Concerning Books

Yesterday was the annual AAUW book sale in Mansfield. Oh, boy! I have been counting the days! I LOVE book sales. And we have been going to this book sale since we moved up here. Can't remember a time of not going. Finally, this year, I remembered to take the camera. Well, almost. We had to turn around three miles away to come back for it. Every other year, I don't even think about it until we are there. I have been wanting to take photos of it for years. You know, I realised that by the time our kids come around, there won't be book sales like that. They probably won't get to see a sale with that many books in it. I remember the old M/RCPL sales when they closed off the entire underground parking lot and had their sale in there. It was HUGE! That's gone now. MV/KCPL used to have theirs in a big room on the ground floor. That's gone as well. Actually, books are disappearing all together. Quite sad.

There is something that is really comfortable about books. I don't even mean reading. Feeling. Looking at them. Just having them around. Everybody who ever comes to our house just LOVES the back room upstairs. Their favorite room in the house. And they all say the same thing. "It is so cozy and inviting". You could put all the same furniture and accessories in another room and without the books, it wouldn't be the same. Even if you don't know the reason, I think the books make the difference.

Gramma and Kelly came up last month for a short visit. Gramma showed me her Kindle and let me look at it. I've been dying to see one. Interesting, but I don't see how it will ever be the same as a real "paper and ink" book. No feeling. No character. Everything looked the same and it was like reading on a laptop screen. I don't think there is anything that can ever take the place or fill the shoes of books. The enjoyment and the knowledge that one bound volume can bring. To adults or kids alike. Every book holds the key to the door of imagination which nothing else can imitate or replace. Whether it is an historical novel, a biography, or a picture book - the thrill is there. Just waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.

We have reached a severe crisis point with not having much more space for the books that we get to add to the collection. I have decided to really go through my records again, because I would much rather have more books than records. As much as I like records, they aren't the same as books. I just love everything about books. The look of them, the feel of them, the smell of them. I even love having to dust them. My next step is book binding and mending! This Winter . . .

Here is a photo of a section of the non-fiction tabe. At every book sale there are at least two ( or more!) copies of "Iacocca". I don't know what it will be like when these are all gone.! ;o)

We got two boxes and my biggest library duffel bag filled of books at the sale yesterday. Pretty good for us nowadays. We used to get a thousand or more books every year at this sale. The numbers have decreased over the years. (Oh, man! I don't know where I would find the room for a thousand books all at one time now! ) I got a few new Christie books and some historical fiction to try. Bunch of kids books, some Landmarks, Sarah and I got a big stack of sheet music. Really cool stuff.

We stopped at the main library after the sale so that Sarah and I could browse through the stacks to find books that we didn't know the titles of. (Internet catalogues are wonderful things, but, unfortunately they aren't any good when you don't know the title of a certain book and only recognize it by sight.) Here is a photo of Oliver resting on one of Sarah's. He found the book very tiring . . . hee hee. Actually, Sarah is really enjoying it. It is the story of "Gone With The Wind".

All in all, it was a very fun day. I was so excited last night that I had trouble going to sleep. Book sales do that to me. They are energizing, unlike anything else. Books, books, books . . . It can't get much better.

"Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine." - 1 Timothy 4:13

The Babies Celebrate Five Years!

Happy Birthday to Samwise, Aramintie, and Frodo!

Today the babies turned five! Hard to believe that it was five years ago today that the three little babies were born in the dining room closet. They are all pretty irresistible.

Catching up on the Summer

Well, well . . . it has been a long time! My computer broke, so we had to take it to the repair guy. It stayed there for several weeks. He found out that it had overheated and burnt out the fan on the video card, which overheated itself and just burnt up. Poor thing! So, I now have a new video card and my computer is not making that awful noise anymore! Yay! Now, to catch up on our very busy Summer . . .

First - the State Fair. We ended up going the Wednesday they opened. Dad got second and third place for his woodcarvings and Sarah got first, second, and Best of Show for her wool people. She entered Her pair of Commedia Dell 'Arte figures and her new gnome with the squirrel, Pat and Mike.BOS went to P&M. The fair on a whole, though, was very low on entries. They only had as many as an old Tomato Show used to get. Cool, but I don't think I would go again for a while.

The Sunday after, we did go to see The Adventures of Robin Hood. It was swell. Even Dad liked it! The reels were probably the best quality ones we have seen yet. You can see and experience so much more of the film seeing it on the big screen. Fantastic! The Sunday after that we saw the last movie of the season (for us, anyway). Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. How cool! Huge! The reels were in poor shape, but it really made you feel like you were in a submarine. The squid fight was impressive! Such a fun movie.

Monday, Mom and Sarah went to Columbus to pick up the State Fair entries. I decided to stay home since the upcoming two weeks is a lot of out and people. It was nice to have some alone time. All the cats went to bed, except Oliver. ;o)

The APS Stamp Show was Thursday through Sunday. We went all four days. Dad went the weekend. How exciting. So fun. I don't think I have had so much fun in ages. Really worth waiting for. We met some really nice dealers. Got some fantastic stamps and things! It was at the Columbus Convention Center, which is absolutely huge! You walk and walk and walk . . . In the food court (which was on the opposite end as the Stamp Show) was a Subway which we ended up eating lunch at every day. That was fun too. We would get our subs and before eating we would mark off the lists all the stamps that we had gotten that morning. Show each other the really swell finds, etc. It was just so fun! Then back to the show for more looking. God really, really blessed us with some fantastic deals and finds. Sarah got some stamps that she never thought she'd get, really. I got so many Monaco stamps that I can really see the finish line. I never thought I would get this far. I even got the cool Jules Verne set. On Sunday, I went to a dealer and bought a Deanna Durbin fan mail cover. He got so excited. He had never heard of her until he got those covers and he had looked her up online and fell in love with her singing. He loves to sing along with her and, so far, his favorite is Nessun Dorma. In the end, he gave me another Deanna cover and money so that I could mail him some Deanna stuff! He is from Austin, TX. So fun to find someone else who likes Deanna! I'll post more about the stuff we got and photos in another post.

We were home for a few days and then on Friday we flew down to Florida. The trip that has been in the planning for months - and almost canceled more than once! - finally took off. Flew into Orlando, rented a car, and drove to Gramma Gail's. She took us to dinner at this really cool restaurant. Non-chain. Pizza Gallery and Grill. Second only to The Vegetable Garden. WOW! Dad and I got up at 4:30am the next day (Actually, Sarah and I were so hot that we woke up at 2:30 and didn't really go back to bed!). Dad had charted a fishing guide for half a day on the Banana River, so I thought I would tag along for wildlife sighting. The drive was cool because it was black night still and the road was so flat and straight, with all the lights it was neat looking. We had a little trouble finding the dock. Florida has no signs. Turns out there was an algae bloom, so you couldn't see anything unless it was out of the water. At one point I though we were really deep, and when he finally moved the boat to a different position, he said it was only a foot and a half deep! We saw some dolphin dorsel fins, and a manatee stuck his nose out for a second right next to me. Dad didn't catch anything. For the first four hours, it was overcast and not bad, but then the sun came out and I was pretty miserable for the last two hours. It wasn't great. I didn't really like the guide. Saw lots of cormorants and some pelicans, though.

We went back to Gramma's house and showered and then the others came home. Gramma took the three of us (Dad did a project at home) to see the base and we stopped at a little cigar store. I got several different cigars for my cabinet. I am so excited! Went back home, packed and headed down to Ft. Lauderdale. Met Aunt Lori, Uncle Jack, Brien, and Kelly at Villa Rose for dinner. Ended up staying until the restaurant closed and then until 11:30 in the parking lot! Probably the most fun time ever with them. Really a blast! Kelly is so grown up! I still think of her around two years old. We went to the Garcia's house. We went to bed really soon. I ended up staying up over 22 hours! I always wanted to know how it felt to stay up for 24 hours. Getting so close, I realize it isn't all it's cracked up to be . . .

Sunday wasn't very good. We had a blast with Benny and Tia Ela and Clemente! They are so sweet and cute! Benny is really nice. I really like him. So friendly and happy. Got to see Leilani too. She is so big. So cute! Monday morning we did laundry and Mom and the two of us then went shopping to get something for Jennie and go to lunch. Found this nice new Subway. We ate and drank a lot of tea. Stayed there for 2 1/2 hours. Irained and rained and rained. We left during a lull. Rain down there is so funny. The drops are huge and warm! So much rain that it was flooded when we got to Gramma and Grampa's house. There parking lot is so low. Mom dropped us off at the ramp, but we had to walk through four inches of standing water in canvas shoes! Then I decided to see if Mom could get back from the car, and remembered that there is a very dry way from the parked car to the building if you don't mind walking on the grass along the base of the building. Anyway, by the time we got under the roof, I was so soaked that it was running down my face. We all just changed clothes. Rain was done by the time we did the last laundry. Dad and the two of us went to visit Leonore. She looks swell! She is so cute and sweet. She loved the doily I crocheted for her. She told us all about the ones she had in Cuba. Actually, she and Dad taalked about Cuba and the religion/politics that was the downfall, and the similarity of America and Obama. She is so wonderful. Aunt Elena, Uncle Manolito, and Patty (with Leilani) came over for pizza and the evening. Mom and the three of us talked to Patty in the bedroom for a long time. Leilani is so cute.

We left for the airport really early. Sat around the terminal for almost three hours. The flights home were really rough! On the first one to Orlando, the turbulance was so bad that one of the air stewardesses was thrown into an empty seat next to a guy. Boy, were they both surprised! We ate at a Pizza Hut on the way home and then we got to see the kitties! Cute little babies! I always miss them during trips.

Well, let's see . . . since FLA we have been canning and freezing. We froze peppers, onions, green beans, wax beans, and zucchini. We canned potatoes, salsa, tomato sauce, beets - pickled and plain, pickled onions, pepper jelly, three bean salad, edamames, etc. I want to try pickled eggs! Yesterday we made and froze Pesto! Mrs. Keultjes sent us her recipe and, after all these years of loving it when we go to her house, we made it! Boy, is it fabulous! And it is really healthy for you!

The new chairs for the back room that we had ordered, ended up not working. Long story. They weren't what they said they would be. So, we got a refund. However, we had already sold the loveseat in prep for the new chairs. So, we decided to look for a nice used chair that might work. That was Tuesday. On Wednesday, we went to the auction house and there was a really nice black, leather recliner. Solid metal frame and thick leather. We decided to try for it. Also, at the auction was a nice sewing end table that matches Sarah's and another end table that Mom liked and - best of all, really - there was a box of Nancy Drew books. a set of titles 1 -55! They were beautiful. Like ones we would buy. I would love to have a set for me, so we decided to go for that too! Dad dropped Mom and Sarah and then we met them over there at 8:30. They got the Nancy Drew books for $40! Yippee! Actually, they got all four things. The whole night cost less than half of one of those chairs and a lot better quality! I cleaned the chair and the next night we carried it up and rearranged the furniture. In the end, it looks really nice and Mom and I are happy with the recliner and the sleeper sofa for watching and hobbying. We also found the perfect curtains for the back room at a rummage sale. Old heavy drapes that have old British village scenes on them. The room finally is looking almost done and wonderful!

Sarah and I went to Buddy and Kay's week before last to help them set up their new 18-track recorder. Sarah and Buddy talked while Kay and I read through the instruction book and by 5:30 we had recorded Buddy doing a 40 second section on four different tracks and had a finished cd! It was fun. Buddy and the two of us played some songs, we made dinner and solved the problems of the world. They took us home after 9.

So, I see this is a very long entry. That is what happens when your computer breaks . . . you get behind!

- To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven - Ecclesiastes 3:1

Summer Movies at CAPA

Last weekend we went down to the Ohio Theatre in Columbus for the first movie this year. "The Sound of Music"! Wow! I was so excited when I found out they were going to show it! We left earlier because we dropped off Sarah and Dad's entries for the State Fair. We also went to a really fun Mexican store. Looks like something out of FLA. However, the best part of the day was the movie! They got a bigger screen this year, so the widescreen movie filled the stage. The reels were really good, not to scratched or anything. It was wonderful! One of my very favorite films we've been able to see on the big screen! Even Mom enjoyed it. She didn't remember the story at all. I love the movie. (Julie Andrews reminds me so much of Mrs. Keultjes. Hard to watch her sometimes!) The only sad part was that it was over too soon! It was fantastic!

Today we went and saw "Gone With The Wind". Wow! If ever a film was made for the big screen, this was it! It was great! Sarah has been reading the book and just finished it last night. She has been telling us all about it and what is different in the movie. Sounds like they did a really good job.

The crowd was rather odd. They laughed at a lot of things that you shouldn't laugh at, and they rushed out as soon as Scarlett said "Tomorrow is another day"! Couldn't even see the end. Really rude, actually.

On the drive home, we got caught in an absolutely horrible storm! The highway was flooded and you couldn't see two cars in front of you. It was awful! God brought us home safely. I didn't like it.

I am really, really enjoying the movies at the theatre. We are thinking of going to see "The Adventures of Robin Hood" next weekend. We saw it in Cleveland last year, but it was so great on the big screen that we are thinking that it might be fun to see it again!

4th of July at Buddy and Kay's

We went to Buddy and Kay's for Independence Day! She had her family for their usual lunch. Buddy took some of them on a tour of the dinosaur shop and the red barn, so Sarah and I tagged along and explored. Even went up in the loft of the barn. Still as dusty as ever! In the evening, Buddy showed Dad his whip tricks. Even blew a candle out! I got to try tomahawk throwing! I have always wanted to try and he had a log all set up. It was sooooooo much fun! I really like it. Got to get one and set up a place to throw here at home!

Rain . . . Beautiful Rain!

This morning we are having a gorgeous rain. A nice soaking, beautiful rain. No violent thunder. No lightening. Just clear, cool, wonderful rain! We rarely have real rain. I love it. Makes me feel happy and energetic. If I had been dressed I probably would have gone out in it! A wonderful time to curl up in a big chair in the back room with a book. If it was colder, I'd say with hot tea as well, but how it feels now, I would probably prefer an ice cold ginger ale! So, a beautiful morning to start the day off. Thank you, Jesus, for rain!

He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. - Deuteronomy 11:14

Our Birthday Celebration - Stan Hywet Hall

We decided to celebrate our birthday today. We were all kind of tired yesterday, so we stayed home and had pizza and ice cream for dinner! Yum! Well, today dawned bright and nice, so we called Dad and he took the rest of the day off from work and came home. Mom had a surprise destination, so we all got into the car and started off. Of course, Mom and Dad knew where we were going and I found out halfway through that Sarah figured it out five minutes down the road. However, for once, my built in sense of direction failed. . . . That is a joke . . .

We went to Stan Hywett Hall up in Akron. Sarah and I have been wanting to go there for the past year. We went once on a field trip, but that was many years ago and we didn't really remember it very well. They do self-guided tours now, which was great, as we could go through at our own pace - which is always slower than the guide's idea of a tour!

The house was started in 1912 and finished in 1915. Built by on of the founders of the Goodyear Tire Comp. as a Summer house for his family. What a Summer house. It is a Tudor-style Hall. The family actually bought many of the furniture and some of the entire rooms in Britain and had them shipped over to Akron. It is simply gorgeous. Sarah and I had a wonderful time and were really inspired for our novel. It is just too bad that you can't take indoor photos and they don't sell postcards! That means that next time we go, I will be taking my sketchbook!

For the novel, and in general, I really liked the billiards room and connected office. Dark panelling, huge comfy-looking window seats, sofas, and - of course - the pool table. The office was small, all wood, lined with photos. Also cool was the bedroom for some of the sons. Perfect for Harry. Had this really cool bookshelf built around a sofa on the side wall. The library was tops too! Surrounded in wonderful bookshelves, stuffed furniture, movable lighting, AND a secret door to the great hall! Man, would I love to have room with a secret door in a bookshelf!

It was really fun to notice how many of the items that we own a version of! Guess we do live in a museum! It was really fun to see a house where they hadn't restored so much of the stuff and it looked like it was lived in. Very personal feeling. Very enjoyable.

For dinner we went to Mulligan's Pub and Grill. How fantastic. Kind of like a Friday's. However, they have an entire vegetarian menu! We had huge veggie burgers, cheese sticks, fried mushrooms with horseradish sauce, and absolutely wonderful french fries! It was a wonderful birthday! We got a pass for a year, so Sarah and I would like to go back to the Hall before Winter sets in.

D-Day: 6 June 1944

"You remember it. Remember every bit of it, 'cause we are on the eve of a day that people are going to talk about long after we are dead and gone."
- The Longest Day

Sixty-seven years ago, the world was at war. Fighting the axis powers of Germany and Japan. England had been fighting Hitler's Nazi forces for five years and on the morning of 6 June 1944, the greatest armada the world had ever known sailed across the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Nazi-Occupied France. The Allies fought there way inland and across France and into Germany to destroy the Nazis and their hold on the world.

Remember D-Day!

The Horror of Summer and The Beauty of Lupines

Today we hit the record highs. Made it to 91 degrees F here. 88 F in the house! Needless to say, I am dying. The cats are dying. Mom is dying. Sarah is even hot. And people wait all year for this season. They can have it!

I am looking forward to Winter again! Coolness, snow, birds framed against the snow and ice, hot dinners, Christmas, early sunsets . . . everything. ( Irving Berlin said it best - "Where it's snowing, all winter through, that's where I want to be . . . )

The only nice thing is that the lupines are absolutely gorgeous! Stunning. I think I could have an entire field of lupines. I think Lupines must have been in the Garden of Eden. They truly sing the beauty of God. "Lupine" would be a great name for a pet! I can't look at them enough. I hope they continue to spread. Simply breathtaking! I think I'll go upstairs and read "Happy Winter" and "Miss Rumphius" . . .

Fibre, Fibre, and more Fibre . . .

Yesterday was the annual Fibre show at the Wooster Fairgrounds. I love fibre shows. Of course, Sarah goes with the object of buying fibre for felting. I go for the enjoyment of looking . . . and feeling! Sarah ended up getting four bags of different kinds and colours of wool. I got a stack of crochet pattern books. Really, really exciting as I don't have many crochet patterns and nobody makes pattern books for crocheting with thread any more.

I saw the cutest little thing at the show, though that I have just got to try making! A knitted stuffed animal sheep! They are fantastically cute! So cuddly, and so natural looking. I just have to find the pattern and try!

This week I have been working on finishing clearing out the front room. Got rid of loads of stuff and almost everything is put back together now. Buddy came over on Wednesday and changed the strings on my guitar for me. I can't believe the difference! It sounds like an entirely new guitar! So mellow and smooth! I love it. Practiced so much that I made all my finger tips tingly. Oops. They got a break yesterday at least! The old strings were starting to get burrs and turn black. Buddy said those strings were over twenty years old and he was amazed they were still playing. These are so much nicer! It sounds so much better. I can't believe it!

She looks for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight. - Proverbs 31:13