SHERRIE'S STUFF

LIBRARY LOOT

2009-11-06T10:09:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was my Library Book Club meeting. Our new book for December is March by Geraldine Brooks. While I was at the Library i got some more books. Here's what I got.

March - Geraldine Brooks

The Last Oracle - James Rollins

Green River, Running Red - Ann Rule

Feasting on Asphalt - Alton Brown

Have you gotten any good books at the Library? Go see Eva over at A Striped Armchair to see who else went to the library.

30 DAYS OF THANKSGIVING - DAY 5

2009-11-05T09:40:00.004-05:00

Karla over at Karla's Korner is the host for 30 Days of Thanksgiving. Have you got something to be thankful for? Hop over to Karla's and check this out.

Today I am thankful for our son, Tommy. He is a Computer Engineer. He keeps my computer up and running. When my computer gets sick, he gets it back on it's "feet" again. This is my computer being worked on. It was having a overheating issue at the time and my son had to fix the little fan that keeps it cool.

That big funny thing in the middle with the white thing on the end is the fans. They weren't working the right way. A little adjustment and the computer was up and running again. This is my son, Tommy.

So what are you thankful for today?

30 DAYS OF THANKSGIVING - DAY 4

2009-11-04T10:32:00.003-05:00

Karla over at Karla's Korner is the host for 30 Days of Thanksgiving. Jump over and check it out.

I am thankful for my hubby, Thomas, he has stuck with me through the thick and the thin for the past 41 years. He is very gentle, never gets angry. He is a dream of a guy and I love him very much!!

30 DAYS OF THANKSGIVING - DAY 3

2009-11-03T09:29:00.003-05:00

30 Days of Thanksgiving can be found at Karla's Korner. Go check this out.

I am thankful for my library. They have lots and lots of books for me to read. I love reading. I can travel all over the world and never leave my home. So I am thankful for all the ladies at the Library that help me find my books. They are awesome!

30 DAYS OF THANKSGIVING - DAY 2

2009-11-02T09:26:00.004-05:00

I was browsing around blog land and found this wonderful meme over at Hip Chicks place. So I clicked and it took me to Karla over at Karla's Korner. She is hosting 30 Days of Thanksgiving. What are the rules:

So to kick off the holiday season, I have decided to blog30 Days of Thanksgiving... one post of gratitude...every day of November. Would you like to join me? It can be A LITTLE like... "Today I am thankful for love!"included in a comment on my daily post.. or on your own blog post. Or you can write A LOT... it's up to you. If you can't do 30 consecutive posts... no worries... one day at a time! I just thought it would be fun... and bring a smile to God's face...for His girls to join hearts for 30 days to give Him praise!!

SO...if you'd like to participate here's two ways to do it:
If you're a blogger:
1) Post one thing you're thankful for every day of November.
2) Link back to my blog
3) Leave me a comment with the link to your blog
and I'll link back to you in a special Give Thanks post!!
(You can pull the 30 Days banner above to use in your blog if you like!)

So I thought I would join in. Today I am thankful for the sun. The sun is shining today with some clouds. It has been raining a lot, seems like everyday in October it rained. Not buckets full, but just enough to make it wet and damp outside. Combined with the temps being 40's and 50's it was cold and rainy. It is still cold, 38 this morning, but the sun is shining and that makes it much better!

101 FANTASY READING CHALLENGE

2009-10-31T12:40:00.003-04:00

This is a reading challenge I have decided to join. It's called 101 Fantasy Reading Challenge and is is over at A Bibliophile's Bookshelf if you want to check it out.

Have you read over the list of 101 of the Best Fantasy Books? I have, and I discovered I’ve only read 27 of the top 101. That leaves a lot of books waiting to be read!

In order to give myself a little encouragement, I’m creating a 101 Fantasy Reading Challenge.

So here are the rules:
1. Pick the number of books you want to read. It can be a mixture of the top 101, and/or the whole list. For example, you might want to aim to read 5 from the top 101 and 5 from the rest of the list.
2. Create a list of the books you want to tackle. You can create a list now, or add them as you go. Completely up to you.
3. The challenge runs from 10/10/09 to 10/10/10.
4. Please post the direct link to your 101 Fantasy Reading Challenge post. (so that other participants can visit and see what you are reading)

My list of books:

1. City of Glass - Cassandra Clare
2. City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare
3. Blue Bloods - Melissa De la Cruz
4. Stardust - Neil Gaiman
5. The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
6. Darfever - Karen Marie Moning
7. Bloodfever - Karen Marie Moning
8. Darkside of the Moon - Sherrilyn Kenyon
9. Dragonflight - Anne McCaffery
10. Dragonsong - Anne McCaffery

WEEKEND COOKING

2009-10-31T11:03:00.004-04:00

This is a new meme I found over at Beth Fish Reads. It's called Weekend Cooking. So what's this all about? Here is what Beth has to say:

Introducing a new feature here at Beth Fish Reads. Every weekend, starting on October 31, I invite you to share your reviews of cookbooks, food writing, foodie novels, and movies that make you hungry.

Weekend Cooking is a chance to share the food love. On Saturday mornings, I'll publish my post -- perhaps a cookbook review or maybe just some favorite food-related quotes.

At anytime during the weekend, if you care to share a similar post, please come on back and hook up with Mr. Linky, so we can read what you have to say. I hope you'll join in when your weekend (or recent) reading or movie watching fits in with the theme. Remember, the definition of Weekend Cooking is free and easy, if you think your post even remotely fits the theme, grab the button and sign in to Mr. Linky.

I recently read a book called Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. It was about this family in the south and followed them through the 1920's up until the 1980's. It was written through the eyes of one of those family members. Told to a complete stranger who eventually became a friend. One of the family members has a cafe, The Whistle Stop, because it was along the railroad tracks that went by the town of Whistle Stop. At the end of the book were some of the recipes for the food served at the cafe.
I have always loved Fried Green Tomatoes. I would fix them and wonder why they didn't taste like my mom's. I've tried for years to figure this out. Now I know why. She used cornmeal and I was using flour. This recipe was at the end of this book.

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

1 medium green tomato(per person)
salt
pepper
white cornmeal
bacon drippings

But as it's the end of October, there are no more tomatoes in the garden, so I guess I'll have to wait until next year to try this recipe out.

LIBRARY LOOT

2009-10-29T08:38:00.010-04:00

Eva and Marg are the hosts for Library Loot. Get any great books at the library this week? Hop over and check out who else got great books at the library. Here's how it works:

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by myself and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!
Want to share your loot?

MY LOOT FROM THE LIBRARY

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

Aesop's Fables

Emma's Journal - Ed Rowell

Angel's in the Snow - Melody Carlson

The Promise Remains - Travis Thrasher

Holding Heaven - Jerry B. Jenkins

Sam's Letters to Jennifer - James Patterson

That's my pile of books. Go check out all the great books over at Eva's place, A Striped Armchair.

ABC WEDNESDAY

2009-10-28T10:33:00.007-04:00

The letter this week is "O". For "O" I though I would use the color ORANGE. Go check out the other folks that are doing "O" at ABC Wednesday this week.

These flowers grow wild around here and everyone calls them flags, but they are actually a lily.

These are the Poppies that grow in my garden. Usually I can't get a good picture of them as the rain comes and beats them down. This year I beat the rain!!

These next two pictures are of my orange Star Gazer Lilies. They are so tall and lanky, most of the time they are laying on the ground. I have lots of different colors of them.

This last picture is of a beautiful sunrise I caught one morning. But the picture is kind of blurry, but you can still see the ORANGE!

REVIEW - THE CHRISTMAS LETTERS - LEE SMITH

2009-10-25T10:08:00.002-04:00

This is another book for The November Novella Challenge.

"The Christmas Letters" by Lee Smith
(from inside flap)
This heartwarming story of three generations of Christmas letter writers is about family tradition, family love, family strengh.
Birdie Pickett, her daughter Mary, and her granddaughter Melanie are all storytellers at heart. Their letters--folded inside their Christmas cards--tend to be long ones because they write to explain their lives as much to themselves as to far-flung family and friends.
Birdie writes the first one in 1944: "it is the day before Christmas and though I know I should be so happy with my own sweet angel baby Mary who lies right here beside me as I write this letter, I will tell you the truth. I am weepy, and cannot hold back my tears." Birdie's new husband, Bill Pickett, is fighting World War II in the Pacific, having left his wife and baby in his parents' care. "Well," writes Birdie, "it is the other way around, if you ask me." Much of the story is also told through shared recipes. As Mary says, "I feel as if I have written out my life story in recipes! The Cool Whip and mushroom soup years, the hibachi and fondue period, then the quiche and crepes phase, and now it's these salsa salads."
Melanie photocopies her first Christmas letter in 1996 and shares her big news: "I've started a novel....luckily, mom saved all of Grandma's letters."

MY THOUGHTS: If you like to read old letters this is a wonderful little Novella. It follows all the women in this family starting with Birdie. Their loves, children and deaths. These letters are very heartwarming and sometimes heartbreaking. There is also recipes at the end of each letter. One of my favorites is called Sticks and Stones. Here is the recipe:

STICKS AND STONES

1/2 Cup Butter or Margarine, melted
4 1/2 teaspoons Worcestersire Sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
8 Cups Cereal(Cheerios and Chex)
1 Cup Nuts
1 Cup Pretzels

Mix well, bake 1 hour at 250 degrees, stirring every 15 minutes.

This recipe was at the end of a letter for 1956. Does it sound familiar? I'm sure it goes by lots of names. Wonderful little book to read!!

MY RATING: 5

REVIEW - THE KEY - DEBRA WHITE SMITH

2009-10-25T09:56:00.002-04:00

This is a book for a reading challenge I am doing. The November Novella Challenge is over at Bibliofreak's place. I was participating in Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon yesterday. Is was lots of fun, but I didn't make the whole 24 hours. Oh, well there's next time.

"The Key" by Debra White Smith
(from inside flap)
Nothing much happens in Jacksonville....except in Brendy Lane's life. After years as slow and sleepy as the east Texas town itself, everything seems to happen at once. Brendy is opening her own gift shop, confronting a heartbroken son, and mothering his two children. Then a broken lock leads this forty-eight-year-old widow to her high school sweetheart--a taciturn Vietnam veteran with battle scars on his face...and on his heart. Does Brendy even have time to fan the old flames smoldering within her? And how can she pursue the passions of her own heart when her motherless grandchildren need her undivided love?

MY THOUGHTS: After seeing Zeke, her high school sweetheart, she digs around in her desk to find her box of mementos. In this box is a necklace Zeke gave her. It is a on a gold chain and has a heart locket. Zeke has the key that will open it. As Brendy and Zeke, both widows, start their slow but sure romance, Brendy's family problems seem to get in their way. But they get everything solved and Brendy and Zeke get to open the heart locket and find their love again. Great little Novella!

MY RATING: 5

AN AWARD TO SHARE AND PASS ALONG

2009-10-22T19:49:00.004-04:00

In my Thursday 13 post today I got a comment I would to share with you. It comes from Storyteller and is really nice.

Interesting list ... I've read all but #2, 3, 4 and 6 so I guess I'm well on my way, right?
I can hardly believe it, but I'm celebrating my 2nd Blogoversary at Small Reflections today and I'd like to invite you to visit when time permits. I've reflected on what I've learned in the past two years and created mega-collages of some of my favorite mosaics ... just because ;--)
In addition, I'm sharing an award with all visitors in my T-13 at Happily Retired Gal this week. Hope you'll drop by when time permits to snag, enjoy, and pass it along to others.
Today I'll be working on my 2nd Blogoversary post for Sacred Ruminations to publish on Friday. I can't believe I've been blogging so long already. How time flies!
Hugs and blessings,

So I went over to Happily Retired Gal and Small Reflections to check this out. Storyteller has lots of interesting "stuff" at her place. Great photos, great stories and lots of other interesting things. You should go visit her. Anyway here is the award Storyteller is passing along. It's Nemo's Award and here's how it works.

1. As a dedication for those who love blogging and love to encourage friendships through blogging.
2. To seek the reasons why we all love blogging.
3. Put the award in one post as soon as you receive it.

4. Don’t forget to mention the person who gives you the award.
5. Answer the award’s question by writing the reason why you love blogging.
6. Tag and distribute the award to as many people as you like.
7. Don’t forget to notify the award receivers and put their links in your post.

My answer for why I love blogging: I can write what I want and no one will make fun of me, well at least not to my face. I also get to hop around blogland and visit all the other folks that love to blog. I've met some great folks and got lots of great information from them all. And with that thought, if you visit my blog and leave a comment, you may also take along Nemo's Award for yourself, just be sure to mention where you got it and let me know when you post it and I'll come visit you.

THURSDAY 13

2009-10-22T10:16:00.011-04:00

THURSDAY 13...........Here are my 13 books to read from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die List.

1. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon

2. The Red Queen - Margaret Drabble

3. The Plot Against America - Phillip Roth

4. Atonement - Ian McEwan

5. Life of Pi - Yann Martel

6. Amsterdam - Ian McEwan

7. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

8. The Robber Bride - Margaret Atwood

9. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

10. Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison

11. The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison

12. The War of The Worlds - H. G. Wells

13. Aesop's Fables - Aesopus

What are you talking about this week? Hop over and check out everyone who is doing Thursday 13 this week.

ELLIPSIS MONDAY

2009-10-19T10:25:00.010-04:00

Carly over at Ellipsis is the host for this photo challenge. Pop over and visit some of the folks that are participating this week. What are we doing this week:

EMPS #60: BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY.
It's time again for us to step out of color, and into BLACK AND WHITE. Grab your cameras, find the perfect setting, and show off that scene in BLACK AND WHITE. If you want to do a duplicate photo in color, to show comparison, feel free. Any subject, any setting, day or night, it's all up to you, as long as it is in BLACK AND WHITE! Archived photos are also fine for the assignment.

Extra Credit: Photograph something that is naturally BLACK AND WHITE, but try to do it without any color in the picture at all. An example would be a BLACK AND WHITE CAT using either a BLACK or WHITE background.

I went into my archives to do this one. These are photos of my Niece and her hubby. My sister Cindy, the proud grandmother is in the background of the picture of Mama and Baby. This is their first child, my Great Nephew Noah. Just hours after his birth.

PROUD FATHER

COLOR VERSION

MAMA AND BABY

COLOR VERSION

NOAH

COLOR VERSION

Noah is now 4 years old, almost 5. He will be starting Kindergarten next year. Where does the time go??

ROUND ROBIN PHOTO CHALLENGES

2009-10-17T12:52:00.010-04:00

This time at The Round Robin Photo Challenge we are doing light. What kind of light? Here's all the info.

Save the date! Our next RRC will be held on Saturday, October 17th, and comes to us by way of our friend Terri, author of the blog, "Ways I See The World." She has suggested we take on "Shooting In Low Light, Inside And Out." Sounds pretty straight forward, grab your cameras and show us what you find in low light settings.

These are low light photos. Some are natural light from outside. Others are from inside shooting outside and some are just inside, with natural light from windows.

This was taken on a cold, rainy and cloudy day.

This was taken in my kitchen with only light from the window and the light fixture.

This one was taken inside looking out. That's our side yard in the morning, lots of shade there.

This is the dining room. The only light is coming through the window.

This is a sunset. You can just see the blue sky and the sun setting.

This was taken while I was standing inside looking out through the screen door. It is a dust cropper flying over our house.

This last one is of my garden. It is late afternoon.

These pictures were taken this past summer. Do you have any great light or no light pictures to share? Hop over and check out all the folks that do!

THE NOVEMBER NOVELLA CHALLENGE

2009-10-16T10:12:00.002-04:00

I was over at Eva's place, A Striped Armchair, and noticed she is doing a reading challenge. So I went to check it out. J. T. Oldfield is hosting this reading challenge over at her place, Biblofreak, The November Novella Challenge. Here are the rules:

What is a Novella? This is what J. T. says:

The novella is, I feel, a marginalized type of fiction. Longer than a short story, shorter than a novel, sometimes called a novelette, it’s tough to define. In general, I consider it to be somewhere between 70 and 120 pages. Perhaps it’s better to say what it is not? It is not a play. It is not epic poetry. It is not a slim book of short stories. It is not any sort of tract or treatise or manifesto or other such nonfiction.

There are four levels of participation:
Level I: Read one (just one!) novella by November 30, 2009

Level II: Read four novellas (one each week, mayhaps?) by November 30, 2009

Level III: Read eight novellas (two a week?) by November 30, 2009

Level IV: AKA, the As Many As You Freakin’ Can level: Read as many novellas as you freakin’ can by November 30, 2009

Here are the rules:
Now, the “rules”. I use that word loosely as there aren’t any rules…just some suggestions for cheating: Cross-overs with other challenges are fine, audiobooks are fine, reading (and reviewing) before November starts (especially if you’re taking part in the 24 hour read-a-thon on October 24th!) is totally cool. I’ll put the Mr. Linky up for reviews sometime in the next week or two.

I do ask you to make a list in advance, but swapping out books on your list as you go is no problem.

If you don’t have a blog, that’s O.K.! You can still participate by writing a short review in the comments section of the review page. When signing up, just leave the URL in the Mr. Linky blank.

Most importantly, there will be PRIZES.

So here is my list of Novella's for this challenge, I am going for Level III, but I may go with Level IV, I'll just have to wait and see. Because I am participating in Dewey's 24 Read-a-Thon coming up in a week or so.

1. The Christmas Lamp - Lori Copeland
2. The Key - Debra White
3. The Old Country - Mordicai Gerstein
4. Emma's Journal - Edward K. Rowell
5. Holding Heaven - Jerry B. Jenkins
6. The Promise Remains - Travis Thrasher
7. The Christmas Letters - Lee Smith
8. Angels in the Snow - Melody Carlson

Well, that's my list of books. Want to join in? Hop over to J. T.'s place and check this reading challenge out.

THURSDAY 13

2009-10-15T10:20:00.007-04:00

Want to play along with Thursday 13. Got 13 things to talk about? Hope over and see what everyone else is talking about.

Since it is colder, has been rainy, cloudy and cold for the last week and a half, I have been getting the urge to bake something and make some soup. That is what I am writing about today. These are some of my favorite recipes for breads, cakes and soups. Enjoy!!!

1. Monkey Bread
2. Sweet Muffins
3. Zucchini Bread

3 ¼ C. Flour 1 C. Vegetable Oil
1 ½ teaspoon Salt 4 Eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon nutmeg 2/3 C. Water
2 teaspoon Baking Soda 2 C. grated Zucchini
1 teaspoon Cinnamon 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
3 C. Sugar 1 C. chopped Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients except for nuts in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients; fold into dry, and add nuts. Bake in two loaf pans for 1 hour, or until done.

4. Carrot Cake
5. Dump Cake
6. Pineapple Cake
7. Wacky Cake
8. Tomato Soup Chocolate Cake

TOMATO SOUP CHOCOLATE CAKE

½ C. Butter
1 ½ C. Sugar
2 Eggs
2 C. Flour
½ C. Cocoa
1 T. Baking Powder
1 tea. Baking Soda
¼ C. Warm Tap Water
1 Can (10 ¾ oz.) Tomato Soup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour a 9 X 13 inch baking pan.
In a large mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar; add eggs, beating until fluffy. In a small bowl mix together dry ingredients. In a small bowl, mix tomato soup and water together. Add dry and wet ingredients, alternately to the butter/sugar bowl. Bake 30 minutes and let cool before frosting.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

8 oz. pkg. Cream Cheese, Softened to room tempature
1 Stick Butter, softened
4 C. Powdered Sugar
1 tea. Vanilla
1 T. Milk or Cream

Cream butter and cream cheese together; then beat in powdered sugar. Add vanilla, and thin frosting out with milk as needed.

9. Salad Dressing Cake
10. Pineapple Upside Down Cake

2 ½ C. Flour
2 ½ teas. Baking Powder
1 teas. Salt
2 sticks of butter/margarine
1 ½ C. White Sugar
2 Eggs
1 C. Milk
1 teas. Vanilla
1 Can of Crushed Pineapple
2 C. Brown Sugar, maybe less, maybe more

In large mixing bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, 1 stick of butter/margarine, white sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Mix all together well. Set aside for now.

PINEAPPLE TOPPING

In sauce pan melt 1 stick of butter/margarine. Pour this into a 9 X 11 cake pan, making sure you cover the bottom of the cake pan well. Place Brown Sugar over bottom of cake pan, spreading it out and covering the bottom of the cake pan. Pour Crushed Pineapple with juice in cake pan, covering the bottom of the cake pan. If needed you could use another can of pineapple.

Pour cake batter over pineapple, covering evenly. Bake at 350 until done. Run a butter knife around the edges of the cake, this losens the cake from the sides of the cake pan. Dump cake onto a flat platter or plate. DO NOT LET THE CAKE COOL, DUMP OUT WHILE IT’S STILL HOT.

11. Potato Soup

10 – 12 potatoes
Milk
Bacon
Onion

Cook potatoes. Fry 2 strips of bacon drain and dice. Cut and dice ½ of an onion. Add bacon, onion and potatoes to pot. Bring to a simmer. Turn off heat and add milk. DO NOT BRING TO BOIL…..Add thickening and stir. Bring to a simmer. DO NOT BRING TO A BOIL.

THICKENING
Flour
Water
Mix and stir until dissolved.

Add to potatoes and stir until desired thickness.

12. Vegetable Soup
13. Chili

ELLIPSIS MONDAY

2009-10-14T09:40:00.003-04:00

Carly over at Ellipsis is hosting Ellipsis Monday. We have all week to post our picture subject. This is our assignment this week.

EMPS #59: 1 Subject 4 Perspectives.
Just as the above photograph illustrates, choose 1 SUBJECT out in the world, any subject, and show me 4 DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES. Use lighting, or time of day, or color, or anything you can think of to help us see your subject in 4 distinctly different ways. Archived photos are fine for this one, but brand new is even better!

Extra Credit: Tell us about your experience, which one of the 4 perspectives did you enjoy photographing the most? Which one was the least enjoyable. Let's share about this one.

My subject is the bell standing in our back yard. I don't know why this bell interests me, but I love taking pictures of it. In these four pictures, the bell doesn't change, but the what you see with the bell changes.

The top row starting from left to right.
Back view
Front view

Bottom row starting from left to right.
Clapper
Side View

Can you see the different areas of our yard? Each view of the bell is different.

THURSDAY 13

2009-10-08T20:12:00.015-04:00

This week for Thursday 13 I am listing the last 13 books I read. If you want to check them out, you could go to my book blog, Just Books.

1. You Have the Right to Remain Puzzled - Parnell Hall[Murder Mystery]

2. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X - James Patterson[Science Fiction]

3. Only The Cat Knows - Marian Babson[Mystery Fiction]

4. Z-Z-Zoink! - Bernard Most[Children Book]

5. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much - Allison Hoover Bartlett[Novel]

6. Faefeaver - Karen Marie Moning[Science Fiction]

7. A Circle of Souls - Preetham Grandhi[Physiological Thriller]

8. The Stone Diaries - Carol Shields[Novel]

9. The Real Wizard of Oz - Rebecca Loncraine[Novel]

10. Benny & Shrimp - Katarina Mazetti[Novel]

11. City of Bones - Cassandra Clare[Science Fiction Thriller]

12. A Mercy - Toni Morrison[Novel]

13. Thief of Hearts - Tess Gerritsen[Romance Mystery]

Have you read a good lately? Let me know, I'll come by and check it out.

SHADOW SHOTS SUNDAY

2009-10-04T10:30:00.004-04:00

Hey Harriet is hosting Shadow Shots Sunday over at her place. Go check out all the folks that have shadows to show off this week.

This photo was taken in the evening. The sun was shining through the dining room window onto the wall. This is the wall where my quilting stuff is hanging. You could see the trees blowing in the wind. It was kind of dark in the room. But when I used the flash, I lost the shadows. So went without a flash and this is the photo I got.

So do you have any interesting shadows to show off? Head over to Hey Harriet's place and join in!

SUMMER PHOTOS

2009-10-02T11:06:00.007-04:00

These are some photos I took during the summer. Enjoy!

Our Barn

The Birds enjoying the Water

Black-eyed Susans

Hubby and the new mower

Me all dressed up and no where to go, as usual.

The Wild Roses Blooming

Have a great weekend!!

THURSDAY 13

2009-10-01T12:12:00.007-04:00

It's THURSDAY 13 and what am I talking about? The 13 signs of WINTER coming, which I really hate!!!!

1. The leaves on the trees are turning and falling off.
2. The woolly worms are moving out.
3. The veggies in the garden are almost gone.
4. All my flowers in the garden are done blooming.
5. There was frost this morning.
6. It was also cold, 34 degrees.
7. Getting out the flannel shirts.

8. Washing all the coats, hats, and scarves.
9. Saw on the t.v. that is has snowed in the mountains already. That's bad!!
10. Dig all the warm cozy slippers out of the box.
11. Make sure all the storm windows are on and working. Keep out the cold at all costs!!!
12. Put up the wood stove. That's a sure sign around here!!!
13. Start bringing the wood into the garage.

Side view of our wood stove

Front view of our wood stove

So what are you talking about today, have a list of 13? Hop over and see what everyone else has 13 of.

LIBRARY LOOT

2009-09-30T12:23:00.007-04:00

Eva and Marg share this meme. Eva is hosting at her place, A Striped Armchair. Here's how it works.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by myself and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

I went to my library yesterday afternoon. I have a reading challenge over at my book blog, Just Books, I am trying to finish up. So got the books to finish that challenge. Here are my books:

Only the Cat Knows - Marian Babson

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X - James Patterson

You have the right to remain Puzzled - Parnell Hall

The Quilter's Legacy - Jennifer Chiaverini

City of God - E. L. Doctorow

Z-Z-Zoink! - Bernard Most

Did you go to the library today? What did you find?

REVIEW - A CIRCLE OF SOULS - PREETHAM GRANDHI

2009-09-25T12:17:00.000-04:00

"A Circle of Souls" by Preetham Grandhi
(from back cover)
The Sleepy town of Newbury, Connecticut, is shocked when a little girl is found brutally murdered. The town's top detective, perplexed by a complete lack of leads, calls in FBI agent Leia Bines, and expert in cases involving children.
Meanwhile, Dr. Peter Gram, a psychiatrist at Newbury's hospital, searches desperately for the cause of seven-year-old Naya Hasting's devastating nightmares. Afraid that she might hurt herself in the midst of a torturous episode, Maya's parents have turned to the bright young doctor as their only hope.
The situations confronting Leia and Peter converge when Naya begins drawing chilling images of murder after being bombarded by the disturbing images in her dreams. Amazingly, her sketches are the only clues to the crime that has panicked Newbury residents. Against her better judgment, Leia explores the clues in Maya's crude drawings, only to set off an alarming chain of events.

MY THOUGHTS: This is a great book if you want to read a murder mystery. It's all there. And it has a serial killer they don't even know about until about middle way through the book. I also has to do with destiny and premonitions. When you die do you come back as someone else? This is a question that is put to Dr. Peter Gram. As the story works out Dr. Peter Gram, and Naya Hasting's has a predestined life that is about to collide. Throw in a friend who is hooked on cocaine and in debt up to his eyeballs and you have a really great book!!!

MY RATING: 5

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY

2009-08-16T12:56:00.004-04:00

Hop on over to Hey Harriet's place to show off your Shadow Shots.

It has been so hot here for the last 3 or 4 weeks. Upper 80's and 90's with high humidity. Not a drop of rain, well, not that much when we do get some. With the air conditioner running 24/7. You can look out the window and see the heat and humidity hanging in the air. This is what this is, looking out the window in the laundry room. Does it look hot? It is, the day I took this photo it was 92 and 80 something humidity. Which makes if feel hotter! The only cool place is under the shade trees, well in the air conditioning is even better.