Tag: Recent Reads

simply a moment | 2.15.22 …

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~watching Ali Edwards’ “Awesome” story presentation~

2:15 pm: my long-time friends – former colleagues – and I just ended our bi-monthly “Recent Reads Zoom” gathering.  We meet to share what we’ve read and most importantly, touch base, catch up on each other’s lives, especially during these times of pandemic. Since March 2020, we’ve hoped that our next meeting might be an in-person gathering. We shall wait and see if a face-to-face gathering happens in April … hope springs eternal.

Today also marks  the sharing of Ali Edwards’ monthly story prompt – ideas and invitation to jumpstart the telling and illustrating of a story (or more ) of our lives. This month’s theme  is awesome – a word that isn’t a part of my daily vocabulary but as I reflect on what is awesome in my life, I jotted down these thoughts:

  • I am alive, in good health, have warmth during this cold day, month; food in the cupboard; good friends;  and family …
  • The sun shines, the clock ticks, today’s temperature  – a tad warmer and for some strange reason, early this morning, I was reminded of my very first airplane ride to Chicago, decades ( and I do mean decades) ago. What stands out in that memory was the fact that the flight attendants changed clothes/uniforms three times: they greeted us in one outfit; served us in another and sent us off the plane, after it landed, in another – all of this in a span of 90-minutes…
  • Sunrise and Sunset usually add a bit of awesomness to the day. According to NASA, the next Full Moon will be tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, midday appearing opposite the Sun in Earth-based longitude at 11:57 a.m. EST. I hope I’ll be able to see it…
  •  the clock in my craft studio ticks loudly and steady; the sun shines and hopefully, it’s warmer ~ a whole 37 degrees . I think I’ll go for a walk… I’ve been sitting  a while and stretching my legs should be a good thing to do. I wonder what I’ll find on my walk that is awesome?
  • What is awesome that graced your day today?

Cheers~

july’s new moon | 7.20.20 …

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Today, the hottest day so far this season, is also the new moon.  According to my zodiac sign – Scorpio – travel and books are on my mind . Yep, I have to agree. I’d hoped to be traveling to Sisters OR, early Fall and I’ve two books  – both vying for my time and attention – nearly finished, just in time for tomorrow’s Recent Reads Zoom gathering. I have at least one Zoom session every day this week! To say Zoom has been a lifeline is an understatement. I’d planned to post earlier today but got sidetracked by another project I am resurrecting, starting today.  My plan is to share more about it later this week.

I hope you have a cool(er) week than what we’re having right now- our prospects don’t look too good. Fortunately, we have AC!!! and I’ve plenty of activities to keep me occupied.

Visit this site if you’d like to read your horoscope for July’s New Moon in Cancer … and stay cool.

Cheers~

PS. The moon face is from a Sunrise greeting card  I found in my stash- NA as best I can tell.

unraveled wed | 5.13.20…

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Yesterday, Tues, was Recent Reads and since we are homebound, we met via Zoom – which enabled our friend Adele (in Ohio) to join us. The photo is the second half of a two page spread on yesterday’s meet-up; slipped in the book pocket is a screen-shot photo of our Zoom session – the only person you can see is me. And yes, that is the Golden Gate Bridge -one of Zoom’s virtual backgrounds. When I stand up and move away from the camera, I actually look like I’m walking across the bridge. Fun … the book I’m reading is Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. It’s quite a page turner. I haven’t had a chance today to resume but I intend to do so in a few short hours.

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Later, I took a walk; these are flowers at my niece Kayla’s elementary school – two blocks from my house. When she attended, the rose bushes weren’t planted. Pretty, yes K?!

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This is my second medium-sized Log Cabin 9 Patch block.  Thanks to #the100dayproject, I’m making good progress; 63 days ’til the project ends. Hmm, I may come pretty close to finishing  this project … We’ll see.

Time to have dinner and then log onto Zoom for a scrapbooking crop to work on today’s LOAD520 challenge. Joining Katand friends for another unraveled wednesday.

Cheers~

unraveled wednesday | 1.15.20 …

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Yesterday – Tuesday – was our bi-monthly Recent Reads gathering. My friend Margaret who is a fan of contemporary poets/poetry introduced us to the newest Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo, shown above. Joy, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, is the Nation’s first Native American Poet Laureate. She is also a saxophonist ( and for that alone, she wins points from Norman, who plays/ed the sax). I’m looking forward to delving into her poetry and listening to her music.

I started Fever (reading the Kindle version) and  finding the book fascinating – it reads less like fiction than I expected. I was particularly surprised that I adapted to the e-version so readily. I actually prefer print on paper… For my ears, I’ve downloaded  Louise Penny’s 6th Inspector Gamache novel:  Bury Your Dead for my next walking companion (not tomorrow, tho’; forecast is for high winds, sleet, snow? Time will tell).

The hat is finished! I have left over yarn; I think I’ll add it to the Log Cabin/9 Patch  (LC9P) when I get to the smaller blocks. The LC9P and the Christmas stocking are next on the knitting list. Every stitch moves me closer to the finish line – 5 knitting projects to complete in 2020.

And that just about wraps up Unraveled Wednesday for me this week. Hop over to Kat’s blog to see what others are unraveling.

Cheers~

(Photo of Joy Harjo featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Winter 2019 , p 24.)

 

 

 

unraveled wednesday | 11.13.19 …

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~full November Beaver moon – 11.11.19~

Today! Our first taste of winter cold: a mere 29 degrees Fahrenheit on a very sunny day! It helps. I am preparing for a 2.5 days’ visit to the beach – go figure in below freezing temps – for a meet up with two friends. Great fun in store !

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Yesterday, my Recent Reads group – there are four of us – met for our bimonthly gathering. I was late to the party (Norman had an unplanned medical appointment)…and oh what a party: we had “high tea,” complete with antique table setting: china; serving dishes; linens; silverware; and a printed menu! So delicious… we were also  given wonderful little boxes to fill with tasty delectables to TAKE HOME.

On the reading front, I finished Stillness is the Key. Really, really like this book: it is filled with information, ideas, vignettes of history’s great thinkers, ranging from the stoics to Winston Churchill to Anne Frank to Tiger Woods to Mr. Rogers… with practical invitations and ideas to assist the reader incorporate stillness in her life (and we all know we need those moments of  stillness).  I am in catch-up mode with Just Mercy; it is not easy reading – wonderful writing but tough content. [deep sigh]. Twyla Tharp  (The Creative Habit)  has a new book: Keep It Moving: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life . She is 78 and still moving!

And I guess I’d better get a moveon, too. Tomorrow will be here before I know it; I have stuff to gather and a bag to pack! Joining Kat and friends for another unraveled wednesday..

Cheers~

unraveled wednesday | 9.11.19 …

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memories of  9/11/2001 – that fateful day and following weeks, 18 years ago, are still vivid in my mind and probably exacerbated by the the fact that I live in the Nation’s capital … I need not say more. I caught a bit of an interview with a woman whose husband was a New York firefighter. She and her children – now grown – have put their lives back together and I so appreciate their strength.

my days, thus far, this week have been quite full:

monday, our quilting association reconvened for the start of another year. I didn’t go to any meetings over the summer but I did reappear Monday. I am glad I did for on display, during the show and tell was a lovely quilt made by a member…I do not need another quilt pattern to add to my someday/maybe ever growing never getting smaller list of projects… but I have an idea that I want to try so I’m going to get the pattern and play… After the meeting, I went grocery shopping for on:

tuesday, I hosted our Recent Reads group. We missed the July gathering – yep! we were all looking forward to our September reunion. Our discussions and sharing of books we each had recently read was lively. Three of us have read Where the Crawdads Sing and agreed that it is beautifully written…we decided to say no more until our 4th reader has read the book. We meet again in November.  I added to my TBR list A Gentleman in Moscow. A friend had shared the book with me several years ago and it somehow fell off my radar so I thought I’d give it a try, finally. The third (top) title is new…the author teaches memoir writing and this is her memoir; I’ve not begun reading the book, yet – hoping tonight!

wednesday, today, I ran errands: credit union; post office to mail city taxes due this week and appointments with my eye doctor and physician to have forms completed  – some of the requirements re: the “Real ID”  driver’s license renewal process. Not on my agenda but on my physician’s: flu and pneumonia shots for me – one in each arm. So far, neither has been painful.

I have run out of steam  – unraveled?– all week and was determined today to post… Joining Kat and friends for another round.

Cheers~

 

 

unraveled wednesday | 3.6.19…

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yesterday, our bi-monthly Recent Reads gathering; the time seemed to come by sooner than (I’d )expected. Friend Margaret, hostess, served a delicious meal of both books and food, introducing us to Will Schwalbe – be sure to watch the video on the page. Friend Doris read The Winter Soldier – it sounds intriguing. I’ve not read any fiction so far this year so I think I’ll add it to my TBR list… My whole reason for initiating Recent Reads was to help jumpstart me to resume reading the occasional fiction title.  So far this year, I think I’m batting zero …

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#blueskyblooms

home, the bright blue sky and warm-enough temps beckoned me for a quick walk to/through the park. I was delighted to see the pink blossoms on the trees against the bright blue sky!

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we watched our local PBS station’s fund drive last night~ featuring Norman’s favorite male crooner: Nat King Cole. Norman knows the lyrics to all Nat’s songs. As he – Nat, that is –  sang, I knit more rows on the log cabin blanket… a forever project  tho’ one that helps me sharpen basic knitting techniques and also, develop the habit of knitting/stitching while watching TV…Gretchen Rubin’s new book Outer Order, Inner Calm indeed did arrive…and I dipped a bit into it. It’ll be a quick read…and good!

today, for sure has been unraveled…starting with bright sunshine and a warm temperature of 29° F + wind, making it feel like a a warm/cold 18° F…just the invitation one – ahem, I – needed to stay in jammies & robe – making it a  s-l-o-w morning, er day… Lots of time spent researching, aka down a few YouTube holes. Pizza and champagne for our late  lunch …mainly because N was hungry and I have a 7:30 pm concert. Laundry done! Still have month’s expenses to tally…

Joining Kat and friends for today’s Unraveled Wednesday.

Cheers~

 

 

unraveled wednesday | 12.19.18 …

Published on by Honoré16 Comments

 

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I woke up this morning filled with energy:

  • zip zap –  strip the bed linens …
  • gather and sort laundry …
  • prep chicken tenders  for baking …
  • fix tea for MSQT

Whew! That was a lot and all before 7:00 am. Despite frost on the rooftops, the sky is bright blue and sunshine pretty much all day. Later today, Norman has a medical appointment; perhaps that’s why I was so gung-ho earlier.

My Christmas knitting project proceeds; I think I’m about/near the halfway point. I am learning intarsia (which is probably why I stopped knitting this many, many moons ago). I don’t expect to finish this by Christmas – why rush? Perhaps the first week or so in 2019? When is just a word; the goal is to finish. Stay tuned.

I mentioned yesterday that I’m still reading (via ears) Becoming. Next in my queue: The Library Book.  On New year’s Day, I’m hosting our bi-monthly (give or take a day/week) Recent Reads gathering; it also happens to be friend MT’s birthday. She requested that we all read the same book – we normally don’t – and we agreed. The book has received rave reviews! Have you read?

I’m 99% sure I will be listening to the book since I have Audible credits. There’s not a copy to be borrowed from either of the two library systems I use.. The hold queue is long! I’m debating about reading the Kindle version and syncing it with the Audible version… Any thoughts? Whatever, I guess I’d best get a move on if I intend to join in the discussion.

Both the washer and dryer have signaled cycles have ended; probably a cue for me to end this post and move on with the next item on my agenda. Joining Kat and friends here.

Cheers~