Blogging Hiatus

In my mind I want to blog. I like to write, and it has been a good journal for me and for my reading. However, good intentions or not, it has not happened for many months. I am going to try and keep posting the books I read on the list at the bottom of my blog - but am not going to pressure myself to do that, or to write either. If I feel like it, I will, but I doubt it will be very often.

However, I do post the books I read on my instagram account - dianelinford.  If you'd like to follow me to keep up on my books, send me a request.

Au revoir.

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley

Alan Bradley spins a fun tale. This is number seven in the Flavia (pronounced with a long A, like grave) de Luce series. This book clarifies the pronunciation of her name, and I'm having to constantly rethink it in my little brain.

In this book Flavia is sent to Canada to school. She is her usual self, and of course is immediately embroiled in a mysterious death.

I think it may be my favorite book of the series.

45 Years Later

Cheryl and Diane

Diane and Cheryl

I remember the top picture hanging in our home, straight ahead as you walked in our front door. It's an 11 X 14, and seemed like a very large picture to me. My mom noted on the back that it's either 1960 or 1961 (another reminder to label photos).  In 1960 Cheryl was barely one year old at the beginning of the year, but turned two in December. I would guess the date should be sometime in 1961. I'll have to compare it to other photos taken around that same time.

In the top photo we are wearing dresses that Mom made. Cheryl's was a very pale pink, and mine was orange--about the same color orange that those candy hearts with sayings like "Be Mine" are. They are probably Easter dresses, which further convinces me it's more likely 1961.  My mom curled my hair. I remember pin curls all over my head. It was the only way to get my straight hair to have any curl at all. One time I remarked to Mom that it must have taken a long time to put all those pin curls in both my hair and Cheryl's hair. She just looked at me and said, "hers is all natural curl.I didn't have to do a thing with it."

Flash forward 45 years. The bottom photo is one taken at my daughter Debra's wedding in 2006. Oh my, we have a good time together! 

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

This excellent book is about the 1936 US Olympic rowing team, and how they got there. They were the crew team from the University of Washington--I loved reading about the Seattle area and picturing it all in my mind.

I was figuratively on the edge of my seat when reading about the races, even when I already knew the outcomes.

Brown also does a great job with historical setting and perspective. Set smack dab in the middle of the depression, it changes how you view the whole thing. I learned things about the depression I never knew before.

This non-fiction book reads like a great novel, which about the best compliment I can give.

Read it! It's well worth it.

2015

And we're off to a brand new year. I love January - the month of my birthday, and the start of new goals. Some of which I'll accomplish fully, others partially, and some not at all. But it's all good.

No monthly reports this year - I did like doing them, but I don't want to feel pressure to get them done on time.

Briefly, here's what I hope to improve on this year:

1. Become a more spiritual person. This is a life-long goal.

2. Eat better, exercise more, and in general be in better health one year from now.

3. Work on family history. This entails many possibilities: organize and label family photos; do genealogical research; take care of, file, and scan family history paraphernalia that I already have; keep a journal (which this is part of).

4. Make time for doing things I enjoy, and spending time with people I love.

Two words I want to keep in mind this year:
Purposeful
Deliberate

I want to make my choices in life count. So I want my choices and decisions to be purposeful and deliberate. I want to spend less time staring into space, or staring at some useless information on my computer.

That's it! Hopefully I'll remember at the end of December and report back on how I've done.

Happy New Year!

2014 Wrap-up: Grandchildren, Books, Quilts

The last few months have flown by, and I've had no time to blog. I hope to improve on that in the New Year. I'll wrap up the year right here, in one long post.

In November I took a trip to Seattle to see Debra and her wonderful family. I also had a side trip with my friends Tamara, Karen and Gayle to Cannon Beach while I was there. In the interest of actually getting this information on my blog, I have not taken the time to dig up all my pictures. Instead I'm limiting the pictures to my darling grandchildren (oh, and I'm there too)

Jonathan, Madeleine, Diane, and Diane

Me and Diane

Me and Madeleine

Me and Jonathan

Before my trip to Seattle, I had a new granddaughter added to our family in October. Audrey had another girl, LauraJane. It was a whirlwind delivery - Joseph was in Wendover, and Audrey was here in case she went into labor. She did. I took her to the hospital, where she was measured: dilated to an 8. Then she asked if they could hold off delivery until Joseph got there.
--No problem, how soon would he be there?
--Two hours.
--Hmm, we'll try.
Sure enough, it worked. Joseph walked in, and LauraJane was delivered 12 minutes later. I was blessed to be there for the birth. She is beautiful.

Here's our cute girlie, already half-way grown up!

I managed to get a little quilting in this fall (never enough time!) I made this quilt for LauraJane. In the bottom picture is LauraJane's older sister (by not quite one year), Katherine. She likes the quilt too.

This is my block of the month quilt, finished in September. Ray has claimed it for his own. He loves it.

I made five of these wall hanging/table topper NOEL quilts. Four for my children, and one for my sister for Christmas.  I also made 20 pillowcases for the season for my family.

 All right, now to the books. These are the books I can remember reading: (my apologies that the pictures won't line up properly. I'm giving up trying any longer)

The Harry Potter Series. I started this when they were originally written and got derailed after the second or third book. By the time a new book came out after a year, it was sometimes hard to get to it. Plus trying to remember all the details from the books before after all that time was difficult. So I thought, "sometime I'll read them." That sometime came this autumn. I actually listened to them, and it was the best thing ever. The narrator, Jim Dale was amazing. He really made the books come alive. I found myself exercising longer, and cleaning more often, just to get in some more time listening.

I loved the series! So well crafted. Now I'm going to watch the movies.

My daughters and I read The Willpower Instinct together. McGonigal teaches a 10 week seminar on willpower, and the book is written to follow that same format. We decided to read it over ten weeks, and apply the techniques.

I read all of it. Sort of over ten weeks, and really did try to implement a lot of what she said. It's very good, and I' hope to review it every once in a while and keep improving.











Death Comes to Pemberley is the first P.D. James book I've read. I liked it.

Named of the Dragon is another winner by Susanna Kearsley. I haven't yet met a book of hers I didn't like.

The Bess Crawford mystery series by Charles Todd is my new favorite series.I've finished all the ones written so far. A new one is due out in April. I can't wait. 

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

I recently read this for my book club. I really liked it and we had a pretty good discussion on the book.

This is the story of Sarah Grimke and Hetty. Sarah is a young woman raised in Charleston, South Carolina, and Hetty is given to her as a slave when Sarah is eleven years old.

The book chronicles their lives. I hate to tell much more about it, because I don't want to give it away. I will say this much: Sarah Grimke was a real person. I wish I'd known that from the very beginning. The notes at the end tell more about her--they give away the story, so don't read them until the end.  Hetty is a conglomeration of various people.

Kidd does a fine job of moving the story along through the years, and weaving two stories that are connected yet individual very well. I like her writing.

Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley

They say you should never judge a book by its cover, and I've learned that lesson over the years. But still--I just love the artwork on these Susanna Kearsley covers. I have to admit I would pick them up unknown, just because of the covers.

This is a re-release of an earlier book that Kearsley wrote, and I liked it. It isn't like her other books. It's about a young actress to travels to Italy to perform in a play. The books chapter headings are set up like the acts and scenes in a play.

I liked it a lot. And if you've read any of her other books, I think you'll like this book. If you haven't read any of her other books, the stop what you are doing right now and get one and begin reading. That's how much I like her books.