Changing yet again!

 A few years ago, I posted about washing dishes by hand. You may read it here. It was really fine, and even better, it was fun for quite a long time. 

Then, in the past few months, I kind of found myself not baking as much, and even making less complicated suppers so there wouldn't be so many dishes to wash. I also got weary of almost always having dishes on the counters; either waiting to be washed or sitting on towels, drying. I made a couple noises about wanting a dishwasher but then decided that it was fine hand washing. Was there a tipping point? Yes. The dishes weren't as clean as I liked them, even though I spent a long time washing them. I also got annoyed at having to soak everything for ages so it wouldn't be so difficult to wash them.

We got one at Lowe's, and it was delivered by two moving men - one of whom carried it in on his shoulder!

I am very, very happy with it. One of my gripes when I used one before was that it ran for so long. I now just use the one hour setting, and it works every single time. Sometimes it is very full, and others not so much, but I don't feel badly because it is just an hour. I'm delighted! I'm already doing what I wrote above that I had cut down on - baking and more complicated suppers. 

Quote du jour - On re-reading

 I've searched around some, and it seems that both re-read and reread are acceptable now. I have been eliminating the hyphen just because it seems easier. But I find I don't like the look of reread, so I guess I'm going to go with the hyphen from now on.

However you spell it, I am having the best reading time reading books over again. I mostly don't remember the whole story, but I have flashes of recognition sometimes. I kind of got started on this scheme because I didn't want to keep spending money on Kindle books. I am happy to buy a book that I can see; a book I can put on a shelf and look through anytime I want. I just can't do that with a Kindle. I am in high praise of the device because it is how I get to sleep and go back to sleep at night. Years and years ago, I read by lamplight. Then I had audiobooks on tape. Then I tried one of those itty-bitty lights. They were all distracting in terms of sleep, except for the books on tape. I gave those up when they went to CDs or phone. That was too much work for me in my sleepy state. And then the Kindle came along. It was perfection. But I've decided to read what I haven't read yet or re-read the books I have. And what a delightful experience it is. Just now I'm zooming through the Mrs. Pollifax books by Dorothy Gilman.

I wondered if there were quotes about this subject, and I found some great ones. 

Robertson Davies: "A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight."

(To quote a word from one of my favorite books - The Diary of a Provincial Lady)

Query: Am I in maturity or old age?

Anne Fadiman: "The reader who plucks a book from her shelf only once is as deprived as the listener who, after attending a single performance of a Beethoven symphony never hears it again."

Italo Calvino: "A classic is a book which with each rereading offers as much of a sense of discovery as the first reading."

Garry Fitchett: "Rereading the works of a favorite author and, once again, learning something new shows me they are not done with me yet."

Lauren Groff: "The greatest texts, I think, first dazzle, then with careful rereading they instruct.  I have learned from Virginia Woolf more than I even know how to articulate."

Susan Sontag: "Most of my reading is rereading."

and last, but definitely not least - 

C.S. Lewis: "An unliterary man may be defined as one who reads books only once ... We do not enjoy a story fully on the first reading. Not till the curiosity, the sheer narrative lust,  has been given its sop and laid asleep are we at leisure to savour the real beauties.  Till then, it is like wasting great wine on a ravenous natural thirst which merely wants cold wetness."

Quote du jour/from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

 In a letter, a woman writes to another:

"Excuse my unburdening myself. My worries travel about my head on their well-worn path, and it is a relief to put them on paper."

Isn't that a perfect description of worrying. I love "well-worn path".

I am rereading this wonderful book, and I think I love it even more than last time. I wrote about it here, in 2008!!

Today's picture

 The old one and the young ones

The Traveling Wilburys - Handle With Care (Official Video)

On our shared birthday, here is George when he was part of The Traveling Wilburys. Much loved and much missed by so many.

Quote du jour/From Call the Midwife

 Sister Monica Joan:

"When I was a novice, I found Lent the hardest season. Not for the hardship of self-sacrifice - that I willingly embraced - but for the absence of nature's beauty in the chapel. I always found it an invaluable aid to spiritual labour. But then I encountered a passage that gave great illumination. It is not the penance that we choose which is pleasing to God... it is the setting aside of ego and the submission to His will."

Noah Kahan - Stick Season (Official Music Video)

I love this song, and this man's work. My nephew actually met him a while ago. They went to the same camp as kids.

What I Learned From TV - February 9

 An explanation here.

"90% of onions are consumed in their country of origin. There's hardly any international trade in onions." 

Lance Stater in Detectorists 

"The sense of smell is the only sense that is fully formed in the fetus. And it's your most dominant sense until you're about ten years old, when your vision takes over."

Gardeners' World - an almost blind woman who works with trees said this

"When Coleridge's infant son was dreaming, he'd show him the moon." [I think meaning, having a bad dream]

Peter Pascoe in Dalziel and Pascoe

"Focusing on me is why I started gardening. My shrink says it's a way to tune everybody out and hear the universe. I know it sounds "hippie" but doesn't that sound nice? Hearing the universe."

A woman patient in New Amsterdam

"There are those who would say that a life devoted to food - cooking it, eating it, writing about it, even dreaming about it is a frivolous life, an indulgent life. I would disagree. If we do not care what we eat, we do not care for ourselves, and if we don't care for ourselves how can we care for others?"

An introduction to a book by Hilary Smallwood, a fictional character who writes cookbooks in Pie in the Sky

"I hate telephones. It was much better when people had to do everything by letter."

From Bergerac

And that's it for this installment. You really should see all the post-its I have! I am gradually entering them into a beautiful moleskin notebook. And when I do, I pick out some to bring to the blog. And incidentally, we moved the television back into the living room. It is colder, but it seems more fitting in there.

White Mountains of New Hampshire

My blogging friend Dewena told me that there was a little movie on CBS about my home area and I found it on YouTube!

Quote du jour - Josephine Nuese

 “Anyone who thinks gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year; for gardening begins in January with a dream.” 

Josephine Nuese, 1901-1974, American gardener and author of The Country Garden, 1970

These words are so very true! My head is full of ideas, and I spend a lot of time looking at catalogues. I am just happy they still come in the mail. Some of them I don't even order from, but this year I feel like I should just as a little thank you for the pleasure I get from looking through them. 

I had declared that I wouldn't have to buy any seeds for this summer because there are still a lot left from last year. More fool me. My head is full of tomatoes, again. After months of eating them fresh, and then using the sauce I made from them, I am again bereft of tomatoes. I've begun thinking of having just a basil, garlic, and tomato garden but then I see a new climbing zucchini, and some varieties of tomato I just must try. And the packets of scallions that didn't get planted last year. And then I think the garden should be doubled! 

So yes, I am indeed dreaming in January.

What I Learned From TV - January 26

From 2014-2017, I wrote a few posts on What I Learned From TV. 

This is the introduction I always began with.

Each time I do a post about What I Learned From TV, I’ll begin with the explanation from the first posting:

Now that my kids are grown, and Tom has retired, I’ve been able to go back to my natural sleep pattern which is to stay up late and get up late. Tom’s natural rhythm is just the opposite. So, he’s the lark and I’m the owl. 

And what this owl does in the late hours is watch television- not in the traditional way but through Hulu, Netflix, TunnelBear, and Acorn TV. Most of the shows are British, though I am a great fan of a few American television shows, and have been watching some from other countries now that we have TunnelBear. Some of these shows Tom will watch in the mornings, but some of them are all mine. So, when I hear a great quote from a show I know he’s not going to watch, I’ll leave him little post-it notes near the computer keyboard. I had a notion this morning to begin a new ‘letter topic’ called What I Learned From TV so I can put up some virtual post-its for you to read and, hopefully, enjoy. Some are funny, some are educational, some are wise.

I no longer have Hulu, and we stopped TunnelBear when we found out it is rather illegal to watch British shows that way! We do still have Acorn, along with Britbox, Netflix, PBS, and Prime, and my many DVDs .

But I haven't done a TV post since 2017, so I thought it time that I bring back the topic.  I keep pen and paper next to my "TV chair" and I jot things down that interest me. The other day, I cleared out a desk drawer that had myriad post-it notes with those jottings. 

Because it has been so long, many of the quotes are not from shows I am currently watching.

I did once have a television like the one in the picture above, but nowadays this is the scene (currently watching the excellent New Amsterdam on Netflix):

With talk of oil and electric prices going up, we decided some months ago to put the TV in the kitchen where the wood stove is so I didn't have to turn up the heat in the living room when I watch television in the evenings. We have liked it so much that we probably won't move it back when the weather gets warmer. 

Without further ado:

I don't know where this came from but it is quite amazing. I am one of them.

"In 1967, never before had so many Americans been under 25. There were over 90 million of them, nearly half the population."

Being a watcher of older British television shows, I have noticed a lot of griping about two particular subjects - the National Health Service, and the European Union. Here is one from Dalziel in Dalziel and Pascoe. 

"Do they sell toffee hammers anymore? No, probably banned by those clowns in Brussels." 1996 show.

"GPS is just another way for the government to keep an eye on me." US televison show The Finder. This said by a man who buries his money because he doesn't trust banks.

From Darby and Joan. 

Joan says, "I never saw the appeal of sunrises. They're just like sunsets only bloody early." Those could be my words!

From Nadiya Hussain on one of her marvelous cooking shows:

"Oh, my God, mashed potato is my favorite thing in the whole wide world."

and

"I would rather have a baby than make soufflé."

I'll end this entry with a few quotes from Horace Rumpole in Rumpole of the Bailey.

"Who was it who said that Wagner's music is not as bad as it sounds?"

Upon hearing someone collapsed while jogging. "I've always said that exercise is the short cut to the cemetery"

"No pleasure on earth is worth sacrificing for the sake of five extra years in the geriatric ward in the sunset old people's hospital in Weston-Super-Mare."

Happy Birthday - Stevie Wonder

 

 The campaign for a federal holiday in Martin Luther King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later on January 20, 1986. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000. 

 Stevie's album with this song on it came out in 1980. 

 "Happy Birthday" 

 You know it doesn't make much sense 

There ought to be a law against 

Anyone who takes offense 

At a day in your celebration 

'Cause we all know in our minds 

That there ought to be a time 

That we can set aside 

To show just how much we love you 

And I'm sure you would agree 

What could fit more perfectly 

Than to have a world party on the day you came to be 

 Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you

 Happy birthday Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday 

 I just never understood

 How a man who died for good 

Could not have a day that would

 Be set aside for his recognition 

Because it should never be 

Just because some cannot see 

The dream as clear as he 

that they should make it become an illusion

 And we all know everything 

That he stood for time will bring

 For in peace our hearts will sing 

Thanks to Martin Luther King 

 Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you 

Happy birthday Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday 

 Why has there never been a holiday 

Where peace is celebrated all throughout the world 

 The time is overdue 

For people like me and you 

Who know the way to truth 

Is love and unity to all God's children 

It should be a great event 

And the whole day should be spent

 In full remembrance 

Of those who lived and died for the oneness of all people 

So let us all begin

 We know that love can win

 Let it out don't hold it in

 Sing it loud as you can 

 Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday 

Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday 

Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday

 Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday 

Happy birthday Happy birthday Happy birthday Ooh yeah Happy birthday 

 We know the key to unity of all people 

Is in the dream that you had so long ago 

That lives in all of the hearts of people 

That believe in unity 

We'll make the dream become a reality 

I know we will Because our hearts tell us so

JEFF BECK GROUP - SHAPES OF THINGS

A real sadness for Tom and I to hear that Jeff Beck has died. He was THE BEST as was this band. Rod Stewart vocals. Ron Wood on bass. Mick Waller on drums. Nicky Hopkins piano. In the comments to this video, a man said he saw them at the Boston Tea Party, as we did. Rod didn't stay in the band for long, and how I wish he had. For us this was the perfect group. On the first album, Truth, Beck writes about this song. "Shapes of Things Rearranged, but the same Yardbirds hit. This must be played at maximum volume whatever phonograph you use. Makes very appropriate background music if you have the Vicar over for tea." Go to YouTube and type in "Drinkin Again" Jeff Beck group. A masterpiece. AND it is a Johnny Mercer song! On his Instagram page, Jimmy Page wrote: "The six stringed Warrior is no longer here for us to admire the spell he could weave around our mortal emotions. Jeff could channel music from the ethereal. His technique unique. His imaginations apparently limitless. Jeff I will miss you along with your millions of fans. Jeff Beck Rest in Peace."

 

Today's picture/Turkey tracks

 

Top Ten Tuesday - Nine Favorite Books of 2022

 I have done a couple (though maybe just one) of the Top Ten Tuesday posts. I do enjoy them and mean to do more this year. I didn't happen to visit her blog today, but I did get to read an entry here, and decided to do my own. I haven't done anything with my year end wrap-up of 2022, and I think this is all I will do!

I didn't have ten, but nine. I reread many books this year, and though they are good old mysteries, they can't compete with the books below which were really excellent. Five fiction and four nonfiction.

I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg. I've not read a book by her that I haven't loved. This one was really very special.

4.50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie. One of my top favorite writers. This was a second reading.

The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer. This became one of my favorite books ever. I've never read anything like it, and was wowed. 

French Braid by Anne Tyler. Some think this is her last book and if so, it is a lovely way to end a career of many wonderful books.

The Adventurous Chef:Alexis Soyer by Ann Arnold. This is a children's picture book about someone I had never heard of until the television series Pie in the Sky. Inspector/Chef Crabbe idolizes Soyer. We learn a bit about him in one particular episode, and I wanted to know more. He was quite a fellow, and this book is well-worth reading.

The Arrivals by Meg Mitchell Moore. This was a reread, and I loved it just as much as the first time. I wrote about it here. I didn't have grandchildren in 2011, and the book had a whole new meaning and richness that I understood this time. It really is a wonderful book.

Trains and Lovers by Alexander McCall Smith. This is a standalone book, and I really enjoyed it. Four strangers on a train telling about their lives.

Doctor Turner's Casebook by Stephen McGann. The author plays Dr. Turner in Call the Midwife. The book is mostly nonfiction, with delightful bits of the fictional doctor's casebook complete with teacup stains and imperfect typewriter letters (remember them?). I learned so much about medicine and diseases from that time, and saw how very accurate the program is. 

And the star of stars, also going onto my list of favorite books ever is:

Cross of Snow

A Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

by Nicholas Basbanes

My Letters from a Hill Farm blog is full of Longfellow's poems. I've loved him since childhood, and now my love and respect is much deeper. I so enjoyed my time within the pages. It is a perfect, perfect biography, and history of America and the world during his lifetime. A marvel, a masterpiece. Nothing better.

Books Read 2023

Books Read in 2023

I am simplifying - no more book facts or Tom's books.

I went back to 2022, and eliminated them from that year as well because they were incomplete. Also, I am no longer listing exact date I finished a book. It is enough to know the month.

January - 3

1. A Winter Away

by Elizabeth Fair

fiction 1957

Kindle

2. What W. H. Auden Can Do For You

by Alexander McCall Smith 

nonfiction 2013

Kindle

3. The House That is Our Own

by O. Douglas

fiction 1940

Kindle

February - 6

4. Three Witnesses - book 27 in the Nero Wolfe series

by Rex Stout

mystery 1956

re-read

Kindle

5. As They Slept (A Year in the Life of a London Commuter) 

book 1 of 4

by Andy Leeks

nonfiction 2013

Kindle

6. Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop

by Roselle Lim

fiction 2020

library book

print

7. Danger at the Drawbridge - book 4 in the Penny Parker series

by Mildred Wirt

Young adult mystery 1940

re-read

Kindle

8. Almost American Girl

by Robin Ha

An Illustrated Memoir 2020

Print

9. The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax - book 3 in the Mrs. Pollifax series 

by Dorothy Gilman

mystery 1971

re-read

Kindle

March - 

10. The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax - book 2 in the Mrs. Pollifax series

by Dorothy Gilman

mystery 1970

re-read

Kindle

11. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

fiction 2008

re-read

print

12. A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax - book 4 in the Mrs. Pollifax series 

by Dorothy Gilman

mystery 1973

re-read

Kindle

13. Mrs. Pollifax on Safari - book 5 in the Mrs. Pollifax series

by Dorothy Gilman

mystery 1976

re-read

Kindle

Tom's 2023 Reads

 This is just a collecting post.

January - 

1. Marked Man - book 32 in the Joe Gunther series

by Archer Mayor

mystery 2021

print 

library book

finished January 3

Quote du jour/Charles H. Spurgeon

 "Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began..."

Charles Spurgeon

I have often read these words in British books, or heard them on British television. And they have been spinning in my head as this new year arrived.

The past years have been pretty blogless for me. I haven't writtten much or read much. It's been an odd time, and I am going to begin on this day and go on. I miss writing. It is good for me. It takes me completely into what I am thinking about, rather like a meditation. But even more, I miss reading. I miss all the different voices of fellow bloggers. I miss reading about your lives, and gardens, and books. A blogging friend's father died and I didn't know for too long. That made me so sad, and pretty much brought about this new resolve. 

I am going to give myself the gift of sitting down each day in the study and either reading or writing or both. I love this room with its south and west windows, a computer desk, a writing desk for letters (which I am also working on doing more often) and paying bills (yes, I still pay as many as I can by check, which isn't a lot these days and I still check my checking account!). And the rest of the room is photographs, plants, books, and Tom's mother's dolls. It has two doors, so I can be quiet when I'm in here.

So, what brilliant topic will I write about on this first day of the year?  I thought I would tell you how much I love paper calendars. I have two. The one in the study, just to my left as I write this, is by a New Hampshire woman. 

 Cindy Hendrick does the most delightful drawings, and has created a whole little world of animals. Her website is here. 

The second calendar is in the kitchen. Susan Branch is probably very familiar to most of you. I've had her calendars for many years, and also have her address book and birthday book. I love her work, and all the wonderful quotes she has introduced to me. Actually, her newest book is one of quotes. I don't own it yet, but will before long.

I love this quote:

So, there you have it. A little blog entry to welcome in this new year, and as Mr. Lennon said, "Let's hope it's a good one, without any fear." That kind of says it all, doesn't it.

I don't write on either of these beauties. I have a desk engagement calendar I use for jotting down days we take care of the grandchildren, etc. And speaking of grandchildren, this is the 2022 Christmas card!

Campbell Walker, 8

Hazel Nina, 9

Indy Thomas, 7