How great that you got to get together with a bunch of his cousins.  Bet you don't get to see each other often.

Remodeling a house sounds quite chaotic!  Didn't you do some remodeling not that long ago? like a bedroom or something?   I thought so but I could be having one of my many senior moments 

Dee in TX (DBRADFOR3) said:

Does organizing and cleaning out things count? I find though I don't have time for sewing right now, it makes me feel better to do a little bit of cleaning. I know, weird.

Not weird.  My DH finds cleaning the greatest relaxer.  We've been married for 54 years and over the decades I have bought him many, many vacuums because he loves to sweep floors, etc.  Shop vacs, floor vacuums, etc. are his best "toys" and he loves getting a new one for a Christmas gift.

I'm the organizer, he's the cleaner.

Yes, we added on a master suite in 2014. Now starting on the old part. Took out paneling and carpet. Putting in tile in the den, replacing tile in kitchen. And eventually refacing cabinets - new doors and refinishing.

Dee, are you doing the work yourself or hiring it out? I've been doing a lot of work on my new place but that sounds like more than I could do :P 

combination.  I'm doing the painting, mostly because it is so expensive and they seem to do a poor job, and make a mess.  DH is going to install the barn door between the den & living room.  We used to have bi-fold doors that were cracked and broken.  WE may also take up the old tile but then we have to dispose of it and that is worth paying someone for.

I getcha. I do a lot of stuff too, tho I know there are things like flooring I'll have to hire. LOL!!! Just curious :) 

Cup of tea Thursday....question of the week....

What was your favorite childhood book, say before age twenty?

The original The Boxcar Children sorry forgot to look up author.

This is the only book I remember my mom reading to us and dad worked for the railroad so that may have entered into the equation.

When my kids were in grade school I read it to them.

Jo

Interesting, My husband bought a new John Deer and the only time it was clean, was the day it was delivered! And we only had two and a half acres. I think I'd have to see this farmer and tractor in person.

Ooooh, before twenty?  Hard decision.  Probably Archy & Mehitabel  and other books by Don Marquis.  I LOVE Archy & Mehitabel!  Also, any books by Richard Armour - humorous books about words and language.  

I read Gone With the Wind at about age 14, I think, just to say that I had read it.

One of my favorite books when I first started to read chapter books was "Baby Island" by Carol Ryrie Brink (who also wrote the Caddie Woodlawn books).  I also liked the Homer Price books by Robert McCloskey, and other "youth" books like The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare.  I also read "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" before I knew it was part of the Narnia series.  Before I was 20, I had also read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and it made a great impression on me.  

I was also in advanced English classes in junior high and high school, so we read several classics, including A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Dickens, and Silas Marner by George Eliot.  My love of Charles Dickens began then.  My love of Shakespeare began a little later.