March Contest "Books in the Tub"

New Contest for the month of March,

"Books in the Tub"

starting now. Win this fantastic Mystery book! "Malice Domestic" by Nancy Pickard. It is an anthology of original traditional mystery stories. Nancy Pickard is an acclaimed "Agatha Christie" type award-winning writer of wonderful mystery stories. This is a brand new paperback book.

Its fun and easy! All you have to do is leave a comment here and post a link on your blog to this contest.

This month is another guessing contest.......

Guess how many books are in the tub????

That is an easy one...look at the photo and take your guess, the last 2 contests we have had guesses that were exact. Now I will give you a couple hints.....

1. The tub is 12" square
2. There are probably less books in there than you would think
3. They are all paperback books, but they are different sizes

So hurry now and post those comments and DO NOT FORGET to leave your blog addy so I can find you and also post a link to this contest on your blog.

Contest ends 12:01am April 1st!!!

The winner will be chosen by the closest guess to not go over the # of books that are actually in the tub. If there is a tie then names will be drawn out of a hat.

So what are you waiting for take a guess, what do you have to lose? You could be the next winner of "Books in the Tub" contest!!!

We Have a Winner!!!!!

Congratulations to

Tasha

who won our Bookmarks Contest!!!!

Remember that you could be our next winner by commenting here at our monthly contests!!!

Reading on a Rainey Day

I love to read on a rainy day, actually any day, but especially on a cold wintery rainy day, when the wind is blowing and it is best to stay indoors wrapped in your favorite afghan, with the fireplace blazing and the kitty and doggy sleeping next to you...

Problem is the dang phone keeps ringing..so mute it I say...and waht about the TV...don't want to miss the old soap opera or Lifetime??? Well put it on and mute it...you'd be surprised how much you can get out of a TV without the nosie...

And then there is the guilt that you are just sitting there and reading and not doing any housework??? Nope not me....I say "So what" it can wait!!

Now back to reading...Opps there goes the door bell...should I answer it?? nooooo I say...

Back to my book, "Christmas Jars" I am so close to being done...I just love it...ahhh.. I have to run to the little girls room.. stopped by the door...hmmmm my friend next door left me a book....nope haven't read that one...looks interesting... "The Mermaid Chair" by Sue Monk Kidd....a mythivcal adventure concerning a chair and the wonders it has to bring....about family ties and the true meaning of being in a family....

Well back to read my book,,,come on over and join me...oh can you bring some tea... too???

Valentines New Books

Always can count on the Dh getting me some new books to read. For Valentine's day he got me these two wonders. I didn't have either so it was a thrill, no pun intended there...hee hee as I love thrillers like Dean Koontz and the "Twilight Eyes" and Danielle Steeles newer one .. these little kissing guys I always put for th eholiday..they make kissing sounds..so cute..

Then he got me the most beautiful vase and flowers ...ooohhh I am spolied...

Friendship Meme

I wasn't tagged for this, but found it over at Any Apples and she found it on Jenn's, enjoying the ride, and I too wanted to post it!

"Anger is only one letter short of danger

If someone betrays you once, it is his fault;

If he betrays you twice, it is your fault.

Great minds discuss ideas;

Average minds discuss events;

Small minds discuss people.

He, who loses money, loses much;

He, who loses a friend, loses much more;

He, who loses faith, loses all.

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature,

But beautiful old people are works of art.

Learn from the mistakes of others

You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself."

Friends, you and me…

You brought another friend…

And then there were 3…

We started our group…

Our circle of friends…

And like that circle…

There is no beginning or end…

Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is mystery.

Today is a gift.

So now, let’s see how many circle’s of friends we can make by simply adding your link on this Friendship Meme!

1-Catsy Carpe Diem, 2- Catsy Downloads, 3-Out of the Blue, 4- A Day to Savor and Relish 5- A Piece of Idea 6- Write Shy 7- Stupid Wise 8- onlinememorylane 9- See Me For What You Will 10- Michelle’s Small World 11. Chez Francine 12. La Place de Cherie 13. Le bric à brac de Cherie 14- Life 15- Foster Me Up 16- enjoying the ride 17- Any Apples 18-DaBookLadysreadinglife

Anyone And Everyone is welcome to take this and post it to their own blog!!

Heads and Tails Theme is "Love"

Love is the theme this week for the Heads orTails I can only think of my DH and the love we have for each other. Do I believe in love at first sight? Yes I guess I do, but I also believe it is the time put into a relationship the years of enduring the trials and tribulations of life that make love grow and become stronger. We have that and much more. Her we are going to our annual Awards Dinner with our car club!!

My photo for this weeks"love" theme!

A very Funny and Inspirational Read; At Knit's End

I got a new book in a recent swap about another hobby of mine, knitting/crocheting. the book is called, "At Knit's End" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

What a wonderful inspirational little jouranal of meditations for women who knit and want to add some laughter and joy to their experience. I find that she has a way of capturing some thoughts and "You Know Your a Knitter if..." quotes that make you stop and think, "OMG is that me?" Here is an example, "You know you knit too much when....you think a stitch or row counter with your feet is a really brillant idea.."

A real joy to read and laugh and sit back and ponder....whether your a knitter or a crocheter it will capture your attention and send you off with a smile and lets face it smiles give us not only joy in our life but they also give us "longer" lives!!! Enjoy....

February "The BookMarks" Contest

Ok everyone February's Contest is here, its called "The Bookmarks"I usually post the contests on the Book swap site, but I decided to place it here instead. This will be a much easier contest than the last one, since not many of you wanted to take a guess and read the mystery, so this month we will make it one of romance.

The prize will be a romantic novel called "Where or When" by Anita Shreve. It is about a young woman who out of no where receives a letter from her first love. Should she write back? Win the book and find out!

Now I love bookmarks and I have several cups filled with them. In the photo just guess how many bookmarks there are? Now I will give you a hint, there are under 100.

The one who comes closest to the actual number of bookmarks wins the book! That's it! Easy....Fun.....

If there is more than 1 person who guesses it right then we will draw names out of a hat.

You could win...so take a guess and post your guesses here!!! The contest ends February 29th 2008 at 12 midnight Pacfic time. The winner will be announced the 1st week of March!

So go ahead and post your comments here!!

What's Narrow? The Photo Saturday Post

PhotoHunt


Photo Hunt!!! "narrow"
Over at the Chick's blog she runs a photo contest where every Sat. she has a different theme. The theme this Sat is "Narrow" Here is my photo for the contest! The definition of "narrow" is as follows:

"Of small or limited width, especially in comparison with length.
Limited in area or scope; cramped.
Lacking flexibility; rigid: narrow opinions."

I decided to enter my crochet space where I sit and crochet, it is a cramped area with limited space and the tower of drawers where I store some of yarn is really a narrow tower... not very flexible . Below is a closer look at the drawers. My other Miz Allie Cat has one too!! for my Cat lover firends.

Phriday's Phavorite Photo Phun

I decided to post one of my favorite photos for the Hootin Anni's

"Phriday's Phavorite Photo Phun!"

My entry is one that just makes me laugh everytime I see it. We were vacationing at our favorite annual family spot, Bass Lake, and we were getting ready to walk down to the beach and my daughter loaded up my grandaughter who wanted to help carry the stuff down to our spot on the sand. As you can see we put it all on her for a joke until she said, "but mom I can't see?" we all laughed our heads off and took the tube off her head of course, but the moment was precious. :)

Some of my Household Books

While visiting a new online friends blog, Sweet Nothings, I loved her post on her bookends, so I decided that I will post some pics of mine, since I like her, collected many over the past years. Now her bookcase is much more pretty to look at, but I'm a "book-o-holic" and so I have way too many bunched on my shelves, I also got into snapping some of bookmark collection....IT was fun...then I went around the house and snapped other interesting spots, but you'll have to visit my Recipe blog, and my main PBDesigns blog to see them, so after browsing around here hop over there.. :)

Ok this bookend comes in a pair, but I use mine individually since I own so many books, it is my old world bookends I purchased at a garage sale while visiting my nephew in Seattle. I loved the old world detail and the look.

My old horse head was given to me as a gift by a friend when I lived in an equestrian town in the 90s. It has delicate detail and is really very heavy.






My glass cowboy I got at a shabby chic store and I couldn't resist him. He just reminds be of an old rodeo cowboy with a 10-gallon hat. As you can tell I tend to lean towards a Western theme, I owned horses for many years. this set is actually ceramic and it is a brown horse that reminded me of my horse "Mr. Ricky Keen" as he had the star on his brow too. :) I purchased on Ebay.



More glass ends, a large headed horse and I just love this one you can actually see through them and as they are hallow not like my solid cowboy guy...I got these from a store in Norco, the equestrian town I lived in that sold tack and odds and ends..

The Indian Head is very old, it was my dads and he used to have it sitting on his bar in his bar room. It says Iroquois on it standing for the old Iroquois beer that was made back east many years ago. I remember because I used to think it was scary when I was a child. When my dad passed I inheited it and use it as a bookend. I only have one of this one but he is a conversation piece. He is made of rubber and at least 50 years old.

A ceramic bookend of a horse's head. Done in a variety of colors. Another garage sale find. Lastly my black horses, in gold and black in ceramic and have a built in pencil holder on each one. A word of caution the bookends are dusty! My short comings on the cleaning end... :(

Heads or Tails

I just started with Heads or Tails over at Skittles place. And I wasn't exactly sure how to play, so even though I was suppose to get this up yesterday, I am doing it today.

The Heads questions is? Who would you like to meet and why?

Well I had to think about this one...there are so many people I would love to meet. One would be John Travolta..and Nickolas Cage...Nickolas Cage grew up right down the street from me when he was Nickolas Decopela. I think he and John T are 2 of the sexiest men in show biz....I love his [Nick C] demeanor and the way he acts. He is very convincing and in Family Man he was great, one of my favorite movies. When he sng the birthday song to his wife it was a classic moment!!!! And the City of Angels he was so moving with his love for Meg Ryan, and then FaceOff with Travolta was awesome. John T is just a great actor with a wholesome look on life. He is cheerful and I love that he is so mucically inclined. He really has fun in most of his movies, especially the ones where dance is invovled. I saw him on Jay leno one time and he said that he loves to sing and dance and tried to put it in all his movies if he can. The other day I wated Phenomeon again for the 4th time and it was still great. And lets face it, who didn't love him in Greese? He is my personal best!!!

A Very Cute Story

While visiting one of my favorite blogs I read this really cute post and had to share it here.

A successful man reached retirement age and was happy to have time for all the things he enjoyed. On the first morning of his retirement he got up and walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He realized, as he picked up his razor, he had never liked to shave. "Now that I'm retired I think I'll let someone else shave me. That will be my one indulgence."

So he went to the local barber shop and ask for a shave. The barber told him that his wife did the shaving. "Grace", the barber said, "this man wants a shave."The man sat down and relaxed while Grace performed her magic. When she was finished the man asked the cost. "Twenty dollars," she said. He thought that was little high but it was the closest shave he had ever had. He assured her he would be back.

The next morning when he got up he went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He could not believe his eyes. His face was as smooth as it was the day before. It was unbelievable. This went on for several days. "I've got to find out what Grace's secret is. She must have some some special razor or shaving cream."

He went back to the barber shop and went straight to Grace. "Grace, I've got to know your secret. My face is as smooth today as it was a week ago. How is this possible?"

She smiled and answered, "The answer is simple. Once you have been shaved by Grace you never need shaving again"!!!!!!!!!!

What Your Reading Says About You?

What does your reading say about you? I love a good mystery and lots of suspense. You know the kind that keeps you on the end of your seat and makes you want to put the book in the freezer? You remember that segment of Friends where Rachel and Joey exchanged books to out smart the other in "scary" books.

And the classic monalogue of the group in the coffee house where Joey says: Oh! All blank and no blank makes blank a blank blank. Oh no-no, no! The end, when Jack almost kills them all with that blank, but then at the last second they get away. And Rachel says: Joey! I can't believe you just did that! And then the classic where Chandler says: I can't believe she cracked your code!" Too funny....

The science fiction and fantasy is a bit of weird and wonderous People tend to come to science fiction and fantasy for the familiarity -- most children's fairy tales are deeply fantastical -- but they stay for reasons as varied as why people read at all.

The editor Teresa Nielsen-Hayden wisely says, "If you ask 20 different readers why they read, they will all be right." People read straight-out non-genre fiction to enjoy a world that is not their own, to live someone's life tangentially and vicariously. People read fiction to be informed, to be entertained, to escape, etc. there are million reasons from all readers, but I read to relax and escape into a world of mystery and challenge and work my mind trying to discover the plot.

Reading is an escapist hobby, but science fiction and fantasy reading even more so -- people escape out of their own worlds into places and times that do not exist nor ever will.

Genre stories are set in worlds that are unknown and disparate to us, and we automatically reorder them; at the same time, the main characters set fundamental wrongs to right. Readers of science fiction have the luxury of extrapolating a positive future or predicting and hopefully avoiding negative ones. But if one liked to read equations and logic puzzles, one would stick with non-fiction. Science fiction and fantasy also appeal to other temperaments, including readers of a "romantic" nature.

"SF is called the literature of ideas, and it really is, but the ideas aren't about fusion or nanotubules or seven schools of magic; they're the same ideas of love and anger and the human heart in conflict with itself (tm William Faulkner) that drive all other stories, but foregrounded and made new," says Maroney.

I like the natural fundamental pscotic killer mystery and the one that develops into a quesionable end. Stephen King is great at that. But it is the suspense of not knowing why that intriques many and I for one cannot get enough of the "high!"

Reading Habits and Book Stores??

I have been posting about what I have been reading now I am going to talk about our habits...Most people who are as hooked on reading as much as I am have incorporated certain reading habits...I know I have. And they have certain "quirks" about their book buying and where they read.

So lets discuss a few...an article stated "How the Web changes your reading habits"
By Gregory M. Lamb Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor PALO ALTO, CALIF. –

He states in his article that the web has made tremendous changes because of the versitility and availability of information that is there at a click of your mouse. No more tedious searching the library or rummaging through pages and pages of books to gather info, just go to Google or any other search engine and click away.

He further states that and I quote him; "when Ed Chi wants to read, he turns to two of the six computer screens that surround his desk. One is devoted exclusively to e-mail; the other, to the rest of his reading material. The senior researcher is testing a theory: What if your "virtual desk" was as just big as your real desk? How would that change your behavior? Dr. Chi, of the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in California, has found out one thing already. Almost all his reading - text messages, e-mails, journal articles, even books - is done on-screen.

Analysts expect mobile phones to evolve into a multipurpose "third screen," along with televisions and computers displaying both pictures and text. But the small screen size has made reading cumbersome, as users scroll through tiny screen after screen."

Or you can try taking this Reading Habits Quiz to see where your habits lie???

Or do you have bad reading habits? This article suggests some ways to cope and change them.

But here are some simple questions....

1. Where do you do it?
2. At what times?
3. For how long?
4. How often?
5. How long did it take to get like that?
6. What do you usually read?

And then of course what about going into book stores??? How many of us can go into a book store and NOT buy books??? Not me... I cannot resist stopping and readin and filling my arms with more "must have" reads....I spend so much $$$$ and have so many books, but I have no time to read them all and my shelves are so full that I either have to start reading them and give them away or leave them around town, with "Bookcrossing"I love that group, or I need to buy more shelves...and unfortunately my DH says, "NO, more!!" So I must come up with a plan for 2008 that will put my reading habits in motion to reading some of my "stash" of books!!!

And having a Book Swap doesn't help lower my "stash" either????

What is Your New Year's Goals in Reading?

I thought a lot about this new year and wondered what is it I want to read? Or do I just want to wander through the book stores and buy more books? I will tell you that I never go into a book store without leaving with at least 4 new novels and even a couple magazine's under my arms. I consider them a major "requisite" of my life's existence. How many of you find yourselves in this same predicament? Or how many of you actually know most of the people in your local bookstore by their first name? Be honest now!

The answer I came up with was that I have tons of books on my book shelves now; and I need to get some of these read; and then pass them on to others; so I ultimately have room for new ones. As you can see I have many many books that are still calling out to me to be read!

However, I cannot resist making my monthly stops at the local B&N!

What a delimma????? So... what shall I do? Well..... here are some suggestions for me and everyone else out there that needs to read what's on their shelves as much as I do.

1. Join BookCrossing and give those books away


2. Pledge to not buy another book till you have read at 10


3. Donate some books to a nearby library or school


4. Giving books away


5. Pay it Forward


6. Sell it on Amazon


7. Sell them to local book stores or get credit towards future purchases


8. Try some web based book exchanges/swaps

Christmas Books

Ok I took a picture of all the books and movies I got and watched over Christmas. WOW.....now to read them that will be a chore. UnderDog was a disappointment as the movie was bad and when we went back to Hollywood Video he said they were all bad. :( So we got The Heartbreak Kid. That was hilarious!!! A must see, even though there were some really graphic sex scenes and language it was still great!!!!

Now Chuck and Larry was another funny one.

Even my sister sent me a Christmas novel!But then I love Kevin James!

And here is a Santa Dollar my sis sent me. You can actually use it, but I keep it for a decoration.

Christmas Movies

I love the holiday season when all the great classic movies come out, don't you. I have to watch The Wizard of Oz every year right before T-giving and then of course The Christmas Story,

and last night I watched Chevy Chase in the funniest movie, I feel, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation!!! Just too much....

And I also watched Bing Crosby in White Christmas... There is just nothing like a great musical from the 50s to set off the Christmas spirit!!! I was really amazed at how the scenery has really changed over the years, I mean looking at the older movies when they actually hand painted teh back drops to all the computerized scenes of today. Take Elf when they used different angles and computer enhansed shots to make it look as though will Ferrell was a giant compared to the others like , Bob Newhart who was suppose to be an actual elf. Really clever...