Here we are again.

It's Tuesday.

Not a particularly exciting day of the week.

It's the day I'm in the office all day, and not starting my morning at the Preschool.

That's ok.

I get two days a week to catch up on office stuff.

Like cutting out 90 monkey heads for a Preschool lesson.

You think I'm joking.

To start a day like this, well, I need coffee, a good book for my lunch hour, and because it's the season...some twinkly lights.

After work, it's time to return things to the library and pick up more.

I look forward to this the most.

Running my fingers over books, searching for new cookbooks, decorating books, and magazines.

They sell old magazines at the library for $.25 each.  I'm a bit of a magazine junkie, so this little deal is spectacular!

I needed to catch up on some reading for Christmas vacation.

I cannot believe it's less than a week away.

I'm gonna need to see some snow, though.  It just doesn't feel like Christmas without it.

Last year, it was so warm, we played kickball outside at Mom and Dad's.

So, now that I've stocked up, I'm good to go.

Time to prepare for the craziness of this weekend with 3 Christmas' in a row.

Yikes.

And send out one more Etsy sale to Houston, TX tomorrow.

(By the way, THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART for all the Etsy sales I've had since July when I opened up shop.  Hope you all enjoy your purchases!)


Goodnight.

Do you remember where you were?

Do you remember where you were the first time you heard one of your favorite books?

I do.

I totally do.

I had a 3rd grade teacher, who everyday after we came in from lunch recess would perch herself upon her tall stool at the front of the class, and read to us.

Sometimes, when it wasn't a book I particularly liked, it seemed to take HOURS for her to get through it.  Sometimes, when it was a GREAT book, suddenly she couldn't be up on that stool long enough.

One of the books she read to us was James and the Giant Peach.

 The characters were creepily attractive, and the story was amazing.  I tried to read it to my kids years and years, and years after I first heard it, but they weren't as intrigued as I was.

My teacher also read Charlotte's Web to us.  I wanted to be IN the book.  I wanted the pet pig Wilbur as my own.

My third grade teacher taught me to LOVE reading, and I also got a good healthy dose, through heredity, from my dad as well.

I grew up loving (and still do), The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

I recommend it to ALL the kids I've ever known.  It's such a great story.

As a teenager I read Gone with the Wind once...

and then read it 8 more times after that!

When I was learning more about planting and eating more healthy with my family, I read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and wanted to do exactly as she and her family did for a year of eating only what they had grown and stored away themselves.

I found the author Sarah Addison Allen, and read all her books in  a matter of months, but fell the hardest in love with the Peach Keeper.

Books can take us away to someplace we've never been before, or someplace we've always dreamed of visiting.  They can grab you suspensefully or turn you off completely.
I cannot imagine NOT loving to read.  It's very relaxing to me, and I wish my kids shared my love of it more than they do.

I came across this title maybe on Amazon in the last couple of weeks, and I'd love to read it.

Has anyone read it?

Tell me... do you remember where you were the first time you heard a book you'll never forget?  Are you a reader?

A reading fiend

In the past week I've read 3 books.

Well, they were REALLY GOOD!

One is from one of my favorite authors...Kristin Hannah...

It was all about what a dad faces with raising two daughters when a wife goes off to Iraq...

and the next two were by a new author that was in the "New Book" section at the library.

I couldn't put hers down.

Have you heard of Joshilyn Jackson?  If you haven't, scurry right on over to your library, and check her out.  Her books are funny, sad, fiesty, and truthful all at the same time.

I read these two...

They were page turners...all of them.

Now, don't fret, I'm not neglecting my children.  I read at breakfast, lunch, and when I'm waiting in the parking lot for Grace at volleyball camp.  I've also been reading at night too since I don't have to get up early for work.

It's been a treat.

Now run I tell ya.  Run to your library!

Can you even pronounce it?

I've been reading some books by Chris Bohajalian.  That's right.  I can't pronounce it either.

But let me go back.  I finished reading one of his books last week.  It was our next read for book club.

It was very good.  I would recommend it.  I realized after I read it, that I had read it years ago.  It's about a wintery night where a baby is born at home, with the help of a midwife, and things go very wrong.  It's set in Vermont, a place I've always wanted to visit.


When I was at the library picking up this book, there was also another by the same author, and so I grabbed that too. 

I'm in the midst of reading it now, and I'm 75% FREAKED OUT, 25% engrossed, and well, just plain intrigued.  I'm 3/4th of the way through, and even though I have an idea what might happen, I'm still not sure.
I love it.  Makes me a little scared to go to sleep some nights, but it's GREAT.  I'm warped, I know.

This mystery-unpronounceable named author has several more books I'd like to try.

These depressingly gray, rainy days have been great ones for reading.  Join me.

I'm a lover

I'm a big lover of books.

I'm also a big lover of movies.

I'm a big lover of books that are turned into movies...some of the time.

I'm always curious to see if the movie either follows the book, or goes way off track.

So, for Truth Thursday, which I'm bringing back today, on Thursday, after many, many months, I'll give you my run-down on some of my favorite books that were turned into movies.

You know I love my lists.

1.  Possession by A.S. Byatt.

I actually watched the movie first.  It was a good movie. 

I loved it from the start.  A little bit of mystery, a little scandal, sucked me right in.  I'm reading the book now because I haven't been to the library for a week and my current stash of books from my own "library" have been read so many times, they are old to me right now...so I'm reading this.  It's ok.  A lot of things in the book as far as poetry, etc. were left out of the movie, and that's a good thing.  I'm skipping over lots of that in the book.  The storyline in the movie does follow the book pretty well, so I'd recommend this. 

2.  I'm embarrassed by my number 2 choice.  I am only sharing it, because the books were so much better than the movies, and because my book club read every one of the series, and we've went together to see every movie.

Please don't judge me.  The books were easy to read, and I liked how the author, a Mormon, advocated no premarital sex.  That was good.  Then we went to see the movies.

What a bad idea.  What terrible acting!  Now, the group of us just goes to get a good laugh at the "constipated" expressions on some of the actors who are trying to look so serious!  I would stick with just the books.

3.  The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.

Great book.  One of the first of his I ever read.  Great story.  Sad, romantic.  All around good. 

Then there was the movie.

It was a GREAT movie.  Great actors.  Great following the storyline of the book.  I would totally recommend both.

4.  The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

I read the book first, and I liked it, but it was so hard to follow with all the jumping around/time traveling.  It made it a little hard to read, not because of the length, but because of the having to concentrate so hard to stay on track.  I did like it, though, but I was glad when the movie came out.

It was another Rachel McAdams movie.  I like her.  The movie was a little easier to understand than the book, which I liked.  It made it more real.  It was sad, and romantic, and perplexing.  I would probably watch it again.  I would recommend the movie over the book.

5.  Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet.

This is a THICK book.  No joke, you won't be able to hold it with one hand while you drink your coffee and eat your breakfast.  (not that I've tried that or anything....)  It, however, was a wonderful book.  I really liked it.  There are parts to pass over a little, but overall, it's a great story.

Then, I saw that Netflix had the series, and I decided to watch it.

Wow.  It was GREAT too.  Good storyline, good actors, great drama.  I would recommend both.

Last on my list.  (I promise...I mean, are you really taking my opinions to heart?)

6.  The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

I read this series in 4th grade people.  That's 28 years ago.  And they have stuck with me since then.  I remember reading them.  I even remember where the librarian had them placed in the library.  I gravitated towards them.  At the time, they were a little "scandalous."  (Maybe that was just my 4th grade imagination.)  They were a little science-fictiony, and a little fantastic.  I LOVED reading them. 

When my kids came of age, I tried to get them to read them.  They didn't feel quite so strongly as I did about them.  Evan is starting to read them now.  He got interested because we started watching the movies as a family.

They are all (all 4 of them) excellent movies.  With a great moral to them.  The lion represents God/Jesus.  Our kids have asked so many questions after we've watched these together.  I think Disney did a great job with them all.  I would recommend both the books and the movie.

Well, now that I'm done with my little list...I hope you've found something to take away from it.  Maybe you can get one at the library this weekend and enjoy some time with it.

Have a relaxing weekend!

Change of Scenery

I am a big fan of picture frames.

Just sayin'.

I'm also a big fan of displaying pictures in an extraordinary way.

I've been known to put pictures behind old windows and hang them on the wall.  Many times.  As evidenced here and in many of my other blog posts (under the windows or craft or project tabs on the side.) 

About a month ago, I posted this picture...

source

Since I have alot of aqua jars, and alot of pictures, this looked like a good idea to me. 
Original as a matter of fact.

Now, you could totally embellish these jars to your liking by adding a ribbon around the top, or twine, or raffia.  But I kinda like the plainness of the ones above.

I finally got around to this project this past weekend.  I know, it took me this long...but at least I finally did it.  Party because I had a whole day at home with no where to go, and partly because a couple of weeks ago I found the PERFECT pictures in our safe in the closet.  I honestly forgot I had them.

I rounded up all the aqua jars I had, and some clear ones with a square bottom because I thought they just looked cool.

I put them on top of the bookcase because for one, it's a good place to display them where everyone will see them, and two, one of the pictures was this...

my mom and her two sisters, posed of course, reading a book nonetheless.  One of my favorite pictures.  (mom is in the middle)

I put pictures of my husband as a little boy,

pictures of me as a little girl with my grandpa,

and pictures of my dad with his dad when he was little.

I think they look great.  In all honesty, I probably shoulda cleaned out the jars a little better before I displayed them.  I'll get right on it.  But I think overall, I like the look. 
They are in the perfect place.

They sure do know how to tempt me...

For Christmas, my sister, as one of her gifts, bought me this book.

I read it in a day.  It was great.  It was radical.  It was what I've always wanted to do, but don't know if it would really fly in this part of the country.

This woman, very much like a Pioneer Woman kinda story, was a "city girl."  Manhattan to be precise.  She went on a interview to talk to a young farmer.  They fell in love, they started a farm, they did everything themselves with horse labor instead of tractors.  They started a CSA and sold shares to people who got produce and meat and eggs and milk in return.

Whew.  I'm tired just thinking about it.  It was a great book.

I've read books like this before, in fact, I'm reading another one from the library right now, but the one thing all these books have in common for me, is it makes me want to be self sufficient with my garden, our animals, etc.  It brings out that deep-seeded desire within me.

Low and behold, guess what ended up in my mailbox the day after I read this book cover to cover...

Those seed companies really know what they're doing.
The glossy pictures.  The pictures of fruit looking like it's ready to burst with juiciness, the flowers at their peak...
They TOTALLY know what they're doing.
If you'll notice in the picture, I have A LOT of tabs at the top of the catalog, marking things I'd like to purchase for my own garden.

I really don't know why I bother.  I haven't been very successful at starting plants from seed.  I can't quite get the transferring part out to the garden down quite right.
But just look at the pictures!

Crazy beautiful.
So, that's what happens to me every year at this time.  In fact, I've gotten two more seed catalogs in the mail in the last several days.
Cover to cover man.  I'm tellin' ya, I can't help myself.
Next job, mapping out the garden for this year. ( If you change placement of plants each year, pests don't seem to follow as much.)
And we're starting a whole new patch, separate from the garden, for our sweet corn this year, so that's more garden space for me to plant.
Now I'm getting itchy for spring and winter hasn't even really showed itself yet!
Oh well...that just gives me months to plan!
Hope you all have a very Happy New Year!

A happy accident

The other day when I was trying to put some things together for my giveaway (good till Sunday, Nov. 28) I stumbled upon something by accident.

I originally wanted to make some ornaments out of book pages, but when I started making some, I just didn't like them like I thought I would.

I got out some twine, some book pages, a hole punch, and tried something different.
This was the end result.  Book page garland.

Needless to say, THIS soon became part of the giveaway.  I'll show you how to make it, though.  It's easy, just takes a little time.

First, you'll need a hole punch, scissors, book pages, twine, and some tape (any kind will work.)

Cut some pages, the width of the paper.  Cut as wide as you'd like.  I think mine were about 3/4" thick.

Punch a hole on the end of each strip.

Next, pick one end of your length of twine (cut to desired length of garland...can be any length), and add tape to the end, since you will use this to thread through the holes punched in the pages.

On the other end of your twine length, tie a knot about 3 inches from the end.  This will be where your first paper "bow" will start.

Fold one strip of paper in half so the punched holes line up and thread the taped end of your twine through it.

Add as many of these folded over strips as you'd like, rotating their positions until you have a bow similar to this....

I don't know how many folded over pieces I used, but I just kept adding till it looked full.  The number is up to you.

Before you start another "bow", tie a knot where your bow ended.
Then tie another knot about 6 inches from the bow you just finished, and start another bow.

Repeat until your entire length of twine is filled with bows.

Now you're done. Add it to your tree, and stand back and bask in the brilliance of something so simple and cheap to make.

I'm sharing this homemade craft/gift over at Funky Junk Interior's Saturday Nite Special linky party. (click on the link below to visit.) And Shabby Art boutique.

Good luck with your garland.  Once you make some, you won't want to stop.