Birds - Blooms - Books . . . . . .

Mourning Dove 

 Pine Siskin and Red-bellied Woodpecker 

White-Throated Sparrow

Many of these and other birds are visiting the garden now - the warm days have

 brought the songbirds out despite true spring still being far off. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . and my daffodils are blooming far too early.

One of my favorite reading corners - upstairs bedroom in good afternoon light.

Are you reading these late winter days?

My pile awaits as I plod somewhat through the amazing writing of Richard Powers

'The Overstory' - Winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. 

A very special novel. If you love trees and are concerned about the future

 of our forests, and the planet, you should read it.  

Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. 

There is always something to make you wonder in the shape

 of a tree, the trembling of a leaf. 

~ Albert Schweitzer ~

Grace without glory ----------

  

The storm has passed. Hurricanes batter and damage for days and this one

 is no different as it crawls along the east coast.

We, further inland in North Carolina, were fortunate this time with nothing more

than torrential rain for many hours and wind gusts late last night. I admit, sleep

was a long time coming for me!

No power outages in our neighborhood but many are without south and east of us. 

This morning the sun is already shining. Small debris from trees will be cleaned up 

as they dry out - thank you Bob - and I will return all the possible flying projectiles,

now stored in the potting shed, back in position on the front porch, back deck and gazebo. 

Our thoughts and prayers are now with those still in Dorian's path along the coast, 

and those who have been damaged or injured. The latest news from the

Bahamas is heartbreaking with so many people missing and unbelievable damage

to the islands.

I walked into the back garden and was surprised by this beauty. 

Just one flower on the start of a white Rose of Sharon tree.  

In a pot, planted by a garden bird, not me!
Nature's beauty always phenomenal - but her wrath can be so cruel.

I immediately felt the connection. This is the book I've just finished reading. 

It too was a huge surprise. 

Picked up at the Dollar Store as the cover looked interesting.

What a story of a place I'd never heard of. . . . . in a country that has known terrible
times.  Who knew that massive ships must eventually die, or the horrendous 
story of their dangerous disposal which kills, maims, and impacts the health
of so many.

 A fabulous, but often gut-wrenching, read. 
Powerful writing. 
A history.
A love story like no other.

This one goes on the shelf with my special books, the ones I will read again

 when life is quiet and I have nowhere to go.

Summer reading - after Ireland and Surgery. . . . . . . . . .

How lucky can I get!

No cancer, so very thankful. 

No major housework.

No lifting and bending.

No traveling, oh NO - just for a while though.

BUT. . . . . . all the time in the world to read wonderful books this week and next. 

These, waiting to be opened and have their pages turned, are full of promise.

Since coming home from Ireland a couple of weeks ago, I have been eager
 for the mailman who has showered me with new books. . . . . . . 

. . . . . . other than FALLEN by Lia Mills, a Dublin writer, which tweaked my
 curiosity when I photographed this Dublin street banner, and which
 I was able to purchase later at a tiny Killarney bookshop, my books have come
 to my mailbox. FALLEN is set in Dublin at the time of the 1916 Easter
Rising and is an historical story of a young woman coming of age amidst
 violence and loss.

MEADOWLAND - The Private Life Of An English Field
by John Lewis-Stempel somehow appeared online when looking for something else.
 I had to have it!

"In exquisite prose John Lewis-Stempel records the passing seasons in an

 ancient meadow on his farm."

That singular sentence was enough to tweak my appetite for learning more
 about my much loved English countryside - the fields of Devon were my
 playground and I will always remember and love them for ever.

ON AN IRISH ISLAND - The Lost World of the Great Blasket 
by Robert Kanigel. 
The story of Great Blasket Island is a must read because I'm now besotted by
 the history of this Irish island (the largest of a group named The Blasket Islands
 off the Dingle coastline) which was inhabited until the 1950's.

The House on an Irish Hillside by Felicity Hayes-McCoy is the
 new book I've decided to read first.
 It is so wonderful I plan to do a full post on it later.
 Just know I'm really happy to have found this book by this amazing author - and that
 I have been fortunate to have just visited the Dingle Peninsula where she lives
 for much of the year.

. . . . . . lastly, a new book about the extraordinary record-setting woman aviator,
 Beryl Markham, caught in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter
 Denis Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen who, as Isak Dinesen, wrote the
 classic memoir Out of Africa.
Circling The Sun by Paula McLain.

My read and reread dog-eared copy of West With The Night was written by Beryl
 herself and published in 1942. It has always been one of my favorite books
 about adventurous women and life in Kenya back in the 1930's.
Hmm, Kenya, Africa, Masai Mara, Safari, Big Five. . . . .some day!!!

All photos by me - thankfully a small camera is not very heavy!