tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268400342024-03-13T17:18:51.853+01:00Knit-Cycle-ReadAmityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.comBlogger132125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-86296239597435064882009-12-12T15:49:00.002+01:002009-12-12T16:21:57.222+01:00Books Read in June, July, August, September, October & NovemberUm, I've been busy?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">June</span><br />Charlaine Harris: <span style="font-style: italic;">Shakespeare's Landlord</span><br />Sally Gardner: <span style="font-style: italic;">I, Coriander</span><br />John Le Carre: <span style="font-style: italic;">Single & Single</span><br />Libba Bray: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Sweet Far Thing</span><br />John Sedden: <span style="font-style: italic;">Mudlark</span><br />David Almond: <span style="font-style: italic;">Skellig</span><br />Eva Ibbotson: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Secret of Platform 13</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">July</span><br />Barbara Nadel: <span style="font-style: italic;">Belshazzar's Daughter</span><br />Jared Diamond: <span style="font-style: italic;">Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies</span><br />Tracey Chevalier: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Virgin Blue</span><br />Charlaine Harris: <span style="font-style: italic;">Living Dead in Dallas</span><br />Paulo Coelho: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Devil and Miss Prym</span><br />Sam Savage: <span style="font-style: italic;">Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife</span><br />Graham Joyce: <span style="font-style: italic;">Do the Creepy Thing</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">August</span><br />Manuel Puig: <span style="font-style: italic;">Kiss of the Spider Woman</span><br />Jacqueline Winspear: <span style="font-style: italic;">Maisie Dobbs</span><br />Georgette Heyer: <span style="font-style: italic;">Charity Girl</span><br />Isabel Allende: <span style="font-style: italic;">The House of Spirits</span><br />Kate Atkinson: <span style="font-style: italic;">Emotionally Weird</span><br />Charlaine Harris: <span style="font-style: italic;">Club Dead</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">September</span><br />Joseph O'Neill: <span style="font-style: italic;">Netherland</span><br />James Patterson: <span style="font-style: italic;">Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment</span><br />Wangari Maathai: <span style="font-style: italic;">Unbowed</span><br />Paulo Coelho: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Zahir</span><br />Dorothy L. Sayers: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club</span><br />Sara Gruen: <span style="font-style: italic;">Water for Elephants</span><br />Ian Rankin: <span style="font-style: italic;">Knots & Crosses</span><br />Sharyn McCrumb: <span style="font-style: italic;">If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him . . . </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">October</span><br />Patrick Rothfuss: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Name of the Wind</span><br />Charlaine Harris: <span style="font-style: italic;">Dead to the World</span><br />Dorothy L. Sayers: <span style="font-style: italic;">Murder Must Advertise</span><br />Philip Pullman: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Tin Princess</span><br />Sebastian Faulks: <span style="font-style: italic;">Engleby</span><br />Daniel & Dina Nayeri: <span style="font-style: italic;">Another Faust</span><br />Margery Allingham: <span style="font-style: italic;">Police at the Funeral</span><br />Mary Doria Russell: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Sparrow</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">November</span><br />Georgette Heyer: <span style="font-style: italic;">These Old Shades</span><br />Charlaine Harris: <span style="font-style: italic;">Dead as a Doornail</span><br />David Clement-Davies: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Telling Pool</span><br />Stieg Larsson: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Girl Who Played With Fire</span><br />Terry Pratchett: <span style="font-style: italic;">Truckers: The First Books of the Nomes</span><br />Herbie Brennan: <span style="font-style: italic;">Faerie Wars</span><br />Jodi Picoult: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Tenth Circle</span><br />Stephenie Meyer: <span style="font-style: italic;">New Moon</span>*<br />Eoin Cofler: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Wish List</span><span><br /><br />*I will NOT be reading any other books in this series. Blech!</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-46133821905974004832009-06-13T19:28:00.002+02:002009-06-13T19:42:35.858+02:00Books Read in MayA short list of mostly long books:<br /><br />Joyce Carol Oates: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Gravedigger's Daughter</span><br /><ul><li>Excellent, of course. The protagonist, Rebecca Schwart, is a tough, ruthless version of Faulkner's Lena Grove.</li></ul>Eva Ibbotson: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Dragonfly Pool</span><br /><ul><li>Set mostly at an English boarding school during WWII, this is a wonderful YA novel that -- without having a bit of magic, sorcery, or wizardry in it -- seems magical. </li></ul>Libba Bray: <span style="font-style: italic;">Rebel Angels</span><br /><ul><li>The second novel in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. I'm looking forward to the film version of <span style="font-style: italic;">A Great and Terrible Beauty</span> in 2010, and am reading the third novel, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Sweet Far Thing</span>, right now.</li></ul>Karen Maitland: <span style="font-style: italic;">Company of Liars</span><br /><ul><li>An easy-to-read thriller set in 1348 England during the Black Plague.</li></ul>Matthew Skelton: <span style="font-style: italic;">Endymion Spring</span><br /><ul><li>A YA fantasy novel that alternates between present-day Oxford and 15th-century Germany. With the Gutenberg Press and dragons!</li></ul>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-21990649452442698482009-06-11T10:22:00.002+02:002009-06-11T10:34:10.006+02:00A Few Snaps from the Trip to Prague<div style="text-align: center;">A view of the River Vltava and the Stare Mesto, or Old Town<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJWYcFGTPid72SZpq07eOlYYALqRRpuZ7fE83TQWm_yVUci32xYp5PXfjjdqmDrzezZ9GGP-2aKj9G45yS4qumt5eaCrffHYYlT-D4LWsih8E3xr2_lsZ6IzXflOC7-FDD62oqA/s1600-h/Picture+099.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJWYcFGTPid72SZpq07eOlYYALqRRpuZ7fE83TQWm_yVUci32xYp5PXfjjdqmDrzezZ9GGP-2aKj9G45yS4qumt5eaCrffHYYlT-D4LWsih8E3xr2_lsZ6IzXflOC7-FDD62oqA/s320/Picture+099.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345983848913535778" border="0" /></a><br />A street near Prague Castle</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS6zZFgnNsVF4jm9nLAJTzxbVCFmRY9j96B9KypDV3OQ9uR_KcTHNqw3-U30ra7TNhw8y3Cw4J_IL_cHAfHuaG1sG_ARhyHN-F9kqqYnulB9eQK6gK-k5O4uMuBXcq3P0RgpKIkw/s1600-h/Picture+042.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS6zZFgnNsVF4jm9nLAJTzxbVCFmRY9j96B9KypDV3OQ9uR_KcTHNqw3-U30ra7TNhw8y3Cw4J_IL_cHAfHuaG1sG_ARhyHN-F9kqqYnulB9eQK6gK-k5O4uMuBXcq3P0RgpKIkw/s320/Picture+042.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345983830163587698" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Stained glass window by <a href="http://www.muchafoundation.org/MHome.aspx">Alphonse Mucha</a> in St. Vitus' Cathedral<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAtyj0_NbSO1KEFJt1NNjhu_J_4p0yO2wOda3WkSWyLA2UFrpbS8hK9HH45XwS64Xmgaq4_RpOlmxuMnWGfJfKQUo7fyNnJFgV68g_z4Ngi3-E-bzErZ0R8l4HjcsqvDl84MZSg/s1600-h/Picture+066.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAtyj0_NbSO1KEFJt1NNjhu_J_4p0yO2wOda3WkSWyLA2UFrpbS8hK9HH45XwS64Xmgaq4_RpOlmxuMnWGfJfKQUo7fyNnJFgV68g_z4Ngi3-E-bzErZ0R8l4HjcsqvDl84MZSg/s320/Picture+066.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345983837218633314" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">A tram bearing evidence of my family's coffee empire<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEv5QBLX7kD4-5tA3xNbMhjSWoznTp7nM2KVPDVo2L9rhgmoM0Xgx2YOcnB0QXjeGNhd69yQGX-wIPCdazEfJZvIM9TdsSiliR-xesm1jZ_laCI4VV50gOSfddTWaMWqAIygCOQ/s1600-h/Picture+139.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEv5QBLX7kD4-5tA3xNbMhjSWoznTp7nM2KVPDVo2L9rhgmoM0Xgx2YOcnB0QXjeGNhd69yQGX-wIPCdazEfJZvIM9TdsSiliR-xesm1jZ_laCI4VV50gOSfddTWaMWqAIygCOQ/s320/Picture+139.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345983854633842722" border="0" /></a>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-70709135795720794142009-06-03T19:08:00.002+02:002009-06-03T19:11:43.506+02:00Holy Cow!<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-size:180%;" >Kim arrives this Friday! Woo hoo!<br /></span>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-404122413548285072009-05-11T13:41:00.005+02:002009-05-11T14:06:56.921+02:00Reading List for March & April with Bonus Snaps from the Keukenhof<span style="font-weight: bold;">March</span><br />Audrey Niffenegger: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Time Traveler's Wife</span> -- Excellent! Not at all what I expected.<br /><br />Kate Atkinson: <span style="font-style: italic;">Behind the Scenes at the Museum --</span> My love affair with Kate Atkinson's books continues.<br /><br />Harper Lee: <span style="font-style: italic;">To Kill a Mockingbird</span> -- I reread this because it had been assigned to one of my students. I had forgotten why this book is a classic. I worry, though, that it's wasted on 9th graders.<br /><br />Tana French: <span style="font-style: italic;">In the Woods</span> -- A compelling mystery with a disappointing ending.<br /><br />Gregory Maguire: <span style="font-style: italic;">What the Dickens: the Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy</span> -- Disappointing -- a great premise, but the book read like a rough draft.<br /><br />Charlaine Harris: <span style="font-style: italic;">Dead Until Dark</span> -- Southern-fried, raunchy vampire fun!<br /><br />Sonya Hartnett: <span style="font-style: italic;">Thursday's Child</span> -- An excellent YA novel that is probably better appreciated by adults.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5WZWx3sULv64Gzrdf6LP05npa-HQt0V-ZfyrLHdsbwZFwIplOnCCk35evfYVgTze3h1y1Ti230EbJFLNGRwhucRt7aVtFmezCGiEKCZY2w_QzrYfvLCU6HTpf5Z7SQWi4mfN-Q/s1600-h/Picture+004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5WZWx3sULv64Gzrdf6LP05npa-HQt0V-ZfyrLHdsbwZFwIplOnCCk35evfYVgTze3h1y1Ti230EbJFLNGRwhucRt7aVtFmezCGiEKCZY2w_QzrYfvLCU6HTpf5Z7SQWi4mfN-Q/s320/Picture+004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334535759697899682" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">April</span><br />Steig Larrson: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</span> -- The first in a series of Swedish mysteries. I'm definitely reading the second and third books.<br /><br />Norma Fox Mazer: <span style="font-style: italic;">When She Was Good</span> -- Another excellent YA novel.<br /><br />Tobias Hill: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Cryptographer </span>-- Boringly oblique? Obliquely boring?<br /><br />MT Anderson: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Game of Sunken Places</span> -- Really disappointing -- another work from a prominent YA author that reads like an early draft.<br /><br />Sarah Addison Allen: <span style="font-style: italic;">Garden Spells</span> -- Fun chick-lit set in the NC mountains!<br /><br />Joanne Harris: <span style="font-style: italic;">Gentlemen and Players</span> -- A creepy and well-written thriller.<br /><br />John Le Carre: <span style="font-style: italic;">Call for the Dead</span> -- An early mystery from one of my faves.<br /><br />Robin McKinley: <span style="font-style: italic;">Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast</span> -- A sweet YA novel that I somehow missed when I was a YA.<br /><br />Jaclyn Moriarty: <span style="font-style: italic;">Feeling Sorry for Celia</span> -- A great epistolary YA novel from Australia!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3uRTIr_T_PyeAzQM-y1jixzT830YRn38r7Kycx1939w3KeZGOICPvJS2iDhNZNcJVypMqNtWoLD0W-h2gdXSDsdU1woSxBgMaezmNomsD5PSdzR4eTIYzLiO94zpVp7KcMGmZw/s1600-h/Picture+017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3uRTIr_T_PyeAzQM-y1jixzT830YRn38r7Kycx1939w3KeZGOICPvJS2iDhNZNcJVypMqNtWoLD0W-h2gdXSDsdU1woSxBgMaezmNomsD5PSdzR4eTIYzLiO94zpVp7KcMGmZw/s320/Picture+017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334535765796155442" border="0" /></a>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-87650410251868155392009-04-26T19:26:00.002+02:002009-04-26T19:32:54.836+02:00Ducklings!<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Friday, Brownie Duck and her Beau brought by their ducklings. Brownie and Beau are regulars at Amity's Buffet for Birds (originally Amity's Aviary Buffet, but I had to change the name to discourage the neighborhood cats).<br /></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJyrrWH9XXjxUhuJAtCE7szo4ZFKZd6-v7y_1QaYdl_UfIj0l1IwsrqoWJlnmxnk-IYWSEF6HFxcEoC05MuxDagLYnANQoi4hfEjljh2UlNfrZHZapa0D8TvlB79CfnlBhIehCqg/s1600-h/100_5615.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJyrrWH9XXjxUhuJAtCE7szo4ZFKZd6-v7y_1QaYdl_UfIj0l1IwsrqoWJlnmxnk-IYWSEF6HFxcEoC05MuxDagLYnANQoi4hfEjljh2UlNfrZHZapa0D8TvlB79CfnlBhIehCqg/s320/100_5615.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329053641445021922" border="0" /></a>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-58862643523853196522009-04-05T18:05:00.003+02:002009-04-05T18:15:49.069+02:00Back on the Quattro!With pretty good weather today, Simon and I got back on the good tandem, affectionately known as the Quattro after DCI Gene Hunt's car in <a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/ashestoashes/">Ashes to Ashes</a>.<br /><br />Anyhoo, our stats were okay given that it was our the first time back on the bike in months:<br /><br />Distance: 19.75 miles<br />Time: 65 minutes<br />Average speed: 18.2 mph<br />Top speed: 23.3 mphAmityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-50935582462526226792009-04-02T10:06:00.006+02:002009-04-02T10:21:51.800+02:00Happy Birthday, Elaine!<span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >My niece, Elaine, is 13 today, old enough to be subjected to embarrassing stories of her childhood.</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">(Elaine, you should know that Simon and I plan to fly to Utah for your first date. We'll embarrass you by asking your date awkward questions, telling him dorky stories about you, and insisting on taking photos.)<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="">Top Ten Quotations from Elaine<o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <ol><li style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">To a table of boring grown-ups at Christmas dinner: “No adults talking!”<o:p></o:p></span></li><li style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">On having to resist opening a bag of treats I put together to entertain her on the flight back to <st1:state><st1:place>Utah</st1:place></st1:state></span><span style="font-size:100%;">: “Things can get pretty desperate.”<o:p></o:p></span></li><li style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">In response to “Elaine, you’re being a little devil”: “I’m not little!”<o:p></o:p></span></li><li style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">In the car whenever the driver dared brake for, say, a stop sign or red light: “Why are we slooowwwing?”<o:p></o:p></span></li><li style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">One morning at Elaine’s house when Simon and I woke up to find Jane and Paul had gone to the lab:<span style=""> </span>“Let’s have chocolate cake for breakfast!”<o:p></o:p></span></li><li style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The same morning, in a conspiratorial whisper, “I know where Daddy keeps his scissors!”<o:p></o:p></span></li><li style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">On accompanying me to the bathroom: “Your bum-bum is bigger than my bum-bum.” (Well, duh.)<o:p></o:p></span></li><li style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p>Upon having the door opened on her after she had run around her grandparents' house naked 15 minutes: "Don't look. I'm changing clothes!"<br /></o:p></span></li><li style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">After licking an ice cream bowl clean: “Mommy, you don’t have to wash this one!”<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Not a quotation, but a priceless expression: the look of utter horror when Uncle Simon – in an attempt to prove that his underwear was light gray, not white – accidentally mooned Elaine. The adults present could not stop laughing, not at Simon, but at Elaine. (As promised, Jane, we’ll chip in on Elaine’s therapy.)</span><o:p></o:p></span></li></ol>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-77568745193730518602009-03-02T17:16:00.004+01:002009-03-02T17:55:04.309+01:00February's Reading ListWith only 28 days, how was February so read-y?<br /><br />Bray, Libba<o:p></o:p>: <i style="">A Great and Terrible Beauty</i><br /><ul><li>This is an engaging Gothic novel set in a girls' boarding school in Victorian England. I just discovered that <i style="">A Great and Terrible Beauty</i> is the first novel in a trilogy -- I'll definitely read the next two -- and that there seems to be <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0833962/">a film version in the works</a>.</li></ul><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i> <p class="MsoNormal">Chevalier, Tracy<o:p></o:p>: <i style="">Falling Angels</i></p><ul><li>Wow. Tracy Chevalier's first novel is the story of two girls growing up in early 20th-century London. I'm a reluctant reader of first person narrators, but I found Chevalier's use of the first-person -- she gives every character a chance to speak in his or her own chapters -- very effective.</li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Stevenson, Robert Louis<o:p></o:p>: <i style="">The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i></p><ul><li>Umm. I thought that I had read this before, but now that I've "re-read" it, I'm thinking that I had only read the <a href="http://www.hiddenstaircase.com/new/greatillustratedclassics2.html">Great Illustrated Classic</a> version. Anyway, I re-re-read it because one of my students was assigned it. I'm pretty such I enjoyed <span style="font-style: italic;">Jekyll and Hyde</span> more than my student did.<br /></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Le Carré, John<o:p></o:p>: <i style="">Our Game<br /></i></p><ul><li>Well, I liked this one by Le Carré, but I wouldn't recommend it for a first-time Le Carré reader. I think that the author was struggling to write about the early-post Cold War.</li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Pratchett, Terry<o:p></o:p>: <i style="">Wyrd Sisters</i></p><ul><li>Terry Pratchett's books are so enjoyable that I have to keep myself from reading lots of them in succession. For me, it's better to read one every few months. <span style="font-style: italic;">Wyrd Sisters</span> was especially fun because of all the allusions to Shakespeare, especially to <span style="font-style: italic;">Hamlet</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Macbeth</span>.</li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Atkinson, Kate<o:p></o:p>: <i style="">When Will There Be Good News?</i></p><ul><li>Okay. So now I've read all three of the Jackson Brodie mysteries, and since it's now March, I can read one of the other Atkinson novels I have in my bookcase. Yippee!</li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Vickers, Salley<o:p></o:p>: <i style="">Instances of the Number 3</i></p><ul><li>This is the third novel I've read by Salley Vickers, and I can't say which one I liked most. <span style="font-style: italic;">Instances of the Number 3</span> centers on two women, one a recent widow and the other the mistress of the deceased husband, and how they develop a friendship and move on with their lives after the death of their husband/lover. If that's not enough for you, what if I say there are also ghosts?</li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Davidson, Andrew<o:p></o:p>: <i style="">The Gargoyle</i></p><ul><li>Though this is definitely a post-<span style="font-style: italic;">Da Vinci Code</span> novel, it doesn't suck. It is, however, a challenging novel for the squeamish. I didn't really need to know so much about the treatment of burn victims. But I was thoroughly absorbed by this (supposedly) supernatural story. And in the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit that I chose it, in part, because of its spooky black-edged pages. By the way, this is NOT reading for young adults! (Mom, you're not old enough to read it either.)<br /></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Shaffer, Mary Ann & Annie Barrows<o:p></o:p>: <i style="">The </i><st1:place><i style="">Guernsey</i></st1:place><i style=""> Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society</i></p><ul><li>No, I don't like the title either, and -- though this novel threatens to turn cutesy -- somehow it doesn't. I read this short book in about two days, even putting off eating dinner to finish it. For me, <i style="">The </i><st1:place><i style="">Guernsey</i></st1:place><i style=""> Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society</i> also redeems the epistolary novel. (I hadn't quite recovered from reading -- well, being assigned --Richardson's <span style="font-style: italic;">Pamela</span> in college.)</li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Heyer, Georgette<o:p></o:p>: <i style="">No Wind of Blame</i></p><ul><li>I had read a couple of Heyer's historical novels, so when I saw one of her mysteries at a used book sale in Liverpool, I decided to give it a go. Though I giggled at Heyer's witty prose and mostly enjoyed the plot, I prefer the historical novels which have a bit more depth.</li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></p>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-57288847718116379082009-02-21T10:07:00.003+01:002009-02-21T10:37:42.221+01:00January's Reading ListSo far, 2009 is super readalicious. I got loads of books for Christmas and accidentally bought ten more when Simon and I went to Liverpool last weekend. The charity shops there, including those in Huyton, have a surprisingly good selection of fiction, and the prices make it almost impossible to avoid buying, um, 10 books.<br /><br />Here's what I read in January.<br /><br />Georgette Heyer: <span style="font-style: italic;">False Colours</span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>Good Jane Austenesque fun!</li></ul></div><br />Terry Goodkind: <span style="font-style: italic;">Wizard's First Rule</span><br /><ul><li>Ugh. (Sorry, Todd!) I wish that I hadn't Googled Terry Goodkind. Then I wouldn't have discovered that he is an Objectivist (or follower of Ayn Rand). That's the kind of thinking that people really should get over by, say, the sophomore year of college. <span style="font-style: italic;">Wizard's First Rule</span> is a mostly engaging fantasy novel. It's the first of a bajillion-part series, and I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that ultimately good triumphs over evil -- even though evil is clad in white! Gasp.</li></ul><br />Kate Atkinson: <span style="font-style: italic;">Case Histories</span><br /><ul><li>I am completely addicted to Kate Atkinson. Last week, I finished reading her third Jackson Brodie mystery, <span style="font-style: italic;">When Will There Be Good News</span>? And I have on hand two of her other novels, <span style="font-style: italic;">Emotionally Weird</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Behind the Scenes at the Museum</span>. I'm going to have to ration myself to one a month.</li></ul><br />Jeffrey Ford: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Girl in the Glass</span><br /><ul><li>A clever mystery set among con artists and carnival freaks in the 1930s.</li></ul><br />Catherine O'Flynn: <span style="font-style: italic;">What Was Lost</span><br /><ul><li>I finished this book in two days. The parallel stories -- a little girl who disappears in the 1980s and a pair of underemployed people who, twenty years later, are affected by the girl's disappearance -- are not in themselves funny at all, but O'Flynn's darkly comic style is.</li></ul><br />Kjell Eriksson: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Princess of Burundi</span><br /><ul><li>A compelling and slightly claustrophobic (all that snow!) mystery from Sweden.</li></ul><br />On the knitting front -- about two months too late, I'm knitting myself a wimple as I'm sick of having hat-head from wearing a watch cap (or <span style="font-style: italic;">toboggan </span>-- pron. TOE-boggin -- as we say in the South). I'll post the pattern and pictures soon.Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-39060771236543220592009-01-12T18:30:00.006+01:002009-01-12T18:48:34.933+01:00Books Read This Past, Um, Quarter<span style="font-size:100%;">I hope this post is more enjoyable reading than your most recent quarterly statements!<br /><br />But first, the Netherlands froze over! And the whole population converged on our little village.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMA2JyFONn6tG1PbPxaUDmGfkp12CR_pCRIo8UanLOhnasQ5jUCaufmP7QrDWWeZdrhTMSnzcL4hWVpzKDPD-JXPz2N-6wrNTmJ_prZyEMFP3xVa8hUpwxQM59VUKjAwbich7nvg/s1600-h/100_5241.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMA2JyFONn6tG1PbPxaUDmGfkp12CR_pCRIo8UanLOhnasQ5jUCaufmP7QrDWWeZdrhTMSnzcL4hWVpzKDPD-JXPz2N-6wrNTmJ_prZyEMFP3xVa8hUpwxQM59VUKjAwbich7nvg/s200/100_5241.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290462056768346866" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;" >December</span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">John Le Carré</span><o:p style="font-family: times new roman;"></o:p></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >:<i style=""> The </i><st1:country-region><st1:place><i style="">Russia</i></st1:place></st1:country-region><i style=""> House<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Dai Sijie<o:p></o:p>:<i style=""> Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Margaret Atwood<o:p></o:p>:<i style=""> Cat’s Eye<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Marilynne Robinson<o:p></o:p>:<i style=""> Housekeeping<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Maggie O’Farrell:<o:p></o:p><i style=""> After You’d Gone<o:p></o:p></i></span> <span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />November</span><br />Susanna Jones<o:p></o:p></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >: <i style="">The Earthquake Bird<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Richard Powers:<o:p></o:p><i style=""> The Echo Maker<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />John Le Carré:<o:p></o:p><i style=""> The </i><st1:place><i style="">Mission</i></st1:place><i style=""> Song<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Haruki Murakami:<o:p></o:p><i style=""> Kafka on the Shore<o:p></o:p></i></span> <span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">October</span><br />Kate Atkinson:<o:p></o:p></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><i style=""> One Good Turn<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Lois Duncan:<o:p></o:p><i style=""> Gallows Hill<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Beryl Bainbridge<o:p></o:p>:<i style=""> Watson’s Apology<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Jacqueline Winspear:<o:p></o:p><i style=""> Birds of a Feather<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Jostein Gaarder:<o:p></o:p><i style=""> The Solitaire Mystery<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Nicole Krauss<o:p></o:p>:<i style=""> The History of Love<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Ruth Rendell<o:p></o:p></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >:<i style=""> The Veiled One<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />James Meek<o:p></o:p></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >:<i style=""> The People’s Act of Love<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Ursula Hegi<o:p></o:p></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >:<i style=""> Intrusions<o:p></o:p></i></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br />Marjorie Reynolds<o:p></o:p></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >:</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style="font-family: times new roman;"> The Starlite Drive-in<o:p></o:p></i></span>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-80987448953434685942008-12-03T08:16:00.006+01:002008-12-03T08:47:57.519+01:00Will She Need a Dowry?A certain Tenten, a 3 year-old, neutered Tom who lives in Turkey, has asked for Kate's paw in marriage. His proposal came about after his person saw a photo of Kate that I had given to one of Simon's colleagues (along with a very lovely and tasteful 'Barcelona' magnet purchased at the airport).<br /><br />In the interests of full disclosure, I believe that Tenten deserves to know more about Kate (also known as Princess Horrible and Get Off the *&#$% Counter).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A few fun facts about Kate</span><br />In November 2004, <span style="font-style: italic;">Kate</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> adopted us</span> from the <a href="http://www.spcawake.org/site/PageServer">Wake County SPCA</a>. She wouldn't tell us her exact age, only that she was approximately 2 years old. Little is known of Kate's first two years. Did she live on the street? Was she a kitty of loose morals? (Tenten, please note that Kate is an older woman.)<br /><br />Kate's hobbies include napping, shredding paper (newspapers, bills, important documents -- she's not picky), demanding treats, taking over my pillow during the night, and looking out the window.<br /><br />Kate has been known to scratch furniture.<br /><br />Kate does not attempt to drink from the toilet (which anyway would be impossible here in "Toilet with a Shelf Land").<br /><br />Kate flirts shamelessly with new people, often tapping them on the knees with her paw or simply standing in their laps until they pay attention to her.<br /><br />Tenten, perhaps now you have a fuller picture. If you're still besotted, Kate will consider considering your proposal.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5bPpZBNedB6cO6coH_scOkS5DOWqZXH-XtE7UygNG3RJ-A34C2QXBpTX7m5-njojXqKmODDO-3MGOXJmwr6A4L5lnDKFvyxulD29V-aW8TXXZaEJiyNROp55NXJTTtze2Q1Dxjw/s1600-h/100_3912.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5bPpZBNedB6cO6coH_scOkS5DOWqZXH-XtE7UygNG3RJ-A34C2QXBpTX7m5-njojXqKmODDO-3MGOXJmwr6A4L5lnDKFvyxulD29V-aW8TXXZaEJiyNROp55NXJTTtze2Q1Dxjw/s200/100_3912.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275465736102729026" border="0" /></a>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-40099505029490697072008-11-30T15:40:00.004+01:002008-11-30T16:11:50.070+01:00Kim, I hope this makes you happyAs "requested" (note use of ironic quotation marks) by Kim, here are a few snaps from our trip to Barcelona.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_XAiWSlm4pjoBPMr6SUSrodlRiZ1o3XZaK750xLEORRxOGiZ2dpITTzHqp8JSgcmKx4-YaH6VCpC6edKvhoIU28UW2JHAO6cX3u_4kW2bcm8MZiLUYYD2mi4mvtNHheJ8b2wOA/s1600-h/100_4884.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_XAiWSlm4pjoBPMr6SUSrodlRiZ1o3XZaK750xLEORRxOGiZ2dpITTzHqp8JSgcmKx4-YaH6VCpC6edKvhoIU28UW2JHAO6cX3u_4kW2bcm8MZiLUYYD2mi4mvtNHheJ8b2wOA/s200/100_4884.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274461927451131106" border="0" /></a>These geese live at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Santa_Eulalia">La Catedral</a>.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ21KifzSDM7hT2jCUqRbSi9DEXtnQIo9Mvejv1u16XfAMGT9cfKI8z8FHyB4oVtbeWmQtACQ_Ww_ga90JPdE000zccfUjl343iVLkrT8S6PED6_x1jLfwF0ycBRzNO7mUgncQDA/s1600-h/100_4892.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ21KifzSDM7hT2jCUqRbSi9DEXtnQIo9Mvejv1u16XfAMGT9cfKI8z8FHyB4oVtbeWmQtACQ_Ww_ga90JPdE000zccfUjl343iVLkrT8S6PED6_x1jLfwF0ycBRzNO7mUgncQDA/s200/100_4892.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274461931591354482" border="0" /></a>A chocolate stand at <a href="http://www.boqueria.info/Eng/index.php">Mercat de la Boqueria</a>, Barcelona's best known market. However . . .<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFyvJkrXkaiu5uO45jCG0gqPj4hehs9dIZxQzGDMTeJVKXCvpvwHanDk8FPWwcJO88TYMQ77xpKGjCzVO8ynHTCVouO75jxemUEP4MUC-pr9QR5P2eCYT5dTxu9I9oeK3nzpA1Q/s1600-h/100_4903.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFyvJkrXkaiu5uO45jCG0gqPj4hehs9dIZxQzGDMTeJVKXCvpvwHanDk8FPWwcJO88TYMQ77xpKGjCzVO8ynHTCVouO75jxemUEP4MUC-pr9QR5P2eCYT5dTxu9I9oeK3nzpA1Q/s200/100_4903.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274461937793953506" border="0" /></a>Simon and I prefer <a href="http://www.mercatsantacaterina.net/">Mercat de Santa Caterina</a>. In particular, we like having lunch at Bar Joan. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparkling_wine">Cava</a>, <a href="http://www.spain-recipes.com/patatas-bravas.html">patatas bravas</a>, and bacalla amb samfaina (fried salt cod in a tomato sauce). Yum.<br /></div>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-54892113067270058492008-10-06T19:03:00.005+02:002008-10-06T19:51:30.168+02:00Books Read in SeptemberJ.D. Salinger: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Catcher in the Rye</span><br />John Le Carré: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Honourable Schoolboy</span><br />Stephenie Meyer: <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span><br />Sergei Lukyanenko: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Night Watch</span><br />Georgette Heyer: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Convenient Marriage</span><br />Salley Vickers: <span style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Golightly's Holiday</span><br /><br />Yes, of course, I have read <span style="font-style: italic;">The Catcher in the Rye</span> before -- probably when I was about 12. Having reread the novel to prepare for tutoring two students, I realize that, at 12, I did not understand it. And unlike most Americans born after 1950, I wasn't assigned <span style="font-style: italic;">Catcher</span> in high school. I'm rather glad of that. My currents students could not empathize with Holden Caulfield, most likely because his attitude is an amplification of their own.<br /><br />I LOOOOVED Heyer's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Convenient Marriage</span>. It was sweet, hilarious, and just fun. I had read or heard somewhere that reading <a href="http://www.georgette-heyer.com/index.html">Georgette Heyer</a> is one of <a href="http://www.stephenfry.com/">Stephen Fry</a>'s guilty pleasures. Well, if it's good enough for Stephen Fry, it's good enough for me.<br /><br />I also LOOOOVED Vickers' <span style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Golightly's Holiday</span>. (I'm not a pushover. I simply choose my reading carefully.) I also enjoyed the three other novels. September proved to be a good reading month for me.<br /><br />Just for giggles, here are a few snaps from our trip to Wales and England last month.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3iFe4SfYYTm3br2hH8Oq816KaUzV1CIYfS6K0ZeBe973_GiFMRWYBJLkhk_cDGyw7YjKrgSyqU7OQvtqm61Ca7R2G2LNBGRDpsr_w5tbtl2dPxDnfm0OUAo_aXO_LQCHfnz_3LA/s1600-h/100_4715.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3iFe4SfYYTm3br2hH8Oq816KaUzV1CIYfS6K0ZeBe973_GiFMRWYBJLkhk_cDGyw7YjKrgSyqU7OQvtqm61Ca7R2G2LNBGRDpsr_w5tbtl2dPxDnfm0OUAo_aXO_LQCHfnz_3LA/s200/100_4715.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254094434701568594" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">This is Del. She "works" at <a href="http://www.byrdir.co.uk/">Byrdir</a>,<br />the B&B where Simon and I stayed for two nights. </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Del, who seems to have some compulsive behavior issues<br />when it comes to playing fetch, </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">brought these scraps of sticks to the door of our cottage.</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpLcOcFP5VbhvBUoTC5Eu_vbQ7seTiNLk-ciRWrEdlAPdFPvPEQBmRVRUko7sj31mZEEnG5BOyWvC-r-Mwc1M7rrySUUuEgiwhzC2IDmczPcnxQB3lH1vMmXQRA5l8yVxY-HwpFg/s1600-h/100_4790.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpLcOcFP5VbhvBUoTC5Eu_vbQ7seTiNLk-ciRWrEdlAPdFPvPEQBmRVRUko7sj31mZEEnG5BOyWvC-r-Mwc1M7rrySUUuEgiwhzC2IDmczPcnxQB3lH1vMmXQRA5l8yVxY-HwpFg/s200/100_4790.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254094441261137458" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Another "working" animal,<br />Kit lives in Cheshire with her peeps, Elaine & Simon.</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxjrODrHCT8STrn33WAkmQ_Yaz_Hoe8XGveRjDy8DvajsWGoGYWloIeu1e1vCAlY1CpJ6gIbt2TvTvj9_lS213jl5P9QuWEEdwhf_tPBX0DFl5pmndtqqp7hUvozk_i981UX0R1A/s1600-h/100_4807.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxjrODrHCT8STrn33WAkmQ_Yaz_Hoe8XGveRjDy8DvajsWGoGYWloIeu1e1vCAlY1CpJ6gIbt2TvTvj9_lS213jl5P9QuWEEdwhf_tPBX0DFl5pmndtqqp7hUvozk_i981UX0R1A/s200/100_4807.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254094441579577138" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Slightly less cuddly than Del or Kit,<br /><a href="http://www.liverpool08.com/streets/LaMachine/index.asp">La Princesse</a> was featured in<br /><a href="http://www.liverpool08.com/">Liverpool, European Capital of Culture 2008</a>,<br />over the weekend of 5-7 September 08.</span><br /></div>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-79514361569597597112008-09-15T08:34:00.006+02:002008-09-15T09:02:59.800+02:00Rain Drops Keep Falling on North WalesSimon and I were in north Wales last week, intending to get in two days of hiking. How silly! Don't we know that it rains A LOT in north Wales? We did, though, manage to get in one lovely but soggy hike.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">This is not a stream. It's the trail.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChtNbhoP9d2Q2coXgcITcRBaeyEFZW0WsUWgV7Td-ScJC1NXsOk1VwYUTn9XyPByPTQeQg1tfTTyGgIeGuqDusMQRwqylkDUII1tAbC5Kg1pJt28H0tHcx-41AXtgPZ9kLZO6hw/s1600-h/100_4732.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChtNbhoP9d2Q2coXgcITcRBaeyEFZW0WsUWgV7Td-ScJC1NXsOk1VwYUTn9XyPByPTQeQg1tfTTyGgIeGuqDusMQRwqylkDUII1tAbC5Kg1pJt28H0tHcx-41AXtgPZ9kLZO6hw/s200/100_4732.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246136051803882354" border="0" /></a><br />The trail crossed this bridge.<br />And that's not a dry, grassy field.<br />It was a swamp the day we were there.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt0YhhKhUWGUZ9vIlHlqcixXJ71h98OH2gKkzx4dV8-NYyiwVzBZMosoiMcLnx5PX7VnpmET5H3wNubrHupqtkLF6iS09oMqXlUGPEgJzfpUbkd5gP2BF_qLOGLQvNli6hyphenhyphenEgYgA/s1600-h/100_4742.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt0YhhKhUWGUZ9vIlHlqcixXJ71h98OH2gKkzx4dV8-NYyiwVzBZMosoiMcLnx5PX7VnpmET5H3wNubrHupqtkLF6iS09oMqXlUGPEgJzfpUbkd5gP2BF_qLOGLQvNli6hyphenhyphenEgYgA/s200/100_4742.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246136056250856674" border="0" /></a><br />We passed this ancient burial chamber.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8yFHzWKFIFzCvVxFNrm_G7wCg0QSiGfeT9v1TC0qMzq2XOnkLHwEKj_ENk7ikfUIKIpT_y35jdvF1deidea3hWo0EjWQSs2_FjfyAYi8RsDGgFc5uyNplyxGA3GPRMyDbpcrOQ/s1600-h/100_4761.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8yFHzWKFIFzCvVxFNrm_G7wCg0QSiGfeT9v1TC0qMzq2XOnkLHwEKj_ENk7ikfUIKIpT_y35jdvF1deidea3hWo0EjWQSs2_FjfyAYi8RsDGgFc5uyNplyxGA3GPRMyDbpcrOQ/s200/100_4761.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246136064321670914" border="0" /></a><br />And then we cautiously passed this horse,<br />who didn't seem to mind our being on its trail.<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-D3nmPOFFj-9iU72Hj1oRS5DSX_UF8Khxx69UrvbPHQTlQYHfW7s4xHlLSzyfGUZikq3o-blmVPq_TGCiTepwPrIG5wL8TwwFfh2tsgSFWQkC2564iIfkWLuy_mdcc2d5KK-m9A/s1600-h/100_4764.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-D3nmPOFFj-9iU72Hj1oRS5DSX_UF8Khxx69UrvbPHQTlQYHfW7s4xHlLSzyfGUZikq3o-blmVPq_TGCiTepwPrIG5wL8TwwFfh2tsgSFWQkC2564iIfkWLuy_mdcc2d5KK-m9A/s200/100_4764.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246136068128932626" border="0" /></a>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-28678708728700834822008-09-12T10:21:00.002+02:002008-09-12T10:31:44.612+02:00Books Read in AugustPearl, Matthew: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Poe Shadow</span><br />Oats, Joyce Carol: <span style="font-style: italic;">American Appetites</span><br />Kessel, John: Good <span style="font-style: italic;">News from Outer Space</span><br />Atwood, Margaret: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Robber Bride</span><br />Taylor, G.P.: <span style="font-style: italic;">Shadowmancer</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Shadowmancer</span> stinks on ice! Taylor has been compared to J.K. Rowling and C.S. Lewis. Well, I hope Lewis' ghost is haunting this writer for churning out such a heavy-handed, didactic load of nonsense.<br /><br />The novels by Oats, Kessel, and Atwood are all excellent. Pearl's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Poe Shadow</span>, though, is a bit of a dud. If I wanted to read about obsessive characters in 19th century American, then I would read Poe -- not someone writing a la Poe.<br /><br />Coming soon . . . snaps from our trip to north Wales and England!Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-62198026766096153852008-08-10T18:00:00.003+02:002008-08-10T18:12:24.933+02:00The Yarn Fairy Visited AGAIN!It's been a good yarn week for me. Simon's Aunt Elaine sent a package containing these two balls of yarn. I'm thinking springy scarf (or a summer one -- since today's high temp is 66F).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Thanks, Elaine!</span><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJhaU9LyJ3FA50Fq5xfkXFrTEA5kET6TyByM3zTKo3t9h1XWQLbCFvkpCDXHlCoWMz6T89LLZEPTP45MWz540J0Wduh_JCikLKPpCylagnLfwZeJqdDbpnwG5f52ePGCva-ZMEA/s1600-h/100_4644.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJhaU9LyJ3FA50Fq5xfkXFrTEA5kET6TyByM3zTKo3t9h1XWQLbCFvkpCDXHlCoWMz6T89LLZEPTP45MWz540J0Wduh_JCikLKPpCylagnLfwZeJqdDbpnwG5f52ePGCva-ZMEA/s200/100_4644.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232920766100056002" border="0" /></a>Kate was not able to pose with this yarn. She's in her penthouse (also known as the top shelf of the wardrobe) and is three hours into her Sunday afternoon nap.<br /><br />I haven't posted any of my knitting in long time. For several months I was working on Christmas 2008 gifts, so obviously I can't post those. But here are some socks that I'm about to send off to <a href="http://www.afghansforafghans.org/index.html">Afghans for Afghans</a> for their <a href="http://www.afghansforafghans.org/campaign.html">Youth Campaign in Time for Winter</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqlaSQe86nka4r9k5qPiYkhCXre7uPqj8l7c-WPs99bxJGRVBSzCH4UWaQAzFksRX4QWxPySvodvmbmgcDl0VsUi9io5d34A7WT2m072GAJyRg2FQiohBQOb0oeIBSoMl_stNpug/s1600-h/100_4642.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqlaSQe86nka4r9k5qPiYkhCXre7uPqj8l7c-WPs99bxJGRVBSzCH4UWaQAzFksRX4QWxPySvodvmbmgcDl0VsUi9io5d34A7WT2m072GAJyRg2FQiohBQOb0oeIBSoMl_stNpug/s200/100_4642.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232920763009696786" border="0" /></a>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-78280959780606190662008-08-05T16:13:00.003+02:002008-08-05T20:25:15.569+02:00Thanks, Jim!!!<a href="http://knit-cycle-read.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html">Back in February</a>, I not-so-subtly mentioned that Noro had come out with a sock yarn.<br /><br />This afternoon when I returned home from running errands in Leiden, a package was waiting for me. It contained this sublime skein of Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn (color S188, to be precise). My pal Jim sent it to me from <a href="http://www.halcyonyarn.com/">Halcyon Yarn</a> (what a nice online shop!). Kate and I are both extremely excited about the yarn. I'd like to do socks for myself, but Kate is lobbying me to knit her a catsuit.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8pOZGTDfyMcyEF7foxozvLG4jTKVJvLiI43dtHJvxn9TRSDUubWPDqTXAQEgjsXifm-mn4kxueYjVUOWLvKR7Uin8TfkWYdM1cEFXwgMDI5CjOYwJOI-IArKj_Ick1vpwXarGg/s1600-h/100_4624.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8pOZGTDfyMcyEF7foxozvLG4jTKVJvLiI43dtHJvxn9TRSDUubWPDqTXAQEgjsXifm-mn4kxueYjVUOWLvKR7Uin8TfkWYdM1cEFXwgMDI5CjOYwJOI-IArKj_Ick1vpwXarGg/s320/100_4624.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5231036818211759506" border="0" /></a>Like me, Kate always looks disgruntled in photos.Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-22483502138704857632008-08-05T08:49:00.003+02:002008-08-05T08:53:45.536+02:00Books Read in JulyUmm . . . I was a rather lazy reader in July. In about two weeks, I'll be back to my full tutoring schedule. That means lots of reading time on the bus and the train.<br /><br />Joyce Holms: <span style="font-style: italic;">Hidden Depths</span><br />P.D. James: <span style="font-style: italic;">Death in Holy Orders</span><br />Carolyn Parkhust: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Dogs of Babel</span><br />Ruth Rendell: <span style="font-style: italic;">Simisola</span><br />Barbara Vine: <span style="font-style: italic;">Grasshopper</span>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-15345550662723302912008-07-06T20:54:00.002+02:002008-07-06T21:26:57.072+02:00Books Read in May and June 2008I can offer two reasons for having such short reading lists in May and June: 1) the bus strike really cut into my reading time and 2) some of these books are quite long and/or dense*.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May</span><br />Jane Hamilton: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Short History of a Prince</span><br />Joe Hill: <span style="font-style: italic;">Heart-Shaped Box</span><br />Joyce Carol Oats: <span style="font-style: italic;">We Were the Mulvaneys*</span><br />Peter Ackroyd: <span style="font-style: italic;">Dan Leno & The Limehouse Golem</span><br />Sebastian Faulks: <span style="font-style: italic;">On Green Dolphin Street*</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">June</span><br />Sarah Dunant: <span style="font-style: italic;">In the Company of the Courtesan</span><br />Margaret Atwood: <span style="font-style: italic;">Bodily Harm</span><br />John Le Carré: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Perfect Spy*</span><br />Siri Hustvedt: <span style="font-style: italic;">What I Loved* </span>-- This book is incredible -- great plot and character development and amazing diction. She has three other novels, and I intend to read them too. And she's married to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Auster">Paul Auster</a>, so that's just too much writing talent in one household.Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-16600400281172962862008-06-30T19:03:00.003+02:002008-06-30T19:27:27.041+02:00Dutch is Sometimes a Blunt InstrumentI speak very little Dutch -- enough to get by at the supermarket and on public transport -- but I am able to read a fair bit, thanks largely to Dutch television. On the Dutch channels, the foreign programs -- most of them American, British or Australian -- are subtitled rather than dubbed. So, when I watch <span style="font-style: italic;">Oprah</span> for example, I listen to the English spoken while I read along with the Dutch subtitles.<br /><br />(Compare to Germany, where everything is dubbed. I was NOT amused when I channel surfed by the opening of <span style="font-style: italic;">A Room with a View</span>, only to realize that I was on a German station and not a Dutch one. By the way, the Dutch like to say that the Germans use dubbing because their literacy rate is too low for subtitling to work. The Dutch and the Germans just love each other to bits.)<br /><br />Sometimes a new Dutch word will stick in my head because it's about a subtle as sledgehammer. Here's one I learned recently. I can't recall what I was watching, but I'd guess that it was an episode of <span style="font-style: italic;">Oprah</span> with Dr. Oz. So here's the word:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> tandvlees</span><br /><br />What could it mean? I'll give you a couple of hints.<br /><br />1. <span style="font-style: italic;">tand</span> means tooth<br /><br />Any guesses yet?<br /><br />2<span style="font-style: italic;">. vlees </span>mean meat or flesh or pulp<br /><br />So <span style="font-style: italic;">tandvlees</span> is <span style="font-style: italic;">gums</span>, or toothmeat. Eeewwww.<br /><br />I'm not judging the Dutch language -- well, maybe a little. I don't know the etymology of the word <span style="font-style: italic;">gums</span>, so for me the term is nearly euphemism. Unlike <span style="font-style: italic;">tandvlees</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">gums</span> is not disgustingly descriptive.<br /><br />Now I'm trying to think of English words, not slang or vulgarity, that evoke yucky images. Any ideas?Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-51102401231947285292008-05-21T18:22:00.005+02:002008-05-21T18:33:21.803+02:00This Post is Rated EC for Extreme CutenessIt had been at least a week since I'd seen Cheeky Duck, pictured below and being cheeky.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGgo8GAzRFRfSMedzUounsz38YDDe2hKnpnlZMsbebxLePBotuGY9RoILTOlfUv2B-Yt590BorRHoeEz33FyM3RFvMnYVMoP_b1FqvMDHHfB1lOkUe5zWWrjAb-7IdzcFb-UyZQ/s1600-h/100_4541.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGgo8GAzRFRfSMedzUounsz38YDDe2hKnpnlZMsbebxLePBotuGY9RoILTOlfUv2B-Yt590BorRHoeEz33FyM3RFvMnYVMoP_b1FqvMDHHfB1lOkUe5zWWrjAb-7IdzcFb-UyZQ/s200/100_4541.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202868098106478322" border="0" /></a><br /><br />But then yesterday and again today, she dropped by to show off her Chickies and Chappies. <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Caution: Extreme Cuteness begins here.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGlf91I1YPecyOX5Gfx77hXuQAfOFT8fhqtFNC4mvdJasj_RI-mXGvgtC-PHjxLQgFsTj5ThfLodYKfrsUqh_VAd0IDUt8l5ukS0ickIgyiLo9XtoDJMeevehRRaRlIl7IJjEpQ/s1600-h/100_4552.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGlf91I1YPecyOX5Gfx77hXuQAfOFT8fhqtFNC4mvdJasj_RI-mXGvgtC-PHjxLQgFsTj5ThfLodYKfrsUqh_VAd0IDUt8l5ukS0ickIgyiLo9XtoDJMeevehRRaRlIl7IJjEpQ/s200/100_4552.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202868939920068354" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyeaL01cba17ykmswdK0JwBidfwgYzyO37Zp4V4HuhgBApJ9dX1ihCxQdIUkb5ZSTDdISi9FwKistORGaI1SjfFpITSBwMOmUFtl9puEwbr561rcjJnWQHgnSepskVd7Urohy4EQ/s1600-h/100_4560.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyeaL01cba17ykmswdK0JwBidfwgYzyO37Zp4V4HuhgBApJ9dX1ihCxQdIUkb5ZSTDdISi9FwKistORGaI1SjfFpITSBwMOmUFtl9puEwbr561rcjJnWQHgnSepskVd7Urohy4EQ/s200/100_4560.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202869803208494866" border="0" /></a><br />It's possible that I accidentally stroked one or two of them -- so soft and chirpy.Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-4644762708276075962008-05-19T17:17:00.003+02:002008-05-19T17:28:24.390+02:00Books Read in April -- just a smidge late postingApril was just go-go-go, so my reading list for the month is pretty short.<br /><br />Ruth Rendell (writing as Barbara Vine): <i style="">King Solomon’s Carpet<br /></i>Barry Unsworth: <i style="">The Ruby in her Navel</i><br />John Le Carré: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Night Manager</span><o:p></o:p><br /><br />I cannot recommend the Unsworth novel. Usually I love his books, but this one was a dud. The setting was promising: 12th-century Sicily, conflict between Christians and Muslims, east and west. But the narrator was sooooo dull and unappealing. I recommend reading Unsworth, just not this book. Instead I would suggest <span style="font-style: italic;">Sacred Hunger</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Stone Virgin</span>, or <span style="font-style: italic;">Losing Nelson</span>.<br /><br />Le Carré, as always, rocks.Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-53162123270288729592008-05-02T10:31:00.005+02:002008-05-09T18:57:17.003+02:00Vacation Recap: Day 5<p class="MsoNormal">Tuesday the 22<sup>nd</sup> was an action-packed day that began with the Battle of Hastings and ended with the D-Day landings.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>We first went to the town of <st1:city><st1:place>Bayeux</st1:place></st1:city> to see <a href="http://www.tapisserie-bayeux.fr/">the Bayeux Tapestry</a>. Nearly 1000 years-old and over 200 feet long, the tapestry chronicles the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. I found the tapestry fascinating, especially as I had an audio-tour that described each panel of it.<br /><o:p><br /></o:p>After <st1:city><st1:place>Bayeux</st1:place></st1:city>, we headed to the coast, stopping in <a href="http://www.arromanches.com/uk/accueil.htm">Arromanches-les-Bains</a> for lunch (moules et frites -- yum!) and a look at the remains of <a href="http://www.arromanches.com/uk/patrimoine.htm">Mulberry Harbour B</a>, one of the artificial harbors constructed to bring in supplies for the D-Day landings.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndOaWIAF3arEo3y2RwEL8SVRPHFJkGy54VBD1ecOtzNGEfviG16PwOQan_BUCQrz_8vKenHnVcmZcO4zMfKyJtmdG5Ac78jFU8dM7bTs5qD1k8r_vr4E1HPVhawq_0JIXbGV2QQ/s1600-h/100_4416.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndOaWIAF3arEo3y2RwEL8SVRPHFJkGy54VBD1ecOtzNGEfviG16PwOQan_BUCQrz_8vKenHnVcmZcO4zMfKyJtmdG5Ac78jFU8dM7bTs5qD1k8r_vr4E1HPVhawq_0JIXbGV2QQ/s200/100_4416.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198417570584572418" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Our next stop was the excellent and informative<a href="http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/no.php"> visitors’ center and memorial at <st1:place><st1:placename>Omaha</st1:placename> <st1:placetype>Beach</st1:placetype></st1:place></a>, where we spent about two hours, first going through the visitors' and then walking down to the beach.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2mAG0klF9KBfDj59th4wAotERUxfhGDunp67skyDPr71mH6wjhB7opR5-4ZF-7iRLkDsNaw-Mx-ZW-0VIAsAMypRm0gMFa3O9jy79ppghn2ZMGca8U47YbD4nV_xGxJ-h6eC5Zg/s1600-h/100_4452.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2mAG0klF9KBfDj59th4wAotERUxfhGDunp67skyDPr71mH6wjhB7opR5-4ZF-7iRLkDsNaw-Mx-ZW-0VIAsAMypRm0gMFa3O9jy79ppghn2ZMGca8U47YbD4nV_xGxJ-h6eC5Zg/s200/100_4452.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198418614261625362" border="0" /></a><br />Since it wasn't far away, we headed to the <a href="http://www.abmc.gov/memorials/memorials/ph.php">Ranger Monument at Pointe du Hoc</a>, and then -- since our goal had apparently become 12 hours of sightseeing -- we made one more stop for the day: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainte-M%C3%A8re-%C3%89glise">Sainte-Mère-Église</a>. On D-Day, when paratroopers landed in this town, one soldier's parachute became entangled with church's spire. This incident became the basis for <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056197/">The Longest Day</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tg9ZyaC-EDhK3w0lhBgxJLmlafr8tkyepWklVxv-9Bg7hzpkFIU4M5Y_HrkPWLi2Pfm0Smhz2rmQ-QHW3s-9vV5dQxcYHogfuEsRbWO51RSx5MFTI7gbb1wU2yVcoYs-RNEalw/s1600-h/100_4456.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tg9ZyaC-EDhK3w0lhBgxJLmlafr8tkyepWklVxv-9Bg7hzpkFIU4M5Y_HrkPWLi2Pfm0Smhz2rmQ-QHW3s-9vV5dQxcYHogfuEsRbWO51RSx5MFTI7gbb1wU2yVcoYs-RNEalw/s200/100_4456.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198422711660425762" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Church with slightly unconvincing model<br />of paratroop and parachute</span><br /></div>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26840034.post-54359616646809065932008-05-01T09:33:00.008+02:002008-05-01T19:33:04.858+02:00Vacation Recap: Day 4On the morning of Monday the 21st, John and Patricia, the owners of Le Petit Corbon, stopped in to say hello and mentioned that there was a good market that day in the village of St. Pierre sur Dives. Since the village wasn't far off our route to the castle of William the Conquerer, we went first to the market.<br /><br />It was huge!<br /><br />Simon and I dropped Mom and Dad off and then found a parking space. At that point, we had no idea that it would take us more than an hour to cross paths with Mom and Dad. By then, both parties had purchased stinky cheese. And it's just possible that I bought a crepe from these fine ladies.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2wpcW3htbMmG1e12XxWbWNCzwZIvQIXt4LDQ8YUaAMM2SsZ2pdOwktthcARPErbHbsbs29_iq39HD1Bm_057aMu17D4G0RQ7BeOR_O3tx0wcK13V2RzvTjua1qzkH_WctRP2IYg/s1600-h/100_4308.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2wpcW3htbMmG1e12XxWbWNCzwZIvQIXt4LDQ8YUaAMM2SsZ2pdOwktthcARPErbHbsbs29_iq39HD1Bm_057aMu17D4G0RQ7BeOR_O3tx0wcK13V2RzvTjua1qzkH_WctRP2IYg/s200/100_4308.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5195311501775586130" border="0" /></a><br />Leaving the market, we went to Falaise to visit <a href="http://www.chateau-guillaume-leconquerant.fr/index_uk.php">le Château Guillaume le Conquérant</a>. Most of the exterior was under scaffolding, but it was nonetheless a worthwhile stop with an excellent audio-tour.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xXFdqXwPVniqevvMiQW3rx3Xo8ApM7rPoltdvMCh2mLf6Lq1w_6vR1sD88xGvzo98rcaWQs-7E62vc-gc7h04Kl6c8IEuT3dxhfCiLGoWGl0mTZL1b83M12Go1aOWJJqhYrgAg/s1600-h/100_4346.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xXFdqXwPVniqevvMiQW3rx3Xo8ApM7rPoltdvMCh2mLf6Lq1w_6vR1sD88xGvzo98rcaWQs-7E62vc-gc7h04Kl6c8IEuT3dxhfCiLGoWGl0mTZL1b83M12Go1aOWJJqhYrgAg/s200/100_4346.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5195313520410215266" border="0" /></a><br />In Falaise, Simon picked up some walking maps that covered the area around our rental house. That evening, we did part of one of the walks. As we didn't have proper hiking gear, the paths were much too muddy for us to continue. Still we had some excitement: we encountered a ferocious poodle and dozens of inquisitive cows.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54EBbbuDvnhz0Lpn4c8a_OC2TPqBUpWPV929fqD9uE16dWlFzDvw2GgwcCNFj9wn1wqd6D-yCtlz9KvTWQacuQe0-xhE5E3znO9UDNZ2HoCNAPMMosMxSxOvdzkwHnVehepAWtA/s1600-h/100_4360.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54EBbbuDvnhz0Lpn4c8a_OC2TPqBUpWPV929fqD9uE16dWlFzDvw2GgwcCNFj9wn1wqd6D-yCtlz9KvTWQacuQe0-xhE5E3znO9UDNZ2HoCNAPMMosMxSxOvdzkwHnVehepAWtA/s200/100_4360.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5195315702253601650" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUh_j1VOB5C8VyGTxWIr4NA0mpgm9lLUsGoP3bwCgNVfYvzqRhZCFtBT6_QkUvZYxXaGxDWhdiEP_-mxXXVma_5UJQcLwE3AmIU1kwTARR32qXhMvwak_lcRlFLGfnOcPaAo-SBw/s1600-h/100_4361.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUh_j1VOB5C8VyGTxWIr4NA0mpgm9lLUsGoP3bwCgNVfYvzqRhZCFtBT6_QkUvZYxXaGxDWhdiEP_-mxXXVma_5UJQcLwE3AmIU1kwTARR32qXhMvwak_lcRlFLGfnOcPaAo-SBw/s200/100_4361.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5195315710843536258" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">If you click on this picture<br />and see what you think is a dead cow in the background,<br />do not be alarmed.<br />That cow is just rolling around in the grass.</span><br /></div>Amityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10068837133063452905noreply@blogger.com0