Ohioana Book Festival in Pictures

Scott Antique Market - Ohio Expo Center

Sunday afternoon last weekend we checked out the Scott Antique Market at the Ohio Expo Center. Kenneth and I were just at the Ohio Expo Center last month for the Home & Garden Show (read my review and check out some photos here).

Drawings in Progress

These are some drawings I'm working on in a journal that my sister, Brittney, and I share. The journal is called 642 Things to Draw. We pass it back and forth after making a few drawings in it. 

Working in the journal is fun. It's also a way to share an activity that we both enjoy. We don't live in the same city and are both pretty busy, so we don't get to see each other very often. 

Love you, Britt!

Columbus Flea

Last weekend Kenneth and I checked out the Columbus Flea for the first time. The Columbus Flea is held once a season and is a combination of a flea market and arts and craft fair. Local vendors sell a wide variety of products, from soy candles to vintage clothes. This time the Columbus Flea was held at Strongwater Food and Spirits, a restaurant and event venue in East Franklinton. 

Dinner from the North Market Cookbook

I received the North Market Cookbook as a birthday present from my parents last week. For dinner last night Kenneth and I made the Crispy Oven-Roasted Kale (from Chef Peter Chapman of The Pearl) to go with our poached eggs and toast (I love breakfast food for dinner!).

Happy New Year!

Goodbye 2013! Hello New Year! One of my favorite ways to get ready for the new year is to get a new calendar (or several!). In 2013 I found a free calendar from My Owl Barn - which is full of owls! Today I sorted through the original artwork of fifty different artists, to create my new 2014 owl calendar. You can make your own Owl Lover 2014 Calendar at My Owl Barn - there are a ton of lovely owls to choose from (Olivia likes them too!)!

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

My favorite book series is the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. The above photo is of the most recent book, The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon. This series takes place in the African country of Botswana. The main character, Mma Ramotswe, is the proprietor of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. I love to read these books in the winter, when Ohio is cold and gray because Botswana is warm and bright and Mma Ramotswe is so cheerful. The books follow her as she solves big and small cases for her clients and as she goes through her day to day life. It also includes her tangential thoughts and musings, which I love! I often find myself getting carried away with my thoughts, just as Mma Ramotswe does. Other characters in this series include Mma Ramotswe's secretary, Mma Grace Makutsi, Mma Ramotswe's friend and the best car mechanic in Botswana, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, his apprentices Fanwell and Charlie and Mma Ramotswe's friend and the matron of the local orphanage, Mma Potokwane. The characters in the novels are so real I fully expect to meet them when I finally travel to Botswana (some day!). 

2014 Weekly Planners

Check out these planners I made using Blurb! I created a Veterinary Weekly Planner for Kenneth and a Warm Hearts & Wet Noses Planner for my mom and I. Both planners feature photographs of cats, dogs, farm animals and zoo and wild animals. The photos in the Veterinary Weekly Planner were all taken by me, but the Warm Hearts & Wet Noses Planner includes photos taken by Kenneth and me. I included a ton of quotes about animals, some of them are by one of Kenneth's favorite authors, James Herriot.

Book Love

Gluten-Free Research

I'm teaching a gluten-free baking class in a few months and am looking for some good gluten-free cookbooks to recommend to my class. Usually I use the internet to search for gluten-free recipes, or I modify wheat-containing recipes to be gluten-free. I only own a few gluten-free cookbooks, my favorite is Blackbird Bakery Gluten-Free: 75 Recipes for Irresistible Gluten-Free Desserts and Pastries by Karen Morgan! I expect to find some new favorites in this giant stack of books!

Do you have a favorite cookbook, gluten-free or otherwise?

Main Library - Columbus Metropolitan Library

I think libraries are awesome!  I have fond memories of the Flesh Public Library in my hometown (the library was named after Leo Flesh, who made a large donation when the library needed a larger building in the 1930s, the name only sounds weird to me now, it didn’t seem weird growing up because we didn’t know the names of any other libraries!).  My parents used to read to me and my sister when we were little and we always participated in the summer reading program.  Every summer the the whole children’s area in the library was transformed into a new fantastic land, like a medieval castle or fairy tale woods.   

I’m a nerd and a bookworm so whenever I move to a new area, even if it’s just for short period of time, I get a library card.  As a college student I spent a lot of time in Ohio University’s Alden Library, studying, drinking coffee and eating addictive sugar cookies with white frosting and green sprinkles (OU has so much school spirit, the baked goods get involved).

The Garden of Live Flowers

However, there was the hill full in sight, so there was nothing to be done but start again. This time she came upon a large flower-bed, with a border of daisies, and a willow-tree growing in the middle. 

'O Tiger-lily,' said Alice, addressing herself to one that was waving gracefully about in the wind, 'I wish you could talk!' 

'We can talk,' said the Tiger-lily: 'when there's anybody worth talking to." 

Alice was so astonished that she could not speak for a minute: it quite seemed to take her breath away. At length, as the Tiger-lily only went on waving about, she spoke again, in a timid voice — almost in a whisper. 'And can all the flowers talk?'

From Chapter 2: Garden of Live Flowers from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Ahoy Buccaneers! Int't Talk like a Pirate Day + Book Review

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day!  I just finished reading the sixth installment in a favorite book series of mine, the Ethan Gage Adventures by William Dietrich.  These novels contain a lot of historical information about real events in history, though the main character, Ethan Gage, is not a real person (or was he?).  He reminds me a bit of Indiana Jones, crossed with a bit of Captain Jack Sparrow.  He gets himself involved in seemingly impossible to survive situations, and manages to escape with only minor injuries.  He's not actually an archeologist or a pirate, though he has worked with (and against) both.  The novels are exciting and fun to read - I love history, but I think even non-history fans would enjoy these stories, there's a lot of action and adventure!  

Austen Movie Marathon from the Library

“Movie Marathon from the Library”

“Hi, I’m looking for some books… do you have anything by Jane Austen?”  Irene asked the librarian behind the desk.

            “Jane Austen… let me see.”  Karen began to quickly peck on the keys of the computer with her long, red acrylic nails.  “Let me show you what section they’re in.  Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion…”

            “Northanger Abbey,” Irene interrupted, “I haven’t read that one yet.”

            “Oh,” Karen stared at the bookshelf for a moment, “I don’t think we have that one.  Pride and Prejudice instead?” 

            “Quiet!”  Rita, the oldest and strictest of the librarians hissed as she wheeled a cart of books by.

Clouds are flowing in the river, clouds are drifting in my tea

These are yesterday's photos of the day, which I heavily manipulated with picmonkey.  The photographs and the poem together remind me a bit of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.  Just the right amount of silliness mixed with curiosity and a wondrous outlook on life.

Culinary Creations Books

These are the books I chose for Culinary Creations this year - we probably will not read all of them, but as of day three of camp, we have read fourteen of them!

Olivia the Librarian

The photo below is what I had in mind when I decided to take a picture of my current stack of personal, library and ebooks for today's photo of the day.  I ended up with the photo above because my cat, Olivia, is my little shadow.  I like to think it's because she loves me, but it's probably because she's nosey and wants to judge me based on the books I read.  To be fair, she is a cat, and they can be a bit judgmental   Just a bit.