winter books

Posted on February 29, 2016 by is there any more pie?

we interrupt

Here’s what I’ve been reading these past cold months…in no particular order…and in case you’re looking for something to read while you wait for Spring:

The Hanging Girl, by Jussi Adler-Olsen.  Book 6 in the Department Q series.  Excellent mystery and a weirdly appealing cast of characters.

The Cuckoo’s Calling and The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith.  I never read J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, but I really like her detective series.   I’m on hold at the library for the third one.  Can.  Not.  Wait.

My American Duchess, by Eloisa James.  Pure historical romance, much better than some of Eloisa James’ recent romances.  This was a fun read.

The Harry Bosch novels, by Michael Connelly.  Amazon (or was it Netflix?) had a Harry Bosch mini-series last year, which we really enjoyed.  Try to read the books in order.  I didn’t (which is not typical of me, because I usually have a chronological check list of book titles in whatever series I’m reading), because otherwise it gets a little confusing.  There are also Connelly’s Mickey Haller books, but I tried one and couldn’t be bothered to finish it.  Mickey is nowhere near as likable as his half-brother Harry.

The Nature of the Beast, by Louise Penny.  This is the most recent book in the mystery series.   I’m on page 19.  This is a dark series and not for everyone, but compelling.  You definitely need to read this series in order.

The Girl On The Train, by Paula Hawkins.  I know this received a ton of publicity and rave reviews, but I couldn’t get into it at all.  If the second half is better than the first half, please tell me and I’ll try again.  I had trouble with a heroine drinking and blacking out and vomiting all the time.

My Very Best Friend, by Cathy Lamb.  Huge disappointment, as I’m a big fan of her books.  The plot itself was lovely and would have worked, but the characters were silly and the dialogue absolutely inane.  Don’t bother.

On my “hold list” at the library***:

Elizabeth George’s A BOUQUET OF CONSEQUENCES (the new Inspector Lyndley novel)
David Lagercrantz’s THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB
THE SURVIVOR, a Mitch Rapp novel (Vince Flynn’s series) by Kyle Mills
THE COLD DISH, by Craig Johnson, which is Book 1 in the “Longmire” series (which I loved and is now on Netflix).

Let me know if you’ve read any of these and what you think!

***I use my library’s “ezone” feature and download all of my books onto my Kindle for free, which means I have extra money to buy fabric, bluegrass cd’s and Subway sandwiches!

 

 

 

Posted in books & music | 2 Comments

i’m not very interesting

Posted on February 26, 2016 by is there any more pie?

Alas, there is nothing going on here in my little corner of Rhode Island.  Banjo Man has done nothing funny and we have not gone anywhere.

It’s sad.

Cozy, but sad.

So in order to come up with a post for you, I’ve looked around the house to figure out just exactly where my time is going.

First of all, there’s the treadmill.  Not that spending my early mornings in the basement on the “beast” makes any difference in my weight or shape.

And then there has been the invention and weekly experiments with my no-fat, no-sugar, low-low-carb blueberry protein bar (baked in a pie plate).  Not that eating it daily has made any difference in my weight or shape.

I log all of my food on my new Fitbit Charge, not that….well, you know.

And then there’s the sewing.  Three Quilts of Valor, a finished baby quilt, a finally-finished gift for my nephew and my grandson’s summer quilt (the only thing left to finish).

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Go Army!

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Baby quilt for an April arrival.

The grandson’s quilt fabric:

Music fabric collected on the last road trip.
Looking for sashing.

There’s the dobro practice (aka The Struggle), thankfully now from on-line lessons.  And Friday mornings playing music with Jeff.

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A Valentine dinner party:

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Oh, and the television shows!  The Bachelor is especially wonderful this season.  The Bachelor 20th reunion show was another big event, and I am such a geek I actually knew all of the people (past contestants) at the cocktail party before Jade and Tanner’s wedding.

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Banjo Man and I have been watching “Shades of Blue” (so intense!!!) and Blacklist (so gory!!) and American Idol (the best contestants yet, Go La’Porsha!).

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Love, love, love La’Porsha.  She literally stopped the show last night.  I clapped from the couch.

Book reviews tomorrow….

 

 

 

 

Posted in personal female whining, quilting, rhode island, television | 3 Comments

better late than never, right?

Posted on February 17, 2016 by is there any more pie?

I finally finished his quilt.

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My nephew with his adoring grandfather, Christmas 1990.

Okay, so this picture was taken 25+ years ago, when I wasn’t quilting (I’d begun quilting when Son #1 was this age, though, by taking a class at a local gift shop).

It didn’t really take me 25 years to make him a quilt.  It just seems that way.

I’d intended to make a quilt for his college graduation, but–alas–that was just a dream.

But I was determined that some day, some how, some way I would make this little/big guy a quilt.

And here it is!

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The Manly-Man Batik Quilt.

I hope he’ll like it as much as I like the selfie stick he bought me.

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Who knew we could sing karaoke and take selfies at the same time?  Such talent!

Posted in family, quilting, rhode island | 2 Comments

winter’s last gasp (i hope)

Posted on February 15, 2016 by is there any more pie?

Valentine’s Day set some records here in Rhode Island.  I woke up at 3 AM and checked online to discover it was -7 at my house, with a wind chill factor of -30.

The wind was howling.

It was definitely February!

I thought about getting up and sticking my head out the back door, just to feel what -30 felt like, but I didn’t.

I regret that lazy decision.  When am I going to get another chance?

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Sunday  morning we decided not to go out for breakfast.  And we decided not to go hear live music down at Galilee, where the ocean meets Salt Pond and the wind was certainly blowing all day.

We stayed in our frumpy warm clothes and ate leftover gumbo and chocolate cake.

 

"Remember, that's before I factor in the windchill."

cartoon by Marty Bucella

Posted in rhode island | 2 Comments

it’s that time of year

Posted on February 12, 2016 by is there any more pie?

The house smells like gumbo tonight.

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Banjo Man and I have been cooking for the past hour or so.  All that’s left is to peel and devein the shrimp.

Let me tell you about the shrimp.  I spent two hours online Wednesday in order to discover what kind of shrimp was extra safe to buy.   USA wild caught gulf shrimp is at the top of the list, so Banjo Man and I went to several stores to hunt them down.

It was actually kind of fun.  We ended up with smoked salmon and apple turnovers, too.

Tomorrow night some gumbo-lovin’ folks are coming over for dinner.  While I usually make sausage and chicken gumbo, this time it’s shrimp, okra and andouille sausage in the big pot.

It’s a little late for Mardi Gras, but we’re not looking at the calendar.

P.S.  We’re going to wake up to a -7 temperature Sunday.   Not fun.  Unless we stay home and eat leftover gumbo all day……..

 

 

 

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super dogs, bowl, commercials

Posted on February 11, 2016 by is there any more pie?

For years we’ve gone to Ruth and Kenny’s for the Super Bowl.

For years they’ve served hot dogs.

My favorite.  With chopped onions and steamed buns and relish.

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Sometimes I dream about them.

Here’s Kenny, who cooks the hot dogs.  Thank you, Kenny!

I love you.

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I love the pre-game music, too.

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The military chorus!!!

And wasn’t Lady Gaga STUPENDOUS!!!!!

As for the game, I admit that up until ten minutes before the kick off, I thought Denver was playing the Arizona Cardinals.

The halftime show?  Well, I thought it was pretty with all the lights and colors.  Though it might have been better with the sound off.  Does that make me an old lady?

(yes, it does)

And then I was so tired I kept falling asleep all through the second half.  I hope Ruth and Kenny or any of their family didn’t notice.  I’d been up very early and anything after 9:30 PM is past my bedtime.

The commercials were excellent this year.   Everyone thought so.  Banjo Man loved the “ultrasound” commercial, with the expectant father eating Doritos and the unborn baby reaching for chips.

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I really liked the singing sheep.

Here’s a link to the video:  http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/02/07/super-bowl-50-honda-ridgeline-commercial

We both agreed that the herd of dachshunds dressed as hot dogs was the most clever.

For some reason WordPress won’t let me link to youtube.  Sigh.)

Posted in food, just for fun, television | Leave a comment

they don’t really mean it

Posted on February 10, 2016 by is there any more pie?

 

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Spotted outside of our Austin condo in December.

It’s that time of year here in Rhode Island, when it snows every other day and the wind blows and the wind chill factor is about 7 degrees…but it’s not going to last long.  While checking the extended forecast on Accuweather.com, I realized that in less than two weeks winter might just be over.

February 19th will–according to weather models–be cold and cloudy and then?  Temps go up, the sun comes out and TA DAH!!!  The end of winter!!!

We’ll be on our way back to Texas in early March.  We’ve heard it’s 80 there now, so we could drop into a heat wave when we land.

Because it snowed almost all day yesterday (and schools all over the state were closed) and because it is supposed to snow on and off until Friday, it will be a relief to see a little Austin sun.

No wonder those Texans always look so happy.

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Posted in austin, rhode island, texas, travel | Leave a comment

one day to the next

Posted on February 9, 2016 by is there any more pie?

Late Friday afternoon.

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Saturday morning.

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Posted in rhode island | 2 Comments

quilts of valor, ready to go

Posted on February 8, 2016 by is there any more pie?

Here’s the one I call “Flag Stripes”.  Those rows are stitched and the quilt top is pressed and ready to go be quilted by a volunteer longarmer.  Hurray!

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I have another one of these, in Army colors, ready to be stitched into rows.

When I first started doing this, quilters were not allowed to put any info on their quilt label.  Then we were permitted to put our first names and our town and state.   Those who received quilts demanded to know more about the people who made them, so now we are encouraged to take pictures and keep journals.  Those journals and photographs are included in the presentation case (a pillowcase we make to match each quilt) and have been a huge hit with the new quilt owners!

I kept forgetting to take pictures, but here are the ones I’ll be including with the second quilt, my “modern flag” top.

First of all, Saturday morning was cold and clear.  Here’s the view of the back yard (pay no attention to that bag of garbage waiting to go out–I’m sure Banjo Man will get around to it eventually).

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I cut a lot of pieces—18 1/2″, 10″ and 4 1/2″.

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We won’t be eating on this table for days.

I arranged them in groups of 10, because that’s how many I could fit on the island.  There will be 30 vertical strips in this quilt when it’s finished.

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I also photographed each set so I would be able to reconstruct them after the strips were sewn together.

And here it is Sunday morning, all stitched together:

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I’m pleased with how it came out.

Now I’m taking the leftover strips and making one more, with four-patch blocks and a cream-star-patriotic fabric that didn’t work in any other designs.

We are in the midst of another snowstorm today, so if the power stays on I’ll finish that quilt, too.

And then?   Back to the dobro and the treadmill!

Posted in quilting, rhode island | 6 Comments

national sew day 2016

Posted on February 6, 2016 by is there any more pie?

Today is the day that thousands of quilters around the country will sew Quilts of Valor.  We will gather in living rooms and libraries and community centers and studios and quilt stores.  Some quilters like me, who don’t belong to a quilting guild, will sew by ourselves in the quiet comfort of our own homes.

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Star blocks: I tried out this pattern during the snowstorm.

I’ve written about the Quilts of Valor program before.  It’s an organization I’m proud to belong to.  As of today, almost 133,000 quilts have been gifted to “comfort and heal those touched by war”.

You can visit the website for more info:  http://www.qovf.org/index.html

There are many, many touching stories on the website.  These quilts are distributed to our soldiers still in hospitals and rehab.  They are given to Vietnam vets.  And WWII vets.  They are presented in official ceremonies.  And they are brought to hospitals, where the men (and women) get to choose which one they want.

I’m ready to sew.  I’ve been gathering my red, white and blue fabrics together.  They are washed (you wouldn’t believe how many of these fabrics bleed) and ironed and ready to be cut into 2 1/2″ strips.  I have browsed patterns (which has taken weeks!) and designed something I think of as “modern flag”.

I can’t wait to see how it comes out.

Pictures tomorrow…

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