Sunday, December 26, 2021

Weekly update: OMG, RhodyTrail, an unexpected finish, and reading

 


Christmas Day was sunny and mild. While the roast beef was in the oven* we went to Lyons Woods.  Someone has hung many ornaments on a pine tree along the trail.


*The roast was delicious. I deliberately bought a big one and we will enjoy the leftovers.  





I bought 20 Agatha Christie mysteries at a fundraising auction and gave them to Stevens for Christmas. These will keep him occupied for a while.

(These 20 are not a complete set. Apparently there are 83 in this edition,) 

 

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My December One Monthly Goal was to decide what I will make for the Modern Mini Swap.   The 24 x 24 quilt needs to be mailed to my partner in February.  I think I know what I'm going to make.  Here are some of the preliminaries.



Earlier in the week I finished all the hourglass units for Clue 4 of the Rhododendron Trail mystery.   Clue 5 will be issued tomorrow (December 27). 

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Several months ago I made a set of 48 HeartStrings blocks and put them aside.  Now they're a finished quilt.  


I had fun with the back.  The top fabric is a vintage (36"w) border print.   It was probably intended for kitchen curtains or aprons.  


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I finished two good books this week. 


Daniel Hawthorne and Anthony Horowitz are invited to a literary festival on Alderney in the Channel Islands.  The ostensible purpose is to talk about their  collaboration in which the writer documents the detective inspector's famous cases. The resulting books are best-sellers.  Once on the island they soon become involved in a new murder investigation. The cast of suspects is reminiscent of a classic British crime novel and red herrings abound. Hawthorne doesn't give anything away and Horowitz bumbles along trying to come up with the solution.

The real-life Horowitz (principal writer of Foyle's War and Midsomer Murders) pulls off the tricky author-as-character device deftly. Great fun!



Animals: we love them in the abstract and (pretty much) respect them in reality until they enter our territory on their terms. That includes bears who raid campsites and enter houses (neatly turning the doorknob to open the door); deer and moose who collide with cars and trucks; Indian macaques who grab food out of people's hands; and leopards, gulls, blackbirds, stoats, and mice. Mary Roach traveled the globe to document our attempts to outwit "vertebrate pests." It's no spoiler to say that these efforts are never completely successful.

In the process Roach answers questions that may have occurred to us. She goes further and finds the answers, or more accurately explores the multi-layered responses. Her approach to investigative science reporting is both informative and very funny.

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Linking up with OMG December Oh Scrap!   Design Wall Monday Monday Making   

5 comments:

  1. Will Stevens read them in order? Love the vintage apron print! Gonna order that Horowitz book right away.

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  2. love the string quilt....never saw one that i didn't love....they are all gorgeous...and thanks for the book review....i've read horowitz before and always worthwhile...happy new year dear friend!

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  3. I could probably add a chapter to Fuzz about never completely successful attempts to keep deer, rabbits, groundhogs and raccoons out of my gardens! I could also add in an occasional skunk or possum or turkey.

    What a great gift. My hubby listens to old radio shows at night in bed and sometimes there's a Hercule Poirot mystery. I usually am sleeping through the old radio shows so usually just catch snippets of Sherlock Holmes when I wake myself up snoring or talking in my sleep.

    And what's not to love about any string quilt! I've never used that layout. What a fun back. I remember 36 inch width fabric! That was the width fabric usually came in when I started making clothes. The patterns had layout instructions for 36 inch and 45 inch widths of fabric.

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  4. Congratulations on that unexpected quilt finish, Nann! What a wonderful use of those string-y scraps. LOVE it!!

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  5. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and Happy New Year!

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