An introduction of sorts..

I have been a bit negligent in introducing a new blogger in the blogosphere. Although Our Friend Ben has only recently started her blog, Poor Richard's Almanac, she is in no way new to the world of writing. In fact, we should all tremble just knowing that folks with her expertise are hanging around...Just kidding there folks. OFB is one of the best readers you can have in this here 'sphere. She leaves great comments and writes blogs that are highly informative and (very importantly) entertaining.

So why the introduction? Well, OFB has been keeping a secret of sorts. If you'll check this past Saturday's Book-Away (and you should check it so you can get entered for the drawing), you will see the first comment is from OFB. She says that she is automatically unqualified for this drawing because...duh da duh...she's the editor!! And, she doesn't need another copy. So, I searched the book (they really hid your name. I'd be asking them about that...) and there she was...

I do get excited about what I consider my brushes with fame. It's like when Sandy or Antique Mommy email me or comment on my blog. Wow. I get all giddy and grin a lot. It makes me feel special. So, there you have it folks. Some day, you want to make me feel special, comment on my blog. I love it.

The Great Saturday Book-Away

Yay Yolanda! You are the winner of the legal natural energy book! It is filled with wonderfully informative synopses of many herbs used to alter one's state of mind. Send me an email with your address and we'll get your book on its way to you early next week.

As for this week's book offering, we have Joey Green's Amazing Kitchen Cures: 1,150 Ways to Prevent and Cure Common Ailments with Brand-Name Products. Sound interesting? Be sure to sign up between now and next Saturday night, when a new winner will be chosen. Thanks to everyone for participating!

Thursday 13: Austen-ish Words

I have been intently and voraciously devouring Pride and Prejudice these last few days. With that in mind, I thought what fun it would be to do another Wordy Thursday Thirteen, this time with words found in writers of the period. I hope many of these words are already in your vocabulary, but if not, I will provide definitions for each lovely turn of thought. Enjoy!

1. panegyric: \ˌpa-nə-ˈjir-ik, -ˈjī-rik\--formal or elaborate praise--Mr. Collins' panegyric of Lady De Bourgh is quite irritating to Elizabeth.
2. palliate: to cover by excuses and apologies--Though Elizabeth desired to palliate the atrocious behavior of her mother and younger sisters, her filial devotion kept her from it.
3. dilatory: characterized by procrastination--If I had not been dilatory in this matter, my TT entry would have been posted much sooner!
4. disapprobation: (quite likely my favorite word of Jane Austen's. One can assume that she was partial to it as well because it is liberally sprinkled in her novels) the act of state of disapproving
5. diffidence: What a sweet word! hesitation in acting or speaking though lack of self-confidence--Miss Darcy, by her lack of conversation, exhibited great diffidence in her first meeting with Elizabeth Bennet.
6. temerity: unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger or opposition--Lydia Bennet showed great temerity in her sudden and foolish elopement with Mr. Wickham.
7. repine: to long for something--Elizabeth spent many hours regretting her hasty and ill-advised opinion of Mr. Darcy. She greatly repined for a chance to express her remorse.
8. umbrage: (this word is not found in Ms. Austen's writing in this novel, I first became acquainted with it in Hannah Hurnard's work: Mountains of Spices--a sequel to Hind's Feet on High Places)--a feeling of pique or resentment at some fancied slight or insult.
   
9. diminution--the act, process or instance of diminishing
10. vicissitudinous: marked by fluctuations in condition--thank you for bringing this word to my attention last week. It is now marked in my memory as wonderful and full-deserving of much usage. I love to say it!
11. timorous: (this word reminds me of a mouse...)of a timid dispostion--Mice are usually timorous when confronted with the need to be seen in the open.
12. exigent: requiring immediate aid or action--A child swallowing bleach is an exigency that one does not often wish to repeat. Yes, my little sister did this when she was quite young. How she thought it would taste good, we're not sure. She is fine. Don't worry.
13. penception: I am sure I saw this word in the earliest chapters of Pride and Prejudice. However, I am having quite a bit of difficulty in tracking down its meaning. The best I can come up with is that it refers to being aware of one's surroundings.
    

And that, my friends, concludes this week's edition of Thursday 13. I hope you enjoyed it and be sure to visit other Thursday 13ers to see what they are up to as well!

It's that Time Again...

Time for the Great Saturday Book-Away. I can hardly believe this is the third week in a row to be hosting the book-away. I am hoping that you all are enjoying the book-away. I promise each week to find a new book to give away to you all out there. So, please, leave a comment in the space provided! That's the only way I'll know you would like a book. Each week, I choose a recipient by some sort of vague method. I post the winner the next Saturday along with the new week's book-away.

Speaking of winners, this week's book recipient is Susanna. I have enjoyed reading Susanna's blog: The Wardrobe Miser. Check out her musings on fashion and refashion! Susanna, send me your address and I'll get your book right out to you!

Without further ado, this week's book-away is a book that has sat on my gardening shelf for far too long. Wouldn't this be a great addition to your gardening resource library?

By the way,

You are certainly welcome to add your name to the list for the Saturday BookAway. We'll draw a name on Saturday and announce the winner when I post the next book-away. Thanks for all the great response!

Not sure which book we're giving away this week? Click here to find out! For those of you who have already entered the drawing, thanks! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to know I'm not always talking to myself.

The Great Saturday Book-Away #2

As promised, here is the weekly Book-Away. I realize I didn't post on Wednesday who the winner of the book was, but last week's book went into the mail yesterday. Ten points for me for getting it done! Yay. Well, this week we have another book. That is, we have a book if I can pry it from James' hands.

This week's book is pictured to the right of the text on hand. Lots of tried and true tips for those of you who are interested in simple living and/or sage advice from days gone by. You'll love Granny's comparison to liquor consumption and life expectancy!! Here are some more topics from the book...

1. How to cleanse a feather bed...from my experience, it's difficult...
   
2. How to preserve mock ginger
3. How to destroy mice--you like that word: destroy??
   
4. Receipt to make good shaving soap

Rhonda over at Celebrating My Time for God's Favor will receive last week's Green Consumer Guide. I hope you enjoy it, Rhonda. If you can, take a minute to go over and get to know her. Rhonda actually hails from a town around which I practically grew up. So, it was almost like sending a package to family!

So, if you're interested in Granny's tips, leave a comment in the post below. I will by some random or not method choose a recipient and post it on the blog sometime next week. How's that for vague? I like it...

The Great Saturday Book-Away

I've finally reached that point in my life. The point where I have too many books. What? Too many books??!!?? How can that be? (sounds a bit Seussish, eh?) So, to remedy the problem, I have decided to host the Saturday Book-Away. Each Saturday, I will spotlight a new book that I am giving away. Want the book? Just leave a comment. James will draw one name from a coffee-cup each week and one lucky person will receive a book. Winner will be announced on Wednesday of each week. Without further ado, let me introduce to you the first book to be given away...

This book is the 1991 edition but is still in excellent shape...like new. So, let the games begin. Leave your name in the comment section. And be sure to tune in tomorrow for Good News Sunday!

Anybody here?

With all the reading I have been doing lately, I feel like I am stretched kind of thin on blogging. I have been keeping up the Coffee Klatch blog on a fairly regular basis. I felt kind of bad seeing all the folks who have stopped by and I have nothing but a piddly post here and there. I have been reading all of your blogs, just so you know. I finally figured out how to use my Google Reader account so I just dive in there and see what you all are talking about. It's great!

Right now, I'm working on a super-secret costume for a party this weekend. I'll upload photos later today. Of course, you won't see the entire costume...just a little teaser. We'll see if you have any idea who I'm planning to be! It's so much fun designing my own costume. Hee,hee.

Items of note

I just finished reading The Children of Hurin and the review is posted over at TKITL All I'm going to say is: it made me cry!

James also put up a nice post with pictures over at his blog Massage Buzz. He's really a good writer, in my opinion. It's just hard to relinquish the computer seat sometime.

He also installed Windows Offic for Macs on our computer. Wow! It's such a relief to be able to speak the same language as the rest of the world!

The Kids in the Library

If you haven't been checking...we're having a book sale of sorts over at TKITL. The deal is, if you see a book on the list that you would like to have, let me know. You only need to pay to have the book shipped to you.

Love is the Killer App...

by Tim Sanders.

I'm not going to write a full review tonight (or this morning as the case may be) but I did just want to let you all know of a book I recently re-picked up after a bit of a hiatus.

Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders (check the link to his blog on my sites to see list) is written mostly for "bizlife" but makes itself applicable to an entire range of subjects. What entity does not profit by being intimate with its surroundings? Instead of just coasting through our lives, making no waves or contacts and (of course!!) never going into the deep waters--jump in head first! Learn something new about the people with whom you have contact. What do you have to offer them? What can they offer you?

Here is just one example from my personal life: one cold morning I stopped in at one of my favorite non-heated thrift stores. The guys there were bundled up and still freezing. I promised them hot chocolate the next day. When I showed up the next day, hot chocolate mix in hand, were they happy to see me! You know, that box of hot chocolate cost me .99 and a drive to the store. My reward? First pick of vintage sewing items (super yay!) and a sunny smile and warm hello anytime I set foot in the store. I like people. I enjoy solving problems.

Anyway, Love... might or might not be your "cup of tea" but I say, give it a try. Buy it if you find it. I might even be highlighting some of my favorite parts here...you never know.

By the way, it rained today. Hallelujah!!

random musings

I would like to preface this blog with the declaration that I am quite literate. I read everything...everything! So, I do not want you to look askance at me when I say I just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time.

What? Gasp?

Honestly. I presume I was reading Ivanhoe when other kids were reading this gem. I shed real tears. Not headache-inducing tears but real ones nonetheless. I knew enough about the story that I could nod intelligently when people discussed the book. I never even watched the movie. I was a complete Mockingbird virgin.

Unimaginable. My children will be required to read this book before they reach the age of 12! (at which age, my mother was taking George Orwell's 1984 away from me) Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel, if I'm not mistaken. The characters are absolutely amazing. Dialogue, story line, quotable quotes are magical.

I'm so glad I finally sat down to read To Kill a Mockingbird.

Now you, what is the best book you have read recently? Are your parents readers? How about your children? Are they readers?

Ah well, the rain's gone. Back to the garden!

The Power of thin-slicing

Nope. I'm not talking about one cheescake at a party. I'm talking about a key element in this book...




I have this book listed on my sidebar but thought I would give it a little promo here as well. Maybe Sundays could be Book Review Days, eh?

Blink is about how we make decisions so quickly that we don't even realize we are doing it. Gladwell breaks decision making, likes/dislikes, and preconceptions down to their physiological components. He draws on scientific research to find out how people actually respond in stressful situations. My favorite part is the chapter on shootings by police and what actually happens in such high stress situations. Heart rate/blood pressure soars, sight line is severely diminished. Adrenaline takes over to the extreme. Only the most necessary body functions continue. Some institutions actually train bodyguards to overcome these physical reactions.

All makes for a very interesting read.

the Wal-Mart effect...

I just posted this over on my Myspace blog and thought I would share it here as well. I'm just cutting and pasting from there, so: nothing new.

Since some of you already know my feelings on this subject, I will not launch into a diatribe. I will merely relate something I read just now. to sum up, Wal-Mart and supplier Sara Lee came up with the idea of selling items off pallets, right on the store floor. They soon noticed a marked increase in the sale of underwear. Why the increase? "Were [they] taking market share from other competitors? Were people replacing underwear sooner?" The answer?

Both
and...
increased wardrobe inventory...

people just had more underwear stored in their house than they really needed, or had had in the past. The underwear was so cheap and so irresistibly displayed on those pallets, that people just bought it and took it home...consumption driven strictly by price and impulse--consumption that answers no need at all--well, that's curious

So, does that mean that if Wal-Mart wasn't driving down prices and providing such a good service for middle-class America, we just would stop buying so much?

***quotations from The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman

Thoughts?

The princess has left the building

Ahh, we took the little princess back to her Nana's house today. She is such a joy and a great little companion. She started learning to "needle" this week but was worried because she wasn't good at it yet (she's 3.5). She accompanied us to rehearsals, parades, parties, drum circles and church. What a fun little girl. I guess now I have to clean up the house. It's not that she made it messy, I just didn't want to use up any of our time together doing other things.

Here are some more books:

9. Prydain Chronicles Lloyd Alexander
10. Gardening for Love Elizabeth Lawrence
11. The Little White Horse Elizabeth Goudge
12. Value Tale Books Spencer and Anne Donegan Johnson
13. A Book of Fairy Tales I highly recommend for any fairy tale collection.
14. Little House Series (when I want to do something handy or clever, I think of how Laura's family would have done it!!)
15. A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter

Books...

I don't have a list of fancy, soul-searching titles for my favorite book list...just ones I love and find myself reading again and again. Here they are (in no particular order except how they come to my mind):

1. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
2. Entire Anne of Green Gables Series
3. The Linnet's Tale--Dale C. Willard
4. Watership Down--Richard Adams
5. Mitford Chronicles--Jan Karon
6. Blue Like Jazz--Donald Miller
7. The Space Trilogy--C.S. Lewis
8. Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy--Douglas Adams

More to come...

It made me cry again!

I first read this book in 2002, right before it came out in its second movie incarnation. I can't believe it can still make me cry. I'm glad it can.

Recommended Books

• Walk West by Peter and Barbara Jenkins
• Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• How to Get Ideas by Jack Foster
• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
• The Mother's Almanac
• Watership Down--Richard Adams
• The More than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide--Douglas Adams
• Spring Moon--Bette Bao Lord
• The Linnet's Tale--Dale C. Willard
• Blue Like Jazz--Donald Miller
• The Mitford Chronicles--Jan Karon
• Carrots Love Tomatoes

For more recommendations and book reviews, be sure to visit The Kids in the Library, a cooperative book review site.