Hello everyone! I hope that you are all doing well!
Books:
Last week I read The Haunting of Ashburn House. I tried to read a Gladys Taber but sometimes when I am all dysregulated and my brain is not calm, I can’t concentrate on calm things. So I switched to horror and it did the trick. This one gave me the creeps too! It was more of a jump scare book, like you are just waiting for something to pop out of the shadows and get the character, and I was pretty freaked out. But I was able to relax anyway while reading it, go figure.
This week I am reading an Agatha Christie.
Screens:
Billy and I watched Only Murders in the Building. I love that show! And it was so cool to see Renee Zellweger and Diane Wiest in it! Billy and I also liked the Steve Martin bird parts – maybe as a subtle nod to his role in The Big Year?
We also started watching The Artful Dodger. It’s not bad! We are only a few episodes in but we are both enjoying it.
Tonight our movie flashback with Wyatt is The Goonies! I know a few of you have mentioned this one, and it is high time to watch it!
Today we went to the kite festival on Belle Isle. We generally get there early, and set up on our blanket under the shade of a giant tree. Which we did today. It is so relaxing. We kicked back, had some watermelon (of which the outside was thoroughly scrubbed lol), watched the kites flying overhead, and listened to the band that was playing. When Wyatt began to get restless, we headed to the big field to try to fly our kite, but try as he might, Billy could not really get that kite to fly. He tried though for at least 30 minutes while we cheered him on, and we all decided after a while that we were done with the kite flying. We had a really nice morning!
And that is about it from me today! I hope that whatever you do today, that you do something that makes you smile!
Hello everyone! I hope that you all have had a good week.
I wanted to do a catch up post this week but I know I won’t have time tomorrow morning. So two posts in one day from me!
Let me start with an update about my mom. Her vitals are pretty good, she is eating and drinking, but most of this week she has been very confused about time and place when she is awake. It is heartbreaking to me but I try to keep her calm and help her as best as I can. I gave her my stepdad’s robe (he passed a few years ago) to hold onto when she gets scared as a comfort item. It does seem to give her comfort. I hate when she gets scared. That is so hard to watch and I feel like such a jerk just saying “Don’t be scared” because if she could just stop being scared I am sure she would. But I feel at a loss.
I have had good visits with her as well, and even when she seems like she is asleep, if I tell her that I love her she will say it back. It’s these moments I try to focus on.
This is a picture of me and her at the 1976 fourth of July parade. I am digging my mom’s yellow sunglasses! My mom is beautiful now and she was then as well.
This fourth of July we ended up not going to my cousin’s as we had planned. Billy slept funny and his back was bothering him, and his back was really an important part of the day with Wyatt in the pool. He wanted to go anyway but I told him I wanted him to rest and heal, because we need him to be able-bodied, and not hurt himself more. And it was ok. It was a very quiet day but we were fine.
On Sunday, Billy was feeling all better and we went to the Detroit Institute of Arts. We had such a great time! We wandered around the American and the Native American art areas, armed with little foam stars. The DIA gave out stars to the visitors to award to their favorite art pieces, which was a really cool way to have people interact more with the art, and connect. Billy, Wyatt, and I ended up choosing paintings all in the same room!
Wyatt chose the painting titled Apple Orchard, by George Inness.
My star went to Morning in the Andes by Louis Remy Mignot. I just loved the softness and just how misty and hazy it looks. I love it.
Then Billy fell in love with this painting, Cotopaxi by Frederick Edwin Church. I can see why.
Wyatt and I both almost gave our stars to works in the Native American section. I loved this amazing bowl, and love how the shadow is the design. Then Wyatt really liked a pumpkin effigy that went into a tomb, which was unusual but we all like what we like. I think he appreciated that it looked like a pumpkin.
I also snapped this picture of a chocolate jar and sent it to Lisa at Boondock Ramblings. We agreed that chocolate is definitely that important that we need it in the afterlife.
It was my week for art I guess! The other week The Tin Nose Shop in Norfolk, England dropped a batch of their wishing toads and shucks (like wolf dog things) and it coincided with a time I was feeling kind of low about my mom. So…. I hurried up and ordered a few things before they ran out, which was of course lightning fast. My friend Kelly was in Canada at a soccer match and she wanted a wishing toad as well, and I managed to snag two wishing toads, and a shuck for Wyatt. Well, they came this week!
Each are individually sculpted and “No two are the same but all contain a heart; a little chip of Norfolk flint or stone, so you can take a little piece of Norfolk with you where ever you go.” A shuck is based on the legend of the demon dog from East Anglia, and this little guy is considered a protector or guardian, and his talisman is strength. The wishing toad I bought for myself, and his design is called Cloud. I love his little face. There is a little hollow on the bottom where you write your wish on a bit of a scroll and set it in the windowsill for the moonlight to shine on. They are just fun. (Wyatt’s shuck is the Iceni design)
Finally, this week it was also the art fair in my hometown. It is one of the largest in Michigan, and I have gone pretty much my whole life. I always go with Wyatt once, usually the first day first thing in the morning to beat the heat and crowds, and then in the evening once with Billy for a date night. Well, I went Wednesday morning with Wyatt, and it was so hot and humid that we didn’t really enjoy walking around. Both of us are affected by heat, so we only did one loop of the fair. I did get Wyatt a sticker at a booth called Spooky Things by Jenny Hearns.
On the way out though, we passed a church that was having a rummage and used book sale. So of course Wyatt and I had to go. And of course we left with a stack of books!
I was very excited about this copy of Heidi Grows Up!
Billy and I went back last night, and while it was cooler, it was still sticky hot. Swampy. We had a good time though together, and this time I picked up an art print at the same booth where I got Wyatt’s sticker.
I was bummed that the artist I usually buy from, Anthony Brass, was not there this year but it worked out because I love this fox drinking tea. Now to find him a home here somewhere!
And that is it from me this evening! I am about to order pizza for our pizza Friday. Yay for not having to figure out dinner!!
Let’s start with my own 5 that I have been owned by.
We used to volunteer at an animal shelter, and Maggie, Miso, and Marlow all were adopted from the shelter. We also had an English setter Penny, who is no longer with us sadly.
Maggie was our very first!
Maggie was found as a stray with her brother, living on the streets. I still miss her so much! She was always so smart and a little judgy. If she were a book genre she would probably be mystery.
Miso was next. We adopted her about five months after we adopted Maggie.
She and over 30 other cats very similar to her were taken from an apartment of someone hoarding. Almost every volunteer ended up adopting their own version of Miso. I think Miso’s book genre is romance. She is just so fluffy and sweet. She is sort of my shadow cat. She used to follow me everywhere, but now she is a senior and sleeps a lot more. She still seeks me out to cuddle though.
Then came Marlow.
Marlow was our only cat to want to be around toddler Wyatt. LOL. Marlow came to us after being abandoned in an apartment after his family moved out and left him behind.
Hmm. What genre would Marlow have been? He was pretty shy, but also super cuddly with people he loved. He was a velcro cat, we called him because once he liked you, he stuck to you like velcro. I am going to say he would have been a fan of anything dramatic. So maybe plays, theatrical writings.
And recently, we adopted the kittens, who are now like 8 months old. Max and Mouse. I worried about my 17 year old Miso girl with new kittens but after a short adjustment period where she showed them who is boss, they all pal around and I think she is happier. She always was the cat who loved other cats and I think she missed Maggie and Marlow too.
Orange boy is Max, and Mouse is our little mouse.
Max and Mouse were surprise kittens born in my friend Justin’s house right before Thanksgiving. He found their mom as a stray and brought her in; a few days later she had babies. Lol. Max is more of an outgoing cat, and loves attention and to be cuddled. Mouse is a little more choosy. When people come over, she likes to stay a distance and watch before deciding if she wants to get closer. She likes to cuddle but on her own terms. If I “Elmira” her as my husband says, she lets out a little meow to let me know she is done being held, thank you very much. Mouse is also the most likely to get herself into a situation. She’s our wild child.
If they were book genres, Mouse would be like heist fiction, and Max is just something cozy. He is an orange boy after all.
Those are my five babies. Now other cats. I can’t possibly list all of my family and friend’s cats. There are just way too many. So I will go with famous cats I have loved over the years.
Garfield. Of course.
Figaro
Duchess
The Hemingway cats in Key West. They were my favorite part of the trip!
Finally, Cat from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I am pretty sure he won an animal Oscar for his role.
Today’s Prompt: Titles that Contain the word ” your choice ”
I decided to just go with the word “summer” for this one. I mean, it is summer here where I am, and I have summer on the brain. Lol. I ended up searching my Goodreads titles of books I have read with the word summer in the title, and it turned out to be more than I had thought! Some of them are books I read a decade ago even which was kind of fun for me to revisit.
Summer in the South is one I read quite a while ago!! 2011, and I even reviewed it on my old blog, Quixotic Magpie!
Prodigal Summer is actually one I read every few years. I love this book. It is another one I reviewed on my old blog!
This One Summer is a graphic novel and I honestly don’t remember much about it. It is a coming of age story that takes place at the main character’s lake house.
Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery is the second in the series about Polly and Huck and Neil the puffin. I have to say my favorite character was probably the puffin, but I did also like the human characters. Lol.
Bloody Summer was part of the Trespass series that Kindle put out a few years ago. I read them all and this was one of my favorites in the collection. They were all short stories, and included stories by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Stephen Graham Jones.
Two of these I just read, one I have read half of, and the other has been on my TBR for a while. Lol.
The Summer Book is a look at summer from a different view than Lake of the Ozarks. Simple and classic, a different sort of nostalgia. I have read half and while I want to finish it, this isn’t the year for it for me.
Deadly Summer Nights is a little cozy mystery set in the 1950s Catskills at a resort. I actually just read it, I was very excited about the setting although the mystery and story were just ok to me.
The Growing Summer is another that I just read. However, I loved this gentle vintage book about siblings sent to live with their great-aunt in Ireland for a few weeks.
Hello everyone! I hope that you are having a good weekend! Our week has been very very slow. Lol. That heatwave kept us indoors for a whole week for the most part. We ran out and did things here and there, but not anything too exciting. Wyatt and I spent a lot of time reading and painting, our two fallbacks for free time here. This week the weather is supposed to be a lot nicer, and we will be out and about. It is the annual art fair in our city this week and Wyatt and I always go one morning together, then I go again with Billy during the evening. Billy and I used to work downtown in our twenties and spent 12 hour days the week of art fair, but we absolutely loved every second. Ah to be 23 again. Lol.
Books:
I’ve fallen into this cozy mystery series and can’t stop! They are such perfect little summertime reads. They are set on the west coast of Michigan, in my favorite area near Saugatuck in a fictional town named Oriole Point. I am loving them! I read Dying for Strawberries and then immediately bought Blackberry Burial for my kindle, which if you know me, then you know I have not used my kindle for like five years. Anyway, I am loving this series, written by Michigan author Sharon Farrow.
Once I finish Blackberry Burial, which I should in a day or two, I am going to start My Own Cape Cod by Gladys Taber.
Screens:
Billy and I have been catching up on Only Murders in the Building this week. It just seemed like a good week to finally watch it. We have also been continuing on our nostalgic movies of the 80s and 90s watching with Wyatt as well! So far this weekend we have watched The Great Outdoors starring Dan Ackroyd and John Candy, Annette Bening and Stephanie Faracy. Wyatt was cracking up at so many of John Candy’s antics, much like I did in 1988.
Tonight Billy and I are going to watch one without Wyatt, I Know What You Did Last Summer.
We usually watch Jaws on the fourth of July but switched it out this year for The Great Outdoors. Sometimes you have to mix things up!
It was a pretty slow week, as I said above. I visited my mom quite a bit, read, painted with Wyatt, played games with Wyatt, went to therapy with him where he knocked it out of the park again, so there is not much to say here! However, one little thing happened.
On Friday, Billy had the day off. It was still dangerously hot but we needed out of the house, at least Wyatt and I did, so all three of us went for a drive. We popped into a few stores, I got a new dress to wear poolside at my cousin’s, we got blizzards from Dairy Queen (Oreo for Wyatt, Reeses for me, and mango for Billy), and then on the way home Billy thought our car needed a bath. We went through the car wash, and midway through my child decided he wanted a closer look at the machinery washing our car – and rolled his window down! He instantly panicked when water came flying in, and Billy scrambled to roll up the window from his driver side controls. It was one of those parenting moments where you just roll your eyes at each other over the crazy antics of your kid. We all cracked up too, because we never expected that to happen! At least now that he is 11! However, Wyatt is definitely turning into a tween boy, following his impulses, and reminding me of my little brother at that age. Lol.
I do have some photos from our lazy week! Not many though. LOL.
The drive thru line was so long at Taco Bell on one of those 112 degree days that I just read my book while I was waiting. You can also see my sunflowers that I painted from an Andrea Nelson art tutorial on Instagram, and then our two mischievous tween kittens, making a mess trying to catch a fly.
And that my friends is it from me today! I hope whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!!
Hey everyone! I realized the other day I am behind on some reviews. So here is my little reading review round up.
I saw this at the library and had to grab it. Look how beautiful it is! And the illustrations inside are just as gorgeous. And bonus, it counted towards the Nonfiction Reading Challenge! This book was interesting yet full of horrible stories. I think one thing made this one different than other true crime type books is that this book pointed out that many times these women were acting out a lack of agency in their own lives, trapped by the laws and culture of their time, trapped in abusive marriages, and acted out of desperation and a lack of hope. But then on the other hand, many of them were just horrible evil women. I literally could not get over how many children were killed. I was shocked. Anyway, this book was a book that places these crimes in the timeline of history.
Nonfiction Challenge Update: So far I have completed Nonfiction Nipper. I have read more than three nonfiction books, but most of them were memoirs! I have read 9 nonfiction in total this year so far.
Sigh. I wanted to love this book more than I did. It was sort of meh but I loved the setting, which was the Catskills at a resort during the 1950s. I feel like the author tried to tackle too much in one book, and should have focused more on a cozy mystery rather than trying to add in the red scare. She could have leaned in on the prejudice of women owning and operating a large business, and then the fun details of the resort, etc. Since there are only two books in this series, and the last one I believe was published in 2021, I think she might have lost interest as well. It just tried too hard but had a lot of potential in my opinion.
This was a cute middle grade horror. I read it to cleanse my brain of Yesteryear, and it was very effective. Calisa and her family travel to Ohio when the grandfather she never met passed away. They stay in his house/inn, and Calisa begins to see ghosts. There is a whole mystery, with lots of ghosts and it was pretty good. There was a bit of realism too, with her dad’s grief surrounding his father’s death, his guilt and grief and how he reacts. I think middle grade can shy away from adults having emotions and this one did not. There is a second one in this series and I plan on picking it up at some point.
The Growing Summer, or The Magic Summer depending on what country you are in, is a delight of a book. I needed this book the past week. It was just easy and gentle, and I loved reading about these four siblings who are sent to live with their Great-Aunt Dymphna in Ireland while their mom joins their father, who has fallen gravely ill while studying germs in a distant country. Their life had been ordinary and “normal”, school and bedtimes and mealtimes and regular laundry times before going to Ireland. However, Dymphna is not like that, and doesn’t really plan on doing all that for the children. Instead she sort of points them to where all those things are done, the kitchen, ingredients, the beach, and tells them to just go to it. Eat when they want, sleep when they want -it is an entirely independent existence. They have never done these things before so it is a learning curve for them all, and when they ask Dymphna any questions she usually responds in poetry, which would frustrate me to no end personally. Lol. The neighbors are the real heroes here. The kids also harbor a secret for the time they are there, which is pretty funny as well. It was a good gentle vintage read, and I loved that one of the neighbors gave the oldest brother the business for leaving all the home keeping to the oldest sister.
And that is it from me today. Peace and love to all of you.
Today is supposed to be disgustingly, dangerously hot so I am keeping Wyatt inside today. It is just too hot out there. I think we are supposed to top out at 111 degrees with the heat index. So we will be hiding out inside, and I am going to fiddle around on the computer for a bit and then later we are going to paint, Wyatt’s request. This is one of his top three requests though so it’s not really new. He would paint all day everyday.
I thought this might be a good time to just review our homeschool life, what we did last year and what I am thinking about for next year!
Last year we had a lot of fun. Wyatt is really making advancements lately. His favorite subject by far is history, but it is also mine and I tend to go all in on that one. We covered only 100 years but dang it we had a good time learning. We started with the Revolutionary War, and finished up with the US on the brink of the Civil War.
We read quite a few books together too for Language Arts! We read Hoot, Holes, Little House on the Prairie, and By the Great Horn Spoon. I’m forgetting one too. I get a lot of our unit studies for language arts from The Waldock Way. I love how she mixes in games and videos and extra little activities to make learning more dimensional. I bought one for Because of Winn-Dixie as well, but we didn’t end up using it. I also bought one for Rascal as well, but I am saving that one too. That one I got from Treehouse Schoolhouse. FYI, The Waldock Way is having a sale right now!
In science we leaned in on biomes, from mangroves to prairies, to deserts to the tundra. Then we started in on our own biome, the human body. We stopped due to his surgery but we will pick it up again in the fall.
Our art was all over. Dahli to Kusama to architecture. It was a blast!
I am still in the midst of deciding on the read alouds and projects and field trips for this year; I just sort of plan some of that all year anyway. I do know that I want to do Because of Winn Dixie, and Calico Girl, but that is about it so far.
As for history, I use History Quest as a spine, but then expand into my own studies, take them farther. I also add in Michigan history as we go, with lessons about what is happening in Michigan at that point in the history timeline. We really do have so much fun. Two of my friends homeschool now, their own special needs children, and they are joking that they want me to teach their kids history as well. (I think they are joking? If not it’s cool I totally would!)
We are going back to Blossom and Root this year as well, for Science and Art. In science he is continuing with the human body, and then doing some physical science, which is my least favorite, which is why I am reverting to Blossom and Root. They do such a good job with science. I think it is their passion, like history is mine. I am using their art curriculum for year 5 as well, which will cover artists like Beatrix Potter, Mark Rothko, Charles Demuth, among others. I am contemplating adding in their nature study too, which would be fun to do with the Blackbirds! Year 5 focuses on weather, water, and the celestial sphere, so maybe. I am thinking about it.
We also use All About Math and All About Reading right now. Wyatt has had inconsistent studies due to all of his medical challenges so he is playing catch up, but doing so well! I am so proud of him!
In between this, I am finishing up a study that I started writing years ago! I put it aside for a while then life got in the way. I thought of it the other day, and looked at it again. I was so close to being done! It is a picture book study, with 25 weeks of different stories, activities, copywork, journaling, comprehension, and some fairy tale comparisons. Nothing major, more for lower elementary, and focuses on gentle books, mindfulness, nature, family. I am pretty excited about it, and it should be done fairly soon. I will have it available on my Gumroad by the end of the summer! (I have three projects I want done by September – my 25 weeks of stories curriculum, my disability representation site up, and my multi-purpose room painted.) I am getting pretty close with the first two already! My Gumroad has a few things up on it, a freebie and some art studies and a nature study but that is it for now.
And, that is it for now my friends. Peace and love to you all.
Hello everyone. I know a lot of you know I shared some big news here last week. My mom is holding her own, and has good days interspersed with not so good ones. I am trying to keep going with my normal life where and when I can but it feels wrong. I am sure it is good for my mental health though so I am going to keep on trying.
The Books:
The Breakdown: In June I read 6 books of many different genres. Two books themselves were multiple genres somehow! I read one true crime, two middle grade, one cozy mystery, and then one that is categorized as thriller/satire/contemporary fiction, and another that is fantasy/science fiction/litrpg/comedy horror. They were set in the Catskills at at a resort in the 1950s, Ohio, Ireland, Idaho, and Seattle/Dungeon. I added to one challenge, the nonfiction challenge from Shelleyrae at Book’d Out, and read 1,821 pages.
My favorite of the month – surprise, surprise, Dungeon Crawler Carl! I absolutely loved him, and of course Princess Donut. I can’t get enough of Princess Donut, she is awesome. I will probably start the second in the series in August.
The Screens:
We are revisiting old favorites from our childhood this summer! We wanted Wyatt to see some of them, and it has been so fun. The big winner of movie of the month here for Wyatt was The Sandlot, and for me it is a toss up between The Sandlot and The Sheep Detectives. I am going to agree with Marg, this was a case of the movie being better than the book! I though the book was kind of mid, but the movie is so cozy and cute. I do love sheep though.
The Sandlot is just such a wholesome summer movie. Baseball, carnivals, riding bikes, playing all day with your friends, and also now Wyatt has a frame of reference for when I say “You’re killing me Smalls!”
As for television, we watched Widow’s Bay, which we absolutely loved!! I didn’t want it to end. Patricia is probably one of my all time favorite characters in a tv show now. She is awesome. She is like an awkward badass and I love her.
We have decided we will be featuring our favorite posts from the month here. I do read all the posts even if I don’t comment. I only like to comment from my actual laptop and not from my phone, which is a problem sometimes when I read the post on my phone. ( I am working on more time to read and comment though. )
I am writing today with a much heavier heart than usual. My mother has been hospice since March when she had a stroke; on Wednesday we were told that my mother is starting to decline and shut down, and they gave us a short timeline.
It feels absolutely surreal, to imagine a world without my mom, the one of the two people who have been with me from the beginning, and really the only person from the very beginning. Wyatt mentioned something about fall the other day, and I thought to myself, my mom won’t be here in the fall. And this all just feels heart crushing.
It’s been pretty crazy, with all the back and forth running, between my mom and Wyatt and home. Worth it, but still crazy. I feel so tired but not tired.
She is in and out of things, and I have always teased her, and continued to do so even after her stroke, sometimes just to test her. And even now she is up to the challenge. I sat next to her today, told her I loved her, and that she was my favorite mom. She cracked her eyes open and looked at me and replied in her mom tone that she always uses when I do this that she “is my ONLY mom.” And I said, yes, yes, you are my only mom. My momma.
I find myself just sort of all over the place. Staring out the window, cleaning madly, trying to read, hanging out with my guys. And my cats. They sense something is up with me and if I am sitting I am covered in 1-3 cats at all times right now. Animals are such a gift, the way they love us.
And I am sorry for a sad post today. I process big feelings this way, and well, this is pretty darn big.
I did want to share one good thing that happened this week, because it was pretty amazing. Wyatt walked the most he has ever walked in his gait trainer on Tuesday, and he did it so easily and so well. Big steps, multiple steps at a time, I mean he was going for it. He was faster than normal, had more endurance and stamina than before. His therapist and I were blown away and just so excited! I am so proud of him. He has been working so so hard!!!
