A quick reminder for January plans for this blog and Erin with Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.
Erin and I are planning some Cozy Crafternoons on Zoom in January and February to try to beat those winter blahs that happen after Christmas. The plans for now are two a month.
We will just all meet up on the date and time, and individually work on whatever we want – embroidery, coloring, knitting, crocheting, jewelry making, etc, while chatting.
Erin says she will be embroidering during the session. I might be writing, drawing, or editing photos.
If you are interested in learning more send an email either to me at lisahoweler@gmail.com or to Erin at crackercrumblife@gmail.com. That way we will have your email for the zoom link! Our first scheduled crafternoon is January 11th at 1 pm EST.
I have a list of 16 books I enjoyed from my 2024 list, but I whittled them down to ten for today. I’m going to leave my favorite read from the year at number 10.
The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts by Lilian Jackson Braun
I have read most of the books in The Cat Who series and this one was definitely my favorite. Honestly, it almost felt like it was written by a different author in some ways. I enjoyed most of the books in the series even though this one felt different.
2. Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorenson
I really enjoyed this middle grade book that takes place in my home state of Pennsylvania. There were some tough topics here — such as PTSD after war —— but they were handled gingerly.
3. Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
This one was different than many of my other reads and not “clean” by some standards because of language, but I fell in love with the main character and the side characters. I can’t wait for the sequel!
4. Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor
This one also featured some language but otherwise was clean and a lot of fun. I loved this cozy mystery that took place in a small Irish village and I can’t wait to read more in the series. I hope they are as good as the first book.
5. Move Your Blooming Corpse by D.E. Ireland
This was the second book in a series based on the characters of My Fair Lady – Eliza Doolittle and Professor Henry Higgins. The book was a ton of fun from start to finish.
6. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
I had seen the movie based on this book but had never read the book. I read it and then read it again to my daughter shortly after so I guess I read it twice in 2024. The ending was a bit too abrupt to me, but I still enjoyed it.
7. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
Yep, this was another classic I had never read and I ended up really enjoying it.
8. The Clue of The Whistling Bagpipesby Carolyn Keene
This was a Nancy Drew Mystery and while they can be a bit cheesy at times, I really enjoyed this one because it was full of Scottish history and culture.
9. Return to Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
This was another middle-grade book that I read with Little Miss and really enjoyed. We had read Gone Away Lake, the first book in the series in 2023.
10. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
This was by far my favorite read of the year and my favorite read from the past several years. This book was so much different than the Anne of Green Gables books and I sometimes wonder how they are so different in their language and style. I don’t usually write in or mark up my paperback books but I underlined and marked so many passages in this book. If you haven’t read it, I would definitely encourage you to move it up your TBR list.
Honorable mentions:
Other books I enjoyed this year include:
The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz (A Hawthorne/Horowtiz Mystery)
Clueless at the Coffee Station by Bee Littlefield
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Murder Always Barks Twice by Jennifer Hawkins
A Quilt for Christmas by Melody Carlson
The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? And what books were among your favorite reads in 2024?
I was listening to Michael Bublé singing White Christmas the other day and thinking about how when I was growing up we almost never had a white Christmas because every year we drove from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to visit with my mom‘s family. The part of North Carolina they lived in — closer to the East coast and the beach — isn’t known for having a ton of snow.
We traveled to North Carolina as a family from the time I was a baby until I was married.
We would leave Pennsylvania with snow on the ground, and see some snow on the way down, but once we hit North Carolina the temperatures were usually in the 60s to 70s and occasionally the 80s. When we would step out of the car at the North Carolina welcome center, everything smelled like warmth and pine.
One year though, snow met us as we traveled through North Carolina and continued with us as we traveled to Jacksonville. I remember it being a lot of snow, but I was young, so maybe it wasn’t.
I do remember that no one in the South knew how to drive in it so the city was pretty much shut down. They didn’t even snowplows or cinders to put on the road. They simply don’t need them most of the time.
Since my dad is a lifelong Northerner, he tried to help my grandmother’s neighbors and teach them how to drive on the icy roads.
Seeing the snow outside Grandma and Aunt Dianne’s house felt both amazing and strange. I’d never had a white Christmas so this was my chance, but seeing those Carolina pines all weighted down under snow was surreal.
I was used to short sleeve shirts when walking outside, warm sun on my face, and sometimes trip to the beach to stick my feet in the ocean.
This time, though, we were stuck inside so some Southerner didn’t careen into us on their way to the Piggy Wiggly.
My mom says it was’t the only time they went down that it snowed because before I was born it happened too, but again, it was very rare.
Remembering the Christmases we spent in North Carolina is bitter sweet these days.
It’s so nice to have those memories of that time – the joyous times.
Like I said in previous posts about our trips down south, if I close my eyes, I can remember the feeling of pulling in the driveway of my grandparents’ house (Grandpa was gone after I was 9 so it was Grandma and Aunt Dianne’s after that), knowing our long journey was done.
I’m climbing out from under the pile of blankets and stuffed animals I’d carried with me and Dad is taking away the winter coat away to put in the trunk because we usually didn’t need them after we arrive.
Aunt Dianne comes on to the front porch, clapping her hands and saying, “Hello, ya’ll! You made good time didn’t ya’? Come here so I can give you a hug.”
Hugging someone you haven’t hugged in a year is an amazing feeling.
The porch door squeaks as she leans out and reaches her arms out to us.
She’s wearing a pair of sweatpants, a plaid shirt over a Tshirt with the Pepsi logo emblazoned on it, and a pair of worn slippers. She smells faintly of cigarettes, collard greens, and diet Pepsi — which would be a horrible combination in other circumstances but is the most wonderful smell to me in that moment as I am wrapped in her arms, being held against her chest. I can barely breathe she’s hugging me so tight, but I take short breaths to get in air until she releases me with a wet kiss on my cheek.
She’s kissing the top of my head and I’m telling her I desperately have to use the bathroom. She laughs and tells me to “hurry on up then.” Inside the living room my grandma is waiting to the left of the door in the living room, sitting in her rocking chair. I rush by her because, as I just told Dianne, I have to use the bathroom.
“I know you’re not going to rush right by me without loving my neck now,” Grandma says in her thick Southern accent.
“I have to use the bathroom!” I call over my shoulder.
I can smell the collard greens Dianne has been cooking as I run through the house, past the kitchen, into the little dining room, down the short hall with all the family photos lining it, and to the bathroom.
Once things have been relieved in that department, I’m back in the living room, leaning into Grandma who feels like a pile of pillows and marshmallows all mushed together, the skin on her arms soft and full of comfort and love.
Behind us, in front of the large window, is the Christmas tree Dianne decorated and there are a few gifts already wrapped under it.
It’s hard for me to remember past this point because my mind is stuck in that moment with my head on Grandma’s stomach, her arms holding me tight. I remember that year her feelings were a little hurt because she thought I was blowing her off. Once she realized how bad I’d had to use the bathroom she understood why I had to come back for the hug. After that she just held me and said, “It’s so good to see you, shug.” (pronounced shoog for all you non-Southerners.”)
I have a hard time letting myself walk away from that moment because it’s where I want to be every Christmas now.
I’d trade all the gifts, even the wonderful Southern food, just to be in her arms again.
When things get really tough in life, I close my eyes and that’s where I’m at. Kneeling in front of her rocking chair, my head on her fluffy stomach, feeling the rush of unconditional love.
I imagine that’s what heaven will be — being held in unconditional love so pure and all encompassing that nothing else matters.
Being held in the arms of my grandmother who is being held in the arms of Jesus.
This is a link-up where we not only allow you to share your past posts, but we encourage it. So, share away!
I can not believe this is the last Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot of 2024! How did this year go by so fast? I believe I’ve been a co-host for this link up for about a year…maybe more? I’ve sort of lost track of the months.
Thank you to Marsha for allowing me to be a part of this link-up each week.
We hope to see you all again January 9th for the first link-up of 2025.
Look for a new and improved Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot with the new year! We will be featuring a new blogger each week along with our individual favorite picks. If you’re interested in being featured please drop us a line at momssundaycafe@gmail.com. And you will be on our list!
And here are a few highlights I chose for this week. There are so many great posts each week that it is really hard to pick a few to highlight so I hope you will take a little time out of your day to go click on a few and tell them you enjoyed their posts.
I’m so glad you are here and participating 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 link up (free to copy and paste the graphic) and visit the bloggers who participate each week.
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. You can share up to three links each week.
We are always looking for additional hosts so let us know if you want to help out!
I am very excited to be getting closer to the release of Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree.
I don’t have an exact release date just yet but the manuscript is in the editing stage with corrections being made.
From there it will go through another round of edits and another round of corrections and read throughs by beta readers, formatting, etc. etc.
It is all very exciting and overwhelming at the same time but I’m leaning more toward exciting at the time of writing this post.
Maybe you’re new to the blog and don’t know that I write books and self-publish them. Sometimes I share chapters on here, but I haven’t been doing that recently.
Instead, my books are available on Kindle Unlimited and for reasonable prices on Amazon at this time.
Self-publishing books is not a lucrative business for me.
I am also not a famous author (not that was ever my goal).
Sometimes people complain I have a typo or suggest that I am endorsing something I am not endorsing and that gets weird and makes writing books not so fun.
I like sharing stories that I have crafted in my own brain.
I like when people like my creations.
I have especially been blown away by the support of my Gladwynn Grant Mystery books.
If you don’t know, Gladwynn Grant is the main character of the series and she’s loosely based on my grandmother, whose middle and maiden name she bears.
Gladwynn’s grandmother, Lucinda, who she lives with, is based on a combination of both of my grandmothers.
Gladwynn is a reporter at a small town newspaper, which is a job I did for 14 years at four different newspapers. Gladwynn, however, is not me.
She is very different from me.
She is tall, brunette, beautiful, loves fashion and makeup, and full of confidence.
I am none of those things. I like to look at fashion but I never really worried much about how I look. How I ever landed my husband I have no idea. I guess he’s attracted to troll-like women wearing baggy clothes who don’t know how to brush or fix her hair.
So Gladwynn is based loosely on me but only on the part that she works at a small town newspaper.
A lot of people think that the reviews on a self-published/indie book are from friends and family of the author. This was actually said one time in a reading group I used to be a part of.
My family and friends have not reviewed my books. Actually, most of my family and friends have not even read my books. That hurts a little but people are busy. I’m not going to say that none of the reviews I have on the Gladwynn books are from friends because that would not be true. There are two or three reviews from friends I’ve connected with online.
There are also reviews from people I have never met or even heard of in my life and those are the reviews that have blown me away.
People really like my book? Wow. That’s super mind-blowing to me.
My books are simple stories, sometimes cheesy. They are not award winning. They are not the best written and even when they are edited I somehow seem to mess up on making the corrections and eliminating the typos.
Yet people have supported them and have said they look forward to more.
I would love to write books and just share them on Amazon for 99 cents since I don’t know how to share them for free, so people can read them and just have fun reading them or not reading them. After all, they only spent 99 cents on it so if they don’t like the book then they aren’t out much.
Charging only a dollar for a book makes a book look cheap, though, so I’ve been told, so I charge a little more.
If I make money from the sale of the books it does help my family. I’m able to put a little money toward groceries or a bill and that helps.
But people reading my book and saying they like it is like getting paid in a different way. It’s paying me back for all the long hours of writing, the nights laying awake with ideas prodding my subconscious, begging to be written down. The time I asked my children if I could have some time to finish the story I’d started because I wanted to see how it finished. The time I took suggestions from early readers on how to fix a plot hole. The time I took to fix all the edits my editor (ahem..husband) and Mom suggested.
When readers tell me they liked my book it’s like someone saying, “Your ideas weren’t stupid. Your love of writing is something I’m glad you have because I’ve benefited from it too by reading a story I enjoyed.”
If you’re one of those people who have enjoyed my little stories – thank you for taking the time to read them! If you’re one of those who left me a review on Amazon or Goodreads or sent me a note to tell me you liked them – thank you!
(Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.)
Today’s prompt was: Books on My Winter 2024-2025 to-Read List
I am now listing my “planned reads” as “possible reads”. I look at this list as a list I can choose from in a season but it is not a strict list. I have 17 books on my possible winter reads but have brought it down to ten for this post.
I like to choose a mix of cozy and mystery reads for winter, but …. Honestly, I do that for every season.
Christy by Catherine Marshall.
I have already started this one and I am enjoying it.
Description:
That Cutter Gap is right rough country. Watch yourself out there. . .
The train taking nineteen-year-old teacher Christy Huddleston from her home in Asheville, North Carolina, might as well be transporting her to another world. The Smoky Mountain community of Cutter Gap feels suspended in time, trapped by poverty, superstitions, and century-old traditions.
But as Christy struggles to find acceptance in her new home, some see her–and her one-room school–as a threat to their way of life. Her faith is challenged and her heart is torn between two strong men with conflicting views about how to care for the families of the Cove.
Yearning to make a difference, will Christy’s determination and devotion be enough?
Since its first release in 1967, Christy has sold an astonishing 10 million copies. Now the beloved story is available in a special 50th anniversary edition which includes an afterword reflecting on the success of the book and how many people Christy’s story has reached, as well as added features like a character list and a town map to enhance the reading experience for fans old and new.
2. Little Men by Louise May Alcott
I started this one in the fall but held it for winter.
Description:
Little Men by Louisa May Alcott is a heartwarming sequel to the beloved classic Little Women. Join Jo March and her husband, Professor Bhaer, as they open Plumfield, a school for boys. Immerse yourself in this charming tale of childhood, growth, and friendship.- Engage with Alcott’s gentle and insightful storytelling.- Delve into the lives of the endearing and mischievous boys of Plumfield.- Reflect on themes of education, character development, and the joys of childhood.- Experience the warmth, humor, and moral lessons woven throughout the narrative.-
3. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
I’ve heard a lot about this one – not sure if it will live up to the hype or not.
Description:
Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves A female cop with her first big case A brutal murder Welcome THURSDAY MURDER CLUB
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club.
4. Tooth and Claw by Craig Johnson
This is a novella from the Walt Longmire Series.
Description:
In the tradition of Wait for Signs and The Highwayman, Craig Johnson is back with a short novel set in the Alaska tundra where a young Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear face off with powerful enemies who will do anything to get what they want.
Tooth and Claw follows Walt and Henry up to Alaska as they look for work after they both returned from serving in Vietnam. While working for an oil company in the bitter cold of winter, they soon encounter a ferocious polar bear who seems hell-bent on their destruction. But it’s not too long until they realize the danger does not lurk outside in the frozen Alaskan tundra, but with their co-workers who are after priceless treasure and will stop at nothing to get it.
Fans of Longmire will thrill to this pulse-pounding and bone-chilling novel of extreme adventure that adds another indelible chapter to the great story of Walt Longmire.
4. World Traveler by Anthony Bourdain
I’ve read Kitchen Confidential and really enjoyed it. I always was a huge fan of Anthony’s various travel shows.
Description:
A guide to some of the world’s most fascinating places, as seen and experienced by writer, television host, and relentlessly curious traveler Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain saw more of the world than nearly anyone. His travels took him from the hidden pockets of his hometown of New York to a tribal longhouse in Borneo, from cosmopolitan Buenos Aires, Paris, and Shanghai to Tanzania’s utter beauty and the stunning desert solitude of Oman’s Empty Quarter—and many places beyond.
In World Travel, a life of experience is collected into an entertaining, practical, fun and frank travel guide that gives readers an introduction to some of his favorite places—in his own words. Featuring essential advice on how to get there, what to eat, where to stay and, in some cases, what to avoid, World Travel provides essential context that will help readers further appreciate the reasons why Bourdain found a place enchanting and memorable.
Supplementing Bourdain’s words are a handful of essays by friends, colleagues, and family that tell even deeper stories about a place, including sardonic accounts of traveling with Bourdain by his brother, Christopher; a guide to Chicago’s best cheap eats by legendary music producer Steve Albini, and more. Additionally, each chapter includes illustrations by Wesley Allsbrook.
For veteran travelers, armchair enthusiasts, and those in between, World Travel offers a chance to experience the world like Anthony Bourdain.
5. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
I read The Fellowship of the Ring last year and am looking forward to reading the second installment and catching up with the characters.
Description:
The Two Towers is the second part of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic adventure The Lord of the Rings.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
Frodo and his Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. They have lost the wizard, Gandalf, in a battle in the Mines of Moria. And Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring, tried to seize it by force. While Frodo and Sam made their escape, the rest of the company was attacked by Orcs. Now they continue the journey alone down the great River Anduin—alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go.
This continues the classic tale begun in The Fellowship of the Ring, which reaches its awesome climax in The Return of the King.
6. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczy
I’ve wanted to read this one since seeing a movie based on it.
Description:
First published in 1905, “The Scarlet Pimpernel” was written by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. The novel is the first in a series of tales that follows the fictional main character infamously known as the Scarlet Pimpernel.
The story is set at the time of the French Revolution, which occurred in the latter part of the eighteenth century. This revolt involved the overthrow of the French monarchy. A notorious Englishman sympathetic to the crisis in the aristocratic ranks helped sneak French royals out of the country to safety across the English Channel. This Englishman was known by the name of the Scarlet Pimpernel because upon making a clean escape from the French patrols, he would leave a note describing the caper, and it would be signed with a red, star-shaped flower the English called a scarlet pimpernel.
7. The Sign of the Twisted Candles (A Nancy Drew Mystery) by Carolyn Keene
This will continue my reading of the original Nancy Drew Mystery series.
Description:
Another exciting mystery begins for the young detective when her friends Bess and George ask her to investigate a rumor that their wealthy great-granduncle, Asa Sidney, is virtually a prisoner in his own mansion. But solving the mystery and befriending Carol Wipple, the sixteen-year-old foster daughter of the caretakers of the old mansion, nearly costs Nancy the friendship of Bess and George.
It takes all of Nancy’s sleuthing ability as well as diplomacy to save it. Nancy braves one danger after another to bring to justice the swindlers who are stealing Asa Sidney’s fortune. With only the sign of the twisted candles to guide her, Nancy uncovers hidden treasure and an amazing letter that ends a family feud and brings.
8. Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
Description:
It’s seven in the morning. The Bantrys wake to find the body of a young woman in their library. She is wearing an evening dress and heavy makeup, which is now smeared across her cheeks. But who is she? How did she get there? And what is the connection with another dead girl, whose charred remains are later discovered in an abandoned quarry?
The respectable Bantrys invite Miss Marple into their home to investigate. Amid rumors of scandal, she baits a clever trap to catch a ruthless killer.
9. The Mystery of the Flying Express by Frank Dixon
This will be my first Hardy Boys book and it’s an original my husband picked up at a used bookstore. I’m so excited to read it.
Description:
A sleek new hydrofoil is scheduled to start ferrying passengers between Bayport and Cape Cutlass. But business enemies of the hydrofoil owner have stirred up a hornets’ nest of violent opposition among small boat owners. Fearing sabotage, he begs Frank and Joe Hardy to guard the Flying Express on her maiden trip.
Startling developments plunge the teenage detectives into a dangerous chase by sea, air, and land in pursuit of a gang of hardened criminals who operate by the signs of the Zodiac. Tension mounts when the Flying Express vanishes – and so does Sam Radley, Mr. Hardy’s skilled operative. Peril stalks Frank and Joe’s every moves as they hunt down the terrifying gangleader Zodiac Zig and his vicious henchmen.
10. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R.A. Dick
I saw this movie a couple of years ago and thought I would try the book.
Description: The book that inspired Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s cinematic romance starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison—one of the most passionately romantic movies ever made. • With a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani.
Burdened by debt after her husband’s death, Lucy Muir insists on moving into the very cheap Gull Cottage in the quaint seaside village of Whitecliff, despite multiple warnings that the house is haunted. Upon discovering the rumors to be true, the young widow ends up forming a special companionship with the ghost of handsome former sea captain Daniel Gregg. Through the struggles of supporting her children, seeking out romance from the wrong places, and working to publish the captain’s story as a book, Blood and Swash, Lucy finds in her secret relationship with Captain Gregg a comfort and blossoming love she never could have predicted.
Originally published in 1945, made into a movie in 1947, and later adapted into a television sitcom in 1968, this romantic tale explores how love can develop without boundaries, both in this life and beyond.
Do you have a list of books to choose from for this winter?
Welcome to my Sunday Chat where I ramble about what’s been going on in my world, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading, watching, listening to, andwhat I’ve been writing.
It is hard for me to explain to people from larger, more urban areas just how small the little town I live in is. Sometimes numbers help – there are about 400 people in my town, 6,000 total in the entire county, and then in the summer the numbers go up some as visitors from the city come up to stay in cabins in the county. There is one elementary school and one high school for the entire county and it’s all located in one town – which is the county seat.
When there are events in our tiny town it’s not always very exciting and there isn’t always a lot to see, but the organizations and business owners try their best.
Yesterday there was a book sale at the local library for the town Christmas festival, and I went but was a bit disappointed in the selection this year. It was not their fault at all – there just wasn’t a lot of books that interested me this time around — yet I somehow still managed to come home with about 11.
There was also a strange but sort of funny exchange with the library director before I left about library bags and if I wanted one. I think I was misunderstanding the man but when he put the books I bought in a bag he said something about how they usually only use those bags for library books when they are taken out. He said they had boxes for people to carry books in from the sale. I asked him if he wanted me to take a box instead and he said, “Oh, no, we should be good with bags right now. We just got an order of 400 in.”
If they just got 400 in I’m not sure why he was telling me they don’t usually use the books for the sale, but thinking back, maybe he was simply sharing about how they don’t usually use them but decided to on that day because they had just received an order for them. I have no idea but I have to admit that later in the day I felt guilty that I had taken one of their bags. Yes, those are the kind of thoughts that pop into my mind when other people wouldn’t have given it a second thought the rest of the day.
I was very excited to find a copy of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman since I have been interested in reading that for a while now.
I also picked up a copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel, which I have wanted to read after seeing a movie based on it years ago.
Jimmy Stewart and His Poems is a book I’ll have fun reading this winter, I think. It shouldn’t take me long. It’s very short.
I also picked up two mass-market editions of The Two Towers and The Return of the King from the Lord of the Rings trilogy so I can easily slide The Two Towers in my purse when I start to read it later this winter.
The “winter festival” is capped off by a very short, very cold Christmas parade each year. The “festival” was supposed to feature vendors and S’mores stations but there ended up being one tiny S’mores station and no craft vendors — unless they were tucked away in one of the other buildings in town.
We skipped the parade because we tried to go to it two years ago and it was so cold that I couldn’t feel my fingers. I also couldn’t breathe because the cold triggered my asthma – or whatever it is I have that makes breathing in the cold very difficult for me.
Last week our temps were in the low 50s one day and next week will be the same but yesterday our high was 30 and it was in the low 20s when it was time for the parade.
No, thank you.
We are down to one car right now so we don’t go many places during the week but on Fridays Little Miss and I travel to get groceries. With the weather being so cold we don’t do much other than pick up our pick up order and come back home, stopping at my parents on the way through to drop off a few groceries we pick up for them.
We did that this Friday, and it was a fairly uneventful trip. We were glad to get back to the house and enjoy the fire in the woodstove and the Christmas tree we decorated a couple of weeks ago.
I’m really hoping to sit by that tree and read a Christmas short story or two later this week.
Our upcoming homeschooling week is going to be fairly laid back with Christmas-themed crafts and baking and vintage Christmas stories heavily mixed into regular, scaled-back lessons.
This week I finished Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood and was very disappointed in it. It was repetitive and dragged quite a bit. I had high hopes for it and thought I might continue the series but now I am not so sure.
I continued The Hound of The Baskerville’s by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and will most likely finish it this week.
I abandoned one of my planned Christmas reads because it was deeply depressing. Instead, I continued to read Christy by Catherine Marshall, which I am borrowing on my Kindle through Libby.
I might sneak in a last Christmas novella, The Christmas Swap by Melody Carlson, before Christmas. I’ll see if I make it that far since I am also in the middle of making corrections to Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree (releasing sometime in early 2025).
Little Miss hasn’t been reading much of Harry Potter, but I figure she will pick it up again later this week. The Boy is listening to The Hound of the Baskerville’s for English/British Literature.
I forgot to ask The Husband what he is reading but I know he’s read 113 books this year.
This past week I watched two Hallmark movies and then an older Hallmark movie that is one of the best ones I’ve ever seen — Trading Christmas (I wrote about it in this post from last year.)
We also watched a classic Christmas with Garfield from the 1980s and half of A Miracle on 34th Street, which we will hopefully finish tonight.
This week I hope to watch The Christmas Candle this week and other Christmas-related shows or movies.
I am currently working on edits to Gladwynn Grant Shakes The Family Tree. I hate edits – or fixing the manuscript after it’s been given back to me by editors and beta readers. It’s so tedious. But once it is done, I’ll be able to release the book and add it to the other two.
Don’t forget that Erin and I are hosting the Comfy, Cozy Christmas link-up, which you can find at the top of the page. The link-up is for any holiday-related posts.
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.
This is a link-up where we not only allow you to share your past posts, but we encourage it. So, share away!
I hope you are having a lovely December as we move into the holiday and Christmas season.
Because I always talk about weather in this post, I will share that we had warm weather in the beginning of this week and then it plummeted back into the low 20s by Wednesday night. We didn’t light the fire for a couple of days but by Wednesday night we had to and today it was roaring to chase away temps that fell into the teens.
Let’s get right to our most clicked post for this week:
Before I share my highlights for the week, I just want to say/write that I am blown away by all the incredible posts I see on this link-up each week. Choosing highlights is hard for me because I enjoy so many of the posts. I’ve even started sharing some of them on my personal posts on Sundays where I chat about what I’ve been reading, doing, and watching – simply so more people will see some of the posts I didn’t get a chance to highlight.
I’m so glad you are here and participating 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 link up (free to copy and paste the graphic) and visit the bloggers who participate each week.
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. You can share up to three links each week.
We are always looking for additional hosts so let us know if you want to help out!
(*note: I honestly thought I had already posted this review on my blog months ago, but I couldn’t find it so I am posting it for the first or second time. One or the other.)
The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene is the fourth book in the Nancy Drew series, which debuted in the 1930s.
For this book, Nancy becomes wrapped up at a mystery at an inn recently purchased by a friend, but she is also caught off guard when her own house is ransacked and her credit plate stolen. She later learns someone is impersonating her and running up her credit or stealing from people.
When diamonds disappear from her friend’s inn she decides she needs to find out who stole the diamonds as well as who is impersonating her. Are the two cases connected? She hopes to find out.
As usual, there is some ridiculous developments and tactics used to solve the mystery (such as her being sent off with her father’s blessing to explore a lake with a man they barely know and then go after known criminals on her own without any back up), but it wouldn’t be a Nancy Drew book if there wasn’t. These books were written in a different time and for young kids so they were full of non-stop action, no matter how giggle inducing that non-stop action was.
This book was later rewritten to remove some of the more derogatory connotations toward certain races. It was released again in 1961 after those changes were made under Keene’s name, which is, of course, a pseudonym. The Nancy Drew books, like The Hardy Boys books were written by several different authors over the years.
Normally I don’t like the idea of old books being changed because someone is offended but in this case it was needed, even if the stereotypes weren’t as bad as some classic books.
I did not like this book as much as the first book in the series, The Secret of the Old Clock. The plot was okay but does not hold us as well as others in the series, in my opinion.
