My Favorite.....

My Favorite.. is a weekly meme hosted by Maureen’s Books. In this meme we share every week something we love with each other. Because let’s face it.. The world can be a dark place and it’s time to share something positive. For more info: My Favorite Meme.

This week's question/subject is....

My favorite.... Moment to write my reviews.

Okay here is my confession -- I don't review books. I tried.  I really tried. But as much as I read (and I read A LOT--and the range is wide), I cannot for the life of me, when describing a book, find any words in my brain except 'cool' and 'neat'.

I must divert to Jr. High in the 1970's.  That's all I can think of.

Oh...and  'so good'. I wrote that a lot when describing books.  

Describing plot, theme and characters left me with--it's so good!

None of you want to read that every week--so I gave it up.  Having confessed that tho, the book world is my favorite place to be.  I love all you book reviewers and hold you in highest admiration.

I am beseeching you (HA--now a word besides cool comes to me) to not kick me out of being a hanger on to the book blogging world.

To be fair,  I read a lot--I am in a lot of book clubs--just look to the right of this....

Lots of book clubs. 

I feel I could hold my own with you in a face to face discussion, but on paper?  I don't have what it takes.

But if I was going to review, it would be in the early early morning, with a cup of coffee in hand.

Let me get back to book clubs for just a moment--  There are 8 listed on the right side of my blog.  A few of those are internet book clubs, but 5 of them are once a month, here in town, face to face book clubs.  I love them all, they are like my children, I can't pick one over the other.  There is also one just beginning, which I've joined, "the Postal book club".  I'll explain more about that later on, in another blog, but that is an 'every other' month book club.

So, just last night I had this crazy thought to start a book club with my grandchildren!

This will mean lots of mailing (Virginia, Arizona, California and Nevada) encouraging (nagging maybe for some), to read and send etc.  Four are  middle grade readers, ranging from 8-10, and one 5 year old, who I might have to modify and send picture books to him.

I sent a text to the twins in CA--they just received Ipad touches for Christmas--- I sent their text as a group text.

Here is how it went... (they are 8)

Me:  I was thinking we should start a book club.  what do you think? You could send me a book you want me to read and then we can talk about it, and then I'll send you one that I like and  you can read it and then we'll talk about that.  Let me know if you want to be in a Gram and Grandkids book club!

Eli: ok.  I just got home.  I want to do that.

Me: Okay, let's do it!  do you want to read a book 1st and send it to me or do you want me to read one and send it to you?

Eli: You send one to me

Me:  Ok

Eli:  Ok

Emerson:  OK

Eli:  Hi  Emerson.  What are you doing?

Me:  Um--are you guys sitting right next to each other?

Eli:  Yes, why?

Me:  hahahaa because you just sent her a text.

Eli:  I know.  

Me:  So do I have to read two different books?  And send one to each of you?  Can I pull of off  my shelf or should I get a new one?

Eli:  this is to Emerson--  what are you doing Emerson?

Emerson:  It's up to you.

Eli:  What?  Are you talking to Gram?

Emerson: Yes

Eli:  Sorry

Me:  Am I confusing you by doing a group text?

Emerson:  Yes

Eli:  No. Talk later.

***********

Remind me to not do a group text again. 😉

My point?

I thought they were kind of cute.... AND I am open to some suggestions for some good middle grade reads to share with them in the G and G book club.

Gram and Grandkids!

Who knows?  Maybe I'll review them, in the early, early morning, with a cup of coffee in my hand.

Which would be my favorite moment to write reviews, if I wrote them.

Have a great day!!

My backyard year--January 3rd

This was from last week!!   and tomorrow, I'll be all caught up.

This was my yard last Wednesday.

It has been warm and the snow has all melted. We are lucky to have blue skies most of the year here in Northern Nevada

This was Wednesday, January 3rd.

If for any strange reason, you want to look at how the seasons change in Northern Nevada (my years specifically) click here.

click here

Friday Friend Recipe #174 - Jack Daniels Lemonade

My Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown #174!

(#willreallyfinishthissomeday)

My Mom's Jack Daniels Lemonade!

and you know all the whys and wherefores of this countdown, right? Homemade cookbook, friends contributed, Handyman said I couldn't/wouldn't do it, I'll show him, yadda yadda yadda....

...and the rest is cookbook history!

I have a feeling this recipe is more of my dad's, as my mother was not a drinker really.  NOT to say that my dad was, but my mother only liked a handful of cocktails in her whole life:

a Harvey Wallbanger

Slo Gin Screw

Peach Schnapps and orange juice

and a Strawberry Daiquiri

Just sayin'.... Jack Daniels is not on her list.

So this one's for my dad.

Jack Daniels Lemonade

Bev Hambelton or Mike Hambelton 

Heaven

1 part Jack Daniels

1 part Sweet and Sour mix

1 part Triple Sec

4 parts Sprite

lemon slices

cherries

Mix first 3 ingredients. Add ice and stir. 

Now you could add the Sprite, but I prefer to just top off the last 1/4 of the glass.  Up to you.

Garnish with lemon and cherries.

When we last left my parents-- 2 recipes ago, I mentioned that they loved to travel a bit.

They did. Every couple of years, they would take a cruise someplace.

I have no idea where this cruise was to, but I am aghast  to see that my dad is wearing a 'onesie'. 

Last spring while at our family cabin with my brother and sister-in-law, we were going thru tubs of photos and I came across these. 

I said--OMG, Dad has on a onesie!

My sister-in-law, Sylvia, always loyal to my dad said--no he didn't! It's shorts and a shirt. It's an 'out-fit'. 

I said--a onesie outfit

She said--no, it's two pieces, it just looks like one.

And then we laughed, because....well.... (onesie)

He broke up the line here with a touristy fanny pack!

I'm thinking--fanny pack, matching shirt and shorts, this must be the early 90's. And they probably went to the Caribbean. 

I am hoping he got to enjoy many Jack Daniels Lemonades this trip!

By the way--this is a really refreshing cocktail. It's worth trying.

That's my story friends!

This is recipe #174--only 120 left to go!

Backyard Wednesday -- December 20th

My Backyard (and front yard) year...

I'm still playing catch up, but plan to be caught up by this coming Wednesday.  Keep your fingers crossed!

On December 20th, we had snow. This is the only snow we've had all year and it has been slowing melting every since.

If you wanted to see how the season progress, you can click here.

https://thefridayfriends.blogspot.com/search/label/big%20backyard

Front yard

And then the back yard

Saturday Snapshot

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by

West Metro Mommy Reads 

To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post to West Metro Mommy Reads!   Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

I am famous!

Okay, so not really famous--- but I now have a column in a  quarterly community magazine.

It was fun to do.  

and that is my Saturday Snapshot for today!

What Should I Read Next

A monthly meme hosted by Michelle at  Because Reading is Better than Real Life.

Michelle says:

We sit for hours looking through our TBR lists wondering when we will ever get to that one book we were dying to read when we added it 3 months ago or maybe even a year. As our piles get bigger we realize there is just not enough time in a day to read all the books that we wanted to read. So I had a great idea, pick 3 books from my TBR Pile and have you all pick which one I should read next. This is a monthly MEME and you are more than welcome to join me. 

There are of course some rules, but if you want to join in go here to check them all out.

********************

2018 brings a new year, and so I am ready to get back into the swing of things and join in with this meme again. One of my resolutions is to not do 'too many' challenges and memes, but to stick to the ones I really like -- and I really do like this one!

So, let us begin --you know how it goes--I'll choose 3 books from my TBR list and you guys vote on which one I should read next and then I'll read it and report on it at the end of the month.

a word of warning...I've never been able, or taken the time really, do insert a poll in the body of this blog post, so...SORRY, but you are just going to have to vote with a comment.

I'll let you know next week, which one wins!

 

Here are 3 that have been in my TBR pile for awhile now:

The Vanderbeekers have always lived in the brownstone on 141st Street. It's practically another member of the family. So when their reclusive, curmudgeonly landlord decides not to renew their lease, the five siblings have eleven days to do whatever it takes to stay in their beloved home and convince the dreaded Beiderman just how wonderful they are. And all is fair in love and war when it comes to keeping their home

When a bookshop patron commits suicide, his favorite store clerk must unravel the puzzle he left behind in this fiendishly clever debut novel from an award-winning short story writer.

Lydia Smith lives her life hiding in plain sight. A clerk at the Bright Ideas bookstore, she keeps a meticulously crafted existence among her beloved books, eccentric colleagues, and the BookFrogs—the lost and lonely regulars who spend every day marauding the store’s overwhelmed shelves.

But when Joey Molina, a young, beguiling BookFrog, kills himself in the bookstore’s upper room, Lydia’s life comes unglued. Always Joey’s favorite bookseller, Lydia has been bequeathed his meager worldly possessions. Trinkets and books; the detritus of a lonely, uncared for man. But when Lydia flips through his books she finds them defaced in ways both disturbing and inexplicable. They reveal the psyche of a young man on the verge of an emotional reckoning. And they seem to contain a hidden message. What did Joey know? And what does it have to do with Lydia?

As Lydia untangles the mystery of Joey’s suicide, she unearths a long buried memory from her own violent childhood. Details from that one bloody night begin to circle back. Her distant father returns to the fold, along with an obsessive local cop, and the Hammerman, a murderer who came into Lydia’s life long ago and, as she soon discovers, never completely left. Bedazzling, addictive, and wildly clever, Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is a heart-pounding mystery that perfectly captures the intellect and eccentricity of the bookstore milieu and will keep you guessing until the very last page.​

Smart, warm, uplifting, the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes the only way to survive is to open her heart
Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. All this means that Eleanor has become a creature of habit (to say the least) and a bit of a loner. 

But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the story of a quirky yet lonely woman whose social misunderstandings and deeply ingrained routines could be changed forever—if she can bear to confront the secrets she has avoided all her life. But if she does, she’ll learn that she, too, is capable of finding friendship—and even love—after all.

Thanks!

I'll be back next Saturday.

vote in the comments please.