Okay then....a progress report on my current Winter project. The
snowflake quilt square is nearing completion and I think that I'll be
able to finish it off sometime this week at work. Can't say that I'm
in love with this piece, but I'll finish it because I don't need anymore
UFO's laying around the place, and making me feel guilty.

Case in point.....this is Sarah's Friends, the companion to the project
pictured last week. About 3/4's done, badly stained by the masking
tape that I use to use to bind the edges, and stitched on stiff, white
Aida (shudder!!). These are so cute, but I can't see myself working
on this material again. And really, there's Aida, and then there's Aida.
The nice, soft high quality stuff, which the above is definitely not!!
I'll hold on to these for awhile, and the almost finished (except for the
french knots) one I may actually finish and do something with
someday, but this one.....
Book stash!! I was browsing through a couple of book blogs awhile ago
and came across a mention of the book Cheaper by the Dozen. It set
me off immediately, as it reminded me of a book that I'd read numerous
times many years ago, and a movie that I also loved. I'd wanted a copy
of Cheaper by the Dozen for my collection for years but had been unable
to find one. I decided to check the book sites again....and guess what??
A lovely hard cover edition has come out. Complete with a wonderful,
retro cover that I love. So I ordered it right away, along with a couple
of other books that I'd been coveting. Happy, happy me!

I also ordered the movie Cheaper by the Dozen, starring the marvelous
Clifton Webb, and the luminous Myrna Loy. I have seen this movie so
many times on tv over the years, I could probably quote the story
from start to finish without looking at it again. But I wanted it for my
movie collection, and since it was on sale, along with the sequel Belles
on Their Toes, I got it. These are comfort movies. You know.... like
comfort food, only on DVD instead of a plate. And no calories.

The Ken Follett book is a sequel to his wonderful book Pillars of the
Earth, which came out over twenty years ago at least and was a
fantastic read. I never expected him to write a sequel to it though,
so this lovely large tome came as quite a delightful surprise in the
book store one day. It's a nice chunky sized one too. So now I'll
have to reread my copy of Pillars of the Earth, because it's been a
few years since I first read it, and then I'll dive gleefully right into
this one. Sigh! I love books.....don't you???

The other book is one that I've read numerous reviews for and
had made a mental note to myself to get one day soon. It's a
fictionalized account of the affair between Frank Lloyd Wright
(the famous architect) and Mamah Borthwick Cheney. I look
forward to reading this one too.
While browsing the book selling site Indigo/Chapters I found some
books on sale for under $5.00.....all in hardcover. The two top ones
are Young Adult, in the supernatural vein, and the two below are
adult fiction. I figured that for under $5.00 you just can't go wrong.
And besides, I really hate to see a homeless, unwanted book.


So this is the book that I read last week. One of the sale books.
I'd read good reviews for this one, and was curious because of
the odd title. On the inside flap of the cover it states "a wise,
tender, deeply funny novel...." Um....well, I suppose it might be
to some readers. It's a bit broad in the "funny" department.
Perhaps what you might term satirical humour, which I don't
get myself.

I remember reading The Nanny Diaries when it
came out. I got it because the reviews said that it was very
funny. Satirical humour. I read the book. I didn't laugh. I
spent most of the book upset at how everyone was treating
everyone else, and by the end, when the Nanny is fired and
not allowed to see her little charge to say goodbye or
explain why she was leaving, I was in tears. So I don't get
satirical humour....at least not on the written page.

Anyways, I read A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
and I didn't laugh much. I winced a few times, and I shook
my head a fair bit, but I didn't laugh.

When Vera, and Nadia's recently widowed elderly father
announces that he's marrying a younger woman from
his homeland of Ukraine, they are shocked and dismayed
at the prospect. More so when they discover that she's
got a son, is still legally married in Ukraine, and is (in
their view) a voluptuous gold digger.

The two sisters are themselves estranged from one
another, and have an uneasy relationship with their
very eccentric, old world, engineer father who sees
the world in quite a unique way.

The book traces the courtship and marriage of the
old man and his brash, younger wife. It also slowly
reveals his past life, how he met his daughters
mother, and gives his view of how their life in pre-
WWII Ukraine unfolded, verses his wife's view as
related by their older daughter Vera. Their
history through the war and on to their emigration
to England and their life there.

Learning of the history of Ukraine was interesting.
Slowly seeing life in England through the eyes of
the "gold digging" younger wife who knows
the western lifestyle only as she's heard of it through
stories and propaganda is a revelation.

This is a book different from what I normally read,
and perhaps not quite my cup of tea, but it made me
think, and may have opened my eyes a little to see
something of how those who have not, see our lives
where we have so much, and think little of it. I
can't say that I ever felt any real emotional connect-
ion to any of the characters, but that's mostly
because I was feeling so annoyed and frustrated by
their motivations, and their behavior. I wasn't in
my comfort zone while reading this book, but I did
want to know how everything would work out.

Hello Shannon. I passed so close to your home and
didn't even know it?? Doh!!! How frustrating is
that??? If only I'd known. Thank you for your
kind words about my mom and her clothes. You
should know that she loves to dress up, and is of
that olde school, where you are always dressed
to your best. Her hair is always neatly styled (she
goes to the hairdresser once a week, and has done
for as long as I've been alive) and she is always
smartly dressed. Very unlike her daughter, who's
a slob!! Lol.

Hi Monique. Ah driving. A bit of a contentious issue
between DH and I. He would love it if I'd learn to
drive...in case of emergencies, you know. But I was
on my own until aged 32, and lived in Toronto where
you had a choice of having an apartment, or a car.
I had an apartment. Plus, in Toronto it's better to
take transit, rather then put up with the hassles
of driving, and the expense of parking. And I'm
just not confident enough in myself to learn to
drive. I'd be terrified behind the wheel. And there
are too many lunatics on the road as it is these
days. DH doesn't mind driving me around, and
the Go bus stops at the end of our street, so there
we are.

And everyone who commented....thanks for the
compliments on my writing. I'm glad you all
don't mind my long and rambling posts. I seem
able to post only once a week, and so there's
usually a great deal to say, and then throw in
a book review or two and the next thing you
know it's the on line blogging equivalent of
War and Peace.

Hope everyone had a nice Halloween. We had
maybe 50 kids total, and still have a fair bit of
candy left over. Some cute costumes, although
my DH was quite disappointed that the two,
kids who went to our neighbours across the
street and were dressed in huge sumo wrestler
costumes, didn't come across to us.

DH is spending this weekend working in the
garden, emptying the flower pots, mowing the
lawn, cutting back stuff, and in general just
putting the garden to bed for the winter. We
have finally had a killing frost over night, and
so most everything is done for the year anyways.

The bird feeders have been busy. The junkos
are back in town, and we've been delighted to
have a pair of red breasted nuthatches at our
feeders. It looks as though they're storing food
somewhere, and plan to spend the winter here.
The gold finches, sparrows, chickadees, cardinals
and blue jays are stuffing themselves, and so are
the squirrels for that matter.

Stitching Bits n Bobs has a Halloween sale on. Sigh!!
So guess what? Sigh!!! I don't know why I don't
just arrange to have my pay cheque direct deposited
to Bit's n Bobs, just to save time, and wear and tear
on my VISA card. Sigh!!!!!

And finally, yes the end is in sight, DH was doing
some book keeping last weekend here and was
sitting at the desk area, with the to drawer of the
two drawer filing cabinet in the closet wide open
so that he could access the files he needed. He
turned around and found.....

Rupert says "Hi Y'all!!!"

Cheers and have a great weekend everybody. Thanks for dropping in.