Between shelves and books.....

At this very moment, I am sitting at the library on base.  Without a doubt it is one of my favorite places to visit and sit for a while.

I wasn't supposed to come here today, but I realized this morning that my books were going to be due on Thursday, and I would have had my hubby return them since he has to come to base almost every day, but I am done with my stack, save for one.

I have renewed that one, but wanted to get new ones.

Why you may ask?  Fair question since I ask myself this every time I come to the library.  It's not like I don't have enough books on my Kindle or on my bookshelves at home to read.

In all truthfulness, I love my Kindle, but I will always be a real book, kinda gal.  Nothing beats the smell of the book pages as you flip through them.

So, he went off to do his work at the commissary, and I came to hang out at the library.  Last time I was here I didn't bring my computer, it was the first time I had returned to the library in many years and didn't really know where anything was.

I took the opportunity to get reacquainted with everything and just browsed and walked the book aisles.

This time, I came prepared.  I had an idea of what I wanted to get, or rather, the subject matter which I was interested in, but I also brought the laptop.  I figured if I got done with the book searching before he returned to pick me up, I would just do a blog entry or read blogs, etc.

In order for you to understand why I got these books, let me explain that as I've rewatched the Tudors, am now watching The White Queen, and have immersed myself in all those documentaries, I have come to learn so much that I had never known before.

It is by far, the most amazing feeling, when the pieces of the puzzle start coming together.  You think you know something and then out of nowhere, something else comes up that makes you go "now wait a minute, I didn't realize that."

All it has done is make me even more thirsty for British History and especially the Tudor Era, the War of the Roses and the whole monarchy in general.

It's one thing to know certain names and a bit of their history, but it's an altogether different feeling when you actually start figuring out how they relate to each other and just how connected they are.

Like for example.....King Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville right?  They had quite a few children but their first was a girl also named Elizabeth more commonly known as Elizabeth Tudor.

Then there was King Richard III who was Edward IV's brother and became king when Edward died.  He is the one that imprisoned the two princes in the tower of London.  I KNOW right??? Those two princes were Edward's sons who would have become Kings upon his death.

In the meantime, we have Henry Tudor coming in, he was Margaret Beaufort's son and HE had a legitimate claim to the throne but was never allowed to claim it.  Once Richard III became King, Henry gathered an army and came in to fight for what he believe was his rightful place....and he did in fact win the battle and become King.

Guess who he married????  Elizabeth Tudor.

And guess who one of their children was?  Henry VIII.  Wow!!!

I know some of you probably could care less about this stuff, but for a History nerd such as myself, it's just been amazing being able to connect all these people and know where they came from.

Right, so with that in mind, I got 8 books, 5 of which are related to this stuff.....the other 3 are not but I wanted to grab them anyway.

• Mexican Cookbook by Jane Milton
• Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey (in preparation for the new season coming up in September)
• The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in Regency and Victorian England
• The Spanish Queen by Carolly Erickson
• The House of Tudor by Alison Plowden
• The Wars of the Roses by Robin Neillands
• Monarch and Conspirators - The Wives and Woes of Henry VIII
• Life in Medieval England

I am now back home, and I wanted to share a quick few photos I took today, not many at all, but just some things that caught my eye as I was puttering around.

Started my morning with coffee out on the deck, and some crochet.  I haven't done much on the v-stitch blanket, been busy with other things.

Right next to the table on the deck, is one of my bird houses, I have quite a few but this one has to be one of my most liked.  It is so cute.

I am not sure if I ever showed you my entrance area, but this wall is right as you come in.  I didn't do much to it, but I'm happy with how it looks.

I'm sure by now you've noticed that I have a lot of Americana decorations in my living room.  I love Americana and I love Primitive so I try to bring in little touches here and there.

Of course there always has to be some crochet around, and these are some of the blankets I've made over the years.  They sit on this shelf that my hubby made for us when we first got married.  The C and S obviously standing for Curtis and Sandra.

See?  Not many pictures at all.

I'm going to finish up this post, and then I have a load of clothes coming out of the dryer, I need to fold them and put them away.

The weather has changed, the clouds have moved in and it's looking darker outside, I'm not sure if we'll get any rain but it sure looks the part.

Have you noticed how the days have started getting shorter?  Curt and I were just talking about this last night as we drove to Tae Kwon Do.  9pm and the sun was already starting to set.  Looks like Fall is just around the corner.

For dinner tonight, I have a slow cooked pot roast, I put it in this morning and it's been cooking away.  Smells divine.  I added in some carrots and potatoes about an hour ago so that's what we're having later.

Oh and I've updated my Orange Cake recipe, go on over to the food blog for that.

I think that's it, I don't think I'm leaving anything out.  I did enjoy my time at the library but now that I'm home there are homemaking chores that need my attention, so I need to skidaddle on out of here and get to it.