Final Bake Night - till Autumn!

Sweet potato cake. Not bad!

It's getting too hot to bake in the evenings, now, but I may be tempted to make a cherry pie or a blueberry pie or a mixed berry pie before the summer is out...by popular demand.

Book Review

The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morton.

I was so excited to see this new book by Morton, whose House at Riverton I received as a gift and found riveting.

Morton's style is just what I like - complex without being convoluted, multi-generational without being overly sentimental, and just enough mystery to keep me entertained. Her characters are authentic and likeable, their surroundings give a view into their personalities.

In this latest book, she weaves several layers of stories into an engrossing tale of family, belonging, and heartbreak. Sprinkled throughout are original fairy tales that spin the stories and fates of the characters: Nell, the little girl who turns up on the docks in Australia in 1913, having travelled alone from England; Rose and Eliza, cousins bound by secrets in the first years of the new century; Cassandra, Nell's grand-daughter and receiver of her legacy in modern-day Australia and England; and the garden itself, which, reminiscent of Hodgson-Burnett's Secret Garden, is a character as enigmatic as any other.

I think I have a new favorite author.

(For more descriptions and reviews, see this page. )

Ding, Dong, The Witch is Dead

My "favorite student" (the one who has given me so much indigestion, lost sleep, and days of frustration) graduated on Saturday.

Hiking above Coloma

TH and I hiked the 3.6 mile, Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park Loop, in Coloma. Gorgeous day. Perfect hike!

Thoughts from an ex-president

(And some from a snarky citizen.)

From an article in the Roswell Daily Record.
"It was a humbling moment for the former commander in chief: President George W. Bush was walking former first dog Barney in his new Dallas neighborhood when it stopped in a neighbor's yard for relief. 'And there I was, former president of the United States of America, with a plastic bag on my hand,' he told a group of graduating high school students in New Mexico on Thursday."

It's nice to know there's some shit out there he's willing to take responsibility for...

" 'I no longer feel that great sense of responsibility that I had when I was in the Oval Office. And frankly, it's a liberating feeling,' he told seniors from Artesia High School. "


It's liberating for me, too, W.