… from the house to the barn.
White cat prefers the concrete footpath. Can you see how he has actual cat fur on his paws, in the winter he walks about on four thick little cushions of fur. He is an Himalayan cat. He and the sheep are the only ones on the farm who are actually designed for brutal cold. The irony is that he is the inside cat, due to his extreme age. He keeps reminding me of how old he is too. He and Big Dog were here when I arrived. 
Thing One. 
Enjoying the cold sun, we were barely above freezing all day yesterday.
I have finally received my new Kindle, which will be very useful for reading whilst travelling. Though I still live in fear of them closing our only local bookstore. It is the only one for hundreds of miles so I shall still frequent it. Like everyone I cannot do without books. So I won’t. I will keep collecting them.
However the Kindle does not take up too much room and there is no bookstore where I am going in California for three days, plus seven flights next week so I will need lots of books. Now, you are all readers. What are you reading? Anything I should down load? I am not used to selecting books off a screen, so any recommendations would be brilliant. I need to build a wee reading list. Any favourites?
The Daily View.
Good morning. Cold but still. John is going to work on building the pump a wee warm box while I am away, he has a list to work through, so until then it is working well bringing the pump and the pulsator in and out. Once you start lifting it frequently it is not that heavy and I sleep so much better with it inside in the warm. Yesterday morning even the iodine was frozen solid and NEVER touch metal with wet hands when it is only 17F outside. How do I forget these lessons so fast?
Have a lovely day. I really must try and focus on my packing. I have three nights in California. Now what shall we cook while I am there? I shall have to cruise about your sites and see what you are eating.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
82 responses to “The Well Worn Path …”
You will not be disappointed with two novels I am suggesting. Both feature strong woman protagonists, and both are award winning novels. SOME ONE KNOW MY NAME by Lawrence Hill, and RUNAWAY by Alice Munro. The New York times book review considers her the Fiction writer now working in North America. These are page turners that you don’t want to end. Loose yourself in these books Celi. Your favorite fan V.
Have a great time in my home state C!
I am quite fond of Jonathan Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn, whose protagonist has Tourette’s syndrome. Also Kate Moses’ Wintering, a novel about the last three months of the life of Sylvia Plath. And you might like Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood — most anything by Atwood is good. I agree with the people who champion Alice Munro as well.
I think I have just broken the record for the most time taken to read comments – cross referencing and adding to my Goodreads shelves simultaneously. Your commenters are great readers, and many recommendations I agree with, having read such as The Shell Seekers by Rosamund Pilcher, anything by Barbara Kingsolver, City of Thieves by David Benioff and Secret Life of Bees. The recommendations I offer up are A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth (an old favourite & perfect for travelling because it’s long), The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell because I didn’t want them to end but for different reasons in each case. Also the free E-book classics via Kindle etc are fantastic, as are new authors via Smashwords, and I’ve been enjoying Cristian Mihai, Dianne F. Gray, Maggie Myklebust’s (Fly Away Home), Lori Di Nardi who are WordPress bloggers with published e-books. I think between us all you have enough reading material for your trip, winter, and then some… Sorry we can’t help with the packing 🙂
Well, I don’t know if you got any good titles to read but I sure did! Such a great group of subscribers you’ve attracted.
Not so long ago, Debra (Breathelighter/Three Well Beings) wrote of the Gutenberg Project (www.gutenberg.org). It’s a website where you can download, for free, books for which the copyrights have expired. You certainly will not find a current best-seller but you may be able to find a few old favorites. The site supports Kindle format so you can download a couple great books and keep them in reserve should you find yourself bookless in some airport.
Stay warm, Celi!
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan
C, there are historical subjects that I revisit time and time again and the American dust bowl is one of them. A “perfect storm” hit that once knighted and then blighted area in the early and mid 1930’s. We are not that far removed from the families that struggled for their very next breath when the dust rolled in so thick you could not see the face of the child in your arms. C, I think you would find this book fascinating and moving in both content and style. HF
This is brilliant, I am accumulating a fantastic list! thank you..c
I thought I wouldn’t like my Kindle either, but I do. I have the first Kindle and now I have the Kindle white. Right now I’m reading the Shoemakers Wife a true story and delightfully written. I still read paper. There is something just right about paper and weight in my hands. With a Kindle it’s hard to mark a favorite passage.
Oh, and turn your Kindle off, after you get your books, to save on your battery. Took me awhile to figure that one out.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
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That’s one serious cat. Purrfect pix. That one would probably fit right in here – looks like a real character.
I’m a book and library fan, but getting a reader for travel – books are heavy and bulky to carry!
If you like historical books with interesting characters here’s one: “Madame Tussaud -a novel of the French Revolution” she had a wax museum during that time period – you see all levels of society and how they were affected. (author is Michelle Moran)
Oh I do like historical works,, thank you.. c
The best book I’ve read in the past two years or so is “The Last Place on Earth.”
I don’t think it’s available for the Kindle though, so it would have to wait until you got back to your bookstore. You should ask them to order it now so it’s here when you return.
that is an excellent idea, the local barnes and noble will even deliver for free, so i will do just that.. c
Those animals will really miss you 😉
I absolutely love Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy. There’s also a series by Patrick Taylor that starts with “An Irish Country Doctor” . I liked “Domina”, I don’t recall the author but it’s about one of the first women in medical school and “Green City in the Sun” by somebody Goldsmith. I have a Kobo ereader, didn’t think I’d like it but I do. I read both ebooks and paper ones. If you have a library card you can go to their websites and search ebooks to borrow. Thank you all for the great suggestions, I may never get the housework done!
The Zoo Keepers Wife. Pillars of the Earth and World Without End and Fallen Giants . The Shadow of the Wind. The Kitchen Garden. Kim (R. Kipling). Thorn Birds.
Check your local library. You may be able to download e-books. Here we can get both audio (that’s what I use) or e-books.
The white cat looks just like Santa Clause !!! What an expression he’s wearing. I had a Kindle for my birthday, didn’t really want one as I love books, but my goodness I’m totally in love with it ! I read Mystery/Thrillers and if you type ‘Free’ then the genre of book you like, into Amazon account, there should be a list of hundreds of free books. How cool is that ?
very cool! I shall do that.. good tip! c
If you like crime novels try from among Giles Blunt’s John Cardinal mystery series: Until the Night, Crime Machine, By the Time You Read This (The Fields of Grief in the UK), Black Fly Season, The Delicate Storm, Forty Words for Sorrow.
If it were me, for humour I would take something by Terry Pratchett that featured Granny Weatherwax and the various witches of The Ramtops (Equal Rites is the first). To get me from London to Australia I might favour a Harry Potter! (Philosopher’s Stone is the first HP) Oh, and I would pack /download at least one Isabel Allende – perhaps House of Spirits (oh! that doesn’t seem to be on Kindle; her latest novel is). And in case I needed to touch ‘earth’ again I’d favour something like the James Herriott’s omnibus version: All Creatures Great and Small (includes ‘If Only They Could Talk’ and ‘It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet’) – funny and moving tales from a real working vet in Yorkshire circa 1950s.
Have a safe and enjoyable trip.
Miss C,
If your worried about the library closing……consider doing this; when a village in the UK was facing library closure every person in the village made sure they had a book on loan and the library couldn’t close……..seems too simple doesn’t it. E