Monday's Postcard: Happy New Year

I will end this year the way I began it with some Happy New Year's Greetings cards from the early 1900's. I hope you all have enjoyed viewing my postcard collection this past year!

Monday's Postcard: Christmas

One of my most prized postcards, this is an image of Cranmere Pool in Dartmoor National Park in England. It shows the very first letterbox and a lovely Holiday Greeting as well. Also as a side note, I am already thinking about the postcards I will be posting next year, for 2014. I want to post cards that I have received from friends and family over the years. If you would like to see a postcard that you have sent me, all it takes is a stamp!! My address is Amanda Arkebauer PO BOX 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

Monday's Postcard: Happy Christmas

More of the landscape peek cards, these cards are from around 1910 according to their postmarks.

Also as a side note, I am already thinking about the postcards I will be posting next year, for 2014. I want to post cards that I have received from friends and family over the years. If you would like to see a postcard that you have sent me, all it takes is a stamp!! My address is Amanda Arkebauer PO BOX 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

Christmas Ornaments: Handmade is Best!

Wreaths

Last year I blogged about my Christmas ornaments and it was so popular, that I am going to do it again this year.

White Wreath shows up better on Green Tree

Crocheted wreaths with shells

I have so many ornaments, there are too many for one tree. And I only have one small tree! So each year, I rotate my ornaments and put up different ones. So this year, I picked some ornaments that were not on the tree last year.

Wooden Mice

My Mom took a class in smocking and made this ornament

My Granny made these little baby Jesus ornaments in Ceramics

This Angel is made from an Antique Handkerchief

Stained Glass

These colors show up really nicely on a Green Tree

This Crawfish and Iguana are made from straw and come from Central America

Gourd Santa

Wooden Leaf from Vermont

As I was going through my ornaments, I realized that the majority are handmade. They are either made by myself and my family and friends or I tend to purchase handmade ornaments. I guess I like them better than the mass-produced ones. I love the originality and the diversity that the hand crafted ornaments represent.

Monday's Postcard: Season's Greetings

I love these holiday cards with a little peek of a landscape. They were used wonderfully in the opening credits of the movie, The Family Stone, with the landscapes coming to life to the tune of "Let it Snow"...these are dated 1914 and 1917 according to their postmarks.
 Also as a side note, I am already thinking about the postcards I will be posting next year, for 2014. I want to post cards that I have received from friends and family over the years. If you would like to see a postcard that you have sent me, all it takes is a stamp!! My address is Amanda Arkebauer PO BOX 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

Monday's Postcard: Boston 1920's

This Trio of Postcards are all of Boston, MA and they range in age (according to their postmarks) from 1919 to 1922. You can see the 1920's era cars on the cards. I have visited Faneuil Hall in Boston many times, from childhood vacations to layovers this year for work.
Also as a side note, I am already thinking about the postcards I will be posting next year, for 2014. I want to post cards that I have received from friends and family over the years. If you would like to see a postcard that you have sent me, all it takes is a stamp!! My address is Amanda Arkebauer PO BOX 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

November Reading

 It started a couple of years ago as a New Year's Resolution to keep track of the books I read each month. So here I am again in 2013 with a list of the books I read each month. If you subscribe to my posts, they will come directly to your email inbox --just enter your email address into the box on the right hand side of the screen. And now for the books:




Books I read in November


Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (library) for those of you who wonder about the speed of my reading, I read this book in about 7 hours (530 or so pages) with breaks for working and sleeping. Stephen King has always been a favorite of mine and I find his books very easy to read. His characters are well fleshed out and I don't get confused or have to reread passages because they don't make sense the first time. This is also a sequel to The Shining, which is a favorite book (and movie) of mine, so I kind of knew the back story already. I thought he did a wonderful job of continuing the story.
On the Noodle Road by Jin Lin-Liu (library) very interesting I learned a lot about the Middle East actually!!
Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted by Jennifer Armstrong (library) Loved the series and enjoyed reading about the behind the scenes
The Way I See It by Melissa Sue Anderson (library)After reading Melissa Gilbert and Alison Arngrim's Little House Memoirs, this was just next on the list
The Rosie Project by Grahame Simsion (library)loved it, Aspergers guy makes a questionnaire to find a wife, very cute
Echo Burning by Lee Child I got into this book and figured out that THIS is the Jack Reacher novel that I had read once many years ago. Don't know why it did not get me hooked on Lee Child then, but now I am hooked and will be reading the rest of the Jack Reacher novels.
Uglies by Scott Westerford (library) Loved this YA novel and looking for more in this series (since they end with a cliff hanger, ya kind of have to!!)
Without Fail by Lee Child another Jack Reacher, he is involved in an assassination attempt on the Vice President
Bridget Jones Mad about the Boy by Helen Fielding (library) well, the first thing I have to say is that she kills off Mark Darcy. Seriously, how can anyone like this book now?....you have to really really like Bridget to stomach what comes next. We are trying to replace Mark Darcy with....whatever, and it was not too bad. Not my favorite, but I could stomach it
Bad Blood by John Sanford easy to read, fast moving, Virgil Flowers mystery
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell (library) enjoyed it
Real Food Has Curves by Bruce Weinstein (library) about NOT eating processed foods, and lots of great recipes in this book!
Anne of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery, so sweet
The Most of Nora Ephron by Nora Ephron (library) a collection of Nora Ephron's writings including Harry Met Sally screenplay and Heartburn. Loved some of the newspaper and magazine articles that I had not seen before. One NewYorker bit about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo totally encapsulates why I cannot read those books!!
Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty (library)did not like as much as her other books about 3 sisters (triplets)
Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (library)2nd book in this series
Specials by Scott Westerfeld (library)Third book in this series...not as good, not too happy with the way these are playing out
The Persuader by Lee Child still enjoying these
Kings Mountain by Sharyn McCrumb (library) revolutionary war story in the NC/VA mountains, okay, not her best
Off The Mangrove Coast by Louis L'Amour short stories that don't have western themes!!
Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child Just so easy to read, like candy
The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan (library) a geisha story by Amy Tan
Extras by Scott Westerfeld (library) last book in the series

23 books read this month

Monday's Postcard: Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Also as a side note, I am already thinking about the postcards I will be posting next year, for 2014. I want to post cards that I have received from friends and family over the years. If you would like to see a postcard that you have sent me, all it takes is a stamp!! My address is Amanda Arkebauer PO BOX 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

Monday's Postcard: Decorating

I have already posted about decorating with postcards. I like to frame them nicely and hang them on my walls. Here are a trio of cards that I purchased just because I like them and I hope to frame them one day to hang as a grouping. Much like my Mont Saint Michel postcards from France. Also as a side note, I am already thinking about the postcards I will be posting next year, for 2014. I want to post cards that I have received from friends and family over the years. If you would like to see a postcard that you have sent me, all it takes is a stamp!! My address is Amanda Arkebauer PO BOX 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

Monday's Postcard: Maine

I just love these postcards from Maine. They are all from the 1930's and feature Casco Bay, near Portland, ME. The first is Portland Head Light.


Also as a side note, I am already thinking about the postcards I will be posting next year, for 2014. I want to post cards that I have received from friends and family over the years. If you would like to see a postcard that you have sent me, all it takes is a stamp!! My address is Amanda Arkebauer PO BOX 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

Monday's Postcard: More Racey Helps cards

The Tug 'O War

The Diving Board

Picking Blackberries

Catching the Post

Singing Practice

I have so many of these Racey Helps postcards. They were very popular during the 60's and 70's and were distributed by the Medici Society of London Each one is a little self contained story, as a kid, I would just gaze at them for hours, making up my own stories about what was happening in the world of the postcard.

Also as a side note, I am already thinking about the postcards I will be posting next year, for 2014. I want to post cards that I have received from friends and family over the years. If you would like to see a postcard that you have sent me, all it takes is a stamp!! My address is Amanda Arkebauer PO BOX 16131, Seattle, WA  98116

October Reading

 It started a couple of years ago as a New Year's Resolution to keep track of the books I read each month. So here I am again in 2013 with a list of the books I read each month. If you subscribe to my posts, they will come directly to your email inbox --just enter your email address into the box on the right hand side of the screen. And now for the books:

Books I read in October

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight (library) a woman's daughter commits suicide and she investigates
The Homecoming by Carsten Stroud (library) sort of sequel to Niceville and I like this author, but the story, some parts I like better than others and I had to suffer through some stuff to get to stuff I liked
New Stories from the Twilight Zone by Rod Serling Spooky short stories
Confessions of A Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim (library) fun, but she really had a horrible dysfunctional childhood. Survived it with style, Good for her!! I love the quote "Little House, no convictions, no jail time"  so many child stars on that show and they turned out great!
Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child reading the Jack Reacher novels out of order, easy read fun fast moving thriller
Anne's House of Dreams by L. M. Montgomery Anne and Gilbert finally get married! So this book is all about their own home, a nice break after reading about a bunch of serial killers, or murders etc
Nine Inches by Tom Perrota (library) Short stories by the author of The Election (one of my favorites and a great movie too)
Worth Dying For by Lee Child I'm on a roll and enjoying these thrillers
I Love You Kid, But Oh My Wife by Stan and Jan Berenstain of the Berenstain Bears fame, Cartoons with more adult themes by the Berenstains.
Long Ride Home by Louis L'Amour short stories, so easy to read at work because I often have just a little window of time--sometimes in more complex books I get lost picking it up and putting it down again all the time, I end up rereading the same page all the time
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill (library) Stephen King's son does it again, not my favorite of his but okay
One Shot by Lee Child this is the one the Tom Cruise movie is based on
Sammy Keyes and the Killer Cruise by Wendelin Van Draanen lots of fun with Sammy and her Dad on a cruise
The Hard Way by Lee Child  another Jack Reacher novel
Where She Went by Gayle Forman (libary) sequel to If I Stay, so it's sad

Shock Wave by John Sandford (library) Virgil Flowers novel by Sandford and an easy fast thriller to read
The Killing Floor by Lee Child (library)  now i start with the first Jack Reacher book
The Silver Star by Jeanette Walls (library) I always like these young girls growing up in dysfunctional southern families type books
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty (library) I really liked this one, She is the author of "What Alice Forgot" --only bad thing is that I had trouble sometimes distinguishing between the different voices of the different women...keeping the characters straight in my head, oh that is the mother of the dead girl, not the woman whose husband is leaving her...hmmm Plus, I enjoyed the Australian slang, I read a lot of British Authors and I am used to boot for car trunk or biscuit for cookie, but Australia has some interesting slang or word choices...like abseil for rappelling, star jumps for jumping jacks, uni for university or college.
Bunker Hill by Nathaniel Philbrick (library) still getting a history education, I was surprised at how much I already knew, but then Ryan and I had just visited Minute Man National Park in Mass
Running Blind by Lee Child Another Jack Reacher, out of order, but I am waiting on some from the library and have to take what I can get
Big Brother by Lionel Shriver (library) loved it, love this author...I highly recommend
The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch (library) good, my sister recommended. About estuaries in Puget Sound
 The Leftovers by Tom Perrota (library) like Left Behind, these are the people "leftover" after a Rapture-like event I liked it
Frozen in Time by Mitchell  Zuckoff (library) story about a WWII plane crash and the search and rescue missions, very good, author also wrote the Shangra-lai WWII rescue story


25 books read this month

Monday's Postcard: Halloween

Here is a quartet of Antique Halloween Postcards in celebration of Halloween coming up this week!

Monday's Postcards: Castles

Here we have Balmoral and Edinburgh Castle. I have been lucky enough to visit both of these! Both of these cards are actual photographs from the early 1900s.

Monday's Postcard: Panama Canal Zone

These Postcards are from the Panama Canal Zone circa 1930-1935 according to their postmarks. We have a street scene in Cristobal

The card at the bottom depicts a piece of machinery that was used to dig the canal,  reclaimed by the jungle as trees grow around and through it and it becomes part of the tree! 

 The card on the left is not very politically correct. Here is the text from the back of the card:"Wild Natives and Their Home, Interior of Panama. Thirty miles north of the canal, almost within sight and hearing of the industrious army busily engaged in bisecting a hemisphere for Uncle Sam, the natives are wild. As witnessed by the photograph of the young fellow taken under difficulties in the shade of the almost leafless Paupalla tree on the left, very little consideration is given to the question of clothes." I imagine you would have difficulties taking a picture if you were a white man trying to grab a young, naked black boy and hold him still for a photo!