March Finishes : Church Lady Apron and Bib Apron

2017 is turning out to be a pretty good year for finishes for me.  I have 3 different challenge lists and that is keeping me focused.

The Sewing Center/Fabric City UFO Challenge has a list of themes for each month. Then I have to chose which item on my L-O-N-G list of UFO's fits the theme and get it finished in the month. Then I post a picture to the proper album on their Facebook page and they draw winners of coupons or fabric every month. That is good motivation for some, I just need the "peer pressure" to get busy!. The link above with direct you to their page on Facebook, the UFO Challenge is a closed group, so you are unable to see all the projects.

The theme for March is "Spring". I am not a flowery, spring color kind of girl. I lean toward fall colors, so that was a hard one for me. One of my UFOs was to make a Church Lady apron. The pattern is by Mary Mulari, a fequent contributor on Sewing with Nancy on PBS,  Then I found an apron pre printed panel that I had cut out, ready to sew. IDEA!  Back the bib apron panel with springy fabric and give to granddaughter #1 for Easter. Make the Church Lady Apron for me, to wear while cooking Easter dinner!  I had some cute bottle cap fabric and a coordinating cross hatch print. Done!

They are reversible to should be sturdy enough and useful. 

The All People Quilt ( American Patchwork and Quilting) 2017 UFO Challenge goes like this. I filled out a chart, posted on their web site. Then at the beginning of each month, a number is posted on the challenge groups Facebook page. At the end of the month, I record the progress made on the ufo. It doesn't have to be finished. But can be, of course. #12 was drawn for March. Number 12 on my list was to finish a play/activity quilt for our first Great Granddaughter, Bella. The quilt stays at our house, so she has a safe place on the floor. I finished that too. 

   There is a strip added near the top, with taggies and loops to attach toys. The long looking piece is a striped ribbon I couldn't throw away. I added an empty plastic thread spool.  She loved it. Near the bottom is a printed panel section left over from her brother's Winnie the Pooh quilt. I made small square fabric pillows and attached them to several pictures on the panel for a Peek-a-boo effect.

Last but not least I made a teething ring with bunny ears attached. It is fabric and toweling. Gives a great Handle to hold on to and catch the drool!

 I am pleased to have these 3 UFO's off my list. 

My other challenge is a local group I belong to. We do a project every 60 days. I posted about the first project, dice roll #5 .HERE.  

I am posting these finishes to Crazy Mom Quilts'  Finish It Up Friday!   This post was written and published on the 12th, too late for Friday the 10th. So I am linking it today, the 17th. 

PS:  I finished a book too!  Immortal in Death by J.D. Robb. 

Wondrous Words Wednesday 6-8-16

Kathy at Bermuda Onion hosts Wondrous Words Wednesday. A chance to highlight words you find while reading or occasionally by listening. Share your words then link up with Kathy's blog so we can all learn a new wondrous word.

This week I was neglectful in taking note of words while reading. I was so focused on finally finishing a book that I just soldiered on.  So I will check out my Word of the Day email from Miriam Webster. 

ululate - verb    

: howl or wail 

I remember seeing this word and even looking it up in the past. But I did not remember it. So I guess a refresher is in order. 

Two examples from the email. 

"Millions of pop culture devotees weep and ululate over the death of David Bowie. His passing is noteworthy, given his significant celebrity profile, but I shall miss [journalist] George Jonas' contributions more." — Randall Bell, letter in The National Post (Canada), 13 Jan. 2016   "They talked loud in their language, and together they sounded like mourners ululating." — Sefi Atta, Everything Good Will Come, 2005 (2008)

foozle - verb   

to manage or play akwardly,  bungle

Examples from the email:

After the receiver foozled the catch, the kicking team recovered the ball at the opponent's 10-yard line.   "He foozled a short putt on the 72nd green at Southern Hills in Tulsa that would've won him the 2001 Open, then played solidly in a Monday playoff and defeated Mark Brooks for the title." — Gary Van Sickle, Golf.com, 30 July 2015

I am going to have to remember this one. I am sure I will have ample opportunity to use it in the upcoming football season. Hopefully, not when my favorite team has the ball!

Did you find any wondrous words this week?

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline ( audio)

Ready Player One

Ernest Cline 

audio version: read by Wil Wheaton

Published: August 16, 2011  Random House Audio

Goodreads Synopsis: 

It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune--and remarkable power--to whoever can unlock them.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved--that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt--among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life--and love--in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready? 


My thoughts:


I really enjoyed listening to this book. Fantasy and Science Fiction are not my usual reads. But I do watch some science fiction, Mr Busy and my kids and grand kids are fans. I did not grow up in the 80's, I was already an adult. I did enjoy the references made to movies and game consoles and music, though. I was raising teenagers in the 80's!

I was captivated by the narration by Wil Wheaton. He did a really great job separating the voices of the various characters. The setting has such a real feel. I think our future may be just like that, only I think (or hope) it will be longer than 28 years. Our younger generation already spends a lot of time in the virtual world. I would recommend this audio version to anyone who might be interested in this story of a world in the not too distant future and the young people that inhabit it. I cannot do a better review than this one already done by Sheila at Book Journey. Click on over and read her thoughts. Just FYI, she loved it and her recommendation played a large part in my decision to download this audio version.

Wondrous Words Wednesday 4-27-16

Kathy at Bermuda Onion hosts Wondrous Words Wednesday. A chance to highlight words you find while reading or occasionally by listening. Share your words then link up with Kathy's blog so we can all learn a new wondrous word.

from The Chili Queen by Sandra Dallas


calumny   noun - an untrue statement that is made to damage someone's reputation; also: the act of making such statements

Welcome was satisfied they were telling the truth and he reassured Emma, " I don't doubt you. I do not believe you capable of calumny where I am concerned.

definitions from the dictionary embedded in my Kindle: Oxford Dictionary of English

from Witch is When It All Began by Adele Abbott

skip   noun   - skip  Brit   a dumpster

"The second thing I did was to grab the book of spells and take it to the skip. 

hob and paintwork

"You'd better put it on the hob" my mother advised. "The splash guard will prevent you from damaging the paintwork."

I understood that paintwork was probably the painted walls, but I looked it up anyway.

hob   noun -    a flat metal shelf at the side or back of a fireplace, having its surface level with the top of the grate and used esp. for heating pans.

paintwork   noun -  painted surfaces in a building or vehicle.


What new and interesting words did you discover recently?


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Review: If You Stay-Courtney Cole

If You Stay by Courtney Cole
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pax is on a course to self-destruct. He is drinking and using sex and drugs as a road to oblivion. Enter Mila, a soft-spoken, caring artist. Mila is not without demons of her own, but dealing with them in a different way. Mila finds Pax passed out, half in and half out of his car in a secluded area near the lake. She calls 911. But it doesn't stop there, she visits him in the hospital and genuinely cares that he is OK.

Mila and Pax are attracted to each other, but both must face their past before a relationship of any substance can begin to flourish. Ms. Cole did a good job of developing her characters and she didn't shy away from the nitty-gritty details of a passionate attraction.



I might be pushing the envelope to use this in Women's Fiction Reading Challenge because this story basically deals with Pax Tate and his journey to recovery. But Mila Hill plays an important role in his journey. She loves him "warts and all" ( though Ms. Cole doesn't mention any physical imperfections!). But in the end, she does not enable him, she supports and helps him grow. And in doing so she changes, she grows and so does her older sister.

Triple Dog Dare You! not really a challenge!

I have also decided to join in the Triple Dog Dare hosted by James Reads Books.  The dare is to only read books already on your TBR shelf until April 1st. The books must be on your shelf as of December 31st, midnight! There are a few exceptions and James makes it easy to manage to fit your needs. Check out the challenge ..er, DARE at the link above.

I will keep a list on my 2016 Challenge page for this "Dare". Some titles may overlap to other challenges I am working on. I feel a bit smug in that I have already purchased all the books for my F2G book club reads, so I won't need that exemption!  "Score!"

Thanks for this fun challenge (DARE)............!


Judy
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Every Wednesday, Kathy hosts this meme to celebrate wondrous words we find while reading, or listening or in our other day to day lives. Share your recent discoveries and then link up at Kathy's blog, BermudaOnion's Weblog.

Both of these words were found while reading Every Last One by Anna Quindlen last week.

"This tree is probably a hundred years old and it's probably not going to get much older. It's a shame; it is a glorious tree, the kind that looks immutable."

immutable:  adj
1) unable to be changed
2) not capable of or susceptible to change.


This word though not new to me is one I do not use often. I like the sounds of it and I need to get more familiar with it so I can use it more easily.


"That foolish man, with the bright blue eyes and his seductive grin, might have thought he was doing it out of expiation, but if he did it  it was because he knew it was the perfect form of torture."


expiation:  noun

1)  the act of making atonement
2)  the means by which atonement is made


Do you sometimes have to work at using a new word in your day to day language?  Is it worth it?


Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy





And Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it. Happy Holidays to those of you of different faith.

Wondrous Words Wednesday 11-18-15

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. Feel free to get creative! If you want to play along, visit Kathy at BermudaOnion's Weblog, grab the button, write a post and add your link to Mr. Linky on her page.


There has been lots of unfamiliar words in the news in the last 5 days. I can't remember where I was reading, but the word used was caliphate. The sentence was talking about ISIS and said they want a caliphate. So I looked up the word and found a dismal description. 

Caliphate - noun

: the office or dominion of a caliph

So I looked up caliph.

caliph - noun

: an important Muslim political and religious leader

I am not sure I am any smarter than I was before. But there was one comment on the Merriam Webster page that linked an encyclopedia article. It's here if you are interested.



So no other new words in my reading. Merriam Websters word of the day is:

onomastics - noun

As a student of onomastics, Gloria liked to keep track of the most popular baby names across generations.

1  a : the science or study of the origins and forms of words especially as used in a specialized field

    b : the science or study of the origin and forms of proper names of persons or places

2  : the system underlying the formation and use of words especially for proper names or of words used in a specialized field

Did you find any wondrous words in your reading this week? 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

 

Wondrous Words Wednesday 10/13/15

I've been absent here for a bit. Just busy I guess and not finding any wondrous words in my reading. This remains true today. So I turned to my Word of the Day emails from Merriam-Webster. I found several words that were very familiar to me.

delve - verb   to dig or labor with or as if with a spade.

 "I finally found time to delve into the instructions to program our new blu ray player."


proclivity - noun    an inclination or predisposition toward something; especially :a strong inherent inclination towards something objectionable.

     Martin's proclivity to lose his temper made him difficult to work with.



And I found a couple that were completely new to me.


manque - adj    short of  or frustrated in the fulfillment of ones' aspirations or talents

       Natalie is an actress manque who moved to New York ten years ago and is still looking        for her first big break. 


haplology - noun    contraction of a word by omission of one or more similar sounds or syllables. 

" Haplology is responsible for a number of forms found in rapid speech in English: not just "probly", but also "libry" ( library) or "nesry" ( necessary). 

I did not know there was a name for that!


Did you find any Wondrous Words this week.?

Wondrous Word Wednesday 7-29

Sharing Wondrous Words found while reading is definitely fun and a learning experience. Diane at BermudaOnion's Weblog gives us a place to do that. Come join the fun. 


This classic bildungsroman tells the story of Philip Carey, a sensitive boy born with a clubfoot who is orphaned and raised by a religious aunt and uncle.
 
Yesterday, as I was reading the posts at First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, I came across this word.   This classic bildungsroman tells the story of Philip Carey, a sensitive boy born with a clubfoot who is orphaned and raised by a religious aunt and uncle.

Sandra  at  Writing With a Texas Twang was sharing  her current read Of Human Bondage. She included the synopsis from Goodreads and even linked it to the definition. 

         noun  :  a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character. 



What Wondrous Words did you find in your reading this week?



Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - If I Stay 7-28

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea hosts this place to share a bit of the book you are currently reading or on you hope to read soon. It is fun to read about what others are reading and test the waters a bet to see if you might be interested in that particular title. Share the first paragraph or two of the first paragraph of the book you are reading and then link up at Diane's Blog. 



If I Stay
Gayle Forman
Penguin Goup 2009

7:09 AM
Everyone thinks it was because of the snow. And in a way, I suppose that is true.

I wake up this morning to a thin blanket of white covering our front lawn. It isn't even an inch,  but in this part of Oregon a slight dusting brings everything to a standstill as the one snowplow in the county get busy clearing the roads. It is wet water that drops from the sky - and drops and drops and drops - not the frozen kind. 

These first two paragraphs don't really give you an idea of the subject of the book. Maybe most of you have read this one or have seen the movie.

                       

When I purchased this book at a local store the clerk asked me if I had seen the movie. I said I hadn't and that I usually liked to read the book first. The lady behind me, with a walker (so she wasn't young), said "Definitely read the book first, but see the movie too."   I am finally finding time to read the book and it is so engrossing, I am having a hard time putting it down to go to sleep. I will rent the movie too.


Stay Busy and Stay Happy
Judy

Wondrous Words Wednesday 7-15-15

Linking ups with Kathy at Bermudaonion's Weblog today. I have been very neglectful in tracking the words I find while I am reading. It seems that I am reading at night, in my bed and there is not a pencil or paper in sight. I have kept a small notebook on my nightstand in the past, but lately it is missing!  

So today I will share a couple of words from my Word of the Day emails this month.

July 15th

innocuous -   adj 

: producing no injury : harmless

: not likely to give offense or to arouse strong feelings or hostility :inoffensive, insipid
This one is not unknown to me, but I decided to share it anyway. After all, it is the Word of the Day!

July 13th

estival -   adj

: of or relating to the summer
This word sounds and looks like festival but Merriam Webster says this"
Estival and festival look so much alike that you might think they're very closely related, but that isn't the case. Estival traces back to aestas, which is the Latin word for "summer" (and which also gave us estivate, a verb for spending the summer in a torpid state—a sort of hot-weather equivalent of hibernation). Festival also comes from Latin, but it has a different and unrelated root. It derives from festivus, a term that means "festive" or "merry." Festivus is also the ancestor of festive and festivity as well as the much rarer festivous (which also means "festive") and infestive, meaning "not merry, mirthless."

So what are your estival activities this year? Are you gardening, or traveling, or spending most of your time chauffeuring children to and from their estival activities? 
I had to giggle as I wrote this, Word has underlined this word every time I typed it. It thinks I want to say festival!!
Have a great week.Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Weekend Busy, Weekend Happy

Today I am linking up with Sunday Post for the very first time.

Not much time was spent reading this weekend. Mr Busy and I attended a GWRRA (Gold Wing Road Riders Assoc) District (Wyoming) Rally in Buffalo WY. If you ride any brand of motorcycle you need to come to Wyoming to ride. If you like beautiful mountain vistas, you need to come to Wyoming to experience those. If you like to shop of artisan type gifts, you need to come to Wyoming. If you like to fish, hunt, camp and hike, you need to come to Wyoming.

We spent the weekend helping make the rally a success. We manned the registration table, sold various raffle tickets, helped tally poker stroll hands, helped serve up BBQ and all the trimmings. We enjoyed the camaraderie very much. This will probably be our last rally as Mr Busy has decided to sell our Gold Wing. We have been riding with this group since 1990 and that means that we are getting old. Not the oldest riders in attendance. That honor went to a guy from Nebraska, who is 88 years old. He rode from his hometown of Scottsbluff  NE to Buffalo WY with a couple from his local chapter.  He does ride a trike, a common sight these days, but he is pretty amazing.

I am still reading The Color of Water in July and hope to finish it soon. Then I will start Shem Creek,  by Dorothea Benton Frank.

I checked it out at our local library and I need to get it read.  It is #4 in the Lowcountry series, but the Goodread synopsis looks like it will work as a stand alone story as well.

Pat Conroy has called her books “hilarious and wise”, noting that they are “funny, sexy and usually damp with sea water.” Anne Rivers Siddons said of Sullivans Island that it “roared with life.” Now Dorothea Benton Frank takes us back to the Lowcountry to introduce a whole new cast of characters whose lives will surely move your heart.Linda Breland has no experience managing a restaurant, but then neither did Brad Jackson, and he owns the place.
Meet Linda Breland, single parent of two teenage daughters. The oldest, Lindsey, who always held her younger sister in check, is leaving for college. And Gracie, her Tasmanian devil, is giving her nightmares. Linda’s personal life? Well, between the married men, the cold New Jersey winters, her pinched wallet and her ex-husband who marries a beautiful, successful woman ten years younger than she is—let’s just say, Linda has seen enough to fill a thousand pages.
As the story opens, she is barreling down Interstate 95, bound for Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the land of her ancestors. Welcomed by the generous heart of her advice dispensing sister, Mimi, Linda and her daughters slowly begin to find their way and discover a sweeter rhythm of life.

What kept you busy this weekend? Did you read or play?

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros. The Summer Hideaway

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros. It is a place to share the first paragraph or (a few) of a book you are reading or thinking about reading soon. Post about your first chapter first paragraph then link up at Diane's blog. It is a great way to get a glimpse into a book you have been thinking about too or maybe one you never would have considered otherwise. 

The Summer Hideaway #7 in The Lakeshore Chronicles

Susan Wiggs

Published 2010 by Mira Books

Prologue

Korengal Valley, Kunar province, Afghanistan

His breakfast consisted of shoestring potatoes that actually did look and taste like shoestrings, along with reconstituted eggs, staring up at him from a compartmentalized tray in the noisy chow hall. His cup was full of a coffeelike substance, lightened by a whitish powder. 

At the end of a two-year tour of duty, Ross Bellamy had a hard time looking at morning chow. He'd reached his limit. Fortunately for him, this was his last day of deployment.  It seemed like any other day--tedious, yet tense with the constant and ominous hum of imminent threat. Radio static crackled along with the sound of clacking utensils, so familiar to him by now that he barely heard it.  At the comm station, an ops guy for the Dustoff unit was on alert, awaiting the next call for a medical evacuation. 

I shared two paragraphs today. I felt like the first one did not give you a good indication as to where this story might be headed.


I am on page 21, barely started, but already I think I have an idea of what will happen next. So would you read on?

This definitely falls in the genre of contemporary romance, fictions, chick lit, etc. I used to read more of this genre, but not so much lately. However, it was loaned to me by a friend and it is summer so I decided to make this one the book I leave in the car. I have a small canvas bag that hold a book, a notebook and a pen. It is there when I need it to pass the time waiting in line, waiting on my DH while he is in the hardware store or any other time I am idle.


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Working on completing a challenge - Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult

Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This story is why I am a Jodi Picoult fan. She takes the tough parts of life and lets us see how they affect us all.

I developed a kind of love/hate relationship with Paige O'Toole. She was beautiful, talented, loved, but still she couldn't see that she was also valuable, strong, and worthy. I guess like all of us. And I really did not like Nicholas. A whinny spoiled kid who is a skilled cardiac surgeon, but obviously with no bedside manner whatsoever. He patients like him because he is good and he is gorgeous!  Really!!!

Ms. Picoult did address issues like postpartum depression, abandonment, lack of self worth, and also strength, forgiveness, and the power of love of a child to really to bottom of some of our more self-centered issues.

If you are a Picoult fan, you no doubt will like this book. Although lots of her books are more compelling this one is pretty insightful, in my opinion.



View all my reviews

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros -The Boston Girl

 First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday is a place to share the first bit of a book you are currently reading or plan to start soon.  Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea hosts. Post the first paragraph or two of the first chapter of your featured book and link it up at Diane's Blog.

The Boston Girl 

Anita Diamant

Schribner, A Division of Simon and Schuster

Published 2014

1985
Nobody told you?

Ava, sweetheart, if you ask me to talk about how I got to be the woman I am today, what do you think I'm going to say? I'm flattered you want to interview me. And when did I ever say no to my favorite grandchild?
I know I say that to all of my grandchildren and I mean it every single time. That sounds ridiculous or like I'm losing my marbles, but it's true. When your a grandmother you'll understand. 

This is the first chapter first paragraph of The Boston Girl. Sort of a prologue.  The next chapter is titled 1915-16, That's where I started to be my own person.  I think I will like this one. How about you? Would you read on?


Staying Busy and sort of Staying Happy

My Monday Reading - and a plan for the summer!

This rainy Memorial Day finds me achy and tired. Maybe a perfect day to just read. I currently have a bookmark in The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen. It was the March read for my book club but we were in Arizona and so I did not read or participate in the discussion. A fellow "Page Turner" shared the book with me to read this summer. I am so far enthralled with Mary El's story.

Based on a remarkable true story, The Secrets of Mary Bowser is an inspiring tale of one daring woman's willingness to sacrifice her own freedom to change the course of history.

All her life, Mary has been a slave to the wealthy Van Lew family of Richmond, Virginia. But when Bet, the willful Van Lew daughter, decides to send Mary to Philadelphia to be educated, she must leave her family to seize her freedom.

Life in the North brings new friendships, a courtship, and a far different education than Mary ever expected, one that leads her into the heart of the abolition movement. With the nation edging toward war, she defies Virginia law by returning to Richmond to care for her ailing father—and to fight for emancipation. Posing as a slave in the Confederate White House in order to spy on President Jefferson Davis, Mary deceives even those who are closest to her to aid the Union command.
Just when it seems that all her courageous gambles to end slavery will pay off, Mary discovers that everything comes at a cost—even freedom.

I plan to read The Ticket by Karen Schutte also and the following 2 titles in the trilogy. When Karl Kessel receives another man's ticket to emigrate from Germany he leaves behind his young wife and two small sons, all for the promise of the opportunity he covets. Arriving in America, Karl is obsessed with becoming the owner of a farm--to be his own man. When Karl's wife Katja steps off a train with their sons in the wilds of sparsely settled Wyoming, she questions, "Is this where I am to spend my life?" Katja soon discovers that it is not only the geography of her situation which will make her life difficult, as she gives everything her husband demands of her, but it is never enough.

In her debut novel, Karen Schutte spins a compelling family story, based on the true story of her own great grandparents' life in rural Wyoming. Her unvarnished narrative exposes the harsh realities of life in the last century.

"The Ticket" is an unforgettable and touching account of a true American family, filled with ambition, promises, love and loss, and ultimately, a legacy of survival. 

 

I hope it will be a great historical somewhat true account of the immigrants that settled the part of the country where I live. 

Also this week, we will begin some redecorating in our Master bedroom. So first that means cleaning the closet out to ready for paint. I am looking forward to downsizing and painting a sunnier cream or yellow color. I have a quilt that I made a year ago that I will use as my inspiration. 

Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Into #515

Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea host this Tuesday meme. It is a a place to share the first paragraph of a book you are currently reading or hope to read soon. Come link up and take a peek at what others are reading. 

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

Beth Hoffman

Penguin Group 2010

Momma left her red satin shoes in the middle of the road. That's what three eyewitnesses told the police. The first time I remember my mother wearing red shoes was on a snowy morning in December 1962, the year I was seven years old. I walked into the kitchen and found her sitting at the table. No lights were on, but in the thin haze of dawn that pushed through the frostbitten window, I could see the red high-heeled shoes peeking out from beneath the hem of her robe. There was no breakfast waiting, no freshly ironed school dress hanging on the basement doorknob. Momma just sat and stared out the window with empty eyes, her hands limp in her lap, her coffee cold and untouched. 

I stood by her side and breathed in the sweet scent of lavender talcum powder that clung to the tufts of her robe.
"What's the matter, Momma?"

I am looking forward to reading this one. It has been on my TBR list for a while and last Friday, as I was wandering the library shelves, it jumped out at me. So I pulled it off the shelf !



Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading. #615

Each Monday, Sheila host this meme, as a place to share the book you are currently reading or hope to start soon. Join us at Book Journey, Sheila's blog, and tell us what your are reading.

This week I am reading Beloved by Toni Morrison. I am probably one of a handful of reader who haven't read it yet. It was published in 1988 and was a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner. 

We are traveling in the latter part of the week, so I will take one of the following books along. 

In this luminous prequel to her beloved Cobbled Court Quilts series, New York Times bestselling author Marie Bostwick takes readers into the heart of a small Texas town and the soul of a woman who discovers her destiny there. . .

Welcome to Too Much--where the women are strong-willed and the men are handsome yet shiftless. Ever since Mary Dell Templeton and her twin sister Lydia Dale were children, their Aunt Velvet has warned them away from local boys. But it's well known that the females in Mary Dell's family have two traits in common--superior sewing skills and a fatal weakness for men.

Dewey's Nine Lives offers nine funny, inspiring, and heartwarming stories about cats--all told from the perspective of "Dewey's Mom," librarian Vicki Myron. The amazing felines in this book include Dewey, of course, whose further never-before-told adventures are shared, and several others who Vicki found out about when their owners reached out to her. Vicki learned, through extensive interviews and story sharing, what made these cats special, and how they fit into Dewey's community of perseverance and love. From a divorced mother in Alaska who saved a drowning kitten on Christmas Eve to a troubled Vietnam veteran whose heart was opened by his long relationship with a rescued cat, these Dewey-style stories will inspire readers to laugh, cry, care, and, most importantly, believe in the magic of animals to touch individual lives.

Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble. For years she’s been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille— the crown-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town. Though it’s 1967 and they live in Ohio, Camille believes it’s 1951 and she’s just been crowned the Vidalia Onion Queen of Georgia.

The day CeeCee discovers Camille in the front yard wearing a tattered prom dress and tiara as she blows kisses to passing motorists, she knows her mother has completely flipped. When tragedy strikes, Tootie Caldwell, a previously unknown great-aunt comes to CeeCee’s rescue and whisks her away to Savannah. Within hours of her arrival, CeeCee is catapulted into a perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricities—a world that appears to be run entirely by women.

Any recommendations?  I'm leaning toward Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt. It has been on my TBR list for a really long time.





Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy