New Year's Eve is tomorrow? Where did 2014 go?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! It seems that this year a lot people were sick over the holidays, myself included. I never had laryngitis and now I can say I have.  LOL  Other than not feeling well, I had a great holiday. I got to see family & friends. We spread some germs around so it was all good. I am hoping for a healthy New Year!

Which brings me to thinking about... New Years Resolutions.... I have the same ones every year. They are as follows:

1. To exercise
2. To get organized
3. Eat Healthy

The Fleming Library is now a part of the Fleming Centre which includes an arena, walking track and meeting rooms. To get more exercise I decided to find out what the Town of Lincoln has to offer in the way of programs.  Here is the list!

ADULT PROGRAMS

Hatha Yoga

Involves the body, mind, and spirit. Relax your mind and allow yourself to obtain a fitter body and positive thoughts on life. Bring a yoga mat.

$95 + HST/participant

Lincoln Centre

Nia

A combination of Martial Arts, dance and healing practices. It is a mind/body/spirit workout that is a fun way to in-crease your fitness level by moving your body in the way it was designed to move .
Thursdays, January 4 - March 26, 2015 (12 weeks)
5:30 - 6:30 pm
$90 + HST/participant

Lincoln Centre

 

Ballroom Basics

Ballroom Basics is an introduction to social ballroom and Latin dances.

No dance experience or partner required.

Have fun and learn at your own pace.

Tuesdays, January 22 - March 24, 2015 (8 weeks)

$50 + HST/participant per class

Lincoln Centre

Move to be Fit

These safe exercise programs assist the seniors of the community in becoming more fit. The classes will be instructed by a Registered Kinesiologist from Beamsville Physiotherapy.

Move To Be FIT 1: Suited for individuals with osteoporosis with moderate to high risk fracture, severe osteoarthritis, limited mobility (use of walking aid) The class will focus on primarily seated exercises, various supported balance and weight bearing training, breathing, posture and core retraining.

Move To Be FIT 2: Suited for people with osteopenia, osteoporosis with mild risk fracture, good mobility, mild to moderate osteoarthritis. The class will focus primarily on weight bearing, strength, posture, core training and use of the walking track.

$45 + HST/participant

Fleming Centre

For my New Year's Resolution, I decided to take the Ballroom Dancing classes.  To compliment the course, I will be taking out DVDs and books from the Library on Ballroom Dancing. Here are some of the titles that the library has to offer. So hopefully 2015 will be the year that I can dance the nights away!

Ballroom Dancing Made Easy



















Steppin' out. Ballroom dancing














I also plan on using the walking track at the Fleming Centre. At the library we  have books and DVDs on how to get the most out of walking. Here are some titles that you may find interesting.

Quick Start Walking

Walking for Fitness by Nina Barough
















The library also has pedometers that can be borrowed to keep track of your steps. So I plan on using one  to walk my way to a healthy more energized me!

The Town of Lincoln is also offering Walking 101. Join Jennifer and Doug from Grimsby Runners as they guide you through a one hour workshop on walking technique, proper footwear, warm up and cool down exercises, hydration and nutrition. Then take your new skills to the track!
 Tuesday, January 13th at 8 pm or Friday, January 16th at 11 am. FREE

Well I am on track with one resolution so far..... it is just the other two, being organized and eating healthy.  I know where to get my information.... the library! 

Have a Happy New Year! If you are making resolutions don't forget to check out the library to help you keep them with our fabulous collections of books, DVDs, databases and more!

Christmas is coming....

I always remember this poem that my Granddad used to tell me so many years ago.

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man's hat;

If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do,

If you haven't got a ha'penny the God Bless you!

 

Every time I think of the rhyme I think of my mom cooking Christmas Dinner.  Especially the year we had a goose. We had never had a goose and did not really know what to expect. It was going to be something marvellous... a goose. My brother and I were excited. It sat in the fridge defrosting. To me it looked no different than a turkey, but what did I know. 

 

Christmas Day arrived and I was not feeling too good. The goose was put in the oven. Back then I could smell ( I have since lost my sense of smell)  and it did not smell too good. My mother started basting this bird that seemed to ooze fat everywhere.  My grandparents arrived and I felt even worse.  It seemed to take forever for this goose to cook. My mother kept basting and basting the goose.  By the time dinner was to be served. I felt awful. My presents did not interest me at all. Then it hit... the stomach flu. Needless to say, I did not eat Christmas Dinner. I went to bed instead. In fact, I found out that I was not the only one that was sick, my Dad took one look at the food laid out on the table and that was enough for him. My brother , mother and granddad soon followed. The only person to eat Christmas Dinner  that year was my Grandmother. She relished the goose  and said it was perfect but a little on the fatty side. Then the next day, she was sick. For the next  two days no one left the house. The goose was not put away properly so it was no longer editable. I never did get to try that Christmas Goose. To this day, I have never had goose but  I can still remember the smell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This got me thinking about Christmas Dinner. We have some great cookbooks at the library on how to make the perfect holiday feast.  Many people have different Christmas Traditions just to the state the obvious.  I know of people that have ham, Cornish hens, duck and of course the goose instead of turkey for Christmas Dinner.

 

Here are some books to help you with your Christmas Dinner Planning at the Lincoln Public Library. I know that I will be using them for ideas on how to cook the perfect turkey with all the trimmings. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Good Housekeeping Christmas Cookbook by Good Housekeeping

 

 

The unofficial Downton Abbey cookbook : from Lady Mary's crab canapés to Mrs. Patmore's Christmas pudding : more than 150 recipes from upstairs and downstairs / Emily Ansara Baines

                        






   

The Martha Stewart living Christmas cookbook : a collection of favorite holiday recipes / from the editors of Martha Stewart Living. 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Christmas Dinner Planning! 

            


 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Kent Haruf

Author Kent Haruf dies at aged 71

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2855526/Publisher-says-novelist-Kent-Haruf-dies-age-71.html

  Here are two of his novels available at the Lincoln Public Library.

 
 

R.I.P P.D James

P.D James has died at the age of  94

http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/11/pd-james-passes-away-at-94.html

According to P.D. James' publisher, Faber & Faber, the acclaimed British mystery writer has died. She passed away in her home in Oxford, England, on Thursday, November 27.

Phyllis Dorothy James White was the author of 20 books, most of which have been turned into film or television productions. She rose to fame for her series of detective novels featuring the investigator/poet Adam Dalgliesh of New Scotland Yard. The first of the Dalgliesh novels, Cover Your Face, was published in 1962.

Her acclaimed 1992 dystopian novel Children of Men was made into a feature film by Alfonso Cuarón, starring Julianne Moore and Clive Owen.

James worked in government service in the U.K., including the National Health Service and the Home Office, from the 1940s until her retirement in 1979.

For another article on PD James please click on the following link from the Star.

 

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/11/27/mystery_novelist_pd_james_dead_at_94.html

Black Friday is coming...

Black Friday: I always thought it was an American Tradition.  But in recent years in Canada we are seeing more and more advertising revolve around this strange day.

What is Black Friday? It is not a holiday, it is the day after the American Thanksgiving. How did it begin and what does it have to do with shopping?

So I decided to check out what is Black Friday and what does it mean.

 

Here are a few theories that I have found on the Internet.

Theory #1

Black Friday may have started in the 19th Century due to the popularity of store-sponsored Thanksgiving parades.  Santa Claus was at the end of the parade which was a symbol that the holiday shopping season had officially started.  So everyone would start their holiday shopping the day after Thanksgiving. This information is from the Mentalfloss website  http://mentalfloss.com/article/31581/brief-history-black-Friday

Theory #2

Back in the day, there was an unwritten rule that the Christmas holiday season did not start until after thanksgiving. Therefore no stores would advertise holiday sales until the Friday after Thanksgiving.
The accounting term "In the Black" is used by retailers. The official start of the Christmas Season saw hugh profits so they went from out of the red and into the black. Hence the term: Black Friday.

Here is some interesting information about the American Thanksgiving from the Mental Floss site. http://mentalfloss.com/article/31581/brief-history-black-Friday by Haley Sweetland Edwards contributed to this story, portions of which originally appeared in 2009.

How did the date for Thanksgiving in states be the last Thursday in November?

" In 1939, the Retail Dry Goods Association warned Franklin Roosevelt that if the holiday season wouldn't begin until after Americans celebrated Thanksgiving on the traditional final Thursday in November, retail sales would be in dire straits.
 Instead of celebrating the holiday on its traditional day—November 30th that year—Roosevelt declared the next-to-last Thursday in November to be the new Thanksgiving, instantly tacking an extra week onto the shopping season. Unfortunately, this did not work out  Roosevelt didn't make the announcement until late October, and by then most Americans had already made their holiday travel plans. Many rebelled and continued to celebrate Thanksgiving on its "real" date while derisively referring to the impostor holiday as "Franksgiving." State governments didn't know which Thanksgiving to observe, so some of them took both days off. In short, it was a bit of a mess.
By 1941, Congress passed a law that made Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November regardless of how it affected the shopping day that would become known as Black Friday."


Theory #3

Black Friday is the day of great sales that bring out  a darker side to the human condition. Many people have been hurt or even killed during Black Friday Sales.  Here is a list of some of the reports as per the Mental Floss website. The article A Brief History of Black Friday by Haley Sweetland Edwards contributed to this story, portions of which originally appeared in 2009.

In 2008, when 34-year-old seasonal employee Jdimytai Damour died from asphyxiation after 2,000 shoppers knocked him own and stampeded over his back after the doors opened at 5 a.m. at the Wal-Mart on Long Island, New York.

In 2010, nine people in a California shopping mall were injured, including an elderly woman who had to be taken to the hospital, after a rugby-style scrum erupted when gift certificates were dropped from the ceiling.

If you are interested in finding out more about the morbid and very sad aspects of Black Friday check out this website.   http://blackfridaydeathcount.com/


Theory # 4

According to researchers, the name "Black Friday" dates back to Philadelphia in the mid-1960s. The Friday is in between Thanksgiving and the traditional Army-Navy football game that's played in Philadelphia on the following Saturday. Needless to say there are many traffic jams, riots etc. The police called it "Black Friday" to describe their sentiments of the day.


Black Friday in Canada began in the late 2000s according the CBC website  http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/black-friday-bargain-shopping-shifting-sales-momentum-to-november-1.2845278  . This was mainly in response to curb cross boarder shopping.  Now Black Friday has grown so much in popularity that it will soon be Black Friday Week. The fine line between Canadian and American shopping trends are now blurred especially since most of the big box stores in Canada are American.  I am just stating the obvious.


 So if you don't feel like going out shopping on Black Friday curl up with a good book about a shopping and  find out how people's lives are intertwined around the inevitable shop.







The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

The Sweet-Shop Owner by Graham Swift       

The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber   












The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan 









So if you don't have a chance to go shopping on Black Friday. There is always Cyber Monday!  
 

It's that time of year.. Getting ready for the Cookie Exchange!

What is a cookie exchange you may ask? It's a party! Yep, an excuse to get together with friends and family and what better way than to celebrate the almighty cookie.  There is a catch to a cookie exchange. The cookies must be baked from scratch. No cheating by heading out to the local bakery.

So what better way to find that perfect cookie recipe by coming to the library and browsing our cookbook section for that perfect cookie.

How does a cookie exchange work? Here are a few simple steps.

1. Create your guest list. Choose a group of 10-20 friends & family. Lots of people will mean lots of cookies to sample and take home for the holidays.

2. Choose a  Date for the Party.  Make sure you get your invites out a month a head of time. Everyone's calendars fill up quickly over the holidays. Some people find it easier to party on a non-weekend day. Decide what works best for you and your guests.   

 

3. Create the Invitations. Let everyone  know how many cookies they need to make. Each guest will need to bring one (1) dozen cookies to eat at the cookie exchange  and another one (1) dozen cookies for each person attending to take home. For example, if eight (8) people will be attending, each person will need to bring 9 dozen cookies from the same recipe.

4. How to avoid everyone baking the same cookie. On the invitation ask your guests to RSVP and tell you about the cookies they will bring. Make sure each guest brings copies of their recipe to pass around. Since many people have food allergies, it's important they know the ingredients in the cookies at your party.

5. Remind guests to bring a large container. How else are you going to bring home all those fabulous cookies. Being the host, I recommend to have extra containers etc. because there is always someone who forgets their container on the kitchen table.

 

6. Cookies to be exchanged should be well wrapped. They should be placed either on plastic plates with plastic wrap or in disposable containers that are airtight. This prevents the special cargo from becoming stale. They need to last during the Christmas season.

 

7. Don't forget this is a party. At the cookie exchange party serve milk with those cookies or hot chocolate, coffee, heck even wine. Have a great time and don't stress. It's the holidays.

 

It is easy to say, no stress when it comes to cookie exchanges, but, I have heard of people being traumatized by them.  Like, oh no I have been invited and now I have to show off my non existent baking skills. How can I compete with Sally, she is a professional baker. Can I fudged it and buy some cookies that look homemade? Then the downward cycle continues. The hunt for the perfect recipe. The trial and error of baking the perfect cookie. You become consumed by the cookie; it takes on a life all  of its own.  By the time the party has arrived you have seen so many cookies... you want to eat them all. Well because they are cookies and who cares if your cookies  aren't perfect anyway; Sally is the professional baker. They make up for your own tasty creations. You tried and that is all that counts. Now you have a lovey assortment of cookies to share with everyone. Happy Baking.

 

If you are looking for some inspiration try some of theses books.

 

 

 

   



Christmas cookies  edited by Jennifer Dorland Darling












Baker's Field Guide to Christmas Cookies by Dede Wilson     












FamilyFun's Cookies for Christmas: 50 recipes for You and Your Kids by Deanna F. Cook     

Christmas Cookies!: A Holiday Cookbook by Susan Devins                               












                                     Do you like cozy mysteries?

How about reading one of these suggestions, while you are waiting for your cookies to bake.

You can even try one of the recipes that are featured in the books.

The Christmas Cookie Killer: A Fresh- Baked Mystery  by Livia J. Washburn

        

 

 

 

Sugar Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

Happy baking everyone!

Not Safe in your Home? Books that make you go huh?

Is someone hiding in your house?

I have never really thought about someone hiding in my house before this topic came up in one of my listserves. So I decided to Google articles on the topic.

There have been cases like the one in 2008 where a homeless women was reported to have lived in a man's closet for one year.  The owner noticed that food was going missing and installed cameras.  The camera images of what he thought was a burglar were transferred to his cell phone. Once police arrived they found that the doors, windows etc. were locked. Upon further investigation, they found a 58 year old women curled up on the top shelf of the man's bedroom closet. She had been living in his house undetected for 1 year. Oh my goodness. That is so creepy. Just the thought that someone who you don't know is watching you while you sleep.

To read more of this story click on the following link. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/24889337/ns/world_news-weird_news/t/homeless-woman-lived-mans-closet-year/#.VGKROmd0ypo

Here is another story reported by Fox News of a Man who spent the Christmas season in a family's attic.  Here is the bizarre story from the website.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/12/28/man-arrested-after-days-spent-unnoticed-in-family-attic/

A family did not realize they had an unexpected Christmas guest until a man who had been in their attic for days emerged wearing their clothes, police said.
Stanley Carter surrendered Friday after police took a dog to search the home in Plains Township, a suburb of Wilkes-Barre about 100 miles north of Philadelphia. He was charged with several counts of burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and criminal trespass.
"When he came down from the attic, he was wearing my daughter's pants and my sweat shirt and sneakers," homeowner Stacy Ferrance said. "From what I gather, he was helping himself to my home, eating my food and stealing my clothes."
Police said the 21-year-old Carter had been staying with his friends, who are Ferrance's neighbors in a duplex. But when they told him to leave, he apparently accessed the shared attic through a trap door in a bedroom ceiling.
The friends said Carter went missing on Dec. 19 and they filed a missing person report a few days before Christmas.
Ferrance said she had heard noises but thought they were caused by her three children. She notified police on Christmas Day when cash, a laptop computer and an iPod disappeared, then called police again the next day when she found footprints in her bedroom closet, where the attic trap door is located.
Carter kept a list of everything he took, said Plains Township police Officer Michael Smith.
"When we were going through the inventory of what he did take, we found a note labeled 'Stanley's Christmas List' of all the items he had removed from the residence and donated to himself," Smith said.
Carter was in jail Sunday at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility with a preliminary hearing set for Jan. 5. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

There was also case about a 14 year old boy who ran away from home to live in a Texas Wal-Mart. He was successful for several days. His  hunger was satisfied by eating stolen food. He even created makeshift forts to sleep in and hide from the employees. To find out more about this story check out this following link. http://www.inquisitr.com/1409137/teenager-caught-living-at-corsicana-walmart/

This all leads me to the question... Are there any books out there with this theme? According to my listsever... there are... Hummm...  Do I really want to read them?  Will they give me the chills?

Let's see and find out.

Here are some of the books at the Lincoln Public Library with the theme Not Safe in your Home!

 

Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (An Aurora Teagarden Mystery) by  Charlaine Harris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay

Gone Girl Readalikes

 Gone Girl Readalikes

The best selling novel Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn  is now a hit movie.  There has been so much buzz over the book that people want to read something just like it.

Here is a list of similar books that you may like if you loved Gone Girl.

 Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay
A family amusement park outing turns into a terrifying nightmare after an inexplicable disappearance    

 The Dinner by Herman Koch
An internationally bestselling phenomenon: the darkly suspenseful, highly controversial tale of two families struggling to make the hardest decision of their lives -- all over the course of one meal.  

Catch Me by Lisa Gardner 

Charlene Rosalind Carter Grant, or "Charlie," knows she only has four days to live. Her two childhood best friends were murdered in their homes on the same date and time, at 8 pm on the 21st of January the previous two years.

 

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane 

A compelling and menacing page-turner about a murdered child and a vigilante killer, featuring complicated friendships and the quest for vengeance

 

 

 

The Breaker by Minette Walters

 A woman’s body washes on a beach in England and evidence shows she was murdered. At the same time her little daughter is found wandering in a nearby village, screaming at any man who approaches her. A tale of psychological suspense

 

 

 

Before I go to sleep by  S. J Watson

 An amnesiac attempts to reconstruct her past by keeping a journal and discovers the dangerous inconsistencies in the stories of her husband and her secret doctor.

 

 

 

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

 After being summoned to treat a patient at dilapidated Hundreds Hall, Dr. Faraday finds himself becoming entangled in the lives of the owners, the Ayres family, and the supernatural presences in the house

 

 

Watch me die by Erica Spindler

 Mira finds her life and career are blossoming years after the loss of her husband in Hurricane Katrina, but everything changes when she is attacked by “The Preacher,” who is soon after found dead, leading Mira to become a suspect for the murder of her own assistant, and she’s seeing mirages of her dead husband.

 

 

 

 

The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner.

 When a teacher goes missing, family secrets emerg

 

 

 

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick.

A wealthy man advertises for a wife but she isn’t what she appears to be.

 

 

Dare Me by Megan Abbott

This book is about a cheerleading team and a suspicious suicide

 

 

 

Garnethill by Mina Denise

Maureen O'Donnell wakes up one morning to discover her therapist-boyfriend dead in the living room. She now finds herself the prime suspect in his murder.

 

 

 

Defending Jacob by Willian Landay When his 14 year old son is charge with the murder of a fellow student, assistant district attorney Andy Barber is torn between loyalty and justice as facts come to light that lead him to question how well he knows his own son.

 

 

 

The Silent Wife by A.S.A Harrison

Jodi and Todd are at a bad place in their marriage. He is a committed cheater, she lives and breathes denial. But when Todd decides to play for keeps she has nothing less to lose as the couple heads for catastrophe.

 

 Place a hold on one of these books today available at the Lincoln Public Library!

 

Just thought I would Share this funny Youtube Clip on A Book

This  clip was brought to my attention today and it made me laugh. I hope you like it!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkQkeKbTP_w

Lynn Kositsky - Local Author to speak on Thursday October 23rd

Author Talk -Lynn Kositsky

Lynne will read from and talk about her writing, and sign copies of her books, which will be available for purchase.

  Thursday October 23 @ 7 pm
Fleming Library, in TLCC Meeting Room

Vineland resident Lynne Kositsky is an award-winning Canadian poet, author, Shakespeare scholar, and former teacher. Her 2004 Holocaust novel, The Thought of High Windows, received rave reviews and won the Canadian Jewish Book Award for Youth. Her Our Canadian Girl Series, Rachel: A Mighty Big Imagining, won an award from the International Youth Library in Munich. Lynne’s recent YA novels include The Plagues of Kondar, With Fearful Bravery, about Jewish refugees accepted in Shanghai during World War II (inspired by the story of Hannelore Headley, who owned a bookstore in St. Catharines for many years), and Minerva’s Voyage, which was influenced by the author’s interest in Shakespeare. She recently appeared at Toronto’s prestigious Word on the Street festival.

Check out the Nashville Library Youtube Video

All About the Books, No Trouble"

NashvilleLibrary

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pduszh4ADTU

 

Nashville Public Library team celebrates library cards in this adaptation of Meghan Trainor’s performance of “All About That Bass,” as seen on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. We had a little bit of fun showcasing how easily Nashvillians can borrow, download and stream books, music and movies.

At the Lincoln Public Library you can also borrow, download books and  music. Go the Lincoln Public Library's Website  www.liincoln.library.on.ca  . On the  home page left click on Audio & eBooks to access Overdrive. To download, 3 free songs a week go to Databases and left click on Freegal.

 

Great Job Nashville Library !  Love it!

 

 

 

Scarry Stories for Halloween

Here is a sneak peak of our newsletter. Pick one up today!

Tis the season to be scared! Check out these suggestions from library staff, if you dare...

 

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is suggested by Jill, who adds “I chose this well-written title because it was the first adult book that I read as a teenager that truly frightened me.”

 

The Hallo-wiener by Dav Pilkey is Jennifer D.’s pick. She          describes it as a deliciously witty, light-hearted picture book about a beleaguered dachshund who shows just how brave a wee dog can be.

 

Margaret finds anything by John Saul pretty scary, since his work seems to be all about haunted houses and exorcisms. Some John Saul titles are House of Reckoning, The Unloved, and  Faces of Fear.

 

Katie has picked something for everyone: check out Boo by Robert Munsch; The Shining and its sequel, Dr. Sleep, by Stephen King; Coraline by Neil Gaiman; the Bunnicula series by James Howe; Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger; everything by     Edgar Allan Poe and the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix.

 

Favourite scary stories from Graveside Al. Janice is a big fan of the late Alan Maitland, of CBC Radio fame. As “Graveside Al”, his selections in this anthology include frightening tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Anne Rice, Roald Dahl and even Lucy Maud           Montgomery.

 

Jessica suggests the Young Adult title, Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, which is both scary and a romance. Sounds       intriguing!

 

The Graveyard Book, is Leanne’s scary choice for a perfectly spooky Hallowe’en read. It has murder, ghosts and a creepy    cemetery but has the fun twist of the ghosts being the heroes, who raise a human boy and protect him from a killer.

 

Dana’s choice is Frankenstein by Mary   Shelley. She adds that she chose it “because Mary Shelley’s detailed description of the creature brought a vivid image to my mind that sent shivers up my spine!”