A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Monday, March 7, 2011

I Love to Tidy the Bookshelves




It was a gloomy day here in No. Illinois. I decided to get things organized in the house, so that when I finally can get outside...I won't have to think about the house. I had cleaned the dining room a couple of days ago, but decided to move a bookcase full of cookbooks to the opposite corner. Then I could vacuum behind those things. This took the project in a whole new direction. I tidied up the shelves as I put the cookbooks back. When we got married, I got rid of a lot of my cookbooks. After my kids looked them over, I sold them at my sale. A man bought them all. I said, "Your wife is going to be so happy with those." He said, "I'm not married...I'm selling them on EBay."Well, I guess once they were out of my hands, he could do anything he wanted with them.
Next on my agenda was the mudroom. I have a shelf unit in there too, only with gardening books. As I cleaned, I sat on my stool and looked through many of them. I had sold many of these too, but now I seem to have accumulated as many as I had before. I check out the library often for garden books, but I really like to own the special ones, so that I can refer to them often. I like to take my time reading them and sometimes savor their wonderful content. I love so many garden books. Ones about gardeners as well as ones about gardens. I love to find them at garage sales...old ones that might have an empty seed packet between the pages for a bookmark or a slip of paper with garden plans written on it...or once a dried violet. I have a special book from the 1800's that once belonged to my 2nd grade teacher when she was a girl. It has her beautiful handwriting in it.
Then into the living room where I have shelves with instruction books on painting, quilting, knitting, felt crafts etc. The shelves are full of novels and poetry books. I started this project thinking that I might have some books to donate to the library for their sale shelf. I hadn't found one that I could give up. I often box up my paper backs and send them to a cousin in Iowa.
I have shelves in the guest bedroom too...with tiny books that friends and family have given me over the years. Books in a stack of three on the coffee table. A Bible and a Bible study book and books full of family photos. In the rocker a book called 'My French Life' a Christmas gift from my daughter. I've heard others say that they wouldn't want a Kindle. They usually say that they like to hold books in their hands and see them sitting on their shelves. I kind of feel the same way. For people who travel, I think that it would be great. No bulky books to carry. But, I am not a world traveler and for me an old garden book with writing in the margins and grass stains on the cover is just perfect.
Balisha

PS...And I haven't even written about Joe's books!




















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6 comments:

donna said...

What a wonderful post about books. My gardening books are all in the basement now. I go online to get information these days, but can't part with the books. Last week, I brought home an armload of gardening books from the library and am thoroughly enjoying them.

Thank you for the nice comment you left on my blog about Dipladenia, the bushy Mandevilla. I've put it on my wish list and will look for one to buy.

Snowing like crazy up here in NE Wisconsin, shattering my dreams of spring. On the bright side, we're warm and cozy in the house with plenty to eat.

donna

Margie's Musings said...

I love the Kindle my kids gave me for Christmas. I am in the process of selling my books. I have a three piece wall unit in the dining room crammed with books and another bookcase in the den, also crammed with books.

Eventually I'll get all my books on my Kindle, which I can carry in my purse.

I get $4 and up for my books on Amazon and they pay the shipping.

Meadowview Thymes said...

Where do you get all that energy? I need to do lots of cleaning out, but I get overwhelmed with it all and noting gets done. I need to take a week and do nothing but clean out and throw away. That was my plan when I retired, but all I do now is want to play! :)

Lona said...

I use to have books coming out of my ears I had so many. It was getting ridiculous. I sold lots of them on Ebay.I think the ABC book of flowers is so wonderful. The older books had such charm and the graphics were so pretty.

Barbee' said...

Flowers, books, and music I could not live without! This was a cozy post; I enjoyed being there with you as you went through the books :)

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love looking through old cookbooks! DUH! I guess I would since I cook all the time. lol. My girls have all their grandmother's cookbooks and she had an old pie safe full. I bring some home every time I go to her house. They entertain me for hours.