This Tender Land

This Tender Land, William Kent Krueger

In spite of being horribly distracted, like everybody else, by social/physical distancing and all the other ramifications of a global pandemic (what a wild ride!), I really enjoyed reading This Tender Land. 

Just when, for my own sanity, I really needed to distance myself from my phone and laptop, This Tender Land delivered a rollicking story, actually an epic tale, set in the poverty of 1932 Great Depression America. Mistreated and abused, four kids in an orphanage take off on an epic journey by canoe from the back of beyond in Minnesota making their way downriver to the great Mississippi, hoping to reach a relative who might save them in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Each of the kids has a special ability in a particular area and, as you might expect, each is looking for something different in their lives, not so different from all of us. They learn to appreciate one another as family members, not always agreeing but sticking together for the most part through all the adventures they meet. Along the way these Vagabonds travel through the landscapes of their own lives, discovering not only who they are and what they are capable of but also that what's important to each of them is different for the others. A time of growing up.

William Kent Kreuger is well-known for his mystery series, which I haven't read, but he has also written a few stand-alone books such as This Tender Land and Ordinary Grace. After reading Ordinary Grace a few years ago, I had been looking forward to This Tender Land, which I luckily spotted on the Bestseller Express Shelf (7-day loan) and snagged at just the last moment, minutes before the library closed for the foreseeable future. 

There was a gentle hint of spirituality in the book which I really loved, not in-your-face preaching, but a searching sort of quest for the meaning of it all. A thread running through the novel that ties spirituality to the land really spoke to me.

A Quote from the Epilogue:

There is a river that runs through time and the universe, vast and inexplicable, a flow of spirit that is at the heart of all existence, and every molecule of our being is a part of it. And what is God but the whole of that river?

..........................

Perhaps the important truth I've learned across the whole of my life is that it's only when I yield to the river and embrace the journey that I find peace.

Highly Recommended!

A Horse with No Name

This video has been making the rounds on Facebook and Twitter and I can't seem to stop watching it and smiling 😊 and wanted to share it here in case you haven't seen it. Too bad whoever posted this on YouTube didn't check their spelling of the title.

Fiona and John Owen

Fiona and John Owen are UK artists. Their paintings are so stunningly beautiful I wonder what the inside of their house must be like.

First Fiona: mystical paintings in oil and gilded in 24 Ct gold leaf remind us of medieval illuminations. 

Title: 'THE LIMINAL KINGDOM'- oil on gesso panel with gold leaf

Size: painting size 40cm x 47cm (framed: 62cm x 47cm)

Price £3,120  

Title: 'WEAVING WINGED MAGIC' oil on gesso panel with gold leaf

Size: painting size 25cm x 23cm (framed 47cm x 45cm)

Price: £1,860

Title: 'SWAN MOON MAGIC' oil on gesso panel with gold leaf

Size: painting size 219m x 15cm (framed 41cm x 37cm)

Price: £1,130

(Sold)

(Sold)

Now John: Landscapes infused by light, air and transience.

Title: 'WOODSMOKE FILLED THE VALLEY' oil on gesso panel

Size:  60cm x 46cm 

Price: £1,750

Title: 'ONCE IN A BLUE MOON - CHALFORD' oil on gesso panel

Size:  60cm x 52cm 

Price: £2,125

Title: 'WOLF MOON - CHALFORD VALE' oil on gesso panel

Size:  60cm x 60cm 

Price: £3,125

More info on their website.

Mental Health

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hard on the heels of 𝜫 Day comes the "wearin' o' the green". I don't usually bother much with it, but I've recently started to follow Donal Shehan's YouTube Channel, somewhat addictive, like so many other YouTube channels 😁

Here's Donal's take on "Irish" Onion Soup and Soda Bread. 

Book Haul

On Friday afternoon I had the sudden premonition that my local library would close due to uncertainty around Coronavirus. This was just after I learned that libraries in the nearby communities of Markham, Oakville and Mississauga were closing. So out I rushed around 4:30 pm, hoping against hope that the library would still be open and, thankfully, it was.

I scooped up some books from my "For Later" virtual library shelf and picked up one on my hold shelf, the April selection for the book club, so that was a wonderful bonus!

Just as I got home at 5:00 I saw on Twitter that, indeed, the library would close at 6 pm for at least 3 weeks, a tragedy in my life!

Here's my haul:

This stack includes 2 cookbooks on the right and does not include the Tom Clancy book I grabbed for Don off the Quick Read shelf - I figured, if the library closed, he'd have more than the 1-week limit to read it.

I should admit right now that I likely won't read all these novels. I often pick one up and put it down, finding it not to my liking, so it's good to have some choice available. I find no shame in not reading a book - life's too short and there are too many other books.

I'm presently reading Patti Callahan's Becoming Mrs. Lewis but looking forward to Last Friends,  the last in Jane Gardam's "Old Filth" Trilogy, another Richard Russo book - I really love his writing - and another new novel from William Kent Krueger, whose past books I've also liked. 

  

There are also many novels on my Kobo that I've bought over the last few years when I find them on sale. I'll save those for travel. At home, I absolutely prefer a book in my hand. 

Finally, I've started but haven't finished the audio version of Michelle Obama's Becoming so will make an effort to listen to that over the next few weeks of no-visits-to-the-library. 😞

HaHa!! While verybody else was in the grocery store stocking up on essentials I was running in desperation to the library. 

Happy 𝝥 Day!

I've been making pies 😋

Tortière

Cherry Pie 😋😋😋😋

Chicken Plays the Piano

This video came up on my YouTube feed a few weeks ago and I thought it was both strange and remarkable.

Nicky Fijalkowska

This blog post, slated for the weekend of March 7/8 is in honour of International Women's Day. We celebrate Ms Fijalkowska's nature-based creativity and the art of knitting, a traditionally female craft.

As spring approaches and hopes for a diversity of birdlife to reappear in our gardens and neighbourhoods, here's some inspiration from UK knitter, designer and artist, Nicky Fijalkowska. Knitted birds!

Pied Avocet

Fijalkowska says she tried knitting as a teenager but never was satisfied with her attempts to make articles of clothing. She picked it up again as an adult after a serious illness laid her flat for a year. Always interested in birds and birdwatching, she started with making stuffed birds. Gradually her expertise grew and she was able to open her own Etsy Shop, knitforvictory, where she sells knitting kits for these little sweeties.

Blue Tits

Herring Gull

Pied Wagtail

Sparrow

Puffin

Last fall Fijalkowska also published this book of knitting patterns with helpful hints, available from her Etsy Shop, knitforvictory and Amazon.

And that Pied Avocet in the top photo? Fjalkowska created it for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) for their curlew recovery program. 

You can get a free pattern for it here:

Click here to download the Pied Avocet pattern from Knitted Birds.

Nicky Fjalkowska is on Instagram and Twitter.

Out of Eden

In January 2013 Pulitzer-Prize-winning author, 57-year old Paul Salopek set off on an epic multi-year walk, tracing the probable route our ancient ancestors took over the millennia as they migrated from Ethiopia, considered to be the birthplace of humankind, across the globe, a journey of 21,000 miles in total, stretching eastward into the Middle East and then across Asia and finally across the Pacific Ocean to the Americas. 

Along the way, he's documenting, by word and photography, his experiences meeting all kinds of people along the route, the effects of climate change and advancing technology and, in general, the ways people adapt in order to survive.

Near Gona, Ethiopia

Funded by in part by the National Geographic Society, his regular reports appear as chapters in the journey on the National Geographic Website accompanied by wonderful photographs.

   

Gulf of Tadjourah, Djibouti

Crossing the Red Sea to Arabia

African Sheep on board

From Ethiopia, he travels through Djibouti, crosses the Red Sea and then traverses Saudi Arabia, Jordan, West Bank, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, across the Caspian Sea, Kazahkstan, Uzbekistan, Krygyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and into India and northern Myanmar, where he is presently walking on.

Cebir Sercan guards precious pistachio grove near Nizip, Turkey

Gulmit, Pakistan

Having only recently discovered this incredible adventure, I'm very much looking forward to catching up on all the chapters, videos and photographs.

All photographs in this post are by Paul Salopek and represent a small sample of what you will find at the National Geographic Website.

You can also follow the Out of Eden Walk on its Facebook Page.