The Wind in the Willows

I read this book as a part of my 2017 Classics Challenge.  The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame falls under #9- A classic about an animal or which includes the name of an animal in the title.

This book for me was a 3.5.  A lot of the classics I chose for this year's challenge are books or authors that I feel like I should have read, but for some reason have never gotten around to actually reading.   I grew up loving the cartoon movie of The Wind in the Willows, and I remember the Disneyland ride with fondness.  I felt like it was slightly criminal that I had all of these wonderful childhood memories based around the book without ever having read it.  Unfortunately, I think I prefer the idea of the book more than the actual novel.  

I loved the characters.  Rat, Mole, Badger, and Mr. Toad are all very lovable in their own special way, but I found the plot to be too meandering and slow for my taste.  The chapters with the adventures of Mr. Toad were my favorite parts, but the story sidetracked quite a bit.  

For me, the best part of this book was actually the illustrations.  Shepard's illustrations bring The Wind in the Willows to life.  They are whimsical and absolutely adorable.      

Pinwheel Fun

Back in April I asked all the Peace Circle ladies to make me 2 pinwheel blocks.  They could be 3" 6" or 9" (finished).  I thought it would be fun to piece together different sizes that mathematically could fit together.  It's on the smaller side, but it turned out really cute, and I added a border to help out with the size.  I really like the 3 different sizes.  It adds a bit of interest.

Hourglass Blocks

Gratefully, the blocks for do.Good Stitches aren't very time consuming, because I don't have anywhere near as much time to sew during the summer.  For June and July we had to make hourglass blocks- 4 pink & gray and 4 turquoise and gray.  These blocks are very simple.  The only pain is the cutting them down to size at the end. 

A Murder in Mesopotamia

#10 in the Classics Challenge is a classic set in a place you'd like to visit.  I think Mesopotamia is fascinating, and I would love to go (when it's not the middle of the heat of summer), but since Iraq and Kuwait aren't exactly the most stable of countries I think this book is probably the closest I'm going to get to visiting there. 

I took a bit of a circuitous route to reading this book for the challenge.  I had never read anything by Agatha Christie before, but of course, being a Masterpiece theater lover, I had seen all of the Miss Marple mysteries.  I decided I wanted to read from her Hercule Poirot series.  Murder is Mesopotamia is #14, so I felt it advisable to read #1 to get the setup of the whole series.  The Mysterious Affair at Styles sucked me in right from the beginning.  I could tell right away why she's the best-selling author of all time.  I loved Hercule Poirot from the very first sentence he appears.  It was the first time I'd read a book where I really had no idea how it was going to end.  I loved the book and was surprised by the ending. 

I had heard that it's recommended to read #10 Murder on the Orient Express before reading Murder in Mesopotamia, so I read that one next.  I also wanted to read it before the movie comes out this Fall.  This one was probably my favorite of the three.  I was seriously amazed at the wittiness and detail in this book, and the ending was a shock to me. 

This led me to then read the book that I needed for the actual challenge.  Murder in Mesopotamia takes place at an archeological dig, and was very entertaining as well, but I confess that I probably liked it the least out of the three I read.  I also figured out who the murderer was fairly early, so the ending wasn't quite as dramatic for me as the other two.  There was still a side event that surprised me, and let's be honest, Hercule Poirot is such a lovable personality that I still really enjoyed the book.  I still can't figure out why you have to read #10 first.  It mentions the Orient Express on the very last page of the book, but it doesn't give away anything.  Oh well.  I loved that book so much that I won't complain. 

A Little Landscaping

We have a friend who has started a landscaping business.  She actually stages front yards for realtors.  She helped us create an island around our tree in the front yard.  We had enough stone leftover that we actually could line the back flower beds, so we were really happy.

You can also see by the color of the grass that we've had a scorcher week of triple digits.  The heat has been intense.  It perhaps was not the best week to be working on the project, but it's not like it's going to get any cooler around here anytime soon.

Flowers and Butterflies

It took quite a while, but I finally finished this quilt.  My youngest brother and his wife are welcoming their first child into their family this September, and it's going to be a girl!

 The quilting is loopy line and flowers with butterflies in the border.  It's inspired by the back flannel.

Burning Books

I'd be in trouble if Fahrenheit 451 was based on real life, because we have A LOT of books in our house.  It's hard to believe that Bradbury's book is now considered a classic, because it was originally published in 1953.  It was an option on my summer reading list for 10th grade American Lit, but back then dystopian books didn't interest me, so I read a different book.  Little did I know what a popular genre it would become.  I thought this challenge would be the perfect excuse to go back and read what I missed in high school.  This is for #8: A classic with a number in its title.

The interesting thing is that if I had read this book 20 years ago it would have felt a bit far fetched, but now I feel like our society is set up in a way that this is almost possible.  Houses have multiple TVs in their home.  We have instant access to the internet on our phones.  Some people are connected to media 24/7.  All you would have to do is ban books and this book would be a reality.  I think that is one of the reasons why this book is so good.  It makes you think and feel, and it definitely transcends time.  It's interesting that a book written in 1953 feels so applicable to 2017. 

HST Quilt Top

I finished a baby girl quilt top yesterday using everything from my fabric stash.  It always makes me like it a little bit more when I use what I have.  😁  I like a good Half Triangle Square, so this quilt top was fun to make. 

Oklahoma wind continues to be uncooperative though.