Sunday Salon -- St. Patrick's Day 2024

Hilarious photo of our grandson doubling as a leprechaun wearing his Christmas PJs hovering above the solo-stove. You are welcome! (Photo by D. Adams, stickered by C. Bennett)

Weather: Gorgeous and warm. The family is outside playing corn hole. Yesterday we went for our first drive of the year in our convertible. We pruned the hydrangeas the day before. Today we got seeds at a seed exchange at church. Spring here we come.

Our street trees: Flowering plums. Photo: A. Bennett, 3/15/24

It's been three weeks since my last post. What's been happening:

• Our youngest, Carly, bought a house and we've been helping her paint a few rooms and move in. She is still living here in our house with us until after our family vacation to Utah in a a few weeks. Yesterday we helped her hang pictures so it is really starting to feel like her home.
• Her cats, Fred and George, have become a fixture around here, reminding us how much we like cats. In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday earlier this month, we've been working on rhymes involving these ginger-colored brothers. Like: "Fred is on the bed." and "Nothing rhymes is George except forge and gorge. How do we make a rhyme out of that?"
• Don and I carried a picnic with us to enjoy at the end of our convertible ride. We stopped at Veterans' Park alongside South Prairie Creek and sat at a picnic table comfortably basking in the the end-of-winter weather.

Books, books, books: I am in a bit of a reading funk, but have managed to read and review a few books over the past three weeks:

• The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway. A reread for me. Last read in 8th grade. I liked it but it isn't quite the story I remember. Read for Classics Club spin.
• The Rabbit Hutch by Gunty. A book club selection and a very quirky book, but I REALLY liked it. It is so well-written and thought provoking. We had a great discussion.
• The River We Remember by Krueger. Another book club selection for a future meeting. It is a mystery so it won't be the usual discussion, based on the fact we'll all know the ending.
• When Women Were Dragons by Barnhill. All women should read this book. Dragons are a metaphor for pent up feelings of anger for being treated as "less-than" for centuries.
• Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See. Historical fiction based on a real female doctor who lived in the 15th century in China. Wow. 
• Above Ground: Poems by Clint Smith. Smith, a new father, writes about parenthood, something we can all relate to even if we aren't parents. (Because we had parents!)
• The Egg and I by McDonald. A classic memoir published in 1945. Humorous, interesting, and cringe-worthy. I am one chapter away from completion. Print. 95% complete.
• The Vaster Wild by Groff. Alternative history. I started this book yesterday. Audio. 10% complete.

I had all these ideas of what to include in this post but the sunshine beckons. I'll leave off on a few funnies!

Time change got you? Give in to the urge to sleep in!

Skimble (left) and Sasha (right), our other ginger-colored grandcats, adjusting to the time change.

-Anne