Book Recommendation

I just finished reading an incredibly moving novel Neverhome by Laird Hunt.  I had heard an interview with him on the radio and noted down the title.  Went looking for it online at my library and requested it, only to find there was a list of others who wanted to read it.  Well, my turn finally came and it was well worth the wait.  While I waited I also read another of his books "Kind One", also set in the 1800s.  It was an interesting story but not as good as Neverhome.

Here's the synopsis from the book flap.

"A dazzling novel about a young woman who disguises herself as a man and goes off to fight in the Civil War.  She calls herself Ash, but that's not her real name.  She is a farmer's faithful wife, but she has left her husband and donned the uniform of a Union soldier in the Civil War.  Neverhome tells the harrowing story of Ash Thompson during the battle for the South.  Through bloodshed and hysteria and heartbreak, she becomes a hero, a traitor, a madwoman, and a legend.

"Laird Hunt's enthralling new novel throws a light on the adventurous women who chose to fight instead of stay behind.  It is also a mystery story: Why did Ash leave and her husband stay?  Why can she not return?  How does she conceal her identity, and will she be discovered?  Will she ever make it back home?"

This book's premise is based on true stories of women who went to war for both sides dressed as men.  When I taught 4th grade my students read the story of a woman who did that in the Revolutionary War.  Her name escapes me now, but it was a true story.  She was only discovered when she got wounded.  The women who serve now in our Armed Forces no longer have to don a disguise.  How times have changed.

If you're looking for something to read look for this book!

What's Colorful Now

I got my camera back this afternoon.

After spending two hours weeding and trimming the last two beds in the perennial garden then planting garlic in the vegetable garden, I took a tour around to note the colors.

Here's my hydrangea in Mom's Garden that can't decide what color it wants to be.

In the perennial garden one of the few bright spots is this chrysanthemum.

Against the wall the knockout rose has a single bud.  The poor plant has taken a beating from the deer and bugs.  And this was to be such a disease resistant variety.

The tulip poplars are turning gold and brown.  The glen garden is just a mass of stems from the hosta. 

A spot of color in the pond garden is this sedum.

 Back to Mom's garden, the Autumn Joy sedum has deepened in color.  What a nice contrast against the lavender to the right, liriope to the left, and the pink muhley grass behind.

This is the first year for the pink muhley grass.  It has been nondescript all summer.  Nice to have this color in October.  Can you see the beauty berry bush behind it?

Here's the beauty berry close up.  It was also a new addition when I redid this garden last spring and dedicated it to my Mom.

All these berries were once pink flowers.  I wonder if I'm going to be pulling up seedlings all spring?

Random Photos from the Past

I'm still without a camera but I understand it has been fixed and is being returned to me soon.

Photos from a trip to British Columbia in May 2012.

A moose sighting!

Aw - Tim Horton's a good place to stop.

5 Photo-less Wednesday Comments

1. My camera needs repair.  I'm sending it off today to Canon to do just that.  It still takes pictures but the display is not working so I'm not quite sure what the photo will look like.  It has served me well so it makes sense to repair it but in looking at new cameras I found one to put on my wish list.  Maybe ...

2. On this October oneth the trees are saying its fall.  Every tree has a mix of green and yellow or brown or reddish brown.  Soon the predominant will not be green.

3. Wedding planning continues.  The invites have been out two weeks and responses are trickling in.  It's definitely a study in who keeps a calendar and who doesn't.  I can only imagine where some of those invitations are now buried on desks, dining room tables, or junk drawers.  Dan says if we don't hear from some it must mean they're not coming.  Is that really true?  Or did they just forget about it, lose the invitation?

4. My vegetable garden has been cleaned up for winter.  I still have zucchini growing - the latest in the season that has happened.  The lettuce is lovely and the snow peas are blooming and forming nice pods.  Wish I could show you.  Garlic from Fedco is on its way so planting of that will happen this month.

5.  My bedtime reading is a book on gardening myths.  One of which is that perennial gardens are easier than annual gardens.  This is a myth and I can attest to that.  When you plant a perennial you think that all you have to do is keep it trimmed and fertilized.  Well, that perennial likes to grow, and spread, and send out seeds or runners and before you know it wants to take over.  It's work to keep them in bounds.  I spent a good amount of time in my perennial garden yesterday pulling weeds and perennial seedlings that I decided had to go.  There would have been a time that I would have transplanted those seedlings but not yesterday.  More needs doing but maybe not today.