Is it July already? How the days fly by! And yes, the world smells of roses. How long has it been since someone has given you a rose? Too long? Many of the hybrid roses of today no longer have any scent but I was introduced to a rose lately that was not only beautiful but smelled wonderful ….. lush and fragrant and absolutely divine! Not only the scent but the memories linger with me. So gorgeous. But enough about roses and fragrance and on to news ……
So much is going on and life is good! May and June were very busy months but definitely productive both practically and personally. For Mother’s Day, my daughter took me out for an extended celebration and what a day we had! We went for an early dinner and had French toast; nothing like being unconventional! 😉 We then went bowling in which I lost! The shock! When I was a pre-teen I was on a bowling team and was considered a pretty adequate bowler. How skills degrade when never used, lol! After that, she took me to a pub specifically for the arcade games. I hadn’t realized that pubs now only have an age restriction after 8 pm.; there was a baby there …. not sure how I feel about that. In any case, we played air hockey and table tennis and I quickly became addicted to …….. pin-ball machines! I’ve played pin-ball perhaps twice in my life but I left there with the fourth highest score on one of their machines. Too funny! I supposed I missed my calling …. 😜
Construction work continues but sadly in places other than my kitchen. However, while the pace has slowed, I do hope to get it finished up soon. Really, there is only the tile backsplash, the final electrical and some trim to do, so it’s not much and it’s been nice to concentrate on other more personal things and leave the practical behind for awhile.
And what else ….. well, I’ve had some fun weekends helping friends clean up their house, going for a couple of day-trips with friends, and planting some flowers around my house. My vegetable garden is going by the wayside this year as I didn’t get on it quickly enough, but I still have apples, figs, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, elderberries, currants and quinces coming along. My Italian prune plum I’ve decided is dud and I’m going to pull it out this year. It produces oodles of flowers but never fruits. As an old 93-year-old German lady told me lately, “It’s just like a politician! It promised everything but gives you nothing!!” 😂 So true, so out it will come!!
As for reading, it’s started to pick up but again, I’m a little all over the place. First the bad news, I STILL have to finish The Divine Comedy (oh, wow!), my Christie reads have stalled, I haven’t read more of The Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and A Journal of a Tour of the Hebrides in spite of really enjoying it, and I haven’t touched The Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Terrible, isn’t it? My The Four Loves Read-Along is coming along but has slowed down. Lewis’ book is SO dense and I want to make sure I make proper notes ….. there’s no point in reading it if you don’t ‘get’ it, right? So I’ve been diligent but it’s slowed down the pace. The last post will go up soon. That said, I’ve read The 39 Steps by John Buchan, The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey (my first Tey!!), The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell and have started The Red Horse by Eugenio Corti. Notice a trend? Good books but very easy to get through (other than the last one). I’ve started a new process, in that I try to pick up a book and read during the day, even if I only have 5 minutes. I don’t like reading this way, but with my schedule I think it’s necessary. And I do feel like I’m reading more, only I’m not certain that I could read anything incredibly deep this way. What is your style of reading? Do you need long uninterrupted periods of time, or do you try to fit in what reading you can, when you can?
And for this month? I plan to delve into my 20 Books of Summer, with intentions to read The Return of the Native, New York, The Professor, Measure for Measure (sorry, for my tardiness, Marcelle!), and possibly The Mill on the Floss. With my new reading process, hopefully I’ll be able to get through more books. And as I mentioned above, I’ve started The Red Horse. I do also have plans to finished my unfinished list from above too but probably not all this month. All is yet to play for and we’ll see what transpires.
And for all the quotation lovers out there, “the world smells of roses” is by Maud Hart-Lovelace of the Betsy-Tacy series.
Have a great start of summer!
First photo courtesy of Congerdesign on Pixabay / Second photo courtesy of Larisa K on Pixabay / Third photo courtesy of Lohrelei on Pixabay / Fourth photo courtesy of Cocoparisienne on Pixabay / Fifth photo courtesy of Free Photos on Pixabay
I love your daughter’s Mother Day celebration….you guys had fun!! Here’s to a bright and bookish July
More than fun …. memories!! I’ve started well with my reading in July. I’d like to be accomplishing more but I see improvement and, after all, that’s all one can ask! You have a great reading July too, without too much WORK (bad word! 😉 )
belated happy mother’s day!! the pictures are splendid as usual… i can’t read as intensely as i used to do: maybe 1-2 hours at a time… an hour in bed… sometimes i get involved in crossword puzzles believe it or not: they can really eat up the time… i get old ny times ones in books that i have a chance of solving… bike rides take a while because i have to drive a half hour to get there… and honey-dos… a full and satisfactory life, over all…
Thanks, Mudpuddle!
I’ve been doing Sudoku puzzles, so I understand the appeal of crosswords and the like. I also had Wordscapes on my Iphone (you make up words with letters) but I was playing it too much so I deleted it. I sometimes play it with a friend though on their phone so I still get to play it, but that way I naturally monitor myself. 😉 I’m going to pull my bike out in a couple of days and go for a ride …. and don’t worry, I’ll wear a helmet! Glad to hear your life is so blissful … something I’ll aspire to! 😊
Funny you should mention scented roses. I listened to a podcast @ Tea & Tattle where the host interviewed a woman who started up a business growing fragrant roses in the UK. A friend also loaned me a book which I’ve read about a third of, ‘For the Love of a Rose’ by Antonia Ridge – the story of the creation of the famous peace rose. It’s quite lovely but I haven’t had the right frame of mind to read it lately.
Sounds like a wonderful; day with your daughter. 🙂
I can imagine that the Brits are much more engaged with rose growing ….. make that “proper rose growing”. Next year, I’m going to hunt down a fragrant rose bush to plant in my garden. Or perhaps I can propagate my friends’ ….. Well, inspired by you, I’ve ordered some Rose books (gardening) from the library. But it would be fun to think of Rose books with “rose” in their title.
The Name of the Rose
Rose in Bloom
The Rose Rent
The Nightingale and the Rose
I can’t think of any others but I’m sure there are tons …. and, of course, there’s The War of the Roses.
Okay, enough of roses now and back to reading. Thanks for your comment, which obviously spurred lots of thoughts, lol!
I think what kind of book you read contributes greatly to how you read. It is something I’ll be having to come to grips with once I start up reading non-fiction mixed in with all the fiction I do read. It will certainly be a change in how I read 🙂
As for roses. I hate those buggers. As a land surveyor, a wild rose bush is one of the worst things to encounter. I could see them being used as a wall, they’re that nasty.
In regards to time passing, don’t blink. Or you’ll miss July 😀 Hope your month goes well and trust you get your reading mojo back…
i was a geologist… it’s all true about wild roses: they smell great buy don’t get into their clutches!
Yay, thou verily speakest the truth!
Poor wild roses …… 🌺😟
I cry one single, solitary tear….
/sarcasm
I was going to
pokeask you about your non-fiction reading (or lack of it, ha ha!). When do you plan to start? It will definitely slow you down and be a different reading experience.Okay, I really think God is going to have a talk with you one day about your animosity towards part of his creation. Trees …. now roses ….. 😂 And I don’t think the “I was a land surveyor” excuse is going to wash …
You’d actually be proud of me in that I’m dialing it down and really enjoying July. At least half of it won’t be spent in a frenzy of activity. At least, I hope … 😉
My first non-fiction is coming up, O Jerusalem, near the end of this month.
Actually, I’m fulfilling my part in subduing all of creation 😀 And since nature is as fallen as man, it deserves to be cut back and made “nice”!
I AM proud of you for not going 200mph…
Lovely photos. I’m still waiting for my sunflowers to show their faces.
I have a pot of sunflowers that have five showing already and about another 20 buds. They look so beautiful!