The Cat Who...No. 11

The Cat Who Lived High by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the 11th book of the series. I am still enjoying the adventures of Qwill, Koko and Yum Yum. It is like reading a real "thick" book. I am still trying to figure out why I keep reading the series. I feel upbeat after I read each book and want to know what's next. It's kind of a like a soap opera without too much angst.



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Remembering My Mother

Sybil Clare McLean Grant

Today Mom would have been 100 years old.  She made it to 96 and was ready to go.  She was a wonderful Mom and I miss her.  She was my friend.


This is a tribute to her life in pictures and a few words.


She was born on August 27, 1910, in Keifer, Oklahoma.  Her parents were O. F. and Elva McLean.


The President of the United States was William Howard Taft and Vice President was James S. Sherman.

1914

The year's top story: John D. Rockefeller establishes Rockefeller Foundation for benefit of humanity, Glacier National Park was dedicated, the first Father's Day, Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls founded, Comisky Park opened, 3M founded, NY Penn Station opened, Halley's comet

1914-Tom Thumb Wedding Picture

Inventions: Geiger counter, crystal set radio and neon tube produced


Women wore hobble skirts which were tight around the ankles and the Gibson Girl was the American Ideal (my grandmother's hairdo in the picture above was the Gibson Girl style),1st dance marathon and ballroom dancing became popular.

1934 Wedding Announcement

at 24..The Vamp style?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!  I KNOW YOU ARE WITH ME IN SPIRIT IF NOT IN BODY!

Can't beat a book by Mary Balogh!

The Notorious Rake
by Mary Balogh


My rating: 5 of 5 stars




I really don't know how she does it...just a gift. This book is one of Mary Balogh's older "Signet" books. I measure how good a story is by the amount of text I skip over because it is redundant or boring. Also, if I find the ending will never come or if it comes too soon. I read every word of this book and didn't want it to ever end. The end came too soon. I loved both of the characters.  I felt happy when they were happy and sad when they were sad. This book is on her back list and is almost impossible to find. I tried to get it through the inter-library loan department at my library...no luck. It is selling on line for around $25. Finally, a fellow fan took pity on me and loaned me her copy. If you come upon a copy, hope you will enjoy it was much as I did.






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We Are Talking Teenie Tiny Art!

Seeing is Believing. 

Want More?See: Dalton Ghetti Art




And. . . . . . you thought that was small . . . . . . 

Take a look at Willard Wigan and his microscopic (literally) sculptures.



As you can tell I am enthralled with everything small.

Last Book of the Hathaway Series

Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the last book of the Hathaway series. I enjoyed the series, but thought this was the best. I really felt with and for the characters. Of course, the was the obligatory "love" scenes in detail. I found myself half reading these. You read one; you've read them all. I think you will like Beatrix and Christopher and their story. I recommend you start the series at the beginning by reading Mine Till Midnight, Amelia's story.



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It's Time for a Change

I woke up this morning thinking about the seasons.  


Spring, 

Summer, 

Autumn 

and Winter 


Did you realize that each season has six letters?  No...neither did I and I am not sure why that was my thought at 4:30 in the morning.  Then, I was thinking more about the seasons.

I keep at my bedside "The Dream Book, Symbols for Self-Understanding" by Betty Bethards.  My daughter recommend it years ago.  It is amazing how the symbols and the meaning described in the book fit so comfortably into my life situation.*   

About Seasons from "The Dream Book" :


"SPRING is the beginning of the growing season; we receive practical lessons in our relationships with self and others;


SUMMER is a continued time of high energy and rapid learning;


AUTUMN brings a slowing of the energy and we harvest the insight from our lessons;


WINTER is a period of spiritual introspection, sorting and preparation for the next spring of growth.

On September 21 we will be moving to AUTUMN, one of my favorite seasons.  It is getting cooler and school is starting.  Ah, the beginning of school brings back pleasant memories.  We always started back to school the day after Labor Day.  Weren't we lucky?


Yes, it's time to change.

*"Life Situation is something 

I am learning about from the 

Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

New Author New Series for me

Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book-it "Being the First Jane Austen Mystery". It was really refreshing after reading the books about the Georgian and Regency Periods using a more modern language style. It was kind of like reading Georgette Heyer. I always like to read her books in between some of my reads. It seems to pull me back down to the "real" world. This is exactly what Ms. Barron's book did. She writes as Jane Austen would and in a journal style. It was like Jane herself was telling the story. The characters seemed real to me; although Isobel, the heroine of the story, was a little bit insipid. She certainly was not too loyal to the man with whom she was supposedly in love. Jane was more loyal to both of them. 



I really like her character.


It is obvious that Ms. Barron has done a lot of research and the Editor's Foreword goes into some detail about the research. Be sure and read it...sometimes I have been know to skip it and go right to the story.


I do plan to read more of the series.




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Butterflies are free!

I have had butterflies on my mind lately.  I even posted some pictures to Facebook.  

Maybe I am having a desire to be "free"? From what I do not know

As in free, more free, most free!

Or is it free, freer, freest?













It seems like it's movie? 
 "Butterflies are Free"  


It was!  Ah, what fun.  I think I'll check it out of the library.

Be Free!  as in "Free as a bird"; "Free to be me".

Back on the Road Again Colorado No. 44

State 44 of my countdown of my U.S. Odyssey...is:

Colorado

I first visited Colorado in the 1960's. I visited Estes Park a couple of times then and again the in the 70's and most recently in 2009.  It is one of my favorite places.  These postcards of Estes Park are from the 60's. 

In 1974 I attended International Banking School at the University of Colorado in Boulder. 



In case you don't recognize me, I'm in the middle...the one with the big hair.  (What can I say? I'm from the South!)






 I decided right then that if I had to live any place other than Arkansas, one of the States would be Colorado.  The Rockies are breathtaking.  You are looking at Long's Peak on the ATC.


We have been to Colorado in the past few years since our daughter and two grandchildren live outside Denver.  It is special to us.


Added Note: I always suspected that Colorado was the State where the "competent" people disappeared in "Atlas Shrugged".) 

So Many Books, So Little Time!

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris


My rating: 3 of 5 stars




I read some of Ms. Harris' first mysteries...the character being Aurora Teagarden. I really liked them. I am a fan of "cozy" mysteries. Then, the last one of the series turned dark. Then, she went to vampires. I am not fond of vampire books. All this to say. I am glad she has written this series about Harper Connelly. Harper was struck by lightening when she was a child and can now communicate with dead people. She finds missing dead people as an occupation helping people find closure with the death of a loved one. This is a very interesting and imaginative story line. I am assuming there is some research that backs up some of the premises of the theme. This is the first book of the series so I do not know if I will buy into the whole series or not. I have checked out the second book of the series so I'll find out. There are so many books and so little time!


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License Plate Jumble Puzzles and Games

Recently I have find myself occupying my driving time by making words out of the last three letters of the license plate on the car in front of me at a stop light.  It is getting to be irritating, but I can't seem to stop.  Chuck has even caught the obsession from me.


OOO HGE  = HuGE 
OOO JPN   = JaPaN
OOO LYR   = LYRe
OOO PAK   = PAcK
OOO OOF   = OOF!
OOO IXI     = as in "Look away, look away, "ixi"land :)  Sometimes you really have to get creative
OOO MBP  = Most Baluable Player...I know, I know...a real groaner!
OOO HAP  = Ha"p" as in Happy
OOO OSH =  Kosh B'Gosh
OOO MLI = 1051
Let's see how you do:
OOO OMY = ????
OOO PDG = ????
OOO KNY = ????
OOO NYF = ????
OOO MOH = ????
OOO KIS =  ????
OOO OGD = ????


It is even harder to figure out what a Jumble means on vanity plates. That is another game completely.

Do you play the State game when you are on a trip?  We usually have an atlas with us and use it to mark off as many States as we can before we get back home.

Lavender Morning..Just Loved the Title

  Lavender Morning by Jude Deveraux
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have read all of Jude Deveraux books.  It has been a while since I read one so I decided to check out this series.  I must say the story kept me interested.  However, I am not really a fan of "a story within a story".  This is a vehicle that Ms. Deveraux has used before if my memory serves me right.  I really like her characters.  They make me want to find out what happens to them so I keep reading the series.  Also, I have a problem with the ending, which when we ready "Romance" we expect to be a happy one. It just seemed to be contrived and "let's hurry and end this book" so everyone will be happy.

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Happy 25th Anniversary "The Silver"

It has been a really short 25 years.  Chuck and I have been friends for 40 years. As of today we have been married for 25 of those years.  It seems like yesterday.  How lucky am I!

What fun we have had so far.  We were married in the Session Room at Westover Hills Presbyterian Church with family and close friends.  Then we invited all our friends to the Albert Pike Hotel for a reception.