Lent

Into Day 6 of what amounts to basically the Paleo Diet - despite my notorious sweet tooth, I'm not jonesing for sugar, I've been eating apples and pineapples and the odd banana, which comes across as INCREDIBLY sweet when one's cane sugar intake is one spoon in the first morning cup of tea.  I'm NOT liking unsweetened ice tea AT ALL and seriously wondering how I can get through the summer without that particularly Southern liquid crack.  Lots of water, I guess - but I'll worry about that when it gets hot.

I have experienced a dramatic cessation of my chronic grumpy tummy starting on the third day without grains.  I have taken exactly 1 stomach pill in three days now.

I have been using dairy - cream in my tea, also yoghurt - I had a bunch bought when I started this and after discussing with a friend, since dairy doesn't bother me at all it seems, the verdict was that it's OK.  Vanilla yoghurt over frozen blueberries is particularly wonderfully yummy.

And on the upside, I have to brownbag it, as the grain and sugar free options are slim around here, so perhaps that will save a bit of cash.  Liking my own cooking is a bit of an advantage with this vs. the usual being my downfall.

Day 62, Book 30; plus knitting

To Sail A Darkling Sea by John Ringo.

I have gotten past the point where the shawl repeatedly kicked me in the fanny to the point of ripping out the - you guessed it - 13th repeat at least three times.

Shawl will be taking a back seat to a cardigan for the March madness.  I have some Bergere de France worsted in black or an inky navy blue and I'm making a cardigan that's roughly based on a free Lion Brand pattern that I'm altering a bit - I only want one button and I'll be using a loop, not a buttonhole for it and I'm making the ribbing at the bottom about three inches deep instead of the skimpy inch the pattern called for.  That said, I got the left and right fronts cast on together on one circular and the ribbing and the first three rows of stockingette done.

Day 57, Book 29

Timetraveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer. 

Day 55, Book 28

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan - The Scarlet Letter meets The Handmaid's Tale meets the late 21st century. Well worth reading.

Day 50, books 25, 26 & 27

Red 1-2-3 by John Katzenbach
The Other Woman by Hank Phillippi Ryan
Blood & Beauty by Sarah Dunan

Our snow days really cut into reading because we worked from very early until - for me -8 pm.  I also have to start devoting time to a certification course. Ugh.

Day 36, Books 21, 22, 23 & 24

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian
The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne
A Thread of Grace by  Mary Doris Russell
Swan by Frances Mayes

At this rate I am more on track for 250  books this year, but reading time has been shorter than usual lately.

Day 29, Books 19 &20

The Whole Enchilada by Diane Mott Davidson and an anthology titled Dangerous Women, which was a mixed bag but included a short story in the Outlander universe by DIana Gabaldon.

Day 25, Book 18

Dead Ever After, by Charlaine Harris. The end of the Sookie Stackhouse series.

Day 24, Book 17

Timetraveler's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer. Fascinating.

Good news on homefront - obnoxious neighbor found guilty of disturbing the peace - judge gave as much punishment as allowed and warned him hard.

Day 23, Book 16

"Mad about the Boy" by Helen Fielding.
Plus, drunken aggressive neighbor found guilty at bench trial. Terms of probation? Among others, leave me (and others) alone!!!!

Day 18, Books 13, 14 and 15

Critical Mass, by Sara Paretsky
A Pledge of Silence, by Flora Solomon - this book didn't know what it wanted to be - historical fiction, romance, whatever. The story of the Amrrican nurses interned by the Japanese in the Phillipines deserves better focus.
Honor and Betrayal, by Patrick Robinson - SEALS betrayed by command.

Day 17, Book 12

Deceived by Randy Wayne White. Set in the Sanibel Island area of Florida.

Day 15, books 10 and 11

A Fool and His Honey and Poppy Done to Death both by Charlaine Harris, both nice fluffy murder mysteries.

On to chewier reading know that I'm off the knitting binge.

Pretty in Pink

There was no reading last night to speak of, just a rush to finish the blanket and surprises for Chloe's new baby's impending arrival

Had to bring this to work for the beauty shot  - it's not small and I knew this conference table would be the perfect place to lay it out.  Sadly, I did not get it blocked perfectly, it's got some ruffling, but it's a baby blanket, not a lace shawl, and baby will not mind.

The extras for Chloe's tesoro are:

wee tiny booties with mother of pearl buttons.  Too cute.

And:

A roll brim hat with corkscrew curl tops.

I'll be taking this to the post office at lunch and getting it on the way. 

Day 12, Book 9

Dead Over Heels by Charlaine Harris from back when she wrote fluffy murder mysteries and not vampire stories.  She nails small-town South perfectly and Sunday evenings - except for Downton Abbey - are fluffy reading time.  I'm gaining on goal.

Day 12, Book 8

The Litter of the Law, by Rita Mae Brown.  Yup, pretty light reading, but I've been a fan of hers for a long time and even her fluffiest fiction has good characters and plots.  The element where the animals are all communicating unheard by the people is an amusing bit for anyone who has ever been servant to a dog or cat or horse and wondered what they were thinking about us ...

Book 7, Day 10

The Broker, by John Grisham. Kindle, borrowed from library.  Decent read.

Book 6, day 10

Vicious Circle by Wilbur Smith.  He used to write a rich, textured plot and engaging characters, but this was  full of cardboard characters and wooden dialogue. Sad - I think he phoned this one in and his editors didn't do him any favors. Pass on it.

book 5, day 9

Kindle freebie, Brightside by Mark Tullius.  Worth what I paid for it because the author took an interesting premise (telepaths rounded up and confined together from the rest of society) and did little to nothing with what could have been fascinating.

Book 4, day 9

The Shadow Tracer, Meg Gardiner;  garden variety thriller, OK read, nothing special.

Onward.