It's our turn.
Thanks to those of you who checked in on email, Facebook and otherwise to see if Rick and I were OK after the tragic shooting at Michigan State University. We are. We live about two miles from campus and about two miles from where the shooter killed himself after his campus rampage. We heard (and Rick saw) police cars and helicopters. And we were up very late, trying to wrap our heads around what happened.
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| Photo: Mike Mihalus |
A place belongs forever to whoever claims it the hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his own image.
Joan Didion
I've been thinking a lot about the cottage lately. I tend to do that rather often when the temperatures drop into single digits and the ground turns white. In another six months I will be back up north, painting on my porch, swimming every day in the lake. For now, I look back on other times.
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| My mom (front left) and her sisters at the lake. c. 1929/1930. |
The Didion quote touches me because it hits, so spot on, how I feel about the cottages up north -- and when I say cottages, I mean both the one I live in now and the one down the road in which my cousins live, where I grew up in my younger summers and where my mother and her sisters spent time every summer from the time they were children.
Here's something you don't often see in my world at this time of year. That's sunshine, morning sun, coming into the backyard. Never mind that it's one degree below zero. It's sun. I'll take it!
I haven't exactly been turning the page this past month! But I have enjoyed several offerings, two mysteries and an autobiography of sorts (diaries, actually).
Lots of bits and pieces to go on, as the month of January continues. This morning I woke to our first measurable snow since Christmas. The weather folk say 3-6 inches are expected today. We'll see. This has been our weirdest winter in ages.
Bloggers know that many of us pick a guiding word of the year. Last year, my word of the year was "Endure." After two years of adjusting our lives for Covid, and looking forward to uncertainty, it seemed like a good one.
It was (unfortunately) more fitting than I knew. I had loads of health and mobility issues and Rick wasn't far behind. I continue to deal with some of those still. They affect the quality of life and perhaps are the hardest to endure. But then, don't we all have to endure something?
I went to the Land of Van Gogh. No, not that one -- not the sun-drenched spots in Provence where so much of his beautiful and most memorable works were painted. Nor to the Netherlands, place of his youth. And no, not Paris either. I went to Detroit.
Yes, Detroit, Michigan and the Detroit Institute of Arts, home of the Van Gogh in America exhibit!
Gray. If you had to put our month into one color it would be gray.
Not that we haven't had the (rarely) occasional blue sky. But mostly gray.
It's time for my annual accounting of books read (often devoured) in 2022.
In the past year I read 58 books, a few short of my goal of 60. But I topped my page goal of 18,000 with a grand total of 21,994 pages, meaning, I read longer books, often more complex. (Why do I do this? Curiosity, and to keep myself accountable. I won't read just to check off a book or pages; I'll give it a fair shot, but life's too short.)
All books listed here have been reviewed in previous posts and are linked.
There are lessons to be learned from everything. Here are some of the things I learned this holiday season!
As one might expect, December was a terrible month for reading! I only managed four books and even that was a challenge! (One was only 48 pages!)
I'll have the overall book wrap post soon, but here are my takes on the December reads.
The week between Christmas and New Year's is one of my favorites. Things calm down -- and even if they don't quite calm down, it's a gentler, more relaxed feeling. A good time for naps, tidying up, quieter gatherings with friends and looking forward to a new year.
In our case, it involved saying goodbye to Rick's mom as we met up with Rick's brother and his wife, where she would spend the next few days, our annual Christmas song celebration, a quick hug with an old friend and lots of rest!
Sending all good wishes for a very Happy New Year!
May you stay well, happy and content in 2023.
Boy, I had a tough time reading in November. (And even a harder time writing about it in December so you'll get two book posts this month!) I dumped one book about five chapters in; tried picking up another WWII bio I hadn't finished and it was too heavy for me. I'm all for the Resistance but I have to be in the right mood to read it.
Then I quit another after the introduction deciding I didn't want to read the diaries of Anne Morrow Lindbergh during WWII, when her husband, aviator Charles, was advocating non-involvement in the war and anti-semites like Father Coughlin were on his side. It reminded me too much of the situation in Ukraine and the increasing signals from the incoming House of Representatives here that we should cut funding.
Maybe it was the delightful distractions of November that made reading hard. Who knows? I finally settled on two that were well worth the time and one that wasn't. (And face it, the upcoming holiday preps, physical therapy and not feeling my best didn't help much either!).
So, the books!
Happy In-Between Week! I hope your holidays have been as full of fun as ours. There was baking, a road trip, a visit to Rick's ancestors' final resting places, fun with little grands, music, merriment -- and an epic fail in the dessert line! Grab your tea and a Christmas cookie and settle in!
My house was decorated, literally one step at a time as I slowly brought up things from downstairs step by step due to a challenging back problem.
But I couldn't resist bringing up as much as possible. These are the things of memories. I want to use them all -- or as much as possible -- before the inevitable downsizing.
This Christmas Day we trust that Rick, his mom and I will be back home after several fun days celebrating the holiday with Kevin, Molly and the boys. The big snowstorm kept Greg, who has much farther to travel, away but we'll catch up with him later. (Note: Yes, we made it back safely -- and it was a very nasty road trip. Be careful out there!)
I'll have more on that soon (it was such fun!), but for today we want to wish you a Merry Christmas and if you are traveling, please be safe, especially if you are in regions affected by winter storms.
On December 20, 2007, I published my first post here on The Marmelade Gypsy. I'd just learned how to blog in an afternoon workshop that my then-boss held for those who were interested in blogging. Having already followed a few art blogs, I thought I might like to join in. This image was my first header, my Marmelade Gypsy.
Who could have imagined that 15 years later I would have overshared so much of my world! That deserves a little celebration and yes, a little drawing for some sort of thank you gift. More on that below.
Finally, I'm as decorated as I'm going to be! (That's not true. I will probably be bringing things upstairs till Twelfth Night when I start taking it down again!)
Join me on a little home tour! The nice parts, not the cobwebs and piles of stuff. Come on in! (Cue the Music!)
I share these moments of angst in the spirit of keeping it real. Because I have a feeling I'm not the only person going through some sort of pre-holiday frustration and I feel your pain. I've heard it all: "Don't do so much." Duh. But maybe you've experienced some of this and even if you are way more together than me (in real life, not what-I-see-on-your-blog life) I also have a couple of fun video links you might enjoy if nothing else!
And yes, sprinkled with a tree or two throughout -- just to show you that I am making progress!
Mix a little (OK, a lot) of wine, a little food, 14 people who haven't seen each other in awhile and you end up with a delightfully chaotic and fun day. Yes, it's the recipe for a Cork Poppers gathering, this time tasting the wines of South America!
Our gathering started with a lot of conversation, even before the first sip! Then it was on to the wines, three whites and five reds.
I really wanted to have a little craft time with the grandlittles when they came. But what project would be easy enough for a four and five year-old with a minimum of mess and easy to complete before they moved on? I opted for easy matchbox ornaments and they were a hit.
Our Thanksgiving weekend was a terrific one and I'm eager to fill you in -- except that we're still having it! So, before I do, a little more from Gardenviews and town of Northville to put you in the holiday mood! (Cue the music)
This window made me want to buy a pink tree! (I refrained!)
How many speeches do you hear at awards time that begin with "I would like to thank the Academy...," followed by a long list of people and usually ending with "and of course, my dear family..."
Well, at this season of giving thanks I thought it was time for a little list of my own. And it does NOT begin with the Academy! (But guess who it will end with!)
So this year I would like to thank....
I had my official start to the holiday season over the weekend. My friend Jan and I took our annual visit to the Northville, Michigan greens market. This year they moved it back to the center of this charming little Hallmark Town. The market was in the street and it worked rather well -- but I still miss the town square with its Santa cottage.
My world is a pretty quiet one this week and that's a good thing. I've been laying low, doing "homely" things, reading (after shelving three books because I couldn't get into them!), and beginning to plot out the upcoming holiday season. This was a motivator!
We have "fallen back" time-wise here -- and I have to admit, I have a very hard time with that. I hate it being dark so early and meanwhile Lizzie, who tells time with her stomach, starts nagging me an hour earlier for her daily bread. The day of the time change we had a huge windstorm. It was so windy that even though it was a sunny Sunday, Rick didn't ride his bike. And THAT is almost unbelievable! Later the sky looked like this.
Remembering. It's time to remember.
Last weekend Rick and I went to see John McCutcheon, a wonderful singer/songwriter, who was appearing locally. We'd seen him once before and were eager to return. As always, he did not disappoint! (The only disappointing thing was the very large crowd -- that was good -- almost all of whom were "of an age." The only place you see more gray hair is at the symphony. What will happen to music like this if no one under 50 ever hears it?!)
I can't help it. I write long book reviews. But I want you to have a feel for the book. I may love something you don't or hate something you'd love. But at least when you go into it, you'll have an idea about the story and at least what one reader thinks!
Without further ado...
Thank you, dear blog friends, for your words of encouragement and support on my last post. I think the cardioversion was successful -- at least, it was that day. Whether it sticks or not we'll see. But I'm very behind on life in general, so please forgive me if I don't reply to your last comments or am slow to visit. Doing my best to catch up!
As I was pulling together things for next week's art sale, I realized I hadn't shared a lot of art from this summer or fall. Some of these are will be included in inventory for the November sale, others are for fun and a few are pieces from the Este MacLeod color challenges, which means they are really out of my comfort zone!
Here we go!
