Drama queen, happy tune and so thoughtful

Having a belated birthday dinner with some friends yielded some very nice gifts, an "Espresso" orchid (hope it lives!) and a bottle of Middle Sister wine.  I'm a middle sister, as is friend Janice, so it's OK to be called a "drama queen."  :)  I think. 

 The plants are hanging in there - the temps have been mostly above 32 degrees, so I'm thrilled they are surviving the winter and will be able to grace the front porch in the spring.  I loved the cardinal who visited the feeder and whistled a happy tune.

A friend who has been very ill left this belated birthday gift of kitchen candle and birthday cake chocolate bar at my front door on Valentine's Day.  So thoughtful!  It had been a long day of work, and then volunteer work.  I was very weary and this perked me right up.

And - I finally got to this book, but actually listened to the audio version in the car during the last few days, finishing yesterday.  It was worth it to hear Reese Witherspoon's lovely voice reading it, but I still wish this book had stayed dormant.  I need to go back and read To Kill a Mockingbird again in order to shake this one off.  So I guess the good thing about it is - I finally got to it.  :)

Hope you have a great weekend, my friends!

Happy mail, refrigerator art and just so

A few weeks ago, our friend the Elephant's Child mentioned in a blog post that she would send us a magnet from her visit to Floriade, Canberra, Australia's annual celebration of Springtime.  All we had to do was ask - and so I did.  I adore receiving what I call "Happy mail," which came by Air Mail, with the magnet (there on the right) inside a lovely note card, with a mom with her baby on the front.  This totally made my day.

And there it has landed, on the side of my refrigerator, next to Frida Kahlo and holding up a postcard from the Flannery O'Connor foundation.  There's also hummingbird paraphernalia, as well as a drawing depicting the metamorphosis of a butterfly, drawn by great niece Kloie.  So it's in good company.  Thanks, EC!  I adore it.

The main reason I visited the Elephant's Child's blog the first time was that her blog handle evokes one of my most favorite stories of all time - "How the Elephant got his trunk" by Rudyard Kipling.  (I have a paperback copy of the book "Just So Stories," but the cover is not as good as this one I found on the internet.)  My fifth grade teacher, the late Mrs. Ola Payne, used to read to us in the afternoons, and this was, by far, my favorite. 

If you aren't familiar with "How the Elephant got his trunk," you can imagine, just from looking at this cover, how that happened.  :)  Poor Elephant's Child, with his 'satiable curiosity!  I do love to visit our EC's blog and read her "just so" stories!  A Good Thing, for sure!

Hanging low, impala and latest book

- Waiting at the traffic light at 7pm on Tuesday at 14th Street and Techwood Drive in Atlanta, after volunteer work - I spotted the very low hanging cloud ahead, between the buildings.  Click to enlarge to see it better.  At first I thought it was smoke.  It was an otherwise very blue sky day, which I always call a Good Thing.  :)

- I had a flat tire (again) earlier this week, so decided to go with the expensive Michelin tires this time.  When I drove up to the tire shop, this 1966 Chevrolet Impala was sitting out front.  The owner just purchased it to restore and was amused that I was photographing it.  My dad had one in that same color, back in the day.  I liked that the person who sold it to the owner left a rosary hanging on the rear view mirror.  He said (drily), "It's so I can pray that it keeps moving when it's on the road."

- The manager of the tire shop was smiling at the three customers in the waiting area - all of us reading:  the young lady to the left of me, with a book, the man across from me with his laptop computer, and me with my little Kindle.  The manager isn't a fan of Kindles, but I told him I have run out of room for hardback books in my home, so I either read on the Kindle or get books from the library.  (Still love a regular book!)  These days - I really only buy Karin Slaughter's books, since she is a friend.  The latest one, "The Kept Woman," arrived in the mail yesterday and it went on her designated shelf.  I'll get it signed at some point, like all the others.  Can't wait to read it!

Karin was at book signing with the author, Ian Rankin, a few years ago and got him to sign that paperback book of Knots & Crosses for me.  It's a treasure, too.  

Have a great weekend, my friends!

The library, alternate reading sources and love of books

- Did I mention that I love books?  I always have.  My dream job was to work in a library - I found that written in a little paper I wrote in the 7th grade that my mom had kept.  I did work at the county library in my home town during summers and after school when I was a teenager.  Oh bliss - how I loved that job.  These days, I visit my local library frequently and have my own little library at home of treasured books.

 - I resisted the Kindle for a long time, but have found it quite handy to have on trips and at the doctor's office waiting room, and such.  This one fits nicely in my purse and I got it as a "reward" with bank points.  Currently reading on my Kindle Paperwhite:  The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.  I still love a bound book the most, but this one has its place.

- Isn't this a gorgeous quote by Eudora Welty?  I spotted this on social media.  Lovely. 

Inside guest, Dorothy's basket and Echoes of France

- When I was watering the outdoor plants this morning, I accidentally knocked off these lovely blooms from the Dragon Wing Begonia.  The leaves are still damp from the morning drink.  I have these pretty pottery bud vases, that usually go unused, and hope the blossoms last a little while in this one.

- Lots going on in this photo - the basket was found at an antiques shop in the North Carolina mountains.  It's called a "Jeremiah Basket" (it still has a tag on it, brown with age) and was made by a woman named Dorothy Sprinkle.  I love Dorothy's basket.

- I've had those four paperback books (lying horizontally), since I was a teenager.  Treasures I decided to keep.  And my friend Karin Slaughter has the rest of that shelf dedicated to her books. 

My friend Meda, who lives in the UK, had just posted the following YouTube video of La Marseillaise (the French National Anthem) - subtitled Echoes of France - in honor of Bastille Day, on facebook, just before we heard of the latest attack last night in Nice.  I am heartsick.  So I share this video in a sort of tribute to the people of Nice.  It features Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli & Le Quintette du Hot Club de France (1946).

Latest book read, visual imagery and memories

My book group just read "My Name is Lucy Barton," by Elizabeth Strout.  We love her books, and always read them after they are published.  This one is set in New York City and it's not really giving anything away to say that the lead character is in the hospital and when the curtains are open, she has a view of the Chrysler building.

- I had a unique perspective on the visual imagery of this book, since my niece's (former) apartment window looked out on the Chrysler building.  It was the first thing my sister showed me on that first visit in 2010 - it was reflected in the glass dining room table.  This is a photo at night, taken from that window.

- And an image from the daytime - same window.  There is lots going on in that book - the lead character has a chance to be with her mother for a week.  The mother sits by her bedside and they talk, often during the quiet middle-of-the-night hours.   I had that same experience the last week my mother was in the hospital, so with these images and that experience in mind, the book had a bit of an impact on me (in a good way.)  Memories.

This apartment building is in the Turtle Bay neighborhood in New York City.  My niece and her family are living in Turkey right now.  I'm so glad I had this brief experience while they were in New York.  I took these photos with me to the book discussion, via my iPad, to share.

The path, book browsing and new home

- The path before us was so lovely on Saturday morning at Lilburn Greenway Park that I had to stop and snap this photo with my phone.  Friend Laura doesn't know I have a blog, but doesn't ever seem to mind my serendipitous ways of stopping at random moments like this during our walk.  There had been a spring rainstorm the night before that made the morning sparkle.  If you click to enlarge, you can see the sun's rays flowing down through the trees.

- Saturday was full of local activity - here, a book sale at Tucker Reid H. Cofer Library.  I came by to pick up an audio book to listen to during my commute and was drawn into book browsing.  I put the audio book down to snap this photo and accidentally left it there.  A very nice librarian left a very nice message at home that it was (again) waiting for me at the circulation desk. 

- I got these two Anne Rivers Siddons books for a total of $4.  I have always meant to read these two books, both set in the city of Atlanta.  Ms. Siddons was born in nearby Fairburn, Georgia, and is a beloved southern writer.

- And both books were signed "For Connie - Warmest wishes - Anne Rivers Siddons".  A little sad to me that Connie has given up (or had to give up) her signed books, but they have another good home now.

Too expensive anyway, Aesop and lessons

All the lovely wisteria around right now reminded me of this post from 2010, so a re-post is in order!

- Stopping by The German Bakery near my house only to find it closed, but finding it surrounded by wisteria. Beautiful. When I was a little girl, I used to think wisteria vines were bunches of grapes.

- The image instantly recalls a fable from Aesop, "The Fox and the Grapes": "ONE hot summer’s day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. 'Just the things to quench my thirst,' quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: "I am sure they are sour."

"IT IS EASY TO DESPISE WHAT YOU CANNOT GET."

- Aesop's Fables are wonderful for their lessons, I think. Wikipedia recounts this modern variant on the tale with the following joke from the comedian Mitch Hedberg: "Sometimes in the middle of the night, I think of something that's funny, then I go get a pen and I write it down. Or if the pen's too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain't funny."

Gone too soon, so pretty and jelly bird eggs

- One of my favorite authors of all time, Pat Conroy, passed away last Friday.  Three of his books are displayed here on my bookshelf that features authors from the south.  The first book I ever read, written by him, was The Water is Wide, a memoir of the time he spent teaching children on Yamacraw Island, South Carolina.  I've ordered a used copy to add to this shelf - I loved it so much.  How I will miss his presence in the world.

- When I was leaving for church on Sunday, I got out of my car to snap a photo of neighbor Rhonda's pansies.  They have weathered all manner of cold weather and ice and still look so pretty.

- My late mother loved black jelly beans and I used to pick up a bag for her when I'd spot them.  They had them at Publix this week, so I picked up a couple of bags.  I kept one bag for my desk at work and shared the other bag with the printing plant manager, who likes them, too.

Happy hour, snowbirds and maybe it's time

- Around 5pm, central time, last Friday.  A lone walker on the mile-and-a-half beach of Seagrove, Florida, along the Emerald Coast of Northwest Florida.  My friends and I drove and drove, got there, had lunch, picked up groceries, etc., and finally made it to the beach.

- These guys from Ohio are self-described "snowbirds" - people, often retired, who live in the northern US or Canada and move for extended periods to the south during the colder months.  They were fishing for pompano or whiting, they said.  (See the fishing poles stuck in the sand.)

- My favorite book shop in nearby Seaside, Florida, paid tribute to the late author, Harper Lee with an intriguing quote from the beloved character, Miss Jean Louise (Scout) Finch.  That is such an intriguing quote and I don't remember it.  I've meant to re-read To Kill a Mockingbird.  Maybe it's time.

Hope you don't mind a few more photos from this trip next week - I didn't want to overload this post.  :)  Have a great weekend, y'all!

Infinite Summer, lyrical and dance *

- Infinite Summer. The challenge: Join endurance bibliophiles from around the world in reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace over the summer of 2009, June 21st to September 22nd. A thousand pages ÷ 92 days = 75 pages a week. (Plus end notes. A lot of them.) No sweat, right? Although loving the idea of the project, I find the book infinitely difficult to follow. So bye-bye Infinite Jest, you may be just a little too deep for the summer. And the library wants you back.

- The lyrical voices of the nail technicians as they speak to each other in Vietnamese.

- Doing a little shrieking dance at my front door when I think a spider might have fallen in my hair. And then doing a slow turn to see if the elegant couple in building 3 are on their back porch as they often are. They are, but kindly acting as if they didn't notice.

**********************************************************

* This is a re-post from June 26, 2009 - a long time ago, seems like.  Between outside plant watering and a 45 minute video work out before work this morning, I completely forgot about my blog!  Since I always post on Friday, I looked at past posts dated June 26 and liked this one the most.  And ... (1) I still don't want to read Infinite Jest.  (2) I'm going to the same nail place this afternoon after work, and (3) I knocked down a spider web in the same spot this morning, using the handy spider web knock down stick I keep on the table by the front door.  :)

Happy weekend, y'all!

More cherry trees, a book to savor and a southern treat

- There seemed to be endless errands on Saturday, but I stopped long enough to admire more cherry trees in bloom.  It was a beautiful day - just look at that sky!

- One of the errands was to pick up this book, The Land of Green Ginger by Noel Langley, at the library.  I'm looking forward to reading it upon the recommendation of our friend Elephant's Child.  She blogged about it here.  Any book with character names, such as she describes, must be a delight.  Thanks EC! 

Photo from Google Images

- The 79th Masters Golf Tournament will be held beginning April 9 at Augusta (Georgia) National Golf Club.  I always hear Masters buzz around (one coworker listens to coverage via his computer while he's working.)  Me - I'm not that excited about golf, but WAS excited when I spotted the recipe for the Augusta National Concessions Pimento Cheese Sandwich!  (Apparently available for the low price of $1.50 if one attends that event.)  I've heard about this sandwich forever.  Here's the recipe - I'd like to try it and will make it soon for a potluck or when I have company:

How to Make a Masters-Style Pimento Cheese Sandwich

You'll need:
3 cups shredded white cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded yellow sharp cheddar cheese
4 oz crumbled blue cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 (4-oz) jar sliced pimentos, drained
1 cup light mayo
2 tbs Dijon mustard
Slices of loaf of white bread
Combine cheeses, pimentos, mayo and mustard in a food processor and process until smooth. Cover and chill. Spread on bread slices. Makes four sandwiches.  (Lynn's note - really?  That seems like a lot of cheese for just four sandwiches!  I'll report back.)

Pimento Cheese sandwiches were always a big deal in our house when I was growing up.  My mother used to shake her head when we visited as adults and always asked for her version which was much simpler - sharp cheddar cheese, Duke's mayo, pimentos and a little salt.  I have never quite duplicated hers.

Curio cabinet, happy ending and goldfinches

 - The story of my new cabinet:  My sister and I walked by a newly opened antiques shop in Thomasville, Georgia on the day after Christmas.  She said that building had been a hardware store for years.  A hand inside the window waved at us, so we went in.  While my sis talked to the very nice lady who had waved, I walked around and browsed.  Tucked away in the corner was a lighted curio cabinet with a "Sale" tag of $50 on it.  I thought, "$50????  Hmmm...how could I get that home?"  I knew just the spot for it in my dining room.  We left and I mulled it over while we walked around town.  I mentioned to her that I thought I might like that cabinet and she said it would fit in the back of her SUV, so we went back, only to find the shop had closed for the day.  I snapped a photo of the telephone number posted on the door and finally called about it during the last week of January.  The shop lady said she was very sorry, she was using it as a display case now.  Well shoot.  I cajoled and made my case, but no, she was firm - it was no longer for sale.  (It's in the photo above - found on their facebook page. Click to enlarge.  Far left corner in the back.)

- As you can see from this photo, this story has a happy ending - here it is in the corner of my dining room with contents from around my home in place.  I adore it.  :)  Here's what happened:  My sister and I were talking on the phone about her upcoming trip to visit me in Atlanta on the first week of February and I told her my tale of woe about the cabinet, adding "I should have bought it on the spot when I saw it."  She said, "I'm going to Thomasville tomorrow (she lives about 30 miles away in northern Florida) and I'll see what I can do."  She walked into the shop and pleaded my case again for me, by saying that she was coming up for my birthday and would love to surprise me.  She walked around the shop browsing and the shop lady thought about it, "It's her birthday?  Really?"  My sister called me while I was driving home that afternoon, "You owe me $53.50!" :)  The very nice lady had acquiesced.  Here it is and I adore it.  We need to send my sis to Washington, I think.

- Sara says my birds from the last post might very well be goldfinches.  How about that?  And perfect that I am reading the book, "The Goldfinch" right now.  I can hardly put it down at this point.   Click on the red link for Stephen King's review in The New York Times Book Review.  If he liked it, that's good enough for me.

Thanks for coming by!  Have a great weekend!

Happy mail, painted for me and mystery plant

So many good things happened over the weekend, I don't even know where to start.  We'll stick to three though.  I helped out at a children's carnival on Saturday for the kids at my church's preschool, which was fun, and had a wedding to look forward to Saturday evening.  When I was getting ready for the wedding, there was a knock on the door.  Neighbor Mike had gotten a package in his mailbox meant for me, and he handed it over:

- It was my copy of String and Bones, written by my friend Kim.  Kim Talon's first book is available here, from Amazon.com, where I ordered it, and here, directly from the publisher.  And read a Goodreads review here, from someone who couldn't put it down.  I am savoring the thought of reading it this weekend, but may sneak in some reading before.  Happy mail!

- The wedding was the marriage of two friends, who have already been together for 25 years.  It was wonderful to be a part of this event with 140 carefully chosen guests.  Ronnie has always packed lunch for Stephen, which includes a boiled egg.  At some point, Ronnie began writing a message on the egg each day with a Sharpie.  Stephen always photographs them and has made coffee table books from the photos.  So for this event, a year in the planning, Stephen (a talented artist), painted 140 eggs for the 140 guests invited to the wedding.  He says each egg was painted with each wedding guest in mind.  An egg was included in a gift bag that could be picked up as we were leaving.  Stephen announced that you would likely not get the egg meant for you, but to remember that one was painted with you in mind.  Just before I left, he wanted to see the egg I got from the bag I had picked up.  When I lifted the lid of its box, he looked startled and said slowly, "This is the egg I painted for you."  And it has a butterfly and beautiful words.  Click to enlarge.

- When neighbor Rhonda's parents passed away (within a week of each other), she brought some plantings from their home in North Carolina, and transplanted them here at the condos.  My building is the happy recipient of all this beauty.  This planting started out small and I thought it was a weed.  She said, "No!  It's going to be beautiful, you'll see."   It grew and grew over the summer, but astoundingly, it bloomed on Saturday.  When I got home from the wedding around 11pm, I spotted this gorgeous blossom.  I still don't know what this gangly plant with big leaves and pink blossoms is, but it sure is beautiful and made for a peaceful Sunday morning photo shoot.  AND promises more blooms!

Saving the planet, currently listening and currently reading

- The sign for Mr C's Bar & Grill near my office: "Mr C's - Saving the Planet by Making People Walk Home."  Good for them, I say!  It's been at least a couple of years, I think, since they have posted whimsical things on their sign. Hopefully it's a trend - I need humor for my commute.  :)  See Mr C's on Labels, below, for past signage.

- Currently listening during my commute:  Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child, one of his Jack Reacher books.  Violent at times, but every one is a cracking good suspense yarn.  I have another waiting for me at the library - I am having a Jack Reacher marathon.  Jack wanders the country with only a toothbrush and an old passport in his pocket.  He buys new clothes every three days and swears by his wandering lifestyle. He manages to save (or mostly save) the day in each book. 

- Currently reading at home:  The Quiet American by Graham Greene.  I'm only a few pages in - and book group meets on it Sunday night.  The link has a review of it, from The New York Times, circa 1956.  The internet is so marvelous for items like that.

Looking forward to a quiet day on Saturday to sit and read.  Celebrating the weekend over here!  I hope yours is lovely.

Home away from home, early morning peace and weekend reading

- This image of the river behind my sister's mountain vacation home is my desktop image on my computer at work.  When I am feeling stressed (which is all too often when I'm working), I look at this and can summon up the sound of the river and feel more peaceful.  I'll be looking at this scene by the end of the day today.  Car is packed - as soon as I leave work, I'm on my way. 

- Feeling a sense of nurture as I water my (now straggly) outdoor plants in the early morning hour.  I love this time when it's still dark out, no other sounds except the birds singing and the paper delivery lady making her rounds.

- Reading material for the weekend (other than a pile of magazines), Cop Town by Karin Slaughter (she is a friend) and Flannery O'Connor's prayer journal (she was a neighbor when I was a child growing up in Milledgeville, Georgia.)  Two southern writers who, I'm certain, would have liked each other.

I hope you have a weekend full of peace and good reading.  Have a great one!

My Georgia kitchen, passing the dogwoods and more books

- Very early on Tuesday morning, I got absorbed in David Lebovitz's latest blog post, about the making of his new cookbook.  I've been reading his blog for years - he is an American chef living in Paris.  I need another cookbook like a hole in the head, but ordered it.  I just had to.  But look at how many I already have.  Maybe one more won't hurt.  :)

- The dogwood trees are blooming and really, on the wane already.  I pass one after the other when I'm driving, thinking how I should pull off residential streets and get out of my car to get a beautiful photo of them.  But in the spirit of my blog, things are good, not always perfect, so I snapped this beauty in the midst of power lines and storage business when I was parking somewhere yesterday afternoon.  I love how they pop up like that all over town.

- Tuesday is my long day - I go to volunteer work after my paying job.  We record publications and books for the blind there.  And this week is volunteer appreciation week, with the most exciting part for me being the stacks of books we could purchase for $1.  Here's what I got (see above stacked on the leaf shaped platter):  "Mockingbird" by Charles J. Shields - a portrait of author Harper Lee, "Cumberland Island" by Charles Seabrook - a history of the island off the coast of Georgia, and "Celestine - A Granddaughter's Reminiscence" by Celestine Sibley Fleming - a portrait of the late Atlanta journalist Celestine Sibley.  I used to read her column every day - it was a perfect start to the day.  And this was a perfect (almost) end to this one:  forking over my $3, not eating the appreciation cake, getting my recording done and heading home with takeout dinner.   A lovely day.

My turn, sweet tooth satisfaction and taste test

- It's pretty telling that the most exciting thing that I think happened to me this weekend was the notification from the library that I was next up for the new Sue Grafton book. I could have downloaded it (for $$) or purchased the hardback copy, but I have a lifelong love of the library, so I was delighted when it was my turn to read this one.  I've read every single one of her alphabet series in order, beginning with A is for Alibi. 

- A dinner with a large group of friends at a Thai restaurant near home that included a lot of table hopping.  My favorite part of the dinner was a dessert made by another friend named Barb (I have three Barbs) - Baileys cheesecake.  I've had a raging sweet tooth lately, which I have suppressed, but gave into this wonderful few bites (shared with friend Janice.)

- Refilling the candy jar at work this morning with what we refer to as "red candy" - Walmart brand "Cinnamon discs."  And having a red candy taste test this morning with a coworker.  We agree that the new red candy is different, but we still like it.  :)

My idea of decadence, feminine side and kindred spirit

- It poured rain on Saturday morning, really poured - a good time for drinking coffee and reading my book*.

- A baby shower in which the mom and dad opened gifts together.  I complimented him on his pink shirt (to match the baby girl motif) and he pulled up his trousers to show me he was wearing pink argyle socks, too.

- Book group meeting on The Burgess Boys* by Elizabeth Strout (all agreed - a good read).  The hostess has an immaculate home, but an embroidered pillow makes me smile.  It reads:  "My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance." Quote from Erma Bombeck. 

Wonderful surprise, in common and reflection

- It was so exciting to open my mailbox when I returned home on Saturday to find this package, all the way from Singapore!  Our lovely Betty from the So Shiok! blog (which seems to be down at the moment) sent me this as a Christmas surprise.  She had blogged about Cadbury's TimeOut bars and I said I didn't think we have those here.  I had completely forgotten about that - so what a nice surprise.  Plus there were some chopsticks!  As you can see - I had one of those bars and it was just as good as she said.

- So wonderful that multiple bloggers have the same taste in reading that I do.  Both Elephant's Child and Lee love Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, too, and both commented on my Wacissa River post from Friday about the book (and film) Cross Creek and her novel The Yearling.  Rawlings lived in nearby Alachua County, Florida.  When I worked at the county library in Milledgeville, Georgia during my high school years, the librarian, Mrs. Smith used to recommend The Yearling to anyone who was looking for something good to read.  It was her favorite book + she had a correspondence relationship with Ms. Rawlings.  Remarkable really.  I love both books and when I weeded out paperbacks when I got the new bookcase (preferring to just put mostly hardbacks on the shelves), I kept these four old, treasured books.

- I love the sparkle of the Christmas lights reflected in the print in the living room.  I'm sad to see the decorations come down, but come down, they must.  That print was given to me by my grandfather when I was a teenager.  He knew I loved artwork - not sure where it came from, but it is of (of all things) Washington's Second Inauguration.  I kept it in a trunk and finally had it framed about 25 years after he gave it to me.

No year end post for me this year - I actually just realized this is my last post for 2013!  :)  I wish you all a Happy New Year!