Scrappy Hearts

Reading Update: April

And just like that, May is almost over. I didn't even post my April reads yet, how can that be? April was truly the last month that I think my time inside is the only time that I have to choose between indoor and outdoor chores. It was easier in April to sneak moments to read, May, not so much!

In April I read over 5,000 pages and 16 books. The majority of my reading, again, was mystery books. Mostly cozy mysteries with a few regular fiction books thrown in. Also, I started a couple of new series, inspired by my love of reading about places I am familiar with. The Sloan Krause Mysteries by Ellie Alexander take place in Leavenworth, Washington and one of my favorite knitting mystery series takes place in Fort Collins, Colorado. The Happy Hoofer Mysteries take place all over, but the main characters are from New Jersey. My first foray into that series was less than positive and I do not think I will be traveling with those women again! I did finish the Stamping Sisters Mystery series, but there were only 3 books. 

The regular fiction books I read were a couple of books passed down from my mom and my sister. It Ends With Us and It Starts With Us were a short series, just two books, that follow the relationships of a woman from the time that she was in high school. I really enjoyed It Ends With Us, but I felt that the 2nd book in the pairing lacked a compelling story. 

In the back of my reading journal I have created a series of pages so that I can keep track of books and series that I have read. Sometimes, like towards the end of a series, it makes more sense to read books in order. In the beginning, I'm really not that fussy, I can read books in just about any order. The books that take place in Leavenworth, Washington are a series that is continuing and I have read all of the books currently published. I will have to wait to read the next one. Vinyl Resting Place is the first book in a series so again, I will need to wait to read the next installment.

The knitting series are among my favorites, especially the Seaside Knitters which is set on Cape Ann, Massachusetts. The characters are fun to hang around. They feel like old friends and their surrounding make me long for time at the shore. I have been enjoying the time I spend reading, the only drawback being that I stay up way past my bedtime to finish them. I think I have been like that since I started reading. Most days it isn't an issue, but some days it is a major thorn in my side. 

My May reading is moving along. I have about 4 days left to finish up this month. I took out ten or twelve books right before my husband ventured out to Burning Man in Pennsylvania. I do not think I will read them all before the 31st, but I can try!!

Reading Update: March

March is the perfect month for reading. The days are mostly grey and chilly. The wind is blowing. We lose an hour of sleep early in the month which makes me tired the whole month. March was also a great month for reading because I traveled into Philly by train on three occasions which offered reading time and I also had a procedure on my back at the beginning of the month which saw me spend two days resting and in bed. When I wasn't sleeping or knitting, I was reading! Mysteries again, were the genre of choice. I did sprinkle a couple of fiction books in the mix, but the myteries kept me going this month.

The first read of the month is one of my favorites. A Murder at Balmoral kept me guessing to nearly the end. I did finish a couple of series this month, Emmie Caldwell's A Craft Fair Knitters Mystery Series was only three books. Without realizing it, I read the last two books in March. I also read the last two books in another mystery series, this one by Terri Thayer. A Stamping Sisters Mystery features a group of women who, stamp. It was a fun and light read.

The funniest book I read this past month was, Feel The Bern. I laughed out loud and I hope there is another in the works. Sometimes you need a good laugh, or two. I started a new series during March, a quilting mystery. My library only had the one book so I need to put in a request for the others, but at the moment I really don't need to add more books to my to be read pile.

My favorite book last month was Killers of a Certain Age. It was definitely a mystery but not cozy by any stretch of the imagination. If you happen to see it, pick it up. The characters are well-developed and keenly crafted. It takes place in the current time period with flash backs to the late 70's, and 80's. Without giving too much away, the focus is on a group of women as they approach retirement age. It is entertaining and suspenseful. I did quit one book in March, Murder in the City of Liberty. I was not fond of the setting and I did not really enjoy the characters. There are really too many books that I enjoy to push myself to read something that doesn't feel like a good fit.

I added a little stamping to my reading journal this month which helped me to feel like I was being creative! I read a total of 16 books in March which totaled 4,610 pages. My goal this year was to read 50 books and as of the end of March, I've read 28. More than half way there!

Reading Update: February

After a late start in January, I hit the reading road running in February. I am not reading anything heavy or that would be a challenge to get through. some of the books I select are just cozy mysteries which I have always loved. They remind me of reading Nancy Drew and The Boxcar Children books way past bedtime when I was a kid. But there are a few that require a bit more thinking and understanding of characters' motives than others.

All told I read 10 books at 3,109 pages. This month I had a few Elizabeth Berg books mixed in with my mysteries. The Murder of Mr. Wickham was one of my favorites. It was a delight to revisit a few of my Jane Austen favorite characters in this delightful mystery. Mr. Wickham has always been one of my least favorite characters in fiction. I began the book at the end of January and continued it into February. This particular book took me a bit longer because I needed to go back and forth to remind myself of the characters since they were taken from differen Austen stories and do not usually appear together.

My favorite Berg book this month was We Are All Welcome Here. An interesting and compelling story based on a true story. A revisit to the Civil Rights Era brought to mind how little and how much things have really changed. Isabel Puddles, who I met in January, was back this month. This book is the middle book in the series. The main character is a hoot, think McGyver as a middle aged woman. I think my favorite of the series is book 3 which takes place in England, but all the books are engaging and in some cases, laugh out loud funny. 

The Christmas Murder Game kept me on my toes and the knitters in A Finely Knit Murder do I fine job of mixing their sleuthing with knitting in a Massachusetts seaside village. I met another group of knitting sleuths in Knits, Knots and Knives. It is a Craft Fair Knitters Mystery, a series of 3 books, the latest published in December of 2022. This mystery takes place in a small Pennsylvania town out near Gettysburg which is one of my favorite places to visit. 

My favorite book in February was The Paris Apartment. I found it thrilling and suspenseful as I followed a young British woman in the city of Paris as she tried to locate her half-brother. I would definitely recommend it to my readerly friends. 

Finally, in February, I quit a book. I always have several business books being read at a time. I pick them up, find the information I need and then move on. This book was different in that it required reading from beginning to end in order for me to understand to concept being put forth. I will come back to it, right now I have too many irons in the fire.

Today is the last day of March. I think updating my blog with my monthly reading will take place by the 10th of the following month. That means that I will share my March reading by April 10th. For those interested, I will share how I print out my thumbnail photos of books in Photoshop and pull my pages together. Until then, happy reading! 

The Life of a Reader

Once I retired I wondered when I would get bit with the reading bug again. As a teacher, especially in the years since the pandemic, reading for pleasure really took a back seat. You see, I am one of those readers that has a difficult time putting a book down. So much so, that I will stay up way past my bedtime to finish a book. This did not work during the school year since most nights I was in bed and a sleep long before 7pm. 

On a fateful day in January I took a walk to our local library. I had lost my library card and wanted to get a replacement. I hadn't been to the library since before the pandemic and I found that our library had changed so very much. The one change that caught my eye immediately was the section for new arrivals just to the left of the entrance. Before I even made it to the counter, I had picked up a book. Two days later, I was back in the library, having finished the first book and in need of something else to read. That time I checked out six books thinking that would hold me for a bit. It did, for a short bit. 

I have always been a voracious reader. I read quick. I have always read a lot. This year I decided to keep track of everything I read and just how long it takes for me to read each book. A reading journal was quickly established. There is one thing I like almost as much as reading and that is memory keeping!

With a goal of reading 50 books this year, I was off to create the format of my journal and to read some books. This was going to be fun. My very first few pages would include an ongoing list of books read followed by the monthly pages.

In January, I read two books and was in process on another 2 when the month ended. Since I started on January 24th and we were still in football season, I did pretty well. I decided to begin each month with a title page; one side held the month and year and the other side had a stamped month along with the monthly details. The following pages would hold photos of the books read, total number of pages as well as dates read.

I am happy to be reading again. It has become a solid part of my nighttime routine along with knitting. I think I am going to be happy blogging again. I missed having a place to share the happenings of my life.

Please feel free to leave a comment. If you journal or read, share a bit about your process and any book recommendations that you have. I look forward to connecting with you!

#100DayProject

And so it begins. Another #100dayproject, my second. Last year I decided to take a picture of my feet, everyday, for 100 days; #100daysoffeet. While that may seem pretty easy, and it was, there were days that I just forgot to take a picture of my feet. I made it through the one hundred days and I am making an attempt to bring my little book together. 

This year I decided that I really missed sewing for me. So I have decided to tackle Tula Pink's City Sampler, 100 Modern Quilt Blocks. 

Originally I was going to piece all of the blocks in combinations of greys and neutrals but decided to use Tula's Zuma plus a bit of her newest line, Pinkerville. The Zuma colorway we carry in the shop is the beautiful teals and sea greens. Pinkerville will be in the violet colorway and I think that will add a beautiful sparkle to the quilt. 

The #100dayproject begins today and I accomplished what I set out to create, 1 6.5" quilt block. There may be days when I miss making my block but my goal is to stay on track and to allow myself just a bit of creative time, for myself, each day. Here's to the next 100 days!!

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 10, 2018

Mushrooms in the yard make me very happy! I'm not really sure why. This wonderful Saturday I was greeted by not only the mushrooms, but also the bunnies that also live and grow in our yard. Being away last weekend makes me appreciate these little gifts that our yard presents every day!! I am grateful for our home and yard every day.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 9, 2018

I finished a quilt top, I did! So grateful for the gift of quilting in my life and the fact, that today, I was able to complete a quilt top. That hasn't happened in a very long time. Not only did I finish the top, but it also adorable. I can't wait to get it quilted!

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 8, 2018

Grateful for the opportunity to spend an evening out - playing with paper. This is my second year in a row taking part in the Holiday Card Workshop at the Paper Source. I love that it falls on the Thursday we have off for Teachers' Convention. It is usually a relatively relaxing day that runs into a relaxing evening filled with creative play!!

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 7, 2018

Grateful that I get to spend a great deal of time playing with fabric. My role as a shop owner has me wearing so many different hats, some of them not so much fun! But, seriously, how cool is it that I got to spend this past Wednesday evening picking out fabric to match some awesome Aurifil thread colors like this, 1148. Our block of the month that begins in January is going to be bright and gorgeous! Bright Aurifil threads and beautiful Kaffe Fasset fabrics!

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 6, 2018

Tuesdays are for Yoga!! So grateful to be a little active these days. Mark and I reserve Tuesday nights for Yoga Stretch at Echelon Fitness. Our instructor is super mindful about limitations people may have and is constantly sharing ways to modify or increase impact for each and every participant. Until I am comfortable enough to get into the pool, this is a good way for me to stretch and strengthen my muscles without having a negative impact on my joints. It has been too long since I have been able to do anything physical, I am grateful for stretch yoga at a time that is convenient for us.