Madame de Stael by Francine Gray

Madame de Stael by Francine Gray


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Larger than life, Madame Germaine de Staël was a lightening rod figure in Swiss/French/German political, social, and literary circles. She stood her ground as she spread her opinions while holding court in her magnificent salons and publishing her work under threat from Napoleon. Men adored her, were challenged by her, and drawn to this woman of imposing intellect and strength. Her scope of influence extended well into the 20th century as a result of her mentoring at a time when women were not esteemed for their intellect and wit. Boldly taking many lovers who resided at her family estate in Coppet, Switzerland, Germaine secretly bore children, saw some die, spirited others elsewhere to be raised, and kept some in her household and at private schools. She met the physical challenges of being female with the strength and resilience that characterized her life in all spheres of endeavor.

This is an empowering read of a boldly modern woman and her role in shaping history. I read it in daily free email installments via DailyLit.com and highly recommend this astounding nonfiction work.

A favorite line:
"With resentful dignity, Mme Necker retreated from her daughter’s life."

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For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

Romans 8:15–16

Haitian Relief

God bless the people of Haiti and the workers who are there to bring relief and assistance. I felt led to donate to Doctors Without Borders. Perhaps you are inclined to do the same. Just click on the button below.

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Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

---Romans 13:10

Diagonal Dish Cloth

Here's another little knit-in-a-day project as respite from my bigger projects. The basic diagonally knit dish cloth is a fun, fast project knit in Peaches 'n' Creme. My pattern is an old one from http://www.geocities.com/nicolethegeek/knitting  It is available at http://barbarabradford.blogspot.com/2009/04/moms-diagonal-knit-dishcloth.html

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Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone.

2 Peter 1:7

Pinwheel Beanie

Time for a quick knit! Since I have a baby blanket and an afghan in progress, I wanted to finish a project to in a day. This fast and fun baby hat is for charity. The wonderful pattern is from "Just Jussi" at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/just-jussi-pinwheel-beanie and http://castadrift.blogspot.com/2007/05/pinwheel-beanie.html . I knitted a garter head band instead of ribbing. The next hat will have ribbing since it yields a cute, rounded shape. This hat is sized for 0-6 months. The pattern includes directions for a 12 months size as well. I used size 4 needles and unlabeled DK stash yarn. Maybe someone will recognize this inexpensive, self-striping yarn. I pray that this little hat will bless a child with warmth and love.

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He has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts -- 2 Corinthians 1:22

Friday Fill-In #158

http://fridayfillins.blogspot.com/

And...here we go! Tip of the hat to The Beatles this week :-) However, I'm not going to use their words.

1. There are places in my heart just for me.

2. Your smile will blow those clouds away.
3. Standing in the morning sun, watching the tide roll away.
4. Boy oh boy.
5. He went out tiger hunting and returned with a sad story of infidelity

6. Taking notes keeps my mind from wandering .

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Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others. ~ Proverbs 12:15

 
 
 
 

Wordless Wednesday: Our Front Yard Snow-scape

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“For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” Luke 22:27

The Party's Over

Happy 2010!!

Partying with a 4 and 6-year-old is a grand way to welcome the new year---even if its 8:30 PM!! The poppers, the horns, the streamers and hats were all the more sparkly and noisy and fun because of giggles and laughs of wide-eyed little ones. They are now on their way home to Texas with Daddy. God bless us all in this bright new year.

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Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” ~~~John 14:6

Notes on Christmas 2009

Christmas was snow globe place cards for the grands

and holiday post-its for the adultson a festive table, candle lit and beaded

with stockings and a wreath at the hearth

and presents and love around a small, snowflake Christmas tree.

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Let them praise your great and awesome name. Your name is holy!  ~ Psalm 99:3

Deck the Doggie!

The house and yard are decorated. Its Christmas week and time to decorate the doggie! She wasn't immediately ammenable to the idea of wearing the colorful bandana. Max wore it as a tie, but I opened it to tie as a bandana for little Lailah.

Look at her crazy legs!! What a pose!














Her attempts to scratch the bandana off were for nought.















Although she has removed it once, she pretty much ignores her new accessory and looks like her cute little self chasing around the house.

I'm thinking I might replace it with another style after the holidays. She's just so glam!

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This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger . . . . So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  ~~Luke 2:12

Teaser Tuesdays

"Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers."

From Read My Pins by Madeleine Albright, p. 23:

"Because many of my predecessors had beards and none was known to wear a skirt, my use of pins to send a message was something new in American diplomacy. The role of jewelry in world affairs, however, began in ancient times."

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[Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Philippians 2:6–7

Gift Book

Thanks to my Christmas Book Swap partner for this novel from my wish list. I'll be reading it soon! My partner emailed a while ago to tell me that a book would be arriving from a third party. Alas, I do not have the name/email/web site of my partner now, so I want to send out a Thank You! hoping that she'll see it!

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Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us'.  ~ Matt 1:23

A Little Bit Marley

I used the "Pastel Marley" pattern from Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson to make a size medium baby hat

with Caron Simply Soft yarn from stash

to donate to the Nurse-Family Partnership Program, a service project for our Red Hat chapter. Hope it will keep a little one warm for many years.

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Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.  ~ 2 John 1:3

Birds In A Christmas Tree

We have two small Christmas trees. The one on the window seat in my office has a bird theme. Here are a few of my Christmas tree birdies:

Some are knitted like this blue/green creation from the late 70s.

A few are "bell birds" like this cardinal.

Of course there is a wise old owl.

Love these gorgeous clip-on birds.

Another cardinal--this one in blown glass.

Don't they look like they're chirping?

The pinata is a little treasure from a trip to Cancun just days before Christmas, 2006. The cute little tree is a gift from a student in 1989. Each is a  favorite. Our living room tree has a theme of snowflakes and icicles. I'm hoping to snap some pix of it soon!

How did you decorate your tree?

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You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! ~ Isaiah 26:3

Echo House by Ward Just

Echo House by Ward S. Just



My rating: 5 of 5 stars

scud: (noun) 1. swift movement: a swift smooth movement

2. clouds driven by wind: low clouds that are driven swiftly by the wind

3. sudden shower or gust: a sudden shower of rain or gust of wind


cross the Rubicon:(noun) to do something that commits you to a particular course of action
[Early 17th century. After the stream in N Italy that Julius Caesar crossed illegally with his army in 49 BC, making civil war inevitable:]
point of no return: a point at which any action taken commits the person taking it to a further course of action that cannot be avoided


This story is splendid generational historical fiction about the unseen family of power players in Washington, DC. Fascinating insight comes to light as the reader begins in the the salon of Echo House with the family scion Senator Adolph Behl and his wife Constance, a demanding perfectionist. Beginning with the Wilson administration, the years unfold. Players and Presidents come and go, but the Behl family remains. The Behl men are the "Invisibles", the men who get things done, who take care of things, who avoid the spotlight. The evolution of the Behls and our nation kept me spellbound and sad to see the book end. Knowing that this novel reflects reality is mind-numbing and a bit scary. DC is a tough town.

View all my reviews >>

Invisible Dog

http://dogsonthursday.blogspot.com/

"When I hide here in my very secret place, no one can find me!"

Can YOU locate the missing dog?

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But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.   ~ Psalm 13:5-6

Three Stockings--Complete!

The third stocking is the snowman to finish the trio that Dear Friend asked me to make for her grandchildren. We'll all be at the church dinner tonight, so I'll give them to her after dinner.
I didn't make any purchases for these stockings and am happy that I could use the stash of Christmas yarns that have been on hand for several years.
I combined patterns from here and there, yarns from here and there using an H hook except for the smaller parts.
I am blessed that three little ones will have new stockings filled with treats.
Are you making Christmas stockings this year?

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And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.  

 ~ Colossians 3:17

Two Stockings, One To Go

Related to the previous post, I have completed the second of three stockings for a friend's grandchildren. This one is for Shelli rather than a random "she" as displayed in the pic.

Although not visible here, the white and green yarns have strands of glitter throughout. The red is Plymouth Encore.All the yarn is from stash and was crocheted with an H hook. The crocheted chain tie is stitched in place with bells on the ends. Additional bells ring-a-ling-ling from the points of the triangular tree, which was crocheted, then appliqued to the stocking.

The free pattern is at http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/cjif-stockingTree.html?noImages=

Are you making any stockings this Christmas?

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I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.   Psalms 69:30

One Stocking, Two To Go!

A friend asked me to knit three Christmas stockings for her grandchildren. After due consideration, I said I could crochet three by the week before Christmas. That is fine with her, so here is the first one done for Riley. This is made from the toe up by starting with a circle, then working the foot from there. Improvising as I worked along, I used sc and dc with an H hook and worsted weight yarn.

The name is crocheted in while carrying the red yarn. I then crocheted a Santa to sew on the stocking and crocheted a chain to weave through the dcs for decoration. Some bells added to Santa's hat, the toe, and the ends of the tie bring some jingle to this project which I made in a day. Quickie!

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Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.   ~ 1Corinthians 13:7

Thankfully Reading Weekend

http://www.bookblogsocialclub.com/2009/11/thankfully-reading-weekend.html

Perfect for our quiet holiday weekend---reading! No rules, no reports, no prizes---simply read, read, read. The kids and grands won't be around, so DH and I are going to help with the local Community Dinner which leaves plenty of reading time over the weekend. Want to join? Click on the above link to join and gobble-gobble-gobble some good books.

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And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.

~ 1 Thessalonians 3:12

Friday Fill-In #141

http://fridayfillins.blogspot.com/

1. We need smiles, hugs, and happies.

2. The mail arrived and it made me smile.

3. If you want, I can knit a Christmas stocking for you.

4. I am saved because Jesus died for me.

5. Massachusetts has a proposed 5% sales tax on elective cosmetic surgery; I think its an unfair tax.

6. Family makes for a happy holiday.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dinner and cards with friends, tomorrow my plans include going to a Christmas tree exhibit with a friend and Sunday, I want to knit, crochet, and read!

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No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
~ 1 John 4:12

Bulls Island---Help Needed

Bulls Island by Dorothea Benton Frank


My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Much to my disappointment, this book read like a hybrid of a Harlequin Romance and a Lifetime TV movie script. I had to skim through parts of it because of the predictable dialogue and linear development. Star-crossed lovers meet again in a business situation. Of course, there's a son that the female lead character had never revealed to the former fiance. Well, it rolls on from there with family entanglements, a death, anger, and forgiveness. Moments of humor brought some relief to the stagnant story line but not enough to make it an enjoyable story for this reader.

View all my reviews >>

Merci, Rainey Sisters!

The Merci Scarf is finished and is now actively--well, passively--blocking. I used Cascade The Heathers 220 in a soft shade of heather gray and size 8s.

The pattern is available here: http://www.theraineysisters.com/ccount/click.php?id=31

The seed stitch rib is a very defined stitch--more so than it appears here. Soon I'll roll it up, tie a bow around it, and save for the Christmas stocking of DS#2. The pattern is easy enough for mindless knitting, yet pretty enough that I didn't get bored with it.

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A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.
~ Proverbs 15:13