June's Reading List

In the Lake of the Woods Tim O'Brien (John's wife Kath disappears while on vacation after loosing a election. Did the mentally unstable ex-politician do her in? Some very unsettling and true descriptions of the Vietnam War.)

The Girl with the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson (Lisbeth helps Blomkvist solve a cold case and revenge some wrong doing.)

The Help Kathryn Stockett (Skeeter interviews women who serve as maids in the post Civil Rights South.)

The White Queen Philippa Gregory (Historical novel about the War of the Roses.)

Dead to the World Charlaine Harris ( Sookie Stackhouse Series #4 Sookie hides Eric and helps him regain is memory.)

In The Woods Tana French (Man obsessed with disappearance of two friends while they all played in the woods as children.)

The Maze Catherine Coulter (Serial killer makes women run through a maze.)

Death of a Cad M.C. Beaton (Modern Scottish murder mystery.)

Emma Jane Austin

Dying for Chocolate Mott Davidson (Culinary mystery)

Crowing Glory of Calla Lily Ponder Rebecca Wells (Calla follows in her mother's footsteps becoming a beautician in a small town)

Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind Ann B. Ross (Widowed matron discovers that her husband led a double life while minister strives to lay paws on her money.)

The Girl Who Chased the Moon Sarah Addison Alan (A girl moves in with her reclusive giant father. Unusual friendships, Bar-B-Que, and magic develops.)

Friday Night Knitting Club Kate Jacobs (Georgia deals with her ex while managing a successful knitting shop.)

Assembling the Zipper Unit of the Diva Purse

Here are the steps to making the zipper unit for the Diva Purse.

Start with you six zipper strips.

2 main fabric, 2 lining, 2 fusible batting

Fuse batting to main fabric backs.

Line up zipper, face down, on right side of main fabric.

Baste and then sew using zipper foot.

Right sides together, sew the lining onto the zipper and main fabric piece.

Turn, press, and top stitch.

Lay zipper face down on edge of other strip. Baste. Opening the zipper made it easier.

Now sew on lining piece right sides together.

Turn and top stitch.

The zipper unit now looks like this.

Sew back and forth over zipper to keep the pull from coming off when you cut it off and unzip it.

Veggie Pita Taco Recipe

Veggie Pita Taco Recipe

This is so much better than I thought it would be. I don't know if it is original but...

Failure Then Success

The South Beach Diet was a disaster for me. I didn't even last one day which made me feel very disappointed in myself and so kind of gave up the idea of dieting at all. BUT after returning from Oregon and weighing in (I thought I'd lost weigh there but NO) I decided that even though I'm still not considered overweight, I'd better do something before it was too late! Luckily for me and quite by accident I stumbled upon the SparksPeople site. Wow! What a great place to keep you on track. It generates meal suggestions, groceries list, and exercise program. It tracks your progress and motivates by awarding points. Plus it's FREE! What more could I ask for.

After All These Years

It was fifty-two years ago when Robin and I exited the 8th grade at Campbell Hall and went on to high school. Then this year because of my Flickr account we reunited over the internet. She continues to live in California while I now reside in Texas, but we physically met in Oregon for the Shakespearian festival. Our friendship continued like it had never had such an incredibility gap. Who would of thought this would have happened when we were snobbish little pre-teens reading Shakespeare and looking down our noses at the "less intelligent" folks of the world? Robin said she was going to be a lawyer and sure enough she is, practicing family law and fighting for the rights of the poor. As I'm writing this she is in Detroit helping the unemployed auto workers. After returning home from Oregon she won an important case that saved a child from a drug addicted parent and her battle continues... Wow! While we were together she spent most of her time preparing briefs, reviewing cases, and communicating with clients. I read novels, took walks, played with her dog, Buddy, and hung out with a friend who drove up from California. In a situation like this, one has to start evaluating the importance of one's life.

Gardening Notes: Planted two Vitrex Chaste trees and pruned some of the oak limbs hanging over my deck.

Taking the Dare

It seemed like a good idea yesterday when some of us were discussing how hard some diets were. Then someone said, "Well, you can do anything for a couple of weeks." I think that someone was me, and before I knew it I had been challenged to stay on the South Beach Diet for a week. Yuck! There goes all the things I like to eat like fruit and scones and sandwiches. So here was my breakfast: vegetable juice with a mushroom and asparagus omelet. About 268 calories in all. This may be harder than I thought.

Columbia

There are still cannons mounted in the turrets of these walls. In Cartagena, I took a cab to the old city and explored on my own. It was filled with the usual vendors selling things you really have no use for, but the city was extremely clean. I visited the home of Saint Peter Claver, a Jesuit priest who ministered to the African slaves. It seems that Cartagena was a "hub" for the slave trade. St. Claver's remains are on display in the church which was rather grisly since he does not fit into the category of saints called 'the incorruptibles."