A Sort Of Snowy Saturday!!!

I really do love snow...I am certain that my best childhood memories took place sledding or ice skating or just walking through town with our dogs in the snow...

So...today we woke up to a wet white snow...it does not last very long once it hits the ground but it looks pretty for a while. This is the view from the sunroom French doors. The barn across from us is the original dairy barn for this property. It is about 8,000 square feet of space that the owners are slowly redoing.




This photo is of the last two adventurous ducks just before their evening departure. They are near the white pipe in the pond and sort of near the middle of the photo. We usually hear a few healthy quacks and then they disappear!!!




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Book Business!!!

Finished and loved this...what is it about flawed characters trying to not be flawed. This is a family story, a father/daughter story...a love story...and since Eden...the main semi-flawed character is a chef...it includes food.
Great food descriptions.

It was a lovely book.



I put Seraphina aside...which is something I rarely do...it's good...
really good but I was no longer in the mood for it...I will get back to it...

Tell me that's ok...




I am reading this...dystopian...thrillerish...tense...yes...already tense...

Enders...people over 60...can rent the body of a teenager...in order to feel young again. A teeny tiny little micro chip enables this to happen. Contracts are signed, money is paid and everything should go smoothly.

Callie signs up for three events...she is desperate to get money and shelter in order to take care of her seven year old brother. Their parents have died in this sort of horrible spore disaster...I am just getting into this book but it appears as though the USA is cut off from the rest of the world and the Enders are in control. Age determined who survived and who did not...food is scarce, water is scarce, shelter is scarce.

And something appears to be going wrong with one of Callie's events.





This book is next...reviews are amazing...my plan is to have this done by Sunday.
I wasn't sure what to expect but it seems to be described on Amazon as "a character study and a courtroom nail biter".
My copy is from Sami @ JKS Publications.

It's supposed to be blustery and snowy tomorrow...I can't wait...breakfast, lunch and dinner are ready to go...

Sunday morning we will trek to Whole Foods...one is opening very close to us on March 11th...we can't wait...we drive about 45 minutes to get to our closest one through really hectic highways and roads so we can't wait for this new one...

iPads are fired up...

Ducks are fed...

Date night tonight at Sovano Bistro and this weekend is on!!!

Do you have a working plan this weekend or are you winging it?




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Ducks!!! We've Got Them!!!

Why are ducks so cute?

There is a platoon of ducks by our bird feeders...they are slipping and sliding on the snow and then racing to the pond and then back to the feeders again.

I do believe one duck is standing guard over a feeder of cracked corn on the ground.

The rest of the ducks seem to be in a line patiently waiting their turn for a nibble or two.

It is so sweet to watch...

They move really quickly and I can watch it all from the sunroom windows.

It's a bit unusual to see ducks around but the pond isn't frozen...so they are enjoying every minute.

I am on alert and will refill the feeders ASAP...as soon as the boss duck gives me a signal.

I feel as though I am one with nature...or at least with the ducks.





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Either I'm In Or I'm Out...

In my mind...NetGalley is like Project Runway...you're either in or out and it's always a surprise...
and it is fun...
and suspenseful...
and like waiting for a package in the mail. You never know if that email will grant or deny a request to read and review the books you want to read and review.

I love that there is an "expiration" date on the book...it motivates me...
I need motivation...
It would be even better if they sent some Godiva chocolates when a book is finished.

Mmmm...

I also love that once a book is read...I delete it from my iPad2.

No clutter...no figuring out what to do with it...press delete and bye bye book!!!

The down side is when my party invitation doesn't come...
When the book I think is perfect for me is refused by the publisher for reasons unknown!!!

Usually the reasons are that I don't live in Canada or the UK, I am not a librarian or I don't have the correct profile...

I am so bad with rejection of any kind...

Sigh...

Lately I am on a roll with NetGalley...with luscious books coming my way...the people at NetGalley are helpful, skilled and kind. They even checked over my "bio" to make sure it is what it should be...

If you use an iPad, NetGalley books format beautifully on Bluefire Reader. I love reading them this way.

For me...it's all about good formatting.

Here are a few of my recent NetGalley books.




























Now I need to get to them before their expiration date!!!

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Ding! Dong! The Tree Is Gone! And How That Leads To A House Cleansing!!!

There is a huge empty space in our living room...we can walk straight from the family room to the entry way to the front door without getting stuck with pine needles...

It's so freeing!!!

And the funny thing is that although we haven't watered the tree since January 1st...it wasn't dry and it still smelled so Christmassy!!!

The tree removal then led to rearranging the living room. That was fun!!!

I love baskets and have them everywhere. Some were filled with lovely magazines that I didn't think I could part with...
I am so happy to say that yesterday I parted with them...now I even have empty baskets!!!



I still have some that are pillow filled.




And some that are yarn filled. Sorry about the cord...



And some are filled with my treasures...bobbins, wooden hearts, stars and watermelons...am I the only person with a watermelon collection?



The basket with watermelons was my grandmother's laundry basket!!!
Isn't that cool?





Lucy has a sweatshirt basket...which is really her bike basket.



Guilty secret...there is a candy basket...this was my grandma's picnic basket!!!



Today...magazines are gone.

Baskets are ordered.

And the dust is dusted!!!

This house is cleansed!!!

And tomorrow is a new day!!!



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Super Bowl Recap...

Well...we didn't even eat all of our scheduled fun foods...we ate wings and veggies and then we were not hungry any more.

No nachos...

No nitrate free hot dogs...

However we did eat our amazing chocolate ganache cupcakes at half time...yum...

I read this...




It was scary good...I love this author's Nicholas Flammel series...this one is for adults and is fantastic.

Thank you Sami and JKS Publications.

Den and Lucy spent most of the afternoon and evening doing this...



and this...



and sometimes even this...


And I learned how to pour a Guinness!!!



I am currently lost in this book...



Dragons, half dragons, music, dragons who fold up into humans and need to moisturize their skin/scales at night...and secrets...this one is by a debut author and is so far mesmerizing...Christopher Paolini fans will love this book. I have read amazing things about this book and so far each page is a delight as I get deeper and deeper into it.

Thank you Random House Children's books via NetGalley!!!



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Super Bowl Sunday Or An Excuse To have Snacks For Dinner!!!

This day has a definite food plan and schedule...
In the oven right now gently warming...amazing wings from Fresh Market...that's lunch...
Crisp carrots, celery and green peppers will provide us with essential veggies to sustain energy for this long fun day!!! And...an almost homemade blue cheese dressing for dipping...


At close to 4 o'clock we...Dennis, Patty and Lucy will convene in the kitchen to make healthy nachos...whole grain corn tortillas that we will bake in the oven and add black beans and seasoned ground turkey and jalapeños and avocado and black olives and sour cream and salsa and whatever else you toss onto nachos...

Den is the Nacho Man...he has a nacho plan...lol...



Later...if we still have the munchies...we have really good hot dogs and baked beans...nitrate fee hot dogs and whole grain buns...what could taste better than a nitrate free hot dog?

Are you eating anything snackaliciously yummy today?







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