Book Blog Conversations

I would like to try something new on my book blog. It is "conversations" via the commenting form.

Here's how it will work:

I'll have a little note in my sidebar with a link to the current discussion point. If you have read the book, or know someone who has, you can comment with you thoughts on the book. It can be an overview of the entire book or a review on a select scene. So, please, stop over and tell me what you thought.


The current point is A Tale of Two Cities.

Staycation Day Three: The Botanical Gardens

Because I didn't take pictures of the place we went to for day two, that one might be a little late in coming because I have to wait for my mom to dump her pictures after she cleans them up-- and she has a notoriously long memory stick. :)

That being said, on to day three! We went to botanical gardens mainly for a parking lot farmers market, but since there were all of four booths, we moved on to the interior.





Oh, look, there's where Obama made his speech!

Staycation Day One: Gruene

This year, instead of going to California for vacation, we decided to have a staycation. Our first destination was a little town called Gruene. Gruene is this VERY fun place just a little ways away from New Braunfels. It was founded in the 1800's by some German person, and is still pretty old-fashioned.

Most of it is made up of antique shops. It's really quite overwhelming, but there's some really old stuff. There were even buffalo bone earrings!

(No, these are not old. They're circa 2000.)

We got an old-fashioned portrait done at this place.

There was a mansion inn... pictured is their first attempt at a house. It looks like they forgot to include foundation and walls. ( It's really a root cellar).

A ship's wheel! Just like the Titanic!

This is the Mansion Inn. They actually fit 30 rooms into this little thing!

There was also an old- fashioned general store. They had license plates nailed into the floor. I personally don't think that it was such a fabulous idea-- they were slippery. Oh, and Texas license plates are not green. I messed up on photo editing.

I'm surprised that Daddy got out of the town with out a Coca-Cola something. He used to collect that type of thing and Gruene is like a heaven for Coke paraphernalia.

The general store also had some posters of 50's shows such as Andy Griffith...

...and I Love Lucy!

My favorite episode!

I'll try to post about day two tomorrow.

Georgie watching the TV

've always thought that this was very funny.

Still more book reviews

Go to All About Books to view my book review for the Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy!

A trip to the ZOO

Playing with the Lions.

A very cute little bird...I love that color!




You can't go to the zoo and not see a toucan. :)

Now, these gibbons were a story. The small black one is a little baby about one and a half years old. It was so funny how he would fight with his dad. The blond one is the mother, to keep an eye on them. :)

The calmed down to love each other.


This-- this is the fattest squirrel on record. The zookeeper said that people often mistake them for otters. (The zoo used to have the fattest sparrows on record, but they had to thin out in order to fit between the fence mesh.)


Oh, look! It's Pumba!

Birds with Bad Hair Days.

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And on a more serious note... the bald eagle. It was so sad how it would flap it's wings, wanting to fly.

This was a very lonely swan. It was all alone in a pool, so it came up to us to talk.


'Bye!

Have you read Pride and Prejudice?

If you have, I would love it if you were to comment and tell me what you thought of it and if you would recommend it. I am especially wondering about any romance (appropriate or inappropriate). I can't wait to see your responses.

P.S. If you have anything to say about any of Jane Austen's other books, I'd appreciate if you told me about them, too.

A Weekly Round-Up: This week we...

Bought some fabric for my Susan costume.


Fell back in love with Celtic Woman (at least I did, I don't think that my mom did).


Watched Fiddler on the Roof--because Dumpling was once again sick. As usual, I took pictures of the screen. I do that because I'm me. :)



And here's to banana bread--chocolate banana bread. And of course, because there are no little green fairies to do the dishes, I did them. Just thought that someday I might want to remember that.



We also went to Costco for dinner. And, after much eyelash batting, we talked our dad into getting us a frozen yogurt. My empty cup...after approximately 3 minutes. ;)

Beware of the Pit Bulls!

I don't know about you, but I've met up with some pit bulls. You have too? Then you know the routine lines spouted by the owners " oh, she's really a good dog...she just doesn't like other dogs, she's fine with kids... she won't hurt you." Don't you believe it! Now, I'm sure that much of the time, pit bulls are just fine dogs, possibly even sweet. But when they change their mind and become animals (you know, those wild things that have a reputation of being unpredictable) you had better be up a tree.

I say all this because I realized just today how strong and unpredictable they really were.

We were at the dog park were there was a pit bull puppy and a grown pit bull. The adult dog seemed to be just a normal, peacable dog, but the puppy took an immediate disliking to Patience, our beagle. It started to chase her, nipping at her flanks and on the whole terrifying her. This happened a couple of times, both of which the owners were able to call it off. Then, it happened once again. The whole thing was very fast, but it seemed to go in slow motion. The puppy started to attack. This time, it didn't just chase Patience. They stayed there, wrestling.Then, the adult pit bull got involved. That was when it really got scary. I remember seeing Patience pinned to the ground and the pit bull pulling at her ear, or neck, or both. Mommy was screaming at the owners "somebody help!" and somehow they pulled the pit bull off Patience. We picked her up and made for the gate. Luckily she wasn't hurt.

But that could have been one of the little girls. Somebody could have died. Pit bulls should be restricted from public places when unleashed.

So, take this warning: pit bulls are animals and are capable of killing!

This post has nothing to do with Sarah Palin. :)

Tagged... and I'm putting a new twist in it.

Jo-snazz has tagged me, so here are the rules. Actually, you can pick either or both of the following two ideas. I made the second one up and I hope that Joanna will forgive me.

1. Tell 6 things that you learned this past month, then tag six other people.
2. Tell 6 things about books. It can consist of favorite books, favorite genres and authors. After that, make a book list of 6 books and tag six people (I'd say that you could tag books, but they don't have blogs, now do they?)

So, I think that since I am have made up another type, I will do half and half.

Things that I have learned this past month:

-I really need to work on my sight reading.
-I actually can do math. ;)
-You shouldn't use words like "rather, somewhat or very" when writing.

Books:

-I love Charles Dickens.
-I also love Rosemary Sutcliff .
-Ancient Britain, Ireland, Scotland or Rome are my favorite genres.

Six people:

Whoever wants to do it is invited. Please just leave me a comment because I want to see your answers. :)

Six books:

The Eagle of the Ninth
Oliver Twist
The Silver Branch
The Lantern Bearers
David Copperfield
A Tale of Two Cities

A flower

Just thought that I should post something instead of staring at my computer screen and going "uhhh."


Yes, I took this picture...with my 4 megapixel camera.

Music

I find music...

To be a friend (especially my violin). I can go and pick it up, I can get used to it and I can know it like the back of my hand.

To be a channel on which to direct my thoughts. Also, to be a channel on which I can express excitement, happiness or other feelings.

I can sing my heart out (with my voice) I love to sing along with my favorite CDs and make up a story to go along with the lyrics of the song.

I am so blessed to be able to play the violin and piano.

Tagged!

Carley Rene has tagged me, so here is the result.

The rules go:

If somebody tags you, you have to tell 6 random things about yourself, then tag 6 other people. Then, you have to tell you tagger. (It's also a good idea to tell your tagged people).


First, the six random things:

1. When I am really bored at restaurants, I suck lemons
2. I HATE going into new places with new people.
3. I am a bit of a germ-o-phobe.
4. I don't generally spend money and I am always on the look-out for bargains.
5. I have a very noisy beagle. She is very sweet.
6. I can't stand summer...ahhh fall and winter.

Now for the tagging (mwahahaha):

Sarah at One Girl
Joanna at Jo-With-It's Portfolio
Raora at With God in the Bush
Grafted Branch at Restoring the Years
The King's Missionary at The King's Missionary


Can't wait to see the answers and thanks, Carley! :)