It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to. Feel free to link your posts about

This past week we took our newest pet edition —  our cat Cass — to the vet for a cut to his leg and paw. I don’t know what he did. The cat is crazy. Luckily the cuts were not yet infected but he is on a preventative antibiotic just in case.

I had a stressful week for several reasons, so I looked for the small things to calm me and make me happy during the week (and distract me from national news).

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Just Finished

I didn’t finish any books this week.

In Progress

 I am enjoying Miss Read’s Village School by Miss Read. It’s a slow, easy-going read and I really need that right now. It’s about a teacher at a small school in a small English village in the 1950s and it is about as quaint and low-key as it sounds.

I am also reading  The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie. This one is like an international mystery, so different than her normal mysteries. I’m really enjoying it so far.

Up Soon

I will probably start Return of the King by Tolkien once I finish The Secret of Chimneys.

What The Family is Reading

The Husband is reading The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett and just finished Anxious People by Fredrick Backman.

He is also planning to read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carre, as well as the other books related to that one.

Poor guy thought something I wrote on Instagram meant that I didn’t like when people planned what they were going to read in the new year or set goals. That’s not what I actually said but he read too fast, I think. What I wrote was that I am not setting a numerical goal of books to be read this year because I just want to read and not worry about numbers or goals of any kind. I’m doing this because there has been a lot of stress with my parents’ health and other life things so I just want to take the pressure off this year.

Of course, I probably will set a personal goal of how many books I’d like to read but I’m not going to be strict about it or make an announcement.

I do, however, enjoy it when others announce or talk about these goals and I admire anyone who sets them and reaches them.

I usually do set and try to reach them. I just don’t want to this year.

The only challenge I will probably do is the Read Christie 2026 Challenge, which involves reading at least one Agatha Christie book a month for the entire year. That’s a challenge I can totally handle.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week I watched, Taxi a James Cagney movie from 1931.

I also watched a few episodes of Cagney and Lacey and it might replace my Murder, She Wrote obsession but I’m not sure yet. I am enjoying the series so far.

I also watched The Lemon Drop Kid with Bob Hope. It was a totally goofy, crazy, wild movie.

Tonight I hope to watch the first episode of season six of All Creatures Great and Small on the PBS channel on Amazon.

What I’ve Been Writing

Last week on the blog I shared:

• Saturday Evening Chat: Small things that make me happy
• Winter of Cagney: Taxi (1931)
• Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot January 9
• My favorite reads from 2025
• Favorite movies I watched in 2025
• A Good Book and Cup of Tea Bookish Link Party for January

Recent Blog Posts I Enjoyed

|| How Do You Read Your Books by Cat’s Wire ||

|| Small Things That Make Me Smile by Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs ||

Some Housekeeping

Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs) and I host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea.  This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!). Each link party will be open for a month. You can find that link up for this month here.

Each week, I host the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot with some great hosts. It goes live Thursday night but you can share any kind of blog posts (family-friendly) there until Tuesday of each week. You can check my recent posts on the sidebar to the right for the most recent link-party.

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

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This post is linked up with The Sunday Post at  Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, The Sunday Salon with Deb at Readerbuzz, and Book Date: It’s Monday! What are you reading hosted by Kathyrn at The Book Date. Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Reading Reality.

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Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

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