This Perfectly Imperfect Life

(***Giveaway Closed***) Happy 7th Anniversary Diggin' Around! Seven years ago today, I started this blog.  I can't believe this ended up sneaking up on me again! I remembered last week (or was it the week before) and then promptly forgot about the anniversary again due to distraction. On one hand, I can't believe it's been seven years already and on the other, it seems like so very long ago.  This blog has evolved over the years, much like I have.  I can't tell you all how much Diggin' Around has meant to me over the years and continues to mean to me.  And what you all mean to me! There are no words! Usually, my blog-aversary comes and goes without much fanfare. Not this year! This year some exciting things have been happening which coincidentally coincide with my anniversary.  (Say that ten times fast!)  This year, I am prepared to celebrate and spread my love of reading at the same time! A couple of weeks ago, I was approached by Tw...

So far, 2013 has been a diverse and fulfilling reading year! I've since finished four books after The Language of Flowers (which I finished back in January, click here for my reaction) and now it's time to catch up on them with y'all! (Spoilers are likely, so proceed at your own risk!) Let's start with The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot: 5 of 5 stars. From the BroadwayPaperbacks/Publisher paperback edition : "Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells - taken without her knowledge in 1951 - became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta's cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can't afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and med...

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The Tender Mercy of Roses by Anna Michaels My rating: 5 of 5 stars Debut novel by this author and another pleasant surprise! I'm not usually one for mysteries but again, I do love Southern novels and gave this a try based purely on the title. A side of Southern writing I'm not familiar with, woven with Native American Indian lore. Beautiful prose intertwined with a captivating plot and vivid characters. View all my reviews

The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe My rating: 5 of 5 stars What an unexpected gem of a read!  I originally picked it because I've been focusing on novels with a sense of place more like where I live to try & help me with my own writing struggles with sense of place. Yes, I live in NJ and not in a traditional shore town, but, we are right on the coast & directly across the bay from a barrier peninsula.  (I'm still not over Hurricane Irene & the area of our Northwestern NJ home (inland) was hit worse than we were here on the coast! Anyhoo...)  My Aunt loved this book so I thought it was high time to give it a try.  Plus, I love Southern novels. I didn't expect to be swept up into the story of this novel, nor did I expect it to be such a touching & emotional read.  For many this has been & would be a great 'beach read' as it's often referred to!  For me, it touched on areas very close to home ( spoiler: one of the main characters...

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 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...

Sufficient Grace: A Novel by Darnell Arnoult My rating: 5 of 5 stars From the back cover: (Spoilers Possible) "Set against the backdrop of two neighboring Southern towns, Sufficient Grace is the powerful, affecting story of two families over the course of a year, from one Easter season to the next." One quiet spring day, Gracie Hollaman hears voices in her head that tell her to get in her car and leave her entire life behind - her home, her husband, her daughter, her very identity. Gracie's subsequent journey releases her genius for painting and effects profound changes in the lives of everyone around her. A spellbinding work, Sufficient Grace explores the power of personal transformation and redemption, and the many ordinary and extraordinary ways they come to pass through faith, love, motherhood, art, even food. This poignant, poetic study of the human condition affirms the enduring importance of relationships and the strength we derive from them, Even th...

The Quarry by Damon Galgut My rating: 4 of 5 stars From the back cover: "The Quarry is another stark, intense novel in which human nature betrays itself against the desolate backdrop of rural South Africa. It opens with a chance meeting on a lonely stretch of road, when a man picks up a hitchhiker. The driver is a minister on his way to a new congregation in an isolated village and the passenger, a fugitive from justice. When the minister realizes this and confronts his passenger overlooking an empty quarry, the response is deadly. As the fugitive and the local police chief play out a tense game of cat and mouse, Damon Galgut gives us a devastating combat for man's most prized attribute: freedom." This was an interesting, odd and compelling read. I doubt I would have ever read it had it not been this month's book club selection at the library and I'm glad to have had the chance. ***SPOILER Possible-->***The confrontation between the minister and the passen...

The'>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40440.The_Thirteenth_Tale_A_Novel?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel by >http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22665.Diane_Setterfield" Diane Setterfield My'>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/41626211?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"> My review I am baffled by this book. I truly hated the 1st half of it. My progress went like this: I've gone from bored to frustrated to disgusted, back to bored again to mildly interested to annoyed that I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens, to my head spinning with all of the character twists & turns, to liking the ending. I am still shaking my head! View'>http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/834245?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.

(Sorry the pciture isn't good - the spotlight was terribly bright). That was completely interesting & entertaining and I'm glad I decided to come afterall. Feeling exhausted, queasy & down right crappy since last week, especially the last few days, the rain today & the 1981 movie Tron nearly made me stay snuggly warm in bed with Vic this afternoon! (And when the thought "She speaks all around North/Western NJ all the time" popped into my head, I shooed it away & started getting ready!) And the $45 admission was so worth it being that the proceeds were being split between the Hunterdon County Library and the Hunterdon County Cancer Center. The first 3 rows were reserved for cancer survivors from the Center who now donate their time to help others thru this horrible disease - as the Director said when someone is crying, she could say she understands, but it wouldn't be true. She can kind of imagine but these Survivors know first hand and can offer em...

Author Elizabeth Gilbert ("Eat Pray Love") is appearing in Flemington NJ on Wednesday, December 10th at 6:30pm, "Life Lessons With Elizabeth Gilbert," a fund rasier. Please see the link below for specifics. http://www.baldwinpublishing.com/article/siteCode/Foundation/catgId/102/articleId/1451/ *Update: Call 908-788-6141 to register directly. (Do so soon if you'd like to attend, they're expecting a lot of people!)

Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home by Kim Sunée My'>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/16681290?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"> My review rating: 4 of 5 stars Kim's journey from being adopted in Korea around the age of 3 brought her to New Orleans and a new world which she never truly felt apart of and this sent her on a long, diffucult journey, nearly around the world as soon as she was old enough. The one constant in her life, from her Grandparents, was food. This far exceeded my expectations! The NY Times Review (or ad for it) mentioned some comparrison to Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat Pray Love," which made me add this to my 'to read' list, but there's no comparrison! I initially reached page 60 and still didn't know if I liked it! I kept thinking "Why can't she just appreciate what she has and what she's experiencing...?!" and then remembered how her circumstances were drastic...

I wrote this piece earlier today, my weekly writing piece, which I exchange with my friend Gillian via email each Friday. Yes, this is in addition to all the NaNo writing I'm doing. I'm nearly fried! (Or perhaps I am already, I'm just too fried to know it!) Writing this much (in general) is exhausting! Especially when your Hubby snores to the point you're about to lose your ever living mind! (Last night I nearly did and broke out the ear plugs! He woke me twice even still but that's better than previous nights where I ended up on the couch! And then the cats woke me instead of him!) Anyway, I digress and give you my piece: (Huh, now THAT could be taken more ways than one!!! Sheesh! So could that! LOL!!!) Friday, November 14, 2008 Haunted By A Country. I realized the day before that I am currently reading 5 memoir style books which take place entirely (or just about) in France! It started with "The Sharper Your Knife, The Less you Cry" by Kathlee...

Took this pic yesterday - my roses are doing so well and that makes me happy! Watching a wonderful documentary about Walt Whitman on the PBS series American Experience! For once I am glad Hubby was flipping channels! Though originally from Long Island, he passed away in Camden NJ. I wonder if his home has been preserved as other passed on authors homes have been around the country and Europe? If so, I would like to visit it. I have never been one for poetry (though I have tried) but I think I may take out his Leaves of Grass from the library soon.