Books

The year is almost over, and this is the first time I've kept track of all the books I've read this year. I don't know if this is my usual amount, but it does seem as if it's quite a few - 


My top favorites in the order they were read:
When Will There be Good News - Kate Atkinson
Sarah's Key - Tatiana de Rosnay
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson
South of Broad - Pat Conroy


The following books I marked VG for very good:
The Brutal Telling - Louise Penny
Booked to Die - John Dunning
Caught in the Light - Robert Goddard
The Bookwoman's Last Fling - John Dunning
Sight Unseen - Robert Goddard
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - Jamie Ford
The Eleventh Man - Ivan Doig
The Princes of Ireland - Edward Rutherfurd
Loving Frank - Nancy Horan
Work Song - Ivan Doig
Jumping the Queue - Mary Wesley
The Summer Guest - Justin Cronin
Faithful Place - Tana French
That Old Cape Magic - Richard Russo
In Pale Battalions - Robert Goddard
This Body of Death - Elizabeth George
Never Change - Elizabeth Berg
The Swan Thieves - Elizabeth Kostova
Bad Boy - Peter Robinson
Home Safe - Elizabeth Berg
Coventry - Helen Humphreys
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
Lake of Sorrows - Erin Hart
Plots and Errors - Jill McGown
The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag - Alan Bradley
Day After Night - Anita Diamant
When She Flew - Jennie Shortridge


These books were good reads, but not terrific:
Coastliners - Joanne Harris
One Handful of Earth - Ellie Gunn
Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen
Not in the Flesh - Ruth Rendell
Suspicious Origin - Patricia MacDonald
Headcase - Peter Helton
The Wood Beyond - Reginald Hill
Fete Fatale - Robert Barnard
Abide With Me - Elizabeth Strout
Who Guards a Prince - Reginald Hill
Heart and Soul - Maeve binchey
The Grave Tattoo - Val McDermid
Rose - Martin Cruz Smith 
The Sign of the Book - John Dunning
The Lost Mother - Mary McGarry Morris
Vanish - Tess Gerritsen
The Broken Shore - Peter Temple
Shanghai Girls - Lisa See
The Far Country - Nevil Shute
Down River - John Hart
Maisie Dobbs - Jacqueline Winspear
Tug of War - Barbara Cleverly
Tooth and Nail - Ian Rankin
Grasshopper - Barbara Vine
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
Messenger of Truth - Jacqueline Winspear
Long Time Coming - Robert Goddard
The Breaker - Minnette Walters
Holy Terror - Josephine Bolton
The Shadows in the Street - Susan Hill
Sacrifice - S.J. Bolton
The Rest of Her Life - Laura Moriarty
Jar City - Arnaldur Indridason
The Water Clock - Jim Kelly
Good Harbor - Anita Diamant
The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff
Scared to Live - Stephen Booth
Cold Case - Kate Wilhelm
Among the Mad - Jacqueline Winspear
The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters
The Dead of Winter - Rennie Airth
The Complaints - Ian Rankin
The Art of Racing in the Rain- Garth Stein
On the Night Plain - J. Robert Lennon
Black and Blue - Ian Rankin


I had problems with very few books - and only have one that I didn't finish. 
Lights Out Tonight - Mary Jane Clark  (this I gave an ok to - not a G for good)
Wish You Were Here - Stewart O'Nan ( D for dull)
Crooked Little Heart - Anne Lamott - (G? - not sure if it rated a G)
Found Wanting - Robert Goddard - the title says it all
The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood - I'm just not a fan of hers and skimmed a lot


And the one I did not finish:
Five Quarters of an Orange - Joanne Harris - I read half of the book; decided I just didn't like the main character enough to continue reading. 


So there you have it. I believe that is 84. I'll have time to read one more before the end of the year!

Oregon Weather and Salmon

Fall has definitely arrived to the Oregon coast, after one of the shortest summers ever! We had no days where the temp got above 70, and few days where it was even in the high 60s. Everyone commented on the sunny days - they were so unusual. And now the rains have begun again. It has rained every day for the past week, and came down in buckets yesterday when the annual Salmon Bake was taking place in the community park. Eleven bus-loads of senior citizens came down from Portland for the event, and stood in the rain to get their salmon.

The salmon is cooked in the Indian fashion on stakes over open coals of alder wood. The salmon is filleted and then woven onto the stakes - so that it is smoked while it roasts. Wonderful! I hope everyone went home with smiles in spite of the weather.

The Kids Zone had a table of desserts to sell, and hubby was there in the rain selling his cards to raise money for the Kids Zone. He did pretty well considering most people weren't too enthusiastic about standing there getting wet while he gave his spiel! His next big sale will be the two days after Thanksgiving, and will be at a craft fair indoors. We'll hope he'll make lots of money for the kids in Depoe Bay! He spends hours every day getting the cards and gift tags put together. It's a hobby that has become an obsession! But it does raise money for the Zone.

Lazy Days of Summer?

These aren't really summer days, but I'm certainly feeling lazy! There are things I plan on doing every morning, but I find I'm reading instead of ironing, or dusting or even cooking. I have accomplished very little this week. I think one of the reasons might be because the calendar for the week was completely empty for a change. No appointments for anything. No reason to get in the car and drive someplace. So I've been reading. Next week it will all change - and I'll be busy again - maybe!

This Body of Lies

It's always satisfying to read a new book by an author you've enjoyed over the years. The first Elizabeth George book I bought was in a book store in Trafalgar Square many years ago. At the time I assumed that George was a British writer since the books were based in England. At any rate, I've always liked her books, although as A Garden Carried in the Pocket noted, the last two weren't as good. I have liked the TV series, but never felt that Lynley was cast properly and Havers was much too pretty! But when I found I could order This Body of Lies from The Book Depository I jumped at it.

It's a hefty book - 594 pages - and it took me a week to read it, even though I stayed up late reading. It is very good. The 'mystery' is quite involved, but the characters make the story.

Now it's on to another author I learned about on a blog - Susan Hill. I've read some of her books already, and this is her latest, I believe - The Shadows in the Street. What fun to have good books waiting on the shelf! And the bonus of bloggers telling about new authors.

Computing

I seem to have trouble getting comments to my blog onto my blog. Does that make any sense at all? I had two comments waiting to go onto the blog, and thought I had let them "in", but only one made it!


Our computers weren't able to get connect to the Internet this morning, so poor hubby had to crawl around on the floor and turn things on and off. Then the emails and Internet returned and made us happy. We got some great pictures of our granddaughter who is in Argentina on a study-abroad program for the summer. We'll get to hear all about it when we visit the family in Honolulu this fall!

Reading Joys

 Lesley gave me a book years ago in which I started writing about the books I had read, but I'm not very disciplined and I soon got 'way behind and quit. When I discovered I was buying and re-reading books I had read years ago I decided the time had come to do better! So this year I've read forty-eight books and have given them a rating and a few brief words telling about the book. It has been something of an eye-opener. I have read mostly mysteries - not thrillers - but have a couple of 'chunkers' mixed in, and one that I just couldn't get into. There have been no non-fiction books, but that is by choice. I'm pretty old, and think that I should just enjoy reading and not try to become too enlightened by what I read. Non-fiction requires a lot of thinking, and I'm more into entertaining books!

 I still try to keep up with the news, and read a news magazine every week, but we have even given up our daily newspaper. This was not my choice, but our paper has become very expensive with very little real 'meat' to it. So dear husband said we should no longer buy it daily. We do get the Sunday paper, and that is one of my favorite times of the week. I love the lazy time of reading every section, and cutting out articles on travel and finance - some that I send to my children - whether they want them or not!

Since I volunteer at our library book sale every week I have a plethora of books to choose from. We have a good library, but can only check out books for two weeks. I usually finish a book within a week or less, but don't like having a deadline. So each week I take books back to be sold, and come home with a bag full of new books. Last week I brought four books home and discovered that one is written by the writer on the top sellers this month - Justin Cronin, the author of The Passage. The book I'm reading now is his second novel, I think, and I'm finding it quite enjoyable. Several weeks ago The Passage was in our "tall books" or trade paperback section and I grabbed it - for $1.00! I'll read it later this year, but after I finish Cronin's The Summer Guest, I'll read another mystery!

The Cove

We live in a beautiful spot on the Oregon Coast. Our house is surrounded with various very large trees - hemlock, Sitka spruce, Coast redwoods, shore pines, alders, and smaller Japanese maples and a stray dogwood. We've planted most of the trees although some of the spruce and hemlocks were here when we built the house. A large number of spruce are "volunteers." They just grew from seeds the squirrels drop, I think.

When we first built we needed to cut down thirty-five trees, and I was afraid the forest would never grow back in our lifetime. Wrong. Little rhododendrons we planted from one-gallon cans are now six feet high. The little cedars we planted in the front area are over ten feet high. They were less that six inches when we got them from the Forest Dept. So things grow quite quickly here in The Cove. Except for the rhododendrons, however, we don't get a lot of pretty blooming flowers. We just don't seem to have enough sun for them. My hydrangeas do bloom, and Bill took a picture of one covered in snow one year. They often bloom too late in the year!

So I have some flowering things in pots, and when I remember to water and fertilize them they look pretty for about four weeks. It hardly seems worth the effort. I once loved gardening, and still enjoy flowers and greenery, but no longer 'garden.' One great thing about living in the forest - I no longer have to weed!

Completion

We are finally getting back to a somewhat normal existence with the rooms painted and the furniture and furnishings back in place. A few pictures need re-hanging, but as Bill says - we have time to do that when we "get around to it." I feel as if we've moved into a new home - almost! The colors are just right. Our wonderful painter only took four days to do the job, and it was quite a big one. The very high ceiling in the "great room" as well as the 9' ceilings in the rest of the downstairs made for a challenge for him, and he did it all by himself!

We spent a good part of our days in the library/office room on our computers while the painting was being done. Bill has been making note cards to sell for our after-school program - The Kids Zone - so for the past several months we have traveled to various parts of Oregon for him to photograph Oregon's covered bridges. We'll be off again soon to get shots of four more. He'll have taken pictures of forty-seven bridges by then, with only three more to finish. Many of the bridges fell into disuse or neglect, but fifty remain and an Oregon Covered Bridge Society was formed to keep those remaining in repair. His photography has taken us over a variety of back roads and country vistas we hadn't seen before, and while he climbed up and down river banks to get that perfect view, I was able to read and enjoy the quiet.

Paint

We are going to paint the inside of the downstairs of the house - at last! It has been over 12 years since the first very thin coat of white was put on when the house was built. Now that we know that white isn't needed for light, here in the dark woods, we are ready for some color. Benjamin Moore paint has a new one-coat paint - Aura - that we will use. We have finally decided on the colors. For the main rooms - the kitchen, dining room and hall - Harmony - a darkish beige. For the master bedroom and bath - Wind Chime - a Celadon green. We have tested three different greens and decided on this one. We tried two different colors for the other rooms, but the second was too yellow for my taste. Now, when the rooms are finished we'll see how well we did. If I could have mixed three or four different greens, I might be happier with the final color, but it was too much to worry about! We can certainly live the next 12 years with what we've picked!

Memorial Day

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, and I'd like to remember the members of my family who have served.

My great-great-great Grandfather Levi Ashbrook served in the Revolutionary War. My great-Grandfather Aaron Ashbrook served in the Civil War on the Union side, as did his brothers, one of whom died as a result. My Grandfather Roy Wilson Ashbrook served in the US Army in the Spanish-American War in the Philippines and lost an eye there. He then went on to train soldiers for WWI. My uncle Roy served in the Army in the Battle of the Bulge and had frostbite as a result. He then went on to serve in the Army of Occupation in Japan. My uncle Ed Allatt was a bomber pilot in the Mediterranean and had two planes shot out from under him and had to ditch in the water. My father was a pilot ferrying supplies to Australia for the Navy in unescorted, and unarmed planes. My first husband, Mike, was a Captain in the Canadian Army, serving in Korea and in the Congo under the UN. My husband, Bill, made his career in the Air Corps for 22 years. David, my son, was in the Navy for 12 year. And I almost forgot my great-grandfather Searles who served as a drummer boy for the Union in the Civil War.

To all of them - Thank you.

Memorial

This is always such a hard time for our family. I looked at Lesley's blog today, and tears streamed. Too many memories - but some of them are such good ones. I love looking at the pictures of Rachel and Amy. And I remember that weekend at the cabin when the girls had such a good time in the snow. Memories.

Off and Away!

We leave soon for our trip back to the mid-west for several important events. First we'll get to meet Sylvie - a very important new member of the family - our great-niece in Colorado. Then a stop in Kansas to visit a member of Bill's family - His cousin Sabine who is his first cousin's daughter from Germany. Then to Nevada, Missouri and Catherine's graduation from Cottey - and a visit with Val and Neal and Catherine before they head for San Diego and we head on up to Lincoln, Nebraska. There we'll visit the Jacksons and Schers. And that will be a fun time for me with Maddie and Emily! And then on home. We're keeping fingers crossed that the weather will be nice to us!

Finis!

Today I took my memoirs to the printer. I worked hard on them, and hope they reflect something of my life without too many bumps and bruises. Thanks to Alison for the title. I don't know what I'll do for writing now. I'm not creative enough to start on something in fiction, and I've done my life. Not good with poetry. Oh well - time now to read!

What Can I Say?

I am so discouraged by the terrible things that are said by people on Twitter, Facebook and various talk shows. I don't understand where courtesy disappeared, or why. Why is there so much anger? Does anyone really think we should "wipe the bastards out" who voted for health care reform? Is this the way to run a country, by stirring up anger and viciousness. People are being spit on. Posters are made that show nothing of the owner's character except ignorance. Why do we allow all of this? Well - we do have something known as "free speech" and I suppose as long as that exists we will have the Hannitys and Limbaughs spewing their hatred. I worry that the young people of this country will begin to think that this is the only way to project your opinion. Too sad.

The Saga of the Refrigerator

We now have water damage to our hardwood flooring in the kitchen. Evidently the hose to the ice maker leaked. The wood floor is wavy and the linoleum in the laundry room has lifted. The insurance adjuster was here yesterday, and the verdict is that the flooring in the kitchen, dining room, living room and powder room must be repaired and refinished. And the laundry room will need new lino. So we will have to move everything out of all those rooms, and then move ourselves out for three days. Our deductible isn't very big, and the insurance will pay for our staying in a motel, so we won't have a lot of expense with all of this, but we will have a lot of bother! I don't look forward to boxing up everything in the buffet, china hutch and bookcases. We'll have to hire people to move the furniture and disconnect the gas clothes dryer, etc., etc. Such fun. We also have to get a plumber to fix the hose connection to the dear new refrigerator!

Max Raabe and his Palast Orchester

What a great evening! The music was wonderful, the audience was very enthusiastic and we didn't want it to end. At the interval about fifteen women dressed in the 20's and 30's style came forward and were allowed backstage to visit with members of the orchestra. Most of the women were in their twenties and were having a wonderful time! Very cute idea.
We had seats in the first row center, so were able to see all the orchestra and the faces they made - especially the pianist. They are all such good musicians - and interact with the audience constantly. Many funny moments.
I couldn't stop smiling, and noticed most people leaving the theatre were also smiling.
I hope Max Raabe continues to have success and will come back to Portland soon.

Memories

I think I have just finished writing my memoirs, at last. It has been almost ten years since I started working on this long tale. Now I have to decide whether or not to have it printed and bound into book form, or if it would be best to just let it lie as is. As is said when I started it, I don't think it will be of much interest to anyone except some of the family, and maybe not even to them. So I'm going to think about it for a while. I need to have someone read and edit it. I've gone over it so many times and changed things so many times that I'm sure I've got lots of mistakes and inconsistencies.

Sunsine on my Shoulder Makes Me Happy.....

Today was our second day of sun! It was, however, rather cool both days. Yesterday I managed to do a tiny bit of yard work before my fingers froze, so the pots on the deck look a bit nicer than they did. The Triffid shrub has been pruned and new growth is coming up. There are some six inch tall daffodil stems, and a few crocus stems, but no flowers. Just as well. We'll probably have another freeze!
The new refrigerator is humming away, and seems to be just what we needed. Lots of space and the ice cubes no longer fly out across the floor. It really is nice to have the freezer section completely separate from the fridge part - two compressors means less energy wasted when we open the fridge door etc. etc. - I think!
I think I have finished all I can do about the taxes. Now it will be up to our "tax man" to see what mistakes I've made.

Yeah!

The new refrigerator arrived this morning and is busily making ice and cooling down. I hope I don't have to move all the food ever again! I'm not too thrilled with the stainless steel finish - it makes the room look dark - but I'll learn to live with it. "They" say that stainless is on the way out for appliances. Can avocado and burnt orange be coming back?! Ugh!

Blue Mood

Today I received a notification that my dear friend from 8th Grade and High School has died. She was my maid of honor at my first wedding, and although we didn't see each other very often after we both married, we kept in touch.
A picture sent at Christmas this year was hard for me to look at because she had changed so much. Now I know why. She has been ill for several years and on dialysis.
So now she's gone. Goodbye, Carol. I'll miss your cards, but I still have wonderful memories.

Sometimes Good Things Happen

We bought a beautiful refrigerator with Dutch doors and a freezer on the bottom two and a half years ago. Within a couple of weeks we knew something was wrong with it because it kept freezing everything in the top part as well as the freezer. So a repair man came out and discovered some of the packing material hadn't been removed and the air wasn't circulating. A few more weeks went by and we had to call him out again. Something else was wrong and the temperature wouldn't stay where it belonged and everything froze. So a part was ordered and he came out again and fixed the problem.

Fast forward: Sometime within the next six months everything in the freezer had ice crystals all over. Repair man again. Then whenever the drawer of the freezer was pulled out to get ice, the arm on the ice maker threw ice behind the drawer, onto the defrost tray and then speeding out across the floor. Repair man again, and again, and again and again. Sometime during these visits when I spoke with Sears about the problems we were encountering I was told that if we had more than three repair visits within a year we were to get a new refrigerator. This sounded great because we were rapidly getting our three in! However - the catch was that it had to be for the same problem. Once it was the arm, once it was the ice maker itself, and then again it was the arm. Now we have an extended warranty, so we weren't paying for these repair calls, but they were adding up for Sears! Each repair visit averaged about $180 just for the repair man, not for the parts. We had just about figured out that the cost of repairing the refrigerator had now reached almost what we paid for it.

In all of this the contract repair men were wonderful, helpful, courteous and just as frustrated as we became.

I finally had Bill call Sears the last three times because I was so frustrated. I had to clear out the freezer section each time the repair man came so he could take out the drawer to work on the ice maker. Bill got extremely angry during the last call because he kept being transferred to different sections of Sears Customer Solutions - and there were no solutions. He even threatened to sue, although we wouldn't have done that - we're too old to go through that, and it would have cost us more than a new refrigerator.

Well - the happy end of the story is - this afternoon we got a call from a very apologetic man at Sears telling us that we were to get a new refrigerator! Tomorrow we'll go up to Sears and pick out one - up to $2,200.00!! And they will deliver it and take away the poor lemon at no charge to us.

That is what I call customer satisfaction!

We will not get a refrigerator with the ice maker in the freezer where it can throw ice cubes on the floor this time. We will get a refrigerator with the ice maker in the door with the water dispenser so we can have ice cubes fall on the floor along with dripping water!

Back in the Mood

It's been a while. We had a great time in Victoria doing nothing much except reading, looking and buying in book stores, eating in various restaurants,(although it looks as if we ate at The Blethering Place several times!) and some museum-looking and the usual touristy things. It was blustery while we were there, but didn't rain much. Really too cold to do much walking, although we did do some. Bill, as usual, got some good pictures of the harbour (notice the British spelling, please!)

We picked up grandson, Caymon, on our way home and had him here for three days. Dave and Candy joined us on New Year's Day, and the three of them journeyed home on the 2nd. That visit was special in many ways. Unfortunately it rained the whole time, so Caymon and Bill weren't able to do much outside work. They just had fun!

On the 3rd I started feeling a sore throat coming on. And for the rest of the week I've been sick with a coughing cold - courtesy of Caymon! It's finally beginning to leave, and I'm feeling more like writing in the blog. It has been a productive week for reading, however, as I've done nothing much more than that! Finished three books, and am halfway through the fourth.

So - Happy New Year!