Friday Things #410
1. These threeโฆ ๐๐๐
2. Oh hi, Isabelle looks like a teenager, nothing to see hereโฆ
3. Knitting update! I finished my first scarf, which was done in the garter stitch (all knit stitches). I ended up somehow adding an extra stitch halfway through and had some bubbles, but overall was so happy and proud of how it turned out.
Iโm now working on another one thatโs in seed stitch (alternating knit and purl stitches). I think I had to unravel it at least four or five times because I was messing up bringing the yarn to the front before each purl stitch, but now that Iโve gotten the hang of it, itโs going really well.
4. I saw this week that the Paramount streaming network is going to air a reunion of the original cast of MTVs Real World. Just reading about it took me back to that time (I think it was 1992?) โ I was in middle school โ and I kept thinking about how different the world was. We recorded songs on a cassette tape from the radio, we watched My So-Called Life while waiting to go to school dances, ran to check the answering machine or voicemail when we got home to see if anyone had calledโฆ so different! Then I realized that it was nearly 30 years ago now and me thinking about that time in my life would have been the same as my parents, while I was a kid in the 80s, thinking back to the late 50s/early 60s, and it absolutely blew my mind.ย
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5. And on that note, this picture sums up my elementary school years ๐คฃ I can still vividly recall my mom creasing and folding and tucking those paper bags like a magician on our old kitchen table, covering alllll the books.
6. Have you found a great list of โmust-readโ books? Would love to see a collection of fiction (classics and recent bestsellers), non-fiction, biographies, etc. to put on my list! Really want to try to adopt a reading habit.
7. Itโs getting to be that time of yearโฆ Lucky Charms Marshmallow Treats!ย
8. I try really hard to take care of loose ends around the house if itโs something that can be done quickly, and these are some great reminders >> 20 One-Minute Habits for a Clutterfree Home
9. Are you watching anything new? We finished X Company (Hulu), which is one of the better shows weโve watched recently โ we were both really into it. Then, we hopped back into the latest season of Harrow (also Hulu), but didnโt realize itโs currently in progress, so we only got 2 episodes in and now we have to wait for a new one to air. So to fill the time, we started watching Endeavor (Amazon Prime), which is a British detective drama set in the 1960s. We really like it!
10. TGIF! Our pups sure enjoyed the sunshine we had this week!
My all time favorite work of fiction was written by Brit. Douglas Adams, โ The Hitchhikerโs Guide to the Galaxyโ and it was LOL funny and quite popular. It was initially released in 1979. Here is a wikipedia review in the event you may be interested. Unfortunately, Mr. Adams passed away at the age of 49 in 2001.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy
Hi Michelle โ your children are adorable. If you like historical fiction, I highly recommend books by Kristin Hannah. I recently read her new book โ The Four Winds it was very good as were these titles (of hers) The Great Alone and The Nightingale (probably one of the best books Iโve ever read.) Your knitting looks great โ very pretty color too. Iโm a knitter and for quick projects I use cotton yarn and knit dish towels or dish cloths. There are so many great (and free) patterns out there and they would help you to learn new stitches and finish a useful project very quickly. My husband and I just finished Behind Her Eyes on Netflix, a very odd story that totally hooked us to watch the quick season. My dad covered all my textbooks with paper bags and I did my for my kids until those nylon book covers came out.
I love Endevour also!! Let me see if I can get this correct๐Endevour is a prequel to the Inspector Morse show. Endevour is Morse as a young man. In the show Inspector Morse his partner is Lewis. The spin-off of Morse is Lewis. I actually didnโt know any of this and started watching Lewis first and love that show. Then I watched Endevour and also enjoyed that. Iโm just getting into Morse.ย
I highly recommend The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett Graff. ย It gives you a perspective of this event like nothing youโve read or watched before.
Hi Michele & followers of BEB,
Favorite books are such a matter of individual taste. For tried & true selections, PBS did a program โThe Great American Readโ that compiled a list of the top 100 books beloved by American readers. This list is still online.
Spoiler alertโฆ#1 was โTo Kill a Mockingbirdโ by Harper Lee.
I loved the book Where the Crawdads Sing.
We recently started โThe Sinnerโ on Netflix. It keeps me on the edge of my seat. It has 3 seasons and has been renewed for a 4th.
Nothing to declutter unless thereโs a whole other house weโre not seeing lol. Itโs gorgeous.
P.s. one of my favorite books that comes to
mind was The Color Purple. Older book, but still a beautiful story.
Loved the picture of the bookcovers. That was always the big project the 1st week of school. Then, the cover would get draw on throughout the school year.
Yes, no textbooks for my kiddos in grade school. Occassionally one will bring home a textbook to study for a test, but it has to go back the next day.
Favorite books Iโve read recently are A tree grows in Brooklyn and the Poldark books. Not new books but really good.ย
The picture of the textbooks covered in paper bag covers brought back all kinds of memories, I covered my textbooks and my childrenโs textbooks with paper bags. Then I discovered kraft paper rolls and it made the process easier (especially in the dark times when supermarkets didnโt use paper bags). Thank you for your lovely posts.
Love the picture of your kids playing with their Crazy Forts. Those are a huge favorite in our house!
Hi Michelle: ย Thanks for the recommendation of โX Companyโ on Hulu. ย I would never have found it on my own. ย I really enjoyed it and found the ending very satisfying. ย Loved all the Canadian actors, including the actor who played Tom who is also on โSchittโs Creek.โ ย I am currently into WW2 era films and series and I can recommend โSarahโs Keyโ a movie on Netflix based on the book by the same name โ the movie and book were equally heart-rending and excellent.
Mel
Hi!
Congrats on finishing your first scarf!
In knitting lingo, itโs not โunravelingโ, itโs frogging, frogged or frog. The term came to be because โ rip it outโ โ rip-it sounds like the sound frogs make.
Fyi โ if you find yourself with an extra stitch and you can see where it started, thereโs a way to drop it without frogging back to the original added stitch.
Happy Stitching!
A Gentleman in Moscow & The Boys in the Boat, two of my all-time favorite books!
Oh my goodness, yes! These are my top-two favorite books as well! In fact, I get to host (virtual) Book Club this coming week, and we are reading Gentleman! It was such a treat to read it again and find out itโs even better than I remember! Such great, sweet, inspirational stories filled with goodness. We need that right now, and always!
I LOVED The Boys in the Boat! It doesnโt seem like a rowing book could possibly be that good, but it was! I chose it for my book club and everyone loved it. A Gentleman in Moscow is on my to read list.
As someone mentioned earlier, an excellent way to improve your reading life is to follow the Modern Mrs Darcy blog and her podcast, What Should I Read Next. I canโt even begin to tell you how many wonderful books Iโve read that I would never have known about had it not been for her.
Oh gracious, covering books with paper brought back memories! My kids donโt even get assigned books anymore. They donโt have enough to go around, so the books stay in the classrooms to be used by every class.
Suzanne โ Iโm so glad you recommended Modern Mrs. Darcy! I was going to recommend it as well. There is a menu choice called Book Lists on Modern Mrs. Darcy that may be helpful to folks looking for lists of books. I also remember covering my school books with paper bags and though I didnโt watch the first season of The Real World, I did watch the San Francisco season (I think it may have been season 3) where Pedro and Rachel and Puck were roommates. That season made a big difference in my 15/16 year old life!
Yessss while I remember the other seasons, the San Francisco season with Rachel, Puck, etc. was the one I always remember most vividly!!
Do kids not cover books anymore? I am so out of touch. In the 80s, my mom used leftover wallpaper to cover my books. It was great to protect the books, but the occasional papercut was awfully painful.
Iโm honestly not sure! Joseph is only in kindergarten so he doesnโt have any hardcover books yet.
They donโt receive books at all; at least not where I live. They get laptops (elementary schools keep them at school but middle and high school kids bring them home). Everything is online or (for elementary school kids) they get worksheets. I am so jealous of them not having to lug backpacks โ my backpack in high school was HUGE!
At the school I taught at used those stretch cloth book covers.
Primary still had books and daily binders (for things to go home and come back). They still have backpacks for all their stuff.
I hope you and your hubby have found โStanley Tucci: Searching for Italyโ to watchโฆCNN Sundays@ 9pm.
ย It basically is an amazing guided food tour of various regions of Italy. The first episode was set in The Campania regionโฆincluding Naples and the Amalfi Coast. Naples is the home of pizza and The Real San Marzano tomatoes originated in this region. If ย you plan to watch, be warned you will pretty much salivate ย for the entire hour. I just read that the series has been so well received, it has been renewed for a second season. Not a bad gig for Mr. Tucciโฆtour Italy and eating the very best of the best.
Kudos on your knitting success. You should venture into using a circular needles. They are great for making hats and you have three little heads that would benefit.
We havenโt watched that yet, but it sounds great!!
Iโm planning to try a blanket next, and then Iโm going to tackle hats with circular needles :)
I do all my knitting on circular needles. ย I particularly like ย bamboo needles. ย
I just finished reading American Dirt. Oh my, ย had me at the first chapter and couldnโt put it down. One of the best books I have read in a long time.ย
On another note, I have tried many of your recipes and several have become tried and true favorites! ย Baked chicken wings, spicy cheese bread and ciabatta bread come to mind. I know your recipes will turn out great. So, thank you!
Oooh I totally agreeโฆwonderful book. I also loved The Last Story of Mina Lee.
Love that you posted a Joshua Becker decluttering link! ย Iโm doing his decluttering course right now & itโs life changing. It is a process so we arenโt done & we have a lot more to do but Iโve released so much stress from getting rid of stuff that we donโt use or need.ย
On another note, we just finished Schittโs Creek which took me a whole season just to even start liking but everyone said to hang in there & we were glad we did because it was a fantastic series! ย Started Arrested Development & I was laughing so hard last night that I was crying. ย I have started books but havenโt finished them but I did just pick up Believe It by Jamie Kern Lima on audible so I can listen while I declutter. Howโs that for multitasking? ย ๐
Knitting: ย Your seed stitch looks lovely, and that color! ย Iโm a retired yarn shop owner, and I really miss seeing new knitters begin the journey that Iโve been on all my life. ย I hope you enjoy knitting as much as I have.
Books: ย The Lilac Girls, and if you like series, look for Louise Penneyโs Chief Inspector Gamache books. ย (Autocorrect keeps changing his last name to ganache!) ย The first one is Still Life, and the 16th installment came out late last year. ย The stories are engaging, but the authorโs use of our language is what keeps me going back. ย Sheโs an incredible writer.
Thank you for entertaining reading and photos every week. ย I always look forward to your newsletters.
Hi everyone, The Best Friday to all!
ย I love to readโฆ.I have heard of the book โAnna Kareninaโ by Leo Tolstoy.. a story of search for meaning in this worldโ It is the story of a husband trying to figure out how his wife could believe in a high power heโs never seen any signs ofโฆ.I am definitely going to order this bookโฆ
Hi Michelle!
A few of my must-read recommendations are Sons and Soldiers by Bruce Henderson (nonfiction), If I Run series by Terri Blackstock, anything by Jane Austen, anything by L.M. Montgomery (she wrote Anne of Green Gablesโher books for adults are hilarious though.)
For your reading list, you will enjoy two books by Bill Buford (New Yorker staff writer) titled โHeatโ and โDirtโ. The books are about his cooking experiences in Italy and France., and include consideration of his family in his learning quests. Read Heat, first.
I always watch Ian in everything heโs in. Even Liar, which I didnโt like his character at all.
I miss Forever and the one Michelle and him was in.
The Modern Mrs. Darcy blog is excellent. She publishes lists of all
kinds of books in different categories. She also has a book club.
I do not belong, but I read her blog religiously and have gotten
some wonderful suggestions for books I have or am reading.
Billie
Just finished a book called โFlight Behaviorโby Barbara Kingsolver. It was a beautiful book! I also try to maintain a good reading habit which is sometimes a challenge for me. Itโs just too easy to pick up the phone, read some news, sceill through facebook, play a game. My favorite book I read last year was โWhere the Crawdads Sing,โ Iโm sure youโve heard of that one.ย
I agree with your pups. I enjoyed the sunshine too. Canโt wait to try your hush puppies and home made peanut butter eggs.
The chair is so cute. Is it comfortable for her to sit in too? Where did you get it and would you recommend buying it as a gift for a 6 or 7 year old? Thanks.
Thanks Lyn! The chair is from Pottery Barn Kids (https://www.potterybarnkids.com/shop/furniture/anywhere-chairs/. Joseph is 6 now and heโll sit in it if weโre watching a movie or sports in the basement; mostly the boys just turn them upside down and do stunts on them ๐ I think itโs great for watching movies and things like that; they have their own little space to lounge. If youโre buying for a 6/7 year old, I would opt for the โoversizedโ version. The regular one says it fits most preschool kids, while the oversized one says it fits most elementary kids. I hope that helps!
!st, love your this blog! In your last photo the rug your dog is laying on wouldnโt happen to be from L.L. Bean would it? I literally was looking this week at their rugs and was wondering about pet hair and if the rugs were difficult to remove hair from. The pattern on your rug looks like one of their patterns so thatโs what caught my attention. Opinion please? thank you.
Hi Penny, It is from LL Bean! We have a few of them around the house :) Theyโre great at catching dirt and mud when coming in from outside and easy to clean โ a vacuum attachment pulls the hair right up and in the summer, weโll take it out and hose it down if necessary, then let it dry outside.
I think they are nice looking but with pets inside hair can be an issue. Thank you so much for your input. BTW, love how you care for your dogs.