New Grandson!
Most of the last few months have been spent enjoying and getting to know my new little grandson, Thomas. Born late in March, he lives a fair distance from us, so I've made quite a few trips to visit. In fact, during our last trip over, we bought a vacation home to be nearer to him and watch him grow up!
Rug Hooking
I haven't done a lot of hooking lately, but I did manage to finish a small project I started in February. This heart pillow was hooked entirely of yarn and used a cording to separate the sections and bind the edge. I attached a wool backing to it, stuffed it and voila. The fun part was needle felting the top motif which give the whole piece a regal feeling.
Dyeing
Haven't gotten a whole lot of wool dyed, but did manage to dye nine yards recently. Here is that pile of wool – a nice variety of lights and darks. Most of this wool has been listed on Ebay. Either check out my listings there (link on right side) or contact me directly if you see a color you like.
Reading!
Did get a lot of reading done. Here's some of the highlights:
All the Light We Cannot See
Anthony Doerr
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. A great book -- depressing and hopeful at the same time. A novel of World War II. Told from the perspectives of a blind French girl who becomes involved with the resistance in France and a German soldier who doesn't really believe in Garmany's cause. Well-developed characters who you really care about. Even the more minor characters are interesting and play such an important role in the story. The lightness of youth and the darkness of the time are incredibly contrasted in this story.
The Reading Promise
Alice Ozma
A delightful book about a single father and his daughter whose love of reading turns into an over 3000-day challenge to read aloud each day. Loved this!
Tenth of December
George Saunders
A collection of short stories. Although I didn't get the gist of all of these stories and almost gave up on the book, I did enjoy some of them. It was very readable, and perhaps I need to read more short story collections to learn to appreciate this type of book. In particular, I enjoyed the first and last story the most.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Betty Smith
Quietly fabulous! The simple lives of the characters in this novel made this story a monumental read. The poor and quiet lives of the people in this novel have a lot to teach us.
"From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be
lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends
and there was one for every mood."
Wild America
Roger Tory Peterson and Jame Fischer
Written in 1953, this book is a tour through the United States by leading bird experts with the intent of seeing as many species of birds as possible. A glimpse into life in 1953 with no digital camera or phones. Easy reading. Interesting to see how life has changed in sixty-plus years.
