Outlander, Scotland, and a Total History Nerd Fail

I recently read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon for the CAF bookclub. Apart from being a really great read (I know it's long, but I promise it's a fast read), it got me thinking. I know a fair bit of English history, and quite a bit about the time the book is set in, but I hardly know anything about what was going on in the rest of UK, then, or at any point in time predating the first World War.
It's a rather disquieting thought, particularly given how much I love history. While most of my education dealt with modern history, the US, or European monarchies, I had thought my reading was a bit more well rounded. Needless to say, I'm feeling a bit traumatized by this realization. Couple it with the fact I'm going to be in Scotland in a few short months and I'm I'm dire need of way to fix this. Stat.

I'm thinking maybe of trying to get my hands on a copy of 'A Brief History of Great Britain' or perhaps I should check out 'A History of Britain' while stuck in an airport or two. I do have a weakness for documentaries, which is why I'll probably be adding 'The Story of Ireland' or 'A History of Scotland' to the list as well. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm always happy to hear them.

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Earth Day aka "Green Love" 2008

Leafy Tree Pendant from OneElf Earth Day’s fast approaching and I’m super excited. My ‘hug a tree’ shirt’s ready and waiting and I’m impatiently counting down the hours. Yes I’m a giant geek, but it’s the one day where spreading the green love is totally socially acceptable. Although I will still try and refrain from yelling at people who chuck plastic bottles in the trash; I will not refrain from rolling my eyes at people who look at me funny when I remove perfectly good rolls of wrapping paper from the trash. It’s going to be fun. However since it is Earth Day I know everyone’s being berated with things like ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ and ‘turn the water off when you brush your teeth’. Important, yes, but I think there’s a bit of a bigger picture that gets missed in all that, so I’m going for something different. I’m not going to talk about it, at least not today. Today I’m talking about worms. Yes, I’m finally writing a real entry about something, and yes it’s about worms. ...

12 on 12: September 2015

I had forgotten to do my 12 on 12 on the 12th this month so when I went out on Saturday I was only all too willing to get a bit snap happy. The day started out back in my old neighborhood at the annual library book sale. I stocked up and then we headed to my favorite places to shop: the farmers market, Trader Joes, and Wegmans. After that, we stopped off at the Stone Quarry Hill Art Park since Saturday was also the Smithsonian's annual Museum Day Live . The park was beautiful, we had a nice walk and even ran into a wedding party. We took the long way home and had a great time meandering through the country looking at old barns, cows, and windmills.

Oh Canada… thank you for your awesomness

I’ve gone and fallen in love with Flashpoint . I hadn’t intended to. It started out a lot like most other things with me watching a couple of episodes with *insert favorite actor here* (Pacale Hutton, in this case, for those of you who are wondering). The episodes were good, really good, but I chalked it up to the amount of glee I had over cop uniforms and the CN Tower. I’m really not hard to please when it comes to all things Canadian, but then I watched another episode. I had an hour before bed, no biggie, but one turned into two, I feel in love with the characters and I was hooked. And since it’s been awhile since we’ve had some Canada <3 on this blog, here’s a bit of Toronto themed goodness. Sources (clockwise from top left): A Wintery Day in Toronto , Toronto Throw Pillow , The Birds , Transportation Collage of Toronto .

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