2 on Reading

I have two reading-related items for you.

First, Conde Nast published this list of the 69 Greatest Fiction Travel Books. Since I enjoy travel memoirs, I thought I might find some good reads on this list. Strangely, I've only read 2 of the recommended books. I did spot a few more that I think I'd enjoy. I noticed that Michael Ondaatje nominated quite a few of the books. I would add one or two of his books to this list, too.

Second, last week's Booking through Thursday asks about pet names and whether the names were inspired by reading. Both of my pets' names were. My cats are Dewey and Gandolf*. If there's another round of pet naming, and if my children don't trump my naming rights, I might use the names of prominent mathematicians: Ada, Turing, Galois.

* Yes, I know it's supposed to be spelled Gandalf, but I pronounce it "Gandolf" and so use that spelling.

Graduation Card

Our favorite babysitter just graduated from nursing school. This is the card I'm sending her to celebrate the event. I received the card in a swap and didn't like the original details. It had vellum over the verse and a turquoise ribbon. There was no lighter card stock inside. I took apart the card and put it back together with Groovy Guava instead, adding the inside panel to write on. Apricot is the color used in academic regalia for nursing, and this was the closest to apricot ribbon that I had on hand.

Speaking of academic regalia, one of those crazy, almost useless skills I have is knowing how to flip and affix the hoods worn with academic gowns so that they sit flat and don't choke the wearer. I learned how to do it working graduation as an undergraduate.

Little Gifts

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week at my daughters' school. In addition to contributing to the big gifts for their teachers, I made these little gifts. The girls' class is known as the Turtles, hence the theme. Sorry for the horrible background in the picture. Scanning 3-D objects on my scanner is tricky.

Glossy White paper; Wasabi, Bayou, and Basic Brown inks; brayer; Natural Prints SU! stamp set; sticky note pads; Velcro dots; double-sided tape and sticky sheets; microbeads; and Pentel RSVP pens.

Color Trend

Here's a color trend that I love: Gray, Mustard, Terracotta, and Olive.

Margaret posted pictures of her Margaret's Stitch.



And Arielle posted this week's ColourQ choices.


Pictures distorted to encourage you to click through to see the originals.

Five on Last Friday

Last Friday was a beautiful day here in DC. A perfect spring day. Too gorgeous to spend all day inside.

I had an errand I needed to run. I was planning to do it at the end of the day, but remembered that I had a telecon. At lunchtime, then, I retrieved a bag from my car and took metro from my office up to Eastern Market, ran my errand, bought a sandwich, and walked back to my office. Gorgeous. On the way, I passed through Barthodli Park and by the fountain (pictured). It was the first time I'd been there.

So here are my 5 on Friday for last week: 1) Walking 2 miles, 2) on a beautiful day, 3) while accomplishing both an errand and some exercise, 4) through a park I hadn't previously visited, and 5) seeing a beautiful fountain and learning more about it. It was just delightful!

Palm Sunday

L on left; A on right

Thinking of You

March was a busy craft month for me. Not only did I make good progress on the bunny ornament I pictured yesterday, I attended Stamp Camp and made cards for a card swap. The swap happens this weekend. Here's the card I made. The theme was Flower Power.

Stamp sets: SU Shades of Nature and Warmest Regards;
Paper: Sage (yes, that's supposed to be Sage), Banana, Brilliant Blue, and White;
Inks: Sage and Bashful Blue; Red Gingham ribbon

Design copied from SU spring mini catalog, 2006

Except for the "Manly Card" swaps, I tend to make sympathy or get well soon cards. The swaps usually have a lot of happy, bright cards, so I like to add something a little different to the mix. Sadly, I also find I have need of more of these types of cards than I would like, and they're not ones I want to be making at the last minute, which is usually when I need them.