Wordless Wednesday

Happy Halloween!

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 go here.

Teaser Tuesday

Googling a butterfly. It sounded comical, like tickling a catfish, but she knew it wouldn't sound that way to Preston. He would clamber up to the computer at Bear and Hester's and punch the keys, finding what he needed in there. Having children was not like people said. Forget training them in your footsteps; the minute they put down the teething ring and found the Internet, you were useless as a source of anything but shoes and a winter coat. But Preston still asked her questions. That touched her, that they were a team. Here in the looming forest he gripped her hand tightly, as if crossing a street, as they approached the trees where the butterflies hung in their droves. Wings littered the ground. "Look up," she said, pointing at the brown clusters drooping from the branches. These trees were completely filled now. Even the tree trunks wore butterfly pelts, all the way up, like the bristling hairy legs of giants. It was a whole butterfly forest, magically draped with dark, pendulous clusters masquerading as witchy tresses or dead foliage. She only knew what they really were because her eyes had learned the secret. Preston's had not. It all waited for him, perfectly still and alive. She watched his dark pupils dart up and around, puzzling this out, looking without yet seeing. Mine, ours, her heartbeat thumped, making promises from the inside. This was better than Christmas. She couldn't wait to give him his present: sight.

I started this book last week and haven't been able to put it down. It's wonderful! I'm trying not to read too quickly, though, as I want it to last. Such a dilemma!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Saturday Snapshot

The cold weather has arrived! Our overnight temps dipped down to the mid-twenties and there was frost on the rooftops and cars. However, my geraniums are still holding on!

This is my first Saturday Snapshot post. For more information, visit Alyce of At Home With Books.

Looking Back - Anna Karenina

Anna Karenin by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Rosemary Edmonds
Fiction
1954 Penguin Classics
Finished 12/29/95





All happy families are alike but an unhappy family is unhappy after its own fashion.

Synopsis:

With Anna Karenin, Tolstoy's most perfect work, the psychological novel of the nineteenth century reached its peak.

Acclaimed by many as the world's greatest novel, Anna Karenin provides a vast panorama of contemporary life in Russia and of humanity in general. In it Tolstoy uses his intense imaginative insight to create some of the most memorable characters in literature. Anna is a sophisticated woman who abandons her empty existence as the wife of Karenin and turns to Count Vronsky to fulfil her passionate nature--with tragic consequences. Levin is a reflection of Tolstoy himself, often expressing the author's own views and convictions.

Throughout, Tolstoy points no moral, merely inviting us not to judge but to watch. As Rosemary Edmonds comments: 'He leaves the shifting patterns of the kaleidoscope to bring home the meaning of the brooding words following the title "Vengeance is mine, and I will repay.'"

My Original Notes:

I enjoyed the book, although it tends to drag in spots. Very long! I read a few other books while giving AK a rest. The ending just seemed to fizzle out. Not as good as Dr. Zhivago. My first Tolstoy. 

Current Thoughts:

Bellezza and Arti are reading this classic during October, so I pulled my copy off the shelf and read a few pages here and there. If I ever decide to read it again, I'll give the audio a listen, as I'm not sure I'm interested enough to read all 853 pages a second time! It's been quite a few years since I watched the 1948 film, staring Vivien Leigh, and I'm looking forward to seeing the updated version, starring Keira Knightley, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jude Law.

 
In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to begin posting (in chronological order) one or two entries every week. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Wordless Wednesday

 

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The Blue Bistro

The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand
Fiction
2005 St. Martin’s Press
Finished: 8/24/12
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)



Publisher’s Blurb:

Adrienne Dealey has spent the past six years working for hotels in exotic resort towns. This summer she has decided to make Nantucket home. Left flat broke by her ex-boyfriend, she is desperate to earn some fast money. When the desirable Thatcher Smith, owner of Nantucket’s hottest restaurant, is the only one to offer her a job, she wonders if she can get by with no restaurant experience. Thatcher gives Adrienne a crash course in the business… and they share an instant attraction.

But there is a mystery about their situation: What is it about Fiona, the Blue Bistro’s chef, that captures Thatcher’s attention again and again? And why does such a successful restaurant seem to be in its final season before closing its doors for good? Despite her uncertainty, Adrienne must decide whether to move on, as she always does—or finally open her heart…


It’s been over five years since I first discovered Elin Hilderbrand and I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to pick up another one of her books. I enjoyed The Love Season (another “foodie” read set in Nantucket) and had planned to read The Blue Bistro, but of course, other books vied for my attention. Looking for a light summer read (read: brain candy), I started the novel in June, but set it aside for the Paris in July Challenge. And then Love Anthony (Lisa Genova) arrived and I couldn’t not read it. And then our granddaughter arrived and there wasn’t much time for reading. But I had no trouble picking up where I’d left off and wound up really enjoying this novel. Enough so that I want to read more by Hilderbrand. And I’m in luck, as she’s been very busy these past few years. There are nine more titles on her backlist—ten if you count her upcoming release in 2013.

The only restaurant experience I have is that of the fast-food sort (which I wrote about here). While I enjoyed the glimpse into the behind-the-scenes nature of a full-service restaurant in The Blue Bistro, I have no desire to open my own, nor work in one, even as a sous-chef. Too much stress and pressure! But I’d love to dine in a restaurant such as The Blue Bistro. Hilderbrand’s novel includes dinner menus, which had me drooling and longing for recipes.

Pretzel Bread? Yes, please.

Bruno reappeared with two baskets swathed in white linen napkins and a ramekin of something bright yellow.

Thatcher unveiled one basket. “Pretzel bread,” he said. He held up a thick braid of what looked to be soft pretzel, nicely tanned, sprinkled with coarse salt. “This is served with Fee’s homemade mustard. So right away the guest knows this isn’t a run-of-the-mill restaurant. They’re not getting half a cold baguette, here, folks, with butter in the gold foil wrapper. This is warm pretzel bread made on the premises, and the mustard ditto. Nine out of ten tables are licking the ramekin clean.”

Doughnuts as an appetizer? OK!

“The other basket contains our world-famous savory doughnuts,” Thatcher said. He whipped the cloth off like a magician, revealing six golden-brown doughnuts. Doughnuts? Adrienne had been too nervous to think about eating all day, but now her appetite was roused. After the menu meeting, they were going to have a family meal.

The doughnuts were deep-fried rings of a light, yeasty, herb-flecked dough. Chive, basil, rosemary. Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. Savory doughnuts. Who wouldn’t stand in line for these? Who wouldn’t beg or steal to access the private phone line so they could make a date with these doughnuts?

and

The corn chowder and the shrimp bisque are cream soups, but neither of these soups is heavy. The Caesar is served with pumpernickel croutons and white anchovies. The chevre salad is your basic mixed greens with a round of breaded goat cheese, and the candy-striped beets are grown locally at Bartlett’s Farm. Ditto the rest of the vegetables, except for the Portobello mushrooms that go into the ravioli—those are flown in from Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. So when you’re talking about vegetables, you’re talking about produce that’s grown in Nantucket soil, okay? It’s not sitting for thirty-six hours on the back of a truck. Fee selects them herself before any of you people are even awake in the morning. It’s all very Alice Waters, what we do here with our vegetables.”

“The most popular item on the menu is the steak frites. It is twelve ounces of aged New York strip grilled to order—and please note you need a temperature on that—served with a mound of garlic fries. The duck, the sword, the lamb lollipops—see, we’re having fun here—are all served at the chef’s temperature. If you have a guest who wants the lamb killed—by which I mean well done—you’re going to have to take it up with Fiona. The sushi plate is all spelled out for you—it’s bluefin tuna caught forty miles off the shore, and the sword is harpooned in case you get a guest who has just seen a Nova special about how the Canadian coast is being overfished.”

And then there’s the busy season: 

Adrienne had been hearing about August since her first day of work. When the bar was busy, Caren might say, It’s busy, but not as busy as August.” When the dining room was slow back in mid-June, Thatcher had said, “You’ll be longing for this once it’s August.” What was it about August? Everyone was on Nantucket in August—the celebrities, the big money, the old families. It was America’s summer vacation. Thirty-one days of sun, beach, boating, outdoor showers, fireflies, garden parties, linen sheets, coffee on the deck in the morning, a gin and tonic on the patio in the evening.

and 

In the restaurant kitchen, August meant lobsters, blackberries, silver queen corn, and tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes. In honor of the last year of the restaurant, Fiona was creating a different tomato special for each day of the month. The first of August (two hundred and fifty covers on the book, eleven reservation wait list) was a roasted yellow tomato soup. The second of August (two hundred and fifty covers, seven reservation wait list) was tomato pie with a Gruyere crust. On the third of August, Ernie Otemeyer came in with his wife to celebrate his birthday and since Ernie liked food that went with his Bud Light, Fiona made a Sicilian pizza—a thick, doughy crust, a layer of fresh buffalo mozzarella, topped with a voluptuous tomato-basil sauce. One morning when she was working the phone, Adrienne stepped into the kitchen hoping to get a few minutes with Mario, and she found Fiona taking a bite out of a red ripe tomato like it was an apple. Fiona held the tomato out.

“I’d put this on the menu,” she said. “But few would understand.”

Oh, I would!

Final Thoughts: The Blue Bistro is most definitely a light and fluffy beach read, but at the same time, it’s absorbing and well-written. I look forward to reading more from Hilderbrand’s backlist, but I may need to space them out. I can see how they might begin to blur together and I know I’m already forgetting some of the details from this one. 

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The Thorn Birds

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Fiction
1977 Harper Collins
Finished: 10/6/12
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)



There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to outcarol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in his heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain… Or so says the legend.

Publisher's Blurb:

The magnificent epic, one of the most beloved novels of all time.

Colleen McCullough's sweeping saga of dreams, struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian Outback has enthralled readers the world over. This is the chronicle of three generations of Clearys, ranchers carving lives from a beautiful, hard land while contending with the bitterness, frailty, and secrets that penetrate their family. Most of all, it is the story of only daughter Meggie and her lifelong relationship with the haunted priest Father Ralph de Bricassart—and intense joining of two hearts and souls that dangerously oversteps sacred boundaries of ethics and dogma.

A poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and spirit, Colleen McCullough's acclaimed masterwork remains a monumental literary achievement—a landmark novel to be cherished and read again and again.


The Thorn Birds was published 35 years ago. If my memory is correct, I read it sometime around 1981, when I was 20 years old. I’ve always considered the novel one of my all-time favorites from my life as a young wife and mother, much like The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher, which I read in the late 1980s. So when Bellezza and I agreed on a buddy-read, I was very happy to finally have a reason to give this chunkster a second reading. We decided to read it in September, so I began on August 31st, which was a big mistake. I should’ve started on July 31st, as it took me almost 6 weeks to finish! It’s probably the longest book I’ve read (excluding audio books) this year, coming in at 673 pages in the trade paperback edition.

So, did it stand the test of time? Well, you’d think with all those Post-it flags, I’d say it was fantastic, but unfortunately, this was not the case. I certainly liked it well enough to read the entire book, never once feeling like I wanted to quit, but it didn’t wow me the way it did when I was a young woman. Was it the illicit love affair that intrigued that young wife back in the 80s, much as Fifty Shades of Grey is doing for young women in 2012? Was I simply young and naïve, never having read anything as scandalous as this? I’m not sure, but it certainly didn’t bowl me over this second time around. If anything, I couldn’t really see what all the fuss was about.

There was so much about this novel that I’d forgotten. It isn’t simply a story about Meggie and Ralph’s love for one another, but about the country and about Meggie’s family and her upbringing. Oh, I shudder to think of attending a Catholic school -- or at least, a Catholic school such as the one described in this book! Thankfully, I was raised Episcopalian!

As they followed the upward rise of the cane above her own hands Meggie’s eyes closed involuntarily, so she did not see the descent. But the pain was like a vast explosion, a scorching, searing invasion of her flesh right down to the bone; even as the ache spread tingling up her forearm the next cut came, and by the time it had reached her shoulder the final cut across her fingertips was screaming along the same path, all the way through to her heart. She fastened her teeth in her lower lip and bit down on it, too ashamed and too proud to cry, too angry and indignant at the injustice of it to dare open her eyes and look at Sister Agatha; the lesson was sinking in, even if the crux of it was not what Sister Agatha intended to reach. [Meggie’s punishment for arriving late on her first day of school.]

Life with a stoic mother wasn’t as terrible as the discipline she suffered at school, but I still felt sorry for Meggie:

As for Meggie, she was incapable of equating Teresa’s beaming, portly little mother with her own slender unsmiling mother, so she never thought: I wish Mum hugged and kissed me. What she did think was: I wish Teresa’s mum hugged and kissed me. Though images of hugs and kisses were far less in her mind than images of the willow pattern tea set. So delicate, so thin and wafery, so beautiful! Oh, if only she had a willow pattern tea set, and could give Agnes afternoon tea out of a deep blue-and-white cup in a deep blue-and-white saucer!

And then she and her family had to move to Gillanbone:

In the morning they stared, awed and dismayed, at a landscape so alien they had not dreamed anything like it existed on the same planet as New Zealand. The rolling hills were there certainly, but absolutely nothing else reminiscent of home. It was all brown and grey, even the trees! The winter wheat was already turned a fawnish silver by the glaring sun, miles upon miles of it rippling and bending in the wind, broken only by stands of thin, spindling, blue-leafed trees and dusty clumps of tired grey bushes. Fee’s stoical eyes surveyed the scene without changing expression, but poor Meggie’s were full of tears. It was horrible, fenceless and vast, without a trace of green.

I didn’t recall Mrs. Carson’s (Meggie’s grandmother) attraction to Father de Bricassart, but it was quite apparent upon this second reading:

She accepted the deliberately blatant flattery in the spirit in which it was intended, enjoying his beauty, his attentiveness, his barbed and subtle mind; truly he would make a magnificent cardinal. In all her life she could not remember seeing a better-looking man, nor one who used his beauty in quite the same way. He had to be aware of how he looked: the height and the perfect proportions of his body, the fine aristocratic features, the way every physical element had been put together with a degree of care about the appearance of the finished product God lavished on few of His creations. From the loose black curls of his head and the startling blue of his eyes to the small, slender hands and feet, he was perfect. Yes, he had to be conscious of what he was. And yet there was an aloofness about him, a way he had of making her feel he had never been enslaved by his beauty, nor ever would be. He would use it to get what he wanted without compunction if it would help, but not as though he was enamored of it; rather as if he deemed people beneath contempt for being influenced by it. And she would have given much to know what his past life had made him so.

Curious, how many priests were handsome as Adonis, had the sexual magnetism of Don Juan. Did they espouse celibacy as a refuge from the consequences?

But I do remember Father Ralph’s initial fondness for Meggie:

Just why he was so fond of Meggie Father Ralph didn’t know, nor for that matter did he spend much time wondering about it. It had begun with pity that day in the dusty station yard when he had noticed her lagging behind; set apart from the rest of her family by virtue of her sex, he had shrewdly guessed. As to why Frank [Meggie’s older brother] also moved on an outer perimeter, this did not intrigue him at all, nor did he feel moved to pity Frank. There was something in Frank which killed tender emotions: a dark heart, a spirit lacking inner light. But Meggie? She had moved him unbearably, and he didn’t really know why. There was the color of her hair, which pleased him; the color and form of her eyes, like her mother’s and therefore beautiful, but so much sweeter, more expressive; and her character, which he saw as the perfect female character, passive yet enormously strong. No rebel, Meggie; on the contrary. All her life she would obey, move within the boundaries of her female fate.

Yet none of it added up to the full total. Perhaps, had he looked more deeply into himself, he might have seen that what he felt for her was the curious result of time, and place, and person. No one thought of her as important, which meant there was a space in her life into which he could fit himself and be sure of her love; she was a child, and therefore no danger to his way of life or his priestly reputation; she was beautiful, and he enjoyed beauty; and, least acknowledged of all, she filled an empty space in his life which his God could not, for she had warmth and a human solidity. Because he could not embarrass her family by giving her gifts, he gave her as much of his company as he could, and spent time and thought on redecorating her room at the presbytery; not so much to see her pleasure as to creature a fitting setting for his jewel. No pinchbeck for Meggie.

A few final thoughts for Bellezza…

Wasn’t Luke awful? I hated his selfish, self-centered attitude about life and marriage. I don’t think I would have been as proud as Meggie and would’ve caught the first train back to Drogheda… at least I say that now, as a 50-year-old. I wonder what I would’ve done as a young bride…

And, oh my. I’d completely forgotten about Justine and Dane… and the Second World War. This was quite the saga!

I honestly can’t recall if I ever saw the mini-series, starring Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward and Barbara Stanwyck. I’ll add it to my Netflix queue and give it a go. 

Of Monsters and Men - Mountain Sound

Dewey's Read-a-Thon 2012 Wrap-Up

I thoroughly enjoyed this year's Read-a-Thon! Unlike previous years, I decided to take a break every hour and catch up on emails and blog-hopping, in addition to hanging out with my husband and working on some weekend chores. It was a nice balance and my eyes didn't get too tired.

Here are my final stats:

Start Time: 7:55 a.m.

End Time: 11:25 p.m.

Total Reading Time: 7 hours

Total Time in Breaks: 8 1/2 hours

Total Pages Read: 545*

Total Number of Books Finished: 1

Books Read:

The Devoted by Jonathan Hull (Fiction)

A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver (Poetry)

The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus by Sonya Sones (Fiction)

*253 of the 545 were from Sones' book, which is told in verse. It's a very quick read.

This was a great challenge and I'm looking forward to the next one in the spring. Until then, I'm going to aim for at least 2-3 hours of reading every weekend. 15-20 minutes before bed just isn't enough!

Dewey's Read-a-Thon 2012 Update

Mid-Event Survey

1. How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired?

Yes, I'm tired. During the week I get up at 5, so I'm usually in bed by 9 and asleep by 10. I wasn't planning to read for a full 24 hours and I suspect I'll be asleep by 10. But I'm quite happy with the amount of time I spent reading today, in spite of the long breaks. I can't remember the last time I spent an afternoon on the couch reading, let alone an entire day!

2. What have you finished reading?

I finished The Devoted by Jonathan Hull. I have a few reviews to post first, but I'll just say that I really enjoyed this novel! 
 
3. What is your favorite read so far?

Well, since I've only read The Devoted and half of a collection of poems by Mary Oliver (A Thousand Mornings), I'd have to say The Devoted. ;)

4. What about your favorite snacks?

Blue Bunny Strawberry Ice Cream... almonds and dried apricots... grilled cheese sandwich... Stonehedge Old Vine Zin. I kind of wish I had bought some Peanut M&Ms and a Hershey Bar with Almonds. Or a Godiva Milk Chocolate with Salted Caramel bar. Mmmmm.

5. Have you found any new blogs through the read-a-thon? If so, give them some love!

The reason I was able to read all day was because I stayed away from my computer. I only just recently visited some of my dear old pals' blogs. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to visit any new blogs, but I had to spend my time wisely.

I'll post my final stats tomorrow morning, but for now I need to choose a new book. I love this part about reading where I get to shop from my own shelves. Who knows what gem I might discover. :)

Dewey's Read-a-Thon 2012

Opening Meme

Introductory Questionnaire

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

I'm reading from Lincoln, Nebraska, which is the second-most populous city in the state, as well as the state's capital. It is home to the University of Nebraska (Go Big Red!) and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city has a population of roughly 258,000 and we have lived here for almost 20 years. In spite of the bitterly cold winters and miserably hot summers, we love our community and will probably stick around a few more years.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

I'm most excited about my current book, The Devoted by Jonathan Hull. His debut novel, Losing Julia, is an all-time favorite of mine (read it twice and still remember several beautifully rendered passages) and The Devoted is proving to be a winner, as well. I'm also very anxious to dive into The Lost Art of Mixing, also by a favorite author (Erica Bauermeister). 

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I'm not a big snacker and will probably stick to my regular routine, with the exception of some Dove dark chocolate and maybe some Blue Bunny ice cream (Bunny Tracks or Double Strawberry!)

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I've been a bookseller at Barnes & Noble for over five years and I love my job. We're already gearing up for Christmas, which is an especially crazy time, but I still love it! When I'm not busy hand-selling my favorite books, I'm usually on my bike or in the kitchen, trying out new recipes. My husband (of almost 24 years) is also a voracious reader and has never complained about the stacks of books that are taking over our house.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

I will probably spend less time on the memes and more time simply reading. It's already 7:30 and I want to read! Have fun, everyone!

Dewey's Read-a-Thon (2012)

Husker bye week.

Rain in the forecast.

Four new novels by great authors and a collection of poetry.

 

It's been two years since I participated in a read-a-thon and I'm really looking forward to spending the day curled up with a stack of books. I can't remember the last time I read for more than an hour in a single day. Maybe while traveling? In any case, I'm ready to begin Dewey's 2012 Read-a-Thon! Are you planning to join? What's in your stacks? More importantly, what flavor ice cream do you have to boost your energy. ;)

Are You Listening?

I'm just about finished listening to The Passage (Justin Cronin), which has been playing on my Nano for over a month. Let it be said that it is The.Longest.Audio.Book.Ever. But more about that later. When I'm finally finished, I'll need to decide what to listen to next. I've downloaded so many books from my library and I'm not sure which to start with next. Any suggestions?

Still Life - Louise Penney (re-read)

Crocodile on the Sandbank - Elizabeth Peters

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce

Birdman (John Caffery Series, Book #1) - Mo Hayder

OK For Now - Gary Schmidt

Peaches For Father Francis (Chocolate Trilogy Series, Book #3) - Joanne Harris

Shut Your Eyes Tight (Dave Gurney Series, Book #2) - John Verdon

A Land More Kind Than Home - Wiley Cash

The Buddha in the Attic - Julie Otsuka

The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters 

The Long Goodbye - Meghan O'Rourke

The Orchardist - Amanda Coplin


Ooops! I just remembered I was going to read/listen to The Little Stranger for Carl's R.I.P. Challenge. However, I'd still love to hear your thoughts on these books. Which are your favorites and have you read them in print or listened to the audio?

Wordless Wednesday

 

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:: Right Now::

Right now, I am...

:: surprised that my Cosmos were blooming after Friday night's near freezing temps. They didn't bloom all summer, so maybe they prefer the cooler temps. I know I do!

:: pleased with the Vinca, which is drought-tolerant and low-maintenance. I need to remember to plant more of this hardy annual next spring. It doesn't mind being ignored and requires very little water.

:: wondering how my geraniums fared after last night's freeze.

:: so very proud of my daughter, Amy. She has launched a new business in Texas and it couldn't suit her more perfectly. Check out her great website and Facebook page.

:: wishing I was a kid again so I could spend a week at camp. Check out this video for Camp Stevens where my cousin and his wife (the camp's Program Director and Marketing Manager) get to live year-round.

:: looking forward to spending this chilly Sunday curled up with my current book (which, yes, I've been reading since September 1st!!). I'm almost finished, Bellezza! Thanks for being so patient with me. ;)

:: enjoying the gorgeous fall colors in Lincoln. The trees are beautiful!

:: eager to get some firewood and break in our new fire ring.

:: thankful for my iPad, which allows me to catch up on all my favorite blogs via Reeder while walking on my treadmill.

:: ready to peruse Pinterest and make this week's menu. I'm craving soups and stews and have several pinned that I'd like to try. I haven't officially signed up for Trish's Pinterest Challenge for October, but she's inspired me to at least try some of the recipes I've pinned.

:: wondering how my California relatives can afford to drive to work. $5/gallon? Really?



::Right Now:: was inspired by Amanada Soule of SouleMama

Photo-A-Day September

September Photo-A-Day Challenge

Hmmm. I'm not sure why, but I think I actually did better in August (which felt busier) than in September. October's list looks good, so I'll continue to try to capture a moment every day. Go here for more information about this photo challenge. Click here to see my pictures for August. 

1. You, Now

Nebraska notched its nation-leading 27th consecutive season-opening victory, while opening its 50th straight season of home sellouts with its NCAA-record 319th consecutive sellout (85,425) at Memorial Stadium.

Martinez threw a career-high of 354 yards with 5 touchdowns.

Huskers beat Southern Miss (49-20)

Go Big Red!

2. Father
Lenoxville, Quebec, Canada

3. Far Away
My beautiful daughter and her boyfriend.

 
4. In My Mailbox/Postbox
Catalog season!

5. Bright
Kitchen lights.

6. Every Day
 (At least twice!)

7. Natural

8. At Night

9. Something You Do Most Weekends
(update the photo in my header)

15. First Thing You See

16. Strange
Looks like a dog, but it's actually just a pile
 of Annie's fur after her evening brushing!

17. In My Fridge

20. Man-Made
I couldn't limit this to one shot. 
It's the twin bed frame that 
my grandfather carved for my mother
 when she was a little girl.
 It was her bed,
 then mine, then my daughter's.
It's difficult to see, but engraved at the foot
of the bed is my mother's name.

21. Sometimes
A dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do.

23. Before Bedtime

25. Frame

26. Near
Less than 3 months!

27. Love/Hate
Tastes great and 
is very convenient,
 but not cheap! 

28. A Good Thing
Less than half a mile from our house!

30. You, Then 
Pastel portrait from Disneyland
1968

The ones I missed:

Black and White

Hero

Together

Table

Price

Underneath

Up

3 Things 

For more Wordless Wednesday photos,

 go here.

 

Click on photos for larger view.