More rain...

We are back to the yucky weather. Rained last night and part of today.
I worked with The King for most of the day, getting some of the last parts made and shipped out. I am praying that we are going to actually sell the house and that we are not making a big mistake by closing up the business before the papers have been signed.
We have tons of tools and such to sell, hopefully some of the fellows that came around and said they were interested, truly are interested.
We don't have too much in the house to sell mostly electronics and some kitchen appliances. I think I will have a yard sale in a few weeks.

Goodbye birds!

Our friend and neighbor just took our 2 geese, chicken and duck away. They will be living just down the road in a very good home. Litle P is sad but it was something that had to be done. Now the King has to clean up that area of the yard. Another thing for him to add to his evergrowing list of things to get done before we move.

I did a little more packing today. Trying to decide what we will need when we get to Italy. If we rent a place we won't be able to unpack all of our boxes so I have got to figure out what is necessary to live.

Wish me luck!

We got the rest of the boards last night for the top of the deck. This evening I hope we can get them screwed on.

So busy..

the past few days have just flown by. Yesterday we repacked all of our boxes. Some of them have been in the garage for months and with all the rain and high humidity, they started coming apart. I took some stuff out and moved things around so that I emptied about 8-9 plastic bins. We still have things in the house that have to packed but we will probably be in the house for 2 more months.
I have been getting quotes from shipping companies. I am glad that we aren't shipping any furniture or a whole lot of stuff. It's so expensive!
We didn't get the deck finished because of rain. It had been raining almost everyday. It has been hard rains, terrible thunderstorms. Most mornings have been very foggy. Then the fog clears it gets sunny and hot for a few hours then the downpours start. Very Weird!

I got to read one book, though, Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler. I really liked it. It's the sequel to Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, in which Courtney Stone gets transported into the body of a woman in teh 19th century named Jane Mansfield.
In the second book you learn about Jane being transported into Courtney's body in our time. What a shock it is for her!

Learning Italian

I have been studying harder the last few weeks. I have using online sites and this book.

It's a good book.

But it's still a blur. I can read pretty well but I cannot think to speak it.

I guess that will come!

My library system has a new program called Mango.

Has anyone used it?

Movies

I tried to watch the movie "Blindness" over the weekend. It was gross and disgusting. I could not stand it.
Did anyone see it?

Well, it looks like...

our buyer, my mom, finally got a yes from her buyer. Tomorrow they will be signing some papers. Her buyers must do a house inspection. Do I say we actually sold our house? We haven't signed anything yet.
We have been working on the deck. We have almost all the boards on the top done but we must get some more lumber.
It's hot here right now, up in the 90's. It's not too bad if you are near a fan!

Deck Work

We worked on the deck again last evening until it started raining again. I was hoping to mow yesterday but too wet from the day before. Maybe this afternoon if it dries out.

Julie & Julia

I just finished this book. I loved it. The cooking and doing the blog was a fantastic idea. I could not have done it, though. Could I bring myself to eat offal? I don't know.

The idea eating brains, kidneys and liver really does not appeal to me. And aspic, yech! I can remember aspic from when I was a kid, although I can remember eating one that tasted like V-8 and it was in the middle of the summer and that I enjoyed it.

The adventure of trying all those recipes does appeal to me. I have way more experience with cooking than Julie did.

She clearly stated at the beginning of the book that she is not a cook.

Here's an article about the book and movie.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/210689

I don't really want to see the movie. I LOVE Meryl Streep. But after reading the book I cannot imagine Amy Adams as Julie Powell. I do like Amy Adams but not in this part. I felt the same way about Renee Zellweger playing Allie French in "Appaloosa". Right at this moment I cannot think of who I would cast in that part.

Have you ever played that "game" with books that could or are going to be movies? Everyone has their thoughts on who would play Stephanie Plum if Janet Evanovich's books were ever to be made into a movie. I think Jamie Lynn Sigler would be a great Stephanie Plum.

OR did you imagineJulia Roberts as Georgia (from Friday Night Knitting Club). I just read that she has been cast as Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love. Maybe !?!

We all know that Tom Cruise was miscast in at least 2 films, "The Firm" and "Interview With A Vampire". Brad Pitt would have been the better choice for Lestat.

I started watch "Seven Pounds" last night. We watched about 20 minutes of it and turned it off. What was it even about? Don't know or care! Sorry Will, maybe next movie.

Day before I watched "He's Really Not That Into You". I kinda liked it. If women really acted like Ginnifer Goodwin's character, GiGi, it's no wonder they/she never get/got dates.

Maybe I'm too old. People didn't have computers or cell phones when I was dating back in the 70's and 80's.

Rain

Yesterday no work got done on the deck due to rain. It poured all day.
I watched "Last Chance Harvey" this weekend. It was ok.
Did anyone else see it?

I finished this book this morning.
It's the 3rd installment of the Spellmans.
If you like Stephanie Plum or Kinsey Millhone you will love Isabel Spellman and the crazy Spellman family.
Here's an overview. http://lisalutz.com/revenge-spellmans

Barry Sonnenfeld to adapt 'The Spellman Files'
The Spellman Files is the first novel. I hope itturns into a great movie. I wonder who they will cast as Isabel and her sister Rae.

Rebuilt Deck

Yesterday we went to the store and got some lumber. Since it looks like my mom will be buying our house The King has decided to rebuild the deck for her.

We got the frame up. We had it half done when we realized that the new boards were all different measurements. What is up with that??? So we had to take it apart and trim the pieces and put them back together.

Tomorrow we will start putting the boards on the top. It is supposed to HOT!!!

Sunny day

The last few days have been gorgeous. Thank you God! Low humidity and a nice breeze. It's joyous!
I read a book by Jan Burke called The Messenger. I loved it! It is about a man that delivers the last messages for dying people. I went to the library yesterday and got a few more of her books.
I also read The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. WOW!! This is her first novel. It's great. It's about a woman, Connie Goodwin, who is grad school for her PHD. Her mom wants her to take the summer and clean out her grandmother's house. She finds the name Deliverance Dane in an old bible and starts researching who this woman was. A clue: It is involves the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts. http://www.physickbook.com/ Even if you are not a reader you should pick this one up.

I have filled my ipod. It only has 1 gig of memory. I only got 128 songs. I am a little disappointed but I will get over it. I will just have to switch them around a lot! I just added some Matchbox 20 and Clapton, the Stones and Stevie Ray Vaughn, Warren Zevon.
Any music I should check out?

Movies

I watched 2 movies this week.
Inkheart and The Wrestler

Litle P read 2 of the 3 Inkheart books by Cornelia Funke. I liked the movie. It was good vs. evil. Litle P was comparing the book to the movie. I had to explain it is not always the same. It starred Brendan Fraser (who doesn't like him), Helen Mirren and Paul Bettany.

The Wrestler, I did not like. I hated the ending. What ending, it didn't have one ...it just stopped. The wrestler was pathetic. It was sad what he did to his life but he was responsible for it. Mickey Rourke was good in this but I would not have given a best picture award to this film.
Don't waste your time or money.

Margaret Maron

I found a new author to read. I read 2 of her books over the weekend; Death's Half Acre and High Country Fall.

The protagonist is a county judge named Deborah Knott. She always seems to be involved in murder.

Here's her bibliography. http://www.margaretmaron.com/biblio.html