blog #436 >> 2010 Books in Review

I love books! I love how they smell. I love turning the pages. I just wish I had more time to read books. Now I know it looks like I did a lot less reading this year, but I read a lot of really long books, so it all evens out in the end.

Listed below are my books in review:
2010 Reading List


Winston Spencer Churchill, The Last Lion Vol2.
William Manchester
1/10 *****
(read my review here.)



Handwriting Analysis
M. N. Bunker
2/10 *****
(see more here.)



Crayon Miscellany
Washington Irving
2/10 ***




Persuasion
Jane Austen
3/10 *****
(This has become my favorite
of the Jane Austen novels.)



Watership Down
Richard Adams
3/10 *****





Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy
5/10 ****





Rootabaga Stories
Carl Sandbug
5/10 ****
(see more here.)




Casebook of Sherlock Holmes
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
5/10 *****




Captain Shannon
Coulson Kernahan
5/10 ***




Star Gate
Andre Norton
5/10 ****





Animal Farm
George Orwell
5/10 ****





Sea Siege
Andre Norton
6/10 ****





The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne
6/10 ****





The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain
7/10 ****




This is your America
Simmons & Meyer
7/10 ****




Moby Dick
Herman Melville
8/10 *****
(I remember reading an extremely condensed version of this in high school and not really liking it. Well, no wonder I didn't like it, they cut out all the good parts! What the ending is doesn't really matter if there's no build up to it. All I can say is that Herman Melville knew a lot about whales! I loved all his whale tangents and all his allegories. It's such a great book when you sit down and read the whole thing though.)

Everything is Illuminated
Jonathan Safranfoer
8/10 *
(This book was sooo horrible! I mean really really horrible! I couldn't even finish it. I'm sorry if you like it, but it wasn't meant for me.)



Judgement on Janus
Andre Norton
8/10 ***





Shirley and The Professor
Charlotte Brontë
9/10 ****





The Glory and the Dream
William Manchester
10/10 ***




The Complete Sherlock Holmes: Vol. 1
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
12/10 *****





A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens
12/10 *****




Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen, Adapted by Nancy Butler and Hugo Petrus
12/10 ***
(It was very cute, but I wish the inside illustrations were done my the same person who did the cover illustration. I love that cover!)


See 2009 Reading List Here

blog #435 >> But receiving is pretty awesome too!

* * * * Christmas Gift Guide: 2010 * * * *

It's usually around this time of year that I realize just how awesome my family and friends are. They all know me so well! I LOVE everything I got for Christmas this year! Thanks everyone!


1. Cottage Tea Cozy - My sister Amy made me this adorable cottage tea cozy. (It matches my cottage potholder!) She even lined it with real thermal insulation so it will keep my tea extra hot. I used it this morning, so I can say without a doubt, that it works great! You can even order one for yourself here. ~ From The Dorrs
2. Stacking Measuring Cups - Amy also got my these delightful stacking measuring cups. These are much too cute to get stuffed in a drawer, I think I'm going to find them a shelf spot after Christmas. ~ From The Dorrs
3. Robot Candy Coaster - Robot Candy makes the sweetest coasters I've ever seen. I have quite a collection, but this one might be my favorite. You can see more of their designs here. ~ From Dave & Trina
4. IKEA Tote Bag - Trina also made me this tote bag from some fabric she found at IKEA. This will definitely be hanging on the hooks by the door! ~ From Dave & Trina
5. Vintage Ship Creamer - They also found me this ship creamer to match the plate they got me the year before last. ~ From Dave & Trina
6. Hot Buttered Rum Mugs & "T" Pin - Next year I'm definitely going to have to pick up a bottle of rum! I can make the "Death by Cake!" rum cake and some hot buttered rum... mmmm...
~ From Frank & Amy & Family (They also got my a cute "T" pin!)
7. Toaster Cover and Thermos - Carrie made me this amazing toaster cover. All my appliances are going to be so cozy! And she gave me this little thermos that is the perfect size for my lunch box. ~ From The Leingangs
8. Vintage Umbrella - My parents found me this fantastic vintage umbrella at an antique store in.... I'll insert the name of the town here when it comes to me... Anyhow, it needs a little tender loving care. I need to replace a snap and the stitching on the handle, but overall it's in excellent shape! It's almost too nice to use, but of course I'll still use it. ~ From My Parents
9. Harney and Sons Tea - The more teas I try, the more convinced I am that this might be the best tea I've ever had. The Paris is an old favorite and the Vanilla might be a new one. See more flavors here. ~ From My Parents and Dave & Trina
10. Blue Sweater - I've been looking for a blue button sweater for sooooo long. I don't know what it is about blue that makes it so hard to find. I can find grey button sweaters, and brown, and black, and purple, and orange, and white, and green, and red, and just about every other color except blue! But at last! My blue button sweater! I don't have to knit one myself anymore! ~ From My Parents
11. Japanese Erasers - These are so cute I don't think I'll be able to take them out of the packages! ~ From My Parents
12. Fancy Paperclips - Now I can hold my papers together with style! ~ From My Parents
13. Knitting Needles and Bias Tape Maker - I'm so excited to try out these new knitting needles. I've wanted a set like this for awhile now. Maybe I can finally knit that hat. The last time I tired, it was with the tiny little sock sized needles and my hat turned into an egg cozy. It was a very nice egg cozy, but I was looking for a hat. ~ From My Parents
14. Breakfast Egg Cup Set - My English breakfasts are going to get so fancy! I love this old vintage fruit egg cup set! I can't wait to use them! ~ From My Parents
15. Stollen Bread and German Jumping Jack - My grandma gave me this traditional German Stollen bread... mmmm... so good! And my parents got my this little jumping-jack at the German Market.
16. Gift Certificate for Beauty Salon - It has been nearly two years since my last hair cut... mostly because I'm cheap. So this gift certificate will be a huge treat! Thanks! ~ From My Parents
17. Milka Chocolate - The best chocolate in the world. ~ From My Parents
18. Retro Christmas Table Cloth - I can't wait 'til next Christmas so I can use this new retro table cloth. It has turquoise star bursts and little triangle trees on it. It will look amazing in my kitchen! ~ From My Parents
19. Cutting Board and Can Strainer - This nifty can strainer will be perfect for draining olives and all type of things, and I can always use a new cutting board too! ~ From My Parents
20. Liquid Pencils - I've been wanting to try these for a long time. But I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed. I was hoping it would write more like a technical pencil than a pen, but it does erase REALLY well. So I think it will grow on me. ~ From My Parents
21. Digital Thermometer - I'm in love with this new digital thermometer. It's so accurate it can tell me if I have a fever or not! It's also got an alarm that will sound when your meat is at the right temperature. And it can even tell me how warm the room is! If I wanted to get really clever, I could program it to sound an alarm if the room goes about 76 degrees. This is going to blow that old mercury candy thermometer out of the water! ~ From My Parents

Thanks!
T

blog #434 >> Giving really is better than receiving!

This year I learned that giving really is better than receiving!

Sorry, I've been brief with blogging the past couple of months, but I've literally been spending every spare minute of my day crafting for Christmas. And I couldn't blog about my Christmas crafting because my family and friends read this blog, and I didn't want them to know what I was up to. I was REALLY excited to have everyone open their presents that I've been working on for so long. And I feel like I really rose to occasion, and everything turned out even better than I imagined it would.

So here are my amazing projects!

1. The Bird Skirt I made for my sister just like mine only in blue, red and green. And an Autumn Comfort Candle that my friend Autumn made. She makes the BEST smelly candles, I will never buy anyone else's. Get them here! 2. Hand Painted Egg Carton and Coupon Organizer for my sister-in-law. 3. Polka Dot Skirt for my sister and some of my spare bias tape. 4. Pickled Garlic and Dilly Beans for my brother, because nothing says, "I love you!" like spending over an hour peeling 12 heads of garlic. I got my recipe here. It turned out amazing! 5. Hand bound leather Journal for Trina's husband Dave. 6. Bowl Covers made from oil cloth for all my sisters. These turned into way more of a pain than I thought they would. I ended up sewing them on the machine while pulling the elastic tight with my teeth. It's just amazing I didn't sew over a finger! 7. Tea things and cookie cutters for my mom. The little crocheted circles are drip catchers. 8. Baby Bird Hat for my brother's new baby.

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And these are the He-man dolls I made for my 4-year-old nephew Charlie. He LOVES He-man... and Thomas the Tank Engine. I got the idea here... but I like mine better!

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9. Magnifying Glass Necklace for my grandma. I was going to make one, but I realized it was way cheaper to buy a real vintage one. 10. Homemade Microwave Popcorn for Dad. (It actually works really well!) 11. Fairy house for my niece Maggie. (I'll take more pictures of it later when it's down at the creek.) 12. Felt food for my 2-year-old niece Ada. (First thing she did after she opened it was try to take a bite out of each and every one.) 13. Mushroom Hat and Shoes for 1-year-old Stella. I got the shoe pattern here... sort of and I didn't use a pattern for the hat, but maybe I should have. 14. Maggie's stationary. Since I work at a print shop, I figured I'd better make the most of it and print something cool. These are the personalized note cards I made for Maggie. They're all themed around the letter "M." 15. The Monogrammed Journals I made for my older nephews and I got them these cool survival tools that I saw at Neatorama. 16. And the Mushroom Hat I made for Trina, and I gave her one of these delightful little Cottage Potholders that my sister makes.

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More closeups of the felt food.


And this is the Folding Rocking Chair I fixed up for my mom for Christmas... actually, my dad helped me a lot with it. But I did paint in all the detail and do all the upholstery work on it. I picked up the frame at a barn auction last summer for $2! I was still working on it when I took this picture and hadn't tacked the back cushion on yet, so I might post before and after photos later.

And although I don't have any pictures of the homemade candy I made this year... mostly because it's already eaten. I will post the recipes later on. (I even forgot to take pictures of the Jell-O molds I made for Christmas before we ate them! I'm on a roll this year!) Anyhow... I'll post those ones pretty soon... unless I forget.

Merry Christmas!
T

blog #433 >> Chilly Day at the Creek

Yesterday was a rare sunny day in December, and I couldn't let that go to waste! So I ended up spending the afternoon down at the creek reading in the sunshine in front of the fire. It was such a nice day... a little bit chilly, but nice!
T

blog #432 >> Deck the Halls

Posted by popular demand, pictures of my Christmas decorations!
Sorry, it's always dark before I leave for work now and dark when I get back, so all these photos are... well dark. I'll try to get some better ones this weekend.
Cheers!
T