Catching Up

The awaited package has arrived. This is two years worth of Mickey Mouth, so it came to over seven pounds, at a cost of about a dollar an ounce. No, it's not cheaper to raise your own fleece. I was so pleased when I opened the bags and felt the sliver. His fleece is just as wonderful as it was three years ago. I know it will age and coursen, but it hasn't happened yet.

I think of Mickey as oatmeal, or whatever you call not quite white. I love to spin it - good thing. I have seven pounds!


Reading: Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: on the tracks of the Great Raily Bazaar by Paul Theroux. This is the same trip he took 33 years ago. While I didn't read the book this is based on, I did read Riding the Iron Rooster, and after hearing his NPR interview, knew I was in for a treat. It's measuring up.

Read on Vacation:
A Good Year, by Peter Mayle: Yet another story in France, but it was delightful and is what I think of as the perfect beach read. Russel Crowe stars in the movie according to the book cover.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See. I started this book months ago but lost interest. I'm glad I picked it back up again, but oh my, what a different world for women in cultures not based on the Judeo-Christian ethic. I am reminded again that I lucked out on the birth lottery.
Shosa, by Isaac Bashevis Singer: This was a reread for me, but the book has been on my mind for years and this vacation was its time. It's a love story in Warsaw on the eve of the Nazi occupation. Again, I am stunned at how powerful religion is to culture. I bought this copy. I have to reread some sections.
Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons: I'm not sure what this book was supposed to be - I have always enjoyed her writing, my favorite being Colony. The last chapters were just plain concocted, but that's my opinion. I can't recommend it.
I finished three nonfiction books but they were personal interest subjects so I'm not listing them.
Listening: All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot, read by Christopher Timothy. I'm listening to this on my commute and it is an absolute delight. It's narrated in the Queen's English, with the characters assuming their local Yorkshire accents. My mother and I read this when the book was new and I know it's really a collection of short stories, some touching, some funny. It's so much fun to have these characters brought to life in their own dialect. I laughed for miles this morning at Chapter 27. I can see where Monty Python had the raw material for their humor. And having sheep of my own now has given me a new appreciation for these stories.