Ann Leary, author of The Good House
Author of The Good House
Though we no longer have a special section designated to the book club, we will soon, and in the meantime, let’s start our next book. We had discussed reading Dracula, so let’s go with that. I thought it would be interesting to read Bram Stoker’s classic since vampires are all the rage now. So, perhaps mid-February? Is that enough time? Also, did you all like it better when we just posted comments throughout the day, or did you prefer the live chat format?
First you’ll see dogs, then horses and then hockey. The end.
Most winter mornings I wish I could stay in my warm bed instead of having to trudge up to the barn to feed the horses. But not today. We had the most beautiful snow yesterday. Unlike our last storm, where the wind blew the snow sideways and at times, it seemed, right back up into the sky, yesterday’s snow fell gently, as it should, down to the earth. The flakes were puffy and soft and gathered like multitudes of cotton balls on the dogs’ ears and on my mittens. This morning, everything was still and white and as we walked up to the barn there was no sound but the steady, muffled crunch of my footsteps and the excited huffing and whining of the dogs who were trying to sniff out rodents beneath the deep drifts.
I came across this nice video about the restoration of the famous Grey Gardens on Facebook and thought I’d share it with you all. Have we discussed Grey Gardens here?
I’m slightly obsessed with the documentary and have seen it dozens of times.
Little Edie Beale manages to break my heart and make it soar in almost every scene. She was indeed a staunch character. I absolutely love her.
I might have to watch Grey Gardens tonight.
View from eyesore
I happen to be on a bit of a roll with the novel. Sometimes books are a struggle to write – often they are, but when and if you are able to stir up a little action between the characters, the thing almost starts writing itself (or righting itself) and this is the most exciting time for a writer. I woke up this morning just dying to get back into it. This novel has much more intrigue and mystery than anything I’ve written (anything I’ve written!). Okay, much more than all my other two books. Last winter, I wrote a first draft of it and since then have been trying to work out various kinks, and now that it’s winter again, I believe I’m sorting it all out. I’ve basically rewritten the entire story, but kept the characters that I had grown quite attached to in the initial draft.
We always ask our son Jack for film recommendations. He seems to knows everything about every film that has been released (basically since his birth), so the other night, we asked him for a “Jack’s Pick” and he suggested we watch the documentary, Waiting For Superman. We did. It’s a screener and I believe it’s still in theaters. If it’s not playing near you, it should be out on DVD and on Netflix soon.
When I bought the treats, I only noticed the words “scrumptious” and “lamb” on the bag:
It’s actually lamb …. lung:
Dogs love ‘em:
My blog was disabled for a short time today, which worked out fine, because I had my wonderful in-laws visiting. If I did anything right in this life it was marrying into that family. My mother-in-law, Nora Leary, is the youngest 80-something on earth. So fun, so warm and so easy-going. Nora grew up on a farm in Ireland with no running water, no electricity, tons of siblings, and according to her, the happiest childhood anybody could ever imagine. She and Denis’s father worked very hard, first in London, then here in the US, to put their four kids through school and they are all wonderfully successful and now, so are her grandchildren. Who all adore her. This year Grandma Nora got a Macbook for Christmas. She’s on Facebook and my nieces and I are scheming about setting up a fan page for her. It was a great, great visit.
