Over the rainy weekend our roof sprang a leak, leaving an ugly stain on the bathroom ceiling. Between tending the laundry and baking (these cookies are perfection; the best ever), I climbed up into the attic crawl space many times to check on the pan that was catching the drips. I also read The Vanishing, by Wendy Webb, a thoroughly entertaining Gothic style mystery featuring ghosts and a love story--right up my alley. : )

On Monday I went back to the library to find more books by Wendy Webb. Our town's library is a gorgeous old building that was designed by famed architect Henry Hobson Richardson. I have it on good authority (one of the other members of my church choir works at the library) that the building is home to more than just books and newspaper archives. "We have a ghost," she told me. I am not surprised; if I were a ghost it would be my haunt, too.

I finished reading War and Peace last Friday. The last hundred pages hurt my brain (they are a series of philosophical essays), but besides the Holy Bible it was truly the best book I've ever read. It was life changing. Seriously. It has changed the way I think and view the world and view myself. I want to read it again next winter.

After five days of rain, we've now had three days of sunshine. It's still chilly outside, but the sun feels sooooo good. At night, I leave my bedroom window open a crack so I can listen to the robins singing when I wake. It's a wonderful way to start the day.

And garter stitch is a wonderful way to knit. I am loving the back and forth rows of nothing but knit, knit, knit in my Shift of Focus cardi. It's not boring; it's . . . meditative, hypnotic, tranquil. (Isn't that a pretty word: tranquil?)