Diary of an Early American Boy 1805 - Book 44

I bought Diary of an Early American Boy years ago when I thought we'd do a loose unit study on American history.  I do remember reading lots of books on American history before we went up to Boston for a vacation, when Will was first up there at school, but this book never got touched.  It had remained untouched on my bookshelf for years.  Since I've become interested in how people did things in the past without benefit of electricity, I found myself picking it up.  This book is really aimed for middle school aged kids.  It has exquisite pencil drawings explaining all the different technical topics the author touches on. The book is a hardback of 108 pages.  It's absolutely captivating.  The author, Eric Sloane is a wonderful historian and artist.  He collects colonial era tools.  He found an old diary kept by a Noah Blake, a 15 year old son of a farmer and builder.  The diary chronicles how the two built a bridge and a mill, as well as all the different farming practices throughout the seasons.

One of the many technical but charming illustrations.

The book is a wealth of knowledge.  It's funny that I am interested in this topic since I have very little engineering capabilities.  But starting with the Secrets of the Castle BBC series that explained how castles were built, then listening to Brunelleschi's Dome on how the great dome of the cathedral of Florence, an architectural masterpiece, was constructed, has got me really intrigued about how man accomplished so much before the advent of electricity and technology.  Diary of an Early American Boy is a perfect follow up.  Everything from how mills worked, how covered bridges got started, what different axes were used for, the development of levels for carpentry, how wheelbarrows and rockers evolved, it's just chock full of interesting tidbits of information.

I highly recommend this charming, informative history book.  I wish we had used it in our unit study!

For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Friday 11/23/18 Housekeeping Update

Not much to report.  I've been under the weather for the last two weeks so parts of the house are in pretty bad shape, but some things did get done.

1)  I cleared off the dining room table which was covered in books, papers, random dishes and other things we don't know quite where to put.  I also bought new placemats and a table runner for the big table.  The tablecloth I bought a couple years ago had gotten so stained, and then when I realized we needed a cover for our family room couch because of Skipper, the new puppy, the tablecloth officially transitioned into that.  I feel kind of put together now that I have these placemats.  I plan to have different table runners for different holiday occasions.

2)  I did tidy up the porch again and finally dog proofed it so the dog can not go out there and get into gardening stuff and spread dirt and chewed up plastic pots all over the place.

3)  I bought a new rug for the entrance area.  Something I'd been meaning to do for months. 

4)  There were not one but two lights out in our family room which R changed before Thanksgiving.  That was nice. 

5)  Another thing R did was to order this new kind of air filter for me.  I wake up every day with a bit of a sinus headache.  I really think I'm a little allergic to dust.  With this air filter and my new dust allergy pillow cover, guess who has been waking up headache free????    We also got some super duper charcoal filters to go into B's air filter in her room.  To help with the black mold.  For all I know, I too react to black mold and that's what has been giving me headaches.  Though honestly, I have suffered in many houses that I've lived in.  So it might just be dust.

6)  H made most of the Thanksgiving dinner.  She roasted a turkey, made mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes (which we forgot to eat.  We were warming them in the oven and forgot to get them out).  R made a rotisserie turkey on the grill outside.  Unfortunately, the dog had gotten into his wood chips that smoke the turkey meat so well.  I had swept them out and thrown them out and never thought to replace them.  On Wed. I dashed out trying to see if any stores carried wood chips but alas, I could find none.  The turkey was still quite good but not the amazingness it is when smoked.  We'll remember for next year! 

7)  I made gluten free rolls using the Pamela's flour.  They were delicious.  I also made cow dairy free mashed potatoes which were scrumptious.  I put in ghee and garlic goat cheese and mashed them up well.  Came out really good!  I also made a big cheese and veggie platter for everyone but especially for Will since he is a vegetarian and doesn't eat turkey.  The veggies were:  bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, sugar snap peas and cucumbers  I bought 3 different types of cheese to go with it, including some goat brie cheese, which is really good and tastes a lot more like regular cheese than those logs of goat cheese which taste like goat cheese! 

8)  Today I am going to do a big project of cleaning out our front hall closet.  I also will try to get the others to offer at least one garment for the clothing drive. 

9)  I am excited that Organic Edible Gardens is finally going to get started on Monday here.  I can't believe they say it's ok to plant at the end of November, especially since we are having a below freezing cold snap.  Actually some planting will have to wait until spring.  I just want as many fruit bearing things that can be planted now to be planted.  And I really want my raised vegetable beds to be built so I can load them up with good soil.  I've been doing research on how to protect gardens from pets.  Apparently I just need some wire fencing to place over the top.  I am most worried the new plantings won't survive Skipper.  So I am inordinately focused on how to protect them. 

That's it for now. 

A Damsel in Distress - Book 43

A Damsel in Distress by P. G. Wodehouse was published in 1919 (The year my dad was born.  That year always jumps out at me!).  I got it for 0 cents on my Kindle.  I had had the most miserable day, being struck down by a painful stomach ailment that had me bedridden most of the day.  Occasionally I would stagger down to the kitchen for some hot water with lemon or chicken broth.  I slept on and off in between writhing and wincing with pain.  I felt like I was in labor.  I started to think that I was having appendicitis or something that required urgent care, but then during the evening it got much better.  Still, I didn't have any appetite, so by the time 9:30 p.m. or so rolled around I started to get a headache.  I took some Tylenol and hoped it would help but it got worse and worse. Around 11 p.m. I realized that I hadn't really had any caffeine all day.  In addition to that, the day had started out with a pretty snowfall but it had turned into a steady, heavy, wet, dismal rain.  I think both things were triggering a migraine.  So at 11:00 at night I had a cup of coffee.  Within a half hour my head was better.  But, I thought, oh dear, I am going to be up all night.  I decided I needed to find a book on the Kindle to read, something light and amusing.  However, I am punishing myself right now by not letting myself purchase books on the Kindle because I impulse buy too much and wind up not finishing them.  But then I remembered you can get some books for free!   I searched through a long list of classics which I've already read or have no intention of ever reading until I stumbled on a Wodehouse I hadn't read before.

It was delightful.  I only read for a couple of hours before I fell into a wonderful, pain-free slumber that lasted unbroken until the morning light!  It was quite refreshing.

But the next day, I decided I was going to take it really easy since I am tired of being sick for so long and feel very worn down.  I still have my stupid hacking cough. So I spent most of the day reading and finished the book by the evening.  It was a really fun read and the perfect book to read while convalescing.  What a gift Wodehouse was!  There's a lot going on in the madcap plot.  It has many laugh out loud moments. The main lady interest is named Maud and Wodehouse makes many references to Tennyson's poem throughout.  Note to self:  read the poem Maud.  

An illustration of Tennyson's poem Maud.  It looks pretty sinister to me!

I also discovered that they made a 1937 musical comedy starring Fred Astaire, very, very loosely based on the plot.  It was the last musical George Gershwin worked on.  He died during the filming.  So my little midnight find turned out to be quite a gem!

Two big thumbs up!  For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

The Black Moth - Book 42

The Black Moth was Georgette Heyer's first novel and the one that put her on the map, so to speak.  She went on to write 50 novels and this one is the prototype for her romances.  It has all of the familiar elements in it.  She wrote the book at age 17 which is really remarkable.  Apparently, she had an ill younger brother who was enamored of the swashbuckling era of England's bygone years.  The plot came from stories she would tell him to cheer him in his illness.  It was published in 1921.

The two sons of the Earl of Wyncham are both in love with the same lady, Lavinia.  The younger son is the more in love and he has gotten himself so in debt he is ruining his chances to wed.  The atmosphere is Georgian England, where the rich nobility spend their time dressing extravagantly, living lavish lifestyles of partying, drinking and gambling.   Even though the brothers are competing for the same girl, they are extraordinarily close to one another.  Under the pressure of the moment, Richard, the younger brother, cheats at cards and his older brother, Jack, takes the fall for him in an act of supreme loyalty.  But cheating at cards means a complete loss of honor in his circle of society, and he is ostracized.  He flees and spends six long years in disguise scraping out a living, first as a fencing master and then, when homesickness forces him to return to England, as a masked highwayman.

It's his life as highwayman that gets the ball rolling in terms of his eventual reconciliation with his brother.  Along the way we follow the entwined tales of Jack's friends and family, including Lavinia's elder brother the Duke of Andover, nicknamed Devil, bent on ravishing the lovely Diana.  Diana's comical aunt Bessy, Also, we meet Jack's oldest friend Sir Miles O'Hara and his new wife Molly.  And we can't forget, Jim, Jack's valet who takes care of his master, and on whom the master relies for some semblance of human friendship.  Jack's temperament is one that needs friends.

There's lots of humor and exciting plot twists.   The characters are not perhaps quite as developed as in her later books.  I found Lavinia to be a tiresome bore, too annoying to be worthy of all the grief she causes.  The story line ties up neatly in a satisfying way.

All in all, I am glad I read it.  For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Book 41

I've gotten my husband reading Agatha Christie mysteries!  He is so smart he can figure out who did it so quickly.  I never can!  But this one had him stumped.  I think Christie was a bit unfair in her telling so that the reader really can't guess the murderer.  Too much information is withheld until the very end.

I really thought I had already read this book, but I hadn't.  Mysteries all blend together in my head.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is considered a classic, known for its surprise ending.  Poirot has retired to a little English village (of course) after his friend and cohort, Inspector Hastings, has moved to 'The Argentine.'  However, he gets pulled into solving the murder of the local squire by his niece who finds out about Poirot's reputation.  Dr. Sheppard, the village doctor, takes Hastings' place, playing Watson to Poirot's Holmes.  There are lots of suspects:  Ackroyd's butler, housekeeper, two maids, his secretary, his friend Major Blunt, his nephew Ralph, Ralph's fiance, Flora, and even a mysterious stranger who happens to show up the night of the murder.

A really entertaining, intelligent, well written mystery.  I still think it's a bit unfair though. I found  Poirot less annoying here.  He only mentions his 'grey cells' 5 or 6 times, I think.

For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Dracula - Book 40

It took me two weeks to read this Victorian novel.  It's 400 pages long.  And for some reason we had two really hectic weeks crammed with appointments and deadlines and a hyper puppy that needed lots of attention.  So when I did go to read it at night, I'd wind up only reading a couple of pages before my eyelids got too heavy.   Also I had a lot of insomnia, but since I was reading a real book and not something on the Kindle, I was reluctant to turn on the bedside light to read in the middle of the night.  Not that reading Dracula is the best book to read when in the grips of insomnia! So it was a vicious circle of two weeks, broken by having a lovely weekend away for our anniversary.  I'll post about that in another post.  Anyway, I tried gallantly to finish Dracula before going away but that didn't work so I wound up finishing on Sunday morning.

Anyhoo!  Dracula is a great book!  I had always avoided it or anything to do with vampires, but this is actually a really charming Victorian novel, full of good character development, humor, erudition and some good old fashion Gothic horror.  It is a basic good vs. evil story where you know good will eventually win.  The author is quite good at building tension and keeping the reader on the edge of his/her seat.  The book is written in a series of diary entries and letters.  It tells the tale of how this intrepid group of British (and one Texan) friends become involved in Dracula's plot to move from Transylvania, where he's been terrorizing the locals for centuries, to England so he can expand his legions of the un-dead.  The group is headed by the virtuous, quaint and fearless, Dr. Van Helsing of Amsterdam.  He gets called in by his friend and colleague, Dr. Seward.  Dr. Seward is one of three suitors for the hand of the fair Lucy.  The other two suitors are Lord Arthur Godalming and the rich Texan cowboy, Quincey Morris.  Lucy is best friends with Mina whose fiance and then husband is Jonathan Harker, the young solicitor who is sent to Transylvania to work the real estate deal and transportation of Dracula to England.  Of course Harker doesn't realize Dracula is a vampire til he gets there and he's trapped in the spooky castle.

This group has to figure out first that Dracula really is a vampire and then how to fight and conquer him.  It is a dangerous, often despairing, fight to the death. 

Two thumbs up!  I now know why it is considered a classic.  For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Housekeeping 10/26/18

(I started this entry on Thursday.)

I don't know where the time goes.  I can't remember much of this week.  B had two appointments in the a.m. and I know I did a fair amount of driving.  But there was nothing really extra.  I did manage to cook dinner most nights but no one is eating it.

Monday morning the paving company came and redid our driveway.  It looks great and no fox poop yet.  We couldn't park on it for 3 days, so that involved parking on the street and walking back and forth which just felt disruptive even though it hardly was.  Hauling groceries that far was a little bit of a task but not too bad.  

We also finally signed the contract with the gardeners who are going to re-landscape the front garden and to put in apple trees and berry bushes and build some raised beds in the back.  I'm so excited about that.  I can't wait until they start.  And I think we are getting our new back fence in 2 weeks as well.

I barely managed to do the bare minimum in any kind of housecleaning this week though.  

I think because the weather turned cold I upped my tea consumption, not really paying attention the fact that I've grown much more sensitive to caffeine.  Now I have two cups of coffee in the a.m. often before 8 a.m. and that's it.  If I drink it any later in the day it effects my sleep.  Well, I found some loose leaf Earl Grey that had gotten lost in the back of the tea cupboard and this week I drank that a couple of times in the afternoon.  Last night I slept horribly.  Woke up at 3 and couldn't get back to sleep.  I felt like a zombie and truly ill.  So I have really taken it easy today.  I asked J to drive B to her math class and he took the dog for a long walk mid-morning.  I did manage to put on a pork roast in the creuset.  I was going to use the slow cooker but it is still holding the remains of a chicken from last week!  I was too tired to clean it.  I did manage to run the dishwasher.  

Pathetic.

B is having a Halloween party tomorrow.  I guess we are going to blitz clean this place tomorrow morning.

Friday:

Got a migraine around 12 midnight, struggled with it all night, was sick as a dog all morning.  However, it finally went away.  So I did help B clean for her Halloween party.  I dejunked a bunch of stuff from the counters.

Having people over is always a good way to get your house cleaned (at least the public portions of it!)

Today is Saturday.  I hope to clean out my mud room today so that I can put a bigger dog crate in it.  Right now we are using Tillie's old crate, but this puppy is growing rapidly and will soon out grow the crate.  He's sort of the on the border of it being too cramped now.  But also he is a jumper.  He jumps on top of the crate and used it to jump over the gate and then tear around the house chewing up as much he could and doing as much damage as possible until we could catch him.  He eats everything so I live in fear that he'll eat some really bad and we'll wind up having to have surgery to free up his blocked intestines.  Yikes!  I don't want that!  He is definitely a high maintenance dog.  So when we get the bigger crate, it needs to live somewhere where he can't also jump on it to get to other things.  The only place I can think of is our mudroom.  It will be a pain to get to that back pantry, but honestly I only use it to store a few things I need a few times a year. 

So on the agenda for today:  clean mudroom and get my hair cut.  I can't stand it anymore.  Now that I'm wearing sweaters with hoods and turtleneck, etc I keep getting huge rat's nests.  Gotta cut it short!