Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Surprise, surprise!!!

 I got a surprise in the mail!  I won a drawing over at Betsy's 
and she had to email me to let me know....I swear, I've been in "la-la land" lately.  Too many things going on for my poor old brain to keep track of! lol!  Thank goodness she contacted me as everything is so awesome!  Starting with the cute little pack of Kleenex with the Easter message.
 Then a sweet card with a handwritten note inside that warmed my heart!
 and what about this too cute little owl on the front of a journal?  He's so darling or she.
 But wait!  That's not all....I saved the best for last...........a hand knitted wash cloth and an absolutely gorgeous hand crocheted bookmark that I will cherish! 
Betsy, thank you SO MUCH for your thoughtfulness.  I know it was a drawing but the time and effort that went into these gifts along with your personal touch made it very meaningful to me.  You are a very special lady!
Happy Trails!

Monday, April 6, 2015

Monday books!

 I finished Deep Down True and it was a real surprise.  I loved it! It was a young female author and I thought maybe I wouldn't connect with her and it would be all about some romantic drivel where a guy shows up and solves all the problems that the last one left her with.  Not so!  It was extremely well written and heartfelt and to be honest...I couldn't put it down!  I will be reading her other 2 books for sure!  I highly recommend this book!
My non-fiction that I'm reading is still Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.  There are really insightful parts but then she goes off on these strange tangents like she's getting inebriated or "smokin' somethin'"..lol!  But there are moments of brilliance throughout the book about nature and I've learned things I never knew.  It is a Pulitzer Prize Winner and truth be told I usually stay away from them and Oprah's picks which are such "downers".  I'll finish it but I doubt I will keep it around or pass it on either. 
I finished this audio book of Agatha Chrsitie short stories called The Harlequin Tea Set and it was excellent par the queen of mystery writers.  I ran into a streak of luck one day at the thrift store and there were all kinds of audio books really cheap and I might have bought them out! LOL!  I think they were actually $1.00 each as I don't think I would have bought so many at $2.99 each....I am pretty cheap but even at $2.99 they would be a bargain as they are so expensive new.  I had never heard of these stories or read any of them so it was a real treat!
My audio book for this week is The Secret Garden and it is absolutely fantastic!  I knew the gist of the story or so I thought as my children read it and watched the movie many times but I was always running around not actually watching it.  This recording is on 2 cds and although there is no mention of the voices and who they are I recognize them as very well known British actresses.  It is more theater with sound affects and top notch performing.  I would love to get this for my grandchildren as it keeps you fascinated throughout.  Very well done.  I've just started the second cd.
I went to the library to take back my books and of course I always find others to read........I found this interesting book, Cold Comfort Farm, which was written in 1932 and has been re-issued.  Supposedly it was a spoof on the dramatic and overwrought English rural novels of the time.  It's a bit different but it has kept my interest because it is so odd and the characters are just that...REAL characters.  I'm only about 1/3 into it so I will let you know when I finish what I really think. It's about a single woman who doesn't want to get a job and in those days relatives were obligated to take in their female relatives who couldn't really be expected to "fend for themselves".  Flora, the single woman looks through her family and decides she'd like to go live with the Starkadders at Cold Comfort Farm and they are truly a strange lot.  Flora thinks she can change them and has taken them and their farm under her wings to "tidy things up a bit".  She's a force to be reckoned with but then so are the Starkadders! LOL!
 The other interesting titles I picked up at the library were....this next audio......
The Hurricane Sisters is about 3 generations of women buried in secrets living in the South Carolina Lowcountry.  It is "a tumultuous journey filled with longings, disappointments, and, finally, a road toward happiness".  Sounds like life to me and an interesting book!
 If you want to read a lighthearted book sure to make you laugh out loud then you need to read Karen Gillespie's Bottom Dollar Girl's books.  I read her first one and didn't realize there were more so I was thrilled to pick this one up at the library!
 The other one I read was Bet Your Bottom Dollar .  The Bottom Dollar is an "emporium" in a small town and the women ("bottom dollar girls") that work there.  "Funny, fast-paced, and full of quirky but lovable characters,  Karen Gillespie's A Dollar Short leaves you wishing you had your own Bottom Dollar Emporium to visit every day."
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier came highly recommended to me several years ago so when I saw it I picked it up.  "Cold Mountain is an extraordinary novel about a soldier's perilous journey back to his beloved at the end of the Civil War.  It is a magnificent love story and a harrowing account of one man's long walk home."
These ought to keep me off the streets and out of trouble!   And tonight is DWTS's and Castle....good Monday night fare!  Happy Trails!



 

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Happy Easter and/or Happy Passover!

I've probably got pollen on my nose from sticking it in this lily all day.  It smells heavenly which is so appropriate for today.  I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter or Passover or both for those combined families.  To me the important lesson is forgiveness, tolerance and love for all God's creatures.
Happy Trails!

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Spring has sprung in the Ozarks!

 The girls and I went for a really long hike today to see what the woods were up to.........these buds looked like someone had gone through the woods and hung neon green ornaments on the trees
In some parts it felt like I was in a fairy woods..........so ethereal......
(it was an overcast day btw)..........
trees and bushes were beginning to blossom all around..............
the red buds were popping out their pretty pink flowers..........
I got here just in time!
you would never guess that those dead looking branches could come back to life with such glorious color...even on the ground there were teeny tiny little flowers that were so sweet and beautiful.........all that prettiness packed into a flower no bigger than a thumbtack
gorgeous forsythia as we got closer to civilization again..........
and then my own yard where I am reminded there is work to be done but still.....there is nothing like Spring in the Ozarks............
I even found grape hyacinth growing in amongst the grass...(not in this picture)...this is ajuga (sp?)...the purple flowering plant/weed
the sugar maple is "coming out" and the trees are beginning to flower............
I never really liked Spring that much until I moved here.....Spring in the Ozarks is one big beautiful celebration!
We got home just in time as it poured buckets right as we got in the door....someone was looking out for us.  It is starting to storm again now with severe thunderstorm warnings.....another sign that it is "Spring in the Ozarks".
Happy Trails!