Saturday in the Garden- Seed Catalog Season!

December 5, 2015

OUTSIDE
 
As much as I hate having to continue to function and drive places when there is snow on the ground, winter can be quite ugly without it (see above picture).  I was able to "winterize" my garden last weekend at least taking care of the essentials and it's actually shaping up to be a relatively warm day today and will be in the upper 40s for much of the beginning of the week so I may actually be able to do a little more than the minimum.  The sun and warmer temps have been nice but also enjoyed the winter wonderland views earlier this week.

Another good thing about winter?  Seed Catalog Season!  And it has begun.  The Seed Savers catalog, which is my favorite, came in the mail this week and I can't wait to spend some quality time with this baby.

LIFE

The favorite thing in my life this week is an online class I am taking on Whole Food Freezer Cooking.  It is taught by Heather at the Beauty that Moves blog and has included many goods tips and recipes and has been so inspiring.  It's my first class with her and I'd definitely be interested in doing another sometime and would recommend the classes to anyone else interested in getting inspired and learning more about living sustainably.  I wish I had pictures of some gorgeous food to share but while inspired, my logistics and organizing has yet to kick in.  That's the plan for this afternoon so maybe I'll have something to share next week.

WATCHING, READING and BLOGGING

Watching 
Not a lot besides my Whole Food Freezer Cooking Videos (see above). 

Reading
I am so ridiculously happy to be pulling out of a reading slump!  I am reading so many good things right now AND have a lot of books on deck that I want to read RIGHT NOW.  It's an embarrassment of riches!

Finished Last Week: 

• End of Days by Susan Ee:  This is the final book in the Penryn and The End of Days trilogy about evil angels and the start of the apocalypse.  I loved the first two books in this YA series and this one was good but I was completely flummoxed by the ending.
•  Still Life by Louise Penny:  This is the first book in a mystery series set in Quebec, Canada and featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache.  A friend of mine recommended this series to me and it was fantastic even though I kind of knew who the killer was early on.  Excellent writing, excellent characters, intriguing mystery and setting. 
• Winter by Marissa Meyer:  I really really loved it and was surprised to see some pretty scathing reviews on goodreads (though overall rating is like 4.5 stars).  It may take me a while to write a review without gushing.  I highly recommend the audio which I think added immensely to my enjoyment!

Currently Reading:

• Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling:  *Sniff*  My re-read is coming to an end.  I am just pages from the end on this....
• Heartless by Gail Carriger:  I'm was listening to this 4th book in the Parasol Protectorate series.  Carriger was having way too much fun with an 8 months pregnant Alexia.   ON HOLD because I was forced to return it to the library. Grr....
• Into the Wilderness by Sarah Donati:  Historical fiction/romance (different actually then just a historical romance) I had to wait behind 6 other patrons on the hold list to get this from the library despite the fact it was published in 1998.  Not sure why - maybe because it gets compared to Outlander and that's big right now?  Even though I did not like Outlander, I am loving this so far.  Set in the American frontier just pre or post revolution period (somewhere between 1750 and 1800:).
• Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara:  I literally have just started listening to this and it's not grabbing me mostly, I think, because it is following Winter which I am still giddy over.

Added to the TBR:

This is a list of books that I have added to my Goodreads TBR list this week.  It helps to burn the books I want to read a little more firmly into my mind, maybe get them on some other folks TBRs and gives me a chance to recognize a lot of the awesome bloggers that add stuff to my TBR!

I found a number of books to add to the TBR on this list by Kate Elliot at Barnes and Noble about books with female characters that don't make her want to smash things:):

• Broken Blade by Kelly McCullough:  As Ms. Elliot describes it, god ole rollicking Sword and Sorcery but with realistic women. 
• The Broken Crown by Michelle West:  I've been trying to start another series by this author under the name Michelle Sagara (see above!).  
•  **********************

• The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth Church:  I just got approved on NetGalley for this book and it's not out until the middle of next year.  It's the story of a woman in the 1940s who wants to become an Ornithologist but then gives the career pursuit up for love and marriage.  This is right in the center of my alley though I've never heard of the author.
• Steal the Sky by Megan O'Keefe:  Another ARC from NetGalley, this one involves cons and heists and airships and political machinations and unrest.  It sounds really fun and is set to be released in early 2016.
• Kingfisher by Patricia McKillip: Ran across on NetGalley and looked intriguing but didn't request.
• The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie:  A Regency Era Romance.  The author Anne Gracie, who I'd never heard of, was listed in a top ten list on the Historical Romance Addicts blog and she sounded like her books would be right up my alley.

Blogging 

On the BLOG LAST WEEK:

• MONDAY: Review of The Cold Dish and Death Without Company by Craig Johnson.  These are the first two books in the Longmire mystery series.
• WEDNESDAY:  What I've Learned about Romance (Novels) - Basically about my ignorant stumbling around in the romance genre.
• FRIDAY:  Review of Skin Game by Jim Butcher.  Book 15 in the Dresden Files and the most recent book published.  That's right - I am all caught up. One series out of the 4,500 I am currently in the middle of....sigh.....

On the BLOG NEXT WEEK:

I'd like to post two reviews and some other kind of fun post.  Top Ten Tuesday this week is the top ten new-to-me authors I discovered in 2015.  This may be my favorite list to make each year so I'll definitely participate.   Would also like to post another two reviews this week I think of the Penryn and the End of Days series by Susan Ee and Beastly Bones by William Ritter.  A little heavy on the young adult but at least there's a bit of a theme.

That's it in Dork town this week.  How are things on your end?  Do you realize how many seed-life metaphors are out there?  Have a good one!!