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.

I debated whether I wanted to write about this week, or even at all, but since I had shared off and on since April or May about our cats and their various illnesses, I thought I would mention that our oldest cat, Pixel, was put to sleep last Sunday.

The reason I didn’t want to write about it is that it is just too difficult to do so. Sometimes I want to believe it is a nightmare I will wake up from at some point.

The short version is that Pixel continued to decline after she became sick in May around the same time our other cats also caught some sort of virus.

We spent about four months battling various ailments or incidents with out cats, starting with the youngest being sprayed by a skunk, getting an eye infection, and then some sort of virus that passed to our middle cat and made her very sick. We had to get antibiotics and other medicine for her because she was only sleeping and not eating and just declining fast. As she started to get better, the oldest cat caught it and before we could get her to the vet, we let her outside to rest under her favorite bush and then she disappeared for three days and four nights.

We thought she was dead and when she returned I imagined some romantic idea that we’d get her well and she’d live another five years.

Sadly, that was not to be and I blame myself for this in some ways so I don’t feel like I can write a lot more about it. My friends and family say I did all I could but I question that and wish I had taken her to a different vet for a second opinion. In the end, the virus most likely attacked her liver, or her inability to eat from the side effects of the virus, led to her decline.

We have had Pixel since early 2017 so it’s been quite an adjustment not to see her in the house, let her out and in, have her climb on my side or chest while I was reading a book at night, lift her to the bathroom sink where she liked to drink from and seeing her every day during my morning bathroom trip when she’d pace infront of me and make little noises to try to get me to pet her even though I was …. Busy.

She wasn’t a very loud cat so sometimes we wouldn’t even notice she was there ….

But she was there. Always.

And now she’s not.

And that’s very strange, very hard, and, for me, overwhelmingly heartbreaking.

It all just adds to a lot of sadness going on with friends who are losing their human loved ones, which, in most cases, is way more difficult that losing a pet friend (though that is very hard too).

So, while my family and I were super sad this week, we tried to find joy, to give ourselves grace when we felt sad and down, and give our other pets a lot of extra love.

Slowly starting school for Little Miss and working on my Gladwynn book helped to distract me and yesterday The Husband took Little Miss and The Boy to a family amusement park about 90 minutes away, which I think helped distract the kids.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

Miss Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson and By The Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie.

I loved them both for different reasons. Miss Buncle Married because it was relaxing and By The Pricking of My Thumbs because it was horrifyingly thrilling in some parts, but also had some humor spread throughout. It was my first Tommy and Tuppence Mystery and I’ll have a review up later this week.

In Progress

I am slow reading Stillmeadow Daybrook by Gladys Taber. Since each chapter is a month, I plan to read a chapter a month for the rest of 2026 and into 2027. I’m also reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

I’m currently reading a Nancy Drew Mystery —   The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk.

I’m also about to start a Murder, She Wrote Mystery: A Slaying in Savannah by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain.

Up Soon

I plan to start The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain in September.

I’ll also be reading Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie for the Christie Reading Challenge 2026 and really hope to read Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham soon as well.

And I can’t wait to order a copy of The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson to continue with the Miss Buncle storyline.

What The Family is Reading

Little Miss and I are on the last, very long chapter, of Heidi. She read two chapters on her own this week and I was proud of her because she hasn’t been reading on her own much lately. She’s like me as a kid, I think. I would go through spurts of reading and then do other things, like art, and then come back to reading. She has been drawing a lot lately in a sketchbook I bought her.

We will be starting a book for history/literature this week as school starts but we have not decided which one.

The Boy is listening to a Warhammer book but I forget which one and he’s not downstairs where I can ask him right now.

Warren (aka The Husband) is reading The Bigger They Come by Erle Stanley Gardner.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

I am on a “book-buying ban” this month but still ordered a copy of A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis and Warren bought me a cozy mystery called Midsummer Murder by Rebecca Kelly at a library book sale.

And I may or may not have ordered the remaining copies of the Tommy and Tuppence series by Agatha Christie that will hopefully match the edition I have.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

An episode of Midsomer Murders. We watched an episode from Season 17 Episode 1 and whoa. Most shows jump the track by season 17…not this one. I haven’t watched these in order. My husband watches them more and says they do hold up well throughout all the seasons.

A couple of Murder, She Wrote episodes.

Movies: Irene and Vernon Castle, Project Hail Mary, Private Detective 62, Lady Killer, Little Caesar, and Ladies They Talk About.

What I’ve Been Writing

I made a lot of progress on the manuscript of Gladwynn Grant Goes Back to School this past week.

If you don’t know, I have a cozy mystery series that you can find here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1KSQJXP

I’ll also have it up on library sites soon as well….if I can figure out how. Ha.

In the last couple of weeks on the blog I shared:

• Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot August 21
• Book recommendation: Miss Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson
• Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot August 14
• A tour of our bookcases
• Mid-year reading catch up: What I’ve read this year so far

What I/We’ve Been Listening To

Maine Mutiny by Donald Bain. It’s a Murder, She Wrote book and I only listen to it when I am driving somewhere but I’m really getting into it so I am going to have to listen to it other times as well.

Recent Blog Posts I Enjoyed

Mama (not her real name *wink*) from Mama’s Empty Nest writes the most interesting blog posts about her and her family’s travels around the country. I learn something new every time I read one. Today I am sharing two of her posts, one from this past week, and one from a year ago that she linked to from this week’s post.

Tuesday Tour: going round on Route 66

Tuesday Tour: going round in circles

I also liked this post about God’s Growing Garden seeing a hummingbird.

Some Housekeeping

Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs), Cat (Cat’s Wire) 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?

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