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.

What’s Been Occurring

This weekend I’ve been trying to decompress from all the stress of last week. It’s amazing how you can hold it mostly together with some major situations going on, but as soon as your grocery order can’t be picked up when you wanted it and your air fryer died while you’re trying to cook breakfast, you totally fall apart.

I guess sometimes the little things on top of the big things are the last straw.

Ha.

Anyhow, the leaves are starting to change colors where we live and I think we might have a colorful year thanks to the cooler nights that hit us this past week.

I’m looking forward to those pretty colors.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

I finished Endless Night by Agatha Christie this past week. It was definitely a different Christie. Not a who-dun-it mystery but a psychological mind trip that she wrote in six weeks in 1968 when she was 70-something. She called it her favorite. After reading it and many other books of hers, I still maintain she disappeared those 11 days after her husband told her he was leaving her for his secretary versus going into some kind of “fugue” state out of shock. That woman knew exactly what she was doing embarrassing her husband with all those stories about her disappearance. And I think he deserved it and she was awesome.

In Progress

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

To clear my palette a bit I am reading Just Shy of Harmony by Philip Gulley. I also plan to continue to read The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink with Little Miss.

Up Soon

I planned to start The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson this upcoming week, but might hold off because there is a group of readers that is going to be reading it in November, so I might wait.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

No new arrivals this week after that long haul last week.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

A couple of months ago I shared about my husband purchasing me a DVD set of all seasons of Murder, She Wrote.

I am thrilled to have them on DVD after being disappointed that Amazon  had taken them off Amazon Prime (which made it so I had to buy each episode or entire seasons to watch them.) Now I can watch whenever I want. Even if our WiFi goes out. The other day, though, I didn’t feel like pulling the DVDs out and decided I’d buy just one episode to try to chill me out after a stressful week (I seem to have a lot of those lately) and saw that all 12 seasons were on sale for $14.99 for Prime members when the cost is usually $249.

Needless to say, I bought those episodes right up! That was a shocking deal and it was on a day where I really needed something to take my mind off of things.

I watched The Shop Around the Corner with my mom earlier in the week and yesterday I watched The Thrill of It All, a movie starring James Garner and Doris Day. I needed lighter movies this week. The Thrill of It All featured several mini-cameos by Carl Reiner. He played an actor that kept showing up on live TV programs and he was hilarious, as always.

And James was gorgeous…as always. Doris? I can honestly live without her usually but she was funny in this one and her dimples are always fun to see when she smiles.

Let me tell you too – she and James get in a fight in this movie and eventually he comes home and I was thinking, “I would absolutely make up with him…but only if he put out that cigarette he’s always smoking in this movie. Ick. His breath must smell of stale coffee and cigarettes!”

I also thought the ending was a bit ridiculous but it was 1963 and our society had a hard time understanding a woman can be a wife, mom, and have a career too. Sometimes the wife and mom role suffers until the balance is reached, but it can be done.

What I’ve Been Writing

Last week on the blog I shared:

• Autumn of Jack (Lemmon): It Should Happen to You
• Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot September 25
• Ten Books I want to read this autumn
• Book recommendation: Murder, She Wrote: A Slaying in Savannah
• Sunday Bookends: A bookshop visit

What I/We’ve Been Listening To

Murder, She Wrote A Harvest Feast by Donald Bain

Book quotes from my reading this week

“In the end is my beginning… That’s a quotation I’ve often heard people say.”
― Agatha Christie, Endless Night

Arrangements. I remember his using the word arrangements. What a hateful word it is and all the things it stands for. The things in life that have grand words – Love – sex – life – death – hate – those aren’t the things that govern existence at all. It’s lots of other pettifogging, degrading things. Things you have to endure, things you never think about until they happen to you.  – Endless Night, Agatha Christie

“Walking in the pale shadowy edge of a September evening I feel the stars moving in a divine order, and I sense suddenly that we are all children of God. “I will lift my mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord.” — these are old words and words of deep security to a troubled heart.” Stillmeadow Daybrook by Gladys Taber.

Some Housekeeping

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

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

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?

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

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

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

If you would like to be the first to get news about my books or just have access to special posts for supporters, you can do so here for $2.99 a month https://lisahoweler.com/support-my-writing/

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.

What’s Been Occurring

Friday my family visited a small used bookstore near us for my birthday (which was yesterday) and I came home with a stack of books and spent a little too much money so I am not buying books in October. Plus, I am running out of room for physical books!

I finally felt good for once when we went because I often seem to have one ailment or another when we go. This time I could really explore which is probably why I discovered these two Gladys Taber books in the wild, one of them actually published in 1946.

I may or may not have made a little giddy squeal when I found the books, I might add. The kids rolled their eyes a bit but I said I was allowed to have my nerding out moment, considering my son and husband often have theirs in comic book or Warhammer stores.

I’m still reading my first Gladys Taber book, but I’m already collecting others because I have a feeling I will enjoy all of them.

This little bookshop has a nice mix of fiction and non-fiction, collectibles and non-collectibles.

There is a small new book section and a large section that covers one long wall and features lovely antique or classic books books.

She (the owner) also sells a wide variety of mass paperbacks, which have been discontinued as a book format, and usually I find a few Murder, She Wrote books but not this time, sadly. She also has a little cozy corner full of cozy mysteries and other mystery books and a small selection of Christian Fiction.

There are two rocking chairs on the front porch and three chairs inside where you can sit and read while your family shops.

The town where the bookshop is located in is a tiny tourist village which is quite busy from May until Labor Day. The village isn’t really busy, actually. The lake, cabins, and the inns/small hotels are.

This weekend the whole place was deserted and the other three little stores in the middle of town were closed. I guess the shop owners all decided this was the time to go on their own vacations.

Winter is a fairly relaxed time for the little village so I hope to go to the store again in winter and just explore every section even more.

Maybe even by myself, which is something I really don’t do very often.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

I finished The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain last night. I’ve been saying for a couple of years that I wanted to read it again (I was about 12 the last time I did) and I’m glad I finally did.

It’s a fun, adventurous story with plenty of excitement for people of any age.

And of course that coupled with all the humor was a nice distraction from life.

In Progress

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

I am also reading Endless Night by Agatha Christie for the 2026 Christie Reading Challenge. Christie wrote the book in 1968 and said it was her favorite book she’d written.

I plan to start The Two Mrs. Abbott’s by D.E. Stevenson this week as well.

Up Soon

I picked up some new books at the book store, including one by Rhys Bowen, who I have yet to read anything by, and another one by Phillip Gulley that is part of the Harmony series.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

Forever and a Death by Donald Westlake, Julie of the Wolves Treasurery by Jean Craighead George, Naughy in Nice by Rhys Bowen, The Runaway Quilt by Jenniver Chiaverini, The Tuscan child by Rhys Bowen, Life Goes On by Phillip Gullety, The Lighthouse by PD James, The Haunted Showboat by Carolyn Keene, My Own Cape Cod by Gladys Taber, Especially Spaniels by Gladys Taber, Murder at and Irish chipper by Carlene O’Connor.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

I read more than I watched last week but I did rewatch the movie Phffft for my Autumn of Jack Lemmon and last night my family and I rewatched Project Hail Mary, which my daughter and husband had not seen yet.

What I’ve Been Writing

Last week on the blog I shared:

• Classic movie impression: Phffft (1954)
• Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot September 18
• 5 fun, light-hearted classic movie suggestions for you to watch
• Sunday Bookends: The Monkees on Prime was the most exciting part of my week and that’s a bit sad

I did not work a ton on Gladwynn Grant Goes Back to School but I did work on it a little. You can find a link to my other books at the bottom of this blog post.

Some Housekeeping

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

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

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?

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

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

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

If you would like to be the first to get news about my books or just have access to special posts for supporters, you can do so here for $2.99 a month https://lisahoweler.com/support-my-writing/

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.

This past week sucked for so many reasons but I was so excited to see that Amazon had put The Monkees on Prime this week.

This was a show produced in the 1960s but aired on Nickelodeon in the 1980s. It was a show that I loved to watch as a kid at my friend’s house, because we didn’t have cable at my house. I always loved the goofiness of it and the music. Watching it was such a wonderful distraction. I laughed and just enjoyed the ridiculousness of it.

What is crazy is that WordPress showed me what I wrote last year on this same date and I also mentioned The Monkees in that post! Ha! Apparently remembering the show and band always happens in September for me and maybe that is because the show debuted on September 12, 1966.

I also wanted to clarify my comments last week about how many books people read in a month. I am not sure it was clear that my original thought were “people can’t read that many books” but then I thought about all the reasons they could read that many.

I also appreciated all the comments from other readers about why people can read a larger amount of books in a month compared to other readers. Go back and read some of those comments if you get a chance.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

I didn’t finish any books this week but instead kept starting new ones.

In Progress

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

I am also reading A Crime At Black Dudley by Margery Allingham, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, and The Moss Covered Mansion by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew).

Up Soon

I just ordered The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson so I can read that soon and I also ordered a copy of Endless Nights by Agatha Christie to read for the Christie Reading Challenge’s September read.

What The Family is Reading

Little Miss and I are still reading Rascal by Stirling North for school and for fun we are reading The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

I received a copy of Miss Silver Comes to Stay by Patricia Wentworth that I purchased off Thriftbooks.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week I watched The Monkees as I mentioned, a couple of silly movies – Cactus Flower and Romance on the High Seas – as well as a couple of The Hardy Boys episodes from the 1970s after they dropped Nancy Drew from the show.

What I’ve Been Writing

This week on the blog I shared:

• Autumn of Lemmon: An introduction on Jack Lemmon
• Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot September 11

Some Housekeeping

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

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

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?

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

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

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

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.

Bear with me on my thoughts this week…read to the end before getting offended! *wink*

I was going to make a comment this week about how I think it’s absolutely crazy when a Booktuber (someone who talks about books on YouTube) or book blogger comes out and says that they read 14 books in one month.

Sometimes I think that’s ridiculous (unless you’re retired) because that’s four books a week and I just can’t imagine fitting in four books a week with the rest of life.

But then I had to remind myself that books are all different sizes and some take less time than others. Then I had a fairly depressing end of my week and realized that disassociating by reading a lot of books is actually not the worst thing in the world and it’s a lot healthier than going out and committing crimes or drinking a bottle of whiskey to get through the hard time (neither of which I did, by the way. I drank herbal tea, ate some chocolate, cried, and read a book).

So it was a bit of a reality check for me that when I wanted to “criticize” somebody for saying they read a lot of books, I really should be telling myself to read more and disconnect from life more. I wasn’t really criticizing but questioning…originally that is.

Luckily, most of those who I watch who talk about how many books they read are not bragging or saying people have to read that many books. They’re simply sharing what they read and many times I like what they’ve read so I had them to my list of “need to read” books.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

Murder, She Wrote:  A Slaying in Savannah by Donald Bain and “Jessica B. Fletcher”. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this one when I started it but I ended up liking it quite a bit.

In Progress

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

I am also reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, and The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink, The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham. I’m reading whichever one I am in the mood for that day or night.

Up Soon

I will be starting Endless Night by Agatha Christie, The Two Mrs. Abbott’s by D.E. Stevenson, and Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Moss Covered Mansion.

What The Family is Reading

Little Miss and I are reading Rascal by Sterling North and started The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink together.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

I added three more Tommy and Tuppence books to my shelves last week: Partners in Crime, N or M?, and the first book in their series, The Secret Adversary.

My husband also picked me up two newer Nancy Drew books at a local fair.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week I watched a couple episodes of The Hardy Boys from the 1970s. This was after they dropped Nancy Drew from the show.

I also watched Son of Fury with George Sanders and Tyrone Power and started Cactus Flower with Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, and Goldie Hawn but didn’t finish it before it went off Amazon Prime and now I’m not really sure I want to pay to rent it. It wasn’t really something I was enjoying that much.

I also enjoyed this short video that featured an interview with Miss Read (real name Dora Saint):

What I’ve Been Writing

Last week on the blog I shared:

• Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot
• Ten Books With Nationalities In The Title
• A Good Book & A Cup of Tea Monthly Bookish Blog Party Link Up for September

Some Housekeeping

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

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

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?

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

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

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

If you would like to be the first to get news about my books or just have access to special posts for supporters, you can do so here for $2.99 a month https://lisahoweler.com/support-my-writing/

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing.

I’m not someone who follows a ton of celebrities closely but this week was quite a week for deaths so it was hard not to pay attention.

Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Peter Cullen are the three deaths I am referring to.

I’m sure almost all of you knew who Dolly Parton was and even Tim Curry (you might not have realized you knew Tim until you saw a list of the various movies he was in and roles he played), but you may be asking yourself … who was Peter Cullen?

You may not think you know who he is, but I bet you have heard his voice. He was the voice of Optimus Prime from the animated Transformer series for 40 years as well as the voice of Eeyore on The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and many other animated or robot characters.

He was the voice of Kit, the car on Knight Rider, and Predator, the Red Skull…the list goes on.

 So when it came to which death hit this family harder this week, it was probably Peter Cullen, even though we were also fans of Tim Curry and somewhat of Dolly. No shade on Dolly because — wow — she was an amazing person who never slowed down, but Peter was tied tightly to my and my husband’s childhood and our son’s.

I cried over Dolly videos all week (her nephew’s announcement .. ooof… so classy and respectful and heartbreaking), but I didn’t have as much time to process Peter’s death because I was a little  busy the second half of the week. Friday night, though, I watched a video that used his voice talking about how his brother who was a Marine in Vietnam, inspired the voice of Optimus Prime, and then I was a bawling mess again.

I watched Transformers with some friends when we were kids back in the 1980s and then again with my son when he was a kid. Friday night we sat and watched a few old Transformer episodes in his honor. During them my son did have to point out how a new character was introduced every episode just so the toy company could release a new toy, but I put that out of my mind and focused on my and his childhood memories instead.

All of these celebrity deaths coupled with the death of my cat a couple of weeks ago and a friend cleaning out her mom’s apartment after her mom’s passing had me crying a lot BUT some of it felt good and necessary under the circumstances.

Please keep praying for my friend. If you are a regular on this blog I am sure you know who I am talking about. The grief doesn’t ever really go away and I pray for comfort for her in the days ahead.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

I finished my Nancy Drew book last week and, well, it was not my favorite. I know they are kids books but The Mystery of The Brass Bound Trunk just was not very good.

It had so many plot holes and craziness in it. I wonder if the original (since this was a revised version) was better. I will have to look for it for my Nancy Drew November.

In Progress

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

I jumped into a Murder, She Wrote book — A Slaying in Savannah — by Donald Bain even before  I finished the Nancy Drew book and it’s okay but a little slow. The Murder, She Wrote books are usually a bit slow but this one seems even more drawn out, maybe because it is taking place in the south? I have no idea. It’s not bad, though, and I do like books that take a leisurely stroll at times so I would still recommend it.

I’m also reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, which is a lot of fun. I haven’t read it since I was about 12.

I started The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham as well, to see how I liked it, and I think it will be interesting. It’s the first book in the Albert Campion series.

Up Soon

I’ve already made my list of hopefuls for Autumn 2026 and after these books I think I will start with The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink for September. It is a children’s mystery book and I will probably read it with Little Miss.

I also hope to read The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson in September and I will be reading three Agatha Christie books for the Christie reading challenge — Endless Night, Sleeping Murder, and The Secret Adversary.

What The Family is Reading

Little Miss and I finally finished Heidi and are starting Rascal by Sterling North this week.

The boy is listening to a Warhammer book.

The Husband is reading The Bridges of Toko-Ri by James Michener.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week we watched some Transformers episodes in honor of Peter Cullen.

I also watched The Maltese Falcon and I must have watched something else but I can’t remember right now! Ha! Gott a love thyroid brain fog.

What I’ve Been Writing

Last week on the blog I share:

• Classic Movie Impression: Without Love (1945)
• Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot August 28
• Book recommendation: By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie
• Five bookish places I’ve visited and five I want to

What I/We’ve Been Listening To

I am listening to The Maine Mutiny (A Murder, She Wrote book) by Donald Baine.

My son came home with a record of Englebert Humperdink from the local thrift store and, for some reason, was very excited about it, so we listened to one of his songs and then I made my son listen to Tom Jones. We watched Tom performing “It’s Not Unsual” on Ed Sullivan too and I still wonder why they let that man have a seizure on live TV and didn’t help him.

But luckily he survived it because have you seen this man sing lately? He’s a judge on The Voice UK and even at 85, he’s still got it. This aired this week but is probably from a few months ago.

Some Housekeeping

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

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

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?

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

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

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

If you would like to be the first to get news about my books or just have access to special posts for supporters, you can do so here for $2.99 a month https://lisahoweler.com/support-my-writing/

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.

My mom turned 82 this past week and that morning I called to wish her a happy birthday. I did that but then my dad got on the phone to ask my something and let me know he and my mom had been up until 2:30 that morning watching Crocodile Dundee and cooking hamburgers.

My parents are not super active anymore since my mom is unable to get around well and mainly sits in her chair and Dad has Parkinson’s so hearing that they were partying all night and eating hamburgers at midnight just cracked me up.

On Mom’s birthday the kids and I went over for dinner, and Little Miss made her a watermelon and berry “cake” because Mom doesn’t eat sweets very much anymore (not diabetic) and never was a big fan of cake.

This week we were told our cat is dying – which seems to be something our vet didn’t make clear at the last visit. When we tried to get her an appointment Friday, they told us she was dying and there was nothing more they could do for her so refused to set one up until she needs to be euthanized. At first, I understood the conversation but as the days went on, I found myself pretty disgusted with the vet not wanting to help our cat as much as they could.

They gave us medicine for her before but this time wouldn’t even check her to see if it had helped at all. My son called to try to persuade them to see her one more time and they refused again. He said they spoke to him like he was 12 instead of almost 20. This sounds petty but if we do get to the point of having to euthanize her, I’ve decided I won’t give them money to do it. We will take her somewhere else, which is hard to do in this area where vets are limited.

(Edit: I contacted the vet the day after I wrote this and they offered to refill the medicine she was on before. To shorten the story, I’ll just say I received an apology for them not offering to refill her medicine before and they also said we could take her to a higher end clinic to have imaging done and determine why she is having liver issues. I don’t think we need to do that because her liver only became an issue after she contracted a virus. We worked things out, in other words. Also, we are not sure the medicine will work. It might be too late, but at least we gave it one last try.)

Before I move on, I do want to mention that my friend Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs lost her mom this past week. If you could remember her and her family in your prayers that would be appreciated.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Just Finished

I finished Celia’s House by D.E. Stevenson this past week and wasn’t a big fan. It was okay and after talking to a friend about it, I understand the style more but still didn’t enjoy it as much as the Miss Buncle series I am in the  middle of now.

In Progress

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

I’m still reading Miss Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson. I’m liking this one a lot.

I’m also reading a Nancy Drew book — Mystery of the Brassbound Trunk by Carolyn Keene.

Up Soon

Later this week I hope to start By The Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie for the Christie Reading Challenge.

I’m not really sure what I will read the rest of the month, but would love to squeeze The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in before the end of the summer.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week I watched The Big Sleep, A Scandal in Paris, and Footsteps in the Dark.

I also started watching the episodes of Mary Berry’s show about her 90^th birthday, which was last year.

Because I have watched so many Jack Lemmon films lately, and have watched more over the last year than I realized, I will probably be switching things up and doing an Autumn of Jack for Fall and moving Jimmy Stewart movies to winter.

What I’ve Been Writing

I made some progress and a major decision this week for my fourth Gladwynn Grant book. It will help me move forward on the story.

On the blog I shared:

• Classic movie impression: Witness to Murder (1954)
• Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot August 7
• Book Recommendation: Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck
• Sunday Bookends: The Husband’s acting bug continues, watched a lot of movies, and …will my daughter and I ever finish reading Heidi?

Some Housekeeping

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

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

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?

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

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

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

If you would like to be the first to get news about my books or just have access to special posts for supporters, you can do so here for $2.99 a month https://lisahoweler.com/support-my-writing/

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.

With cooler weather coming in this week, it almost feels like autumn in summer, which stinks for some, but has been so welcome for me. When it is super warm out I like to turn the AC up high for a while and get a blanket and pretend it is autumn already.

The week before last the heat wave, combined with wildfire smoke from Canada, plus some life stress, made me very sick, which is why the cooler temps are such a welcome respite for me.

Luckily it  has been still warm enough during the day that we can take our daughter swimming at the YMCA, which is about a half an hour north.

Last Sunday I took her to their outside pool for the first time. I don’t do super well in direct sunlight but they had thin fabric covers over the tables and it was very nice. The Husband has taken her before, but I had never been there. It’s a nice set up and I’m shocked I’ve lived my whole life in the area and never been there. This is one of those old concrete pools and is probably 60 years old.

Little Miss and her friend both took a test to allow them to swim in the deeper part of the pool and were very proud of themselves. I was too.

It wasn’t a super warm day so the pool wasn’t overly crowded either.

The rest of this past week was fairly uneventful.

I started planning for Little Miss’s upcoming school year, visited my parents a couple of times, and picked up groceries from the Aldi pick up on Friday.

Yesterday was a mostly relaxing day with some worrying about aforementioned homeschool year, overthinking the fact that young people today are reading less and therefore not being exposed to the more eloquent and poetic writing of classic literature, watching The Mark of Zorro, reading a bit of my John Steinbeck book, and cooking a self-created combination dish of turkey bacon, brussels sprouts, onions, and sweet peppers.

Rain is being called for almost every day this upcoming week. We do not have any grand plans for the week other than watching Warren (yes, that is The Husband’s real name) in a community play version of Little Shop of Horrors this weekend. After reminding myself of the difference between the play and the 1986 movie, I think I’ll probably leave Little Miss with her friend or my parents.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Just Finished

Last week I finished Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie for the July book for the Christie Reading Challenge for 2026. It was very good and I’ll share a review of it soon.

I was supposed to read The Rose and the Yew Tree by Mary Westmacott, which was Christie’s pen name, but I just couldn’t get through it. I was terribly dull. I feel like I want to know the ending (as I mentioned last week) so I think I might pick it up again in August and just finish it up.

In Progress

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

Right now I am reading Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. It is a non-fiction about his traveling across the country in a camper in 1961 with his dog to learn more about the people of the United States. I’m enjoying it and will finish it this week.

I am also reading  Celia’s House by D.E. Stevenson before bed. It’s a very relaxed, gentle read so far. It is the story of a woman named Celia who is in her 90s, getting ready to pass, and tells her nephew she wants him to have her house and pass it on to a future daughter of his that she wants him to name Celia.

Up Soon

I will be reading By The Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie for the August read for the Christie Reading Challenge.

I ordered a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain because I have been determined to read it again for the first time since I was a kid.

I’ve also ordered a copy of Mrs. Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson, which his a sequel to Miss Buncle’s Book.

What The Family is Reading

The Boy is listening to False Gods by Graham McNeal.

Little Miss and I are going to finish Heidi this week.

Warren is reading The Committee Chairs by James Mishner.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

no new arrivals

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week, I watched the movies The Mark of Zorro (with Tyrone Powers), Without Love (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy), Witness to Murder (with Barbara Stanwyck and George Sanders), and Singing in the Rain (which I watched with my daughter for the first time. The first for her, not me, of course).

What I’ve Been Writing

This week on the blog I shared very little actually!

• Classic Movie Impressions: Singing In The Rain
• Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot July 24

What I/We’ve Been Listening To

Murder, She Wrote: Maine Mutiny by Donald Bain and Jessica Fletcher.

Recent Blog Posts I Enjoyed

I enjoyed this post from Marsha about her thinning hair  because I know a lot of women deal with this as they get older or have medical conditions.

Cat writes about silent movies and I love that and this time she’s writing about the king of silent movies — Charlie Chaplin.

https://catswire.blogspot.com/2026/07/silent-movies-dogs-life.html

I enjoyed reading about The Farm Wife Reads’ garden, tomatoes, and North Carolina summer.

Erin caught us up on her life in this one, some of it more difficult to read, but some of it also happy.

Some Housekeeping

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

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

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?

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

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

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

If you would like to be the first to get news about my books or just have access to special posts for supporters, you can do so here for $2.99 a month https://lisahoweler.com/support-my-writing/