Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot June 27 (In memory of Patrick Weseman)

On June 26, 2025June 27, 2025 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Weekend Traffic Jam6 Comments

Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot, where we offer a place for bloggers to link up and get a fresh set of eyes on their posts. We also feature one blog a week, letting our readers know about the blog and providing a link so readers can learn more about it. Please feel free to post new blog posts or old ones you want to bring attention to again.

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

We had a crazy heatwave for four days last week! Yuck! I locked myself inside but our small portable air conditioners (we have windows that roll out and not many other options for AC) couldn’t keep up so it was still fairly hot inside. My daughter and I froze wet washcloths and laid them on the backs of our necks, drank a lot of drinks with ice (not those drinks!), and took cold showers to keep cool throughout the week.

How was the weather where you are? Were…well, you know what I mean!

Now, let’s introduce our hosts for the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot:

Marsha from Marsha in the Middle started blogging in 2021 as an exercise in increasing her neuroplasticity. Oh, who are we kidding? Marsha started blogging because she loves clothes, and she loves to talk or, in this case, write!

Melynda from Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household – The name says it all, we homestead in East Texas, with three generations sharing this land. I cook and bake from scratch, between gardening and running after the chickens, and knitting!

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

Sue from Women Living Well After 50 started blogging in 2015 and writes about living an active and healthy lifestyle, fashion, book reviews and her podcast and enjoying life as a woman over 50. She invites you to join her living life in full bloom.

We would love to have additional Co-Hosts to share in the creativity and fun! If you think this would be a good fit for you and you like having fun (come on, who doesn’t!) while still being creative, drop one of us an email and someone will get back with you!

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

UPDATE This week we are spotlighting: Adventures in Weseland and it is fitting we are doing so because we were heartbroken to learn early Friday morning (after we posted his spotlight) that the author, Patrick Weseman, passed away this past week. Shelbee on the Edge has written a wonderful tribute to him here: https://shelbeeontheedge.com/in-memory-of-patrick-weseman-spread-the-kindness-link-up-on-the-edge-762/

A little about Adventures in Weseland: IJust me and my adventures in life. Life is an adventure and I try to have fun. I love being out in the world, taking pictures and being able to share them with people who come across my little space on the internet. Thanks for stopping by and peace be with you.

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up, Patrick. You will be missed and our hearts go out to your family during this difficult time. I wish you were here to see the outpouring of love for you.

And now some posts that were highlights for me this past week:

Love these layered dresses by Kathleen

(Loved these tips by Real Food Blogger on eating healthy on vacation.)

(Interesting Thoughts Here by Pam from A New Lens)

So many fun activities for kids in this post from Our Grand Lives!

and an extra one this week because there were too many good posts!!

What a beautiful sunset by Selep Imaging!

Important things to know:

You may add unlimited family-friendly blog post links, linked to specific blog posts, not just the blog.
Be sure to visit other links and leave a kind comment for each link you post (it would be too hard to visit every link, of course!)
The party opens Thursday evening and ends Wednesday.
Thank you for participating. Have fun!

*By linking to The Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Up, you give permission to share your post and images on the hosts’ blogs.

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.

You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot June 20

On June 19, 2025 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Weekend Traffic Jam9 Comments

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

Summer is finally showing up in our neck of the woods and I’m not too happy about it. I am not a summer person. My body just doesn’t handle the heat well at all. I feel very sick in it so I spend more time inisde than out during the summer.

Still, I’ve really enjoyed seeing the flowers in my yard bloom, including the wild roses and the peonies and since the weather hasn’t been super hot I’ve been able to go out and get a few photos of them.

I hope you have all been having a nice summer.

If you are interested, I am hosting a monthly blog link-up for anything related to books. This can be posts about books you’ve read, want to read, are collecting, have found, etc. Etc. If it is related to books, it is welcome this monthly link up.

June’s link-up can be found here: https://lisahoweler.com/2025/06/08/a-good-book-a-cup-of-tea-june-2025-party/

Now, let’s introduce our hosts for the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot:

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

This week we are spotlighting: I do declare

A little about Laura: I’m Laura and I started I do deClaire way back in 2013 a few months after our first daughter, Claire was born. After I became a mom for the first time I didn’t want to lose my love of fashion and clothing. I started blogging as a way to hold myself accountable and show others that fashion doesn’t have to be time consuming, expensive, or uncomfortable. It’s all about finding what you love and what you feel best in. And you can do it all on a budget!

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up!

And now some posts that were highlights for me this past week:

Love these beautiful red outfits!

(More red from Chez Mireille Fashion Travel Mom!)

(Kate’s Dino Garden is so cute from Two Chicks and a Mom)

Important things to know:

You may add unlimited family-friendly blog post links, linked to specific blog posts, not just the blog.
Be sure to visit other links and leave a kind comment for each link you post (it would be too hard to visit every link, of course!)
The party opens Thursday evening and ends Wednesday.
Thank you for participating. Have fun!

*By linking to The Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Up, you give permission to share your post and images on the hosts’ blogs.

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.

You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

Saturday Afternoon Chat: A drive in the country and adding a blog roll to my blog

On April 26, 2025April 26, 2025 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings, Saturday Afternoon Tea12 Comments

Good afternoon!

Welcome to the blog for a Saturday Afternoon Chat, where I look back at my week that was.

Most of the time my weeks are not very exciting so don’t expect too much.

Would you care for a beverage while we chat?

I have a variety of tea – peppermint, chamomile, raspberry, and an orange turmeric (has a bit of a bite to it). I also have some milk, grape juice, and just plain water. But no ice cubes. Yes, I need to get ice cub trays because our ice maker doesn’t work.

This past week was fairly routine for us. We did homeschool lessons for most of the week, and then on Thursday I took the kids to the house of a family friend, and they cleaned up sticks and leaves from their yard and The Boy built a garden fence for the woman.

While they worked, I took a scenic tour on the dirt roads around their house. I’ve lived in this area my entire life, but don’t remember being on these roads. The roads had very Irish names like McKeany and Murphy, so I recorded a couple of videos saying the name of the roads in one of the worst Irish accents you’ve ever heard and sent them to Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs. She and Wyatt had a good laugh over my horrible accent, and that’s what I was going for, so it worked.

I enjoyed looking at the cows and saw a couple of deer. I tried to film them but I apparently didn’t hit the record button on my phone correctly. Sigh. I did get a quick video but it wasn’t terribly exciting. The sky was amazing that day.

I’d like to say I enjoyed looking at the rolling green hills, but they aren’t very green just yet. The trees are just starting to bloom, and the grass is just starting to grow here. Today we have rain, so I have a feeling that by next week the hillsides will be much brighter and healthier in appearance.

Yesterday, Little Miss and I drove the 30 minutes one way to get our groceries from the Aldi pickup. We went back to my parents for a bit and then came home to unload while The Boy stayed to help my dad with fixing up a couple of lawn mowers to get ready for mowing season.

Today Little Miss and I will spend much of our day alone together while it rains outside. The Husband has assignments to attend and cover for the newspaper and The Boy is going to a friends for the rest of the weekend.

I am going to get on Zoom for our drop-in Crafternoon. You can find more information about it on Erin’s page here until I get my own information page up on it, but the bottom line is it is a chance for people to connect via Zoom and do crafts while we chat. They can be any crafts — knitting, sketching, coloring, watercolors, painting, scrapbooking, needlework. Whatever you craft, you are welcome. Unless it is sketching naked people. Maybe don’t do that on our Zoom. Har. Har. You don’t even have to craft. You can just come on and chat.

We have a tentative one scheduled for May 10 and a definite one scheduled for May 24. All you need to do is send an email to Erin at crackercrumblife@gmail.com or me at lisahoweler@gmail.com, and we will make sure you get on our list to email you the Zoom link.

On other blog matters, I discovered this week how to add a blog roll to my sidebar since WordPress removed the ability to do that a couple of years ago. You can still add a blog roll, but only if the blog is on WordPress. I follow blogs that are on a variety of host sites so I wanted the option to add them as well. After a quick search online, I found directions on how to do that:

Create a Navigation (Link) Menu for Your Blogroll:

Navigate to Appearance > Menus: in your WordPress dashboard.
Create a New Menu: Click “Create a new menu” and name it something like “Blogroll”.
Add Menu Items: Use the “Custom Links” section to add links to other websites.
- Enter the URL of the website and a descriptive label for the link.
- Click “Add to Menu” to include the link.
Save the Menu: Click “Save Menu” to save your changes.

It was pretty simple, and it is sad it took me this long after they took away the official blog roll feature for me to figure it out. Now I just have to add more of my favorite blogs.

I don’t understand why WordPress is always changing things. I feel like if it isn’t broke there is not need to fix it while they seem to think, “it’s not broke but we can improve it” and then it’s like they wander off in the middle of improving it to improve something else and the thing they said they were going to improve just sits there now broken.

So, to me, WordPress is like a person who says he’s — I mean they — are going to fix something in a house but he — I mean they — wanders off in the middle of one project to start another project and eventually there are like ten projects in the house and around the property that are in various degrees of progress/finish status.

Maybe one day WordPress will actually finish a project and stop messing around with it.

So how was your week?

Do anything interesting or exciting?

Let me know in the comments or leave a link to your weekly round-up post. Tomorrow I will be sharing what I’ve been reading and watching, etc. in my Sunday Bookends post.

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot! Come link up with us!

On April 3, 2025April 3, 2025 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings5 Comments

Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot where we offer a place for bloggers to link up and get a fresh set of eyes on their posts. We also feature one blog a week, letting our readers know about the blog, and providing a link so readers can learn more about it.

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

Your hosts for the link up:

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

This week we are spotlighting: This Blonde’s Shopping Bag

Here is what Kellyanne says about her blog:

This Blonde’s Shopping Bag is a personal style blog by Kellyann Rohr. I believe every woman, regardless of age, should have the tools and opportunity to feel their best through fashion. A closet full of great basics with some fun pieces mixed in helps you avoid that dreaded feeling of having nothing to wear! It doesn’t have to break the bank either and that’s why I’ll show you how to get the most bang for your buck. Quite simply my mission is to encourage and support women to stay fashionable, fresh, and relevant!

This Blonde’s Shopping Bag was started in 2016 as a result of my love for shopping and creating outfits. I’ve always loved fashion and finding budget friendly pieces to create looks I love. So many of my friends and co-workers complimented me on my outfits and asked advice but also shared how they could “never pull off” some of my looks or that they “couldn’t afford” to dress the way they really wanted. The blog is my answer to those problems.

Since it’s inception the blog has grown and so has my reach. It’s been a dream come true to connect with a community of like minded women and partner with brands. I’ve especially enjoyed working with Chico’s, Vionics, and Jambu as well as smaller, women owned businesses.

Here are some of my highlights for the week

(Some “grand” photos in this one!)

(A cozy coffee catch up!)

(loved learning about planners here)

(awesome cow print dress!)

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up! Please remember that this is a link-up where you can share posts from the previous week or posts from weeks, months, or even years ago. All we ask is that they be family friendly!

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot! Come link up with us!

On March 20, 2025March 20, 2025 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings4 Comments

Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot where we offer a place for bloggers to link up and get a fresh set of eyes on their posts. We also feature one blog a week, letting our readers know about the blog and providing a link so readers can learn more about them.

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

It is the first day of spring! I am so excited for spring! Our week was okay but there were some cruddy days, especially this one, so hoping for a better weekend and week next week. It is going to be colder next week, though.

Your hosts for the link up:

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

This week we are spotlighting Krafty Planner!

Marie says of her blog:

I’m Maria—a blogger, writer, planning + journaling expert, and creator. With this blog and supporting online courses, I help multi-passionate women, like you, establish systems & routines that will help you achieve your goals and become your best self. 🙂

P.S. Not that it matters (too much), but I do enjoy designing and creating all of the printables myself. I take pride in designing each piece from scratch, ensuring they’re unique. No templates or PLR here – just genuine creations crafted exclusively for you. 😊
Thank you for being part of our link up!

Some posts I highlighted from last week’s links:

|| Silent Movies Thief of Bagdad by Cat’s Wire ||

|| Camo With Teal For Spring by Chez Mireille Fashion Travel Mom ||

|| Cabbage New Potato and Onion Skillet by Scratch Made Food Hungry ||

|| Hello Friday 12 by Elevated Nesting ||

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up! Please remember that this is a link-up where you can share posts from the previous week or posts from weeks, months, or years ago. All we ask is that they be “family-friendly.”

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot! Come Link Up With Us!

On March 6, 2025March 6, 2025 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Weekend Traffic Jam8 Comments

Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot where we offer a place for bloggers to link up and get a fresh set of eyes on their posts. We also feature one blog a week, letting our readers know about the blog and providing a link so readers can learn more about them.

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

Your hosts for the link up:

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello! This week we are spotlighting:

A little about the blog and its author Jill:

Doused in Pink is a fashion-focused lifestyle blog where you’ll find posts about fashion, non-toxic beauty, healthy lifestyle articles, DIYs, and decorating ideas. I want to inspire other women to embrace their personal style, feel confident, and love what they wear. I started Doused in Pink in 2014 as a creative outlet to document my everyday outfits when I needed some inspiring myself.

I’m a budget-savvy shopper and love sharing how to have that put-together look without breaking the bank by building on classic pieces with a few seasonal trends and remixing what you already have in your closet.

Thank you for being part of the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot, Jill!

Now for some highlights from me taken from our links last week:

|| How to Style Your Home With Colorful Spring Tablescape Ideas by Karins Kottage ||

|| Weekly Snapshots From Our Grand Lives by Our Grand Lives ||

|| Green Sweatshirts and Jeans Style With A Smile by Style-Splash ||

|| Enjoying the Bird Café: Nature’s Morning Show by Thrifting Wonderland ||

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot: Come Link Up With Us!

On January 30, 2025January 30, 2025 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Weekend Traffic Jam8 Comments

Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot where we offer a place for bloggers to link up and get a fresh set of eyes on their posts. We also feature one blog a week, letting our readers know about the blog and providing a link so readers can learn more about them.

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

Temperatures warmed up a little bit this week and it was so nice to be able to step outside and not immediately feel like my fingertips were going to fall off from the cold.

This week we did have high winds, however, and that made me nervous because we have a very, very tall and old maple tree in front of our house and I’m always worried it is going to fall on our house (or our neighbors!). We haven’t been able to take it down because tree-cutting companies have been telling us that removing it will be in the thousands and we don’t have that money laying around, sadly.

I hope that you will look through the links and click on some and find a new blogger or two to follow.

First, I’ll introduce you to our hosts:

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello! This week we spotlight …

Holidays Hellidays and the Journeys in Between

My highlights for the week:

|| My Go To: Monocrhome Black With a Pleated Skirt by Nancy’s Fashion Style ||

|| Cosy Up Your Weekend by Serenity You ||

|| Snow Day in the South by Chez Mireille Fashion Travel Mom ||

|| Ten Bookish Goals by Unsolicited Advice ||

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot: Come Link Up with Us!

On January 16, 2025January 16, 2025 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings, Weekend Traffic Jam6 Comments

Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot where we offer a place for bloggers to link up and get a fresh set of eyes on their posts. We also feature one blog a week, letting our readers know about the blog and providing a link so readers can learn more about them.

I hope that you will look through the links and click on some and find a new blogger or two to follow.

First, I’ll introduce you to our hosts:

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello! This week we spotlight …

Your True Self Blog

A little bit about the author:

Hi, my name is Angie. I started this blog because I began to see the infinite possibilities of creating artful clothing combinations out of my own closet. I’d love to share these endless ideas with you!

A healthy lifestyle brings lifelong health, beauty and youthful energy. So I strive for that in my choices everyday. It’s so important that I include it throughout my blog.

I am now over 60 and want to show you how age doesn’t matter when it comes to expressing your free spirit: the you that always was, is and will be.

My highlighted posts this week out of the links from last week (I threw in a bonus this week):

|| Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up by Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs ||

|| The Bookmark Bookstore by Adventures in Weseland ||

|| Snorkel Adventure on Maui by My Slices of Life ||

|| The Ravioli Fight by Cat’s Wire ||

|| Street Style Monochrome Black with Red Coat by Chez Mireille Fashion Travel Mom ||

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot. Come Link Up With Us This Week!

On December 5, 2024December 5, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Weekend Traffic Jam4 Comments

Hello! Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot – a blog link up for all kinds of posts.

This link-up is 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 party to go live on Thursdays at 9:30pm EDT.

This is a link-up where we not only allow you to share your past posts but we encourage it. So, share away!

This past week’s most clicked posts were:

|| It’s the Little Things and Oh Christmas Tree by Thrifting Wonderland ||

And my highlights for this week:

|| It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas by Life is Better Lakeside ||

|| What’s Been On Your Calendar, November Highlights by Deb’s World ||

|| Black and White for the Holidays by Kathrine Eldridge ||

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 post (feel free to copy and paste the graphic) and visit the blogs in the link-up.

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!