Hubby Five-O

Hi readers,

Today is my DH's birthday, and what a great day it's been!  While he was at work, the Bachsters decorated the house!  Then, we painted a spot in the office where the wallpaper was torn - a spot that he always sees when he's on the computer.  And then we got him a cake and balloons and beer and Whoppers (his fave).  And we also gave him a cornhole set, so now he doesn't have to make one, which he kept threatening to do!

Anyway, here are a couple of pics from the festivities:

Mmmmmm.......cake!
Cheryl

Book Nook - Sookie Stackhouse novels

Hi readers,

Reading Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels is like munching on a box of your favorite candy: they're sweet, not particularly nutritious and you won't stop until you've eating every piece.  Last year, I read all the novels in the series in rapid succession, and then I waited a year for the latest, Dead in the Family.

In this latest installment, Sookie is still healing, both physically and mentally, from her many wounds she received in the Fae War.  Amelia is moving out, Jason is dating someone new, Eric is still her man.  This novel dives into vampire politics a bit, explores her relationships with Eric, Hunter and Claude further (I just love Claude's character, so I was happy to see more of him), all while introducing us to some new characters like Eric's maker Ocella, Alexei & Jannalynne.

This is an enjoyable installment to the series; yet, it wasn't my favorite.  I read it quickly (you can read these in a day easily, even while stopping to make meals for the kids or to fill up the baby pool).  I liked the parts with Eric and Hunter and Claude.  Yet I really didn't care whose body was buried on Sookie's property, I didn't really care which fairy was roaming around uninvited and I just wanted to get through the big Were meeting to get to better parts of the novel.  In other words, the intrigue that was set wasn't very, well, intriguing.  Perhaps this is just that a year has passed, so my interest in the novels is waning?  I think a better explanation is that the novel is, in my opinion, not as strong with the plot as some of the previous novels have been.  Also on the negative side, I don't think any of the new characters are great ones.  Jannalynne & Annabelle, Basim, Ocella, Ham & Patricia - none of them really "stick" with the reader; in fact, I had to look up some of their names in the book as I write this because I've already forgotten them!  I love the idea of a vampire taken from the pages of history, like Alexei, but I think the author did a much, much better job doing this with the character of Bubba ("thank you, thank you very much").

That being said, I think Charlaine Harris does a great job with the main characters and seems to know them well.  And she seems to know where she is leading the reader.  The pacing of the novel seems about the same as the others.  I also liked the storyline with Bill - I really like Bill's character and felt he deserved more than to pine for Sookie in every novel.  And the bit with the family Bible was touching.

So, was this the best novel I've ever read?  No.  Would I recommend it?  Yes, if you are into the series.  And I would recommend the series - as a whole, these novels are great fun.  I particularly liked the first one, and the fourth one (the one where Eric loses his memory and becomes a kinder, gentler Eric).  I think after maybe the 5th one or so, they seem to be losing a little steam - but it's like watching a race that has many laps - not every lap is going to be the most exciting, but leaving before the end of the race is just no fun.  And besides, you could always get a box of your favorite candy to help pass the time!

So, anyone else read this novel, or the others in the series?  What are your thoughts?
Cheryl

  

A nice surprise

Hi readers,

Lookee what I got in the mail today - yarn from Red Heart!

They sent me 4 balls of that gorgeous "rose dust" color, which is their Eco-Ways recycled blend; 3 balls of the blue Eco-Ways bamboo wool and 3 balls of tangerine Eco-Ways eco-cotton blend.  Aren't those colors beautiful!  They also sent me a reusable bag with the Save the Planet contest logo on it:

And they sent me a very nice letter, which states: "We were so pleased that you were a runner-up in our 'Save the Planet' contest.  In our eyes you are a winner!"  Isn't that nice!  What an unexpected, wonderful surprise!  Now I just need to figure out what to knit with all my great new yarn goodies!

While I didn't win the contest, just to be chosen as a finalist was really an accomplishment: there were over 300 entries!  And if I hadn't entered, I would always be wondering how that great idea I had for a knitted globe would have done in the contest.  At least I gave it a shot!

And on that thought, I leave you with a parting quote:

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

-Wayne Gretzky

Have a nice evening!

Cheryl

Back to Inniswood

"The seed is hope; the flower is joy."

-Author Unknown

Hi readers,

Today, the Bachsters and I went back to Inniswood Metro Park/Garden for a special program on seeds.  It was a nice program & Inniswood did a great job organizing crafts and activities for the kids, as well as a brief educational program on seeds.  However, it was very hot out today and the kids were ready to pack it in shortly after we got there.  In fact, they didn't even want to check out our normal stomping-grounds of the pond or Granny's House, or any of the beautiful gardens we usually visit.  No, they wanted the car and their water bottles!

But, we did manage to have fun planting some seeds & doing some other activities and I was able to get a couple of shots.  Here is the "make your own sunflower" craft:

And here is Little Guy's very gluey creation:

Those beautiful red and yellow flowers by Granny's House were beckoning me, since they were right there by the craft tables, so I thought I'd try to improve upon my shot from the other day.  However, I had bright sunlight to deal with, as well as 3 very tired, hot & rather cranky kids.  So I only got one shot, on auto exposure:

I think yet another trip to Inniswood is in our near future.  It's always a pleasurable visit, even on hot summer days.  But for now, it's nice to be back home, just chilling in the air conditioning!

Have a nice Wednesday!

Cheryl

Bowling, Birthday, Blooms & Baking

Hi readers,

My daughter had her 5th birthday over the weekend and we partied hearty!  On Saturday, we had a party for her & some of her school friends at the local bowling alley.  She was hesitant to bowl at first, but quickly got into it & had a great time.  Here is a pic of our Bach Girls bowling:

 
They gave her a silly birthday-girl hat at the bowling party, which she loved.  Here's my big 5 year old showing off the latest design trend:

On Sunday, I made her a homemade birthday cake.  Little Guy decided to try it ahead of time:

Later that day, we went to Inniswood Metro Park & Gardens in Westerville.  If you ever get the chance to go there, do!  It's beautiful!!!  Our birthday girl chose to go there on her birthday so she could explore the secret garden.  Here is a pic of some lovely blooms by Granny's House at Inniswood:

One of her b'day presents was an easy bake oven, so we had fun making cookies on Monday.  Those little ovens crack me up - they bake one cookie at a time & it takes like 20 minutes between the baking and cooling....per cookie!  But the Bachsters didn't care, they were in charge of the kitchen!  Here are a couple of pics from our baking day:

Birthdays never seem to last for just one day around here, and I'm glad that my little one enjoyed her birthday-days so much!  And she still has another gift coming: my surprise knitted toy, which sadly, I did not finish in time (but not for lack of trying)!

For now, it's time for this completely-pooped-out Mom to take a break!
Cheryl

Book Nook - Raw Food, Real World

Hi readers,

Are you familiar with the raw food diet?  I heard about it years ago and remember thinking, what do they eat, a plate of carrots?  Well, there are carrots, but also a whole myriad of choices and methods of food preparation in addition.  Basically, the raw foods diet (not really a diet, but a lifestyle) is eating only fruit, vegetables and raw nuts - and nothing is cooked.  According to raw foodies, cooking robs your food of valuable enzymes and oxygen.

I thought I'd give the raw foods diet a chance a few months ago.  I didn't want to lose weight, but I wanted to incorporate more fruit & veggies into my daily routine and wanted to start eating healthier in general.  I read a bunch of books & checked out lots of cookbooks on raw foods, and this is one of the best:

Raw Food, Real World by Matthew Kenney & Sarma Melngailis is not only a raw food cookbook, but also a really informative book on all aspects of the raw foods lifestyle.  The authors are very willing to share their personal experiences of their foray into this lifestyle.  Their candor is a nice touch (ex: Matthew's business went bust around the time they went raw & the funny discussion on "cleansers").  They're not trying to sell raw foods to the reader, or make it out to be something it's not.  I think the authors hit the right tone in their writing and it reads like friends chatting with you about this really exciting thing they discovered.

Now, you might be thinking, this is a cookbook - how much reading is there?  The book is interspersed with recipes, lots of photos and lots of information about specific foods (like sea salt, for example) and the authors' experiences and observations.  So, it's much more than a cookbook, really.  But, the cooking part is great, too.  Er, rather the un-cooking part.

There are loads of great recipes in here, and they challenge every preconceived notion I ever had about raw foods.  There is nary a plate of carrots to be seen.  There are, however, great recipes like spicy Thai vegetable wraps.  I made these & they were great.  My husband liked them too (he tried all my raw food recipes).  I couldn't make the tamarind sauce that accompanies the dish because I couldn't find tamarind, but the dish was really tasty even without the sauce.  The pineapple-cucumber gazpacho was very light and refreshing.  I loved the pairing of pineapple & cucumber.  Now that summer's here, I'll be making it again for certain.  The freezer fudge was awesome & I have to admit, I horded it ("but that's my special raw food recipe honey......").  The honey nut butter & berry jam sandwich is so easy to make & easy to tailor to your needs (I don't have a dehydrator, so I skipped that part).  And there are a couple of recipes that I have not tried, but really want to: soft corn tortillas and the dark chocolate ganache tart.  Don't they just sound yummy - now imagine making these dishes with all healthy, fresh ingredients that are actually good for you!

I saved the best for last, however.  One of my all-time favorite recipes comes from this book: the cinnamon banana shake.  It. Is. To. Die. For.  I never realized how bananas & cinnamon compliment each other so well.  I make mine with the 30-second nut milk recipe, so it's fast and easy.  And I never throw away bananas anymore.....they have a much better future in store for them!

One nice thing about the book is that almost every recipe has a nice big color photo with it, so you can see how it's supposed to look.  The bad part of this is, you will want to make everything!  I should also mention that there are some recipes that call for special equipment (a dehydrator or a high speed blender, mostly).  It is definitely possible to make a lot of the recipes in the book without this equipment, but some things you can't (like any recipe with coconut - don't even try it unless you have the high speed blender).   

So, in celebration of the first day of summer, let's all turn off our ovens and un-cook dinner tonight!

Happy Summer!
Cheryl 

Paper Mache

Hi readers,

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I want to do regular art projects with the Bachsters this summer.  Well, we had our first one a couple of days ago....paper mache!

I made our paste homemade - it's a little scary to think that flour and water mixed together basically makes glue!  The kids kept commenting on how nice it smelled (I added ground cloves).  They also helped cut up the strips of paper we used.  Here are a couple of pics from our paper mache making, phase 1:

We let our bowls dry all day & then painted them the following afternoon.  Here are some pics of the painting phase:

As you can see, my daughter got all crafty and started painting with a dandelion.  Getting crafty is what it's all about!

I'll keep you posted on more arts & crafts to come!
Cheryl