The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

Just to explain real quick: I really love to read. I go to book club once a month and read books for that, plus other things here and there. I also really want to keep my brain active and usefull. I'm pretty sure that my brain is like mush compared to what it once was. So ... I decided that I should write a little bit about the books I read. Kind of like a book report. Kind of. So why am I posting these little book reports on the blog? Well, I need the motivation. If I think that people are going to be reading what I wrote, I'm going to be much more careful and thoughtful about it. Does that make sense? Here goes nothin'.


I am fairly new to mystery novels. I enjoy watching mysteries so I should have known that I would really enjoy reading them. Up until recently though, the only mystery books I’ve read have been a few of the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gillman which I would highly recommend. But that all changed when The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King was chosen for the book club I attend. I read it and loved it!

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is written from the point of view of Mary Russell, a 15 year old orphan who meets Sherlock Holmes and then becomes his pupil. The Sherlock Holmes in this book could be quite different from the Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I don't know. I do look forward to finding out, though.

Holmes and Russell work on a few cases together, all the time building up Russell’s experience and intelligence. At the same time the teacher/pupil relationship is slowly changing to one of partnership. Russell brings different views and talents, such as the ability to throw like a boy, to the partnership that Holmes comes to depend on. Russell herself says, “Holmes the painstaking, Holmes the thoughtful, calculating thinker, Holmes the solitary operator who never so much as consulted another for advice, this Holmes I thought I knew was now proposing to launch himself into the abyss, trusting absolutely in my ability to catch him.”

Finally Holmes and Russell themselves come under attack from an unknown foe. Some clues are deeply hidden, and yet others are very blatantly left to be discovered. And it seems that no matter what lengths are taken to evade and discover their attacker, nothing works. It does appear that at last the great Sherlock Holmes, along with Mary Russell, has met his match. Only reading the book will tell.

12 Rules to Live By

This qoute is attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson, but I really don't know for sure. It's still a good thought though.

12 Rules to Live By - Robert Louis Stevenson

Make up your mind to be happy. Learn to find pleasure in simple things.

Make the best of circumstances. No one has everything and everyone has something of sorrow.

Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Don’t let criticism worry you. You can’t please everybody.

Don’t let your neighbors set your standards; be yourself.

Do things you enjoy doing but stay out of debt.

Don’t borrow trouble. Imaginary things are harder to bear than actual ones.

Since hate poisons the soul, do not cherish enmities and grudges. Avoid people who make you unhappy.

Have many interests. If you can’t travel, read about places.

Don’t hold post-mortems or spend time brooding over sorrows and mistakes.

Do what you can for those less fortunate than yourself.

Keep busy at something. A very busy person never has time to be unhappy.

Red Jammies

I love these red jammies. All of the kids have worn them now that Noah is wearing them. They're just plain red jammies, nothing really special. But seeing them, even on Noah brings back lots of neat memories of each of my babies. Stephen used to wear them sometimes when I would take him for a walk in Cheyenne, when it was just the two of us. Sometimes Annie would wear them when we would spend the night with Ben and Lynsey in their first apartment, then the next day James and I would go to the temple. Ellen was wearing these jammies when we moved to Moscow. Naomi wore them on her first Christmas. And now Noah. I have to wonder what I will remember about him in these jammies. I really love these red jammies.

Stephen and His Trumpet

Stephen started band this year and is playing the trumpet. He has been so excited about it! He goes to band every Monday and Wednesday after school from 3 - 4:30. He didn't have any trouble getting sound to come out of his trumpet. The first time he put it to his lips he just started tooting away.

Naomi-isms

"Mine finger got lost!"

First Day of Homework

We did it! We survived the first day of homework. School did start last week, but no homework was assigned until today. And there were two of them this year! I'll admit I was, and still am a little, nervous to have to help Stephen and Anne with homework and still get dinner ready and take care of three smaller people. But today things went really smoothly. Anne had to practice writing numbers, reading sight words, and had to read two books the teacher sent home. Stephen's seemed a little easy so maybe his will eventually get harder. He had to read (anything) for 15 min. and work on his "Me Bag." Stephen is supposed to choose 3-4 small objects that will all fit in a small brown paper bag (lunch size) that tell about him. Anne also had to fill a "Me Bag" but she had to bring it for the first day. Anne included a picture of Noah, her favorite beanie bag teddy bear, and The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown. The book just barely fit.

Fall!

Fall is almost here! Today it actually felt like it. The sun was shining and it was about 60 degrees and there was just that feeling in the air. I even saw a few (a very few) leaves starting to change already. So in honor of fall I thought I'd post one of my favorite fall pictures. This is of Ellen when she was about 15 months old.

Annie's Compassion

The other day I saw an earwig climbing up the side of the garbage can in the kitchen. So I got a paper towel and got rid of the earwig. Annie saw me do this and was upset.

Anne: "Mom, you shouldn't have done that. It wasn't doing anything."
Me: "But I don't want any earwigs in the house."
Anne: "It has to live it's life too. Next time you should just carefully take it outside and let it go."

First Day of School

It finally arrived and with mixed emotions. The first day of school is always exciting, and yet it means our summer of freedom and just being together is over. The house is quieter, and there is definitely less fighting going on, but I sure miss Stephen and Anne. It is so exciting to think of all they will be learning and doing, though. And as much as I want them to stay little forever, I do look forward to all the neat things that come as they get older. Anyway ...

Sorry this picture is a little fuzzy. They are cute though aren't they?

Today dawned cloudy and rainy. And I'm very proud to say that we did not drive to school! Stephen rode his bike with Jared and while Ellen and Naomi played at the Dixon's (yes my wonderful neighbors I'm always talking about) I put Noah in the stroller and walked Annie, Caroline, and Miriam to school. The girls got pretty good at walking home from school last year but not always very quickly. There are just too many things to look at and talk about. We really wanted them to be able to walk to school this year so hopefully after walking with an adult for a while they will be able to try it on their own and make it on time.

The Jets!

A couple of days ago, Annie told me that someone she knows has a crush on someone else. (Not her, just in case you're wondering) For some reason when she said that I immediately though of the Jets song Crush On You. So today I had to get out my Jets cd and play it for the kids. Anne is upstairs right now listening to it for the 3rd time and dancing like crazy. Yes, she is my daughter. Then I had to see what I could find out about them and found this website: http://www.mysistersmusic.com/ so I just thought I'd share it with all of you.

Here is the music video on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm_QilrHkh8