Johanna Basford's new coloring book, "Flourish" is free to download. - Johanna Basford is my favorite coloring book artist. Pretty regularly, she puts coloring pages on her website for free download, but recently she made a new mini-book available in its entirety for free download. It's called "Flourish" and contains 12 new illustrations for coloring. I printed it twice thinking that I might do it once with pens and once with pencils but we'll see how it goes. Pictured are my first attempts with pens. You can find the download here.
How to make a fabulous cheese danish at home. - Do you like a good cheese danish? Well, the Pioneer Woman published a recipe on her website that was incredibly easy. I've made these twice now, and they are wonderful! They use puff pastry, which only requires thawing to be ready to go. The hardest part for me is remembering to thaw the puff pastry and let the cream cheese come to room temperature. I didn't get a good picture of my final product, so I'm including the Pioneer Woman's picture!Find the complete recipe here.
It is hard to concentrate on a book during a pandemic. - I could not concentrate on a book while I was at home. I just couldn't focus enough to fall into a story. I think the constant barrage of news and the tension I was feeling about what would happen next really messed up my ability to focus. I did manage to finish a couple of short story collections. I also found non-fiction easier to read than fiction which really surprised me. I guess I could dip in and out of it easier without losing my place in the story. I was not the only reader who had difficulties. I found a bevy of articles written by readers lamenting this very problem.
Puzzles are great for settling a restless mind. - While reading couldn't hold my attention, I found that a jigsaw puzzle was good for quieting my over-stimulated mind. My mom likes to give puzzles as gifts - the harder the better. I found this puzzle she had given me several years ago. It's billed as the World's Smallest 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle and the pieces were smaller than a penny. It was very challenging and completing it gave me a huge feeling of accomplishment. Now I want to find another puzzle. I'd like one with a unique subject, but I'm not sure I want another tiny puzzle. 