Tuesday Happenings

Tuesday has been a much better day for me.  Thursday of last week was my last day of childcare.  I was so looking forward to Friday.  I had plans.  I was going to start with house cleaning and getting the childcare germs out…I was going to start in on some projects…but alas, none of that happened.  I ended up tying myself to the sewing machine and made masks.  Lots of masks.

To date I made
Friday-4
Saturday-23
Sunday-17
Monday-20

I have this stack in progress and my plan is I’ll work on them for an hour or so each day and see what happens in my area and if the need continues.  I can always jump and in a ramp up production if needed.

For at least one day, I needed a break to get the house cleaned.  When I was making all of those masks, I let everything else go…the laundry, minimal dishes and the childcare germs never got addressed.  It was a mess.  I have tons of boxes and mail that has come in that I didn’t even open.  I’ve been that focused on making masks.

I decided that I needed to ramp up my audio books.  I use Audible which is a paid service minimally.  If I really want a book, I get one but try really hard to find books through two online libraries  Bridges and Hoopla.  I enjoy them both and greatly appreciate their services.  Getting audiobooks for free is like gold to me.

For me, Audible is easier to navigate and find books through so I often go to Audible, look around and find books that might be interesting for me, write them down and then go over to Bridges or Hoopla and see if I can find them there for free.  Well I was a little bummed as so many of the books I found on Audible that I thought looked good weren’t on any of the free libraries.  I was a little bummed.

I did what I always do with Bridges…I looked up the book, it wasn’t available so I requested that the library get the book.  Well, at that point Bridges has never to my knowledge gotten any of the books I requested.  I pushed the request button sure that they still wouldn’t get any of them but at least I would have tried.  I did that with three audiobooks (none of the others were available to request).  I ended up finding a different book that wasn’t at Audible, downloaded it and went to make supper.

After supper, I had three email notices that the three books I requested were purchased by the library and I now had THREE books waiting for me to listen to.  Oh my.  With each book at least 10 hours worth of time, that’s a lot of listening.  Luckily the library has changed their program so that I can put myself second on a list.  I did that with two of the books…Hopefully I can listen to the first one quickly and then be ready when the other two become available again.

I thought it might be fun if I tell you the three books and maybe you’ll want to listen or read along with me….

The first is The Moonshiner’s Daughter by Donna Everhart.  That’s the one I’m listening to first.

Here is the overview:
“Generations of Sassers have made moonshine in the Brushy Mountains of Wilkes County, North Carolina. Their history is recorded in a leather-bound journal that belongs to Jessie Sasser’s daddy, but Jessie wants no part of it. As far as she’s concerned, moonshine caused her mother’s death a dozen years ago.
 
Her father refuses to speak about her mama, or about the day she died. But Jessie has a gnawing hunger for the truth—one that compels her to seek comfort in food. Yet all her self-destructive behavior seems to do is feed what her school’s gruff but compassionate nurse describes as the “monster” inside Jessie.
 
Resenting her father’s insistence that moonshining runs in her veins, Jessie makes a plan to destroy the stills, using their neighbors as scapegoats. Instead, her scheme escalates an old rivalry and reveals
long-held grudges. As she endeavors to right wrongs old and new, Jessie’s loyalties will bring her to unexpected revelations about her family, her strengths—and a legacy that may provide her with the answers she has been longing for.”

Amazon readers give it 4.4 stars….You can find it on Amazon HERE.  Kindle price for it is only about $7.

The next books is…
All the Forgivenesses by Elizabeth Hardinger.

Here is the overview from Amazon:
“Growing up on their hardscrabble farm in rural Kentucky, fifteen-year-old Albertina “Bertie” Winslow has learned a lot from her mama, Polly. She knows how to lance a boil, make a pie crust, butcher a pig, and tend to every chore that needs doing. What she doesn’t know, but is forced to reckon with all too soon, is how to look after children as a mother should …
 
When Polly succumbs to a long illness, Bertie takes on responsibility for her four younger siblings and their dissolute, unreliable daddy. Yet no matter how hard she tries to hold the family together, the task is overwhelming. Nine-year-old Dacia, especially, is resentful and stubborn, hinting at secrets in their mama’s life. Finally, Bertie makes the only choice she can—breaking up the family for its own survival, keeping the girls with her, sending the boys off to their grown brothers, long gone from home.
 
Ever pragmatic, Bertie marries young, grateful to find a husband willing to take on the care of her sisters, and eventually moves to the oil fields of Kansas. But marriage alone cannot resolve the grief and guilt she carries over a long-ago tragedy, or prepare her for the heartaches still to come. Only by confronting wrenching truths can she open herself to joy—and learn how to not only give, but receive, unfettered love.
 
Inspired by stories told by the author’s mother and aunts, All the Forgivenesses is as authentic as it is lyrical—a captivating novel of family loyalty, redemption, and resilience.“

Amazon readers gave the book 4.4 stars.  You can find it on Amazon HERE.

The third book is….
Of Windmills and Wars by Diane Moody.

This book is the first in a trilogy.  Boy I hope this first book is good.

Here’s the overview:
“An Amazon Top 100 Bestseller with 75,000 copies sold and over 1,600 “Five Star” reviews.

The rumblings of war in distant countries mattered little to Danny McClain. Growing up in Chicago, his world revolved around after-school jobs, a rescued beagle, his pen pal in Holland, and the Cubs’ chance to go to the World Series. Then, in December of 1941, during his first year at Northwestern University, news of the attack on Pearl Harbor hit much too close to home. After a series of unexpected events over the next couple of years, Danny found himself in the co-pilot seat of a B-17, stationed with the 390th Bomb Group in Framlingham, England.

Anya Versteeg had been just a teenager when Hitler’s troops invaded her homeland of Holland in May of 1940. Forced to grow up much too fast, the feisty preacher’s daughter eagerly immersed herself in the Dutch Resistance and its many efforts to thwart the enemy. Certain that God had turned His back on Holland, she closed her heart and did whatever she had to do to save her country before it was too late.

By 1945, the people of Occupied Holland were starving. Cut off from the outside world in retaliation for their failed attempt to oust the Germans invaders, the Dutch had no food, no electricity, no fuel, and little hope of surviving. Thousands were dying every day. Then, just days before the war ended, help came to The Netherlands like manna from heaven.

Operation Chowhound held special meaning for Lieutenant Danny McClain. Somewhere below in the battered land of tulips and windmills was the girl who needed rescuing–after rescuing so many others. And he would move heaven and earth to find her.”

Amazon readers gave this book 4.6 stars.  Hmm.  That typically means it’s a good one.

You can find it here on Amazon.  I checked and this book is free if you have Kindle Unlimited and only $6 if you don’t.

So there are the books I found.  Does anyone want to read or listen along with me?  I’ve not read any of them so I don’t know if they are good.  I only know that their ratings were pretty good so I’m hopeful.

Well my Friday list was:
-I am doing an inventory of my tops that need to be quilted.  I am going to see what has backs and what needs backs.  I’m going to make some plans for all of them.
-I am going to do the general cleaning today to rid the house of childcare related germs.  I’m also changing the sheets on my bed…also dust for cobwebs.  (ALMOST DONE)
-I am going to cross stitch for at least an hour.
-Put some audiobooks on hold (DONE)

The cross stitch will happen tonight after supper but now I’m off to check in on those quilt tops.  I think I’ll do a parade of them for you soon.