Karen’s Opinion

I just finished reading Crushed by Barbara Ellen Brink but first things first. Crushed was the second in a series so I want to tell you about the first book, Entangled.

From Amazon: A Minneapolis attorney inherits a small California winery, reawakening memories that have lain dormant for twenty years. One summer of her childhood is a mystery she intends to solve. But digging up her past also lays bare the skeletons of others, including her mother’s. Entangled between what she once believed and a new reality, will she be able to live with the consequences of full disclosure?

The books are interesting reads. Not only are the story lines intriguing, the information about wineries is so interesting! I will never buy wine with a cork again! Just kidding.

I am hooked on the talent show “The Voice”. I would hate to be one of the judges on this show. Most of the participants are so talented! It would be hard to not choose every one of them. I have noticed, even if they have awesome voices, some of the participants aren’t chosen because they sound just like everyone else. The ones are chosen seem to have a bit of an edge. The judges are looking for someone different.

I was thinking about all the games that children play on the computer and wondered, do kids play games like I played when I was little?

I loved to play jacks. The game was played with little metal pieces that were thrown on the ground. Wherever they landed made the job of picking them up more intriguing. The object was to bounce a ball, pick up as many jacks as possible before catching the ball as it came down from the air.

What games do you remember playing as a child?

I have been slow to watch some of the reality shows because I don’t think they are reality. The coupon savers, Kate Plus 8 and The Bachelor are not the norm. Neither are the shows where they put a group of people in a house and the cameras let us see how they get along or more often how they don’t get along. I won’t waste my time watching people swear at each other and treat each other badly.

The reality shows I do enjoy include, Deadliest Catch, American Pickers, Something Restoration, sorry I can’t think of the name of that one. I also like The Duggers, The Little Couple and Pawn Stars. I usually learn something new from those shows. I miss seeing The Little People. I can understand why they needed time away from the cameras. The Roloff’s marriage was under so much strain due to the show and the turmoil of raising teens. They needed a break.

Do you watch any of the reality shows?

“What do you give?” is how the auctioneer began his spiel when starting the auction for each item from a large estate sale. Mom and I headed to a quilt show Saturday but decided to check out an auction first. We were “just going to look”. Famous last words.

Little did we know that this auction had boxes of fabric and quilts. We were as excited as a shopper with a 700 credit score! We had our eye on a quilt top that looked to be from the 1930′s. It was a Grandmother’s Flower Garden pattern. It was not a finished quilt and the rest of the box held “cheater quilts”.

The auctioneer went through box after box of old dishes that included some carnival glass and depression glass. I did pick up a few salad plates and discovered that two of them might be valuable.

I also bought some old fashioned mixing bowls. I knew I better be careful or I’d be checking my free credit score in order to have some money left over to bid on some quilts.

Mom and I were keeping close tabs on the boxes that held the quilts we were interested in and were a bit put out as we watched several ladies rearranging the boxes contents. We rearranged them back to their original contents more than once! I hoped there wouldn’t be a fight before the auctioneer finally got to the boxes of which we were longingly waiting to bid.

The box that held the quilt went for way more than it was worth, ($80.00), but I did get a box that held 19 quilt blocks. I only paid $5.00. The quilt blocks are paper pieced using newspapers dated 1928! I am so excited to have acquired these old blocks.

When we got in the car to head to the quilt show, the temperature was 98 degrees! We were red in the face and sweating profusely. We were kinda gross to go to a quilt show but off we went.