First Snow of the Year and The Hobbit

We got our first snow of the season. It's suppose to start melting and I'm just waiting for enough of it to melt for me to run my errands. I don't like driving in the snow even though it's not a lot, we have a lot of hills here that get slick.

We saw the Hobbit yesterday and it was wonderful. The girls dressed up with capes and elf ears. I didn't realize that it was the first of 3 movies. For any LOTR's fans Rivendale was so beautiful. I want to read the book again now. My sil was the big fan and the gd's got me into it.

I'm still trying to get motivated about food for Christmas. I'm beginning to think it's not going to happen. My tummy has been upset and I keep having dizzy spells. We always divide up bringing dishes, but I told my dd that I may not be bringing anything this year.

This may be the last post before Christmas, so just in case I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Linda

Agatha Christie's Garden

I was watching this dvd set I got from the library and was delighted to find on the last disk a documentary called Agatha Christie's Garden. It was about her home, Greenway. A retreat from her busy life as a writer during her second marriage. They described this wonderfully amazing garden that she had. I wanted to see if I could find a more detailed description of it on line, but didn't come up with anything. I did get a chronological list of her books. I have watched all the dvd's but have never actually read her books. I got interested after hearing them talk about her, so I think I'm going to try and read my way through the list, a little at a time. Here is a link to an Agatha Christie site. I noticed that this documentary is on U Tube.

Linda

Purple

I'm so happy my week of jury duty is over and I didn't end up having to go in. I was so stressed about this. My gluten-free diet seems to be working. I'm going to add some favorite gluten-free web sites to my side bar. I tried some flax bread that was gluten-free in the freezer section of my grocery store. It was kind of dry, but OK if I'm desperate for a piece of bread. It is gluten-free but not that low in carbs. I have some recipes for flax bread that I've been wanting to try when I get in the mood to cook.

I started another butler book "Why Shoot the Butler" by Georgette Heyer. It's a mystery. I've never read any of her books before, but have wanted to. So far I like it. My gd and I have been watching "Emma, A Victorian Romance". It is a Japanese anime story with subtitles in English. Anyway it is the story of a maid and an upper class young man that fall in love and are kept apart by his father. She gets a job in a manor house and so you get to see the life of the servants.

 Now I'm getting into Robin Hood and King Arthur. I just watched a BBC series of Robin Hood. It's a more youthful take on Robin Hood and I'm not sure I like it other than Richard Armetage of "North and South" is in it. I'm going to try the version with Mathew McFadden as the sheriff  (sorry if I'm spelling these names wrong. I'm too lazy to look them up) and Russell Crow plays Robin Hood.

It's been raining cats and dogs today, so I'm curling up with my book tonight. Have a great weekend. Linda 

Mobac's Pointsettas

Last weekend I went to see my dd on the other side of the water. My gd came too and we went to Mobac's. It's known for it's varieties of Pointsettas and has tons of Christmas ornaments. We had fun but were both exhausted by the time we got home. I decided I wanted to do something fun to celebrate the season and this was it. We went to the mall, of course and I kept getting sticker shock.

I'm still dealing with tummy issues. Just when I think it's over, it isn't. I've been sewing and watching a lot of dvd's from the library. I'm watching an old one I've never seen before with Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda and Mel Ferrer, War and Peace. It's Tolstoy's epic about Russia and Napoleon's invasion of Moscow. It's beautifully filmed, lots of snow. Audrey looks so young and beautiful.

My part in the Thanksgiving dinner is going to be grilled asparagus (if I can get it), fennel, portabello mushrooms with one of my green sauces, roasted winter squash with a balsamic glaze and green salad with oranges and pomegranate with an orange vinaigrette. I always do green beans and wanted to do something different this year and I like to have a salad to cut all the heavy foods. I've been seeing some great ideas on The Chew. Michael Simon did a turkey soup with dumplings that looked wonderful. I'm not cooking the bird but I might get a breast or leg to roast and make soup from.

Have a great weekend and remember to relax and savor the season.

Linda

New Fall Decorations

I've taken down the late summer/early fall look and brought out the pumpkins and candles.

I love this pumpkin farm picture and always bring it out at this time of year. I haven't bought any real pumpkins yet, but this is my collection of faux ones. Hanging from the ribbon is an acorn made out of a cow bell. I left the lace up because I'm using this tan lace as part of my displays.

The cat and the pumpkin were both gifts that were made for me. I haven't used them for a while and so thought I'd put them out this year. They look very Halloweenie.

This little pumpkin quilt was also made for me by a dear friend. I've been watching alot of dvd's from the library as I stitch so I decided to add a tray to corral everything.

I should have cropped this photo but I've gotten to lazy to photoshop my pictures. I love my squirrel candle that I got at Target a few years ago and the leaves I waxed and have kept them from year to year. The little black squirrel looks a bit like a skunk. The grandkids and family crafted these a few years ago with cookie cutters for the shapes and construction paper, beans and grains. I'm using a lot of browns this year.

This is my Tasha Tudor owl that my dd made. I love him. He's shed a few feathers and could use some new ones.

Last but not least my little scarecrow that I got at a craft fair. I needlefelted the pumpkin. My gd taught me how to needlefelt but I didn't go very far with it, but I put this little guy out every year.

That's it. The house feels very cozy and the weather is grey and cool so I'm tucked up inside with my dvd's and my books. I just finished watching "The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency". I've watched it before but never watched the special features which were really good, talking about Africa and the culture there. I tried reading the books once before and couldn't get into them, but I decided to try again.

Have a good and blessed Sunday.

Linda

Late Summer, Early Fall Decorating

The streets are wet, we are getting a light misty drizzle. Does that mean summer is over?

I've done my late summer/ early fall decorating.

I'm not ready for pumpkins and bright fall colors yet.

I've been into the cozy mystery mood. My dd gave me a Laura Child tea mystery for my birthday in Feb. and I still hadn't read it. It's "The Teaberry Strangler". I enjoy these once in a while. I'm trying to decide what I want to get into next. I'm setting LOTR's/Tolkien books aside for a while.

My new interest is Pininterest. My dd has been talking about it and I decided to give it a try. It's lots of fun, but addictive. I've been trying to keep my time on line limited, but it's something fun to do when I'm bored. lol. When I go to the link it takes me to my pin page but I think it will take you to their home page.

I've been watching dvd's while I work on my Christmas projects. The latest thing I'm watching is "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates" and yesterday I watched "The Blind Side", it was wonderful. Hetty Wainthropp is a British mystery. I really like Patricia Routledge the main character and her side kick Dominic Monaghan from LOTR's fame. He played Merry, one of the Hobbits. His work with Patricia was his first role. Sandra Bullock was so good in "The Blind Side". I thought this movie was going to be depressing, but it was not at all. It was very inspiring and thought provoking.

I'm still waiting for the fall energy to hit me. I think if the weather cools down that will do it. Once I feel fall in the air it will kick in. I had a spurt about a month ago, but that has sense gone. I got sick and am still trying to get back to normal.

I made a Chicken Soup yesterday and I'm going to make Beef Stew today or tomorrow so my cooking is reflecting fall.

Have a good week.
Linda

Peter Rabbit Pillow

One of the Christmas gifts I'm making is a pillow with this cross stitch in the front. I'm doing the whole series, but not sure what I'm doing with the rest of them. I'm also working on a crochet project, so I crochet and watch dvd's in the afternoons. I've watched all the extended versions of LOTR and the special features. I was thinking yesterday how inspiring the craft work is. It's makes me want to go the extra mile. The way they detailed everything was extraordinary. I leaned so much from the commentary as well as the extra features, it was just fascinating.

It seems a little cooler this morning. I've been starting to get the fall vibe a little. This week I've been doing some deep cleaning and decluttering. Yesterday I cleaned off the front of my frig. It's like a bulletin board for me. It gets pretty cluttered because I just keep adding stuff to it. I think it's about time to degrease the kitchen, that means getting out the ladder and taking the stuff off the tops of the cabinets so I want to wait until I feel up to it. Last time I did it I replaced all the stuff with things that are easy to wash.

I'm still reading Silmarillion and it's hard going. I read a bio. of Tolkien it was quite interesting. This next week my gd and I are going to start watching Star Wars, I've never seen it. So I'm thinking I may start reading the series by C.S.Lewis for adults that was sort of an outer space trilogy. I tried to read it many years ago.

I cleaned up my pot garden yesterday, it never really did much this year. Everything seemed stunted and just didn't want to grow. I kind of started to ignore it and basically gave up on it. Well there is always next year. I think I said that last year!

Have a good weekend.
Linda

Spring Decorating-Birds and Birdhouses

I finally changed my decorations to a spring look. My theme is birds and birdhouses. I have all these little ceramic and glass birds that my dd and gd's have given me.

I also rearranged my furniture and love the new arrangement.

I also brought out all those pillows I made last year and the granny squares. Everything looks so bright.

I will probably keep this through the summer as I started so late. We could have a short one.

I have beach stuff that I sometimes use in the summer months.

We are finally getting some sun but still cool. My container veg. garden hasn't done much yet.

I'm enjoying The Narnia Chronicles. I'm realizing what a talented writer he was and how creative he was. I'm thinking of reading his Space Trilogy after this. I know I've read at least one of the books but didn't understand it very well. I'm still reading Little Women and I've been watching the movies. I have 3 different versions of it. I like the newest one the best. I'm finding that I usually like the book better than the movie.

I started working on some counted cross stitch for Christmas. I've been working on cutting squares for the quilt too, but slowly.

I'm still doing the Somersizing Diet but I also have read "The New Atkins For a New You" and am incorporating some of their ideas. I think it will be targeting me diabetes a little better. The big difference in this diet is that you count carbs and then after the initial induction period you start adding a little at a time until you reach the optimum carb level at which you can still lose weight. It's hard to start on a very low carb diet forever, so I'm hoping this will help me to figure that part out.

Have a great week. My gd and I watched "Inception" with Leo DiCaprio it was very intense but interesting.

Linda                                                                                                                       

Tea and a Movie

I've been watching this mini series that my dd talked about on her blog. I love seeing Botswana and the animals. Plus the story is really cute.

Linda

Tea in the Library with the Classics

This is my autumn tea pot. I love Harney & Sons, Cranberry Autumn Tea. We have a knit and tea shop that orders it at this time of year.

This is my library/office. I actually have books in almost every room, but a whole wall in this room. I wanted to share that I just finished watching "Little Dorrit" on dvd. It is based on the Dickens book. At first it seemed kind of depressing, but I got into it and ended up liking it. I really like Matthew Macfadyen, he was also in Pride and Prejudice as Mr. Darcy. So now I'm thinking I should read the book. I have a few Dickens books, but have never been able to get into them, but find it a lot easier after I've seen the movie. It's suppose to be a hard read, so I don't know if I'll be able to get into it, but I want to try. As you can see by picture I also have "Bleak House" which I can also get from Netflix and watch first. I would like to read a few of these this fall and winter. Right now I have several books I'm in the middle of, but I will just read a few pages each day until It grabs me and if it never does, well I tried.

Linda

The Classics

The classics- I added a list to my side bar of blogs about the classics. There are several Jane Austin ones. I've been having fun reading them. This one posted a link to The Sampler Girl I'm so excited about this. Another passion of mine is cross stitch and I love samplers. She has created the most fun samplers. I'm sorely tempted, but I'm not buying, I'm not. She gave me some ideas though.

I love children's literature as well as adult. I have been collecting books for most of my adult life. Now that I can't afford to buy books I'm enjoying reading the ones I haven't read yet or rereading my favorites. This blog is about what I've learned and am learning and I've learned much from books. Every time I was interested in a subject I would buy a book about it. Now I usually turn to the web. I tended to read a lot more non fiction, until later in life I discovered the joys of fiction. I have to admit I've had trouble reading the classics and that is why I like the classic movies so much. I can get the gist of the story that way and then go back and read the book. I didn't really get Jane Austin at first but after being immersed in her works I'm seeing the depth they have that I didn't see at first.

I'm very interested in cultures and how people lived in different times and places and that is one of the things I like so well about Jane Austin. It helps me to appreciate life in my own times, but it also makes me long for some of the things of that time. I love anything that is about England especially old England. Jane Eyre is one of my favorites by Charlotte Bronte I didn't care for Whithering Heights as well by Emily Bronte.

I loved the movies of North and South and Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell but couldn't get into this authors books. I would like to try again now that I've seen the films.

I'm not quite ready to try Dickens although I have 5 of his books. Well I may have to challenge myself when I get in the mood. I should watch some of the movies.

Linda

My granddaughter Auberne introduced me to a wonderful blog called Old-Fashioned Charm What I wanted to share about it is that on her side bar she has a fantastic list of classic films from Jane Austin to Anne of Green Gables. I'm using this list to order from my library and Netflix. I love the classics. Her blog is also fun because she is a lover of Jane Austin. Thankyou Auberne. My granddaughter is a Jane Austin lover and has renewed my interest. We debate about which version is the best and which actors we like. Have you seen Lost in Austin a new movie about an Austin fan that finds herself in the world of Pride and Prejudice. It's a little saucy in places, but a fun movie. Some dyed in the wool fans will not like the changes they made so be warned. It's not for young kids.