This Perfectly Imperfect Life

Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter by Lisa Patton My rating: 3 of 5 stars Again, different than my usual contemporary southern lit read & pleasantly surprised I ended up enjoying the novel. Cute, light read. Once again also surprised that I'd like to read the follow-up! Back story as to why I bought this book earlier this month: Originally borrowed from my Aunt, I started this last year but returned it to her unfinished. (Timing is everything when it comes to a read for me!) Now that I lucked into the hardback edition for $3, (truth be told, I Love the cover!) it's one of those unfinished books haunting me so I'm determined to finish it once and for all. And I'm glad I did! View all my reviews

Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was the first selection of 2012 for evening bookclub and a welcome change of pace from our many recent serious reads. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel! I loved the opening paragraph and once I was into the novel, I didn't want to put it down. I'd definitely like to read the others in this series which is unusual for me. Different than most contemporary Southern reads I've read. Leaning towards the chick-lit side but not so much that it turned me off. A cute, easy read despite a few sad parts. Her descriptive writing is vivid without being fluffy or wordy and she paints a beautiful picture of the mountains in West VA and gives a great sense of place. Just the change of pace I may have needed to give my reading rut the boot once and for all! View all my reviews

Finally! Accumulating snow arrived here on the coast in the wee hours of yesterday morning, but (isn't there always a but?!) unfortunately it turned to sleet the rest of the day and we've iced up something awful! (Temps are headed back up into the 50s early this week so we won't be frozen for long). Turned into a cozy day at home with the Hubbs filled with cooking & baking thanks to our well stocked pantry & freezer, writing my latest gardenchat column, reading for this week's evening bookclub, knitting with new yarn picked up this week, taking photos (of course) during a garden walk etc., dreaming of my garden in Spring thanks to stacks of gardening catalogs & dreaming of France again (because that just happens from time to time). One of those good days that helps you through the bad! Hope you've been enjoying your weekend too, no matter the weather, and enjoy the slideshow! (If the slideshow goes too quickly for you, you can click on it and this ...

To read my latest column on The @gardenchat Blog, please click here . Stay tuned to Diggin' Around for a slideshow of snowy Saturday pics!

Early this morning, before going back to bed because of not feeling well, I peaked out of our bedroom window and saw this. Beautiful! Had to share.

Sunrise.

(Nestle No Sugar Added Rich Milk Chocolate hot cocoa made with a cup & a quarter skim milk warmed on the stove). There are times when you need it, though you know nothing will truly do the job. But, sometimes merely carrying out the steps of a simple ritual helps. A little bit. For a little while. Long enough for eyes to dry. And sniffling to stop. A momentary sigh of relief for a heavy heart.

To read my newest column on The #gardenchat Blog , click here . Don't forget to check out my previous post here on Diggin' Around! Just scroll down.

On Saturday, January 7th, in our neck of the world, we got to 64* here in NJ, warm enough for tank tops & flip-flops. No need for a jacket, scarf, gloves or faus fur-lined anything. Even as the sun set and the nearly full Moon rose, the air was balmy and smelled faintly of Spring & grapes. Things in my garden want to bloom, and as a matter of fact, the Autumn Joy Sedum, normally at rest now, is re-blooming on the front porch! (Pictured above). Rain, even thunderstorms are on their way and will arrive tonight. Crazy! Epiphany passed and Christmas is packed away & back in the basement once again. Always makes me a little sad, but for some reason even more so with these warm temps, probably because it was on the warm side when it all went up! But, I'm thoroughly content now that the house is fairly clutter-free and cozied up for the rest of Winter & Valentines. Winter is supposed to return about mid January but I'm skeptical as of now. I can't wait for...

To read my newest column on The #gardenchat Blog , please click here .

(Autumn Joy Sedum - click on pic for larger view) Even in the bitter cold, my garden warms my heart when I need it most! If you're a fellow gardener on Twitter, tweet your garden photo post link or your photo directly to Twitter including the #gardenwalk & #gardenchat hastags and you may be featured on The #gardenchat Blog for today's #gardenwalk Thursday ! Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

That's not our car, it belongs to one of our residents, but that is our front porch. No injuries, no structural damage overall. Apparently just a scary accident. Very scary. I fully expected to find a car in our livingroom from the incredible amount of noise & movement the impact caused; our whole place shook, creaked and groaned. Scared the hell out of me! But it could have been so much worse and thank God it wasn't!

May it be a healthy, prosperous and all-around good year for us all!