Shelfie

 

When the public library looks like a shelf of books... (Kansas City, Missouri).

Happy Things

Among the things making me happy at the moment: my husband, my roses, Hilary Mantel's The Mirror and the Light, my sweet friends, Trader Joe's dark chocolate peanut butter cups, my husband, the sunny weather...

View From Here

Nancy

 So cool to see such a large run of Nancy Drews at the thrift shop...

 A few were of my vintage (1970s), but there were also some from the 1950s and 1960s as well. Loved these so much when I was a kid...

I mean...Nancy with bagpipes!

Rainy Day Solution

Rainy and chilly day? The only thing for it is to curl up with a can't-put-it-down book like this one (anything by Kate Atkinson is HIGHLY recommended--Life After Life is on my top 10 list) and a hot, milky, sweet cuppa. Heavenly!

Pass the Books

Our new neighborhood library--many years in the making--had a grand opening on Saturday. They had a "Book Brigade"--1,800 people passing the "last" 200 books (they were clearly selected for the purpose: paperback classics). The last book to be passed was The Hobbit.

I went to the library today--while it is very, very nice (much bigger, with more seating, study rooms, community rooms, a Friends of the Library shop, etc.), I will miss the old and small midcentury (1961) building.

Blue Friday

 No Black Friday nonsense for us--we visited the Cabrillo National Monument...

 ...visited a wonderful bookstore (owned by friends), La Playa Books (San Diego peeps, you really must go!)...

...and had tea at Bread and Cie, all in the company of our friend who came to share Thanksgiving with us.

Perfect!

Flowers Flowers Flowers

 

 I ordered some dahlia tubers from Floret Farm, a fantastic small flower grower in Washington. Erin Benzakein is amazing, and in another life, I would do what she does (hard hard work and all). She has also written a beautiful book, pictured here. (That's stock, above, one of my fave flowers--the fragrance is wonderful.)

 And my tubers arrived this week! Yay (there are three of them in that bag--they sold out in minutes, so I count myself fortunate to have snagged these).

And free seeds, too! I happen to have grown all three of these flowers in the past and am very happy to have these seeds for another go-round.

Happy dance!

Book Overload

 I seem to have accumulated a TON of vintage books and pamphlets that I will never be able to list in my Etsy shops, so we're planning a book sale on Saturday. If you need a book about cake decorating, come on down!

Older = Better

I love vintage sewing books: they contain the same sewing instructions and advice as modern books but have MUCH nicer illustrations. The design of the cover of the Butterick book on the left is fab!

Fun Saturday Outing

We had a Fun Saturday Outing on, well, Saturday! We went to La Mesa where we had beer at Bolt Brewing (where that cool red car was); had Mexican food; and then to a bookstore. Fun!

Not the same as a Fun Fall Outing--fingers crossed that we still get to have one (hint, hint, Mr. B.).

Little Stack o' Heaven

A big ol' stack of fat library books, just waiting to be read...oh, yeah!

Books Books Books

 So, I may have a few too many vintage craft books...maybe not! How can I have too many when they have such fabulous illustrations?

I mean, really...who can resist? We're not even going to discuss the modern sewing books and all of the knitting books. Ahem.

P.S. Please forgive the mess up there...not only was I reorganizing the craft books, but the contractors who are working on our bathroom needed closet access, so many things from the office closet were on the floor. Ack!

Summer Reading

The public library's summer reading program has ended, and I got some prizes! Yay (yes, I am an eight-year-old!).

When I was a kid, I LOVED the library's summer reading program. My mom will tell you that I never won because I was reading "chapter books" rather than picture books, so I didn't read 57 like some of the other kids, but it didn't matter because it was FUN!

To this day I still keep a notebook and write down everything I read, month by month. It's nice to look back over the year and see what all you've read.

Mobile Books

A bookmobile! I haven't seen one in ages...I love that books come to you, and I hope there will always be bookmobiles...

An Age-Old Profession

(No, not THAT profession, silly!) I'm talking about book binding. B. and I paid a visit to Frank Lehmann, a book binder, an artisan/craftsman who basically follows the same procedures as bookbinders have done for centuries. His tools are amazing, and quite beautiful. (Those above and below are for stamping leather bindings...)

 Rolls of paper for endpapers...

 Gigantic paper presses...

Various tools of the trade...

Twine/thread to sew up printed signatures before binding.

So very cool...I have the utmost admiration for those who carry on the noble traditions of the past: if they aint' broke, don't fix them. Carry on!