The best thing I did to prepare for going away was cleaning my house the day before we left. Because when we got home, the place was peaceful and we all felt totally able to just lay about and rest from our vacation. lol

Lying on a beach is the only time I am not compelled to be a busy body and so am free from the need to accomplish something. I can simply lie there and be one with the sand, jack pines, husband and the injured butterflies that kept coming to visit me.

Even on vacation, books are my favorite things. the B & B we stayed in had books everywhere. We were given books that I am excited to read. And when we had an hour to kill on a cloudy day, where did we end up? A favorite used bookstore where we were once regulars. My “currently reading” list is huge!

Sharing too many glasses of wine with my girlfriend is the best ever. Pinot grigio chardonnay is my new best friend.

The green dress and black heels were a hit. I felt great in them, the dress was dance-worthy but then the girls liked the heels too. Bonus. {ps. I’ll admit to not dancing in the heels. lol}

I found out that pansies look adorable and are long-lasting as cut flowers and promptly filled a teacup to display my own once I got home.

My kids playing with all their kids and really truly enjoying each other after years of separation. Priceless.

There were not enough hours in the days to have all the conversations I wanted to have. But I did get to hold the new baby.

The urge to tow the old line was so strong. I was surprised at how much so.

I had meaningful five minute conversations wherein my ability to be honest with people grew a hundred fold.

Some things never change.

Some things do.

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Tigana is the first Guy Gavriel Kay book I have read. And it SO makes me wish that I hadn’t left his The Sarantine Mosaic sitting unread on our bookshelf for years now.

Him being both Canadian and a fantasy author would naturally recommend him to my bookshelf, but I was very pleased to discover that his writing arches also towards the historical in that he often writes while overseas and uses the history and culture of a particular place or time period as a model for the story. Who would have thought… historical fantasy!

Kay is just a master of suspense. He both sets up this story and then brings the climax to its end in equal parts of one hundred pages. In the interim, you are treated to first person story-telling, alternating between the major characters, quite often showing their different perspectives on the same event.

But his right hook is how he can work up to a small resolution of current events, a turning point or “oh no someone is going to die” moment and – then just before it actually happens – make the switch from one character to another. It felt like a book full of television season finales.

Regarding genre, I would recommend this book for anyone, not just lovers of fantasy. It could easily have been the story of a splintered nation in our own world. The novels’ fantastical elements are few and far between: a trinity of gods and the stories to go with them reminiscent of Greek mythology, names of food, beverages, flowers.

And after the initial set-up, which I won’t even breath a mention of because I was nicely surprised as to who was who in this book, I thought I was in for an action adventure with battles and blood from beginning to end. But what you really get are people, struggling to be free and not forgotten.

Characters were flawed, each unique and not entirely whole in the way that makes storybook characters come alive. There was never a page of description that I was tempted to skip. Full of coincidences, the irony of life and just enough but not too many happy endings. This book felt real – where the bad guys have motives and feelings too and the good guys don’t always act most chivalrous.

I wish I could give it six stars on Goodreads. Very deserving. Here i go to pull Sailing to Sarantium off my shelf…

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I’m giddy and feel like a school girl. Riding my bicycle with a trail of kids behind, digging in the garden, suntanning on our itty-bitty deck,  finding bigger hills to fly down, dreaming of beaches soon to come. The mood of my heart has been one of continuous Wow, Wow, WOW. Does one question when one is happy?

As I am experiencing all these wonders, they feel SO amazing because it feels like it’s been an eternity since I’ve enjoyed any of these activities. And then I realized. Not an eternity, but… almost two years. Because last summer I was in rehab ALL SUMMER LONG recovering from this! When we went for walks, I was in a wheelchair and then crutches and then a walking cast and then when I was finally out of that, I was back at work. And any energy to move around was spent on shift, and World of Warcraft was the rest of my life.

Oh give me sun and wind and trees to watch my children climb. Sunburns and summer books, the smell of sunblock and a camera to record it all. I’m in heaven.

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I can’t remember when where or how, but the day my path crossed that of the Hillbilly Housewife I was a happy girl. Her stated mission of feeding a family nutritiously and cheaply resonated with me immediately. You could – and should – spend hours exploring her huge recipe archive, but today I wanted to share my very favorites of hers {so far} with you.

I was SO excited about these three beverage recipes that they were the tour de force that led me into buying a blender for my kitchen this summer!

Magic Milk Shakes – Think Wendy’s Frosties, think chocolate and cool, think you won’t believe that you can actually make these at home. Seriously.

Fruit Smoothies - When I have a batch of homemade yogurt in the fridge, I love making this recipe. My only warning is that they are quite filling and a blender full is WAY too much for three people. Now I know to halve this one when it’s just the kids and I, though the excess of that first batch made nice flavoured frozen yogurt!

Slushies – The children’s latest favorite after school snack when they come in panting and dehydrated. Makes a ton for practically nothing. Pretty soon I’ll be the favorite mom on the block for this one.

My blender is well loved and was a worthy investment. Thanks Susanne!

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A strange inclination has been building. I’m thinking of getting a tatoo. Several girlfriends all have tats on their feet, and sadly I’ll have to break the sacred ring because if I do it, it will be a butterfly – big surprise there! – on the back of my left shoulder. I’d like it to mean something. I’d like it to symbolize the end of that part of my life lived for others and the beginning that will be lived in honor of myself. These people wanted their tats to mean just as much. Their passion is science and I must say that these are some of the neatest tatoos I’ve ever seen.

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