Reading list #2. 2026

 

1. The Crossroads by C. J. Box #26 of the series and did not disappoint 
2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig for book club  as good the second time. 
3. The Irish Midwife by Seana Tinley about a young woman in Belfast learning to be a midwife then going to school in Dublin to become a certified midwife and a love story.  Story takes place in 1939.
4. The Last Post by Jean Grainger book 7 of Knockneshee series happy ending of the series. Yeah!
5. The Portrait by Emilia Kelly the story takes place mid 1800’s during the Victorian era the owner of a glassworks commissions a painter to paint a portrait of his fiancée. She finds the diary of his previous girlfriend…….the plot thickens….good story.
6. A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman I think I have read this book 4 times and it gets me every time. 
7. The Forgotten Shore by Sarah Maine very good story takes place in three time periods, 1940’s Scotland a wounded soldier is recouping at his childhood home, 1960’s where he fled to Newfoundland to start over and flee the war trauma when he befriends a young girl and encourages her to read more challenging books and 1980’s where the girl is now a journalist in Scotland looking for the man she recognizes in a photograph at an old estate.
8. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout  this is a book of short stories Olive Kitteridge is mentioned in each but not as a major character. I’ve read other books by Elizabeth Strout that I liked much better.
9. The Maid by Nita Prose for book club everyone loved it and it’s a short series! About a maid in an upscale hotel she finds a dead body in a room she is to clean………good story!
10. The Monk of Mallorca by E. L. Nunez very short book a young woman travels to Mallorca and meets a 400 year old monk a lot of religion and faith in the story…..there is the 400 year old monk. Good story
11. The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen a story of friendship in a small town and a mystery. Light reading just for fun.
12. The Emerald Shawl by Louise Douglas takes place in England in late 1800’s a young woman news reporter who writes a column of interest to women—recipes, housekeeping tips, decorating etc. gets involved in a murder story. Treatment of girls and women who don’t fit the norm of wanting to get married and have kids and lots of twists in the story.  We have come a long way.

If we weren’t packing up to leave the river today I would be sitting in the sun with a book and coffee I’ve got a little time to enjoy my coffee but I don’t want to haul a chair out by then my coffee will be cold and then need to haul it back to the garage. Oh to sit in the sun after a rainy overcast few days.  Everything is greener than last week before the rain.  Bring it on again.  —Ann—

Little artists

 

Fun weekend with the little girls as always low tech.  My watercolor pencils got sharpened…..while they were painting, cutting or gluing I was coloring in a Peter Rabbit coloring book from my daughter’s childhood with watercolor pencils then they would use the waterbrush to paint. They saw that I was using multiple colors for leaves and fur so they would try it.  They would try so hard to stay in the lines and be neat. They love their Prang paints the colors are as vibrant as from my childhood the paint brushes have gotten smaller if you can see that in the top photo.  They each have the Prang script. I buy tablets of 9 x 12 paper and cut the sheets into 4 the perfect size for them.  Little art lessons and they think they are just having fun. —Ann—

Organizing pencils

 My granddaughters each take a box of colored pencils and coloring books when they go places where they are expected to be quiet like church so I made them each a pencil roll with their name, it holds 12 pencils and is easier for their little fingers to get the right pencil out and put it back. I have several of these for my pencils and drawing tools and a couple have been recruited for knitting needles.  Sometimes I’m better at organizing my tools than using them.  But I have decided to use them!  Darling daughter turned 35 this month, she and college roommate have planned a fun weekend to mark the occasion because 35 is half way to 70.  Guess who will turn 70 this year!?! I have made the decision to use my art supplies with wild abandon ( as wild as I get but accepting there will be bad art days and just enjoy the process) because I cringe at the thought of DD filling the dumpster with unused art materials. I’m going to leave piles of filled sketch books.  If my kids want to tear pages out and frame them I will be thrilled.  Recently I have attacked my travel sketchbooks, those sketchbooks I buy special for a trip then do one or two pages and bring home a mostly blank book.  I have been sketching from my travel photos to fill the pages sometimes I add notes,  progress is slow but I see improvement.  Sometimes I jump up and sew a couple quilt blocks while the paint dries. 

Keeping busy—Ann—

Another one

 Sometimes I get carried away cutting pieces for quilts and sometimes I need to make two quilts. First baby was born just over a week ago healthy baby girl at 6 pounds 9 ounces. The next baby is due in June. 

The four point stars burst in the first quilt so in this quilt I’m going with the stars in the background three on each side.  Stars will either be offset in the middle of the quilt or let the background circle in the middle row.  I did polka dots in one and the dots were dominant so I moved them to the outside edge. Much quieter there.  The lower circle is a print with black and gray houses —a cul-de-sac. I still may rearrange some things. I like working with the string grid with this pattern but sometimes when I move a couple pieces I get the string too and all fall down. I had to cut many more background pieces  I have 4 leftover but enough of the colored triangles for a third quilt and I have ideas. —Ann—

How much did it shrink

Those seam allowances can really shrink a quilt and to really be able to see it on the grid I pinned on the design wall.  The quilt top is sewn!  I’m really glad I grouped the background fabrics together.

Now to decide on borders the plaid is out. Either the top or the bottom or dig through the pile of fabrics some more.  The weather has changed again from capris yesterday and temps in the 80’s to wool sweaters and the furnace running.  It’s a good day to sew. —Ann— 

Off the needles

 I finished this a couple weeks ago, a Petite Knits pattern with a round yoke. I used a hand dyed fingering weight yarn and a strand of mohair and silk. I had two skeins of pastel blue with yellow, white a pink and two skeins of slightly variegated light blue.  The mostly blue I used for all the ribbing. The upper yoke is the pastel multi colored yarn the I alternated the two yarns for the rest of the sweater and sleeves because I knew I would run out of the multi colored yarn.  I should have bought 3 skeins instead of 2.  It’s soft and cozy.

I knit this little sweater for a girlfriend’s granddaughter I bought the yarn in Ireland last summer. One big ball of fingering yarn is almost enough for a size 2 or 3 sweater hence the white ribbing. I paired this with a strand of mohair and silk.  I will be like wearing a hug from grandma.

—Ann—

Blissfully sewing

 

Blissful sewing……..this is the first piecing I have done since last year! It felt good and sounded good after oiling the machine.  The hummmmmm and then I saw the star!  The big four point star in the background fabric I liked it and it’s not too late to rearrange the background pieces for another four point star.  Those background fabrics really needed to be organized into puddles. —Ann—