Musing Monday

Rebecca from Just One More Page is hosting Muse Monday.

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about multitasking.

Do you – or are you even able – to do other things while you read? Do you knit, hold a conversation, keep an eye on the TV? Anything?

Until recently I always read before bedtime, in bed, no music, no T.V. on, not even anyone at home, just my cat and me. But, since I do so much traveling by public transit, it means a lot of waiting. So I've begun to tune out passersby, people in the waiting room, and bus depots (which have that muzak piped in). I had a hard time at first, but I had to train myself. I've also gotten to be able to watch T.V. while reading, can't be something I'm interested in, like "LOST". My next goal, to teach myself to read while the bus is moving, I'm o.k. on the train, even during rush hour,but the movement of the bus just doesn't work for me yet.

My nest challenge, audio books, in my ears.

Puckerrrr up!

Well you know that I've been talking about baking a pie. Well today is the day. A million years ago, I joined a cookbook club, you know one of those "buy 5 books for 99cents. Well at 13 or 14 yrs. old that was quite a bargain. One of those books is one that is still on my cookbook shelf. Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Cookbook. Well I've made almost everything in that book. I have my favorites, like éclairs and lemon pie. Lemon Pie it is today. I'm roasting some vegetables to make my polenta dish as well. So the house will smell like a special occasion is about to happen. There might even be some cranberries with Cointreau (if I haven't drank it). Love that drink! After the cookbook club I've joined the Mystery Book Club, and Sasha is now enjoying reading old mysteries in his English class. And then the embroidery book club, and quilting book club, and of late scrappers stuff. I haven't found a painting book club that interests me, I'm still all over the map in my interests in that avenue. Maybe gardening should be next? But for now a SKY HIGH Lemon Meringue Pie sounds good. MMMMMMMMMM!

Tuesdays lily

Today's lily is the Stella D'or. I had to buy this lily because my middle name is Stella. It's a purply burgandy one, a little shorter than the bright orange of yesterday. It too is in my "white garden". The little tag on it read "bright yellow" (so I planted it next to my orange one). If you read Leslie Moran's blog on July 30, she did a bit about what's in a name, and I at some point talked about what flower would I be if I were one. Stella D'or is o.k. with me. I have such difficulty choosing plants. I want them all. I thought I would do a white garden so at the end of the day I could sit outside with my book light and read by the soothing riple of the pond. I read somewhere it was called a midnight garden, perfect timing for me as that's usually when I get to sit down. Well ... I can't do that with orange and burgandy flowers, but I do enjoy them during the day. I've now settled on some white birch twigs, (which I hope I can coax my ivy to cling to) with some mini lights. It sure makes those lilies stand out.

Great Dame

The one thing I can count on is Agatha Christie. I love Agatha. I almost named my daughter after her. She's not as well known as Mary Westmacott, the name she used to write her romance novels. I just finished reading Black Coffee, I know how it will all work out, but none the less at the end of a difficult day, it's like a comfy pair of slippers to slip into a Hercule Poirot mystery. I know I will never write 80 novels, I would have to live a long long time, and I know that I will not be a great dame, but she inspires me, the persistence, the very British attitude, and the in between History lesson. Love it, love it, love it. A ride on the Orient Express is the the Biggest thing on my Bucket List, and there better be a murder, and no gypsies involved please.

Dame Agatha Christie, Wikepedia.

In celebration of friends

It's almost the end of May. Spring is here. For a number of years, 18 to be exact, I have been a volunteer in my children's school. Even when my boys went on to Secondary school and then on to university I stayed with the elementary school. I just didn't want to grow up. I was involved first in library, then arts, gardening clubs, and lately in faith development. I'm not sure if any of the activities were meant for the students. I loved them all. I think I read most of the books in the library, I certainly entered them into the data bank, I glued, painted and stapled everything I wanted to. The pizza day moms and I planted a wacky garden in the front, that by the way is doing beautifully, it has no order or rhyme or reason, it just blooms with only the heavens looking after it. As far as the faith development goes. Well, I have met some wonderful people. We sort of loose touch through the school year but come May we all seem to reconnect, not on purpose. Some wonderful event brings us together, we celebrate our faith, with the students, some of them grown up. We sing, we hug, we laugh, we even work our butts off. But a glorious time. Tomorrow is a time for celebration with my friends. I am so looking forward to our day. Bravo for friends.