Happy 4th! It's been a great weekend - and it's not over yet. I finished reading two great books, made some cards, took a hike and enjoyed the outdoors, watched the Tour d'France, and there is still food, friends and fireworks yet to come.
The first book I finished was Irene Nemirovsky's All Our Worldly Goods: A Novel of Love Between the Wars. I was very glad to receive and ARC of this. I didn't like her Suite Francaise which was so popular several years ago, so I probably wouldn't have picked up this book on my own. Set in France, it is the story of Pierre and Agnes and their families starting before WWI and ending during WWII. All of the characters were so compelling that I had to keep reading to find out what would happen to them. This is a book that I will recommend to everyone.
The second book I finished yesterday. We drove up to Dark Mountain so Tim and some of his friends could ride. I took my lawn chair and sat in the shade of a tree at the ranger station and read. They finished their ride just as I finished my book. I was supposed to have finished Melissa Senate's The Love Goddess' Cooking School last week for the Manic Mommies Book Club, but I couldn't get it done in time. At first it was slow reading and very predictable. Holly's life has fallen apart so she visits her grandmother on Blue Crab Island, Maine. Her grandmother dies and leaves Holly her cooking school. Holly's first class all bring their problems with them. But then the book got much better as Holly and her students help each other learn how to deal with their problems. None of it seemed contrived like several other books I've read with similar plots. Senate did a fabulous job.
So today, I don't know what book to pick up next. So I made a few cards for my stash. Butterflies and bling, what can be better to send birthday wishes? I had the Riding Hood Red card bases laying around unused from last year's Christmas cards, so I started with them. I copied the design from the new SU catalog, but used what I had. The newsprint designer paper is SU, and the butterflies are punch from old SU designer paper that I had that needed to be used up. The birthday greeting is from Birthday Whimsy, and punched out. I did add a couple of dots of bling to the greeting. It was a quick card to whip up.
