Summer Reading

It has been so nice to read for pleasure...no deadlines (other than library due dates!), no hurries, no worries.  I'm almost finished with the new Susan Isaacs book...As Husbands Go.  I love her books...one of my favorites from long ago is Compromising Positions...loved the movie by the same name with Susan Sarandon and Raul Julia, too.

The House at Royal Oak, by Carol Eron Rizzoli  is the true story of a couple who find a wonderful farm house and leave their careers to open a Bed & Breakfast.  It is a well-told tale and should be a must read for any of us who have ever dreamed of opening our own B&B.

Young Romantics by Daisy Hay, subtitled The Tangled Lives of English Poetry's Greatest Generation, is an engrossing tale of love, betrayal, sacrifice, and friendship. 

I've just started Anna Quindlen's latest novel Every Last One.  Her books are always thought provoking and hard to put down once begun. 

I've always kept a journal of books I've read, and lately I've tried to use Goodreads.com...I'm not very good at entering books on a timely basis though. 

I hate it when I covet things...

If you've been a reader for a while (and have hung out through my dry spells of blogging), you will know that I love sheds and little garden houses.  Never mind that I don't have a back yard large enough to accommodate even the smallest shed (an outhouse, maybe).  I've been distracted by the article in The New York Times featuring the most enchanting little building I've ever seen.  If you
haven't already, you MUST visit this blog...My Shabby Streamside Studio.

This little building has been featured on many blogs...but I can't get enough of it.  I want one!  The next best thing though, is for one of my friends to have a similar one.  Michelle (Mad Red Hare) has a shed with a loft (sleeping loft), and has been asking her husband to move it closer to their log cabin home, and close to the outdoor pond.  You know how it is with husbands...you ask and ask, and soon nag and nag...and it goes undone...either because they didn't think of it or they just consider it to be too much trouble.  Michelle and I talked about it yesterday...and I'm in...I'll help her move the shed.  I'm sure we can gather together a few strong guys and get it done.  I can't wait to help!

I think it would be great fun to paint and decorate a shed/garden house...lots of gauzy whites and lace...way too frilly for me 95% of the time, but it would be a great escape.

We all deserve a little place to escape, don't we?

Photo credits:

(1) My Shabby Streamside Studio via The New York Times

(2) Country Living Magazine

(3) Shed Chic