{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} ~ January 28, 2012

Sigh. My life does not cooperate with getting this up on Thursday like I'm supposed to. Thankfully, the girls at Like Mother, Like Daughter don't seem to mind. :-) I just have {pretty} and {happy} jumbled into one to share this week.

{Pretty} and {Happy}

Man of the House bought me a wall decal from Trading Phrases for Christmas. It was one I had requested and he obligingly obliged.

I put it up today. I was so nervous I was going to do something wrong, but it was easier than I anticipated. Watching the instructional video a couple times gave me confidence and the decal itself was so cooperative! It acted just like the video said it would. I am very pleased with the quality of the product and ease of installation! I suspect there will be more decals in my future life . . .

Here are a few pictures~~





Though it doesn't look like it in the picture, our walls are a soft yellow. The decal is black. One thing I'm not happy about now is the lamp. I think I need a shorter one. LOL There's always something!

2011 Reading Challenge Wrap-up

Here it is at long last. This is a pie that could have been divided in any number of ways, so I chose those that were most interesting to me. I note that my reading was divided exactly equally between fiction and non-fiction, and that without my paying much attention to making it come out even! How 'bout that?

Here are the books I read in 2011 divided in various ways and in no particular order. (Can we pretend that the book titles are properly italicized? When I copied and pasted the lists from a Word document, the italicizing didn't come along.)


Non-Fiction

Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

The Pace of a Hen: Ways to Fulfillment for a Housewife by Josephine Moffett Benton

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

The Blessings of Weekly Communion by Kenneth Wieting

Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson

On Christian Liberty by Martin Luther

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Conjugal America: On the Public Purposes of Marriage by Allan Carlson

How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett

Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World by N.D. Wilson

1066: The Year of the Conquest by David Howarth

The Natural Family: A Manifesto by Allan C. Carlson and Paul T. Mero

The Most Reluctant Convert: C.S. Lewis's Journey to Faith by David C. Downing

Christmas Book 13 published by Gooseberry Patch

Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God by John Piper

Sixpence in Her Shoe by Phyllis McGinley

The Madman and the Professor: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi

The Gentle Art of Domesticity: Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art & the Comforts of Home by Jane Brocket

Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches by Russell D. Moore

Confessions by St. Augustine

Martin Luther's Christmas Book edited by Roland Bainton


Fiction

Oedipus the King by Sophocles

A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome

The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

A World Lost by Wendell Berry

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jane Birdsall

Journey Cake by Isabel McLennan McKeekin

How Right You Are, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie

The Tuesday Club Murders by Agatha Christie

Good-bye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton

Agamemnon by Aeschylus

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

King Lear by William Shakespeare


Books of a Devotional/Theological Nature

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

The Blessings of Weekly Communion by Kenneth Wieting

Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson

On Christian Liberty by Martin Luther

Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World by N.D. Wilson

The Most Reluctant Convert: C.S. Lewis's Journey to Faith by David C. Downing

Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God by John Piper

Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches by Russell D. Moore

Confessions by St. Augustine

Martin Luther's Christmas Book edited by Roland Bainton


Children's Books

A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jane Birdsall

Journey Cake by Isabel McLennan McKeekin

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder


Housekeeping Books

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

The Pace of a Hen: Ways to Fulfillment for a Housewife by Josephine Moffett Benton

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson

Christmas 13 published by Gooseberry Patch

Sixpence in Her Shoe by Phyllis McGinley

The Gentle Art of Domesticity: Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art & the Comforts of Home by Jane Brocket


Old Books a la C.S. Lewis (100 Years Old or Older)

On Christian Liberty by Martin Luther

How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett

Confessions by St. Augustine

Martin Luther's Christmas Book edited by Roland Bainton

Oedipus the King by Sophocles

Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

Agamemnon by Aeschylus

King Lear by William Shakespeare


Classic Fiction

King Lear by William Shakespeare

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Agamemnon by Aeschylus

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Oedipus the King by Sophocles

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope


Most Disappointing Books

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jane Birdsall

The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket

The Pace of a Hen: Ways to Fulfillment for a Housewife by Josephine Moffett Benton


Most Pleasantly Surprising Books

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Sixpence in Her Shoe by Phyllis McGinley

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi

Journey Cake by Isabelle McLennan McKeekin

Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry


Funniest Books

The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

How Right You Are, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame


Overall, I'm very pleased with this experiment. I wish I had read more old books, though several were almost a hundred years old. One thing I caught myself doing was avoiding long books (over about 200 pages) because I knew I couldn't finish them in a week. So this year I hope to go back and pick some of those up, which will mean fewer books read this year, of course, but possibly as many or more pages. I discovered that I don't have a natural affinity for ancient literature, which is too bad because I think it's important to read. Hopefully I can make myself tackle a few each year. Thank you for following my reading journey this past year. I will continue to post book reviews from time to time. Happy reading, everyone!

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} ~ January 21, 2012

Joining Like Mother, Like Daughter . . .

My poor little blog has been neglected lately. I promise to try to post at least once before the next {phfr}!

{Pretty}

I saw this idea in Gooseberry Patch's Christmas 13 and decided to try it with a little tweaking.



The instructions had you tracing and cutting snowflakes from felt, but I spotted pre-cut snowflakes in the dollar store and knew that would be so much easier and so much more likely that I'd actually get to it! Some of the snowflakes are foam (the package said they were coasters) and some are plastic with glitter. I used buttons from Girl of the House's button jar and nylon thread from our stash and regular ol' scotch tape to attach them to the window frame.



I had intended to make strings and strings of these to hang from multiple windows, but alas, this was all I could manage this year. It was a fiddly project that took more time than I thought it would. Still, I really like the results and decided to leave them up past Christmas.

{Funny}

I bought this hat for 50 cents at a yard sale this summer just knowing it would be perfect for the gag gift exchange we were planning for our Christmas party. It's very springy and unpredictable and got a great laugh at our party! It reminds me of something from a Dr. Seuss book.



{Real}

I asked for a shoe rack like this for Christmas. My mom got this for me. I really like it except for the little fact that it won't fit in my closet! Humph! It's too tall to fit under my clothes, so I tried laying it on its side, but it wouldn't fit that way either. I'm thinking about what to do.



I put it together today with assistance from the ever so helpful cat.

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} ~ Jan. 13, 2012

Wow! What a week this has been! Both Girl and Man of the House have been sick, though with different illnesses. In fact, Man of the House even ended up in the ER in the middle of the night after horrible coughing for two hours and difficulty breathing. He was given a breathing treatment and lots of meds, for which we are thankful. I'm happy to say he's on the mend, but he has quite a way to go yet to be back to 100%. Thankfully, Girl of the House is perfectly well now. It's been a tiring week for all of us!

{Pretty}

It snowed yesterday! We've been told that we usually have snow in December, but this year the first snowfall came late. The wind yesterday was strong and the cold was so bitter! The snow has made odd patterns on the ground. In some places the grass is sticking up through the snow, but in others the drifts went up to my knees! Very {pretty}!




{Happy}

Girl Out of the House took some pictures of my beloved and me while she and her beloved were here for Christmas. I can't tell you how {happy} this man makes me!



{Funny}

Girl of the House, an aspiring novelist, got this T-shirt for Christmas. It's {funny} but true!



{Real}

This week has had more than its fair share of illness, doctors, and medicine. These are just some of the medications Man of the House is taking. We are thankful for modern healthcare, but we will all be {real}-ly glad when everyone is well!



Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more {phfr} fun!

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} ~ January 7, 2012

Happy 2012! I was woefully rushed and harried during December and was therefore not able to post for {phfr} the past two weeks (and I'm late this week too!), so I have lots to share this time. Call it my Christmas wrap-up. Maybe you want to get a cup of tea or coffee before digging in.

{Pretty}



{Happy}

Girl of the House is a Terry Pratchett fan. She was {happy} to receive his latest book:



We were so {happy} to have Girl Out of the House and That Boy visiting us for a week. We are also ecstatic that their first baby is on the way and should make his/her appearance in mid-June! The grandchild gifts have already begun, but within reason: this is the only baby gift we bought. There's still plenty of time to spoil the wee one . . .



There were some serious Stratego games between Girl of the House and That Boy~



Every year since our oldest was small we have had a Christmas party. The girls tell us it is their favorite part of Christmas. We invite way too many people for our house, but how can we leave anyone out? There is so much fun and laughter that I don't think anyone minds. Some friends have told us that they don't consider Christmas to have really started until our party. Being in a new town this year with new friends to invite, we weren't sure what to expect, but it was a great time as always.

Lots of conversation~





Lots of food~



Lots of fun and games~





{Funny}

Girl 1 and That Boy brought their two cats with them. It made for some interesting inter-cat relations as our cat and the two visitors worked out their pecking order. At first, neither faction wanted anything to do with the other. We'd hear scrabbling and yowling and hissing coming from all parts of the house, especially at night. Then they called a truce and learned to tolerate each other:



Eventually, they ended up like this:



I'm substituting {cute} for {real} this week. With a subject like this, can you blame me?









Girl 1 and That Boy's Maine coon kitten is the cutest cat I've ever seen!


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