Blossom Street
17 Feb 2012 1 Comment
in Knitting, Personal notes, Reading Tags: A Good Yarn, Alex, Blossom Street series, book, books, cancer survivor, clive cussler, clive cussler books, Debbie Macomber, hold a grudge, how to make a baby blanket, linda hoffman, Project Linus, Reading
I’ve been feeling sentimental lately. That happens from time to time and I start missing my sister. I miss my bothers too but not like I miss my sister. Whenever this happens I end up reading more emotional books and listening to sappy music. I feel sorry for the people who have to endure this little spell of mine.
So I’ve put aside my beloved Clive Cussler books that I’ve been devouring lately and I’m re-reading the first book in the Blossom Street Series by Debbie Macomber called “The shop on Blossom Street“. I just feel the need to revisit “A Good Yarn” which is a little knitting store owned by Linda Hoffman, a cancer survivor. It’s been a while since I read it and I can’t remember all of the details. I just know that the characters are great. Linda opens her store and has a knitting class to teach how to make a baby blanket. The people who come together are all so different but become very close friends. That is the thing that draws me to this book and other’s like it….. that friendship element. Sisters are like good friends that never drift away, never get mad for long, and always remember your birthday. My sister and I are a lot alike in some ways but so different in others. She is the always happy, forgiving type sister and I’m the moody, hold a grudge till I die sister. We balance each other out.
This book is also about knitting, which I love, and one of the characters in the book just happens to be making the blanket for Project Linus. Of course its a court ordered community service type of deal and Alex is a little rough around the edges but this little group ends up helping each other out. Alex is actually my favorite character. The pattern for the blanket they are knitting is in the front of the book so you can actually make it too, in-between reading times of course.
I read several books in this series several years ago until I hit a brick wall. I have to read books in order. I just can’t stand skipping around. So I found out that Debbie had written a short story that went with the series and it was in a book with a couple other short stories by different authors. I could not find a copy of this book anywhere. I finally put it on my wish list at www.paperbookswap.com and a while back I finally got a copy! So now it has been so long that I feel like I need to start all over. That is one bonus to getting old – old books become new again!
The Wrecker
05 Feb 2012 2 Comments
in Personal notes Tags: assassins, book review, books, clive cussler, moving picture, railroad system, the wrecker, van dorn, wreaking havoc, wrecker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a great book! I got really sick while reading it but couldn’t stop thinking about it. As soon as I was able I was reading until I finished. All of the details are great and the words painted a moving picture in my mind that kept me riveted till the end. This book is better than the first book, The Chase, and I can’t wait to read the next book!
This is another book built around the railroad system and set in 1907. The Wrecker is sabotaging the railroad, blowing up tunnels, derailing trains, and constantly wreaking havoc with the help of well paid criminals and assassins. Issac Bell, Van Dorn’s Top detective, has to figure out how to stop the wrecker before he strikes again and kills more innocent people.
Breaking out
21 Jan 2012 7 Comments
in Craftyness, Personal notes Tags: artist, ATC cards, books, buying books, cabin fever, clive cussler, colored pencils, french fries, new years, painting, resolution, teens, watercolor, winter time
Today I got out of the house finally! That might not seem like a big deal but to me it is. I am constantly dealing with pain during the winter time and getting cold always makes it worse. It warmed up some though and I really had a bad case of cabin fever. I told my husband I wanted to go somewhere but I didn’t care where. I just needed to get out! We went to McDonald’s first and that was great. I mainly only like the french fries but I had these new chicken… well it’s like popcorn chicken. I also had a mocha and it was the best mocha I’ve had in a really long time. Yeah, it was the only one I’ve had in a really long time too.
After that we went to Value Village where I looked all over the whole store but didn’t buy anything but books! A friend turned me on to Clive Cussler and now I’m addicted. I had already bought a bunch of his books. I have a notebook of all the books I want and check them off when I get them. That keeps me from buying it multiple times which I have done several times before. Ol’ Clive has several different series so I listed them all down by series and in order. I was really hoping to find the last two books in the Issac Bell series. There are only 4 and I’m on the second one. Well I found a bunch of other books I didn’t have but not the two I was looking for. Some of them were really old so I got them pretty cheap. After that we went to two more book stores but still didn’t find the books I was after. Then we went shopping and I ended up buying the next book new. I hate buying books new since I don’t keep them after I read them. So I ended up getting 10 books for $29. Not too bad for the money…… it is however, bad for my resolution I made to not buy any more books. I’m supposed to be reading the books I have and getting rid of them. I guess I can’t help it. HELLO, MY NAME IS DONNA AND I AM A BOOKAHOLIC
While we were out we saw a RAINBOW. I couldn’t believe it. It is 10 below F and just as we were making a turn we could see behind this smoke billowing up the end of a rainbow. We never did see the other end and of course I didn’t get a chance to take a picture. Bummer. It was really pretty out and not too cold although I still would like it to be warmer by about 90 degrees.
My youngest son Riley, the 15 year old, and his dad didn’t fair well today. My husband stepped into his room before we left to ask him what size shoes he needed. Riley smarted off to him I guess and was very disrespectful. He was cocky because he just had a birthday and he was playing his games and wearing his new clothes his grandma sent him. He didn’t think his dad could LEGALLY take away things that he was given for birthday’s and Christmas’s. He actually threatened to call the police. My husband told him he knew some of them and played cards with them. Riley didn’t think that was funny. He ended up swearing at his dad. He said some things that made ME want to duck. I have to say, my husband is a heck of a man to not have beat him to death. He didn’t even touch him because he was afraid he was too angry. He did take away everything even remotely fun that was in his room. Every video game and the systems that run them. He took the shopping bags from out groceries and loaded them up. Riley is still moping in his room. He went outside for a while which he expected to get us upset. He’s done that before but when it was much colder. This time I didn’t bite. I could tell he was right outside by Blue’s perked up ears. She does that when she can hear people walking in the yard. I would bet, if I had any money, that after a few days he will start cleaning up everything and being extra nice in the hopes that he can get his stuff back early. That won’t work though after what he said to his dad.
Anyway, I almost forgot to post my ATC cards that are for the ladybug swap. The first one is the one I just did with colored pencils and watercolor Inktense pencils and the second one I did last September with colored pencils.
Lazy day
16 Jan 2012 2 Comments
in Personal notes Tags: auburn hair, bacon, book, clive cussler, doll, fisher price, heroes, instant mashed potatoes, leftovers, mashed potatoes, microwaves, sausage, scrambled eggs, snoopy, westerns
I’ve been in bed all day. I got up this morning but just couldn’t concentrate on anything. I went back to bed and tried to read but just ended up sleeping on my book again. I woke up a little while when my husband came home. He came home early because his stomach was upset. He made himself some instant mashed potatoes. I told him I’d always thought mashed potatoes would be good with scrambled eggs and he looked at me like I was crazy. After a few minutes though, he said, “… and maybe some crumbled sausage.” He bought this already cooked “crumbed sausage”. He also has already cooked bacon. I can’t believe people keep getting lazier and lazier. I really can’t say much though since I slept all day. Well I fell asleep and when I woke up later in the evening my husband was cooking. Apparently they don’t make already cooked scrambled eggs yet. He made some more INSTANT mashed potatoes and mixed them with the scrambled eggs and already cooked “crumbed sausage” and brought me a bowl. It was soooooooooooooo good! I was right. Scrambled eggs are great with mashed potatoes…. and the sausage was good too. I should add that he melted cheese on the top of it. He was already thinking of ways to use the leftovers. It makes me wonder what would happen if there was a disaster and there was no more instant anything….. would American’s used to buying already cooked, instant food that they heated in microwaves survive? What if,suddenly, the only way to get food was to get up off the couch and go shoot it yourself? I think a lot of people would lose a lot of weight fast. Personally, I think I would just eat veggies since I don’t think I could kill something. I really prefer veggies and beans anyway. Just give me some seeds and some dirt and I’ll be okay.
I did take a picture for my 365 project but I haven’t uploaded them yet. I’ll do that tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be felling better then.
I started another book. I’m reading The Wrecker by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott, which is the second book in the Issac Bell series. It looks like it picks up where the last one left off. I love these books! They weave historical details into an exciting story. It makes me think of the westerns my dad used to watch. I always loved the cowboy heroes. They were always tough but calm and seemed to take down the bad guys with so little effort. Most of them had blue eyes too and I have a soft spot for sky blue eyes. Issac Bell, the hero detective in these books has violet-blue eyes which I have never seen myself. That is really the only clue to who is at the ski resort in Germany in the preface. I mean, I had an idea that it was him but I wasn’t sure until I read about those eyes. After all day in bed I only read to the end of chapter 1. Now I think my dog and I are going to nap some in the recliner. My back hurts after being in bed all day.
The NaBloPoMo promt for today is
Tell us about some of your first toys.
Well, I remember seeing pictures of myself on this funny looking rocking horse type thing but I don’t really remember it. I do remember I had this doll that was almost as big as me. I called her Janie but that wasn’t her real name. I think she was a Crissy doll. She had auburn hair and you could pull a string in her back to make it shorter or pull her hair to make it longer. I was always changing her clothes into baby clothes people had bought me and fixing her hair. I had auburn hair when I was younger so people always said she looked just like me. She was really big and I was small so people always laughed at me carrying her around by her head. I also had one of those fisher price snoopy dogs that you pulled by a string. It had legs not wheels like the newer ones do. I loved that thing!
Snow
04 Jan 2012 9 Comments
in Photos Tags: alaska, book, clive cussler, fence, goodreads, iphone, itunes, music, new years, resolutions, snow
It’s only -26 F outside right now… brrr. I actually went outside for a minute because I really wanted to take a good picture for my picture project. I bundled up in my huge puppy parka and probably looked like a freak outside in my furry hooded parka, pink pajama pants and fuzzy black house slippers. I took several pictures but the sky is really kinda grey and clouded over. I ended up using this one… I really like the wood grain. It’s not a bad picture considering I used my iphone.
The first thing on my new years list that I’ve been really focusing on is sorting through my music. I’m going through my itunes list. My husband has the whole house networked and moved everyone’s music into one place. My last computer suddenly fried so when he set up my itunes on this one he dumped ALLLLLLLL of the music into it. Many of the files are duplicated….sometimes 3 or 4 times. Now I know that means that there are probably duplicate FILES that are taking up space but I’m not taking that on right now. I’m just trying to put some order to my music, get rid of all the crappy music I didn’t download and change all the genre’s to what I like them to be. I don’t need 500 different genres. It’s actually been fun listing to music the past several days…..except for when I’ve spaced out and not really been listening for the last hour or so and have to go back. I’ve deleted a lot already and I’ve found some damaged files. I have learned that I really detest R&B but that I just can’t delete Alicia Keys. I just wonder who downloaded that if I didn’t hmmmmm? I’ve also been going through paper stuff still. I ended up taking a huge siesta yesterday and not finishing. I need to get my table back.
I did start reading a book. One of the things on my list is to read one book that I already have every month and to then part with said book. I’m reading The Chase by Clive Cussler. A friend of mine was reading some of his books and commented in goodreads.com how great they were. I checked them out and they look really good….all of them. I have this crazy hang up that I can’t read a book out of order even if the books don’t have to be read in order like these. I also want to have every book in a series before I start. In the case of Clive Cussler he has several different series that all look good so I have been hording his books trying to complete the entire collection before I start reading. So I have this copy paper box full of his books and I still don’t have them all because I’m broke and buying them all second hand. The first book I grabbed was actually “The Wrecker”. It has a really interesting cover and I thought it was the first in that series. I grabbed it and a cup of tea and ran a hot bath. I got cozy and opened the book and read the quick synopsis on the first page. Then, right below that was this reviewer saying the previous book was really good. UGH, I got the wrong book. I tried to talk myself into reading it anyway since everyone has told me they can be read in any order but no…. I had to get up, grab my robe and find the right book. So far The Chase is looking really good.
My journal isn’t finished yet because I need my table. I have pieces and parts and really want to work on it. I’ve got a lot to do. It’s a good thing I have a whole year.
