Saturday Snapshots #215 Dreaming of Spring

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads. Come join the fun. Visit Melinda's blog, grab the button, read the rules, post your photos and link up at West Metro Mommy Reads.

I am so-o-o-o tired of snow on the ground. So today I am sharing some photos from my late mother-in-law's garden. In her later years, she didn't garden as much, but the tulips and daffodils are perennials, so they came up without too much work.  

I know we have weeks and weeks until Spring really arrives, but today these pictures make me smile. Now I am off to see what pictures others have shared.


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Wondrous Words Wednesday #115

Join us at Kathy's blog, BermudaOnion's Weblog to share new words you discovered while reading, or new words you encounters somewhere else.

I haven't encountered any new words in my last few reads. So I went back to my Kindle, where I read Unbroken and checked the notes section. Here are a few others I had highlighted while I was reading.



torpor n.   a state of physical or mental inactivity: lethargy

"Back on Hawaii, he sank into a cold torpor."

This word made me think of stupor and I guess it is similar. In fact the Merriam Webster dictionary uses this definition of stupor: a state of extreme apathy or torpor resulting often from stress or shock.


anodyne   adj.  not likely to provoke dissent or offense; uncontentious or inoffensive, often deliberately so.

"Among Louie's friends, no one would remember what Sasaki studied at USC, but they all recalled
his quiet, anodyne presence; saying almost nothing, he smiled without interruption."


alacrity   n.  brisk and cheerful readiness

"Mac suddenly shot his hand up and snagged the bird by the leg in midair, the handed the squirming animal to Louie, who was amazed at Mac's alacrity. "


What interesting words did you come across in your reading recently?


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First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros #115

Diane at Bibliophile By The Sea hosts this Tuesday meme as a place the share the first paragraph (or a few) of the book you are currently reading or hope to start soon. Join us to get a glimpse into what some other book lovers are reading.

I started this book Monday. It is the January read for my local book club. It was loaned to me by another member. I had been unable to get it at our library, the copies were checked out. I put a hold on it over 3 weeks ago, they emailed me and the librarian said he had requested the library buy the Large Print edition and if they did not he would put in my request to the ILL.  Well, I needed to read this, so the loan was appreciated.  I am enjoying it even more than Half Broke Horses by the same author.

The Silver Star

Jeannette Walls

Scribner 2013

Chapter One

My sister saved my life when I was a baby. Here's what happened. After a fight with her family, Mom decided to leave home in the middle of the night, taking us with her. I was only a few months old, so Mom put me in the infant carrier. She sat it on the roof of the car while she stashed some things in the trunk, then she settled Liz, who was three, in the back seat. Mom was going through a rough period at the time and had a lot on her mind--craziness, craziness, craziness she'd say later. Completely forgetting that she'd left me on the roof, Mom drove off. 

Liz started shrieking my name and pointing up. At first Mom didn't understand what Liz was saying, then she realized what she'd done and slammed on the brakes. The carrier slid forward onto the hood, but since I was strapped in, I was alright. In fact, I wasn't even crying. In the years afterward, whenever Mom told the story, which she found hilarious and acted out in dramatic detail, she liked to say thank goodness Liz had her wits about her, otherwise that carrier would have flown right off and I 'd have been a goner.  

So would you read on after reading the first two paragraphs? It is told in the 1st person, which I kind of like. Especially in this story, it fits well. The story teller is 12 year old Jean "Bean" Wyatt.



Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This Monday meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  Join us by grabbing her button and linking up your own What Are You Reading post.

Last week, the last Monday of the year I did not post here. I was still reading Naked in Death by J.D. Robb , which I liked incidentally and reviewed on Goodreads  HERE and trying to read Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption  by Laura Hillenbrand. I have not reviewed Unbroken yet. I am still processing the powerful story. I also snuck ( is that really a word?) in a quick read to try to reach my goal of 72 books for 2014. I read This is Wyoming Live,:Body, Spirit and History by Betty Starks Case. I reviewed it HERE on Goodreads.

This week I finished reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards and I am currently reading:

It is the January read for my F2F Book Club which will meet the 20th of this month, the day before I leave to fly to California. And I also will start:

It has been on my reading list for at least a year and I came across it at the library when we where there on Friday.

Yesterday, Sunday, my quilt group met and we selected the first of our UFO Challenges to work on for the next two months. I wrote about that challenge at the bottom of my  challenges page.

So there you have a quick recap.

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First Book of 2015 The Memory Keeper's Daughter

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

March 1964 changed the lives of David Henry and his wife of barely a year forever. Dr. Henry, an orthopedic surgeon delivered his own twins in a blizzard. Norah and David were hoping for a healthy baby, and Norah told him Paul if a boy and Phoebe if it's a girl.  In 1964, delivery procedures were different. With the help of the nurse from the clinic where David worked, he delivered a healthy son. A form of gas was used to keep the mother relaxed between contractions, and David soon realized that Norah was delivering another baby. A girl, this time. As he holds here in his hands, he and the nurse both recognize that this baby has Down's syndrome. Always wanting to protect and take care of others, Dr. Henry as his nurse to take the baby to an institution and never reaveal the secret. He rationalizes that his wife would never be able to handle the baby's added needs and expected early death.

Unable to leave the tiny infant at the institution, Carolyn Gill disappears and raises the baby herself. She had a blank birth certificate, that Dr David Henry had hastily signed knowing that the nurse would finalize the details. So begins a story that unfolds over 25 years and binds two families together by these fateful decisions.

I was immediately drawn in by this story. I raised my own children in this time period. My first child was born in 1964. But I could not relate to a father giving up his child. As the story developed I began to understand that Dr Henry was broken. By circumstances beyond his control. He need to be always in control. Norah was a women I never grew to like. She was spoiled, inconsiderate of others, unable to relate to her husband and smothered her son.

But this story is well written, with good character development. I wanted to slap Norah and David, hug Paul the son who never felt complete, and cheer on Caroline and Phoebe and try to get them to find each other and share the secret.


View all my reviews

Saturday Snapshots #115

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads. Come join the fun. Visit Melinda's blog, grab the button, read the rules, post your photos and link up at West Metro Mommy Reads.

Those of you who read my blog, know that I am a quilter in addition to being a reader. The picture is a tray of "fat quarter" brownies.  A fat quarter is a piece of fabric cut 18" x 22". My son and daughter-in-law packed fat quarters in shades of brown, folded them square and wrapped them in plastic wrap then arranged them on a tray. I collect Santa's too, they are in a Santa tray.  Aren't they just clever and thoughtful?  I love this gift!

We too celebrated New Year's Eve at home alone. I set the table with my good china and my grandmother's crystal wine glasses.

 We shared a New York steak and each had a small lobster tail that I baked then broiled. You don't get fresh lobster in Wyoming so these were frozen but surprisingly good. A salad and wine finished it off. Then we watched a movie on Netflix. I don't find a lot  of movies there that I want to watch, but we picked Labor Day with Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet. The young son played by Gattlin Griffith was by far the best. We both enjoyed it and that is something. We don't often enjoy the same type of movie.


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My First Book of The Year: 2015

I have been waiting to start The Memory Keeper's Daughter. I committed to it being my first book of the new year on Sheila's blog, Book Journey. Go visit Sheila's blog and see the collage of picture of those of us who are joining in the fun. 

This book was passed on to me by a friend and it will also fit category #2, a familial relation,   of What's In A Name 2015 sponsored by Charlie of The Wormhole,  Her posts for this year's challenge should be up today, January 1st. 

When I have a review of this one, I will post it to the proper posting link at Charlie's blog.


So for now.....

Happy New Year &

Stay Busy and Stay Happy