Bo Does Mountains

You know the way I love books? Well, that's the way Captain America likes airplanes. He can't get enough of them.

And that's how we got the newest addition to our family.

Meet Bo. Short for Bonanza F33a.

Isn't he a beauty? And the plane ain't half bad either!

Captain America traded in our first plane and brought Bo home a couple of months ago. We've already taken him a few places, but this weekend we decided to go on our longest trip yet--to the mountains of Colorado.

Those of you who regularly fly the friendly skies in one of those big jet airliners at 35,000 feet don't know what you're missing at 13,000 feet.

That scenery right below your toes!

Another thing you're missing in an airliner is wearing an oxygen mask. It's a necessity when you're flying high in an unpressurized plane like Bo. Here I am modeling the latest in tube technology and looking remarkably like someone's grandma. Oh wait, I am someone's grandma!

Our first full day was spent in the quaint old mining town of Creede, known primarily as the place where the Coward Robert Ford was gunned down, which I'm pretty sure puts me at one degree of separation from Brad Pitt. So there's that.

The next day we went to Williams Creek Reservoir in the San Juan National Forest. 

In Houston the temperature that day was 96 degrees and 94% humidity. (That is not a typo.)

At Williams Creek Reservoir that day it was about 78 degrees and 11% humidity. 

That's why we are smiling in this picture.

It was such a pretty Colorado weekend, one morning I sat out on the porch and before I knew it, I had made this! After I decorate the endpapers, it will be ready for your Christmas decor. 

Wait, what? Christmas already?

Yes! I'm pleased to announce that on September 10th, Reading With Scissors will be at the Shop 'til You Drop Marketplace, so I'm already making holiday products. I'll be featuring some of them here over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

Speaking of staying tuned, one of the easiest ways to find out what's going on is to sign up for my new email list. The first email will be coming out shortly. There's a sign-up form on this page, so go ahead and don't miss out! There will be goodies. Just saying.

In Which I Name Names

My name is Stephanie and I'm a bookaholic.

Wait. You already know that part.

And you also know that I have been trying to cure myself. You remember our little conversation--the one when I told you that I was running out of room to store my books and I promised to quit getting more.

Wait, never mind. I'm pretty sure that conversation was with Captain America. And I think he was telling me that I had run out of room and that I had to quit getting more. Whatever.

I have been trying, though. And backsliding. But it's not my fault. Honest. I am surrounded by enablers. Like the enabler nice library lady who called the other day to say they had 3 boxes of RDCBs with my name on them. How do you turn something down when they say "with your name on them"??

And there's my enabler friend, Kellee, who called the other day to say she had found some beauties on her vacation. How are you going to turn down books that someone schlepped around on their vacation just for you? And especially when she had to convince her husband that schlepping them around just for you on their vacation was a good thing. And especially when one of them was this big!

But she was right--it's a beauty!
Check out the embossed alphabet on the cloth cover...

...front and back.

Happy sigh...

And then there's my enabler pew-mate Taunya, who caught me at church the other day to say she had brought me a set of encyclopedias--a whole, beautiful set, with gold embossed spines. A set that glitters on my shelves waiting its turn to be transformed into a magnificent work of art. One set. I promised myself I could do just one set, and that would be it.

Until Karen called on Tuesday.

She said that someone had just brought a bunch of RDCBs to the church rummage sale and I could have first dibs at them if I wanted. She said they were waiting at the church in a box "with your name on them."

Karen knows just how to enable play me.

And man, check out these stunners that were in the box!

Seahorses! Seahorses, I tell you! Really, Captain America, how can you expect me to turn down seahorses??

And then Wednesday was the official opening day of the rummage sale, so I had to go back and see what else was available. Just doing my part for the church. Right?

And score!

This one's going to be another Eiffel tower.

And this tiny, tiny book has sparkly embossed edges that just might be long enough to fold one word.

And I found this roughed up, but still very foldable Complete Works of Shakespeare!

And I think I might spell "History" with this one for a favorite teacher or professor?

And I got this one because have you ever noticed how pretty pages can be when they are covered with standard mathematical tables? You can just get lost in them. And make beautiful flowers with them.

Or the word "Actuary."

Happy sigh.

And then I heard a voice coming from near the cashier table. "Hey, Stephanie, look what I've got for you over here." 

It was Kellee.

I tried to walk away. Honest, Captain America. In fact I thought about it for a good half second, before I realized she was holding a book, and I hurried over.

It was an RDCB. From 1961. My year. And check out those titles.

.

But I promise that was it.

Except for this one. I bought this one, too because, well, who else is gonna buy a book that big and I didn't want the church to be stuck with it. And I was pretty sure my original enabler, Barb, would approve.

And just as I started to feel the tiniest bit guilty that I had so many books, Kellee told me that she had convinced the other cashier to order two customized books. Whoo-hoo!

A new order! And two more books I'm going to have to replace.

Adventures in Estate Sale Book Hunting: Mid-Century Wow!

I snagged this book recently at an estate sale. Its bright turquoise color (it's a lot brighter and turquoisier in real life) caught my eye. I thought it would make a great book vase.

And then I opened it.

Copyright 1956.

In pristine condition. (Check out those chairs!)

Mid-century wow!

Did you know gray can be contemporary? My house has gray walls. It's as if the mid-century gods have smiled on me and given me their blessing.

Did you know that you can start your scheme with a wallpaper pattern? Look for one steam engines and men on horses.

Wait...what???

Well, maybe not everything the mid-century gods recommended was so Mad Men cool.

Case in point.

Or this beauty that in our family is known as an "Oh honey" house, because that's what my grandma said one time when she walked in and saw the flame-stitch wallpaper I had just hung in my kitchen.

On the other hand, there's this very stylish game room with built-in bookcases. I love bookcases. 

And do you see those books on the left? I'm pretty sure my mom and dad had that same set.

Of course they've got ideas for decorating bathroom in there, like this one.

 

Or these pink ones. If there's one thing I can say for the present, I think our bathrooms beat their bathrooms hands down.

That being said, this is a pretty cool sink.

Hey look! There's Rudy's g-g-grandmother!

And a shout-out to my very famous brother, Steve. Look! A built in puppet theater!

And a shout out to my mom and dad...Why didn't we have a popcorn machine like this one?

And a shout-out to my grandmother who use to have a wrap-around dining bar in her very mid-century cool home in rural Oklahoma in the 1960s.

This looks like an ad for West Elm. Check out that triangle glass table.

So did I make a find at that estate sale? Oh heck yeah!

So now the question is...vase or no vase?

Adventures in Estate Sale Book Hunting: Houston, We Have Liftoff

Last weekend I went book hunting at an estate sale and even though I didn't find any RDCBs, I did come away with a few beauties. Case in point, here's Astronauts on the Moon, The Story of the Apollo Moon Landings. And best of all, it's a pop-up book!!

Open  up the first page and...

3...2...1...liftoff!

Once they get close to the moon, two of the astronauts climb through the tunnel connecting the command module with the lunar module and get ready to land.

But poor Buzz has to stay in the command module all by himself and wonder why he drew the short straw.

Gently, gently the lunar module settles into the gray dust.

The astronauts go exploring and send bags of moon rocks back to their ship.

Later, after docking with the command module, the astronauts head for home, launch the service module and land with a splat in the Pacific Ocean.

And they're home. 

I have a feeling this book is going to be a favorite when future grandkids come along!