Bookmarque’s Padded Cell 2017 - Group Therapy Session 2

Here we are on to part 2. I suspect this one will get just as picture heavy as the last one, but for now it loads quick.

Wow. March went by fast! Here’s how it went for me -

16 books read
2 non-fiction, 14 fiction
4 audio, 1 ebook, 11 physical
9 by women, 7 by men
7 new authors, 9 I’ve read before



I’m adding a new thing this month - the most popular and most obscure book for the month. This will be according to the number of books cataloged here on LT as of the writing of this post.

The most popular (1797 copies) goes to For the Sake of Elena by Elizabeth George and the most obscure (15) is The Dark Room by Jonathan Moore. Not too surprising given that she is a decades-established writer and Moore has only released 2 books.

There weren’t any really outstanding books nor anything really terrible so take the best and worst with grains of salt -

Best = Coffin Road by Peter May because he managed the amnesia trope very well and tied it to an important ecological issue; that is the demise of the honeybee which will mean the death of most of us if happens.

Worst = All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage because it was a slow burn with a repulsive villain, but she didn’t give us a satisfying emotional end and that was disappointing.

No oldies again this month, only 1992 and the newest published this year.

You know those stumbling, inadequate reviews you can write when you've read a book that encompasses so much your brain can hardly get around it? Yeah. Here's one - http://www.librarything.com/work/23653/reviews/133841332

OMG this book was wrenching in so many ways, not the least of it that it was true. Now two accounts are on record for the sinking of the whaleship Essex when previously there was only one; the tale of the first mate Owen Chase. He and a handful of others survived 3 months in the Pacific in open whaleboats. They were reduced to mumbling, shambling skeletons where even eating their dead shipmates couldn't help them because they were too far gone.

Then there was what they did to the whales. I had to stop reading and skim a lot because it was just too heartbreaking.

Anyway...I don't regret reading it, not in the least. Philbrick is an excellent writer and does his research. I hear there is a movie based on this book, but I don't want to watch it. The book was intense enough.

>2 Bookmarque: I tried watching the movie because I'd heard good things about the book but I only made it about 20 minutes into it before I bailed. I just added the book to my OverDrive queue. It will be easy enough to run away screaming if I have to. Tough topic.* Loved your official LT review, btw.

Thanks clam. It was good, but troubling and now from what you said, I KNOW I couldn't handle the movie.

Funny how things end up sometimes. I finished some books today and yesterday and started 3 new ones just today -

Started -
and

I think I'm crazy, but they're so different that it works for me. The Stegner is an audio.

>5 Bookmarque: Usher's Passing isn't my favorite of his, but fairly entertaining anyway.

I have heard good things about Big Rock Candy Mountain and will be interested in your estimation of it.

I loved The Lemonade Springs Where the Bluebird Sings. I've only read two of his works, but loved them both.

It will be a while before any review because it's 25 hours long! But I do like Stegner having read Angle of Repose and The Spectator Bird more than one time each.

I don't think I've posted pictures in a while so here are some from very near the house taken in the last few weeks -

All very nice pics! I especially like the leaf in ice.

Thanks. Leaves in ice is always a popular thing with me and that one had really interesting texture.

I like that one too - you could print and frame it.

Lovely. Though they remind me of winter, which I'm trying to get over ;)

Love the pictures. I take it the house is abandoned?

Love the photos. They make me cold just looking at them!

Yup it's abandoned. I passed it twice today on my way to town. Here's the barn and silo next to it -



I've been meaning to shoot it for a year now, but wanted the right light and sky. This is pretty close.

Gosh that's a lovely shot

Thanks. More wintry-ness though. We won't have bud break for weeks, but the snow is melted anyway.

>15 Bookmarque: Brings back memories of my time in Northern Illinois. Sad to see, yet still lovely.

>15 Bookmarque: What do you think would happen if somebody tried to move in there? It still looks beautiful, even if decrepit (a condition that evokes my sympathies these days). To a homeless family, that place of shelter could be a life-saver.

They'd have to buy it I'm sure. Cops would probably come by and see what was going on if anyone tried to renovate.

I am only catching up on your Session 2 thread now and I am glad I did. The pictures are wonderful.

Mmmmm, love the photo with the white tree stems.

Thanks guys. The tree shot is a little grove of aspens that I love to pieces. I shoot it almost every time I walk through it. Here it is with leaves -



I think it's shot from the other direction looking to the spot where I took the winter scene.

>23 Bookmarque: Love that one, too!

Thanks MrsL.

I just went across the street into the woods because I'd long suspected either a lot of vernal pools or just a big one and there are a couple of big ones. The frogs are singing and barking and going a bit crazy out there. And I found one hepatica that is blooming. Spring is here.

Barking?

Great pics!

Thanks. And yeah, they do kinda bark; it's weird. Some of them chirp and trill and some of them sound like tiny dogs.

That aspen grove is gorgeous!

Every time I look at that birch picture I seem to hear someone reciting something about Hiawatha and a canoe and by the shores of Great Sea Water, by the shore of Gitchee Gumee -- but I can't quite make out the words. Beaut picture, anyway.

>23 Bookmarque: I love that hint of a path through the trees. Beautiful.

I love all the photos! You manage to find the beauty in every season.

Thanks peeps! Winter lasts a pretty long time up this way so if you can't find something to like about it, it's dreadful. I hike, ski and take photos so there's always something. Yesterday I want kayaking and it was the earliest I've ever put the boat in the water so I think spring may be here to stay.

And so far as I know, Hiawatha was from the great lakes area...possibly Minnesota. I think he was Ojibwe (aka Chippewa), but I don't know for sure. I guess I should google.

>32 Bookmarque: it was the earliest I've ever put the boat in the water

The changing climate seems to have the plants in a tizzy here. I have been finding plants that still appear to be at their autumn stage on one part and have already started producing new shoots, buds and even flowers on other parts.

And oddly enough we might get a little snow tonight. Not much though thankfully and it will melt the next day. Plants here seem normal enough, but who knows.

>34 Bookmarque: We were lucky on Friday and Saturday with clear blue skies and the temperature reached 20 C on Saturday. Sunday was cloudy again with the temperatures in the low teens. Today is beautiful and sunny but there is still a chill in the air. We worry about having a good spell now that starts the plants off and then a cold snap that brings frost and kills off the buds and the young plants.

That sounds like a usual spring to me. We can get hard frost into May here so everyone waits to plant stuff and I didn't rake the gardens out to bare soil so things could stay slightly mulched. But anything that grows here wild is hardy and I plant accordingly, too so it's not that bad. The sun is so glorious when we tilt back toward it.

Finished a couple of books yesterday. One was my early review copy of Woman No. 17 by Edan Lepucki. It was good enough for me to finish, but not good enough for me to keep so it’s on the To Give Away/Donate pile. Review is here - http://www.librarything.com/work/18616965/reviews/140394053

The other was The Wright Brothers by David McCullough and that one is good enough for me to keep. It was an excellent account of Orville and Wilbur’s invention of the first heavier-than air, powered plane. Just amazing how dedicated they were and how modest and realistic in their approach. Highly recommended. Oh and it’s also not a very long book. Instead it’s very focused and there isn’t a lot of scope creep that can happen in books like this. I haven’t put up a review yet. Maybe later.

As I’m leaving for a weekend getaway tomorrow I have only started one book on the iPad; Never Cry Wolf which is getting off to a shaky start for me because I find Mowat’s tone difficult. He’s super judgmental, pissed off and sarcastic; traits which seems to have developed during the years he’s writing about (1948) and when he wrote the book (1963). At times it is wryly funny, but in a biting and mean sort of way. Deserved or not, his barbs don’t make him all that appealing. I’ll keep with it for now though.

>37 Bookmarque: I was disappointed with California by Edan Lepucki. It seems like she has good ideas but can't quite execute them.

That's exactly it, Sakerfalcon. I got what she had in mind, but it didn't go anywhere. No ones lives seemed changed at all after their collisions. And insofar as "art" goes, I'm not sure what she was trying to say except that it's kind of a bogus situation and you're either derivative and an excuse of an artist, or you're a genius for doing something similar. It's all down to the charisma of the individual I think. In this book Esther/S was a "failed" artist whose ex-boyfriend was being lauded as a genius even though he was doing equally showy and in-your-face for the sake of being in-your-face work.

It snowed a little bit the other night so I went into the woods for a while before it all melted. I think I found my new project - vernal pools! There are a ton just a few minutes walk from my front door.

>40 Bookmarque: Lovely! But, ACK! Not what I'd be expecting to see in April. Love those vernal pools, though.

Just stopping in to thank you for the Philbrick bullet back up in post #2. To be honest it was just a partial bullet. I'd been hit in RL by someone in my now disbanded book group a couple of years back. Guess you could say he just winged me and you finished the job. I'm 1/3 of the way in and loving it.

>41 clamairy: I liked his Mayflower, a historical account, very much.

Brilliant pictures. So atmospheric.

>42 stellarexplorer: Own that one. Pretty sure I know where it is, too.

So pretty! Love the pools.

Thanks guys. The pools are really great and I think my project will be to seriously photograph them this year. Plus I got a book with a CD in the back that has recordings of different animal calls including frogs so I will know which are over there. So loud I though it was ducks or something.

I hope you like(d) In the Heart of the Sea, clam. It is a difficult subject in some ways, but an interesting and harrowing story.

Now I'm back from a quick weekend getaway in Phoenix, I discover the yard is awash in spring ephemerals. The hepatica and blood root are blooming, the anemone, trout lily and spring beauty are up, but not blooming. The moss is making a ton of new sporphytes. And also what I think might be trillium is up as well, but I'm not sure of the ID. I think I'll be putting the macro lens back on the camera today. In the mean time, here's an encapsulation of my weekend at the Arizona Biltmore -

Saturday pre-breakfast hike up Two Bit peak -
"

when I made everyone thirsty by thinking out loud about bloody marys -


which we had promptly after breakfast then lazed by one of the many pools, did some shopping and had a lovely dinner. Then we flew over these little hills on the way home -


Just kidding. Those are the southern Rockies.

Oh and another Shelf by Shelf post went up today -
http://thebookmarque.blogspot.com/2017/04/shelf-by-shelf-king-to-landry.html

After anticipating a terrific book, I think I need to abandon Never Cry Wolf for a few reasons. First is that I don’t like Farley Mowat. He’s basically a self-aggrandizing asshat. Bad attitude in general. Poor scientific method. False modesty. Lack of emotional control. So between that and the lies of omission in this book I think I’m giving it up even though the wolves themselves are pretty great (if, in fact, they did exist and do what Mowat claims they did). Since I love wolves I think I’ll try to find a better book about them, their conservation and their importance as apex predators. Plus I have some as neighbors so I want to get to know them.

He’s basically a self-aggrandizing asshat

absolutely justifiable abandonment!

Everyone who loves wolves should avoid The Loop by Nicholas Evans. Bad things happen to the puppies.

Thanks for the warning. I've already put a couple of things on my list for the library - The Hidden Life of Wolves by Jim Dutcher about the Sawtooth pack in Idaho, along with the documentary about them that was on Discovery Channel and Keepers of the Wolves which is subtitled The Early Yeas of Wolf Recovery in Wisconsin. It was written by one of the leaders of the reintroduction effort here in Wisco. One will give me answers to general questions and the other specific to the wolves that live down the road. And probably not a fabricating bullshit artist among them.

I got the local wolf book today from the library while I was there uploading some pictures.

For years I've thought about doing a project on vernal pools. They're so wonderful and important for so many animals during breeding season, but so hard to photograph. I have some ideas and who knows if they will work, but I have many of them in the woods across the street so I'm going to try even though bug season makes me cringe.

Here is one that I think I will be returning to since it seems large enough to stay full -



There are lots of others including one with a deer stand overlooking it so I think I may borrow the stand in future.

And of course the early wildflowers are blooming. Here is the always irresistible hepatica -



Sigh. I love spring.

>51 Bookmarque: Stunning as usual! :o)

Sorry you didn't like the Mowat. I was 22 when I read it, and I remember it fondly. Perhaps I should never revisit it.

Yeah, probably you should just let your happy memories linger.

More pics later since I had a GLORIOUS day in the woods on Saturday. It was in the mid 60s and sunny and the place was carpeted in ephemerals. Stunning really. Just need to get to the library so I can upload.

Early spring can be amazing in Wisconsin when the weather cooperates. This is where I was on Saturday -



Down in that lovely carpet of green is -

round-lobed hepatica -


dutchman's breeches -


false rue anenome -


bloodroot and rattlesnake root -


Plus tons of spring beauty which I didn't photograph because it grows like a weed in my yard and I've shot it before. Not blooming yet are the trout lilies, trillium or another flower I can't ID yet, but all the leaves are up. Truly amazing. You couldn't walk off trail without stepping on flowers. Seriously. I tried, but eventually did my best, but gave up.

>54 Bookmarque: So glad to be able to see this through your eyes!

So pretty :)

Great photos as always. I look forward to more of the vernal pools, they are fascinating.

Thanks peeps. There's a wintry mix falling right now and I hope it doesn't kill off the flowers. Was planning shots of blankets of trout lily and trillium.

I hate having to do this, but I think I’m done with Carl Hiaasen. For years I’ve loved the wackiness and the absurdity, the crazy ways people die and the dirtbags getting their just desserts, but it’s gone too far now and I just didn’t have as much fun as I used to with this latest book, Razor Girl. It just seemed like too much. None of it was very funny and seemed phoned in. Madness for madness’s sake, you know? Yeah, I should have followed my rule - ‘no more books with Girl in the title’. It would have saved me the trouble. As a matter of fact, I recall not loving Bad Monkey all that much either. Ah well. It’s a natural death.

>59 Bookmarque: I get it. I finished with him a few years ago. I picked up Skinny Dip and loved it. Seemed so fresh and funny to me. A couple of years later I picked up Nature Girl and it felt too much like déjà vu. Not the good kind.

Ah rats sorry it happened to you, too. I guess there is too much of a good thing sometimes.

So I finished The Genius of Birds yesterday and while it was a bit prolonged in parts, it was interesting and I'll write a review in the next couple days. Oddly enough I had to take a yellow-bellied sapsucker to a rehab place today because it crashed into my front window again. I'm going to make something to help deter them, but dammit I hate this. Luckily when we took a look at him his little beak was lined up properly again and both his eyes were open. All the while I had him in a box waiting to go his mate flew by looking for him. There's a pair that nests near the house and many of the trees have neat little lines of holes from their feeding. I was worried that if his beak was out of line he couldn't feed, but now he and his mate are back together hammering away. Phew.

>61 Bookmarque: I picked up The Genius of Birds this past weekend. Glad it's interesting. Maybe I'll bump it up in my TBR list.

I hope you like it when you get to it. Haven't written my review yet because I've been redesigning my artwork in preparation for opening my shop again. It's been ages and there's kind of a lot to do.

here's the old look -

and here's the new -


I think it's more in line with my work and my vision although it isn't set in stone.

Also my dad is in the hospital with blood clots and some other stuff. For a while there he had an abnormal heart rhythm, but it's normal now. BP is still low though and maybe a bladder infection on top of it. Ugh. It's all manageable, but it sucks anyway and I feel bad I can't be with my mom now I've moved out of state. She has lots of people with her, but I know she misses me.

Anyway...I'm glad it's the weekend!

I hope your dad feels better soon.

I hope your dad gets out of the hospital soon. It's frustrating to be far away when a family member is sick.

I like the new logo.

Hope your dad's health improves soon, and that you and your mom can at least talk on the phone when she needs to.

Thanks peeps.

He's back in ICU after seizures brought on by a brain bleed which itself was brought on by the heparin drip that was supposed to dissolve the clots. They've put him on something that reverses the effect of the clot buster and the bleed has stopped. He's fully sedated and on a respirator and they've attached a filter to catch the clots since he can't be on heparin. It's just so shitty that I can't put how I feel into words. Tomorrow they will see about waking him up and taking him off the respirator.

Ugh. I hope they are able to take him off the respirator. Poor guy.

>67 Bookmarque: I can't think of anything except for *hug*

Thanks much. Not much has changed except he has a staph infection which is mostly in the blood itself, but a little in a heart valve, too, which is worrying, but doesn't need surgery since it's so minimal. The clot filter will be a permanent addition, but they are assessing him to see if they can take him off the respirator. They had his sedation dialed all the way back a couple hours ago and that's all I know.

Unfortunately my mom isn't in great shape herself. She was/is scheduled for another round of vertebral fusion surgery on the 31st, but it looks like she'll have to cancel since she needs my dad ambulatory to help her and that won't happen for a long while yet. If we could find someone to be with her 24-hours a day, she might go through with it, but that isn't likely. My schedule was already full before this incident with my dad happened and I don't want to change it all because honestly, I can't do much. They will probably release him to a nursing/rehab facility instead of home right away and that's for the best since he'll need a lot of support and care.

Getting old just sucks so much. It's a cosmic joke on humanity that we can perceive and prolong it. Jumping off a building at 70 seems like the right solution.

Well he's off the respirator, that's good. He's awake, alert and crabby to go home. Typical. But it sucks for him and he knows it. The infection is under control and the brain bleed is healing. Still unclear on how long he will be there and where he'll go next, but that's ok.

Mom has put off her surgery 4 weeks and so my trip to help her is delayed as well.

In the mean time I'm still working to get my shop reopened. I think I have my picture technique down and also the developing. There are a lot of time savers and short cuts in Lightroom that I've never used before, but appreciate now. Crazy.

Not reading nearly as much as a result. Only about 6 books in April. But that's ok. It's not a competition.

Oh and I've been in the woods -



This is part of my vernal pools project.

>71 Bookmarque: Wishing you and your parents the best. I am thinking of you.

On other matters, your pictures are absolutely wonderful. I am looking forward to seeing more from your vernal pools project.

Thanks Pete. Dad is out of ICU now and into a regular room with a more comfortable bed. Mom has put off her surgery 4 weeks. I hope it's enough.

The vernal pools will keep me going back. They're wonderful and you can't see it in that picture yet, but the ferns have come up and will soon unfurl.

>73 Bookmarque: What I can see in the picture is that it would make a great album cover for an LP. Are vinyl records making a come-back in North America? They are growing in popularity here. I was very dismayed when CDs pushed LPs off the shelves. The album covers were such a space for wonderful art. They were a thing of beauty in themselves. A bit like physical books.

Glad that your dad is doing better. I hope he continues to improve and that everything works out with your mom's new surgery date.

Glad you are getting out and sharing photos with us!

Thanks. He's improving, but now has a loud, insensitive asshole for a roommate. If my mom can't get him to shut the fuck up and turn his TV off at a reasonable hour, I'll call over there and my brother will get in there, too. They won't be happy if they can't muzzle the guy.

Anyway. Today I'm trying to relax and read on my deck in the sun. First time this year. Haven't been reading very much lately as you can see -

I only read 6 books in April.
6.
There were a few false-starts that ended up as DNFs so there was some time wasting going on, but these are the ones I got through.



3 by men, 3 by women
2 non-fiction, 4 fiction
1 audio, 5 physical
2 new authors

Oldest from 1966, the newest from this year.
None of the novels were more than just passable, but both the Wright Brothers book and the one about the whaleship Essex garnered 4 stars from me.

What did you think of The Corner Shop? It happens to be one of my favourite books, but we have very different tastes in fiction, and it is pretty tame compared to your usual fare.

I thought it was cute. I'd read only one Cadell before and liked it well enough. She didn't go for the sappy angle in either story which would have been easier to pull off and I appreciate that. Her female characters had character and went their own ways to a certain extent. It was a fun, safe audio which was what I needed.

Oh and while I didn't like the book much at all, this cover is pretty fab (the original European movie was pretty great though) -



It's simple and menacing and clever. Very evocative of the few moments in the book with any true terror.

>78 Bookmarque: Sometimes fun and safe is just what you need.

I hope your father is continuing to improve, and the obnoxious roommate problem gets solved.

Hope your dad is better soon, and the required muzzle duly applied!

Oh, I do like that cover! And Island of Bones looks good too - I now have the series on my list.

I didn't speak to my mom last night, but I think dad is still getting better. They're talking about rehab which is the next step. I'm sure I'll find out more today. Luckily the inconsiderate douche nozzle is gone.

I tried spending some time in the woods yesterday, but the ticks were so bad they drove me out early so I hung out at the match with my hubby. He came in 6th overall. Good crowd, too.

So today I'm spraying my outdoors clothes with permethrin which is supposed to do a really good job not just repelling nasty bugs like ticks, but killing them, too. It's spendy, but if it gets me back into the woods, I'll be happy. In the meantime, here's a shot from the other day. Sadly the trout lily is nearly gone, but the white trillium blanket has replaced it -

>83 Bookmarque: Beautiful.

So glad to hear your dad is improving. Sorry it's been such a rough time for you. The aging parents thing is just no fun, and when you're far away it makes it so much more difficult.

I'm pretty excited to hear you're making jewelry again! :o) I ended up bending the hooks on that pair I bought from you, so I put them on other hooks. I still wear them a ton. More than all of my other earrings combined. No kidding.

That is so nice of you to say. I'm glad you still love them. And yeah, the distance makes things harder in some ways. Easier in others.

Just bought a few supplies to make some things. Mostly I'll be using what I already had and I have a lot of things already made that need photographing and then proper listing. Am only reopening the Etsy store for now. Not making this a full-time thing, but I do need to pay attention and run it properly.

I haven't been reading or posting much because.

OMG. I did it.

I reopened my jewelry shop.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/thewiresmith

Wow. It's been time-consuming and a little nerve-wracking. I am proud of my work though and I don't expect it to be a full-time job. Some new supplies came in and I have some inspiration for new pieces as well.

>86 Bookmarque: Good luck with the shop. The jewelry looks very nice.

>86 Bookmarque: Your store looks great!

>86 Bookmarque: love the shop! The jewelry is right up my ally.

Your jewellery is beautiful! Good luck with the store.

The onyx and bone bracelet is particularly nice! I'm sure you'll find business starts to flow.

Very nice! I wonder if you ever use your photographs as an inspiration for designs? They could make a lovely package deal. *eying those oh so pretty trout lilies and remembering your shots of lily of the valley* :)

Thanks everyone. My first sale came through yesterday! A woman I used to work with yonks ago. She's a sweetie. She bought a bracelet I've made and sold before. Looks like I'll need to put together a replacement.

I sometimes use the color palette in my photos as a guide.

>86 Bookmarque: Yay!!!

Yeah it's really cool.

And as if I need another part time job, I'm going to be doing a lot to raise money for my dad's recovery fund.

I haven't been very vocal about it since it's been too overwhelming, but I nearly lost my dad. He's out of the hospital, but there's a long road ahead. I've set up a GoFundMe campaign to help with the crushing medical costs - https://www.gofundme.com/4bst5m -

If you can check it out, share and even donate a little, you'd have my heartfelt thanks.

Phew. There are a few donations rolling in - to my LT friends who have given, here's another thank you.

Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.

Danke even!

I can't tell you how much this is helping my parents emotionally. I talked to my dad today and he's feeling much better. Mostly it's being home, but he's a tough dude so he's bouncing back fairly quickly. He even supervised some folks who came to work in his garden for him since he can't manage that yet.

Anyway...I'm also working to get my shop stocked a bit more and that's taking my time. I'm going to need the vacation my hubby and I are going on next week! Phew. Maybe I'll actually get some time to read.

Yeah right.

Here’s how May went with my reading. I can’t believe it’s over already. So fast!

9 books read
8 fiction, 1 non-fiction
2 by men, 7 by women
2 new authors, 7 I’ve read before
3 were borrowed from the library, the rest I bought



The oldest was from 1943, the newest was from this year.

The best goes to The Big Rock Candy Mountain because damn Stegner could write and it’s this giant epic that is remarkably focused although it wasn’t as consistently interesting as I could have wished. The worst will have to go to Murder is Announced just for the casual racism and hatred expressed by the average English citizen. The crime itself was a lovely conundrum.

Thank you for your glorious spring photos.

>70 Bookmarque: Jumping off a building at 70 seems like the right solution.
I think maybe that idea loses its appeal when you're about to hit 70.

Some people do manage to avoid crumbling inch by inch. Whenever I hear of somebody who chugged along nicely until 90 or 95 and then went off quietly in his sleep, I always think that congratulations are in order, not condolences.

>97 Bookmarque: Just seen one of the book titles among your May reading. I take it from the cover picture that Playing for the Ashes is (sadly, to some of us) not a history of Test cricket between England and Australia. (Note to non-cricket fans: this long-running series has, for historical reasons, been known as "The Ashes" for about the last century at least.)

Yeah, 70 can be a bit young, but mostly safe that you can still jump under your own steam, and that's really what I mean by it. So many languish unable to really live anymore; they just molder away in misery. Old age really is a cosmic joke sometimes. Here's another spring ephemeral just for you -



Playing for the Ashes - the title is lifted from the famous Australia/England rivalry in cricket. The victim in the mystery is a cricket player and hence the title. I forget the explanation now, but the author did write up why it's called that now.

>98 Meredy: You might be interested in watching the new documentary on HBO called “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/02/arts/television/carl-reiner-if-youre-not-in-t...

I haven't had a chance to watch it yet myself, but I definitely plan to.

As an old boss of mine used to say; "Any day above ground is a good day."

So it was a good above ground day yesterday, I went paddling on the Spirit reservoir and met this little beauty -



She had a chick or two, but they were hiding so I have plans to go back when they are a little bigger and can hang with her.

The woods is also a great place if you put on enough bug spray! I got out to my pools, but they were much drier than before.





With all the rain we've had, and are going to have, they should stay pretty wet for a while. Crazy.

I have been reading, too. Recently reviewed - The Fools in Town Are on Our Side by Ross Thomas, Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane and Golden Prey by John Sandford. Phew!

Trying to get the touchstones to work, but alas, they don't.

>102 Bookmarque: Oh, I do envy you your excellent neighbors the loons. I love loons. I'm not much of one for bird motifs in my surroundings, but in a Chinese gift shop once I bought half a dozen surprisingly lifelike carved and painted loons. I gave the tiny ones away as tokens and kept the big one on my bookcase. Your photos do these beautiful northern birds justice.

>102 Bookmarque: Another loon fan here! They look so smooth, as though they've been hand-painted.

They are amazing birds and really fascinating to watch. And they're way bigger than you think, especially when one pops up near your kayak when you're not expecting it.

I've been out and about lately. First at the US Open here in Wisconsin. I'm not a golf fan, but when we got a special invite to hang out at one of the partner pavilions, I said yes. They put us up in a nice hotel in downtown Milwaukee and drove us to and from the course (about an hour each way) in big black Suburbans. It was like being in the Presidential motorcade. Fun.

Then I went up to Door county for some wildflower photography. Door county is famous for its wildflowers and especially the Ridges Sanctuary which is the oldest nature preserve in Wisconsin. Its on the pointy bit that sticks up into Lake Michigan. Really beautiful and I can see this becoming a spring ritual for me, but I think next time I'll go for another day or two. I'll put pics up when I get them finished.

My dad is back home after being hospitalized AGAIN. This time for extreme pain from his broken vertebrae. He's had surgery and I think the pain is gone, but it's more recovery and more bills for sure. Then my mom is having her surgery (spinal fusion) on the 28th. I really hope they don't have to borrow against the house to pay things off. So crazy.

Here's the go fund me campaign page again - https://www.gofundme.com/4bst5m
-

feel free to donate, share and hype.

So at the hotel in Milwaukee, I was in the lobby having coffee while waiting for other folks to come down. Of course I had to see what books they had scattered around the tables and wow, did I find a beaut!



I don't remember the In Action part of the title, but it's about comparative evolutionary biology with regard to skeletal systems. Fascinating. I read the introduction and even took the book to my room. The photographs are AMAZING. All monochrome and lit simply with one or maybe two light sources and of course the examples are perfectly complete and assembled. Makes it really easy to see how nature shaped and selected among the same basic components to fit each creature to its niche. I LOVE this kind of stuff, so I had to buy my own copy.

When I went to Amazon I saw there was a prior edition to the one I picked up in the hotel which is the size of a regular hardback. The original version was a bigger, coffee table sized edition and all the commenters said that the new, smaller book didn't do the photos justice. So I picked up the coffee table version and wow, it's fabulous!!



The text is as enlightening as the photos. For example, the ancestor species to the horse and the donkey was from North America, but when it went to Asia and Africa, the resulting divergence is very different albeit they are still recognizable as belonging to equus. But the ancestor species died out in North America.

It's a big book and I prop it on a pillow to read it, but it's a joy and a wonderful serendipitous find!

>106 Bookmarque: That looks super.

It is. And OOPS. touchstone Evolution in Action

>106 Bookmarque:

That's a great find!

>106 Bookmarque: Wow, that looks awesome!

I haven't read it in a couple days, but I'm itching to get back in.

Here are a few from my Door county trip last week. This cabin is on Toft Point which is on Lake Michigan. It's 700+ acres of nature preserve that was originally family land, but not heavily logged or farmed by the owners because they loved it too much. The cabins are original and restored, but I don't think they're used for anything. Sorry for the harsh light.



Yellow lady slipper is rare in New England, but abundant here because of its love for calcareous soil. This was steps from the water at Toft point -



Wisconsin has many, many wild orchids and these (striped coral root) are saprophytic as well and you know how much I love that!



Because it's pretty much been raining since it stopped snowing the mushrooms have arrived early (seriously, lots of muddy unplanted fields, crops that have shut down and orchards that didn't flower at all). These are Marasmius rotula aka horse hair fungus and only fruit on dead wood when it's very wet. They disappear in just a few days of sunlight.



And one more that I have to share because it's so special. Last winter I found Lake McNaughton about an hour north. It's an undeveloped lake which isn't all that rare up this way, but kinda. I've been wanting to paddle it for a while even though it's only 100 or so acres. So I did yesterday and found out one reason it's probably undeveloped - it's only about 3 feet deep. Seriously, I could see the bottom the whole time I was out.



This particular spot was only as deep as the blade of my paddle. Just behind the bushes by that furthest left tree is a beaver lodge which I only knew was there because I watched one swim to it. To my left I watched a big snapping turtle, barely covered by water, hunt among the water plants. I always knew they had long necks, but this one was nearly as long as its shell and its head was the size of my fist. That's one old turtle.

I also saw 3 deer (2 does and a fawn), lots of painted turtles and little fishes and a family of trumpeter swans. It was amazing and peaceful and I only heard a car now and then, otherwise just the wind and the birds and the sound of my own movement and breathing. We haven't had the best weather lately, but sometimes Wisconsin can still deliver what I need in my heart.

Thanks for sharing the photos, they are lovely.

Lovely photos. I especially appreciate the tiny webs on some of them!

Thanks peeps. Door County is really lovely and I'll probably make it a routine spring outing. Am going into the woods today since it's overcast, but not actually raining. Ripley creek is calling to me so I shall brave the bugs.

In the meantime, here's another Shelf by Shelf which I haven't done in months because I'm a slacker.



Link >>>>>> http://thebookmarque.blogspot.com/2017/06/shelf-by-shelf-lehane-to-lippman.html

Wonderful pictures and great descriptions of what is obviously a beautiful area. Thank you!

You're welcome, Pete!

I have a cushion of bandwidth now and so dare to upload pictures at home from time to time. This is where I was yesterday for a couple hours -



It's Ripley creek and is only 8 minutes from the house so I go there a lot, most recently this winter to do the same kind of photography, but with snow. This time I wore sandals and got my feet wet in order to get shots that are impossible to get without doing that. It was fun.

Thanks for sharing more beautiful photos, and telling us about the wildlife you see. It really brings places to life for me.

>116 Bookmarque: Just wonderful.

>116 Bookmarque: Breathtaking, as always.

>116 Bookmarque: Gorgeous!

Thanks peeps. That kind of work is one of my favorite things to go do. It's not just the woods, but it's the ecosystem as a whole. It was so wet my footsteps were nearly silent and I startled a doe and her fawn. At least I think there was a fawn. By all indications she was warning me away and warning it to stay hidden. Then she gave me a snorty-blow thru her nose and took off. This was after I heard some little squeaky sounds that may have been the fawn. I tiptoed away so as not to disturb them further. They are like rats around here, but damn if they don't captivate me when I see them.

Here's another spot I waded in to shoot -

>121 Bookmarque:

But cute rats!

>121 Bookmarque: I hate what the deer do to my yard, same with the turkeys, but darned if I can make myself resent them when I actually see them there.

Such lovely scenes for this drought-parched soul. I suppose we are not actually in a drought anymore, but everything here is brown, dry and dead. At least everything that doesn't get drenched with watering. Hard to believe there are places that stay green in the summer.

Me, too, MrsL. One just nipped off the tops of my phlox in the backyard. Bah. They've got the whole damn woods, but no, they gotta come and eat my flowers. And my garden is tiny!

Green is right. We've had about 17 inches of rain here in Lincoln and surrounding counties in the last 90 days.

It's been oppressive though and a disaster for many, many farmers. I think our little market in Tomahawk will have to close because no one has any food in enough quantity. My main farmer, Tanya, said a couple of her fields washed away completely into the woods because of the rain. The topsoil is gone. What she could plant mostly shut down because of low temps and lack of sunlight. On my drive over to Lake Michigan there were miles of unplanted fields that are just basically mudholes. It's going to cost more for us to eat, but for livestock over the winter, too. There is nothing in the fields to harvest up this way. So some rain is wonderful, but like too little, too much is a disaster as well.

OMG I’m home.

It’s been a stressful 2 weeks at my parents house in NH. I arrived on July 5 and found my mom in pain from her back surgery (done on June 28), but as expected. My dad however, was much, much worse than I expected and no sooner than I closed my eyes after mom’s 2am meds she was upstairs at my door yelling for me. My dad was literally writhing in agony and nearly passing out from pain. We all assumed it was his recent back surgery (basically a substance was injected into his T10 vertebra to stabilize a compression fracture). Alas, it wasn’t and over the next 2 weeks we discovered his staph infection did not clear under the 6 weeks of pic line antibiotics, but had continued to hide out in is aortic valve and also set up shop in the joint between your clavicle and sternum. Joy. Combined with his other issues from this year (myasthenia gravis, blood clots, brain bleed, and seizures) he’s been taken to Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston to be seen by people with more expertise. He’s still there and my mom is on her own at the house, able to take care of herself, but not drive yet. I changed my flight and stayed a few extra days to get her to this point since my dad wasn't home.

the go fund me site to help with medical bills is available for those generous folks who would like to help out - https://www.gofundme.com/4bst5m

Those who have helped - thanks so much!! It relieves their minds quite a bit.

No update on him as of today, but I know he is strong physically and is able to get around and is in good spirits; as well as can be expected in week 3 of a hospital stay. I don’t know what the prognosis is, but most likely a heart valve replacement, but it seems the experts haven’t agreed to do that yet.

But I am back home which is a huge relief. I love my mom, but she was driving me batshit. I’m glad I could help, but am sad I had to. I wish they were healthy and I hope this isn’t the start of a downward spiral for both of them. My brother lives in the same town and will unfortunately bear the larger part of the care burden simply because of proximity. Today I’ll spend cleaning my house (my husband isn’t a slob, but he just did catch-as-catch-can type stuff), patting my kitties and setting up my new laptop!!

>125 Bookmarque: Thinking of you and wish you and yours all the best.

Thanks P!

Update - he had emergency surgery at 1am to fix a tear in his small intestine. He was originally transferred to the surgical prep area for valve replacement, but a scan came back showing this and so they went for that first before he could really poison himself. It may be the vector for the staph, but we don't know yet. Earlier today he was in ICU; awake, but sedated and intubated.

I'm just sick that so many things have gone wrong with him all at once. And the toll they've taken on his body, mind and spirit. It's one thing after another with nothing getting better before the next one comes. I don't know what to think now.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and donations. You know who you are.

So sorry your parents, and you and your brother, are going through all of this! I hope this lastest surgery takes care of his infection. Poor guy.

>127 Bookmarque: I am so sorry.
:o(
Often one treatment just triggers another issue, requiring more treatments, etc. The endless cycle. The young and those who's immune systems haven't been compromised can fight back pretty quickly. Otherwise it becomes much more problematic.
Stay strong.

>127 Bookmarque: So sorry to hear about all your dad's issues. I hope the doctors can figure things out and help him get on the road to recovery. That's a lot to go through in such a short time.

My thoughts are with you and your family. I hope your father will soon start to improve, and that your mother continues to recover well. Strength to all of you in dealing with so much at once.

Keeping you and your family in my thoughts. I hope that the doctors are able to find out what is at the root of your father's problems and find effective treatment. It's awful when our parents start to get old and we realise that they are not the invulnerable beings they seemed to us as children.

Thanks peeps.

Mom said she talked to him this am and he sounded good. So that's something.

Between this and my husband's parents illnesses and deaths, we are so very happy that we're taking steps to do all we can to be healthy for as long as possible. Strange accidents and genetic disorders aside, the no processed foods, regular heavy lifting and outdoor exercise and low-stress life will help us a great deal. Not that I blame my parents for what's happening to them, not all of it is their fault, but I can't help but wonder if some could have been prevented. Anyway...I'll be getting to my June summary soon. So late!!

Dad came through surgery very well. He was up and walking yesterday, mom says he sounded good. Unfortunately he has a VRE bacteria which is evolution in action with regards to bacteria and antibiotics. He most likely contracted it in the hospital. Joy. Not sure when he's coming home, but I think they've moved him out of ICU. Mom is doing well, too. She had a friend over for dinner and when I called they were drinking wine on the deck and giggling like a couple of girls. Perfect!

---

June wrap up. Very late.

9 books read
3 by women, 1 by a group and the rest by men
8 fiction, 1 non-fiction
3 new writers, 6 I’ve read before
2 were ER books, 1 borrowed and the rest purchased



The oldest was from 1966 and the newest published this year.
There weren’t any outstanding books either for the good or the bad, so I won’t spotlight any in particular.

>134 Bookmarque: "He most likely contracted it in the hospital."
:o(
Ugh.

that's the most common place for the bacteria to be picked up. then there was his perforated bowel. so who knows. he's just come through a 2nd surgery to remove part of the bone at the joint of the clavicle and the sternum; a place where staph hangs out and so the bone had to go. I just talked to his nurse and he's awake, knew she was talking to me and will call me when he's in his room. I'm so relieved I could cry. he's so diminished and weak from all he's been though that I wasn't sure how much more he could take. I just hope this is the end and he won't need the valve replacement surgery.

---

Onto more topical and pleasant things. I haven't done a library stack in a while - mostly because I haven't been to the library in ages. Am back to devouring books. 2 are random picks from the shelves. Any guesses as to which??

Glad your daddy is doing better. I will continue to send healing juju.

I went to the library today and thought, "I'm going to do a Bookmarque and pull randomly from the stacks." I didn't quite succeed in the 'randomly' part. I did look at the sleeves to see what the book was about. I'll do better next time. ;)

Oh jeez! It's not that random. Lol I read the jacket copy, too, but the choosing is by the spine alone. It's usually someone I've never heard of. I've found some good ones this way. Strangely, it woks better in one branch I visit often more than another.

I talked to dad yesterday. His spirits are good, but he tires easily as you'd expect. We hope this is it and he won't need any more surgery. They will have to be more thorough in testing for the infection though. Another recurrence could kill him. So scary.

It's amazing what one can tell just by the looks of the book's spine. I also judge books by their covers. :) good to know it's not quite as random as I thought. :)

July reading report. Reasonably on time this month. I know you are all panting to know how things went. Lol

12 books read
7 by men, 5 by women
4 new writers, 8 not new
Lots of newish books this time - the oldest only from 1998, the newest from this year.
1 audio, 3 ebooks and the rest hardcopy
6 borrowed (3 from the library, 3 from my mom) the rest purchased



The best was Erasure by Percival Everett even though I think a lot of what he was doing went right over my head. The worst was The Eleventh Commandment because of its cartoon villain who was a woman, but didn't need to be; her gender didn't signify anything.

>140 Bookmarque: How was the Bohjalian?

It was ok. Decent and well-written as usual, but has a couple of obvious devices and there are no real surprises. Enjoyable, but he didn't do anything new or clever like in The Double Bind.

>140 Bookmarque: And your favorite cover is? My guess is Erasure, although I am attracted to Celine

You would be right! Isn't it striking, though Celine is nice, too. Just wrote a non-spoilery review for that one. Erasure has one, too if you're curious.

Doh! I forgot to check a book here on LT before getting it from the library and I see it's the 4th in a series, so back it goes. And on finding more info here, I might not be pursuing it after all since the lead character is a religious and I really can't hack that. Luckily I have another book in the wings. Not that there's a shortage in the house or anything. lol

>144 Bookmarque: No time to hunt down and read the Celine review, but Erasure sounds amazing!

It was and it bent my brain in a nice way. I think someone with a background in Literature would do better with it than I did. I could sense what was going over my head and wished it wasn't.

Wow. Just finished my first 5-star book of the year. The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker is very impressive, doesn't go into cliche and packs a wallop. I liked it a lot even though some of it is painful and not very pleasant. A non-spoilery review here - http://www.librarything.com/work/18042993/reviews/142990444

Oh, it sounds good!

So dopey me started this thread including obscurity/popularity numbers with my monthly reading summaries, but I forgot about it!

April -
Most popular = In the Heart of the Sea with 4055
Most obscure = The Corner Shop with 81

May -
Most popular = Murder is Announced with 2932
Most obscure = The Red Hunter with 69

June -
Most popular = You Remind Me of Me with 765 (surprised me that a John Sandford book had fewer copies here on LT, but there it is)
Most obscure = Mothers and Other Strangers with 20

July -
Most popular = A Darkness More than Night with 3060
Most obscure = The Secret Letters with 8

Anyway, just thought this was interesting that I completely spaced it. I now have a column in my tracking spreadsheet so I’ll include it. I wonder if that Abby Bardi book will end up being the most obscure since it’s in the single digits. And I think the NF about the whaleship is the most popular so far. I’ll have to go back and do the rest of the year to see.

It's been ages since my last Shelf by Shelf so here's a new one. David Liss to Helen MacInnes.



There are some bonus cover images in there, too because I couldn't resist!

https://thebookmarque.blogspot.com/2017/08/shelf-by-shelf-liss-to-macinnes.html

Another trip to the library plus a used 1st edition I hope will be worth the effort. Percival Everett makes my brain hurt, but in a good way. In the library stack, there is one random selection, but I'm not sure I'm going to stick with it due to woo-woo factor.



I am reading far too many books at the same time though and need to get through at least one more before I won't feel like I'm losing my mind. Today's effort will go to Dear Life by Alice Munro. I picked this up at the library book sale last year because I've never read anything by her before. Short stories aren't really my thing. They don't seem to stick, but I do enjoy the break from novels.

Also used 2 of my 5 credits that were piling up at audible. Got Weight of Lies by Emily Carpenter and Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory. Phew. That ought to hold me for a while!

Ha!

OMG. I got a shot I've been wanting to get for years. yay!

In August the new toads make their debuts and you really have to watch where you put your feet on the trail. They're all so tiny and springy and seem to be everywhere! I can never get one to pose though so when this one did, I spent quite a bit of time with it. It's about 1/2 an inch long and a lovely reddish brown. At first, the shot was crowded with bits of grass which it patiently let me remove. There is still a sense of scale though - check out the sand particles! Oh what a cutie!

That is amazing!! What a great thing to be able to get a photo of!

>153 Bookmarque: I totally love the exposure you chose for this one. He is a nifty lil guy.

>153 Bookmarque: Great job on that!

Thanks peeps! I couldn't believe one held still for so long. I even suspected it might be dead, but it wasn't and I felt quite lucky to be able to spend time with it.

>157 Bookmarque: "I couldn't believe one held still for so long."

Perhaps it was waiting for a kiss...? ;)

>153 Bookmarque: That looks great! What a cool little frog.

>153 Bookmarque: A prince among toads! Beautiful. I hope you don't mind that I have saved this one with some of my other favorite shot from you for my desktop slideshow. Since they appear in August, I have put him in with the summer collection. I marvel at his size, and the fact that you even saw him. Your eye for detail still amazes.

>153 Bookmarque: What a beauty! I haven't seen any toads around my front porch this Summer. That is one of their usual gathering spots, but it has been wetter than usual here.

>152 Bookmarque: A perfect combo. :o)

Thanks guys. No problem adding it to your desktop, MrsL.

I couldn't resist that shot, Clam. I'm not an alcoholic, I'm a binge drinker! kidding.

Another great cover came up today in the cover module. OMG. I have no words.

Does it make me a bad book person if I cannot continue past about page 20 in The Sea, the Sea? I know Murdoch is an esteemed "canon" writer, but damn. It's so dense. All description in minute detail that is enough to make my head hurt. Phew. I tossed it aside. Paging ahead the rest of the 400 or so pages and it all looks basically the same. Huge, dense paragraphs of description and ruminating. Oy.

>163 Bookmarque: No, it does not make you a bad book person. (Unless you and I are both dropped into that category.) I have never found her to be particularly compelling. It takes her too long to make her point. She makes my eyes roll.

Glad I'm not the only one. Various reviews talk about the awful narrator, but he wasn't my problem. It was that Murdoch made him so wordy and tedious. Too much. Other reviews say it is a rewarding novel in the end, but it takes a long time to get there. I'm out of patience.

So onto my latest ER book which apparently came out in Canada last year to rave reviews - The Best Kind of People. So far it's ok, but the writing feels awkward and stuttery. Hard to explain, but I'll stick with it.

Found this northern leopard frog in the front yard. Very springy dudes. As long as I stayed where it could see me, it was still and I like the contrast with my walk.

>166 Bookmarque: You really do take some great photos!

I'm impressed you know what kind of frog it is! I would've just thought, "oh, look at the cute, little froggie." It's a great pic!

thanks peeps! With little beauties like that one, it's easy to take good pictures.

Nature fascinates me, catzteach, and I like to know what I'm looking at (or taking pictures of) so I have a pretty nice collection of field guides and other assorted books to help me with ID. I've had my reptiles & amphibians one for decades and it always comes in handy.



https://thebookmarque.blogspot.com/2016/09/shelf-by-shelf-field-guides.html

That's an awesome collection! I think we have a couple of bird books and maybe one book on plants for Central Oregon.

I love having them. They're handy when you live in the woods. I'm thinking of adding a couple - one on dragonflies here in the Great Lakes region and also beetles.

---

another great cover came up today. Oh how I would love to have this edition!



Isn't it great???

>171 Bookmarque: Very nice! Catches the mood of the book, as well as being appealing art-wise.

I love the toad and frog photos! The latter has amazing markings.

Isn't s/he gorgeous? Pickerel frogs have similar markings, but they are brown/tan not green. What I didn't capture well is that the dorsal ridges and some of the spots are metallic. Seriously, they look like they're made of copper. So beautiful.

---

So I had to go down to Wausau to take the car to be serviced, so while I was there I hit the library since it has the longest of my TBR lists. I brought home this stack (all women novelists oddly) -



and also some CDs and the first season of The Mentalist since I'm here alone until late Saturday night and just feel like TV which is hard to do seeing as we have no cable or satellite. Library DVDs to the rescue!

Why two Creatures of the Deep? Is one a movie?

Because I'm a dope. The thicker one (2014) is an expanded edition of the thinner one (2001). I just took them both when I was there. Doesn't cost nothin'. lol

That was fast! August is gone and September is upon us. Here’s how my reading for last month went -

13 books read
6 by men, 7 by women
7 new authors, 6 I’ve read before
A lot of new books again with the oldest only from 1987 and many from this year
3 audio, the rest hardcopy

I know popularity changes on LT minute by minute, but relatively it stays the same. The most popular book this month was In the Presence of the Enemy by Elizabeth George (she wins a lot) and the most obscure was The Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory.

1 gift book (ER), 6 purchases and the rest library books



The best was The Animators and it will probably end up on my top 5 for the year. It's interesting, doesn't go for the obvious or the cliched, has realistic characters and the writing is lively.

The worst was a tie between Snowblind and Never Tell a Lie mostly because they did the opposite of what the writer did with The Animators. Cliched, boring, unrealistic and unappealing. I think I have reviews for all three here on LT.

Anyway, let September begin!!

>177 Bookmarque: Favorite cover? I think mine is the Ruth Rendell book.

>176 Bookmarque: :) sounds like something I would do. I checked out a book that I had put on hold, even though I had just bought a copy because the library was being slow, because I felt bad putting it on hold and not checking it out. :)

I love your frogs.

I kind of like the House of Small Shadows cover because it's just so odd. Maybe click to the work page to see it more clearly.

Frogs are pretty great little creatures. We have scads of new spring peepers all over the lawn, too. They're so teeny! I love them and it's hard to imagine them making that much noise, but they do.

So my hubby flew out of Madison the other day so I went down and explored a nearby state park, but I had some time when it was raining so I hit a couple of bookstores nearby. I'm getting SO PICKY about what I purchase these days that this is all I got (and one was a Half Price Books, too!). It's because of our library system. Anything that's a gamble I borrow.



Except for the bottom one, which is a jewelry making book, they're all novelists I like, have bought before and have sort of collections of. Oddly, I couldn't find the John Sandford book in the usual bargain shelf/bin at B&N. Those always show up a couple of years off publication date, but not this one. I have it as an audio, but weirdo that I am, I wanted a hardcopy to help fill up my groaning John Sandford shelf. Psyche!

another cool cover just came by. It's a really creepy, really strange book.



The artwork is pretty dead on in terms of content and style.

>182 Bookmarque: Yes, such a creepy story. Have you seen the movie?

Haven't watched it, but I have read it a couple times. Bought it when it first came out and Faber was an unknown. What a weird story and so different from his second book!

---

So I waxed on about Evolution a while back (http://www.librarything.com/topic/254235#6090107) and I've just now put up a ridiculously long review, but I just couldn't help myself. I loved the book so much. Review is here - http://www.librarything.com/work/4325140/reviews/142711530

it's been a while since I've posted pictures since I just haven't been shooting much. I did go down to Devil's Lake State Park on Tuesday (hubby was flying out of Madison and suggested I stay overnight, explore and pick him up the next day so I did). It's one of our largest, if not the largest, state park in Wisconsin and has gorgeous quartzite rock formations that are estimated to be 1.6 billion years old. Here's one they call The Devil's Doorway (for reasons unknown) -



And yes, I climbed up there on that side of the slope. Very steep, but basically a giant staircase. I was parked next to the lake just out of frame on the left. As soon as I got down it started raining which was excellent timing. I felt sorry for the people I met on my way down who were heading up.

I knew it was coming though since it got cloudier and windier when I was hiking the woods on the east side of the lake. It gave me a chance to do some long-exposure work which is something I've had in mind for a while now. You need strong winds and low light to make it work though.



All in all a successful outing even though it ended early because of downpours.

Fantastic pictures. The colours are so vibrant. Thank you for posting these.

Thanks Pete! The rock really is purple and maroon colored. Amazing. but logical given the color of the sandstone that exists around here. Quartzite is just sandstone that's been heated and smushed. smushed being a highly technical geological term. lol

>185 Bookmarque: Thank you for sharing that beautiful day with us!

>187 Bookmarque: My primary degree is in geology and my dissertation mapping area was a quartzite, schist and pelite area with some granite thrown in for good measure. Your description of quartzite is spot on. You are bringing back happy memories for me.

>189 pgmcc:

Since you have the education, perhaps you can share the definition of "smushed".

doh! I think I knew you were a geo guy, pete. And yeah, please define smushed for us.

>190 suitable1: & >191 Bookmarque: Smushed is a very technical term. I am not sure you will be able to understand the explanation without taking a two semester module.

my mom always told me I was precocious.

Oh, wow. My internet finally loaded those pictures from >185 Bookmarque:. I'm so happy to finally see those smushed rocks! Amazing view from the Devil's Doorway, and fascinating rocks! I think I see Bigfoot in the forest picture.

>190 suitable1: & >191 Bookmarque: By the way, there are degrees of mushed upness. The quartzite I was working on still retained some of its smallest internal structures to the extent that I was able to find ripple marks that tell the right way up for the rock, i.e. where was "up" when the sand deposit was first laid down. It is nice that something as delicate as ripples can be preserved in rock for hundreds of millions of years. Given that the rocks in my area had been folded and the folds folded it was useful to find way-up evidence so that I could work out the history of the folding.

You did make the mistake of asking.

That is so cool though, Pete. Thanks for giving us the particulars of smushed and smushed upness.

And thanks, Sylvia. It's a beautiful park.

Back from the art fair. Got some lovely home decor stuff - a couple pieces of ceramic art, a piece of metal wall art and two beautiful prints of herons. I only bought myself 2 pieces of jewelry. Oh and two coffee mugs. His and hers.

More rock!

>197 Bookmarque: Rock rocks!

Very cool rock formations.

>185 Bookmarque: you live in such a beautiful area!

@Bookmarque, I find it refreshing that you recognise quartzite and the other rock types. Most people just take everything for granite.

It's good to see your photos again. You find such amazing places to shoot.

Yay! Bad geologist puns!

And thanks peeps. Wisconsin has a lot going for it.

Seems like ages since I've updated. Fall in Wisco has its ups and downs. Today is rainy, windy and unwelcoming. But some days are glorious.

>204 Bookmarque:

A very inviting trail!

I love the contrast between the green and the scattered red leaves. Beautiful!

>204 Bookmarque: I want to BE there!

Aww, thanks guys. It is lovely when the weather cooperates. I may head out again today depending on my level of laziness. It might be into the woods across the street because they're lovely and close.

Oh and here's a friendly honey mushroom!

>208 Bookmarque:

What does a grouchy one look like?

Gah! Try as I might, I couldn't find one that was grouchy. But sad. Yeah, here's a sad mushroom -

Oh and look at this little cutie patootie!



According to my Audubon guide it's a blue-spotted salamander aka ambystoma laterale - luckily I had a shot or two that let me count the costal grooves on this lovely creature - 12 - making it a blue-spotted salamander. First one I've ever seen! I think the green stripe is algae and you could only see it from this angle. It's about 5 inches long. Gorgeous. After I photographed it I picked it up and it seemed to come out of its trance and walked on my hands and arms for a while. Then I placed it safely off the driveway/old road it was on so it wouldn't get smooshed. Not that anyone goes down there really, but if I did someone else could.

Love the salamander!

Look at that neat little lizard! Great capture.

What a lovely little fellow!

Wait! Rocks get smushed and salamanders might get smooshed?

>215 suitable1: The English language is more complicated than I would have thought...

Love the pictures! Those mushrooms are quite pretty.

Now you need to make a mushroom story. That sad little mushroom needs a happy ending!

Gorgeous pics!

>217 MrsLee: Somewhere the hero/ine of the story will find him/herself in a place crowded with toadstools, and discover there's not mush room for a cute little mushie like the ones in @Bookmarque's pictures.

>There might even be some mushed quartzite.

>219 hfglen: Then I suppose there should occur a violent storm, with earth upheaval and crashing of trees, so there will be a place for her to spread her frills.

>221 MrsLee: or (God forbid!) wildfires like Knysna had in July and you-all also had recently. Maybe put out by the storm, with scenes of immense heroism and tremendous good and bad luck.

Come on @Bookmarque -- here we are doing the spadework of writing the story for you!

Yeah, I'm a slacker. But I did find something sad today. A dead hoverfly on my mums on the porch. I have no idea what is all over it and why it made perfect rectangles, but I'll head back out soon with stuff that will give me more magnification. The light is kinda bad right now. Isn't it cool though?

>223 Bookmarque: in the end wearing corsets is not the best idea for hover flies.

It does sort of look like that. here it is in softer, warmer sunset light -



I still have NO idea what it's covered in. The white stuff is definitely weird. IRL it's about 1/2 inch long.

The corset appears to be made of marzipan. With windows.

Some kind of fungus, maybe? Wonderful pictures as always.

It might be, but it doesn't look fungus-y to me. Too windy to go out to photograph it again and I don't feel like bringing it inside. Maybe I'll see if one of my insect-identification photo groups can shed some light. Someone did before when I found a carrion beetle absolutely covered in mites.

---

So before I forget. After all my agonizing over dental procedures I think I’m out of the woods. For now. A few weeks ago I had a permanent bridge installed. That’s how I think of it. It’s like doing home improvements or something. Only more painful. The bridge though was a piece of cake. It was even a little funny. My dentist had never worked on me before and had no idea of my comfort level being at the dentist (high), pain threshold (lowish) or reaction to very large needles (mild). I don’t know if it’s his SOP, but he stopped a few times so I could rest or relax or whatever. I just wanted to get it over with. He was very solicitous and I like him very much. Our senses of humor are similar and he’s easy on the eyes which is a bonus. I told him that nothing he was going to do would be anywhere near as bad as what Pat did to me (oral surgeon) so to just go for it. Hilarious. He even used the word proprioception in conversation and because I am who I am, I know what it means. Not sure if he just automatically said it or what, but it was funny. At least I thought so. I love it when people use out of the ordinary vocabulary, even if I have to ask what it means.

Anyway...sorry for the long intro, but what this means is I can chew. On both sides of my face. Wow. I had to make myself do it since I hadn’t in almost 4 years. Not very hard things, but medium crunchy stuff and tender meats and veggies. I’m almost all the way back to normal. There’s just a trace of sensitivity and thankfully the soreness in my cheek went away - hadn’t used those jaw muscles in ages! And weirdly, I only felt it when I blew my nose.

But the saga of the left side is over and we’ll be keeping an eye on the opposite corresponding tooth since that root canal won’t last forever either. I hope we catch it before I lose too much bone for an implant. No way I’m going to do another one of those elaborate and excruciating bone grafts again which is why I went with a bridge for this one. OMG. I’ll shut up now. Just thought I’d end the saga on a good note.

Heads off to chew something …

Glad that your dental journey has finally reached a happy place! And here's to the other side holding out for a good long time.

I had to look up proprioception. It turned out to be something that I did know, but forgot.

>228 Bookmarque: I am delighted your dental situation is more acceptable than it was.

>228 Bookmarque: I too am glad to know that you have a measure of comfort in chewing food again!

>228 Bookmarque: Isn't chewing great? Glad the dental stuff is settling down. I hope you are able to be dentist visit free for a while.

>228 Bookmarque: I'm very glad to hear this. I hope you spend some time savouring all the foods you'd missed but can now enjoy again.

Thanks everyone. I'm glad to have this behind me and hope a repeat performance is a long way off.

Sometimes the cover module turns up such cool things. I have an audio version of this book and with non-physical books, or books I don't own, I play fast and loose with covers. Usually I choose the one I like best or the one I wish I had. To wit -



So what you say? Look at the font. Look at the pen technique.

It's an Edward Gorey cover!!!

woo hoo!

So I chose it for my cover stand in. These are my rules, I make 'em up. lol

Wild woman!

Yup. I am. Out
of
control

Livin' on the edge.

So...to continue in my abandon, here's a new thread!