BOOK REPORT.....

The Water Castle - Megan Frazer Blakemore

Synopsis (Amazon.com)
Ephraim Appledore-Smith is an ordinary boy, and up until his father's stroke he lived an ordinary life. But all that changes when his family moves to the Water Castle-their ancestral home in the small town of Crystal Springs. Mallory Green's family has always been the caretakers of the Water Castle-and the guardians of its secrets. She has been raised to protect the legendary Fountain of Youth, hidden on the estate grounds. But ever since her mom left, she's stopped believing in magic.Will Wylie's family has been at war with the Applegates for generations, all because of the Water Castle's powerful secrets. But Will has rejected legend and magic, putting all his faith in science. When Ephraim learns of the Fountain, he's sure finding it can cure his dad. With Mallory and Will's help, the trio embarks on a mission that brings them deep into their families' shared history, through every secret room in the Water Castle, and on a quest that will blur the lines of magic and science, creativity and discovery, leaving readers left to wonder: Do you believe in the unbelievable?


This book is listed as Junior Fiction at my Library....but don't let that fool you into thinking it's just for kids.  Really good book, held my attention very well.  And if the unbelievable could be called Faith....I believe!  *****

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges
Monthly Key Word Challenge.....(Water)
Color Coded Challenge....(Blue)

EMBROIDERY HOOPS......

Do your embroider....what kind of hoops do you prefer?  I myself like the wooden hoops, they seem to hold the fabric tighter. 

I've tried the plastic hoops, but didn't really like them that much.  They don't seem to tighten up as much as the wooden hoops.

I do lots of embroidery, I'm working on a Crazy Quilt....here are a couple of blocks I've done.

I'm linking up with Tamar for Little Things Thursday.  Head over to Tamar's place and check out all the folks sharing their posts.

HOLIDAYS.....

The holidays are over...the Christmas Tree is down...had my Cabbage Rolls for New Years.

The twins have been out of school for almost 2 weeds....they go back to school Jan. 6...then maybe things can get back to normal.

I was so bored with playing games on my computer, I picked up my grand daughters library book...It's Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People by Dav Pilkey.  I've wanted to read this series of books, but have never done it.  I must say I was pretty surprised...I really liked this book!  This is book 8, so I've got to go back to the beginning.

The teachers are nice, the cafeteria serves delicious food, and the school principal, Mr. Krupp, thinks George and Harold are hilarious. Something is very, very wrong -- and it gets even wronger when the boys' pet pterodactyl, Crackers, and Sulu the Bionic Hamster are captured by George and Harold's evil-twin look-alikes. Now George and Harold must face their greatest foes yet: THEMSELVES! Can they handle this mess on their own, or will they need Captain Underpants to swoop in and save the day?

I give this book......

*****

CHRISTMAS......

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season.

SLOW SUNDAY STITCHING....

Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts is the host for....Slow Sunday Stitching...

Want to see what everyone is working on.....head over to Kathy's place to check it all out.

As for me...I'm working on a Crazy Quilt...I'm doing this on 8 1/2  X  8 1/2 inch muslin squares.  I'm making these blocks from my scrap box...that's what I've named this quilt...My Scrap Box Quilt.  I've got 16 done so far....so have a lot of work to do...I'll just show a few I've gotten done.  Want to see a larger picture....just click on the picture.

Block 1

Block 2

Block 5

BOOK REPORT.....

The Professor and the Madman - Simon Winchester

Amazone.com
The Professor and the Madman is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary—and literary history.

This is my December Book Club choice.  I really enjoyed reading this book.  It has a lot of what I like to read....mystery and murder. 

Dr. Minor is an American Civil War veteran who is locked up in a
asylum for the criminally insane.  He killed a man who he thought was someone else.  This all takes place in 1872.  Who would have thought this would lead to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary.  

Dr. James Murray is the man that got the dictionary going.  He got all the people reading books and sending in words to add to the dictionary.  The first publishing of the Oxford English Dictionary was  February 1, 1884.  Want to read more about this......Wikipedia has all the info on this.