Two Years

Two years ago today, we lost my mom.  In some ways, it seems like it was last week, when I think, "Ooh, I have to share that with mom when I call her."  In other ways, I feel like it has been a much longer time than 2 years.  So much has happened that mom wasn't here to share with us. 

I look at this picture, and it reminds me of so much that I loved about my mother.  She loved the kids, and they loved her, completely.  She knew how to listen to children (and adults), and how to play and create with real imagination.  She was always up for an expedition, even with two broken arms.  And she loved being outside, in beautiful places and some not so obviously beautiful.  My mother was a true "noticer" of things.  She had the observant eye of an artist, and I love that she shared what she saw.  When I notice the wonderful little details in something seemingly mundane, I thank her for it.  And I will try to keep up the adventuring, and spirit of play, in her memory.

Missing you always, mother dear!...

 

Wheels

Isn't she pretty?

100 Books

I've seen this meme around.  When Betsy sent it to me on Facebook, I decided to play along.  I have read 48 of these - not saying I REMEMBER all 48, though!

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. (I can’t verify this statistic).

Also.... The Da Vinci Code? Come ON... read this and it's no "great 100 books" sort of book.  Same for Bridget Jones' Diary.
   
1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (x ) In fact I am re-reading it, again, right now.

2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (x )

3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte ()

4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (X )

5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee ( )

6. The Bible ( x)

7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte ( x)

8. 1984 - George Orwell (x )

9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman ()

10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens ( )

11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott ( X)

12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy ( )

13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (x)

14. Complete Works of Shakespeare ( ) -

15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier ( )

16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (x )

17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk ( )

18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (X)

19. The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (x )

20. Middlemarch - George Eliot ( )

21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell ( X)

22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (x)

23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens ( )

24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy ( )

25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (x)

26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh ( )

27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (X )

28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (X)

29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (X)

30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame (x)


31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy ( )

32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens ( )

33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis ( x)

34. Emma - Jane Austen ( X)

35. Persuasion - Jane Austen ( )

36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (x )

37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini - ( ) -

38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres ( )

39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden ( )

40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (X)


41. Animal Farm - George Orwell (X)

42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (x )

43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez ( )

44. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving ()

45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins ( )

46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (X)

47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy ( )

48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (X)

49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding (X)

50. Atonement - Ian McEwan ()
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel ()

52. Dune - Frank Herbert (x)

53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons ( x)

54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen ( )

55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth ( )

56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon ( )

57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens ( x)

58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (x )

59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon (x)

60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez ( )

61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck ( X)

62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov ( X)

63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt ( )

64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold ( )

65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas ( )

66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac ()

67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy (x )

68. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding ()

69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie ( )

70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville ( )


71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens ( )

72. Dracula - Bram Stoker ( )

73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (X) -

74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson (x )

75. Ulysses - James Joyce ()

76. The Inferno - Dante (X)

77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome ( )

78. Germinal - Emile Zola ( )

79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray ( )

80. Possession - AS Byatt ( )

81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (X)

82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell ( )

83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker (X)

84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro ( )

85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (x )

86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry ( )

87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White ( X)

88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom ( )

89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (X)

90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton ( )


91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad ( ) started but could not finish...

92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (X)

93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks ( )

94. Watership Down - Richard Adams (x)

95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole ()

96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute (x )

97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas ( )

98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare (X)

99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (X)

100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo ( )

Circus and Other Fun

We've had some fun the last few days around here. Wednesday evening, I took the kids to the circus (wonderful acrobats, cute animals, candy floss...good times!).

Today is Red Nose Day, so the kids dressed up in red and did crazy hair to raise money.  Lily was thrilled beyond words to have occasion to wear the red riding hood poncho, which did double duty as a twirly skirt by the end of the day...

David's hair is SO stiffly waxed and gelled that I am wondering how many shampoos it will take to get it clean!!

Lost in Austen

In keeping with my Season of Jane Austen, I found this wonderful miniseries tonight: Lost in Austen.  Imagine a Pride and Prejudice fan-girl falling into the story herself...   It was so good that I watched all four episodes in a row On Demand, which explains why I am blogging at 2 AM.  I will pay for that tomorrow morning, I know...

Wonderful Mr. Darcy, too.  I highly recommend this if you can find it on DVD.  I think it just aired in the States in January.

True, This...

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True, even in small, half-day doses...

I Got Nuthin'....

Nothing exciting to report, that is. It's just been a random few days of regular old life, and I don't feel witty enough to make it interesting. That won't stop me from telling you all abou it, however.  Heh. I did get to googlechat with David for a good while yesterday, and I took the kids to Fakenham to scout the Kinnerton chocolate outlet and see a film (Pink Panther 2 - amusing enough, although some of it sailed right over the kids' heads).

 I like Fakenham; it's hard to believe we have been in West Norfolk over 3 years and this is the first time I've shopped the town.  Free parking - that rocks.  Three or four new charity shops to check out  - that also rocks!  I actually scored a very nice aran cardigan that's a size too small but still worth shrinking into, as well as a lovely pair of walking-around shoes.  The kids found some fun books, so a success.

Kinnerton Chocolate Factory has its outlet shop right inside the Aldiss furniture store.  Tons of great deals on various chocolates, including Easter eggs galore right now. I will go back before Easter to stock up for kiddoes.

Today was pretty straightforward - church in the AM, and hanging out in the afternoon. I knit some more on my Helter Skelter scarf, and watched Mamma Mia again. Illogical and stoopid as the plot may be, it's good fun to hum along with. And Pierce Brosnan is such an EARNEST bad singer. After dinner, I chased both kiddies upstairs to bed by 7:15.  I just feel in need of a little staring into space on my own tonight.

IKnit Weekender 2009

The most exciting e-mail just arrived at my in-box: IKnit London is a 2-day extravaganza this year and tickets are now on sale.





Did I buy mine instantly? You betcha!! I popped for the 2-day entry ticket, on the off chance that I can be in London for both days. At £15, it's not too much to wager.



I had such a lovely time at my first IKnit London event. I'd like to attend some of the workshops as well this year, which I didn't do last time around.



Knitting around Casa Honsinger right now - I've stopped on the Shepherd's lace shawl. I love the intense purple alpaca I am using, but I don't love it with the garter lace texture. I think a knit lace would work better, so that's in hibernation to be ripped out and reused on something else. I did start a Helter Skelter scarf, courtesy of Awesome Liz at Knitting on the Green. It's in a really subdued purple/grey/green wool, something like the bottom one in her blog post, and I need to get a picture. It's been really good telly knitting for when I watch Time Team!