Finally Heading South!

We are finally heading to Florida to see our new granddaughter.  I can’t wait.  We’ll be driving through the night. So I have my reader loaded so I can read.  Will post some pictures from Miami Beach.

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the TalibanI Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai I found this book to be rather dry. But that may be due to cultural differences. I just felt that the author was distancing herself from the reader. She is a very brave young woman and her charity work is inspired. I give the book 3.5 stars.

Catching Up With Book Reviews

The Courage TreeThe Courage Tree by Diane Chamberlain

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. It’s the story of a little girl with end stage renal failure and her courageous journey. She survived an auto accident and then a trek through the woods in West Virginia. It’s a work of fiction and I think well written. I gave it 5 stars.

Awesome Bill from Dawsonville: My Life in NASCARAwesome Bill from Dawsonville: My Life in NASCAR by Bill Elliott

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am a big NASCAR fan and Bill Elliott was one of my favorite drivers. I am now following his so Chase who is competing in the Cup series. Actually, my favorite driver is Kasey Khane, who was Bill’s teammate when he started driving in a Cup car. Anyway, I found the book entertaining and full of information about the way NASCAR does business. I give it 5 stars.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s “Breastplate” Prayer

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
I bind this day to me for ever.
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan river;
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;*
I bind unto myself today.
I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the cherubim;
The sweet ‘well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the Prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.
I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.
I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.
Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.
Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

I don’t know where the past couple of weeks have gone. I have had a migraine for one thing. It just lasted for days and days. Needless to say I was useless.  And I have fallen way behind on my reading challenges.  Some of the books I put on hold in the library never came in, so February’s Time Gone By challenge was a dud.  I have finally started reading again.  My migraine finally subsided.  March’s challenge is “Courage.”  I have finished my first book in this challenge and my review is at the end of this post.

Anyway, my guild meeting was on the 8th. It included our business meeting and then a program/demo. It’s the first meeting I have been to in quite a while. Except for our Outreach workshop.  Today was our Meet The Quilters Program in North Carolina.  At least in our part of NC.  Augusta Cole was the guest speaker and the show and tell was great.  There are several guilds in our area of NC/SC.  Each guild has a set amount of places for members to attend.  When you arrive you sit with quilters that are not in your guild to encourage an exchange of ideas which promotes community involvement, fellowship and talent.  Of course there are door prizes and raffles.

I have been sewing for my new granddaughter Isabella. She turned 1 month old on the 10th. Here she is with her daddy (my son).

Isn’t she beautiful? I have been making her fancy pants. I hate to see the disposable diaper showing under little dresses. Don’t you? I found a free pattern online. Here’s one link: https://www.madeeveryday.com/2015/05/tutorial-new-improved-the-perfect-diaper-nappy-cover.html.  This tutorial is for a plain diaper cover.  It’s really simple to make.  There is also a video tutorial to go with this pattern.  Here is a link to a pattern for a ruffled diaper cover.
http://mellysews.com/2015/04/sew-a-diaper-cover.html  The free pattern is for 0 to 3 months only.  There is a multi sized pattern for sale on the site too.

Our plans to go meet our new granddaughter have changed multiple times.  For one reason, the Christening was moved to April 2nd, for another, we have lost the place we were going to stay.  I am so disappointed.  So we have decided to leave on the 24th and drive to Orlando where my girlfriend lives and stay with her.   We will drive over to Miami Beach for a day and see the kids, then head back that evening.   We will then drive over for the Christening.  I’m not sure how much time we will get to spend with Bud, Karina and Bella, but we’ll spend as much as we can.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by HerselfIncidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself by Harriet Jacobs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book because of the March challenge “Courage”. It is the story of one slave girl’s humiliating, degrading life, and her struggle for freedom, and the courage and conviction it took to make it to freedom.

Where Does The Time Go?

I have said this to myself so often in the past twenty years. I never felt this way when I was young and just starting on the journey of my adult life. But as I hit middle age, I began to realize that time does slip away. In the blink of an eye my babies graduated from high school then college then got married and gave me beautiful grandchildren.

Now I find that my days are filled with things I never had time for. I read a lot, I quilt, and spend time playing around with photography. I like to play on the computer. Oh the hours I can spend just playing spider solitaire! To be honest, I don’t know how I ever worked full time, raised three kids and kept my house clean.

My point is, that time doesn’t wait for anyone. Along with taking care of our bodies, we must also take care of our souls. We need to receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Hold Communion often. We need to spend time in prayer with Our Lord. Remember what St. Therese said, “The world is thy ship and not thy home.” We are here on this earth for a short time. During this voyage we must prepare for it’s ending.

BQ Guild Day

Yesterday was the Community Outreach workshop for my quilt guild. Myself and Janet are the co-chairs of this committee. I usually handle the baby quilts and Janet handles the rest. But we do work together on everything. The baby quilts are separated from our other charities because the kits take a long time to put together. My hubby Gary helps me in making them. There were 43 of us there to work on the firehouse program quilts. We created 185 strip blocks. Janet furnished lunch. We had salad, French bread and home made manicotti. There were a few treats for after lunch too.

Our county has decided that in each fire district, one firehouse will be manned 24/7. We are making quilts for the beds for the firefighters.
I am excited about this project because I don’t think firefighters get the recognition or the thanks they deserve. I know that I could never walk into a fire and these people do it on a regular basis. They are heros!

Review: The Witches: Salem, 1692

The Witches: Salem, 1692 The Witches: Salem, 1692 Stacy Schiff
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I have given up on this one. I just couldn’t get into it. The subject matter interests me, but I am not a fan of the author’s style. I know that this is basically a history book, and usually I can persevere through anything, but not this time. Too much I want to read that I know I will enjoy to keep struggling with this.

I Forgot A Review

I was just updating my reading data and I realized I never posted this review. 🙂

Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood (Sisterhood, #4)Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I usually listen to audio books when I go to bed. This was a good choice for bedtime listening. I thought the book was OK. I guess if I had read all of the series in order it might have been better for me. Just giving it 3.5 stars.

View all my reviews