Randomings

It has turned miserable hot in our little corner of the world. It does this every year so not sure why it is always a shock but it is. All the plants are starting to look like they are in pain. When you go outside, only when you have to, you see few humans about and hear the constant hum of air conditioners. Friday, when we turned on to our street, there were three air conditioning company trucks at two different neighboring houses, a real sign that Summer is here in AZ. In spite of the heat, it was a very good weekend at our house. Kids were here today to swim, the pool is finally warm enough for the adults to venture in.

I WON! Or should I say Paris won? Whatever happened, Ebby, Finn's kitty, chose my name out of the basket to win a quilt on her Orphan Train quilt blog. I had commented saying that our Princess Paris wanted Ebby to come over to play and we would give her all the kitty treats her heart desired. Now, not sure how Ebby got that message but she picked my name. Is there cat ESP? Finn had two lovely quilts for me to choose from. Julia, Colin and I had a conference and decided on "Convergence". Our thinking was that Nana could make a nine patch like that one but the bright colored one was one of a kind. Now I guess I need to find out what Ebby's favorite kitty treat is. I am excited and so honored to be getting one of Finn's quilts.

The purple rag rug is finished and home with a happy Julia. DD used the arrival of the rug to get a certain little girl to clean up the bedroom to make space for it on the floor. She was pleased, I got a special hug and kiss and what more could a Nana ask for? I am glad it is done, not to into purple. Paris is going to miss it, she had gotten very attached to it, I think she thought it was hers.



The great white hunter and I went shopping in a huge antique store on Sat. I really like this shop because a lot of the things are real antiques or at least old. A few of the stores we go to just have a collection of everything and you have to sort of sift through it.

Here was our only find but it was a good one.



I come from a family of readers. My grandmother, Dad and great aunt read all the time. I was told the story of how I came home from my first day of school just blazing mad. When someone asked me what was the problem, I told them that for a long time everyone had been telling me that I would learn to read when I went to school. Well, I had gone to school for one whole day and I still didn't know how to read! It eventually happened and my nose has been in a book every since. My kids grew up surrounded by books and two of them are carrying on the family tradition of reading constantly. Our oldest son enjoyed reading but was never into it like the other two kids.

One of my favorite memories as a child was someone reading the Sunday comic pages to me. Daddy used to check out books for me at the library and my great Aunt Cora would read them to me. My family lived with Aunt Cora in her house when I was growing up. She and my dad did not get along, I remember many a dinner that was spent with them glaring at each other during the entire thing. They spoke to each other when they had to. Great fun living in the same house. Anyway, this was something that they did together for me and I always marvel at it. I am sure they never talked about it, he just brought home the books and she read them.

Summer days meant trips to my grandmother's house about a block away. Grandma "took" magazines. She got all the ladies magazines of that time, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, and McCall's. Not only did she get them every month, but she NEVER threw them away. So, I would go to her house and sit with musty piles of magazines and read for hours. Back then all the magazines had great fiction sections. Some had entire condensed novels. When I was a teenager, my mother worked in the local drug store. She took care of the magazines as part of her job. So about once a week, she brought home a huge stack of magazines that she had torn the covers off, to be sorted and sent in for credit for being unsold. I had every teenage magazine and movie magazine printed. And I read them all. I was NOT allowed "True Story" or "True Confessions" magazines but she brought some home for herself. I read those while she was at work. Sorry, Mom. My sisters have told me that they did the same thing.............LOL

When I got old enough to go to the library for my own books, it was a daily trip during the summer. When my parents discovered that I was sitting down and reading for hours and hours every day, they decreed that I could only read a couple of my books each day. That was a cruel punishment for me but they said my eyes needed a rest. (no TV at our house, even in the early 60's). I quickly read through all the kids books and the librarian let me into the "young adult" or teenage section before I hit the age limit. I quickly read though all those books a couple of times. So Daddy and she made a bargain. I could check out from the adult section, as long as she looked over the books and made sure I didn't have anything that I shouldn't have. I only remember her telling me no once, I have always meant to find the book and read it, "The Postman Rings Twice" must have had something in it, not meant for my young eyes.

One of the series that I loved from the older kids books was "Cherry Ames". She was a Nancy Drew type character who was a nurse. She held down all different kinds of nursing jobs, while solving a mystery.

When my family lived in Texas, we lived in a town where there was a library started by going door to door to collect books. By the time we moved there, they had received several grants and some tax money. It was a small, lovely, friendly place built with love by the town's people. I used to volunteer there one day a week and I loved every minute spent processing new books for the shelf. My kids loved it too, great white hunter son #2 did some volunteer work there also. My DD's favorite thing to check out there were the old copies of "Cherry Ames". So I got to see her read and enjoy books from my childhood. (these books have copyrights in the 1940's)

Fast forward to living in AZ. The great white hunter and I love to wander antique stores and started a collection of "Cherry Ames" books for DD. We haven't seen one for a long time, there are others out there who collect these childhood memories and they are hard to find. Sat. we added the above one to her collection. She was thrilled as you rarely find them with the dust cover on them, in such good condition. She has a copy of this story, but this one is in much better shape.

Good news is, Julia and Colin have been surrounded by books, both at home, at our house and at their other Grandma's house. They have been read to daily and love books. DD has been taking them to the summer reading program at the library since school let out. Grandma, Daddy and Aunt Cora would be proud.

So, I am off now to read a book...........