Little pot of johnny-jump-upsMaybe that title is promising too much with "newsy." I so enjoy newsy posts that others write that I thought I might try one myself.
It rained all night with intermittent thunder showers. I slept very well and whenever I did wake to a clap of thunder, I'd snuggle back down into my covers and against my beloved and say to myself you are so blessed and it is so cozy here.
We enjoyed a quiet Saturday morning. Nan has been sleeping much longer of late and, yes, we know what that bodes. John read his paper and I my library book, another of Elizabeth Goudge's only this time much lighter reading. The Little White Horse was written in 1946 and won the Carnegie Medal for children's literature. (I believe that C.S. Lewis must've taken note because The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe has some similar elements and was published in 1950. ETA: Yes, of course, I find upon some further research that this is true. Not only that, but that this book strongly influenced the writer mentioned next.) The Little White Horse is one of J.*. *owlings' favorite childhood reads. I enjoyed it very much, too. Especially so in light of the second line of this paragraph and the final paragraph of The Little White Horse. Dear reader, you know that I am always vague. Somehow I'm hoping that if you've not read it or not for a long time, that you'll pick it up once again out of sheer curiosity as I did. So if you enjoy reading about homes and hospitality, great adventures and odd happenings, you'd love this little fairy tale. Anyhow, this completes my marathon of Goudge books for a while.
Yes, I did complete Laura Bush's book and would recommend it as insightful, which makes for interesting reading. Some have described the book as insipid. I would not. I found it lyrically written with a pleasant flow. It maintained my interest from the first page to the last. Mrs. Bush did far more during her husband's presidency than I had imagined and I am impressed with how well she used her time and for what causes. The most notable, in my book, being her stand for women's rights in the Middle East and in particular Afghanistan. Her work actually continues to this day as a very recent Google search reveals.
Enough of books!
My mother is doing well and had supper with us last night. We ordered out and had haddock dinners with a side of fried shrimp. It was a welcome change for us all, especially for John and me as we are dieting. No! We are not dieting. We are making yet another "life change." Right. I'm convinced of it. Kinda.
***
Since I left off writing this, my grandmother has wakened, been bathed, has eaten, and is sitting in the living room reading. My mother has arrived for lunch and John returned from a morning's activities for lunch. It was a rainy day and you know what that means (window washing), but now a weak sun is shining so John, feeling personally blessed by that sign, has skipped off again. Mother left just prior. She is at work packing her home and preparing for its sale. I don't like to think of her doing this work on her own, but there's no one available to help her and she is adamant that it must be done now.
So the remainder of my afternoon activities are to push the laundry (there's always a lot of laundry with my nan) and to wash up the dishes, which is challenging since there's so much laundry and so little hot water as a result.
And I'm going to pluck the chives blossoms and make some vinegar that Nadine at Nadine's Nook told about right *here.* Oops! Guess I'll have to dry those blossoms a bit first.Some fine day, I shall hope to be less newsy and more interesting.
Have a lovely afternoon...
