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 - 6

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

14. Hippie Food

by Jonathan Kauffman

nonfiction 2018

print

15. Crocodile on the Sandbank - book 1 in the Amelia Peabody series

by Elizabeth Peters

mystery 1975

re-read

Kindle

April - 2

16. Something Fresh - book 1 in the Blandings series

by P.G. Wodehouse

fiction 1915

re-read

Kindle

17. Titanic Town

by Mary Costello

fiction 1992

print

May - 7

18. Lord James Harrington and the Spring Mystery - book 2 in the Lord James Harrington series

by Lynn Florkiewicz

mystery 2013

Kindle

19. In My Mind's Eye

by Jan Morris

nonfiction 2018

print 

20. Silent Witness - book 2 in the Patrick Grant series 

by Margaret Yorke

mystery 1972

Kindle

21. Still Life at Eighty

the next interesting thing

by Abigail Thomas

nonfiction 2023

print

22. Crying in H Mart

by Michelle Zauner

nonficition memoir  2021

print

23. The Lighthearted Quest - book 1 in the Julia Probyn series

by Ann Bridge

mystery 1956

reread

Kindle

24. The Summer Mystery - book 3 in the Lord James Harrington series

by Lynn Florkiewicz

mystery 2013

Kindle

June - 5

25. Mr. Lynch's Holiday

by Catherine O'Flynn

fiction 2013

reread

Kindle

26. 84, Charing Cross Road

by Helene Hanff

nonfiction 1970

reread - looks like the last time was 2007

print

27. This Hill, This Valley

by Hal Borland

nonfiction 1957

Kindle

28. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street

by Helene Hanff

nonfiction 1973

print

29. Q's Legacy

by Helene Hanff

nonfiction 1985

print

July - 5

30. An English Murder aka The Christmas Murder

by Cyril Hare 

mystery 1951

re-read

Kindle

31. With A Bare Bodkin - book 2 in the Francis Pettigrew series 

by Cyril Hare

mystery 1946

Kindle

32. Virginia Woolf At Home

by Hilary Macaskill

nonfiction 2019

print

33. Tragedy at Law - book 1 in the Francis Pettigrew series

by Cyril Hare

mystery 1942

Kindle

34. Tenant For Death - book 1 in the Inspector Mallett series

by Cyril Hare

mystery 1937

Kindle

August - 2

35. Fer-De-Lance - book 1 in the Nero Wolfe series

by Rex Stout

mystery 1934

re-read

Kindle

36. Some Buried Caesar - book 6 in the Nero Wolfe series

by Rex Stout

mystery 1939

re-read

Kindle

September - 4

37. The League of Frightened Men - book 2 in the Nero Wolfe series

by Rex Stout

mystery 1935

re-read

Kindle

38. Confessions of a Bookseller - second in The Diary of a Bookseller series

by Shaun Bythell

nonfiction 2019

library book - ILL

print

39. The Bloomsbury Cookbook

Recipes for Life, Love and Art

by Jans Ondaatje Rolls

nonfiction 2014

print

40. The Rubber Band - book 3 in the Nero Wolfe series

by Rex Stout

mystery 1936

Kindle 

October - 4

41. The Red Box - book 4 in the Nero Wolfe series

by Rex Stout

mystery 1937

Kindle

42. Too Many Cooks - book 5 in the Nero Wolfe series

by Rex Stout

mystery 1938

Kindle

43. The Mirror Crack'ed -  book 8 in the Miss Marple series

by Agatha Christie

mystery 1962

ILLed from the library

print

44. Over My Dead Body - book 7 in the Nero Wolfe series

by Rex Stout

mystery 1939

Kindle

45. What you are looking for is in the library

by Michiko Aoyama

translated from Japanese by Alison Watts

fiction 2020

library book

print

November - 3

46. Where There's A Will - book 8 in the Nero Wolfe series

by Rex Stout

mystery 1940

Kindle

47. Black Orchids - book 9 in the Nero Wolfe series

by Rex Stout

mystery 1942

Kindle

48. Not Quite Dead Enough - book 10 in the Nero Wolfe series

by Rex Stout

mystery 1944

Kindle

December - 4

49. The Silent Speaker - book 11 in the Nero Wolfe series

by Rex Stout

mystery 1946

Kindle

50. 18 Tiny Deaths

The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics

by Bruce Goldfarb

nonfiction 2020

library book

print

51. Too Many Women - book 12 in the Nero Wolfe series 

by Rex Stout

mystery 1947

Kindle

52. And Be A Villain - book 13 in the Nero Wolfe series

by Rex Stout

mystery 1948

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

Queen - Thank God It's Christmas (Official Animated Video)

I posted this a couple years ago, and just had to put it up again. I can never hear it enough. Warms my soul and breaks my heart at the same time.

Christmas sheep

The Christmas sheepys. You can see we have no snow! The real sheep aren't complaining because they are still doing some grazing in the pasture.

Frank Sinatra & Ella Fitzgerald - Moonlight In Vermont

This is a beautiful version of the song "Moonlight in Vermont". Here's something cool I learned on a jazz radio show. I was amazed to learn that each verse is a haiku. From the dictionary: a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.

Quote du jour/Ross MacDonald

The walls of books around him, dense with the past, formed a kind of insulation against the present world and its disasters.

     Ross Macdonald

I came upon these words near the end of my book, The Diary of a Bookseller, and they rather stopped me in my reading. I am very struck by the truth of them when it comes to my own life. My books are indeed a kind of "insulation". Looking at a shelf, or taking out a particular book seems to soothe me when the world is a bit much. I so don't understand this new trend I've read about where people want all their music on a phone and their books on a Kindle. What must their homes, their "insulation" look like? And this other trend of simplicity and spareness is beyond me. I love my books, records, CDs, DVDs, pictures, photographs, cookbooks, recipe boxes, old worn furniture. They are the signs of me, of my life, of who I am. That "I am", period. Not that I necessarily have to have them to be a real person, but they are, for me, my heart and soul. 

Have you read anything by Ross Macdonald? I looked him up, and saw the words "hard boiled" and I'm not really one for that kind of book, but I could be convinced to give him a try.

Walking around the house...

Book connections

 Years ago when I read and wrote about The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, I mentioned the way a book you are reading can lead you to others, just by a mention. 

Well, my current print book (on sidebar) is one that the local library email recommended. I immediately signed up for it, and began the book a couple days ago. I have gotten through just a very few pages because I have been caught by so many titles that I have to put the book down and come to the computer to learn more. 

George Orwell's "Bookshop Memories" - an essay I now have on the desktop.

Three Fevers by Leo Walmsley - a title that had me visiting the LW society and reading about his books and his life. And which sent me to Stuck in a Book because I just knew that he would have read this author.  

Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell.

The Bankrupt Bookseller Speaks Again by William Y. Darling.

Ian Niall, who was mentioned by the author as having believed that the "land of milk and honey" was Galloway (Scotland) "in part because there was always an abundance of both in the pantry in the farmhouse in which he grew up, but also because, for him, it was a kind of paradise." Well, that certainly caught my interest and I have found in my searching that he is definitely someone I must read. 

All this in five pages! I'm sure there will be more to come in this wonderful book.

Quote du jour/from Call The Midwife

 I wish I'd written down the date I began watching all of Call The Midwife on Netflix. It has been a few weeks now. I've put aside The Great British Baking Show (still known to most as GBBO!) and Gardeners' World. It has been a supreme joy to see the episodes one after another. I have filled many post-it notes with quotes.

This is from episode 8 of series 9, spoken by Vanessa Redgrave at the start of the show. 

"When autumn starts to dampen into winter, should we say, 'the nights are getting dark'? Should we thrust our hands into our pockets and anticipate the chill? Or should we say, 'light the fire, draw close, it will not be as cold as you imagine'?"

And at the end of the episode.

"The seasons will always turn, the clouds will gather and the cold will come. We will survive them. We will grow regardless of the weather. We will know wonder where there has been despair. There will be happiness, and we will remember it. There will be friendships which we won't forget. Love is the constant whereby we endure all winters and all storms. It is the climate in which all things can thrive. Welcome the darkness. Embrace it as a canopy from which the stars can hang. For there are always stars when we are where we ought to be, amongst the faces we love best, each with our place, each with our purpose, as fixed and familiar as the constellations. The darkness is beautiful, for how else can we shine."

Old soldiers and old cleomes

 Old soldiers just fade away

Mick Jagger - "Old Habits Die Hard"

This line from Jagger's song was running through my head today as I walked toward the garden and looked at the cleomes. You may think I am obsessed by them, and I suppose I am a bit.  Even on this first day of October, they have a grandeur as they "fade away".  Amazing flowers.

Last stewing of the season

 

Sorry to go on and on, but I like to keep track of the gardens here on the blog. You may just skip over!

Today I just got around to stewing the tomatoes in the last post. Instead of freezing, I'm going to add a jar of crushed tomatoes, strain both the fresh and the canned, and make sauce for supper. Sad to see the season end, but happy to have some for the winter.

Pretty much the end of the tomato harvest

 

If you have stopped by recently, you will have seen the chopped tomatoes as my blog header. I've stewed and strained quite a few tomatoes in the past weeks, added a little tomato paste, and frozen them. I look forward to that taste of summer on my pasta this winter. We tried many new varieties this year - some heirlooms. They are so individual both in look and taste. Here is a pic I took a while back.

The ones on the front left are called Purple Cherokee, from seeds found on a Cherokee reservation. They just may be the best tasting tomatoes I've ever eaten. On the front right are Rose de Berne.They are a Swiss heirloom. We didn't get too many, but they were very delicious. On the yellow plate is a super producer with a terrific taste, Moskvich. Not an heirloom yet, but a great tomato from Russia. Not sure what the time table is for declaring a tomato is an heirloom. I think the Moskvich was developed in the 1970s. 

The yellowy orange one is Marmalade, not an heirloom. Great producer and such a beauty. It is really stunning in the garden.

The green and yellow ones are ripe. That is their color. The variety is Green Zebra. I always pronounce the name with the British "Zeb", not the American "Zee" because I first heard of it on Pie in the Sky, one of my most favorite television series. There is an episode where Henry Crabbe makes this delicious looking dish, stuffing a Green Zebra with bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, olive oil, and something else I think I'm forgetting. I was so looking forward to making it, but my Green Zebras just didn't get big enough this year.  Will try again next year (the gardener's motto). The first picture was taken today - maybe the last tomatoes of the season. The little one on the bottom with those grooves is called Costoluto Genovese, an Italian heirloom. What flavor, and I love the grooves - I just cut one section out and eat it! 

We've grown Peacevine cherry tomatoes for years. Next year we may try a few heirloom cherries, too. I bought quite a few from a local farm this summer, and the taste was out of this world. Here is a whimsical picture of them with my colorful bowls.

We did a few different things with our tomatoes this year - one was cutting all the shoots off except the main flowering ones. That was okay, except we didn't get nearly as many tomatoes as other years. Will go back to letting the side shoots flower, until later in the season. I'm always up for trying new ideas, but this one just didn't work out that well. Plus I missed the huge, tall plants we got before.

When I was a kid, I never ate tomatoes - not even tomato sauce. And these summer months, they are all I wanted to eat!

Death of a Queen

 If you go here, you will see the last picture taken of the late Queen Elizabeth 11. It is the picture many of us saw when we first read the news that she wasn't well, and that family was heading to Balmoral. I would have put it up but it does have a name on it, and I did not want to infringe.

When I first saw it, I thought it was my favorite of all pictures I have seen of her during her long life. She looks like any woman at home. That sweater! Just like any of us might wear, especially those my age or older. It made me smile, even as the news made me fearful.

I know a staunch Irishman, and yet he cared for the Queen. As did so many people, no matter their politics.

I am terribly sad. It feels like someone in my family has died -  a relative I didn't ever see but still loved.

And I'll tell you a weird story. It begins a long time ago. Just before my uncle (by marriage, on my father's side) died, my mother heard three knocks on the window and saw his face there. Then the phone rang with the news. Well, today Tom was at a friend's house. After I had read that the Queen was so ill, I was in the kitchen when I heard three knocks on the front door. Lucy, our yellow Labrador went to the door, as did I. No one was there (and no face). Soon I saw Tom walking from the parking lot to the house. I asked him if he had come to the door and knocked thinking it might be locked. He said no.

The phone didn't ring just after but when I heard those knocks I did fear that she had, or would, die. As far as I know that happened to my mother only once, and this is the first and hopefully only time for me. 

Quote du jour - Henry David Thoreau; and summer pictures

I began this post in July, and am just getting back to it on this first day of September.

 

Live in each season as it passes: breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit.

Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817-May 6, 1862) Such a short life.

I am living fully in this summer season, and want to share some pictures of the beauty at Windy Poplars Farm. This summer has been spectacular. Everyone I talk to comments on the flowers everywhere. 

The brown-eyed Susans are all over the place. They just pop up and don't care what the soil is like.

Beautiful daylilies

Hollyhocks  - my friend said this color has such an old-fashioned look. It is really achingly beautiful. This is a perennial one that I bought from White Flower Farm years ago. 

And this is one that comes back year after year - just a regular hollyhock. I recently read that if you leave the seedheads on, they will fall off and root the next year. Since I never cut mine down in a timely manner, that must be what happens here.

 

Now that I am here, and late, I thought I'd post some August pictures, too. This is the side yard on a beautiful morning around 8 am. Not the clearest but that's part of what I like - that misty/sunny look.

                                                                      Zinnias

                                                                Goldenglow  

                                                                Monarda -

 I finally found one that grows in zone 3. I bought one plant. It grew well last year, though the leaves had mildew. I looked it up and one result was from Martha Stewart who said to never mind it - that it wouldn't hurt the flowers at all. Well, this year, that one plant spread and overtook the entire terrace garden. Some other kinds of plants disappeared, and others were greatly diminished, but that's alright. It is in the mint family after all. Every single minute of the day, these plants have been full of bees and butterflies. 

 I'll end with the pride and joy of Windy Poplars Farm - Cleome, and Amaranth! Last year we grew cleome and it was a lovely, big addition to the vegetable garden. This year, we started seeds inside under the lights, and they again have been beautiful. A surprise for us is that last year's flowers self-seeded, and are actually double the length of the ones we transplanted! What a plant!! And the amaranth came in my CSA bouquets years ago. I asked the grower what it was, and she called it "love lies bleeding." Whatever it is known by it is the weirdest plant we've ever grown. Weird but very wonderful. We will grow both flowers again next year.

I plan to do another post on the vegetables this year. 

And the font changed as I wrote. I didn't do it on purpose. I started with the font of our computer, comic sans, but then it went to something I didn't like. I tried to get CS, but it wasn't offered so I used open sans. 

Weights and lengths

 If you grow zucchini, you know that even if you check often there will still be one that you miss until it is overgrown. After our big one was picked today, Hazel said that I should take a picture and put it on my blog! 

When we weighed and measured it, we were kind of bowled over by a couple facts. The zucchini weighed 2.2 pounds and was 13 inches long. 

When Hazel was born, she weighed 2.2 pounds and was 14 inches long. It makes me cry as I write this. She is a miracle, and not for a second do I ever forget it. And here she is today with that zucchini.

Second garlic harvest 2022

 Today we harvested the other two varieties of garlic that Tom planted back in November.

This is Music, a hardneck with big cloves. We got 31 bulbs.

What High Mowing Seeds has to say about it: 

A large, beautiful variety that is easy to grow! Slightly spicy flavor is hot raw and sweet roasted. Originally from Italy.

The third variety is called Chesnok Red.  88 bulbs.

From High Mowing:

From the Republic of Georgia. ("That Georgia's always on mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi mind"). 

And here's what the porch looks like! I feel like a queen.

First garlic harvest - 2022

 Tom planted garlic on November 9th of last year, and we have just harvested the first of it called Inchelium Red. This is what the company we buy from, High Mowing Seeds, had to say about this variety:

This widely grown softneck was originally saved by a native population in Washington State and found by Larry Geno on the Colville Indian Reservation.

Softneck means it can be braided, and I am thinking of trying it. I am not naturally "crafty" at all, but I think I will still see if I can do it. I've already found sites that tell me how. 

Drying it just where we did many years ago. We got 29 bulbs.

We have two other varieties which aren't quite ready to pick yet - Music, and Chesnok Red. 

Blur - To the End (Live at Alexandra Palace 1994)

 

 I love this song. I've been listening to the Parklife album today, and Blur is one of those bands I so wish I had seen.

Whippoorwills

When we first moved to Windy Poplars Farm in 1981, we heard whippoorwills. This continued for a few years, and then we didn't hear them. I looked back in my emails, and found a few correspondences with the state Audubon Society. In 2002, I found an email I had sent, saying we hadn't heard them in maybe 15 years. The response was essentially that they didn't know. Some had thought change of habitat or decline in moths, but no one knew for sure. I also found an article from a state newspaper around the same time despairing the fact that they just weren't around.  A few years later, we drove north an hour or so, and participated in an Audubon study to see if we heard any whippoorwills. We drove around to several promising spots, but heard nothing. Flash ahead to 2013, and they were here. Again in 2018, they appeared. When I wrote to Audubon, they said there were several people who had also heard them! I have a note that I heard it in 2019. And then an Audubon publication from last year says they are doing well in certain areas of the state. I can certainly attest to that this year! Without fail, for weeks now the whippoorwill has appeared just outside the house. It has been on the roof, in the lilac, and on the terrace. It comes at dusk and dawn. It feels like such an honor. I do have a movie of it, but I haven't been able to put any of my videos on the blog for a long time. You may hear their sound here.

photograph from Cornell Labs.

There is a terrific new article in The Old Farmer's Almanac, here. They quoted Thoreau:

It could mean many things, according to the wealth of myth surrounding this night flyer. The note of the whippoorwill borne over the fields is the voice with which the woods and moonlight woo me.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-62)