The Library

[BarbStAubrey]

The Library Our library  is open 24/7; the welcome mat is always out. Do come in from daily chores and spend some time with us.

The December  Book Challenge!! 

  We have so enjoyed our 30 Day Book Challenges!  Let's do our own December Book Challenge to start December 1:  one for every day in December concerning our December reading.

ALL suggestions welcome and needed! To start us off for December 1:

Podcast Themes and Reactions: See Rosemary's Posts

[BarbStAubrey]

huugh - that is a huge intake of breath - thank you Nlhome - it was not me being out of sorts then - whew you too could not finish it - sure was not a recommendation to dip into any of her other books was it - and again what gets me most of these mysteries on kindle are 1.99 or 2.99  with the most 5.99 and all her books are 10.99 to 16.99 with only a couple at 9.99 and this one that I think was a Christmas special that was 2.99 - again to my way of thinking a more expensive book has more creds - was I wrong... and now to have you agree - well that nailed it - will not finish it...

[rosemarykaye]

Barb - I've not read the book but I noticed that my blogger/librarian friend liked it - here is what she said, just for information:



'Some books are just timely. Maybe I didn’t get a chance to read Murder at an Irish Christmas before the holiday, but it was the perfect book to finish on Christmas Day. Even if you haven’t read the previous five books in Carlene O’Connor’s series, you can read this one. Garda Siobhan O’Sullivan and her five brothers and sisters are away from home for the holiday, so the setting in West Cork and the environment is new to them as well. And, Siobhan has no thoughts of crime. “The only thing on the agenda this year was peace, joy, and a little holiday fun.”

Siobhan and her siblings are in West Cork to celebrate with their brother, James and his fiance, Elise. Elise’s grandfather, Enda Elliot, the renowned conductor of the RTE National Symphony Orchestra, is conducting a special Christmas Eve concert with some of the members of the orchestra who have traveled to be there. But, when Siobhan and the family arrive at the old whiskey mill where the rehearsals and concert will be held, the doors are locked. When finally, a neighbor arrives with the keys, everyone rushes in, only to find Enda dead. While it appears he went over the railing from the second floor gallery, Siobhan immediately sees it as a crime scene.

Siobhan has no jurisdiction, but Garda Barry Cooley immediately has a suspect, the most disliked man in town. Siobhan doesn’t think that’s the way to run an investigation, and continues to ask questions. She learns there are a number of family members, and a few others, who might have wanted the old man dead. She listens carefully, and what she discovers is “Tis the season for lying.”

While I haven’t read all the books in this series, this one is my favorite. As I said, some books are just timely. Murder at an Irish Christmas brings together Christmas, Ireland, family, and music. Add in a well-crafted mystery, and, anytime this winter could be the perfect time to escape into this book.'



I suppose it's another case of horses for courses!  Just like La La Land, which some people seem to have loved and I could not stand. Asked my daughters - one said it was OK, the other said even watching the trailers was enough to put her off.

[BarbStAubrey]

thanks Rosemary - But....... what can I say - she does come across as a pompous know it all and that may be what got under my skin - to each his own - I just could not relate - glad your friend enjoyed the story - I guess that is why there are many authors all successful - we all read enjoying a variety of characters and see different things in each.

[BarbStAubrey]

Wow....

A Massachusetts school canceled Ancient Greek Poet Homer because he’s a dead white guy who lived more than 70 years ago.

"Their ethos holds that children shouldn’t have to read stories written in anything other than the present-day vernacular—especially those “in which racism, sexism, ableism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hate are the norm,” as young-adult novelist Padma Venkatraman writes in School Library Journal. No author is valuable enough to spare, Ms. Venkatraman instructs: “Absolving Shakespeare of responsibility by mentioning that he lived at a time when hate-ridden sentiments prevailed, risks sending a subliminal message that academic excellence outweighs hateful rhetoric.”...

...Where do we go from here? The WSJ story points out that when one person, author Jessica Cluess, courageously pushed back as a #DisruptTexts ideologue accused Nathaniel Hawthorne (author of The Scarlet Letter) of “slut shaming,” she got mobbed and was forced to do a public online struggle session to denounce herself. The mob went after her book publisher, and got her agent to sever his business relationship with her. The mob won, education lost. Homer got kicked out of school."

[Frybabe]

Uh, Oh!  Looks like the history erasers are busy again.

George got moved to yet another room. They had to intubate and sedate him. They have to change his position several times a day. While he is a little better today, according to his attending nurse, it is getting to the point where they are considering running a "pinline" (or something like that) from his arm to his heart because some of the IV veins are becoming problematic from long use. The meds to that line will help reduce the threat of embolisms, clots, and some A-Fib that showed up.
 
My friend in CO mentioned another storm coming east, so I have to keep an eye on that and decide whether to move George's cats or just pile up more food and water for them there.


Listening to The Politically Incorrect Guide to the British Empire by H. W. Crocker III. I thought it was going to be a humorous thing, but it isn't. Turns out it is part of a series, each book being written by a different author. Reading and old book, Carmen's Messenger by Harold Bindlosss. It seems to be a melodramatic mystery set in Canada. Also reading A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War by Victor Davis Hanson. I hope the chapters are more interesting than the prologue was.

[rosemarykaye]

Oh dear Frybabe, I do hope George is better soon and that your storm was not too bad. Thinking of you.

I am just popping in to wish everyone on here a happy and peaceful new year. We have been told not to attend any parties or gatherings outwith our own households this Hogmanay. As someone who would rather hide under a duvet for three days than even consider attending a party, this is not a problem - but I do hope others take note.

I am so grateful for all the friendship and conversation we have here on SeniorLearn. I have enjoyed it so much this year, and I look forward to continuing to do so in 2021. Thank you all for engaging with my endless chatter!

Stay safe everyone. At last there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Very best wishes,

Rosemary

[Fran]

Hi Everyone, I truly enjoy all the “endless chatter.” It keeps me company, so stay well, and safe.  Fran

[nlhome]

Happy New Year, everyone.

[BarbStAubrey]

As other's have said, thank goodness for Senior Learn and this community of fellow readers - it was the one secure link to sanity I could depend on - hoping all goes well this coming year as we embark on another foray of sharing our reading experiences and other thoughts... Thanks and wishing the best for 2021

[Tomereader1]

Thank Goodness for "endless chatter".  Don't know what we would have done this year without it!  Glad to see you used the term Hogmanay.  When I used the term last year, I think everyone thought it was a "typo".  It's been raining steadily all day long, and cold on top of that, so no celebrating in the streets tonight!  Wonder how many gunshots we will hear.  There's folks who think that's an appropriate way to celebrate the New Year.

[BarbStAubrey]

I'd miss the shotguns going off wouldn't you Tomereader - but we do hear fewer with each year that passes as the state fills up with more folks from other areas - read today that 8% of homes purchased in Texas were from international buyers and that percentage has been happening for the past few years so that the local Board of Realtors created committees to translate the contracts into 5 other languages and are working with the Title Companies to do the same - who would have guessed...

[Tomereader1]

I wouldn't miss the guns going off at all, Barb.  (We hear enough of those during an ordinary week).

[rosemarykaye]

Guns are thankfully not a thing here. In Edinburgh, where our house is right alongside the docks, all of the big boats sound their horns.  Here in Aberdeenshire fireworks are inevitable, though I must say I don’t like them.  A piper will play at midnight - that is the one thing I do like to hear.

I’m just watching Jools Holland’s Hootnannay, which is on TV every year, and Tom Jones is singing - for someone his age he really is amazing. At midnight a pipe band played Auld Land Syne.

And so it is 2021!

Rosemary

[Fran]

Happy new year rosemarykaye!We have about a little over an hour to go. I’m sipping on a rum and vodka drink, while my husband is in our front room,probably asleep.Bootle of Champagne is still in refrig. I’ll be drinking it on my own, I’m sure. Watching Anderson Cooper in Times Square at the Moment.

[PatH]

I've got most of an hour to go too.  The neighborhood is totally quiet and most houses are dark.  Usually there are scattered bangs beforehand, and at midnight some bangs and horn blowing.  The bangs are firecrackers, not guns.

Yes, it's been an oasis of sanity, friendship, and civilized conversation here.  Thanks to everyone.  One thing that got emphasized in this mess is the goodness and value of friends.

Bless you all.

[PatH]

Made it to 2021.  Cheers, everyone!

[BarbStAubrey]

30 minutes into 2021 - we slipped into this new year with nary a sound - it was as if the City had gone into a deep sleep while a bone numbing chill settled in bringing snow to the outer edges west of town - many a child will wake in the morning seeing their first snow while for others it will bring back a memory of seeing and rolling in just over an inch of snow in 2017

[Tomereader1]

Before the New Year came knocking, the pouring rain turned into sleet for maybe 5 minutes, then went back to raining.  I wouldn't have known, but I could hear it pinging on the front windows, so I looked out. It was doing a good job of covering the sidewalk.  I barely had time to text my daughter that it was sleeting, went back to the door, and it was raining again.  It is ugly cold out there though.  I'm having a tough time keeping warm.
My neighbors (somewhere around here) are doing the firecrackers.  Hope they stop soon.  Way past my bedtime.

[BarbStAubrey]

Sun came out yesterday and today it is really warming up - funny - our neighborhood facebook is filled with folks joking and poking fun - it seems everyone noticed how silently New Years came that they are saying 2021 sneaked in under the radar or it crept in some say like cats and others say like mice - of course all the close by shops were closed but yesterday a couple ventured out to the close by grocery - there are two, HEB and Randall's and both were empty of shoppers and so folks are now teasing there was a magical ring that descended and we have been frozen into a time warp and of course some are referencing the neighborhood as sleeping beauty's castle and all the pet peeves that will be frozen in time and can Covid activate if our neighborhood is asleep - all fun and games - neat to know how many in the area have not lost their sense of humor.

The email arrived for me to choose my monthly free book from Amazon and none of the books grabbed my interest till the end - yep, the child's book about Sadie going to Mars - cute rhyming story but delighted with the information included at the end of the story - I learned more basics about Mars than I've ever read anywhere - had no idea there was a mountain 3 times to size of Mt. Everest or that there was a canyon 3 times deeper than the Grand Canyon that was as long as the distance between NYC and San Francisco and they are looking to send someone to Mars in the 2030s - Also, completely forgot Russia sent a women in to space 20 years before the US and she was alone in her space craft, not part of a group. Born in 1937 I wonder if there are any books about her or if she wrote about her experience.

[ginny]

Goodness, this has been good reading, I have enjoyed all the sentiments here! And Happy 9th day of Christmas, I see some of my neighbors observe the 12 days as I do. 9 Drummers Druming, I think, or I may have that wrong.

The Latin assignments are all up and I've been enjoying a warm read with the  Christmas tree still up,  in front of the "fire," which is on TV, but it's a real fire so I keep thinking it's warm, when I was too lazy to go out in the freezing wet porch and get some wood.

There's a wonderful old saying,  "Heap up the wood, the wind is chill. We'll keep our Christmas merry, still."  I've always liked that.

I've taken to using an electric lap robe when reading but every time I do  it I think of  King George VI and his lap robes and am I really that old? There's something sort of comforting about them, though.

I'm reading The Christmas Card Murders  mentioned here earlier, and it's short stories and it's got that wonderful John Dickson  Carr one about the family being away at Christmas when the expected guests come. I haven't read that in YEARS and it's a really good one. Some of them are not as good, so I skipped them for later on.

I'm also reading as a bed time read  (Tomereader will appreciate this) Jurassic Park (the original one) and I am enjoying it no END. It's much better than the movie, to me, but having seen the  movie I can picture the characters and  even hear the theme song hahaha  and since I have control over which pages turn, so far there have only been two incidents with dinosaurs I'd like to try to forget.

It's well written and I don't like Michael Crichton. Maybe I need to read more of him. Anyway,  so far it's a good read.


Like everybody else, Rosemary, I would hate to be without what you call your "endless chatter!" Just absolutely howled over this one: " As someone who would rather hide under a duvet for three days than even consider attending a party, this is not a problem..."

hahaha That makes two of us, then.  hahahaa

I'm glad you enjoyed that article on Thomas Becket's Lost book, Barbara. I agree it's wonderfully written. Those psalters are absolutely wonderful and that  Beatus Vir illustration of Psalm 1 (Blessed is the man...) is wonderful.

Anybody out there with New Year's Resolutions?  I've made a couple,  for a change, for some reason.

Today in the supermarket I remarked to the  checker, a beautiful young woman, that on the news last night I had seen how many  grocery store clerks have contracted  the  virus and she had not seen it and wanted to hear  more. That led to her talking about those  she has seen on Social Media partying in large numbers with no masks, and I asked her if she had many in that store who didn't  use masks,  because the signs and free masks are everywhere, and while we were talking here came the next customer with no mask, at least he stood back from me.  I am not sure how this is ever going to end unless people take it seriously. That made two in that grocery store this morning, and I went early.

I hate to say this but I resent those who can't take that  one  small step of trying to help stop the transmission of the virus, which has changed all of our lives.  I keep cominmg back to Queen Elizabeth's first speech on it, how we would look back in years to come of the sacrifices we made to help....what will the heedless maskless say?  Of course some of us seem to feel that we  are  just SO "special" that nothing would ever hurt us, and we really don't care about anybody else.

OH before I leave, any special foods you need to eat for the New Year? For me it's herring in sour cream with onions and mince meat rolls.

Happy New Year and thanks to Jane for the great  seasonal illustrations on top of every page!

[nlhome]

Happy New Year.
Ginny, I bought herring in sour cream with onions for my husband to enjoy at New Year's because I know he likes herring. He ate one piece, as did I, and told me that it should have been herring in wine sauce. So much for that. And we won't have any company to help us eat the rest of the jar.

When I read The Christmas Card Murders, I also skipped a couple of the stories, maybe for later, may for never.

So January 2 seems a let down. We did nothing much for New Year's Eve, same for yesterday. My husband overdid with the snow shoveling - we had 5 more inches this past week - so he hasn't been in the mood for our usual New Year's hike at the state park. Maybe tomorrow. Meanwhile, I am reading a novella by Mick Herron in the Slough House series, the Marlybone Drop.

[BarbStAubrey]

Hogmanay rhymes from the auld times………..

‘Get up, goodwife, and shake your feathers, And dinna think that we are beggars; For we are bairns come out to play Get up and gie‘s our hogmanay!’ ————– “A guid New Year to ane an` a` and mony may ye see!” ————– “Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true.” ————— “Open the door for the auld year  It is the pairtin-time:  Open the door for the new year  “ —————- We’ve three bonnie bottles, but the third ane’i toom, Gin the road ran whisky, it’s mysel’ wad soom ! * But we’ll stan’ while we can, an’ be dancin’ while we may, For there’s twa we hae to finish, an’ it’s Hogmanay.  —————– “My glass is filled, my pipe is lit, My den is all a cosy glow; And snug before the fire I sit, And wait to feel the old year go” —————— “Wi’ muckle glee, but little din, At doors the lassies sentries keep, To let the first-fit in. Nae auld, camshauchled warlock loon, Nor black, wanchancie carlin Sall cross ae threshold o’ the toun Till ilk lass gets her darlin’ person To kiss that nicht” ——————– A Guid New Year I wish thee, Maggie! Hae, there’s a ripp to thy auld baggie Tho’ thou’s how-backit now, an knaggie, I’ve seen the day Thou could hae gaen like any staggie Out-owre the lay. ——————- Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And auld lang syne!

[BarbStAubrey]

Just dawned on me - no one does 'first footing' any longer - I'm especially remembering an Uncle who always came with the gift of a broom or brush to sweep up the dirt and always tied in red ribbon - we were about the 3rd house and so he was pretty sloshed by the time he got there but always he had with him either a friend or when his sons grew to be teens he had with him one of his sons to help him on his way and get him home - but it was an annual visit that brought lots of jokes and laughter on New Year's day. Not eve but day on into the night

[ginny]

I don't think I know what Hogmanay actually IS?  I don't think I will adopt i t, I can't get anybody here to eat the Herring in Sour Cream OR mincemeat pie, so there's not much use to try to bring another new celebratory thing in.

Nlhome, it WAS you then, with the Christmas Card Murders!  I have read on and enjoyed several more of the stories. A Cyril Hare!! I always loved him and PD James did, too, apparently. So clever.

I thought it was you, but could not find a reference, even when I did the Search which is not working very well apparently, but you have to get it absolutely right. So I'm glad to know who it was.

Oh herring, must be in sour cream with onions! hahahaa That and mincemeat I really enjoy.


Still enjoying Jurassic Park,  before sleep. I like the cool "Scientific" approach even though I have no idea what he's talking about and know what's coming. I may read more of Crichton.

Well it's the 11th day of Christmas and everything here is still Christmas looking  inside  but tomorrow is 12th Night. I hate to take it down. Maybe I will just take down the outside part for a while.

[BarbStAubrey]

Oh dear - not something to eat - this quote says it best "Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year (Gregorian calendar) in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year's Day (1 January) or, in some cases, 2 January—a Scottish bank holiday. The origins of Hogmanay are unclear, but it may be derived from Norse and Gaelic observances. "

Just downloaded several new books - did not finish reading my Christmas books but cannot get into them for some reason and so onward - the books I downloaded run the gamete - from the first book in the O'Mara series that is a Maeve Binchy sort of series - then a book of English and Irish folktales called The Woodland - A Susan Higginbotham historical novel, The Woodvilles The War of the Roses and England's Most Infamous Family and then, for a couple of doses of more reality, Michael Collins and the Troubles and last, Finding Vigano: The Man Behind the Testimony that Shook the Church and the World. - Looks like Vigano is in the news again - I knew he had to go into hiding and so I'm curious now to get the skinny on all of this...

Downloaded these books so I can look up immediately, words and references - never could read without a dictionary by my side - still have two on the table next to where I do most of my reading... many words have a specific meaning that gets lost until an author uses it in what to me is a new and often interesting way.

The sun is out and it is quite warm - in the low 70s - a perfect day for clearing out more of the Garage but just cannot get myself going - decided to stop kicking myself and make a fresh pot of coffee and read... The garage will be there and it will still be nice tomorrow... oh dear how easy it is to procrastinate - so be it... 

[ginny]

  I knew it was some kind of a Festival from reading Rosemary on it but I figured it also had some accompanying holiday food, and what I was saying was I can't take on more customs in food because nobody wants mince pie and herring now.

I appreciate that explanation, though, thank you.

Nlhome, the herring in sour cream I got was so bad here I could scarcely finish it. I think it makes a difference who produces it. This was really bad.

Barbara, your industry is always amazing.  I understand the Procrastination idea, but hey, it's still Christmas: be good to yourself and enjoy! 

[Dana]

Pickled herring we always used to have as the start of the Polish Vigilia supper on Christmas Eve,  my mother used to make her own, God bless her, she was Scottish and pickled herring is not Scottish (smokies are, but that's another story).  However after the war in Scotland there were many Poles and much camaraderie it would seem....she had a  Polish cookbook published in Scotland in English.......my father was Polish, regular army officer.  After the war he studied medicine at Edinburgh University at a specially created Polish medical school.  My mother was a maths teacher and basically put him thru med school.
At Hogmanay you used to have Scottish stuff like black bun and shortbread and you weren't supposed to "first foot"(visit your friends) till after midnight, bringing a lump of coal for luck.  We never did that so I don't know how commonly that was done.

Polish pickled herring is done in vinegar and is delicious as an appetizer with a shot of vodka.......I think the sour cream variety is more a Eastern European Jewish version.

[BarbStAubrey]

My mother-in-law had a special stone jug for pickling herring - they pickled the herring starting on New Year's day and added to it the first part of January so that it was finally ready to eat on Ash Wednesday - there was always dollop of sour cream with chives on the side along with other pickled food - there was enough to get through the first few weeks of Lent and the pickled herring had a symbolic story - something about Christ given vinegar rather than water on his way to the cross.

We eat so few foods any longer that were easily made at home - I can't remember the last time we had homemade noodles or some of the ways that meat was pickled and relished as a delicacy like sauerbraten or for that matter even as simple as red cabbage.

[ginny]

 Black bun. Well there you have it, what lovely memories you both have, Dana and Barbara. I knew there had to be some food connected with it, maybe Rosemary can tell us more.  I just watched Michael Portillo in Cornwall this morning making a Cornish Pasty and hearing an explanation as to why tin miners never ate the crust.

The only association I have in the past with herring in sour cream with onions was a New Year's Eve date in college when I had returned to NJ and was seeing my high school flame again, I guess a nostalgic kind of meeting, and there we were in his apartment on New Year's Eve contemplating a movie when the doorbell rang and one of his elderly neighbors wanted us to come to their New Year's Eve party. I, of course, in true Rosemary fashion,  would rather have crawled to Brooklyn but he wanted to go, naturally. He was/ is more gregarious then I will ever be, and after all it was his neighbors. We'll just drop by he said, no need to stay, on our way to the movie.  So we went, grudgingly on my part and we never  went anywhere else that night.  I learned a lot that night, about how wonderful neighbors CAN be and connections DO exist in the so called unfriendly urban North of this country. I have never before or since experienced such hospitality, we were all instant friends, and I doubt anybody in the room was under 70, and all were Jewish. Lots of strange to me food and so forth.

And there was the famous Herring in Sour Cream, solemnly said to bring good luck so I've had it ever since. But I'm going to have to pay attention to the jar next time, it wasn't the same maker. And it was AWFUL.  Bigger is not better with herring.

Yesterday I had to blink twice when looking out the window as sitting on the bush right in front of me was a Baltimore Oriole which I have not seen in at least 40 years. Never in this house. Today as I sat down to write this right behind the computer was (another?) one, or the same one in the bush in front of me. I tried to move stealthily   for the iphone to get a photo but it saw me and flew off.  I am not sure what this means, why the sudden appearance of this bird,  but I have just read that a rare painted bunting has attracted crowds of people hoping to see one in Maryland, https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/rare-visit-from-brilliantly-colored-bird-draws-crowds-to-maryland-park/, and I wonder if in fact something in the climate has changed that much that we  are now seeing these strange and unusual birds in our areas. The bird looked quite cold in my bush and kept trying to settle into the bush I guess for warmth.

It did not look comfortable (I base that on chicken behavior, I could be way off)...It's been warm here, in the 60's, but we've been having a cold snap although I see it's 49 out there now. Beautiful bird.

I've moved,  for the 12th Day of Christmas,  to sit beside the Christmas tree  on its last day,  with my electronic fire and Jurassic Park, which I now can't put down and which is, to me, so different from the movie. Maybe I will light a real fire. I need to ask Tomereader in the Movies area if what just happened in the book is something she recalls from the first movie.

[rosemarykaye]

I'm no expert on Hogmanay, but I think the main refreshments would be black bun and a lot of whisky.

I did find this old Guardian article which purports to tell the truth about it all - it's actually quite funny and probably not that far wrong:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/dec/31/real-scottish-hogmanay

Of course none of this could happen this time. Holyrood gave out countless warnings about no parties and no first footing. It was very quiet around here, but it almost certainly would have been anyway.

Ginny, I enjoyed the story of the Brooklyn Jewish New Year.  When we lived in Newfoundland, we were invited to our neigbours, who were Polish, although they had been born in London - their parents had immigrated to the UK. The husband was extremely keen on showing us a Polish New Year - oh my goodness, the amount of vodka was unbelievable. He said it was necessary to drink at least one large shot in between each of the numerous courses. I did not do this, but needless to say my husband felt obliged to keep up. The next day was not a happy one for him! The  only dish i can remember is one of mashed potato with more garlic in it than I had ever eaten in my entire life.

Rosemary

[rosemarykaye]

I almost forgot to mention books!

I have just finished Mary Wesley's The Camomile Lawn, which I feel I enjoyed a good deal more this time than when it first came out 30+ years ago. I think I was a dreadful prude in those days, and was shocked by all the sex. This time it seemed much more normal, and it was the characters - especially Calypso, Helena, Max and Richard - who interested me most, and who did ring very true, though I bet in 1984 I was sure such people didn't exist.

Now I have picked up another re-read, though again I can't really remember it: Bill Richardson's The Bachelor Brothers' Bed and Breakfast.  Has anyone else read it?

[PatH]

Ginny, the Baltimore oriole has shifted, but farther north; you almost can't see them in Baltimore any more.  Yours must have gotten really confused.

That painted bunting is practically in my back yard!!!  (Actually about 6 miles away.)   I've walked along that bit of towpath in the second picture many times, as it's on the way from the parking lot to the bridge from which you can get a good look at the falls.  If you walk the other way from where the birders are you can get down to a trail along the edge of the Potomac, walk just a tiny way, and see an island where bald eagles tend to nest.  You could see the young birds, and the parents bringing them food (they mostly eat fish), the young birds trying to fly, etc.  Once when I was there with JoanK, an immature eagle flew over our heads, just 5 feet above us.  They're HUGE.  It's a birder's heaven.  I particularly liked the blue and green herons and the pileated woodpeckers.

[ginny]

 Wow, have you been out to try to see it? I never saw such a bird. I'm not a bird fancier, but I do have chickens and rare woodpeckers suddenly too. I'd be there, what a  sight it is!

According to this, we're right on the line for the migration of the Baltimore Oriole  but I wonder that the time of year is not right?



Could it be coming UP because it's been so warm?

[nlhome]

How fun to read all this. We have a pair of tufted titmouse, which we've never had before. And we've seen/heard swans flying overhead this past week. That seems a little late for them, but the sandhill cranes were also still in Wisconsin until December.

Herring in sour cream seems to have been a popular item on salad bars in supper clubs in our area. Maybe that explains why I thought I should buy that instead of herring in wine sauce. But I think the, like Ginny says, the brand is important. I hope I remember this brand, so I don't buy it again. Pickled fish is something people here make, I think usually with northern pike. My husband tried making it, and I am sure my father did. However, you can only eat so much pickled fish, I think.

As for books, haven't been too interested in reading. Mick Herron has two novellas, more like long short stories, in the Slough House series, so I read them this week. One of them had a preview of another book following it, so I started that and then ordered the book on OverDrive.  That is called Nobody Walks and it has some of the Slough House characters in it, although it doesn't seem to be part of the series. I also had to spend some time waiting in the car yesterday, so pulled out the book that has been in there since summer, The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen. I had to wait long enough that I got way into the book this time, and I may have to move the book from the car to the house.

[Frybabe]

nlhome, thanks for the heads-up on Nobody Walks. I missed that.

Barb, I've started reading The Book of Taliesin: Poems of Warfare and Praise in an Enchanted Britain by Gwyneth Lewis and Rowan Williams. I haven't gotten to the poems yet, but the Introduction is fascinating. 

[BarbStAubrey]

Sounds like something more particular frybabe, compared to the book I picked up a few weeks ago for my Kindle - The Four Ancient Books of Wales What attracted me was reading how Henry VIII purged all the libraries when he was closing down monasteries and church buildings - I did not know that - as a result of this purge most of the collection of ancient books in Wales were secreted into private hands - at least they were not lost - the book goes into some of those who housed these ancient books and The Book of Taliesin is one of the books included in this privatizing for posterity - I had not read more than the first couple of pages as other books took my interest but now I need to get back to learn more and see what is included that is from The Book of Taliesin.   

[PatH]

Frybabe and Barb, I'd love to hear your reaction to the poems when you read them.

Ginny, I didn't even know about the painted bunting until your post.  I won't get a chance to see it, as I have no safe way of getting to the park.  Too bad, it looks spectacular.

Nlhome, the tufted titmice are really cute, aren't they.  I get them here in the winter, but haven't seen any this year.  The bird population has been kind of cockeyed this year.

[ginny]

 Well, the Elephant in the Living Room is awfully big this morning as the nation remains  stunned and appalled. Thankfully I have one Latin class which has discussed this thing endlessly and ferociously  so I've been able to get it all out. hahahaha

I do admire most but not all of our Representatives,  in Congress who steadfastly continued and quite a few of them are not at all  young and they stayed the course and finished what they came to do, anyway, into the wee hours of the morning.

I think that's a super example to set the nation.

So we move forward with a new resolve or I hope we do.

I'm still reading Jurassic Park and discussing it in the Books into Movies with Tomereader who knows the movie better than I do. It's been a really good read and better, to me,  than the original  movie which to me is terrifying.

I am at the end and it kept me up half of the night, I could not understand, not having had any caffeine, why my heart was beating so fast. hahahaha DUH!

Maybe not the best bedtime fare. I'm going to miss it. I must read his last one, finished by others after his death next. It has a dinosaur on the cover, as well. I have learned an awful lot about dinosaurs. Never cared much about them before.

What's everybody reading except the headlines?

[rosemarykaye]

I am reading the aforementioned Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast, and very much enjoying it. It's a lovely, gentle, and often very funny book

I listened to Dorothy Sayers' Have His Carcase (Ian Carmichael and Moira Aitken) on BBC Sounds, which was fun. And I'm half way through Cinderella Killer, an adaptation by Jeremy Frost of Simon Brett's Charles Paris book. Bill Nighy is of course Charles, and just as louche as ever. 

Another beautiful walk today, this time with fresh snow on the ground.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/TO4PSOezcCvV78obQkRU1dbzGrTIEtQI7cipZd12OoE

https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/uTjvwyav7oDqsA0ALtzYgUu8SPuO2R10P0v4zGKJGhV

https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/YDll4TWa81Rx63I6TvnusKpS54hKYATwyaQ7JyXyQvJ