Hello everyone! I am writing this morning surrounded by jumping, bouncing zooming kittens, a sleeping cat, and a chatty little boy. I have already consumed two cups of coffee, which is my limit, but I could use another one to keep up with most of this crowd today.
It was a pretty slow, lazy week again. The cold is just keeping us inside right now. We are doing our best though!
Books:
Last week I read Secret Nights and Northern Lights which was a light easy read. I’d been reading a lot of moody winter books and I needed a bit of a shake up. This book was the antidote I needed!
I am still debating what I want to read this week. Do I want something light again? Something wintry? I am picking this one up from the library tomorrow, and I am pretty sure that is the one I am going to start. I learned about it over at Jeanie’s blog, Marmalade Gypsy and she loves it so much I had to look for it. Way to go my library! It has had all sorts of books that are older and out of print that I have been looking for this year. Never change, library.
I am also in the mood for something scary, or a ghost story. I need to look for one while I am at the library.
Screens:
This week Billy and I reunited with our old friends Ruth, Peter, and Alex, and watched Wartime Farm for the millionth time. We also watched Victorian Bakers, which wasn’t as good as the farm shows, but it was still very good. It also had the added bonus of making us want to bake bread. And eat bread.
I’m playing with my little designs. Do I want one design for all, different? I will keep playing. I enjoy fiddling around with Canva anyway. Lol.
In-Betweens:
I got my first snail mail letter last week! Thank you Tina! I mailed one back to you – I was going to email and tell you then felt like that was silly. And now here I am posting it on my blog! LOL. I will get the hang of this eventually.
I also sent out a few other snail mail letters while I was at it, to the pen pals I have picked up from the Analog Life Project, and Wyatt sent one to his friend Little Miss, Lisa’s daughter.
I am really enjoying letter writing! And of course, picking out stationery.
Around the Internets:
Lisa at Boondock Ramblings 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. I was a very poor co-host this month as I was doing some life re-organizing and I am still catching up on some things.
And a kitten pic to end this post.
And that is it from me today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!
Hello everyone! I try to write mini-book reviews every three or four books and it is time to share again.
The Lady on Esplanade by Karen White: I really enjoy this series! It has so much that I love all in one book, from New Orleans to hold houses and historic preservation to ghost stories and a long arcing mystery that goes back to Hurricane Katrina. This one was no exception, and really brought all of those wonderful things into play. I was even freaked out a few times! There is one aspect to this series that I don’t enjoy though, and it is the very messy romances. I really wish they would resolve because it detracts from my enjoyment of reading these. Otherwise, this series is really a lot of fun!
In the Lady on Esplanade, Nola and her crew are beginning the new endeavor of flipping murder houses, and the house they are currently working on is a doozy, and includes…a doll. You guys, I am totally creeped out by dolls! I know so many people love them but there is something so uncanny about them, and they give me the weirds. This one almost gave me nightmares! The mystery unravels slowly and I really enjoyed the very climatic ending! However, those romances..not it.
Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge by Gladys Taber and Barbara Webster: I have gushed all month over this book. It is a collection of letters between two friends, where they just chat together about their lives. Their dogs, horses, gardens, literature, children, and it was a wonderful journey through a year of their friendship. When I finished this book, I was sad. I didn’t want to leave these ladies and their stories to each other. I am so glad that our library system has access to many books by Taber, so that I can read more.
Two quotes that I loved, out of a million quotes that I loved.
“I never feel any older, that much I know. I hope I feel wiser and more tolerant and more full of loving kindness.”
“And the eye that has seen the wild dark beauty in the gaze of a fox is never going to be impressed by a diamond clip.”
While the Earth Holds Its Breath by Helen Moat: This book was pretty good, but I didn’t fall in love with it as I had imagined I would. Maybe this is because I already love winter, and I don’t need to learn how to embrace it. I did enjoy reading about Moat’s experiences, the walks she took, her travels. I think that is another thing – I expected more travel. However, a lot of this book takes place during all of the lockdowns of the pandemic, so Moat is also learning to love winter and cold and damp while having to stay close to home.
“The steaming crumble was hygge in a bowl. No self-respecting Scandinavian or Northern European would ever think of dieting in winter. Food is comfort against cold and dark.”
Secret Nights and Northern Lights by Megan Oliver: I absolutely had to read this book. I dream of a trip to Iceland to see the Northern Lights one day. It just seems like one of the most magical things I could ever do. So of course I wanted to read this book set in the land of Fire and Ice!
This is a second chance romance, which was absolutely adorable. Mona and Ben have history, that goes way way back. Like all the way to kindergarten when they became friends. They bumble through trying to work together and navigating their feelings after being reunited after fourteen years, and they ultimately end up finding themselves as they learn who each grew up to be. It has cute moments, funny moments, tender moments, and yes, spicy moments. Not closed door, and there is swearing too if that bothers you. I really liked this debut romance by Oliver, and I will be looking for more in the future!
Hello everyone!! I am a winter lover, but now is about the time I am ready for it to be over. Even I can have too much winter, and with how intense winter has been this month – it’s time to call it. Let’s get some warmer weather, some sunshine up in here. I am done wintering, however February in Michigan means more winter. So, we will just keep on keeping on a little bit longer.
I know this weather is affecting such a large part of the U.S. right now too, and I feel for those of you who are not used to it. It’s tough for me and I am a Michigander. I mean, it was 12 degrees yesterday, and I took the kittens to their vaccine appointment without a coat. Just my sweatshirt and hat. I did cover the carrier with my coat though, despite the car being heated with heated seats. The clinic I went to is one that is run by my SIL. It is a high quality, high volume, low cost spay/neuter clinic that does vaccine clinics on Thursdays, also low cost. I just want to talk about how awesome this place is for a minute. The shots for both of the kittens was a total of $60, and I didn’t even have to get out of my car. I called when I got there, the tech came out to grab them in their carrier, took them in, did the things, and brought them back. It was very convenient! We are also getting them spayed and neutered there as well. They have a grant package (a few of them, one for feral cats too) that is called A Family Affair, where if you take in a mom cat and her kittens, the mom is basically $100 for the surgery and shots, and each kitten is $5 for shots and surgery. So, Max and Mouse will be done with everything for about $20 really, once I pay for their tiny cones of shame on top of it. Our friend where we got the kittens is taking in their mom and their sister at the same time, so we can utilize the grant. The clinic does not do full vet care, but for things like this, it is a fantastic value.
On Sunday, we got a lot of snow! Not as much as some places, but a lot for our area. For some reason snow usually misses us! We got about 7-8 inches. We waited until evening to go outside and shovel and snowblow, and Wyatt went out with us. It has always been sort of difficult to get him outside in the snow, but now that we have the deck and ramp, it was so much easier! And, the ramp served another purpose this time- sledding! Wyatt had fun going down a few times than just hanging out throwing snow at his father and I while we worked. It was mega-cold out but he was not ready to go back in. He had a blast!! Although I realized belatedly that this kid does not have boots! It is just not something we need to buy him normally so we used an old pair of his shoes and really thick wool socks. I need to write a note for next winter to buy boots!
This weekend we absolutely have to leave this house. I don’t care if it is the arctic outside. We are getting out and doing something. If it is not too terrible, a city near us is having an Ice Festival, which might be fun. Actually, a few communities near us are having ice sculpting fests with hot chocolate, so we will pick one perhaps and go. I remember going to the one in Plymouth when I was a kid. My family went with my aunt and uncle, and my cousin Brian and I got to ride in the back of their station wagon, in a fold up seat that faced backwards. The 80s were a wild time, weren’t they? My mom and my aunt were like the moms in A Christmas Story, and would bundle us up so much we could hardly move, but we were warm. We were always together, our whole lives. Lots of good time and memories, even when I had to stomp about in moon boots. God I hated those things! I always felt bad for the kids who forgot to bring shoes in the winter, and had to wear those big boots all day during school. I can still hear the sounds of them walking in the classroom or down the hall, the hiss of the radiators, feeling a bit drowsy in the afternoon from the heat and playing on the playground. Scarves and hats and mittens and boots, and now I try not to wear anything out but boots, a hat, and gloves. Wyatt, however, I bundle up like my mom did me, although I always make sure not to zip his chin like my mom did me.
Tonight is pizza Friday and I can’t wait. I am so over planning dinners this week! We made a whole chicken on Sunday since we were all snowed in and not leaving, and then we ate the leftovers as chicken quesadillas the next two days though, so it wasn’t too hard planning them. And honestly, those were the best freaking quesadillas I have ever eaten. It was the first time I ever made them, and they turned out so good. Definitely something we are keeping on the menu for future leftovers.
While I am stuck here in snowy Michigan, one of my besties is over in London, living it up! She is sending me pics of her trip, and it looks awesome. A Wes Anderson exhibit, tea at Harrods, and shopping at Hatchards. I had no idea what that was, but some of you might. It is the oldest bookseller in London, and has been around since 1797. The owner was a publisher and anti-slavery campaigner, and the store holds a Royal Warrant, which means they service the royal family. Pretty cool! And because she loves me, Kelly texted me a photo of a huge Agatha Christie book display and had me pick a book! She said there was no way she could be at the oldest bookstore in London and not get me a book by a British author. I had a minute of blurting out via text different titles before I settled on The Sittaford Mystery.
Which one would you have picked?
And wow I have really rambled, sorry about that!!! I will close with a few random photos, and a wish for you guys to do somethings today that makes you smile! Stay safe and warm my friends!
Today’s Prompt: Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2025 (New-to-you authors you discovered, new genres you learned you like, new bookish resources you found, friends you made, local bookshops you found, a book club you joined, etc.)
Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday!
Let’s just get into it shall we?
Let’s start with Crafternoon! Crafternoon is a zoom event that I co-host with Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings where we meet up with fellow bloggers that we have met online by visiting their bookish blogs, and we talk about whatever while we craft. I always have a lot of fun catching up with everyone.
Next up is my reading journal. I loved keeping a fun reading journal of the books I read. I add quotes and my thoughts, stickers, and what not to it. I love doing it and I love looking back through it too.
Then there are my monthly outings with Wyatt, for books and coffee and cookies (although he doesn’t drink any coffee, he drinks hot chocolate)
We haven’t been able to do lately – in December we both were sick, and then this month it has been too cold! Hopefully we can get out and go in February!!
I also had a book outing with my cousin! He took me to Sip and Read in Detroit for my birthday, and treated me to a glass of wine and a book. We had such a great time and we need to go again soon. My treat this time!
We also went to a book festival in Toldeo, Oh last year, and had a great time. We met up with my cousin and his family. His son and his wife are big readers too. We had a blast!!
Ok this next one, I am not sure if it counts but I am counting it. Billy and I went on a date to theatrical Poe evening. It was amazing. There were a few readings from Poe and it was very atmospheric. I had so much fun!
Last year I also started reading more translated fiction that wasn’t Japanese or Korean. I read Of Salt and Shore, which is Dutch, as well as Seacrow Island which is Swedish.
I almost forgot our Little Free Library! We built a Little Free Library this year, to cheer Wyatt up during his surgery. He loves going out and checking the books. It is really a lot of fun for all of us.
And I think (?) that is everything!
I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!
Hello everyone! I am writing today from inside the Arctic circle, which is now known as Michigan. It has been soo cold here. It is awful. Extreme temperatures are really tough on Wyatt, so we have been inside for most of the past week, and it looks like this week ahead will be more of the same. We are maybe going a little stir crazy!
Books:
Did I tell you I finished Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge? I did, and I miss the ladies chatter already. I need to go find another of their books ASAP. I also finished While the Earth Holds Its Breath. I wasn’t overwowed by it, but it was still a pretty relaxing, calm read.
I have read so far this year four nonfiction books already. Who am I? I do need a break though from it though, and I have two books on deck. I don’t know which one I will end up reading, but I am going to start them both and see which one sticks. I may end up reading them both, who knows? We are stuck inside after all.
Screens:
Billy and I haven’t been watching too much lately! You would think we would be. We have been watching the news a lot more than anything. And the kittens and Miso. They are bringing us happiness in a dark time honestly. Maybe that book “We’ll Prescribe You a Cat” has the right idea. I haven’t read it yet but maybe I will next month. And I know some of you aren’t cat people, so there are other things, dogs, fish, plants. Really just find something that brings you joy right now. Painting, a pen pal. Walks in nature. A good book. A funny movie. Today I think we are going to watch A Night at the Museum with Wyatt. I love that movie and he has not seen it yet. We may end up watching all three this week, who knows? Anyone else have any ideas for kids movies like Paddington, A Night at the Museum, etc, that you really loved?
We had some really great things happen here last week. When you have a kid with special needs, milestones are often inchstones, and Wyatt was kicking butt last week. He is really coming along in reading, and not just reading but SAYING THE WORD out loud to me. I know this guy is understanding so much more than I realize but the fact that he doesn’t verbalize everything usually makes it really difficult for me to measure how much. Last week though he was just blowing me away with actually reading words out loud to me.
He also took his first steps post surgery last week!!!! It was a lot of work and a few months coming and I am so very proud of him. And he was very proud of himself too, which he should have been. I will post my Instagram reel of it, but I am not sure if it ever works when I do this.
And that is about it from around here. Making cookies, eating cookies, playing with kittens, cuddling Miso, writing our pen pals, homeschool.
I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile. I know that I am hoping that the snow (an expected 9 inches here) will have enough a break so that I can run up to Starbucks for my Self-Care Sunday routine of matcha latte with oatmilk and 1 pump of vanilla. We will see though.
Hello everyone! It is crazy weather here in the States isn’t it? I am worried about you all in the south! Stay safe and warm, wear layers, lots of natural fabrics that breathe, build your blanket forts and hunker down. We have been in this house for far too long here, and we just have a few more days of it, although I am taking Wyatt to therapy today at least. We will have a feels like above a negative number so I am going for it, because later tonight our temps really get bad, and we could reach temps of -35. Not fun!
While Billy has been out and about for work this week (poor guy), Wyatt and I have been inside. I did go to the pet store last night to just get out but that has been it. We have been really working hard at school, and Wyatt is doing fantastic. He is really coming along with reading and I am so proud of him. We are also covering the Lewis and Clark expedition in history, learning about boreal forests in science, and we are about to start a whole architecture unit for art, which I am super excited about. I just need to get to the library to pick up some books for it- maybe Saturday I can venture out.
I am having a lot of fun finding pen pals! Lol. When I was younger, I had a pen pal who lived in England and it was a lot of fun. I remember she mailed me the Adrian Mole books which were hilarious. It is sort of neat to revisit this as an adult. I shall call it my correspondence and pretend I am a Lady having my morning tea and writing my letters, when I will really be listening to Wyatt chattering on, the kittens running all over around me, Miso sleeping on my lap, etc. I have been browsing blank cards and stationery sets online, and can’t decide. There are so many different types and designs!
I also finished up my book, Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge, which was so quaint and lovely. It was a nice read for this time of year, slow and easy, and I miss their stories now. I will have to read the other books as well, if my library has them. When I was reading about the women themselves online, it seemed they had very fascinating lives!
In kitten news, we had a little surprise. Mabel is really a Max! Our two sisters are really sister and brother. It happens, kittens are so hard to tell when they are really little. And Max looks like he is going to be a big cat – his paws are enormous! They have been cracking us up. We have a new little routine: when I get up, I feed Miso, who is generally waiting next to me on the bed, or rather, pawing my face for her breakfast, then I get Wyatt’s breakfast, and fetch the kittens. Wyatt and I sit in my bedroom with the kittens while they play, and after an hour or so, I put them back into the office, feed them, and then they take a nap. Only a few more days or so and I should be able to just let them have free run of the house. Miso seems to be handling their presence ok – when Max escaped yesterday she found him and they gently sniffed each other’s faces. We are going slow because she is such a gentle animal and I don’t want to overwhelm her and the kittens are a lot.
I have also had a lot of time to plan things! I lined up a skating event for our Blackbirds at a place called the Ribbon in Toledo. We have a cabana, a fire pit, and skating aids at our disposal, including a sled with two runners that Wyatt can use on the ice. We rented the place for two hours, and even if our kids spend most of their time drinking hot chocolate by the fire, it is right by the ice and can be part of the scene in whatever way they choose and are comfortable. I am really excited.
I also formed a teeny book club for Wyatt and two of his friends! Our goals are pretty simple, just to have them say maybe what they liked and didn’t like at first, and then we will have a themed snack and craft, because that is how I roll and these three will love it. We are planning our first club meeting all the way out in March, which is crazy to think about. It’s hard to believe Christmas was already a month ago!
I have been doing a lot of journaling, list making, letter writing lately, and will probably start a sewing project or two this weekend. We have our first Crafternoon of the year Saturday and that will be a nice way to break up this inside time!
And that is it for me today – if you are in the States and in the path of this storm, stay safe and warm! I know that our Southern Hemisphere friends have been experiencing the opposite weather, very hot days, so I hope you are all staying cool! Wish me luck, I need to go snowblow so Wyatt can get to therapy!
Updated to add: I remembered while I was out snowblowing that we have also been watching the adventures of Josh and Jase, two Brits that are touring through Michigan right now. I was sorry to hear they had encountered mishaps on their visit here, but are on the mend and in the U.P. now! They are hilarious, and I love how they are representing my state! You can check them out here!
Hello everyone! I am finally taking a moment after a crazy morning of kitten wrangling and not enough coffee.
If you read here pretty regularly, then you know that my husband surprised me with a kitten for Christmas! We couldn’t bring it home until this weekend though, as she was too young to leave her mom at Christmas. So on Friday night, we brought home two kittens, Mabel (orange) and Mouse! We decided that it was better to adopt Mabel and one of her littermates so they could occupy each other and save Miso from a lot of their kitten antics.
You can read more about it all in my Coffee Catch Up from yesterday if you want!
Books:
I finished up The Lady on Esplanade, which was pretty good. There were some aspects that sort of bothered me but the story itself was solid. I am also still enjoying my slow read of Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge. So much so that I joined a Pen Pal exchange for adults through the Analog Life Project I signed up for! I have a new snail mail pal, a woman in The Netherlands. I think I am going to make letter writing a part of week, for my new pen pal friend and also, just to my other in real life friends and online friends. I think it would be fun.
I also started the book While the Earth Holds Its Breath, and goodness I am loving it. I love Moat’s writing style and going on this journey with her. It is interesting to me, mainly because I already love winter, so reading about someone training themself to love it is fascinating.
Screens:
As for screens, Billy and I have been binging Stranger Things, and we finally finished the series last night. It was a great final episode. It was nuts to see them so tiny and little in flashbacks from the beginning and now the actors are all new adults. It was just really well done. I think tonight we are going to watch a movie but I am not sure which one yet. We may even watch two, since today is in the negative temps here.
The In-Betweens:
I already told you about the kittens, and other than that, it has been a pretty slow week. Other than Wyatt’s wheelchair completely losing a wheel while I was pushing it!
It was very scary for a minute, and I am so thankful that I was actually pushing him with both hands when it happened. We were walking through the parking lot to our car after physical therapy when it happened, and if I wouldn’t have had hold of both handles it scares me to think what would have happened to him. I stood there for a moment trying to figure out what to do, trying not to alarm him more than he already was, because he was scared. I ended up leaving the wheel where it was, then wheeling him to the car on one wheel, just holding up the other side myself. However, to load him I had to gently rest the chair on the ground in that weird off balance pose which really freaked him out but then I reminded him I would never let him fall and he calmed down. After we were all loaded back into the car, I drove to my FIL and he got the wheel back on solid enough to get Wyatt in the house, then Billy fixed it the rest of the way. It was quite the adventure, which ended much better than it could have.
Just a reminder that Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I co-host A Good Book and a Cup of Tea monthly which is for any and all bookish posts. And as I am typing this I realize I didn’t post any January information yet! I will rectify that today!
And I have decided to retire my idea of Soup and Story Saturday. I can’t figure out quite how to run it so I will shelve that idea, but still eat soup.
And that is it from me today! I hope that today you do something that makes you smile! I know too, that the world is very heavy right now, with a lot happening. So the small things we do, like just getting a special coffee drink (my current favorite is the matcha latte with vanilla syrup 1 pump and oatmilk from Starbucks), finding a moment to settle down and read, a long walk outside, are all so important to keep our mental health.
Good morning everyone!! If you read here regularly, then you might remember that Billy surprised me with an orange kitten for Christmas! I just had to wait for her to be old enough to leave her mother to pick her up.
Well, in the meantime we decided maybe we should also adopt one of her siblings to save our senior cat Miso from the full onslaught of kitten play. So, we told our friend we were interested in two, and well, we got to bring our new babies home last night! Billy braved the snow and cold to drive over and pick them up, and Wyatt and I were waiting very anxiously for them to return.
About 15 minutes later, we heard the car door shut and Billy’s boots crunching up onto the porch. They were here! I let Miso sniff at them through the carrier for a minute, then we took them back to my office, where they will live until they are vaccinated and dewormed. Well, for as long as we can keep them there. We had a little escapee this morning..
Meet Mabel (orange) and Mouse!
Our friend Justin, who has been raising them since they were born in house the week of Thanksgiving after he took in a stray mama, said that Mouse is an explorer and Mabel is a cuddler. And so far it does seem like that is the case! They seem to be adjusting well to leaving their home and mom. They have eaten and used the litter box and and played and cuddled and slept – and that was all within the first hour.
The night was pretty quiet, we didn’t hear much out of them, and I think adopting two was a good idea. They curled up in their little bed and pretty much stayed there until I got out of bed at 6 am to use the restroom. When I came out, I looked into the room and saw them, waiting for me.
I tried to go back to sleep but it was game over. The little plaintive mews came from the room, and Miso’s interest was piqued, and she was prairie dogging to look over the barrier, and then I heard a scrabbling and up popped a small little gray head. Mouse. In seconds she had scaled the wall and plopped down into the hallway. Miso just sort of looked at her like “What in the world is this?” as Mouse made her way into the bathroom. So I got out of bed, scooped up our adventurer, and put her back in the office. Then I got a coffee and joined them, while they played and climbed on me and decided my phone and coffee were new toys. Now I am chilling with Wyatt and Billy is hanging with the kittens for a bit too.
It is definitely a change and something new to get used too, which we will. It will be a lot easier once we can let them roam around, but I want to make sure we don’t have them pass anything (like possible worms) to Miso. I am not sure if we will make it all the way to that appointment but we are going to try!
And that is our big news! Wyatt is a little apprehensive about them, but he will get used to them and love them as much as he does Miso.
They are adorable little balls of fluff, and I am so glad that their mother curled up on Justin’s porch that cold week before Thanksgiving, and that he let her in and let her stay, even after he knew she was a week from having babies. And he kept the mom and one of her babies too, so don’t worry, Mama cat is safe and happy too.
I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 