Thursday, November 19, 2015

Reading didn't start me coughing 11-18-15

So, I have been reading.  I happened to already have a stack of current books on my nightstand, so when I wasn't coughing too much I couldn't read, and wasn't wiped out by the codeine cough syrup - I read. 
 
Sue Grafton's "X", the latest in her alphabetical series.  She only has Y and Z to go - hope she finds another series  theme as I would dearly miss Kinsey Millhone.

"The Paris Wife" by Paula McLain is about the first wife of Ernest Hemingway and their years together.  Not many and not necessarily happy years.  This is historical fiction, but it holds true with the books I have previously read about Hemingway. 

"Circling the Sun" also by Paula McLain and also historical fiction.  This one is about Beryl Markham who grew up in Kenya, was a friend of all the people in "Out of Africa" by Karen Blixen, and was the first person, male or female, to fly from Europe to America.  I found it a sad tale, but it jibes with the books by and about Beryl that I have read previously. 

"Standing in Another Man's Grave" is part of the series of books about (former) detective John Rebus of the Scottish police.  He is retired, but still on the job in various capacities.  When this book was printed in 2013 there were nineteen previous adventures with Rebus, but Ian Rankin the author gives enough information about the past to keep the reader in sync.  I had to refer to a dictionary that gives Scots words (oxter = armpit), but there are not too many that can't be figured out by context.

Now I am about a third of the way into "Go Set a Watchman", Harper Lee's sequel to "To Kill a Mockingbird".  The tone of the book is in keeping with Mockingbird, but I haven't gotten to the controversial part yet.  There is a very funny bit about Scout, Jem and Dill playing and having a revival meeting with just the three of them.

Now that I am almost well, still coughing when I recline, I won't have much reading time, so that was something good about being sick for three weeks, I read some good books.  I also read some "popular fiction" I won't share with you.  Sometimes I read some trash, just to have something to read.  Readers are like that.  
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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Still looking for rain 11-17-15

I drove down to San Diego on Sunday for a meeting.  I KNEW I would get rained on, but it was only a drizzle on the way home in the afternoon.  On the way down I took these pictures of the ominous clouds all around me. 
Far out to sea there were solid white clouds behind the black ones.

While ahead the clouds were split, I was driving right under the edge of the blackness.
 
Above the black clouds seemed to bag down with water.

While inland the sky was full of broken white clouds.
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Monday, November 16, 2015

Monday Browsing 11-16-15


Interesting information for bloggers:
http://weallsew.com/five-tips-for-bloggers-learned-tv/

Tutorial for using scraps to make a pillow cover:
http://weallsew.com/quilt-as-you-go-artisan-pillow-case/

Machine quilting those little circles (“pearls”):
http://quiltskipper.com/2014/07/10/tutorial-3-ways-to-quilt-pearls/

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Sunday, November 15, 2015

Ruth Carden quilt posted 11-15-15

This is the third of the four quilts I bought at the SAQA online  auction this fall. 
 
"Green Gazebo"  Ruth Carden   2015   12"X12"
Cotton hand-dyed fabric, cotton batting, machine pieced and machine quilted.
As frequently happens the picture is more blue than the actual quilt which is many values of green.  And that is what I like about this piece, it is very calm and soothing  - great color.
 
Quilted with many different motifs.  I  believe there are both cotton and rayon threads.
 
It is to be hung with the corner triangle method.

Not much of a label - no contact for the artist.
 
I don't find a website, but here are a couple sites that show Ruth's work.
 
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