Mixed Bag

Nasty darn day here. There even was a thunder and lightning storm early this morning and hard rain. Now it is just a light rain and 42° but still dreary. The roof didn't leak. That is a relief.

The destruction of the tornadoes in Mayfield KY is unbelievable. Shocking!  Mother Nature is VERY angry. The Blue Origin blast into space at least was successful this morning, and that is good news. Both events are scary and incredible to me! Awful and amazing. What is the world coming to? I'm glad to be old. 

Brother is getting good care and there is hope for his recovery. We have to take life's struggles just one day at a time, one baby step at a time, and maybe, just maybe we'll be able to breathe freely again. 

I'm reading an interesting book. Title: Folly. Author: Laurie R. King. First published: March 2001. Yard sale $2.00. It has me in its grips.

Got my Christmas cards in the mail. Cut back on number. I still like to send some.

Feeling lazy. Taking the day off. Bored. Kick me!

(all images from internet)

Passing through Winter

As you probably have already guessed, I'm doing more reading than writing. That doesn't mean I'm not thinking, just pushing a lot of my thinking in the bottom drawer for now. 

I must tell you that my favorite reads are almost always 'who dun it' stories, mysteries and forensic leaning. 

A book was recommended to me by a friend who is also a dedicated  reader. She has suggested several others for me and I have returned with some for her. This one is a type that I seldom read as I do not like emotional stories, stories of struggles through everyday life, sad stories, love stories, and more. So, I am not at the end of the book as I will keep on plowing through it, but will be glad to return it to the library. 

There isn't going to be a review here. No way! Read it for yourself if you already haven't and decide for yourself if it was a good book to share or pass over to others. You can always Google the title and read reviews. 

The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes

Image from Wednesday’s Women website

Gift

A recent blog from an artist: Click on this link to read all the way through.    

A Moving Story by an Artist

"And as I pull the first mug from the kiln I knew things would slowly get better. I packed up that first mug and Frankel’s book and gave it as a summer reading gift to one of my customers and supporters. So maybe sharing with community was some symbol of beholding the stars even though the the night was still a bit overcast."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The mug and book were given to me!

The Gift

Persistence Prevails

Our library gives readers the option of borrowing soft-cover books and keeping then as long as it is necessary to read them before returning. There is no check out or date stamping. There is a yellow sticker on the cover with the reminder to return. I like this option. Before the "stay at home" time came, I had about 6 of these. The last one I have just completed and it was a test of patience and determination. You see, I like Tami Hoag mysteries and this particular book was my last until running out of my loaners. I had saved it especially, believing it to be the best of all - I thought! The problem? I have never encountered a book that had to be forced open at every single page at the turning of each. It was bound at the spine so tightly that I had to fight to see the right side of the left page and the left side of the right page. Do you follow me? FINALLY I completed the book but I will tell you that if it were my own, I would have trashed it after the first few pages. I completed this good read, "The Boy" because the story had captured my interest in those first few pages. It is going to be returned with a note and a suggestion that newer/unread books need to be checked for ease of reader comfort!

The photos below is how it ended up after I read it. It doesn't lay nicely flat either!

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During This Time...

A fellow blogger had described a book she read and it sounded like one I would enjoy. Our local library didn't have it so it was ordered to borrow from another town. This is usual as I have reserved books before. They usually are available in about a week of standing by. Not this one! I waited almost a month and, thinking I missed the call that it was available to be picked up, I called. They still hadn't received it but would check. End result - after about another week it was waiting for me to pick up and I also found a couple of others that sounded interesting. So here I am, reading, reading, reading. We cannot return books when due as the library is closed. We cannot put them into the drop box either. It is sealed off.

The book was "All the Ever Afters" by Danielle Teller. I found it boring at first but closer to the end I really really liked and understood the story. When I run out of books to read I'll have to resort to reading cereal boxes like I always did as a kid. I like a book in my hands and hope to not resort to reading online! 

In the meanwhile we're hangin' in.

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Fairy Tales and Stories

The book I'm re-reading is one I purchased new several years ago because this author was one of my favorites as a child. This book contains about 160 fairy tales and stories. (no pictures) I haven't opened it until this week while waiting for another to be available at our local library. I find it amusing and interesting now, about 74 years later. 

Hans Christian Anderson was born on April 2, 1805 in Odense, Denmark. He was a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels and poems, and is best remembered for his fairy tales. His popularity isn't limited to children. His stories express themes that transcend age and nationality. His father was a shoemaker and his mother earned money washing other people's clothes. They spoiled him and encouraged him to develop his imagination.

Below is an excerpt I found on one of his biographies. 

Fairy tales

Andersen began his fairy-tale writing by retelling folk tales he had heard as a child from his grandmother and others. Soon, however, he began to create his own stories. Most of his tales are original. The first volumes written from 1835 to 1837 contained nineteen stories and were called Fairy Tales Told for Children. In 1845 the title changed to New Fairy Tales. The four volumes appearing with this title contained twenty-two original tales and are considered Andersen's finest works. In 1852 the title was changed to Stories, and from then on the volumes were called New Fairy Tales and Stories. During the next years Andersen published a number of volumes of fairy tales. His last works of this type appeared in 1872. Among his most popular tales are "The Ugly Duckling," "The Princess and the Pea," and "The Little Mermaid."

At first Andersen was not very proud of his fairy-tale writing, and, after talks with friends and Danish critics, he considered giving them up. But he later came to believe that the fairy tale would be the "universal poetry" (poetry that exists in all cultures) of which so many romantic writers dreamed. He saw fairy tales as the poetic form of the future, combining folk art and literature and describing both the tragic and the comical elements of life. Andersen's tales form a rich, made-up world. While children can enjoy most of the tales, the best of them are written for adults as well. The tales also take on different meanings to different readers, a feat only a great poet can accomplish. Andersen died in Copenhagen, Denmark, on August 4, 1875.

Some of his tales within the original text have a level of sadness, despair, ugliness and outright weirdness!!  My reading today was one of them! "Thumbelina" — a very creepy tale about child brides, tiny people and witches! So... get on your daring attire, dig up some gumption and give Hans a try! I'm having a grand time!

Drawing by David Devine

Special Recipe

Yesterday my brother and I were discussing some foods from the past that we really liked. He mentioned a Swedish meatball that his wife used to make and remembered it being very delicious. After he left, I went to my collection of recipes and found that one. There is a history behind it. His wife and I have shared dozens of recipes through the years but I have never made this one. When I viewed it, I was surprised because I always thought Swedish meatballs were in a creamy light sauce. This one is in a red spicy sauce! Not yet, but I fully intend to make this one. We don't like hot foods but will try it anyway because the spicy ingredients don't seem to be too much in comparison with other quantities of ingredients. 

Here is its history, first of all. Back in 1966-67 she bought a cook book called "Recipes on Parade." It was made up of 2,000 favorite recipes of officers' wives from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. It contained 374 pages of meat recipes and cost $3.50. Her book was a first edition and she still has it. The particular recipe my brother remembered and liked was submitted by Mrs. George Alden, 48th USAF Grp., Lakenheath, England.

Several other editions of this book were later published, each separate with individual categories: meats, seafood and poultry, salads and appetizers, desserts, casseroles and breads, fondue and buffet, party, vegetables and fruits.

Swedish Meatballs

Make Ahead Sauce:

¾ cup Catsup

1 ½ tsp. Salt

1 tsp Pepper

½ cup Water

14 cup Cider Vinegar

1 Tbsp Minced Onion

2 Tbls Brown Sugar

2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Place all ingredients in a jar.  Put cap on tightly and shake vigorously.

Let stand two days.

Meatballs:

2 – 3 lbs  ground chop meat

½ lb ground pork

2 Tsp prepared horseradish

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2-3 dashes Tabasco

1/3 cup Catsup

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Accent

Thoroughly mix all ingredients and form into balls the size of prunes.

Cook over low heat until done but not brown.  Pour prepared sauce 

over meatballs and simmer thirty minutes.

These can be transferred to a crockpot to keep them warm when entertaining.  

My Perspective

Today something a bit odd struck me and I wonder who else would see it right away. I was reading a book that was given to me via delivery from my daughter from a friend of hers. I have been reading it for a couple of weeks and really learned a greater understanding about Galileo and his trials and tribulations through his lifetime of discoveries and the difficulty conveying them to others. Had I gone to the library I probably wouldn't have selected this book to read.

As I was in the Mister's recliner, trying to keep my feet up more, I had him toss me a pillow to rest under the book, which was heavy and large, to have it placed better for reading. He took the pillow  that was given to me by a fellow office worker when I was preparing to move from our larger home into the cabin on the lake. That was about twenty years ago.

Now to the meat of my story: What do YOU see when you look at this picture?

You will probably say, "A pillow and a book" and you would be correct. Do you see anything else?

You would reply, "I see stars and the sky, just like Galileo did," and you would be correct. Do you see anything else?

No? Well they I'll tell you what I saw and thought it was a nice correlation. 

BOTH HAVE THE EXACT COLOR THEME! LOOK AGAIN! Greens, golds, browns. (besides the fact that the pillow has the stars and skies.)

In my first image you might even think that the top of the book was a part of the pillow!
Click on image to view larger.