random reflections

My Top Ten Books of 2015

There are a lot of BEST OF lists on the internet, and I thought I'd post one of my own before January got away from me. I read 36 books in 2015. I'd be able to finish more if I gave up a hobby or two, or spent less time reading blogs, but this seems like the right amount for now---an average of three books a month. When we're traveling I usually get more reading done, so that helps average out the months when I'm home and overcommitted. What interests me the most about this list is that it's heavily fiction. Only three of the nineteen non-fiction books ended up on my top ten this year. I think that's unusual. So here they are, though not ranked in this list from #1 to #10. That was simply too hard.

This was one of our book group books this year, and although I wasn't particularly excited about reading it, I absolutely loved it. Even though I knew the outcome before I ever started reading the book, I was on the edge of my chair, rooting for the team in almost every race. I was fascinated by the popularity of crew in the 1930's. A good friend of mine's son races competitively (he recently placed in the Pan-American games) and there are not crowds of thousands lining up to watch those races today. I also enjoyed the descriptions of how the boats were built, though one member of our group found that too repetitive. 

I was a bit reluctant to read this book, but I'm so glad I did. I would love to be part of a discussion group about it; the issues and themes are so complex and so important. The first two sentences are: "Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet." A young Chinese American girl has died, and slowly we begin to see from each family member's recollections a picture of her life at home and at school. The subtle communication that parents give their children, sibling rivalry, parent favoritism, quiet but effective bullying at school---there's lots to think about in this novel.

I'm not quite sure how I came upon this book, but I've recommended it to many of my friends. It begins in a small town in Turkey where a man's grandfather has died. When he travels from Istanbul to the family home, he discovers that his grandfather has left the family estate to unknown stranger in California. His travels to find the heir uncover a long and tragic history as well as a powerful love story.

It had been a long time since I read an espionage novel, and this is an unusual, but engrossing one. It takes place over a dinner in California between a former CIA agent and a current CIA agent who was formerly a colleague. I had to reread the ending twice to be sure I had gotten it right!

I'm afraid I usually think of Kristen Hannah as an author of "beach books," but this one got so much press that I decided to read it. I could barely put it down. It's the story of two sisters in France during World War II separated by geography, ideology, and circumstance. It's a tale of survival and love at the home front and on the lines from two women's perspectives. I probably need to reconsider reading some of her other novels.

This book is also set during World War II in Germany and France. It was another of our book group choices, and everyone in our group loved it. It's a complicated story of a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths cross during the war. It's beautifully written, suspenseful, and ultimately a story of redemption and goodness.

I'd read a lot of good reviews of this book, and was reacquainted with it when we visited the Northshire Book Store in Vermont this fall and saw one of their review cards. Shortly afterward, I found it on the shelf in our library and picked it up. Colm Tóibín writes masterful character studies. You won't find a lot of action, but you'll come to love the characters as they navigate their lives. Nora is newly widowed, the mother of two young sons, and trying to find her place in a world suddenly unfamiliar to her.

Shortly after I finished Nora Webster, I was in a lovely independent book store in Winnetka, and purchased a copy of  Brooklyn. It begins in the same Irish village as Nora Webster, and takes place before Nora Webster. I liked this book just as much as Nora Webster, if not more, and was delighted to discover it was about to released as a movie. Tracy and I saw it a few weeks ago, and although the book is better (almost always true), it's a wonderful movie as well, and now has received several Oscar nominations. This one is ultimately a love story, and that is the focus of the movie. Read the book first!

I wrote a long blog post about this book earlier. It transformed my daily planning, and I'm still using all I learned. You can find that post here.

I loved Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, and was very disappointed in her sequel, Happiness at Home so I wasn't too sure about reading her latest. I'm glad I did. I learned a bit about myself (always a good thing), and found the research about how we create habits, break habits, and maintain habits both fascinating and helpful.

I've spent the better part of two days (with help from Tracy and the Goodreads staff) trying to export all my books from Shelfari to Goodreads. Shelfari will cease to exist come March, so I have no choice. It's been quite a process. At one point, over 900 books showed up on my Goodreads account, most of which I'd never heard or, let alone read. Over 100 books migrated with no date read. I keep a written journal as well, so I can at least identify the year, and I'm almost done updating that. I'll be glad when it's done! I still have to figure out how to get the Goodreads' widget on my blog. I really like the Shelfari one, so I'm bummed about that.

I'd love to know some of the books you enjoyed in 2015.

Winter Scavenger Hunt

While we were traveling I managed to find some more items for the Winter Scavenger Hunt being hosted by Joy and Eileen. 

As we were leaving Rochester early in the morning, we saw a beautiful sunrise, and I saw some gorgeous bare trees silhouetted in front of it. There was no way to get a photo there, but Tracy (always a great help on these searches) left the expressway at the next exit. Just a few miles down a two lane road I was able to get this shot.

And here's a Waterlouged version:

We love Frederick, MD and often stop there for a meal or to walk the streets downtown on our way south. This year, it was just an excuse to get out of the car for an hour and the only thing we got were two items for the scavenger hunt. Frederick is know for it's street art, and it is truly amazing. I thought I had previously posted a few of these from an earlier trip, but if I did, I can't find that post quickly. This one is one of our favorites, just off the main street.

And here it is close up.

Also in Frederick, I found my first arrow on the very top of a beautiful church steeple.

And two more, one in St. Petersburg, FL and the other on the sidewalk in Fort Myers Beach, FL.

I found these berries along the way on one our walks in Florida.

Just outside the North Carolina Museum of Art where we saw the fabulous M.C. Escher show, was this line of fountains.

I like this view of them through the trees.

Another stop on our way was Savannah, GA. We stopped just to have dinner and found a wonderful restaurant in an old inn. Just down the street was a small park with a fountain.

We had some amazing wind while we were in Fort Myers Beach. The worst of it was at night, but there were a couple of days where it was a challenge. Sadly, the photos of the palm trees don't make it look as windy as it really was!

Since we've been home, I've found a few more, and I'll be back to post those in a day or two.

Snap: Week 4

Last week I debated about a group of snow photos, and chose instead to focus on bright colors. Although the incredible East Coast blizzard stayed east of us, we did get some decent snow last week, and I went out in the yard for some photos.

It's been very windy today and quite a bit warmer so the icicles have disappeared from the roof, and lots of the snow has melted. My friend, Debbie and I walked on the canal yesterday. The snow was hard packed by previous walkers and runners, so it wasn't hard to walk at all. We're hoping to get our weekly walk in every week from now on, but that's probably optimistic. 

Linking up to Helena's blog where you'll find other SNAP collections.

January 2016 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

The inspiration piece for this month's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop was a bit of a challenge. The colors are not ones I would typically gravitate toward, although I find them striking. And there is no clear focal point, just a variety of shapes.

I started with the colors and chose Tropical Teal and Terra Cotta Tile as the closest I could get to the colors above. Then I remembered I'd purchased the dies (but not the stamps) for "Sketched Shapes." I cut out two sets of the dies and chose the triangles and the circles. I lay them on some black card stock and started moving them around, and this is what I came up with.

Classic Kraft ended up being the best choice for the card base, and matches pretty well the background color on the largest shape in the inspiration piece. I was pretty happy with this card, but then noticed that some of the shapes in the inspiration piece were darker on one half, and thought I'd try stamping the one half of the circles with the corresponding inks. I ended up using one of the pattern blocks in "Bitty Background Blocks."

And I like this one even better. Here's a better look at the stamped circles.

The sentiment from "Stylish Sentiments:  Birthday" was embossed with gold. Both cards went in the mail as soon as they were completed since I needed two birthday cards for weekend birthdays. Fortunately, both live locally so I'm pretty sure they arrived on time. 

Addicted to CAS: Red

A quick post to enter this week's challenge at Addicted to CAS. 

Red is my favorite color, so I wanted to play along. I started with a Paper Source tag and envelope that's been in my stash for a long time. 

I cut some Amy Tangerine "Plus One" patterned paper with Papertrey's Phrase Play #5 die, backed it with a strip of paper from the scrap dish and some white card stock. I cut a second Phrase Play die from gray card stock, cut out the "happy" and layered it over the original. The stamp was also Phrase Play #5. Three Jenni Bowlin rhinestone stars (also in my stash forever) and some silver thread finished it off.

I love the silver envelope, and am glad I still have a couple of these tag sets left in my stash.

SNAP Week 3: Fresh Produce

We make an effort to eat and purchase locally three seasons a year, but during the winter it would be slim pickings. I'm so grateful that one of the best grocery chains in the United States makes its home in Rochester. The flagship store is Pittsford is actually a tourist destination, and it's my go-to grocery store along with Trader Joe's. I had a couple things in mind for SNAP this week, but after several gray, snowy days here, when I walked into Wegman's this morning I knew right away I wanted to feature the bright colors of the produce.

At least half, maybe more, of my grocery cart each week is produce (except in the summer when I shop at the local farmers' markets). It's not inexpensive, but I figure it's part of our health plan! Linking to Helena's meme SNAP, and off to see what other finds folks have made this week.

Memorandum Monday

A good part of our weekend was spent unpacking, getting groceries, and organizing. We did take time to go see a movie that's received multiple Oscar nominations, The Big Short. It was both a fascinating and infuriating movie about the financial collapse in the mid-2000's. One of the most interesting things the director did was to have several of the actors speak directly to the audience. It was effective and instructive, especially for someone like me, who didn't understand the financial trickery that was really going on!

I needed a few more thank you cards, so here's the "new" for the weekend. When I was at Whim-so-Doodle in St. Petersburg, I picked up a new die by Technique Tuesday. I'm guessing it will get a lot of use, since I make multiple thank-you cards every year. There were also two small open leaf dies that came with it, which I didn't use this time. After taking the photos this morning, I realized I need to up the aperture on the camera.

The cardstock is Papertrey Ink's Tropical Teal and the patterned papers are from a 6X6 pack by Amy Tangerine called "Rise and  Shine." I have a collection of these little clothespins, but have long ago lost the tag that tells me who made them. The little enamel heart is from another new goodie by Shimelle.

Here are two more thank you cards that I made yesterday afternoon as well.

I love the Block Talk Thanks die by PTI, and found this pretty patterned paper in my scrap tin---have no idea where it came from!

Since I had the Block Talk die out, I thought I'd try a variation of a card I pinned some time ago by Sheri Carroll.

I love the bright colors against the black background, a very different look from the inspiration piece.

Waving to everyone on this cold, windy, wintery day in western New York! Hope your week is a good one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Ombre

Having been on the road, I'm taking a quick and easy route to entering this week's Wednesday Challenge, Ombre, at Simon Says. Papertrey Ink recently introduced a new paper pad called Ombre Stripes, and I snatched up a set. I'm always in need of a thank you card, and this was a quick one to create.

Among the many things I love about Papertrey Ink is how the products coordinate with one another. The ombre striped paper is a variation on New Leaf card stock, so I trimmed off one edge of the paper so there would be a border on the side. The sentiment is from the Wet Paint series of dies, and the enamel dots are My Mind's Eye.

I have a whole list of crafty projects I'm hoping to get to now that we're home, so hopefully, the blog will be a bit busier.

Five in Five

I've been following Miriam's Five in Five posts for some time, and decided this might be a good year to join in with Sandie's meme. Since I'm not doing a Project 365 this year, I'll need some motivation to keep the camera at hand. We're on our way back to the sub-zero cold, so I decided to start my year out with five photos in five minutes on Fort Myers Beach---a much more pleasant outdoor environment than I'm likely to find at home. (Although Sandie's "5 in 5" of her art journal page is fabulous, so I guess I can't use the weather as an excuse!)

It hasn't been as warm here as it has the last couple of years, but we've managed a long walk every day even though we're in jeans and sneakers instead of shorts and sandals. Here are five shots in five minutes---lots of birds, of course. They're my favorite subject when we're here.

I'm happy to have a new project to add to my list for 2016.

 

SNAP: Week 2

Here's another photographic peek into our road trip from Rochester to Florida. We always make a stop in St. Petersburg to have lunch at The Red Mesa Catina---one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. I once had a special posole there that I've managed to replicate with some success at home, and their chicken quesadillas are the best I've ever had. This time I had the Cuban torta which was wonderful, and big enough for two lunches. Our other stop, Whim-So-Doodle, is just around the corner. It's the best scrapbook/stamp/stationary store I know. Tracy entertains himself with Facebook while I shop.

This weekend, after our lunch and my shopping, we went to see the Chihuly Collection. We've seen one of his garden installations in Atlanta, and a fabulous show at the deYoung Museum in Golden Gate State Park, so we were really looking forward to seeing some new and different pieces. It was, however, a bit of a disappointment as the collection is much smaller than we anticipated. Many of the larger sets are ones we've seen elsewhere, although there were a few new pieces I liked a lot, including the white one below. If you don't know Dale Chihuly, it's definitely worth a look at his site.

Check out Helena's blog for more SNAP collections this week. We're on our way back to the cold, and evidently very snowy, northeast tomorrow. Although I'll miss the mild Florida weather, I'm very ready to settle in at home after having been on the road since Christmas.