I really have been on a Heyer kick lately. The Foundling is another funny, well-written escape into Heyer's world of Regency England. The hero of this story though is not some handsome, powerful man of the world. Instead we have the Duke of Sale. The only surviving child of his parents both of whom died when he was a baby (well, his father died before he was born). His uncle Lionel as his guardian has spent the last 24 years being overbearingly overprotective as have all of the Duke's servants. He has never been allowed to fend for himself in the slightest. And the Duke's sweet and diffident personality, and the fact that he is slender and slight of stature, only seems to make matters worse.
This book is really a coming of age story about how the Gilly, the Duke, learns to be his own man. He does it by running away and getting into many madcapped situations which involve trying to extricate a cousin from being blackmailed, rescuing a runaway boy who is fleeing an overbearing father, protecting a beautiful foundling who is as captivatingly beautiful as she is simple, dealing with a clever, grandiose opportunist who is trying to raise himself out of poverty by somehow tricking money out of the Duke. Along the way we meet the many comical characters that make up the Duke's many retainers and family members and all the color he encounters in landlords at inns, constables, coachmen, etc. This is a colorful roller coaster of a yarn. There is also a bit of romance, for Gilly has just gotten engaged to Harriet; an engagement he has been pushed into and feels ambivalent about.
I thoroughly enjoyed this romp. Gilly is a lovely character, immediately likable. My only complaint is that I thought Heyer slows down a bit when winding up all the various threads of her story. I kept thinking we'd got to the end when yet another little problem would rear its head and the Duke would have to once again prove that he was his own man and solve it.
Two thumbs up just for the sheer enjoyment factor of this book and also the wonderful character development in it.
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Friday, May 22, 2015
I feel resolve kicking in! I've been waiting!
I have been in such a slump. I loved being in Boston and Stockbridge but when we came home I felt blue. Same old messy house, same old nagging sense of needing to get my act together (but I'll do it after I spend the morning on facebook!)
Argh! The phone just rang again. I thought we were on a do not call list but we must get at least 4 calls a day that are some kind of nonsense.
Anyway, Pentecost is here this Sunday and that means the Easter season is over. Ordinary time starts up and that for some reason is giving me resolve to stay away from facebook, as I was doing for Lent and even before that. So that's my first resolve: 1) Facebook on Sunday, Monday and Thursday ONLY. And even then, I am not going to do much regular feed. I really love my Catholic Relaxed Homeschoolers, Learning Latin, Georgette Heyer groups and that's about it. There are a couple of other ones I like too and sometimes post on, but not that often.
Second resolve - this coming week is clean the basement week. Big time. I have already warned Josh, Sean and Becky and we are doing major stuff on Thursday and Friday and the days before that are major prep stuff.
Third resolve - get the academic work wrapped up within the next three weeks. I am really going to push for that. The exception to this is Latin for Becky which starts up and Sean will continue with Algebra II.
Fourth resolve - walk! I walked a lot in Boston/Stockbridge and when I came home I kind of collapsed, but I walked on Wednesday and today. So I am back in the saddle. One thing I need to do is bring my camera with me because I have really been trying to notice things and appreciate them - and I see so much beauty. I really want to take pictures and maybe post them here. I can't remember enjoying spring so much before. Thank you God for letting me have my 55th spring so I could glory in it!
Fifth resolve - my CSA is starting up in a week! I am trying to plan out how I am managing that. I pick up on Sunday afternoons - fresh eggs, herbs and veggies. I need to plan cooking around them and also figure out how to preserve them. So focus on food prep!
Ok, that's it. Back to making dinner and getting Becky to her Music Man practice.
Argh! The phone just rang again. I thought we were on a do not call list but we must get at least 4 calls a day that are some kind of nonsense.
Anyway, Pentecost is here this Sunday and that means the Easter season is over. Ordinary time starts up and that for some reason is giving me resolve to stay away from facebook, as I was doing for Lent and even before that. So that's my first resolve: 1) Facebook on Sunday, Monday and Thursday ONLY. And even then, I am not going to do much regular feed. I really love my Catholic Relaxed Homeschoolers, Learning Latin, Georgette Heyer groups and that's about it. There are a couple of other ones I like too and sometimes post on, but not that often.
Second resolve - this coming week is clean the basement week. Big time. I have already warned Josh, Sean and Becky and we are doing major stuff on Thursday and Friday and the days before that are major prep stuff.
Third resolve - get the academic work wrapped up within the next three weeks. I am really going to push for that. The exception to this is Latin for Becky which starts up and Sean will continue with Algebra II.
Fourth resolve - walk! I walked a lot in Boston/Stockbridge and when I came home I kind of collapsed, but I walked on Wednesday and today. So I am back in the saddle. One thing I need to do is bring my camera with me because I have really been trying to notice things and appreciate them - and I see so much beauty. I really want to take pictures and maybe post them here. I can't remember enjoying spring so much before. Thank you God for letting me have my 55th spring so I could glory in it!
Fifth resolve - my CSA is starting up in a week! I am trying to plan out how I am managing that. I pick up on Sunday afternoons - fresh eggs, herbs and veggies. I need to plan cooking around them and also figure out how to preserve them. So focus on food prep!
Ok, that's it. Back to making dinner and getting Becky to her Music Man practice.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
A&E's Horatio Hornblower
For Christmas, Rick gave me the complete set of the Horatio Hornblower series starring Ioan Gruffudd. According to Wikipedia, the series ran from 1998 to 2003. We've been watching the episodes (each of which are the length of a movie) on and off for a while now. We finally watched the last one. We actually somehow got them out of order and then realized our mistake when things didn't quite make chronological sense.
I feel like I've written a review before but when I look back over my posts I don't see anything. I may be repeating somehow. Anyway, since we have finally watched all 8 movies, I need a sense of closure in the form of a brief review!
The movies are a great entertainment. They don't measure up to the wonderful character development in the books they are based on (which I highly recommend reading) but the filming is just gorgeous. And the acting is superb. I really liked it when they worked in actual history - like the many treaties with Boney that got broken and then war started up again. Or when they pick up Joseph Bonaparte as he tries to sneak into France (that really happened - well Hornblower didn't pick him up but another ship did - he was trying to get to France with his American and very pregnant wife.) Or when Hornblower is in the West Indies and they encounter a slave revolt, very similar to the Haitian revolt that occurred at that time.
One thing that the movies have that the books don't, and I blame the script writer, is that things get very contrived and lose their subtlety. People either seem to hate Hornblower with a villainous hatred or they fawn over him as really the best thing ever. The funny thing is that they change some of the actual cleverness that Hornblower displays in the books and make it seem like he is just lucky. So at the same time that the admiration seems overblown, the reason for the admiration seems diminished.
Some of the acting is just phenomenal though. Gruffudd is pretty darn good throughout. The actor who played Captain Sawyer in Mutiny and Retribution just blew me away. Incredible performance! Julia Swahala in her role as Maria is so good you forget it is Julia Swahala. She is truly like a chameleon in each part I've seen her play in different movies. She just becomes the character she plays. And David Rintoul who played Darcy in the 1970s Masterpiece Theater version of Pride and Prejudice makes an appearance as the laudanum-swilling doctor of the troubled war hero, Captain Sawyer.
Again I know I've written this somewhere, but the script does get awfully contrived when trying to insert romance into the movies. So the whole thing with the French girl in The Frogs and The Lobsters was just too much and got to the point where it evoked an unintended consequence of derisive snorting on my part. Really silly and contrived.
Anyway, on the whole, I really enjoyed watching these films. If you are a history buff, or like costume drama or just like to look at beautiful sailing ships and handsome men like Ioan Gruffudd, you will enjoy all of these movies. And I feel inspired to reread the book series now. Rick remembers them all in such detail but I've forgotten a lot. (the movies only cover the first three books, I think.)
Two thumbs up!
I feel like I've written a review before but when I look back over my posts I don't see anything. I may be repeating somehow. Anyway, since we have finally watched all 8 movies, I need a sense of closure in the form of a brief review!
The movies are a great entertainment. They don't measure up to the wonderful character development in the books they are based on (which I highly recommend reading) but the filming is just gorgeous. And the acting is superb. I really liked it when they worked in actual history - like the many treaties with Boney that got broken and then war started up again. Or when they pick up Joseph Bonaparte as he tries to sneak into France (that really happened - well Hornblower didn't pick him up but another ship did - he was trying to get to France with his American and very pregnant wife.) Or when Hornblower is in the West Indies and they encounter a slave revolt, very similar to the Haitian revolt that occurred at that time.
One thing that the movies have that the books don't, and I blame the script writer, is that things get very contrived and lose their subtlety. People either seem to hate Hornblower with a villainous hatred or they fawn over him as really the best thing ever. The funny thing is that they change some of the actual cleverness that Hornblower displays in the books and make it seem like he is just lucky. So at the same time that the admiration seems overblown, the reason for the admiration seems diminished.
Some of the acting is just phenomenal though. Gruffudd is pretty darn good throughout. The actor who played Captain Sawyer in Mutiny and Retribution just blew me away. Incredible performance! Julia Swahala in her role as Maria is so good you forget it is Julia Swahala. She is truly like a chameleon in each part I've seen her play in different movies. She just becomes the character she plays. And David Rintoul who played Darcy in the 1970s Masterpiece Theater version of Pride and Prejudice makes an appearance as the laudanum-swilling doctor of the troubled war hero, Captain Sawyer.
Again I know I've written this somewhere, but the script does get awfully contrived when trying to insert romance into the movies. So the whole thing with the French girl in The Frogs and The Lobsters was just too much and got to the point where it evoked an unintended consequence of derisive snorting on my part. Really silly and contrived.
Anyway, on the whole, I really enjoyed watching these films. If you are a history buff, or like costume drama or just like to look at beautiful sailing ships and handsome men like Ioan Gruffudd, you will enjoy all of these movies. And I feel inspired to reread the book series now. Rick remembers them all in such detail but I've forgotten a lot. (the movies only cover the first three books, I think.)
Two thumbs up!
Monday, May 18, 2015
Gift of Deer - Book 19
Helen Hoover was a popular nature writer back in the 1960s and so. She and her husband left their careers in Chicago in the late 1950s and moved out to the far northern woods of Minnesota where they could see Canada across their lake. I read about the harrowing adventures of their first year in A Place in the Woods a couple years ago. I was searching around on my kindle trying to find a good book to read on the airplane flight home from Boston and stumbled across this book.
The Hoovers did something that would probably be frowned upon today, they fed the wild animals that lived near them. The winters are long and bitterly cold and they saw how the wildlife really suffered. One day a wounded, starving deer stumbles into their yard seeking to feed on the grain and corn they put out for the squirrels and other critters. The deer has been shot and is blind in one eye. The Hoovers feed and tame (somewhat) this buck they name Peter. He is a gentle soul. He brings a mate, Mama, and then year after year their twin fawns join the herd. The Hoovers are intensely interested and love observing how the deer interact with one another, their human friends and other wild life. There are encounters with wolves, bear, fox, lynx and bobcat. Some things are comical and some things scary. There is heartbreak too in the form of hunters who dare to come onto the Hoovers' land and shoot in spite of being near their cabins and posted no hunting signs. There is great nobility too.
This is a gentle peek into a life so far removed from me here in suburbia, where deer have become nuisances, not rare sightings. Now they eat my garden, give us deer ticks infected with Lyme disease and dart out into the road causing accidents. But they are lovely creatures all the same. Growing up, a deer sighting was so rare. I still remember the first time I saw a herd of deer. I was up at college in the mountains and it was fall and dusk. As we drove back to school, we passed a farm and a huge flock of deer had stepped out of the woods and were grazing in a pasture.
An engrossing read, which left me feeling a little melancholy, I must admit.
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
The Hoovers did something that would probably be frowned upon today, they fed the wild animals that lived near them. The winters are long and bitterly cold and they saw how the wildlife really suffered. One day a wounded, starving deer stumbles into their yard seeking to feed on the grain and corn they put out for the squirrels and other critters. The deer has been shot and is blind in one eye. The Hoovers feed and tame (somewhat) this buck they name Peter. He is a gentle soul. He brings a mate, Mama, and then year after year their twin fawns join the herd. The Hoovers are intensely interested and love observing how the deer interact with one another, their human friends and other wild life. There are encounters with wolves, bear, fox, lynx and bobcat. Some things are comical and some things scary. There is heartbreak too in the form of hunters who dare to come onto the Hoovers' land and shoot in spite of being near their cabins and posted no hunting signs. There is great nobility too.
This is a gentle peek into a life so far removed from me here in suburbia, where deer have become nuisances, not rare sightings. Now they eat my garden, give us deer ticks infected with Lyme disease and dart out into the road causing accidents. But they are lovely creatures all the same. Growing up, a deer sighting was so rare. I still remember the first time I saw a herd of deer. I was up at college in the mountains and it was fall and dusk. As we drove back to school, we passed a farm and a huge flock of deer had stepped out of the woods and were grazing in a pasture.
An engrossing read, which left me feeling a little melancholy, I must admit.
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
The Talisman Ring - Book 18
First of all, here is a great link to wonderful reviews of Heyer's books. I don't necessarily agree with everything the author there writes. I think she wants to insert her very contemporary sensibilities into Heyer's framework a bit too much or she is very busy judging Heyer based on those contemporary sensibilities. And while I think she does some great analysis, I also think at times she misses the mark and gets a little too dogmatic or literal or something in her own way. But still! Reading intelligent reviews of Heyers' books is a rare find! And at a science fiction site, no less!
But anyway, I read The Talisman Ring while flying up to Boston and then hanging out in hotels rooms. It was a very fun read but for the life of me I can not remember why the talisman ring was the crucial evidence!
The story revolves around Sir Tristam, age 31, who is now head of his family and has agreed to marry flighty and very young Eustacie, his cousin, to keep the money in the family. But Eustacie is romantic and finds Sir Tristam old and fusty. She runs away one night and winds up meeting her long lost cousin who has been in hiding because of a murder he supposedly committed three years before. The cousin gets wounded as they try to avoid the excismen (he's turned smuggler) and the two wind up hiding at a nearby inn. Here they meet Sarah Thane and her older brother, Sir Hugh Thane.
As the story moves on with many comedic scenes, we find that another cousin Basil might be a suspect. There's lots of mystery surrounding just what happened that fatal night three years before and lots of well crafted incidental personalities pop in and out of the story. Eustacie and her smuggler cousin make a charming couple but you know Sir Tristam is going to wind up with Miss Thane. This is a mystery/comedy/romance with lots of fun dialogue and action.
A thumping good read! For more book reviews to go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
But anyway, I read The Talisman Ring while flying up to Boston and then hanging out in hotels rooms. It was a very fun read but for the life of me I can not remember why the talisman ring was the crucial evidence!
The story revolves around Sir Tristam, age 31, who is now head of his family and has agreed to marry flighty and very young Eustacie, his cousin, to keep the money in the family. But Eustacie is romantic and finds Sir Tristam old and fusty. She runs away one night and winds up meeting her long lost cousin who has been in hiding because of a murder he supposedly committed three years before. The cousin gets wounded as they try to avoid the excismen (he's turned smuggler) and the two wind up hiding at a nearby inn. Here they meet Sarah Thane and her older brother, Sir Hugh Thane.
As the story moves on with many comedic scenes, we find that another cousin Basil might be a suspect. There's lots of mystery surrounding just what happened that fatal night three years before and lots of well crafted incidental personalities pop in and out of the story. Eustacie and her smuggler cousin make a charming couple but you know Sir Tristam is going to wind up with Miss Thane. This is a mystery/comedy/romance with lots of fun dialogue and action.
A thumping good read! For more book reviews to go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Friday, May 15, 2015
Establishing Spiritual Habits
One thing I'd like to do is to neaten up my spiritual life so I have a better grasp of what I am doing and where I want to expand or what needs changing up.
In my head I have things in the categories of daily, weekly and monthly. I also have a continuum. On one side I have what I do now and on the other side I have the ideal to work towards.
Daily:
Wake - at some moment of in the dim consciousness of waking up, gather my awareness and say, "Yes, Lord!"
Personal Morning prayer - this is usually while I wait for coffee. I had been doing a novena every morning and that was wonderful but it got rote, so then I started just making the sign of the cross and doing some religious reading. I would like to do both a morning novena/prayer and about 10 minutes of reading.
Family morning prayer - this is really just with Sean and Becky. We've been saying the Morning Offering, then reading from the Word Among Us for each day's Mass readings. I like this but the kids tend to sleep on the couch and I have no idea how much they are taking in. Sometimes it seems a bit sacrilegious. We also listen to the Saint of the Day.
Copy work - when we are doing copy work during the year, some of it is of a religious nature. Perhaps a prayer diary?
Grace before meals
Pray a decade of the rosary whenever I get into the car. I used to be better at this but have really fallen away.
Watch EWTN news at 6:00 - this keeps me informed about the world and also up on what is happening in the Church.
Evening prayer - this is so rote. I don't know if the kids are actually praying. We say an Our Father and then ask God to bless the family then we conclude with the St. Michael the Archangel prayer. Kids can add in prayers of petition. This is a ritual from childhood but I wish I knew there was a real raising of our hearts and minds to God.
Weekly:
Sunday Mass - usually 10 a.m. though a significant number of times a year we wind up going to another mass, not always at St. Mark.
Daily Mass - we usually try to go to one daily mass during the school week. At the beginning of this year we went to St. Tim's on Thursdays at noon. Then we realized St. John Neumann usually has a Mass at 12:10 on Fridays so that's been the Mass of choice lately.
What I'd like to do is say a rosary once a week. I have tried at various times to be more faithful in saying the rosary. It is a chore for me. I think I would do better to stay at the daily Mass and say the rosary with a group. I think I'd be more likely to be consistent. We usually leave right after because we are hungry. But maybe the kids would be okay with staying and saying the rosary too. We can brainstorm about how best to incorporate it into our habits.
Divine Mercy Chaplet - I'd like to remember to say this once a week. I am thinking either on a Friday or Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Again, I am going to see if the kids can't help keep me accountable.
Once a week - Focused attention on learning the faith - either through curriculum or some kind of study. Sean can do this via CLC. Becky could do this while working on her Marian medal. But I also want to have a philosophical component to our homeschool - to put in place that logical foundation that informs the faith. I started reading Aristotle for Everybody but I think I will have to wait to finish it next year. I also want to watch the lectures on Natural Law. Also, we could re-watch Catholicism and maybe get Father Barron's latest video series.
Giving something up on Fridays - usually I try not to cook or eat meat but we often are sloppy about this. When the kids were little they would give up screen if they were really craving bacon or something. But now no one even thinks about it.
Some service for others - maybe something through St. Mark or through AHG or something on line (even sign a petition, donate, spread info). This is something important I should really solidly incorporate into our weekly calendar. ****
Monthly:
Prepare for any liturgical feasts or celebrations.
Go to confession (usually I only go 4x a year, so this would be a big change)
Go to Adoration once a month - St. Mark has Adoration every First Friday. If I miss that I could go on a Sunday afternoon.
Volunteer more at St. Mark
This isn't monthly, but to occasionally go on pilgrimage. This year I did more of that kind of thing because Becky was preparing for Confirmation. We went to the Grotto up at Mt. St. Mary's, to the Franciscan Monastery in DC and to the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy up in Stockbridge MA.
Another not monthly thing - go on retreat. I have not been to an overnight retreat in 37 years! I have been to a few one day retreats. I think I need an overnight retreat at some point very soon!
In my head I have things in the categories of daily, weekly and monthly. I also have a continuum. On one side I have what I do now and on the other side I have the ideal to work towards.
Daily:
Wake - at some moment of in the dim consciousness of waking up, gather my awareness and say, "Yes, Lord!"
Personal Morning prayer - this is usually while I wait for coffee. I had been doing a novena every morning and that was wonderful but it got rote, so then I started just making the sign of the cross and doing some religious reading. I would like to do both a morning novena/prayer and about 10 minutes of reading.
Family morning prayer - this is really just with Sean and Becky. We've been saying the Morning Offering, then reading from the Word Among Us for each day's Mass readings. I like this but the kids tend to sleep on the couch and I have no idea how much they are taking in. Sometimes it seems a bit sacrilegious. We also listen to the Saint of the Day.
Copy work - when we are doing copy work during the year, some of it is of a religious nature. Perhaps a prayer diary?
Grace before meals
Pray a decade of the rosary whenever I get into the car. I used to be better at this but have really fallen away.
Watch EWTN news at 6:00 - this keeps me informed about the world and also up on what is happening in the Church.
Evening prayer - this is so rote. I don't know if the kids are actually praying. We say an Our Father and then ask God to bless the family then we conclude with the St. Michael the Archangel prayer. Kids can add in prayers of petition. This is a ritual from childhood but I wish I knew there was a real raising of our hearts and minds to God.
Weekly:
Sunday Mass - usually 10 a.m. though a significant number of times a year we wind up going to another mass, not always at St. Mark.
Daily Mass - we usually try to go to one daily mass during the school week. At the beginning of this year we went to St. Tim's on Thursdays at noon. Then we realized St. John Neumann usually has a Mass at 12:10 on Fridays so that's been the Mass of choice lately.
What I'd like to do is say a rosary once a week. I have tried at various times to be more faithful in saying the rosary. It is a chore for me. I think I would do better to stay at the daily Mass and say the rosary with a group. I think I'd be more likely to be consistent. We usually leave right after because we are hungry. But maybe the kids would be okay with staying and saying the rosary too. We can brainstorm about how best to incorporate it into our habits.
Divine Mercy Chaplet - I'd like to remember to say this once a week. I am thinking either on a Friday or Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Again, I am going to see if the kids can't help keep me accountable.
Once a week - Focused attention on learning the faith - either through curriculum or some kind of study. Sean can do this via CLC. Becky could do this while working on her Marian medal. But I also want to have a philosophical component to our homeschool - to put in place that logical foundation that informs the faith. I started reading Aristotle for Everybody but I think I will have to wait to finish it next year. I also want to watch the lectures on Natural Law. Also, we could re-watch Catholicism and maybe get Father Barron's latest video series.
Giving something up on Fridays - usually I try not to cook or eat meat but we often are sloppy about this. When the kids were little they would give up screen if they were really craving bacon or something. But now no one even thinks about it.
Some service for others - maybe something through St. Mark or through AHG or something on line (even sign a petition, donate, spread info). This is something important I should really solidly incorporate into our weekly calendar. ****
Monthly:
Prepare for any liturgical feasts or celebrations.
Go to confession (usually I only go 4x a year, so this would be a big change)
Go to Adoration once a month - St. Mark has Adoration every First Friday. If I miss that I could go on a Sunday afternoon.
Volunteer more at St. Mark
This isn't monthly, but to occasionally go on pilgrimage. This year I did more of that kind of thing because Becky was preparing for Confirmation. We went to the Grotto up at Mt. St. Mary's, to the Franciscan Monastery in DC and to the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy up in Stockbridge MA.
Another not monthly thing - go on retreat. I have not been to an overnight retreat in 37 years! I have been to a few one day retreats. I think I need an overnight retreat at some point very soon!
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Our Trip to Massachusetts
We all went up to Massachusetts to see Will graduate from Berklee. I had grandiose ideas of all the touring and sightseeing we would be doing, but I soon discovered most of it wasn't going to happen. First of all I had not factored in the fact that while we were close to Will's house, we still had to walk 15 to 20 minutes to get there. We did a lot of walking in Cambridge. I did enjoy the walking a lot. So many charming old houses and blooming trees (that had a heavenly floral scent. I never thought a city would smell so good!). We hung out with Will a bit, though he still has stuff to do and places and people to see. We saw his girlfriend a couple of times very briefly. We got to walk around MIT a lot. We ate at a great pizza/gyros place and at another restaurant/bar called. . . .hmm I can't remember but anyway all the food we ate was excellent. Our hotel was right on the Charles river and it was delightful to watch all the activity. Cambridge and Boston are busy, busy places. Everybody is out jogging or biking or scootering or walking. And then on the river, so many people were rowing and paddle boardings and sailing. All the natives there kept talking about how long the winter had been. Everyone was just bursting to get outside. It was actually chilly in the high 40s and low 50s most of the time we were in Cambridge but everyone was out in summer dresses and shorts!
I also didn't factor in the fact that Grandad and Peggy are getting older. Grandad has a walker now, his balance is so bad. Everything took twice as long as it should have and both of them got tired really quickly. It was just hugely cumbersome and I had to adjust my expectations. But I did love all the walking and we did get to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum which is just fantastic. I've never seen a museum like it. It is enchanting and so full of so many interesting things. You could come back day after day and discover something new (or actually really, really old!) I am sure. We didn't do half of what we could have. I am really happy we got there.
Will's graduation was the longest thing ever! Oh my goodness. Those entertainment people love to hear themselves talk, applaud themselves heartily and give each other accolades. We got up early, breakfasted and got to the Boston University arena by 8:30. There was already a line. They opened the doors at 9. The commencement ceremony started at 10 and finished at 3 something!!!!! Oh my gosh, I thought I was gonna die. BUT it was wonderful to see Will (Eli) graduate. He was so happy. We were exhausted afterwards and just went back to the hotel to snooze and read. Becky actually had a friend from the playmakers up in Boston. Her brother goes to Berklee and they were packing him up to take him home for the summer. So she went over to visit her friend and help pack. Meanwhile Sean who had been staying over at Will's place instead of the hotel wound up going to a party and meeting Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer. Will is kind of on the outskirts of their circle. So Sean thought that was pretty cool but we all swore to secrecy that no one would tell Becky because she will shriek with jealousy.
Another complication which lead to more walking and then Rick having to run out at odd times and try to drive around Boston was people arriving at the airport at different times. Oh and Hannah and Peter were supposed to come but Peter, silly boy, stepped on glass while taking out the trash and cut his feet horribly and wound up spending almost the entire day at urgent care instead of flying in to see the graduation.
On Sunday we said goodbye to Will (who met us for breakfast on Mother's Day at the hotel) and then drove Granddad and Peggy to the airport. Then we set out for the Berkshires. Rick didn't want to drive so I got really brave and drove! I was quite proud of myself. It was a lovely drive and I sang Sweet Baby James the whole way to myself, while everyone else was plugged in or napping. We stayed in the quaintest place called The Red Lion Inn. I loved it so much. The food was excellent. They made their own hot dogs! They were the best hot dogs I have ever eaten. I don't even really like hot dogs but these were the kind that the whole time you eat them, you can't help say, oh my these are really delicious, yum, yum, yum.
Anyway! I digress. For Mother's Day we went to Mass at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy which is in Stockbridge. The church is old and lovely. Everything was made by local artisans back in the late 1800s. Gorgeous. After the Mass, we said the Divine Mercy chaplet there. We were supposed to meet Father Michael Gaitley there but everyone was so hungry and hot and tired that we didn't wait around but just went to find food. (see above on hot dogs!)
The next morning, Rick and I got up and took a walk. We walked up the hill to the shrine again and walked around. I decided I would pray for a friend who had just discovered she had oral cancer the day before we left. So I had promised to pray for her there. As I was praying I looked over and there was a relic of St. Peregrine, patron saint of cancer victims! I about fell over. I had no idea that was there! At all!
The shrine was really neat and had many beautiful aspects to it. After Rick and I walked back and had a late breakfast with everyone, we all set out for the Norman Rockwell museum. This whole time Sean had been really grumpy. He does not travel well at all. And he and Becky had been bickering mightily. It almost ruined things but then I decided I was going to be happy anyway. I love to travel with Rick. He and I are so compatible that way. I always forget that he really likes art. We had so much fun at the Norman Rockwell museum and the tour guide was out of this world fantastic. Sean, though, to our surprise was also really fascinated. He really loved it all. We found out that Norman Rockwell had come to Stockbridge because there was a famous sanatorium or psychiatric hospital (it is right on the main street and looks like a movie prop for old sanatoriums, I kid you not). His wife was suffering from depression, so they left Vermont and settled in Stockbridge for awhile, found they liked it, and stayed on permanently. Our hotel suites (we had two suites that were really the entire second floor of this grand old house built at the turn of the last century.) were almost directly across the street from the house he and his wife lived in. The house is owned by someone else and now and is a private residence. We also found out that James Taylor also went to the hospital and wound up staying as well. He lives in Washington down the road a few minutes. The town of Washington has only something like 253 residents, two are famous, James Taylor and Arlo Guthrie. The rest of the residents must just be their servants and band members. Ha ha. The Taylor boys go the the Stockbridge County Day school (I think James is on his 3rd wife) which was just a few minutes from the Inn as well.
After the Rockwell visit, Rick said he really wanted to see this glass art gallery. So we went and it was really cool too! Monday evening we were entertained in the pub by a local singer who did lots of covers. He sang Sweet Baby James and Rainbow Connection without us even asking. I did request City of New Orlean. Anyway, we had so much fun. If you ever want to go to a great old fashioned Inn in the New England mountains with lots of local color and a groovy artsy bend, go to Stockbridge. Just charming! I would love to have stayed another day or two.
Oh and we know what to get Rick for Father's Day. He wants a jigsaw puzzle of a painting Rockwell did in 1967 of Main St. in Stockbridge.
I also didn't factor in the fact that Grandad and Peggy are getting older. Grandad has a walker now, his balance is so bad. Everything took twice as long as it should have and both of them got tired really quickly. It was just hugely cumbersome and I had to adjust my expectations. But I did love all the walking and we did get to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum which is just fantastic. I've never seen a museum like it. It is enchanting and so full of so many interesting things. You could come back day after day and discover something new (or actually really, really old!) I am sure. We didn't do half of what we could have. I am really happy we got there.
Will's graduation was the longest thing ever! Oh my goodness. Those entertainment people love to hear themselves talk, applaud themselves heartily and give each other accolades. We got up early, breakfasted and got to the Boston University arena by 8:30. There was already a line. They opened the doors at 9. The commencement ceremony started at 10 and finished at 3 something!!!!! Oh my gosh, I thought I was gonna die. BUT it was wonderful to see Will (Eli) graduate. He was so happy. We were exhausted afterwards and just went back to the hotel to snooze and read. Becky actually had a friend from the playmakers up in Boston. Her brother goes to Berklee and they were packing him up to take him home for the summer. So she went over to visit her friend and help pack. Meanwhile Sean who had been staying over at Will's place instead of the hotel wound up going to a party and meeting Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer. Will is kind of on the outskirts of their circle. So Sean thought that was pretty cool but we all swore to secrecy that no one would tell Becky because she will shriek with jealousy.
Another complication which lead to more walking and then Rick having to run out at odd times and try to drive around Boston was people arriving at the airport at different times. Oh and Hannah and Peter were supposed to come but Peter, silly boy, stepped on glass while taking out the trash and cut his feet horribly and wound up spending almost the entire day at urgent care instead of flying in to see the graduation.
On Sunday we said goodbye to Will (who met us for breakfast on Mother's Day at the hotel) and then drove Granddad and Peggy to the airport. Then we set out for the Berkshires. Rick didn't want to drive so I got really brave and drove! I was quite proud of myself. It was a lovely drive and I sang Sweet Baby James the whole way to myself, while everyone else was plugged in or napping. We stayed in the quaintest place called The Red Lion Inn. I loved it so much. The food was excellent. They made their own hot dogs! They were the best hot dogs I have ever eaten. I don't even really like hot dogs but these were the kind that the whole time you eat them, you can't help say, oh my these are really delicious, yum, yum, yum.
Anyway! I digress. For Mother's Day we went to Mass at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy which is in Stockbridge. The church is old and lovely. Everything was made by local artisans back in the late 1800s. Gorgeous. After the Mass, we said the Divine Mercy chaplet there. We were supposed to meet Father Michael Gaitley there but everyone was so hungry and hot and tired that we didn't wait around but just went to find food. (see above on hot dogs!)
The next morning, Rick and I got up and took a walk. We walked up the hill to the shrine again and walked around. I decided I would pray for a friend who had just discovered she had oral cancer the day before we left. So I had promised to pray for her there. As I was praying I looked over and there was a relic of St. Peregrine, patron saint of cancer victims! I about fell over. I had no idea that was there! At all!
The shrine was really neat and had many beautiful aspects to it. After Rick and I walked back and had a late breakfast with everyone, we all set out for the Norman Rockwell museum. This whole time Sean had been really grumpy. He does not travel well at all. And he and Becky had been bickering mightily. It almost ruined things but then I decided I was going to be happy anyway. I love to travel with Rick. He and I are so compatible that way. I always forget that he really likes art. We had so much fun at the Norman Rockwell museum and the tour guide was out of this world fantastic. Sean, though, to our surprise was also really fascinated. He really loved it all. We found out that Norman Rockwell had come to Stockbridge because there was a famous sanatorium or psychiatric hospital (it is right on the main street and looks like a movie prop for old sanatoriums, I kid you not). His wife was suffering from depression, so they left Vermont and settled in Stockbridge for awhile, found they liked it, and stayed on permanently. Our hotel suites (we had two suites that were really the entire second floor of this grand old house built at the turn of the last century.) were almost directly across the street from the house he and his wife lived in. The house is owned by someone else and now and is a private residence. We also found out that James Taylor also went to the hospital and wound up staying as well. He lives in Washington down the road a few minutes. The town of Washington has only something like 253 residents, two are famous, James Taylor and Arlo Guthrie. The rest of the residents must just be their servants and band members. Ha ha. The Taylor boys go the the Stockbridge County Day school (I think James is on his 3rd wife) which was just a few minutes from the Inn as well.
After the Rockwell visit, Rick said he really wanted to see this glass art gallery. So we went and it was really cool too! Monday evening we were entertained in the pub by a local singer who did lots of covers. He sang Sweet Baby James and Rainbow Connection without us even asking. I did request City of New Orlean. Anyway, we had so much fun. If you ever want to go to a great old fashioned Inn in the New England mountains with lots of local color and a groovy artsy bend, go to Stockbridge. Just charming! I would love to have stayed another day or two.
Oh and we know what to get Rick for Father's Day. He wants a jigsaw puzzle of a painting Rockwell did in 1967 of Main St. in Stockbridge.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Venetia - Book 17
Venetia is another Georgette Heyer novel. I enjoyed it immensely. Very Austenesque with great characters and really funny dialogue.
Venetia has been confined to her home in Yorkshire, never able to come out in London, and now she is an old maid at 25. But Venetia is beautiful, smart, practical and an incurable optimist. She loves her younger brainy brother who is an aspiring classicist, preparing to to go to Cambridge. He also has a deformed leg which makes him rather prickly. Venetia's older brother has gone off to fight Napoleon, but now seems to be taking a very long time to come home. He seems to be having too good a time to think about Venetia holding down the estate while he enjoys his travels. Venetia's father was a recluse but has now passed away, and her mother died when she was ten (so she's been told).
One day she goes next door to The Priory to pick berries; this is the land of Lord Jasper Dameral who is never, ever there. He is a 'rake' who ran off with a married woman back when he was 22. That turned out badly and since then he has spent his life with wine, women and song. Now he is 38, and unexpectedly has returned home surprising Venetia at her blackberrying in a very Heyeresque way.
The secondary characters are just a scream. I hooted my way through this book. A very satisfying read with a very satisfactory romantic ending. The Latin references in the book were fun too!
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Venetia has been confined to her home in Yorkshire, never able to come out in London, and now she is an old maid at 25. But Venetia is beautiful, smart, practical and an incurable optimist. She loves her younger brainy brother who is an aspiring classicist, preparing to to go to Cambridge. He also has a deformed leg which makes him rather prickly. Venetia's older brother has gone off to fight Napoleon, but now seems to be taking a very long time to come home. He seems to be having too good a time to think about Venetia holding down the estate while he enjoys his travels. Venetia's father was a recluse but has now passed away, and her mother died when she was ten (so she's been told).
One day she goes next door to The Priory to pick berries; this is the land of Lord Jasper Dameral who is never, ever there. He is a 'rake' who ran off with a married woman back when he was 22. That turned out badly and since then he has spent his life with wine, women and song. Now he is 38, and unexpectedly has returned home surprising Venetia at her blackberrying in a very Heyeresque way.
The secondary characters are just a scream. I hooted my way through this book. A very satisfying read with a very satisfactory romantic ending. The Latin references in the book were fun too!
For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)