Turning Pages from Here to There

We've only just returned from a road trip to visit family. I have been so very far behind in my reading that I gladly grabbed the seat time to catch up. I finished Good Hope Road (which, incidentally, I had begun in February!), this was a sweet story of a young woman and an odd assortment of townspeople that chronicled the aftermath of a natural disaster and concluded on a hopeful note. I completed a second book on this trip too, My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry. These were both wonderful reads; I just love Backman. I had read his Bear Town the summer before last and have another of his, Britt-Marie Was Here, on reserve at the local library when it comes in. My Grandmother... was such an imaginative tale, it completely swept me up and carried me along for the ride, it's one I won't soon forget. With any luck, I hope to return to *D.E.A.R. time in the afternoons this summer. My biggest problem is that there's too much to do and not enough time to get it all done... anyone else? 😉 What's on your reading list?

* Drop Everything And Read

Life is Good!

October Wrap-Up

I finished three books this past month; sad to report that D.E.A.R time was reallocated temporarily as I tended to a few other chores around here but I did manage to finish these thanks to a power outage (more about that later... 😧). These were great reads; all mysteries, and page-turners, each one.  

Trick-or-treating happened this year, despite COVID; however we only had two to ring our doorbell (Link from The Legend of Zelda and a super-cute cheerleader!) and those came a day early, not to worry, we were ready!  Wendy and the camouflaged shrubbery (ghillie suit) confined their trick-or-treating to their immediate neighborhood in the Capital City. They're all growing up much too quickly! What to do with all those leftover Twix and Snickers? 

And just like that, it's November!

Life is Good!

Monthly D.E.A.R. Report and Something Sweet

Here's my August reading list, these were all good; actually, D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) time has become one of our favorite hours of each day! I especially enjoyed the historical fiction works: A Well Behaved Woman, The Giver of Stars and The Union Quilters, as that's become my latest favorite genre but the other was a great read too. The Giver of Stars was most interesting to me because it is the second book in two months that I've read on the pack-horse library initiative of the WPA under President Roosevelt to supply rural patrons in the hills of Kentucky with books and reading materials during the 1930's. I've been giving our own local library a vigorous workout, using the library-to-go feature: ordering my books online and then picking them up in a "holding room" outside of the library proper. It works well, I put the title on hold for my local branch and when it comes in I receive an email. I'm super grateful to my daughter to turning me onto this service. The money that I'm saving on buying books can be directed toward fabric purchases; a  definite win-win!

When Lucy Ann was here the week before we made a fabulous, no-bake, freezer dessert: Ice Cream Sandwich Cake. This particular recipe is a new twist on an old-stand by and really is a keeper!

It might just be that repeating chocolate pudding/crushed Oreo layer that puts this one over the top, 

I'm not sure, but I highly recommend this as an easy to prepare and delicious summertime dessert. 

You're welcome!

Life is Good!

D.E.A.R. Time

Since we've created the new porch space to enjoy we've added a new element to our daily schedules. No matter what Mr. Goodneedle or I are doing at 4:00 PM  we Drop Everything And Read for an hour. We have really come to enjoy this custom over the past two weeks and we hold each other to it, if I'm busy in the sewing room and might even consider skipping a day he encourages me to leave what I'm doing and come sit down. This is escapism in its most basic form, it's been far too long that I have dedicated time exclusively for reading; and if we ever needed escapism- it's now!

These are my most recent additions. I've finished The Nightingale, am more than halfway through Keeping Faith and half yet to begin Then She Was Gone. If you've been frustrated by recent trips to the grocery store you might consider reading The Nightingale-- you'll rejoice at the abundance on the shelves today, even in light of the current state of the health crisis and an upside-down world. 🙃 Ann, over at straythreads, has posted a reading list to ponder if you are searching to titles to explore. What's new and different at your house during this stay at home time, how are you "escaping"?

Adapting today: I keep a can of Lysol handy and have taken to spraying and wiping down everything that comes in from the outside before I bring it in now.  We can't be too careful- wash your hands 🧼.

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." -Romans 15:4

Life is Good!

Up next: Creeping In