Two in a Row

It's unusual for me to read two wonderful books in a row. I recently raved about "The Thirteenth Tale" as one of my all time favorites. Well, I just finished another wonderful one: "The Forgotten Garden" by Kate Morton.

I can't remember where I heard of "The Forgotten Garden" though I believe it was reviewed on NPR. Anyway this is a saga spanning three time periods: the turn of the 20th century, the 1970s and the present. A little girl of 4 years is placed in hiding on board a ship and told to wait there until the woman who put her there returns. Unfortunately she never returns and it's not until the end of the story that you find out why or even who exactly is this little girl. The little girl ends up in Australia alone until she is taken home and adopted by the man who finds her on the dock waiting after everyone has embarked. She doesn't learn of any of this until she turns 21. The book is her search, her grand-daughter's search and the saga of the woman who places her in hiding in 1913.

Look for it. You'll enjoy it.

This and That

The birds were busy at the feeders all day yesterday. They'd heard the weather report of the snowstorm coming.

I have two of these barrel squirrel proof feeders now and for some reason this one, the newest and in a new location is more popular than the old one. Is it because of its newness?

My camera does not have the best telephoto capabilities but here is the male cardinal as close as I could get to him.

This morning we woke to 3 inches of snow. It's a lovely sight. Here's sunrise through the trees overlooking the frozen pond.


Finally, I decided it was time for a color change. I've been wanting borders around my photos and to do that I went to a new template and while I was at it went to a new color scheme.

P.S. Check out World Bird Wednesday

A Wonderful Book

I don't think I've been so pleased about a book since "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society", but the book I just finished ranks up there with that one. It's a book by Diane Setterfield called "The Thirteenth Tale". Intrigue, mystery, delightful prose, and a story you couldn't anticipate. I didn't have to skim read any of it to get through it. Every word was read and sometimes re-read to get the full effect.

It's the story of two writers: one very famous, Vida Winter, whose mysterious roots have never been revealed; and a very obscure writer, Margaret Lea, who is selected by the former to write her official true biography. The stories of both these writers are inter woven and play out into the present time until all is understood and put into place.

Look for "The Thirteenth Tale" at the library or bookstore. It's worth the read!

Why I Don't Have to Trim My Liriope

My liriope border runs along the driveway in the front of the house. You can't see it in this photo but its beyond the sedum (brown dried flowers) and the lavender. At this time of year it still shows some green.

When I had it at my old home I would have to prune back the old growth to make way for the new. I don't have to do that here because I have pruners who stop by fairly regularly - the four-legged kind. I caught them in the act today.

This was at 2:30 pm. I thought they were dusk animals. First one visited my bird feeder then went around to the front.


I went up into the loft for a better view.


Eventually there were 4 out there chewing away. Two others stuck to what they could find in the woods.


I finally went out the front door to scare them away. Now as I write this they are back but on the east side of the house along either side of the driveway nibbling what green grass shoots they can find. Snow is in the forecast so maybe that's why they are out at this hour of the day.