Books, baking, and beautiful things

What a difference one cold front makes in my well being! It is still warm outside but the humidity has Gone With the Front, hehehe. Okay, enough humor (or attempt at humor) today.

Anyway, while it was still quite hot and humid yesterday, my friends Sheila and Suzie decided to bicycle out to the country for a visit. These two are my "usual suspects--former neighbors" with whom I have written about meeting at different ethnic restaurants near campus. It amazes me how healthy people can handle the heat, although they were ready for air conditioning and cold water when they arrived.

We admired how beautiful the flowers on the deck and in front of the house are looking these days. I may not appreciate heat and humidity but Nature does...the drive into town is beautiful. It is this memory I hold onto in the midst of a blizzard in January. :)

Sometimes... what I usually find beautiful... is not under certain circumstances. I was doing dishes yesterday and noticed how pretty a sunbeam looked on the fresh peaches sitting in my deep blue graniteware colander. Normally I would stop and admire the still life, instead I moved the peaches out of the light so they would not over ripen before they could be transformed into peach cobbler today. Art appreciation goes only so far in this humidity. :)

I had an e-mail from the library yesterday morning that a long awaited hold was finally available. It was Barbara Kingsolver's book called Animal Vegetable, Miracle; A Year of Food Life. I was so anxious to make certain I didn't lose the hold, I made a trip to that library before picking my son up at work (I hold library cards to two different libraries). I'm hoping to start reading it by the weekend.

Right now I am re-reading A Wrinkle in Time again...absolutely delicious, the words are as much poetry as prose. I remember when I first read this a few years ago, asking my daughter why she didn't make me read it sooner! It causes me to feel as if I'm ten years old again and reading on the blanket underneath a tree in the backyard. I took it with me to the doctor's office this morning, to read in the waiting room during the hour my husband was with his doctor. After about ten minutes, I set it aside and pulled an old Martha Stewart Living Magazine off the rack instead. This book is the kind that must be enjoyed while comfortable, preferably with a cold drink and a snack nearby.

It appears I have "too much of a good thing" right now, having also found real treasures at the library sale over the weekend. Here is a list of books purchased (mostly for $1.00 each):

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
(loved the movie, viewed it many times)
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
(sequel to the above, I'd heard about it but this was the first time I've seen a copy at a sale)
Francesca's Kitchen by Peter Pezzelli
(I haven't read any of his novels but this one looked good)
Christy by Catherine Marshall (hardback, purchased for a friend)

Amazing Faith, the Authorized Biography of Bill Bright by Michael Richardson
Falling in Love with Jesus; Abandoning Yourself to the Greatest Romance of Your Life
by Dee Brestin & Kathy Troccoli
Simple Secrets to a Beautiful Home
(formerly titled The Spirit of Loveliness) by Emilie Barnes

Mrs. Whaley and Her Charleston Garden by Emily Whaley
(a hardback copy so I can send my paperback to a friend's mom)
A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken (originally read long ago)
A Woman's Call to Prayer by Elisabeth George
Hidden Art by Edith Schaeffer
(original hardback edition...an extra to keep on hand)

and

ta dah!!!

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver (Yes!!!)

Not to mention a bunch of Victoria magazines found for twenty-five cents.

I remember seeing an interview with two real book collectors (as in old, first edition, expensive books) on Book TV a few years ago. They were asked what the silliest question is that people ask them when viewing all of their bookshelves. They both agreed it was the question..."Have you read all of these?"

I understand completely.