It is not a quiet morning around here, my little tornado is awake and enjoying his little self already. I am trying to catch up with the help of my coffee – which today is Cafe Bustelo. It’s not bad!

It’s been eventful around here!! First, and most important of all, Wyatt got a wheelchair yesterday! It is a loaner from the medical supply place until his actual wheelchair comes in, but this will give him more independence and freedom for now. I am so excited to be able to go more places with this kiddo – I have plans for lots of field trips during the week. His world is about to expand and I can’t wait. This was a huge thing for us. The AMT who came to deliver it and fit it to Wyatt was also so nice. He is the technician who always comes to our house for Wyatt’s equipment and Wyatt charmed him into his fan club. He let Wyatt “help” him screw some parts on, and told me that Wyatt is one of his most talkative kid clients… I was like yeah, that is not a surprise to me….lol. After waiting five years for Wyatt to talk, he seems to be getting all his words out at once, nonstop. I love it and am so grateful, but sometimes I am like – please child, I need some quiet!

And on that note – I am about to sound a bit ungrateful. Billy has been working so so hard on our bedroom making it look spectacular and I have been pretty much 100% holding down the rest of our life. Sunday I hit the wall of not having had any introvert recharge time and called my mom and asked if she would watch Wyatt for a while so that I could have some quiet. She of course agreed and I dropped him off, did a little shopping, and went for a solo walk in the woods. And it was glorious.

I also spotted this tiny bone and used leaves to pick it up to bring home for Wyatt’s nature cabinet of curiosities. I picked Wyatt up after and felt so much better. Introverts need introvert time.

Our bedroom is finished! We still need to add in our personal things and decorations but it is done! And Billy knocked it out of the park. It is beautiful and such a dramatic difference. He put in new trim, changed vent covers, did electrical, painted, and it is fantastic. This is a sneak peek but I am totally going to brag on him in a whole post. Once the room is all put back and decorated though.

And it is fat bear week everyone! Today is the last day to vote! Check it here. Decide who is the fattest of the fat! And isn’t Bear 335 so adorable?

And that is where I am at this morning! How’s it going in your world?

10 on the 10th is hosted by Marsha in the Middle!

It’s that time again!! This month is all about birthdays!

What is your earliest birthday memory? I have a memory from my 2nd birthday- I know this because we were living in the townhouse we lived in before we moved to the house I grew up in at 3. My family was coming over for my party, and my mom and dad had decorated, with plates and the cake on the table. There was a record playing the Captain Zoom birthday song, which I loved and would play over and over. I was running in circles around the table singing along to the song. I still remember the words to that song! I should probably get the personalized version for Wyatt!

What is your favorite birthday tradition? We have a tradition that we started for Wyatt’s birthday that I love. We always visit a new nature center for his birthday and take a hike. As he has gotten older, we have had to widen our circle and even done weekends away to explore a new trail.

How do you like to celebrate birthdays? When I was younger I enjoyed big to-dos with my friends, but now that I am older I like a quiet family filled event. Maybe a simple meal, a backyard fire, a glass of wine.

What is the best birthday gift you ever received? I have loved and appreciated all of my gifts!

What is the best birthday gift you have ever given? Wyatt’s toy kitchen. He played with that like crazy for years.

If money were no object, what would be the very best way to celebrate your birthday? Oooo fun one! I would fly my entire family to Scotland to all stay in a castle and celebrate there. We would visit all the touristy places and non-touristy places and do all the Scottish things, including visiting a herd of adorable Highland cattle.

What is your favorite birthday treat? A cake from Astoria in Detroit. They are so delicious!

How long do you celebrate your birthday? Just that day. Unless I get that family trip to Scotland!

What is the best thing about your birthday? Sharing it with my loved ones.

What is your zodiac sign? I’m a scorpio….

This was a fun one! I would love to hear some of your answers!

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hey all! We are still working on our bedroom renovation and things are a crazy mess around here. Our week was pretty much spent here at home and that is ok. We need those at times!

Reading:

I went a little wild with books for this month, and I am reading between three different books. I also am having a more difficult time than usual reading – I usually read in bed at night and we are sleeping on a mattress on the floor which is not super comfortable for reading. I consider reading in the den at night but..it doesn’t work either. There is a lack of comfy reading spots right now! So I am reading three books slowly. Lol. Not ideal.

I am enjoying them all so far, but A Haunted History of Invisible Women is absolutely fantastic. It is much much more than you think it will be. The description reads:

Sorrowful widows, vengeful jezebels, innocent maidens, wronged lovers, former slaves, even the occasional axe-murderess—America’s female ghosts differ widely in background, class, and circumstance. Yet one thing unites them: their ability to instill fascination and fear, long after their deaths. Here are the full stories behind some of the best-known among them, as well as the lesser-known—though no less powerful.

Tales whispered in darkness often divulge more about the teller than the subject. America’s most famous female ghosts, from from ‘Mrs. Spencer’ who haunted Joan Rivers’ New York apartment to Bridget Bishop, the first person executed during the Salem witchcraft trials, mirror each era’s fears and prejudices. Yet through urban legends and campfire stories, even ghosts like the nameless hard-working women lost in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire —achieve a measure of power and agency in death, in ways unavailable to them as living women.

Riveting for skeptics and believers alike, with humor, curiosity, and expertise, A Haunted History of Invisible Women offers a unique lens on the significant role these ghostly legends play both within the spook-seeking corners of our minds and in the consciousness of a nation.

It is absolutely fascinating, sad, informative, and wonderful.

Posted Last Week:

Homeschool Journey: Took a wrong turn in Albuquerque

Spooky Season Cinema: Young Frankenstein

What We’ve Been Reading: September Edition

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Watching and Listening:

In movie news, Billy and I watched My Best Friend’s Exorcism. It was a pretty good interpretation of the book. I prefer the book, but the movie did leave out the part that I skipped in the book so that is a bonus. We also watched Young Frankenstein as part of our Spooky Season Cinema that Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are doing together. As for tv, Billy and I watched Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime on Acorn. Billy really liked it, I was a little more eh over it. It was too espionage/spies for me. However, I did love the style and fashion in it. Tuppence is my new style icon. Would I look weird in a beret? Or in lipstick? I loved all of the outfits she wore!

This week I have been trying out new podcasts for spooky month – I will be sharing my favorites in an upcoming post!

And that is it from my corner of Michigan? How are you doing? What’s going on with you?

Oooo spooky…Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are are watching and posting about spooky cinema for the next two months, here and over on our Instagram accounts. We are starting fairly family friendly and working our way up to the scariest!! I love a thriller or chiller!

If ever I needed a comedy, this was the week! And I was totally cracking up throughout this whole movie, which in turn made my husband laugh. Although why he wasn’t laughing at the movie, I don’t know, because it is funny dang it!

I had previously watched this movie in high school and enjoyed it – I loved it even more this time around. The book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is actually my favorite classic. I could go on and on about Shelley, that time in history (the year without a summer), science, etc, but we are here today to talk about Young Frankenstein.

This Mel Brooks film keeps true to the bones of the original story, but with Brooks’ style of humor and shenanigans. Gene Wilder is brilliant in this, as the grandson of Victor Frankenstein. Wilder’s character rejects his grandfather, considers him a lunatic, and even stresses that his name be pronounced Fronkensteen, in order to further separate himself from his crazy ancestor. However, when he is presented with the will of his great-grandfather he is forced to deal with what he considers the skeletons in his family closet and travels to Transylvania. (And I can never ever hear that word, Transylvania, without hearing Tim Curry as Frankenfurter singing it in Rocky Horror) Frankenstein arrives in Transylvania and seems unfazed at the people around him still dressed as medieval villagers. He is slightly thrown off by the appearance of Igor (Eyegor) portrayed by Marty Feldman. Feldman’s performance was my favorite by the way. He seemed to really enjoy hamming it up.

Frankenstein is adamant that he is completely different than his ancestor Victor. Until he discovers the secret to recreating life, in a book clearly titled How I Did It by Victor Frankenstein, and he engages the help of his assistant Terri Garr as Inga, and of course, Igor. From here, of course things start to get a little nuts. And so does Frankenstein, who manages to reanimate his own creation – one he had hoped to create differently from his grandfather, by using the brain of a scientist. However, after Igor bungles that at the brain depository, an abnormal brain is used without Frankenstein’s knowledge. Ooops.

One thing that I really loved about this comedy is that they stuck by one of the main concepts of the story – that the doctor created this life and should be responsible for his creation. Be his family, love him and teach him. Not be disgusted by him and toss him aside. And Wilder’s character did exactly that, took responsibility for him, after a brief struggle of fear and disgust. The book is so dang sad, and I enjoyed this version’s ending much better. And hey, Madeline Kahn! I love her in everything and this was no exception.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie! It was a fun comedic take on a serious story, but also remained sensitive to the deeper topics.

Next up we are watching Nightmare Before Christmas, a favorite of mine!

For Lisa’s review of Young Frankenstein, click here!

Every Friday my mom, Wyatt, and I go to the library. It’s one of our favorite weekly traditions! The librarians and staff all know Wyatt, and one librarian has been the librarian there when I started going to the library at basically birth. Mom and Wyatt generally color while I choose my books, and then while my mom is looking, Wyatt and I are picking out his books. He chooses a few that we put on his library card, and then I also pick some as well that I want us to read. We are a family of readers and we generally fill up the wagon! And this upcoming Friday will be our last wagon Friday, as Wyatt gets a loaner wheelchair while we wait for his actual wheelchair to come in, which will be sometime around Thanksgiving. I will be thankful to have it, but now we will need to rethink how to carry all of our books.

This was last week’s haul. I bet you can guess what we are focusing on the next few weeks. Lol.

Let’s start with my mom’s books.

As you may guess, my mom is a bit of a history buff. I love history too, as my mom taught me to love it. And I am pretty sure I am passing that on to Wyatt as well.

And now my books.

It was a great month of reading for me honestly.

For Wyatt, we will just share his and my favorites.

Let’s start with Pip and Zip. This book was one of the first pandemic era books we have read, that discusses the pandemic. During lockdown the family in this book goes for walks (like we all did) and found duck eggs in the water. They raise them and free them and it was lovely story. Wyatt loves ducks so he loved that part; I liked the subtlety of acknowledging those first days of the pandemic – people in masks, the way the characters were drawn with a distance between them, without being super in your face. Plus, it was a neat look at what pandemic project this family had because this book is based on the author’s actual life. This was our favorite book.

Out of the others, Wyatt really enjoyed Lawrence in the Fall, A Very Big Fall, and Miss Turie’s Magic Creatures, which was really cute. It is also a good spooky season book that is not scary, so bonus for any kids out there who might get freaked out but still want seasonal books. I really enjoyed Moon Light, it was so beautiful, The Night Walk, and Ready for Pumpkins which was not only adorable but also covered the growing cycle of a pumpkin – through the eyes of a classroom guinea pig. Loved it.

I am sure Wyatt’s books will get more Halloween themed this month, as my kid loves Halloween. Just like me!

Good morning all! It’s been a busy, chaotic few days and I am taking a minute to sit and enjoy my coffee this morning. This mug is from an actual PI business near me, and they would occasionally do work with my cousin’s law firm. When I worked there regularly I fell in love with this mug and took it home. The coffee today is my favorite, Post Alley from Seattle’s Best. Last week we were drinking 6th Avenue Bistro Blend and while it was good, it still couldn’t replace Post Alley in our hearts. We are very serious about our coffee I guess over here.

We started painting our bedroom this weekend! I am so excited about it! It has been a long 20 years of me not liking the color and wanting to paint it but never ever actually doing it. Now we are in the process and I am so impatient for it to be done, but things take time if we want them done right. Billy ended up having to put three coats on to cover the deep blue, even with primer, and since we had the extra paint, added a fourth coat. He plastered, he sanded, he painted the walls, the ceiling, the doors. I painted the trim, two coats. Today the trim goes up and by tomorrow I think we will be in our room again. I’ll make sure to share some photos! For now, this is how we are living…Wyatt loves that we are “camping” all in that room. Lol.

On Friday though before all the madness began, my cousin (the one I mentioned above – his name is Brian) and I went to a “Spooky Shop” at a local used and new bookstore. They opened fairly recently and neither of us had been there before. It was really neat, and I enjoyed hanging out with him. We have been close our whole lives, more like siblings than cousins, and lately we have been making efforts to get back together again. The whole pandemic thing and all put sort of a stop to that for a bit.

Brian is a whole foot taller than my five foot one so it was handy to have him there to get the books down from the high shelves for me. I ended up buying just two this time around – a Sherlock Holmes book, and a book of poetry for Wyatt.

I have a whole folk post percolating in my head. Maybe when the room refresh madness is over I will be able to get to it.

Saturday night we celebrated October with a fire at my brother’s house. It was a perfect night, complete with cider and apple pie. I had to drag Billy out of the bedroom and his work, but he needed a break, and he was happy I forced him to stop working for the night.

My life would not be complete without a nature story. After Wyatt’s physical therapy – which he rocked like a rock star – I was getting in the car and noticed a praying mantis, looking pretty dead but fully intact. It was in the parking lot and I couldn’t bear the thought of it getting run over. I know, I am super weird but things like that bother me. Anyway I scooped it up with my Kroger receipt, and put it in a bag I had in my car and took it home, having no idea what I planned to do with it. Probably just dump it in the garden honestly. When I took it out of the bag though, I thought I saw it twitch. I thought I was crazy. Then I remembered the night before had been so cold, and maybe this mantis had just been too cold to move. So I put it in a butterfly enclosure on the porch in the sun to warm it up safely. And fifteen minutes later, it was moving around. However it is injured, so I will just let it live in the enclosure I guess until it no longer is alive, then dump it in the garden.

And that is it for this morning! Enjoy your day everyone!

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

First, let me say that I am thinking of everyone who has been affected by the Hurricane. What a terrible situation and I am praying for everyone who was in its path.

This past week was full of work – school, housework, and all the prep needed to start painting our bedroom. How did I have so much in that room? I am flabbergasted. It was a good opportunity to reconsider it all and make choices about what is actually going back in.

We did do some good stuff too – a field trip, watched Hocus Pocus 2, a fire and adult beverages at my brothers. All in all, a pretty solid week.

Read Last Week:

Sheets – what a very different, emotional read than what I was expecting. I absolutely loved it though. I am still working on Invisible Women but it is good so far.

Reading This Week:

Winterset Hollow caught my eye a few months ago and I wrote it down to read this month, October. I am not sure about it honestly – sometimes straight horror books are too much for me these days. However, I am curious about it and I am looking forward to reading it. Hopefully in my newly finished room tonight, but we will see how far Billy and I get today.

Posted Last Week:

My Cozy Fall Shopping List

Spooky Cinema Season: Hocus Pocus

Talk With Me Over Tea

Friends’ Fall Day Trip

Homeschooling Journey: John Henry, Clementine Hunter, and West Virginia

Watching and Listening:

Billy and I never watched the LOTR show darn it. Maybe this week. We instead watched McDonald and Dodds Season 3 – wow that first episode was the best! We started the Chelsea Detective but decided we want to wait on it for winter watching. We also tried out Recipes for Love and Murder and decided we weren’t interested at this time. Maybe later. We obviously had a weird week of tv.

I spent the week catching up on the podcast Your Own Backyard with Chris Lambert. He has been covering the trial of Paul and Ruben Flores, who are being tried for the murder/disappearance of Kristen Smart in 1996. I listened to the podcast earlier, pre-trial, and it is seriously one of the best podcasts I have listened to. Lambert is an amazing investigative journalist, in my non-expert opinion, and the podcast actually helped to propel this eventual arrest and trial of the two Flores men. I am waiting for the newest installment, which covers the last week of the trial, as the closing arguments are this week. No cameras or video recordings are allowed in court due to some of the sensitive witness testimony. Anyway, I could go on and on about this case. I have lots of opinions and feelings.

And that is it from my corner of Michigan!

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hi all! Last week was a pretty good week – we are figuring out our routines and patterns and things are starting to fall into place. On Saturday I also went out for the day with my friends for our annual Fall day trip. We had a blast!

Read Last Week:

I finished up The Agathas and I absolutely loved it! I even stayed up late a few nights reading it, which is something these days. Lol. I also feel inspired to read more Agatha Christie!

Reading This Week:

This week is all about ghosts! Sheets is a graphic novel while A Haunted History of Invisible Women is a nonfiction book I picked up from NetGalley.

Posted Last Week:

Hello, Autumn

Spooky Season Cinema: Shaun of the Dead

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Homeschooling Journey: Paul Bunyan, Wisconsin, Photosynthesis, and Grant Wood

Watching/Listening:

Billy and I have been watching Shakespeare and Hathaway and also McDonald and Dodds on BritBox this past week. I think we might start the new Lord of the Rings show this week as well. And since we are doing Spooky movies for spooky season, we watched Shaun of the Dead – this week we are watching Hocus Pocus.

I felt so much better after reading how many of you also struggle with listening to audiobooks! I feel like I am in very good company! This week I listened to my normal podcasts, nothing new, just true crime and ghost stories for the most part.

And that is it from around here! I hope you all have a great week!

Last night at 9:04 pm EST, summer moved on to make way for autumn. And it is as if a switch literally turned off because we went from 88 degree weather on Wednesday, to 60 degrees and breezy Thursday literally overnight. This morning the house had a chill in the air that hasn’t been there for many months, and my soul smiled. I love this weather, I love this season. And it is here!

Today Wyatt and I are spending a good chunk of the day making our house cozy. I took down my brightly colored hearts banner that I leave up most of the year, and we will be replacing it with a banner of leaves. I will dig out all of our quilts and throw blankets to leave on the couches and ends of the bed, switch our sheets to flannel ones, bring in any plants that I still have outside. It’s time to get out all of our warm sweaters and flannels, our thick socks, to stock our tea supply with all of our favorites, English Breakfast and Earl Grey and Mint and Apple Cinnamon. I think this year I will even switch out my dishes, from my white and blue and yellow floral patterns for the persimmon Fiestaware we got for our wedding. t

I am also hoping to get to the farm market and nursery, to pick up a few early pumpkins to place around, and some rich colorful mums for the porch, mushrooms for soup. And this year they have photo areas all set up as well, and I want to take Wyatt’s “school” photo there, surrounded by the fall scene they constructed.

Leaves are changing here, seemingly earlier than normal. Our butterfly friends are on the move, along with other insects and critters and my bug hotels are awaiting guests. We are moving into the season of foxes and owls, and away from butterflies and rabbits here in my part of the world. Of mushrooms and fallen walnuts and hazelnuts and chestnuts to collect and leave in small bowls around the house, of filling bird feeders for the birds who stick around for the winter, jays and cardinals and tough little sparrows. My garden will be put to bed, I have already cut most of the zinnies and placed them throughout the house for the final blaze of color, showing us what we will be missing until next year. Squirrels are getting fat, and the little squirrel I named Bunny because he somehow lost his tail is bumping around here daily, looking for handouts.

Our fall calendar is filling up as well, full of plans for apple orchards and baking sessions, pumpkin carving, nature hikes and owl prowls, making leaf banners from wax and leaves, visiting Greenfield Village to see it all decked out for Halloween, backyard fires and cider. Simple things, for the most part, but simple things that fill us up. As nature slows down for a good long rest, we can as well.

Hi all! Today the coffee is absolutely perfect! I brewed up Seattle’s Best Port Alley which is quickly becoming my favorite. I am sitting next to Wyatt on the couch while the sun rises, and there is this beautiful golden glow on the houses and trees outdoors, and along one wall of my house. Wyatt’s eating his Cinnamon Toast Crunch and all in all this is a pretty great moment.

Speaking of Wyatt, last week he became an official card carrying member of our local library! This month is Library Card Sign-Up month and I decided it was time he had his own card. I love the fact that we still use the library I grew up using, and my mom before me.

We also found the crow on the shelves so Wyatt won a little prize, and we explored the arts and crafts room that is available. All those die cuts! And I am not even responsible for them! (Like in my last job)

I talked a little in my Sunday post about Hawkfest, which we attended on Saturday with my brother, SIL, and niece Mermaid Girl. The kids had fun making necklaces out of “eagle talons”, and meeting all the birds of prey that were there. And so did I!

We love checking out the Metropark events that are available every month! Billy and I have been visiting the parks and these events for like 15 years and have become friends with the interpreters who put their heart and souls into educating people and creating curiosity and encouraging exploration. Pre-pandemic we loved going to our favorite metropark in the winter, hiking through the snow, then sitting in front of the fire in the Up North room talking to the interpreters. I really hope we can get back to that tradition soon.

Sunday evening meant more fun – Billy and I actually went out without Wyatt, and met up with my cousin Brian and his partner Katrina for drinks. We had a blast and talked so much and laughed and laughed. Katrina’s son just got married and for his honeymoon visited Turkey and India and Egypt – and even took a cruise down the Nile! (I of course immediately thought about Agatha Christie..) They took some gorgeous photos and it sounds like it was a dream honeymoon. I was also excited about my giant pretzel. I have been wanting one for weeks thanks to the Llewellyn Watts character on Murdoch Mysteries, and I finally got one!

And.. I am nearing the bottom of my cup and need a refill, so I will leave off here for today. What have you all been up to?