Gobble Gobble Season

We're already gobbling and celebrating Thanksgiving at my church. Yesterday, we enjoyed a wonderful service with a lovely sermon from Sharon E. and seasonal hymns that I love. My favorite for this time of year is "Come Ye Thankful People, Come." which I always call "Harvest Home." Was glad it was included. 

After service we all sat down to an amazing pot luck lunch--turkey, ham, dressing, and oodles of other delicious dishes. I came home stuffed and in pain, so I spent the rest of the day in bed with the kitties, Taco and Bella. I got a lot of reading done.

I just got word from a friend that another of or bee sisters has passed. That's the fourth member we've lost since we've been holding meetings. Mary S. was a very talented and giving friend. Aside from a seamstress and quilter, she was a fine musician and a faithful follower of Jesus. Many years ago she spent time in Ukraine doing missionary work. She will be missed by many.

My niece India (left) and our friend Doris, with their amazing soprano voices, gave us beautiful solos during the choir's anthem at church service yesterday.

After service, we enjoyed a pot luck lunch--turkey and dressing and all the trimmings. It was delicious. That's me, second from the left, about to dive in. (We are a small congregation at Leeds Presbyterian, as you can see. This is the majority of us.)

Quilt bee sister and friend, second from left pictured with her daughters) passed away last week. She will be missed.

Three More Books

 

Circle of Days by Ken Follett I have mixed feelings about this book. I borrowed it from the library thinking that it was a book about the building of Stonehenge by ancient people. Well, yeah, it is and it isn't. Although the stone circle is mentioned occasionally throughout the 700-page book, it isn't until the very end that the story tells of the moving of the massive stones from far away and putting them in place. And I totally don't buy Follett's conjecture that those stones could have been moved the way his story portrays. But, all in all, it's a pretty good story.

The First Witch of Boston by Andrea Catalano Since I was a senior in high School I've had a fascination with the "witch trials" in Europe and the colonies, when powerful religious men had women who dared to be anything except their housekeepers, child raisers, and sex objects dare to branch out or to speak their minds. I wrote my senior term paper, necessary for graduation, on the subject. That paper has since been last. I wish I still had it.

This book of historical fiction is based on the first woman, Margaret Jones, to be tried and hanged as a witch in Boston. You might want to have a box of tissues handy if you choose to read it. I got very emotional. *

The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall and Doublas Abrams Upon the recent death of naturalist Dr. Jane Goodall, my book club decided to read this book, which was written from an interview with her by author Douglas Abrams. The interview took place during the COVID 19 pandemic. Still today, during the worsening climate crisis, wars, loss of biodiversity, political movements against freedom and liberty—it can be hard to feel optimistic. Hope has never been more desperately needed. Dr. Goodall's very humble and compassionate words are just as appropriate today, as people search for hope in this dangerous and chaotic world in which we find ourselves.

Reading Update

Here are the books I've read since my last reading report.

What She Saw by Mary Burton. Cold case reporter Sloane Grayson has come to a small mountain town in Virginia to solve a mystery. Thirty years ago, her mother was one of four women who vanished during a music festival. The event’s promoter was eventually convicted of their murders, and Sheriff CJ Taggart closed the case. But for Sloane, it’s still open. Because the bodies were never found. 

Heartwood by Amity Gaige In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.

On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah On the very day that Annie Colwater's only child leaves home for school abroad her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Alone in the house that is no longer a home, Annie comes to the painful realization that for years she has been slowly disappearing. Lonely and afraid, she retreats to Mystic, the small Washington town where she grew up. In Mystic, she finds a second chance at happiness.

I thought I had read more books since my last report, but I guess that's it. I'm reading Circle of Days by Ken Follett now. It's over 700 pages, and I'm almost finished. SO that has eaten up some of my reading time. And I've spent more time in the sewing room. I'm down to the last two rows of the Windows quilt. All the blocks are done. I just have to join the blocks in the last two rows and then join the last several rows. I should have it ready to take to my long-armer in a few days.