Reading - Sandcastles

Sandcastles by Luanne Rice



Six years ago, on a visit to Ireland, a violent act changed everything for artists Hope and John Sullivan and their three daughters. Imprisoned since, John has had little contact with his family. Now Regis, the eldest girl, is about to be married, and she wants her recently paroled father to attend the wedding. The upcoming event forces them all, especially Honor, to examine their feelings--and the truth--about what happened.

Love, family and friendship - just as fragile - have a way of standng against anything. It will take nothing short of a miracle to heal the rift between father and daughter, husband and wife, the past and the present - but a miracle is exactly what is in the works at Star of the Sea Academy.

Reading - The Gift

The Gift by Richard Paul Evans



Nathan works for a retail store in which he is to prevent and catch employees who are stealing from the company, in particular, merchandise. During one of his business trips visiting one of the stores, he encounters a boy and his family while waiting at the airport on a very snowy night. This young boy is terminally ill, but Nathan discovers a gift that this young boy has. It's a type of gift that is kept secret, because once it is known, the boy's mother knows that the media will be on their backs, as will the rest of the world. For the sake of the boy's health, his mother tries her best to hide this special gift from the public.

Nathan gets involved with the woman and her two children by volunteering his hotel room for the night, as their flight has been cancelled due to the snowstorm. This act of kindness leads to one thing and another, and soon he has fallen in love with the woman, as he also learns lessons in unselfish love from the young boy.

Reading - The Uncommon Reader

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett


When her corgis stray into a mobile library parked near Buckingham Palace, the Queen feels duty-bound to borrow a book. Discovering the joy of reading widely and intelligently, she finds that her view of the world changes dramatically. Abetted in her newfound obsession by Norman, a young man from the royal kitchens, the Queen comes to question the prescribed order of the world and loses patience with the routines of her role as monarch. Her new passion for reading initially alarms the palace staff, and soon leads to surprising and very funny consequences for the country at large.

Reading - Beach Girls

Beach Girls by Luanne Rice



While summering in the seaside town of Hubbard's Point, Conn., Emma Lincoln, Stevie Moore and Maddie Kilvert, the titular beach girls, were inseparable, but as adults, they've drifted apart. Stevie lives like a hermit in Hubbard's Point, unaware that her old friend Emma died in a car crash, leaving behind a husband, a child and secrets. When widower Jack brings his daughter, Nell, to the Point, Nell searches out her last link to her mother: Stevie. A bestselling children's author, Stevie is drawn to Nell and her attractive dad. The healing powers of the beautiful beach, and of friendship, work their magic on Nell and Stevie as both influence each other lives and as Nell's father struggles with his conflicting emotions over his wife's death.

Reading - Saving Fish from Drowning

Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan


Bibi Chen, San Francisco socialite and art vendor to the stars, plans to lead a trip for 12 friends: "My friends, those lovers of art, most of them rich, intelligent, and spoiled, would spend a week in China and arrive in Burma on Christmas Day." Unfortunately, Bibi dies, in very strange circumstances, before the tour begins. After wrangling about it, the group decides to go after all. The leader they choose is indecisive and epileptic, a dangerous combo. Bibi goes along as the disembodied voice-over.

At one day of the trip, on Christmas morning, eleven of the travelers boat across a mistry lake for a sunrise cruise- and disappear??? Why there is one not in the cruise ?

Purple Vest Progress - Is it really nice ??

This satisfies me a lot and I really love the outcome. The back is finished and blocked. One piece of the front is blocked but the other is not.

20 years old of yarns ??

This is the yarns found under my mother's bed, they are bought at 1986 and let's celebrate their 22 years old of birthday. They are Jaeger DK with Alpaca and still in good quality condition. Oh, I have ground to buy more and keep my yarns as long as I could. Only 6 balls are here and a open vest with no sleeve is knitted.

Nowaday, it seems quite popular to knit vest with upper and lower body in different patterns. So, for the lower part, I use st.st. pattern and "k and p" stitches for the upper part. The back is finished and I am going ahead to knit the front.