A Nest Cleaning Weekly Link Round-Up

It must be that time of year. I'm reorganizing things-- especially in my craft room since my focus has shifted from needlepoint to knitting. Yes, I've moved on from my filing cabinets to my craft containers, and somehow I'm determined to make everything fit in an orderly manner. Sometimes that's easier said than done-- know what I mean?

I think there's been a fundamental shift in me. Yes, I still accumulate things (especially books and yarn), but I read the books and pass them on; I use the yarn and pass what I make along to others. When Denis and I married sixteen years ago, he brought all his stuff from the UK with him. I hadn't finished sorting through all my deceased mother's belongings, so I had to hurry up and do that so that we'd have a prayer of fitting all his things in the house. We still wound up renting a large storage unit.

But I'd say at least five years ago, we started moving into smaller units until the only things in it were all my Christmas decorations. Then I started downsizing in a big way with those, and Denis cleared a bunch of his stuff out of the shed here on our property. Now, what Christmas decorations we have are in the shed.

Accumulating stuff doesn't mean much to me anymore. (And did you know that the closet in our guest room is virtually empty so that guests can actually hang up their clothes and put away their suitcases?) Denis and I are both determined that what we have will fit in our present nest; it's just that sometimes it means we have to take a good look around and do a bit of nest cleaning. But before I get started on that again, I'd better mosey on out to the corral. I might have a bit of cleaning to do out there, too! Head 'em up! Mooooooooove 'em out!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Charting the geography of classic literature.
• Were the Jack the Ripper letters fabricated by journalists?
• The Oxford English Dictionary's new words include "mansplaining" but steer clear of "poomageddon."
• The art of unpacking a library.
• Science says silence is much more important to our brains than we think.
• Illustrating Sherlock Holmes in pictures.
• In praise of the small-town library.
• Zadie Smith on the essential services of independent bookstores.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A Crusader-Era high altar has resurfaced in Jerusalem's Holy  Sepulcher. 
• A 1,200-year-old comb holds clues to Viking runes.
• This 3,500-year-old Greek tomb upended what we thought we knew about the roots of Western civilization. 
• A rare copy of the Declaration of Independence survived the Civil War hidden behind wallpaper.
• The secret to the Great Pyramid's near-perfect alignment has possibly been found.
• Ancient Roman boxing gloves have been discovered near Hadrian's Wall.

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Borneo's orangutan population has plummeted by half in just sixteen years.
• Paleontologists have discovered a never-before-seen ancient fish species.
• The first video of the baby Dumbo octopus shows they're fully formed from birth.

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• A visual tour of thirty-five literary bars and cafés from around the world.
• The countries poised to become renewable superpowers. There's no reason why the US can't be one of them.
• This 32-room bookstore in Ohio is like something from a dream.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Ten of the best books to understand Australia. 
• Ten debut novels that should be read before spring 2018.
• Twenty-five legendary literary feuds, ranked.
• The greatest crime novelists on their favorite crime novels ever.
• Eleven haunting facts about Beloved. 
• Fifteen great books that would make terrible movies.
• This link is a little late-- 28 days, 28 films for Black History Month. February may be over, but we can still watch the movies!

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Have a great weekend, and read something fabulous!