Kitty and the Book

Kitty and the Book.
I had forgotten to add this one to my blog page even though I think I had put it on Facebook.

This is the painting I did for the Monthly challenge a while back. The challenge was "A Book".
I thought of doing a still life of a book but that didn't seem very interesting. Then I thought of a book  laying wide open with sketches over it showing the subjects within the book but that looked like it was going to be difficult to do.
My cat is always jumping on my lap when I start reading  and at the same time I saw on the computer all kinds of photos of cats and books so that gave me the idea to show a cat looking over a book and this was the result.
All the other artists seemed to like it but then usually everyone loves kitties and if you have a cat , you will know they all seem to want to share your book !!

The Alphabet House by Jussi Adler-Olsen

The Alphabet House by Jussi Adler-Olsen

I often read books by Scandinavian thriller- mystery writers so when I saw this one at my local library I knew I was in for a good read.

This novel varied from the usual type of thriller that I have previously read and it seems like a WW 2 military story at the start. 
Two close English friends, pilots Bryan and James are on a photographic mission over  Dressen, Germany  They are shot down and escape in a passing German hospital train.

They take the place of 2 German patients, by throwing them off the train and lie low only to find out that this is a train reserved for taking wounded, mentally, disabled German soldiers to a sanatorium hospital deep in German territory.They realize that their own chance of not being discovered, is to fake illness or insanity, they know that escape will now be much more difficult.

Their plight becomes even worse as they are subjected to a routine of drugs, electric shock treatments and other experimental medicine. Also Bryan doesn't understand any German so he has to pretend he is a deaf mute.
Then the situation deteriorates as other patients are also “malingerers” on the ward, trying to escape fighting in a lost cause. Communication between the friends becomes almost impossible. James rapidly becomes threatened and   uncommunicative even with his friend. Bryan, thought to be a high ranking SS officer is moved to another ward. and his escape plans are no longer an option to be carried out with James.

Brian eventually makes his own daring escape, making further enemies as he does so.
Here the story could end but now 30 years pass and Bryan, worried by unwanted thoughts and dreams, goes back to see if he can find out what really happened to James.

“ Did he really die when the sanitorium was bombed?”.
" What really happened to James?"

So now the mystery really begins and with it a complicated story of past memories and intrigue.

Difficult to read in places with horrific details, it holds the reader’s interest  with a good interesting story line and a very involved plot.

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Written by the same author who wrote the “Secret Life of Bees’ , I found this a very engrossing and interesting book.

It is a fictionalized story  based on the historical lives and facts of the 2 Grimky sisters,Sarah and Abilene ( Nina) who were both  very involved in both the abolition of slavery and the rights of women. This came at a time and place , Charleston in the early 1800s, when for 2 upper class white ladies, this was totally “not the correct thing to do”.

It might sound from this a boring book with lots of dull facts but due to the skill of the author, she has wound true facts and even characters into a story which grips you and makes you want to carry on reading about 2 very courageous and intelligent women and the hardship they faced to fulfill their destiny.

Tales of the dreadful life that slaves lived in those days is also well told through the eyes of the household slaves and especially Hetty, known by her slave name “Handful” who is the slave given to Sarah on her birthday.

A good book to read. 

I fully recommend it.

Mother's Day 2015

Mother's Day 2015

Mike and Me on my card

A family gathering had been planned for this year's Mother's Day with 3 Mothers and one Mother -to- be and other significant others attending. We were all going to a local Chinese restaurant, Bobos, which we have been visiting for over 30 years. It is one of our favorite eating spots.

Unfortunately this year it was not to be. We are in a very unusual weather pattern this year and Sunday we hit the jack pot. It was cloudy and very windy and there were storms forcast to hit just as we were supposed to meet up with the family. Well the storms rolled in earlier and before we knew it we were under a tornado warning. You don't ignore these warnings if you live in Texas as you know what might happen. So we called and cancelled our visit and hunkered down.Fortunately the storm passed over us but hit about 12 miles to the North in Denton but on its way it dropped a LOT of rain and made for nasty roads and lots of flooding.

Then as it was clearing, we got a nice surprise. Grandson Mike popped in on his way to collect Meg and go to the restaurant. He came to give us this nice card they had made for me. Home made cards seem to be the thing we do in this family, and they are so great and such a nice surprise. 


Thanks, Mike and Meg. It was a lovely unexpected surprise for me on Mother's day.
P.S. and thanks also to Russ and Trevor and Laura, Chrissy and Ben for remembering me as well.
 I appreciate it.
Nanny Bond

Bring on the Rain

"Bring on the Rain"

This was the title of the facebook Artist Challenge for April and I'm not sure but since I did this painting it really has done something to the weather.
Usually we have a few clouds and showers in May but it seems to have started a trend here. Our lakes were all emptying rapidly, we were on drought restrictions but now due to the plentiful showers, we have lakes overflowing and floods. 
Still I liked this painting and summer and the heat will come all too soon.
 A watercolor with a two layer effect for the rain.

The Steady Running of the Hour by Justin Go

The Steady Running of the Hour by Justin Go

An interesting book full of twist and turns; an investigative mystery with historical overtones and deep thoughts.

Tristan is a college student who has just graduated. He gets a mysterious call from a solicitor and finds out he just might be the heir to a huge fortune if he can prove his case in 7 weeks.
Having not much else to do and pulled on by the thought of big money coming his way, he takes up the challenge.

Tristan has to prove that it is his great grandmother, the lost relative, who is the link to the money and to do so he will need to follow the trail and produce evidence of the fact. The solicitors, despite their best efforts throughout the years, have not been able to do so because of mysterious circumstances. He has only 7 weeks to do this and finds out that the trail starts back in 1916 when a romance between his grandmother Imogen Soames Anderson and Ashley Walsingham began.  She was a rebellious, headstrong lady of Swedish/Anglo descent and he was a famous. avid mountain climber and the man with the original money.

The trail to find the proof leads Tristan back to those early years and travels to Sweden and France and Iceland and the story of life at the time.
On the way  history seems to repeats itself and Tristan falls for a young French girl who questions his dedication to "finding the money" and is it what he really is seeking in life.

I enjoyed this book but found it hard going at times.