The Weekend

This has been a great weekend. Friday we were crafting at Cathy's, Saturday we went yard sailing followed by a great lunch, and today Cathy and Greg, Jim and I went in to Baltimore to The Book Thing. I think i wrote about this before, but to recap, it's a recycling center for books - a free, organized accumulation of shelved books, where anyone can walk in, take as many books on as many topics as you can think of, and walk out the door. There are thousands of books on all subjects. I think most everyone who uses the facility brings in books every time they come. We do. It's a large, one-story, many-roomed building. All 4 of us left with a full tote of books and magazines. Jim brought home several James Michener books he hasn't yet read, plus an assortment of other books, including Leon Tolstoy's War and Peace. That one alone will keep him out of trouble for months, I think. It's more than 1400 pages. His new book stack is about 3 feet high.

I was pleased to find several books by some of my favorite authors - Alexander McCall Smith, Elizabeth Berg, Elizabeth George, John Mortimer, Christina Schwarz - plus some unknowns and an assortment of craft books. How cool is that? The only negative was that it was so bloody hot inside that it was difficult to browse. I was dripping! They don't have any air conditioning. It was 90° outside, but it actually felt cooler than the inside when we finally left.

Cathy spent most of her time looking for books that would make good roofs for bird houses. It's a new craft we're working on. Sounds odd, I'm sure, but you should see how adorable the finished product is!

I completed another painting tonight, and would have put it on my blog, but I have a scanner that insists it has no software installed for scanning, although I have scanned with it many times. What a slacker! Every so often it does this, and sometimes I am able to get it to scan even so, but tonight it's defeated me. I feel like we should take in a computer geek for free room and board in exchange for full time computer upkeep.

Sharon had things to keep her busy at home today, so she wasn't able to join us. I think she planned to have her husband give her a hand around the house. They have some big remodeling plans coming up soon, and she's been trying to get her entire house organized before that happens. One thing she's completed outside is an entire new perennial garden of assorted flowering plants, spanning the entire side of her driveway and house. It looks just beautiful, and you wouldn't know it hadn't been there for years. Being a perennial garden, it will all come up next year on its own. There aren't any weeds either, since she put down 5 or more truckloads of mulch. I'm in awe, since I have a much smaller area to keep up and can't keep ahead of it.

PHOTO: A building at the Lavender Farm on Cape Cod.