Book Review - Corduroy Mansions

Corduroy Mansions
by Alexander McCall Smith

I liked this book.

I have read one other book by Alexander McCall Smith, his popular No.  1 Ladies Detective Agency which I liked as well. He has a witty way of writing and the characters are very likable. The characters in this book seemed to me to be old souls, much wiser and mature than their age in years indicates. This book as been on my reading list for a while now, but I could never find it at our local library. I happened to be at another close by library looking for a book for my on-line book club when I found it. I could be tempted to read more books in this series, because I loved the dog, Freddie de la Hey.

Sad - P52 - Week 42

The loss of woods makes me sad.

The loss of woods to six new "executive style" homes along a lakeshore full of "executive homes", many of them for sale by people that realize they can't afford a second home that they visit only a few times a year, the loss of woods for this purpose makes me even sadder.

You see this corner of woods that is on our morning walking route seems like a special place to me. Many times this summer I have seen a momma doe with her two babies in these woods. And in the fall when I turn the corner of these woods that are nestled next to the bike path, my breath catches every time when I see the yellow-gold maple leaves against the September blue sky. I always think to myself "This has got to be what heaven is like".

The summer and fall will never be the same in this corner of woods again.

It is no wonder that one of my biggest dreams is to move to where there is less...less new construction, less busy, less civilization. And so much more...more nature, more wildlife, more time to enjoy God's wonders.

Book Review - You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know

You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know 
by Heather Sellers 

I Loved this book.

I had the privilege of attending a writer's workshop that Heather Sellers taught last fall. She spoke about her book for the first part of the workshop, which I found fascinating, we had lunch and then she taught us the second half of the workshop. Her story of face blindness and her dysfunctional family growing up and another dysfunctional family when she got married reminded me a bit of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls just with a more suburban setting.

The other cool thing about this book is that part of it is set in Holland, MI where she is a professor at Hope College. I live in Holland, MI so it is always fun to read books where you go "I know where that is".

When I attended Heather's writing workshop her ideas gave some fertilizer to the tiny writing seed that had been planted long ago but needed some nourishment.

Cool Evenings and Warmth

The hot, dry days of Summer have given way to the wet, cool days of Autumn.

Nature's beautiful color palette certainly draws you to the outdoors. Either for a walk in the woods or a drive along a winding, tree lined country road. Get outside while you can for this season of color will be gone in the blink of an eye, to be replaced, at least in my part of the world, with a very monochromatic landscape of white and gray.

After  a day of traipsing through the wet leaves or being a bucket seat spectator to Fall's splendor of reds, yellows, and oranges, the perfect way to end the day is curled up next to the warmth of a fire with a lovely glass of wine.

Linking up today with:

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Sock Fetching is a Sport - P52 Week 40

The Project 52 theme for this week is Sports. I am not a sporty person, so it was a bit of a struggle. I almost decided to just blow this week off, but I knew that I couldn't I am getting so close to the end. Only 12 weeks left and I have not missed one yet, so this is my interpretation of "Sports"....

Sock Fetching a new sport for Golden Retrievers:

What I Read in September

Book Clubs and Bible Studies started this month for me, so that was the extent of my reading for September.

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn - Liked - This was our September book club read. One thing I like about Book Club is that it makes me read things that I not normally read. This was a cute book, and an easy book. It is touted as a modern day fable, which loosely would be true since there was a moral to the story. It was interesting that the whole story was told in letters between the characters.

A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers - Liked - This was our Bible Study book, all 500 pages of it, and you can't do the discussion questions until you finish the book. This book is part of a trilogy so we are only meeting every couple of months to discuss the books, with fun activities in between those meetings. I love Francine Rivers' books, but I did struggle a bit with the biblical historical fiction, not my favorite genre. The book started a bit slow, but by the middle I was fully engaged and couldn't put it down at the end.





I have decided from now on, I will review books as I finish them, it will be easier to remember them that way, and won't look so sad when I only get two book done for the month.

Mug Collection - P52 - Week 39

When I saw that the Project 52 theme for this week was collections, I thought I had it made since I had written a post early in this blog's life on my mug collection. I though I could just refer to that and all would be good and done.

See this post "The History of My Mugs" by clicking here.

Then I realized that thanks to Kim Klassen, I have developed a mug addiction and have added a few (ok, more than a few and it is only the beginning of October) since I wrote that post. So to be fair to the new arrivals I set them up for a photo shoot yesterday.

The two on the left side I got when we were on vacation in June on the Leelanau Peninsula. I love the one with all the coffee cups on it, and I use that one all the time, it is actually a travel mug, I just never put the top on it.

The red Starbucks one I had my eye for a while and once Mallory got the job at the Starbucks on campus I had to get it to be a good supportive mom :) I bought the center one at the same time, I love the simplicity of it and again just supporting my daughter.

The floral one I bought at the grocery store. I loved the design and the colors.

Then just last week when I was at my little furniture store job (they also do consignments), I bought these darlings:

I just couldn't pass them up and I think they would look perfect in a still life shot with a handmade tea bag tag hanging over the edge. 

Stay tuned there might be a couple more before the end of the year :)