The Name of the Wind

I’m lucky to have a husband who loves to read as much, if not more, than I do. He devours books on his Kindle, while I prefer paper. This is not a huge issue between us, since we can both agree that this was a fabulous fantasy story.

Kvothe, an unassuming tavern owner has a secret past. When a famous chronicler wanders in after being robbed and recognizes him, Kvothe is persuaded to tell his story. The true one, that is. I won’t put in many details for the sake of spoilers.

We find Kvothe starting out in a troupe of performers with his parents, to a starving urchin living on the streets in the city of Tardean, to a young student at the University. This is a realistic, as well as magical world, but the magic is not so overblown as to disrupt the storytelling. There is a group of ghostly bad guys that pop up now and then.

The writing style is terrific and keeps the story moving along. The biggest problem was the character of Denna, his love interest.  I just didn’t feel like she was written well.

All in all though, an enjoyable read, if you like fantasy stories.

Besides that, I’m getting ready for Christmas. We put up our big tree, and our cat is enjoying his time sleeping under it. At least he’s not knocking over ornaments like last year. I also put up a smaller tree with the teapot and cup and saucer ornaments I’ve been collecting over the years.

Wow, that picture turned out huge! Here is a closeup of the ornaments. Maybe one is not needed!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays, no matter what they are celebrating!

Wordless Wednesday

Progress on the Dragon and a Walk With My Grandson

It’s been work, work, work lately, (ok, I had a three-day weekend) but it was nice to spend some quality time with my daughter and grandson, Zach. On Monday Elizabeth and I had our cross stitch day. She did most of the cross stitch. I just could not concentrate for anything. I have to be relaxed to really focus on my work, and it was just not happening. You cross stitchers out there might know what I mean.

But Elizabeth is now on the dragon home stretch. I helped her do some of the beadwork on the moon.

I still had a great time. Elizabeth brought over some fixings for taco salad, and I made homemade granola bars for a healthy dessert. Both dishes were delicious! I offered to take Zach for a few hours today, so she dropped him off at work. The old ladies there just love him, and he is quite the little charmer. He has been visiting there ever since he was a baby and loves to work the room.  It’s very touching at how their faces light up at the sight of a child. Even those with dementia seem to wake up a bit to smile and reach out to hold his hand or pat his head..

After we went home, my husband arrived soon after, and we decided to take a walk along the river.  It’s right by our home.  It turned out to be a lovely afternoon.

I love this picture of my husband and Zach looking out towards the river.

Zach is quite the talker. He always has something to say and needs my attention, even during picture taking time.

I can’t remember what it was about,  but I’m certain it was of utmost importance. We went by the Delta Ponds and he oohed and aahed over the ducks and the geese. There were goslings and ducklings as well, so he got quite a show! It turned out to be a really nice impromptu day.

What I Did Last Saturday Night…. Spoiler: I Organized!

Ok, that doesn’t sound so exciting. But it really, really had to be done. I love my den, it’s such a cozy, comfy spot where you can just curl up and read, watch TV, eat, take your shoes off, throw junk around. You get the idea. I didn’t get a picture of it, but I found many, MANY pairs of shoes under the coffee table.

How did it this happen? It was like I woke up on Saturday night and finally saw the disaster area my comfy little nest had become.  I decided to tackle the really bad corner, where my bookshelves are.

What a mess! Oh, and that light on the left isn’t turned off for effect, the lightbulb had burned out and I just ignored it for I don’t know how long.

So we got started. My husband, cheerfully (!) took out the printer, chair, and all the big junky stuff. Oh yes, and he put a new lightbulb in the lamp. Then I started cleaning. Truthfully, and surprisingly, it wasn’t dirty, just a clutter trap. I decided to prettify the bookshelves somewhat. This is whaat I ended up with. If not beautiful, at least more organized.

Much better! Now I tackled the bigger shelves. I really tried hard on this one, you know, putting authors and subjects together. Or at least size of books. I realized that it could take a very long time to get it done perfectly, and I was running out of gas, so I called it a wrap. It looks ok, I think.

Not too bad for an evening’s work. The little dish on the table is to hold my scissors for cross stitch. I will be making a stitching nest for my next organization project. Stay tuned!

What I’ve Been Reading Lately

My husband loves his Kindle, so when he upgraded to a Paperwhite, he gave me his old one. It’s the one with page turning buttons on the side and the keyboard on the bottom. Now I have a Kindle, a Nook, and a dwindling library of real books. I’m not quite sure how to process that. The e-readers are a marvelous invention, but I still love real books. My husband reads a lot, and exclusively with his Kindle. We have been bringing our books to Goodwill, losing most in our last couple of moves, but I don’t think I can take much more of that. I love my books!

Anyway, rant over. Conclusion, there is no right or wrong way to read. Just read!

As Kindle freebies go, this one was outstanding. I love that the setting was the Oregon coast. I will be reading more of this author!

A.k.a., Nothing Like the Movie. That’s ok, it was still great. It got very philosophical, but in an interesting way.

The Copy by Grant Boshoff. This was a kindle freebie novella that was quite clever. Yes, I saw the ending a mile away, but still, quite good.

I started this one on my Kindle, but I may have to go out and buy a copy. I’m finding that I can read light mysteries and such on the e-reader, but for more advanced books, I need an actual hard copy. Happy reading to all!

 

Everything is Coming Alive!

After a couple of gray, rainy days, the sun is finally out and it is going to be in the 90’s this weekend! You can tell that summer is around the corner; the flowers are blooming like crazy and our tomatoes are doing great!

We live in a townhouse so we do container gardening. Very different from when we were first married and had a large plot with rows of veggies. But life changes, and we are both very happy where we are. You can surround yourself with flowers and grow veggies anywhere.

Here is our hanging flower basket outside our front door. It was much smaller when we got it, now you can’t even see the pot!

I love my pansies. They reseed like crazy and have come up at the sides of our front walk. Very charming. They do better in the cooler spring weather, and now are starting to wind down for the season. I had to get a picture of some of them before their yearly summer demise.

We got three tomato plants this year including a Roma, Brandywine, and an Early Girl. We always get an Early Girl, they are just so reliable, even if they do not produce the largest tomatoes. The one we got was just a little runt, now look at it. I am a proud mama! Behind it is a geranium, another one of my favorites.

And my husband just spotted our first tomato….on our little Early Girl!

I will be taking more pictures of my container garden as the season progresses. I’m very excited to have fresh, homegrown tomatoes again.

Happy gardening!

Latest Cross Stitch Day

My daughter Elizabeth and I have a monthly date to spend the afternoon together, have lunch, and do cross stitch. She is working on a dragon, with some intricate and really lovely beadwork. I am doing Grandmother’s House, by Told in a Garden. You can see the mess it makes when two stitchers bring all their stuff together in the same place. Here is a pic of her dragon. This picture does not do it justice. She was just finishing the face and head, and getting more beadwork in. Here is the face. I had a good time too. Elizabeth is turning out some really artistic projects while I am stuck doing pretty much standard cross stitch. Still, it is very time-consuming.  Here is my project. At least I am at the bottom half finally! This is what I managed to finish today. When the kids were small, I did cross stitch all the time. It is compact, and once you get the supplies, very cost-effective, because it takes so long to do one project, and then you have floss colors left over for another project. Over time, floss stash builds up. I’m so glad that Elizabeth loves to do cross stitch. It is such a bonding/friendship time with my grown daughter. Here with my Maltese Poods, I’m a very happy lady!

A Walk to the Rose Garden

I am fortunate to live in a beautiful area, where every walk is an experience. Every season has it’s own beauty, but nothing matches spring and early summer in Oregon. I have been walking the 4 mile loop to the rose garden to check things out, and was finally rewarded with this…

And how about these white roses. It looks like a rose waterfall!

These are the ultimate climbing roses. They climbed right into a tree!

It was a beautiful stroll. I kept going back and forth, trying to get the best shot, or simply just talking in the beauty of it all.

The weather has turned mean again, but supposedly it will be nice this weekend. Maybe I’ll meander back to see what’s what.

 

I’m Going to Try Camping!

I have to admit, I love my comfort. A soft bed, heat and air conditioning, the absence of critters. I still can’t believe that I am the one that brought up camping!

Background: I work in a stressful job. I love being a nurse, and the added responsibilities of clinical care manager stretch my critical thinking skills, and allows me to bring high standards of care to my residents. But it takes its toll. Vacation is one of those things that have gone by the wayside.

But we need it. I was checking out some cabin vacation rentals, and wow are they expensive! I don’t want to spend over 1000.00 for 4 days! And getting a travel trailer is another huge expense.

Finally I just said to Jim, “Screw it, let’s just get a tent and go camping.” He turned to me so fast, I though his head would swivel off his head. “You mean it? You would go camping?”  Sure. Why not? Uh, can I back out of this?

Jim started listing things we need, and looked up tents on the internet. That night and all day yesterday, we were running around to different stores, checking stuff out, comparing prices, and the like. And yes, he started an excel spreadsheet for what we need to buy at what store!

I have to say, Jim is totally concerned about me being comfortable. It kind of makes me feel bad, but I had no idea how much he wanted to camp.  He found a very nice tent, then found it cheaper on Amazon, and lots of little goodies that will make a camping trip a pleasant experience for both of us. I’m actually kind of excited.

In other news, Zach made me a necklace. Or should I say, He found a green bead, wanted to make me a necklace, Elizabeth did the actual beadwork, but Zach supervised production. Either way I love it! Here’s a picture of us on the way to church.

 

 

Sunday Salon – A Brand New Education

It took a while for me to decide whether or not to do the RN/BSN program. Weighing pros and cons, what have you. Besides the cost, which is considerable, I got some very bad news. First, I went to a private school for my nursing program and none of my credits transfer. It is a complete redo. Another problem is general ed. Most of the classes stay good for 30 years but guess what? I went to San Jose State OVER 30 years ago! I’m old!

When I saw the list of general ed and nursing prerequisites I had to take I almost backed out. Almost. Then I decided to be brave. This is a challenge, no doubt. Should I stand strong, or give up and run away?

I decided to accept the challenge and do one better. Adjust my attitude. Look at it this way. I get to redo everything I did way back when I was a kid, not married, no children, and no significant life experiences to speak of. Of course I thought I knew everything, which is laughable now.  So I am curious. What will that same education be to a grown woman who has lived life, raised children, and has had much more experience?

Turns out, pretty interesting. Yes I started out with Anatomy and Physiology. That is where I live now. But I have a couple of Literature/Composition classes and thought it might be good to get some old familiars out of the way.

English Literature was my major way back when I wanted to be librarian. So I got my binder and Literature book for the first class and leafed through the index. Wow, there is some good stuff here! Ok, we have to read Ibsen. I guess there is just no getting away from Ibsen when studying literature. He’s like the insufferable uncle that you always have to invite to family functions.  There is also not as much Shakespeare as I would like, but to me, there can never be too much Shakespeare.

But the selection of short stories I have read so far are terrific! I just finished Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find. So scary. I also read The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien.

I don’t know what it is, but I just seem to get it now. The nuances, the subtle language, the flow of the writing. I love it!

I figure, get the most out of the non-nursing/science classes. Expanding your mind in any way is good, right?

Bring it!