Ta da da da da done

 

Finished and ready to go to the post office.  The baby is 4 months old already. What have I been doing??  Not much blog worthy. —Ann—

Just one hour

 

Ok two hours the first hour…..in the iris garden dead heading they are still stunning ! And the one hour in the sewing room….that’s all it took to machine quilt all the blocks.  That wonderful feeling of accomplishing something! Hubby has been gone fishing and I haven’t checked many things off my list, so far it has just been the little details of life “don’t forget to do this” “make that appointment” etc. no real accomplishments until my one hour in the sewing room.  Tomorrow I will stitch the borders and the binding. That one hour in the sewing room was like pushing the ‘reset’ in my head. What can you get done in an hour?  —Ann—

It’s summertime

 

A perfect summer morning—Ann—

The watercolor was done with an app 

Iris

The iris are blooming at McCrorey gardens at SDSU in Brookings. I help weed them once a week for one hour. It’s amazing how many weeds 8 to 12 women can pull in an hour. The blooms are bigger and more numerous than last year. They got rain and sunshine at the perfect time this year.  They were glorious before the wind today. —Ann—
 

Writing in books

 

A few decades ago back when I was doing calligraphy and my children were babies I wrote their names in all their books that were gifts, their name, year and the occasion and a couple books signed by the author. The little girls always want me to read that page and always followed by a slew of questions and explanations. “ This was my daddy’s book?” “From mommy and  daddy?” Followed by long explanation of grandma and grandpa are your daddy’s mommy and daddy. We are still working on that concept. I have continued the tradition of writing in the books I give to each of them and together. My calligraphy is not as nice as it once was it’s like all things that require practice to get to a degree of perfection if you don’t do it you loose it. These books are theirs but the books stay at my house. We always read the inscription before reading the story.

My mother gave me a stack of books from my childhood years ago, it was fun to read the inscriptions in them from my grandparents and godparents but sadly those books had been stored in the basement and smelled musty really musty. I shelved them with my books briefly but the smell migrated so I spread them outside in the sun for days but couldn’t get rid of the smell so I tossed them all. Most were little golden books. I still have a couple that I got after my parents passed away, my daughter says she can still smell grandma’s house in them.  Making keepsakes—Ann—

 

Reading list#2 2024

  

1. Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy I have read other books by this writer that have liked much better. Or maybe it was too slow paced after reading William Kent Krueger. 
2. Three Inch Teeth by C.J. Box another thriller, I read it in one day.
3. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson about Marconi and the invention of the wireless radio which send messages in Morse code. Way more than I needed to know about radio waves and antenna but also growing aggression in Germany before WW1 and a mystery. Wireless radio played a vital roll in catching the villain. 
4. The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger for book club a death was it accidental or murder, lots of secrets and confidences, the story takes place in the 1950’s dealing with post was trauma and family. Very good!
5. A Walk Along the Beach by Debbie Macomber a young woman dealing with the death of her sister from cancer and a romance, just a nice story after the murder and gore of the 3 previous books.
6. The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner WW2 Japanese and German internment camps in USA, about friendship, family, and home. Very good!
7. Stolen Beauty by Laurie Lico Albanese about the Austrian painter Gustav Klimt and a woman he painted in late 1800’s-early 1900’s and about the woman’s niece during WW2 and the recovery of the painting.  The painting is The Woman in Gold, Ann Marie O’Connor wrote a similar book, The Lady in Gold which was made into a movie with Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds. I need to watch the movie again. Very good.
8. Mrs. Kennedy and Me by Clint Hill about the secret service agent assigned to protect First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy for book club.
9. Lady Clementine by Marie Benedict about Mrs. Winston Churchill. Very good
10. Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor something light after 3 serious but very good books
11. The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear stand alone book, not part of the Maisie Dobbs series. Story takes place in England after WW II and back tracks to WWI in Belgium resistance fighters then to resistance during WW II. Good story and interesting characters.
12. The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht for book club weird story but lots to think about how family stories are passed on and become larger than life. Good book club discussion but no one really liked the book. The grandfather/ doctor in the story carried a copy of The Jungle Book his whole life.
13. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling my knowledge of the book was from the 1967 Disney animation. (I watched that again too) the book was very dark but fun to read.
14. The Tuscan Orphan by Siobhan Daiko WW2 Italy army nurse and orphaned girl, the search for her parents and a love story. The book was ok but not great.
15. Start a new list……..

Fun weekend with the little girls and some of my favorite books. I never get tired of reading kids books. DD and I were shopping together a couple weekends ago we found what she needed in the first store we went to so after a couple other shops we went to the big book store just to read picture books. —Ann—

It’s not done until I love it

 A sweater I knit this past winter from Berroco Remix Light 30%nylon, 27% cotton, 24% acrylic, 10% silk and 9% linen. It was a dream to knit and washes beautifully in the washing machine and then into the dryer!

Fresh out of dryer

The end of the day the ribbing is stretched out of shape and I look like I had a tough day. 

It’s not done until I love it.  I ripped the ribbing and re knit the neck with a rolled neck finish, it doesn’t stretch. Then I ripped the cuffs and reknit a garter stitch cuff on much smaller needles. I also ripped the 2 x 2 ribbing from the hem and did a split hem in garter stitch.  It looks so much better. This yarn in a 2x2 ribbing does not have any memory, it stretches out but doesn’t pull back in unless it has been through the washer and dryer. I’m going to get more of this yarn to knit pullovers for the little girls. It’s been a learning experience.           —Ann—