library bulletin

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

i was wrong:) it's pots not pot

pot party:)


we sorta started a tradition last year...
we had extra plants last year so some of the kids came over and matt taught them how to make pots of flowers for their porches and patios.
he did it again this year and invited everyone...
they brought their empty pots and such...
i made the mistake of callimg it a pot party...
you can guess i never heard the end of that:)


matt provided flowers and dirt...
i provided lunch.



some people slept:)


it was the day before mother's day so they could make stuff for their other moms...


a new tradition was born...
a great way to start the summer season...


matt even provided gloves and watering cans...
it was great fun...
and no pot was actually planted:)


bye...
more later...




#bennyandthejets


jack evan thomas
5lbs 13oz
19 1/2 inches
5/23/2013
2:38pm

we have a new little boy baby...
he is the cutest little thing...
already raises his arms 
"touchdown" 

his parents think he is pretty cute...



ben and matt are not sure he is that much fun yet...
he just sits there...
doesn't grab his toes or anything...
they think they will wait and see if he gets
to be more fun when is 3 1/2 months...
according to benny blue he has a lot to learn between now and then...



he's kinda hairy...




pretty sweet...


i think benny will like him...



we kinda do:)



dallys and i have decided we are not allowed to to go anywhere with benny and the jets unless we have parental supervision...
(all the new baby paraphernalia is freaking heavy)!!!
(and we are in our 50's)!!!



now i know what all the fuss is about:)...
you guys were right...
thanks...

bye...
more later...


ps...
jack's feet!
they are ridiculously cute:) 

and benny's cheeks!

oh my...
i could just die...

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

"gatsby? what gatsby?"


"a single green light, 
minute and faraway,
that might have been the end of a dock."




Storyline

An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await.






absolutely true to fitzgerald's novel...
it was haunting, devastating, magnificent...
i loved it and hope to see it again...
i am watching the original again this weekend with
robert redford...

ABOUT FITZGERALD, DID YOU KNOW...



Many of the events from Fitzgerald’s early life appear in The Great Gatsby. Like Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway is a thoughtful young man from Minnesota, educated at an Ivy League school (in Nick’s case, Yale), who moves to New York after the war. Also similar to Fitzgerald is Jay Gatsby, a sensitive young man who idolizes wealth and luxury and who falls in love with a beautiful young woman while stationed at a military camp in the South.



Having become a celebrity, Fitzgerald fell into a wild, reckless life-style of parties and decadence, while desperately trying to please Zelda by writing to earn money. Similarly, Gatsby amasses a great deal of wealth at a relatively young age, and devotes himself to acquiring possessions and throwing parties that he believes will enable him to win Daisy’s love.


this movie and book are also credited with making some cocktails famous...

Gin Rickey

The tartness of the Rickey takes the edge off a summer day. 

  • Half a lime
  • 1.5 ounces gin
  • Club soda




Squeeze lime into a highball glass with ice. Add gin and then club soda. Stir.


i am not a drinker but 
i think this could be made with just some yummy raspberry limeade...




Mint Julep
The Mint Julep deserves to be drunk on days that aren't the Kentucky Derby. 

  • 2 ounces bourbon or rye
  • 2 mint leaves
  • .5 ounce simple syrup

In an Old Fashioned glass muddle mint leaves and simple syrup. Add crushed ice and then one ounce of whiskey. Stir until the outside of the glass is chilled. Add more crushed ice then top with another ounce of whiskey. Garnish with a sprig of mint.


i think the mint julep sounds like it would 
be better as ice cream:)...


French 75



this one,
the french 75
 is most definitely pretty...

~~~~~~~~~


"gatsby believed in the green light,
the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.
it eluded us then, but that's no matter-
tomorrow we will run faster,
stretch out our arms farther...
and one fine morning...

so we beat on,
boats against the current,
borne back ceaselessly
into the past."


you should go see this...
or at least watch the 1974 version with robert redford...
so good...


bye...
more later...

ps...
we got us another baby!!!!!

Friday, May 10, 2013

“It's a terrible thing, isn't it, the way we throw people away?”



“But it is human, is it not, to long for that from which we are barred?” 
 Kate Morton



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the following information was taken from

THE SECRET KEEPER 



This picture of a Tunbridge Wells farmhouse was one of a few that sat on my pin board while I was writing The Secret Keeper
1961: On a sweltering summer's day, while
her family picnics by the stream on their
Suffolk farm, sixteen-year-old Laurel hides out
in her childhood tree house dreaming of a boy
called Billy, a move to London, and the bright
future she can't wait to seize. But before the
idyllic afternoon is over, Laurel will have witnessed
a shocking crime that changes everything.




Dorothy and Vivien, as imagined for the endpapers of the Mantle, UK edition
2011: Now a much-loved actress, Laurel finds herself overwhelmed by shades of the past. Haunted by memories, and the mystery of what she saw that day, she returns to her family home and begins to piece together a secret history. A tale of three strangers from vastly different worlds--Dorothy, Vivien and Jimmy--who are brought together by chance in wartime London and whose lives become fiercely and fatally entwined...




i loved this book...
it was so good...

here is my review from goodreads


The Secret Keeper
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I listened to the audible version of this book and I thought the narrator was fantastic! At times I thought the long way was taken to get to the point but at the end realized that was the perfect way to tell this story. It reminded me of those old WWII movies. The pacing of the end was brilliant and I absolutely loved Jimmy. He was so unbelievably lovely and heroic. Vivian was mysterious and fragile and Dolly was so likable and frustrating and at times so hard to read. I loved it! It will make a great movie!

View all my reviews



i would have loved to get together and talk about this one...

i would have served...





Discussion Questions
1. Each of Kate Morton's four novels are securely anchored in their strong sense of time and place. In The Secret Keeper, World War II is a rich and realistic environment–close enough for memory but a long way from our twenty-first century lives—which allows the author to show both the frailty and courage of human nature. Discuss.

2. The rusted-on loyalties of family members to each other are key in this novel. Do you think Dolly's feelings of unease about her own family contribute to her love of playing make-believe?

3. Laurel had never thought to ask her mother about her life before Dorothy met Stephen Nicolson. And it's impossible for Dolly to imagine Lady Caldicott being young and beautiful wearing those glorious dresses now going musty in the dressing room. And Jimmy's dad loves to tell his stories of the past. How is ageing portrayed in The Secret Keeper?

4. Many readers have commented on how extremely likeable Jimmy is–how has Kate Morton developed his character to make him so?

5. Do you think that The Secret Keeper's characters live the lives they deserve? Were you satisfied and surprised at their various outcomes and their influences on each other?

6. Once you understood Dorothy's reasons for committing that violent action at the end of chapter one, did you find any moral ambiguity in her behaviour? Did she really have a choice?

7. Everyone has their secrets. The Secret Keeper, some more than others! Do you think Laurel is justified in upturning her mother's carefully laid secrets? When is keeping a secret within a family justified?
(Questions issued by publisher.)




maybe had some of these while we talked 
drank
blood orange tea...





mom...
you will love this book!

p.s.
on baby watch for baby boy thomas:)

bye...
more later...

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

a football or two

so this little guy says
"momma, i want a cousin!"


so chloe says
"sam, your turn:)"


so here we are having a baby shower for baby #2


since it's sam's kid we had to have a football or two...
and of course benny blue was pretty specific about a boy cousin...


sarah wanted a girl but here we are.
 with a football or two...

i made strawberry footballs
and
sausage in a blanket with a cute "T" on them for thomas.
 or touchdown.
or whatever;)
these were the hit and i ran out way too early.
i could have made twice as many of both of these things and would have still run out... 

we had beautiful fruit and cinnimon rolls, french toast bites
and breakfast cassarole.
recipe here



the weather cooperated
and we were able to have it outside.
it was beautiful.
(it's snowing today:))


sarah and her mother set up a onsie station and people made cute onsies for baby boy thomas...


it was a really good idea...


we had this this little munchkin...
jenna...
she is only 7 months old...
she is rocking the baby wig:)
just like my little benny...


ashley made this...
awesome...


did i mention we had a football theme?


sam is having a kid...


wow!
i hope he likes football...

p.s. here is what's next...



p.s.s.
i have the cutest neighbor...
she is 87 and has the most beautiful yard.
she does ALL the yardwork herself.
when she saw maddie decorating for the shower,
she asked her if she would like a bouquet for the table.
beautiful daffodils...
i love her!


bye...
more later...