Welcome

Hi! My name is Margot. My blog is about the things I love to do. That could be what I'm reading, places we visit, my family, food, or whatever else is happening. I hope you'll stay and visit a while. Contact me by email: joyfullyretired (at) gmail (dot) com.

What I’m Reading

Justice

Forever

The Sense of an Ending

Wish You Were Here

A Moveable Feast

Clarissa

The Odyssey

My Book Rating System

A = Excellent in every way
B = Very good story
C  = Good/Average
D = Poor
F = So Bad I couldn't finish it

Archives

Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It

Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It and Other Cooking Projects by Karen Solomon Ten Speed Press, 2009 A Back in the ‘olden days’ when we were back-to-the-landers I did a ton of preserving food. I canned tomatoes, green beans and peaches, froze corn, apples and shredded zucchini, made jams and pickles and sauerkraut. It was [...]

The Secret Adversary – Agatha Christie

The Secret Adversary Agatha Christie Dodd, Mead & Company, 1922 This is my second book in the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge and thus her second book published. (I’m reading them all in order of publication.) This is the first novel in which Tommy and Tuppence are introduced. Here’s a brief synopsis of the story: Asked [...]

Travels With Charley

Travels With Charlie: In Search Of America John Steinbeck Viking Press, 1962 I first read this book back in the 1970′s. Back then the idea of being able to take off and travel the country for a couple of months seemed just a dream. Now that this is our life I wanted to read this [...]

Book Review: Strawberry Girl

Strawberry Girl Lois Lenski Harper Collins, 1945 John Newberry Medal Winner What a pleasure to go back in time and remember sitting/lying on our front porch one summer with this book. That summer I was living out this tale of the Florida “Crackers”, as they were called. Birdie Boyer and her family have just moved [...]

Book Review: O Pioneers!

O’Pioneers Willa Cather Houghton Mifflin, 1913 O’Pioneers is the story of immigrant pioneers in Nebraska around the turn of the twentieth century. The Bergson family, along with most of their neighbors, are Swedish immigrants who have never farmed before. Most of them are failing, but John Bergson, on his death bed, declares his wish that [...]