Back Home from Texas

We're home again after a week away. This time we drove to/from Austin, Texas to visit family, and spend time with our other two grandsons: Austin (age 12) and Luke (age 8). These are the boys who gave me the "My Nana" paper (see previous blog post), and think I'm either 78 or 87 years old! 😂

They aren't much for posing for picture-taking, but I managed to catch them enjoying each other's company in the community swimming pool. 

It was so nice to spend time with them... take them to school, play UNO and Jenga, watch movies, read aloud to them (The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis) and cuddle a little.

With so much seat time in the car, I needed to work on something. This trip, I knitted five dishcloths, four of which I left in Austin. Two of them were knitted with this new-to-me "Scrub Off" Sugar 'n Cream yarn I picked it up while at Joann's a few weeks ago. It's interesting stuff. 

In between yardage of regular soft cotton yarn is this rough texture that proved a little tricky to knit. It will be interesting to see how it cleans up dishes and countertops. 

Joining medallions and X's for my Prudence Quilt began while on the road. I managed only to complete the first row, and most of the second. This will be a long-term effort!

Now it's back to my Kantha quilt for the Alison Glass Stitch Club Kantha Sew Along. I've finished table-basting columns (75" top to bottom) about 5" to 6" apart. Working on my lap, I will next stitch a column in between these columns, and continue similarly to make dense stitches. I'm looking forward to this relaxing evening activity. 

Book Recommendations

The Talented Miss Farwell by Emily Gray Tedrowe is a book that's difficult to explain and score. The writing style seemed different than I'm accustomed to, yet I can't put my finger on why it didn't "feel" normal. 

The story is about Becky Farwell from Pierson, Illinois who grows up without money. After high school, she goes to work at city hall. Her innate talent with math helps her excel at managing the city's finances. When she accidentally comes across an art exhibition, and a piece that she must own, she figures out how to acquire the money to buy it. And thus begins Becky's double life as a small-town girl, and Reba Farwell, art investor. 

She lives on the edge, so I kept expecting a crisis, but her story continues over decades, until...     

Linda's score: 3.6/5.0

The book When We Meet Again by Kristin Harmel is about Emily who's living in Orlando. Her life is solitary, and full of regrets... that her father left her and her mother; that she left her high school sweetheart; that her mother died; that her grandmother died; and that she's lost her magazine writing job. 

When a painting unexpectedly arrives with a cryptic note, and the girl in the painting looks exactly like Emily's grandmother when she was young, Emily determines to learn who sent it - and who painted it! She reaches out to her father, and together, they travel to Germany, Savannah, and Atlanta learning bits of an unimaginable story as they go. A wartime romance between an American girl and a German P.O.W.

What I liked about this book was the historical information I learned about Florida! During WWII, German P.O.W.s were put to work on Florida farms, harvesting vegetables and sugar cane. Readers get an inside look at life spent working in humid, swampy conditions.

Linda's score: 4.0/5.0

I've missed reading blogs, so if you haven't received a comment from me for a while, know that I plan a good catch-up this weekend! Linda