old friends...

I hadn't seen the two coyotes on the dike for a very long while, but they're back! I managed to get a picture of one of them -- unfortunately a long ways off...



Here's the zoomed in version:

lots of rain...

...makes for a washed-out hiking trail.



Not complaining though -- it's always nice to get outside.

Friday Five: Books!

This week's Friday Five about books and reading got me motivated to fire up the ol' blog! (Thanks, Jan!)


1. What books have you recently read? Tell us your opinion of them.
For Christmas, Doug (Christina's boyfriend) gave me Steve Martin's An Object of Beauty, a novel about the business side of art. The book features reproductions of artworks which are cleverly worked into the story. It is ultimately a morality tale, and I predict that the novel will be made into a movie in the future. I loooove Steve Martin.

I am in the middle of reading (and enjoying!) The Book of General Ignorance, which was a Christmas gift from Christina. The subtitle is "Everything You Think You Know is Wrong" -- and that pretty much sums up what the book is about! It seems we have all acquired a lot of misinformation during our lives.

2. What books are awaiting your available time to be read?
My next novel will be The Mysterious Benedict Society, which looks like an easy, fun read. David recently purchased it as a book that he and I could share. I'll read it first, since he is up to his eyeballs in college reading.

3. Have any books been recently recommended?
Amazon recommends allllll sorts of books to me. :)

4. What genre of books are your favorite, along with some titles and/or authors you like best?
Hmmm.... my interests are pretty wide, so it's hard to pick a 'favorite'.

5. What have you read lately that you have a strong urge to recommend? (or to condemn?)
My 'stock' recommendation is Willa Cather's My Antonio, consistently in my top 5 books of all time.

Friday Five: Who or What Lifts You Up?

For this week's Friday Five, Mary Beth, inspired by the singing of a colleague, asks:

What lifts you up when you are low or troubled? Who helps you remember that you are not alone, it's getting better all the time, etc.? Your five responses can be people you know, people you DON'T know, music, places, foods, scripture, surprises, something you do for someone else. It could be a pair of slippers. It could be a glass of water.

Bonus: Do you like the song "Jingle Bell Rock?" If you do, who do you prefer to hear sing it?

1. Christina and David! They are so much fun to hang around -- and always so thoughtful. (e.g. When they came home for Christmas break last night, they brought flowers and a red velvet cake for our anniversary gift!)

(picture taken this summer at Uncle Maynard's food pantry program in South Dakota)

2. Cats! Sure, Soots is a little 'goofy upstairs', but you gotta love him!

(Soots in a rare moment of calm lap-sitting with Christina)

3. Music! Have I mentioned I like Carole King? ;)

(picture from Mother's Day 2010 concert)

4. My bike! A good bike ride is always uplifting, although this time of year I don't get out nearly as much as I would like.

5. This time of year I looove Christmas books and movies.



Bonus: I'm not that much of a country music fan, but I do like the Randy Travis version of Jingle Bell Rock -- mostly because Mike likes it so much!

blogger meetup!

Yay! It was great to meet Mompriest! And of course it is always fun to see Serena! Here we are...

for all you cat people out there

there's still time...

...for a November blog post! (Looks like I am now in the once-a-month blog club!)

Anywhoo... got some snow right before Thanksgiving. Here is Soots experiencing his first snow:
(And yes, he is wearing his leash and asks you not to make fun of him for that.)



Luckily, C&D made it home for Thanksgiving -- which kept the "Thanks" in Thanksgiving for me!

Stay tuned for December's post! :)