Wondrous Words July 9th

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, grab the button at Bermudaonion's Weblog,  write a post and go back and add your link to Mr. Linky!



1. titrating : intransitive verb, to test by or be subject to titration
       titrate:  verb  to titrate is to measure how much of a substance you have by measuring how much of the solution is required to achieve a given reaction. 


After his shower, Griffin mixed blue food coloring in water, titrating as carefully as if he were searching for a cure for some dreaded disease.

From Say When  by Elizabeth Berg.


2.  chiaroscuro:  noun   the treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting. 

He knew nothing about the technique of chiaroscuro; there was no play between shadow and light in any of his samples. 

This example of chiaroscuro is by Gerrit van Honthorst called The Matchmaker. 

3. pointillism  noun. a technique of neo-Impressionist painting using tiny dots of various pure colors, which become blended in the viewer's eye. It was developed by Seurat with the aim of producing a greater degree of luminosity and brilliance of color. 


"At first, I merely imitated the styles of the painters I most admired. The impressionists and expressionists, the pointillists."

Study for a Sunday on La Grande Jatte ,  1884   George Seurat

#2 and 3 are from We Are Water by Wally Lamb.



I found a few other words in Wally Lamb's book, I'll share those next time. 


Until next time, 
Stay Busy and Stay happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 7-7-14

Every Monday, Sheila at Book Journey hosts this meme where we can share the books we are reading and find out what books others are reading this week. Join us for the fun. Just click the link to Book Journey above and then link your blog post to the Linky page at the bottom of her Monday post. See you there!

  I hope to be sort of back to normal this week. Our last couple of weeks have been a bit strange and hectic. We are still sorting through the stuff that must be done after my MIL's death. Dealing with the grief and then we are helping our granddaughter and her husband get their new house ready to move into. It has been fun to watch the work being done. I don't help much with the actual labor, but watch their 10 month old son, our great grandson. Whew!, babies wear you out!  "Big grin".

I am still working at trying to listen to

It is a great story, slow moving and I am finding it hard to find listening time. Guess I really need to learn how to get audio books to my iPod instead of my Kindle Fire. It would be easier to be portable I would think. 

I have Sleight of Paw in my vehicle. I read as I wait for Mr Busy to do errands to the hardware store, etc. Not much of that going on  lately, I have been staying home. But it is a fun read, and easy to pick up and read when given the opportunity. 

This one is our summer read for my face to face book club. I have never read Wally Lamb before, but I am enjoying it. It is on my Kindle and I have been grabbing stolen minutes to read it. It is an interesting story and I am anxious to read the conclusion. Have any of you read this one?

Until next time,

Stay Happy and Stay Busy

A Stressful, Heartbreaking and yet also amazing week.

I haven't posted since the 11th. A lot has happened in the last 10 days, much of it seems surreal. The 11th I wrote a Wondrous Words Wednesday post and then began getting ready for lots of company in anticipation of our 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration. You know, get the house ready for guests, make sure clothes are pressed and ready, find the camera, all the prep. Our daughter, son-in-law, granddaughters and our son had made all the party plans. So we were just to enjoy. Friday the 13th we admitted my DH mother into the hospital for pain control after he sat with her from 10:30 am until 6:00 pm in the emergency room. They were doing pain management there, and some test. They discovered another mass in the upper quadrant of her lung, unsure if it was more cancer, or pneumonia. By that time our family had arrived and they too sat with her. Saturday was our party and though bittersweet, because she was in the hospital, we did have a good time. Lots of friends came and we had lots of memories shared.

My MIL's pain was still very bad when we arrived at the hospital after the party. We were hoping for a bigger improvement, finally on Sunday, after discussions with doctors and nurses and family we decided to move her to hospice for comfort care. So Sunday night at 5 pm she was admitted to our local hospice house. It is a fabulous facility, fairly new to our small city.  The staff there is amazingly kind and caring.  Her pain was finally controlled and she was comfortable. Her children and grandchildren who could not be at her bedside, placed calls that were placed by her side. At 8:43 am on Monday she left our physical world to go to live in heaven. The rest of this week has been a whirlwind of arrangements and family preparations. We are all grieving in our own way and our own time. We will get through this.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melissa at West Metro Mommy Reads. Join us over at her blog and share your favorite snap.

On a happier note, this week also was when our oldest granddaughter, her husband and 9.5 month old son came to stay with us while their house is being readied. They are moving back to our city after 10 years in Colorado. It is much fun to have a baby in the house. But we had to "baby proof" big time. Everything is now above his eye level, plug ins are covered and the stairway is secure.

 Joseph helps Great G'pa measure for the gate at the stairway!

Happy baby and happy momma, our oldest granddaughter.  We are glad to have them close to us. Our daughter, Joseph's grandma is sad that they moved away from Colorado. I am sure she will visit often.


Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Today on Wondrous Words Wednesday hosted by Kathy at Bermuda Onion's Weblog, I am sharing words found while reading Animal Dreams. Some of these words were easy to discern because of how they  were used in the sentence. Others are words that I see used a lot in other works and I needed to feature them again. What Wondrous Words did you discover recently?  Visit Kathy's blog and link up to share your new to you or interesting words.

Animal Dreams
Barbara Kingsolver
Harper Collins 1990


These first 2 definitions  are from www.yourdictionary.
stratum:      noun  
The definition of a stratum means a layer or a section, or a division of the atmosphere or ocean, or a section of society.

" In high school, Hallie and I were beneath Trish's  stratum of normal conversation."


prescience:   noun   Prescience is defined as the power to know something before it happens or to the ability to tell the future.
  
 "It has so much living weight to it, such prescience, it felt like something that was someday bound to happen."

The following definitions were found at Miriam Webster online dictionary.

water-miscible   adjective  capable of being mixed; specifically ; capable of mixing in any ratio without separation of two phases

" Black Mountain Mining has been running sulfuric acid, which is a clear, corrosive, water-miscible acid, through their tailing piles to recover extra copper."

effete  adjective   : lacking strength, courage  or spirit
                            : resembling a woman

"  I stopped and reconsidered this effete analogy. Teenagers who won't use condoms aren't impressed by the need for an umbrella."

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Say When

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea shares the first paragraph or two of the book she is currently reading, or hopes to read soon. Stop by her blog, grab the button and join us in sharing a First Chapter, First Paragraph Intro.

Say When

Elizabeth Berg

Atria Books   2003

Of course he knew she was seeing someone. He knew who it was, too. Six months ago, saying she needed a new direction in her life, saying she was tired of feeling helpless around anything mechanical, that she had no idea how to even change a tire, Ellen had taken a course in basic auto mechanics - "Know Your Car", it was called. She'd come back the first night saying it was amazing, she'd had the admittedly elitist idea that mechanics were illiterate, but this one was so well-spoken, and he'd walked in the classroom carrying a pile of books he'd just bought - hardback! Mostly new fiction, she'd said. But also, Balzac, because he'd never read him . 

What do you think? Would you read this one?  I have read 3 other of Elizabeth Berg's titles and I enjoyed each one.

I am hoping to get this one finished by the end of the week.




Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? A finish, some continuing and a new read!

Every Monday, Sheila at Book Journey host a place for us to share what we are currently reading or will start during the week. It is a fun place to see what others are reading and add some titles to your reading list. If you are like me, you have a ever growing list of titles you want to indulge in. Have fun, join us at Book Journey and link up .  

We are still listening to ( or needing to listen to) Heat Lightning.   We moved Mr Busy's mother to an assisted living room in the retirement center where she lives and had out of town company for 10 days. I also have been working part-time, but most every day for the last 3 weeks. Not much listening was happening.

I still have The Goldfinch on the kindle as an audio version and am slowly making my way through it.

 I finished Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver on Saturday. This was the May read for my face to face book club and I did not finish it for our meeting on June 3rd. That is the first time I have not finished a selection on schedule. I hate that! I wrote a short review on Goodreads,  you can view it here.

So Sunday I started reading Say When by Elizabeth Berg. This is a book I have had on my shelf for some time and it is one I listed to read for the Mega Mix II Challenge on Goodreads. It will be a fun easy read I think, to get me through to the next week. Also, it is on loan from a friend, so I really need to read it and return it. Our week is expected to be busy busy.

Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Saturday Snapshot 1st Saturday of June

Every Saturday Melinda at  West Metro Mommy Reads hosts Saturday Snapshot. To participate , post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky portion of her blog. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

This week's photo is one taken by my sister. My younger sister is an avid gardener and a fabulous cook. She grows both vegetables and flowers. Several years ago she discovered a wild orchid growing in a small bed off the edge of her lower deck. Of course she nurtured it and loved it. Last week she and her husband traveled to MN to attend our nephew's wedding. Upon their return she discovered this .

Covered in tiny yellow blooms. She expressed that she believes it is an omen for the marriage of that special young couple . I cannot find fault with her reasoning. 


We had a very hectic week this last week. We had company from Florida, I worked filling in at my old place of employment and we moved my MIL to a different part of the retirement center where she lives. Her level of care has increased and she needed more attention. She just had her 90th birthday in March so it was expected eventually, but it happened quite suddenly. This next week will end with a party to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. Our son and daughter are planning it from their homes, but they will be here with many others I hope. It is a pretty amazing milestone and one reached by determination and devotion and commitment . 


Until next time, 
Stay Busy and Stay Happy