It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
Yesterday my husband and I celebrated 22 years of marriage. We went to dinner at a nearby restaurant and watched a movie together after shipping off the kids and dog to the grandparents.
It was a nice, quiet, relaxing day and very welcome.
I rambled about our trip to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon in my post yesterday if you want to read about that.
What I/we’ve been Reading
The Dandelion Cottage by Carol Watson Rankin
Version 1.0.0
Return to Gone Away by Elizabeth Enright (a read aloud with Little Miss).
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
When You Returned by Havelah Mclat
Live and Let Chai by Bree Baker (I wanted to like this much more than I did. Not the worst but pretty much like a previous book I read by the author under her real name).
Reneeby Sandra Ardoin
Clueless at the Coffee Stationby Bee Littlefield
Little Menby Louisa Mae Alcott
The husband is reading the latest installment in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series by Anthony Horowitz.
Also, for those who wanted to know, he did enjoy the Patrick Stewart biography.
The boy is in between books because he finished his last read which was an audio version of a Warhammer book.
What We watched/are Watching
Just a Few Acres Farm
There is something so relaxing about just watching Farmer Pete work on his farm or dig holes in his field or feed the cows. When my brain is spinning or I just feel off-kilter, I turn on Pete and just remember the simple things of life.
Last night the kids and I watched Monty Python’s Search for The Holy Grail because we needed a laugh.
The husband and I watched Breakheart Pass with Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland (Bronson’s wife) after our anniversary dinner. I didn’t think it was very romantic but then I got wrapped up in it and needed to know what happened. I’m going to make him watch a romantic comedy with me later in the week.
During the week I watched this YouTube channel because it is also relaxing: Under A Tin Roof.
What I’m Writing
We had a busy week so I did not write as much as I wanted to but I did work on Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree a little bit.
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.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
It’s still been very cold this past week so we have been lighting a fire every other day. We lit one last night as the temperature dropped to somewhere around 22 degrees. It looks like temps will warm up this week as we move into Good Friday and Easter.
I wrote a bit about our week last week in yesterday’s Saturday Afternoon Chat post if you want to catch up on other “events” of our week. Spoiler – there weren’t a lot of events actually.
What I/we’ve been Reading
I’m reading A Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor. It is very authentic Irish and I’m enjoying it.
I just started The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett but will probably read this one very slowly because of some books I’m reading for tours and to review for Clean Fiction Magazine. I already know the story of The Secret Garden from watching the movie.
I have also started Night Falls on Predicament Avenue by Jamie Jo Wright. This one is for a book tour in April. I honestly think it is going to be too creepy for me but I guess it is good to branch out once in a while.
Just Finished:
Murder Plainly Read by Isabella Alan and The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes.
Currently:
I enjoyed both of these books and will have reviews up soon.
Soon to be read:
The Divine Proverb of Streusel by Sara Brunsvold
Who Brought The Dog to Church? By Tracy Smoak
When You Returned by Havelah Mclat
What others in the family are reading: The Boy is reading Horus Rising and listening to A Tale of Two Cities. Little Miss is listening to The Railway Children and we are reading The Middle Moffat together.
The Husband is reading Do the New You by Steven Furtick
What We watched/are Watching
This weekend I watched all things Little House on the Prairie. This year is the 50th anniversary of the debut of the show and they are holding a festival with many of the old cast members in California. I have been watching the show and some footage from the festival such as interviews with Melissa Gilbert and Dean Butler, etc.
I didn’t realize how attached I was to the show until I saw Melissa Gilbert come out in front of all her fans and begin to cry and then I began to cry as well. I have good memories of running home from the bus stop to watch the show when I was a kid. I’ll ramble about that in a future blog post.
Here is the video I watched of the Melissa Gilbert interview if you are interested:
My daughter and I watched a couple of the episodes based more directly on stories in the books, which we read over the last couple of years and then watched three more that were loosely based on stories. I, of course, had to watch with her the episode when Laura pushes Nellie down the hill to prove she has been lying about not being able to walk. After that one, Little Miss was hooked and asked to watch more.
Earlier in the week I always watched Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and Lark Rise to Candleford.
Over the weekend I watched original Perry Mason episodes with The Husband.
What I’m Writing
I am on the epilogue of Cassie and then I will be beginning book three of the Gladwynn Grant mysteries.
This post cracked me up, especially this line: “This was all just to warm up to the topic of my husband being a human Winnie the Pooh, but one who wears pants of course.”
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.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
It began to feel even more like Christmas this past week when we had our first, longer-lasting snowfall.
I thought we were only supposed to receive some sleet and freezing rain so I was surprised by the half inch on the ground the next morning.
My daughter was surprised as well and my son was thrilled because the two-hour delay meant he didn’t have to go to his trade school that day since he only goes for two and a half hours.
Little Miss was delighted to play in the snow with her best friend, Zooma the Wonder Dog, and I watched them some and then darted back inside to the warmth.
Inside the house, the Christmas tree is up, the fire is burning in the wood stove, and a cup of hot cocoa awaits.
I’ve never been a fan of extreme temperatures – either too cold or too hot.
The snow was gone by the next morning, which Little Miss was sad about. We thought we might have the chance for more snow Sunday into Monday but, alas, it is now going to be rain only and so much rain it might cause flooding.
We will have to see what happens.
Yesterday Little Miss had two friends over and I took them downtown to our small town’s Christmas event. There wasn’t a ton going on but there was a scavenger hunt that took them to several businesses in town to find photos of an elf and see what the elf was doing in each photo. They then had to write on the slip of paper what the elf was doing and return it to where they started for a prize. The prize was a York Peppermint Patty which I didn’t think was a very exciting prize for all that running around. The kids weren’t that impressed either but were okay with it. Little Miss doesn’t like peppermint but luckily I had some chocolate at home for her.
The town also had mini-fire pits set up throughout the town with s’mores kits for people to use, which I thought was a super cute idea.
Earlier in the day they had an ice carver, a cookie walk, and several vendors available in the one main building.
They also offered a semi-alive nativity display, which cracked me up when I read the title of it in the paper. Turns out that Mary and Joseph and Jesus and the wise men were cardboard cutouts but the animals were real. Little Miss was very disappointed she couldn’t pet the animals and grumbled about it the rest of the day.
We ended our jaunt downtown with some playtime at the tiny playground.
The library also had a used book sale during the event and unlike other times when I’ve come out of there with way too many books, I only came out with three and a DVD about World War II. One, they didn’t have a very exciting selection, and two I got way too many last time, and many of them I didn’t enjoy.
The books I picked up were another Nancy Drew:
This one by Brock Thoene (I’ve enjoyed books by him and his wife, Brodie, in the past):
And this middle-school-aged book that looked interesting to me and hopefully will be a good one for Little Miss later:
Our neighbors have added some extra lights to their Christmas display this year. For several years in a row they have won the town’s Christmas light contest, but last year they were unseated. My mom thinks they are trying to win it back this year since the husband has added another set of lights.
My dad gave us their old nativity set so all we have in our yard is a very subtle display and I’m okay with that. We can simply enjoy the neighbors and wait for the day the husband becomes Clark Griswold.
What I/we’ve been Reading
Last week I finished The Spectacular by Fiona Davis. I did not think it was spectacular, but it was okay.
I liked the story itself but I did not like the style of writing.
This week I am diving into Christmas books.
Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs told me about these Regency Romance books she would read every Christmas so I ordered one from Thriftbooks and it came this week so I started it yesterday.
It’s called Regency Christmas Wishes with novellas by five different authors.
Keeping with the Christmas theme, I’m also re-reading A Walt Longmire Christmas: Christmas in Absaroka by Craig Johnson.
Next I’ll be reading Southern Snow: A Sugartree Winter Romance by B.R. Goodwin.
I’m also still reading a chapter or two of Little Women but I left it at my parents so I won’t be able to read that until I get it back from them.
The Boy and I are putting The Tale of Two Cities aside for this month as we are both not focusing well on it. We will either restart it in January or put it off altogether until his senior year. I remember struggling through this book my sophomore year but really liking it once I got into it so I am sure once we can focus better (and buy cliff notes to figure out what he is talking about) we will be able to get through it.
This week we will be reading from books about World War II and I will be looking for books or material about World War I as I feel it is a war that isn’t as focused on as much.
Little Miss and are listening to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson at night. I am also reading Christmas stories by Louisa May Alcott and L.M. Montgomery to her.
The Husband is reading In the Blood by Jack Carr.
What We watched/are Watching
This past week I watched Holiday Affair (1949), a couple episodes of Still Standing (a Canadian show) with The Husband, Signed, Sealed, And Delivered Christmas, and a couple episodes of Evening Shade.
What I’m Writing
I’m still working on Cassie and wrote maybe 4,000 words this week.
On Tuesday when I went outside to photograph the freshly fallen snow and listened to Michael Buble’s Christmas album but otherwise I haven’t listened to much this past week.
Photos from Last Week
I shared a couple of photos above but here are a few more from last week.
A quick reminder that Erin and I still have a linky open for anyone who wants to join in our Comfy, Christmas Link Up. The link up will be open until January 2.
Now it’s your turn
Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
I don’t read as many books in a year as other people and this year I decided that was okay and I don’t care.
I sometimes do not finish books either and I decided this year I was also okay with that.
Every week or so my husband announces how many books he’s read so far in the year and I like hearing it. I like that he keeps track of it and that he reads over 80 books each year.
He was also a more avid reader than I was. I only started reading more books again in the last few years. I used to read all the time as a teenager, took a break in college and while working for newspapers and even while raising my son. Now I’m loving how reading has become an escape from the real world for me again.
For a while, I wanted to be like my husband and count all my books read and be able to announce the totals to him and the world.
There were several problems with this, though. One, I’m a slower reader. It isn’t that I read slow. It’s that I get interrupted a lot while reading a book so it takes me a while to finish one. People or pets aren’t always what interrupt me. Sometimes it is housework or homeschooling or my own writing or simply because I can’t seem to stay as focused as I used to.
I like that The Husband tells me his book count. It used to irritate me because I felt less than but now (okay in the last week) I let it go.
I don’t have to read a bunch of books in a year to be a reader. I don’t have to finish a book I started to be a reader because life it is too short to worry about competition in something like reading which is supposed to be relaxing and it is too short to keep reading a book you’re not enjoying.
There are also too many good books in the world to waste our time on a book that might be good but isn’t working for us personally.
I often think things like, “But this is a popular book. It’s on the NYT bestseller list. It must be good, right?”
Well, it may be that it is good for some and not for me and that’s okay.
I read a lot more than books during the year, as well – textbooks with the kids and blogs, articles, etc. So I do read a lot just not always full books. Again. That’s okay. If it is okay for me, it is okay for you.
If you’ve been holding on to all these imaginary ideas of what it means to be a reader and a book blogger or whatever – let them go.
We all have our own journey and path and just because we don’t inhale books like Galactus eats planets, we are still readers.
Anyhow…on to what I’ve been reading this week.
This week I have mainly been reading The Spectacular. Every other day I was reading a chapter from either Little Women or The Cat Who Talked Turkey (a cozy mystery). I dropped The Cat Who book last night because there was no mystery. It was driving me crazy. I was on chapter 4 and still nothing had happened other than Qwill looking for someone to narrate some presentation he was giving.
This book was one of the ones written later when people suspected Lilian Jackson Braun had gotten a bit too old to write and had a ghostwriter. It showed. I have a soft spot for the Cat Who books but I had to set aside for now because I have so many other books I want to tackle. Not every book in a series can be a winner.
I love reading Little Women a chapter at a time. I don’t mind dragging out the enjoyment of reading it because it gives me something to look forward to every night.
The Spectacular is fairly slow moving so far and I’m on Chapter 12. My husband insists that something is going to happen soon and I hope so because I’m a bit bored. I read a lot of boring books this year so in 2024 I am going back to Longmire and Anthony Horowitz to give myself some excitement. Those and some more Christian fiction because I know there are some good ones out there I haven’t read yet by authors like Nicole Deese.
I still haven’t finalized what I will read this winter but The Boy and I are reading The Tale of Two Cities for his English so I do know I’ll be reading that.
I also just ordered a Christmas regency-era book recommended to me by Erin at Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.
Little Miss and I just finished The Black Stallion. Talk about boring and wordy.
She just wanted to watch the movie but I insisted we finish the book. Then I ended up skimming two chapters and getting us to the end because good grief there was way too much explanation and rambling in that book. I mean how many times could the dude describe what it was like for Alec to ride the horse? And for three to four pages every time. Plus the dialogue which was repetitive.
We are listening to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson at night now. I read this book to her last year and I wouldn’t mind reading it again but one night I was too tired to read so we put the audiobook on and now she enjoys the narrator more than me (I think. She didn’t actually say it), so we are listening instead of me reading it.
The Husband is reading In The Blood by Jack Carr.
What’s Been Occurring
Last night The Husband, Little Miss, and I went to a Christmas parade about half an hour from us. We saw some of our friends and visited for a bit, The Husband took some photos for the newspaper and we headed home. On the way to the event and back we saw a ton of deer and had to put our brakes on more than once. About ten minutes after an eight-point buck that was blending in with the center line, turned and crossed in front of us, another deer came out of nowhere from the right and there was no missing it when it turned to go back in front of us. We slammed into it but I have no idea what happened to it, though I vaguely remember it darting off to the left.
It did some extensive damage to the front of our car, smashing in our left headlight and the body of the car in that same area, but allowing us to get home without any damage to us.
We were really very lucky considering I’ve heard stories of deer being hit that way and rolling up onto the hood and through the windshield.
We aren’t sure if our insurance will cover the accident since we adjusted our deductible to make our premiums less. We will find out more later this week but for now the car is parked in the garage. The deer left part of its fur under the edge of the hood.
All three of us were fairly shaken up and a bit in shock from it all so at first we didn’t think about how much the damage would cost us. I think we were all simply happy it wasn’t worse. There have been a lot of accidents in our area caused by deer lately and I’ve never seen as many as I have this year.
It is hunting season in our area right now so I don’t know if the deer are running wild because of that or not but driving is certainly nerve-wracking for now whatever the reason.
The Boy was at a friend’s house spending the night so I called to let him know about the incident. I also sent him some photos to which he replied, “She’ll be fine with some Flex Tape.”
Having the car out of commission is a bit sad for me as I finally had a car to drive that had heated seats and a stereo system I could patch my music into.
My husband gave me the car after he bought his truck, which we call Bambi Killer. Sadly, it has horrible gas mileage so we took the car to save on gas. Had we had the truck, there would have been very little damage to the vehicle but a lot to the deer.
What We watched/are Watching
This past week I watched Beyond Tomorrow, a fairly obscure Christmas movie from 1940. I wrote about it on the blog Thursday.
I also watched – or well, watched most of The Bells of St. Mary’s, which I hope to finish later today.
Little Miss and I watched A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, which has become an annual tradition for us now.
We also watched Elfat Little Miss’s request.
I’m sure there will be other Christmas movies and specials on our list this upcoming week.
I also plan to continue watching Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman this week. I am rewatching it after last seeing it some 20 years ago when I was in high school.
I started Men In Kilts: A Roadtrip with Sam and Graham this past week as well. I enjoyed the first episode.
What I’m Writing
Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage comes out Tuesday in ebook on Amazon. Amazon messed something out with the paperback so it is out now.
I am working on Cassie and made a bit of progress on it this week.
Erin and I are also hosting a Comfy, Cozy Christmas feature where other bloggers can link up their Christmas/holiday-themed blog posts. You can find the link up here:
I listened to a lot of Needtobreathe’s The Cave this week.
Photos from Last Week
I didn’t take a ton of photos last week. I hope to remedy that this week and get my camera out more.
Here are a couple from the parade we went to a display in the town.
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.
