MONDAY.......

Tamar over at Random-osity is the host for The Good, The Random and The Fun.  Hop over and check it out.

The Good....
We have this piece of carpet in front of the back door.  Toby, the Dachshund, loves this, he rolls on his back for a good scratch.

The Random....
Toby trying to sneak out the back door.

The Fun.....
What's more fun that playing with the garden hose on a hot humid day.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY.....

Ashley over at Ramblings & Photos is the host for Scavenger Hunt Sunday.  Hop over and check out what photos everyone is sharing.

My interpretations this week....

What I'm doing today.....

Watching my hubby at the neighbors rummage.  He is recovering from 6 weeks in the hospital for Colorectal Cancer.  He's doing awesome.

Inside....

This is the hutch and microwave in my kitchen.  It's a little cluttered.  Well, a lot cluttered.

Candid....

Heather walking into the house.  She thought I was taking a picture of the twins.

Yum.....

Our first pepper from our garden.  Yummy.

Natural Light....

The garden in the front yard.  It smells wonderful because of the Honeysuckle.

MY HUBBY.....

As you all must know my hubby recently underwent surgery for Colorectal Cancer.  He was in the hospital for 6 weeks after complications from the surgery.  Since he's been home he is eating and gaining weight.  The doctor's are very happy at his recovery. 
The neighbors down the street have a rummage sale.  My hubby is a rummage sale guru.  Before the surgery he went rummaging every weekend.  So he can't resist one when he sees one.  So he got his walker and walked down to the neighbors.  I was watching him the whole way there.

 I am linking up with Melinda over at West Metro Mommy Reads for Saturday Snapshot.

BOOK BEGINNINGS/THE FRIDAY 56......

Since I have a few Memes I want to do on Friday, I'm doing them all in one post.  Gillion over at Rose City Reader is the host for Book Beginnings.  Freda over at Freda's Voice is the host for The Friday 56.  Billy B. is the host for Book Blogger Hop.  Hop over and check them out, you might find your next book.


The Book of Speculation - Erika Swyler
 Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound. His parents are long dead. His mother, a circus mermaid who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. His younger sister, Enola, ran off six years ago and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival.

MY BOOK BEGINNING....
Perched on the bluff's edge, the house is in danger. Last night's storm tore land and churned water, littering the beach with bottles, seaweed, and horseshoe crab carapaces.  The place where I've spent my entire life is unlikely to survive the fall storm season.  The Long Island Sound is peppered with the remains of homes and lifetimes, all ground to sand in its greedy maw.  It is a hunger.

This first paragraph got me hooked, I wanted to find out what the heck was going on.

MY FRIDAY 56....
"The town cut us this year.  Badly.  I'll try and fight them as much as I can, but----"
"Blood from a stone?"
At her nod, any hope of a bonus  to fix the bulkhead dries up.

This person works at a library and is looking for extra money to fix his house.  Which looks like it isn't going to happen from his job.

BOOK BLOGGER HOP QUESTION.
 What time of the year does your library have its library sale? 

They have their book sale in the spring and fall.
 

HOME GROWN PEPPER(S).........

We got our first pepper from our garden.  It was kind of odd shaped and small, but it was yummy.  Nothing like eating the food you grow.  It tastes totally different from store bought.

Odd Shaped....

Cutting the top....

Scrapping out the seeds....

Cutting into strips....

First Bite.....

I'm linking up with Kim over at Little by Little for Little Things Thursday.

BOOK REPROT......

The Queen of Cool - Cecil Castellucci

Product Description(Amazon.com)
On the outside, Libby Brin is the most popular girl in school. But on the inside, Libby is dying — of boredom. In a moment of desperation, Libby signs up for an internship at the Los Angeles Zoo, much to the dismay of her friends, who’d prefer she spend her time with them, shopping, partying, and making fun of everyone else. Oddly, Libby realizes that she actually enjoys her new job and that she may even like the two "nerds" she works with. Will the Queen of Cool be forced to give up her crown? 
Paperback: 176 pages 
Publisher: Candlewick; Reprint edition (August 14, 2007) 
 Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0763634131 
ISBN-13: 978-0763634131

MY THOUGHTS:  Really enjoyed reading this book.  It's light and fast read.  It also reminds you of your adolescence.  Did you ever feel like Libby?  Were you a popular person?  I was one of those people that the cool kids made fun of.  So this book gave me a different perspective.  Libby is bored but not sure what to do to change things.  She finally figures it all out.  I give this book 4......

   





This book is also for 2 of my reading challenges.  The Full House Reading Challenge and The 3rd Annual Beat the Heat Readathon.

DIFFERENCES......

It's amazing the differences a couple years can make.  Have you ever looked back at pictures and see such a difference in the person?  I've got some examples of Bella and Luke.

Bella - 2013

Bella 2015

Big difference don't you think?

Luke - 2013

Luke - 2015

They are both growing up right before my eyes.  Bella and Luke started school a couple weeks ago.  Bella is having a hard time adjusting.  But I have confidence she will adjust.  Bella knows the ABC's, knows how to count to 100, knows all the colors and shapes.  She just needs to adjust to being away from home.  She isn't a very social person.  So being in a school environment is hard for her.   As for Luke, he has been diagnosis as Autistic.  He's on the lower scale of the Autism chart.  He's a very smart little guy.  You only have to show him something once or twice and he knows it.  He's been using a computer since he was 1 year old.  He's also a very lovable person.  

BOOK REPORT.....

The Undertaker's Daughter - Kate Mayfield

Product Description(Amazon.com)
How does one live in a house of the dead? Kate Mayfield explores what it meant to be the daughter of a small-town undertaker in this fascinating memoir evocative of Six Feet Under and The Help, with a hint of Mary Roach’s Stiff.

After Kate Mayfield was born, she was taken directly to a funeral home. Her father was an undertaker, and for thirteen years the family resided in a place nearly synonymous with death, where the living and the dead entered their house like a vapor. In a memoir that reads like a Harper Lee novel, Mayfield draws the reader into a world of haunting Southern mystique.

In the turbulent 1960s, Kate’s father set up shop in sleepy Jubilee, Kentucky, a segregated, god-fearing community where no one kept secrets—except the ones they were buried with. By opening a funeral home, Frank Mayfield also opened the door to family feuds, fetishes, murder, suicide, and all manner of accidents. Kate saw it all—she also witnessed the quiet ruin of her father, who hid alcoholism and infidelity behind a cool and charismatic façade. As Kate grows from trusting child to rebellious teen, the enforced sobriety of the funeral home begins to chafe, and she longs for the day she can escape the confines of Jubilee and her place as the undertaker’s daughter. 
Paperback: 368 pages 
Publisher: Gallery Books; Reprint edition (July 14, 2015) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 1476757291 
ISBN-13: 978-1476757292

MY THOUGHTS:  This was a wonderful book.  I loved reading about all the characters in this small rural southern town.  This book reminded me a lot of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Help by Katheryn Stockett.  I have read both of those books and enjoyed them both.  Kate is a typical little girl, asking lots of questions and doing what her parents tell her to.  But as she gets older she starts to wonder about some things that no one wants to discuss.  So Kate rebels against the rules of her parents and society.  I give the book 5....

This book is also for my Full House Reading Challenge...Number 4.

EMBROIDERY......

Sharon over at Pintangle is the host for Take A Stitch Tuesday.  She shows you how to embroider stitches.  She has some awesome needlework to see, hop over and check it out.

I am following along with the embroidery stitches Sharon is teaching.  This week it's the Detached Chain Stitch.  Here is her description of the stitch......

"Detached Chain stitch or lazy daisy is the challenge stitch this week. This is a fun stitch that is quick and easy to do. The trick is to not pull the stitch too tight as a tight tension will pull the curve into a tighter line.  You will have thin petals to your daisies. Keep the tension a little loose but not so loose they are floppy and you will have generous flower petals."

This is my example of the stitch and it is all about tension.

As you can see some of the stitches are to tight because I pulled the thread.

I've also finished my second Crazy Quilt Block.

Here are some close ups of the stitching I done.

Don't forget to go over to Sharon's place to check out all the "stuff" she has to share. 

I'm also linking up with Heather over at Books and Quilts for Needlework Tuesday.  Heather is working on a gorgeous knit Afghan.  Go check it out.

THE GOOD. THE RANDOM. AND THE FUN....

Tamar over at Random-osity is the host for The Good, The Random, The Fun.  Hop over and see what everyone is sharing.

THE GOOD
is eating the first pepper from our garden.  Son and hubby ate the pepper, they said it was delicious.

THE RANDOM
Ever snoop in someone's fridge when you visit?  Well, here's snoop into our fridge.

THE FUN
Is watching the expressions the twins make when they don't know your looking.  Bella is watching videos at PBS Kids and making faces while doing it.

As always if you want to see close ups just click on the picture.

RACING......KID STYLE

Bella has a very good imagination, she can play quite awhile just using her imagination.  Bella and Luke like to chase each other around a circle in our yard.  They have a clear path to run.  One day last week Bella decided she was racing, pulling along her little wagon.
She's waiting for me to say...1,2,3, GO

Going around turn 1...

Going around turn 2....

Heading to the finish line....

And of course you have to have a trophy for winning the race..so we made one up that she was happy with.

She played this "racing game for quite awhile.