IN MEMORIAL.......

My hubby, Thomas, passed away July 18, 2016 at 11:06am.

He was my husband, my lover and my best friend for 48 years, he was my soul mate.

He had been fighting cancer for 2 1/2 years.  He was hanging on long enough to see his grandkids, Bella and Luke go to Kindergarten.  He made it that far.  I miss him so much.  This is how I'll always remember him.  Young and as the kids say today, he was hot!!!

BOOK REPORT..THE WANDERER

The Wanderer - Robyn Carr

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Nestled on the Oregon coast is a small town of rocky beaches and rugged charm. Locals love the land's unspoiled beauty. Developers see it as a potential gold mine. When newcomer Hank Cooper learns he's been left an old friend's entire beachfront property, he finds himself with a community's destiny in his hands.

Cooper has never been a man to settle in one place, and Thunder Point was supposed to be just another quick stop. But Cooper finds himself getting involved with the town. And with Sarah Dupre, a woman as complicated as she is beautiful.

With the whole town watching for his next move, Cooper has to choose between his old life and a place full of new possibilities. A place that just might be home. 
Series: Thunder Point (Book 1) 
Mass Market Paperback: 377 pages 
Publisher: MIRA; 1st edition (March 26, 2013) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0778314472 
ISBN-13: 978-0778314479

MY THOUGHTS:  Lets start off with I didn't know this was a series, usually I get the last or middle book of a series.  Surprise, I got the first book in this series!!  The book is all about Cooper and the tiny coastal town of Thunder Point.  Cooper lives in a 5th Wheel traveling where ever he wants.  He doesn't usually settle in one place for long.  He travels to Thunder Point, Oregon to see about a friend only to find him dead, and Ben has left him something.  At first Cooper wants to fix the place up and sell it.  But he gets involved with a woman and her brother.  The piece of land Ben has left him is a developers dream and everyone wants it.  But Cooper meets Sarah.  Before you know it, Cooper is involved with the town and everyone living there.  There is a long list of characters from the town and Cooper seems to help most of them.  Really great book.  I look forward to reading the book in the series.  I give this book 5....

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges....
52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge
A Year of Fun in the Sun Challenge(Wacky Readers-Good Reads Group)

BOOK REPORT.....

Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult

Product Description - (Amazon.com)
Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens--until the day its complacency is shattered by a school shooting. Josie Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened before her very own eyes--or can she? As the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show--destroying the closest of friendships and families. Nineteen Minutes asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be. 
Paperback: 455 pages 
Publisher: Washington Square Press; Later Printing edition (February 5, 2008) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0743496736 
ISBN-13: 978-0743496735

MY THOUGHTS:  This is my book clubs choice for June.  This was a kind of slow read until the middle of the book.  Then I couldn't put it down.  Really, what can you say about this book.  It's happy at times, but it's also very sad.  Peter is bullied all the way from kindergarten through high school and by the same group of kids.  One day he's had enough and goes on a shooting rampage.  Josie was his best friend, but she has moved on to the "in" group.  Alex and Lacy, parents of these two kids were best friends.  Now they both have to figure out what happened and piece their lives back together.  I give this book 5.....

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges....
Women's Fiction Challenge

BOOKISH FRIDAY...

Gillion over at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings, Freda over at Freda's Voice hosts The Friday 56, and Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addict hosts Book Blogger Hop.  Head over and check them out, you may find your next book.

Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens--until the day its complacency is shattered by a school shooting. Josie Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened before her very own eyes--or can she? As the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show--destroying the closest of friendships and families. Nineteen Minutes asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be.

BOOK BEGINNINGS..
In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game.  In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentitis, you can fold laundry for a family of five.
Nineteen minutes is how long it took the Tennesse Titans to see out of tickets to the play-off.  It's the length of a sitcom, minus the commercials.  It's the driving distance from the Vermont border to the town of Sterling, New Hampshire.
In nineteen mintues, you can order a pizza and get it delivered.  You can read a story to a child or have your oil changed.  You can walk a mile.  You can sew a hem.
In nineteen mintues, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it.
In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.

This first section of the book grabbed me right away.  The title did it too.  I never thought about all the things you could do in nineteen minutes.

THE FRIDAY 56..... 
"You told me you were an EMT!"
"I said I'd had medical training!"
"Ben's an Eagle Scout," the principal said.
"I couldn't leave Mr. McCabe.  I...applied pressure, and it's working, see?  The blood's stopped."
Guenther gently removed the boy's bloody hand from his teacher's stomach.  "That's because he's gone, son."

BOOK BLOGGER HOP.....
The question this week....
Are giveaways part of your blog or just reviews?

I don't have giveaways, but do post reviews of the books I read.  I also review books for authors and publicists.

BOOK REPORT....

April Fool Dead - Carolyn Hart

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Someone is playing a rather nasty April Fool's prank on mystery bookstore owner Annie Darling. A felonious forger on the idyllic -- if rarely tranquil -- South Carolina island of Broward's Rock has made it appear as if Annie is accusing some of her neighbors of murder. In the wink of a bloodshot eye, the Darling name is mud . . . and then the Broward's Rock body count starts mysteriously increasing. And now it's up to Annie to follow the well-hidden trail of the vicious trickster -- or a secret slayer's next lethal "joke" may very well be on her! 
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages 
Publisher: Avon (February 25, 2003) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 038080722X 
ISBN-13: 978-0380807222

MY THOUGHTS:  This a new author for me.  I really enjoyed reading this book.  It's about a town on the coast with a whole town of suspects.  The owner of the local book store is having a contest and someone copy's the work and circulates it around town.  Until Annie tells everyone it's a fraud.  Now all they have to do is find out who done it.  In the mean time there is a murder to solve.  Annie and Max, along with the whole town is trying to figure out who the culprit is.  I give this book 5....

 





This is my wrap of of this challenge....

What's In A Name Challenge

This is my list of books I read.
1, A country - The Kill - Jane Casey
2. An item of clothing - In Daddy's Shoes - Sandra Elzie
3. An item of furniture - The Chair - James L. Rubart
4. A profession - I Work at a Public Library - Gina Sheridan
5. A month of the year - April Fool Dead - Carolyn Hart
6. A title with the word ‘tree’ in it - The Bone Tree - Greg Iles

BOOK REPORT AND TUSAL......

Whisper of Evil - Kay Hooper

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Someone is stalking the little town of Silence. Three victims have fallen to a killer’s savage vengeance. Each of the dead men was a successful and respected member of the community—yet each also harbored a dark secret discovered only after his murder. Were their deaths the ultimate punishment for those secrets? Or something even more sinister? Nell Gallagher has come home to Silence more than a decade after leaving one dark night with her own painful secrets. Forced now by family duty to return, she has also come home to settle with the past. But past and present tangle in a murderer’s vicious attacks, and to find the answers she needs, Nell must call on the psychic skills that drove her away years before. She must risk her own life and sanity, and regain the trust of the man she left behind so long ago. For the killer she seeks is seeking her, watching her every move, preying upon her every vulnerability—and already so close she’ll never see death coming . 
Series: Bishop/Special Crimes Unit (Book 5) 
Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages 
Publisher: Bantam; Reissue edition (June 25, 2002) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0553583468 
ISBN-13: 978-0553583465

MY THOUGHTS: New author and series for me.  But as usual I've started in the middle of the series.  So I'll be adding this series to my list.  This was a really awesome book.  Kept me reading, I just couldn't figure out who was doing this, so of course I had to keep reading to find out.  The person doing this wasn't even a known person so it was a surprise.  I give this book 5....

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges....
52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge
Monthly Keyword Challenge

On another note, I've been working on my circle quilt.  I've got February almost done. 

January is all done, even got the embroidery done on the gray circles.  Love those little happy faces.

I was blog hopping one day and found this place that is awesome.  You have to check out Daffy Cat's blog.  She has some great stuff going on at her place.  One thing I am doing it the TUSAL.  What is this....Totally Useless Stitch Along.... You can find more answers about this here. Or you can click on the TUSAL picture in my side bar. 

 Basically you save all your thread snipping, pieces of cut fabric, thread spools, embroidery floss, lace or what ever you have pieces that are too small for anything.  Keep them in a pretty jar or bowl and when the New Moon rolls around make a post and tell about it.  This is my May TUSAL.

I've got some embroidery floss from my red work, some ribbon and lace from my crazy quilt and thread snipping, also an empty thread spool.  Also some fabric I had to trim off my circles. 

THE GOOD. THE RANDOM. THE FUN.

It's finally got warm enough to break out the squirt guns.  The twins were playing all afternoon. Shooting each other and anyone else who got in the way.  I got squirted a couple times, which grandma didn't like.  lol

Luke snicking around the playhouse to get Bella....

Bella and Luke squirting each other...

Then Daddy got the hose out.....

And Luke got side tracked with the hose....

I" m linking up with Tamar over at Random-osity for The Good. The Random. The Fun.

ROSES....

We have lived here for 35+ years.  These roses where here when we moved here.  So they are at least 35+ years old.  I know it's an antique rose by the petals, but not sure what kind of rose it is.

It's a climber as you can see.  It's climbing up this tree and yes that's poison ivy mixed in with it.  It starts out as a very dark burgundy, then fades to a lighter red.  And they smell so good.  I'm also linking up with St. Germain's Blog for Seasons.

CREATIVITY.....

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts is hosting A Year of Creativity.  Want to find your Creativity?  Hop over to Shelly's place and check it out.

Challenge #18

Work on some hand lettering....
I did some practicing on my writing.  I have to make myself slow down when I write.  If not it turns into a mess.  Here is my page of lettering.

Challenge #19

Use something unexpected as a base for a drawing.....
I was thinking about this one a lot.  Wasn't quite sure what I wanted to use.  Then our local paper came in the mail and the light bulb went on.  There was an article about the library having a book sale.  So I drew some books and put some of my favorite authors on them.  I just used a marker go do this.  It's pretty simple, but I like it.

To see a close up just click on the pictures. 

BOOK REPORT....THE BONE TREE

The Bone Tree - Greg Iles

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Former prosecutor Penn Cage and his fiancée, reporter and publisher Caitlin Masters, have barely escaped with their lives after being attacked by wealthy businessman Brody Royal and his Double Eagles, a KKK sect with ties to some of Mississippi’s most powerful men. But the real danger has only begun as FBI Special Agent John Kaiser warns Penn that Brody wasn’t the true leader of the Double Eagles. The puppeteer who actually controls the terrorist group is a man far more fearsome: the chief of the state police’s Criminal Investigations Bureau, Forrest Knox.
The only way Penn can save his father, Dr. Tom Cage—who is fleeing a murder charge as well as corrupt cops bent on killing him—is either to make a devil’s bargain with Knox or destroy him. While Penn desperately pursues both options, Caitlin uncovers the real story behind a series of unsolved civil rights murders that may hold the key to the Double Eagles’ downfall. The trail leads her deep into the past, into the black backwaters of the Mississippi River, to a secret killing ground used by slave owners and the Klan for over two hundred years . . . a place of terrifying evil known only as “the bone tree.”
The Bone Tree is an explosive, action-packed thriller full of twisting intrigue and deadly secrets, a tale that explores the conflicts and casualties that result when the darkest truths of American history come to light. It puts us inside the skin of a noble man who has always fought for justice—now finally pushed beyond his limits.
Just how far will Penn Cage, the hero we thought we knew, go to protect those he loves? 
Series: Penn Cage (Book 5) 
Mass Market Paperback: 880 pages 
Publisher: William Morrow; Reprint edition (February 23, 2016) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0062311131 
ISBN-13: 978-0062311139

MY THOUGHT:  As usual I've come into a series our of order.  I picked up on some of the previous story, but not all of it.  This is also a good stand alone book.  The theory is that the Double Eagles had something to do with the JFK, RFK and MLK assassinations.  But it also has lots to do with the corruption inside the police force.  Penn is trying to save his father from one of those corrupt police without selling his soul.  Really intense book with lots of info.  I give this book 5.....

 




This book is for 1 of my reading challenges...
What's in a Name Challenge

BOOK REPORT......

The Chair - James L. Rubart

Product Description(Amazon.com)
If someone gave you a chair and said it was made by Jesus Christ, would you believe them?
When an elderly lady shows up in Corin Roscoe's antiques store and gives him a chair she claims was crafted by Jesus, he scoffs. But when a young boy is miraculously healed two days after sitting in the chair, he stops laughing and starts wondering . . . could this chair heal the person whose life Corin destroyed twelve years ago?
As word spreads of the boy's healing, a mega-church pastor is determined to manipulate Corin into turning over the chair. And that mysterious woman who gave him the piece flits in and out of his life like a shadow, insinuating it's Corin’s destiny to guard the chair above everything else. But why?
Desperate, he turns to the one person he can trust, a college history professor who knows more about the legend of the chair than he'll reveal. Corin's life shatters as he searches for the truth about the artifact and the unexplained phenomena surrounding it. What’s more, he's not the only one willing do almost anything to possess the power seemingly connected to the chair. 
Paperback: 388 pages 
Publisher: B&H Books (September 15, 2011) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 1433671522 
ISBN-13: 978-1433671524

MY THOUGHTS:   I was a little skeptical about reading this book.  It's a Christian Fiction book, I've not had too much good luck reading these.  But I got and read it.  It's a really good book.  A little slow in the beginning, but picks up later.  Corin has lots of questions and not answers.  And everyone he goes to either can't help him or they want the chair for their own.  But Corin plods along and finally gets his answers.  I give this book 4.....

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges....
What's In A Name Challenge
52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge

CIRCLES, CIRCLES AND MORE CIRCLES.......

Audrey over at Quilty Folk is hosting a challenge.  To make a circle everyday, so at the end of the year you will have a whole years worth of circles.  And over at So Scrappy, the challenge is to use your scraps of fabrics to make a quilt for the year.  Each month is a new color combo.  I joined in on both of these challenges a little late so everyone has a head start on me.  But I've kind of got caught up.  So here goes.....
January - Blue With Purple

I've started putting my January circles together.  One more row and it will be done.

February - Brown With Pink

March - Purple With Yellow

April - Orange With Brown or Black

May - Green With Brown

I got a little carried away with the green.  Totally forgot about the brown.  As for what day I'm on for the circles, I'm at day 151.  I haven't started my June circles yet.  If your wondering about the Gray I'm using to fill in the calendar, I'm going to make those smiley faces.  Using buttons and embroidery.