Welcome to a day of creative fun at this blog. I have been searching my photo files for some old fun treasures from my previous apartment. On the left are some hats and handbags hanging from the hall tree that I loved back then. I wish I still had it, but it’s too big for my current space. Plus, my daughter sold it when she moved some of my things to my truly downsized space…the one I lived in three years ago.
I couldn’t find a photo in my current files, but then I remembered the photos that landed in my drop box! And there it was. The hall tree had a large bench and a big mirror, as you can see in the photo. Here is a closer view of some of the treasures:
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I also enjoyed this photo of my granddaughter at my Coca Cola pub table, with the hall tree as a backdrop. My favorite bookshelf is to the left.
Good morning, and welcome to my quirky blog…and check out the fun I had on PicMonkey today!
My new header is the result of some of that fun…and the unexpected results, which, while not the “designer” kind of outcome, made me smile with delight.
Playing around with the “sketch” tool, the drawing tool…and then the shaping one resulted in what you see above. Of course, I had to add some text and some creatures.
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Today I’ve written three posts, and that seldom happens. But, for whatever reason, I’m in the mood to “play” on the computer, visit blogs, and enjoy that extra cup of coffee.
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I’m not avoiding my books, as I’m quite immersed in The Perfect Girl…and also checking out what I want to read next. Intrusion, perhaps. I need the occasional short book, and this one has 258 pages.
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Do I want to go out today? I did go yesterday for a light dinner at Marie Callender’s, around the corner. I took my book along.
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But it’s too hot to go out again….thinking I should stick close to home, curling up here….
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What are your Hump Day plans? Staying cool? Going out?
Quirky creativity is a favorite passion of mine. And I love this artistic creation (above) by my granddaughter Fiona; in some ways, it seems almost like a self portrait. There are many versions of Fiona, like the one below:
And then there is this one, which she captioned Bad Hair Day:
She has no qualms about changing up her style on a regular basis. Courage? Creativity? Quirkiness?
Maybe all of the above.
When I started this blog in 2009, one of my earliest posts was on a Sunday…and Fiona, age twelve at the time, was watching over my shoulder, seemingly fascinated. I wrote one of my earlier posts about her: Sunday Morning Potpourri.
We have traveled so many Sundays since then, and I have added an additional seven or so blogs….(there were a few others in between then and now that no longer exist, but there are ten additional sites now).
And back to creativity…here is another version of Fiona’s creative explorations…this one was taken a couple of years ago.
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What are some of your quirky obsessions? What people inspire you to write posts about the topic?
Elly Macauley has lost her long-time boyfriend at the same time that her grandmother is laid up with an injury. It makes sense for her to move in with Granny for a while, to help out. However, Granny’s senior citizens’ mobile home park in small town Shannon Ridge, Texas, has a strict rule, enforced by a bitter woman named Mrs. Bagley: no visitor can stay in the park for longer than thirty days.
Unfortunately, Elly has been there longer. Disguises are now part of her everyday life, as she shuttles around the neighborhood in Granny’s golf cart.
Determined to eventually find a suitable job after leaving Granny’s, Elly searches online for possibilities, but it’s an overheard conversation in the local café that turns her on to something unique. She has been clearing out Granny’s house and shed, and listing items for sale. What if others in the park could also use this organizational service? Desperation often breeds creativity, as she soon discovers.
To spice things up for Elly, and also to complicate her life, she has met a hunky landscape artist named Derek. When things heat up between them, she is suddenly besieged by calls from Rick, wanting to talk. And then, unexpectedly, Derek’s past comes back to bite them.
What will Elly do to turn her life around? How will she find love when every man she meets seems to be untrustworthy? Can Derek redeem himself?
Bluebonnets for Elly was a delightful tale of love, creative inspiration, the wisdom of senior citizens, and the unexpected treasures one can discover in a field of gorgeous flowers. My favorite character was Granny, who came out with charming sayings that reminded me of my own grandmother, but I also enjoyed Elly’s feisty character and her determination to find happiness. Five stars.
Waking up early today seemed odd, as I had been “training” my biological clock to keep me in bed until 7:00 a.m., at least. But there I was, wide awake at 5:00 a.m., almost as if I hadn’t spent the last two months in “training.”
I’m not sure why…but since I didn’t feel tired, I decided to get out of bed.
And as I was checking my blogs, I realized that I hadn’t done a post here in ages! My last one was all about my new novel coming out soon…and I really hope it’s sooner rather than later. We moved along rather quickly with the book interior proofs, which are done.
Then came the cover design. Okay…now I’m kind of obsessive about my covers. I wanted something different from my first five books…and had a lovely conversation with the cover design consultant. I thought we were on the same page.
And when I got the first three cover proofs, they were ALMOST just what I wanted. The text, etc., all perfect. But I just wanted a little tweaking on the cover images.
Now I’m told that I should have the revisions by Friday….I thought my head would explode! I requested the revisions a week ago! The original proofs only took a week.
So now I guess I’m going to whine…LOL.
You may have gathered that I am not a patient person when it comes to certain things. I WANT IT NOW!
What to do? Well, I could blog more, or I could read more. And I could practice improving my ability to WAIT.
Here’s what I’m reading today:
In this darkly riveting debut novel—a sophisticated psychological mystery that is also a heartbreakingly honest meditation on memory, identity, and aging—an elderly woman descending into dementia embarks on a desperate quest to find the best friend she believes has disappeared, and her search for the truth will go back decades and have shattering consequences.
I’m loving it already! I can almost feel the terror of descending into dementia, since the story is told in Maud’s first person narrative.
I’ve also been playing around, creating a new blog header for one of my sites…to bring out during Bloggiesta weekend, when we make changes on a blog. I don’t usually wait for these events for changes, but I like the opportunity to create a new header, clean up the sidebars, and change the blog theme. The site I will be working on this time: Curl up and Read.
What keeps you going during times when you are impatiently waiting for something?
Wrapped in the comfort of her childhood home in Kentucky, Teddi Overman had dreams. And adventures. Some that she shared with her younger brother Josh, who had a unique affinity for wildlife, especially the broken and damaged ones.
Teddi’s passion for furniture sprang to life when she discovered an old broken-down chair by the side of the road. Studying library books, she repaired and refinished it and finally sold it. To a man named Jackson T. Palmer from Charleston.
Years later, she would go to Charleston to pursue her dream, but she crept away without talking to her parents, leaving only a note. She believed she needed to shape her own destiny.
Of course she would apprentice in Mr. Palmer’s shop, and she would still dream of owning her own. But the journey to her own shop would not be straight and smooth. Journeys never are. But I loved taking the journey with Teddi, walking the pathways with her, visiting the yard sales, and sharing special moments with her best friend Olivia and her Grammy Belle, a ninety-something woman with a zest for life and stories to tell.
I think Grammy Belle was one of my favorite characters. I loved the lessons she shared, like this one she gave to Teddi: “Sometimes it’s not what we hold on to that shapes our lives—it’s what we’re willing to let go of.”
That is a lesson Teddi had to learn over the years, as her younger brother Josh mysteriously disappeared one day in his teens, after a particularly tragic event, his whereabouts still unknown. But Teddi has a feeling…he’s somewhere on the Gorge near the farm, doing what he loves. Saving the wildlife.
What will Teddi do to honor her brother, after her mother’s death? How will the new life given to the old homestead somehow bring resolution to the unanswered questions? And how will moments from her childhood continue to resonate as she struggles to move on?
Reading Looking for Me was like living the story with the characters, experiencing their vision of life through the homey moments in Kentucky, or the gorgeous homes and antiques in Charleston. The author’s visual images drew me in and embraced me, making me feel part of everything. I laughed, I cried, and I wanted desperately for Teddi’s story to continue. I am hoping for a sequel. Or a few rereads. I loved this story! Five stars.
Yesterday was one of those stay-at-home days; because of the holiday, I didn’t even go to the post office. Just the supermarket for supplies.
But today I’m getting an early start so I can mail things. First I’m enjoying some coffee in one of my favorite mugs. Note the stack of books ready to go out to giveaway winners.
In my restlessness yesterday (that’s what happens when I stay at home!), I did some more rearranging of the entry/dining area space.
In this photo below, note that the wicker loveseat is once again up next to the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. From the dining room, you can see the angled sofa table and the little dropleaf table where I pay bills.
Earlier I was blogging my Teaser Tuesday meme….and finding new books to add to my list. But before that, I woke up in the middle of the night to keep reading Evil at Heart. And then had nightmares when I went back to sleep. EEEEK!
Now I’m going to finish watching my favorite TV shows that are on my DVR from last night:Switched at Birth, The Carrie Diaries, Monday Morning, The Following, Deception, and Castle. Yes…a lot of shows for one night!
And, of course, I changed the header here, with a few more Christmas images, along with the one on the right that shows my Curl up with Books Reading Room. Head on over to check out the giveaway!
Then I went over to Snow Sparks and changed everything: theme, background colors and text, and header, too, of course. This blog is dressed for the holidays. Today I’m excerpting over there from a book I’ll be reading this week. Check it out! In Name Only is a story about a woman running from her past. I’ll be reading this one near the end of the week.
Weekends can be quiet, with reading and movie watching, or, like this one, they can be busy with family/friends and background music or conversation.
Fiona came on Friday and spent the night and Saturday here. She brought her guitar and strummed quietly as I went about my usual activities: reading, blogging, etc.
We watched some movies, too.
While she was here, I realized that something was awkward in my living room arrangement, like my humongous coffee table that didn’t allow much room for navigating the space.
So last night I moved some things around, and ended up with this:
You may ask where the big and bulky table went:
Here it is in the office. But this is not the final destination. I really need something smaller and lighter. For those times when I move the table so I can pull out the sofabed!
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Later: Just as I predicted, I wasn’t done. I moved this wicker trunk from my bedroom and put the bulky coffee table in the garage.
And then, there is my scanner/printer story….sadly, neither is compatible with Louisa May, my laptop. So off they went to the garage…and I must find something else. Meanwhile, here’s my workspace.
I moved my Old TBR stacks onto the desk….As you can see, the stacks are much smaller than they were.
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Now…back to reading and movie watching.
What are you up to today? Some of you may be on the road, like my daughter, who is visiting her grandmother in Northern California.
One of the things I know about myself is that I like to change things around. But in my office, the last Bastion of Things That Remain Unchanged, the change bug has finally attacked.
It all started when I got my laptop. And yes, the laptop, by definition, requires no permanent place. I have my little table/desk in my bedroom; the dining room table; the patio table….and now the actual office.
On the weekend, we removed the desktop. There was a lot of huffing, puffing, and sweating…and then the components were gone.
Afterwards, I stared at what remained. And didn’t like what I saw.
Hmm…what if I moved this table here and that cart over there? The what-ifs led to more sweating, etc. Switching the long table with the cart works for me! Having the long table for my laptop and other work stuff makes more sense. So here’s what the finished set-up looks like:
You can’t see the cart in this photo…it is to the right, and the printer and scanner now live there. Below is a “before” shot, with the cart and desktop on the left, and at right angles, the long table. Now they are reversed.
My muscles feel fine right now, but I’m betting they’ll be hurting tomorrow.
POTPOURRI 