Saturday Snapshot - Book Covers

Do you remember making paper covers to protect your school books?  One weekend afternoon earlier this summer, I had fun fashioning book covers for some of my older, well-worn books.  I used lovely paper I had on hand in the closet, including some vibrant animal prints from the World Wildlife Fund. The turtle patterned paper covers a book about red-eared sliders, while the owl patterned paper covers a dictionary in need of some TLC.  It was an enjoyable way to spend some time.  (Click on photos to make them larger.)

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Many thanks to West Metro Mommy for hosting Saturday Snapshot!

Saturday Snapshot: May Designs

 

Imagine the possibilities!  May Designs creates personalized notebooks, stationery, and more.  On Pat's blog, Posting for Now, I won a generous gift card from May Designs, and ordered this personalized notebook.  I love it!  Some of you may have already seen this photo on Instagram.   

Inside the notebook is a place for your name and contact information. 

 

In the future, I could see ordering a gratitude journal or a fitness log from May Designs.  What would you create?

Many thanks to West Metro Mommy for hosting Saturday Snapshot!

Saturday Snapshot: Pride and Prejudice

These days, I tend to rely on Instagram and texting to communicate with family and friends.  While I've posted numerous photos on Instagram (as some of you know), I haven't posted anything on my blog since April.  The merry month of May flew by before I had a chance to post here!  

In May, my husband, Randy, and I took a trip back east to attend Family Weekend at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where our youngest daughter, Angela, goes to school.  While we were at Dartmouth we visited the Rauner Special Collections Library, which houses original editions of many books, including the supremely popular English novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, which was first published in 1813.  Here are a few photos I was lucky to take with my iPhone (I say this because there was a crowd of people gathered for this special book viewing at the library).  If you look at the third photo (click to enlargen it), you'll see that Jane Austen was referred to as the author of "Sense and Sensibility".  After the photos, I've added a proper "nametag" that I devised from a later (1907), edition of Pride and Prejudice, illustrated by C.E. Brock, that I found on Wikipedia.

Rauner Library (photo by Randy)

Original edition of Pride and Prejudice, in three volumes

By the author of "Sense and Sensibility"

"It is a truth universally acknowledged... "

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Many thanks to West Metro Mommy for hosting Saturday Snapshot! 

Saturday Snapshot: Mug Shots

Happy Saturday!  I decided to post a few "mug shots" for Snapshot Saturday.  Coffee (or tea) and inspiration seem to go hand in hand.  Here are some of my "mugs with messages", and a few other fun mugs.

One of my favorite sayings, by Eleanor Roosevelt

A reminder about karma by Life is Good

An oldie but a goodie

Daughter: "Love you!";  Mom: "Love you MORE!"

Another inspirational message

Do you have any favorite mugs with messages or words on them?  Please feel free to share them in the comments, or grab my "button" and share them on your own blog.

Many thanks to West Metro Mommy for hosting Saturday Snapshot!

Saturday Snapshot: Art Books

Over the years, my collection of art books has grown.  Recently I decided to gather them and put them in this baker's rack turned bookcase.  Many of these books are gifts from family members--mostly from my mother, and mother-in-laws, and a handful are from friends.  I would love to set aside a leisurely, rainy weekend or two for looking through these beautiful books exclusively.

Here are a couple of close-up photos, which show the titles more clearly.

I probably have a few more around the house that I haven't discovered yet, and some space to add them to the bottom shelf.  To have open space in a bookshelf is a minor miracle in my home!

Do you have a special collection of books, and how do you shelve or display them?  Your comments are welcomed.

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Many thanks to West Metro Mommy for hosting Saturday Snapshot!

Saturday Snapshot: Monarch Magic

At times, reading a novel leads me to some sort of a project.  After reading Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, I became intrigued by the idea of creating a small habitat for monarch butterflies.  My sister-in-law, Kristine, advised me to get milkweed plants for the garden, to attract monarchs.  I bought several "butterfly plants", or milkweed, from Home Depot, to plant outside. To my delight, monarch butterflies quickly discovered the plants and laid eggs on them, leading to numerous caterpillars, who start out very tiny and grow larger and plumper by eating the milkweed, their only source of food.  Eventually, some of these caterpillars became gorgeous chrysalises, with their trademark gold band, which are truly an exquisite sight.  With my iPhone, I took a few photos of this incredible life cycle.  This experience has been a highlight of my summer.  

A monarch on the milkweed

Caterpillars feasting on milkweed

A beautiful chrysalis

 

A new monarch, nearly ready for flight

Created by Alyce from At Home With Books, Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda from West Metro Mommy Reads.  To participate, post a photo, or a few photos, taken by you, a friend, or a family member, and add your link on Melinda’s site.  Your comments are welcomed. 

Saturday Snapshot: Stealing Nuts

 

Inspired by Leslie from Under My Apple Tree (check out her incredible photos of a Great Horned Owl nest), I was hoping to capture a photo of a bird or two stealing nuts.  Of course, they are not really stealing; I often set out unsalted peanuts for these blue birds, which I believe are Western Scrub-Jays, to fly off with and store away. They are quick and circumspect when they fly over to the gate, because they know that they aren't the only creatures in town; nature is competitive. This is the best photo I could get of the jay with my camera--my phone--this morning.  The birds have become more bold over time and swoop over to grab the peanuts while I'm still outdoors, sometimes while I'm setting out nuts on a different part of the gate!  

No brigadier throughout the year
So civic as the jay.
A neighbor and a warrior too,
With shrill felicity

~The Blue Jay, Emily Dickinson

Saturday Snapshot is a meme hosted by Alyce from At Home with Books. 

Saturday Snapshot: Patricia and Meryl Streep

I would be remiss if I didn't follow up my previous post about the book Creating an Orange Utopia: Eliza Lovell Tibbets and the Birth of California's Citrus Industry by Patricia Ortlieb and Peter Economy, published in September 2011.  Patricia, my step mother-in-law, went to Washington, D.C. late last year for the de Pizan Honors event at the National Women's History Museum, and met actress Meryl Streep.  After talking to her, Patricia (resplendent in her orange-colored scarf), presented the actress with a copy of her book.  My imagination went into overdrive as soon as I saw this photo.  I could easily imagine Creating an Orange Utopia as a movie,  in which Meryl Streep would play the woman who first introduced the navel orange tree to Riverside,  spawning Southern California's lucrative citrus industry, Eliza Lovell Tibbets.  Perhaps Meryl Streep--or some other gutsy woman--could also help direct the film.  Eliza Tibbets was also an active abolitionist, spiritualist, and suffragist. We need to hear more stories about women pioneers who made important contributions!  This would be an opportunity for film makers to depict the story of a daring visionary who changed the course of Southern California's history, transforming it into a very wealthy place.  It seems ripe with possibilities to me.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce from  At Home With Books. This is the first time I'm posting a photo for this meme.