Strange December

So far, this has been a strange December, with unseasonably warm weather.  Ordinarily,
at this time of year, Winky's coat would be getting longer and thicker.  Instead of that
happening, however, he is SHEDDING.
And I spoke to Kathryn today.  She told me that her roses are blooming!

Books Read In The Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with a #
Books are listed by author, and not necessarily in the order read.


"Rose in Bloom"
by Louisa May Alcott
[fiction]

"Olivia and the Little Way"
by Nancy Belanger
[children's fiction]
(Kindle book)
reserved for Sunday

"The Feud in the Fifth Remove" #
by Elinor M. Brent- Dyer
[children's fiction]
one-shot, not part of a series

"Henry Huggins"
by Beverly Cleary
[children's fiction]
(openlibrary.org loan)

"The Great Brain"
 "More Adventures of The Great Brain"
 "Me and My Little Brain"
by John D. Fitzgerald
[children's fiction, historical]


"The Imitation of Christ"
by Thomas a Kempis
long-term devotional reading
(Kindle book)

"A Right to Be Merry"
by Mother Mary Francis, P. C. C
(Kindle book)
reserved for Sunday

"Little Britches
Father and I Were Ranchers"
by Ralph Moody
[autobiography]

"Selections from Ralph Waldo Emerson"
edited by Stephen E. Whichter
[non-fiction] 



 

Books Read in the Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with  a #

Books are listed by author, and not necessarily in the order read.

"Rose in Bloom"
by Louisa May Alcott
[fiction]

"Olivia and the Little Way"
by Nancy Belanger
[children's fiction]
(Kindle book)
reserved for Sundays

"The Home Has A Heart"
by Thyra Ferre Bjorn
[non-fiction, Christian (Protestant) themes,
anecdotes, recipes]
(December chapter only)

"A Girl From Yamhill: A Memoir"
by Beverly Cleary
[autobiography]
 (openlibrary.org loan) 

"Does Anybody Care About Lou Emma Miller?"
by Alberta Wilson Constant
[children's fiction]

"Hidden Silver" #
by Georgene Faulkner
[children's fiction, historical]
(openlibrary.org loan)

"Betsy's Busy Summer"
by Carolyn Haywood
[children's fiction]
(openlibrary.org loan)

"The Imitation of Christ"
by Thomas a Kempis
long-term devotional reading
(Kindle book)

"The Fledgling"
"The Fragile Flag"
"The Time Bike"
by Jane Langton
[fiction, ages 10 and up]

"Journey to America"
"Silver Days"
"Annie's Promise"
by Sonia Levitin 
[children's fiction]

"The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt"
by Patricia MacLachlan
[children's fiction]

"Selections from Ralph Waldo Emerson"
edited by Stephen E. Whichter
[non-fiction] 

Early Delivery

My new hat arrived yesterday morning, a day earlier than I expected it. I was, as the saying
goes,  pleasantly surprised.
The hat fits perfectly, is very comfortable, and looks great. I'm going to keep the brim rolled up, instead of fooling around with re-shaping.
I've accessorized my hat with one of those self-adhesive applique sunflowers I bought several months ago.

This Year's Resolutions

It's my custom to make my New Year's Resolutions on the First Sunday in Advent, rather than on January 1st.
I've made two for this year, one religious, and one secular.
1: Pray three extra Chaplets of Mercy every day.
2: Read at least one biography or autobiography a week.

It seems that every year I make at least one resolution that involves reading!

Books Read in the Past Two Weeks

Books read for the first time are marked with  a #

Books, (except Sunday books) are grouped by author, and not necessarily in the order read.


Sunday books

"Olivia and the Little Way"
by Nancy Belanger
[children's fiction]
(Kindle book)

"The Story of the Trapp Family Singers"

by Maria Augusta Trapp

[autobiography/biography]


Weekday Books

"Wendy of Glendorran" #
by P. Catherine Coles
[children's fiction, Christian, (Protestant), school story]

"Betsy and the Circus"
by Carolyn Haywood
[children's fiction]
(openlibrary.org loan)

 "The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Tough"
"The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Caught"
"The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Rolling"
"The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Decked Out"
by Neta Jackson
[Christian (Protestant) fiction, multi-denomintational
and non-denominational]  

"The Diamond In the Window"
"The Swing in the Summerhouse"
"The Astonishing Stereoscope"
by Jane Langton
[fiction, marked for ages 10 and up]


"Anne of Windy Poplars"
"Anne's House of Dreams"
"Anne of Ingleside"
"Rainbow Valley"
"Rilla of Ingleside"
by L. M. Montgomery 

"Ho For a Hat!" #
by William Jay Smith
[picture book, non-fiction]
(openlibrary.org loan) 

"Selections from Ralph Waldo Emerson"
edited by Stephen E. Whicher
[nonfiction] 

"Grandmother Lucy and her Hats" #
by Joyce Wood
[picture book]
(openlibrary.org loan)


A Book for Weekdays AND Sundays

"The Imitation of Christ"  

A New Post About a Hat, With Excerpts From An Older Post

Awhile back, I blogged about a hat I used to have, one that  "I  owned for years, and got a great deal of use and enjoyment out of.It was a blue felt shapeable hat....very shapeable.  And I shaped it in every possible way.  I also liked to use different accessories on my hat.  Sometimes it would be one of several pins I had. Sometimes it would be a scarf, with the ends tied into a bow.

I had that hat for more than ten years, not unlike the hat Miss Opal wore in Lenora Mattingly Weber's Beany and the Beckoning Road.

"Her black hat had seen years of service.  It was only the flowers, Beany realized, which blossomed anew on it every spring.  This spring Miss Opal had chosen pink, yellow, and blue daisies."

 Well, after I read that , "[I]s it any wonder that I began to miss my hat, which also saw "years of service," more than I did before?   Is it any wonder that I decided it was time to get a replacement?"

Well, yesterday I found a hat EXACTLY like the one I lost, NOT like the one I ordered several months ago, about which, the less said, the better!

Click here to see the hat.  Yes, I ordered it.  And since it is Prime eligible, I won't have to wait a month to get it; I'll have it on Monday.

"I'm going to wear it, instead of a prayer veil, when I watch the Mass on EWTN... and perhaps when I just feel like wearing it!

But am I giving up on veils? No; I will still wear a veil when I pray the Liturgy of the Hours."

I wrote in the earlier post, "Was it necessary for me to buy the hat, and the sticker.  No, and I realized that before I placed my order.   Every now and then it is good to make a completely frivolous purchase... provided, of course, that it is something you can afford, and something you really want."
I still feel that way.