The Birdhouse by Kelly Simmons

When Ann's granddaughter Ellie, asks for her help on a school project on family history, Ann thinks this will be the perfect opportunity to spend time with her. But as they work together uncovering the past, questions about Ann's early life begin to emerge. What did happen to Ann's first child? Was her life with Theo quite as idyllic as it seemed from the outside? And what happened to cause her mother and father's acrimonious split, can she really trust her mother's version of events? And as secrets from the past seem in danger of being exposed, new secrets emerge about Ann's son and daughter-in-law, secrets which threaten to tear the whole family apart. As events unfold in the present day and we learn what happened during a summer thirty years ago, Simmons depicts the unravelling of a family in this gripping psychological thriller.

Love, love, love this book!  That's my highest rating. :)  There are actually two stories within this book - the present, when Ann is trying to connect with her granddaughter and battling signs of dementia; and the past, with it's secrets.  As the reader is enjoying the present story, bits of the past surface slowly enough to create intrigue and tension, but frequently enough to avoid frustration.  Ms. Simmons is a master of pacing.

Frequent visitors know that Alzheimer's disease is an issue our family is dealing with and one I find, perhaps ghoulishly, fascinating - especially the early stages.  The book is written from Ann's point of view, so when her moments of confusion or memory loss are revealed, we experience the agitation and disorientation with her - never quite sure if her recall is accurate.  Is she experiencing the beginnings of dementia or is she being "gaslighted" by her family?

Through the two stories and time frames, we see Ann - and she sees herself - as almost two separate people.  That sense of disconnection, combined with the memory questions, makes an absorbing story.  I can't wait to read more from Ms. Simmons.

"Zenitizing" Life

I've never been a fan of noise or speed.  Oh, yes, I have my moments when I crank the car radio and just enjoy driving down an empty highway, but the older I get, the more pronounced my aversion to noise and rushing.  In Dave's car, as in most newer vehicles, the radio remains on after the key is switched off.  I hate that!  When the car is no longer running, the radio volume is jarring, and I like that little moment of quiet - just for a second or two - before I open the door.

I seem to be looking for more of those moments - a more "zen" lifestyle.  A little over a year ago, Dave and I moved to Green Acres - a two-acre patch of ground away from town, with a 2-bedroom house.  We chose the place mostly for availability and price, but the move has had some added benefits.  Moving to a smaller house, and one without children at home, necessitated major downsizing of possessions. (More on that topic in a future post.)  The new location has offered unexpected opportunities to "zenitize" our life.

I recently discovered a website called ZenHabits and I'm working my way through years of information on how to declutter not only your house, but your time, your body and your mind.  One article gave the following list called "A Brief Guide to Life" and I decided to rate myself against it and see how I'm doing and where I could improve.


less TV, more reading - DVR is the best invention for helping to break the couch potato habit.  I deliberately choose almost everything I watch and record it so I can watch when it's convenient (and FF past commercials).  Cuts down on mindless clicking and wasting time on shows I really don't care about.  We're getting more mindful of our viewing choices and comfortable without the TV as constant background noise.

less shopping, more outdoors - I'm trying to avoid "recreational shopping", which means don't go into a store unless you specifically need something.  Browsing is the No. 1 cause of all that clutter.  I've also never been big on the outdoors.  Green Acres has changed that - to an extent.  I love spending time in the garden, or just sitting outside to read without hearing multiple a.c. units, lawn mowers, traffic etc.  I can actually hear and identify the birds.  Peaceful evenings with a fire are amazing!

less clutter, more space - We've made a good start, but we need to make further cuts in the "stuff" we own.

less rush, more slowness - Busy-ness has become a status symbol. As a mother, if you don't have every minute of your kids' lives, and consequently your own, booked to overflowing with classes, sports, clubs, or scheduled activities at home, you are considered negligent. With our kids grown, I no longer face that standard.  Moving cut out my social and church obligations and I'm being very selective about replacing them.

less consuming, more creating - Fail! I need to look for areas where I could be making this trade-off.  

less junk, more real food - Nutrisystem and my weight loss journey have made this a necessity.  And raising our own garden has added to the pleasure of eating fresh food.  I have a different attitude about the junk that used to comprise my diet.

less busywork, more impact - This one requires more thought. What constitutes "busywork"?

less driving, more walking - Living twelve miles from town doesn't make walking to work or on errands practical, but I've been logging miles and miles on the treadmill.  I could make more effort to park and walk to all errands within an area.

less noise, more solitude - Noise isn't limited to the TV and car radio.  There is the "noise" of technology.  I can easily occupy hours with blogging, Twitter, Words With Friends, Pinterest, and a dozen other electronic activities - usually all at once.  I need to do better at unplugging and focusing on reading, prayer, face-to-face time with Dave (and kids when they're around).  There is also the "noise" of pointless drama.  I hoped that we had waved goodbye to that noise with the last high school graduation, but it continues on.    So many people are determined to make life strident. We recently attended a "nut fry" (if you don't know what that is, it involves frying the personal parts of a former bull) and spent the evening playing cards and visiting.  But the arguments, cursing, and general "drama" over who was wearing what or going where and who with spoiled the evening.  Solitude doesn't have to mean loneliness, but I seriously need some friends my own age who are beyond the racket of all that.

less focus on the future, more on the present - Guilty!  I spend too much time on the future - both fretting and anticipating.  Need greater focus on the joys of here and now.

less work, more play -  For me, the key is in standards and focus.  I like a neat house, and decluttering makes that easier, but I would rather have a little dust and more time for pleasurable pursuits.  However, I need to be better at setting a block of time to focus on chores so I can focus on play when they're done.  Trying to do chores between chapters or during commercials keeps from focusing on either.  Multi-tasking is the hottest trend, but not always a good thing.

less worry, more smiles. - Progress on all of the above would make this one easier.


How do you "zenitize" your life?

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary . . .

. . . how does your garden grow?  Very well, thank you!  This is our second year of gardening and much more successful than last summer.  And it's a little silly how excited we are about it.  We walk out to the garden every evening after work to gaze on our hard work (mostly Dave's hard work - but, hey, I drew out the diagram and decided what to plant in each row) and see how much it's grown.  We had some issues with Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter helping themselves.  They ate our entire pea crop, but we didn't care enough to replant.  But when they started on the green beans, something had to give.  After the addition of a 2 ft. fence, the rabbit children are safe from Mr. McGregor, and we're enjoying fresh beans for supper every night.  
We also have tomatoes:

Black Cherry and Cherokee Purple tomatoes

Great White, Roma and Peach tomatoes

and watermelon

and canteloupe

and because Dave grew up in Texas and Oklahoma, we have Okra.  Not only did I never eat okra growing up, I had no clue how okra grew.  So for those of you from non-okra families, this is an okra plant and those little spiky things you can barely see in the center of the leaves will eventually be the okra that you eat.  That is, if you have a clue how to cook okra, which you probably won't if you never ate it growing up.  So we're all in for some fun.  

 

We also have lettuce, spinach, yellow squash, zuchini and some puny peppers that may or may not ever produce.  How is your garden growing?

Meet Me at the Movies: Double Feature

I watched two of my chosen classic movies this week - one an all-time hit and one a total flop.  First the flop:

Kiss Them For Me
Three decorated Navy pilots finagle a four day leave in San Francisco. They procure a posh suite at the hotel and Commander Crewson, a master of procurement, arranges to populate it with party people. Lieutenant Wallace is trying to get the pilots to make speeches to rally the homefront at shipyard magnate Eddie Turnbill's plants, but they're tired of the war and just want to have fun. While Crewson begins falling in love with Turnbill's fiancée Gwinneth Livingston, he tries to ignore the distant call of war.

Not even Cary Grant could save this bomb.  Silly plot, unbelievable situations, and Jayne Mansfield's annoying voice made it tough to watch.  But, did I mention Cary Grant?  

Based on the book Shore Leave by Frederic Wakeman (1943).

The second half of the double feature was a hit - but that wasn't a surprise because I've seen this movie many times.  It's always rewatchable!

Bye Bye Birdie - A rock singer travels to a small Ohio town to make his "farewell" television performance and kiss his biggest fan before he is drafted.

Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margaret, Bobby Rydell, Janet Leigh, Paul Lynde, Ed Sullivan . . . this movie is full of big names and catchy songs that get stuck in our head.  It was inspired by Elvis's induction into the army in 1957 - at the height of his popularity - and his "one last kiss" to an Army WAC.  The movie is an adaptation of the Broadway musical that premiered in 1960 and won Tonys for Best Musical and Best Performance by a Male (Dick Van Dyke) in 1961.  There is also a mid-90's remake with Vanessa Williams, Jason Alexander and Tyne Daley that is almost as good.  But you just can't beat Dick Van Dyke, in my book.

Put on a Happy Face is probably the best-known song from the movie, but there are others that make you want to sing, and maybe even dance:  One Last Kiss, One Special Boy, Everything is Rosie and, of course, Bye Bye Birdie.   Highly recommended  - it's fun and lighthearted and . . . just fun!

All He Saw Was The Girl by Peter Leonard

Rome: McCabe and Chip, two American exchange students, are about to become embroiled with a violent street gang, a beautiful Italian girl, and a flawed kidnapping plan.

Detroit:  Sharon Vanelli’s affair with Joey Palermo, a Mafia enforcer, is about to be discovered by her husband, Ray, a secret service agent.

Brilliantly plotted and shot through with wry humor, ALL HE SAW WAS THE GIRL sees these two narratives collide in the backstreets of Italy’s oldest city.

Stories of mafia dons and kidnappings are usually not my thing, but the humor in this story takes All He Saw Was The Girl out of the typical suspense genre.  The twists and turns of the plot kept my interest and made this an enjoyable read.  There were some issues with tense and sentence structure - not necessarily wrong, just unusual - that bothered me at the beginning, but as I got involved and into the flow of the story, I no longer notice because I was so interested in how the multiple plot lines were going to come together and resolve. It was a fun and entertaining read.

Peter Leonard’s debut novel, QUIVER was published to international acclaim in 2008, and was followed by TRUST ME in 2009, and VOICES OF THE DEAD in 2012.  Find out more about Peter and his books at www.peterleonardbooks.com.

I received a free copy of this ebook as part of a promotional tour sponsored by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.

Wicked Wildfire Read-A-Thon Update

So far, I have completed two books and read approximately half of #3.  Ok, it's true that I was past the half-way point on both of the first two before the read-a-thon started, but that's beside the point.  My goal was to finish 7 books - 5 of which were already started.  So, I finished the two on my Nook but then my Nook charger bit the dust, so I can't complete the third until the new charger arrives - approximately Tuesday.  I had also intended to complete the audio book in my car - but my car got backed into in a parking lot and is spending the week at the body shop - with the audio book.  I have a paperback book to finish but, for some reason, rather than doing that, I started a whole new book.  Cause I'm rash and unpredictable that way.  

Dave and I are leaving this afternoon to visit Son at college, which means we'll have 8 hours of car time to read something - hopefully Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich will be in today's mail.  Otherwise, I'll have to scour the TBR pile for something Dave could deal with.  Speaking of our trip - other than travel hours, my reading time will be limited for the duration of the read-a-thon, so it's not looking promising for my goal.

However, I've had fun so far - entered three challenges, attended a Twitter party and met cool new people. And I'll keep plugging along to catch up with my Goodreads goal by the end of June - I've read 34 out of the needed 37, so I've still got a shot.  But only if I get off the computer...

Slake Your Thirst Challenge

Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer is sponsoring the Slake Your Thirst challenge as part of the WWRead-A-Thon.  The challenge? - Post a picture and recipe of your favorite summertime drink and your most anticipated summertime read.

My favorite summer drink (or any other season) is Pioneer Woman's Perfect Iced Coffee. It takes a little time to prepare, but worth every moment.  Unfortunately, it's not worth every calorie for me this summer.  Not exactly compatible with trying to shed a few pounds - but oh, so delicious.

Image from www.pioneerwoman.com

If you're looking for a drink for a summertime party, try a Tapshoes.  I swiped the recipe from the Improv Club in Kansas City when we were there last week.

Improv Tapshoes = Coconut rum, melon liqueur, pineapple juice and lemon/lime soda.

You're on your own for the proportions - but it should be fun and tasty experimenting.

My most anticipated summer reads can be found here.  Today I'm starting Stardust by Carla Stewart.