Random Stuff and a Book Review

Hi, blog world. I think of you way more often than I write to you. If you're looking for the book review, scroll down to just above the last picture.

What have I been up to? I have mostly been reading and enjoying a happy-go-lucky summer. I have done a bit more knitting than usual. I have watched a few TV things on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Next week I get to go to my cousin's cabin, and later in the summer to my sister's cabin. Yay! I will get some sewing done then. And more reading. I love reading on the deck with the beautiful lake in my view. We have no big travel plans for the rest of this year... just a random road trip here and there.

I babysat Bonus again last week. He is turning into a little boy.. no more baby fat. He is still such a sweet and agreeable boy. That's his built-in personality. Isn't that nice?? He loves playing with cars, and he runs and jumps and dances and sings. It makes me happy just to be with him.

I am working very few hours this summer. It is lovely. Last week I did a two-hour shift, and it went so fast. I think I might not work at all in the month of July. I have a dream job at which I get to set my own hours. It is PERFECT.

Here is a little bit of sewing I have done lately:

It was quilted a while ago; I finally got the binding on and will be sending it to Quilts Beyond Borders.

July blocks for the Lotto at Sunshine


I finished a book, so here is a book review for you: News of the World by Paulette Jiles. I really loved this book! The writing is beautiful. You will get a sense of being in the natural environment in which the characters travel. Not only is that beautiful, also beautiful is the relationship that develops between the two characters: a man in his 70s and a 10-year-old girl. Watch how the man responds to the differences between their two cultures. It's lovely. I highly recommend this book.

Book Review: Little Fires Everywhere

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

This is a book about families, relationships, friendships, life styles, and choices. Most of the characters are teenagers, and the other main characters are moms in two separate families.

I liked this book, but I didn't love it. I wanted to love the characters more than I did. I only liked one or two of them. The sheltered and privileged lives lived by most of the characters led to close-mindedness. Yet they thought they were wonderfully settled and clear thinkers. That was probably one of the points of the story. New residents of the town help the long term residents' minds crack open, but not very wide. These transformations require much time, I guess. But do they have to? Is my mind as open as I think it is?

This was a book club read; I'm eager to hear my club members' thoughts. If you read the book, tell me yours as well.

This is my son's friend, all grown up and a good daddy.

Baby Quilts

I have such a pile of tops that are waiting to be completed! I finally decided I need to do some machine quilting and get some of them done. One day I quilted five tops.. all in one day! That is pretty rare for me. I usually don't do more than two in a day. Well, these were small so pretty easy to do while I was on a roll.

Then I got 4 of them bound pretty quickly. Then... screeching halt! I needed to take a break from that and do some creating. I made a house block just for fun:

and the top is made from Lotto blocks I won at Sunshine.

Would you like to join us at Sunshine? We make quilts for kids and send the quilts to two different programs: Wrap a Smile (quilts for kids going through cleft lip/palate surgery around the world) and Quilts Beyond Borders (quilts to underserved children around the world). We do a block Lotto and sometimes have challenges with each other, and we have an all around good time being quilt pals at our list. We recently moved from Yahoo to MeWe. MeWe is similar to Facebook but with NO ads and they never use or sell our information. Here's a link to the MeWe site where you can join us: Sunshine.

Book Review: The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty

The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida
I bought this book at a library sale, just to put into my Little Free Library, but when I got home I started reading it and really enjoyed it. It is written in second person which is unusual, some may find it off-putting. I enjoyed that aspect of it; it adds to the feelings of being involved and "lost" as the main character is.

She takes a vacation to Morocco and right away her backpack is stolen. In the backpack are all her valuables: passport, ID, wallet, cash, and credit cards. She is at a loss as to what to do, and adventures unfold. Since it's told in second person, the reader feels the loss along with her. Clever technique.

Its themes, I guess, are identity - what is it? Who determines it? - and sense of self, belonging, and interacting with others. Interesting book. I'm glad I read it. (The odd title refers to a poem that comes up in the story.)

H2H Challenge Quilts 2018

The Hands to Help challenge has come to an end, and I can't believe it. Time went so fast, I didn't even get myself organized enough to make more than just one for this year, and the one I made was just accidentally made at the right size. I didn't manage to really plan-fully make ANY for this year's challenge. Bummer. But... I am turning in two quilts. How, you make ask?

Well, I did finish the one top just as the challenge was announced, and it was the perfect size. And I got to mail it without quilting it. Yay! Even then it took me at least a month to get organized enough to mail it off. This one went to Victoria's Quilts in Canada, for someone who has cancer.

Then I was wishing I could quickly churn out another one at the very end of the challenge, but that's impossible.. so I am donating this one which a friend made. She made it and gave it to me to donate where I wish. I plan to send this one to Little Lambs for a foster child. (Thanks, Karen.) I will get it in Monday's mail!

Man, working at this rate, I better start organizing myself for next year. Starting now may mean I will get something done just barely in time for the end of next year's challenge! Anyway, it's fun. I always enjoy participating in the H2H challenge and plan to again next year. Will you join us? There are even prizes!

To see other beautiful quilts donated to H2H this year, click here.

Book Review: Radium Girls

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
Wow! This non-fiction book was so interesting, and it was so awful. I mean, the injuries and illnesses and agonizing deaths these women endured made for hard reading. And yet, I was intrigued.

Starting in 1917 when radium was a new "miracle agent" they started using it in paint to make clock dials glow in the dark. It was applied by young girls and women in a factory by brush, which they put in their mouths to make the brush tip as thin as possible. The book looks at this history in two locations: Orange, New Jersey and Ottawa, Illinois.

After a while, the women started getting very sick. Horrendous damage was done to their bodies. Guess what the response of the employers was. Yeah, it was aggravating to read that, too. The practice of "tip pointing" by mouth continued for many years, even when the industry should have known better.

This is an important part of our history and led to better protection and safer working conditions for employees. The strength and courage of the women involved was completely amazing. Though the story took place in the USA, this book was written by a Brit. She purposely wrote it in novelized style, through the eyes of the girls and women involved. It's not a dry history at all but is an interesting story that will grab your attention. (And watch for a couple of British phrases that reveal it wasn't written in USA. Made me smile.)

I have been loving reading outdoors during our lovely spring weather.. however, so far I have always been safely in a chair on the ground.

Some Quilt Tops

As usual, I have been making quilt tops and not finishing many of them. I need a staff that will take care of the quilting step for me. Any volunteers? Pay is my thanks and praise.

and some Sunshine Lotto blocks:

Book Review: The Life We Bury

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens, a Minnesota author. The story takes place in Minnesota; it's always fun to see familiar place names in a novel. A University of Minnesota student interviews a nursing home resident for his biography assignment in an English class. This book is a mystery, which I don't usually read and enjoy. When I started reading the book, I didn't realize it was a mystery. I enjoyed it quite a bit for the first two-thirds of the book. It was an interesting concept, well told, and I read pretty steadily to see what happens next.

The last third was crazy. The events became far too outlandish. Unbelievable. I was disappointed, and then the ending.. well, I didn't exactly dislike the ending, but I was not satisfied.

Even though it's not the best in the world, I'm glad I read the book. If nothing else, it was entertaining.

April Retreat

Two years in a row I attended a quilt retreat at this beautiful center in Wisconsin. This year's long, snowy winter was still showing its face during the last week of April. The ice was not out in the lake, and most vegetation was not yet green. I am going to show similar shots that I took last year in April, a week earlier than this year's retreat and you can see the difference between the two springs. Last year we were enjoying spring much earlier than this year. But... that's OK, because as of this writing spring has finally arrived, and it's beautiful. Ice is out on the big lakes in this area, days are warm, and tonight we had a thunderstorm... a sure sign of summer approaching.

The main lodge last year and this year:

2017

2018

View of the lake last year and this year:

2017

2018

Here's evidence of late-night fun. "K" was working hard on her tree blocks. We teased her that we were going to borrow some to put in our own quilts. As she went off to bed, she said she expected to see four tree blocks still up on the design wall the next morning. Well.. we knew we could manage that, along with a little embellishment. So we embellished to our heart's content. It kept growing and growing as we giggled. We even made a little "Grand Champion" ribbon for her new quilt. The next morning it was very much fun to see her face when she walked into the sewing room. She got a good laugh, too.

Here's K. pointing out her Grand Champion ribbon.

A couple other projects in the works -- Cousin B with her quilt top and one of mine that I started on the last day and didn't get time to finish. I'll finish it soon.

Book Review: Spilled Milk

Spilled Milk by Chloe Benjamin is a novel based on true events. It's a compelling book about growing up in an abusive household. The young girl who receives the brunt of the abuse tries to protect her siblings by saying nothing. Her strength and intelligence help her survive. A glass of spilled milk at a friend's house opens her eyes to what she has been experiencing.

I liked the ideas she provides to law enforcement and judicial system workers to help put victims at ease in a court setting and what kinds of information is helpful to the victim.

Book Review: The Immortalists

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin... This was a pick for my book club. I probably would never have read this book otherwise. I think I give this book three stars out of five. It is definitely not a favorite and probably not even one that I would recommend, even though it has some redeeming qualities. It was interesting, and I think we will have some good discussion. However, it wasn't a story line that grabbed me. Things I don't find appealing: fortune tellers and their prophesies, magic and magicians, Las Vegas. Those all appeared in this book.

Sometimes I found myself feeling moved or touched; the book brought several questions to mind. I'm interested to see what my book club will have to say about it.

If you have read this book, please tell me your thoughts. Did you love it?

It's finally nice enough to read outside.

Two More Bound and Gagged

...Oops! I mean two more quilted and bound! The first one was made entirely by me. The second one was made by me and quilted by Nanette (binding by me). She has agreed to quilt several of my charity quilts this year. She's a lifesaver!

Olympics Quilt

I finally got inspired to do some machine quilting. Today I finished this Olympics Quilt (so-called because it contains the colors of the Olympics). I am hoping this inspiration continues. Here I go.. back to Sewing Room to start quilting #2.

Blizzard Sewing

While having a spring blizzard, it is very pleasant to stay warm inside and make quilts. Here are some tops I have recently completed, some before the blizzard, some during:

This one is 36" x 36". All the others are lap size/sofa size.

The snow, and it was still coming down. By the end we had about 15 inches.

Book Review: Midwinter Break

Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty is a book I purchased while in the UK. I started reading it right away, and when I got home, I misplaced it. I have a knack for doing that! It's so frustrating. I still have not found it... it's probably under some fabric pile. I wanted to keep reading it, so I finally bought a Kindle version so I could finish the book.

I backtracked and re-read a bit, and I'm glad I did, because I hadn't fully appreciated the quality writing on the first go-around. I was less distracted on the second read and really absorbed it.

A retired couple goes on a short vacation from Scotland to Amsterdam. She is privately considering a big change in her life. Religion is a big part of her life. He is a heavy drinker who spends his days trying to stock up for his next drinks and trying to hide it from her. He has rejected religion. She is fed up with his drinking; he is so sweetly in love with her. There's not a whole lot of action other than where they go and the walks they take in Amsterdam. I loved the beautiful writing, and the quiet reflections of them both. It's both a history of their relationship and a pondering and mending of rifts that can happen. I give it 4 of 5 stars.

Not Very Motivated

For the last year or so I have not felt very motivated to write blog posts. I notice many blogs have either slowed down or stopped completely, so I guess I am not alone in this feeling. Blogs may be slipping into the black hole of "old technology." I'm not ready to stop writing here. But.. just be aware that I probably won't be posting very often. Mostly these days I am posting book reviews.

I will continue to post occasional quilt and people photos as I am inspired to do so. Thanks for hanging in there and continuing to check my blog! I do enjoy having visitors and readers.

I am still babysitting Bonus a few times per month. I hadn't seen him in a long time, because I went to the UK and then I got sick, and it lasted a long time! So he was a little upset at being left with me, because he wasn't used to me any more. But he cheered up in a hurry, and we had a happy day. He is now 2 years old...still as pleasant and nice a kid as always. I call him Mr. Agreeable.

Book Review: Across That Bridge

Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change by John Lewis. In this jewel of a book, Rep. Lewis presents several categories which he suggests should be mastered in order to bring about meaningful change - to light the fire of a movement. All of these aspects were put into action in the Civil Rights movement in which Mr. Lewis played such an important role. The aspects include faith, patience, study, truth, love, and reconciliation. I learned so much about the Civil Rights movement, and what's more, the lessons he provides are timely today for the desire for change we see percolating in our society. Reading this book has given me hope and has renewed my resolve to keep working. We have within us the ability to affect change for the better and to live in truth. The tenets in this book can help us achieve our dreams.

my great niece demonstrating for sensible gun laws (I'm so proud of her!)

Can You Hate Something That You Think Is Beautiful?

Isn't this beautiful? I think so. I can still enjoy its beauty. I wouldn't say I hate it, but I am really tired of snow. This and more fell on April 3. *sigh* We had to shovel about 8 inches off our driveway. But I don't hate it, because it's so pretty!

I really am wondering... are the people who really hate this recent spring snowfall not able to enjoy its beauty?

Book Review: Butterfly Sister

Butterfly Sister by Amy Gail Hansen was entertaining. I read it in a day, so I guess it kept my attention, but I do not consider it a great book. The story is too far-fetched. A woman leaves college just before graduating due to a traumatic experience. Then a strange incident takes place regarding a lost suitcase, and the mystery deepens from there. She returns to college, learns about traumas that happened to many of her friends and acquaintances. Everything kind of ties together in way too many strange and coincidental ways. I would have liked it to be more believable and less exaggerated. I can only give this book 3 lukewarm stars.

a library in China