- I have 400 pages to read of Dearie, the biography of Julia Childs, before tomorrow. I think I'll be paying the library a late fee.
- I "sleep" tested an organic mattress at a store downtown that is closing. They are offering 25% off their floor models. While I love the idea of an organic mattress and we are in need of a new bed the $2,600 sale price put an end to that dream.
- While downtown, I popped in to visit with my favorite toy store owner. We had a wonderful hour long chat.
- Snow began to fall in the late afternoon.
- Cooked an AMAZING dinner -- Chicken Tikka Masala. I used this recipe. Alix wasn't very excited about it, but the rest of us absolutely enjoyed it. I'll be eager to eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Alix and Chance were whisked away Friday after school for an unplanned weekend at Waterville Valley with their friends Nikki and Evan. Alix and Chance donned skis for the first time on Saturday. From the reports I received they were naturals, advancing from the bunny slope only after three runs.
That left Paul and I forty-four hours without kids. Friday night we had in impromptu dinner at our friends house around the corner. Saturday we ran some errands, grilled some steak tips and watched George Harrison and Friends Concert for Bangladesh. Sunday morning was a quiet breakfast, grocery shopping, and book finishing before A and C arrived home around 1:00 with tales to tell.
Year to Date Count:
books read - 2
loads of laundry -16
movies watched - 3
kid sleep overs - 2
dinners given - 1
dinners attended - 1
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
"Meet
Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with
his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does,
even down to how he butters his toast. Little differentiates one day
from the next. Then one morning the mail arrives, and within the stack
of quotidian minutiae is a letter addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl
from a woman he hasn’t seen or heard from in twenty years. Queenie
Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye.
Harold pens
a quick reply and, leaving Maureen to her chores, heads to the corner
mailbox. But then, as happens in the very best works of fiction, Harold
has a chance encounter, one that convinces him that he absolutely must
deliver his message to Queenie in person. And thus begins the unlikely
pilgrimage at the heart of Rachel Joyce’s remarkable debut. Harold Fry
is determined to walk six hundred miles from Kingsbridge to the hospice
in Berwick-upon-Tweed because, he believes, as long as he walks, Queenie
Hennessey will live.
Still in his yachting shoes and light coat,
Harold embarks on his urgent quest across the countryside. Along the
way he meets one fascinating character after another, each of whom
unlocks his long-dormant spirit and sense of promise. Memories of his
first dance with Maureen, his wedding day, his joy in fatherhood, come
rushing back to him—allowing him to also reconcile the losses and the
regrets. As for Maureen, she finds herself missing Harold for the first
time in years."
Recently read, Abdication by Juliet Nicolson.
"
The year began with the death of a beloved king and the ascension of a charismatic young monarch, sympathetic to the needs of the working class, glamorous and single. By year’s end, the world would be stunned as it witnessed that new leader give up his throne in the name of love, just as the unrest and violence that would result in a Second World War were becoming impossible to ignore.
During the tumultuous intervening months, amidst the whirl of social and political upheaval, wise-beyond-her-nineteen-years May Thomas will take the first, faltering steps toward creating a new life for herself. Just disembarked at Liverpool after a long journey from her home on a struggling sugar plantation in Barbados, she secures a position as secretary and driver to Sir Philip Blunt, a job that will open her eyes to the activities of the uppermost echelons of British society, and her heart to a man seemingly beyond her reach.
Outwardly affable spinster Evangeline Nettlefold is a girlhood friend to the American socialite Wallis Simpson, a goddaughter to Lady Joan Blunt and a new arrival to London from Baltimore. She will be generously welcomed into society’s most glittering circles, where one’s daily worth is determined by one’s proximity to a certain H.R.H. and his married mistress. But as the resentment she feels toward Wallis grows in magnitude, so too does the likelihood of disastrous consequences.
Young, idealistic Julian Richardson’s Oxford degree and his close friendship with Rupert Blunt have catapulted him from excruciating hours in his mother’s middle-class parlor to long holidays spent at stately homes and luxurious dinners in the company of a king. But even as he enjoys his time in this privileged world, his head cannot forget the struggles of those who live outside its gilded gates, and his uneasy heart cannot put aside his undeclared affection for May.
May, Evangeline and Julian will all become embroiled in the hidden truths, undeclared loves, unspoken sympathies and covert complicities that define the year chronicled in Abdication."
Paul and I are reading the Steve Job's biography. We each have copies from the library. He's about 50 pages ahead of me. I like this tandem reading. I can comment about a passage and Paul is able to add his remarks.
It was another chilly day -- perfect for tucking-in in front of the stove and finishing this page-turning book, When She Woke by Hillary Jordan, the author of Mudbound. For me this was The Scarlet Letter if written by Margaret Atwood. So very good, but be prepared for some late night reading sessions.
For dinner: Penne Shrimp with Herbed Cream Sauce from Giada De Laurentiis. Also highly recommended.
Current Reads:
:: These cooler evenings will find us in the front room quietly reading while soaking in the warmth of the fire. It's a calming way to put an end to the day.
