Once Again, The Once Upon a Time Challenge

 

 

I was new to blogging when I first participated in the Once Upon a Time Challenge, sponsored by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings.  Now this reading challenge is in its eighth year, and I think I'll try it again.  From March 21 until June 21, readers who are on The Journey, my proposed level of participation, agree to read one book from four broad categories: Fairy Tale, Folklore, Fantasy and Mythology.  There are many more ambitious options in this challenge, so go to Carl's popular blog to view all the choices, as well as the current participants.

 

The added challenge for me is I want to read books selected from my own library--books I own but have never read.  This was one of the most enjoyable parts the last time I took the challenge--taking time to read books that have languished on my library shelves, for years in some instances.  It's the "so many books, so little time" excuse.  Plus, the "I have a problem when it comes to buying books" excuse. 

 

My messy library

I'm still putting together my modest book list, but I plan to start with a book I discovered on my library shelves earlier this evening (before I ever thought about participating in the challenge)--Madeleine L'Engle's An Acceptable Time (fantasy). 

Mardi Gras 2014--A Throwback Post

 

This is a Throwback Post.  The Wild Rumpus of Mardi Gras is over. Things are hectic around here for Mardi Gras, then there’s the extended recovery period afterwards, plus I had my winter bout of bronchitis. So, it's been awhile between posts.  A little catching up....

Ricky and I traveled to New Orleans in February to visit friends and celebrate my birthday and Valentine’s Day.  


Ricky and our friend Elizabeth on porch in New Orleans

We were lucky that it was the weekend of the Krewe du Vieux parade, the satirical and crudely funny parade that pokes fun at everything NOLA—nothing is sacred—no politician or issue is off-limits.  This year's theme was Where the Vile Things Are. 



Street Scene at Vieux Carre parade with Krewe King, Author John Barry

Led by Krewe King, Author/Historian/Activist John Barry, the mule-drawn or people-powered floats featured a giant smoking paper mache bong to tout the case for medical marijuana; and a take-off on the popular movie Beasts of the Southern Wild except this was Breasts of the Southern Wild, with, yes, giant boobs.  Continuing the anatomical theme was the spoof of Obama Care, Pajama Care, with giant buttocks and a rectal thermometer in use.  The Disney Landrieu float was a critique of some of Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s recent decisions that have been interpreted as trying to Disneyfy New Orleans; and a personal favorite--a life-size caricature of Louisiana Governor and aspiring presidential candidate Bobby Jindal twerking as he held onto a railing and looked out on parade goers.

It was hard to get good photographs from where we were standing, but Ricky snapped this picture of the Let Me People Go-Cup float from the Krewe of Mishegas, when it stopped in front of us.  The Krewe of Mishegas, the Yiddish word for insanity or craziness, took aim at some efforts to prevent people in the Big Easy from drinking on the streets as long as the beverage is in a go-cup, the current ordinance.

Let My People Go-Cup Float

The floats were interspersed with neighborhood brass bands and marchers in outlandish costumes and make-up.  It is one of the most unique of the New Orleans Mardi Gras parades. 
 
Each year our New Orleans friends collect large bins of beads for us to haul back to Shreveport. Thus, we left there with barely enough room for us in our SUV and once we got home in Shreveport, we distributed the beads to folks who were riding floats in our neighborhood parade put on by the Krewe of Highland.  Then, we started in earnest to prepare for our large open house and Mardi Gras party that we have each year during the Highland parade.  The house is decorated for the affair with, what else but--bins of beads!

 

 

 

 

 

This year’s menu consisted of turkey and seafood gumbo; red beans and rice; shrimp and grits; jalapeno, egg and cheese squares; Rotel dip for nachos; baked brie with cranberry topping and crackers; chips and spinach dip, topped off by multiple king cakes from our neighborhood bakery, Julie Anne’s.  Then friends added to the bounty so every inch of multiple tables ended up covered by food. 

For the first time ever, this year’s parade was threatened by severe weather predictions so it started an hour earlier than initially scheduled.  This cut down on the number of people who came to our open house but we still had between 75 and 100 people stop by to visit, eat and watch the parade. Usually it’s more like 150—200!

 

Video of the Blanc et Noir Marching Society

 

Some of the folks who braved the weather to attend the Highland parade!

 

 

 



The rain held off until the parade was past our house but later on the route, things were a bit damp.  The party started in heat and humidity and air conditioning and ended, after the strong cold front blew through, with my dispensing hot tea to wet parade goers who huddled in the warm kitchen where my vintage Chambers range had kept things toasty. 

With this front, winter roared back after Mardi Gras and, since I was too tired to remember that we put all our potted plants out on the patio for Mardi Gras, my container plants experienced some temperatures in the 20’s.  I’m now waiting to see if any of them weathered the winter, or if I have to replace them all this spring.  I’m not complaining, our winter was nothing like the real winter and deep snows endured by many friends and family further north. In Louisiana, the Cedar Waxwings have come and gone, stripping the holly tree and all shrubs of their winter berries, now the flowering quince, the native bridal wreath from the Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve, and our old camellias are blooming. 

I am so glad to see the advent of spring in Louisiana, but who can complain about winter when you have carnival to celebrate!

Cedar Waxwings stripping our bushes of berries!

The Love of Reading is a Precious Gift

I had the pleasure this week of delivering children’s books to several early childhood programs.  The daughter of one of our faculty members at LSUHSC Children’s Center collected gently used books as part of her Bat Mitzvah, and then donated the books and other literacy materials to our department.  Some items we kept for our waiting room, but we gave one basket of books to an inclusive child development center, two baskets went to a large Head Start center, and I delivered two baskets of paperback books to the elementary school around the corner from my house.  We are trying to promote in the students at these schools a love of reading--one of the greatest gifts an adult can give a child.

Presenting a basket of books to Goldman Child Development Center

This afternoon I attended a baby shower for the daughter of a dear friend.  The event was filled with conversation, delicious treats and gifts that will welcome baby Grace into the world in a couple of months. 

A suggestion of spring in Louisiana with tulips at each table

 

 

Young helpers assist the mom-to-be

Expectant mother poses with her friends while some of us "photo bomb" in the back.

It was lucky the shower was held a couple blocks from my house, because I was getting ready when my sister and mother called from Virginia to chat a few minutes.  They were excited that it was snowing in the mountains, and it looked like they would get several inches before it was over.  My sister said she and her husband were more excited about the prospect of sledding in the afternoon (once it snowed a bit more) than her young grandsons were.

With my mind on children and snow, I decided to review a children’s book that I recently purchased from a new thrift shop in my neighborhood.  As soon as I saw the book, I loved the cover art and the title of the book and the fact the author was a Newbery Honoree.  I brought the paperback home to read before I pass it on to a great-niece or great- nephew.

Ruddy doesn’t always enjoy his visits with his Grandmother Silk.  He loves computers, playing outside and getting dirty.  Grandmother Silk has perfect hair and wears high heels all the time—even her bedroom slippers have high heels.  She doesn’t have a computer and the only television show he can watch at her house is Masterpiece Theater.  She lives next to a lake, but doesn’t like to take walks.  She has a garden full of herbs, vegetables and flowers but only Lucy who comes to cook every day is allowed to pick any vegetables.  Ruddy usually visits in the summer, but this year is different—he has to stay ten whole days in the fall while his parents take a cruise.  The only good thing is his grandmother agrees to buy him a gorilla costume and take him to the zoo for Halloween.

Then, the unexpected happens and a big snow storm hits the night before Halloween.  It knocks down trees, which knocks out the electricity and blocks the roads.  Ruddy and Grandmother Silk have no heat, no lights, no water and no help for days.  They must stay warm with the wood fire places, cook on the gas stove top, haul water from the lake and figure out how to amuse themselves—and they succeed. 

Ruddy observes that Grandmother Silk seems to get softer as the days go by.  Finally electric workers from Kentucky arrive to repair their electric lines.  The storm created such an emergency that workers from all over have been called in to help.  At first Grandmother isn't sure she likes the men from Kentucky but soon she and Ruddy are outside holding a flashlight to help them see, and once power is restored, everyone gathers together for hot chocolate.

This chapter book for young readers is an engaging, sweet story, which was published posthumously in 2003 after Fenner passed away in 2002.  British Illustrator Amanda Harvey provides the delightful and humorous pictures for the book.  Snowed in with Grandmother Silk was named an American Library Association Notable Book, a Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book, and a Center for Children’s Books Gryphon Honor Book.  It's a perfect book for a snowy day.

 

Snow today in my mother & sister's neighborhood posted by a friend on FB.

Will I ever read all the books on my TBR list? Duh, No....

The question on a Book Blogger Blog Hop  is:

 

Do you think you will ever read every book in your TBR (To Be Read) stack? 

 

 

 I take comfort in the fact that I could be quarantined in my home library for years and never run out of reading material!  Of course there are also bookcases all over the house and cottage, adding to my TBR list.

 

 





Bloodroot and Rosemary Biscuits

While looking for books to donate to a church media sale, I happened upon Susan Wittig Albert’s Bloodroot, published in 2001, which has been on my library shelves for quite awhile.  I  tried reading this mystery before but didn’t get far.  The setting is the Mississippi Delta rather than the herb shop and tearoom in the Texas Hill Country of Albert's other China Bayles mysteries. 

I picked up the book again and decided if it didn’t hold my interest this time, I would donate it.  I must have been more amenable to reading about the South this go-around, because I finished it quickly.  I actually enjoyed learning some back story about China and her mother Leatha, with whom China has had a troubled relationship in the past. 

The aunt who raised Leatha and who owns the family’s Mississippi plantation is ill with a degenerative neurological disorder, and Leatha is caring for her when secrets from the family’s past begin to emerge, and Leatha asks China for help.  China’s legal skills from her former career are called into play, and some unexplained ghostly assistance points China in the right direction.

Ill-conceived and extreme measures taken to hide family secrets lead to unnecessary deaths, and the sins of the fathers must be uncovered in order to move forward.  The decisions of the characters propel the plot at a more leisurely pace so this isn't a "sitting on the edge of your seat" mystery.  While the characters are fraught with human frailties, the reader is left with hope for the future.

Of course, there is the usual information about herbs in this series, and since I’m taking a Master Gardener class, I try to pay attention to all the Latin names! 

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria Canadensis)

Master Gardener binder at my desk--reading this week's assignment!

My reading also inspired me to make some rosemary biscuits though I didn’t use the exact recipe provided in the book.  I had some heavy cream in the refrigerator left over from Christmas and decided to make cream biscuits from a recipe found here on the Internet.  Essentially you add heavy cream to a mixture of flour, baking powder, sugar, salt.  I added dried rosemary to the recipe and they turned out well.  I was able to use the leftover cream, but these rich biscuits certainly aren’t something I would make often. 

Toasted rosemary biscuits with honey for breakfast

Drinking Wine and Reading About Scotland

I’m finally getting my house back in order from the Christmas holidays, which is important because we have Mardi Gras decorating to do!  Today I took a break from cleaning and went to my wine group where the conversation ranged from paranormal activity to a recent overseas trip to men and bosses, but we found time to drink a little wine and comment on the wine-dessert pairings. 

 

Chocolate cake made of chickpeas in background!

I’m also continuing to review books I read over the holidays.  I probably should have been drinking a single malt whiskey, rather than wine, before I reviewed this book set in 1950's Scotland.
 

Atria paperback, 2013

Part of a severed leg is found in the laundry of a local hockey team by the neighborhood nurse and “hockey mom” who washes the uniforms each week.  Is it a macabre joke or something more sinister? 

At the very least, it is a front page story for the Highland Gazette and captures the interest of reporter Joanne Ross and her colleagues—fellow reporter Rob McLean; Editor and Joanne’s romantic interest, McAllister; and photographer Hector Bain.  The situation soon takes a more gruesome turn, and all the investigative skills of the Highland Gazette staff are brought to bear on the case.  

A beautiful American jazz singer has also appeared in the village looking for information about her airman husband who died in a plane crash several years before off the Scottish coast.  Is her appearance related to what is happening in the village?  Her inquiries seem innocuous, but someone doesn’t want her finding answers and will go to any lengths to stop her. 

Other newspaper employees featured in this book are the young receptionist Fiona and grizzled deputy editor Don McLeod, plus various family members of the news staff.  The characters and the setting of a small town newspaper in a Scottish seacoast village are major reasons for the charm of this series by A. D. Scott, the pen name of Deborah Ann Nolan.  Another strength of Scott's series is the fact that the characters and their situations evolve and change with each book.

The plots are sometimes far-fetched and this one doesn’t always appear logical to me, but unhinged villains aren’t logical in their actions.  The climax drags in this book, and then one unfinished piece of business is hurriedly completed in a flurry of tidying up unresolved plot elements.  None of this would deter me from reading additional books in the series, however. 

 

To read my review of one of Scott’s earlier mysteries, A Double Death on the Black Isle, click here.

Reading My Christmas Gifts

The Husband’s Secret, by Liane Moriarty

G.P. Putnam’s Son, 2013

The lives of three families are intertwined and forever changed by a tragic incident that occurred years before in this offering by Australian author, Liane Moriarty. 

Cecilia Fitzpatrick, a highly successful Tupperware representative and mother to three talented daughters, is living a well-ordered, dream life.  Her handsome husband loves his family, has a successful job and hides a horrible secret.

Rachel, an efficient school secretary, a doting grandmother and a grieving mother, lost her only daughter years ago under mysterious circumstances.  While Rachel appears to have it all together, her unresolved questions about her daughter's death fester under her placid exterior and threaten to erupt with tragic results.

Tess’ marriage is torn apart when husband Will falls for Tess’ best friend and cousin, Felicity.  Tess takes her young son and moves in with her mother in Sydney and falls into a relationship with an old boyfriend who may be a murderer.

The three families’ interwoven situations emerge, as different chapters introduce their lives and secrets, until their stories become one and the book races to its climax.

Moriarty successfully uses multiple perspectives to tell the story.  I wasn’t fond of the characters initially, finding them to be clichéd (wronged wife, grieving mother) and, for this reason, the book gets off to a slow start but eventually becomes a page turner.  The plot has multiple twists and turns as the truth is slowly revealed. 

In the end, there are some surprises when  the author shares secrets that only she knows—explaining the past and the mistakes that were made, telling the reader what would have happened if the circumstances had been slightly different, and revealing what the future holds for some characters.

Holiday Reading

One way I judge the success of a holiday--how many books did I find time to read?  When I'm home I have a cozy spot for winter reading beside the Dearborn heater in my library.  The recent Christmas season was jam-packed with activities, so I didn’t read as much as I had hoped, but that’s usually the case in my life.   

Let me admit from the outset that I am a sucker for holiday books—books set during the holiday season being observed.  Thus, three books I read were set at Christmas in historic districts or neighborhoods.



 Blue Christmas, by Mary Kay Andrews

Harper Collins, 2006

I don’t typically read chick lit, but I listened to a Mary Kay Andrews book tape once on a trip and enjoyed her characters.  When I saw Blue Christmas priced inexpensively at a book sale, I bought it.  Featuring antiques dealer Weezie Foley and the Savannah Historic District and written with humor, the story line features a historic district holiday decorating contest and the rivalries the contest produces.  Then throw in a bit of mystery with an older woman who periodically sneaks into the antiques store and sleeps in the 1950’s era bedroom featured in the display window.  The book reminds me of growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s and the large display windows in my father’s furniture store.

 

The Diva Cooks a Goose, by Krista Davis

Berkley Prime Crime Mystery, 2010

Purchased for fifty cents at the same book sale mentioned above, the lure of this mystery was its setting at Christmas in Alexandria, Virginia’s Old Town section.  The neighborhood is thrown into turmoil when someone steals all the gifts from every house on Christmas Eve.  Add in family relationship drama and finally a dead woman who is not the kind, caring person she appears to be, and the mystery takes off.  However, it soon bogs down in a plot of far-fetched scenarios.   A strength of the book is the large cast of characters who enter and exit from scenes frequently, and the extended family members embroiled in typical relationship dramas.  At times it reminded me of a stage play or the movie, You Can’t Take It With You.   This book is part of a series, but I haven’t read any of the others.

 

Silent Knife, by Shelly Freydont

Berkley Prime Crime Mystery, 2013

This series featuring event planner Liv Montgomery who left Manhattan to move to Celebration Bay, Maine, appealed to me because of its setting in a historic downtown district during Christmas.  There are multiple events, including a tour of historic homes, planned for the town holiday celebration that draws in large numbers of tourists.  Then an unsanctioned Santa Claus and a store owner are killed, putting a damper on tourism and motivating Liv and her staff to quickly solve the murders.  This cozy mystery is a mildly entertaining because of the setting and some likable characters.

 

Does anyone have enjoyable Christmas mysteries that they would recommend for next year?  I've read most of the popular mysteries that are part of series, e.g. Anne Perry Christmas novellas or cozy series, such as Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone mysteries.

 

I read a couple other books in the last month that aren't holiday-themed and listened to one unabridged book tape.  More about them in future posts.

Home Again

After spending Christmas in Louisiana, I hopped in the car on December 27 and drove to Virginia to see my mother, my sister and brother-in-law.  I always enjoy my trips back to the mountains of Virginia and this recent trip was no exception.  My sister lives in Williamsburg so she was only in our hometown for a couple of days but we still had a chance to catch up.  My other sister and her husband were visiting their daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren in the Czech Republic, so our family was a bit like ping pong balls this holiday season, bouncing back and forth.

I had lunch with one of my college friends, which always makes the visits to Virginia special, and we even had a little snow one day to accentuate the holiday feeling.

This was the view of the skiff of snow that covered the ground as seen from the kitchen window at Mother's house.  We spent many an evening after supper during our childhood and adolescence standing there, washing dishes, before our family got a dish washer--after we all left home!  We had specific jobs which rotated each week. One daughter washed dishes, while one used tongs to remove the dishes from the sink with the hot rinse water and put them in the dish drain.  The third daughter dried dishes if they didn't fit into the drainer, wiped off the table and kitchen counters and swept the floor.  It goes without saying that our working mother was very organized.

It soon was time to return home to Louisiana after a week in Virginia, and husband Ricky was glad to see me.

It was a wonderful holiday, but now all the Christmas decorations must go back into the attic so we can gear up for Mardi Gras season!!!!

 

 

Mardi Gras means a big party at our house during the neighborhood parade.  A good time is had by young and old alike!!

 

A Neighborhood Christmas

This is the first Christmas that I've spent in Louisiana, and I've lived here since 1982!  I always took advantage of the time off from work to go visit my family in Virginia, but this year I'll head to the mountains of southwest Virginia after Christmas. 

I've enjoyed this year's holiday season in Shreveport with Ricky and numerous friends.  It seems everyone had a Christmas gathering, whether it was the combo Christmas/birthday party that my writing group had for one of our members, the delicious dinner my wine group enjoyed in one member's new-to-her, but vintage, Craftsman bungalow, the luncheon the faculty at work enjoyed at a local Mexican restaurant, or the lovely afternoon soiree hosted by two of my mystery reading friends. 

I'm amazed that most of my younger friends seem to think in images, so they have great photographs to commemorate every gathering or interesting event, while I'm the one who gets home and berates myself that I forgot to take out my cell phone and snap a pic.

However, my family and friends took some photographs of special holiday events this year, and I want to share way too many of them with you!

The Holiday Tour of Historic Homes the first weekend of December served to jump start the season.   I again chaired the event with lots of help from my friends.  It occurs every other year and for that, I'm grateful. 

Saturday night the entire avenue was closed to vehicular traffic except for tour trolley and limos, so guests could stroll along a luminary lit path that led to each house.

Here are a few images from the neighborhood's historic homes:

 

Doors and windows, the architectural details, the décor--all dazzled



 





 



Interior window imported in 1920's from Tiffany's in New York

 

More Tiffany windows in another 1920's era home.
I learned that 1920's Shreveport had more millionaires per capita than Chicago did,
as evidenced by the details in some of these mansions on tour. 

 

 

 

There was a string quartet playing in the gazebo of a hidden garden

Wine was served

 

And Mrs. Santa and elves frolicked in the garden

Some of the women who worked with me on the Home Tour.  I'm sporting the elf hat.
 

Finally after the Home Tour, I could think about decorating my own house. 

Our foyer where Santa rested before the big night
 

Dining room with mantle full of Santas

And more Santas in the music room



 

 

 

 

I attribute my obsession with Santa Claus to growing up in a small town where my great-uncle was Santa for decades.  On Christmas Eve when I was small he would come to my grandmother's house and visit us before we went to bed.  The photos above show my Uncle Joe as Santa.  He was the best.  The top photo shows a tired Uncle Joe after a hard day of being Santa Claus.  The bottom picture is my sisters and me with Santa at my grandmother's house.  I'm the dressed-down child in the middle, while my younger sisters wear their dresses in hopes of impressing Santa.

 

There were other special holiday celebrations with friends from the neighborhood this year.  One warm night in mid-December, the local Bed and Breakfast opened its doors for a party complete with a band, open bar, valet parking.  My friend Tina and I closed this party down but we were home at 10:30.

The crowd spills out of Fairfield Place Bed and Breakfast onto the porch and into the courtyard.

Our friends Howard & Sarah's gumbo party was held in the magical

surroundings shown below:

 

 



 

 

Sarah gave every guest homemade biscotti when we left

 

 

There was an enjoyable evening out with my former department head and my present one, both good friends.  I'm so fortunate to work with great people who are also long-time friends of mine.

 

Then, on Christmas Eve we headed up the street to the home of our friends, Terry and Marsha, who host an annual Christmas Eve open house.  Marsha's home is always beautifully decorated at Christmas.  As a matter of fact, she and her husband participated in this year's afternoon Tour of Homes that is held on Sunday after the Saturday night candlelight tour.

 

Christmas Day found us kicking back for lunch at a friend's house for soup and corn bread, then scurrying back to our house to host Christmas afternoon High Tea, a tradition from my family in Virginia.

 

As you can tell, I'm very blessed to be surrounded by loving friends and family this holiday season. 

 

And I wish each of you a joyous Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2014.