Health and Insurance

Challenge #18

Work on some hand lettering….
I did some practicing on my writing.  I have to make myself slow down when I write.  If not it turns into a mess.  Here is my page of lettering.

Challenge #19

Use something unexpected as a base for a drawing…..
I was thinking about this one a lot.  Wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to use.  Then our local paper came in the mail and the light bulb went on.  There was an article about the library having a book sale.  So I drew some books and put some of my favorite authors on them.  I just used a marker go do this.  It’s pretty simple, but I like it.

To see a close up just click on the pictures. 

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Former prosecutor Penn Cage and his fiancée, reporter and publisher Caitlin Masters, have barely escaped with their lives after being attacked by wealthy businessman Brody Royal and his Double Eagles, a KKK sect with ties to some of Mississippi’s most powerful men. But the real danger has only begun as FBI Special Agent John Kaiser warns Penn that Brody wasn’t the true leader of the Double Eagles. The puppeteer who actually controls the terrorist group is a man far more fearsome: the chief of the state police’s Criminal Investigations Bureau, Forrest Knox.
The only way Penn can save his father, Dr. Tom Cage—who is fleeing a murder charge as well as corrupt cops bent on killing him—is either to make a devil’s bargain with Knox or destroy him. While Penn desperately pursues both options, Caitlin uncovers the real story behind a series of unsolved civil rights murders that may hold the key to the Double Eagles’ downfall. The trail leads her deep into the past, into the black backwaters of the Mississippi River, to a secret killing ground used by slave owners and the Klan for over two hundred years . . . a place of terrifying evil known only as “the bone tree.”
The Bone Tree is an explosive, action-packed thriller full of twisting intrigue and deadly secrets, a tale that explores the conflicts and casualties that result when the darkest truths of American history come to light. It puts us inside the skin of a noble man who has always fought for justice—now finally pushed beyond his limits.
Just how far will Penn Cage, the hero we thought we knew, go to protect those he loves? 
Series: Penn Cage (Book 5) 
Mass Market Paperback: 880 pages 
Publisher: William Morrow; Reprint edition (February 23, 2016) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0062311131 
ISBN-13: 978-0062311139

MY THOUGHT:  As usual I’ve come into a series our of order.  I picked up on some of the previous story, but not all of it.  This is also a good stand alone book.  The theory is that the Double Eagles had something to do with the JFK, RFK and MLK assassinations.  But it also has lots to do with the corruption inside the police force.  Penn is trying to save his father from one of those corrupt police without selling his soul.  Really intense book with lots of info.  I give this book 5…..

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges…
What’s in a Name Challenge

Product Description(Amazon.com)
If someone gave you a chair and said it was made by Jesus Christ, would you believe them?
When an elderly lady shows up in Corin Roscoe’s antiques store and gives him a chair she claims was crafted by Jesus, he scoffs. But when a young boy is miraculously healed two days after sitting in the chair, he stops laughing and starts wondering . . . could this chair heal the person whose life Corin destroyed twelve years ago?
As word spreads of the boy’s healing, a mega-church pastor is determined to manipulate Corin into turning over the chair. And that mysterious woman who gave him the piece flits in and out of his life like a shadow, insinuating it’s Corin’s destiny to guard the chair above everything else. But why?
Desperate, he turns to the one person he can trust, a college history professor who knows more about the legend of the chair than he’ll reveal. Corin’s life shatters as he searches for the truth about the artifact and the unexplained phenomena surrounding it. What’s more, he’s not the only one willing do almost anything to possess the power seemingly connected to the chair. 
Paperback: 388 pages 
Publisher: B&H Books (September 15, 2011) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 1433671522 
ISBN-13: 978-1433671524

MY THOUGHTS:   I was a little skeptical about reading this book.  It’s a Christian Fiction book, I’ve not had too much good luck reading these.  But I got and read it.  It’s a really good book.  A little slow in the beginning, but picks up later.  Corin has lots of questions and not answers.  And everyone he goes to either can’t help him or they want the chair for their own.  But Corin plods along and finally gets his answers.  I give this book 4…..

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges….
What’s In A Name Challenge
52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge

I’ve started putting my January circles together.  One more row and it will be done.

February – Brown With Pink

March – Purple With Yellow

April – Orange With Brown or Black

May – Green With Brown

I got a little carried away with the green.  Totally forgot about the brown.  As for what day I’m on for the circles, I’m at day 151.  I haven’t started my June circles yet.  If your wondering about the Gray I’m using to fill in the calendar, I’m going to make those smiley faces.  Using buttons and embroidery.

Product Description(Amazon.com)
When Jack Morgan stops by Private’s Paris office, he envisions a quick hello during an otherwise relaxing trip. But Jack is quickly pressed into duty after getting a call from his client Sherman Wilkerson, asking Jack to track down his young granddaughter, who is on the run from a brutal drug dealer. Before Jack can locate her, several members of France’s cultural elite are found dead-murdered in stunning, symbolic fashion. The only link between the crimes is a mysterious graffiti tag. As religious and ethnic tensions simmer in the City of Lights, only Jack and his Private team can connect the dots before the smoldering powder keg explodes. 
Series: Private 
Hardcover: 448 pages 
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1St Edition edition (March 14, 2016) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0316407054 
ISBN-13: 978-0316407052

MY THOUGHTS:  This is a totally different James Patterson book.  I’m used to reading about one murder though out the book.  This one is more along the lines of terrorists, treason and religion.  The book is also a series.  Not sure which one this is in the series.  But it was very good and kept me reading to find out how everything was connected.  I give this book 5…..

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges….
52 Books in 52 Weeks
Fun In The Sun Challenge

I’m using the gray for the fill in blocks.  I thing I’ m going to make them a smiley face with buttons and some embroidery. 
I’ve also been working on my May circles.  I’m behind, I’ve only got 19 done and this is the 25th.  But I’ll catch up by the end of the month.

I also put a few more stitches on my Red Work.  I’ve started the 3rd block, it has lots of Lazy Daisy stitches to do.

As an added thought, yesterday was Bella’s award day a school.  She got the Most Progress Award.  She’s done so well in school. 

I’m also linking up with Heather over at Books and Quilts for Needlework Tuesday.  Go check out Heather’s post on getting in touch with author’s of Quilt Books.

Product Description(Amazon.com)

This captivating, breakout novel—told in alternating viewpoints—brings readers from the skies of World War II to the present day, where a woman is prepared to tell her secrets at last.
Estranged from her family since just after World War II, Mary Browning has spent her entire adult life hiding from her past. Now eighty-seven years old and a widow, she is still haunted by secrets and fading memories of the family she left behind. Her one outlet is the writing group she’s presided over for a decade, though she’s never written a word herself. When a new member walks in—a fifteen-year-old girl who reminds her so much of her beloved sister Sarah—Mary is certain fate delivered Elyse Strickler to her for a reason.
Mary hires the serious-eyed teenager to type her story about a daring female pilot who, during World War II, left home for the sky and gambled everything for her dreams—including her own identity. 
As they begin to unravel the web of Mary’s past, Mary and Elyse form an unlikely friendship. Together they discover it’s never too late for second chances and that sometimes forgiveness is all it takes for life to take flight in the most unexpected ways. 
Paperback: 368 pages 
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (May 3, 2016) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 006242792X 
ISBN-13: 978-0062427922

MY THOUGHTS: This is my book clubs choice for May.  This was a delightful book to read.  Totally enjoyed it.  The author takes through to lives, Mary’s and Elyse’s family’s.  Mary is telling her story of being a WASP pilot during WW2.  Elyse’s family is going through a divorce and the death of her grandmother.  What amazing thing brings these 2 people together, they want to become writers, so Mary hires Elyse to write her story.  But there is something else that is special about them.  Mary is certain fate has brought her and Elyse together.  I loved all the charcters and the story line is so believable.  You wouldn’t believe the ending, so you’ll have to read the book to find out what connects Mary and Elyse.  I give this book 5….

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges…..
52 Books in 52 Weeks

Nibbling the grass….

She heard a dog bark and off she the went back to her burrow.  With it being a little windy and chilly yesterday, I worked on my Red Work and finally finished up all those French Knots.

And I’ve started block 3….

These are a pre-stamped kit I got from Grandma’s Attic.  They are all baskets of some kind.  I’m really enjoying working on these. 

Our son has been busy cleaning up behind the barn this spring.  It’s a mess of old wood, briars and weeds back there.  He’s been burning and spraying weed killer.

It’s looking a lot better now….

He still has some work to do, but it’s coming along nicely.  I’m off to clean the bathroom and tidy up the kitchen.  Have an awesome day!

I’m linking up with
The Good. The Random. The Fun.
Stitchery Link Party

Then I can start on the next block, it looks like it’s got lots of Lazy Daisy Stitches to do.  It’s the block on the bottom left. 

I’m also working on my circles for May, so between the 2 of these I’m keeping busy stitching.

I’m linking up with Kathy over at Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.

Product Description(Amazon.com)

Detective Maeve Kerrigan is away for a colleague’s wedding, and she’s enjoying an excuse to spend a beautiful fall weekend relaxing in the English countryside. It’s a much-needed break from the grit and grime of her daily life on the London police force. But even at a wedding, the job is never far away.
Midway through the reception, Maeve and her abrasive but loyal partner on the police force, DI Josh Derwent, are called back to London. A fellow policeman has been murdered, in a compromising position in a public park at night. And when Maeve and Derwent arrive to speak with the victim’s family, his wife and daughter are surprisingly cold and reticent, which adds further layers of complexity to an already delicate investigation. And Maeve knows the victim and his family aren’t the only ones with things to hide: the dark secret that her boss, Superintendent Godley, has been keeping for years is threatening to blow up in his face, and if that happens, they’ll all be caught in the aftermath.
Pulled between her loyalties to Godley, Derwent, the victim of a murder, and her own driving sense of right and wrong, Maeve will be forced to decide how much she’s willing to risk in the name of justice in The Kill, Jane Casey’s most intimate, compelling novel yet. 
Series: Maeve Kerrigan Novels (Book 5) 
Hardcover: 336 pages 
Publisher: Minotaur Books (June 2, 2015) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 1250048842 
ISBN-13: 978-1250048844

MY THOUGHTS:  Unknown to me when I got this book, it’s a series, which isn’t a new thing for me.  I’m always getting a book that starts in the middle or end of a series.  Then of course I have to go back and read from the beginning.  So that adds more books to my series books list.  This book was very good, well, it was an awesome read.  Loved all the characters and the location is one of my favorite places, London.  I admit I was kind of lost on some of the history of the characters, but it was still a great book.  Maeve and Derwent at cops and they work at solving murders.  This one starts with a cop getting murdered.  They are at a loss as to who done it.  Then several more police persons are killed.  They get all the info and solve those, but the first one is still unsolved.  So Maeve and Derwent start digging and come up with a solution.  Total surprise to me as to who the person was and why they done it.  I give this book 5….

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges…..
What’s In A Name Challenge