refrigerator pickles (dill with various spices). Our best-growing cucumbers were actually lemon cucumbers, but we didn't really care for them.

We usually plant around a dozen tomatoes (last year we had so many successful seedlings that I went ahead and planted more), largely heirloom varieties but also Early Girl (for some earlier harvests, at least in theory). Our favorites are Cherokee Purple and Brandywine and have two or three of each. There's generally one cherry tomato in the mix and one or two other varieties of slicing tomatoes, including usually at least one "experimental" variety we are trying for the first time.

>53 katiekrug: Hi Katie! Yes. Much better than 'regular' cucumbers for sure, which are almost always bitter. I still seed and peel them, though.

>54 beeg: Hi Brenda! Here are the recipes as originally 'published'. The first is the 8-day, the second is the 13-day. On the first recipe I only boil the juice before sealing and don't 'seal' them by boiling the jars, just put the boiling liquid in the jars, wipe the rims, put the seals and lids on and turn them upside down to cool. If they don't seal (center pop up in lid doesn't go in), I use them right away. I have made a spreadsheet for each recipe so I don't have to remember what day I'm on, which is especially confusing if I've got both recipes going at once. If you want me to send you the spreadsheets, PM me with your e-mail address. The second recipe is correct as written - After Fourth Day you skip to Thirteenth Day.

Sweet Pickles
10 medium cucumbers
8 C sugar
2 T mixed spices
5 t salt
4 C cider vinegar

Cover cucumbers with boiling water. Let stand until next morning. Drain and repeat 3 times using fresh boiling water each morning. On the 5th day drain, slice in 1 in. pieces. Boil vinegar, sugar, spices, salt and pour over cucumbers. Let stand 2 days. On 3rd day bring to boiling point and seal in jars. This makes 7 pints.

Mrs. George Chadima (Agnes) Note: This is the wife of my great-grandfather, pictured in my previous thread. That was their home after the 'old' folks, his parents, moved to town.

Cucumber Pickles (Bob & Christine Davidson) - my Mil's handwriting on recipe

First Day: Pack cukes in gallon jar - add 1 c salt and cover with boiling water.
Second Day: Drain and rinse with hot water. Add 3 oz alum; cover with boiling hot water.
Third Day: Drain - rinse - cover with boiling hot water.
Fourth Day: Pour off & rinse: Add 1/2 small package Pickling spices & cover with boiling vinegar.
Thirteenth Day: Pour off vinegar; slice thin; Place in jar in layers covering each layer with sugar; After all sugar is dissolved remove & pack in jars. Use 4 lbs sugar.

>55 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! I haven't experimented with planting different types of cucumbers, although I could probably plant pickling cucumbers (seedlings are available) if I wanted. Except that we all love fresh, sweet, crisp cucumbers from my garden as long as the plants keep producing!

I've planted several different types of heirloom tomatoes over the years, Cherokee Purple probably being my favorite. Yellow and orange tomatoes don't have a tomato flavor for me, so I stick to reds and pinks now. I only have room for 3 tomatoes in my raised bed. I used to plant 12 or more tomato plants when I used my big garden, but the work became too much. One thing I still do that works well, even in my enclosed raised bed, is to have a 5' tall, 2 1/2' round chicken wire cage around each tomato, stabilized in the ground with stakes. The tomato plants themselves don't need to be staked. I just keep poking the branches back through the cage when they try to escape. They usually end up going over the top!

Today is lunch with my husband and friend Vanessa - the woman who got him his job at the company she works for. We're going to 'go eat pig' as my husband puts it. He loves NC barbeque. I don't eat barbeque so will either have fried catfish or fried chicken livers, 2 vegetables, and hush puppies.

Two female cowbirds are fighting over the feeder.

>56 karenmarie: I agree about yellow and orange tomatoes; we've only found a couple (Orange Oxheart being one) that were worth planting again. We use large folding square cages, some with extenders, with no stakes, and yes, the tomatoes certainly do climb out the top!

Our main garden is about 13' x 16', with eight raised beds that I built several years ago. The smaller annex garden has three more recent raised beds in a space about 8' x 8'. We devote a lot of space to tomatoes in part because the heirlooms sometimes are lower producers, and in part because too many other crops we might want to grow don't yield enough in the limited space we have available to make them worthwhile.

Mmm, hush puppies. I've always liked them. Enjoy your lunch, Karen!

I love cucumber pickels. Happy Wednesday, Karen.

I'm definitely going to get some burpless cucumber seeds soon. The garden is ever expanding. I think we're going to burst out of the designated 'veg garden' space very soon. Thankfully, TheBF has over an acre to play with so I think we'll be allowed to take over some more.

>57 harrygbutler: Harry, your garden sounds wonderful! I had moderate luck with heirlooms, and usually fabulous luck with German Johnsons. They were my FiL's favorite tomato and my introduction to pinks.

Lunch was great. I had fried chicken livers, pickled beets, candied yams, and stewed apples. Many hushpuppies were consumed, too, along with "unsweet tea", aka iced tea if you're not in the South.

After lunch I stopped in town and got 3 Clevis pins for the mower for husband and ... er... stopped at the thrift store and just had to buy a few books:

The Princess Bride by William Goldman
You Suck by Christopher Moore
Mansfield Park Revisited by Joan Aiken
Festive in Death by J.D. Robb

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis arrived in the mail courtesy of @alcottacre Stasia - thank you!

And for volunteering again for the book sale for about 45 minutes, for my free book I snagged The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough

>58 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! Thank you! I do too - sweet or dill. Husband and daughter don't, so when I make them I give away what I can't eat.

>59 lunacat: Oh yes, I think you'll be pleased with 'burpless' cucumbers, Jenny. They might work for The BF's dad, too. You've got the gardening bug pretty bad, my dear - isn't it fun? I may have asked on your thread, but what kind of tomatoes do you plant?

Home after a nice time out. Time to get a bit of reading in before husband gets home from work.

>60 karenmarie: What a question re: the tomatoes! I shall list. We've got the bug seriously badly - TheBF even more than me, but I love seeing his enthusiasm and enjoyment so I'm happily going along with it.

Tomatoes we have started from seed:

Cherry Falls - a tumbling cherry tomato that has NOT started well, the seedlings look really sorry for themselves. We're hoping they pick up.

Harbinger - a medium size Old English tomato that is doing brilliantly. All the seeds germinated, the plants have shot up, and all are looking strong and healthy now they've been moved from the house to the greenhouse. They are by far the biggest plants currently.

San Marzano - TheBF is desperate for these to come up as he loves their flavour and they aren't readily available in supermarkets in the UK. They didn't germinate as well as the Harbinger, but we do have a few. I'm hoping they come through well enough as TheBF really wants them. I might plant some more, as an insurance policy against the ones we have!

Balconi - a sweet cherry tomato for containers. This is ticking along perfectly well, though obviously a lot smaller than the other tomatoes because it's a bush variety.

Santonio - a cherry sized, plum tomato. Also ticking along nicely.

Country Taste - a beefsteak tomato that isn't doing well. We'll be trying to start some more of these.

So far, the Harbingers are doing by far the best, and Country Taste, San Marzano and Cherry Falls are struggling. Which is irritating, as it's the beefsteak and the san marzano that we can't really get over here, so we were desperate to grow!

Sigh. 42 years in an apartment in Manhattan with no balcony or other outside space, hence no garden. My mother used to plant tomatoes in the back yard, and we had two peach trees and a pear tree, courtesy of the builder. I don't recall what else she planted, but the tomato effort lasted the longest. And we had two chickens (the leftover fromfa 4 minute membership my brother had in 4H) that laid eggs for more years than we had any right to expect.

My aunt in Ohio had a significant vegetable garden, and it was always a treat to visit and see what she was growing. And my cousin in Portland grows about half her own vegetables every year.

I have a succulent on my kitchen window sill. I used to have a pothos, but it got tired of being ignored and bit the dust. If I ever hit the lottery, Jim and I might be able to move to an apartment with a setback terrace and I will do some container gardening.

>60 karenmarie: Our garden does seem to work well for us — large enough that we get some quantity but not so large we can't keep up. I don't have any photos of the raised beds posted on my gardening thread (http://www.librarything.com/topic/249983) yet, but they'll probably show up soon.

I'll have to look into adding the German Johnsons as our "experimental" tomato at some point. We did try the German Pink variety one year, but it wasn't very successful for us.

A tasty lunch followed by some book-shopping certainly sounds like a good way to spend some time!

Just a quick check-in, Karen, still basking in the glory of the win and singing "Hark the Sound" at the drop of a hat.
I do not garden - wish I did, but my thumbs are brown, and I hate the whole experience. I've done it though........ My daddy used to remind my mama every spring, "Don't plant a bit more than you and Peggy can work." I inherited his aversion. On the other hand, I love and adore fresh vegetables. Can't wait! The local strawberries are the best ever this year and expensive too - those that made it through both Matthew and the late, hard freeze.
Your porch looks grand! It took me a long, long time to sort out my perception of Kitty William. He looked very un-cat-like facing the camera with the chair rocker as tail.
I don't pickle any longer either.I was slicing and cussing in our 100°+ kitchen years ago when DH walked through and said, "Aren't the ones you buy in the store just about as good as homemade?" No, but they have been since that day.

>61 lunacat: Wow, Jenny! Varieties I've never heard of. I hope they all produce bumper crops this year and you have so many you have to give them away! I germinated tomato seeds one year. The master bathroom is the warmest room in the house, and I had all these little plastic cups from Italian ices, so I planted about 40 cups, 4 or 5 varieties. They were on boards placed over the Jacuzzi tub. It was glorious chaos. Most of them did well when we planted them. But that was the last year I did that - so much effort! And we couldn't easily use the Jacuzzi for 3 months.

>62 ffortsa: I hope you win the lottery, Judy! You could grow some herbs on your kitchen window sill..... Container gardening is very satisfying, I've done it when I've only had a balcony or deck. Determinate tomatoes, bush beans, etc., all do so well in containers. The cousins who still have the family farm in Iowa plant an acre or two of vegetables. They also plant an acre or two of popcorn, in addition to whatever they plant of sweet corn. The rest is soybeans or feed corn.

I'd have chickens except for my two cats. I also don't want to tempt the coyote pack that lives about a mile away from us but that we can hear yipping at night.

>63 harrygbutler: Fantastic, Harry! I've starred your gardening thread and will check it out tomorrow sometime. German Johnsons are so sweet. I've had some weigh in at 1 1/2 pounds.

>64 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! Yup, we're still excited. Bill even likes all the "Congratulations" ads, especially the ones with the white and Carolina blue basketballs. We need T-shirts.

I don't hate gardening, but as I get older my back and knees hate it. I will plant about the end of April so I don't have to worry about that last nasty frost. And we will probably have the guys we hire to get the beds around the house under control in the spring clean out my raised bed garden for me, too. Lazy, lazy! That's me.

We haven't had any fresh strawberries yet. I'll have to check in with my Sanford friends to see if Thomas Bros. Farms has any yet.

Kitty William did look un-cat-like, and looking at the picture again I can see how he might have not been real easy to see. I was impatient and didn't want to wait for him to saunter off, I'm afraid.

I have two friends who drool over my homemade pickles and I give Diane a jar or two at Thanksgiving and Warren a jar or two the week before Thanksgiving so he can put some out on T-day. But he and his wife hoard most of them for themselves.

Husbands are pretty dumb sometimes, aren't they? Yours lost homemade pickles. Mine lost corn-on-the-cob. He knows how much I abhor the practice of rolling corn-on-the-cob on the butter in the butter dish. One year as his dad was getting ready to use the Butter Knife to put some butter on his plate to then put on the corn, my husband said "Go ahead, Dad, just roll it in the butter on the butter dish." I was so irritated by that that I've never served corn-on-the-cob since. Husband's dad died in 2011 and it was probably 2 years before that, so probably 8 years. Husband has mentioned having some every year or so, but so far I just ignore his requests.

Morning, Karen. Sweet Thursday! Good luck with your weather today. I hope you can make it to the book sale safely. I also hope you find some nice surprises.

BTW- I finally added a finch-feeder. It looks great. It took a few days but we finally saw finches. The males are still not bright yellow yet, but they are getting there. I have not seen housefinch, land there yet but they like the regular feeder.

Next up, the hummingbird feeder...

>60 karenmarie: I have not read The Greater Journey so I am going to have to see if my local library has that one. Thanks for the mention, Karen!

Happy Thursday!

>65 karenmarie: Altough I always loved gardening, my muscles aren't happy with my attack on weeds last week... Sometimes I dream to go back to an appartment and only some plants in containers. In previous homes I grew almost everything in containers, from small trees to roses and from passionflowers to annuals.

Yes, husbands can be pretty dumb, but so can wives ;-)
The solution to these kind of quarrels we found is each his/her own. Like two butter dishes (as I don't like the crumbs of bread Frank leaves in the butter). And for years doing your own laundry (Frank is more cautious on his clothes than I am) but that is settled since Frnk took over the laundry ;-)

>66 msf59: Hi Mark! The storms ended early. I don't think we're going to get more rain, but we've got strong winds coming through the rest of this afternoon.

Yay finch and soon-to-be-hummingbird feeders.

Book report to follow. *smile*

>67 alcottacre: You're welcome, Stasia, and it is a happy Thursday. First day of the book sale.

>68 FAMeulstee: Huh. I never thought of that, Anita. We have separate coffee pots and we sometimes have two different types of bread. I may relent and let him have his own butter dish this summer and have some sweet corn-on-the-cob. We usually get Silver Queen.

My husband's done his laundry throughout our entire marriage - he was 35 and I was 38 when we got married and I told him that he'd been doing it for 9 years ever since he got out of the Navy and just because we were getting married didn't mean I felt ownership for his dirty sox. He didn't complain, and has been continued to do his ever since - 26 years - and I do mine and the sheets and towels. I also did daughter's when she lived at home before she learned how to do her own when she was about 14 or so.

So, book report. The weather ended before the start of the book sale, thank goodness, so although the turnout wasn't good right at 9, it was very crowded by about 10 or so. I only found 16 books and one audiobook, and that was to replace one that had a damaged box.

Hardcovers
The 26 Letters by Oscar Ogg
Astray by Emma Donoghue
Enemy Women by Penelope Jiles - recommended by friend Rhoda at the sale
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran - excellent 1966 hardcover with intact dust jacket
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Trade Paperbacks
A Judgment in Stone by Ruth Rendell - to replace tattered mass market paperback. My favorite Rendell.
Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews
The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood
Not Dead Enough by Peter James
Dead Like You by Peter James
Not Dead Yet by Peter James
The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
Death's End by Cixin Liu
The Book of Abraham by Marek Halter
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

Mass Market Paperback - O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King
Audiobook - Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Just as I was getting ready to drive home, daughter texted that if she gave me $20, would I go find her some books? So I went back in and got her some books. I took a picture of them and she seemed pleased. Here are my books and her books:

...

I'll go back this afternoon to volunteer cashier for 2 hours, 5-7 p.m., and get another free book. You get a free book for each separate volunteer stint. I'll go about 4:30 to pick one out since they shut the doors promptly at 7.

Very nice haul!

I didn't realise that cucumbers came in different varieties before now, but I googled it and looks like the cucumbers that we have in the UK are rather different from the normal ones in the US.

Great book haul, Karen! You always end up with some fine books. Maybe, we can read Enemy Women together. I have it, right at the top of the stack.

I loved Sharp Objects, (my first Flynn) and Astray is also very good.

Happy Friday!

>69 karenmarie: Quite a haul, Karen! Will you be getting more today?

>70 ffortsa: Thank you, Judy!

>71 SandDune: Hi Rhian! One of those moments where your whole perspective changes, eh? Now when you go to buy cucumbers you'll wonder what our grocery store shelves look like.

>72 msf59: Thanks, Mark! I found fewer than usual, but they are choice.

I'd be up for a group read of Enemy Women. I have only read Gone Girl by Flynn, but also have Dark Places on my shelves.

>73 harrygbutler: Hi Harry. I sorta thought about cruising by on my way home, since it's on the way, but now I'm not sure.

Our friend Carl, who had that seizure a while back just got confirmation that he cannot drive for six more months. So he called, and I'm going to go to lunch with him then take him to the grocery store. We live on opposite sides of our town, so all in all it will probably take 2 1/2 - 3 hours or so. I also have to get a document notarized to FINALLY start the legal process of settling my Mom's estate, and then mail it to my lawyer in CA.

Most likely I will talk my husband into going tomorrow on the way to run our morning errands for $5/bag day.

I got two more books last night when I went back to volunteer cashier for 2 hours - one is a book all volunteers get to pick for their volunteering, and the other is a present from my friend Rhoda and her husband Roger. As soon as I came back to volunteer, half an hour early to pick out my own volunteer book (I ended up getting Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre), they gave me Cordelia by Winston Graham. They know I'm reading Poldark, know that Graham wrote many more novels that weren't Poldark, found it at the sale and bought it for me!

Nice haul, good quality without going bananas and coming home with a dozen boxes. And wow, I don't know if I'd be able to buy books for someone else. Good on ya.

Karen, you inspired me to look up when some of the local libraries have their big sales, and lo and behold, the next town over is having theirs RIGHT NOW and my town has theirs later this month! Woot!

>75 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hi Larry! Thank you. I was up for buying whatever took my fancy, but not much took my fancy this time. I had so much fun buying books for my daughter. It was a test of how well I know her, in a sense, without being a pressure situation. She was thrilled with what I bought - now she just has to come home to redeem them!!!

>76 katiekrug: Hi Katie! Good for you. Besides getting lots of great books, I have found that the library sale is a good way to strike up conversations about books - people in RL love to talk about books as much as we do here. Have fun!

>77 karenmarie: Congratulations on your finds for your daughter!

My parents and I have a lot of overlapping tastes in books, so it isn't that hard to find books for each other ... except not knowing what people already have can throw up obstacles. I've begun to catalog their books to make it easier to buy for them, but I haven't gotten very far yet. (I've only really managed to catalog some of the books I currently have on loan from them.) And I know they make use of wish lists to help in their buying for me. My wife and I often resort to wish lists when buying books as gifts for each other, but we keep those lists long enough that particular items remain surprises; at library sales and similar events, though, we often get each other books on a whim, usually with success.

>76 katiekrug: >77 karenmarie: We go to quite a few book sales. We've found the www.booksalefinder.com website quite useful for finding them, as we get a weekly e-mail listing the upcoming sales within, I think, 50 miles. Library friend groups and similar organizations can list their sales for free under most circumstances, I think, and it appears many do.

>61 lunacat: I'm impressed by your gteen dumb, Jenny. So many kind of tomatoes is gorgeous.

>69 karenmarie: What a nice book haul. Congrats.

Happy Friday, Karen. I hope it's a beautiful day.

I am rather late with my happy new thread wishes, Karen but I guess better late than never. ;-)

>4 karenmarie: - Very impressive cull list! I gave my bookshelves a mini - and I do mean mini - purge last month as part of our on-going home clean/organize/purge activities and I had thought (at time anyways) that culling 32 books was a big step.

>28 karenmarie: - That is a lot of pine pollen and I am echoing Deb's comment that you have a gorgeous porch. As much as I was upset when the large pine tree outside our place had to be taken down, I do not miss the pine pollen that used to invade the balcony.

Yay for your team winning March Madness!

Interesting discussion about cucumbers and pickles. I admit that my pickle consumption has diminished over the years to the point that I only seek out pickles to go on top of a freshly BBQ hamburger.

>61 lunacat: - Oh, San Marzano are my favorite tomatoes. I can eat those like they are candy.

All caught up.

>78 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! Thank you. I had fun, she'll get some interesting books.

I had an epiphany about 4 years ago - tell family members specific book titles I wanted for Christmas. They found relief in knowing they wouldn't duplicate a book and happiness that they were getting me something they knew I would like. Not everybody wants to get me books, but for those who do, it works out nicely.

Thanks re the website, too!

>79 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! Today has been a good day. I went to lunch with friend Carl, who paid for my lunch, then took him to the grocery store. Then I paid the second half of my mom's house property taxes, due Feb 1 with a penalty date of April 10. I'll get reimbursed, but once again had to front the money. I also got a document notarized for the estate attorney and mailed off to him.

And reading and watching birds! We had 4 goldfinches on the feeders in the back and 2 on the new feeder I've got on the front porch. Right now the cowbirds are guzzling seed, but for a while the goldfinches were winning. They are brilliant yellow with their breeding colors. This is exactly what they looked like today even though this is not my picture:



>80 lkernagh: Hi Lori! Thank you. Birds, basketball, books, and gardening this thread, mostly. Glad to you see you here!

I mostly eat sweet pickles as appetizers , and dill pickles on hamburgers. Sweet pickle relish in tuna salad, sweet pickle cubes in chicken salad. Yum.

I definitely need to look into different cucumbers.

The epic raised bed building recommences tomorrow. The tomatoes all look pretty good in the greenhouse, and the beans are currently climbing up the windows on the windowsill so they need to be planted sooner rather than later! Our parsnip seedlings have all died though, which is a bit disappointing.

>81 karenmarie: - I have had goldfinches at my feeder all winter but have noticed that just in the last week or so, their yellow is coming in. I have one in particular who is almost in full yellow, but not quite. I love it!

>69 karenmarie: Nice haul! I am going to have to look for the Rendell book. I think I have only ever read one of hers, I think.

Karen, I think giving volunteers a free book for every shift they work is a great idea. I used to faithfully volunteer at our book sales but recently they've had so many volunteers that we're just getting in each other's way so I let the younger ones have the fun. Besides, we don't get a free book! Our sale comes up in about two weeks. I will probably go on half-price day and hope I don't find too many. I am trying really hard to keep less books on hand and use the library more. I do love my books, though. Don't we all?

I do SO envy you your book sale, Karen! You always find wonderful things. I attend ours faithfully, but the good ones are rare or I don't get in on the good stuff. I suspect more of the former.
Finches will eat you out of house and home - especially furple pinches. At least the gold ones are pretty to look at. We have humming bird feeders out but no takers yet. I hope they will wait until the cold is finally over. I also wonder whether this is our Easter cold-snap......

>81 karenmarie: Nice to have the goldfinches. We don't have them coming around quite yet, but they are regulars in the summer.

>80 lkernagh: >81 karenmarie: My pickle consumption had certainly dropped off, except as an ingredient (especially in rouladen!) or on burgers, until a couple years ago, when I moved the pickle jar out of the refrigerator and onto the kitchen table, so I could just grab one when I felt like it. I find room-temperature pickles much more flavorful.

>82 lunacat: Hi Jenny! I’m sure you’ll find a huge variety of cucumbers. Congrats on the tomato seedlings and beans. I’m sorry your parsnip seedlings all died; I just looked at one online source for parsnip varieties in the UK and it said there were 8. Have fun with the epic raised bed building today.

>83 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! My bird books say that they are year-round here, but I don’t recall seeing them in the winter. However, I must say that I’m just getting started paying strict attention, so might have been missing a regular winter visitor. They’re gorgeous. Yesterday I only saw males although I got the binoculars out and was checking out everybody at the front porch feeder.

>84 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia. I just pulled my old copy, which isn’t as tattered as I thought – a bit yellowed but in much better shape than I remembered and definitely readable. It has my maiden name in it, which means I’ve had it on my shelves since before 1991! If you’ll PM me your address, I’ll mail it to you. I neglected to note down your address from The Screwtape Letters package.

Rendell’s books are all interesting. Here’s a bit from Wikipedia: Rendell's best-known creation, Chief Inspector Wexford, was the hero of many popular police stories, some of them successfully adapted for TV. But Rendell also generated a separate brand of crime fiction that deeply explored the psychological background of criminals and their victims, many of them mentally afflicted or otherwise socially isolated. This theme was developed further in a third series of novels, written under her pseudonym Barbara Vine.

>85 Donna828: Hi Donna! Our sale is marvelous. I must admit that for the quality of books we can thank Fearrington Village, , which has a huge number of literate well-read seniors. They donate when they’ve read a best seller and they donate when they’re downsizing their libraries. Our volunteers cannot take audiovisual media or specially priced books as their volunteer book, but since there are over 17,000 books this time, we can certainly ‘afford’ the 200 or so books that do get taken.

Yesterday was half-price day but I was busy with Carl and errands and got back on the bypass before I realized I had gone past it.

>86 LizzieD: It is a good’un, Peggy, I must say. It’s 7 miles from home, on my side of town. I have gone to Sanford's a couple of times and always been disappointed - hundreds of books by authors I don't read and very little interesting non-fiction. I even went to one in Carrboro last year and was disappointed in it, too - that close to Chapel Hill I would have expected better. I'm very spoiled, I do admit.

I saw four male Goldfinches on one tube feeder in the back yesterday at the same time that I was marveling over the 2 at the feeder on the front porch. All of a sudden, yesterday, Goldfinches! Of course, I had to call Louise. *smile*

>87 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! Yesterday was so much fun seeing them for the first time this spring! They are so striking. Enjoy them when they come!

Today is $5/bag at the last day of the book sale. We’ll see if I can find anything good – I suspect I will because although I had a lot of fun Thursday I wasn’t as methodical as usual and didn’t go to all the sections I usually go to. And for $5/bag, I can pick some books I wasn't willing to pay $3 for. As usual, I’ll report back!

>69 karenmarie: Impressive hauls Karen. I don't know which pile I would have preferred!

Interesting comments on the division of labour in the marriage. I agreed early that I would take care of the garden and Hani the house and then moved us promptly into a condominium penthouse apartment. She fixed me by getting a housemaid. Dear Erni keeps us both sane - me in my coffee and Hani gets her tired feet massaged for some extra pocket money.

Seriously though we did agree that Sundays would always be Family Day and that Hani would be exempted from cooking.

Have a lovely weekend.

Morning, Karen. Happy Saturday. Hooray for the goldfinch!!

>89 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! I am having a lovely weekend so far. I think the division of labor moves around in marriages. Husband did most of the finances until I retired - now he wants me to do them. I've started figuring stuff out and having him share info about this and that. He has a lot of stuff on autodraft which makes it easier, but what with him not working for 8 months and my mom dying last December, I haven't picked it all up yet. You're lucky to have Erni, but I suppose you'll be Erni-less when you're all resettled in the UK? I would kill for someone to rub my feet..... husband has never liked doing it and only gives a half-hearted effort not worth the payback.

Our 26th wedding anniversary is in 19 days - April 27th. Up, down, and all around, but solid for all that.

>90 msf59: It's been a very nice Saturday so far, Mark and thank you! I think I saw a purple finch this morning, but he was in the shade and I can't be sure, so can't count him on my list. I hope he comes back. And the goldfinches are gorgeous.

I got two bags of books at the book sale. Lots and lots of good ones, some I might have paid full price for, some definitely not.

Hardcovers
The Covenant by James Michener
Alaska by James Michener
Caribbean by James Michener
Chesapeake by James Michener
Return to Paradise by ... you guessed it..... James Michener
I decided to I want to read more by him, having only read Hawaii and The Source.
The Man of Property by John Galsworthy, slipcased
Amok by Stefan Zweig
The Life and Campaigns of Napoleon by M.A. Arnault and C.L.F. Panckoucke - 1852
Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot - 1935 - first US edition with tattered dust jacket
The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron
Mission to Malaspiga by Evelyn Anthony
The Poellenberg Inheritance by Evelyn Anthony
van Loon's Lives by Hendrik Willem van Loon to replace a discarded library copy I had
Adam and Eve and Pinch Me by Ruth Rendell
The Incongruous Spy by John le Carré - two novels, Call for the Dead and A Murder of Quality
The Twelve Terrors of Christmas by John Updike with Drawings by Edward Gorey

Leatherbound
The Poems of James Russell Lowell by James Russell Lowell, biographical sketch by Nathan Haskell Dole - 1898

Trade Paperbacks
The Library Paradox by Catherine Shaw
The Victoria Vanishes by Christopher Fowler
Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido
The Ludwig Conspiracy by Oliver Pötzsch
the Missing File by D.A. Mishani
New Orleans Noir edited by Julie smith
The Kookaburra Gambit by Claire McNab
Wartime Writings 1939-1944 by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Blackwater by Kerstin Ekman
Copper River by Willliam Kent Krueger

Pocket Books
The Ogden Nash Pocket Book by Ogden Nash with Introduction by Louis Untermeyer - on the back cover it says, as part of the back cover "Send this book to a boy in the armed forces anywhere in the U.S.... only 3 cents postage"

28 books, $10.

Sharp Objects in hardcover! Nice, I have her other books but have yet to score the first book.

What a wonderful haul!

Great book haul Karen.

You did it again!!!! Congratulations!

>92 beeg: Hi Brenda! Thanks. It's the luck of the draw - which row do you go down first, which book do you see before someone else sees it? I know I missed out on a copy of A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles that I knew was there but didn't get to first, and there were no copies at all of Born A Crime by Trevor Noah.

>93 lunacat:, >94 johnsimpson:, >95 LizzieD: Thank you Jenny, John, Peggy. I'm very happy with the books I got. I think I'll catalog them tomorrow.

>91 karenmarie: Excellent haul, Karen!

>91 karenmarie: - I went through a period where I read a lot of Michener. I loved The Covenant and really loved Chesapeake. I have also read and loved the two you mentioned reading, as well as a few others. He was a great storyteller.

>91 karenmarie: >98 jessibud2: I just have to say that my favorite Michener was Centennial, but I loved The Source and Iberia and a bunch of others when I was reading him.

>97 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! Thank you. I love $5/bag day. That's when I get the variety that adds spice to my collection.

>98 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! I figure that Poldark has inspired me to read more historical fiction. I saw all these Michener books on $5/bag day, and thought "Why not?"

>99 LizzieD: Perhaps I'll see Centennial at the next sale in September, Peggy. The Source is one of only six books in my entire catalog that I've given 5 stars to.

Oh, I loved Chesapeake when I read it ages ago! I went through a phase when I had a long commute of only reading really, really long historical sagas :)

Hope you have a great Sunday, Karen!

Hi Katie!

I'm hearing lots of good things about these Micheners I picked up. I think I want to continue with Poldark for a while, then we'll see. I'm also reading a great non-fiction book that's gotten some buzz here on LT: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.

I neglected to mention that I saw my first hummingbird yesterday. Louise saw one on the 27th of March, but either she (the hummingbird) didn't come over for a visit, or I missed the visits she made. Anyway, definite confirmed sighting of a female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird!

>88 karenmarie: Good morning, Karen! The goldfinches have arrived here — Saturday just a single female, but today both males and females, about four or five total.

Karen--I lost you somehow even though I already posted at the top. Your porch looks much better after a wash. I had no idea there were so many cucumber types! How fun that you got to shop for your daughter and yourself! I love that your hubby still does his laundry. My kids start doing their own stuff when they are 15. And lots of bird talk. Fun! Hoping you have a great week (and that I don't lose you again!). : )

>103 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! I'm glad the Goldfinches have arrived - they are such pretty birds and one of the harbingers of spring for me. One of my bird guides says that they are year-around in both our states, but I only see them when the males get their color.

>104 Berly: Hi Berly! I hope I stay starred!

Re the porch: darned if there isn't more pollen on it! We have two men over here today cleaning up the yard - getting rid of branches, putting down weed killer, getting my vegetable garden ready for planting, blowing the last of last fall's leaves off the concrete and back patio, and etc. I plan on power washing both porches tomorrow, the final touch before we get ready to have mulch put down and wait 'til fall to do some planting.

There are a huge number of varieties of almost every vegetable and fruit you can imagine. I looked at parsnips in the UK when @lunacat mentioned them, and there are eight varieties. Just in the UK!

Fun week planned - lots of nothing, mostly, yay! I do have a phone call with Fidelity today, but so far that's it. I might have lunch with a friend I used to work with in Sanford, perhaps dinner with my friend Vanessa. I did go to the Friends of the Library monthly Board meeting from 9:15 - 10:30 this morning. We took in about $21,600, more than usual. Netted about $19,600. Did I mention here that I would be taking on the Treasurer's job in July? President is retiring, Treasurer will become President, and I'll be Treasurer. I was solicited 3 years ago for the job, that my MiL got very sick then died suddenly that spring and I didn't have the heart for it. They got me this time, though!

Sunday we will be driving to visit our friend Frances. This year will quite possibly be her last Easter Luncheon although we hope not! She's reduced it to about 12 people from her normal 25 or so. Our daughter will drive over from Wilmington too.

Here's an interesting book-related fact that I saw on fivethirtyeight.com's Significant Digits daily e-mail:

“Le Petit Prince,” translated into English as “The Little Prince,” was just translated into its 300th language, Hassanya. It’s the most-translated book behind only religious texts.

The Angry Tide by Winston Graham
3/30/17 to 4/9/17





The description from Amazon:
Cornwall, towards the end of the 18th century. Ross Poldark sits for the borough of Truro as Member of Parliment—his time divided between London and Cornwall, his heart divided about his wife, Demelza. His old feud with George Warleggan still flares—as does the illicit love between Morwenna and Drake, Demelza's brother. Before the new century dawns, George and Ross will be drawn together by a loss greater than their rivalry—and Morwenna and Drake by a tragedy that brings them hope.

This series keeps getting better and better. The description above doesn’t do justice to the 612 page trade paperback book I just read, because there are so many characters detailed in its pages. Drake and Demelza’s brother Sam has a romantic interest, Elizabeth and George go through growing pains in their marriage, and Caroline and Dwight Enys experience tragedy. Ross helps foil a plan by the Warleggans. Demelza goes to London and turns heads, as always, with her vivacity and interest in people, which gets misinterpreted with disastrous results. Even minor characters are vividly and deftly portrayed. The story moves successfully among the subplots and characters with ease.

I love the name 'Demelza'! I've decided to try reading books that are no more than 175 pages to try and bump up my numbers. Hopefully this coming weekend. I get Good Friday off, so there should be reading time aplenty.

Hi Larry! I love her name too.

Worthy goal, getting up the numbers. And yay for Good Friday off, so three days of reading and Da Floof and whatever else. And chocolate Easter bunnies?

Hi Karen, I hope you have a great start into the new week.

No chocolate Easter bunnies now that Mom's gone, she was always big on that. Dad might pick something up but I doubt it. He and I are going to Captain Chuck-A-Muck's for lunch Friday. A really great seafood place with a really horrible name.

I'm pretty sure Dad is more glad to see Da Floof! than he is me.

>109 Ameise1: Hi Barbara. Today's been good. Board meeting, phone meeting with Fidelity (investment stuff), too many jelly beans (yikes!), reading in the hammock.

Plus, I started book 8 in the Poldark series, The Stranger from the Sea. The story's moved up 10 years. Ross is 50, Demelza is 40. They've had another child (no big secret - there's a genealogy chart at the beginning).

I'm 2 pages behind in the Bible reading but will try to catch up tomorrow. 2 Kings.

>110 SomeGuyInVirginia: Larry, I checked out the menu, and yum! Except for oysters, which I can't abide, everything looks wonderful. The yellowfin tuna bites sound exquisite.

This will be a test to see if you can keep Da Floof from hiding from you when it's time to go back home. You have been treating him well, I hope?

>91 karenmarie: Dandy book haul up there, Karen. You do manage to find some gems. I rarely attend these kind of book sales. Once I start to make a bigger dent in my current TBR mountain, I may start again.

Hi Mark!

Thank you. I have a terrible case of BAD (Book Acquisition Disorder as defined on Stasia's threads). I haven't missed a Friends of the Library Sale since 1999. And now that I'm on the board AND will be Treasurer starting in July, I have to show my support, right?

I moved all the books I've read upstairs to my Retreat (formerly known as daughter's rec room). Now, all the books downstairs are only reference or to be read. However, I'm running out of room AGAIN. I think I'll pull one tbr book arbitrarily from each shelf to cull tomorrow - if I can't find one from a shelf that shelf gets a pass, but we'll see how many can go the way of the dodo. 18 shelves in the sunroom, 62 shelves in the Library. Potential of 90 books to cull. I wonder if I can do it?

>106 karenmarie: I need to get back to that series. I have only read the first one.

I sent you a PM with my address. Thanks for the offer!

Stasia, the series continues to be good. I'm already 48 pages into the 8th book. And I just ordered books 10-12, the last of the series.

I'll mail A Judgement in Stone to you within a couple of days. *smile*

We just finished watching season 1 of Goliath with Billy Bob Thornton and William Hurt. Excellent acting all around.

Hooray for a great day, Karen!
I have to say that *Stranger* is not one of my favorites, but it's *Poldark* so it can't be bad! My reading went well today, but I suddenly crave a police procedural. Uh oh.
*Little Prince* eh? Who knew? And I had to google Hassanya. Thanks for the education.
Also, good for you for taking on the treasurer's job! Not me....... I don't mind being secretary, but treasurer? Never again!

What a wonderful day you had, Karen. Today the weather has turned here. It's clouday and a bit cooler but just normal for April.
Wishing you a lovely day.

>116 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! So far I'm finding it interesting. Graham is still getting us all caught up with what's been happening in the last 10 years.

I figure I'll need to read the 5th Fiona Griffiths soon - it's just that yesterday when I considered #8 or #5, #8 won!

This will be the most demanding Treasurer's job I've ever taken. First was PTA for daughter's middle school for 2 years, then Band Boosters for 3 years. This one involves working with members of the Library Staff in addition to Friends Board members. There is also quite a bit of money involved, with CDs and even a bit of stock to keep track of. I've told them that I'll eventually need non-profit software, like Quicken, and won't do the taxes. They're so grateful to get a Treasurer that they agreed. I think the current Treasurer, Pete, might do taxes next year, but if not I can use the accountant that the Band Boosters still use.

Nobody ever realizes that the Treasurer's job is the most demanding job in any volunteer organization. Period. I used to spend an average of 10 hours per week for Band Boosters, and that was with a 40-hour a week job and a family to manage. This won't be as difficult simply because I'm retired and can devote hours to it without getting up at the crack of dawn or staying up past my bedtime.

>117 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! Cloudy and cooler is okay. Here it is 54F and is supposed to get to 80F!

I have no official errands or tasks for today. I want to finish cataloging the books I got at the sale on Saturday and read, of course! I might wash down the porches - Pine Pollen is about done but now we're getting the pesky Oak and etc. Pollen. Not nearly as bad but still.

I've been treating Da Floof! fine, except for the beatings. But those are scheduled because neither of us likes surprises.

I can't choke an oyster down, either. Gross.

Scheduled beatings. Good one.

Whew! I thought you'd say that oysters are the best things in the world and you eat 'em any way you can! I tried them several times in my 20s and early 30s and after the last shuddering attempt finally gave up forever.

>21 drneutron: 28 book haul and with some real goodies in there too, Karen. I have been on the look out for Amok for the longest time and to snaffle it in hardcover is doubly great.

Well done by the way from sauntering beyond 1,000 posts on your threads already this year. I reckon this will certainly be your best ever year in terms of posts by a country mile.

Last year was the first time you passed 1,000 but you are well on the way to passing that total and I reckon 2,000 or even 3,000 is within reach this time.

Hi Paul!

I didn't even realize what a prize it was. I have Shooting Stars, bought new, and so had the author's name in mind as I was perusing the "Oldies/Classics" section. It's a first US edition, 1931. It was obviously a gift, too, because here's the inscription:

I find this absolutely entrancing. I'll time my read, just for the heck of it.

Everybody is so kind to visit my threads. Being retired has improved my LT time for sure, so I hope to have a respectable showing!

Carl called and needs to run a few errands in town, so I'll be off in a bit. I was debating whether to go out for milk and tomatoes anyway, so it serves two purposes.

Morning, Karen. This crazy spring weather. Warm one yesterday, back to breezy and chilly today. Sighs...

>113 karenmarie: Wow, that sounds like a lot of shelves. Do you know the total running feet? We've got 72 feet of shelves in the livingroom, and about 50 feet in the bedroom. In our dreams, we have an office/library, but it has to wait for us to win the lottery.

>120 karenmarie: Ugh no, you're 1000% correct. Not only do they taste like bad times, they have, like, dozens of eyes to watch you eat them. Eeww-ew-ew-ew! Or is that spiders?

>124 msf59: Morning, Mark! We're in a nice spring idyll right now, 50Fs at night, 75-80Fs during the day. But it won't last, I know.

I'm looking at THREE cowbirds on the front porch feeder. They're pretty, but they scare everybody else away.

>125 ffortsa: Hi Judy! That's quite a lot for a NYC apartment, I think. Remembering that I have a pretty large house (4065 sq feet), the number of linear feet that are currently available to me for books is

Sunroom 873" = 72.5' - currently single stacked
Library 1878" = 156.5' - currently single stacked
Retreat 1260" = 105' - currently double stacked
Total = 4011" = 334.25 linear feet

Theoretically I could take over some shelves in my husband's currently-not-being-used media room, about 16 linear feet.

>126 SomeGuyInVirginia: Yes, they do taste like bad times. But I don't think the eyes are oysters. Eeww-ew-ew-ew! Spiders!

TheBF is treasurer for a local charity and keeps moaning and groaning about it, but won't resign. He has gone to the monthly meetings SO many times saying he's going to, and they talk him round because none of the other trustees want to do the job. Even though they harass him a ridiculous amount, when all of them are either retired, don't work or only work part time. And he works 60+ hours a week. You can tell what I think - they are taking liberties, but he's not very good at turning people down. And it looks good on his CV. At the end of the day, it's his choice, but sometimes it's difficult to give sympathy when he's complaining about it, but could resign.

Anyway, I hope your role as treasurer is less stressful than anticipated and it doesn't take up too much of your time, or at least it has some good rewards.

>115 karenmarie: I look forward to getting it! Thanks again, Karen.

>128 lunacat: Hi Jenny! Here's my take: Your BF should give them x months notice, telling them at each meeting before then that he will be resigning as Treasurer the last day of the xth month from when he first notified them, and that someone else will need to take over on the first day of the next month. And then he should take the books to the appropriate trustee on the 1st day of the next month and just hand them over, asking them to identify the person who will be needed on the bank accounts to meet with him within the week. And if nobody meets with him, he should remove his name from the account(s). He's making it too easy on them. If he's been doing it for a while, his CV is already looking good.

Thanks re me taking over as Treasurer. Pete and the rest of the board are thrilled that I'll be doing it and I'll get all the support I need, even if I'll also spend a lot of time to do it right.

>129 alcottacre: You're welcome, Stasia. I should be able to mail it tomorrow. Today got away from me.

Lasagna is in the oven, Kitty William is helping me on the computer, now to read until husband gets home.

>130 karenmarie: Have a lovely time reading!

Currently there is a new village hall trying to be built, and he wants to be involved while that is going on. I know he'd be happier and less stressed if he was just a trustee, not treasurer, but as I said, it's his decision. I'll bear your advice in mind next time he starts to grumbling, and suggest it as a possible course of action :). Thanks!

Wow, that is a big house. Plus, it's beautiful and in a great location. House envy!

>131 lunacat: You're welcome Jenny. I see volunteers getting roped in longer than they want to be and a serious decline of volunteerism here in my Friends of the Library community. I'll be 64 this summer and I think I'm the youngest member of the board except for the outgoing President.

>132 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hi Larry! Thank you. I was always envious of other peoples' houses, but I gotta say that there's no other house I'd prefer to have unless it had a library 4 times as big as the one I've got, which just won't happen.

Husband and I were fortunate to be able to build here when land and housing costs were cheaper, in 1997-8. The original house had about 225 square feet less - we put a 9' ceiling in the living room, which created what I call The Parlour upstairs. Oh. That reminds me, I need to finish putting the stuff I cleaned out of the Parlour away or out in the garage to get rid of and then show the picture of the cleaned-up Parlour from a thread or two ago. The hallway is currently an obstacle course.

Off to read. 2 Kings and 1 Chronicles require 66 more pages in 5 days, double what I've been reading so far. And then, of course Poldark and Sapiens.

I'm going to have lunch with a former co-worker in Sanford and then discuss daughter's taxes with our accountant. It will definitely be a hammock day this afternoon!

>105 karenmarie: Morning! I am amazed that “Le Petit Prince, translated into English as The Little Prince, was just translated into its 300th language, Hassanya (which BTW is a language I have never heard of). It’s the most-translated book behind only religious texts." Wow! Proud to say I have read it in both French and English.

I hope you have way more fun as Treasurer than Jenny's BF!! I am totally envious of all your book space. : )

Morning, Karen. Lovely spring day today and the trees are beginning to bud. Looking forward to some real color.

NC is still lovely despite the pollen! Remember this in July and August!!!!

>134 Berly: Hi Berly! I hope I have way more fun, too.....

My husband is not a reader but has built me a library in both houses we built. And in this one he had shelves built into the sunroom years after we moved in here.

I don't know how long it will last, but I do have the feeling, today, this afternoon, that I don't need any new books for a while. We'll see how long it lasts. BAD may rear its ugly head again. We won't count the three that came in today's mail, the last 3 of the Poldark series: Bella Poldark, The Twisted Sword, and The Loving Cup. At this time I don't have any books on order. No book sales to worry about. And only one book due from Bookmooch.

>135 msf59: Hi Mark! I'm glad you've got a lovely spring day and looking forward to the color too. And don't forget the migratory birds!

>136 LizzieD: Hey Peggy! It is lovely. No doubt about it. June, July, August, and part of September stink, but I'll try to remember today then. The only benefit I can see to NC summers is fresh garden produce.

Hope you have a great Easter weekend!

Hi Chelle!

Thank you. My husband has today off work, we have no plans for today so far, it's all good. Sunday is Easter Luncheon about 2 1/2 hours from where we live. Our daughter will drive over from Wilmington, about 45 minutes, so it's a win-win day!

Happy Friday, Karen. I hope you have a lovely day.

Hi Karen! We have goldfinches too. So cute. I think the pollen just hovers and settles back down as soon as you turn your back... I can tell I am going to LOVE April in NC.

Happy Easter! I hope your weekend is lovely.

>140 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! Back from lunch out and with another 40-lb bag of wild bird seed. so far so good. The hammock is beckoning.

>141 nittnut: Hi Jenn! They are cute. And so dramatic looking. Pine pollen is about done, oak pollen is now everywhere. Blech. Yes, you will LOVE April in NC.

Thank you.

Sounds gorgeous.

Amok by Stefan Zweig
4/14/17 to 4/14/17





The description from Wikipedia, with touchstones and spoiler added by me:

Amok is a novella by the Austrian author Stefan Zweig. First printed in the newspaper Neue Freie Presse in 1922, Amok appeared shortly afterwards in the collection of novellas Amok: Novellas of a Passion. As Zweig was fascinated and influenced by Sigmund Freud’s work, Amok includes clear psychoanalytical elements. It deals with an extreme obsession, which leads the protagonist to sacrifice his professional and private life and, eventually, to commit suicide.

The title of the novella comes from the Indonesian-origin term "amok”, which was uncommon in those days. It refers to people who attack the enemy in supposedly blind anger and try to kill the enemy as well as anyone else in their way, randomly, without taking into consideration any danger. The actual title is Der Amokläufer an apparent Hochdeutsche neologism from the Malay original and the basis of "running amok".

This is an extremely beautifully written novella about a tawdry and vulgar series of events that seems to scale to the peak of tragedy but just doesn’t quite make it. When it was published in the US in 1931, the subject matter was more taboo than now, and the social aspects of shame and scandal do not carry as much weight in 2017. I don’t want to say too much more because I read it without any knowledge of the plot and it made the experience powerful and visceral. The writing evokes Jakarta and the Dutch East Indies in 1912 – steamy jungles, white colonialism, privilege, racial and social prejudices, isolation, and fear.

Short, dramatic, every word important, this is a gem of a novella.

Wishing you a very Happy Easter.

Thank you, John!

Sending love and hugs to you and Karen.

Great friends of the library haul, Karen. Have a happy Easter weekend.

Hi Karen, wishing you a wonderful Easter weekend.

having problems posting.....

Morning, Karen. Happy Easter weekend. I love Stefan Zweig but I am not familiar with this collection. I will have to search it out.

Hi all and Happy Easter to those who celebrate it.

My dad was agnostic and my mom was too young and dominated by him to insist that we go to church. He even enforced that with his mother, my grandmother, who lived with us until she passed away when I was 10. So I was raised without official religion. I remember my grandmother listening to Sunday morning sermons and I went to a Lutheran church with my friend Patty Rucker for about 3 months or so when I was about 10.

I don't think the minimal and sporadic exposure to Christianity harmed me any, but my religious friends might disagree. My sister, who became Christian when she was 16 (44 years ago), once told me she was sorry that I was going to Hell and that I was her special burden with Jesus.

As you can probably imagine, that didn't go over very well with me, and I refused to speak with her for 3 years. We're very close now, and she still occasionally spouts her religious stuff, but I let it roll off my back like water off a duck's back. I don't try to change her, never have, and I ignore or occasionally snarl if it gets too religious for me.

In the private religiously-affiliated college I attended, and in my early twenties, several people were very forceful in their conversion attempts, one even going so far as to back me up against a wall and point their finger in my chest and corner me with their exhortations. I used to joke that I had the face that launched a thousand conversions.

So for me, growing up, Easter was strictly the Easter Bunny, coloring eggs, baskets, candy, and the hunt. We always had our Easter egg hunt inside, too, even though we lived in Southern California and I don't think it rained very much on Easter, ever. Mom and dad would sleep in, we'd hunt for eggs. I know, very weird, but we didn't know any different. There were always 3 dozen eggs - one dozen for each of us 3 kids - and if we couldn't find them all, as the eldest I was delegated to go in and whisper to Mom how many were missing and how many were found in each room. She'd had a list from the Easter Bunny with how many per room, and could whisper back that there were 2 more in the dining room, or 1 more in the kitchen, etc., so the fiction was maintained.

We're going to our dear friend Frances Simpson's house for Easter Luncheon. Frances is nominally Episcopalian, which is very liberal regardless, but recent discussions have caused me to realize that she is one of the very many people in this world who have partial beliefs in the entirety of their church's belief system and are very involved socially in the church. It's all good.

Test thread - for some reason I can't post something I want to!

Hi Karen!

>127 karenmarie: and >144 karenmarie: wow. That's a lot of shelf space. I'm green with envy.

Thanks for the Zweig review. I'll have to put this on my library list.

test

Hi Karen,
I think LT had the hiccups for awhile as I noticed that after reading the list of *read* was still showing as if I hadn't read the posts. It was like that for about half an hour which was probably when you were posting.

Seems to be ok now, I think

Hi Karen. Really glad to see you are enjoying the Poldark series so much - for some reason I took a pause on my readthrough after The Angry Tide and never got round to picking up A Stranger from the Sea. I'll have to dive back in soon.

Hope you enjoy the Easter weekend!

>147 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg! Thank you. There's a large amount of fun associated with the sale, too - talking about books, looking for and finding specific books, and just being surrounded by 17,000 books.

>148 DianaNL: Hi Diana! Thank you! Nice picture.

>149 Ameise1: Hey Barbara! That's a beautiful arrangement.

>151 msf59: Hi Mark! I need to finish Sapiens and then I think for my next nofiction read I'll open Shooting Stars: 10 Historical Miniatures.

>157 ffortsa: One of my husband's best qualities, Judy, is that he gets my need to be surrounded by books. Hence all the shelves. The only thing constraining me is finances, usually - although I must say that I feel bloated with new books right now from my recent acquisitions. Amok is a quick read, 121 pages in the 1931 hardcover edition I have. Perfect for part of a day.

>160 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! Well, I unintentionally added to my message count and that will help me in the posting league..... *smile* I just could not figure out what was going on. Stupidly, I didn't just stop and wait. From now on, I will. To my best recollection, this is the first time I've experienced it.

>161 souloftherose: Hi Heather! The Stranger from the Sea is different because it skips 10 years after the end of The Angry Tide. There are births and deaths and some time is spent throughout the first third, perhaps, getting us caught up. The writing is still seamless, the catching up brought in effortlessly and logically. I'm about halfway through and still caught up in the people and story.

We took friend Carl out to lunch and to the grocery store, so our errands got extended by about 45 minutes or so. My husband fell upstairs at work earlier this week and his left knee is bothering him, and Carl's left leg was weakened by the seizure he had in addition to arthritis. So both of them were hop-alongs today.

It may be hammock weather this afternoon after we decide where to put the new bird feeder station, our anniversary gift to each other. I ordered it and it should arrive around April 25th or so.

My CA trip has delayed now until May 1st or later because my husband has something secret planned for the weekend before and I was talking about going out the 28th of April. He asked me if I could delay past the weekend but he didn't want to tell me why. I asked if it was a surprise, because he knows I Hate surprises, and he said I'd only have to act surprised to one person if he told me. My guess is that daughter will be joining us for either the weekend or just Saturday evening dinner. Not sure, but that's my feeling.

>153 karenmarie: Thanks for sharing that, Karen. Our family was religious when we were growing up until my older brother and I were confirmed and then we just stopped going which was just fine by me. I look upon Easter as more of a spring rite with heavy lacings of chocolate. For many years when I was young our family tradition was to fly back to England to visit family. Which is probably why I remember it with spring flowers and mild weather because we were flying from Montreal which, more often than not, was covered in snow. It was fun to get spoiled by the grandparents and eat English chocolate which was superior to Canadian chocolate.

>153 karenmarie: - I didn't grow up with any religion - not even baptized so my family refers to me as the little heathen baby ;-) My mother was raised Catholic, so if asked, that's what I said I was (and there is some speculation that my grandmother might have smuggled me to a priest at some point to be baptized), and when I was around 16, I got interested in religion and the Catholic Church and ended up going to a Catholic college. After a semester, I realized it really wasn't for me, but I stayed to graduate. I'm now a confirmed atheist, married to the same, and find that as I get older, I have less and less patience for those who fundamentally misunderstand what their own faith traditions are based on.

My Easter participation is limited to buying the hubs a chocolate bunny when they go on sale on Monday :)

Here's a toast to Chocolate Easter Bunnies!! I also enjoy the jelly beans. : )

>163 Familyhistorian: What wonderful memories, Meg! Family, spring, English chocolate, and the contrast between wintry Montreal and spring-like England. Very nice.

>164 katiekrug: It's interesting that you felt that you needed to give yourself a religion. I grew up in southern California in an area of many Jewish and Catholic kids in addition to the Protestant kids, so although I envied the Jewish kids for having Hannukah AND Christmas break, religion was really no big deal.

I went to the Church-of-Christ-affiliated Pepperdine University where I was required to take 8 units of religion to graduate. I didn't mind taking the religion courses, and there was no official proselytizing.

My father's mother, my grandmother Nellie, was born in 1882 and was a strict Presbyterian Victorian. Here's a picture of her with her mother, my great-grandmother Alice (born 1856). Alice died in 1952, the year before I was born.



>165 Berly: Yes! A glass of wine to Chocolate Easter Bunnies! And jelly beans! And to those of us who will admit it, to Peeps!



How Peeps are Made

Hoppy Easter, Karen! (See what I did there?)

I've always believed in God, even as a very small child. I don't get all worked up about religion, but attend church for the floor show. I think religion can be a source of counsel and comfort to honest adherents, but would have been offended if someone backed me against the wall and shook their finger at me. If there is One True Way, I hope that those who seek it find it, and that God is merciful to me for not being able to.

I love how some people use Peeps to stage scenes from the zombie apocalypse, or fantastic murders like in a wax museum. But to eat they are gross!

I had half an oyster at lunch today, we're both right that they still taste like bad times. The shrimp was delicious, and crab soup fantastic.

And I LOVE that hat!

>153 karenmarie: I was delegated to go in and whisper to Mom how many were missing and how many were found in each room. She'd had a list from the Easter Bunny with how many per room, and could whisper back that there were 2 more in the dining room, or 1 more in the kitchen, etc., so the fiction was maintained.
Well, your folks did better than I do then. W was all over the easter egg hunt this morning, and the possibility that it was all FAKE NEWS. I just said to him: you don't believe, you don't receive ;) My parents would fork our for about 2 marshmallow eggs each for us kids, I was so jealous of all the kids who got hollow chocolate eggs, they were what I dreamed about. Woe is me right!? ;)

>166 karenmarie: - Oh, Karen, my teeth are aching after watching that video. I have a sweet tooth but I think that Peeps (and their *family*) would be way too sweet for even me!! lol

Happy Easter, Karen! Ohhhh Peeps! I've never eaten one. I'm not sure if they are not that popular in Canada, or if I'm always seeking out chocolate and not " candy." My family will have a get together for Easter Monday. Somehow everyone is away / working etc. I hope things are going okay for you.

>166 karenmarie: I don't think I have ever seen a Peep so not a tradition here. We will just have to be content with chocolate (somehow I think we will make do.)

Wonderful photo, Karen, and I agree - that is a great hat!

It is interesting how religious upbringing, in many cases, relaxed along the way. Going back I found a long line of strong Congregationalists in my family including a minister. But there was so much intermarrying among different religions in my family I think they just decided to not let it be a bone of contention.

>167 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hoppy Easter back at’cha, Larry! Hoppy Easter to Parker D, too.

The 'floor show' can be stunning and awe-inspiring, agreed. I’ve always believed in God too. I believe there is just too much majesty and miracle in the world and universe for it not to be of a higher power. I used to say I was monotheistic since I did not and do not believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. I’ve changed that to liberal theism; regardless, I believe that every person’s individual relationship with God or their gods is theirs alone and not mine to judge. Even if there is no relationship because they are atheistic. Their business, not mine.

There is Peeps art, I know. I don’t think they’re gross, but I admit that after eating them this Easter for the first time in 10-ish years, I’ll probably wait another 10 to try them again.

You poor baby! Why ever did you have half an oyster? Was it disguised? *shudder* The rest sounds yummy.

I would give quite a bit to have that hat. I’m going to try to find the picture of my grandmother Nellie wearing a silk shawl. I still have that silk shawl. I was looking for that picture today and couldn’t find it.

>168 LovingLit: Hi Megan! I really like that – ‘you don’t believe, you don’t receive’. I think I learned about the Easter Bunny and Santa when I was 8. The fiction was maintained after that for my brother and sister, both younger than me. But eventually we just kept up the pretense because it was fun – the Easter Bunny stopped visiting, glad to not have to hide 36 eggs at our house, but Santa always filled our stockings through my twenties, when I stopped coming home for Christmas. And even now, with daughter 23 years old, we put out our stockings and Santa and I work to fill husband’s and daughter’s, and husband, Santa, and daughter work to fill mine.

We never got a hollow bunny either, but did get jelly beans and dark chocolate-covered marshmallow eggs sprinkled with nonpareils. My brother and I always traded my sister two cracked eggs for one perfect egg, and traded jelly beans for the dark chocolate-covered marshmallow eggs sprinkled with nonpareils. Sister told me years later that she did it because she loved us, making me feel like crap.

>169 jessibud2: Sorry, Shelley! I have always loved the manufacturing process, whether it’s sheet protectors, data communications equipment, candy, or whatever. Separate from eating Peeps, which everybody is excused from, isn’t it fascinating how they’re made and how many they make per day?

>170 vancouverdeb: I’m sorry, Deborah! You are way ahead of the game if you haven’t, although I must admit that I did enjoy them today. There are a few left for tomorrow. Have a lovely time on Easter Monday. You get together when you can and are grateful – that’s how it’s gotten with our family over the years. Things are going okay. Thank you.

>171 Familyhistorian: I’m sure your world is not any the less good for not having been exposed to Peeps, Meg. As long as the chocolate is a good quality dark or Butterfingers (about the only milk chocolate I can tolerate any more), then I’m up for chocolate for Easter too!

Thank you re Mom’s hat – we called our grandmother ‘Mom’ because she said ‘grandma’ made her feel old. She was 70 when I was born, 72 when my brother was born, and 75 when my sister was born, so I think THAT was the sin of vanity, but we didn’t know any better so called her Mom and called my mother Mommy. ‘Mom’ died when I was 10, and it took me about 15 years to start calling my mother Mom instead of Mommy.

You’re fortunate that they didn’t let it divide them. I know some people where a mixed marriage means a Baptist and a Methodist!

My husband and I started watching Wolf Hall tonight. I read about half the book then abandoned it, but we really enjoyed the first episode.

And now off to continue with The Stranger from the Sea, the 8th Poldark book.

>166 karenmarie: What a beautiful photo of your ancestors, Karen.
>172 karenmarie: I had my struggle during the reading of Wolf Hall, too.
Happy Sunday, Karen.

>166 karenmarie: What a pretty picture, Karen, you can see the world has changed a lot since then.

>172 karenmarie: I enjoyed the tv-adaption of Wolf Hall, but I had trouble finishing the book...

Morning, Karen. Happy Sunday. I LOVED the BBC series of Wolf Hall. Great stuff, but I also loved the books.

>173 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! Thank you.

>174 FAMeulstee: You're right, Anita! That picture was definitely taken before 1929, because there are 2 others from the same day, one with my grandfather Aubrey and he died in February of 1929 in Nebraska; although it looks fall-like it doesn't look like the middle of winter. I come from a long line of late-producers on my dad's side. I've continued the trend - my daughter was born when I was 40.

>175 msf59: Hi Mark! Thank you. I'm so glad everybody seems to have enjoyed the TV series. Barbara and Anita seem to have struggled with the book, but I'm assuming they both finished it. I may pick it up and re-start it after watching the series. I've got the 2nd book, Bring Up the Bodies, but not the third.

We're leaving in about an hour to go to Frances' house for Easter Luncheon. I'll do a bit of reading before then.....

Happy Sunday and Happy Easter to everybody who celebrates it!

Happy Easter, Karen!

I hope you have a lovely luncheon. Happy Sunday :)

>153 karenmarie: It's so fascinating to hear little bits of life history. :) I cannot believe someone backed you up against a wall and shook a finger in your face. Honestly. How could that possibly convert anyone? I was raised Christian, and remain very much so, but I was raised with the idea that it was the privilege of every person to choose what they believe and that a loving God doesn't force his children. As my own children grow up and the oldest has chosen not to believe as I do, I think I understand that better than before. It's that difference between saying you believe something and acting in accordance with that belief I suppose (awful human challenge that it is). I love my son, and his beliefs being different than mine won't change that, but my shoving him up against a wall and poking him in the chest might change our relationship, and not in a good way Lol.

>166 karenmarie: What a cool photo! There is something so gorgeous (and hot and uncomfortable) about the Victorians.

Ahem. Did the third in the Wolf Hall books come out and I missed it? Mildly freaking out. Off to look around.

>172 karenmarie: In later generations the difference in religions doesn't seem to have deterred them at all. Even in my generation my ex was raised a Catholic and I was raised Anglican and we didn't think about religion, just got married by a Justice of the Peace. It's funny when I think about it because religion must have played a large part in the lives of previous generations what with my forebear being a minster and teacher.

Through my research I found some of his sermons. A single sermon usually goes on for pages and pages. Think of the congregations that would sit through those sermons. The service must have gone on for hours! I guess that was entertainment of a sort in those days.

Happy Easter, Karen!

Good morning, Karen. Wishing you a lovely day.

>177 harrygbutler: Thank you, Harry! We had a nice day traveling to Easter Luncheon at my husband’s friend’s mother’s house about 2 ½ hours away. There were 12 of us and we ate on the back deck, with delightful weather and company and conversation. Our daughter was one of the 12 – she drove over from Wilmington so it was doubly pleasurable.

>178 lunacat: It was fun, Jenny. I played the polite guest and had a small piece of ham – something I rarely eat – well, actually, only on Easter at Frances’ house! There was ham, cheese grits, asparagus casserole, fresh broccoli, rice salad. Dessert was pound cake with fresh local strawberries.

>179 nittnut: Hi Jenn! It is the opposite in our family as when my sister was 16 she ‘converted’ to Christianity and became extremely evangelical and proselytizing. Mom and Dad didn’t like it a bit, but I think that some of it was that they didn’t want her to marry her now-husband at age 18. The Christianity and boyfriend and engagement all sort of flowed together, but Dad was extremely uncomfortable with her very vocal Christianity.

Our children give us the opportunity to be our best selves in regard to accepting and respecting their choices. Good luck with your son.

Thank you re the photo – hot and uncomfortable is a wonderful way to describe the Victorians. Here’s a funny story: When I was 8, I got a Barbie doll and a Ken doll and saved and spent my allowance on clothes for them, mostly for her, but some for Ken. Grandmother Nellie, who lived with us, made me a beautiful black satin skirt for Barbie (which I still have, along with Barbie, Ken, clothes, shoes, purses, etc.) Ken and Barbie were dating of course and somehow I got it into my innocent mind that Barbie was pregnant. I stuffed Kleenex under her skirt. Grandmother Nellie was Not Amused, and I think I got hit with a hairbrush a couple of times for it.

I just looked and the third book is not out. I don’t know what made me think the third one was out – I’m sorry if I put you in panic mode.

>180 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg! Having some of his sermons sounds fascinating. I get the sense that yes, church was very important and long-winded but definitely a break from the 6 days of labor that were most peoples’ lives. Was their faith stronger than now? Don't know. Was there more pressure to conform? I suspect so. Was it more socially beneficial to go to church? I also suspect so.

>181 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia! I got a last bit of candy yesterday. On the way home from Easter Luncheon, about 6:30 we stopped for dinner since we didn’t want to deal with it when we got home. Cracker Barrel has Jelly Bellys. I got a little bag of black licorice jelly beans (I know, most of you will go “Eeewwww”) and husband got a little bag of cinnamon jelly beans. I had a few last night and the rest are staring me in the face.

>182 witchyrichy: Hi Karen and thank you! Beautiful picture and sentiment.

>183 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara! I hope yours was fine and that today you’re reading and if the weather is nice spending time in your garden!

The nicest thing about yesterday was getting to see Frances’ son Frayser, 60 years old, who fell in February going up some steps, shattering his left hip. The hip replacement surgery went fine, no problems there, but Frayser hasn’t gone to a doctor in over 20 years and while at the hospital they discovered that he has terrible kidney function and he was pretty close to having his kidneys shut down. Had he not broken his hip, it wouldn’t have been discovered until it was either irreversible (still a possibility that might require dialysis for the rest of his life) or fatal. My husband got to spend most of the time after we’d eaten talking with Frayser yesterday, good for both of them.

I’ve been up since 5, and finished The Stranger from the Sea, the 8th Poldark book. Today will be a bit of work on Mom’s estate (possibly banking, talking with the lawyer, etc.) and deciding whether to read #9 or try something else. Off to get my first cup of coffee!

Hi Karen! I'm glad you had a nice Easter and enjoyed time with dear, long time friends.

I love your story about Barbie and Ken. It's nice to start the day with a smile, and that definitely did it for me.

I have a deeply evangelical dear sister/friend (besties since HS). Yup, she sometimes says thing that are quite hurtful, especially when things in my life take a turn for the downside. I know she thinks she has my best interests at heart, but it can be quite hard to grin and bear it.

I've just started reading Among the Creationists for the CultureCat religion thread that Ellen is hosting. This is partly to make myself more educated in her POV. I think my career in science made her a bit sad.

Hi Janet! Thank you. It was fun, if tiring.

If people would just stick to "I" statements - "I believe", "I think", etc., then things would be a lot easier in the political and religious discussion arena. Accusatory, judgmental, or "You should" statements very rarely make a good point or impression.

I just checked the CultureCat religion thread. Interesting, but I'm not going to tie myself down to any specific reads right now. Have fun!

A slightly belated Easter greeting from your Malaysian based British friend who is presently Stateside. xx

Happy Tuesday, Karen. I had done some great reading over the long Easter weekend. Now I'm back to work.

Morning, Karen! It looks like we will hit 75 today. It is nice to see everything turning green. My allergies are also in full bloom but it is almost a trade off.

>184 karenmarie: I love licorice! I even like licorice jelly beans :)

Happy Tuesday!

>187 PaulCranswick: Hi Stateside Paul! I hope things are going well for you here.

>188 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! I'm glad you got ... what... 4? days off. That's a very good way to get some serious good reading time in. I hope school goes well this short week.

>189 msf59: Morning, Mark! Sorry about the allergies. I'm now having mixed feelings about the trees leafing out because the birds are less visible. But now our little piece of heaven is more hidden from the outside world. Sigh.

I just now saw a male House Finch and a male White-Throated sparrow. The cowbirds are grazing.

>190 alcottacre: I ate the rest of those jelly beans yesterday, Stasia and they were GOOD. Thank you. Tuesday may turn into a Mom's bank day, not sure. It depends on if I hear back from Rob at WFF (Wells f***ing Fargo) about getting access to one of her accounts with jut the corrected death certificate.

I have been thinking about this for several days, and when I finished The Stranger from the Sea yesterday, I picked up an Agatha Christie but it didn't suit, so in honor of my interest in birding, I'm re-reading The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik. I'm already loving it.

>191 karenmarie: Well, to be frank, it was five days off from Thursday to Monday. *blush*

Tomorrow the pupils are off school again due to a teacher's further education. I like these days. Do some learning for myself.

Hi Barbara! Five days off is much better than four days off. No need to blush! I only wish the Us was as considerate of teachers AND students as Switzerland is.

Ooh, ooh! I saw a male Indigo Bunting at my front porch feeder today! Major excitement. Not my photo, but he looked just like this:

>191 karenmarie: I loved The Big Year. Such a fun book. The film was pretty fun too, although not totally like the book.

>193 karenmarie: WOW! What a cool sighting. I would love to see one. They are so beautiful. We have a very cheerful and friendly cardinal that visits in the morning and sits on the feeder and sings for a while, then comes over to the porch outside the breakfast nook and has a look around, chirps at us for a bit, and then off he goes. There is a robin building a nest in the crook of a tree that's next to the screened porch - just where we can watch. I need to get some suet and some meal worms so we can add variety to our visitors.

>193 karenmarie: Very cool, Karen! I've seen them in the wild, but it would be neat to have them come to a feeder.

Karen, I liked your description of "being bloated" with books upthread. I used to think that wasn't possible but then my multiple bookshelves became filled and I was hiding books behind doors, etc. Now I have a pretty good flow of books in and books out so I don't get book bloat again. Lol. Book sale coming up at the end of the month here. Woo Hoo! You sure got some good ones at your recent sale.

>191 karenmarie: The Big Year sounds like one I would enjoy too. I will have to see if my local library has a copy.

>194 nittnut: H Jenn! I'm on page 29 and have looked online for nearly every bird mentioned so far. This is going to be a slow, informative read this time. Dickcissels, Greater Scaups, Avocets? Way cool stuff!!

That is so cool to see the pattern of 'your' cardinal's morning visit. I haven't seen a robin yet, surprisingly. I'm debating about putting out some mealworms for the bluebirds, and the woodpeckers, blue jays, AND occasional cardinal love the suet. I've even seen sparrows and the goldfinches go for the suet.

>195 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! Neighbor Louise saw him 2 days ago and I was jealous, but today, there he was! Eating either wild bird seed or sunflower seeds. I couldn't tell because the tray under the 3-tube feeder allows both types to mix. I've got 2 filled with wild bird seed and one with sunflower seeds. The goldfinches like the sunflower seeds.

>196 Donna828: Yup, right now I can't think of a single book I want, Donna. I'll get over it soon, but now I don't have BAD (book acquisition disorder as per @alcottacre, Stasia).

Good luck at your book sale. This one was one of our better ones. On top of so many books for so many people, it netted the Friends of the Library about $19,600.

>197 alcottacre: Go for it, Stasia! It's really a lot of fun this time because of the birds, since I'm so much more interested in birding. I enjoyed it for 'the chase' last time.

>193 karenmarie: Oh this is a beautiful one. Never saw such a blue bird here at my place.
Happy Wednesday, Karen.

>193 karenmarie: That is a pretty bird, Karen, we don't have such beautiful colored birds around.

>199 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! He is beautiful. I haven't seen him since, though. Right now the blue jays are being domineering. They're gorgeous, too. What I particularly like about them is the pattern on their backs with their wings folded. Not my photos, alas.

....

>200 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! I've seen them here off and on over the years, but now that I'm belatedly compiling my life list, I was especially happy to see him.

Lots of errands today, starting in about 15 minutes or so - get access to one of Mom's checking accounts and her savings account, get a deep tissue massage, take Louise out to lunch, open a checking account at my bank with the proceeds from Mom's accounts.

>201 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! We have a few jays that visit our feeders from time to time. They are indeed pretty birds, but they can be bullies at the feeder — as are the grackles, a small flock of whom are regular visitors at our place. I don't especially mind their coming to call, however (unless they chase off something that I was watching at the moment), as our particular flock includes a few of one of my favorite birds, the red-winged blackbird. They always remind me of the countryside. I haven't yet managed a good photo of one of the males with epaulets showing, but I hope to get one sometime.

Dad and I were talking on his balcony when we heard this loud bird and Dad said it was starnge that a small creature could be so loud. Turned out it was a cardinal. Very pretty.

My most current regular visitors to the feeder are the lovely goldfinches. I am still seeing the other regulars (nuthatches, sparrows, chickadees, cardinals, and even the juncos are still around) but the goldies are just having regular conventions at my place. They are so pretty, and vocal!! I often hear blue jays but don't see them very often

Good morning Karen!

>186 karenmarie: I'm using the challenges to cut down books that I already have on hand; many of them I have wanted to read for years, but just don't get to them. Yup, I have a case of 'book bloat' going on.

That being said, two books came into my mail box yesterday. One is an out of print novel that I planned to read quickly and then pass on to the friend who mentioned loaning it out twenty years ago and regretted never getting it back. (Drat - it's not in the condition described, which is a whole 'nother rant, so I'll be sending it back and looking for another copy).

I'm loving all the birds you see!

>202 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! There were 3 jays this morning and they do scare other birds off because they are so big. I had to leave before the cowbird herd showed up, but did see a White-throated Sparrow, a Tufted Titmouse, a male Cardinal, and a Chipping Sparrow. There was a hummingbird in the crepe myrtle, but he didn’t come to the feeder while I was looking. Good luck getting pictures.

>203 SomeGuyInVirginia: Cardinals are absolutely gorgeous with all that red and black. Even the females and juveniles are distinctly cardinal. Yay for you and your Dad hanging out on the balcony, too.

>204 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! I saw a few Goldfinches yesterday, including the drab-by-comparison females. Goldfinches definitely make me think spring.

>205 streamsong: Good morning, Janet! I admire people who participate in challenges, but I find that when I sign up for one, I immediately get anxious. It’s too much like school homework. Having said that, I am participating in the Bible as Literature group read and am slogging through 1 Chronicles. I’m a bit behind but not much. I need to have 2 Chronicles and Ezra read by the end of April.

I’ve returned books when the condition isn’t as stated too, SO frustrating. Yes, whole ‘nother rant, and I’m still not twitching for books. BAD in abeyance, book bloat active.

I'm having so much fun with the birds right now. We’ve even bought a new bird feeding set up for the back because the old wooden pole we have isn’t stable any more. It’s our anniversary gift to ourselves. 26 years next Thursday. We’ll work on getting the new pole/stations up this weekend. It’s way cool because it has eight stations, so I can expand from the 4 I have to immediately having 6 by adding the thistle feeder and a hummingbird feeder. The last two we’ll slowly figure out. Maybe another suet feeder with different suet? Fun problem to have!

And, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, (to borrow from Fiddler on the Roof) I got a cashier's check from Mom's bank for 2 of her accounts that were not trust-related and can open up an account at MY bank with it to keep her funds separate from husband's and mine. I'll do that later today or tomorrow morning.

Hooray for an indigo bunting! Not sure it gets any prettier than that. I saw my first one, while on a bike ride, a couple years ago. No visits at my feeder though.

Been seeing lots of blue jays lately too, on the route.

Morning, Karen.

>206 karenmarie: Nice. I don't know whether our one white-throated sparrow is still around; the juncos seem to have all left at last. We do have chipping sparrows coming to the feeders.

Enjoy your new feeding station! We're going to try a hummingbird feeder this year. Our neighbor gets them, and we had one visit our climbing roses last year (the roses at last were large enough to prove tempting), so we thought we'd offer something more this time around. I'm also planning to make an upside-down suet feeder using one of the basic suet cages that we have around -- we have an open hook on one of the poles, and I think I'll put it there.

>207 msf59: Hi a day late, Mark! I haven't seen the Indigo Bunting since, but that one sighting was fantastic. The blue jays just visited my front porch feeder and have left for a while. Haven't seen the cowbirds yet, although there's a Chipping Sparrow sitting in the tray guzzling seeds. I'm sad - the crepe myrtle is leafing out and it's already getting harder to see the birds as the come in to jockey for position at the feeder.

>208 harrygbutler: I haven't seen juncos for a while, either. I'd be interested in seeing your 'upside-down suet feeder'. I'm thinking of putting out another suet feeder with suet with orange in it to see what might stop by.

I couldn't get to the bank yesterday, so will call my bank at 9 this morning, when they open, to make an appointment to set up a new account. They're a small branch and the banker is not always there.

I'm having a marvelous time re-reading The Big Year. I made some good headway last night and am on page 103.

Today will be banking, figuring out Mom's bills, and possibly dinner tonight with a friend. We discussed it a couple of days ago but I haven't heard back from her.

I want to retire! It's cool and rainy here, and last night I started The Moonflower by Beverley Nichols. It's perfect and I'd stay in bed until noon reading and scratching Parker's ears.

Morning, Karen. Sweet Thursday. I am still seeing the white throated at my feeder but have not seen the chipping sparrow lately.

And the finches are beginning to mob the finch feeders too.

>210 SomeGuyInVirginia: If I had a magic wand, Larry, I'd wave it over you and say "You're Retired!" and it would be so. Reading and scratching kitty ears go along together perfectly.

I've never heard of Beverley Nichols, but just did a bit of research. You'll have to tell me how you like The Moonflower.

>211 msf59: Hi Mark! Yes, sweet Thursday. Carolina blue skies with puffy white clouds. Yay sparrows and finches!

I was going to open an account at the bank my husband and I use for my Mom's funds that I got yesterday, but when I called to set up an appointment, the banker told me that they would hold a Cashier's check seven days. Cashier's checks are funds guaranteed by a bank. She made a half-hearted attempt to tell me they might be able to verify the funds, but it didn't sound like her heart was in it. I left the appointment open and took the Cashier's check back to Mom's bank to cash and go back to my bank, but instead opened a checking account there. Then, when I took some of the funds that I was being reimbursed to my bank, I was happy to tell them that I wasn't going to open the account. We've only had an account there for oh, about 15 or 20 years.

Husband said we might consider moving banks. Nothing in haste, but this isn't the first time they've been less than customer oriented.

The Stranger from the Sea by Winston Graham
4/9/17 to 4/17/17





The description from Amazon:

Cornwall 1810. The Poldark family awaits the return of Ross from his mission to Wellington's army in Portugal. But their ordered existence ends with Jeremy Poldark's dramatic rescue of The Stranger from the Sea. Stephen Carrington's arrival in the Poldark household changes all their lives. For Clowance and Jeremy in particular, the children of Ross and Demelza, Stephen's advent is the key to a new world—one of both love and danger.

Ross is 50, Demelza is 40. Jeremy and Clowance are growing up. This book takes place 11 years after The Angry Tide, and there is a bit of necessary catch up in both the Family Tree at the beginning and in the story as we get caught up on existing characters and introduced to new ones.

We meet a grown up Geoffrey Charles, fighting Boney in Portugal, learn about Demelza’s brothers, and Dwight and Caroline, and quite a bit about George Warleggan and son Valentine. Clowance and Jeremy both start paying attention to the opposite sex, expanding the social group.

And even with the passing of the generational baton, so speak, there are good moments between Ross and Demelza and philosophical moments when each thinks about her/his life with candor and wisdom.

All the books have humorous moments. This one just struck me as hilarious:

The sound of voices had penetrated the open door, for Prudie came out, wiping her hands on her filthy apron and all smiles, followed by a duck which trailed eight tiny ducklings behind her.

‘So they’ve hatched!’ exclaimed Clowance. ‘All safe? When?’

‘Ah, twas some time we ‘ad wi’ ‘em. Nosy didn’t have ‘nough feathers to cover ‘em all. She were restless as a whitneck, turning back and forth. So seems me if she was to hatch all eight twer fitty she should be ‘elped. So I hatched three myself.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Down ‘here.’ Prudie pointed at her fat bosom. ‘Kept’em thur night and day, night and day. Twer not uncomfortable day times, but night I was feared I should overlay them.’

‘Proper Johnny Fortnight she looked,’ Jud said. ‘And what ‘bout me? What ‘bout me? She paid scant ‘eed. Never a moment but what she wur thinking of her eggs. “Cann’t do that there,” she’d say, “else I’ll crush me eggs.” “Don’t shake me when I help ee up, else ye’ll shake me eggs.” “Cann’t go out today, cos I’ve got to sit wi’ me eggs.” Great purgy!’

Prudie said: ‘I wish ye’d been buried in a stone box and put away alive; that’s what did oughter’ve been done to ee, twenty year agone when you almost was. Come inside, Miss Clowance, and I’ll make ee a dish o’ tay.’

‘I’m going on to Pally’s Shop,’ said Clowance. ‘But thank you.’

‘And look at ‘em now they’m hatched!’ Jud went on. ‘Squirty little things. Hens an’t so durty. Hens ye can live with. Hens drop their droppings like a gentleman, like you’d expect. Ducks squirt. Look at our kitchen floor already, lampered all over wi duck squirtings!’

‘Hold thi clack!’ said Prudie, getting annoyed. ‘Else I’ll leave ee there to freeze when the sun d’go down. Miss Clowance ‘ave better things to do than to listen to ee grumbling away.’

‘Tedn right,’ shouted Jud. ‘Tedn proper. Tedn fitty. All them ducks squirting anywhere where they’ve the mind to squirt. Tedn decent!’

I can’t resist writing like that.

>209 karenmarie: I'll share a photo once I get it built, Karen. Good luck with the orange flavor, if you try it!

>212 karenmarie: - Banks are a pain. My husband has wanted tos witch for years, but we got all sorts of benefits from having our mortgage there, but now that we don't have the mortgage, it might be time...

I really need to start the Poldark series!

>214 harrygbutler: Great, Harry! I think we'll get an orange suet or two at the local Southern States, then if the birds really go for it I'll buy in bulk from Amazon.

>215 katiekrug: Hi Katie! Ugh, yes they are. The only way to get them is by leaving. Maybe it is time. *smile* And make sure you tell them why you're leaving.

It's a very good series. And just think, there are 12 books.

I saw the Indigo Bunting again just now - he was in the crepe myrtle and back and forth to the feeder for about 5-8 minutes or so. He's a beauty.

Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
4/3/17 to 4/19/17





The description from Amazon:

In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father—a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man—has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey—first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance.

I find Barack Obama a compelling author and reader, much as I found him a compelling President. This memoir is bursting with personality and life. He brings to life the black American accent of Chicago and New York, the Kansas inflections of his maternal grandparents and mother, and the black African accents of his father’s family. We see the potential problem child, the reluctant college student, the activist, the law student, son, friend, brother, and grandson. If I hadn’t respected and liked Barack Obama before reading this book, I certainly would respect and like him now. The bonus material at the end of the audiobook is his electrifying keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. I got shivers just listening to it.

>217 karenmarie: - And to think he wrote this book in 1995 (well, that was when it was first published), long before the Presidency was even on the horizon for him. The man can write and I, too, loved this book, and him! I can't wait for his next book (as I'm sure must be in the making, as we speak. Right?)

Hi Shelley! I still have The Audacity of Hope to read, which is kind of exciting, actually. An articulate man, with thoughtful opinions shaped over time, and a strong moral and ethical compass.

So different than president tweet, alas.

I sure do hope that Barack Obama has another book or two in him!

I listened to both of Obamas books on audio, with him reading but found the second one less appealing only because it was more about politics, and the first, more about the person, himself.

I despise trump so much but last night, I had a funny thought. I happened to see a picture in the newspaper of the President of North Korea while I was sitting at the dealership waiting for my car and I practically laughed out loud at his *hairdo*. For half a second I wondered why trump hadn't made fun of it until I realized that that was the last thing he ought to be doing. It would be like the pot calling the kettle black, or something. But then I thought, here is a solution to the world's problems: put them both on an isolated island somewhere, armed with all the tools and ammunition of the hair industry: hair spray cannisters, scissors, toxic dyes, blow driers, etc, and whoever is left standing, wins. And leave the rest of the world to live in peace.

They are both such blowhards, and very scary. If only things could be so simple....

Hi again!

Huh. A hair-off with two crazies, safe for the world. They are both blowhards, dangerous to our world. I think I shocked my sister yesterday when I said that it wouldn't hurt my feelings to hear that the orange bloviating gasbag was no more. We have to agree to disagree about politics - it makes me sad, because other than that and religion, she's a very smart woman.

The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik
4/18/17 to 4/21/17





The description from Amazon:
Every January 1, a quirky crowd storms out across North America for a spectacularly competitive event called a Big Year -- a grand, expensive, and occasionally vicious 365-day marathon of birdwatching. For three men in particular, 1998 would become a grueling battle for a new North American birding record. Bouncing from coast to coast on frenetic pilgrimages for once-in-a-lifetime rarities, they brave broiling deserts, bug-infested swamps, and some of the lumpiest motel mattresses known to man. This unprecedented year of beat-the-clock adventures ultimately leads one man to a record so gigantic that it is unlikely ever to be bested. Here, prize-winning journalist Mark Obmascik creates a dazzling, fun narrative of the 275,000-mile odyssey of these three obsessives as they fight to win the greatest -- or maybe worst -- birding contest of all time

With my new-found interest in bird watching, I decided to re-read this book. This reading was to learn about birds and birdwatchers. The first reading was for the fun of it and the competition.

This is the story of Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller, going for a Big year in 1998. Each of them spent tens of thousands of dollars, drove and flew tens of thousands of miles, obsessed almost exclusively for the entire year, and came away rewarded, exhausted, and ended up one of the top three for Big Year 1998. 1998 was the year of an extraordinary El Nino effect, which tore up the old rules and had birds showing up in the oddest places at the oddest times. The most interesting thing to me about this book is that once a bird was successfully confirmed, each man turned away, anxious to find the next bird.

Interspersed with each man’s quest and individual successes and failures are the history of bird watching in the US, how bird migration patterns were discovered and explained, and the lore of many of the over 700 birds each man was able to count for the year. I don’t say saw, because at least one memorable bird was counted by song alone, fair within the rules. It’s a story of competition, camraderie, seasickness, and all good things about obsessing over birds.

There are websites devoted to reporting rare birds, bird watching tours, boat rides, and even camps for finding rare birds.

A fun book, chock full of info, chock full of humor, and a glimpse into the lives of serious birders.

The movie is good too :)

Hi Brenda!

I'll track it down one of these days and maybe even make my husband watch it with me!

Hullo Karen! I found you! Stopping by to bestow my thumb. Some great reading/reviews here. Looking forward to following you.

Yay, Marianne! Thanks for visiting. I'm looking forward to getting to know you here and on your thread this year, too!

TGIF smooches from afar!

Thanks. my new friend!! I've done a few good things today - finished a book, wrote two reviews, went through some of my Mom's bills, wrote an e-mail to her lawyer, saw a few neat birds, talked with my daughter.

Dinner will be with a RL book club friend tonight. That should be fun. My eyes are a bit dry and strained, so I'll get off the computer for a while and just do a bit of boxing up stuff in the sunroom. Too much stuff out!!!!!

Whew! Hectic day!

Do enjoy your RL book club friend! Sounds like you need some downtime.

>213 karenmarie: I need to get back to the Poldark series. I still have only read the first one.

>222 karenmarie: I will be reading that one soon.

49 posts behind! How did that happen?????
>193 karenmarie: OH. MY. GOODNESS!!!! I am envious beyond saying. WHAT a gorgeous bird!
I bought jelly beans for the first time in 10 years day before yesterday. I'd send you the licorice and cinnamon ones if only I could. My first love is tiramisu........ Anyway, I'm doing fairly well - eating one at a time but making many trips past the jb container.
I sort of hope your life settles down now, but you may thrive on all that's happening.

Just catching up, Karen. I see lots of interesting reading and colourful birds. Good luck getting the banks to be reasonable but at least you are getting something done with your Mom's estate.

>172 karenmarie: Sister told me years later that she did it because she loved us, making me feel like crap.
Aw! That is so lovely.
I remember hearing on LT someone (was it Joe?) saying that his brother never liked reading as a kid, but did anyway. When the family asked him about it later on in life, he said- I just did it because everyone else was, and I felt left out if I didn't.
When I read that I was all- aaaaw! Sweet, but, also sad.

>222 karenmarie: another new birder!

>229 michigantrumpet: I was tired last night, Marianne.

>230 vancouverdeb: I had fun with Tamsie last night, Deborah. She had loaned me a book that I never read. It was the first book in a series and we are reading the second book for RL book club for the May meeting. Don’t ask me why the woman who picked the book didn’t pick the first one, but there you go. Anyway, Tamsie said that it was slavery porn, so I’m just as glad that I didn’t read it. And I’ll probably miss the May meeting by going to CA. We talked about her children and my child and birds and her knitting retreat – I never even knew there was such a thing! – and had a great time.

>231 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I keep plugging along, enjoying it. I now have all 12 and just pulled #9, The Miller’s Dance as my next fiction book. I hope you like The Big Year!

>232 LizzieD: The Indigo Bunting visited me again yesterday in the afternoon, and then I saw him at the feeders in the back late in the day! I continue to be thrilled.

One at a time? Wow, Peggy, I’m seriously impressed, even if you walk past the jb jar frequently.
I’m beginning to settle down, although life does continue to throw curve balls. I don’t remember if I mentioned that we have a brother, not heard from since about 2008. I think he’s still in Arizona, where he went after Mom kicked him out of the house after Dad died. The lawyer told me recently that when Mom disinherited Doug, she could only disinherit him from one of the two subtrusts, so he’s still eliglble for 1/6 of her estate. I’m glad, since there are a lot of reasons why my brother has had most of the problems of his life that are directly attributable to the way Mom and Dad treated him. Not all, but definitely some.

I occasionally come up for air and think “I feel pretty good today!”

>233 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg! Yes, birds and books are all good right now. And once I get the Affidavit of Successor Trustee and Certification document from Mom's lawyer, I can get the rest of her funds and take the next steps. I have to keep remember that this stuff takes time, perhaps a year or two.

>234 LovingLit: I’ve been in a remembering and contemplative mood since my mother had the stroke and then died soon after. ‘Sweet, but, also sad” memories crop up frequently.
Excellent, new birder! I just watched a Tufted Titmouse have a hard time breaking open a sunflower seed and a blue jay chase off some sparrows. A fe,a;e cowbird is sitting in the feeder tray guzzling seed. It’s a beautiful Carolina spring day.

Today is errands and relaxing.

Good morning, Karen!

The estate stuff wears on forever, doesn't it! Last week I went through boxes and boxes and boxes of papers, but some stuff is still missing. I have an appointment with an accountant friend of my son's on Wednesday - he said bring what I have and that he will help get the missing documents. That is such a relief! I can't believe how stressful going through Mom's paperwork was.

Today is yard work. It's supposed to be quite rainy tomorrow and the rest of the week, so I'll put off the indoor stuff until tomorrow. Except of course reading.

Hi Janet!

Yes, it does. I'm sorry you're going through it, too, and the stress of going through paperwork and things is horrible.

We're supposed to get rain tomorrow, too. Husband wants to put up the new bird feeding station today. We might do that after errands.

There always has to be reading. I totally agree.

We had the energy to augur the bottom third of the pole into our glorious Chatham County red clay down about 2 feet, then assemble the new feeding station. Feeders back on, and already the birds are here visiting, even the Indigo Bunting. This picture is before the birds showed up. We were worried that it might take a while for them to go to it, but within 20 minutes there were cowbirds, sparrows, and the bunting. Joy!

Hi Karen, hope you are having a really good weekend my dear, I have both of Barack Obama's books to read, they have been on the TBR for quite a long time. Sending love and hugs dear lady.

Thank you, John, so far so good! And tomorrow is Playmakers Repertory with my friend Louise to see the last of our 6-event season tickets, My Fair Lady. It should be wonderful, with lunch out first. It also gets Louise some respite from the almost 24/7 caring for her husband who has dementia. Her daughter and husband will probably just come over and stay with Harold instead of take him out, which would be a good diversion for him, but at least they're doing that!

Sending love and hugs back to you and Karen.

Enjoy My Fair Lady tomorrow Karen and have a nice lunch out my dear.

> 238 karenmarie - Great looking feeding station!

Ours fell down in big storm last year and haven't seen a good and affordable replacement -
what is the brand of this one?

Thank You.

>241 johnsimpson: Thank you, John!

>242 m.belljackson: Hi Marianne! Thank you.

This one is called Squirrel Stopper. Here's the link on Amazon: Squirrel Stopper

Looks great, Karen! Lucky you. I wish I had that kind of space

>69 karenmarie: What a great collection of books acquired!

Wew, finaly caught up here. Lots of things were going during the past few days at your place.
Sorry to hear about the bank troubles. It's so annoying, isn't it.
Glad to hear you had a nice book club meetup.
Hooray for My Fair Lady. I love this musical.

Happy Sunday, Karen.

>244 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley. We know that we're lucky to have land.

>245 Whisper1: Hi Linda! Thanks. Of course I've only read two of them - short ones at that - but might pick one out after I read the 9th Poldark The Miller's Dance. I'm on page 132 and it's very good. The focus has shifted away somewhat from Ross and Demelza and there is more about their children.

>246 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! Yes, things seem to have gotten busy over here again. Ebb and flow. I had dinner with one book club member only. Book club meets May 7th to read Glory Over Everything by Kathleen Grissom, the sequel to The Kitchen House. Having not read the first book and not planning on reading the second, this is the 4th book of our book club year I haven't read. I have read 3 of them and liked them: The Golem and the Jinni, Travels with My Aunt, and The Old Man and the Sea. And I'm really looking forward to time with Louise and My Fair Lady.

>238 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! Nice feeding station, and good that you had such a quick response to it.

Thank you, Harry! My husband and I couldn't believe how easy it was to put up. The hard part was auguring it into our dense clay soil, but we managed. The rest was easy. The Squirrel Stopper is well engineered. Everything fit just so and was made to be assembled easily. You can't say that about too many things any more!

By the end of the day we'd had sparrows, Goldfinches, Cowbirds, the Indigo Bunting, a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, and about 6-7 Mourning Dove on the ground after husband salted the area under the new feeder with seed.

There's also a new pattern going on - more birds are using the bird bath, which is now farther away from the feeders. Husband noticed it late in the day. They are going back and forth between the feeders and the bird bath.

>247 karenmarie: - Karen, I recently bought Glory Over Everything but hadn't realized it was a sequel to The Kitchen House, which I thought I had somewhere on the shelf but can't seem to find now. I have made a note to look for it at my used bookstore when I go later in the week. I prefer to read such things in order, if I can so thanks for that bit of info.

You're very welcome, Shelley! This is the second time a book club member has chosen a sequel to a book most of us haven't read. Sigh.

I used to not mind reading things out of order, but the older and more persnickety I get, the more importance reading order has for me.

>249 karenmarie: Nice! Did you get the orange-flavored suet to try yet? You've got me thinking about adding a different flavor to our mix — maybe I'll put something different in my upside-down feeder (weather permitting, perhaps I'll get that built today).

I actually noticed a chipping sparrow on my feeder yesterday! They are easy to recognize (compared to other sparrows) but I don't see them very often!

>238 karenmarie: I LOVE your bird-feeder station! How cool is that! I think it is important to have it set up near trees and hedges, so the birds can take refuge if needed. Is that a double-sided suet feeder? Have the squirrels stayed off it?

Morning, Karen! Happy Sunday. Our feeders have been bustling too. Nothing new but the white-throated and chipping sparrows are still dropping by.

I do not get as much activity at my birdbath but I do see them drink from it on occasion. I need to freshen it up today.

>252 harrygbutler: Hi Harry! Not yet. I'll need to get another suet feeder. I think I'll go back to the first one I had: Suet Feeder with Tail Prop It broke when the dratted squirrels knocked it off and it cracked against the rip rap (shot stone).

There are 8 feeding stations on the new feeder. So far I've got 2 wild bird seed, 1 sunflower, 1 thistle (nyjer), and one suet. I want to add another suet feeder with orange or other different suet from what I'm already using, a hummingbird feeder, and possibly another sunflower feeder. If not sunflower, then I'll have to learn what else is available.

I hope you can get your other feeder built today!

>253 jessibud2: Congratulations, Shelley! I think they are adorable. What other birds have you seen recently?

I am not really an ornithologist, Karen, but I think it a great idea to take good care of the little fellas.

Have a wonderful Sunday. xx

>255 karenmarie: - Karen, I have a nice, if not extraordinary, variety on a regular basis. Remember, I live in a small townhouse, not much space. I have one feeder, a tube feeder that has a spring-loaded cage that slides closed over the 4 ports if anything heavier than a songbird lands on it. It has been remarkably effective in keeping the squirrels off! :-)

My most frequent regulars lately are the lovely goldfinches, males in full brilliant yellow now, regular house sparrows, chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, house finches and I am still seeing juncos, too. Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal have been back daily and the usual mourning doves, and as well, I have noticed that the male downy woodpecker has been around the last several days. I had white-breasted nuthatches for a few weeks visiting daily which was cool as that was a first for me.

>254 msf59: Hi Mark! Looks like we cross-posted. Thanks re the new station. We left the feeders on it last night on purpose (I've been taking them in recently) and the levels hadn't gone down significantly and none were on the ground. The station is near enough to 2 sets of bushes and lots of oak and pine trees. The suet feeder is double sided. I've got the same kind in both sides, but will get another suet feeder and put in orange or other exotic type to possibly attract different birds.

Husband mentioned millet for the 8th feeder, and in addition to the birds we're already getting we might get Pine Siskins and Grosbeaks, which are definitely out here.

Our birdbath was more for the cat to drink from than the birds until yesterday, so perhaps moving it might change the pattern.

Happy Sunday to you, too!

>256 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul! We've had feeders ever since I moved out here in 1991 to marry my husband and I'm sure he had feeders 'way before then. It's just that I'm now getting seriously interested in watching them and making my life list. Sunday will be fun with luncheon and a matinee to see My Fair Lady with dear friend Louise.

>257 jessibud2: I've always been too cheap to buy a spring-loaded squirrel-proof feeder, and perhaps with the new station I won't need to. I haven't seen a single nuthatch yet. You get a great variety, for sure.
Just now a Tufted Titmouse grabbed a sunflower seed and zoomed back into the crepe myrtle to crack it and eat it. I can see movement in the tree from several birds, but with the tree leafing out I can't easily identify them any more.

>258 karenmarie: - When I first moved to my house, I hung up 4 feeders that were cute but terribly messy. And too easy for the squirrels and raccoons to access and eventually break. And, as I learned, too many for such a small space. I switched to a shell-less seed (sunflower hearts) and settled for one good feeder. I have been pleased with the results. Except for a patch of bare ground directly beneath the feeder that the squirrels scratch bare, at least the rest of the lawn and my garden look decent. Once, I moved the feeder and put grass seed where the previous bare patch was. The grass grew, filled in the bare spot, and now, there is a new bare spot. I think I have just learned to compromise... ;-)

>259 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! Our feeding station's old spot allowed the birds to dump seed all over a little gravel area, the rip rap, and the gravel walkway. In moving the station further up the gravel path, it will make the area closer to the house look better. The gravel under the station will get scratched away in a quick hurry, I think. Last night I saw perhaps 15-20 birds under the station about 6-ish - Mourning Doves, Cowbirds, a few Sparrows, and, amazingly, THREE Indigo Buntings.

Feeding birds is always messy, but the reward is worth it, right?

My feeder on the front porch has allowed the birds to perch on the railings, leaving tiny red clay prints on the white..... I washed it the other day, but I think that perhaps once a week it will need to be washed to keep it the pristine white we gained when we had the house/porches painted last fall.

....
I wish that those of you who love musicals could have come with me to the Chapel Hill Playmakers Repertory Company's production of My Fair Lady yesterday. It is a small venue, perhaps 500 seats. Our season tickets are almost center stage, on the 6th row mezzanine. Perfect for viewing all the action.

There was live music, two pianos. Singing, staging, costumes, were all beautifully done. The actors were a combination of Rep and outside. The man who played Alfred P. Doolittle, for example, has a long career in stage, TV, and movies.

Today is rain, rain, rain. Flood watches are up in the county, but no flood warnings yet. We are safe, even though we have a creek. Last hurricane season's Matthew caused it to flood, turning a 10-15 foot wide creek into a 200-foot wide fast flowing river for a day. Our house is well above the flood plain.

The Miller's Dance is coming along nicely.

"THREE Indigo Buntings."!! Sounds like a poem. Nothing like seeing that splash of color at the feeders.

Morning, Karen. Sorry, to hear about the rain. We should have low 70s and sunshine. Good day to be off.

Good morning, Karen. Wishing you a wonderful start into the new week.

>261 msf59: I love 'em. Getting this new feeding station was a good idea - husband's of course, although I was very unhappy with what we had.

Yay sunshine, yay day off!

>262 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara! I had a bit of insomnia. I think after finishing this cup of coffee and reading a bit I'll go try to sleep again.

Sorry to hear about your insomnia. I thought it was a bit early for you starting to post. I hope you get some more sleep.

Thanks, Barbara. Sigh. Mom estate stuff. I will be SO happy when this is all over. I worry too much.

Good morning, Karen! Sorry about the estate stuff, but I'm glad you enjoyed the show yesterday!

>260 karenmarie: Today is rain, rain, rain
The same here continuing tomorrow :-(
The garden needs the rain, but temperatures are low for April. I am no fan of warm weather but even I start to long for higher temperatures...

>265 karenmarie: So sorry that it takes so much time to settle your mom's estate. I understand the worries, Frank is taking care of the 3rd estate in a row (his aunt), after those of his mom in 2010 and dad in 2012. At least this should be the last one he has to handle.

I love your squirrel proof feeder. What a pretty yard you have!

The show sounds wonderful. I'm glad you had such a good time.

Rain here, too. In fact it's predicted to be rainy all week. Guess I should be taking advantage and working on indoor stuff.

>266 katiekrug: Hi Katie! Thank you. I'd forgotten that Get Me To The Church On Time was from My Fair Lady - what a happy surprise! Simple pleasures...

>267 FAMeulstee: We're the same, Anita, low temperatures and needed rain. We're 4" behind for this time of year - mlld drought. You can't tell by looking because the trees have leafed out.

Poor Frank! Third estate. Here's hoping that his aunt's is not as messy as my Mom's.

>268 streamsong: Thanks, Janet! And thank you re my yard.

I think our rain is supposed to end tomorrow. But I will be working on indoor stuff today, too, rather than power wash the deck and porches.

Morning, Karen. Getting ready to go out on a solo excursion, taking advantage of another lovely day. Wish me luck for a first-timer.

Sorry, to hear about your continuing rain. Bummer.

Good luck on your solo expedition! I hope many birds show themselves.

Cold and rainy. Blech.

>260 karenmarie: No rain here until tonight, but then through the day tomorrow, so I'm going to have to try to make time to move another strawberry plant or two today, and maybe get a few ground cherries planted.

The production of My Fair Lady sounds enjoyable. We only manage to get to one or two plays a year, despite having several nearby theaters, because too many of the selections just don't spark our interest. We do have plans to go see John Webster's The White Devil in Philadelphia in a few weeks, and this summer we'll likely drive up to see Troilus and Cressida at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

It's great that you have a solid rep company close by. The theater is a 1000 times better than movies.

Hi Harry!

I see six plays a year with the season tickets that I have. Husband doesn't like plays, so fortunately my friend Louise and I buy the subscriptions and have a lovely time out with lunch then the matinee.

Good luck getting things done before the rain hits.

You are having some life, Karen! Enjoy the good stuff and have patience with the tedious and trying!
Mama and Graham saw the first hummingbird here Saturday, but I haven't been that lucky. Today we get inches of rain - I devoutly hope not the 5 or so that some are predicting - and it's cool again. I like that!
Nothing else except that I'm trying to read two first books in two series in order to read second books that I either own or have on the way.... City of Blades and Theodora. I'll finish my J. Swift bio (which I enthusiastically recommend) before the week is out, but I'm way behind on my 75 - as usual.

Happy Monday to you!

Hi Peggy! I like the rain to alleviate the very mild drought we're in; it's only 53F, getting to 61F today, and I like being able to put on my LLBean moccasins, too. I hope you do not get the 5 inches predicted!

I'm a little over halfway through The Miller's Dance, the 9th Poldark. It is coming along nicely.

>274 karenmarie: We came close to getting season tickets for our in-town theater group this year, but there just weren't enough appealing plays.

Louise and I just figure that everything we've seen so far has either been excellent or very good except for one play we only remember as "good" out of 3 years, so just take the plunge.

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain. Unless is drenching us here. Goodness.

>260 karenmarie: It's one of my favorites. I would have come. :) Except I would have been terrible (sniff, snort, ACHOO!) company. Lol

Glad you're getting your Clowance Allowance, Karen.
It was cool for us again today, and we got only a bit over 3½" - more than we needed but not 5!

Happy Tuesday, Karen.

Hi Karen--All caught up again on birds, settling estates, Presidential hair wars, books and annoying bookclub members who choose the second in the series as their read (LOL). Happy Tuesday!

Morning, Karen! Did it stop raining? I sure hope so. I am back to work today but I still have a bit of a buzz on from the pileated. Grins...

>280 nittnut: We’ve had probably 4.5” total from Sunday through this morning. It's just drizzling now, but looks like at least one more wave is coming through. I’m sorry you’re still sick, Jenn. My Fair Lady has never been a favorite although I've liked it, but I think it's now made the list. We overheard a woman in line to get on the elevator in the parking deck after the show say that it is the best live production of My Fair Lady she's ever seen. It's only my first, but it sets a high bar.

>281 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! I like that, Clowance Allowance. She’s called off her marriage with Stephen, smart girl. I’m worried about Demelza and this pregnancy. I’m on page 370 of 485, so will probably finish it today.

I hope the Lumber is behaving itself. Our creek looks to be just within its banks. The birds look drenched.

>282 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara! Today will be mostly reading, some putting away of books, dinner with a friend unless the 5-7” of rain that areas west of us have gotten will prevent her from safely meeting me. Lots of streets are flooded out near Raleigh and Durham.

>283 Berly: Hi Berly! I’m glad to see you here. I’ve just taken my first sip of coffee, the kitties are fed, the husband is hopefully safely arrived at work in this weather we’ve been having. I’m going to do a bit of the Bible-as-Literature reading to try to stay caught up although I must say that Kings and Chronicles are a slog for me.

>284 msf59: Good morning, Mark! No, it hasn’t stopped raining although its just drizzling right now. It looks like there’s at least one more heavy round coming our way. I'm very lucky to be safe and sound, no leaks in the house, able to just stay home.

I’d be buzzing from seeing the Pileated Woodpecker AND getting to study him for about 10 minutes, too! *Grins* back.

Hi, Karen! Have a great Tuesday — stay dry!

Hi Harry!

We got a bit more rain, but not much. It will be chilly tonight, mid 50s, but tomorrow will be in the 80s, so it will probably be humid.

Husband and I have been watching Doc Martin over the years, and finally got all of season 5 watched. We just watched episode 1 of season 6 and it was an absolute riot.

Off to finish The Miller's Dance, I hope.

LOVE Doc Martin........ We watch on regular UNC and UNC-Explorer, wherever they happen to be, and I bought a used copy of the first year. Good stuff!
We had some flooding - as in water over the curb here and there, but it has gone down, and I don't think there was any permanent damage. I haven't looked at the river, I'm ashamed to say, but I will tomorrow for sure. I do dread the resumption of very warm weather although I was happy to see the sun late this afternoon.
We occasionally have a pileated in our neighborhood, and while I love to see him, it's not good because it means that his normal habitat is shrinking. I first saw them 40 years ago near the coast on what was then a lonely bit of marshland on the Shallotte River. Amazing bird! Imagine that the Ivory Bill was larger - GOOD LORD!

Happy Wednesday, Karen. Here it's raining.

>288 LizzieD: Hi Peggy!

There was quite a bit of flooding in Raleigh, apparently, and lots of accidents. I, too, dread the resumption of very warm weather and it sounds like we're both going into a season we don't particularly relish.

New knowledge! I've never heard of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, but the trusty Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds website says The largest of the woodpeckers north of Mexico and the third largest in the world, thought to be extinct in the mid 20th century but The bird was rediscovered in the "Big Woods" region of eastern Arkansas in 2005. Wouldn't that be a sight!

>289 Ameise1: Hi Barbara! Thank you. Here it's overcast with bits of blue showing between clouds. It's supposed to be clear, hot, and humid today.

Happy Wednesday, Karen! Like Barbara, we are having rain :)

Hi, Karen! It's gray at the moment here, but supposed to clear up later in the day. The rain may be over. I'll have to check my main rain barrel to see how full it got, and possibly start lugging the water over to the barrel set up near the main garden for drip irrigation.

>290 karenmarie: There have been no sightings of the ivory-billed since the apparent rediscovery in 2005, despite some extensive searching, so unfortunately it isn't quite certain that it is still around, but it would be great to see one.

>291 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I personally love rainy days, as long as I can sit cuddled up with a book and a beverage.

>292 harrygbutler: Hello Harry. Gardening work is never done...

I wonder if the sightings were incorrect? Or, sadly, if the bird went extinct after that?

>290 karenmarie:, >292 harrygbutler: - I remember hearing all the buzz about the Ivory-billed when it was first being talked about. In fact, a friend gave me a book called The Grail Bird which I am embarrassed to say still awaits, unread, on my shelf. It has a sticker on the cover proclaiming it *The ONLY firsthand account*. The whole thing makes me a bit skeptical but who really knows. My instinct is that it probably is indeed extinct, but it sure stirs the imagination!

Hi Shelley! It does stir the imagination, doesn't it? Imagine seeing such a large and prehistoric bird flying through the trees. I saw an image of The Grail Bird when I looked at images of the Ivory-Billed on my search engine.

Now I'm interested in woodpeckers and will do some more research later today.

The Miller’s Dance by Winston Graham
4/22/17 to 4/26/17





The description from Amazon:
Cornwall 1812. At Nampara, the Poldark family finds the new year brings involvement in more than one unexpected venture. For Ross and Demelza there is some surprising—and worrying—news. And Clowance, newly returned from her London triumphs, finds that her entanglement with Stephen Carrington brings not only happiness but heartache. As the armies battle in Spain, and the political situation at home becomes daily more obscure, the Poldark and Warleggan families find themselves thrust into a turbulent new era as complex and changing as the patterns of The Miller's Dance.

It is a bit hard to realize that characters who are not Demelza and Ross need to take over center stage occasionally, but when the characters are written so well and the plot so busy and interesting, the next generation is beginning to give me the same feelings of happiness and caring that the ‘first’ generation have.

Jeremy and Clowance continue along in their romantic involvements. Jeremy is a scientist, not a miner, and is starting to do great things with steam. He gets a rude lesson in love, money, and marriage. Clowance is beginning to identify her needs in a husband, much of it based on Ross and Demelza’s extraordinarily unusual relationship for the times. It causes surprise and consternation in her parents, but they support her in her actions and let her learn the easy way and hard way where her heart might lie. Ross and Demelza themselves are faced with new challenges and potential danger.

Isabella-Rose flits in and out, heavy handed, overloud, over-exuberant, nothing stopping her in her free life at Nampara. Geoffrey Charles Poldark and Valentine Warleggan are beginning to become more known, Geoffrey Charles fighting with the British Army, Valentine living the life of a rich young man with no thought for tomorrow.

Caroline and Dwight are peripheral, Demelza’s brothers Sam and Drake are peripheral. We are focused on Poldarks and Warleggans.

The writing continues excellent, the stories engrossing, the historical events seamlessly intertwined with the fictional characters. The character development continues to be detailed, incisive, and logical/emotionally valid. Even George Warleggan, in a surprising turn of events, has new issues facing him, new problems to solve, and a son and daughter to worry about as they reach adulthood and need to be ‘settled.’ He and Ross and still sworn enemies, and only time will tell how that falls out.

I can’t say enough good things about this series. This is the 9th, with 3 more to go.

Morning, Karen. Have you dried out there? We are expecting rain this afternoon, with much cooler temps coming in tonight. Boo! I want to leave my shorts on.

Hi Mark! Dry, 77F, a bit humid but not awful, blue sky with puffy white clouds floating through. A beautiful Carolina day, in fact.

You're going to get the cold rain we had. Sorry about that.

Yay! This weekend it's supposed to be in the 90s. Hurry up summer!

Larry, No, no, and no!!! No 90s. And no humidity. My least favorite season here in central NC.

Back, summer, I say, back!!

Oh, and please visit my new thread, #5 in the hit parade!