Mailbox Monday November 12

Mailbox Monday is on tour for the month of November at Bermuda Onion's Weblog. Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

This week I scored big time!.  My AMAZON box arrived with  "The Secret Keeper" by Kate Morton. It is for the current book selection for a group on Goodreads. Also included was a copy of "Russian Winter" by Daphne Kalotay and "Claiming Ground" by Laura Bell. These are the December and March Selections for my local face to face bookclub.   This week too, I received three books that I ordered through Paperback Swap. I was glad to finally get them. I had mailed 4 books, and hadn't received the credits to order the ones I wanted. I got a copy of "Durable Goods" by Elizabeth Berg. It is #1 in the Katie trilogy. So that is fun. I watched an interview with Patricia Cornwell on Sunday Morning  a couple of weeks ago, and decided I wanted to read her books. So I now have #1 and #2 of the series.  "Postmortem" and " Body of Evidence". I should stay very busy now, along with the holidays are creeping up on me. I have to cook a turkey for my quilt guild on Tuesday this week. I am hosting my Bunko Buddies on Thursday and have a quilt group sew-in and baby shower on Sunday. Then Thanksgiving is at my house this year!!!  WHEW, I may not be back to blogland for a bit.

Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy
Judy

Saturday Snapshot 11-10

 Saturday Snapshot

is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books.

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.

I woke this morning to about an inch of snow and ice on the yard and sidewalks.  So although Autumn is my favorite season, Spring is a close second. These daffodils grew in my MIL's garden and she took lots of pictures of them. So I am borrowing a happy look today to combat my first snow of winter blahs. Daffodils are such a happy flower.


Today I will finish the project for an upcoming baby shower and make a salad to take to a supper/card party with friends.

Until next time,
Stay busy and stay happy
Judy

Mailbox Monday - Four Books and a Mission

Mailbox Monday is on tour for the month of October at. Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.


This week the books that made their way into my house did not come via the mailbox. Two Elizabeth Berg book were given to me by a friend.

 Until the Real Thing Comes Along is a paperback, with a different cover than the one pictured. I could not find a link to the cover that is on this particular one. She said I could keep or pass along this one.

As I was looking for a cover image for True to Form, I discovered that it is #3 in a Katie trilogy. My friend would like the hardcover back, and it did not have the jacket on it. Anyway I really would like to read them in order, so the library may see me in the near future.

 The Dovekeepers is the November read for Ladies & Literature book group with in Goodreads. I searched Amazon and the library. Of course Amazon had it, but I am partial to keeping $$ in our town, so I buy locally when I have to buy. I purchased it at Hastings. We don't have a BN or any other bigger book store, not do we have an independent store!  SIGH!! I am looking forward to this read.  I am behind on the October selection however, so I will have to apply myself soon.

Looking for Alaska is the first book that John Green wrote. I was mesmerized by his recent story, The Fault in Our Stars. I am on a quest to read all of his books. Looks like I have my reading time pretty full, plus I have the Classic selection for Ladies & Literature to read yet.

November is going to be busy socially too. I have a Retirement Party, two quilt group meetings, a bike club meeting, a baby shower and I am hosting a Bunko Party at our home in mid November. Plus there is Thanksgiving to be thinking about. Whew!!!! I wasn't this busy when I was employed!  LOL

Until next time,
Stay Busy & Stay Happy

Judy

Snapshot Saturday 10-27 Which Witch ??

Saturday Snapshot

is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books.

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 is my 88 year old MIL, dressed up for the Scary Hour at the pub at the retirement center where she resides. We had such fun finding the hat with feathers and tinsel trim.  She owns lots of blingy type of jewelry. So she put on rhinestone necklaces, pins, earrings and braclets. Added more intense makeup and off she went to the party. She won 1st place, by popular vote.  She was thrilled to pieces. We are so grateful that she is healthy and happy and so able to enjoy this time of her life.

Busy Hands had a Busy Week

WoW!  Here it is Thursday again, and more than a week since I last posted. I was glad to have Mr. Busy home all last week, so we were doing "together" things. We had friends in on Saturday last to play cards and have supper together. I made chili and corn bread muffins. When I planned the meal it was cold and rainy here and chili sounded good. By Saturday it had warmed up to 70 degrees F.  Oh well, it was fine. The other ladies brought a veggie tray and cupcakes, as we were celebrating one of the girls' 60th birthday. Where was my camera??? Hanging on the bedroom doorknob where it usually resides. I really have to be more diligent about using it.

Mr. Busy has been gone since early Monday morning, again trying to finish getting his mother's house ready to sell. I have been reading and sewing. First I finished a Halloween pillow. I picked up the pattern while visiting a favorite quilt shop in the city where my MIL's house is. Isn't it CUTE? I also finished a Halloween banner that has been in my sewing room for 2+ years.

 This a close - up! The detail shows up better. I used my cell phone camera, so  it's not wonderful quality.

This shows it on the wall. There is a small area of wall space between the front coat closet and the stairwell in our home. I have a hanger there that always has a seasonal banner.

On Tuesday I was with a group of ladies that I play Bunko with on a monthly basis. We have supper and play the game til 9PM or so, when we all go home. This month was held at a home that is "decked out" for Halloween. The subdivision she lives in is called Sleepy Hallow Subdivision, so everyone who lives there goes all out for that holiday. Here are a few pictures of the outside of her home and a few inside too.

 The ghosts are blurry cause they were moving up and down behind the fence!

 This wreath was orange tulle and stripped ribbon. Just gorgeous!!

 My camera phone was too close here, but sparkly ferns, and spiders, and pumpkin pics in a hollowed out pumpkin.  Really pretty, colors were green, orange, purple, silver and black.

This is a book of spells next to her buffet that housed various bottles with labels, like "poison", etc. Dry ice in a cauldron. So well done. She is an awesome decorator. She really has a great eye for design and symmetry.

I am reading this for a book selection challenge on Goodreads.  I also  finished listening to the monthly selection for my local book club.

My book club is reading , "The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It is my new favorite book of the year. I was blown away by the story and the characters. I highly recommend it. I gave it 5 out of 5 stars!!

The image here is awful, but the book is wonderful.

So you can see I have been busy.

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Judy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday 10-16-12

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.

My mother bakes plum tarts every year in late August. The smell fills the house. As they bake, the juicy plums sink into the vanilla cake base. I'm smitten by the smell, the vanillaness of it. My mother's kitchen counter overflows with bowls and vessels. So many that is is often hard to find room to cook. There are ten different kinds of vinegars and oils. A smattering of porcelain teapots. A giant wooden bowl shaped like a carrot, always filled with peanuts in their shells. A little glass cloche containing soft runny cheese. A bowl of dried fruit - pears, apples, prunes, and apricots. A beige ceramic butter dish with soft butter, one of hundreds of ceramic pieces my parents have collected over the years. clementines in winter. Peaches in summer. Wasabi peas. Spiced pumpkins seeds. Whole walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds alongside an ornate silver nutcracker. A loaf of zucchini bread with flecks of green. 

  This is the first paragraph of the first chapter of talking with my mouth full by Gail Simmons. Actually it is really a preface to the first chapter, but I had already typed it all before I realized that. Anyway, would you continue?   I am anxious to read it. It is  a library loan, so I hope not to drool on the pages. LOL

I selected this book, sometime ago, to fulfill part of a book challenge on Goodreads. We are to take the name of one of our favorite books, and read a book whose title starts with each of the letters in that title. ie: THE LAST LECTURE is one of my favorite. So I chose talking with my mouth full  to fulfill the T in lecture.  When I finish the challenge, I will post it all here. 

So until later, 

Stay Busy Stay Happy

Judy

A Successful Weekend and Mailbox Monday

 I did get my sewing room usable again. Can you see the cutting table is relatively clean. There is some Halloween fabric waiting to be put into a stitched pillow, of course my ceramic pincushion which is one of my treasures, a Christmas gift from a quilting friend, my cup of utensils, and a basket for scraps, and a container for selvages. Under my cutting table are banks of drawers, filled I might add! Do you see the black t-shirt hanging from the edge of the cutting table. That contains all the scraps dumped from the basket on top of my table and from the thread catcher by my machine. It is a t-shirt turned inside out, the bottom and the sleeves stitched shut. When it is full, I will sew the neck closed and take it to our animal shelter. They use them for pet beds.

 This is where I sew. On the wall are lots of memorabilia. There is an extra light, iPod with speakers, a pressing surface and drawers with thread and other essentials. I sew in the basement, and it is my space, I don't have to share with anyone. It is a sage green with purple accents. My chair is purple, as is my waste basket, and a cubby beside my chair.

 This is a bulletin board above my cutting table. Notes, a heart-shaped sachet, and the purple pouch like thing is actually a gift from my sister-in-law. It is a Victoria's Secret bra , the cups sewed together with purple bead for trim. They were sold for donations to Breast Cancer Research. And because I am a breast cancer survivor, she wanted me to have it. I store business cards in it.

So on to Mailbox Monday. Last week, Cupid's Christmas by Bette Lee Crosby arrived in the mail. I was anxiously awaiting it's arrival. I entered a contest on Goodreads, that Bette Lee had posted. She wanted possible names for characters in her new book. My mom had recently passed away, so I submitted her name, Lorraine. If the name was chosen, a copy of the book was the prize. One of the names she chose to use was my mom's name. She autographed the book and sent it on to me.

I really enjoyed the story. It is a Christmas romance. Romantic love and family love are explored.  It has an expected ending and is a well written and fun read. Thanks Bette Lee.

Marcia at Mailbox Monday  is hosting Mailbox Monday for the month of October.  Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.


Until next time,

Stay Busy and Stay Happy,
Judy