Book Review - The Invisible Library

This series was first recommended to me when there was only 2 books in the series. Since then, I have eagerly anticipated the release of each new book.

This series focuses on Irene, a young Librarian who is tasked with traveling across worlds and dimensions to gather materials for the Library's collection. While the worlds are the same in all dimensions, the physical worlds themselves vary from dimension to dimension. But the one thing in common between all of the worlds and all of the dimensions is the battle between chaos and order. The representatives of order are the dragons. The Fae represent chaos. The worlds struggle to survive between these two forces.

Irene is a librarian who travels freely between all of the worlds using the power of the library. In the first book, she has a new apprentice (Kai) assigned to her. Her job is to train him in the ways of the library while they attempt to retrieve a book that is unique to a particular version of London.  The problem? The book has already been stolen, and everyone is searching for the book. In a world where chaos runs rampant and nothing is as it seems, can Irene find a way to steal the book for the library and save reality at the same time?

Fans of Harry Potter will enjoy this book with it's unique worlds with a wonderful dose of magic running throughout the book. This fantasy, with it's well developed characters is an unexpected treat!

Author's Web Site: http://www.grcogman.com/

The Things You See

 I work right next to a major highway. The highway is regularly referred to as a scene from Mad Max.

I looked outside one day and saw this mess.  The tractor trailer was cut off by a passenger car. Kudos to the truck driver and the drivers in the immediate vicinity - nobody was hurt. This could have been catastrophic. 

The road was shut down for hours as they worked to clear the debris. 

So, you know I work in a library? I was shelf reading and found this tucked behind some books on a shelf. 

We found this beautiful piece of art on a walk in Rockville when we stopped to get something to eat after visiting Mom.  

This gorgeous tableau presented itself when walking around Wilde Lake. 

Turtle Power!

Septic Riser

 We live on a septic system. If you're not familiar with one of these, they are basically a large gravity fed holding tank. The waste water leaves your house. Solids drop to the bottom of a tank, and the liquids are fed out into the drainage field where they work their way back into the ground water. They are a simple system to work, but expensive should they fail. We had always lived on City Water, so when we moved into this house, getting used to working with a septic system was a challenge. We bought from my in-laws, and they showed us where the clean out was. For the past 16 years, I've had someone come out every other year to clean the solids out of the septic system.

We had it cleaned in November, and I thought we were good to go. Until the pipes began making a gurgling sound. And then, looking up the hill one night when coming home from work, I noticed that the grass was about 2 feet higher than the rest of the grass in the area around where the septic clean out was. 

Husband had noticed the grass, too.  He was waiting for me when I got home and walked me over to the clean out. We had a water feature in the yard. A small bubbling pool of water was going to town just over top of the septic clean out. That is so not good. Thankfully, we'd had to replace the sewer line out of the house a few years ago, or else we would have had all of that stuff in the basement of the house.

I called the septic company that cleans out our system and had them come out again. He called his supervisor, who called the owner. They pumped out the septic and started digging.

It turns out that what we thought was the clean out was actually the vent. We'd been cleaning the vent for 15 years. The guys dug down through the yard, found the door to the septic tank, opened that and then cleaned out the most noxious, hard packed mess you have ever seen. (I didn't know there was a door on those things, did you?)

They informed us that Septic Risers are now required by code in our county, and showed us the one they recommended. Husband stood outside and talked with them for a long time and then came in and told me that he was able to install the riser himself. The guys had taken measurements while they were standing outside, and husband ordered the riser and all of the equipment while they were out there talking.

This past weekend, husband had the time to install the septic riser. 

First, he had to widen out the hole around the door to fit the riser. Once he widened the hole, he discovered that he had not centered the hold and so he had to dig out an additional 6 inches on the side and bottom of the hole.

He then followed the step by step directions included with the riser on how to install the riser. He put the lid on top of the riser and locked it down with the bolts provided in the assembly kit.

He then filled in around the riser with the dirt that had been taken out to make the hole.

In total, counting breaks and 1 trip to Home Depot to replace the shovel, it took him 6 hours to install.  It blends in beautifully with the yard, and you can't see it unless if you're looking for it. 

And you know what? It's really nice to know that the next time I hire a crew to come out and clean out the septic tank, they'll actually be getting all of the solids. That tank is 31 years old. My in-laws replaced it the spring before we were married. I would like to think it will last another 31 years if we take care of it!

Brookside Gardens

 Mom lives in Arlington, Virginia. On our way home, we drove through Montgomery County and stopped by Brookside Gardens.

I love roaming through Brookside Gardens when we are in the area. When the kids were babies, I would bring them here so that they could run around the paths and see the beautiful flowers and gardens. We spent many happy hours wandering through the paths! 

Crystals hanging from the overhead arbor.

There is one crystal for every person who has died of CoVid in Montgomery County.

The exhibit will remain up through the end of September.

Another view of the crystals. 

I wish I could have caught the interplay of light on the crystals.

I love these big leaves. You can't tell from this picture, but they were 3 feet high!

Inside the Conservatory.

My favorite tree on the property. It's so majestic!

Found these beauties right next to the path!

I don't remember the names of these flowers, but they are so pretty!

What about you? Do you have gorgeous public gardens to walk around where you live? 

I would love to know about them!

 

My 2021 Resolutions

I like to keep a list of resolutions on the blog.  It helped to keep me accountable and  helped me keep track of my goals - what I wanted to do and whether or not I actually got them accomplished during the year.  I had a few goals in 2020.  Those all went out the window in March.  I don't even want to talk about those goals anymore.  But, this is 2021, and we are all set for a new series of goals.  So, here they are.  It's a short list this year. 

1) Get away with my husband twice this year. 

We made it to Acadia National Park in June! (Pictures to follow.)

2) Visit middle child in Kansas.

He's headed out here in October. He was also out here for my Mother In Law's funeral in April. Will we make it out there?

3) Visit all of the state parks in Maryland.

Calvert Cliffs

Patapsco Valley

Soldier's Delight 

I've got a way to go....

4) Get one more stamp in my National Parks Passport.

Acadia National Park

Gettysburg

Harper's Ferry

5) Lose 10% of my body weight.

Well, hey! I'm almost at this one! Just a few more to go! Crossing my fingers to have this in my pocket by the end of the year.

6) Get a storage unit and move stuff there to sort it out.

We had stuff we needed to get out.  And then we cleaned out my Mom's house when we moved her to Assisted Living and then we cleaned out my MIL's condo and apartment and THEN the oldest child moved back in.  AND THEN my Step-Mother's niece called me and gave me BOXES of my Dad's stuff.  You know, my Dad.  Who passed away over 12 years ago.  (There's another story...)  This house looks like a real life episode of Hoarders. 

Update: We have the storage unit. It has been filled. Much of what is in there will be going to the White Elephant Sale at the church in November. And then, we will be moving more stuff over there while we figure out where to put it.

7) Do a minor home improvement project.

There's a lot to choose from.  Which one will we pick?  Fixing the fence line in the back?  Getting the wood trim on the house painted?  Replacing the floor in the utility area in the basement? Hiring the tree guys to come out and get rid of the brush piles in the back? Having someone come out and landscape the front of the house?

Update: nothing visible. The outdoor a/c unit was hit by lightning over the summer during the big heatwave. We had to wait the better part of a week to get that fixed.  

Oh, and the pipes in the kitchen sink got clogged. We paid a pretty penny to get those unclogged again.

Those are minor, but necessary improvements!

8) Visit my cousins in Texas (a trip postponed from 2020.)

Not this year. It's just not going to happen in 2021.

9) Get my kids and all of my sister's kids together in the same place at the same time.

We're still working on this one. It's hard when the kids are all grown and living around the country.

It's Been A While!

I was looking back through my most recent posts, and I realize that the most recent updates include the girl moving out.  In January of 2020.  So, let's catch up.

Mom celebrated her 90th birthday earlier this year. She had a pacemaker put in during the month of April, and she is doing better now. She is living in a Senior Apartment. She is still mentally alert, and while her eyesight is failing, she still enjoys talking to people and reminiscing about old times.

My step mother appeared out of nowhere last April and asked me if I wanted my Dad's stuff. I hadn't heard from her since Dad died - in 2008. 12 years. I met her niece in a parking lot, and she gave me a trunk full off Dad's stuff. Old pictures, slides, and his military records. It wasn't much, but I'm glad to have it all! Her niece told me that Step Mom was in a nursing home, and I sent her cards and letters every month. I never heard back from her. But I didn't expect to hear back from her.  

So, in April, when Mom was in the hospital, her heart was pausing and then restarting. When I was talking with the cardiologist about what was happening I said "You know, if my step-mother was dead, I would swear her ghost was standing over Mom, shoving her spirit back in her body and giving her CPR and yelling "NOT YET DAMMIT - HE'S MINE, ALL MINE".  Mom went back for surgery, and I was bored. I decided to google search my step mother for the heck of it. And that's how I found out that she had passed away. On January 2 of 2021. 

In late April, my Mother in Law passed away. She had a massive stroke. But, she was at a table with her friends, eating lunch and laughing when it happened. It's comforting to think she was with other people.

My sister in law's mother passed on Christmas Eve.

My daughter got really sick, and ended up in the ER after she couldn't eat or drink anything. An endoscope found that she had gastritis. The summer was tough on her as she struggled with the bland limited diet prescribed by her doctor to help heal her gut.

I needed to vent, and thanks for listening. After this last 9 months, I needed to get it all out.

Thanks so much for reading!