This image reflects my week perfectly. There was no time to putter, which is essential if I'm to start a new project. Like my window I was frozen solid. My focus was to keep warm and nurture our sick child back to her perky self with hot teas and great books. We read "Julie and the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George, a fascinating story about a 13-year old Eskimo girl surviving alone in the Alaskan tundra by joining a wolf pack. It made me feel very unaccomplished. It also made frigid upstate NY seem like spring.
But what's going to keep us warm for the rest of the winter is our newly installed stove, which we actually found on craigslist. (And we weren't even looking for one.)
But what's going to keep us warm for the rest of the winter is our newly installed stove, which we actually found on craigslist. (And we weren't even looking for one.)
Here it is fully functional sitting on the (almost) finished hearth. My living room is warm enough today that the idea of throwing a beach party entered my sluggish mind.
My head is into books these days, so I'm finishing up "Strawberry Fields" by UK based author Marina Lewycka, a tragic and hilarious story about a group of migrant workers seeking a better future as strawberry pickers in the UK. "Wild Trees" by Richard Preston is next on my list. It's the adventure of three botanists who study the Redwood canopy 350 feet above the ground in California and discover a world filled with fern gardens, trees and huckleberry bushes along with lichens, voles and salamanders, who live without any contact with the earth below.
Doesn't that sound fascinating? No? Well, then what are you reading these days? I'd love some inspiration and recommendations for my ever growing reading list.
Doesn't that sound fascinating? No? Well, then what are you reading these days? I'd love some inspiration and recommendations for my ever growing reading list.
Grab a tea and a good book and enjoy your weekend.
Congratulations on your new stove! And the tiles look so beautiful! The colours go so well with the wood and the green of the stove and everything.
ReplyDeleteIf you like Lewycka's writing, I would suggest her earlier book "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian".
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your stove and hearth! And "Wild Trees" sounds so intriguing that I'm going to check for it at my library today.
ReplyDeleteDo you like fiction? Some of my recent favorites are "The Help" Kathryn Stockett,"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" Lisa See, "The History of Love" Nicole Krauss, and "Half-Broke Horses" Jeannette Walls.
ReplyDeleteHappy reading! Your living room looks like a wonderful place to read and stay warm. I've been enjoying your blog for some time now. I think you should write a book yourself. A book of your tutorials would be awesome!
Diana
The stove looks very much at home! I love how you worked in the tiles.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember how old your daughter is but here are some favorites:
The Wheel on the School, Dejong, about a Dutch village that welcomes storks on their rooves.
The Cricket in Times Square, Seldon, about a cricket who lives in a newspaper stand in NYC
Ginger Pie, Estes, about a charming dog
Strawberry Girl, Lenski, set in the 30's and told from the young girls' perspective about strawberry farming
A little older level:
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi, what an adventure!! I just read that they are making a movie to come out in 2011. Read it before that!
Sign of the Beaver,Speare, young white boy is left in a cabin in Maine while his father goes to get the rest of the family, he is rescued by an Indian chief
Secret of the Andes, Clark, an Inca boy grows up in ancient Peru.
I better stop ;)
Your living room looks reallu nice like this! And I like the project of your week (despite the fact your child was sick). I'm reading "eat, pray,love" at that moment!
ReplyDeleteHave a nice week-end
Have you and your daughter read Jean Craighead George's "My Side of the Mountain"? One of my childhood favorites...and it takes place in the Catskills!
ReplyDeleteoh i am so happy to have a functional computer again! i have so missed your posts i can't wait to go back and read what you have been up to in january! your stove is divine...you will fall in love with it and soon wonder how you ever lived without one! if you have not read the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society, it's very good.
ReplyDeleteLoved water for elephants. Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteI love the sound of those books, will have to order them from the library. Your stove looks very inviting, we have never regretted installing ours.
ReplyDeleteOh my, thanks so much for your great suggestions. I took some time today, googled and checked our local library. I'll be having so many wonderful books to read until spring, it seems. Then I'll ask again for more.
ReplyDeleteYour ideas and inspiration is greatly appreciated!
I loved Julie of the Wolves as a child! Such a great story!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful woodstove you have (and gorgeous tiled hearth). Isn't wood heat the best on a chilly day?
I am reading The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman -so far perfect (a book about books...) And reading From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg to our daughters.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to hear about what all of us are reading, check out our multi-generational book-love blog/website www.booksforwallsproject.org.
P.S. We made and gave petal scarves as Christmas gifts, thanks for ALL the inspiration!