Lost Cowboy

Now that we are past Labor Day, I am fully into nesting mode.  I will admit that I am a little scared of this up coming winter – as it will be the first that I spend alone up here in the mountains of New Hampshire.  Although being in ski country has its definite benefits, the months are long, the days are short and the snow is deep.

One way I plan to combat the winter scare is to ensure my home is comfortable and pleasant.  Not surprising to Lost Cowboy fans, I have been seeking out interesting purveyors of products designed to help us make our homes attractive and comfortable.  A perfect such example is Bailey Doesn’t Bark, “a contemporary home and life accessories company, offering hand crafted tableware, home accents, jewelry and locally produced paper goods.”

From Bailey Doesn’t Bark’s founder Re Jin Lee:  “Inspired by memories, dreams and nature, I strive to create simple yet uniquely witty designs to be enjoyed throughout everyday life. Since I began Bailey Doesn’t Bark in 2008, I have been committed to making eco and ethically conscious decisions from design to production.  It is my intent to inspire not only with my designs but with the philosophy infused into production.”

Bailey Doesn’t Bark’s collection of home goods include some great things that definitely have my mind going.  However, as is often the case, I was distracted by the paper goods they offer. I love this Heart Card Set, which are cards with an embossed heart that can be customize with chalk.  I love anything with a chalk board (remind me to tell you about the time I bought a can of chalkboard paint and applied it to just about every flat surface in my apartment). 

Find all the “contemporary home and life accessories” of Bailey Doesn’t Bark here.

This is my final Summer Reading post.  But don’t worry – due to popular response, I will continue a weekly post about what I have been reading.  Beginning next week, I will share a weekly post about a book I have read under a new “Weekly Read” feature. I have a full Kindle and shelves of books to keep me busy for weeks to come – so please join me.

This week I want to share one of the most delightful novels I have read in a long time, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson.

About Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand: “In the small village of Edgecombe St. Mary in the English countryside lives Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen Simonson’s wondrous debut. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, the Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother’s death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and regarding her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?”

I was charmed by this book from the very beginning.  I have nothing in common with the novel’s title character, Major Pettigrew, a retired British Army major and widower.  However, I was totally absorbed by his world and grew to really care for him and I even learned a little bit about myself and my world view as Ms. Simonson told his story.

At its essence, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand is novel about life’s last act and how one can change his ways and open up to a new world, new love, and ultimately, happiness when life‘s great joys seemed to be years past.  In the background, the novel is about old world versus new world and how we are not all that different from others who come from seemingly foreign backgrounds.

Ms. Simonson, who gives us her first novel, is a gifted writer and creates a wonderful personal story of this man and his questioning of what he always knew.  I hope that we are in store for more great novels from Ms. Simonson in the future.

If you are looking for a nice story with fully developed characters and a premise that will make you feel good about your own future possibilities, then Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand may be just the book for you.

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand is available from Amazon and other booksellers.

Explore more about the book on author Helen Simonson’s website here.