Peacefield

I'm I'm MN and this is pretty typical, but I still hate it!

COLD. I believe the meteorologists are calling what we are in an 'arctic blast.' -12 f to be exact. Brrr!

Happy reading ye of excellent bookish taste!

Hello, friends! It's been too long. Sounds like everyone is getting along pretty well, and I'm feeling the same as some, not quite ready to get back to work. I am glad however that the new year has started, since that means the days are getting shorter and that spring is that much closer! Noll, I'm so sorry you had to withdraw from your course. I understand how difficult something like that can be! I'm glad you are doing what you think is best for you, though. Things are going along fine here in the frozen MN tundra. I just celebrated my 15th year of work at my company, so I've got an extra weeks worth of vacation coming to me this year which will be nice. I'm planning on a trip west to see family sometime this spring. It's been about 3 years since I was there so I think I'm due. I wish all of you a wonderful and happy new year!

Oh, all the puppies posted look adorable! I can't wait to see your two new dogs, Virginia, and Cash always looks like a barrel of fun, Paula Here is a photo of Odin, my new kitty that I adopted 2 days ago. Also a photo of Odin and our Beagle Emma, as they look outside at all the happenings. They are getting along great so far!

Your Blessing sounds lovely, June! Congrats to you both I was disappointed with the 'better together' no votes winning out in Scotland. I can't help it, I guess, I just like the idea of independence I'm sorry I've been away so long! I forget that life gets in the way of the fun stuff sometimes, like BCF and all its lovely members. It sounds like you've had a great week off, Chrissy. I was off this week as well and spent 4 days in Chicago. We had a blast! Two friends and I drove there (it's about a 6 hour drive) and spent most of our time at the Institute of Arts as well as wandering around and exploring. The views from the top of the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) were amazing, and Navy Pier was fun too, not to mention all the good restaurants we visited. On our drive down we stopped in a little town in Wisconsin and I was able to visit the grave of my 3rd great-grandfather, so I was really glad I was able to do that. Oh, and I also got a new little kitty! My Sascha passed away in June of this year so I've been visiting a shelter for the past couple of weeks and finally settled on little Odin, an orange tabby. I'll post a photo of him in the pet thread .

All of you are wonderful Thank you for such lovely posts. You don't know how much it helps. My mom came back into town last weekend and brought her dog, a Beagle, and she's so nice to have around (and if course my mom too, lol). The dog's probably getting tired of all my hugs, but she'll just have to deal with it!

Thanks Sari and Chrissy Sometimes I wish I wasn't such an animal person, then I wouldn't have to go through this every decade or so. Here is a photo of Sascha I took this past Friday. I was at home that day, sitting at the dining room table, and letting Sascha out on the deck to sit in the sun. I took this photo without knowing that it was the last one I would take of her. I'm so glad I took it.

Thank you, ladies. It means a lot. I'm trying to stay positive today and your words help

Unfortunately, all my worries came true yesterday and I had to have Sascha put down . She had stage 4 kidney failure and there wasn't anything that could be done for her. I've been crying ever since, it seems, and I feel horrible that I didn't somehow find out about her issues sooner so I could help. She was only 9 and I blame myself for not being a more responsible owner and taking her to the vet on a more regular basis. The vet told me I wouldn't have known anything unless I had bloodwork done on her on a yearly basis. I'd post a picture of her but I can't really look it her right now .

Good idea, Kylie. I need to invest in the DVDs so I can re-watch it whenever I feel the urge.

Thanks, Pontalba and Athena It's good to hear from someone else who has had experience with this, Pontalba. I'm very interested in hearing about the food too, since she clearly needs to put on some weight. I feel so bad for not noticing how thin she's gotten. She's always just her energetic self and eats whenever she wants since I keep food in her dish at all times. I feel bad because I've been so pre-occupied with other things that I didn't take her in for her checkup when I should have. It wasn't until last week when I noticed I haven't been filling her food dish very often that I knew something might be up. I asked the ER vet what can bring on diabetes in a cat that's almost 9 years old, and who hasn't had any health issues to speak of. His only response was to ask if she had ever been overweight and I said no, that she's always been a wee thing. The glucose they found in her urine may also just be because of stress, so hopefully it's as simple as clearing up her infection and getting some weight on her. But what you said, Pontalba, makes me feel better if it in fact is something more serious. Thank you!

It was a great episode, Karsa, I agree. Only one left! What are we going to do while we wait for season 5?!

I had to bring my cat Sascha to the animal ER on Wed morning for what turned out to be a urinary tract infection. They also found something else that may indicate diabetes, so I'm scared for her I'm taking her to her regular vet this afternoon and am hoping for better news. She's been taking pain meds and antibiotics so hopefully her infection is on it's way out.

It was an excellent episode, but now I'm on edge! Was the current Grey Worm storyline not in the books, Timstar?

VF, usually those 'bucking broncos' aren't fully tamed/broken, which is why they buck. They want to get that annoying thing off their back! lol Some might be specifically trained for it, but I think the majority are just untrained.

I used to ride a lot back in the day when my grandma had horses VF, but I don't know much about breaking one in. I do know that it requires a lot of time and training to gain a horse's trust, and it's kind of a step by step process. Getting them used to having a halter on, leading them on a rope, getting a saddle on to actually riding it in the saddle. It might be good to read up on the gentleman who's known as the 'Horse Whisperer' since he supposedly has the secret on training horses. Good luck!

Thought I'd give this thread a wee bump since I've now become an obsessed fan of the TV series. I hope one day to read the books but for now condsider me a very late bloomer . I don't understand what took me so long to watch it! I watched the first season a couple of months ago and then 2 weeks ago I binge-watched seasons 2 and 3 and got caught up on season 4. All in one weekend! The show only has 3 episodes left here in the US before season 4 is over, so I have a feeling I'll be investing in the DVDs so I can watch them again during their hiatus before season 5.

I'm sorry as well for your uncle's passing, Eleonora. It's so lovely he was able to meet his nephew, and got to spend a little time with him It's been a rainy weekend up here also, Pontalba. We're under a flash flood watch here today so hopefully it's just that, a watch. We just got home from the lake a few hours ago and it was nice to see it again after not having been up since last autumn. I did have to break out my lumberjack skills and saw in half a small tree that had fallen over the driveway . Luckily it was pretty dead and brittle. I'm enjoying the last few hours of my weekend now with pizza and salad and some rare BCF time. I hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead of them!

I have a little notebook I keep in my desk at work, Frankie, but I need to carry one with me in my bag at all times because otherwise I forgot to write things down! I will keep you posted on any other freaky coincidences

I'm was very pleased when The Goldfinch won the Nobel Prize for literature this year, Frankie. I hope the second reading goes better for you, Kidsmum! I always write those kind of coincidences down because they are so freaky to me! It would be one thing for the person to get a regular old Magnum but to get a white chocolate one just like you, that's crazy! About a month ago I was sitting on the sofa with my book and got distracted by something on the TV when my mom yelled "Emma!" to her dog (that's her name) and at that moment I looked down at my book and the first thing I read? "Emma!" I was reading The Hollow City and one of the characters in it is named Emma. I about died.

You'll have to let us know once you attempt to re-read The Little Friend, Frankie. I loved Secret History but unfortunately was disappointed in TLF. I always love Tartt's writing, but the story wasn't my favorite. The Goldfinch made up for that though because it's been my favorite read of 2014 so far. I hope you get to read that one sometime!

My mom started taking me to the library at a very young age, and any books I brought home were from the children's section. When I was a young teen I read a lot of Sweet Valley High and other 'teen romance' books and my parents didn't object, just happy to see I was still a big reader. I, like Chesil, didn't really want to rock the boat and since I knew my parents were semi-strict (or 'old fashioned' as I would tell them ), I would stick with the books I knew they wouldn't mind me reading. Once I was in high school I read a lot of Stephen King and other horror books. Never during my reading years at home did my parents scrutinize my books or tell me I couldn't read them, and this is probably because they just knew I was a good kid and wouldn't want to do anything they wouldn't like. I do remember my mom mentioning that she heard of a book kids were reading called 'Forever' (Judy Blume) and thought it was horrible there was a book out there about pre-marital sex. Of course after she told me she didn't want me to read it, but by then I was curious so I had to sneak a copy and see what all the fuss was about! My sister is REALLY hands-on when it comes to her teens' reading and movie-watching. She even goes to websites that have ratings and descriptions of everything. My nieces tell me she's too strict and I don't think that's the right approach, but I'm not an expert since I don't have kids and won't have any in the future. If I were a parent though, I'd probably monitor when my child was young, but then educate them as they got older on all the exciting and interesting reads out there and focus on the positives rather then censor the books I'd rather not see them read.

I finished The House of Velvet and Glass last week and have started Inferno by Dan Brown. I felt I needed something fast and easy a bit of a letdown with the Katherine Howe book.

Wow, so many people with so much good taste in films! I love it! It's impossible for me to narrow it down to 10 as well, but here is a sampling.. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Bottle Rocket Jaws Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Big Lebowski Lars and the Real Girl Shaun of the Dead Rear Window Being John Malkovich Grosse Pointe Blank And I could go on and on and on...