"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Sunday Salon...last Sunday in August

Wildflowers on Mt. Rainier
Weather: gorgeous, sunny with a light breeze.

Yesterday: Our church had a huge work party to essentially muck it out. There were people everywhere cleaning out closets and drawers, sending items off to the clothing bank, the recyclers, and dump. I came home sore but glad to be a part of it.

Yesterday evening: Don and I attended a potluck/party in the evening for JAG officers. The conversation and company were good. Thanks Matt and Eileen for opening your home for us!

Today: I hope to get outside and do some serious pruning on the summer baskets in hopes that they will revive enough for a few more weeks of color. This happens to me every summer.  I plants lots of pots with beautiful annuals in late Spring which I tend lovingly until around the end of August when, for some dumb reason or another, I start to neglect them causing the plants to all look sad and tired....You didn't miss me, but I just got up and went outside to tend to the plants. Now I'm back! It also seems like a good day to wash the dog.

Applesauce: my daughter, who is working at a warehouse this summer, likes to take apples in her lunch every day so we just dropped by the big warehouse store and bought a huge container of Golden Ginger apples.  We had sampled them at the farmer's market last week-end and liked them. Well, we got home and discovered that the apples were mushy. Ugh. We like our apples crisp. Being from Washington State we are pretty picky about our apples.  Anyway, now she and I are busy cutting up apples for applesauce. My husband just announced, "That's what one should do with mushy apples" as he tucked into a bowl of warm applesauce.

Book read this week:
  • Unbroken: a World War II Story of Survival, Resistance, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand, audiobook read by Edward Hermann. Wow. Wow. Wow.
  • The Silence of Murder by Dandi Daley Mackell. A YA mystery that won the Edgar Award.
  • A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. You have got to read this book sometime in your life. Read my review here.
  • Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina. Another YA novel about the effects of bullying.
Currently reading:
  • The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth LaBan, an audiobook...an albino boy experiences love and bullying at a private school. 
In church today: I learned about a concept I had never thought about before. After reading Acts 1:1-11 our pastor talked about the fact that Jesus had to leave in order for his disciples to understand the kingdom of heaven.  He had been with them for 40 days after his resurrection explaining the concept of the kingdom of heaven and they still didn't get it.  Forty years wouldn't have been enough time.  Not until he left us with his holy spirit were we able to comprehend what he meant. 

This coming week: I will be back at school almost full time. Ah, the end of summer....Sigh.

We are off to wash the dog at one of those self-serve places. Please drop me a note and let me know how you will be spending your last few days of summer.