Grey with Warmth

The day was grey but kept to my plans to break out the camera on my day off and go to Belle Isle.   I was hoping that the Belle Isle Conservatory would not be closed for the holiday and it was not.    Very damp and cold day but I soon had to take the coat off as I took my pictures.  You can also check my web page to see some of todays pictures.

Snow is Back

Winter snow came back earlier this week.  Before work I went out to take some pictures.  Not particularly happy with them ---- trying to hurry too much.  Here are a few.

Not What You Expect to Find at the Optical Store

Tonight I was on my way to the Roots store to buy my traditional Winter Olympic hat and I saw a loom in the window of Optiks on Maple in downtown Birmingham.  I go in and they have two different fund raisers for different weaving project.
The Namtegna Project is sponsored by Cranbrook Kingswood Weaving Studio. They assisted in building a weaving studio in Namtenga Africa.  Their weaving for sale their is in cotton and of simple patterns.  They can be worn as scarfs but I may go back and get one as a table runner.  They also have some beautifal wool scarfs and shawls made with vegetable dyes and woven in India in a village in the Himalayans.  You can tell they have been weaving longer than the African group but they are both interesting.  I will try to bring a sample of the scarf I purchased to the next guild meeting.  If you are in the neighborhood - stop by and take a look and perhaps support one of the groups.
The window design is quite clever so I thought I would share some pictures I took of the display

Great Book Title

Just finished reading "Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages" buy Manuel Puig.  My only previous exposure to his was that he wrote the book "Kiss of the Spider Women" that they adapted a movie of.  Frank read the book for his Argentine Exile Literature book that he took last semester.  This was is by a Spanish speaking author but it was originally written in English then the author translated into Spanish.  I found the book difficult to read since it is all written as a conversation between two people and all the quotes are unattributed - sometimes you are not sure who is really speaking and if it is real or an imaginary conversation.  I ended up reading it a chapter at a time but it may have been easier to read it all at once.  Haven't decided if I liked it yet - but I loved the title.

First Book of 2010

So it was published in 2004, but I just finished reading "The Amateur Marriage" by Anne Tyler.  I know she has published many books but I have not really been interested in any of them.  I picked up this copy at the thrift shop and added it to the tall pile of books for my pending reads.  I picked this one up since I loved the title.  I thing most of us can be called amateurs no matter how long we have been married.

I liked the book.  She did surprise me at the end with where she went.  At one point it seemed it was going to be one of those overly simple endings where they try to tidy up all the loose ends but then it kept going to a conclusion that was not my expected tidy finish.

After I read it I checked out the review in the New York Times .....http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/11/books/unhappily-ever-after.html?pagewanted=1

Big Fish

Just finished the book - and no I have not seen the movie.  It is a very quick read.  Interesting book.  It is basically a son remembering the tall tales and the myths told about his father.  I do believe that you never really know your parents.  You see a view of them but cannot easily glimpse their hopes and dreams that they had.

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?isbn=0140282777

Christmas Eve

A grey day - typical for this area this time of year.  Getting ready to start some of the prep for tomorrows dinner.  I dug out the old Christmas records - yes records.  I still have a turntable and one of my favorite Christmas albums is only on vinyl.

Thought I would share some of the Christmas type pictures from our December trip to the Henry Ford Museum.  We try to go over year to see the tree and train.  This years theme was Lego's as you can see by the train setting.