Book Review-The Search by Nora Roberts

I enjoyed this book very much.  It had many different elements.  Drama, Mystery, Romance, Animals.  The setting was Orcas Island in Washington State.  Fiona, the woman in the story had a search and rescue business and dog training classes that she held.  She owned three impeccably trained Labradors which was a delightful aspect of the story.  The lead up as to why she had this business is very intriguing and horrible.  The man in the story, Simon is a wood crafting artist and makes beautiful furniture and wood items.  He has just moved to Orcas Island and his mother bought him a puppy, that has become a handful.  His name is Jaws if that tells you anything.  He has paid a visit to Fiona to join her dog training classes.  Well, as you have probably guessed they eventually become a couple, but she has much baggage to work through.  I suspect that the author investigated how the search and rescues work, which I thought was very interesting.  This business plays into the end of the story and it was very much a Rah Rah moment.  It did not take me long to read this book, and it's a nice summer read.

I am sending my book on to a close friend who happens to live on Orcas Island part of the year.  I hope she enjoys it as much as I did.

I have always like Nora Roberts and can't think of a book I haven't enjoyed. 

new stuff around the house

I had many little things that I have collected through the years that I didn't want to let go, but I also didn't want to put out because they would be a pain to dust. 
I found this neat distressed cabinet and though it would be perfect to display my little items. 

Here I put a portion of them out and it was a nice walk down memory lane.  Thinking about where I got them or what friend gave them to me.

I love fun sayings and my friend Theresa gave this to me.  The neat bird on a spindle I picked up at Pottery Barn. 

A delphinium-the blue is so stunning.

A garden stake-it is supposed to glow in the dark.

I really liked this bulletin board in a green frame, and the mirror was my father in laws.  A friend had given it to him when he retired.  I thought the place worked out well, this is the way we go out to the garage.  Do a last minute check before we leave and if there is something we don't want to forget it will be on the bulletin board. 

A Kelly Rae Roberts design that I fell in love with.  I love her art. 

A little primitive piece I had picked up.  I loved the black frame too. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

herbs

I have become infatuated with herbs and want to learn more about them.  The last two summers I started them by seed.  I have this great three tiered pot stand and cute Terra cotta pots, that I have to replace every so often because of a wind storm or something.  Anyways, the first year I had the stand on the covered porch, but realized that I had it too close to the French doors and the reflection of the sun burned up my plants. 
Last year I moved it to the other side of the house and the summer was so hot, it burned them up again. 

This year I am trying a different spot, and bought potted plants.  I do hope that I have found the answer.

The herbs I have this year are:
Top Row
1.  oregano
2. sweet basil
3. cilantro
4. sweet marjoram

Second Row
1. spicy globe basil
2. sweet mint
3. flat Italian parsley
4. purple basil

Bottom Row
1. Onion Chives
The others are empty at this point

They all smell so good.  I love to rub my hands over them to release the smell. 
What a great pleasure this is. 

I am going to thin these eventually but what a good crop of mornings glories I am going to have!

The Lupines I started from seed last year with a wandering sunflower.

This is a newly bought plant, salvia.  The spot I put it, I needed something tall that stood out. 

My grown from seed Hollyhock.  Wonder what color she will be. 

Another newly purchased plant, poppy.

The place I have the herbs are at the back of the house, outside the bathroom door so I can get water.  It gets the afternoon sun but is also sheltered a bit.  That Lily, she loves to be with us when we are outside. 

Mint-I wish you could scratch and sniff.

Here are some Herb books I have picked up in the last three years. 
I saw a lot of Jack in the Pulpits during my field study class.  I did not realize they were also thought of as herbs.

This book I found from searching on the Internet and then bought it from an individual seller of used books.  What I really love about it, it has the authors signature on it.  The author was from Indiana and she has since passed away sadly.  She had an herb farm in West Lebanon Indiana. 

This one was new last year that Better Homes and Gardens came out with.  Lots of good pictures and information.  I don't think you can ever go wrong with Better Homes and Gardens publications.

This one I found just a couple of weeks ago.  It's the premier issue, again lots of good pictures and information. 

All are very enjoyable.
Thanks for stopping by, maybe you will want to learn more about herbs also?

Little Quilt

I finished a little quilt for my sister Linda.  My mother had made the log cabin blocks and they were the start of a quilt for my sister and she only had gotten six done.  I didn't have the time to make a full size quilt so I thought that I would incorporate them into a small quilt.  I found the pattern for the baby Jesus and fat sheep and embroidered it on.  It measures 17 X 14 1/2.

Cute fabric for the back. 
I hand quilted which I love to do. 

I believe in documenting for the years to come and here is the little tag that tells it all. 

Linda-You will be getting this soon!

The Nest -Mixed Media

95% complete.  I really enjoyed the brick stencil with the heavy gel, it was fun.  As a parent with children that are getting older and would like to move out, I hope they don't have too bumpy of a ride to independence.  Did I guild them enough, teach them enough.

Tuesday Weigh In

 The last time I posted a Tuesday weigh in was in April.  Life got a little harried at the end of the school year, at that point I had lost 21 pounds, I am now at 25 pounds. 
I am still doing walks and I am so glad that I had lost that weight, the Field study class would not have been so easy tromping through the woods and up and down the ravines.  True confessions now-Last day of class-May 1st-it was an evening class and I wanted a peanut butter blast from Dairy Queen SO BAD! They only offer one size and I started eating it.  I should have stopped halfway through, I was perfect then, but I couldn't stand to throw it away.  I should have though because I did not feel well, head ache, stomach ache.  I just can't handle it anymore-which is good.  Went to a focus on health to get my blood work done and the cholesterol was good and everything else-so we are doing the right thing.  Tom's also came out really well. 
So I go on-I am 55 pounds away from my goal.  It's a slow process-but each pound lost is incentive for the next.  I will keep you posted.

The picture above, I started my first Art Piece for the summer.  It will be a mixed medium picture for the powder room.  Someone felt the need to look over it while I was working.  I thought she would put a paw print in it, but refrained.  The acrylic paint is drying right now.  Come on back for the finished work. 

Have you got lots of plans for summer? 

Saint Francis

The fountain is out and sounded magical yesterday. All cleaned up for a new spring, summer and fall.  Things are growing nicely too.

This is my new Saint Francis that is going in the garden behind the garage.  I have worked at the University of Saint Francis for 12 years now and have learned quite a bit about Saint Francis.  He was a knight during the crusades before he started to follow God.  He was captured and spent a year in prison and got very sick.  He was a happy, Italian man that spoke animatedly with his hands.  We have many Sisters of Saint Francis of Perpetual Adoration working at USF and the President, Sister Elise does not like Saint abbreviated to St.  She says that he is not a street.  Another sister was giving a talk about Saint Francis and the title of her talk was Saint Francis-not just a bird bath. 
One of his favorite sayings is "God is Good"!

At some point Saint Francis will have many pretty flowers surrounding him. 

Another Mothers Day Gift I received were these 2 trellis.  One will have morning glories and the other a dark clematis, both are planted.   

Next weekend we plan to refresh the mulch.  I think I will go with black. 

Another peek. 

How is your garden growing?

 

organized studio

I ordered some new organizer cabinets for my studio from Collectors Cabinets.  These are the modular units that have the narrow drawers to organize my rubber stamps and stamp pads. The TV on top is new and it has a DVD player with it, I have always thought it would be nice to have so I can watch one of my movies. That was a nice Mothers Day gift.   

Everything is so easy to see and get to.

Along with the organizer cabinets I got a new craft table with book shelves on each side.  This table came from the Pottery Barn.

I really love it.  It is so sturdy and many times when stamping I stand and it is tall enough to do it easily.

I now won't have cat hair on my paint brushes.

This I already had.  It is a built in and has file drawers that hold my 8 1/2 X 11 paper.  It also has the ironing board in the second little drawer.

This is the large cabinet.  It looks like a piece of furniture and has shallow and deep drawers in it. 

See this great space.

The deep drawers hold the chunky stamps.  They also hold your work in progress so you can put it away and not leave the mess out. 

I was then able to organized my closet better.

Found these great ribbon organizers.

They are a big help. 

Brought back out my 12 X 12 organizers to be able to see this paper quickly.

A shelf for my art supplies.

I love the uniformity of my space.  Where everything goes together. 

I put all embossing powder and sparkles out so that I can find the right color. 

My room is right inside the front door and I wanted it to look nice because it is one of the things that guests see first. 



I am really enjoying my space that the cats let me use, thanks for sharing with me.