The Ten Best Books I read in 2022

 

Ten Best Books I Read in 2022:

Nonfiction 

Passage of Power by Robert Caro

Hamilton by Ron Chernow

Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer

The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough

The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

Fiction 

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

Apples Never Fall by Lianne Moriarty

The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger

The Thornbirds by Colleen McCullough 

As always it was difficult to choose only 10 as there were several others that could easily have been included.  Usually I prefer Nonfiction over Fiction but this year I read some really good fiction. 

Poetry

My work is loving the world.

Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird —

equal seekers of sweetness.

Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.

Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?

Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect? Let me

keep my mind on what matters,

which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be

astonished.

The phoebe, the delphinium.

The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.

Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart

and these body-clothes,

a mouth with which to give shouts of joy

to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,

telling them all, over and over, how it is

that we live forever.”

~ Mary Oliver

 

Around OakMeadows

 

It is time for my twice yearly gripe about time change. Yes, it is time to turn the clocks back one hour. My complaint is the same as usual: Just pick one—> Regular time or Daylight Savings time. Either is fine with me but pick one and stay with it! The time change is not as bad now that I am retired but how I remember it was not so easy to deal with when I was working rotating shifts. I understand that the Senate has passed legislation to make Daylight Savings Time permanent but it seems to be hung up in the House. Arrgghh!!

The butterfly count is going down. We still have some Monarchs and Queens, a few Gulf Fritillaries, and lots of Sachems. We have a cold front coming Friday and I anticipate the end of the butterflies for this year. It was so beautiful this year with hundreds of butterflies on the blue mist right by the brick pathway so that you could watch them close up.  

I am putting the borders on my Blue & Brown quilt. I thought I would finish it today but it just didn’t happen. Tomorrow.  I found a couple of French General patterns that I really like. I plan to order them tomorrow. 

Tomorrow is the midterm Election Day.  JMM and I voted by mail weeks ago. Very convenient. I do my best to concentrate only on those things that are in my control. Voting is really the only thing I can control so once I’ve voted, I avoid the constant news barrage leading up to the election. I will find out what the outcome was the next day or the next. I doubt very much if anything changes here in Republican Texas but in any case, JMM and I will be just fine whatever happens. Then after Election Day on Tuesday, the campaign for 2024 begins Wednesday....blah!!

My first Tovala food delivery comes tomorrow. The oven came last week and TSMR came over Sunday and figured out the wifi set up and got it all ready to cook when the food arrives. I am really looking forward to this. I’m getting 4 meals a week. The menu selections look wonderful and I am happy that I will be getting one vegetarian meal a week. 

Around OakMeadows

 

I’ve been working my way down the IMDb list of 100 greatest movies on weekends. I watched #1 The Godfather and #2 The Shawshank Redemption on the first weekend. Both were excellent. The Godfather is probably my all time favorite movie, but I had never seen The Shawshank Redemption and what a truly outstanding movie it was. Then this past weekend I watched Schindler’s List and Raging Bull. Schindler’s List is a truly great movie but I cannot understand why Raging Bull would be on anyone’s best movies list. Next weekend will be Casablanca and Gone with the Wind. 

I finished one half of the twenty blocks for my Blue & Brown. I like the pattern and think I’m going to do another one in Red, Cream, and Blue. Maybe, we’ll see. Next I have to make the other half of the blocks for this one. I wish I knew what to do with my finished quilts. 

This evening I made a tray of roasted vegetables that turned out so tasty. I cut up carrots, baby red potatoes, red onion, and red bell pepper. Then I tossed them with olive oil, sea salt, and thyme and baked them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring them about half way through. Definitely, will be making this again and maybe adding sugar snap peas. 

Rain. We went all summer without a drop of rain. It was hot (with highs in the upper 90s) and not a drop of rain. Now for the past week we have been getting rain almost every day. I must say the grass and crepe myrtles are doing much better. 

This Mornng by Mary Oliver

 

This morning the redbirds' eggs

have hatched and already the chicks

are chirping for food. They don't

know where it's coming from, they

just keep shouting, "More! More!"

As to anything else, they haven't

had a single thought. Their eyes

haven't yet opened, they know nothing

about the sky that's waiting. Or

the thousands, the millions of trees.

They don't even know they have wings.

And just like that, like a simple

neighborhood event, a miracle

is taking place

Shrimp and Pasta Salad

 

This was my new recipe for August and it was absolutely delicious. I was looking for something that would be eaten cold but substantial enough for dinner.  This would also be good with ham instead of shrimp. I’ll definitely be making this again

Shrimp and Pasta Salad

Ingredients for the Salad

8 ounces (2 cups) small pasta

1 pound cooked shrimp (cut in half if shrimp are large)

1 heaping cup diced celery, about 1/2 inch

1/2 large or 1 small red bell pepper diced about 1/2 inch

1 cup frozen peas

1 bunch green onions chopped

For the dressing

2/3 cup Greek yogurt

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, about 9 minutes in boiling water with 1 teaspoon salt. Cook shrimp in boiling water with 1 teaspoon salt for about 7 minutes for large shrimp. Drain each. 

2. Mix all dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. 

3. Mix all ingredients and dressing together in a large serving bowl. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. 

Plans for August 2022

 

Plans for August 2022

1. Read 4 books.

2. Buy a new sunflower door wreath. 

3. Finish piecing Blue & Brown quilt top.

4. Sharing

    Coastal Prairie Conservancy 

    JK

    ND-BGHS

5. Try 1 new Recipe

6. Check on Smithsonian Transcription project. 

7. Sign up for this fall’s Project Feederwatch. 

8. Dental cleaning. 

9. Sprinkler installation for crepe myrtles.