It's Just The Beginning!

Every year this gets bigger! This year it burst the whiskey barrel!

My faves...these grow just over the deck!

In our house it's not Spring until the kitty tent goes up! Or until the Mulch Man cometh...lol...that would be Wednesday!

This book is a MUST READ!

Happy Saturday!

 

 

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Thoughts...

The day...

Den is at the office today...so that gives me a chance to catch up on stuff...today I need to brush the girls teeth...they squirm, wiggle and hate it and are always in a numbed stupor afterwards. Lucy's stupor is much more chilled than Roxie's...lol. So...tooth brushing...done...workout...done...trying on new shoes...done...doing laundry...fine washables, kitchen towels...darks...done! Lunch...done...deck time with girls...done...whew! Lucy ate a bug and threw up...clean up...done...ick...how could she?

Then the plan for Friday night dinner...roasted mustardy potatoes with baby brussell sprouts...and a roasted chicken that Den is bringing home...done...well...almost done. The recipe is from my Sheet Pan Suppers cookbook.

The book...

I have not been able to put this book down...I walked on my treadmill for about 45 minutes while reading it...I am almost finished and have no clue where it's headed. A young girl disappears and later is found dead. Her family is a mess and there is an undercurrent of abusive behavior within the family. And of course there is the lovely neighbor whom everyone seems to want to talk to. It is just a tad similar to The Lovely Bones in that the dead girl tells her own story. It's just beautifully written and constructed. I am totally captivated by it...I will spend the next few hours finishing it...it is a mesmerizing book by a relatively new author.

The house...our house...is making me crazy! I love our house but now that we are contemplating a move and a new house...I keep looking at my beloved rooms in a different way...why did I need so many things on the walls? Why did I collect so much stuff! Quilts and furniture and flags? Did I really need it all? Why did I need everything so red? And watermelons? Why did I need so many? We have such a mix of cherished stuff...old and new...repurposed...a Missouri pie safe that holds wine glasses, a St. Louis shoemaker's rack that now holds wine...my hand made Amish bench...how am I going to re do a whole new house if this it what we decide to do...maybe being alone with my thoughts is not a good idea...lol! Plus...after living here for twenty years...both of us working full time most of the time...the basement...is a disaster. It looks neat but it is full of stuff..stuff in bins waiting to be dealt with...my school stuff is still down there...yikes! Plus...when I do something...I do lots of it...cross stitch, quilt, color...I throw myself into it! Way too hard!

One lone watermelon...but there are more...sigh!

Just a few of many many quilts and cross stitchings!

This is a chicken nesting box...now filled with books!

It's a dilemma! Where do I start? My solution is to just sit here and stress over it...for now.

Peace out everyone...back to my books and my house issues!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thursday's Three Things...

First...clunky chunky sandals...good for walking...My faves so far...

 

Second...I even hate saying this but...I am into this new coloring book...it takes so much of my mad coloring skills...to even get through a partial page...lol...truly!

This is the book and it is magical! Enchanting! So much fun!

And thirdly...is thirdly a word?

Reading this...from NetGalley...can not put it down...horses, missing girls, the English countryside...yum!

That's it for this girl! Off to read...no to color...no to read...color...read...oh my!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Take A Break Wednesday! Not!

It's gorgeous here today! Today involves lawn mowing, deck sitting, lawn tidying...usually Wednesday is a play day but we are switching that to tomorrow. Tomorrow is a buying day. We need a deck rug...the beautiful one we had last year disappeared...yep...gone! Den needs a new electric toothbrush. We need stuff...lots of different kinds of miscellaneous stuff...the bits and bobs of daily life. I am still stressing over my deck rug...which I swear was brand new last year...I have a feeling that Den tossed it out and after further intense interrogation...he did!

New books...from lovely publishers and the even more lovely Edelweiss!

This one...phantasmagoric, surreal...much anticipated...all descriptive words from Amazon...for this one! I love surreal!

Amazon says..."From the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of The Monsters of Templeton and Arcadia, an exhilarating novel about marriage, creativity, art, and perception." I love perception!

From Amazon..."From a unique new talent comes a fast-paced debut, introducing a heroine whose dark visions bring to light secrets that will heal or destroy those around her . . ." I live for dark visions!

From Amazon..."Each of the three Schuyler sisters has her own world-class problems, but in the autumn of 1966, Pepper Schuyler's problems are in a class of their own. When Pepper fixes up a beautiful and rare vintage Mercedes and sells it at auction, she thinks she's finally found a way to take care of herself and the baby she carries, the result of an affair with a married, legendary politician..." and there is more!

I think I am making a yummy spring soup for dinner tonight. It's filled with peas, asparagus, spinach, new baby potatoes!

 

Happy Wednesday!

 

 

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The Days Of My Life!!!

People always think I am really social...but deep down inside I love being on my own...curled up on my big yellow sofa in the sunroom with my Kindle or a book...or when I was little on the glider of my parent's front porch...every summer afternoon with the same snack...windmill cookies and Lipton's instant iced tea...and a stack o' books from the bookmobile. I loved the Bookmobile! I would race my Pink Lady to the bookmobile in the park and spend hours getting books! Summers in McDonald, Ohio were perfect...idyllic...awesome!

So...today...Den and I walked Longwood Gardens together...got a juice at the juice bar together, went to the pet store together, went to get freshly baked bread from the artisanal bread place together, got local asparagus and eggs and radishes and other veg at the local farm together, and then came home and had lunch...again...together! These are normally things that I would do solo...alone...all by myself. I have to get used to this togetherness but the good thing is I don't have to carry in any packages!

Books...finished this...really good...

And this...I loved this book...so sad yet so hauntingly beautiful!

Now reading this...again...lovely...haunting...beautiful! I think I read a lot of hauntingly beautiful books!

Dinner is ready...a crisp yummy salad with chicken...homemade dressing that is out of this world...and because we walked hard today...Magnum Bars for dessert!

 

Peace out!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I'm Back!

I really like my self imposed five days of blogging a week schedule. Plus...with Blogsy...I am learning how to format my blog all over again...everything is different...posting photos, editing, linking...linking is my big challenge this week. Lance...my new Blogsy buddy...has amazing videos that clearly explain everything...yet when I try them...nothing works! So...if linking doesn't work today...I am back to my Blogsy drawing board...sigh!

First off ...books!

Reading this...so good! A high school piano student...self taught and brilliant...is getting very close to her music teacher at school...perhaps too close? If this link works...I will be out of control! Seriously...

 

Also reading this...and I will have a giveaway for it! Soon! So excited!

 

Book Description...from Amazon...

Publication Date: June 9, 2015

Under a Dark Summer Sky is a stunning debut novel, at once a love story set in a time of great turmoil and a vivid depiction of a major natural disaster.

Florida, 1935. In Heron Key, relationships are as tangled as the swamp's mangrove roots. It's been eighteen long years since Henry went away to war. Still, Missy has waited, cleaning the Kincaids' house and counting the stars. Now he's back, but she barely recognizes the desperate, destitute veteran he's become — unsure of his future, ashamed of his past. When a white woman is found beaten nearly to death after the Fourth of July barbecue, suspicion falls on him immediately. As tensions rise in the small community, the barometer starts to plummet — a massive hurricane is on its way.

Based on real historical events,Under a Dark Summer Sky evokes what happens when people, sweating under the weight of their pasts, are tested to the absolute limits of their endurance.

That's it for my Monday! We are supposed to have amazing weather this week! Sunny...warm...pleasant! I can't wait...

Fingers crossed that my links actually work?

 

 

 

 

 

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