There are Christmas cake lovers and haters (see Christmas Cake and a Silly Song), but everyone is sure to like Pecan Christmas Loaf. It’s more like a quick or tea bread than a dense fruit cake, with a bit of red and green candied fruit to give it a seasonal look and taste. My cousin gave me a sample last year and I liked it so much I decided I would try it myself this Christmas.
I’m not sure where or who she got the recipe from, but like many old recipes on index cards, back when people had Recipe Boxes, this one seems somewhat vague. It doesn’t seem like there is enough flour for 2 loaves, but plenty of eggs and butter?
As I only wanted to make one loaf, I decided to cut the ingredients in half and then further adapted the flour according to my Date-Nut Loaf recipe, and a recipe I found online for Pecan Christmas Cake. When I googled most of the recipes were for Butter Pecan Cake, which called for even more butter.
Ingredients for One Loaf:
2 eggs, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of butter, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 1/2 cups of pecan pieces, 1/2 cup of dried candied/glazed red and green cherries/fruit mix, 1 1/2 cups of flour with the salt and baking powder already in it, and 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple bits with some liquid.
Mix the 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of melted butter, 5ml (1tsp) of vanilla and 3/4 cup of sugar together.
Add the 1 1/2 cup of pecan pieces and the 1/2 cup of green and red dried fruit mix, and the 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple. Next time I might add 2 cups of the pecan pieces which is what the recipe called for but as I bought my ingredients at the bulk barn I didn’t buy quite enough. I cut back on the dried fruit too, as I don’t like too much of that, and I hate those green cherries, but you can adjust as you wish to make it more like fruit cake. The bulk food store didn’t have any candied pineapple bits, nor did the grocery store, maybe they don’t make it anymore, (although they all seem to have large dried chunks), but I remember my mother adding a whole can of Dole crushed pineapple to her much bigger Christmas cake recipe, so I substituted that. I had to use a bit more of the juice as the batter was too dry.
You can adjust the pineapple/flour to get the consistency you want. See this is how you get vague recipe cards – an experienced cook doesn’t measure, they guestimate!
I always use a glass loaf tin so I can see if I am burning the bottom. The recipe card says oven at low setting 300-325 and bake for 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 – 2hours – how’s that for general vagueness? Everyone’s oven is different, but nothing would ever cook in the middle at that low a temperature in my new oven. I regret keeping it, it’s such a temperamental thing. If I’ve used it the day before, it cooks faster. If it’s sat unused all week, it takes forever. I set it at 350, although I had it at 375 for the first 15 minutes, and it took about an hour. It was perfectly done in the middle, if a bit dark on the edges. I use the regular bake setting, not the convection one, as nothing browns with it.
It was a fairly small loaf, so I wish I had made two, as my cousin tells me it freezes well. I fed some to the snow shoveler right hot out of the oven!
Nice for Christmas Day brunch or with a cup of tea on a cold winter’s night…..but why do I always get the piece with the green cherries?
It seems like Christmas merchandising starts earlier and earlier every year….these were out in front of the grocery store in mid November. Would you pay $120 for this – it’s way too busy looking – and is that a dog in the middle?
Amazingly, there were four of these overpriced jumbo size urns and they all sold.
My humble $10 urn.
I made my own again this year, but I had to buy the pine boughs as we had sold mom’s house in March and I didn’t have access to her pine tree. The first thing the new owners did was cut it down, as at 25 years it had grown too big. Apparently the neighbours were happy too as now the coyotes don’t sleep under the tree on cold winter nights! A few days after, we had a howling wind storm and the urn fell over and I had to redo the whole thing – something that would never happen with those jumbo urns.
It’s been nothing but bad weather here since early November and I’m sick of winter already. And to make things worse, a polar vortex has settled in, and it feels as bitterly cold as January.
My neighbour’s urn is a thing of beauty, especially with the snow on it.
Mr. Snowman could use a better scarf.
The kids are liking the snow though – the first snowman of the season.
The night of the Santa Claus parade was freezing, so it was a challenge to stand there for 40 minutes. But as the parade is just down the street, I have no excuse….plus it’s a tradition, so you just have to layer up.
My favorite is the hippo float, because the song is so silly – I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas. The Grinch is popular too. They’ve been recycling the same floats for years, but you can’t go home, even if your feet are numb, until you’ve seen Santa!
Day after day of the same depressing weather makes you want to stay home and drink tea….
and read books. But it’s either feast or famine with library books – these all came in at once – but there’s no way I can read eight books in three weeks before Christmas.. So far I’ve gotten through Dan Brown’s The Secret of Secrets (very good), and Wellness by Nathan Hill, the December book club selection (not so good). Both were 800 plus pages in large print. I’m just starting The Widow by John Grisham which has a long waiting list.
Sometimes the best thing you can do when the weather outside is frightful is to curl up and take a catnap. This is Felix – he’s camera shy. He lives on the east coast but I will get to meet him after Christmas. If I ever got a cat I would want a tuxedo cat, as they have such character.
I’ve started my holiday baking – chocolate-peanut butter-oatmeal cookies, which I only make this time of year, because of the two cups of sugar….
I bought some new plaid Ralph Lauren kitchen towels – which are much too pretty to use! I’m going to try a new recipe this year, Pecan Christmas Cake, as my cousin gave me a sample last year and I liked it better than regular Christmas cake. I’ll be blogging about it if it turns out.
Otherwise it’s been hardy foods like beef stew which I made – it was okay – and chicken stew which I bought – which was even better – especially with sourdough bread.
Felix – patiently waiting for supper.
Of course the best meal of all is one where you just have to show up! I’ve already had two turkey dinners, which is good because I love turkey and could eat it every week, and it’s even better if you don’t have to cook it yourself. One was my retiree Christmas party, and the other was in a restaurant which advertises the 30 days of turkey every December.
I received an early and unexpected Christmas present – an L’Occitane four-sided house advent calendar. What a pleasant surprise to find on my front doorstep, and what fun it has been to open a new window every day for 24 days. L’Occitane is a skin care company located in Provence, which sources it’s all natural ingredients locally. Everything smells lovely, and French women are known for taking good care of their skin. According to Wikipedia their manufacturing facility in Provence has 1000 employees and 3000 stores worldwide. The advent calendar has sold out online because…..
….every woman should have a chateau in the south of France! And let’s face it, this is probably as close as I’ll ever get to Provence. (I can’t wait to see what’s in the chimney on Christmas Eve!)
I’ve done some shopping….and if the weather would cooperate I could finish the rest, avoiding the weekends of course. I bought six of these cute light-up-swirling-snow cardinal lanterns for $20 each. Last year it was plaid scarfs – I’m way past the stage of trying to find the perfect present for everyone. If you don’t like it, re-gift it. There’s one for me of course, as cardinals are for remembrance.
Mom’s cardinal music box lantern plays I Wish You a Merry Christmas. I’m partial to lights and sparkly things and anything pine scented.
The indoor decorating is finished as it’s been too cold and windy to walk, so at least going up and down the stairs retrieving the boxes from the basement gets some steps in.
The outdoor decorating is done too – I braved the cold in small doses with several hot chocolate breaks.
The plaid plates were brought out for a pre-Christmas lunch – if you invite people over for food then you don’t have to go out! Restaurants are too crowded this time of year anyway.
Wishing everyone the Joy of the Season…..Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!
After an extensive grooming session, Felix is nestled all snug in his bed, with visions of seafood dancing in his head.
In a world where winning is everything, the Blue Jays lost…..and it was a heartbreaking gut-wrenching loss, when they were so very close to victory. In a do-or-die Game 7 they were leading 5-4 in the 9th inning, 3 outs away from winning the World Series, then a Dodgers homerun tied the game. On to two innings of nerve-wracking overtime – they had their chances – a few missed opportunities and some sheer bad luck and suddenly it was over with the sound of Kirk’s broken bat, leaving the team and the fans just as shattered after a wild drama filled ride.
Yes, it was great that they got that far. They were the underdogs against the mighty LA Dodgers, and their turbo Japanese pitching machine. The fact that they had even made it to the world series was something to be celebrated. After placing last place in their division last year (74 games) they placed first (94 games, tied with New York), this year, and thus avoided the whole Wild Card spot scenario, which had defeated them in the past. They went on to win against the New York Yankees capturing the ALDS division, then the Seattle Mariners winning the ALCS division, with a combination of grit, grind and pure determination. They were known as the “comeback kids” as they never gave up, often rallying late in the game against the relief pitchers. Or as my friend called them “the cardiac kids” as so many of the games were nail-bitters. (I know my blood pressure was up because I took it).
The Jays this year were a unique and special team. Yes, they had their veteran sluggers like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer, but the younger players, some in their first year of MLB, contributed just as many hits as the stars – Davis Schneider, Nathan Lukes, who spent ten years in the minors, and Ernie Clement, with a record of 30 hits in post season, could always be depended on for a base hit or an RBI, with Kirk the catcher at the calm centre of it all. Everyone stepped up, including the 22-year-old rookie pitcher, Trey Yesavage, who had only been called up to the majors from Triple A six weeks earlier. If one player didn’t do well, past the baton to the next guy, get on base, get home, keep the momentum going. The defense, the offense and the pitching were all good. And they were such a likeable cast of characters. My favorite was Ernie Clement, who always had a smile on his face and looked like he was having such fun, but in the locker room after, he was in tears, as were many others. He was sad it was over, and they wouldn’t get another chance tomorrow and it was like losing 40 of his best friends. If you’ve ever had a job that didn’t seem like work, with nice colleagues, good management and great teamwork, (as I had exactly once in my career), you know how rare a combination that is and can relate.
“I think this is a quote from Herb Brooks, but we are a team of uncommon men,” Clement said after the game. “I think a normal team would’ve folded today, and we’re not normal. I think we’re the best team in baseball, and we got out of bed today with our hair on fire and ready to play.”
I watched some of the post game interviews in the locker room and they were very emotional. (Who said there was no crying in baseball.) I felt so bad for them, to have come so close and have their dream snatched away like that. Losing was no one person’s fault – but a lot of what-if’s – what if that ball had gone 6 inches farther and sailed over the fence instead of lodging, what if the runner had slid into home plate instead of running it out, what if Barger hadn’t been so far off the base – you can second guess all you want, but they just couldn’t seem to catch a break. Only 3 of the 40 members had ever played in a world series game, the manager John Schneider ( 24 years) never, and the pitching coach Pete Walker (40 years) never. In his interview after, John Schneider thanked them all, and said he was proud of them and that they had done it the right way.
The Blue Jays are based in Toronto and are the only Canadian team in MLB, (there are 30 teams split between the American League and the National League) so the fan support was phenomenal, with many fans travelling across the country to spend thousands on tickets. The Jays last won the World Series over 30 years ago in 1992 and 93, and I remember the pandemonium in the city as I was there for a conference at the time. And while most of the players are Americans, when they come to Toronto they seem to absorb the culture of the team. You don’t often see that degree of cohesiveness, (as Schneider called it), camaraderie and friendship when players are traded so frequently, and the all-important stats are used as a measure of performance and competition.
A Team Effort
There’s always next year, but this team is not likely to repeat itself with so many of the players free-agents now and a contract negotiation/possible lockout looming on the horizon. Unlike the Dodgers with their deep pockets, the Blue Jays will not be able to afford to keep them all. They have some hard decisions to make. I hope we don’t lose Bo Bichette, another long-time favourite, whose playing-with-an-injury home run should have won them the game.
I saw this photo on Facebook the next morning, of the billion dollar Babe Ruths….
….with the caption – congratulations to Japan on winning the world series!
Yes, the LA Dodgers trio of imported pitchers are stellar, but they should be at that price. They Dodgers won last year, and no doubt will next year, as they are locked into long ten year contracts. In a world where money talks, and the biggest payroll usually wins…..is there any sense of fair competition anymore? It must be very discouraging to all the US teams that have much smaller payrolls. Yes, Toronto has the fifth highest payroll, and the Jays signed Vladdy Jr, for 500million, but that was for 14 years, and he’d already played ten years for the Jays, starting in the farm teams at 16, plus he was voted MVP this year for his skill and stats, as well as being the heart and soul of the team.
Maybe the payroll discrepancy is why the sport seems to be declining in popularity. If the odds are that stacked against you why even try to compete. People can’t afford tickets to the home games thus discouraging attendance. Only 11 million Americans saw that Ronald Reagan ad from the Ontario premier in games 1 and 2, so why was Trump in such a snit about it that he cancelled trade talks with Canada – 11 million is peanuts for a country of 350 million, or maybe because it was on Fox news? I watched the games on Sportsnet, with half of the 40 million people Canada tuned in. Maybe the loss cut deeper for the Jays fans, as it would have been one small win for a country that has been bludgeoned to death economically over the past year by tariffs on autos/lumber/steel/aluminum and the taunting threats of becoming the 51st state.
But it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. Is that old adage even true anymore, where might equals right and a bully mentality seems to be the norm?
So let’s talk about fair play. Is good sportsmanship obsolete or is it all about winning at any cost? There was always a Most Sportsman Like Player trophy awarded when I played, honoring fairness, honesty, and respect for other players, including the opposing team, both on and off the field.
The teams were evenly matched, and it could have gone either way. But I lost track of how many times Blue Jays players (accidentally? you decide) got hit in the batter’s box. Poor George Springer – they pitch inside to himself so often he’s excelled at “springing” out of the way. Yes, you can expect some wild throws, even from the pitchers who usually have deadly aim, but you have to wonder when it happens over and over again to the same key players. The worst was Kirk getting hit on the wrist/hand. It happened twice, in game 6 and the ninth inning of game 7 when the Jays were staging a comeback and things were really tense. Hey, if you want to take out their star catcher, aim for his hands. So, in the 4th inning when Andres Gimenez got hit, and angrily said, “throw it over the plate” is it any wonder that both dugouts emptied onto the field and a verbal brawl ensued. I’ve never seen that before in baseball, I thought I was watching a hockey game! (In hockey it would have been an actual physical fight) Tensions were running high. The umps got them simmered down, and play proceeded, but it was jarring and I think the Jays were rattled after that. They never really regained their usual momentum. But maybe that was the whole point? Like Ohtani, taking a leisurely dugout break between the first few innings? Make them wait while I warm up…
Let’s talk about those umps and the controversial calls. Yes, it’s hard to be a home plate ump, but a delayed strike call at home plate by the ump disposed of Bo Bichette who was picked off walking to second base because he thought it was ball four (which it clearly was), as the batter who also thought it was a ball, had already started walking to first. The ump eventually called it a strike, but by then everyone seemed confused as they all thought it was a ball. This happened twice, the first time with George Springer. What’s up with the hesitation – if you can’t decide, take some time to think about it? They need to change the rules on that. If they can challenge a bad call on the field with a video replay why can’t they allow that at home plate – maybe up to 4 per game so as not to slow things down too much. Especially when it’s a crucial play.
And how about that dead ball controversy in the ninth inning of Game 6 when a last-minute Jays rally was in progress. Is a lodged/stuck ball really a dead ball if it can be easily pick it up off the ground and played? Was it stuck or just lying on the ground at the base of the wall. (watch the video) It was certainly playable, but the Dodgers outfielder, seizing a golden opportunity to reverse some runs, made no attempt to pick it up. I saw a dead ball in one of the other games, (Tampa Bay Rays in their temporary makeshift diamond) and it was stuck in the corner of the upper wall and hence not playable. That dead ball call cost the Jays two runs in, and a potential game, as both players had to go back to their bases, according to the dead ball rule book and then someone popped out and the inning was over. Yes, the play was reviewed in New York – but can you trust the New York reviewers? How many viewing angles do they have for something like that? Is anyone in management allowed to see the footage after the fact or is that top secret? Those reviewers in New York seem leery of overturning anything. Or how about that close call on the throw to home plate in the ninth inning that looked like the Jays Kiner-Falefa was safe – which would have won them the game. From my angle, it sure looked like the catcher had stepped off the bag. Even the announcer thought the game was over. But on video review – nope – out.
Do I seem bitter? I am. A combination of missed opportunities, bad luck, controversial calls, and the brawl on the field, by the end everyone’s nerves were rattled, including mine. While it was a memorable year, I’m glad it’s over for 4 months – give the guys a a chance to rest and recover from their injuries, and spend some time with their families. ( I’m sure George Springer at 36, was being held together by duct tape and Advil. His wife looked very concerned)
They showed the WAG’s and kids on the field after one of the division wins, and they all look like models of course, but who would want to be married to a major league baseball player? You’re basically signing up to be a single parent. On the road 9 months of the year, and when they are home, there’s the workout routine and the nutrition protocol, and all the night games, and when you get home, pumped with adrenalin, how do you even sleep. You’re certainly not getting your kids ready for school or putting them to bed. I noticed some the Jays relievers had written number 51 on their hats in game 6 in support of Alex Vesia, the Dodgers player who missed the world series because of a family crisis – a small acknowledgement to the opposing team that there are more important things than baseball. What a classy thing to do, but then they are a class act.
During the play-offs there was only day off between cities, a rigorous schedule along with the 3 hour time change. I wonder what they do all day when the game starts at 8pm and goes until midnight and you’re just waiting around for it to start. When do they eat, before or after the games? What do they eat to keep up their stamina? I can’t imagine there is much nutrition in the sunflower seeds they spit out. Game Three went on for an exhausting and record-breaking 18 innings, lasting 6 hrs and 39 minutes, like two games in one. I went to bed at midnight when it was tied, as I had to get up early for a medical test, and it was over close to 3am. And then to get up and do it all over again, the next day. It must be really hard on your body, even if you are in good shape – 162 games in a regular season plus October if you’re lucky enough to get that far. Plus, you’re only ever one critical injury away from ending your career. If you’re lucky you get surgery and a long recovery time. Yes, the money is good, but the careers are often short. And then what do you do with the rest of your life – coach? Any other job might seem boring by comparison?
The oldest member of the team was (Mad) Max Scherzer, at 41, who has pitched in three world series and says he lives for that kind of stuff. The youngest was 22-year-old Trey Yesavage, who did great in his two pitching starts, game 1 and 5. A very poised and confident young man from Pennsylvania, it was nice to see his family, especially his dad, so emotional in the stands at his first game. So your son is in A level in Dunedin in the spring, playing to a crowd of 4000 and now he’s the starter pitcher in the world series with 45,000 people cheering – that’s heady stuff. If I had been the Blue Jays manager, I would have put him in as the relief pitcher in the overtime innings – for such a young kid, he was fearless, grace under pressure. But then the whole team was.
So even though the Jays did not win, the fans are proud of them and will be there when opening day rolls around again March 26. Anything can happen in October baseball, but as one of the announcers said, the baseball gods got it wrong this time. The best team did not win. And I agree, but perhaps I’m biased. But while they may have lost the series, a series no Canadian will ever forget, they won the hearts of the nation.
PS. Readers who are surprised by my enthusiasm for baseball, might enjoy my 2021 blog Take Me Out To the Ball Game where I write about being the worst player ever….
Watching the evening news on Labour Day there was a feature about parents dropping their kids off at school – the annual move-into-the dorm weekend. Most of the kids interviewed were excited and nervous about living away from home for the first time. Which reminded me that it has been exactly 50 years since my parents moved me into my first-year residence. I was used to sharing a room with my sister, but our bedroom in the old white farmhouse was so big it took up practically the whole upstairs. What a shock when I saw the dorm room – how was I expected to live in this 6 X 12 space? And mine being at the far end of the hall was one of the larger ones, having an extra alcove and a second window, although the view was hardly scenic facing a row of old houses which bordered the campus. My residence was a relatively new building, and utilitarian in it’s modernness, despite being on the historic downtown campus.
There was a set of bunk beds, a built-in desk with two chairs near the window facing the quad, and a small built-in closet with two sides. The aisle was so narrow you could almost reach across from the bed and touch the closet. I quickly nabbed the bottom bunk by spreading my new orange and yellow quilt over it, as I couldn’t envision climbing down the ladder to go to the washroom in the middle of the night.
My dorm room in second year. Orange was a popular color in the 70’s.
After a teary goodbye my parents left. My poor mother, but she had previous experience with my older siblings moving out and dealt with empty nest syndrome by signing up for art classes and getting a puppy. My dad was stoic as usual – no doubt worried about the drive out of the city as we had gotten lost on a one way street going in. It was the first time I had ever been to Toronto or seen skyscrapers. Toronto was a four-hour drive from my hometown and most of my high school friends went to school closer to home, but U of T was the only place that offered my course. The downtown campus was large, (68,000 students now) with the green space of King’s College Circle at it’s centre, but seemed isolated from the city surrounding it. It was an old school, with King’s College first established in 1827 by royal charter, and research based, being the birthplace of insulin, (I had some lectures in the old Banting and Best building complete with rows of narrow wooden desks), stem cell research, and cardiac pacemakers.
After they left, I started to unpack. The closet was small, but miraculously seemed big enough to handle my wardrobe, which was basically a few pairs of jeans, some sweaters and polyester shirts (I cringe at that), and a winter coat. I had worn a uniform in high school and didn’t have a ton of clothes, and everyone lived in jeans back then. There was a four-drawer bureau in the corner, upon which I placed my record player and small collection of albums, none of which I remember other than Gordon Lightfoot, a Canadian folksinger. I claimed the desk nearest the window, another uncharacteristically bold move for me, but I had lived under the shadow of an older sister for too long. The window overlooked the quad which separated the girl’s residence from the boy’s, which was full of engineers and so noisy it was called The Zoo. A decade later they made both buildings coed and my coop students told me it was impossible to get any work done.
My roommate arrived about an hour later. Her relatives were out the door so quickly I barely saw them. The first thing she did was set a picture of her father on the ledge over the radiator. He was wearing a black robe, and she told me he was a judge.
We had both filled out the residence survey as non-smokers and Catholic, but other than that we had nothing in common. She was a rich city kid, (I had encountered plenty of those at my Catholic high school, as it charged tuition after grade ten not too many poorer kids attended), whereas I had grown up on a farm. She commented about the upper bunk, (in retrospect I suppose we should have flipped a coin) but she was somewhat mollified by the fact that our quilt colors did not clash, although mine was from Zellers/Target (see photo above) and hers was hand-made by Mennonites – but really what could you see of it anyway on the top bunk? Although she did give her stamp of approval to the orange Poly-Perk coffee maker which my mother had bought me (my mother, always a generous soul, had fun that summer outfitting me for school).
Ah, I can smell that perked coffee now.
We had a full residence plan, mandatory for first years, but did not have a fridge, but I’m not sure where you would have put one anyway. I lost ten pounds first year as residence food was not my mother’s cooking, and I had not yet developed a liking for pizza, being unaware you could order it without pepperoni.
The second thing my new roommate did was hang a poster of Van Goth’s sunflowers on the wall, a painting I did not recognize to her horror, my 18-year-old self not being familiar with art, famous or otherwise, having only taken sciences and maths in high school. So, the room nicely coordinated, she could relax. Except…..I never actually saw her relax. Despite her rather privileged life she seemed to live under a cloud of Eeyore-like pessimism and anxiety. She was pretty, blonde and thin, (everyone was thin then) but it was difficult to imagine someone in such a permanent negative funk ever being a cheerleader. I stressed about exams like everyone else, but I had more confidence that I would pass if I put the work in, whereas she was always full of doom and gloom and predicting failure with every test. Perhaps she felt pressure from the weight of expectations, whereas I had none. (Looking back I really won the parent lottery – I had the nicest, most easy-going parents – they were supportive, but if I had failed or not gone at all as some of my siblings didn’t, that would have been okay too.)
It’s not like we were enemies, but we weren’t friends either, we just didn’t click. We went to classes together the first few months as everyone had the same schedule, except for electives, mostly because neither of us knew anyone else. But she went home EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND, to see her high school boyfriend as her hometown was only an hour away. By then I was glad I had not given up the bottom bunk. I grew to enjoy the privacy of a room to myself for the first time in my life, but I was lonely and as I had no one to hang out with on the weekends, I stayed in and studied. The course load was heavy right from the start.
I was homesick myself the first semester, only going home for Canadian Thanksgiving mid-October, and that was it until Christmas. But I eventually got to know my next door neighbour, and through her, some girls on the third floor, who came from small towns up north and I ended up rooming with them in third year in an off-campus student flat, and later an apartment. Two of the girls were in a new program called computer science – the only girls in their class. I was never quite sure what they did but the seemed to spend entire nights in a lab coding something called Cobal, an early computer language. I did get back into residence second year, not one of the coveted singles, but a much larger (four times the size) double which was just as good. To get a single you had to schmooze at the dean’s meet-and-greet sherry and tea parties (like something out of a British novel with printed invitations) held in her apartment, and I was an introvert and couldn’t be bothered although I did attend once to sample the sherry – too sweet. I had a rebellious streak even then. Otherwise no one ever saw her or her husband, but they were the adults on site in the building. There was also a series of elderly male porters at the front door to man the desk, sort the mail, and run the switchboard, (and give you The Look if you came in too late). There were no phones in the rooms, so they would notify you via an intercom in your room when a long distance call came in and you would go to a phone booth down the hall. My parents called every Sunday night when the rates were cheaper, usually a short call of ten minutes or so. Otherwise there were letters. It was always a treat to get a letter from home – my mothers were newsy, but my dad’s were humorous – I kept them all.
We went to initiation (would you even be allowed to do some of those things today?) and frosh week activities together, including a day trip to Niagara Falls. The downtown campus was particularly nice in the fall when the leaves were changing. I remember going to a frosh banquet in the Great Hall at Hart House (think Harry Potter minus the broomsticks) in the ivy-covered Trinity College, wearing a short black skirt and matching vest and a pair of black suede platform shoes.
Now available for weddings off season.
We went to a bar on Bloor Street after, my roommate and I and 3 guys, and I remember walking home through Queen’s Park, (the campus was next to the Parliament buildings) in my impractical platform shoes, with the leaves rustling underfoot, as you were not supposed to walk in the park after dark. Other than that, we seldom went off campus, other than very occasionally to the fast food restaurants on Bloor Street – Swiss Chalet, Mr. Submarine and Steak and Burger (home of tough steak and warm apple pie).
My roommate wore classics, Estee Lauder perfume and Clinique makeup, which I regarded as old lady stuff. I wore drugstore brands, Cover Girl and Maybelline. Being so much more fashionable, she took me shopping in downtown Toronto, as she was familiar with the stores and the subway system. She insisted we go to Fairweathers where she bought two wool sweaters, one of which I shrunk to doll-size as I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to put wool in the dryer. I had zero laundry experience, and never wore wool anyway – it was itchy. I don’t think she ever forgave me for shrinking her sweater, but she begrudgingly said she would give it to her little sister. I remember her stopping to window shop at a fancy jewelry store on Bloor St. as she planned on marrying her boyfriend who was destined for the law like her dad. We were 18 and I thought that bizarre. I had hardly even dated, and although I was more popular in university than in high school, marriage was the last thing on my mind. Women’s lib was in full swing. Wouldn’t you want to be independent and travel first?
U of T was not a party school – other than attending a few weekend pubs, a semi-formal and a homecoming parade, I don’t remember much partying after the first month. It was a serious academic university. I was lucky to get in, (although my program tended to favour kids from small towns) but it was harder to stay in. The workload was heavy with 30 hours of lectures and corresponding labs every afternoon in second year, including organic chemistry, analytical chemistry and medicinal chemistry, totally useless courses unless you were going into research. Organic chemistry killed a lot of my classmates. A quarter of my class had failed by the end of second year, including several of my close friends and a few others who just squeaked by. (The faculty made up for the high failure rate by accepting students with undergrad degrees and eventually that became a prerequisite). I did okay because I was organized and had good study habits and a decent memory. But I worked hard – I had the opportunity for an education and didn’t want to squander it. My degree gave me a good career for 40 years in a job I enjoyed, (except for the last five). I was lucky in that my parents paid for my education ($3000/yr) so I graduated with no debt, quite a contrast to the $30,000plus/yr now with maybe no job in sight? But I would have gone anyway, as it was easy to get loans and grants back then. They were based on financial need, the first $800 had to be repaid, the rest was free depending on your family’s income. My whole generation took advantage of that government program.
Lessons learned upon looking back:
Having an unsociable absentee roommate turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it allowed me to focus on the reason I was there. Sometimes a bit of loneliness can be a good thing, if it forces you to do something productive or creative with your time.
It is perfectly possible to live in a very small space. I adapted, as I really wasn’t in the room that much, other than to sleep and study. Hello downsizing and tiny houses! Do I really need so much stuff? No wonder so many young people are minimalists today. My elderly neighbour, a former nurse, was upset about having to go to an assisted living facility. I made her feel better when I said, it will just be like residence again. You can socialize if you want to, but go to your room when you don’t want company. My mother had a lovely spacious light-filled room in her nursing home, as it was initially intended to be a double but was coded as semi-private, with her own bathroom. But when I looked at the private rooms, they were smaller than my dorm so I turned it down. She never wanted to go to a nursing home, but once there she settled in quite well and considered it her home for the last year, enjoying the company of the other residents.
Appreciate having your own bathroom – I remember having to go down the hall to the communal washroom and that was a pain, although it never seemed very busy, but maybe I was up earlier than most of the students.
A small wardrobe can be a good thing. I think I could go back to having a capsule wardrobe, which is all the rage these days, no more than 10-15 interchangeable clothing items. Mostly that’s what I have now anyway, or what I wear, the same basics with an assortment of tops. Do I really need four closets? I remember the hours I spent shopping and coordinating outfits….which was fun then but not so much now that clothes are so ugly and utilitarian.
Mostly, I would like to thank my parents (both gone now) for giving me the opportunity to go to university. They both valued education, and I’m in the process of arranging a high school scholarship in their name, a more complicated process than you would think. Do kids today even appreciate a higher education? Is it still an advantage or are you better off with a more practical college course or a trade? The youth unemployment rate is high here right now (14%) – and I feel sorry for those who have such massive debt to pay back. Tuition for my course is now $18,000/year, and a residence room is $15,000 to 20,000 for a single. I was in shock after googling that, as just a few years ago I’m sure it was $10K. How can you make a wise decision what to study when the future job market will be impacted by AI and so many jobs possibly made obsolete? As one of the AI developers said, maybe it’s better to be a hairdresser or a plumber.
I had no idea tuition had gotten that expensive, until I saw this Forbes story online, about a billionaire who left 1.5 billion to a med school in New York, for free tuition ($59,000/year) for all students admitted for four years in perpetuity. What a gift! It would be nice if more of the billionaires would share their wealth that way.
Do you have any memories of your first time living away from home that you would like to share?
PS. I lost track of my old roommate after we graduated, but heard she had married her boyfriend, had two kids and no doubt went on to live a perfect life. A friend of mine attended a wedding shower she was at years ago and she had gifted the bride-to-be with a pair of silver toaster tongs, which my friend thought weird, but to me sounded just about right. Fast forward to now. You can find anyone since obituaries went online. And yes, there was the same photo of her father the judge in his robes, now deceased, but there was no mention of the boyfriend/hubby. Whose life ever turns out the way they expected it to? As John Lennon said – Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.
PS. My apologies for the length of this….if you given up reading….but I’m only posting once a month for awhile. The Blue Jays are headed to the World Series!
I haven’t posted in over a month as I’ve been too lazy, and too busy enjoying the nice weather and watching baseball. But I hope you enjoy these late summer pics. It’s so hot today 29 C (85 F) that it still feels like summer, very unusual for early October. No leaf pics yet, as very few trees have changed, but I love when summer lingers.
I did get to the beach twice before the end of summer. There was so much sand, and very clean sand, that I could have been in the Caribbean. Quite a contrast to five years ago when there was only a narrow 12 foot stretch of pebbly beach, but the lake levels are low.
There were sailboats…
And more sailboats. In fact the days I went to the beach it was even a bit cool with a refreshing breeze coming off the water – good sailing weather.
The clematis were prolific this year especially this purple Jackmanni.
This one never blooms as much due to too much shade.
The glads did finally bloom, but one by one. I’ve dug up the bulbs and am going to try to overwinter them and then next year plant them all in the same place, instead of spaced in a row.
The zinnias were a bit of a dud too, achieving great height but not many flowers.
The dinner plate hibiscus are late as usual, they never bloom until mid-late Sept, but are only half as tall this year due to the lack of rain. The picture on the right is a previous year. They get too much shade in the spot they’re in at the side of the deck.
But the morning glories were glorious. The blue ones didn’t come up, only the fuchsia. I prefer the blue as in this old 2017 post, A Glorious September Morning.
These are as tall as the trellis at the side of the house. First time I’ve planted morning glories there as there’s not much sun, but there was a ton of greenery. These were taken this week. They are always late September bloomers too.
Of course not everything thrived. The $60 lilac tree I planted in the spring obviously didn’t – too much intense heat and not enough water. There are a few buds on it so I hope it comes back in the spring.
Time for a food break – there was cherry pie!
Or maybe you’d prefer peanut butter cookies. I found this Reese’s product, 24 cookies – great taste! Just bake as many as you want. In the refrigerated section of grocery store near the Pillsbury products.
The rest of the pictures are of plants from my July Pretty in Pink blog, but they are still hanging in there due to the warm weather. A lot of flowers get their second bloom in the fall, including the geraniums.
It makes sitting on the deck a pleasure this time of year, except for the yellow jackets.
This is the first year I have planted geraniums in the ground and they did well.
First year buying dianthus and I would do that again. Kind of scraggly mid-summer but they have revived. The Dipladenia love heat and drought so they look good all summer.
Impatiens always look better in the fall.
The knock-out roses are in their last bloom. Most of the new bushes did quite well.
But no matter how lovely everything looks so late in the season, from the soft afternoon light, we can tell fall is coming. I just hope it stays warm enough for when I have to take everything down!
PS. The Blue Jays won their first two games against New York! Go Jays go!
We’re now into August – my least favourite month of the year. When I was a kid, August meant back to school shopping, and seeing your friends so there was a sense of excitement and newness in the air, especially if you were starting to get bored with the summer. Many people still have that sense that September is the real start of a new year.
But as an adult I find August depressing. Summer is slipping away, with colder weather waiting in the wings, surely welcome this year after all this heat and humidity, but looming right behind it is winter, which is fun for awhile but tend to overstay it’s welcome. It’s getting dark earlier, 8 pm although that’s nothing compared to November’s 4:30 gloom, which many people struggle with but I find cozy because you can always light some candles and snuggle indoors.
I’ve always struggled with August – it’s my birthday month, so I’m another year older, and on top of that my mother died this time last year, four days after my birthday. I spent a lot of time with my mother, especially over the past decade since I retired, not just because it was the right and daughterly thing to do as she got older, but because she was such a nice person, and I’m missing her right now as the anniversary of her death approaches and most of the numbness and busyness has worn off. But time marches on and we must too, whether we feel like it or not.
Plus I’ve been confronted with all the things I was planning to do this summer which I didn’t, particularly true this year with all the heat and air quality and wildfire smoke warnings. You’re afraid to step outside for fear of inhaling tiny particles that will live in your lungs forever. There have been very few beach days. I’ve watched a lot of Blue Jays baseball.
But last Sunday in an effort to get out of the house I picked up a friend and went to an arts and crafts fair in the waterfront park. My mother and I used to go to these all the time, as she was an artist and there were always lots of booths displaying art, and we knew many people in the art community. With names like Artscape, Art in the Park, and Art Walk, they were always good for an afternoon of strolling and visiting and eating, and occasionally buying a piece of art or jewelry.
This particular event, called Shop the Shoreline, was advertised as having 100 vendors. There were 50 at most, none of them very interesting – lots of homemade candles, tie-dye t-shirts, beaded jewelry, a lot of junk I’m at a loss to describe, and no art at all. We stopped at maybe two booths, bought nothing, saw no one. The only food was hot dogs being sold by the Rotary club. I know many activities haven’t recovered from the pre-pandemic days but where did all the vendors go….I guess they must be selling online. It was not crowded as it was so hot and humid – it was so stifling among the tents, that after a quick look through we walked back along the boardwalk to take advantage of the breeze off the water.
But all was not lost as this park has lovely flowerbeds. It must cost the city a fortune to maintain them, especially this year with the relentless heat. So please accompany me for a tour of the day’s silver lining.
There was a cruise ship docked at the bay marina, an unusual sight for our small town.They must have known pink was my favorite color.These must weigh a ton.Yellow is a sunny accent color.Marigolds – a sign of fall
It was a relief to stand near the fountain’s mist and go home to the A/C….and the ball game.
In contrast, my garden has not been quite so lush. My gladioli did not pan out – too much heat meant no bulbs for most of the glads. Not quite the vision I had in mind.
I planted these in front of the garden box so the chicken wire could serve as support.
I got three, two pink and a yellow out of this tropical color package. For the ones I planted at the front of the house, the score was 2 pink out of a package of 15 bulbs. The rest have greenery, but no flowers yet although I haven’t entirely given up hope.
Tomatoes and glads – isn’t that a sign of August!
The zinnias did not fare much better – lots of greenery – two flowers. I think next year I’ll just buy them at the farmer’s market.
Some of the geraniums have perked up a bit – all they needed was a bit of rain. It’s raining as I type this – finally, a whole inch. According to the news tonight there are 731 wildfires burning across the country, (none anywhere near me thank god), including some near popular vacation spots and cities. I can’t imagine being a firefighter in this heat. If this summer is the new norm – I’m looking forward to fall.
It started with the dishes. I saw them at Winners/Marshalls back in March and walked past them as the last thing I need is another set of dishes when I already have so many, (and now I have all of my mother’s too.) And since the pandemic I hardly ever entertain anymore….but they were plastic, perfect for the patio and they were so pretty I was envisioning a garden party with the hydrangeas all in bloom, even if we were still dealing with late winter snow storms. The next day I went back and bought them, because Winners is like that – it’s hit or miss, and if you dither whatever you had your eye on is usually gone, scooped up by some more decisive soul. The next week they had two big matching bowls which I thought would be perfect for salad or watermelon. I was sick of winter by then.
Fast forward to summer…..the actual party took over a month to organize because it involved five people with varying schedules of appointments, activities and emergencies. As I alluded to in my last blog about wanting to hold my own book club, just try asking a group of retired people what day is good for them – there are doctors appointments, grandchildren, golf, pickleball, bowling, theatre tickets etc and after we had settled on a date there was a basement flood and a cat requiring emergency dental surgery. As for me – I don’t own a cat and my life isn’t that exciting. Plus the weather had to be good, or at least not raining – it was hard to find a week here in July without rain or heat warnings, so it was impossible to plan too far ahead.
Anyway, eventually it happened, and the hydrangeas were at their peak.
Hydrangeas are no-fuss plants. These are repeat bloomers. They’re pink, but you can get blue ones by adding aluminum sulfate to acidify the soil. If you don’t add enough you get a lilac color, but they’re all nice. The lime green ones have become popular lately, but I prefer some color.
Look who dropped in for the party…
The first monarch I’ve seen in my yard in years! One of the neighbours must have planted some milkweed.
I have five hydrangea bushes but one has not done well this year, maybe because someone pruned it at the wrong time? It’s usually covered with blue flowers due to the neighbours overhanging cedar trees which help to acidify the soil, but this year it decided to be pink. There’s no figuring out plants sometimes – they have a mind of their own. There are many varieties of hydrangeas but most tolerate partial shade.
The day dawned sunny….it looked like a perfect day, if a bit hot and humid. I put all the cushions out.
I enjoy all the decorating party prep as I have so many placemats and tablecloths and things that I have accumulated over the years and never use. I’m too old now to be saving the good dishes and the guests seem to appreciate the extra effort. Everyone likes to be spoiled once in awhile.
Decorating doesn’t have to be expensive – these napkins and lady bugs are from the dollar store. The lady bugs were just for fun, because who doesn’t like ladybugs? These have adhesive backings so you can stick them on things. I stole the idea from a display at the library – ‘Bee a summer reader!’ which had bees stuck all over it. I bought a package of those too for September when the real bees spoil the dining alfresco.
Speaking of dining alfresco I was so excited to finally get to use my Tuscany table! The table was a curbside find during the pandemic which I painted with exterior paint to match American Decor’s chalk paint in Serene Blue. I painted a wooden chair same color, and the week before the party I found two chairs outside the St. Vincent de Paul store when I was donating clothes, and bought those for $5 each. Mismatched chairs are good with a rustic outdoor table like that, and if they’re recycled you don’t mind leaving them outside in the rain. The idea was to take advantage of the lovely southwest breezes under the trees -my deck can get too hot as it faces north and the houses block the breeze.
We had afternoon snacks under the trees and red and white peach sangria (the non-alcoholic kind), a grocery store find which was surprisingly good. I never took any photos of the food because I was so busy I forgot! The snacks were watermelon in one of the big new bowls, some perfectly ripe cherries, and a bag of Fritos, which was a big hit! There’s something about craving salt on a hot summer day, and Fritos taste salty but are not too high in salt. (The medical person in me worries about electrolytes and fluid intake and balanced nutrition.)
The main course was pizza. While I may like to entertain and bake, I do not like to cook that much, and it can be difficult these days with everyone’s food allergies/intolerances and low fat, low cholesterol diets. Not that pizza is hearty healthy but my small town has the world’s best pizza place. They’ve been in business forty years and served authentic wood smoked pizza long before it was even a thing. When they first opened, no one spoke English so what you ordered and what you got were sometimes different, but it’s everyone’s favourite choice, especially since our local Chinese restaurant closed down recently after 40 years. It was excellent too, but the owner couldn’t get anyone to buy it, and none of his kids wanted it. So pizza was the general consensus, however there was major disagreement about what toppings should go on the pizza (see section about trying to get five people to agree), so we ended up with everyone ordering their own baby pizza so they could take the leftovers home. Fine with me, as I do not think ground hamburger belongs on a pizza, and I’m not fussy on pepperoni either.
While we were waiting for the pizza I made them work for their supper…..what, you didn’t think it was going to be all fun and games! One planted the iris bulbs he had thinned out and brought with him (did I mention they were all horticultural society members, so I got some good suggestions as to what to plant around the back deck to replace the dying rose bushes – hydrangeas!) while we ladies went through the rest of the stuff from my mothers house which had been sitting in the garage taking up space for months. Only one item was left after it was all divvied up, a French press coffee maker which I decided to keep myself – no one wants a French press because it’s a pain to clean up the grounds. It’s always nice to give things away to people who want and can use them, and they had helped me out a lot last year when I was cleaning out mom’s house.
Note the party favours….
I had already set the table inside, as I knew rain was in the forecast, and by then we had lost the sun and it had become quite humid, so we moved inside and enjoyed the A/C for a couple of hours.
I made party favours out of hydrangea soap and stripped paper bags from the dollar store. Adults like to receive goody bags too!
leftover salad
As I still had lettuce growing (third crop) I made a big mandarin salad in the pretty big bowl, layering the three kinds of lettuce (Romaine, red leaf and ?) with the raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and mandarin orange slices, so the fruit didn’t all sink to the bottom. Served with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. (That was the nutrition course – it’s important to have a nutrition course.)
I like to thrift shop and had found a set of four light blue plates and an assortment of blue glasses a few years ago, which coordinated perfectly with the new hydrangea plates.
They could be used as salad plates, but we used them for dessert and moved outside to the deck table this time. The rain had held off and although humid there was a delightful evening breeze. We had key lime pie and coffee and talked until it got dark and the fireflies came out. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many fireflies in the back yard, but then I don’t usually sit out after dark due to the mosquitos. It was quite magical, and reminds me of that song, what I call the firefly song.
After they left, and I was cleaning up, I realized I hadn’t taken any pictures of the food so I snapped a photo of the bowl of wilted lettuce! I could have left the dishes until the next day but I was wide awake so I went to bed all talked out but with a clean kitchen. The next day I got an email thanking me for the party and how much they had all enjoyed it. They must have as they stayed 8 hours (2-10pm) but that’s the way it is with old friends – time flies in good company.
There are books, and then there are book club books. The sign of the later is when you’re finished reading it, you want to discuss it with someone else who has read it. So, here are ten books, published in the past year or two, good for discussion at book clubs everywhere…..except mine of course, where the majority prefer light and fluffy (see last week’s Beach Reads). Not that there’s anything wrong with those, (I read both) but the ideal book club selection should have enough material in it for a lively discussion. (I’ve critiqued the cover art too…although this batch is not as good as last weeks, but it’s what’s inside that counts!)
Upwardly mobile cover art conveys the theme.
A Great Country – Shilpi Samaya Gouda
Family saga. For the Shahs, Indian immigrants who came to America twenty years ago, the move to a lovely upscale Pacific Heights neighbourhood is the culmination of a dream, until their 12 year old son is arrested in a violent encounter with police. For their three children born and raised in America, success is not so simple. Themes – immigration, generational conflict, social class and privilege. I enjoyed her other books, especially her first, Secret Daughter.
Standard cover art for her books – with a few palm fronds for the tropical setting.
One Perfect Couple – Ruth Ware
Psychological Suspense, reminiscent of Agatha Christies And Then There Were None. Things are not going well for Lyla and her actor boyfriend, until he auditions for a reality TV show in England and wins. They are whisked away to a small island in the Pacific with five other couples, and things are fine until a storm hits, the film crew suddenly departs, and the couples are left alone as a killer stalks among them. Deprived of their cell phones the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and supplies run low, Lyla finds this game show is all too real, and the stakes are life and death. Although Ruth Ware is one of my favorite authors, I wasn’t prepared to like this book as much as I did, given my general dislike of reality tv shows, but I found it very suspenseful, with a truly surprising ending. I won’t reveal the theme, but it’s sort of like Lord of the Flies for adults, with a twist. I think this is her best book yet.
Green for the woods?
The God of the Woods – Liz Moore
Psychological suspense and family drama. August 1975, early morning in the Adirondack Mountains, a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Barbara Van Laar, the 13-year-old daughter of the affluent family who owns the summer camp, has gone missing, prompting a massive search. But this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared, her older brother vanished 14 years ago, never to be found. A real page turner, with a satisfying ending.
A courthouse in turbulent times.
A Calamity of Souls – David Baldacci
Historical fiction/courtroom drama. South Virginia, 1968, the civil rights movement is raging. A young white male lawyer teams up with a female black lawyer from Chicago to represent a black man wrongly accused of brutally killing his wealthy white employers. Fast paced, good characterization, and a riveting court case, with a surprise ending. Wow – is all I can say, this was one of the best books I read last year. Lots to discuss, racism, the civil rights movement, a bygone era that’s starting to look familiar again.
A key to a room with a socialist rose?
The Briar Club – Kate Quinn
Historical Fiction. Washington DC 1950, a story of friendship and secrets in a female boarding house during the McCarthy era. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, until a mysterious widow with secrets of her own, arrives and starts to hold weekly dinner parties in her room. The book opens with a dead body upstairs and the women must decide who is the true enemy in their midst. I had never read anything set in the McCarthy era, so I enjoyed this immensely.
I like this cover – short and to the point.
Those People Next Door – Kia Abdullah
A gripping thriller about nightmare neighbours. Salma Khatun is hopeful that the safe suburban neighbourhood they have just moved to, is a fresh start for her family and teenage son, but not long after they move in, the man next door rips out the anti-racist banner she put on her front lawn. She doesn’t confront him as she wants to fit in, so she moves the banner inside and puts it in her window, only to wake the next morning to find her window smeared with paint. Things escalate from there and battle lines are drawn, while they are unaware their two sons have become friends.
A standard cover for her, with a helicopter for Vietnam
The Women – Kristen Hannah
Historical drama about the forgotten role of women in the Vietnam war. 21-year-old Frankie, a sheltered young woman from an affluent military family, enlists as a nurse during the Vietnam War. The story follows her tours of duty and the decades thereafter. I found this story fascinating and disturbing as all war stories are, particularly as I had never read anything set in Vietnam.
Self-explanatory but kind of boring.
The Berry Pickers – Amanda Peters
Family saga/mystery. July 1962 A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl from Nova Scotia goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, where her family travels for work every summer, sparking a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors and remains unsolved for fifty years. Meanwhile a young girl grows up in Maine, the only daughter of affluent parents, never quite fitting in, until she searches for the truth about her family. A debut novel by a Canadian author, very good.
Beware a guy who seems to good to be true. The copy I read had a plainer British cover, minus the sociopath.
One of the Good Guys – Araminta Hall
Psychological thriller/mystery. “Hall’s feminist tour de force, shines a light on how easy it can be for strong women to be coerced and manipulate by ’good men’….and how easily these men hide in plain sight.”
How often have you heard a divorced woman say – I thought I married one of the good ones? Two people meet in a small coastal British village and think they know each other, until two female hikers are declared missing from the same area. Honestly, this book just creeped me out, as it was meant to, particularly the good guy character. Totally amazing plot twists made for a very bold statement at the end.
Patio lanterns – it’s midnight party time.
The Midnight Feast – Lucy Foley
Psychological thriller/mystery. A multi-character novel about a reunion that turns deadly at a luxury resort in the English countryside. When a body is discovered on the opening night in an adjacent wood all the secrets of the past come spilling out at the midnight feast. The founder of the resort, one of those perfect influencer types, was especially well done, and justice was served like desert at the end. Easily her most riveting book yet.
I love it when my favourite authors just keep getting better and better. I wonder how they can keep coming up with such amazing ideas and plots which also make for a great discussion. I would like to start my own book club someday, but have you ever tried to coordinate the schedules of a bunch of retired people…
These ten books with short summaries are all good reads, published over the past year or two. They’re light and riveting enough for the beach – just remember to reapply sunscreen! (Lately I’ve been critiquing book covers, so check out those too. Some books are just easier to illustrate than others.)
A 1940’s retro beach look.
The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club – Martha Hall Kelly
Historical drama/family saga about two sisters struggling to keep the family farm going when American soldiers descend on the island for training exercises n 1942. The book club part seems incidental but it’s a nice story, with a bit of romance, but I love anything about Martha’s Vineyard.
This catchy book cover says it all.
Famous Last Words – Gillian McAllister
Psychological thriller. Riveting tale about a new mother’s search to find the truth when the police arrive at her door to tell her there is a hostage situation developing in London, and that her husband is the gunman.
A deserted island haunted by ancestral ghosts
Camino Ghosts – John Grisham
Captivating thriller/courtroom drama, about a resort development firm claiming ownership of an unoccupied island between Florida and Georgia, and the last living inhabitant, an elderly black woman, who stands who stands in their way. The island was owned by free slaves and the locals believe it to be cursed. I’ll read anything by John Grisham, but this was one of his better books. This is the latest of his Camino Island trilogy and the best, same characters, but it can be read as a stand alone, the first was about a murder during a hurricane.
Mystery at a Big Sur resort where a wedding does not happen, because I’m not sure unwedding is a word?
The UnWedding – Ally Condie
Thriller/Mystery. A woman spends her 20th wedding anniversary alone at a fancy resort near Big Sur, after the unexpected break up of her marriage. There’s a wedding at the resort, and a big storm brewing, and complications occur when the groom is found dead floating in the pool on the morning of the wedding. This was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club selection.
A quiet suburban neighbourhood in the middle of the night.
Middle of the Night – Riley Sager
Thriller/Mystery – Thirty years later a man returns to the quiet neighbourhood where his best friend disappeared from their tent in his backyard in the middle of the night. I’ve never read anything by Riley Sager, but this was good and very suspenseful. Nominated for 2024 Goodreads Thriller of the Year
A big house she can’t afford without her inheritance?
The Inheritance – Joanna Goodman
A mother-daughter family saga. A grieving 36 year old single mother with three children, deeply in debt after the death of her husband, receives a phone call from a New York lawyer offering a glimmer of hope between a life of poverty and wealth thanks to her unknown deceased billionaire father. The drama is in the legal fight for her inheritance. I didn’t like this protagonist initially, but the story grows on you, and the ending was quite good.
This cover art tells me nothing?
Pineapple Street – Jenny Jackson
Family saga. Contemporary fiction about three women in New York’s one percenters, and their families – love and class. If you ever wanted to read about how the rich live, it was surprisingly interesting, and I liked how she wrapped up the stories at the end. Nominee for Goodreads Readers 2023 favourite fiction.
Neither does this one? Is she supposed to be beautiful?
Hello Beautiful – Ann Napolitano
Family saga. An “emotional, heart wrenching family drama’ about an Italian Catholic family of four sisters. Two sisters fall for the same man, causing the family to break apart for 25years. Hello Beautiful is the greeting the dad gives each of the daughters. I have to admit I shed a few tears at the end.
Third in the series, just different colors so instant brand recognition. The diary is a clue.
The Maid’s Secret – Nita Prose
Heartwarming mystery, the latest of the Molly the Maid series and the best yet. You can’t help root for Molly who is on the autism spectrum. She’s been promoted to head maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, in charge of special events, but when a daring art heist takes place during the filming of an antique roadshow reality TV show, long buried secrets are revealed about her dead grandmother’s wealthy past. I really enjoyed the grandmother’s diary entries, and the ending – well – pass the Kleenex. My favorite yet of the three in the series, plus the Christmas novella.
I have to admit this cover is my favorite because of the mortar and pestle.
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern – Lynda Cohen Loigman
Nominated for Goodreads Historical Fiction 2024. When I saw this one on the new releases list I was intrigued because as a retired pharmacist, I had never read a book where the main character was a pharmacist, so I liked it even before I opened a page. After turning 80, newly retired Augusta Stern relocates to a senior’s centre in southern Florida, where she unexpectedly crosses paths with her first love Irving, the delivery boy who broke her heart 60 years ago. Alternating between present day and 1920’s Brooklyn, Augusta attends pharmacy college (rare for a woman then) after her father’s sudden death and inherits his neighbourhood pharmacy. When her eccentric Great Aunt Esther moves in Augusta is drawn to her unconventional remedies, ranging from homemade chicken soup to a mysterious array of powders and potions, and she decides to experiment with a love potion for Irving with disastrous results. But is it ever too late for love?
What I liked about this book – the pharmaceutical accuracy and descriptions of a time when almost everything was compounded from scratch. The author acknowledges in the notes how she researched the remedies from old drug journals. The protagonist was based on a great aunt in the family who had been a pharmacist way back then. I liked Augusta’s independence, her spunk, and her dedication to her career, as it’s not an easy job to do. But what impressed me most was the love story part, (and you know I’m not a romance reader) as it’s the first novel I’ve read involving seniors which doesn’t portray them as a bunch of senile old people who are only concerned with their hearing aids, glasses, bowels, food and naps. Honestly, I’ve read enough of those British cozy mysteries set in retirement homes, as they seem so popular now, but the older people I know are not like that. So kudos to the author (whose father lived in a retirement home) for getting it right, both with the pharmacy stuff and what it’s like to be an active healthy senior today.
thehomeplaceweb 