It's fall!  Time to get a wiggle on!

If I close my eyes I can hear my mother saying "get a wiggle on" or "don't dawdle" whenever she needed to encourage any one of her seven children or any of the grandchildren or great grands to pick up the pace!  My mom had a way with expressions.  Somewhere in the seventies she started greeting me each day with "morning sunshine" *sigh*  And I will forever love that she referred to my daughter as "Queenie"  Why Queenie?  I have no idea. 

I do know that she would have a number of things to say about my curling up on the couch and watching the television each evening.  And she would be a bit bothered, well more than a bit, about my pressing the snooze button on the alarm clock and snuggling under the covers for another ten minutes in the morning. Get a wiggle on indeed!  "Jane Ellen, is your work done?"  She lives in my heart and my memory and she usually keeps me on task.

My mom was English, and a Registered Nurse, mother of seven and she ran the household.  We were a disciplined lot, neat and trim and polite.  She fancied all four daughters with nursing degrees, (only one is a nurse) and she was light years ahead of her Rosary Society friends... she knew her sons would not be priests, (none are).  Thank the heavens!

Summer has slipped away.  Some time ago, actually.  Yet Piper and I are not willing to move forward.  We're stuck.  We could call it denial!  We set the clocks back, we've turned the heat on, we did all of the fall story times.  We outreached to plenty of new friends but it's dark outside and it's cold and we like the couch and the covers and all the NEW children's books.  Although Alice, (that would be my mom) would politely inform me to get off the sofa and go "out for a bit of fresh air".  In a home with seven children - that was mandatory unless it was 30 below!  "out you go"  "you need some pink in your cheeks" "keep an eye on your sister" don't be stalling, close the door, you don't live in a barn"  

Currently Piper and I are stubbornly refusing to go out and about.  The distant echo of Alice's words are just not strong enough this Fall.  We are curling up under comfy blankets reading everything we can get our hands on, or Piper's paws on!   The books are fabulous.  We are still going to the beach house on the weekends pretending it's summer and loving the sunsets while reading even more books.   This evening I took a photo of the books on the L.  If you follow this blog...the L is the other end of the L-shaped sofa where one of my "to read" piles lives.  Here's a nice neat photo:  

And here's what the rest of the house looks like!.  Heaven forbid Alice ever saw my messes!  

And on the coffee table

And these have found their way into the bedroom.  Piper wants me to read them to her!

We're very comfy on the couch and the bed with the books.  We're reading for submissions to our Connecticut Library gift giving list which our state librarians pull together annually.  We're reading for the library's 2014 summer reading list, and I am reading new picture books in order to feature a book each day in November because it is Children's Picture Book Month!  Yay! And we're Ambassadors!  

Here are a couple of cute photos from our library kids, big and little and some of their favorite picture books:

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Alrighty now, Piper is tugging me off to bed, "get a wiggle on" to read the book at the top of this post...but I bet you already guessed that.  If You Give A Dog A Donut.  Ut-oh, this could present a problem tomorrow morning.  Or maybe I'll just say "out you go, Piper" with a little bit of Alice in my voice.  God Bless and good night!

P.S. (Piper Script) Alice loved dogs!