My books - Around the World in 80 Days (1873) by Jules Verne

Wiki:

Around the World in Eighty Days (French: Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is a classic adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, published in 1873. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager (roughly £1,324,289 today) set by his friends at the Reform Club. It is one of Verne's most acclaimed works.

Here is NovelGuide's biography of Verne. Short and interesting.

Jules Verne (1828-1905) novels are actually all translations (he wrote in French). It is funny to think of them as foreign (I think).

H. G. Wells (1866-1946) was from England if that is where your mind went (mine did, obviously).

If you get confused between the two authors, Well's top ten books are listed as

The Time Machine (1895)
The War of the Worlds (1898)
Kipps (1905)
Tono-Bungay (1909)
Ann Veronica (1909)
The History of Mr Polly (1910)
Mr Brittling Sees It Through (1916)
Russia in the Shadows (1920)
A Short History of the World (1922)
Experiment in Autobiography: Discoveries and Conclusions of a Very Ordinary Brain (1934)

Here is a link to a listing of Verne's works (it is a long list). On that same page are links to character lists too.


Now that I have gotten all that book housekeeping out of the way:
I loved this book.

I had never actually seen any of the movies (I was thinking 1956 starring David Niven, not 2004 starring Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan). So yes, I knew they were somehow racing around the world, but I did not know any of the particulars. 

So the book was fresh and interesting to me.  It was very much a story.  It was an easy to understand, light read. But that was welcome just now. Kind of the perfect summer book (for me).

I listened to this book directly after This Side of Paradise, so honestly, it was a relief to settle into something I liked.

My audio version was 7 HRS and 51 MINS, narrated by Jim Dale, released in 2005 (from Audible).

I actually started with the USFLit2Go version and had to switch.

The USF reader was too fast for me. He was not telling a story, he was finishing the page, to me.  I have the ability to slightly slow down or speed up my iPod, but even that was not enough to compensate.  There are a couple USF readers who I adore, but this was not one of them.

And interestingly, I picked up the fact that the two readers were using slightly different translations. USF version used the word "trunk" and the Audible version said "suitcase". I noticed other slight differences. So it was as if I switched from an English to an American version. I would have preferred the English version, but was not willing to give up Jim Dale. An added point for the Audible version is there was subtle sound effects here and there - a little music, train noises, etc.  It was not like listening to a movie sound track, not at all, but just little bits here and there that I really enjoyed.



I caught something in Chapter XI - IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG SECURES A CURIOUS MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AT A FABULOUS PRICE:

"They soon reached a small hut, near which, enclosed within some high palings, was the animal in question. An Indian came out of the hut, and, at their request, conducted them within the enclosure. The elephant, which its owner had reared, not for a beast of burden, but for warlike purposes, was half domesticated. The Indian had begun already, by often irritating him, and feeding him every three months on sugar and butter, to impart to him a ferocity not in his nature, this method being often employed by those who train the Indian elephants for battle. Happily, however, for Mr. Fogg, the animal's instruction in this direction had not gone far, and the elephant still preserved his natural gentleness. Kiouni—this was the name of the beast—could doubtless travel rapidly for a long time, and, in default of any other means of conveyance, Mr. Fogg resolved to hire him. But elephants are far from cheap in India, where they are becoming scarce, the males, which alone are suitable for circus shows, are much sought, especially as but few of them are domesticated. When therefore Mr. Fogg proposed to the Indian to hire Kiouni, he refused point- blank. Mr. Fogg persisted, offering the excessive sum of ten pounds an hour for the loan of the beast to Allahabad. Refused. Twenty pounds? Refused also. Forty pounds? Still refused. Passepartout jumped at each advance; but the Indian declined to be tempted. Yet the offer was an alluring one, for, supposing it took the elephant fifteen hours to reach Allahabad, his owner would receive no less than six hundred pounds sterling."

So, they were feeding normally gentle elephants sugar and butter to make them mean enough to fight (and provoking them).

Am I the only one who finds that a fascinating and topical concept? And this would only be how the elephants FELT, because they would not have any of the self image issues associated with body size for female humans. The sugar and butter changed their personalities (according to the story).

I used to blame hormones on how I felt and my emotions/mood. I also blamed hormones on what I perceived to be hot flashes and night sweats and early menopause. When I cleaned up my food, all of that went away, even though I am now older (and still cycling). So whether the food/junk impacted the hormones or whether it was the food/junk directly impacting me, it stopped. Really stopped. And if I eat the wrong things, it comes back to me.

Doll House Pictures

Yesterday's post was the explanation/history. And this (yesterday's post) is very much one of those things where it doesn't look like a "maintenance" post at first glance, but for me, actually is.

As we unpacked, we put all the small stuff on a folding table (in the entry way/by front door) for safe keeping.

This little tree looks very old. It has a place for batteries in the base, so the lights, light (have not tried it yet). I have no memory of where this tree originated, but I recognized it as part of the collection as soon as I saw it. 

This is all the kitchen stuff, setting in a box top, waiting for a second doll house.  That is a china kitten on the stool. There is a mouse by the mouse trap. I made the dry sink from a kit. I also made the round table, no kit, from scratch. I made the peg rack for coats and the tall shelf too. I may have made the armless rocker, from a kit, not sure about that one. That stove is as heavy as it looks.

This is the kitchen table I made. By myself. I must have seen one somewhere to know there was such a thing. There is a name for this type of table, but can't remember and  have had no luck googling it. If you happen to know, please leave it for me in comments. (Woodworking is very much the same thing as quilting. I have been sewing since I was 5-6. My mind works kind of like a large piece of graph paper in how I see things. I think of my environment like a topographical map as I drive too.)

Ice Box. It is not really in keeping with the rest of the furniture. I suspect someone gave it to me. The old house we first lived in when I was born, still had the original ice box in the kitchen. We didn't use it. But it was there.

I am pretty sure I made this dry sink from a kit.

Tiny odds and ends for all over the house.

More tiny things.

A player piano, that no longer plays. One of the only casualties of time.

The clothes pin is holding an unfinished picture frame that middle re-glued. It just happens to be drying on the corner of the porch. That same corner is where the broken post is missing. The outside of the house (windows, door, siding, shingles, porch) is exactly how I bought it. You can see the attraction. All the things which never were finished on mine (long ago) were finished from day one on this house. And honestly, I loved the colors. 

We are deciding which paint for which rooms. We felt like we had to decide what was going in each room, to decide the colors.

Attic painted green. This the left side of the attic as you look at the back of the house. Rug is new. Tiny chair and stool by window are from local craft store. We are going to paint them. Braided rug is new. We had lots of huge braided rugs when I was little (like on the living room floor.) That 'quilt' is a piece of fabric that actually looks quilted. I made the quilt, pillows, mattress, sheets, etc. Pitcher and bowl are porcelain. 

Right side of the attic as one looks in the back. I had that woven rug with my things. 

Those are bunnies in a half barrel. We are assuming it is some type of toy. If you know any more about this piece, please me me know.

The rug is new. 

Dressing Table

I made the perfume bottles with beads. They are sitting in a tray made from the metal plate that goes behind a cut stone to make it a necklace. Tiny hand mirror and brush are on the right side.

That is a "pearl" necklace in the drawer.

This room is painted pink. This rug is new also. I 'made' the chest by painting it, appliqueing a rose on the top and adding hinges.

I think dresser was actually a kit I made.

This room is painted peach color. New rug, we were very pleased the shape of the alcove was repeated in the rug. We made a paper pattern from the measurements on the website, to be sure it fit, before we ordered. The table to the right holds a sewing machine. My paternal grandmother had a rocker like that. 

The bellows on the fireplace "work" and are youngest very favorite thing. 

Two new rugs. We actually had a (full size) roll top desk when I was a child. It had belonged to a doctor. My brother has it now. I believe when he and his finance condense households in a year or two, that desk is coming to my house. Will be very glad to have it. Although I have absolutely no idea where we are going to put it . . . 

The basket holds a key to the front door. I made the navy quill from a bead and a feather. The green quill came with the desk blotter set which also included the calendar on top the desk and the pad/pencil in the cubbie.

If you are curious about my 'photo studio' for doll house furniture -

Doll House Explanation Post - tomorrow is the pictures

2011:
Youngest and I were walking through a local store and saw a floor sample doll house on clearance for $100. One of the front porch posts had been broken, it was dirty(ish), there was glue residue from signs being taped to it over the years, but it was assembled with the outside finished. And it was very cute.

I bought it.

It sat, upstairs, from 2011 to May 2013.



2013:
When middle came home from college (this spring), one night I had middle and my husband up in the attic with me, combing the shelves/floor for my old cartons of doll house furniture.

We found three cartons, one at a time.

I wasn't sure how many there were, but as we opened the first one, and then the second one, I could remember missing pieces, so we kept looking until we found the third. 

I had kept all the original (tiny) boxes.  So in each carton were more little treasures to be opened.

In one of the cartons was a full inventory. We can tell from the list that there are still a couple things missing. Not enough for another box. Tiny things that some how were lost.

So that night, very late into the wee hours, middle and youngest unpacked cartons and opened tiny little boxes in sheer delight.

Yes, it was charming and fabulous stuff.




And that very next day, we started working on the inside of the saved, clearance doll house.

We went to the craft store and bought the very lightest pastel acrylic paints (because middle did not have any pastels in her massive paint collection).

And we started blue taping and painting.  Youngest did half the attic over that first weekend. (She is not very arts and crafty, so half the attic was about right.)  

Middle did most of the painting.

I did a couple wee hours stints after everyone else had gone to bed. Getting a lot done those nights, when middle was stuck on an area, as the week progressed, and I had inspiration, so she could be thrilled when she got up in the morning.

If you are in your 50's you may relate to this. I tend to get things right up to my nose for detail work (eyes aging). In a doll house, can't get your nose all the way to the inside back of a room, because your head does not fit.

I left this note for Jane: Do you remember hunting for something in your car with all the garage lights off, and using a flashlight, CSI style? Middle and youngest and I are painting the inside of a dollhouse. It is setting in front of a HUGE window. During the day, sunlight aplenty, I can't see. At night, room lights off, using a high power reading light like a flashlight, I can see perfectly.

We got started the weekend just before middle's wisdom teeth. But most of this (painting) happened after wisdom teeth, during her recoop time.

Middle painting. We went and bought that lamp specifically for the project. It was my over sized CSI flashlight in the wee hours.

Middle still painting. We tried to do the stairs in two different colors (brown where your foot steps, white on the vertical part, but it was too difficult with the house assembled. 

She came home from surgery, with a shake mixed with protein powder, and a spoon, and instead of taking a nap, she listened to Say Yes To The Dress and resumed painting. She loves a good project. It was a very quiet, sit down project. It might have aided in pain management, it gave her something to do with her mind.

When I worked on the house with her, we had to switch to another show, but by the end of the week, I was watching Yes To The Dress too (amazed at what people will spend on a dress, and amazed at all the people whose breasts should not be in a strapless dress, like anyone over an A cup, but they buy it anyway).

At the end of that same (wisdom teeth/painting) week, our little 4 1/2 year old friend was coming to stay. So, we sort of had a deadline. We could either pick everything up, unfinished, or we could push to finish so we were picking up for real. We did finish. So, by the time our little 4 1/2 year old busy bee arrived, the painting was done. The furniture was in place. A scattering of wee rugs had arrived with the UPS man.

The 4 1/2 year old spent a great deal of time peering into the doll house and telling us all that she saw. She loved it. She understood she could not touch.




I am (now) on the hunt for a one room house for a detached kitchen.

My/our doll house kitchen stove is massive. I must have been attracted to kitchen stuff, because there was a lot of it in those three cartons. Since I was just in Charleston where most all the old houses had separate kitchens, it is an easy solution.

After painting an assembled house (challenging) we are looking for a shell to paint and then finish the details. Painting the walls before windows and doors (and stairs) are in, would be much simpler.




This was the explanation post.

Tomorrow's is all doll house pictures.

my books - This Side of Paradise (1920) by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Wiki:

This Side of Paradise is the debut novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Published in 1920, and taking its title from a line of the Rupert Brooke poem Tiare Tahiti, the book examines the lives and morality of post-World War I youth. Its protagonist, Amory Blaine, is an attractive Princeton University student who dabbles in literature. The novel explores the theme of love warped by greed and status-seeking.

Usually when I have a hard time with a book, it comes from the feeling that the book needed a lot more editing (Winesburg Ohio).

I honestly did not think that with This Side of Paradise. I thought it was well written. I thought it hung together well. I just was not interested.

I have read The Great Gatsby. It was not a favorite either. I will say I liked The Great Gatsby (1925) better than This Side of Paradise (1920). I suppose this is as it should be. Paradise was his first book, Gatsby was five years later. In comparison, (I thought) there was more plot and character development in Gatsby.

If you are trying to remember, here is a list of all Fitzgerald's novels:
This Side of Paradise (1920)
The Beautiful and Damned (1922)
The Great Gatsby (1925)
Tender Is the Night (1934)
The Love of the Last Tycoon (originally The Last Tycoon, published posthumously, 1941)
There is a very long list of short stories also (bottom of this link).

Oldest said - I think you are just not a fan of Fitzgerald.

Maybe so.



There is one more Fitzgerald book on my list. I think it is Tender is the Night.

Both Tender and Paradise were on the list of books my one group read before I joined. I am still picking up a title here and there as I have time around my assigned monthly titles.

I belong to three book groups which each meet monthly, so I have three assigned books each month. Every once in a while one of the books is very short or I have already read it, and I have time to pick up an extra title. I listen to every thing I read on audio. 

I am hoping (at least) one of you has read Paradise and leaves a very long note for me. I would
like to have a closure on this book. It is always a little tough for me when I am not discussing a book
in detail at one of my groups. I am very used to reading with a purpose and then having a long discussion.  If anyone has perspective on Fitzgerald in general or Tender, that would be appreciated also.

Garage Sale Finds - lots of pictures

Two weeks ago I helped my friend who is moving (the same one from grocery shopping) with her garage sale.

I bought two desk chairs from her. One is going to oldest's room. The other one is in the homework/non-computer spot in our computer room.

I also bought a desk from her. Honestly, I bought it for middle to have in an apartment. It is sitting in the garage while middle and I look for a spot to tuck it in the house for now. Part of a quality bedroom set. Top measures 45" x 20". Pull out computer keyboard tray. Those are not drawers, it is actually a door with a good space that was probably meant for a computer tower.

I also bought a larger TV from her. Not a flat screen, but a big bulky one. It will come to good use this summer. Youngest and her friends are gamers. When there are 2-3 of them here, we move TV's in the living room so every one is on their own TV/system. They love this. It is quite the sight to see. Very loud, but our living room has glass pocket doors to block sound, yes, I planned.


There were other small odds and ends, most art items for middle's supply box from that first garage sale. And all kinds of baby clothes for middle's college friend who is having a baby the end of this month or first week in June. Middle came home and washed them all. We will take dinners and odds and ends down to her shortly. Sidenote - this girl was homeschooled. And her baby shower consisted of all her mom's home school mom friends, digging out their baby stuff and giving it to her. I think that is a charming idea. Think of the gems there would have been in that collection. Girl will not care that things are gently used. She will just be glad to have things.







Then last Friday, middle and I went to several garage sales in our own neighborhood.

We have one house we catch each year. She always has unusual things.

Once (several years ago) we bought these shelves (in my kitchen now).  My guess is they were old display pieces from a store.Or maybe they were originally from a kitchen unit of some kind. I love them.

Another year we bought a tabletop podium for middle (tucked in attic until she has classroom).



This year we bought this turntable. It was setting on the kitchen table for this picture, but I will not be leaving it there. Still looking for just the right spot. (really pleased with this find).

22" diameter

From this same lady, I bought an old bench (this year). I didn't have a specific spot in mind, but when we got home, it fits perfectly in the computer room. And when one person is on the computer, consulting with a second person, the bench gives the consultant somewhere easy to sit and see the screen.  40" long. And right next to the copy/fax/printer, it makes a great space for sorting papers.

We happened by the man who did my wood work for years. His daughter was having a garage sale at his house, he was there.

His work is all over our house -  night stands, quilt racks, shelving unit, lockers in my laundry room. An icon at our house. Truly.

It had been almost 5 years since I had seen him. He is now older and as we were talking, I realized his mind is slipping. Each thing I asked him had to be slowly repeated, there was a long delay and then he would half answer.

Then I looked around his garage and there were NO saws or drills, etc.  I asked and he said it was all at his son's. I said that is very handy - you now have your own wood working guy.

There were three things, at the sale, he had made - chessboard, small doll cradle, real baby cradle.

This one is 9" long.

This board is 12" square.

We bought the first two and then left. Half way down the street I turned around and went back for the cradle. No grand babies in sight at my house. But I knew if I didn't get it, I would be very sad at some point in the future.

I would have walked by any (real) baby cradle at any other garage sale. But because he made it, I wanted it very badly. He has meant a lot to me over the years. 

When my husband came home, I told him it had really shaken me to see the man's mind was going. He was such a rock in his family.  The kind of father and grandfather and neighbor and friend men should be.


We stopped by a couple more sales in our neighborhood. At one, middle bought a heavy hopscotch rug which will work for bible school this year.




At another, I bought another doll cradle (26" long). My guess is it is 40-50 years old. Really please with this one too. A real gem. I will tuck a doll in it and find a spot in the house. I have a very small rocker (It was my great or great great grandmothers on my father's side) that will go with it nicely.

If you click on the 'house pictures' label at the bottom of this post, all kinds of photos will pop. I have posted lots of pictures over the years. In late June, I will be busy for a couple weeks. Instead of posts, I am posting these type of pictures, a couple a day, the whole time I am gone. You might not want me to come back and start writing again, you will be very used to a daily peek in our house. . .