Stormy Weather

Our weather out here has received national media coverage and yes, we’re getting slammed with rain and high winds. But, compared to nor’easters back East, tornadoes in the mid-West, and hurricanes in the Gulf – well you must think us wimps. And, you’d be right, but folks, remember this is California, and we don’t actually get real weather. Okay, there are fires and the rare earthquake, but mostly it’s 300 days of sunshine. Here in San Francisco – it’s usually fog or no fog — so bear with us if we’re freaking out a bit.

All this rain is great for our drought, but so much at once is saturating the ground and causing mud slides and flooding in Santa Cruz and low lying areas. (not us we’re on a hill in the city)

And we’ve had lots of power outages.

We lost power last night and after lighting some candles, we snuggled under an afghan, and after a long lovely chat, Husband went to bed early and I decided to read.

How romantic I thought, I’ll read by candlelight — imaging every Jane Austen novel.

We unearthed our trusty candle holder we’ve had since living in New Hampshire, an ingenious Yankee design.

And so I picked up my current book which I’m almost finished.

And it worked for awhile, but I soon realized these old, aged, mature eyes would need many more candles to read any longer.

Well aware of the sham, and with the candle as ambiance, I turned on my Kindle at full light setting, and started this from Dean Street Press. Mine is a digital advanced reader in black and white, so I’ll show you the lovely cover in full color.

I read three delightful chapters by screen and candlelight before retreating to bed.

This morning the storm has passed, power is restored, and it’s 58 degrees and sunny. Such is life here in California.

A friend who walks his dog down along beach sent me this photo of the surf a couple of evenings ago, just before the storm. Taken from a safe distance, he didn’t venture on to the beach with these enormous waves. The sound of the surf is loud even up here — blocks up from the beach.

We will get another big storm on Monday, after that, the worst is over.

Our weather forecasters are experiencing the high point in their careers of boring weather reporting. Never heard them talk so fast.

We’re safe. We’re wimps. We’re Californians.

Holiday Advertising

As is tradition here on Book Barmy, I give you the best Christmas commercials of 2022  As an old ex-advertising gal, this is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season.  Once again, a majority are from the UK ~~ those British ad agencies work hard to bring us some of the best seasonal advertising.

So on this Christmas eve, get yourself a cup of warm cheer, turn up your sound, expand to full screen and enjoy these ads – from me to you!

Wishing you a cozy holiday filled with love, family and friends ~~ and of course some new books.

For all you classic car fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhfaBfuaq8E

Amazon helps a father bring magic to a boy missing his mother.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQWLKhhWBTs&t=22s

A lovely ad of chance encounters and winning more than the lottery.

A new twist on the tin man from the Wizard of Oz

A tribute to food made with love over the years

A wonderful surprise is the best gift of all.

This depicts a man preparing for his new role as a foster father.

Be ready with a tissue near by – this one’s a tearjerker.

A Forever & Always Christmas Tree

It’s a sad state of affairs out here when it comes to Christmas trees. Due to the fires and our on-going drought, the available live trees are a very sad looking lot and frightfully expensive. You may remember the year when we went without a tree. We didn’t want to do that again.

Balsam Hill recently opened a factory outlet down south of us, so we decided to go look before Thanksgiving. We had to find the right size, as we can only fit a small tree in our bay window/window seat. Surprisingly, we were impressed, these were some beauties and we realized artificial trees have come a long way, and with the factory outlet price, we brought home our forever and always tree.

Much to Husband’s delight, the tree comes with lights already affixed (cheering by Husband) and once the two pieces are fit together, and with special gloves provided to protect the finish on the needles, one bends the branches down and out until there are no gaps (whew, that took some doing).

We finished decorating it the other night and stood back to assess the new kid…and although I entered into this dubiously cranky — well we think it’s pretty darn good.

The tree looks quite realistic, even close up —

Some favorite ornaments which we have been collecting for years…click on photos to see clearer.

So as much as I hate to admit it, this tree is as beautiful as any we’ve had. It comes apart back into two pieces which fold up and supposedly fit into a cheerful red storage bag (hmmm, I will report back on if it fits…).

Now about the lack of real tree smell – my sister sent me Balsam incense from Maine and my brother, a pine candle — so we even have the proper scent.

We’re almost ready for Christmas…just one last baking project for the neighbors.

Then it’s my favorite time of cozy nights, fire in the fireplace, schmaltzy Christmas movies, and, of course, books.

Hope you are enjoying your holidays – stay well, stay warm and especially be safe out there.

Oh Christmas Book Tree

Back when I was still involved with the library book store, we would construct a Christmas book tree. A modest size because it took great patience and excellent balancing skills.

It looked something like this.

Because it’s Christmas here at Book Barmy, I’ll show you a variety of book trees.

There are big trees, which must have taken hours…

There are more modest versions, ones that could be easily done at home

There are trees made from the bookshelves, a novel concept (sorry — groan)

There are color-coordinated trees, delightfully designed by those with just a touch of OCD

Some folks use identical book sets, likely to be easier and with less head ache.

Then there are people who obviously don’t care for the books – and yes, I judge…

There are casual arrangers

And the precise

And some who take a different approach

Trees made from books — up-cycled from damaged books, one can only hope.

Finally, there’s my personal favorite, because you can browse the actual books.

An retail-savvy bookshop who actually wants to sell books during Christmas season.

You are probably asking, so where is Book Barmy’s book tree?

I can’t do it, just can’t do it…I want to read my Christmas books not use them as decoration.

We will unveil our one, only, and forever tree tomorrow.

Stay warm, stay safe. And as always, thanks for visiting Book Barmy.

A Rainy Day and Christmas Books

It’s raining, it’s pouring ~~ a perfect day to get things done for the holidays. Such as putting up our new tree. The operative word there is ‘new’ — we broke down and bought an artificial tree – I know, it was hard for me too. But, given our drought and fires, live trees are scarce and wildly expensive out here. We only need a small tree to fit into our bay window seat, so we decided to go check out Balsam Hill’s new factory outlet just south of the city.

I’ll show you more, once we put up the new tree ~~ but not today.

I also have presents to wrap and pack for shipping ~~ but not today.

There’s cookie baking to do for friends and family ~~ but not today.

What is happening today? Wait for it – yes, getting out my collection of Christmas books. Lest you think I won the lottery (I did not), I’ve been collecting Christmas books for years, a tradition inspired by my book barmy mother.

I put them out to display around my reading nook. Most chosen for their beautiful covers – so facing up of course. And there these books will remain until the last whispers of the holiday season are over.

Today I am lovingly going through them, re-familiarizing myself with each one, and deciding which I will read, re-read, or just pleasantly browse through. What to choose, what to select?

There’s holiday murders and mysteries – always fun.

Years ago, there was a holiday book group meeting with wine tasting at a local bookstore – it was great fun, but somehow these lovelies came home with me.

I could go veddy, veddy British for this Christmas…

Or perhaps one of these?

This next one is definitely for Christmas Eve – I’ve have this beautiful book for several years, but only dipped in and out of it. This year, I want to read it cover to cover.

Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J.R.R. Tolkien’s children. Inside would be a letter in a strange, spidery handwriting and a hand-colored drawing.  This book contains all the letters J.R.R. Tolkien wrote to his children in the guise of Father Christmas from 1920 through 1943.

A new arrival. A rare find on e-bay, a collection of Christmas stories by Bess Streeter Aldrich, who was one of Nebraska’s most widely read and enjoyed authors. Her writing career spanned forty-some years, in which she wrote largely autobiographically, about living in the Midwest. This is an older hardback with the original illustrations, definitely well read, and with no spine but I’m quite pleased to have it.

I must confess, there is yet one more — still to arrive. I was shopping on Thrift Books (check them out as a good alternative to the big A) for Christmas gifts and saw this come up. I once had a copy, but must have lent it to someone or gave it away in a fit of clearing out. What was I thinking? I must have “one of the best Christmas mysteries ever written”, according to Martin Edwards, a well know British crime fiction critic.

Well that sums up my Christmas books from my shelves.

But, wait there’s more – remember, I have a Kindle and I haven’t shared my digital Christmas books, neatly arranged in their own Christmas collection, where I can browse the covers and see what else I can add to my holiday reading list.

Meanwhile, as I’ve been messing around with my books, Husband baked a galette made from bruised apples scavenged from our farmer’s market just a few blocks away. We go in the morning, but then he sometimes goes back as the market closes down and gets great bargains. These apples were free.

Someone has to economize after the money spent on books.

Apple galette and tea anyone?

After Life

Not at all surprisingly, After Life – a Netflix original series – won the National Television Award for Best Comedy

After Life was written, directed, and stars Ricky Gervais. Now I know he is an actor who many love, but I have to admit, I was not a real fan, having never really gotten into The Office (either the UK version or the US one). However, I fell hard and head-long into After Life.

Ricky Gervais plays Tony, a newspaper writer, who has just suffered the loss of his wife from cancer, a soul-crushing tragedy for anyone to endure. However, Tony does not reach out for help or accept any caring. Instead he becomes depressed, misanthropic, and bitter.

If you’re looking for a hero, Tony isn’t it. He’s often mean, a bit prejudiced, arrogant, and he thinks he’s right about everything — the self-absorbed master of his own universe. And the show uses Ricky Gervais’s standard rude, offensive and unapologetic humor.

I can hear you asking, really Book Barmy? This show sounds dreadful – but trust me, it’s absolutely not.

After Life incredibly relatable, dark, yet most of all — beautiful. The show is peppered with silly, realistic day-to-day moments that will make you sadly smile. Living with grief is hard, but this series shows such a struggling man with humorous compassion which had me binge watching all three seasons.

There’s a wacky cast of characters, the postman who is victim to Ricky’s Tony’s sarcastic barbs and assorted, weird but lovable, friends and co-workers. The wonderful Penelope Wilton plays Anne, the widow Tony befriends at the cemetery where both their spouses are buried. It’s a delight to see her on their meeting bench, talking to her dead husband and offering advice to Tony when he can’t quite see past himself. We all need a friend outside our own worlds to lean on, and Anne gives Tony exactly that, quietly understanding things that no one else can.

After Life is mix of beauty, sadness, and laughs, but at the same time, it’s true and heart breaking. Brilliantly, its tough topics are handled with a sort of sarcastic humor that keeps the audience’s head above water, without sugar-coating the depths of Tony’s grief. And yet, the powerful ending, when Tony reaches the realization that life is brief and fragile, but worth having a good go at – if you’re like me, you will only have happy tears

Here’s one of my favorite clips. Tony has been assigned to visit and report on children in a cancer ward with his sidekick photographer, Lenny.

CLIP HERE

Warnings: There is profanity and some offensive humor. Also, Tony seriously considers suicide, but in the end there is always a reason to carry on, even it it’s just to feed the dog.