Book Review: Come Winter by Claire Gutierrez

 

I love historical fiction and the time period seemed well researched. The book is more of a saga. Several times I saw a logical conclusion and yet the story continued. I think it could easily have been made into a series of three books. 

It also appears to fit into the romance genre which is one I don't read and had it been so labeled I probably would have passed. However both my husband and I read it and enjoyed it. Who doesn't love a strong heroine? Could make an interesting movie with a couple of sequels.  

Book Review: Good Girl by Sarah Tomlinson

This memoir was fascinating but in the way one might watch a train wreck. Sarah's neediness throughout and her soul-baring disclosures left me uncomfortable. 

She was so self absorbed and obsessed with her father you wonder why her mother had not put a stop to his visits or promises of visits early on. Certainly she could see what is was doing to her daughter. 

I slogged through waiting for it to improve and it did not. The end seemed like something was missing. She went from incredibly troubled to seemingly fine without any real explanation of how this happened. Maybe her meds finally kicked in... 

Book Review: Circling the Sun by Paula McClain

Just finished a fascinating novel! Circling the Sun by Paula McLain is the story of Beryl Markham and her life in Kenya "before it was Kenya". Not sure if I would have been as ready to read this if I had not read The Paris Wife last year by the same author. Both are biographical although I had never heard of Beryl Markham but think I should have. McLain's ability to capture the essence of colonial life in Kenya plus her detailed knowledge of horse racing and airplanes is just spot on. I felt so involved with the characters throughout. Beryl Markham's life story is one you won't want to miss Couldn't put it down!  

Babysitting Experience

We have absolutely no recent babysitting experience so jumped at the chance to watch Mandy's three adorable children today.
I even changed diapers, although a 2 year old does not necessarily prepare me for a newborn! We had a great time with the kids. Chloe went off to school early and I didn't get time for a picture so I will insert one of of her beating me at bowling from a couple of months ago.

I forgot how much work 3 little kids can be. Constantly preparing meals and cleaning up! But they were angels and we had lots of fun. :)

A brief video of Carter playing ball with Dennis. He was quickly distracted by cartoons on the TV.

Riley Kate a fashion plate ready for an afternoon of kindergarten.




Carter and Dennis in striped rugby shirts. Carter called him "papa" and so Dennis is hooked!



Carter poses in his fresh diaper that Riley helped me with. Proving you never forget how and pampers are much easier than diaper pins. 9;)



8 year old Chloe beats Aunt Janie at bowling this summer!


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How I Gained 10# on my Vacation ;)

This has been a non stop eating vacation! :( First we went to the Equinox resort in Vermont for a board retreat where they fed us gourmet food three times a day. Then our friends, Karen & Lou from Boston picked us up for a road trip through New England- first stop Polly's Pancakes in New Hampshire then on to New Brunswick, Canada to visit PV friends Fred & Clara, now in Bar Harbor, Maine area. Cocktails last night with another PV friend, Ellen Reynolds, who has a house on Mt. Desert Island. Still eating...the big diet will start Thursday!



Pancakes






Lobster, clambakes, lobster stew -food to die for at every stop



Blueberry french toast brunch with mimosas ;)



Lots to drink.....



And three more days to go! (I actually resisted dessert yesterday but only after two popovers with fresh butter and jelly that came with the lobster stew!) ;)


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Picnic With The Pops

Our tailgate friends organized an evening at Picnic with the Pops last night. The Pops performed during the first half then they brought out the Ohio State Marching Band. We bought a table and brought some great food. As usual Albert-George Schram was entertaining as the conductor and they played some great music from Star Wars among others followed by OSU favorites. The drum major snaked through the crowd with a lot of people following behind to Script Ohio. ;) The beautiful evening ended with a huge fireworks display. I captured a brief portion on video.

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Larry's 70th Birthday

We surprised Larry at 9:30 Saturday morning for his ride on the Wright B Flyer, a replica of the plane built for the Signal Corps in WWI.



Here is the video:

Later in the day we went bowling! Larry came in 2nd right behind Josh! He still has his flair at 70.

We had a great dinner at Bravo. Brenda had some great decorations and provided all the right touches!






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Churches in France

One thing I neglected to blog about in our trip to France was the magnificent churches! There are a number of them that were stopping places during the
Middles Ages when people made pilgrimages to the shrine at Compostela in Spain. Rather than trying to tell the interesting story of Compostela I will offer this link you can go to at your leisure.


http://www.csj.org.uk/history.htm

Below I have added a number of pictures from various French churches. Some important, some not, but they all have incredible beauty and craftsmanship.

15th C. Grosse Cloche in Bordeaux

St. Michel a pilgrimage church over 1000 yrs old- Bordeaux

Lourdes

St Catherine in Albi 13th C.

Tomb of St. Catherine

Small church in the Pyrenees with typical style spire for region

The art and stained glass was amazing in even the smallest churches.

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Heron Bay July 4 Golf Cart Parade

Our neighborhood at Buckeye Lake has an annual golf cart parade. This is the first entry for our neighbors, Hannah, Billy, and Brian and their puppy, Zöe.











If you take a close look in the 2nd or 3rd frame of the video you will see one "float" with blue waves and can hear me asking what it is....it is "Buckeye Petroleum" and you can see the oil rig on top. we voted for the neighbors but the BP was pretty clever and came away with the prize.

The food was amazing!

One thing for sure, this is Foie Gras country! Bob and Joan LOVE it, Dennis can do, me no way. :(. Every little shop sells it and as you drive along there are places where it is produced.














The fresh fruits and vegetables are for sale in little markets everywhere.









Also the fresh seafood in Arcachon as well as all the towns along the Atlantic are plentiful in the markets.

Oysters (huîtres) and mussels (moules) are plentiful.






Our favorites were Les Moules á la creme fraiche. They come with pomme frites for just 9.5€ . Yum.








Speaking of the €, although we give them a dollar and they give us just .80 cents worth, tips and tax are included in everything you buy so we did not find it to be particularly expensive in most cases. We stayed in darling hotels with private baths for €60 and as I say that includes all tax. The food was excellent and inexpensive. In most cases you would see a menu with 3 prix fixe choices with appetizer or first course they call entree. The main plat or main course and a dessert for as little as €11. Some as high as €25 but that was rare. Again this includes tip and tax.

The house wine - vin rouge de la maison- was very good in almost every case and very cheap. €3-4 Euros at most. Dennis drank some but red wine has been bothering him so his drink of choice was usually biere. 1664 is quite good and almost always on draft but costs as much or


more than a glass of wine. Baldy enjoys one here but in this case a Heineken. He has expensive taste. :)

Wine tasting room at Chateau Palmer.





We can't forget the bread! The baguettes are outstanding and we pick them up fresh daily. They seem to be sticking out of every backpack and bag.




The desserts are so incredible they deserve their own blog! One thing we tried and now love is Gateau Basque. A cake with a center I can't describe or even place the taste. Maybe like a cheesecake consistency but a crust top and bottom. Unique taste. And Choclatiers on every block!







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Location:Southwest France