Monday, January 19, 2015

Around Oak Meadows

JMM's 68th birthday was Saturday.  I baked his German Sweet Chocolate cake as I always do for his birthday. We celebrated with T and C on Sunday to accommodate everybody's schedule.  It was nice to see them and T made a delicious pasta with bolognese sauce.  Add the cake and we were in carbohydrate heaven. 

We have been back to winter this week. Gray, wet, and cold. (My cats are most unhappy that it is cold and wet out both the front and back doors both morning, noon, and night.)  However, I do realize that I have no right to complain compared to the arctic conditions in the Northeast this past week.  

Lots of good reading his week: Plodding on through Wartime Britain--excellent!! but long!! Started a new book in one of my favorite series--the Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker. The Devil's Cave is off to a good start. And finally, I am about 1/3 of the way through The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport.  I have mixed feeling about this book so far. On the one hand, I have respect for the strong family that Nicolas and Alexandra provided for their 5 children. But on the other hand, I am totally exasperated by the fixation on having a son to be the heir. For heaven sakes, Alexandra's
grandmother was Queen Victoria and Nicolas was a descendant of Catherine the Great so it should have entered someone's mind that they have 4 healthy, intelligent daughters to carry on the family dynasty. Well, we shall see how the book progresses. Good so far. 

I received the DVD set The Roosevelts by Ken Burns. Oh is it so excellent!! It is every bit as good as his series on The Civil War.  It focuses on Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Franklin Roosevelt. What complex and how human they were!  If you haven't seen the series, I highly recommend it.

Lots of birds at the feeders.  JMM spotted a flock of about 12 Yellow-rumpled Warblers. Good to see the bluejays.  Cardinals as always. Goldfinches, chickadees,
Tufted Titmouse, and Eastern Phoebe.  And of course the collared doves and JMM saw one white winged dove. We are planning a birding trip to Louisiana if it will ever stop raining.  We want to go to Avery Island.
Quilting on the monster quilt is progressing s l o w l y. I have only finished 4 of the 56 blocks. Why, oh why did I do this to myself??

We went to a special exhibit of Monet and the Seine at the Houston Museum of Fine Art. Lovely. JMM bought a print of The Willows and we are having it framed.



1 comment:

Rambling Woods said...

happy Birthday to JMM.... And I love that kind of cake... Yes, it has been cold.... Michelle