September Stirrings

I  had Mila and Max visiting for the past week.  The schools in Baton Rouge won't reopen until after Labor Day, so M & M came for a visit.  Board games, a trip to the trampoline park, and electronic devices  helped keep things busy around here.  Erin and Brandon came up for Labor Day Weekend and are staying at the camp.  We go down during the day and come back at night.  

My snail mail and mail art obsession continues, 

and I have fun creating envelopes and postcards.  

postcard

postcard

Hard to believe this long, hot summer is over.  Although it remains hot, the light and shadows have changed, and fall is on the way.  Our seasons here in the South are less defined than they are in cooler climates, but we still appreciate the small changes that indicate the changes from one season to another.  Right now our temperatures are in the low 90's--and much appreciated.  

I've zipped through some great historical novels lately by Ann Swinfen--The Chronicles of Christoval Alvarez.  The Secret World of Christoval Alvarez, the first in the series, involves The Babington Plot that led to Mary, Queen of Scots' downfall.   All of the books were available through Kindle Unlimited, and I greedily made my way through the series.  I thoroughtly enjoyed the way Swinfen was able to make me feel as if  I were there with Christoval (or Kit), a young physician with secrets, trying to negotiate the intricacies of Sir Francis Walsingham's intelligence service.  

The books all involve Kit's desire to continue work as a physician, intertwined with the important events that occur during the latter part of Elizabeth's reign.   While it is fascinating to read about the real people and events in these well-researched books, Swinfen also throws in many little known facts and oddities throughout the series.   For example, there is a reference to "Winchester geese" that I wondered about and after Googling it discovered that it was a term for prostitutes.