Sketchbook Challenge - Spice of Life

Pumpkin pie is one of my favorites - especially using my mother-in-law's recipe. It seems the perfect entry for November's Sketchbook Challenge theme of Spice of Life.

Strange Meeting by Susan Hill

I've read several good WWI books for my reading challenge this year (The Light Between Oceans, The Summer of Katya (WWI was a small part of each of these books), and Birdsong to name a few), but this ranks right up there near the top.

John Hilliard has been wounded and spends some time recuperating at home.  He finds that he can not bear to be at home where no one understands what it is like at the front.  When he returns to the front, he knows very few of the officers left in his unit; most have been killed or disabled in the fighting.  He must share space with a newly arrived officer, David Barton.  At first Hilliard is angry about this; he wants to be alone.  But Barton and Hilliard become very close friends, even though they are very different.  Hilliard is very proper and straight laced and has never had a close friend, while Barton is very friendly and outgoing and everyone likes him.  There are scenes of life in the trenches and of fighting and even of the boredom in between the action.  But mostly it is about the friendship between these two men.  I enjoyed the writing style very much; it was easy to read and lyrical without being overdone.  I rate it 4 out of 5.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

I like books that start with a historical event, change something about it, and then build a story from it.  This book is based on the premise that Jewish refugees created a temporary safe haven in the Federal District of Sitka, Alaska, after the Holocaust and the collapse of Israel in 1948.  Now, 60 years later, the District will be reverting to Alaskan control.

Meyer Landsman is a homicide detective whose life is a mess. He and his partner, Berko Shemets, have quite a few unsolved cases they are trying to wrap up before Reversion.  And to make matters worse, a murder occurred in the fleabag hotel in which Landsman currently lives.  The story was interesting and enjoyable enough, but it was overwritten.  There is a review on Goodreads that puts it very succinctly:

"You know that fashion rule where, before you leave the house, you're supposed to quickly turn to a mirror and then take off the first accessory that catches your eye? Well, I feel like Chabon should have done that with his prose, which is sometimes so ridiculously overwritten and boastful that it ruined an otherwise pretty interesting story."  Edan Lepucki

Overall, I rated it 3 out of 5.

Quilting Retreat

This small pumpkin was part of the table decorations for our retreat.

Taking a Break

Journaling reads, ". . . from shopping. Since I was at Food Pyramid, I could get a mocha from Starbucks and sketch this pepper, which is for the chili we're having for dinner. Oh, and cornbread. Yum!" Sketched straight to pen.

Sketchbook Challenge - Cabinet of Curiosities

I don't have an actual cabinet in which to store my curiosities, so I use a wooden box (which I guess I need to sketch too). Sketchbook Challenge October 2012 theme.

Our Big Adventure

I didn't even know what this piece of equipment was as I was sketching it. It was much more rusted than it looks in my sketch, but I didn't have a lot of time - I was just glad to get as much of it done as I did.

Devils Den Trees

So pleasant sitting outside to sketch.

Devils Den Fireplace Cabin 9

Sketching fireplaces and floorplans is becoming a habit. :)

Devils Den Door Cabin 2

After a long day, I wanted to sketch something - anything. I started with the door handle, not intending to fill the page with the door, but that's what happened.

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

When Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia after World War I, he takes a job as a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, an isolated island off the western coast.  He hopes the isolation will help him to heal from the war.  While on leave back to the mainland, he meets Isabel Graysmark.  The two fall in love and marry.  One day, very shortly after Isabel has had a stillbirth (following two earlier miscarriages), a boat washes to shore with a dead man and a live baby.  Isabel convinces Tom, against his better judgement, to keep the baby and claim her as their own.  This lie has devastating effects on everyone involved.  The book is a reminder that there are many shades of gray between right and wrong and there are no easy answers in life.  It was very well written and I rate it 4 out of 5.  The moral dilemma reminded me of The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.

Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold

The subtitle of this book is A Novel Inspired by the Life & Marriage of Charles Dickens.  I've actually never read any Charles Dickens, although I've seen several movies based on his novels.  I really enjoyed the book, but I'm sure I would have enjoyed it even more if I had.  There were many references to his writings with names changed.  This made it a bit of a guessing game for me, but the story was strong enough even without knowing all of the references.  The book is narrated by Dorothea Gibson, estranged wife of Alfred Gibson, and begins with Alfred's death.  Dorothea looks back over her life, both with and without Alfred.  It was this author's first book, and I thought it was very well written.  I rate it 4 out of 5.

Pemberley Ranch by Jack Caldwell

Another book I chose to read after reading several reviews of it on War Through The Generations blog.  I didn't like the book as much as the other reviewers did.  It was a re-imagining of Pride and Prejudice, set in Texas right after the end of the US Civil War.  This is the first retelling of Pride and Prejudice that I've read (there are a LOT of them), and it's been 4 years since I read Pride and Prejudice (which I've only read once and really liked).  I wanted to like this book, but I didn't think it was very well written.  There were cliches and colloquialisms and the dialogue didn't ring true with me. The story was all right, but not great.  Overall, I rate it 2 out of 5.

The Summer of Katya by Trevanian

I decided to read this book because of a review posted by Semicolon at War Through the Generations blog.  It is set in France in 1914, right before the start of World War I.  Dr. Jean-Marc Montjean, a recent graduate of medical school, works for the only doctor in the small village of Salies.  He falls in love with Katya Treville, a beautiful young woman, after treating her twin brother's injured arm.  Katya's brother warns Montjean to stay away from Katya, but Montjean is convinced that Katya returns his affections.  He soon realizes that the Treville family has been running from an old secret.  It was a well written story that was part mystery, part love story, and part psychological drama.  I didn't think that World War I was either a primary or secondary theme of the novel, but since a review was posted on the War Through the Generations blog, I'm counting it for my reading challenge.  I rate it 4 out of 5.

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

I finished this a couple of weeks ago and am just now getting around to writing about it. It was the story of four Englishwomen who spend a month's holiday together in a beautiful Italian villa. They didn't know each other before their holiday. This could have been a recipe for disaster, but instead it was a sweet story; a little too sweet for my taste actually. It was too much like a fairy tale with everyone living happily ever after.  I rate it 2 out of 5.

Sketchbook Challenge - Pattern

My DH brought me this pine cone to sketch so I had to sketch it - I want to encourage that behavior! It is also the perfect subject for the current month's sketchbook challenge theme of pattern. This is the first page in a new sketchbook I made a couple of weeks ago, so I'm also trying out a new (to me) paper - Arches En-Tout-Cas. It is cold pressed on one side and hot pressed on the other side. This is the cold pressed side. So far so good.

Round and Round I Go

I finished all of my decorative stitching on the little quilt I started in Jane Sassaman's class. Now I just have to quilt and bind it.

Reflections on Sunflowers

I used fabric from Jane Sassaman's line and a pattern from her newest book, Patchwork Sassaman Style. I hurried to finish it because I'm taking classes from her in a few days at the Oklahoma Quilters State Organization's Fall Retreat.

The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey

I decided to read this book after reading reviews of it on the War Through The Generations blog.  In order to count towards the reading challenge, WWI should be a primary or secondary theme.  While parts of the book occurred during WWI, it really didn't seem like either a primary or a secondary theme to me.  But since both hostesses of the challenge (Anna Horner and Serena Agusto-Cox) counted it, I guess I can count it too.

The book is a historical novel set in early 20th century Northern Ireland.  I didn't know much (or any) Irish history, so I learned a lot about Ireland's struggle for independence from Great Britain, the formation of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), and the partitioning of Ireland into Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  The main character, Eileen O'Neill, was a very strong, opinionated, and defiant young woman.  I sometimes got tired of how angry she was much of the time, although much of her anger was justified.  The love story portion was a bit too predictable for me, but otherwise I enjoyed the book.  I rate it 3 out of 5. 

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

I had heard of this book for a long time, and decided to read it for my WWI Reading Challenge after watching the PBS movie.  As usual, I enjoyed the book much more than the movie, although I thought the movie was good when I saw it earlier this year.

Part one begins in1910 when Stephen Wraysford, a young Englishman, is sent to France by his company to learn more about the manufacturing process of textiles from Rene Azaire, the owner of two factories.  Stephen and Azaire's wife Isabelle fall in love and have an affair while Stephen is staying with the Azaires.

Part two jumps to 1916 and Stephen is an officer fighting in France during World War I. Like another reviewer mentioned, I didn't know about the tunneling that was done in the war. WWI really was one of the most brutal wars ever fought, and I've never really understood what it was about. This book didn't get into the reasons for the war, but it certainly did an excellent job of describing the horrors of it.

Part three jumps to 1978 where Stephen's granddaughter Elizabeth is trying to learn more about her grandfather. While this part of the story was not as interesting or compelling to me, there was one scene that I thought justified having this section in the book:  Elizabeth visits a veteran who had been a soldier with Stephen.  He'd had his left leg amputated and still suffered from shell shock and had lived in a veteran's home for almost 60 years. His only visitor had been his sister who had died almost 30 years earlier. There was also a parallel between Elizabeth and Isabelle Azaire that I won't say any more about so I don't give away too much of the story.

I thought the book was very well written and I rate it 4 out of 5.

Sketchbook Challenge - Shelter 1 - Silent Spring Resort Cabin 4

I wanted to sketch our cabin and almost forgot. I started it Friday evening and finished it Saturday morning. Then I added the sign Sunday morning before we left - I just penciled it in and added ink and watercolor in our hotel room Sunday evening (the cabin was done straight to pen - no pencil). This is also for the August Sketchbook Challenge theme of Shelter.

Summer Melodrama

I sketched the Gunnison Arts Center from our car across the street. I added the title (torn from the program) and the journaling the next day in our cabin. My right wrist was getting better and I was tired of painting with my left hand, so this was done with my right hand again.

Cabin 4 - Silent Spring Resort

I drew the floor plan of our cabin last fall when we went to Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas. I liked the record, so I think it's going to become a tradition. I did this left handed again.

"Gebhart" Mountain

Our second day in Colorado, we hiked the trail leading to what we named Gebhart Mountain the first time we came to this area 27 years ago (it didn't have a name on our map). My DH fished while I sketched - again, mostly left handed.

Coneflowers

We spent a week in cool Colorado getting away from the plus 100 degree heat in Oklahoma. Our first morning there, my DH went fishing and I went along to sketch. I painted the flowers and wrote the journaling with my left hand (I'm right handed) because I was trying to protect my right wrist.

I learned yesterday what is wrong with my wrist:  I have what is called Ulnar Impaction Syndrome, which basically means that the ulna bone is about 1/4 inch longer than my radius bone, and this causes wear and tear on the structures in my wrist.  I had a cortisone injection in the wrist yesterday, but the most successful treatment is to surgically shorten the ulna bone.  Needless to say, this doesn't sound appealing to me at all; I will have to weigh the risks of surgery against my level of pain.  I got a new wrist brace which is more comfortable and more protective than others I have; and the pain has eased somewhat with rest.  So I'll just have to see how it goes over the next few months.  No decisions have been made.

True Believers by Kurt Andersen

This is a memoir of sorts of fictional character Karen Hollander, who grew up in the '60's. She becomes a high power attorney and is even considered for the supreme court, but then removes her name from consideration when she becomes concerned that a big secret from her college days could come out. I, too, grew up in the '60's (although I'm a few years younger than Karen's character), so I found this story very compelling. I rate it 4 out of 5.

Sketchbook Challenge - Circle 1

July Sketchbook Challenge theme is circles. I have a new palette with paints I've never used before (Winsor Newton Cotman Watercolors - I've always used artist grade paints but I wanted the palette).

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

I really enjoyed this historical novel set in the 1660's in Martha's Vineyard.  It is narrated by Bethia Mayfield, the daughter of a Calvinist minister who has made it his life's work to convert the native Wampanoag to Christianity.  She becomes friends with Caleb, who eventually becomes the first native American to graduate from Harvard College.  It is a very well written story about the clash of cultures and the difficulties for women who were intelligent and interested in learning.  This is the fourth novel by this author and I have read all three of her previous novels:  Year of Wonders (my favorite), March, and People of the Book.  I rate it 4 out of 5.

The Last Summer by Judith Kinghorn

Clarissa Granville is almost 17 years old when the story begins.  She has just spent an idyllic summer at her family's country estate, Deyning Park, where she meets and falls in love with Tom Cuthbert, son of the family's housekeeper.  But then the Great War (World War I) begins, and everything changes.  Clarissa's 3 brothers (Henry, William, and George), Tom and many of their friends all go off to war.  Many don't return or else are so physically or emotionally damaged that life is never the same afterwards.  I really wanted to like this book, and I did like a lot of it.  But it is narrated by Clarissa, and I thought she was such a ninny!  I know that I'm seeing an early 20th century woman through the eyes of the 21st century, but she could be so exasperating at times.  She claimed to have this all-consuming passion for Tom, but when it came right down to it, she let the opinions of others (especially her mother) control her.  I kept thinking of the rather crude expression, "sh*t or get off the pot."  Anyway, I debated how many stars to give this, and finally settled on 3 out of 5.  It is my 7th book for the World War I Reading Challenge.

Sketchbook Challenge - Urban Sketch 2

Dinner with my mom at her favorite restaurant. She was amazed when I pulled the paints out of my purse! Sketched straight to pen. June Sketchbook Challenge theme of urban sketching.