Aug. 28-30:
After visiting GR and purchasing books at a sale, I remembered that Big Rapids Public Library was having a sale on Labor Day weekend, Friday and Saturday. Of course, I had to go Friday and Saturday. I again purchased a few books, but I have a plan. When I read a book, if it’s not absolutely wonderful, I will either donate it back to the library sale or put it in a pile to sell or trade. Among my finds, several C.S. Lewis non-fiction titles, a nice Reader’s Digest book of making things by hand including canning, and a Wallace & Grommit book.

Tags: books

for cheap. Yes, yes, the correct word is inexpensive, but it doesn’t make sense in context. One of my favorite new/used bookstores was having a great sale today. At first Patty and I thought maybe we would share a bag, the sale was fill a bag for $5. After about 30 minutes, we realized we were each going to need a bag. I found many interesting treasures. In the daylight tomorrow, I am going to try to remember to artfully arrange my books and grab a photo. In another area I found and turned down The Scarlet Letter, Wuthering Heights (I think I may already have this one), a very cool NIV Study Bible (but if it’s still there next time) and a really old and worn Bible that would have made some great scanned textures-the end pages showed interesting wear, as did several pages but $60 seriously? for a water-damaged, mold infested, well worn book. A few finds that I have been looking for and managed to make it into my bag: a book of Henrik Ibsen plays, some silly little books with pithy sayings that may be useful in scrapbooks, and a few catechism books. I also found a book that apparently will guide me in using Harry Potter to teach young adult fiction. I will most likely never need to do that, but the book screamed to be placed in the bag, as one of the last books before the bag was impossibly full.

Tags: books, GR

Our family Memorial Day celebration involves heading south to Burley Park for a largish flea market. While I did not come back with any fleas, thank goodness, I found a few things. I wasn’t on a huge mission for anything I had to have, just small things if I happened upon them. I think this year was one of the smallest vendor turnouts I’ve seen in a while. I managed to purchase four books I didn’t need, one of them was an accidental purchase. It was in my hands when I was finished, so home it came. I’m sure it will be a lovely read either way, I have read that author before and non-fiction is good for me. One vendor had an assortment of knitting needles, yes, I had a sizer in my backpack so I could have checked the sizes for the needles, but it was unnecessary. I wasn’t looking for size, just type. I was looking for dpns (double pointed needles) or circulars. I managed 3 dpns for a dollar, which seems like a good deal, but one really needs four or five needles to make circles/tubes. I will keep an eye out for more in future trips.

My most interesting purchase was a Monopoly/Sorry wood box game set plus six other games-chess, checkers, cribbage, dominoes, playing cards, and poker dice. It is not a complete game by any stretch: several chess pieces missing, most of the cribbage pegs are gone, no playing cards, missing Sorry and Monopoly pieces. I may spend some time hunting extra replacement pieces, but I am afraid it will cease to be a good deal if I invest money to purchase more. The Monopoly game appears to be missing its dice, chance cards and hotels at the least. The board is a miniature size, but still playable if I find enough pieces. Anything can be a hotel

Jason and I also purchased some spoons. I’m not sure if I could have gotten a better deal at a box store, but we needed more spoons. I was also looking for random serving spoons. I only found them at one booth, but the woman was too busy to tell me how much she wanted for them, so I went on hoping to find others. When I tried to find her again, I couldn’t remember what row she was in and I was too tired to hunt too long. I will draw a map next time or exhibit patience and purchase them when I find them. I also found a tea pot for Mom P, she seemed to need another and this one called my name when I saw it. The last thing I came home with was a small sunburn, hopefully it will tan.

My friend Ruth met up with us at the park after a while, just about the time I purchased the game, so off to the Jeep we went to put the game away and retrieve a water bottle. Jeff and Jeanne were off on vacation, so it was Mom P, Dad P, Jason and I. Ruth arrived about the same time that Josh, Julie and Julie’s mom arrived.

We all headed home, minus Julie and her mom. Jason and I had the bright idea of putting on crockpot food before we left. At the end of flea market days, we are always tired and try to figure out what to make. We tried to plan ahead this year. We made venison stew/soup with fresh baked bread, salad and strawberries. I didn’t realize we were having strawberries, nor did I realize Ruth was coming home, neither of which is horrible, just inconvenient. Ruth is rather allergic, so I spent time washing up a lot. We played a game of hearts and the family departed. Ruth, Jason and I had a game of Quiddler then Ruth headed home

All in all, a fun day.

Tags: books, family, flea market, friends, games, knitting

I should like to giggle a bit about this entry of mine, started earlier this month. After an upgrade to the blogging software, this entry was redated for August of 1969. (Interestingly enough, many others encountered this problem as well.) It would be interesting to note that at the time of this writing I am in my early thirties, making it impossible for me to write this because I did not know any Proefrocks while my mother was in high school and my father shipped by the Navy somewhere. While my parents knew of each other, they were not dating yet to my knowledge. A few more years would pass before their marriage and I arrived exactly a year and two months after that date. That being said, let’s move along to the intended topic.

I do not have the vocabulary of an English scholar, however, I find that it may be slightly larger than many. As I have listened to the audio books of The Dark is Rising sequence, I understand from whence my impetus occurred. I must have curled up with the books and the dictionary when first I read, though only if I borrowed them from the library during my primary years.

I remember retreating to my room to devour Boxcar Children while in first or second grade. I can close my eyes and picture the children’s section and picture the Science fiction and fantasy area. I know I borrowed my limit of 10 every week and chose only one new-to-me author at a time. Once I returned to the library after discovering a new author, I would inhale every word he or she wrote if I was able to find it. I remember Madeline L’Engle and tesseracts, though beyond her, I remember little of the authors I read, Encyclopedia Brown and my mother teaching me Jimminy Cricket’s song to spell e-n-c-y-c-l-o-p-e-d-i-a, but that part is the only thing I remember from her singing it to me. The author’s name never settled in my mind, Donald J. Sobol, though as an adult, I purchased one of the “two minute mystery” books that my fifth and sixth grade teachers would read to us.

The memories that escape me are from kindergarten. I attended a private religious school, too small to have a library at the time. Our grade levels were combined, k-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-7 though beyond that I would have to dig for my yearbook. I remember recess, nap time, art, gym, the book mobile and phonics. I’m sure the memory is not completely accurate, but I envision the bookmobile not stopping in the school parking lot. Rather, it stopped at a near by corner store and we walked to it. Surely it came to us in our parking lot and I have combined an incorrect location with a fun memory. When I use the word phonics to define that particular memory, what I remember is saying the names and sounds of the letters of the alphabet by looking at the posters on the wall-I swear it didn’t make any sense to me why we were doing that. I understand now that the teachers were trying to teach me how to read with phonics, but someone somewhere didn’t explain that part to me, so I just memorized the words (made them all sight words)and set about guessing what words the letters were supposed to make. My confusion may have resulted from words like the, why, when, that, there and the like-all the words that cannot be sounded out with phonics decoding skills. I think I figured out how to apply phonics when I was in middle school or high school. I remember all the way along being amazed at other students who would read new words flawlessly, while I scrambled for a dictionary to try to figure it out or stare in wonder when I heard a word pronounced for the first time after seeing it in print but not understanding the sounds.

Should anyone remember a bookmobile from Fulton County in the early 1980’s, do drop me a line. I should like to know more about it, since my five year old self has long since left me.

Tags: bookmobile, books, bug, child, memories, WordPress 2.5