Peggy

Peggy by Anna Walker


One of the most clever books about a chicken you'll ever come across. Endearing, adorable, and just about perfect. I haven't read it to my son yet, but I want it on my forever shelf, for myself.  As I said, some children's books are well worth reading, even as an adult. Really, with the detail and all the thought that was put into this book, adults will probably love it most.

Blown from her country home, Peggy finds that she really does fit in in the hustle and bustle of the big city. It's a marvelous adventure for the most unlikely of adventurers that reminded me that attitude in adversity makes all the difference between a horrific occurrence and a wonderful change of pace.

This is a wonderful book for kids, for young adults heading off to college, for adults facing life changes, and for people who just love chickens and characters who can face down any adventure without getting their feathers too ruffled.

The Beautiful Edible Garden: Design a Stylish Outdoor Space Using Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs

The Beautiful Edible Garden: Design A Stylish Outdoor Space Using Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs by Leslie Bennett
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

As an edible gardening enthusiast I was delighted by the inspiration and beautiful photography featured in The Beautiful Edible Garden, but, as a gardener who likes to have all her reference material at hand, I was also somewhat disappointed. Other for books I have read in the genre had prepared me to feel moved and delighted,and to look out at my yard with a brand new set of visions for planting things I possibly hadn't considered edible before. This is not that book.
The Beautiful Edible Garden is more a garden design book in the tabletop book sense that it provides neither layout advise nor plant lists, but does give tried and true design advice adapted for edible plants rather than those that are simply ornamental.
This is not a book aimed at beginners, and perhaps that is where it diverged from what I was hoping for.
The wreath projects are lovely, though it seems that in the case of the berry and quince wreath that it would be particularly short lived, unless I missed something in the instructions. I did feel, throughout the book that the instructions could have been more clear.
I do feel that there is a lot to take away from this book, but it wasn't the book I was looking for this week.

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Banish Clutter Forever: How the Toothbrush Principle Will Change Your Life

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Banish Clutter Forever: How the Toothbrush Principle Will Change Your Life by Sheila Chandra
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Embracing the simple yet fundamental truth, that organized people who live in clean spaces are actually just as lazy as the rest of us, Sheila Chandra's method to get your house to work for you involves work, but once you apply it, once you practice it, is actually something a person can maintain.
Although I don't love the way Chandra writes and her analogies reflect some truly cringeworthy biases and misinformation, like the nearly put-it-down-and-walk-away worthy "Does being overwhelmed by your stuff and being trapped by it feel like being overweight or in debt? That's because in a way it is. Being overweight or in debt is usually caused by the wish to defer the decision and effort it takes to take control of your health or finances. It is the 'Not now, I will be sensible/sort that out later...' philosophy." I don't approve with conflating obesity and laziness, or obesity and difficulty making decisions, or obesity and any other one thing. Of course, this is a book about taking control of one's possessions and surroundings, not one's body and health, so let's move on.
I liked that while Chandra shares her personal experience with clutter and the special sort of despair it can breed, the whole book doesn't live there. It isn't a constant reminder of how horrid it was to grow up with a mother with a mental disorder as organization books can turn into. Chandra deals with the emotional clutter when it's constructive, and moves on. Better still, rather than wasting the reader's time by saying "read my whole method, then try implementing it," she suggests trying chapter two before reading any farther. If it works for the reader, great- read on. If not, put the book down and find something else.
Of course, like a good girl, I read chapter two and (nearly) followed her directions. Why just nearly? Well... I hate following directions. Actually, I felt overwhelmed by the task of finding a notebook to write anything down and figured that it was a small enough bathroom that if it otherwise worked, I'd invest in (finding) a notebook for moving forward with the rest of the house.
As a FlyLady washout, we'll see. Right now, I feel like this can work, and if nothing else, the methods and techniques I'm putting into practice here are well worth knowing, even if I don't use them religiously.
Spring cleaning, here I come.