Books, Music, Podcasts, Library Adventures, Quality of Life

Library MEGA Stack!

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Before I begin this post, I just want to reach out to my NZ blogging friends and let you know I am thinking of you. I am so sorry to hear of the recent terrible tragedy in your beautiful country.

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind and I have lots to blog about in the next several posts:

  • I’ve visited friends in Gig Harbor, Washington and attended the Sew & Stitchery Expo;
  • Returned to Seattle again for a brief business trip, met with the City of Seattle, toured the and got to tour the gallery space for my first solo show in April;
  • Continue to prep for my big move to Colorado at the end of April (see series of posts Colorado Bound); and
  • In the near future I travel to Denver to visit a friend and tour 10 (yes 10) rentals I’ve researched for my future home (looking between Boulder and Denver, CO and in a future post in my Colorado Bound series I will share more about how I got to 10).

Should I also mention need to create a piece for an invitational only juried show that I really want to get into? I was invited in the Fall of 2018, before my husband passed away in December 2018. I will see after my visit to the Denver area to find my housing if I think I can whip out an art quilt before the closing of the show entry date on June 15.

In between all this mixture of fun and crazy schedule, I am still grieving the loss of my partner of more than 1/2 my life, Terry the Quilting Husband.

I was having a rough patch of grief earlier this week and I had a wonderful conversation with one of the physicians I work with, Liz, who is also a friend. She strongly suggested that I take some “self-care” time and slow my life down a bit.

I decided to take her advice and had a “Self-Care Saturday” yesterday which involved a visit to my local library to get a MEGA library stack!

So let’s continue my ongoing (and long-time neglected) series – The Library Stack – in which I share my stack of borrowed books from my beloved local public library (and in the next couple of months will have to change to the Denver or Boulder area public library system).

Leisurely Lounging, Library & Lunch

By Thursday of last week I decided that Saturday was only going to be for me. I was going to relax and have fun. A dear friend invited me to have breakfast with her on Saturday and I declined telling her I was “busy”. As much as I would have enjoyed her company, I wanted to keep my commitment to myself (I was “busy” – I was busy taking care of myself).

Saturday morning, Mike the miniature schnauzer and I spent hours leisurely lounging in bed (including breakfast in bed for me) and binge watching documentaries on space and astrophysics – two of my favorite documentary topics.

Here we are binge watching, but I think Mike is just napping – ha!

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Of course maybe Mike’s giant schnauzer cushion is blocking his view of the television…

After a couple documentaries, Mike and I headed out for a long walk around the neighborhood.

Then I headed out for a special treat – to return to my local downtown library and spend an hour browsing in my favorite sections – crafting and home decorating.

Here is the crazy MEGA library stack of borrowed books that resulted from my leisurely browsing:

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A couple of the books are repeat loans but most of them are new to me. It appears the library acquired more yummy crafting and home decor books while I was away for a couple months!

After my library browsing, I took myself to lunch (yummy tapas) and brought one of my library books along to start reading while I ate my delicious patatas bravas and rockfish taco:

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A solitary lunch with a good book can be quite exquisite.

The New Bohemians Handbook

I’ve borrowed Justina Blackeney’s book The New Bohemians: Cool and Collected Homes, several times in the past from my library.

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image credit: amazon.com

How delightful it was to discover during my library browsing that she has a new book: The New Bohemians Handbook: Come Home to Good Vibes:

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image credit: amazon.com

I loved her previous book and this new book is excellent timing for me to discover as soon I will be working on decorating my new apartment (which will be much smaller than my current home).

The “Bohemian” style really appeals to me. I’ve always referred to my style of interior decorating as “cozy and random”. I think “Bohemian” sounds even better!

In this book the author proposes that there is a “deep connection between home decor and well-being”. She recommends five (5) processes to achieve that sense of well-being with your home decor:

  • Clarity
  • Flow
  • Spirit
  • Growth
  • Harmony

It was a wonderful book to read and browse through during my delicious lunch at a local Tapas Eatery.

I look forward to finishing the book and working my way through the rest of the MEGA Library Stack!

I believe creativity and good vibes can save the world.

– Justina Blakeney, The New Bohemians Handbook

Published by tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".

28 thoughts on “Library MEGA Stack!”

  1. Now that’s what I call a stack, and hurrah for using the library during your self care day. I have the Cath Kidston and Debby Shore books so nice to see them there. I am going to look for the book you mentioned. Hope the day has restored you as you have quite a schedule there.

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  2. So many books! And all of them have that obvious library sticker on the spine, it makes me smile. I loved going to the library and pick out books to read. Alas, there’s no public library here so I have to shop at Amazon. It’s great that you take advantage of the options you have.

    Oh and also: Are you sure that “taking some self-care time” means taking just one day, and spending that on increasing your reading list? 🙂 Do you really have time and energy for that stack of books, on top of all you’ve got going on? I wonder how one could “konmari” a regular day of the week, to see what parts are just old habits or other people’s priorities. At any rate, I think you are a much faster reader (and blogger) than I am!

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    1. Thanks for your thoughtful comments Torben 😀. Truthfully I am not going to *read* all those books – I am going to browse them and look at the pictures while I eat breakfast each morning 😀
      Sorry you do not have a public library is that an Austrian thing or just your local town?

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  5. I would love to check out the Bohemian style. All of those processes are important for a healthy living space. So glad you have saved Saturdays for you…

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  7. I could not imagine having my dogs in my bed. Most assuredly, they would both team up against me, and kick me off the bed. And then they would wag their tails with delight at “winning the game of thrones” and give each other a “high paw five” or “high paw four”.

    Everyday should be a self-care day. I know I always take every opportunity to get away. I need my peace and quiet. One of these days I am going to take the wrong road and just keep driving and call the boss, and say, oh, sorry somehow I took the wrong turn and now I am stuck in Maine. The lobsters won’t let me leave, but don’t send for help. I will fight my way through with a fork and some butter.

    Seriously, I was thinking you and Mike should slow down and rest. If you get some good weather outdoors, I would recommend going for a long walk. No camera because then you will be working and not enjoying it. Just you and the nature in communion.

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    2. You mean the “Games of Bones” – ha! I saw a t-shirt with a parody of the Game of Thrones but with dogs. That was so funny – a wrong turn and you ended up in Maine battling lobsters! Mike and I go for lots of long walks even in the snow but it will be wonderful as Spring settles in more.

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  8. 10 rentals?! I’m impressed! Also very surprised that they would still be available by the time you arrive for those showings!
    😉

    BTW: you will love the local libraries…even the smallest branches have loads to offer; events and books I took for granted while away. Here, even something as simple as a monthly book club meeting wasn’t formed until recently…sigh.

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  9. Thanks for your thoughts about my recent country tragedy…the ramifications continue as out governing bodies grapple with the lives of those destroyed through to the family, who remain. Suddenly,our country is not as safe.
    I’m late replying, I’m traveling in the South Island, but last Friday I was on the other side of the island in Hokitika… I’m now in Nelson.

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    1. Yes I’ve been reading on how you country has been handling this tragedy and it seems like you all are role model for the rest of the world and definitely the US. I do look forward to visiting NZ someday 😀

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  11. Pingback: Never Stop to Think…Do I Have A Place for This? – tierneycreates

  12. What a truly lovely-sounding afternoon. There’s nothing like self-care through good food and good books! What an interesting text – I can very much imagine myself feeling cozy and at home in all of those prints and colours. Whenever I think I’m a minimalist, I see tons of colours and prints and want them all in my space, ha! Sending you lots of good vibes as you continue decor-planning for the new place, Tierney. 🙂

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    1. It was! (You have been doing some serious tierneycreates blog catch up – ha!) I love color in my space and texture. I am so excited to decorate my new place in a bohemian manner!

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  13. It sounds like you might be a travelling library lover like myself. Looks like an interesting blog. Hang in there, life jerks the rug out from under you sometimes, but books are can take you out of the here and now and give you a break. I’ll follow.

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