Book Signing

Last week I was in Phoenix, Arizona on business and decided to look up a bookstore that someone had recommended. I found out that there was a book discussion/signing that night and decided to go rather than just sit in my hotel room. The name of the bookstore is "The Poisoned Pen" and here is the article about the author and book discussed. The book discussed is The Red Knife by William Kreuger. It was a well attended discussion and I found a new author. I did not buy the book discussed, but bought the first book in his series - The Iron Lake. I have started the book and like it pretty well so far.

Mr. Kreuger writes about a town in Minnesota and his main character is Cork O'Connor who is part Irish and part Native American. Cork is the former sheriff, now private investigator and in The Iron Lake he is investigating the murder of the town judge, and the disappearance of a local teen. The book has excellent descriptions and the characters are well described. I would recommend this book. Mystery is one of my favorite book genres and this book has not disappointed my expectations. Sometimes you need to sink your teeth into a good mystery. I look forward to having time to pick up this novel again and to reading more in the series.

Book Club

I belong to a book club that meets here in the Library Room in the Catalina Coffee House. My club just finished reading and discussing "Out Stealing Horses" by Per Petterson. This is a very well written book and my club enjoyed reading it and enjoyed the style of the writer.

Got Pins?

It has been quite a while since I have posted to this blog - what can I say life gets busy. This picture is of a block from the quilt that I am making for my dad. I will post a picture again once it has been completed.

Maureen

Birthday Placemat for Ellie

The picture above is the placemat that I made for Ellie, who turned five on November 9th. Unfortunately it is late as I had too many things going on the week of her birthday. But things have slowed down and I was able to finish it today. The fortune in the cookie says: "Those who have love have wealth beyond measure." Ellie is loved by all and is probably one of the wealthiest people in the world! Happy Belated Birthday Ellie! I hope you like the fortune cookie and the butterflies on your placemat!

Birthday Placemat

This is a picture of the placemat that I made for my daughter's birthday. I have been stressed lately by my decrease in funds, and have been trying to keep my sanity by doing knitting and/or sewing projects. I made this placemat as a fun gift for my daughter.

I got a new job in June and I love it. It keeps me very busy and is challenging. I am working in construction which is totally different from Human Resources. I make follow-up calls to find out about encroachment permits, as-built drawings of intersections, getting power to our systems and such. Today was a somewhat stressful day, but in general my job is less stressful than when I worked for a big corporation.

I am now an empty nester, but had originally thought that this would be an easy time in my life. Because I lost my job last year it is harder than I anticipated. But that is okay - I am starting to view it as a challenge - to write a new chapter and learn more about myself and my strengths. I am looking for a roommate to bring in more income and am also considering taking a part time job. I placed an ad at a roommate site a few days ago, and have had two interested people so far.

The room I want to rent is not ready at this time. I would take a picture - but I don't want to scare off the few readers that I have. The room is a storage/sewing room but still has items left from when my son and daughter moved out. One of the things I hope to accomplish soon is to clear out the room. I had planned to try to work on it tonight, but got sidetracked by an online chat, and then decided to finish my daughter's placemat.

Part of me is afraid to get a roommate, but it is a more immediate and cheaper solution than moving. I love my apartment and the few places that I have looked at are so small for not that much less money. So I will try the roommate thing. Even if it doesn't work out long term, it will allow me to save money so that I can afford to move if I need to.

Knitting Projects

This is my red scarf that I made for OFA's Red Scarf Project. I found a great variegated yarn that is red throughout but twisted with other colors: yellow, lavendar yellow and blue. I decided to make a hat to match since I had some leftover yarn.

The picture shown here was taken in San Francisco. I bought the t-shirt at Ghiradelli Square. It says "In the beginning there was the word. And the word was Chocolate. And it was good." It was too cute to pass up - so I had to buy it.

Last weekend my daughter and I visited my son in San Francisco. My son's new apartment is great and he is happy and healthy. Leaving was hard, but made a bit easier by the fact that I knew he had a nice place to lay his head, is safe and warm and not really that far away. I still miss him though.

You can see the two scarves that I made for 2007 here. I would like to write more, but I have revised this short post many times already because I am too tired. I will write more on me tomorrow - just wanted to post these pictures.

Sweater for Ellie

This is the first knitted sweater that I have made. It is for my friend's daughter, Ellie. It was fun to make and I hope she likes the ruffles on the bottom. I love working with varigated yarns because there are so many colors. Ellie loves red and I hope she loves this sweater. Her birthday is in November, but I doubt that I will wait until then to send it. Ellie lives in Boston with her mom, Kathryn, and her dad Dave. You can read about their adventures here.