Today’s prompt is a love themed freebie. I went with love quotes from different books that I really liked!
Mr. Rochester…. would we call him a romantic hero? Probably not – sooo many red flags. However, I did really enjoy their story and how Jane returns to him on more equal footing.
I love Tress and Charlie’s romance! Just everything about it makes me smile.
If someone had told me that Stephen King would write a romance story that would make me cry my eyeballs out, I would not have believed them. But it happened.
I hope you all enjoy reading these words as much as I did!
Now I am off to get all filled up with happiness from reading your posts!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Hello everyone!! I had a weird topsy-turvy week last week, for no reason at all. However, I did manage to read two books.
Read Last Week:
I enjoyed both of these books! I absolutely adored The Healing Season of Pottery, and Under Loch and Key was a really fun read. However, this is not a clean romance – it has swearing and spice of the open door kind, just so you are aware.
Reading This Week:
This week I am reading The Sad Ghost Club and Dating and Dragons. I checked out The Sad Ghost Club as part of our library’s Bingo challenge this winter. I needed a graphic novel to read to check off that box and this one just looked good.
Billy and I finished up Season one of Severance. Holy cow, that show messes with your head. I love it though! We are letting Season Two build up or even finish before we watch it. I don’t think I will want to wait for episodes! So in the meantime we are catching up on Murdoch Mysteries.
So far this is my favorite scene from Severance.
And that is about it from around here my friends! Stay safe out there! Try to do something today that makes you smile.
Hello everyone! I am so out of sync this week. I don’t know what it happening but I feel like I am just over here spinning my wheels but getting nothing done. I think I need to make a list, and just start working through it, instead of whatever the ADHD I’ve got going on over here. I am just trying to do too much at once, as well all do from time to time! I am behind on everything – school, my house, calls I need to make, catching up reading blogs and comments, just everything. I will get there though.
We started off pretty well. We had a great weekend. On Saturday, we went to my dad’s for the day and hung out with him and my stepmom. It was a very nice, relaxing way to spend the day. Then Sunday, Billy and I took Wyatt to a children’s book reading and author signing. There were two authors there, Kristen Remenar, who wrote The Groundhog’s Dilemma, an adorable little picture book, and Vicky Lorencen, who wrote The Big Book of Barf. When I saw that The Caboose bookstore in Royal Oak, which is the children’s bookstore area of Sidetracks Books, was hosting this I knew that Wyatt would love it, especially the barf book. And of course he did. He was a little bashful when meeting the authors at the end, and having his books signed, but he had fun.
Then for some reason, the rest of my week went wonky. Not bad, just like I said, out of sync. It was just one of those weeks I guess. I have no idea what happened to Monday, Tuesday Wyatt’s medicine issues reared its head and he threw up, Wednesday, actually… Wednesday was pretty good.
Wednesday Wyatt had therapy, and he kicked butt! He walked so far and did an awesome job!
Then Wednesday evening I went to my friend Kelly’s, and we hung out just chatting and drinking tea.
I told her that I felt like I was hanging out in a British Museum, her house is so beautiful. (you can see Kelly in the background there, telling her kids to get ready for bed)
Then Thursday I was all in a kerfuffle. We were expecting a delivery of medical equipment for Wyatt, a special seat for his walker, and it totally threw me off! I decided to just give up and give in after that, and chalk this week up to just what it was. Weird. Next week will be weird too. I am attending an advocacy leadership training online for three half days in the morning, and I have two different grandparents and Billy lined up to do the Wyatt things while I am doing it. I made up “sub plans” for those mornings too! Wyatt’s grandmother is doing a Valentine’s craft project with him on her watch, Billy is doing some dinosaur STEM stuff (and math), and my Dad is going to some hands on history with Wyatt. My dad was a special education teacher, then a principal, before he retired so hopefully it is like old hat to him. If not they can all just hang out. I will do the rest of school in the afternoon.
I am excited but nervous about the training! It’s been a minute since I did anything like this. I do think I can make it through three half days of training, and I think it will be fun; I just need to feel a bit more confident in speaking in a group again!
And with all that being said, I should probably get a move on! Have a good one everyone, and try to do something today that makes you smile!
This one is for all the women out there – let’s celebrate ourselves this month, and remember the voices of these strong women who came before us, leaving us with such strong words. So love yourselves, and treat yourselves kindly.
I don’t need to add anything, they speak for themselves.
(This post contains Affiliate Links. If you were to click on something and purchase it, I would receive a small commission from Etsy. )
I learned from making this post that I really really need to read more Woolf. Where should I begin? Any suggestions?
And let’s all do ourselves a favor, and READ these authors and poets, which is more important than anything else to represent them – although that is fun. However, the source, the books, that is where the magic and strength and inspiration really is. Let’s keep their words and spirits alive!
Lately in the mornings, I have been standing at our back door, holding a cup of tea, and just looking out at the yard until my feet get too cold and I have to go all the way back in. The yard is just that February in Michigan kind of yard – muddy, dead plants, gray skies. There is a feeling of waiting about it. It is pretty forgotten for the moment, except when I take Wyatt out in his wheelchair, since our ramp is in the back of the house so he can use the yard during the good weather, so for the most part, the yard is not used, at least by us. I do see signs of animals out there though. There are obvious signs that rabbits congregate out there nightly, and I find broken shells of nuts littered about the deck occasionally from the squirrelsBut . Today I could have sworn I heard an early frog and shucked my boots on to go investigate – it would be too cold for a frog to be awake! I didn’t find him though. I will keep looking. There is also the big tabby with the ear tip that I have named Angus-Fergus, who leaves little cat footprints in the snow and sleeps under the deck at night. One time I surprised him when I opened the door, and he reared back in surprise and shock, his eyes wide. We just looked at each other and I told him he was ok, and he sauntered off to do whatever was on his agenda, our surprise meeting forgotten for the moment.
January was spent with a lot of at home days, focusing on school and the things I need to do around here. Just normal life stuff, without too many adventures. Lots of cozy moments with my kiddo, reading at night, or watching television with Billy in the evening once the house has been put to bed – Wyatt bathed and pajamaed, the creatures all fed, the kitchen cleaned up from dinner and the sound of the dishwasher running in the background. I foresee many of these same evenings ahead of us in February as well, although we do have some new things starting and some events on the horizon. I am planning Wyatt’s tenth birthday party, for one. It is next month but I am a planner so I will spend sometime working out all of the details.
I even have something new for me in the books! I am taking a leadership advocacy training course next week for three days, and I am sort of nervous! It has been a while since I have done anything like this, and it is for a few hours everyday. I even had a bit of homework for this week, which was actually more fun than work. I wouldn’t even classify it as work honestly. I had to create a collage to introduce my family, and I have to talk for two minutes about us. Can I do this? I will have to practice!
This is what I came up with. I had to add some bunting, because I love bunting and always have it hanging in my house for every season. It just makes everything feel so bright and fresh.
I also learned that February is National Embroidery Month, in addition to Black History Month. I have been doing a bit of a deep dive on the history of women and community and resistance and handicrafts the past few days, and I have a whole new section on my TBR just for this topic. I have also read that “grandma-core” hobbies like sewing and knitting and baking are helping teens these days handle stress. I know that it helps me to self-regulate, as my husband puts it, to sit and embroider at night.
Wyatt also starts his new bowling league this month. He is so excited about it! It was started by a group that sets up activities for special needs kids and adults, and they are in teams by age. Wyatt is Team Thundering Turkeys!
Despite some new activities on our horizon, the majority of our month will be spent the same as January. Snug in our little house, surrounded by each other, maybe if we are lucky a good cat on our laps, purring away, a nice cup of tea, a good book. Planning for spring but enjoying the season we are in.
Whatever you do today, try to do something that makes you smile. Even if it is just a small thing, like ten extra minutes in the shower or taking a minute to look outside, and just observe the world.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Hey everyone! Just a quick post today!
Read Last Week:
I found myself not having as much time to read last week as I anticipated, and honestly I’ve been way too distracted by the news to read, but I did finish my buddy read, Redwall, with Billy! We had a nice discussion about it on the way to my dad’s yesterday. It was a fun little read, and we both enjoyed it.
Reading This Week:
I am hoping to read more, sew more, and doomscroll less this week, and I think these two books will be perfect to help in my mission. Under Loch and Key looks adorable and I think that I could use some Korean healing fiction as well, with The Healing Season of Pottery.
Billy and I have been watching Severance. It is super duper weird and it took me a few episodes to really get hooked, but now I am all in. I hate hate the design aesthetic though for inside Lumon however; I know that there is a reason for it, and it is not meant to make us feel good or be happy, and for me, it really does feel icky. The show though, I love. My friend Kelly and I were talking about this show the other day and she said if we were characters in the show, I would be Helly and she would be Mark, in terms of personality. Lol. She’s not wrong. Then we were having fun coming up with our Wellness Center “Your outie likes…” statements.
It’s just so very uncomfortable and plain and sterile. I do love green though.
Tonight we are supposed to watch a movie. I think we might skip it and watch Severance though!
And you guys, I am probably way behind on discovering this, but the website Bookshop.org is my new place to buy books, besides used book sites and local stores. The cool thing about Bookshop.org is that you can pick your local bookstore as your store, and a portion of the money you spend on Bookshop.org is given to your local bookstore! So you can still support your local small bookstore this way! I do have an affiliate account, but I don’t think you need to do that part to order and choose a store. However, if you don’t have a store to support, feel free to order through mine and support Brooks Books! They are my favorite local bookstore and they sell a mix of used and new books in the physical store. They also support other local businesses by giving smaller sellers space in their shop to sell things, as well as providing events and classes to the community.
And that is about it from me today! I hope that whatever you do, you do at least one small thing that makes you smile. Stay safe everyone!
Hello everyone! Today is quite yucky out. Gray and rainy and damp. And cold. The absolute worst in weather. But, it is also Friday and pizza night and library day and art day as well. So all is not lost today. Plus, my coffee is hot and delicious.
We are having typical January weeks for Michigan, both in weather and in activity level. We are mostly indoors, working on school or our own little individual projects, reading… you guys get it. Cozy home things. We are deep into wintering over here.
I participated in our second Zoom crafternoon this weekend, and I had such a good time. It was so nice to chat with these women, while I stitched away at my embroidery. I think about how this is an activity that really spans decades and centuries, people, women, gathered together while they chat over their sewing or quilting or knitting, and I see why they did it. I know that it was done at times out of necessity, but I am sure it was also for the socialness of it. I feel like I might go down a rabbit hole soon reading about this. If anyone knows of a book that talks about this history let me know! Anyway, back to my own. It is just super casual, we bring what we want to the Zoom, we chat about all sorts of things, and honestly for a group of women who are more than likely mostly introverted, who have never officially “met”, conversation is easy. It has brightened these long gray January days to have these meetups. I am looking forward to our next one in February! I also enjoyed stitching on this bright bit of whimsy this January as well!
We also had another bright spot since I have last posted a catch up. Our scouts had a special program at a local nature center. It was awesome. It was in the evening last Friday, so it was twilight as we were all driving in, and the roadside was full of herds of deer. We saw at least 50 deer driving through the metropark back to the nature center, which was very cool. Some were so close to the road, or in the road, that we needed to very careful on our approach! We were the first to arrive, on purpose of course as the leaders, and while we waited Wyatt and our other early bird Eloise drew and etched animals. I stepped outside for a minute and was greeted by the hoots of two Great Horned Owls calling to each other. One was their resident owl, Radar, who was permanently injured by a car and now lives there, calling to a friend in the woods. It was really cool to hear. I was surrounded by the dark woods and listening and it just felt magical. Especially when you consider that Great Horned Owls have a territory of ten miles, so for me to hear that one when it was so close felt very special.
Once everyone arrived, we all headed in to the Up North room, which the interpreters had set up for our scouts, and even had a fire going in the woodstove. It was extremely cozy in there, and I really could have taken a nice nap. However, there was a program to listen to, so no naps. Billy and I have known these two interpreters for over twenty years, and have a friendship with them, and Wyatt knows them very well too. Wyatt was extremely excited about being there and about the program. The kids learned about the mammals and birds in our area, and had the chance to see and feel different fur pelts and skulls. It was really interesting and I think both kids and adults alike had a very good time. Afterwards we had hot chocolate and cookies and it was just a wonderful night.
We are also having Wyatt’s birthday party here as well in March. The very last big party he had was in 2020, the week before Covid really hit, and it was bittersweet, as it was the last time we saw some of our family and friends for a long time. But we were thankful that we had been all gathered and had the chance, without even knowing it. That party was also here at the Nature Center. We thought for Wyatt’s tenth, we would have another big party for him. I am in the middle of planning it now.
And to be honest, that is about it! We had game night where we played a new game that Wyatt got for Christmas, Junior Detectives, which I highly recommend. We visited a bakery in Detroit and picked up gargantuan baked good. And then, we wintered.
I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!
Today’s Prompt is New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2024! When I went back and looked at the authors I read in 2024, I was surprised to learn that out of the 66 books that I read, 58 books were written by new to me authors. I had a big year of new to me authors! I had no idea honestly, that it was that high of a number.
So for this post, I am picking a few of the 58 that I haven’t talked about as much on here.
Last year I put a lot of effort into reading that had diverse representation. I was especially on the lookout for middle grade books that have casual inclusion of characters who use a wheelchair or have a disability, for my son. He doesn’t need to read about what it is like to have a disability – he already knows that. What he does need are stories that show these characters included in things and part of things.
I was so happy to find The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines! The main character is a wheelchair user, but she also fights monsters. Pretty cool if you ask me!
Sisters of the Lost Nation is a book written by and indigenous author, about indigenous characters. It was a horror story, and it was excellent. It not only has horror elements but also highlighted the invisibility of missing indigenous women in the world – how they disappear and their disappearances are not often as investigated as thoroughly as they should be, if at all.
The Berry Pickers also carries that theme, but in a very different way. Peters wrote such a heartwrenching novel with The Berry Pickers that I found myself tearing up frequently.
Clueless at the Coffee Station is a cozy mystery written by an independent author, who I learned about from Lisa at Boondock Ramblings, another independent author. Clueless was such a good book, and I loved that it is set in my own home state of Michigan! The author, who now lives in Japan, actually is originally from a Michigan town about ten miles away from me.
I love Halloween and this fall I went crazy reading all the fall/ghosts/spooky books I could – but I also wanted them to not be as scary as a straight up horror. DeLuca’s Haunted Ever After was absolutely perfect and I can’t wait to read another book set in Boneyard Key.
Christa Comes Out of Her Shell is a book I picked up because the main character is a scientist (and we need to read about more female scientists!) who studies snails. I love snails! This book made me laugh out loud at times, but also had its more serious moments. It was the first Waxman book I have read and I will be reading more.
My favorite genre (sub-genre?) is cozy fantasy and I loved all three of these.
A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic is straight up a fantasy version of the Bake Off. I wanted to eat everything the characters were baking, and I just really enjoyed this cozy book.
The Teller of Small Fortunes is another cozy that is full of found family, one of my favorite tropes. I am hoping for another book from this author about these characters!
Flowerheart was just a fairy tale-esque cozy fantasy, that was the perfect read for spring.
I finally hopped on the Sager train and was so happy that I did. I could not put this book down! I was sucked into this crazy story and when it was over all I wanted to do was talk about it with other people!
A Psalm for the Wild-Built is another book that I devoured and then wanted to talk about with everyone. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it but I really did. I read somewhere that it was “cozy sci-fi” and I agree. No wonder I liked it.
And those are my ten, plus a bonus for good measure!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well. We had a week where we stayed very close to home this past week, and it was nice to stay all cozy and hunker down with school and reading and baking.
Read Last Week:
This one was pretty good! It is the first in the series and I feel it could have been honed a bit better, but it was still a good read. I am for sure going to read the next in the series as well! Interesting characters and premise, just a bit clunky in parts, which is ok for the first book in a series I think!
Reading This Week:
So I have two wildly different books I am choosing between this week.
I am not sure which I am in the mood for! I guess I will find out when I start reading.
I am also buddy reading a book with Billy! I love when we do this.
Billy and I started a show called High Potential. It is entertaining but .. I am not 100% sold on it yet. It is based off a French show named HPI Haut Potentiel Intellectuel. It’s not a bad show but the main character can be a bit annoying, and some of the effects, etc that the show employs are just cheesy, and not in a good way, the way Murdoch is. However, I gave it a shot.
Tonight we are watching Argylle, starring one of my favorite actors, Sam Rockwell. Billy always knows he can get me to watch a movie I might be dragging my feet on if he mentions Sam Rockwell is in it. Argylle also stars Henry Cavill, another actor I really love.
And that is it from me this morning! Stay safe out there everyone!
Hello!! This morning Wyatt and I had to be out the door for an appointment before I could have my second cup of coffee! We aren’t used to having to be up and moving that early anymore so it was a bit of a challenge. We managed though, with a helping hand from Billy who is working from home today, thank goodness. Wyatt had an equipment evaluation today, which is nice because they re-evaluated his wheelchair situation and think he is still good for a while but it will need to be “grown” for him in about 6-8 months as he grows. They also evaluated him for a stander which will be very good to have for many reasons while he is working on walking.
We are back home now and I am happily drinking that second cup of coffee. I usually only have two a day so I try to savor them.
We had a pretty slow week around here, due to the temperatures being so cold! I think at our coldest with wind chill, we were sitting at -22. I didn’t want to take Wyatt out in that sort of cold weather so we chilled at home. Good thing I stocked up on books the week before because we went through them all! Well, we went through Wyatt’s. We are reading all sorts of different books together these days; chapter books, easier reader books, picture books. We both are in love with the Mr. Putter and Tabby series – we read one before bed every night and they are so sweet and cozy! I just love them so much. The first one is Mr. Putter and Tabby Pour the Tea, I believe, and it is so heartwarming. They all are. I love that Mr. Putter adopted an old shelter cat, because his own bones were creaky and he didn’t move fast either. Anyway, they are always baking or making tea or painting the porch or so many other wonderful things, and I love reading them with Wyatt before bed. I will do a post next week of some of the books we have been reading together.
Before the cold set in though, we did get out to the Scout Shop in our area. We had to pick up a hat for a scout in our pack, and while we were there we picked up a few things. A backpack for Wyatt that will work well with his wheelchair, a small first aid kit in a fox zip up bag (because of course) and a few things for my niece who is also a scout. It was nice to get out before the weather got bad.
Then we settled in! We had school all week, and Wyatt is doing so well and making good gains every week in reading and math. I am so proud of him. For years we battled his medication fog, and now that he is on a different medication it’s so different to have school and so rewarding to watch him learning. He surprises me everyday! We are still learning about Hundertwasser in art, although this is our last week with him before we move on. Miso enjoyed watching Wyatt create his last piece, although she looks a bit like a little furry art critic. We also spent time learning all about Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday.
Apparently cold weather motivates me to cook and bake. I made so many good things this week! We had Mississippi Pot Roast, White Chicken Chili, homemade chocolate chip cookies (and the best I ever made – I can be hit or miss lol), and also Snow Day Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast on Wednesday, when I gave us a snow day.
Of course, when the weather finally warmed up (to 30 degrees!) yesterday, we left the house for the first time in days. Guess where we went? The library of course!!
And that was really it! Lots of reading, tv, painting, embroidering, and eating. Lol.
I hope that everyone is doing well today, and if whatever you do today, try to do something that makes you smile my friends!
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 