Birthday Books

My partner has always said it is so hard to buy books for me because he never knows if I’ve already read them or not. Up to this point, he’s done quite well in piking out ones that I have not yet seen – but it had to happen eventually, and this birthday was the one. He chose three books (all in one series) that unfortunately are already sitting on my shelves.

So today we headed on into town to exchange them for ones I do not have. I was quite excited, truth be told. I put together a list of about 10 books to choose from, and the guy at the bookstore was very helpful. Here are the ones I ended up with!

In a tiny farm on the edge of the miserable village of East Grasby, Isabella Nagg is just trying to get on with her tiny, miserable existence. Dividing her time between tolerating a feckless husband, fending off snide neighbors, and cooking up “scrunge,” Isabella can’t help but think that there might be something more to life. When Mr. Nagg returns home with a spell book purloined from the local wizard, she What harm could a little magic do? As Isabella embarks on a journey of self-discovery with a grouchy cat-like companion, Darkshire’s imagination runs wild, plunging readers into a delightfully deranged world full of enchantment and folklore—as well as goblins, capitalism, and sorcery.

New Brunswick, 1934. When a cook in a logging camp finds an orphaned baby bear, he brings it home to his wife, who names the cub Bruno and raises him alongside her newborn daughter, Pearly Everlasting. During the Great Depression, amidst severe poverty and dangerous work conditions, Pearly’s family and the woodsmen form a close-knit community that embraces the tame, young bear in their camp. But when a new camp supervisor—who increasingly endangers the lives of the loggers for profit—arrives, he is less accepting of Bruno. When the supervisor is found dead, Bruno is blamed, and soon after is kidnapped and sold to an animal trader. Pearly, now a teenager, has no choice but to find Bruno and sets off on a hazardous solo journey through the forest—her first trip to “the Outside”—to rescue him. To make her way home again, Pearly will have to tramp more than fifty miles through ice and snow, elude the malevolent spirit of Jack in the Dark and confront the modern-day cruelty of villagers fearful of her family’s way of life. Over those harrowing miles, Pearly will discover what it really means to be family to a bear.

Bob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books and small comforts in a mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon. One morning on his daily walk he encounters a confused elderly woman lost in a market and returns her to the senior center that is her home. Hoping to fill the void he's known since retiring, he begins volunteering at the center. Here, as a community of strange peers gathers around Bob, and following a happenstance brush with a painful complication from his past, the events of his life and the details of his character are revealed. Behind Bob Comet's straight-man facade is the story of an unhappy child's runaway adventure during the last days of the Second World War, of true love won and stolen away, of the purpose and pride found in the librarian's vocation, and of the pleasures of a life lived to the side of the masses. Bob's experiences are imbued with melancholy but also a bright, sustained comedy; he has a talent for locating bizarre and outsize players to welcome onto the stage of his life.

Happy Birthday to ME!

May 15 was my birthday: I turned 60 this year. It seems so odd to me; I don’t feel that old – but the person who looks back at me in the mirror each morning is certainly beginning to look it. But that’s okay. I worked hard to get here, and I welcome each and every one of those years.

To celebrate this year, my partner and I packed up the car and headed up north to the little town of Talkeetna. The cabin we rented is called Trapper John’s Cabin. It doesn’t look like much, but it has actual plumbing (even a nice bathtub!) and a full kitchen and everything. It was just perfect for us.

He is such a sweetie = he had arranged to have flowers waiting on the table for me and had brought along several gifts for me to open. I got several books to read, some chocolates to munch on, some tea to drink, and the promise of a new chair for my upcoming “library”. I am well pleased with all of it.

Our usual entertainment for the evening is a movie, and I had brought several Star Trek DVDs to choose from. The cabin did have a television, but we had difficulties hooking up our portable DVD player, so ended up playing cards instead. And yes, he beat me thoroughly.

The one thing we look forward to each time we go to Talkeetna is eating breakfast at the Roadhouse! The owner is a very sweet lady named Trisha, and she is an excellent cook. The meals are always very generous and tasty. Seating in the roadhouse is … well, darn. There’s a word for it, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it is. Basically, you sit at a long table along with everybody else, whether you know them or not.

The weather was great: not too hot, not too rainy – so we decided to check out a trail that we’d always said we wanted to try. It turned out to be a very nice one – a 3.5-mile loop, very well groomed and not muddy at all. The lake was very beautiful; he was checking it out with the though of coming back one day with a fishing pole!

Tisha

Back when I was in junior high/high school, this book was one of my all-time favorites. I must have read this book 100 times, and passed it around to all my family members, as well. I guess I just really identified with the heroine, someday thinking that perhaps I too would go off to do wonderful, meaningful things. 

This book has it all: Adventure, Mystery, Horror, Romance… everything you need to capture a young girl’s attention. There’s a lot to live up to, as well: facing near insurmountable odds, doing the right thing even when it’s scary, and heading out on your own to a very uncertain future.

For my high school graduation gift, Mother took my brother and I on a road trip down to Phoenix where I was planning to go to school. We picked my sister up along the way from where she was going to school in California. Before that happened, however, we stopped in the small town of Tok, just this side of the Canadian Border. We were in our camper, so most likely we had a spot somewhere to park for the night, but we took a drive through town to look for somewhere to eat dinner.

I don’t know what it was that caught mother’s eye, but somehow, she knew to stop. She pulled up right next to this battered old pick-up truck and got out to talk to the driver. You will not believe who it was: it was Anne Purdy, the actual heroine that Tisha is written about!!! I was absolutely STAR STRUCK: we got to meet Anne Purdy!!!

She was in her 80s or 90s by then but was still quite spry and was more than happy to talk to us. We, of course, told her how much we loved her story. We didn’t have our book with us, but she wrote this note on a piece of paper for us. Sadly, I cannot read her writing – but it’s her handwriting, and it’s Anne Purdy!!!

I am re-reading the book right now, to see if it still speaks to me as strongly as it did back then.

Surprise For Ruth

My partner and I use a “Scheduler” program called Cozi that is based online so we can both access either through our phones or our computers. This way, we keep track of each other’s whereabouts and can book events knowing that we’re not double-booking over the top of something the other might have wanted to go to. It’s a pretty spiffy program, with a Birthday feature and the ability to make lists and the like. It used to have an address section – which honestly was one of the reasons we chose the program – but they discontinued that several years ago.

I was looking at our schedule a few weeks ago to see what was coming up for us, when I came across an entry called “Surprise for Ruth” on a Monday at 3:00.

Well, well, well! What might THAT be? Clearly, it’s a surprise - but why specifically 3:00? My mind went all over the place, from perhaps a singing telegram (yes, he’s done that before) to a special delivery of a new kitten – or maybe even some goats! Wouldn’t that be cool?

Well, Monday finally rolled around, and I discovered that he had hired a company called PolarGlow to come out and give my car a thorough detailing! Inside only, but still – WOW!!! I love it!

The girl who worked on my car – right in our driveway, I might add – did a great job. She spent a good 3-4 hours and got my car spotless again! It’s truly amazing how dirty a car can get, particularly during break-up.

What a great surprise!

But now I need to wash the outside…

Another Update on Mother

So, mother has been in her room in the Fireweed Hall for over a month now, and she’s finally learning how to get herself back to her own room without help. Her memory is not good: she can lose a thought 2 minutes after having it, and engaging in an actual conversation with her is almost impossible. I just let her take the lead and just respond to whatever she happens to say at that moment in time.

Bryan and I delivered a chair to her just today: it’s a nice leather chair that is both a rocker and a recliner. I’m worried that she won’t remember how to operate the recliner part, even though the remote is as simple as you can get it with only two large buttons on it. But I will keep reminding her each time I go visit, so eventually perhaps she might find a way to remember. I may even create a sign to hang on the wall beside her chair that has a picture of the remote and simple instructions on how to use it. She may or may not use it.

We all go visit her as often as we can. Noel has been amazing, going every single day to take her to all the different events that go on. Her favorite has been the Sunday Sing Along, where she and Noel sings all the old hymns that Mother knows from way back. But she also does well in the Art Classes, and who doesn’t love an Ice Cream Float now and then? They even cook a special meal once a month that the resident’s families are invited to, so we can all sit down to dinner together. Also, I try to schedule a Family Gathering once a month to sit with mom and just chat. Whomever can come does, and those who cannot, can make the next one.

One of the first things I did when she moved in there was to reach out to her friends to let them know where she is. Two of them have made a serious effort to visit her as often as they can. Sean and Mom go way back: he is a retired teacher, and she used to help out in his classroom sometimes. Karen and Mom were shooting buddies back when Stan was alive, and she has committed to visiting mother every Friday. I am so thankful for both of them – mother truly enjoys their visits.

Mother still enjoys getting mail, and two people in particular are keeping her well supplied with letters from afar! Linda was mother’s neighbor back when she had the farm but now lives in New Mexico: she sends letters, magazines and whatnot so mother can enjoy perusing the beautiful pictures and hearing all the news from her birthland. Cousin Anna keeps her up on all the news from the Montanna bunch while also keeping in touch with me via email and/or texting.

So, all in all, she is doing well.

Bunk Room/Office Remodel

Now that mother has moved into the Pioneer Home, we have begun the process of turning the old Bunk Room into Bryan’s Office!

The first step was to hire a contractor to come out and give us an estimate on how much this is going to cost us. It came in about what we expected, so we went ahead and scheduled him for the first week of May.

The second step was to take down the bunk beds, a monumental task in itself. My brother said that he would take the beds for his youngest girl, Kaylee, so they are emptying out her room in order to install them in there – meanwhile they are in pieces in our garage waiting us to deliver them (and help install them, of course). I think she will love them!

Then he ripped out the flooring and prepared the room for the contractor to install new wall covering and new flooring. He’s chosen a tongue & groove wall and a laminate floor – not what I would have chosen, but it’s his room so he can do whatever he wants in there! He’s very excited about it.

The tongue & groove planking arrived the other day, so he is in the garage now sanding it all down so that we can condition and stain it prior to installation. It’s an incredibly messy job = our garage is completely coated in a thick layer of sawdust now. Everything in there will have to be cleaned somehow.

He has a bit of a time crunch to get everything done, too, because he’s actually leaving for another trip in a week. He won’t get back until a day or two before the contractor arrives to do his work! 

The Slow Carb Diet

Bryan read about this diet in a book he got and wanted to try it out. I, being the supportive partner that I am, told him I would do it with him for at least a few months. The main theory is that we are not allowed any carbs, along with a few other restrictions. I have to be honest and say that I’m not a huge fan of it, yet – but it is working. Slowly but surely, the pounds actually are coming off.

We can’t have rice – which used to be a huge staple in our meals, so the lack of it is very noticeable. We also can’t have pasta, fruit, dairy products, or alcohol. Actually, the list of what we CAN’T have is longer that what we CAN have, and all of it is tilted more towards his preferred diet than mine.

They do allow for a “cheat day” however, where you can have anything you want, which does make it a little easier. We have opted to make Sunday our cheat day so that we can continue with the Sunday Sourdough Pancakes. That has been a tradition in our home since we moved out here, so being able to keep it going is definitely a plus.

We’ve also decided to make Sunday our Game Night! We take turns choosing which game to play and have a special desert to go with it. This was prompted by cleaning out an old cabinet and moving all our board games down from the attic, making them a lot more accessible.

For our first Game Night we make Ginger Cookies and played Guess Who. This is actually a game for children – but it was pretty fun, regardless. We couldn’t possibly eat all the cookies, so ended up freezing half of them for next Sunday.

On our second Game Night we played one of our favorite card games called Phase 10 – and of course, ate the rest of the cookies.

Our third Game Night was an old favorite: Cribbage and Cake! Who doesn’t love either of those, I ask you?

The Cat Wall

Facebook has all these pictures and videos of people who have these amazing walls covered in shelves and platforms and hammocks and swings and all kinds of cool stuff specifically for their cats. And the cats apparently love it, spending all day racing around the room jumping from one platform to another, or lazily lounging in a hammock above their human’s head.

I, of course, wanted that for my kittens: because you can never spoil your kittens enough. My partner said if I got the shelves, he would install them for me – so I went online and found a few that I liked. $169.00 later, a couple rather large boxes arrived at our front door from Amazon.

Sadly, my kittens were not impressed. When I put Naldo up on the top platform, she just jumped down to the ground and walked away. When I put Viktor up there, he got frightened and had to be shown how to work his way down step by step. Neither of them has been up on their own since, although I do keep putting them up there in hopes that they’ll start to use it on their own.

All in all, it’s a bit under-whelming, to say the least. I’m hoping it will get a bit more enticing (to Naldo, at least) once he installs the two hammocks I got. But honestly, I’m not holding my breath.

Dehydrated Ginger

I tried an experiment the other day. Since I’m using so much ginger lately with my drink each night, I wanted to see if there was a way to store it long-term rather than having to buy a hunk of root every three or four days. And, since 3 Bears had a huge selection of amazingly large ginger root, I went ahead and bought two nice big sections and gave my dehydrator a whirl.

I did not peel them. Some people said you have to, others say it’s not necessary. I guess it’s up to you whether or not you peel before you use it. Since I’m just boiling it, I see no reason why I should expend the effort to peel it and so leave it on.

When I make my tea each night, I typically slice the ginger quite thin – so that’s what I did for the dehydrator. Turns out, that was not a good thing to do. I should have cut it maybe a quarter of an inch thick. Certainly, no thinner than an eighth of an inch. My nice big (albeit thin) slices of ginger turned into tiny little crumpled up balls of ginger. They look funny – but I’m thinking they’ll still work for boiling. I will have to play with the amount of water I use, since a lot of it will have to go in to rehydrating the ginger.

I’ll try it again later on and see if cutting it thicker works better.