Welcome to my blog! I am a wife and mom from Pennsylvania who also happens to write. I have been writing for 25 years, fourteen of those for smalltown newspapers in rural Pennsylvania and upstate New York. I'm a homeschool mom, a cozy mystery writer, a photographer, a wife, and a mom of two. I blog a little bit about a lot of things here on the blog. You can also find me on Instagram.
Today’s prompt was:Books I Was Super Excited to Get My Hands on but Still Haven’t Read.
So I have a lot of books I could probably put on this list but today I am going to share three books I grabbed up at used book sales but still haven’t started. I know – I am supposed to share ten but I didn’t have ten! I am so bad at the whole “top ten” theme but hopefully I’ll get better at it.
These books won’t be on the “popular” lists of today because this week I realized I don’t read popular books. I read books not many people have heard of, I think. I’m like a little old book lady stuck in a middle-aged lady’s body.
Anyhow, here are my three books:
Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie.
This is the first book in the Grantchester Mysteries, which is the book series that the British TV show is based on. The series follows the vicar turned amateur sleuth, Sidney Chambers.
Originally, I wanted to read these books because I thought they were older mysteries but when I picked up this book I realized it had been written in 2012, making it much more modern than I expected. I also learned (well just today, if I am honest) that the books are a collection of short stories, somewhat like G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown Mysteries.
I still want to read the book(s), however. I will have to compare it with what I have already seen of the show, which isn’t much.
There are six books in this series with the fifth, the prequel having been written in 2019.
Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death (2012)
Sidney Chambers and The Perils of the Night (2013)
Sidney Chambers and The Problem of Evil (2014)
Sidney Chambers and The Forgiveness of Sins (2015)
Sidney Chambers and The Dangers of Temptation (2016)
Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love (2017)
The Road to Grantchester (2019)
The next book I snatched up at a library sale that I wanted to read was Let The Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor.
This is the sequel to Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, which I read as a kid. Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry is a sequel to Song of the Trees and all are part of the Logan family saga.
I want to eventually read this entire series but before I start this particular book, I want to go back and reread Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry since it has been *mumble mumble* years since I first read it.
If you are not familiar with this series, here is a quick description of the first book:
Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, this is the story of one family’s struggle to maintain their integrity, pride, and independence in the face of racism and social injustice. And it is also Cassie’s story – Cassie Logan, an independent girl who discovers over the course of an important year why having land of their own is so crucial to the Logan family, even as she learns to draw strength from her own sense of dignity and self-respect.
And this one:
It is a frightening and turbulent time for the Logan family. First, their friend T. J. must go on trial for murder – and confront an all-white jury. Then, Cousin Suzella tries to pass for white, with humiliating consequences. And when Cassie’s neighbor Mrs. Lee Annie stands up for her right to vote, she and her family are driven from their home. Other neighbors are destroyed and shattered by the greed of landowners. But through it all, Cassie and the Logans stand together and stand proud – proving that courage, love, and understanding can defy even the deepest prejudice.
The third book I grabbed and wanted is Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour.
I grabbed this one because my mom and brother used to read Louis L’Amour when I was a kid and a blogger I follow reads him and was talking about his books. I thought this would be something different to try – out of my normal realm of genre reading.
L’Amour writes westerns and the only other books I’ve read that I would consider westerns are The Walt Longmire Mysteries by Craig Johnson.
So have you read any of these books or even heard of them? Let me know in the comments!
Apple Cider Slaying is the first book in the Cider Shop Mystery series by Julie Anne Lindsey and I can say right off the bat that I will read more in the series after reading this one.
The mystery starts with a murder in the apple barn of Winona “Winnie” Mae Montgomery and her Granny Smythe. The discovery of the body of Nadine Cooper, Granny’s nemesis, would have been unpleasant at any time but was especially unpleasant to find when Winona was in the middle of an interview with the bank’s loan officer while trying to secure a loan for her cider making business.
Winona has been helping Granny with her orchard for years and had hoped to expand the business. That will be hard to do, though, without some extra money. Getting that money won’t be easy when horrible things keep happening in front of the man who can give that money.
When the new sheriff, handsome Colton Wise, lists Granny as his number one suspect, Winnie knows she needs to clear Granny’s name. To clear her name she will have to do some investigating of her own because she thinks Sheriff Wise has made up his mind to prove Granny is guilty.
As if trying to keep the orchard afloat and start her own business, working at the local diner, and having her grandmother accused of murder isn’t enough, Winnie’s ex-boyfriend shows up back in town after dumping her the year before. Luckily, she has a best friend and people in her small community to lean on and support her and her grandmother.
There is a ton of humor in this book even in the midst of some very tense moments – especially between Winnie and Colton.
The one minor issue I had was that I would have liked the grandmother to be a little more flushed out – such as having even more of her personality and backstory showcased, but I think that will happen in future books. There was some of that in this first book, don’t get me wrong, but I loved her character so much so I want more. I am sure I will get that more in book two.
I loved Granny so much that I almost cried during one scene but I’m not going to spoil the reason for my emotion. You’ll have to read the book.
This series is on Kindle Unlimited or available for purchase in ebook, audiobook, or paperback.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene (Another fluff read by “Carolyn Keene” this week.)
The Fast Lane by Sharon Peterson (A romantic comedy – much needed, though there is some seriousness thrown in so I’m reading it sort of slowly.)
Just Finished:
Strawberry Girlby Lois Lenski
I almost abandoned this one because of how odd it was when I first started but then I had to find out what happened with the Slater family – who are so mean to the Boyler family. If you’re not familiar with this one it is about farming families in Florida in the early 20th century. Their accents are, I guess, very authentic. Or mocking. Not sure which, but I think they are meant to be authentic. (I know they are meant to be authentic. I’m teasing a bit here.)
It honestly had a lot of disturbing stuff in it so I don’t think this will be a book I’ll read over and over. The librarian at our local library said this one had sentimental meaning for her like the Little House books but I don’t remember neighbors poisoning the Ingalls’ mule like the neighbors in this book did. Yikes. It did have a good ending, but I would not call this a “cozy read.”
It was, however, an interesting one.
Abandoned: I planned to start a new book by author Maddie Day and then found out that she is a cozy mystery writer who pushes politics in her books. No thanks. I read to escape from all that – not to have it shoved at me in books that are meant to be fun. And, by the way, I don’t want politics even if it is politics I “agree with.”
Soon to be read:
The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of my Father by Jim Wight
The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe
The Boy and I are reading Around the World in 80 Days Together.
Little Miss and I are reading Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes.
The Husband is reading . .. oops. Forgot to ask him and he’s laying down for a nap. I’ll let you know next week.
What We watched/are Watching
It was a mixed bag of things on tap to watch this week. I watched an episode of Dick VanDyke, one of the old Carol Burnett Show, a couple of YouTube videos from Just A Few Acres Farm and I think that’s about it. I read and wrote more this week than watched things. What I’m Writing
I am still working on corrections to Cassie and on writing the third book in the Gladwynn Grant Mysteries.
Now it’s your turn
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.
Zooma the Wonder Dog (my dog for those who may be new here) has this way of sitting and staring at me right at the moment I’ve finally had a chance to sit down and work on a blog post or read a book.
And what stinks is that I have no idea what she wants when she does that.
Sometimes she wants to be petted and other times she wants me to take her out. It is up to me to decipher what she wants and there are days I am just in no mood to try to figure it out.
Today as I work on this post is one of those days.
We just took her outside so I don’t think she has to go to the bathroom. What it looks like is that she wants attention. She wants to play and be petted. I guess I will have to pause and see what she needs.
Ah, yes. It was a pet and a play.
Now with that out of the way I can continue to chat with all of you, my bloggy friends.
I like my Saturday chat posts because I just ramble and then you ramble back at me. I like that we ramble about nothing and everything.
This week I have a little more to ramble about than some weeks, but not a lot more.
We didn’t do a ton but with the weather nicer we were outside more. The temps were pretty high at the beginning of the week but at the end of each night, it was cool enough for Little Miss to jump on the neighbor’s trampoline. They are so nice and put that trampoline up each year specifically for Little Miss since their kids are grown now. They do have their grandsons up to visit sometimes but they live eight hours away now so that visit doesn’t happen as often as they would all like.
The trampoline is on top of a hill behind their house and it’s a bit of a hike for this woman who is out of shape and overweight. The first night we hiked up my legs hurt and I had to stop four times. The second night the climb was way better and by the third I climbed it very easily. I was grateful I got used to that haul a bit faster than some years.
Little Miss asks me to pretend I am characters from the books we read and those characters rate her various jumps and flips. I don’t mind doing it when it is just her and me out there but a couple nights this week my neighbor’s husband was outside burning his trash and working in the garden and there I was doing my silly voices. He didn’t seem to mind, but I still explained to him what I was doing. He isn’t a super chatty guy but he smiled at me good-naturedly and either thought our little play-acting was amusing or that I’m insane. Maybe both. *wink*
On Thursday Little Miss and I visited my parents for some dinner. The Boy had worked with my dad all day after morning technical school and was tired so he crashed at home while we were gone.
We took Zooma the Wonder Dog with us to show off her crooked new hairdo. Grooming has gotten very expensive so we bought a cheap kit and decided to groom her ourselves. It didn’t come out too bad but she still needs to be trimmed on her right side. She didn’t enjoy the sound of the clippers so we used the scissors. At least the large mats behind her ears are gone.
And the fur around her legs and feet is a little shorter.
The view from my parents was absolutely beautiful on Thursday. I was dealing with some stress and depression that day and it seemed like Zooma knew I needed to see the view because she let me know she needed to use the bathroom and then led to me to the dirt road and field in front of the house where I admired the view for several moments.
My mood was greatly improved after the visit and when I went home, I read books instead of going on social media or watching anything. It helped my mood immensely.
Yesterday Little Miss, The Boy, The Husband, and I traveled to a theater 45 minutes away and watched the new Garfield movie. It wasn’t too bad. Better than I thought it would be. Afterward we picked up some lunch at a local supermarket (they have amazing fried chicken there) and then visited a park near there that was located next to the river.
There were white puffs all over the ground, which at first I thought were from dandelions but then realized that they looked like puffs of cotton. I looked up and they were floating all over in the air, falling from the trees. I knew there were trees that dropped pods or something that had white cotton-like material inside but wasn’t sure what they were so I had to search online on my phone while we were sitting there.
Of course, the cotton-like material was coming from cottonwood trees along the river. I don’t think I’ve seen that material fall from trees before so I thought cottonwood must not be as common in Pennsylvania. After I got home, I looked that up online, though, and cottonwood is fairly common but is found along rivers, lakes, streams, and marshland.
After we ate lunch, The Husband picked up some groceries for us while the kids and I stayed inside the AC car. I felt rude not helping but he moves very fast and we dawdle so he seems to do better if we aren’t with him. We sort of annoy him when we wander around the store instead of just getting what is on our list.
After the groceries were picked up we headed home and read some on the porch.
The rest of the weekend should be just hanging out and relaxing, probably at my parents on Sunday and Monday.
We have a local Memorial Day Ceremony Monday morning that we will try to attend and then we will probably have a cookout at my parents that afternoon.
I hope that you all are having a nice day Memorial Day weekend, if you are in the U.S., or just a nice weekend in general.
What was your week last week? Did you do anything exciting or interesting? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to know.
I’m so glad you are here and taking part in our weekly link up of family friendly, fun, educational, interesting, crafty, fashionable, and whatever else posts. I hope you’ll tell your followers about our post (feel free to copy and paste the graphic) and visit the blogs in the link up. I know I have met some very fun bloggers that way!
We are having such a wonderful sunny week here. It has been a little too hot for my taste most of the week but today was very nice and it looks like we are in for a nice Memorial Day weekend here in the US as well.
I hope you are also having lovely weather this week.
Let’s get to our most clicked post this week. Our most clicked post this week is by a blogger who has been very dedicated and loyal to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot.
Debbie always thanks the hosts, comments on other blogs, and makes many of us smile with the lovely decorations in and around her home.
Last month Debbie’s husband passed away after a short battle with cancer. He was diagnosed one day and a few weeks later he was gone. It was very fast and shocking so if you are someone who prays, I ask that you say a little prayer for Debbie and her family as they deal with this loss.
Now it is your turn to link up your favorite posts. They can be fashion, lifestyle, DIY, food, etc. All we ask is that they be family-friendly. You can link up posts from last week or even from years ago.
Also, please take the time to visit the other blogs on the link-up and meet some new bloggers!
This week our prompt was: Authors I’d Love a New Book From (These could be authors who have passed away, who have retired from writing, who have inexplicably gone quiet, or who might just not be able to keep up with how quickly you read their books!)
I knew right away what I would answer for this when I looked at the list of prompts last week.
This weekend the first author I thought of – Jan Karon, author of The Mitford series — announced she is actually writing a new book! What?! So excited right now!
In addition to Jan I would love new books from Lilian Jackson Braun (alas she is dead) and L.M. Montgomery (also dead).
Back to Jan, though.
This weekend Jan attended a tea at the Mitford Museum and announced that at the age of 87 she is writing the 15th book in the Mitford series, after originally deciding that the book she released in 2017 would be the last.
I am terribly excited for the new book but even if it never comes out for some reason, I will be okay because there are already so many books that I can read over and over again.
And I do read them over and over. I am always finding something new in them each time I read them.
If you don’t know what The Mitford series is, it is a series of books about Father Tim Cavenaugh, an Episcopalian Priest in his late-60s who starts to experience a lot of firsts – the first time falling in love, the first time becoming a father (you’ll have to read to find out what this means) , and the first time being diagnosed with a serious illness. He lives in the fictional town of Mitford, N.C. where there are a variety of wonderful, eccentric, sweet, bullheaded, hilarious, and loving characters. Those characters include Father Tim’s friends who he meets every morning at the diner, his church secretary, his housekeeper, his doctor, his sweet congregation member Miss Sadie, and then later his charming neighbor Cynthia.
Mitford books are written in a series of short snippets from a few points of view but somehow the story still comes together cohesively. Each character is so endearing and Karon writes them so perfectly and authentically that it is impossible not to fall in love with them and want the best for them. There are plotlines that carry over from each book but the main plotlines are usually resolved in the installment they begin in.
There is at least one plotline that does not resolve in several of the books and it had me heartbroken and worried as I waited for it to completely resolve. It was an amazing way to keep readers coming back for more.
I know some people might start the series and be annoyed by how the points of view jump here and there, but for the most part, the POV is Father Tim. If that jumping does bother you, I encourage you to still give the books a chance because I truly feel you will find yourself as enchanted by the character’s stories as I always was.
I remember how shortly after I married, I would sit in the tub at our new apartment (or it was new for me) and read the books while I was in the bathtub. Weird. I know. I was always worried I’d get the pages wet because back then I only read paperbacks – no e-readers. Yes. I am old.
The first book, At Home in Mitford came out in 1994. I was in high school at the time. I don’t believe I started reading them until I was in college. I read them because my mom was reading them. The last book, To Be Where You Are, came out in 2017.
Mom has said more than once that picking up a Mitford book, even years after you’ve read it, feels like coming home. She’s so right. It feels like you are walking right back into your friendly hometown with people who you know so well and they somehow know you too.
Last year my mom had her gallbladder removed. She was in the hospital for a week and for a while we weren’t sure if she was going to be okay or not. She needed something to read so I took her Bathed in Prayer, which is a collection of little sayings or excerpts from previous Mitford books. One night on the phone, when I’d called to check in, she told me how comforting that book was to her while in the hospital.
“It was almost like a little devotional,” she said.
Some of my favorite lines, scenes, or excerpts have come from Mitford books, including:
“Perhaps, he thought, we should all live as if we’re dying.”
***
“When it comes to feeling his sheep, I’m afraid my sermons are about as nourishing as cardboard.”
“Are you resting?”
“Resting?”
“Resting. Sometimes we get so worn out with being useful that we get useless. I’ll ask you what another preacher once asked: Are you too exhausted to run and too scared to rest?”
Too scared to rest! He’d never thought of it that way. ‘When in God’s name are you going to take a vacation?’ Hoppy had asked again, only the other day. He hadn’t known the truth then, but he felt he knew it now—yes, he was too scared to rest.”
***
“He’d learned that one obstacle to childlike faith in a heavenly father was bitter disappointment in earthly fathers. No, not everyone had that obstacle to faith, which was clearly a favorite of the Enemy, but Miss Sadie had had it, and he had had it and come to terms with it, and forgiven his father, long ago.
His research for the paper on Lewis revealed this had been a major obstacle for the apologist. One commentator had said, “For years, Lewis had not been able to forgive himself for his failure to love his father, nor had he been able to appropriate God’s forgiveness for this sin. But when finally enabled, he was almost incredulous of the peace and the ease he experienced.”
***
“There’ll be times when you wonder how you can possibly thank Him for something that turns your life upside down; certainly there will be such times for me. Let us, then, at times like these, give thanks on faith alone… obedient, trusting, hoping, believing.” (In This Mountain)
***
“At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of God’s hand until we learn to hear Him…. Watch where God puts you into darkness, and when you are there keep your mouth shut. Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? Then remain quiet…. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light.” ― (In This Mountain)
When Jan announced at a recent Mitford Tea at the Mitford Museum in North Carolina that she would be writing a 15th book, she reflected on why she had felt like she might not be able to write again.
She lost her mother in 2016, her daughter in 2021, and her brother in 2022.
“You’ve got to have something left to write with and I had nothing left to write with.”
Her aquifer was dry, she said.
So she began to write an autobiography but it wasn’t going anywhere. She wasn’t feeling it, so to speak.
She dug into her drawer and found a Mitford-related short story and began to play with that to try to get her creative juices flowing again, she said. Not only did her creative juices start flowing but she fell in love with Mitford again.
And now it looks like we will have another Mitford book – another story with Father Tim. Once again, she promised her fans what she has said in the past – she will never kill Father Tim off. I certainly hope she doesn’t kill anyone else off. A couple integral characters did die over the years and I sobbed like someone in my own family had died.
Have you ever read the Mitford books? Don’t worry – I understand if they weren’t your cup of tea.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
I rambled about what’s been occurring in my post yesterday if you want to read that.
Today I have to drive 45 minutes one way to pick up The Boy from his friend’s house and then we will have lunch at my parents afterward. Then I’m bringing him home to mow our lawn which is crazy high from all the rain we have been having.
The temps are supposed to be hotter this week which I am not actually looking forward to because I don’t enjoy the heat and our AC isn’t ready to go yet. We have to install an extra pipe into the window and set up this whole contraption because we have odd vertical windows. It’s a whole process.
What I/we’ve been Reading
Just Finished:
The Mysterious Affair At Styles (The first book in the Hercule Poirot series) by Agatha Christie.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Do the New You by Steven Furtick
Operation Restoration by Kari Trumbo
This week I read that The Secret Garden was written by Burnett after her son died of tuberculosis. This helped me appreciate the book more because I just finished it for the first time with my daughter and I didn’t like the ending. I didn’t hate it but I wanted more. Now that I know the story behind the book I like the ending more because for Frances Colin being able to walk and be alive – like her son couldn’t be – was all she needed us to know.
To be started today or tomorrow:
The Fast Lane by Sharon Peterson (a romance)
And
Murder At the Rusty Anchor by Maddie Day
Soon to be read (or eventually at this point):
The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of my Father by Jim Wight
The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe
Lost Coast Literary by Ellie Alexander
The Husband is reading London Rules by Mick Herron
The Boy just finished listening to 1984 by George Orwell (nope, I didn’t make him), is almost done with Horus Rising and is also listening to Around The World in 80 Days.
What We watched/are Watching
This week I watched episodes of Newhart, Midsomer Murders, and Brokenwood Mysteries – some with The Husband and some alone.
I am still listening to Around the World in 80 Days.
Photos from Last Week
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.
Welcome to my weekly chat. I can make you a cup of tea, pour you a glass of juice or milk, or hand you a water bottle. Which would you prefer?
Today I thought we’d chat about my week last week and then you can share about your week in the comments.
I’ll start with yesterday and work backward.
Yesterday was a somewhat long day so I am glad that it is raining today, giving me an excuse to stay home and read, write, and watch some comforting shows.
I really didn’t have to do that much but for some reason it felt like a lot. I dropped The Boy off at my parents to help Dad mow the lawn on their large property, picked up groceries and a prescription 20 minutes away, dropped off a few items my mom had asked for, came home and unloaded the car alone (something The Boy usually helps with but couldn’t because he was still at my parents), cooked dinner and relaxed for a bit, and then finished out the day by taking Little Miss to her first Horse and Pony Club 4-H meeting about five minutes from our house.
I don’t mention my chronic illnesses a lot, mainly because I have not been officially diagnosed with the one illness (Fibromyalgia), but it’s that one that leaves me so dragged out after driving a lot and after a busy day.
When I have a busy day one day, I find I need one or two days afterward to recover my energy and get my muscles to stop burning or aching. I am better off than a lot of people but if I do too much in one week, I actually end up with what is called “a flare” and that sometimes takes me out for a week.
A few weeks ago I had a good week where I felt like I could do a lot. I kept going and by Saturday of that week, I was having stomach issues, exhaustion, brain fog, aching, and all kinds of other odd symptoms. My mom, who has Fibromyalgia, said it sounded like a flare and she may have been right but a couple of weeks later (if there are men here, feel free to skip the lady talk coming up), I started my period, which I have not had in a few months. In other words, I’m not sure if it was a full-on flare of just hormones. Whatever it was, it was annoying and frustrating.
I push through the days even when I have flares, though, and I’ve had more good days than bad in the last several months so I’ll take it. I never have a day where I am completely pain-free or without having to rest through a period of exhaustion, but I do have days where the pain is better and the exhaustion is a little less intense.
In addition to possible fibro I take medicine for hypothyroidism and that is a mess – trying to balance out side effects from the medicine and also get my levels to where it will help the low thyroid issue. I’ve dealt with that for over ten years and it is not fun at all.
I don’t ask anyone to diagnose me with fibro because I’ve tried to mention it to two primary doctors who dismissed me – with one sort of laughing at me and telling me it’s not hereditary when I told her my mom and grandmother both had been diagnosed. Mom says that there isn’t much doctors will do for you anyhow, unless it gets bad enough for them to give you pain meds but the pain meds can also lead to some very debilitating side effects so she doesn’t use them often. If it gets to the point I can’t function at all because of the pain, I will push harder for a diagnosis.
Now, back to the horse and pony club I took Little Miss to yesterday. We’ve been looking for some activities for Little Miss to become involved with and in this area, 4-H is one of the main activities. We don’t live on a farm so we can’t raise a farm animal, but luckily the program offers several different types of clubs for young people to participate in. Little Miss doesn’t have a horse but she is hoping to learn more about them and be around them so we decided to try the horse club.
She is also interested in the Lego Club, a baking club, and maybe a knitting club. A couple of those only meet in the winter. We are waiting for more information on when their meetings will be.
I knew a couple of the parents who were at the meeting last night, but I don’t know them well enough to talk to them and they were all in their own little chat groups so I sat in my car and texted my “online friend” (she’s a real friend that I hope to meet in person soon) instead. While sitting there I noticed that every car around me was a jeep or SUV and all of them were either white or black. It was a bit weird actually.
It was also a reminder to me that a lot of people in my area who are in programs like this have a lot more money than me. Those were some expensive cars. I’m sure many of them have car payments but I still felt out of place with my beat-up 12-year-old Lincoln with the left front still mashed in from the deer we hit last year because we couldn’t afford to fix it.
I also have a headlight that isn’t working because the brackets have broken off the one we purchased that my dad was going to replace for us. That’s a long story but hopefully, we can get it replaced soon.
None of the people there made me feel like a redneck outsider, by the way. They were very polite and kind people who answered questions when I asked. I felt like a redneck outsider on my own because of the damaged front end of my car and the fact I was drinking rootbeer out of a brown glass bottle, making it look like I was kicking back a beer in my old beater car.
Honestly, I’d rather be in the old beater car because it’s not bad inside with heated and AC seats, Bluetooth capability and a built-in GPS.
It also provides me with a comfortable creaking sound that comes from the undercarriage as I take turns. That creaking keeps my life exciting and me on my toes because I’m never sure when the car might fall apart underneath me.
Because of the broken headlight, I needed to get out of there before dark and I thought the meeting was only about an hour but it was going on two and I was starting to panic.
Little Miss still hadn’t had a chance to lead the pony around and she really wanted to do that so I had to wait because she would have complained the whole way home how she had to sit through them talking about how to take care of a horse and when it came her time to actually lead a pony she didn’t get that chance.
Driving home in the dark on one headlight or listening to the 9-year-old whine about how she never gets to do anything. Hmmmm….I chose the one headlight which then resulted into my humming that 90s song by the Wallflowers. “We can drive it home with one headlight…”
I’m like that character in the British sitcom Miranda when certain words or phrases in everyday conversation make her think of certain songs and she just belts them out. Well, she isn’t just a character since the sitcom was based on the life of comedian and author Miranda Hart.
Anyhooooo…. Need an earworm? I can provide that for you:
The farm where this meeting was held was gorgeous, by the way. There was a small barn/stable and four or five horses in the field, beautiful views and the clouds were amazing last night.
There was also a random guinea fowl wandering around that I thought belonged to the people who owned the house but later learned had just wandered onto their property earlier in the week.
They had no idea who it belonged to. These birds are great in our area though because they eat deer ticks which can help to cut down on the population. We have a high number of Lyme disease causing ticks in our area so the less of them, the better.
Earlier in the week Little Miss and I visited a greenhouse near us that is open for about a month out of the year. They used to be open all summer and longer but the children of the original couple who opened it run it part time now since their father passed away a few years ago and their mother is older now and can’t easily help run it.
I was so excited to see her this week when we visited, though, because she is a beloved member of the little community where I grew up and she has one of the best smiles and the most cheerful spirits I have ever seen. Seeing that smile of hers was just heartwarming and I almost hugged her but since I don’t know her that well, I held back. My mom would have hugged her, though, so I at least told her Mom said ‘hello.’
It began to rain while we were there so we didn’t stay long and for one of the first times in the last few years we’ve visited, I didn’t take photographs during our visit.
I did take a couple of photographs as we drove over the hill to my parents, however. Well, Little Miss took this one.
And then I took one as Little Miss planted one of her flowers later that day in the rain, with her winter coat and gloves, even though it was not that cold out.
We’ve actually been having warmer temps this week. These are the temps I would love for us to have all summer because I do not do well at all in warmer temperatures.
Speaking of flowers, the lilacs in our backyard bloomed, but only on one smaller bush.
It appears that our big, very old lilac bush has actually died and will not be blooming this year. That was heartbreaking. I’m not sure if the early frost got to it or what happened, but for some reason the younger bush did bloom. We may have to eventually remove the older, gnarled tree that probably has seen a lot of history. I wonder if it as old as our large rose bush, which my neighbor told me is over 100 years old. Her grandparents or aunt and uncle, one or the other, used to live here and she lived with them for a while.
I am looking forward to when those roses start blooming in June, around the same time as the peonies. Our backyard is alive in the early summer and it’s exciting. I couldn’t believe how one day in early May the trees were naked and then suddenly they were green. It was really exciting to see this year.
Watching things bloom the next couple of weeks will be a nice respite from homeschool which is actually a little more stressful this time of year as we try to finish up units and testing before June 4 comes. June 4th will be our last day of school. The main thing I have to complete is a standardized test for Little Miss, which is required in third, fifth, and eighth grades in the state of Pennsylvania. We can use a standardized test from another state so we are using the California Assessment Test. It is an untimed test so we can take breaks from it, which we did a lot this past week because there were so many multiple choice questions to answer.
The grade on the test doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we do it and my homeschool evaluator sees it and says, “It was done and you met that requirement.” The local school district does not have access to the scores. Only I do. What the scores help me with is learning what areas of math and language arts we need to focus on next year. These tests only test those subjects. I have already learned, through the test we did Wednesday and Thursday, that I need to focus more on punctuation with Little Miss next year. She reads wonderfully but does not know much about punctuation.
Getting both of the kids to the end of the homeschool line has been like dragging a stubborn mule which has rolled itself on its side in the mud and closed its eyes. I can’t wait until the final day and will be glad for our summer break.
In closing, I thought I would mention that I have been trying to share videos of myself on social media to connect with my readers and I hate it. I hate how I look, sound, and talk. Still, I’m trying to push forward and connect in a different way with readers. I may chase some people away but some people might actually like placing a face with the account and following along on my writing/author journey. I have met new readers and writers and bloggers after posting new videos and that’s been nice so I guess I’ll keep doing this from time to time. I even set up a – gasp – YouTube Channel, but I don’t plan to be posting my face on there very often. I actually don’t know what I’ll be doing with that yet. Maybe nothing. Time will tell.
So, how was your week this past week?
Is the weather getting nicer where you are?
Have you been drinking any nice teas? Taking any hikes? Sniffing any flowers?
I am both excited and nervous to announce that the two books in my Gladwynn Grant Mysteries are now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo and that soon all of my books will be available on those retailers.
Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing and Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage are no longer available on Kindle Unlimited but they are available on Kobo Plus and for purchase on any of the three sites.
On Kobo you can purchase the book in ebook form and on Amazon and B&N you can purchase both paperbacks and ebooks.
In June all nine of my books will be available on all three sites.
A Story to Tell and A New Beginning are being rewritten for a new release in late June and they will also be available on those three sites.
Cassie, which releases in August, will be available on Kindle Unlimited along with the rest of the Apron String Books series, which is being written along with ten other authors. There are five books out in that series now and you can learn more about it here.
