Corner View {flowers}

I was going to take some photos today of these flowers in our front garden.


But it is raining.


  So I'll share these ones I took the other day.


I just love when they are in bloom!

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Corner View was created by Jane at Spain Daily and is now hosted by Francesca.  It is bloggers from all over the world, posting photos of a specific weekly theme.  To join, just post to your own blog and then link up over at Francesca's Corner View for the week.  Then, visit the other Corner Views ... that's my favorite part !  Seeing the interpretations of the themes, visiting different cultures, learning something new !

Corner View {one day in my life}

the theme of this week's corner view is 'one day in my life'.  i chose today.  my day off.  it's different every week.  here's how it looked this week ....

wrote a blog post.  a book review.
took the kids to school.



made a to do list.
made (and ate) scrambled eggs.



re-organized the pans.  and tupperware.
(to make room for the new pans i was given for my birthday)



made our bed.
wore out the puppy.



washed and hung copious amounts of laundry.
and then went about with the regular afternoon routine
and forgot to take any more photos!
oops!

**

Corner View was created by Jane at Spain Daily and is now hosted by Francesca.  It is bloggers from all over the world, posting photos of a specific weekly theme.  To join, just post to your own blog and then link up over at Francesca's Corner View for the week.  Then, visit the other Corner Views ... that's my favorite part !  Seeing the interpretations of the themes, visiting different cultures, learning something new !

The Storyteller

 

 "History isn't about dates and places and wars.
It's about the people who fill the spaces between them." Jodi Picoult, The Storyteller

The characters are fictitious but the subject matter is not.  A German man at the end of his life, a Jewish girl, in the early stages of hers, strike up an unlikely friendship.  In a bid to get her to help him end his life, his horrifying story unfolds. A story that had a life changing effect on six million Jews, the grandmother of this young Jewish girl being one of them.

In true Picoult fashion, this book is full of intertwining lives, twists and turns, quotes that you want to write down and remember forever, and a subject matter that leaves you questioning what you would do in the same situation. 

I read the following section of the book about three or four times.  I just had to go back again and again.  My thoughts went nuts with the imagery and the concept.  I'm still not sure I can completely wrap my head around it.

"One morning after a storm, when the snow had blanketed the camp, Darija and I stepped outside the block to march to work.  We shuffled behind other women, all wrapped in ragged layers, freezing.  The path which we took every day, marched us along the far side of the fence at the entrance ramp to the camp.  Sometimes we would see the new railroad cars arriving: sometimes there was a selection going on as we passed.  Sometimes we shuffled past a line of people waiting for the shower they would not survive.

That day as we passed, a new group of prisoners was being belched out of one of the cars.  They stood like we had on the platform, carrying their belongings, yelling out names of loved ones.

Suddenly, we saw her.

She was dressed from head to toe in white silk.  On her head, a veil streamed out behind her in the cold wind.  She was looking around, even as she was herded into line for the selection.

The rest of us women all stopped, riveted by this sight.

It was, unbelievably, not the most depressing thing we had ever seen: a bride, ripped from her own wedding, separated from her groom, and put on a transport to Auschwitz. 

On the contrary, it gave us hope.

It meant that no matter what was happening in this camp, no matter how many Jews they managed to round up and kill, there were still more of us out there: living lives, falling in love, getting married, assuming that tomorrow would come."

I would recommend this book to most people.  It's well written and in that sense, easy to read.  At the same time, it's confronting and has left me unsettled.  Just the way it should be.  There is no sense to be made of the Holocaust.  There is no box to put it in.  No pretty bow to mask the ugly that it was.  There are no answers to the questions.  There is an unsettling.

And there is hope.

"After I was dressed in the clean clothing - soft cotton and wool, as if I had been wrapped in a cloud - she brought another bucket of clean water, and a bar of soap and washed my hair for me.  She used her fingers to scrub out the mud, and she cut the mats that could not be worked free.  Then she sat behind me, the way my mother used to do, and brushed it.

Sometimes all it takes to become human again is someone who can see you that way, no matter how you present on the surface."

Thursday's Books { 11 }

I'm excited about my pile of books this week!
I've already started "The Storyteller" and thought I'm only a chapter in, I'm enjoying it.

**

I would love to see your pile of books !  Just take a photo of your library books ... post it somewhere ... anywhere (!) ... facebook, instagram (#thursdaysbooks), flickr, photobucket ... your blog ... and then come leave me a comment so I can come see.

So, tell me ... what are you reading ?  And have you visited your library lately ?

Corner View {Birds}

The theme for this week is birds. 

I.LOVE.BIRDS.  I take lots of photos of birds!  LOTS.  

Today, I took some photos of my puppy ... after he was barking at the birds! 

It's a good thing he is so cute!  

But seriously ... does anyone have any tricks for how 

to teach your puppy that birds are not something to bark at?!

Here are some bird photos that I've taken that appear elsewhere on my blog ...

**

Corner View was created by Jane at Spain Daily and is now hosted by Francesca.  It is bloggers from all over the world, posting photos of a specific weekly theme.  To join, just post to your own blog and then link up over at Francesca's Corner View for the week.  Then, visit the other Corner Views ... that's my favorite part !  Seeing the interpretations of the themes, visiting different cultures, learning something new !

the best {SURPRISE} ever!

Not only did Rory throw me the best 40th birthday party, he pulled off the surprise of the century!

He and my parents had been planning for months to surprise me with a visit!  You see, I've 

been in Australia for 15 years and while my Mom has been out to visit three times, Dad

hadn't made it yet.  I was beginning to think he might never come.  The details of 

how it all came about and many so I won't share.  But on Easter Sunday, I

was getting ready to leave for church and the garage door opened. 

It was just the kids and I home as Rory had gone to play

guitar in the early service (or so I thought)!  He 

had actually driven the two hour round trip

to and from the the airport to pick

them up.  When I went out 

to see why the door

was open,

I saw

Mom and

Dad getting out 

of the car!  It was the

most amazing surprise!  I 

ran to them and immediately 

began sobbing.  I was overwhelmed,

in a good way.  My sister Ellie didn't know 

that they were coming either.  She was at the church

service I had planned to go to, so we hung out at home and 

then surprised her at the end of that service!  It was so much fun

to not only be surprised but then be able to be part of surprising someone

else!  The photo above is just after we surprised her.  Mom and Dad stayed for 

two WONDERFUL weeks.  Of course, we had nothing planned so we just decided what

we wanted to do as the days arrived.  We did some touristy things, but mostly we 

did what we all love most ... spent time together.  Cooking, eating, talking,

playing cards and board games.  Lots and lots of cards and board games.

The weather wasn't great.  It rained a lot but it didn't matter.  We 

still got to do breakfast at the beach ... we did it under cover

and had no problem getting parking or a BBQ!  We 

watched a movie or two.  We went to an indoor

play place.  Had scones with jam and cream

in a tiny little cafe while the rain poured

down around us!  I loved every

minute of their visit and as

with every time we must

part, I look forward

to the next 

time!

xx

 

on turning forty

this is me ... on my 40th birthday 

my husband planned the most amazing and fun party for me

he had the idea and then he let a couple of our friends unleash their 

creative genius on our house!  it looked amazing.  the photos don't do it justice

AT ALL.  i'll try to explain what's going on ...

i had been sequestered basically the whole day.  part of the day was spent shopping and having lunch with my Mom (who was here for two weeks but that is another story!)  and sister and then the afternoon was spent inside the house (curtains drawn!)  with family and friends who were preparing the food. when i was led out to the party, this is what i saw!  rory was behind the 'bar' (his workbench) in our garage!!

here's the view from across the street ...

this is inside the gazeebo that you see to the right in the photo above.

thanks to our amazing friend who lives next door (he is the fairy light king 

and did all the lighting for the night!) there was a path that led from the front yard to

the back yard ...

and when you got to the back, this is what was there!  more lights.  more food.  more people!

here's a shot of the inside of the garage.  i can't believe how they transformed it!

absolutely incredible!!  there were tall tables all around the room with mason jar tea 

lights... i think there were like 8 tables.  so cool.

one of the cool things Rory did on the night was to make the cocktail he created for me.
he and our friends had been working on this for who knows how long
and it was perfect!!  it was all the things i love.  they even
infused vodka with cinnamon for the drink!  i can't
remember all that was in it but it was the
cinnamon vodka, dr pepper,
maraschino cherry 
juice, ice cubes
with red
hots frozen inside.
and i can't remember what
else!  he did write it down though
and i am hoping he will make me another
one soon!!  mmmmmm .... here is the write up
he did to describe my cocktail, which he named "the Bon Qui Qui"

the night was fun.

i loved having so many of my

favorite people there to celebrate the

big four-oh with me! 

i especially loved how much Rory thought and planned 

about what i would love.  he got it ALL RIGHT.

every single bit!

thanks sweetie.

{music} Corner View

I wrote a post just yesterday about having been away from blogging for a little bit.  Actually, about not having time for many of the things that I love doing and how I was going to start making time to do them.  I posted photos of the baby black swans in our lake that I made the time to go take photos of.  This afternoon, I made the time to sit at the piano and play ...

Perfect for this Corner View theme!

**

Corner View was created by Jane at Spain Daily and is now hosted by Francesca.  It is bloggers from all over the world, posting photos of a specific weekly theme.  To join, just post to your own blog and then link up over at Francesca's Corner View for the week.  Then, visit the other Corner Views ... that's my favorite part !  Seeing the interpretations of the themes, visiting different cultures, learning something new !

{forever}

i can't believe that it has been over a month since i last posted to either of my blogs!

i miss it.  actually there are lots of things i miss at the moment.  like reading.

and taking photos with my big camera.  and soaking in a hot bath.  and

cooking for pleasure, not just to feed my family.  and playing piano.

and painting.  oh, how i miss painting.  and crafting.  but lately

i just haven't had time to do any of these things.  is it the 

new puppy?  is it the busyness of two kids and 

their after school activities?  is it the lack

of space in my brain because it's so

full of everything else? i am

not sure, but i mean to

figure it out.  you

see, i'm not

one 

to just

say, oh well,

this is just how it

is ... sure, i have to say 

that for a time because some

times it is just a busy week or two, 

but i refuse to say it forever and just give

up on the things that bring such pleasure to my life.
the other day, i was driving home from somewhere and out
of the corner of my eye, as we drove past the lake, i noticed baby
black swans! i decided to jump on this opportunity!  i stopped home to
grab my camera and turned around and drove back.  i took somewhere near
100 photos of these beauties and i felt so invigorated! i intend to make time for such
things much more regularly! don't worry, i'm not going to post all the photo i took but here
are a few of my favorites ...

{Feet} Corner View

Last week's theme was hands.
This week it's feet.

This morning I took the little fella on his first big walk around the lake!
He loved it.
So much to see!

For a bit we even ran, thanks to a big dog barking through the fence at us!
Barkley wasn't hanging around ... he took off running!

Luckily, I can keep up with tiny puppy legs!

He's all tuckered out now!

And sound asleep ...

**

Corner View was created by Jane at Spain Daily and is now hosted by Francesca.  It is bloggers from all over the world, posting photos of a specific weekly theme.  To join, just post to your own blog and then link up over at Francesca's Corner View for the week.  Then, visit the other Corner Views ... that's my favorite part !  Seeing the interpretations of the themes, visiting different cultures, learning something new !

Love Comes Softly

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

First published in 1979, I cannot believe I have never read a book by this author!  I've heard of her.  I've heard of people loving her books.  I'm sure these have even been recommended to me.  For whatever reason, I didn't pick one up until the other day!  I am so glad I did.  It was just what I needed!  I was feeling under the weather.  No energy.  Not wanting to do anything much except sleep.  Of course, I couldn't sleep all day so I grabbed a book, one that I had borrowed from the library.  I started it late morning and finished it just after dinner time!

Set in the 1800's, this is a story about a widow and a widower who marry out of convenience.  The widower has a small child who needs caring for and the widow has no place to live and a baby on the way.  The story is about their journey, finding their way together to become a family.  A love story.

I adore stories set in this era.  They have always appealed to me.  I love the sense of family togetherness.  The community.  The way the simple things in life are experienced and appreciated.   I love the way they seemed to not take life for granted or expect everything to be handed to them.  They worked hard.  They helped each other.  They made the best of what they had.  They shared. 

I'm super excited about this book discovery because there are more!  It's the start of a series and I've ordered the other SEVEN(!) that follow it from my library.  Woo hoo!  I can't wait to dig in!

Blood Brothers

I last posted a book review here in October 2012.
That was the last book I read.
UNBELIEVABLE!
Life has been
a little bit
hectic.

But, this past week, I decided enough is enough.  If I don't have time to read, something needs to change.  While I haven't made any huge changes worth talking about (yet), I did manage to carve out a bit of time to spend reading!  I plan to keep that up!

I have never read anything by Josephine Cox before so I wasn't sure what to expect.   I did a quick trip into the library the other day and grabbed this off the shelf and I'm glad I did, I enjoyed it enough that I'll pick up another of her many books.  I'm not sure I'd say I liked this book though.  I enjoyed the way it was written.  I enjoyed that I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened.  But I found it disturbing.

The story is about two brothers, polar opposites, in love with the same woman.  It's about choices made, consequences and the ripple effect out through the families involved.  I found the actions of so many of the characters to be over the top.  I'm not sure if this is because I have lived such a sheltered existence, or if they really were so cold and heartless.  I think that is what I found so disturbing.

I found the ending a little less than satisfying too.  It seemed abrupt.  I would have liked it a bit less so. 

I'll be interested to see if these things are present in more of her books ...

I'll let you know.

{Hands} Corner View

Guess who got a puppy?!
Meet Barkley, our Maltese x Silky Terrier.

He's a good boy but also a handful!
I'm looking forward to Friday when we have an appointment
with a vet nurse who specializes in training puppies.

I'm excited to learn from her since I've never had a puppy.
Only kittens ... and they are way different!

**

Corner View was created by Jane at Spain Daily and is now hosted by Francesca.  It is bloggers from all over the world, posting photos of a specific weekly theme.  To join, just post to your own blog and then link up over at Francesca's Corner View for the week.  Then, visit the other Corner Views ... that's my favorite part !  Seeing the interpretations of the themes, visiting different cultures, learning something new !