The Little House in the Woods

This is the home we built in 1997. We have lived here longer than any other place. Both of us have moved so often that it was wonderful to be able to stay put for a change. This picture was taken several years ago, and the trees on the left are much taller now. We've actually stayed in one place long enough to watch trees grow higher than we are! 


This summer there will be a gathering of our family again, and the house will be filled with happy talk and laughter. I wish that all the children and grandchildren could be here, but it isn't always possible, so we will be happy to have those who are able to be here. We can't put everyone up - only three bedrooms and a loft - but there are lots of places nearby where the overflow will stay - and we'll have meals here. I hope the weather will cooperate this year and we can grill frequently! This will be a celebration of Bill's 80th birthday although the actual date was last month.


Sometimes it seems as if this peripatetic society doesn't have the "home" for children to go back to, and our children were adults before this became home to us. But I hope it has now become their "home" as well.

Books Read in February

This was not such a good month for reading as I was away part of the time and not well again. I did manage to finish six, however, but spent almost a week trying to find the seventh to read. Just couldn't get into any of five books I started.

So here are the six I did read:
The Black Cat - Martha Grimes - G - A good Inspector Jury tale about the murders of three women who were escorts, three black cats and Mungo and Joey - two dogs. As usual in the Jury stories there are some humorous parts of the story, and the dogs and cats add to the humor.

 Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English - Natasha Solomons - G - A first novel by Solomons that Lesley gave me. She has given a much better review of it than I can, but I'll give my impressions. The story concerns a Jewish refugee and his wife who have escaped from Hitler's Germany to England. He very much wants to become a real Englishman, and tries to be as British as possible. This includes the building of a golf course on a hill in Dorset because he isn't allowed into any other course. There is some humor in the story, but it has an underlying sadness too.

The Red Door - Charles Todd - G - Rutledge and Hamish set out to solve a mystery about the disappearance of a soldier after WWI. A case of double identity? Hamish is still there in Rutledge's mind, but not as obnoxious as he usually is. I like reading the books of the Todds - but wish Hamish would go away!

 Before the Frost - Henning Mankel - G - I have avoided this book for the better part of a year. Had found the Mankel books rather depressing and quite dark, but finally picked this one up. It is good - as the others have been. Kurt Wallander's daughter is following her father and becoming a police constable. She gets caught up in the disappearance of her friend Anna, and tries a bit of sleuthing before she actually begins work at the same station where her father works.

The Water's Lovely - Ruth Rendell - G - Another of Rendell's psychological mysteries. Not a thriller, but a good study of some strange characters. Unfortunately, there were few of the characters I could sympathize or empathize with - or even begin to like. Human beings are flawed and Ruth Rendell shows all their flaws and then some!

The Postmistress - Sarah Blake - VG - Such a good book, and probably why I found it hard to get into another. The story of Frankie Bard, a woman reporter in England during WWII, and the story of  the people of Franklin - on the tip of Cape Cod - who wait for their war to begin. So nice to have characters you can relate to, or at least understand and like! Not an easy book to read because of the subject matter, but one that will stay with me for a long while.

So - that was it for the month. For the most part it was easy reading, and mostly mysteries. Pure entertainment. I've finished the first book for March, and started on another. I'm also reading the letters written by Julia Child and her friend Avis DeVoto - but I'm reading the book as if the letters are arriving in the mail and the letters are long, so I only read three or four at a time. It's not my bed-reading book.