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! Happy weekend! Yesterday was such a fun day! We went to the Michigan Renaissance Festival and it was just like I remembered it. We had a great time. I plan on sharing more about it later this week. Today we laying low, other than picking up a little wooden playhouse from my friend’s house. Her daughter no longer plays with it and Wyatt still loves things like that so it will be in our yard later today.

Currently Reading:

Truthfully, I am still making my way through this one. Not due to lack of interest, because I love it, but because I am so slow and weird about reading on my Kindle. I know so many people prefer ebooks but I am a traditionalist I guess.

Reading Next:

I’ve been eyeballing this book for a while now, and it seems like a fun one to end the summer with. I know summer is not officially over until the equinox but for me fall begins when September does. Lol.

Reading With Wyatt:

I picked this up for us to read as our read aloud because it is has so many elements our family loves – foxes, badgers, the woods. However, it is pretty intense though guys. If you have sensitive readers I would read it yourself first.

Posted Last Week:

Yoga, Cats, and Fancy Pants Plants

The Wednesday Hodgepodge

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

What Wyatt’s Reading: Summer Edition

Watching and Listening:

Billy and I have been watching mostly Murdoch Mysteries this week, so nothing really new on that front. As for podcasts I have been listening to True Crime again – Redhanded, Morbid, and I started a long-form podcast called True Crime Bullsh**. I had to stop listening to that last one though pretty quickly. It was just too much for me honestly. It is about Israel Keyes, who is absolutely terrifying, and contains mostly interviews with Keyes. I couldn’t listen. However the host did have spots of interviews with other true crime hosts and fans, regarding the morality and the reasons why they think people listen to and read about true crime which I found interesting, so I wish I could have kept listening to those parts without the Israel Keyes parts.

Musically, we have been listening to a lot different playlists on Spotify, although mainly this one from our family party on the fourth of July.

And that my friends, is the news from around here. I hope all is well in your world!

The Wednesday Hodgepodge is hosted by Joyce From This Side of the Pond

1. August 24th is National Waffle Day…what’s something you’ve ‘waffled’ on recently? 

My son has Cerebral Palsy, and goes to various therapies during the week. I was looking at his schedule for fall, and it just seemed really overwhelming for him. We went back and forth about pulling him out of speech for a while, to give him time to adjust to starting school again, his new increase in meds, and to just sort of balance out his schedule. This was a very big decision; we don’t like to discontinue any of his therapies but we ended up putting speech on hold for a while. He is talking a lot at home, and is constantly adding words and putting together longer and longer sentences, while of course he goes to speech and doesn’t talk at all. Kids, I tell you. This was a tough choice for us though!

2. Do you like waffles? Make your own or ‘leggo my Eggo? Any favorite toppings or add-ins? Waffles or pancakes-which do you prefer?  I am not a big waffle fan, but Wyatt loves them. He loves homemade, Eggo, it doesn’t matter to him, as long as it has butter on it. I am a pancake fan though. I love them. I love them just plain, with syrup, with jam on them, with cinnamon or chocolate chips or blueberries or strawberries – I love all the pancakes. My husband has sort of perfected his own recipe and they are delicious!

3. Do you have any momentos from this summer (or past summers)? What do you do with them? 

I am always saving little mementos! This summer I have more nature based mementos than anything else though. I put those on our little nature shelf. I also try to a buy book from a local author when on vacation, or an art print.

4. One thing you’d like to do before summer ends? 

I would like to go rock hunting before the lakes get way too cold!

5. Life is too short to___________________________________. 

Worry about matching your socks. Just throw them in the drawer and wear them all mismatched!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Last week I posted a video of lasagna being made in a cast iron skillet. I could not get it out of my mind so the other night I made a cheesy ravioli and sausage bake in our skillet (on and in the stove though, not an open fire). It was fantastic, and only took about thirty minutes!

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

We are another week closer to fall! Everyday I find myself more and more ready for autumn. Be prepared for lots of autumnal love here very soon. Lol.

Until then though, we are enjoying what is left of summer, with lazy mornings and no agenda or schedule to follow other than Wyatt’s appointments. Last night my brother Devin and his family came over for dinner and it was so nice to hang out with them. It’s been a few weeks for some reason, and it was good to reconnect. I think that is one thing about summer – everyone is busy like the bees that at work in the gardens that sometimes we don’t connect with our families and friends like we do when the weather forces us to slow down. I snapped this photo of Wyatt and my brother, niece and sister-in-law, and I love everything about it; the colors, the chaos, the curtain dangerously close to falling down, the patch on my couch where I was testing a project idea then left it, the energy, and especially the people.

Read Last Week:

So I mentioned last week that I love Barbara Michaels but hadn’t read this book in a very long time. Well, I think I know why! I am used to a level of old fashioned ideas in her books, as they were written in another time, but this one had just a lot of ugly words and ideas that were pretty problematic and I really couldn’t finish it. I at least had my Nature Based Therapies book to read and enjoy. I am definitely buying a copy of this book for our own home library; I checked this out from a university library using our library’s inter-library loan system.

Reading This Week:

Oo I am so excited!! I love Sarah Addison Allen! Now, to charge my Kindle….

Posted Last Week:

Classic Movie Impressions: His Girl Friday

The Wednesday Hodgepodge

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Watching and Listening:

We are watching the new season of Shakespeare and Hathaway on BritBox, and we also threw a few episodes of Murdoch in there too.

As for listening, I’ve been listening to a lot of different stuff, mainly the 70s Classic Folk playlist on Amazon Music. We also have been listening to Rubber Band Man in the morning, because it just is a good wake up song sometimes. Lol.

I didn’t listen to many podcasts this week, which is weird for me. I’ve been searching for some new ones and haven’t landed on any yet.

And that is about it from around here! I hope you all are well and good!

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I have been trading classic movies this summer, which has been fun! This time around Lisa chose His Girl Friday for me, another movie featuring Cary Grant. And dare I say, I can see why he was quite the leading man back then? I chose The Ghost and Mrs. Muir for Lisa – you can check out her post on it here!

This movie was non-stop wisecracks and action! I almost had to take notes just to keep up with the storyline. The energy was high from the start and just never ended, which made for a very exciting watching experience.

Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell star as a powerful editor and journalist duo who are divorced from each other but married to the job. Hildy (Russell) wants out of the game though and after four months of travelling is ready to settle down with the reliable, trusty, somewhat boring, definitely naive, Bruce Baldwin, an insurance agent from Albany. She is looking forward to a quiet life, one where she is a wife and mother and no longer a working woman, but when her ex-husband Walter (Grant) learns of this he is determined to stop her, if only because he doesn’t want to lose her as an ace reporter. He manages to stall her departure and impending marriage by talking her into staying to report on the story of Earl Williams, a man who is accused of murder, by telling her if she gets the story she very well may save an innocent life.

We learn throughout the movie that Hildy and Walter are well matched in their desire for reporting and getting the scoop. They are quick thinking fast talkers, and poor Bruce just can’t keep up. I felt bad for poor Bruce – he just did not fit into Hildy’s world of breaking news. There is one scene where Hildy is typing at breakneck speed, to get the story out and Bruce is telling her that he is leaving on the 9:00 train and he finally realizes that Hildy, despite what she has said, is not ready to leave this life. She belongs in that newsroom, not living a quiet life in Albany with his mother. Poor Bruce.

As for the story on Williams, it just keeps rolling and picking up speed with a jail break, a prostitute who jumps out a window, corrupt city officials, and finally, finally the truth comes out – and the gaggle of “inhuman” journalists who are there for it immediately take to the phones and begin reporting what they just witnessed; however, every reporter has a different version of events…

And with that, Hildy realizes what Bruce did, that she is not ready to leave this life – or Walter. This time though she is going to get that honeymoon she wants – or so she thought for about thirty seconds before Walter got word about another breaking story.

I really enjoyed this crazy wild ride of a movie! Grant and Russell are amazing together, the comedy, the innuendo and insults, and the overall chaos of this movie! It was jam packed with action that just didn’t stop, and I loved every second of it.

The Wednesday Hodgepodge is hosted by Joyce From This Side of the Pond

Here we go!

1. August is National Back To School Month…how does that make you feel? Share a back-to-school memory. 

I always loved back to school time! I have always loved fall, even as a kid and back to school meant autumn was coming, new school supplies, new clothes. However, the year I started tenth grade I caught the chicken pox right before school started! I missed the first two weeks of school, and I cried and cried about how horrible I looked. It was not the best start to the year.

2. Something you’ve learned in ‘the school of life’? 

You’ve just got to keep moving forward. Things might seem tough and rough at times, but you just have to keep on keeping on. Most of the time things work out.

3. Three words to describe your current mood.

Tired, full, content.

4. A summer food you’ve eaten too much of/are tired of? A summer food you haven’t had enough of? 

Watermelon! I am almost tired of it. Almost. We have eaten it almost every night and while I am loving it, it is on the verge of becoming too much. As for something summery that I haven’t had enough of, I would say ice cream.

5. What small stuff do you sweat that you know you shouldn’t?

I’m not much of a small stuff worrier – I do tend to go overboard worrying about the big stuff though!

A.M. Edit – So, after some thinking, I get very anxious about going new places. I don’t like not knowing where I am going, what to do when I get there, where to park, etc. That is very tough for me.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

My husband is a watching an ASMR video of a person making lasagna in a cast iron skillet, and the person is making it over an open fire next to a babbling brook, and it is pretty darn amazing. I want to be there, in those woods, getting ready to eat this delicious looking meal. The scenery is gorgeous, big trees, moss covered rocks, from scratch ingredients. It all looks wonderful, and it is seriously relaxing.

Hello everyone!

I have been getting weirdly excited about organizing and redoing little areas of our house. I have also been weeding through some of our things and donating and selling them, clearing out some of the clutter of things we no longer need or enjoy. We must be a family of magpies the way we hang onto things! Last week I tore apart our homeschool supply area in the basement, set up a little work station that has my binding machine, paper cutter, and miscellaneous supplies, organized the shelves, filed stuff in my filing cabinet – and basically just organized to my heart’s content. Next I need to focus on the areas where we will actually be doing our schooling – Wyatt’s desk area in his room and at our dining room table. I think I might put my grandmother’s china away for a little bit and rework the china cabinet to hold supplies – and maybe a new reptile tank… I mean, why not right? Lol. I think we would all like a snake, but as the caretaker I don’t think I could do the feeding. Ick. And what if it escaped? I read that snakes can be tricksy little Houdinis! So probably never a snake.

I am also working on ideas for our first day of school, to make it feel like the first day and special, which can be sort of hard when you homeschool. I did take Wyatt back to school supply shopping the other day (and I have since decided that for all future Target runs I will leave my two guys at home as they zoomed through the store without stopping every 100 feet to look at stuff) and let him pick out some stuff to use. I will say he has eclectic taste!

I mean, I did pick up some other stuff too – a few odds and ends from that Dollar Spot right when you walk in, like a United States puzzle since we are studying the U.S. this year, a planet puzzle just because it was $3 and wooden, that little fox vase in the top photo, a little wooden gnome all ready for autumn and holding a pumpkin ($1 everyone!), and of course I needed to make sure we had a supply of the basics to start the year. We needed new crayons, more glue sticks, a fresh sketchbook for Wyatt. And then of course I had to add a few shirts for Wyatt to the cart, as they were on sale for $8 each. We can cross the first day of school shirt off the list because we found the perfect one, blue with little lizards on it. Or maybe it will be the 70s vibin shirt. I guess we will see which he chooses that day!

We had my little niece’s birthday party yesterday. No surprise, Mermaid Girl wanted a mermaid theme! Well, mermaid/fairy, her two favorite things right now. It was a weirdly autumn like day, very cool temps, and I even found some yellow leaves on the ground. It was a very fun day though, the kids enjoyed playing on the playground, I enjoyed visiting with family, and of course eating the cake. We also took a little nature walk which was lovely. Lake Erie was looking mystical and perhaps, full of mermaids…

Tell me, are you Team Mermaid or Team Fairy?

I am super excited about my tiny baby Brussels sprouts! They have taken forever to grow. While I was checking on them, my little neighbor cat came to peep under the fence at me. He always startles me with how much he looks like my Maggie!

I cut back on raising butterflies this year, but I couldn’t help but bring some caterpillars in. This one was my eleventh Black Swallowtail of the summer. Sadly, I have had zero Monarch eggs or caterpillars on my milkweed. They were declared endangered this year, and frankly, I can see a huge difference myself between this year and last year. I have only seen a handful floating and flying about this this summer, and one of my friends whose backyard is an official Monarch waystation has seen about 50. Her numbers are often between 300-600 a summer, so this summer is dismal. Hopefully something can be done to increase their numbers before they are extinct.

And I don’t want to end on that depressing note! Let’s see…hmmm. Here is a photo of my pretty silly Miso to lighten the mood!

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

Last week was full of business. Getting organized and set up for school, gathering supplies, clearing out overgrown areas of the yard, starting PT again, and lining up a whole new round of appointments for kiddo. Just a productive, yet tiring, week!

Thanks everyone for the feedback on Abebooks and Thrift Books! It was very helpful information!

We also took a little trip to the library. We may have checked out a few books. We were laughing that there was barely room left for Wyatt in the wagon! (We are still waiting on his wheelchair – that is a fiasco that I may address in another post.)

Read Last Week:

I reread Wild is the Witch so that I could give it a proper review. I also started Willa of the Wood but wasn’t in the mood. I will have to try again another time.

Reading This Week:

I am reading the Mindfulness book above by Cheryl Fisher and it is really full of such wonderful information. I am taking note of some things I want to start to integrate into our days, such as a “time away” area filled with natural elements to touch and and play with and smell and soothe. The outdoors has always been beneficial to Wyatt (and us) and this book is giving me some great new ideas. And since I am reading something nonfiction and sort of textbooky, I am also reading a book by one of my favorite authors, who is always a go-to when I need something cozy. I haven’t read this particular title in a long time either so it is almost like reading it for the first time again.

Posted Last Week:

Book Review: Wild is the Witch

10 on the 10th

A Morning at the Fair

Watching and Listening:

Billy and I were on a roll with Only Murders in the Building Season Two, but then decided to hold off and let more episodes build up. Martin Short cracks me up! We decided to start the newest season of Death in Paradise while we are waiting. It will always hold a special place in my heart because we started it during Wyatt’s newborn phase, which was crazy. He was tiny, we needed to feed him a certain amount of food every three hours, but he also had acid reflux and needed to be held upright for thirty minutes after eating. And it took him forever to eat the smallest amount, like a 4 oz bottle would take 30 minutes. Billy and I did lots of just sitting and feeding Wyatt, and we subsequently watched a lot of tv. One of those was Death in Paradise and tiny baby Wyatt would shimmy his little body and chest pop to the theme song every time, without fail, which would make me laugh and smile. And he still loves the theme song and will stop what he is doing to dance to it!

Tonight we are watching our classic movie chosen by Lisa at Boondock Ramblings, His Gal Friday. I am looking forward to getting all cozy with some tea and watching. I am so ready for fall, y’all!

As for listening, I am still listening to Night Owl Podcast but sadly just listened to the last episode. The host has been unwell so he is taking a break. I’ve also been catching up on Lore.

And that’s my little update from our house! What have you been watching, reading, or listening to?

Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and I have started recommending classic movies to each other this summer, and this go round she recommended To Catch a Thief for us to watch. I had just suggested two very heavy movies in a row to her (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Streetcar Named Desire) so I lightened it up with Elvis and Blue Hawaii for her. You can read her review here!

If you are unfamiliar with this film the basic premise is that a former jewel thief, John Robie “The Cat”(Cary Grant) has to defend his reformed reputation and innocence when a cat burglar begins stealing from the rich tourists in the French Riviera, and everyone assumes he has returned to his old ways. Francie (Grace Kelly) is a wealthy American woman who is clever and bold and much more different than one would think under her icy blonde exterior.

So far, this movie is my favorite of Lisa’s picks for me. I absolutely loved every bit of it. I am an absolute sucker for cinematography and this movie is gorgeous. The water, the villas, the street scenes, the composition of scenes – it is easy to see why cinematographer Robert Burks won an Oscar for this film. So many scenes took my breath away with sometimes just their simple beauty! There is a scene where John and Francie are in her rooms, watching the fireworks and verbally sparring, with Francie goading John into revealing to her that she has figured out who he really is. The lighting, the shadows and use of shadow, the colors, the costumes, the placement of where the actors stand and sit is perfect.

I also loved how Grace Kelly’s character in this movie had hidden depths. On the surface she looks like an ice princess, with her blonde gorgeousness, her seeming aloofness – and then she slowly reveals that underneath that demeanor she is a little bit of a thrill seeker, that she is more hot-blooded than cold, and she is bold and goes after what she wants. She pursues Robie with single minded purpose, and pulls out all the stops including a chase scene along the coastal road which ends in a picnic with chicken and beer. She had her own version of “catching” a thief, it seems.

“The Cat” may not be immune to Francie’s charms but remains undeterred in his pursuit of the imposter thief. He follows his instincts, and lands on his feet after a dramatic rooftop scene where Robie confronts the thief amidst a hail of bullets. Because it can’t be too easy, right?

I just want to say that Jessie Royce Landis, who portrays Kelly’s mom Jessie Stevens, is also brilliant in this movie. I loved her sort of rough beginnings, her lack of regard for her own wealth, her taste for bourbon, and how she seemed to just embrace life despite missing her late husband Jeremiah. Her character was a lot of fun to watch in every one of her scenes.

Overall, I completely loved this movie, the charm and the beauty, the easiness that Kelly and Grant seem to have with one another. The surprises that made me turn to Billy with wide eyes, laughing, like when Kelly lays one on Grant soon after meeting him, totally breaking that ice princess facade. I can’t believe it has taken me this long to watch it!

Up Next:

We have chosen our movies for next time! For Lisa, I picked The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, at my mom’s suggestion. And Lisa, with her husband’s input, has picked His Gal Friday for me. Feel free to watch with us and chime in with your impressions next time!

It’s August! And you know what that means – fall is right around the corner! But first – August. Here, gardens are usually lush and overflowing, days are hot, and everyone is scrambling to fit as much fun and outside time in before school starts again. Even though we are a homeschooling family, I feel the urgency to not waste a second more than I have to. These long, lazy days don’t last forever and we will eventually have to hit the books again.

We ended July on a bit of a bummer – Wyatt and I had Covid. The rest of July was pretty spectacular though, so I have to be happy for that, and thankful that we had mild cases. August however is looking to be a good looking month though, if we do even a few of the things I am hoping we do. Peaches, sunflowers, the Renaissance Festival (it will be Wyatt and Mermaid Girl’s first time and they are going to love it!), birthday parties, and things closer to home too, like raising caterpillars and reading and swimming. Eating cold watermelon at night with Billy, the evening glass of wine, farm markets, the wild and vibrant colors of the zinnias growing in Billy’s wildflower patch.

I am of course, looking ahead to school starting. I have lots to gather and prepare (and there is a metaphor in here that is eluding me this morning as I type). I have to organize our supplies, finish lesson plans – we are flexible but I do have plans. I need to keep working on the literary arts curriculum I am creating for Wyatt – I have made it to December and I have to say I am super excited about my choices and what I have put together already. I have field trips to plan, and I still have to convince Billy to build an addition onto our house for a sun room/plant room/homeschool room… (ok that isn’t going to happen but hey a girl can dream).

We still want to squeeze a camping trip in somewhere – I love the outdoors guys but I am not a camper, unless sleeping in a cabin or an RV counts. Right now I am daydreaming of reserving a night or two in an Airstream somewhere rustic, but I know my husband wants the whole camping experience with Wyatt, tent and all. I can maybe do one night? Maybe I will just sleep in the back of the Subaru…

Anyway, I am going to wrap this up here! How about you? Any plans for August?