Book Review - The Maid of Ballymacool by Jennifer Deibel

 

I recently finished The Maid of Ballymacool by Jennifer Deibel.  Set in 1930s rural Ireland, the story has a fairytale essence to it.  I enjoyed the book very much.  The setting was alive, and although I'm not very familiar with Ireland, I enjoyed "visiting" in the author's prose.  The main character, Brianna, was well-drawn and pleasing.  I also liked the male lead, but I felt he wasn't as well-defined.  I wanted to know him better, especially how he got his views on the worth of everyone around him, in opposition to most people of his class.  The story has an obvious villain and a few interesting secondary characters, but Brianna's world is the focal point.  The faith element throughout stresses the worth of all people, and was well-woven into the story.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own.

Sick Puppy

 We've been pretty pretty preoccupied with Acorn for several days now.  She has been very sick, and although I think she is slowly improving, she is still not doing well.

We've been to the vet twice, and they don't seem to know what to do with her, exactly.  She is on medicine, and we hope it's helping.

In happier news, Emry won a basketball game on Saturday!

He scored 4 points in the game.  It was their last game day of the season, and his team's first win.  They were so excited.  They lost in the second round game, but that first game was fabulous for all of them.

Around Here

 I've got two little rows of garlic looking great.  I planted it in the fall, as usual, and it looks really healthy.  I didn't get in nearly as much as usual, but better some than nothing.

I've also got some seedling sprouting in the play room.  I'm still trying to figure out how to get some more sunlight around here.  The cats are still not liking Acorn, but they are otherwise doing well.

Gyunay asked to take a picture of the sunset the other day:

And little Acorn is doing just fine.

All State

 

On Wednesday, I dropped Malachi off for the Kentucky All State Orchestra.

Malachi got to spend Wednesday through Saturday at the Galt House, rehearsing for the All State Strings concert on Saturday.  

Elijah, Lydia, and I got to see his performance at Whitney Hall.  Nathaniel was coaching Emry's basketball game, so he missed a great show.  

Acorn and Buddy Bean

 Buddy Bean has always believed that he's a dog.  He now likes to interact with Acorn.  They sniff each other, then Acorn tries to bat at Buddy Bean's head.  Buddy Bean hops away, but then comes back.

Buddy Bean will come to the back door looking for Acorn, too.  They are quite the odd pair.

In other news, Emry scored a basket in a game for the first time last weekend.  

He's really enjoying basketball, and he and Gyunay shoot hoops daily.  Sometimes Pilot plays against them, and they love that.  They also love when Malachi helps them with video games:

January Harvest Totals

 89 eggs

That's it, but that's so much better than December's 0 eggs harvest.  I am hoping to start seeds in the playroom today or tomorrow.  I'm a bit behind on that for peppers, but it's still early for many seeds.