Books I want to read for the remainder of the winter

On January 24, 2024January 23, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn books and reading, everyday musings10 Comments

Winter can last a long time in Northern Pennsylvania, which is why choosing what I want to read for the rest of winter here means I am choosing books for the rest of January, all of February, and a good portion of March. It has even been known to snow in April and the first week of May here, but I still consider the end of March and all of April to be spring, so that will require a new list.

I always list a lot of books I plan to read, or want to read, knowing full well I will not get them all read and will probably become distracted in the middle by another read.

For example, this week I am reading Little Women and finished another book I’d been reading for a bit but I got distracted by a lighter read called Sisterchicks Do the Hula by Robin Jones Gunn. After finishing the one book, I needed something lighter. Little Women is lighter but I like to read that book before bed as my nightly routine. I’m a bit of a creature of habit sometimes. I would, however, like to finish Little Women since I’ve been reading it leisurely since the end of November, so I will probably start reading it at other times as well. Anytime I need a bit of downtime and breather from life, I think.

Anyhow, enough rambling. Here are the books on my winter to be read list (subject to change):

The Bungalow Mystery and The Mystery At Lilac Inn (Nancy Drew Mysteries) by Carolyn Keene.

These two came together in one volume from Thriftbooks. I enjoy disappearing into these light, sometimes silly mysteries as a way to escape my worries.

Can I tell you how stupid I felt this week when I read that these books were written by several authors, just like the Hardy Boys? Talk about a facepalm moment. I had heard that years ago and then completely forgot that Carolyn Keene was simply a pen name.

Well, it doesn’t really matter. These classics are still a nice escape.

The Cat Who Went Into The Closet by Lillian Jackson Braun.

Braun’s books are a comfort read for me. I’ve already started this one and will probably continue it this week or next since I did get distracted by the fun Sisterchicks book. It will be a perfect read for the darkness of February – the month that seems like it will never end even though it is shorter than other months of the year.

Blessed Is the Busybody by Emilie Richards

This is a cozy mystery I picked up. It looked like it might have some faith elements but after reading part of Chapter 1 I see that the main character is a member of a Unitarian Universalist church and . . . well, I won’t comment here but that’s probably not the type of faith book I’m looking for. I don’t think? Still, most cozy mysteries I pick up have been clean and fun so I’m sure this one will be too.

I doubt it will be preachy because most cozy mysteries I’ve read aren’t, even if they are in the Christian fiction category. I only picked up one that went off about breast cancer and the importance of getting checked for a few pages, which totally threw me off since I read books to escape and this book read like a non-fiction book. I put that one aside and haven’t read anything by that author since, just as a way to protect myself from finding non-fiction subjects shoved at me in my fiction.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

My son and I started this classic in the fall, became very bored and disenchanted and set it aside but now I am listening to it on Audible and it is making more sense. I am going to try to finish it and then he and I will “read it” (probably listen to it) again in March or April as part of his English course. This way I’ll have more of an idea of what is happening and can explain it to him instead of us both wandering around in the dark looking for a clue.

A Taste of Fame by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson

This is a Christian fiction/cozy mystery and is part of a series of books. I’ve never read any books from these authors so I’m looking forward to seeing if the book is good or not.

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

I have been saying I would read this book for the last two years and I am determined to do it this year. This is a collection of stories from Agatha, I believe.

Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson

I didn’t read one Longmire Mystery book last year so I hope to remedy that this year. Johnson’s books are pretty dark but also have some humor in them. Still, the darkness is what often keeps me away from them in winter (when I deal with some seasonal depression but better than in the past) so I will probably read this one toward the end of the winter.

Do The New You by Steven Furtick

I’ve already started this book and hope to continue reading it and I know I’ll be reading it with my online Bible study group through February.

Under the Magnolias by T.I. Lowe

I heard about this book when it first came out a couple of years ago and I’m finally deciding to tackle it now. This may end up getting pushed into the spring, though.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them if you did?

Sunday Bookends: Cold temps, a winter booklist, and lots of shows to watch

On January 21, 2024January 20, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings16 Comments

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.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.

What’s Been Occurring

Yesterday in my Saturday Afternoon Chat I wrote about how cold it has been here, as it has been across much of the country. I mentioned that I had mainly been staying at home for the most part and didn’t really want to go anywhere until Sunday when I usually have lunch with my parents. I did decide to go to their house yesterday, though, on the coldest day of the year, because I wanted to help my mom get back into the house after she and my dad attended a dinner after the funeral of a friend.

Mom is getting older but also dealing with fibromyalgia and some issues with her shoulders.

She did very well despite the 13-degree temps with a wind chill of -2 or -4, not sure because I stopped looking at the weather app because it was depressing, but she was very tired when she came back. We sat her in her chair, covered her with a blanket, gave her some chamomile tea and she fell promptly fell asleep. In her defense, she’d been up quite early and the cold really takes it out of her.

Before my parents came back from the dinner they’d gone to Little Miss and I vacuumed and cleaned up some messes. My mom called when they stopped at the Dollar General and updated me on the funeral and dinner, thinking I was still at home. We kept it a surprise and I wish I had recorded the looks on their faces when I walked to the car to help Mom get in the house and they tried to figure out how I’d gotten to the house so quickly.

We hadn’t seen them in person in a couple of weeks, thanks to the weather, so it was nice to visit for the afternoon.

What I/we’ve Been Reading

Currently Reading:

Right now I am reading Dysfunction Junction by Robin W. Pearson and Little Women. Yes, still. Dysfunction Junction is a bit of a “heavier” read in some ways and Little Women is a nice and leisurely read. Plus I’ve been reading books to Little Miss during the day and at night, which takes up some of my reading time.

Recently Finished:

Up Next or Soon:

The Cat Who Went Into The Closet by Lilian Jackson Braun.

Planned reads for the rest of winter:

The Bungalow Mystery and The Mystery At Lilac Inn (Nancy Drew Mysteries) by Carolyn Keene.

Blessed Is the Busybody by Emilie Richards

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

A Taste of Fame by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson

Do The New You by Steven Furtick

Under the Magnolias by T.I. Lowe

Little Miss and I are reading The Borrowers at night or Paddington Goes To Town.

The Husband has been reading John Connolly books.

The Boy is reading Lost Names: Tales of a Korean Boyhood by Richard Kim for history and English for homeschool and listening to The Witcher.

What We watched/are Watching

Yesterday I watched a video with Darling Desi on YouTube when she visited Powell’s City of Books, the largest bookstore in the country and I found myself living vicariously through her, imagining I’d be overstimulated in a bookstore so large but also in a type of readers heaven.

Last weekend I watched Pride and Prejudice to write about it with Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs for our Jane Austen January. You can read her impression of it HERE.

I was so excited this week to see that the new season of All Creatures Great and Small is available on Amazon so I watched the first episode. The Husband also told me that the fourth season of Miss Scarlet and the Duke is available, or will be soon, but I am still in season three so that will have to wait.

I also watched a couple of episodes of Northern Exposure and then watched them again with The Boy who at first told me he didn’t want to watch anymore because he couldn’t stand the main character. I thought we were done after the first episode but after a few minutes of sitting there he said, “So are we watching another one or what?”

Both of us were bewildered by episode two of the first season and the third episode irritated me because Joel and Maggie were already flirting and, first of all, they haven’t known each other very long and, two, they are both in relationships. I’ll still keep watching because the quirky characters are interesting.

The Husband and I also watched an episode of CB Strike and an episode of The Manor Born, which I watched throughout the week because it is a comfort watch for me.

Last night we watched Treasure Planet with the kids. It came out in 2002 and I had seen it but years ago and forgotten all about it.

What I’m Writing

This week I made some definite progress on Cassie, a book that will release in August with a multi-author project.

It is not available for pre-order yet but I will keep you updated.

I have been starting a lot of blog posts but not finishing them. Hopefully, I’ll have more of them done and shared this week.

What I’m Listening to

I haven’t been listening to as much music this week but I have been listening to old Jack Benny episodes before bed.

Photos from Last Week

Blog Posts I Enjoyed This Past Week

I’ve been trying to read more posts from some of my favorite blogs recently and here are a few of my favorite posts:

Sounds of Silence by A New Lens

I enjoyed this reminder to find the time to sit in silence with our savior instead of just bringing requests to him throughout our day.

This is a nice story from Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian about a quick, simple gesture that made his day.

This was such a touching post from Alicia at For His Purpose about sitting with her ill grandmother who is currently in hospice care.

In this post, Becoming His Tapestry wrote about the cold temps, snow, and how it relates to the sacrifice of God of his son for us.

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.

Weely Traffic Jam Reboot

On January 18, 2024January 18, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings7 Comments

Welcome to another Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot hosted by Marsha in the Middle, Melynda from Scratch Made Food & DYI Homemade Household, Sue from Women Living Well After 50, and me. Look for the link up to go live on Thursdays at 9:30pm EDT. (But apparently not on this blog because I forgot to set it up again!)

Oh my goodness, everyone! The weather is so awful and cold right now where I live and if you are in the United States, probably where you live too.

Much of the country is in an arctic freeze right now with temperatures anywhere from negative 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-25C) to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (-3C). Where I live, we are used to cold winters but not this cold!

The horribly cold temps started on Sunday and are still going on. On Tuesday about five inches of snow fell and my daughter (who I call Little Miss on here) loves playing in the snow but with temps at 18 and windchill at like 7, she gave up pretty fast.

Even our animals, who will go outside in almost any weather, only stepped out at five minutes at a time and then returned inside to warm up by our woodstove, which has been going full bore since last week when we had snow. I have barely seen my parents in two weeks, even though they live eight minutes from my house because the extreme cold makes my muscles hurt and my chest tighten up.

On Sunday we tried to head to my parents but high winds were knocking the dead Ash trees down around us, the temps were dropping and freezing water run off from the day before, so we opted to stay home.

How has the weather been where you are?

If it is nice and sunny then please enjoy but don’t brag too much! *wink* Kidding! Brag all you want. I won’t blame you a bit!

On to the most clicked post for this week:

Denim Mini Skirt: My 5th Denim Item Oh Boy by Nancy’s Fashion Style

And my three favorite posts for the week:

Grand Canyon From The South Rim by Robert T. McCall Style Imitating Art by Shelbee On The Edge

I chose this one because I couldn’t wait to see the outfits that came from the inspiration of this painting. If you would like to see the final outfits, you can go here: https://shelbeeontheedge.com/sia-gallery-of-style-grand-canyon-from-the-south-rim-by-robert-t-mccall/

Mindfulness With A Twist: Finding Stillness In the Spin by Grace Filled Moments.

I really enjoyed this reminder from Grace Filled Moments as well. I am going to be referring to this later when I need to be reminded to find those small moments to lift my sports and get through.

Where Bloggers Live: How I Stay Warm in Winter by Within A World of My Own

I loved all the winter tips provided in this blog post. Some of them I am going to try myself as we deal with this arctic cold snap.

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 from years ago even.

Also, please take the time to visit the other blogs on the link-up and meet some new bloggers!

`10 on 10: Ten Things I want to accomplish, learn, master or create

On January 10, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn 10 on 10, everyday musings11 Comments

I am finally joining up with Marsha in the Middle’s 10 on 10 today. I have forgotten to do it every other month, but here I am to talk about ten things I want to accomplish, learn, master, or create this year or in the future. I don’t know if it has to be this year but, in the future, at least.

So here we go:

1. I want to learn more about taking photos with film and developing it myself.

I have taken photographs for years, starting out in film when I was in high school. I didn’t know enough about film back then to know what I was doing. I simply took the photographs and then took them to be developed at a drug store like Rite Aid or CVS. When I worked in newspapers in college, we had a staff photographer who would develop all the film and refused to teach me how to do it when I asked.

All I knew was there was a rotating door that spun him into some dark room and he developed film until one day he didn’t anymore because we either took the photographs to Rite Aid or we started using digital cameras.

To this day, he is one of the best photographers I have ever seen, but back then he could be a real jerk to the newbies. I still wish he’d slowed down and taught me more about film photography.

2. I want to learn to cook better.

I can cook fine to make dinner for The Husband and kids, but I really want to learn more about how to cook different dishes and how to bake. Our oven has been broken for a couple of years now but we hope to have it fixed soon so that will help some of my efforts to become a better cook. I have learned more about cooking in an electric frying pan, an air fryer, and an Instapot without the oven, though.

3. I want to create a book of my dad’s writings and my grandfather’s poems and I hope to do that this year.

I already have the poems and all I have to do is typeset (old newspaper word) them into the computer and get them ready for publication. Wish me luck. My grandfather wrote poems about anything and everything. My dad writes little pieces of prose and I’d love to put them in the book as well and give it to my dad for Father’s Day.

My maternal grandmother was also a writer and poet so her work will be next on my list.

4. I want to be able to finish this book I am writing now.

I am really struggling with my latest manuscript and it is one hundred percent my fault. I agreed to join a multi-author project where there were all these rules about what I could write and how for the book I am contributing. In my own defense, there weren’t that many rules when I agreed to do it. All I knew was the book had to be written in the 1990s and it had to be a certain word length and there would be a cookbook involved that would tie all the books in the series together.

Once I signed on even more rules were thrown in and I was stuck because pulling out of the project meant leaving the other authors hanging. So I am plodding forward and asking God for help because this is not how I usually write my novels. I have my own ideas of how I want the story to go, who I want the characters to be and what the plot will be. The story is my own. In this instance, it does not feel like it is my own. Pray for me.

5. Start a clean fiction book club either online or in person

I would really love to start a book club for clean fiction either in person or online. We’d choose one book, read it for the month, and then discuss it at the end of the month. This would be easy to do, I just don’t seem to be able to slow down and do it.

6. To move forward and not hold on to the hurts of my past.

This one will not be easy for me. I have a lot of hurts from the past that I am holding on to. Almost all of them were betrayals and abandonment by people who were close to me at one time (not my parents so, no, this isn’t a therapy session. Ha!). I want to let all of that go and hold on to my word for the year – onward.

By onward I mean I want to go, “yes, I was hurt, but no I won’t react like I usually do and retreat away from that person or life. I won’t purposely ignore a person if they reach out, even if they hurt me. That doesn’t, however, mean I will fully trust them or open myself up to a friendship or relationship with them but I want to say, “That happened. They hurt me. Move on and let them live their life without me sitting and seething inside about how they hurt me.”

It will be hard for me because I put up walls very fast and behind those walls I ruminate about the hurt I’ve been inflicted. For years and years. I hope to let that go this year and in future years – or at least keep working on doing so.

7. Start a podcast with Erin and not be afraid of public speaking.

So this is actually two but they go hand in hand. Erin and I from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs want to start a podcast and ramble about whatever we ramble about. We are both trying to be brave and not only offer ourselves and others an escape from the stresses of life but maybe find ways to earn extra income for our families. How will we do that through a podcast? I have no idea. Maybe we can tell people about my books and Erin’s journals and books and who knows. The avenues to reach our goals are wide open, we just have to take them.

8. Reading more of the Bible and recording the verses I read.

I have started a yearly Bible verse reading project and I really hope to stick with it throughout the year. I want to get up in the mornings and read my verse and write it down in my journal to work on memorizing scripture and taking in what the verses really mean. How to apply them to my life, in other words.

Right now I am using a list I found on Instagram, which Erin shared with me and hopefully, I can use a list from the same account throughout the year. So far, I only have January’s list.

9. Master how to write a novel quickly.

This goes along with my other writing goals but I really do want to learn how to quickly write a novel and plot better. Right now I write most of my novels by the seat of my pants and in the writing world that is known as “pantsing.” I really hope to be able to plot a bit better in the future and bring the stories together a little faster so I can hit the deadlines I set for myself. As an indie author, I set my own deadlines for most of my books (except the book I mentioned above where deadlines were set for me.)

10. Travel more and have more experiences outside my house.

I suffer from some chronic health issues and sometimes crippling anxiety so I really would love to travel more and have some more experiences outside of my house and immediate area at some point in my life. Erin and I have discussed meeting each other halfway so we can actually meet each other in person so that is a goal for me. I also want to get over my fear of having a “spell” in public because that is one thing (along with time and money) that holds me back.

I do have vertigo and weakness spells a lot and that seems to go with whatever autoimmune issues I have (doctors haven’t really diagnosed me with anything because they just think I’m crazy and pretty much tell me so and offer me antidepressants.). I want to be able to manage them and the crazy anxiety symptoms that come as well, so I can travel further and just live a little more.

So this was my 10 on the 10^th for the month. How about you? Do you have accomplishments you want to reach? Things you want to master or conquer? Let me know in the comments and if you want to join in on Marsha’s 10 on 10, find her link up here: https://marshainthemiddle.com/10-on-the-10th-january-2024/

Comfy, Cozy Christmas Link Up Highlights

On January 9, 2024January 8, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings8 Comments

Thank you to all of you who posted on my and Erin’s Comfy, Cozy Christmas Link Up.

I wanted to highlight a few of my favorites that were posted as a thank you for taking the time to post.

I loved this list of ideas of winter activities.

Peaceful Winter Days: 15 Activities for Winter by Crazy Little Love Birds

Then there was this tour of a beautiful Christmas light display from Marsha at Marsha in the Middle

This post by Deb at Reader Buzz had me sniffling for sure. It was so touching.

I love Mary Berry so I loved this post from Joy’s Book Blog about the Ultimate Mary Berry Christmas

I also enjoyed Steph Creates Things, Decorate Your Home with DIY Winter Wooden Snowflake and Bead Garland.

If I didn’t highlight your link, please know that Erin and I still appreciate you linking up and taking part and helping us make Christmas 2023 comfy and cozy. I hope you will participate in our other link-ups throughout the year.

I hope we make this an annual tradition. Focusing on comfy and cozy books, movies, and events really creates a magical and calming atmosphere for the Christmas season and I really needed that this year.

Sunday Bookends: Romances and mysteries in reading, mysteries in watching, and a snowstorm

On January 7, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings, Sunday Bookends27 Comments

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.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.

What’s Been Occurring

Yesterday we were hit by a snowstorm that wasn’t as bad as we thought it was going to be but still brought about five inches of snow and cold. It was our first bigger snowstorm. Little Miss had a wonderful time sledding down the hill behind the house even after it got dark. We are grateful for a very bright light in our backyard.

We are also grateful for a bright streetlight because the kids decided to slide down our driveway and across our street around 10 at night. They had a blast.

It was too dark for photos but Zooma the Wonder Dog also had a blast. As I have mentioned before on my blog, she loves to jump up and catch snowballs that are thrown for her.

The snowstorm is set to continue today so we are hunkering down. I don’t know if we will get much more snow but the roads are supposed to be fairly messy and it is very, very cold out there right now.

Little Miss enjoyed playing in the snow much of yesterday and again today with her dad before he has to go to a second, part-time, job he recently started.

What I’ve Been Reading

This past week I finished two books – a Christian romance, Southern Snow by B.R. Goodwin, and a non-Christian mystery called How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin.

If you like squeaky-clean books with a Christian message and romance you will like Southern Snow.

If you don’t mind some language and a very good mystery (like could not put the book down good) then you want How To Solve Your Own Murder but that one doesn’t come out until March 26 so go pre-order it.

You could also be like me and like both of them. Southern Snow is out now and on Kindle Unlimited if you have a membership to that.

This week I will be continuing Little Women, Dysfunction Junction by Robin W. Pearson, and listening to A Tall of Two Cities on Audible.

Dysfunction Junction will be out on February 6. Here is a description:

When three women receive an unexpected phone call that leaves them reeling, they have no other choice but to reckon with a lifetime of memories they’ve long tried to bury. Only in facing the past will they find their path forward.

Frances Mae Livingston’s firm grip of her family’s destructive history makes her hold her husband and four children even closer. But she’s losing bits of herself while proving to everybody and her mama that she’s enough. There’s no way she’ll repeat her mama’s mistakes, even if it kills her.

Annabelle McMillan didn’t have trouble kicking the Eastern North Carolina dust off her feet. The tough part was replanting herself in familiar soil. Now she’s blending her old life with her new husband, stepson, and unborn child. And battling old memories of abandonment and new fears of rejection.

Dr. Charlotte Winters has built a career around helping others sort through their emotional baggage. She’s also spent a lifetime refusing to unpack her own. So what if Charlotte doesn’t recall all that her mama did to her and what her daddy didn’t do for her? Her only mission is to help others help themselves…until the women from her past and the man in her future undo her well-sewn life.

At the junction of healed and hurting, broken and whole, and past and present, three women wrestle with their inability to forgive and forget in this riveting Southern family drama about sisterhood from award-winning author Robin W. Pearson.

I am also putting together a list of books I want to read this winter – including a collection of stories by Agatha Christie that I planned to read last winter but never got to. I hope to share that tomorrow or another day on the blog. It won’t be a big list because I am a slow reader. The Husband is reading John Connolly books.

The Boy and I have set A Tale of Two Cities aside for right now as we start a non-fiction book for history called Lost Names by Richard Kim, which I have started and have been swept up in. I also decided I wanted to read/listen to A Tale of Two Cities first so I can guide him when he reads it.

What We watched/are Watching

This past week I watched a lot of cozy mysteries – Poirot (with David Suchet) and Miss Scarlet and The Duke (which I am pretty much binge watching now).

What I’m Writing

If you’re new here you might not know that I write fiction books. Yes, I am an indie author and some readers do not read indie authors. That doesn’t offend me. I get it. I don’t even read a lot of indie authors.

There are a lot of not very good indie authors out there and a handful of good ones. That’s my honest opinion, even though I am an indie author.

Am I a good indie author? I’m a decent one, maybe, but recently questioned it when I put out a book that I had somehow switched two chapters on and then published the stinking book.

Oh my word I was so humiliated when I discovered it two weeks later. How did I do it? Well, it has to do with my new formatting software and how it’s very easy to move things around. So easy that two chapters were transposed without me even realizing I did it. I did not second check things before I uploaded it to Amazon because I had uploaded it before and it was fine. This time I had only made a minor change with a typo I somehow missed correcting after my editors gave it back so I didn’t think I needed to check it. Well, I learned my lesson the hard way.

Anyhow, this week I am working on a new book called Cassie that will be part of a multi-author project. It doesn’t come out until August so I have plenty of time but writing this one has been a struggle. I will admit that I now wish I had not joined a project that had so many rules with it that were provided by someone else and not myself. I will not be doing another project like this ever, but I feel this one is pushing me creatively and that’s a good thing.

I hope to have Cassie complete by the end of February, the beginning of March. After that, I hope to start a new Gladwynn Mysteries book and I think this time around I will share it here on the blog more than I did with the last book. I plan to move my books out of Kindle Unlimited so I can share and sell them anywhere I want. I will be doing that in the spring.

If you want to learn more about my books and what they are about, you can click HERE.

What I’m Listening To

Right now I am listening to A Tale of Two Cities on Audible.

Photos from Last Week

Here are some photos from our snowstorm:

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.

Saturday Evening Chat: Looking back at the blog in 2023 and a thank you to readers

On January 6, 2024January 6, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings, Saturday Afternoon Tea12 Comments

The fire is crackling in the woodstove and vegetable soup is cooking in the Instapot.

Outside snowflakes are falling softly at a fairly fast clip and the forecasters say we will have up to nine inches by the time this Nor’easter is done.

I started this blog post a bit ago but kept getting interrupted by lighting the fire, cutting up the potatoes for the soup while listening to a couple of lovely Christmas stories by L.M. Montgomery on Audible (no, this is not a paid ad), and chatting with my parents, brother, and a couple of friends. It was almost like life got in the way of my blog. Like – what?

(If you’re new here I’m typically sarcastic and snarky.)

Today I wanted to take the time to thank anyone who stopped by my blog in 2023 and left me comments or encouragement. It is very much appreciated.

I write a lot about – well, nothing.

Ha!

But people seem to need to focus on a bit of nothing these days so I am okay with writing mainly about nothing.

I wrote a lot about movies in 2023. I wrote about books and family outings and a bit about family history.

I wrote about my fiction books that I am working on and shared some of them. (They are currently on sale and links are at the top and side of the page. Commercial over.).

I wrote less about my Christian walk, not because I’m not still doing it, but because I was struggling with life part of the time and didn’t feel like I should be writing about it while I was trying to figure it all out. That’s pretty silly, I know. As Christians we should be talking about our journey no matter where we are because we never know who we will help along the way. I hope to fix that a bit in 2024.

I enjoyed meeting a ton of new bloggers this past year, which was the best thing about blogging in 2023.

I hope to “meet” even more in 2024. The only thing about meeting new bloggers is I have a hard time keeping up with everyone’s blogs and leaving comments. Sometimes I will read posts but run out of time to comment or fall asleep in the middle of commenting and thing I already did. Maybe I should meet less bloggers this year then. Ha.

As I write I am looking out at my neighbor’s front lawn and it’s weird how sad it looks now that the husband took all the Christmas decorations he had up down. I know it was time and I’m sure their electric bill will appreciate them not being up any more, but his wife and I both said how much we miss them. She managed to get him to leave up some of the sparkling rainbow lights at least so there is a nice sparkle for right now over there.

What can I say? Our house always looks pretty depressing in the winter without all the green on the trees and the flowers out so I am sure it isn’t fun for them to look at our house either.

Our Christmas decorations are now down too and I told The Husband I need to figure out ways to decorate the house for all seasons like people I follow on here and YouTube.

Yesterday we went to pick up groceries and also some pizza and wings for my dad, whose 80^th birthday was yesterday.

We ate some lunch with him and my mom and then came home to put up our groceries and get ready for the storm.

Today I’ve been goofing off, as I mentioned above, but after I post this, I think I will watch some more Miss Scarlet and The Duke and read another chapter of Little Women. With a blanket, of course.

We usually visit my parents on Sundays but it looks like we might be stuck inside tomorrow as well since getting out of my driveway in icy or snowy weather is not easy at all.

That means more reading and writing time for me.

Oh and while I am thinking of it – I’ve actually purchased a tea other than peppermint to try and it’s not too bad – it is a ginger, turmeric, and orange tea. Ginger is great for digestion and turmeric can be great for inflammation and aches and pains.

How was your week last week?

Do anything exciting?

Try any new teas?

Let me know in the comments.

I’ll be back tomorrow with Sunday Bookends.

Weekly Traffic Jam Reboot

On January 4, 2024January 4, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings, Weekend Traffic Jam3 Comments

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s!

This week has been fairly laid back for us.

I missed the deadline to put this post up because I got caught up in a book I’ve been reading. It is an ARC by Kristen Perrin called How to Solve Your Own Murder. It comes out March 26 and you’re going to want to get a copy. I usually schedule the post but earlier in the day I was either reading or thinking a lot about what to do for my dad’s 80th birthday tomorrow and completely forgot I hadn’t scheduled it. Oh well. I can’t always be on top of everything, I suppose (she said this sarcastically, knowing full well she’s barely ever on top of anything.)

The most clicked for last week was:

Styling Black Leggings for Gals over 50 by Karin’s Kottage

Here are my favorites for the week:

Simple But Put Together Outfit by Chez Mireille Fashion Travel Mom

Words on Wednesday Christmas Feasting and Other Things by Thistles and Kiwis

Freezing Temperature Tablescape with Sled Dogs and Bears, Oh My! by Life Is Better Lakeside

Also, please take the time to visit the other blogs on the link-up and meet some new bloggers!

Saturday Afternoon Chat: Christmas, Christmas light displays, and special Christmas gifts

On December 30, 2023December 30, 2023 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings, Saturday Afternoon Tea14 Comments

Good afternoon!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas or holiday and are ready to celebrate the New Year.

We had a really fun, but relaxing Christmas Eve and Christmas.

We spent both days with my parents.

Christmas Eve we bought pizza and wings and watched the movie Elf with them and on Christmas Day we went there for a gift exchange and dinner. We watched White Christmas after all the gifts were open.

Every year before we open gifts we read the Christmas story from Luke. Either Dad or Mom or my brother usually reads it but my brother couldn’t be there this year so Little Miss and The Husband volunteered to read. It was very nice to have them read it.

There were a couple of very nice surprise gifts for me, including a new Kindle from my husband. I always joke how he rarely buys me books for Christmas, even though that’s what I want most of the time (he really just wants me to choose what I want on my own so he isn’t being a jerk) so this year he put me in my place and bought me a device where I can read hundreds of books.

It was a total shock.

I like the Kindle Paperwhite I have and it was working okay but earlier in the year I thought the battery wasn’t holding a charge as well. It turns out my case wasn’t closing right and failing to put it into sleep mode.

Regardless, The Husband got it in his head that I needed a new Kindle so he kindly used a portion of his bonus to buy one of the newest generations. He wanted me to have one that I could adjust the warmth setting on so I can use it more at night before bed without it messing with my melatonin. It also features a larger screen.

I certainly appreciated the thought and while I first thought it was a bit clunky compared to my older and lighter paperwhite, after a couple of days of using it (it came on Wednesday), I love it. I even hug it when I close the cover. I know. I’m weird. I also hug books after I smell them. Ahem. I’ve heard of weirder habits by people so I’m not worried about my mental status. At least for that reason.

Another surprise for me was a six-month membership to Ancestry.com so I could finish researching our family.

I already had an entire family tree put together but had to take a break because of expenses. Now I have to start a new account and redo some of my research but I can hopefully draw from my old account and quickly add some of it. After I am done, I will make sure to print it all out and save all the documents I want to save in a place I can find it this time.

Among my favorite gifts was a huge three-pound jar of local honey. The Husband joked it should last me a week and after looking at how much I’ve used already he might be right – though it will probably be at least a month.

Little Miss was surprised with two music boxes from my parents among some other gifts. The Husband was given a clock that used to belong to my paternal grandmother.

I bought my son a sword for Christmas. Yes, a real sword. Okay, not really that real but a little real.

It’s fairly solid and it’s something he has wanted, though he later told me it was a bit of a joke. Joke or not, he now has a sword to go with his helmet.

He also received two hammers from his grandfather and I’m not sure if he knew what to think of them but he did say they would be nice to have for personal projects or for his building and construction class. When he was little he used to hand his superhero figures to me and ask me to put them in my purse but on Monday he asked me to put his hammers in my purse. In the end, they were too heavy to be put in there and had to be carried out to go home in a box.

My dad received a gift from his neighbor of a piece of ash wood that had the pattern from the ash bore in its bark and was carved by his neighbor into the shape of a tree.

We have been using this wood in our woodstove and I thought the patterns in the bark were from the wood laying in the dirt and worms making the patterns.

(Speaking of our woodstove – we haven’t had to use it all week but will have to light it tonight as the temperatures drop back down into the 30s.)

My dad always does a beautiful job at wrapping the presents and this year was no exception.

As an aside, Dad will be 80 this Friday. He still likes to try to trick us at Christmas and wrap our gifts in a way we can’t really tell what it is until we open it. This year he wrapped each of us special gifts (like my Ancestry membership) around a can of sardines. We all guessed that was what it was but weren’t sure if they were real sardines or just the cans.

It turned out they were real sardines but money or notes about items that were ordered for us were wrapped around them. Both Little Miss and the Boy tried the sardines. The Boy liked his since they had a Louisiana hot sauce on them. He was disappointed he left them at their house when we left that evening.

Gifting The Boy underwear became a theme for a few years so one year my dad wrapped his underwear in a box of nails which made The Boy think he was receiving a Lego set.

The day after Christmas we all headed to a festival of lights – or Christmas light display about 45 minutes south of us.

Usually we attend this site the day after Thanksgiving, or at least before Christmas, and there aren’t as many people but this year there was a huge line of cars traveling through the lights with us. The lights are set up on a golf course and each display is very impressive, especially for our small area.

This year they enlarged the display and also added a tribute to the victims of 9-11, which was very impressive to us all.

On the way to the display we picked up two friends of Little Miss’s and they regaled us with Christmas carols as we rode because The Husband still hasn’t figured out how to operate the radio in his new-to-him truck so he didn’t know how to turn to the radio station they tell you to play while going through the display.

I tried to play Michael Buble’s Christmas album for everyone but they weren’t that interested.

The rest of the week was spent relaxing for most of us (The Boy has enjoyed staying up late and sleeping in on his break) and some work for The Husband but luckily not all week.

Today The Husband is taking us somewhere for dinner and shopping. Tomorrow we will either relax at home or my parents for New Year’s Eve while The Boy has a friend over for a sleepover. I hope to make Aunt Dianne’s famous sausage balls for either Sunday or Monday.

How was your Christmas or holidays?

Did you receive any special gifts or just have some special family time?

I’d love to know.

I’ll be back tomorrow for Sunday Bookends to discuss what I’ve been reading and watching.