The author takes fact and combines it with fiction to write a very enjoyable story. The story is the answer to the question, what if Louisa May Alcott had a true love.
I enjoyed the history woven into the story. The love story may have been fiction, but it left me wondering if more of it is true than realized.
This book is a very pleasant read. It would also make an excellent reading club book for women. I found myself pondering how much has really changed for women since Louisa was alive.
I love, love, love this book! I could not put this book down. I carried it with me every where I went.
Susan takes us along with her on a trip to England. I felt as if I were there with her touring Beatrix Potter's house, warming up from the damp rain in a pub drinking peach cider, navigating the roads driving on the "wrong" side. I did not want this book to end. Go back, Susan! Write more!
I am now going to read this book a second time. This time I will have my iPad next to me so I can read further, on her website, about all the places Susan painted a beautiful star next to. I will mark with post-its all the recipes I want to create in my kitchen. I will mark all the quotes I love, like Bette Midler's, "When it's 3 o'clock in New York, it's still 1938 in London."
I love the way Susan crafts her books. They are all beautifully handwritten, with gorgeous illustrations and beautiful photographs. They are more than books, they are works of art.
I hope Susan travels the world and writes more beautiful books. I would also love a book about how to create my own beautiful art journal.
Whatever Susan writes I will buy and treasure. I have enjoyed her work for 32 years and I look forward to enjoying it for many more years to come.
Thank you, Susan, for blessing us all with your gifts and talents.
Every August the State Fair comes to a town not too far from our home.
My husband and I have never been to the State Fair. Our children have never been to the State Fair.
Have you ever taken children to a carnival? The carnival comes to our town every year in June. Every year we took our children to the carnival. Carnivals are not a lot of fun for parents. Hence, we never took them to the State Fair in August. The June carnival was more than enough for us.
This year, the company my son works for had a tent at the State Fair. Sunday was a glorious day so my husband Gary and I decided to take a drive up to the fair to visit our son Rick.
See how pretty it was? Well, everyone else thought it was a great day to go to the State Fair too. Bumper to bumper traffic for miles. Gary gets cranky in traffic. So, he gets off the highway and takes the back roads whenever we get into traffic. The back roads can sometimes be a longer trip than just sitting in the traffic. I'm beginning to question our plan for this day.
Eventually, we arrived.
Can you see the Ferris wheel way back there?
There is something you need to know about me. That is if you don't know already. My favorite book in the whole wide world is Charlotte's Web. No child gets by me without reading or listening to that wonderful book by E.B. White about a spider named Charlotte that saves the life of a pig named Wilbur.
So, although my dear husband thought I was going along with him to visit my son, my real intention was to find Wilbur. I actually did mention this to him on the drive up as we meandered through country roads for miles in order to avoid the traffic. He looked at me, like I had two heads, and asked, "Who is Wilbur?" My love for Charlotte's Web never did impress him.
I swear I saw Fern and Henry Fussy on that Ferris Wheel.
After we paid our $24.00, five more years we get in for the senior rate, we walked into the State Fair. Goal number one, find Rick.
This was not an easy feat. This fair was huge! We're talking 145 acres huge! This was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. (pun intended) I broke down and called him.
"Where are you?"
"By the elephant."
"Where's the elephant?"
A man overhearing my conversation pointed and said, "That way."
Off we went.
However, we I found a few other things along the way.
Like this! The inside of this Wine Garden was decorated with sunflowers. It was gorgeous!
And this! How precious are those gingerbread men and ladies?
And this! Stunning!
And this! Who needs a Christmas tree? Just hang this on the wall and put the gifts underneath it.
And this! Oh, I love that purse! Wouldn't that make a perfect iPad bag?
Eventually, we found Rick.
That's him next to the game wheel. The photo is dark, but trust me he is very handsome.
Rick had to work, and I was in need of a ladies room, so we didn't get to talk for very long. I left my husband with him while I went off to find the ladies room. On my way ...
I FOUND THIS!!!!
Our daughter Tracy dreams of a Cinderella wedding. When I saw this I stopped dead in my tracks. I took a photo and sent it to her. She said that when she opened it she actually gasped. I gave her their business card and told her to put it on her dream board.
We had a lot of acres to cover, so we walked on. Gary found some items that interested him.
It is difficult to see, but that is an antique motor Gary is checking out. A car motor, I think. Maybe not.
We walked through the motor museum and found these.
I was proud of myself that I knew they were boat motors. Those are lawn mowers in front of the boat engines. They were having lawn mower races at the State Fair, but we missed them. Darn!
We walked some more and found this!
Can you see the black seats on the truck bed? This was actually a ride. No, we didn't go on it. In the evening, where the monster truck ride was, there was going to be a demolition derby. The line to buy tickets for that was about a quarter mile long. We didn't get on that line.
We continued on and found another museum. Look in the back right corner of that little room. That is a washing machine. I am grateful I never had to use one of those. Thank You, God.
This room reminds me of the quote by William Morris, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Eventually, we worked our way back to the gate that would lead us out of the State Fair. As we were approaching the gate I said to Gary, "We forgot to find Wilbur! Let's turn around." He didn't like that idea and responded, "We will come back to look for Wilbur next year."
My husband and I celebrated 32 years of marriage last week.
Seven years after our wedding we became the joyful, but very tired, parents of quadruplets.
My very wise in-laws encouraged us to go away, just the two of us, a couple times a year. My very wise and kind in-laws babysat for us in those early years so we could get away and nurture our marriage. And sleep!
We don't need Grandma and Grandpa to babysit anymore, but still, 32 years later, we get away, just the two of us, a few times a year. Nurturing a marriage is a very good thing.
A few years ago we found a spot, not too far from home, that has become our favorite place to go.
When we arrived this amazing artwork was hanging on the wall.
Yep, those are baby sneakers. Do you think this is a sign that there may be even more children in our future? That would be grandchildren!
We had dinner at this amazing restaurant! The food was scrumptious. The service was perfect. Just click on the photo if you want to know more about this restaurant.
Then back to our little get away place for after dinner coffee. Well, I had coffee. My husband had a beer.
The next day we headed into a wonderful little town for breakfast.
I spotted this place as we were driving down the street. Oh, it was love at first sight. We were definitely eating here!
That's my husband enjoying his homemade quiche and chocolate chocolate chip muffin. My husband is a chocolate fanatic. Me too! We were made for each other.
It was a wonderful anniversary weekend! Thank You, God.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. -Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
Today is a, "It's definitely summer!" kind of day. The weather is hot and sticky, the walkers and runners were out before seven a.m., the elementary school parking lot is full once again because summer school is in session, I can hear the neighborhood kids playing in their yards, and Karen Valentine is hosting her annual Where Bloggers Create. It is summer! Yay!
Thank you Karen, http://www.mydesertcottage.com/, for hosting this wonderful party! It is so much fun to visit all the fabulous studios. I get so many fantastic ideas!
Grab a cup of coffee or tea and come on in to my studio. My name is Terry, and I am delighted to show you around.
We are entering the studio from the kitchen. This room was once our dining room. We used it once a year at Christmas. I was slowly, but surely, taking it over. One day my husband said, "Would you like to have that room for yourself?" Within 24 hours out went the dining room furniture and in went my stuff.
Here we are entering from the foyer. Right now both entries are doorless. (My computer doesn't like my made up word.) Some day I would like to put doors at both entrances. I dream of glass doors with panes to match the sliding door you can see in this picture. I also dream of making skirts for my tables.
Let's zoom in a bit so you can have a closer look. I am going to start from the left and make my way around the room.
My husband bought me this fantastic pegboard last year for my birthday. It is actually four pegboards lined up. It is metal so I can use magnetic containers on it also. I dream of putting a beautiful frame around it. So many of my tools are right at my fingertips. I have more crafting tools than I can fit on that pegboard. I try to keep the tools I use all the time on it.
I use a lot of cookie cutters when I needle felt. My peg board is perfect for keeping them handy.
My knitting needles. My needle stash is going down. Whenever someone wants to learn to knit I grab a pair of needles from my jar, a skein of yarn from my stash and teach. They get to keep the needles and yarn. Somehow my stash never seems to go down.
A bowl of gorgeous pink yarn that I purchased at Vogue Knitting Live New York. This fabulous event comes to New York every January. I never miss it! I purchased this yarn for Vicki's, http://vicki-2bagsfull.blogspot.com/, Pink Scarf Project. Click on the picture below to learn more about this project.
The picture in the frame was a Mother's Day card from one of my daughters. I had to frame it! Isn't it adorable?
My chocolate stash. No further explanation is needed. :)
My wine fridge. Chocolate, wine, now you know why I spend so much time in this room.
This is the view from my studio chair. It's a wonderful place to day dream. Oh and, of course, work.
This is the view from outside looking into my studio. You can find me on that white wicker chair on summer mornings drinking my coffee and on summer evenings knitting with a glass of wine. Sometimes my son will come home from work, sit in the rocker and talk for a little while. I love when he does that.
The pink scarf I am making for Vicki's Pink Scarf Project. I just have to add the fringe and then it's ready to go!
The most comfortable chair in the house. That is if you can get to it before our cat Bernie does. He doesn't like to share.
The chair really looks like this, but I have to keep it covered because Bernie sheds like crazy.
My signed Mary Engelbreit picture. It is a good reminder. Must keep my wits about me.
This is Dory, our other cat. She is not in the studio, but I had to show you a picture of her too. She is a talker. She will hold a whole conversation with you. Oddly, we know what she is telling us.
Just a little bit of my yarn stash. The rest of it is in a closet with a ton of other crafting supplies. My dad would have called it Fibber McGee's closet. Must clean out that closet.
Fibber McGee and Molly
The Hall Closet
The two jars on the right hold most of my roving. I love having the roving in the jars, because at a glance I can see what colors I have, and it all looks so pretty together. See the little puppy on top of the blue jar? I am an elementary special education teacher. Last year I received that from a past student. It is actually a book mark. He sent it to me for teaching him how to read. He said that he wanted me to have the book mark, because it was well used. He thought that I would appreciate that. He was absolutely right! I will treasure that bookmark forever.
This precious picture was made for me by another student. I treasure gifts like these.
A bowl full of bling yarn. Everyone has to have a little bling!
My art is knitting, crocheting and needle felting.
I knit felted the fabric, then needle felted the design.
I made this pillow for one of my sisters. She requested daisies because she has a granddaughter named Daisy.
I am working on this handbag now. I need to attach the handles and line the bag. Then it is good to go!
I made this picture for a blog party give-away. I knit felted the background and needle felted the design. The stars are buttons.
A Halloween wreath I made when I was learning how to needle felt.
A prayer shawl.
I did not make these. A friend of a friend just gave me her 25 year old, never been used, Bond Knitting Machine. I am abundantly grateful! Now I can create the fabric for my pillows, bags and pictures in less time. Hopefully, I will be able to create more than a couple of pieces a year now. I plan to open an Etsy Shop, sell my work and donate the money to charity. I am inspired by Vicki from http://vicki-2bagsfull.blogspot.com/. The pieces above were also given to me by the lady who gave me the knitting machine. I want to create a thank you gift for her using those pieces. If you have any suggestions of what I can make for her please let me know.
I collect handmade blankets for children who have been impacted by childhood cancer. Please check out my website http://www.thelemonadeblanketproject.org/ or you can click on the tab at the top of my blog.
Well, it's time to make dinner. Thank you for stopping by my studio. I hope you enjoyed the tour.
