Saturday Snapshots : A near finish.

Sharing just a couple of photos of a recent quilt. Go to West Metro Mommy Reads to check out the few rules and see what other bloggers are sharing this week.

I have been working on a quilt as a gift to my DIL. She graduates from ASU (Arizona State University) in May. Her degree is in Creative Writing with a minor in Communications. She will graduate Summa Cum Laude. We are very proud of her. If you know anything about me, you will know that she is a non-traditional student, she is 46.  A great accomplishment for her.


This is the quilt top done, but not quilted or totally finished.

 I just got the quilt back from the long-arm quilter and the binding is now sewed on the front, waiting for me to hand sew it to the back.  All the large squares are fabrics that have words. There is a newspaper print from the 60's, a travel brochure depicting Route 66, some antique postcards, the Declaration of Independence.

 The quilting is a large meander, with words interspersed. Words that are important to her: books, write, read, sister, daughter, grandmother, church, God, roses, chocolate, wine.........etc.

I hope she will like it. It is a pattern called Big Quilts by Debbie Bowles, I have also called it "Words Squared".

The next several evenings will be getting the binding sewed down and a label made.
Have a great week everyone.

Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday- North of Beautiful

What are you anxious to read soon?  Share the first chapter, first paragraph of your next read at Diane's blog, Bibliophile By The Sea.  Write a post and link up at Diane's blog.

I hope to start this one soon. It has been on my list for several months and I finally made the trek to the Young Adult section of our library to check it out.

North of Beautiful
Justina Chen Headley
Hachette Book Group
February 2009
Young Adult

Fate Maps

Not to brag or anything , but if you saw me from behind, you'd probably think I was perfect. I'm tall, but not too tall, with a ballerina's long legs and longish neck. My hair is naturally platinum blonde, the kind that curls when I want it to and cascades behind my back in one sleek line when I don't. While my face couldn't launch a thousand ships, it has the power to make any stranger whip around for a second look. Trust me, this mixture of curiosity and revulsion is nothing Helen of Troy would have ever encountered.
   Please don't get me wrong: I've got all the prerequisite parts - and in all the right numbers, too: one nose, two eyes, and twenty-four teeth that add up to not a bad smile. But who notices pearly whites when a red-stained birthmark stretches across the broad plain of my right cheek? That's exactly why I never went anywhere without my usual geologic strata of moisturizer, sunblock, medical concealer, foundation, and powder. 

I hope that this is the story I am anticipating it to be.    Would you want to read on?



Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

This book will be my 11th library book on my way to meet my goal of 28 at Sheila's blog. You can watch my list grow at my 2015 Challenges page.

Saturday Snapshots 4-4-15

Sharing a couple of pictures taken yesterday while visiting our great grandson. His momma had just left to run a few errands in preparation for her husbands birthday party last night. JR cried when she left, so I distracted him with a small bowl of some Cheerios. It worked. He immediately decided to empty the bowl and put the Cheerios in the indentation of his wooden shape puzzle. I think Mickey and Pluto look pretty good with cereal on them. What do you think?

Share your snapshots on Melinda's blog, West Metro Mommy Reads. There are a few rules, check them out at Melinda's site. Mostly that they are safe for all eyes and they are photos taken by you or a family member or friend.


Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

What's In A Name 2015 - Animal : Blind Your Ponies.

Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West. 
Published 2011 
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill


Sam Pickett is hiding from the nightmares and violence that has invaded his life. He is an English teacher that ends up in the tiny, hopeless town of Willow Creek, Montana. In addition to his English classes, he is asked to coach the basketball team. They are a sorry sight, and their record speaks for itself . For the last 5 years he has coached and they are still 0-93. He wonders, why me?  There are a few supporters in the small town, Andrew Wainwright, Ray Collins, and Elizabeth Chapman. This year will be different, how?

Enter Peter Strong, Elizabeth's grandson from the Twin Cities, MN. His parents are divorcing and they have sent him to Grandma while they sort it all out. Also a foreign exchange student shows up to live with Mervin and Claire Painter. Two of their daughters had been exchange students, one to Spain one to Brazil, they felt the need to reciprocate. They are hosting Olaf from Norway, hopefully, a son to fill the void felt by Mervin.  When they meet him at the airport gate, they are surprised by his bright blue eye, his straw-colored hair, and boyish grin. Also, he had to duck as he walked through the gate. He is 6' 11''.  Mervin wonders if he plays basketball.

Thus begins the new season for the Willow Creek Broncos and Sam Pickett. And what a season it will turn out to be.

I really enjoyed this feel-good, but not sappy sweet story. The setting is not far from where we live, so it felt personal. I love the small town feel, the camaraderie. The characters where fun to get to know ( well most of them). I loved Grandma Chapman's spirit, and Diana Murphy's insight.

The only thing that spoiled this wonderful story was the editing of the e edition I was reading. Clumsy grammar, hyphenated words where they should not have been, capitalization of the A in afternoon (frequently). I hate that.  I intend to try to find a print edition of this book and compare. Also I will probably read other books by this author, because I like his writing. But I will be careful to only use print book editions.

Am I the only one this happens too? Do any of you find blatant errors in ebook editions?

I gave this story 5 stars because I loved it. And I think the editing was not the author's fault.

Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/30/15

Every Monday I try to join the many participants in this meme at Sheila's blog. It is a place to talk about the books you are reading or plan on reading in the coming week. So tell us about your current books, print, audio, or electronic and then link up at Book Journey .

This week I hope to finish Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West. It has been on my Kindle for nearly 2 years! I heard about it at my face to face book club and that is why I loaded it. I am really enjoying it, why did I wait so long? 

From Amazon

Hope is hard to come by in the hard-luck town of Willow Creek. Sam Pickett and five young men are about to change that.

Sam Pickett never expected to settle in this dried-up shell of a town on the western edge of the world. He's come here to hide from the violence and madness that have shattered his life, but what he finds is what he least expects. There's a spirit that endures in Willow Creek, Montana. It seems that every inhabitant of this forgotten outpost has a story, a reason for taking a detour to this place--or a reason for staying.

As the coach of the hapless high school basketball team (zero wins, ninety-three losses), Sam can't help but be moved by the bravery he witnesses in the everyday lives of people--including his own young players--bearing their sorrows and broken dreams. How do they carry on, believing in a future that seems to be based on the flimsiest of promises? Drawing on the strength of the boys on the team, sharing the hope they display despite insurmountable odds, Sam finally begins to see a future worth living.

Author Stanley Gordon West has filled the town of Willow Creek with characters so vividly cast that they become real as relatives, and their stories--so full of humor and passion, loss and determination--illuminate a path into the human heart.

Next up will be The Courage Tree by Diane Chambelain.

From Goodreads:

 Eight-year-old Sophie Donohue just wanted to be like every other little girl. Which is why her mother, Janine, reluctantly agreed to let her go on the weekend camping trip with her Brownie troop. But when Janine arrives to pick up Sophie after the trip, her daughter is not among the others. Somehow, along the forested route from West Virginia, Sophie has disappeared.Sophie is no ordinary 8 year old. She suffers from a rare disease, and Janine has recently enrolled her in an experimental treatment as a last effort to save her life - despite the vehement objections of her ex-husband, Joe, who believes conventional medicine is the only route to take. The only person to support Janine in her decision is Lucas Trowell, someone familiar with the herbs used in the treatment. Lucas has been encouraging Janine to keep Sophie in the program, and, indeed, the little girl has been showing remarkable improvement.
All her mother's instincts tell Janine that Sophie is alive, but time is running out. Without her treatment, it's only a matter of days before Sophie's illness will claim her life. As Janine, Joe and Lucas embark on a desperate search to find Sophie, envy and suspicion grow between the two men, casting doubts on each other's true motives for helping Janine.
Deep in the forest, another drama unfolds. Sophie has found refuge in a remote cabin inhabited by a woman who wants nothing to do with the little girl. She's desperate to help her own daughter, who has been wrongly imprisoned for murder and who, after escaping, is on her way to join her mother. Sophie's arrival puts in jeopardy her daughter's future, but the mysterious woman is as determined to save her daughter as Janine is to save Sophie. 

 Only one of them can succeed.

I chose this book for a challenge on Goodreads. I was to pick a title from another member's TBR shelf on Goodreads. I chose this one, because I had not read it and had heard so many good reviews of her other books. I also have liked many books on Noleen's list, so after checking the synopsis , I included it in the challenge. I know I will be keeping a box of tissue near. 

Both of these books, and a current sewing project, plus housework and cooking will fill my week. Next weekend is Easter and my grandson-in-law's 30th birthday. I will bake a GF cake and then they will be here on Saturday for a pre-Easter dinner as they are going to his grandmother's for Easter Sunday.

 Busy, Busy, Busy, Happy, Happy, Happy

Spring has Sprung but not at home.

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads. Share photos that you or a family member took. There are a few rules. Check them out on Melinda's blog.

I'm still showing pictures I took on our recent road trip. The bougainvillea were blooming all over Phoenix. My son calls it "that pink sh-t". It has thorns and he hated trimming it when they had some in a rental home where they lived years ago. He still doesn't like it. It is very pretty, very showy and very pink.

This is the ocotillo plant that is pretty prolific in the Southwest too. I always thought it was a kind of cactus, but while I was looking up the correct spelling for this post, I discovered it is not a true cactus. There are several in the neighborhood park near my son and DIL's home.

 I am not sure what these tiny blue flowers are. I think vinca vine. I was walking the dog on one of our stops in Utah on our way home. I thought they were crocus as I approached, but they are not. The homeowner had lots of daffodils and tulips blooming already. I am ready for Spring in our neighborhood too. So far we have no buds on trees, no lilacs, and I haven't seen crocus or hyacinth in other yards. Today is supposed to be 75 degrees F. so something should begin to show up.

Until next time,

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Winterkill by C.J.Box A listen and a sighting!

Joe Pickett is a game warden in Wyoming. Making his rounds one morning, checking the elk herds, he hears shots. Not one, not two but many. It is not elk season and as he watches elk fall and the herd panic and scatter, Joe wonders who is doing this.  As Joe assesses where the shots are coming from and proceeds to approach the perpetrator from behind, he realizes it is the local forest service supervisor, Lamar Gardner. Joe takes Lamar into custody, and because he is a friend and seems repentant, and there is a snow storm brewing, Joe loads him into his pickup to head down the mountain. It is then, that the situation goes south.

This story deals with the growth of the "independent nation" cults flourishing in the West and the conflict between parental custody and foster care that occurs in all parts of our country. Joe's voice is always the one of reason and honesty amid the noise of greed and evil.

This is the first C.J. Box book I have read, but it will not be the last. Mr Busy has read the first two and while we were in Phoenix on the 15th of March, we visited The Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale and listened to Mr Box talk about his newest Joe Pickett novel, Endangered. He spent some time talking about the writing process and how he researches his ideas. He also signed copies of his books. I bought the next in the series, Trophy Hunt and of course the newest one. Even though C.J. Box lives in Cheyenne WY and has spoken at our local library and book store in the town where I live, I had never been to see him. So it was a treat to be able to buy some of his books, so soon after listening to Winterkill.



Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy