John Nilsen Concert

Twenty-three people enjoyed the wonderful music of John Nilsen this afternoon at the Halsey United Methodist Church. We are so blessed to have this terrific pianist and composer come to our little church and regale us with an hour of music.



John's CDs and tapes were available for purchase after the concert.


Cheese and crackers, cookies, brownies, and other goodies, as well as coffee and Rosalie's delicious spiced wassil, were served in Wesley Hall.

Here is Pastor Karen with a cup of Rosalie's wassil.


Checking out the cookies.

Local Treasures-- A Special Collections Workshop

I attended this workshop, sponsored by PORTALS (Portland Area Library Association for Continuing Education), and held in Portland at the Central Branch of the Multnomah County Library yesterday. The program was organized by Roberta Richards, and the discussion was moderated by Bob Kingston, who are both librarians at Portland Community College. Presenters from archives, museums, libraries, and special collections discussed their institutions and treasures. They included

* The Oregon Historical Society Research Library - Shawn Gandy
* The City of Portland Archives and Records Center - Diana Banning
* The Multnomah County Archives - Terry Baxter
* Central Library's John Wilson Special Collections - Jim Carmin
* Oregon Jewish Museum - Anne Prahl
* Oregon State Library - Dave Hegeman
* Lewis and Clark College Special Collection - Robyn Ward

A wonderful resource page for the workshop is available on the Northwest Central webpage and can be found here.

I will be writing a more formal blog post describing some of what I learned on the Oregon State University Archives webpage later. You can find the post here.

I arrived early and immediately went to Children's Library. Two features I especially love are the the Alice in Wonderland sculpture by Florence Thomas, circa 1930.



and Bronze Tree



I still had some time so I went to the Friends' Library Store where I purchased some fabulous presents. Because some readers may be the recipients, I am only going to post photographs of two items I purchased for myself. One was a postcard book


and the other a Christmas ornament.


I loved the program and knew most of the presenters. I worked at the Oregon State Library when I first began library school and input almost 1,000 photographs in Past Perfect under the direction of then Special Collections Librarian, Merrialyce Blanchard. I was delighted to see that the photograph of the musical family on their homepage is the very first one I researched and put in PastPerfect. It was working there that made me want to become an archivist.

Evidence

I am reading Jonathan Kellerman's latest novel, Evidence. I am an avid reader of this author's books and have read all of the Alex Delaware novels. But I've found factual errors in every one. Some are glaring, others aren't. The problem is that they distract me from the plot.

Here are the ones I found in this book.

Page 5: "He'd brought a good lunch today, roast beef sandwich from Arby's, too bad there was nothing to heat the gravy with."

I've eaten at Arby's and they do have roast beef sandwiches, but I've never seen one on the menu which includes gravy. I looked at the Arby's website and they have sausage and biscuits with gravy, but no roast beef sandwiches with gravy. So where did this guy get the gravy?

Page 65: "We found some soda cans toward the back of the property, dented and rusty, like they've been there for a while."

They must have been there for a very long while. Most soda cans have been made of aluminum since the early 1970's and aluminum doesn't rust.

And lastly, on pages 142-143, there is some discussion about $50,000 in $50 bills. "Two large suitcases full."

No. That's totally wrong. $50,000 in $50 bills is a total of 1,000 bills. A bill is 0.0043 in thickness. A stack of 1000 bills would be less than five inches high. "Two large suitcases" would not be required.

I know I am being picky, but why can't authors (and their editors) catch these factual mistakes before the book is published? They're not huge errors, but they detract from the story.

Possessives, Contractions, and Plurals

This is my latest pet peeve. Don't schools teach this anymore? I am astounded by the number of times I've seen these used incorrectly in books and on professional blogs.

Here's a brief review:

Ownership by one person or thing: school's John's
Ownership by more than one person or thing: students'

Using its and it's:
When used as a possessive, use its: The truck lost its muffler
When used as a contraction--"it is": It's best not to question a judge in a courtroom.

When a word ends with the letter "s" (including a plural) to make it possessive use an apostrophe after the "s" without adding another "s": snakes'

How hard is that?

Autumn Rains

I woke last night to the rain beating on the roof although there were pieces of blue sky this morning. There may be a day or two of bright sunny weather in the next couple of weeks, but the rainy season is upon us. I need to find my wool hats and gloves and my umbrella. I'll be using them often for the next six months.

The Last of Summer's Flowers

The sun was warm when I went out to water my flowers this morning, but the air is cold. Yes, autumn is here. Next weekend I'll need to clear them out and get the flower pots ready for next spring. The lavender, sage, chives, oregano, and rosemary will winter over. The basil is in John's office. The Thanksgiving cactus has been put away in a dark closet to force it to bloom.

When I Know Summer Really is Over

There comes a time when it cannot be put off any longer. The radio warns of a killing frost coming that night, and you must say good-by to the garden. You dread it, as you dread saying good-by to any good friend; but the garden waits with its last gifts, and you must go with a bushel basket or big buckets to receive them. ~ Rachel Peden

Blackberry Eating

Blackberry Eating

I love to go out in late September
among the fat, overripe, icy, black blackberries
to eat blackberries for breakfast,
the stalks very prickly, a penalty
they earn for knowing the black art
of blackberry-making; and as I stand among them
lifting the stalks to my mouth, the ripest berries
fall almost unbidden to my tongue,
as words sometimes do, certain peculiar words
like strengths and squinched,
many-lettered, one-syllabled lumps,
which I squeeze, squinch open, and splurge well
in the silent, startled, icy, black language
of blackberry-eating in late September.


Galway Kinnell (b. 1927)

What I Did Today

Today I:

* paid the utility bills
* cut out fabric for a doll quilt
* made a pumpkin nut bread
* saw that the weather forecast for the next two weeks is for 70-80 degrees every day
* did two loads of laundry
* started a list of what I want to do this weekend
* knit a pair of pink mittens
* began knitting a pair of baby bumblebee socks
* mopped the kitchen floor and did some other maintenance housework
* watered my flowers and herbs
* put stale bread out for the birds and filled their bird bath
* thought about getting out the Fall decorations, but decided to wait
* swept the front porch
* ironed John's work shirts for next week
* made an appointment with a heating contractor about installing a new furnace
* picked up books, DVD movies, and books on CD at the public library
* looked at possible new curtains for the bedrooms
* ate leftover pizza for dinner
* began reading Charles Todd's A Duty to the Dead
* said a prayer for all those affected by 9/11/01

Summer's End

No! Sob! I'm not ready! Yesterday evening I realized it was getting dark much earlier. A few leaves are turning color. It's cooler in the mornings. I can still keep the screened, sliding glass door next to my desk open and listen to the wind rustling in the leaves and the birds singing, but how much longer will it be before it's too cold and the leaves and the birds are gone? Last night, just before I fell asleep, I heard a flock of geese honking as they began their long trip south.

I'm going to go eat another fresh peach, knowing that soon there soon will be no more, and muse over summer's end.

Oregon State Fair

John and I went to the fair yesterday with our son, Owen, and daughter-in-law, Sarah. We left at 8am and picked them up in Eugene at 9am, arriving in Salem shortly after the fair opened for the day. The weather was perfect; warm, but not too warm, with an overcast sky.

We headed straight to the animal barns. First, came the sheep! One of my favorite breeds is the Navajo-Churro. Their wool is gorgeous and comes in marvelous colors and if I had this breed I would take up spinning and weaving.

The second breed I like are the Shetland sheep. These are the sheep I would probably get if I moved back to the country and we had sheep again. They are small and could be managed much more easily than larger breeds. They also have lovely wool and I could again see myself learning how to spin and using the yarn to knit.


At the end of the sheep barn, there was a large stall with people crowded around. We went over to see what was there and found a sow with her piglets!


Next came the chickens!

Here are Sarah, Owen, and John entering the building.

I'm not especially fond of the strange looking, fluffy, poodle-looking like chickens, but it was lovely to see examples of the breeds we used to have--Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red. I'll admit I became enamored of the small and delicate old English breeds. The building wasn't conducive to photography, but I did get this one photo.


We also saw Toulouse geese like the ones we had. There were also some Welsh Harlequin ducks. I had forgotten how beautiful they were.

I did manage to get a photo of John with a rooster which belongs to his co-worker, Lee. The rooster's name is Stella. I don't know why.


After thoroughly washing our hands at one of the many hand-washing stations set up outside the barns, we looked for something to eat for lunch. We ended up with barbecued ribs, coleslaw, and beans. After washing our hands again we found the Americraft Center.

There was a lot of competition in the baked goods divisions, but it was disappointing to see so few canned fruits, vegetables, and jams. I had looked forward to seeing the knitted entries, but there were surprisingly very few. I could only find three pairs of socks. There were several small lace shawls and they appeared not to have been blocked. There were many, many quilts. Quite a few were hung high up on the walls making them difficult to see.

There was one area, however, where quilts were hung up so that viewers could see them close up and here is where I took many photographs.

Blackberry Pie

It's not the most beautiful pie in the world, I know. When my four boys were growing up, my goal was to make pies faster than they could eat them. They didn't care what they looked like, only that they tasted good. And they did.

Why I Don't Go to the Movies

When someone asks me what's the last movie I saw at a theater, I have to answer that I don't remember. It's just too long ago. I think it might have been one of the 007 movies--one with Sean Connery--but I'm not certain. In any case, it's been many, many years. When I'm asked why I don't go to movies I give conventional, generally acceptable answers like:

1. It's too expensive
2. The closest movie theater to where I live is a 50 mile round-trip drive
3. There are no movies at the theater I really want to see that badly.
4. There always seems to be some jerk who won't stop commenting, a crying kid, and/or a ringing cell phone or some other distraction which ruins the movie for me
5. The snacks are too expensive
6. The air conditioning is too cold and I don't want to wear a sweater in the summer
7. The sound is too loud
8. The best seats (half way back, in the middle) are always filled before I get there
9. I can't put the movie on pause if I need to leave to use the restroom
10. The person sitting next to me always wants the armrest and/or someone very tall sits right in front of me so I have to lean over to see the screen.

Well, those are the reasons I give. But the truth is I am just so easily distracted by the big screen that I forget to pay attention to the plot. If it's a period piece I'm looking at hairstyles and clothing. If someone is wearing a handknit sweater that's all I'll pay attention to. (See Knitting in the Movies for a list of DVD movies which include knitting.) I'm looking at architectural details and listening to accents or choices of words. I look at how the movie was made-- colors, lights and shadows, point of view, depth of field, props, and angles of shots. In short, I'm paying attention to everything except the story.

No, if it's a movie I really do want to see I'll wait for it to come out on DVD. The smaller television screen isn't as distracting and I can watch it as many times as I wish and at some point I'll pay attention to the movie itself instead of all the details. That works for me.

Thunderstorm Warning!

There is a high possibility of thunderstorms this afternoon. I know this means we may lose electric service and so I am doing my baking and cooking now. I'm making a macaroni salad for dinner, cooking some rice for the left-over stir fry to put in John's lunch tomorrow, a potato salad to eat with sub sandwiches, and a blackberry crisp. As I began this morning I found I was out of milk, brown sugar, salad macaroni, and potatoes so I will need to go to the store when it opens at 8 am.

I plan to spend the rest of the day knitting and reading.

Blazing Heat

I don't generally write about the weather because, really, what is there to say? Well, today it's--- It is really hot! It was 104 degrees yesterday and the forecast is for 105 degrees today and it is really hot! And it's not cooling down at night either. It's 6 am now and it's 71 degrees outside. I have to rely on it's cooling down at night to cool down the house, but when it doesn't cool down at night it just doesn't work.

And did I tell you it's really hot?

The Best Part of Summer

The best part of summer is coming up. It's the time of blackberries, corn-on-the-cob, tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden. Every flower is in glorious bloom. The birds are singing their hearts out. Dawn and twilight are the most beautiful. And mid-day, when the sun shines down on us all, bright and warm. At night I stand outside where there are no outdoor lights and I see stars going on forever. I hear the children laughing and talking on the swings and slides and playing baseball and tag at the school playground a few blocks away. The bees are buzzing, the little wild rabbits hide under the snowball bush, and the birds splash in the bird bath.

Summer is truly here. Life is good.

Trip to Oregon Coast

John and I went to the Oregon Coast today, traveling to Waldport and down the Coast Highway through Yachats and Florence before heading home again. It was sunny with a cold wind so we didn't spend very much time on the beach, but we did take a lot of photographs. The weather was perfect, there weren't many people, and we had a wonderful time.

Backyard Flowers

Little Birthday Cupcakes

Yesterday John and I went to see his father who is a nursing home as he gains strength to go back home. It was his 89th birthday and we brought him some mini-cupcakes made by the local Cupcake Cafe. We didn't stay long as he was very tired and wanted to sleep.

Some Quotes

These are from Hannah Coulter: A Novel by Wendell Berry.

***************************************************
Love is a great room with a lot of doors, where we are invited to knock and come in. Though it contains all the world, the sun, moon and stars, it is so small as to be also in our hearts. It is in the hearts of those who choose to come in. Some do not come in. Some may stay out forever. Some come in together and leave separately. Some come in and stay until they die, and after.

Life without expectations was still life, and life was still good. The light that had lighted us into this world was lighting us through it. We loved each other and lived right on. We sat down to the food we had grown and ate it and praised it and were thankful for it. We suffered the thoughts of the nights and at dawn woke up and went back to work. The world that had so often had disappointed us and made us sorrowful sometimes made up happy by surprise.

Anytime an eighteen year old boy tells you not to worry, you had better worry.

After each one of our children went away to the university, there always came a time when we would feel the distance opening to them, pulling them away. It was like sitting snug in the house, and a door is opened somewhere, and suddenly you feel a draft.

To be the mother of a grown up child means that you don't have a child anymore and that is sad. When the grown up child leaves home, that is sadder. Maybe if you had enough children you could get used to those departures but I never did. I felt them like amputations. Something I needed was missing. Sometimes, even now, when I come into the house and it sounds empty before I think I will wonder, "Where are they?

Driving Down Peoria Road

I work at Oregon State University and I always drive to Corvallis by way of Peoria Road. The road follows the Willamette River which means it curves a lot but then, that makes it fun to drive even if one is driving a navy blue SUV with automatic and not a little red sports car with a stick shift.

I drive by Mennonite farms with their neat gardens, clotheslines, orchards and houses with wide front porches, a blueberry farm with row after row of bushes full of berries, and then through the little unincorporated town of Peoria itself with its beautiful old church and its notorious speed trap. Yes, I remember to slow down.

I see flashes of the river as I drive and hawks hovering above grass seed fields on my right hunting for garter snakes and, on my left, others over the river looking for fish. Sometimes I'll see a blue heron and once in a while, a fox or a deer. I drive by the boat landing which is crowded with cars at this time of year. There is usually very little traffic. No tractors, no one tailgating me because I wouldn't go faster than the speed limit and no one dawdling, making it necessary for me to watch their driving instead of the scenery.

And even better, the drive will be almost exactly the same when I drive back home late this afternoon.

Rain

It's raining again. I fall asleep to the sound of rain on the roof, waking in the middle of the night when it pours and pounds in the gutters, hear it splatter against the windows when I wake, look through the raindrops at the little wet birds eating seeds from the feeder in the snowball bush, feel it hit my head when I look out to see if the apple tree is in bloom yet.

I am reminded of the taxonomy of rain Alice Hoffman mentioned in her book, The Probable Future: fish rain, rose rain, daffodil rain, glorious rain, red clover rain, boot polish rain, swamp rain, and the fearsome stone rain. Today's rain is somewhere in between a rose rain and a stone rain. It's not the hard, harsh almost pellets of ice we get in the winter, but it's also not a soft, misty spring rain either.

Quilt Show

I've spent the last two days at our church's seventh annual quilt show. I helped set up to display the quilts, worked a bit in the kitchen, spent time with old friends and made some new ones, and talked about quilts, raising children and chickens, gardens, recipes, and the state of the world. I ate homemade vegetable soup with homemade rolls and homemade pie with coffee. I took photos of the quilts and talked to those who made them or inherited them. I am inspired now to begin quilting again. I'd stopped when I began library school and haven't quilted in almost three years. I put a quilt in the frame a couple of months ago, but became distracted with knitting.

Rejection Letters

Many of my friends are applying for librarian jobs and getting rejection letters. They are smart, talented, creative, kind, skilled, full of energy and ideas, but they're not finding jobs because of the lousy economy. I wish they weren't getting rejection letters but, if they are, I hope the letters they receive are not harsh or impersonal ones. I hate those. They hurt. They really do. Those kind of letters diminish one as a person and they diminish the writer as well.

I hope that if they have to get rejection letters, that they get one like the one I received from Ravelry. Along with about a gazillion other people (actually about 1500, but who's counting?) I applied for a position as their community support person. What a fun job that would have been! I spent a few hours writing out my application and resume and sent it off to them on the very last day they were accepting applications, not with the expectation of actually being offered the job, but just because it was fun to do and who knows? You don't get anything if you don't ask, right?

Still, it was no surprise to get a rejection letter. It didn't hurt. Perhaps because I hadn't had my heart set on the job. Perhaps because I'd only applied as a lark and wasn't serious about it. Not really. Well, maybe just a little bit.

I knew Ravelry had sent out hundreds and hundreds of identical letters to all the other rejected applicants and in fact, they admitted it was a form letter. But still, their letter was gracious. It was kind. It didn't say "sorry, we found someone else and the position is closed". It didn't imply I was somehow lacking or inept or "what in the world were you thinking applying for this job!" After reading it, I felt okay with Ravelry. And okay with myself.

So for all my friends still looking for that perfect position, I know you will find it. It's right there, over the horizon. Be patient. It's coming. And I hope, as you wait, you do not allow rejection letters to discourage you and prevent you from looking and sending in more applications because that next one may be the one. I believe that. And, more importantly, I believe in you.

Happy Easter

Sense and Sensibility (and Socks)

Okay. I'll admit it. I've never read any of the works by Jane Austen. But that is changing after today. I begin with Sense and Sensibility.

And if you know me, you know there's more. I've also joined the Jane Austen Yarn Club. The first project is the Sense and Sensibility Sock, pictured here. I'll be combining two of my favorite pastimes--knitting and reading.

Courting, Marriage, and Valentine's Day

I know it isn't Valentine's Day yet, but in case you forgot think of this as your head's up. Here are some thoughts about courting, marriage, and Valentine's Day.

My desk, where you'll usually find me when I'm home, is next to a sliding glass door. There's a snowball bush at the fenceline where John has put a bird feeder and nearby, a bird bath. I love to take a break when I'm reading or knitting to watch the little wild birds. Yesterday there were two small birds on the ground, dancing and chattering, jumping up and down, bowing, and flying a few feet away from each other and then flying back. They kept this up for nearly five minutes. Clearly they were courting. It was both comical and endearing.
****************************
I was leafing through an old magazine when I came across an article entitled "the secret to a lasting marriage" and, of course, I had to read it. There weren't any surprises. The "secrets" included playfulness, choosing to stay in love, unusual gifts, communication, going on dates, kissing every day, and having a sense of humor. The secret the editors judged as the best one, though, was "Marry someone you love exactly as they are and be sure they feel the same. That way you'll never expect more of each other than you are each happy to give." I thought about this and it's true, but only true to a point. The reality is that we change and grow as human beings and as marriage partners. We adapt to each other and, if we're very lucky, we bring out the best in both ourselves and in our spouse as we grow older. We adapt, we are flexible, we listen more than we talk, and, as the years pass, we have shared memories, private jokes, and code words. We continue to chatter to each other in our secret language, we fly away from each other and then back again. In many ways we act very much like the little wild birds I described above.
*****************************
I know there are some who don't like Valentine's Day and view it as being just another commercial holiday and another way for retailers to encourage people to spend money. This commentary entitled Don't Be My Valentine sums that argument up quite well. And I think this is true if one believes that all Valentine's Day means is chocolates, flowers, cards, gifts, and dinner out.

That isn't what Valentine's Day is for me. By mid-February I've become tired of winter. I am not entranced by snow or the idea of snow. I see treachery in ice, not beauty. I'm sick of gray skies, bitter winds, and cold rain. I long for warm sunshine, rows of hollyhocks, and sweet peas along the fence. And I know I'll have to wait weeks more for spring. Valentine's Day represents hope that spring will come again. And it reminds me that sometimes we have to live through some unpleasantness and hard patches and just wait and be patient.

The 2009 100-Book Challenge

I have joined the 100+ Reading Challenge and will be updating this post throughout the year to list the books I've read in 2009. All of my books will be obtained through my public library, unless otherwise noted.

1. The Gentle Art of Domesticity: Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art and the Comforts of Home by Jane Brocket
2. Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop by Elizabeth Zimmermann
3. Cruel Intent by J.A. Jance
4. The Judgment by D.W. Buffa
5. Pepper Pike by Les Roberts
6. Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
7. Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich
8. Essential Knits for Kids by Debbie Bliss
9. A Matter of Justice by Charles Todd
10. A Private Patient by P.D. James
11. Bright Futures by Stuart M. Kaminsky
12. The Runner by Thomas Perry
13. A Demon in My View by Ruth Rendell
14. Mermaid by Margaret Millar
15. The Fallen Curtain: Stories by Ruth Rendell
16. Divine Justice by David Baldacci
17. Death in Paradise by Kate Flora
18. A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell
19. Lethel Legacy by Linda Fairstein
20. Birds of Prey by J.A. Jance
21. All the Colors of Darkness by Peter Robinson
22. Night and Day by Robert B. Parker
23. You're Invited!: Quilts and Homes to Inspire by Barb Adams and Alma Allen
24. The Legacy by D.W. Buffa
25. Rhapsody in Green edited by Roy C. Dicks
26. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off by Cookie A.
27. Birds of Oregon by Roger Burrows and Jeff Gilligan
28. Knitting socks with Handpainted Yarn by Carol Sulcoski
29. The Opinionated Knitter: Elizabeth Zimmermann Newsletters 1958-1968 by Elizabeth Zimmermann with additional text by Meg Swansen
30. A Thin Dark Line by Tami Hoag
31. The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook by Lynne Vogel
32. Red Bird by Mary Oliver
33. The 8th Confession by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
34. Run for Your Life by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge
35. Going West!:Quilts and Community, introduction by Roderick Kiracofe with contributions by Sandi Fox
36. The Associate by John Grisham
37. The Boxer and the Spy by Robert B. Parker
38. A Mortal Curiosity by Ann Granger
39. Wicked Prey by John Sandford
40. Quilting Designs from the Past: 300+ Designs from 1810-1940 by Jenny Carr Kinney
41. Faith, Hope, Love, Knitting by Lorna Miser
42. Aurora: An American experience in Quilt, Community, and Craft by Jane Kirkpatrick
43. The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman
44. Family Practice by Charlene Weir
45. Making History : Quilts & Fabric from 1890-1970 by Barbara Brackman
46. Kaffe Fassett's Country Garden Quilts : 20 designs by Kaffe Fassett
47. Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Woginrich
48. Material Obsession: Modern Quilts with Traditional Roots by Sarah Fielke
49. Swimsuit by James Patterson
50. Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth by Lynne Zacek Bassett, editor
51. Vintage Baby Knits by Kristen Rengren
52. Fiber Gathering by Joanne Seiff
53. Finding Our Tongues: Mothers, Infants and the Origins of Language by Dean Falk
54. Hawaiian Quilt Masterpieces by Robert Shaw
55. The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner
56. Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
57. Fire and Ice by J. A. Jance
58. The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly
59. The Osage Rose by Tom Holm
60. Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie
61. A Plague of Secrets by John Lescroart
62. The First Cut by Peter Robinson
63. True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman
64. Dead of Winter by Rennie Airth
65. True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman
66. Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen
67. Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave by Ann Budd & Anne Merrow
68. 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs
69. The Language of things: Understanding the World of Desirable Objects by Deyan Sudjic
70. A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd
71. Minnesota Quilts: Creating Connections with Our Past by Minnesota Quilt Project
72. The Mitten Book by Inger and Ingrid Gottfridsson
73. LA Requiem by Robert Crais
74. The Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Isles
75. Free Fall by Robert Crais
76. The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais
77. Hardball by Sara Paretsky
78. Cats on Quilts by Sandi Fox
79. The Big Book of Socks: The Ultimate Beyond-the-Basics Guide to Knitting Socks by Kathleen Taylor
80. Quilt Romance by Kaffe Fassett
81. Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts by Pam & Nicky Lintott
82. Rough Country by John Sandford
83. The Professional by Robert Parker
84. Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly
85. The Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell
86. Evidence by Jonathan Kellerman
87. The Library: An Illustrated History by Stuart A.P. Murphy
88. The Reason for Crows: A Story of Kateri Tekakwitha by Diane Glancy
89. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
90. The Knitter's Book of Wool: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding, Using, and Loving this Most Fabulous Fiber by Clara Parkes
91. The Knitters Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying yarn by Clara Parkes
92. A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
93. Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosely
94. Evidence of murder by Lisa Black
95. Takeover by Lisa Black
96. How to Keep a Sketchbook Journal by Claudia Nice
97. Wolf to the Slaughter by Ruth Rendell
98. Ontario's Heritage Quilts by Marilyn I. Walker
99. American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870-1940 edited by Marin F. Hanson and Patricia Cox Crews
100. American quilts: Nature, Art, and History by Robert Shaw

Spring Bulbs

I planted some narcissus bulbs and an amaryllis. This is a photo of the narcissus bulbs. The shadow to the side is of the Christmas tree, stripped of all its decorations.

One of Our Christmas Guests

This is Gavin and Jessica's dog, Jake. He visited us on Christmas Day and greatly enjoyed playing with the toy we gave him. Jake is a funny and fun little dog.

Christmas, Disassembled

I took down the Christmas decorations for this year and they are now all neatly packed away in boxes, awaiting next year's festivities. I enjoy looking at the cards from friends and family once more, the ornaments made by the boys from when they were small, and those John and I made for our first married Christmas. They will lie, safely in the boxes in the cupboards, until we're ready to enjoy them once again.