The Saturday Situation!

OMG! We just tore our room apart! We washed draperies! We washed trim! We washed floors! We washed everything! I went through one of my closets and mercilessly gave stuff away...5 construction bags filled with clothes and shoes and I swear 150 pairs of socks! All of this is for Big Brothers/Sisters pick up next week! Why does it feel so good to cleanse? The socks...I think that I love socks way too much...work out socks, tights, holiday socks, thin socks, thick socks, boot socks...but I honed everything down to manageable sock bins! Yeah for Patty!

Now...we are tired...Den ran out for kitty food for the girls and tacos for us for lunch...I am making clam chowder for dinner...we are taking showers and staying in for the rest of the day!

Still reading this...so scary good! This author's imagination is endlessly exciting! For example...Kara is learning how to battle the horrible stuff that the Sordyr sends her way...plus everything in the Thickety is freaky anyway...like flowers...that devour shadows of people thus the people are gone, too. Kara has her 7 year old brother with her, Taff, and he is so sweet and funny and innocent and she needs to protect him...it's just an endless amount of conquering that Kara has to do to get out of the Thickety. Nothing good is in the Thickety!



I am ready for a taco!


Happy Saturday!

Friday's Fascinations!

I am sitting here still thinking about this book while I work on the review...it was so good...the pace was perfect but for me...it reads fast...sort of like a mystery thriller but still at the heart of this book is this perfectly imperfect family. The ending...sad but seemingly right for this book. I am hoping to run into this author somewhere near me! I think I mentioned he lives close by!

After this book I am embracing some Thickety! My new perfect reading plan...reality then fantasy...over and over and over again!


I know I have said it before but I am fascinated with soup! Yes! A total soup fascination!

I am making each of these in order of their appearance!

Clam chowder from Port and Fin!





Grilled Cheese And Tomato Soup from Host The Toast!




Tuscan Tortellini Soup from damndelicious!


To quote Maurice Sendak...sort of...

" sipping once sipping twice sipping chicken soup with rice"

But I will be sipping and dipping the ones pictured!

What are your fascinations today?

Happy Friday!

Thursday's Thoughts...

I cannot put this book down...the author actually lives in a town very close to mine and when he references certain places...I actually think I know what he is referring to. This book is intense and quite stunning, actually. It's the story of a school shooting...a story that sadly is all too familiar lately. But the way this author writes about it...in alternating chapters of his son's early life and what is happening now...is chilling...eye opening and shocking. And very very sad for everyone.








Still also reading this...at night...on my Paperwhite...I loved the first one so much and I love this one but it is so dark and scary and frightening...actually...main character Kara has to kill the Sordyr...a really bad bad creature. The Thickety is this nightmarish forest where nothing good can grow. Kara is inside of the Thickety with her brother and an old witch who keeps changing ages...Kara never knows what she will find when she awakens each morning...a little child or an old woman! Kara is the only one who can kill the Sordyr...but she is a new witch without her grimoire...book of spells! I have to put this aside, though, and finish Finding Jake...I never learn that I really prefer reading one book at a time but I really do!







It is a rainy icky day here...a stay inside day and that is what I am doing...staying inside and making soup and pumpkin bread...both recipes are from Food 52.

Beef Barley Soup!


This pumpkins bread is filled with spices and a grated apple!





Do you remember having a favorite soup when you were little?

Mine was Campbell's Chicken And Stars...my sister Paula only ate Campbell's Vegetarian Vegetable...my brothers both liked Campbell's Bean With Bacon or Vegetable Beef. And my mom would heat them all at the same time...different pots though...lol! And our sandwich of choice to go with our soup were open-faced Peter Pan Peanut Butter sandwiches on Tip Top bread.

Happy Thursday!

Wednesday's Wondrous Wild Ride!

Ok...I have to admit that when Den is away Lucy, Roxie and I sort of free fall...we have no structure at all...we sleep late, eat mostly toast, cheese, apples and soup...we might do a little bit of online shopping...lol...we read incessantly and play Bigfish Hidden Object games...to chillax. No alarms are set, no real dishes are used and the girls are very frustrated because their breakfast is usually at 8:30 rather than Den's 5:00 ish! I love this schedule!

Girls are checking out a new rug!






That is how we roll! However...I am still very very excessively neat...even on Free Fall days so there is really nothing to clean or tidy...just last minute errands to run...today it's Staples, Whole Foods and T.J.Maxx to find a fuzzy throw for Den...and something yummy for dinner and for Den's packed lunch tomorrow! Whew!

Did I say online shopping? Who can resist a sale at Swell? Not this girl! Bought these scarves...on sale!












So...off to run my errands...

Oh...still reading The Thickety...love this book and author so much. His writing is entrancing! Grimoires, evil, good, witcheries and a horse named Shadow Dancer! There is so much more in this amazing fantasy!



These are up next...both appear to be sort of chilling!

This book has been compared to Defending Jacob...





This one...is rumored to be intense, too.


Happy Wednesday!

Are you on a wild ride today?

Seriously...Tuesday's Trivialities!

Really trivial...



Not much going on here today...this is a work week for Den...so he is hyper, stressed, hmmm...dare I say just a bit irritable? Yes!!! Plus...today is trash day and we have a massive amount of leaf filled bags outside...I am sort of hiding from the sweet trash guys...I probably should go out and tip them but I am too lazy. They had to be out last night so Den came in and went right back out to carry them from behind the house to the top of the driveway...which is way far up there!

Middle of the road trivial...love these boots! Uggs!


Tastily trivial...pasta with pancetta from Saveur...rigatonis!


Ah!!!

Not trivial at all...reading this...involves three sad characters...one with an autistic son and dealing with a divorce, one losing financial security, and one about to lose a father.


Also reading this! I loved the first book...the author is a teacher. The second book is every bit as good! Fantasy and a very brave girl!



So...these are Tuesday's trivial pursuits!

Have a good one!

It's All About The Books!

Read and loved this book...it's a series, too, and the author is the sweetest little white haired church attending bun wearing lady ever! I need to read more of these...it's a cozy British mystery with pizazz! It's spunky! It's techy! It's fun!

Thank you so much Severn House!









More new books to read from NetGalley...


I love this cover...





This is from Edelweiss...I think...checking....




Love these authors...





Other than a Monday spent putting me, the kitties and the house in order...that's my Monday...and finishing this one...it's really good...disappearing girls? Why? I have no clue yet!

It's All About The Mess!

We heard a huge crash early this morning...I thought the gutters fell off of the house or a car hit the house or there were animals in the attic but...my favorite pot and plant were killed by the wind! Notice what not watering the mums does? They get killed, too!







We never ever buy the right amount of treats! Too many leftovers...we were giving out tons to each kid and we still have this many left...sigh! Den is the only person I know who loves DOTS...that's why we buy them.






Roxie Blue is glad that Halloween is over...and Lucy hissed at a witch at the door...plus when we have to change the clocks in the Fall? So not good for kitties...and the people who love them...their tummies don't realize that we are eating an hour later! They are usually so good...but they were relentless this morning!













Reading this...





Making this...love pip and ebby!


Happy Sunday!