Books

 I have a huge stack of books to be read. 

A few weeks ago I was cleaning (switching piles from one place to another) and found a second stack of books to be read. 

Does this stop me from ordering books from your recommendations? No it does not.  Please block me from any of your book reviews!  

Here are my recent purchases.

This book was a big mistake. I enjoyed it so much I ordered the next four books in the series.  They are hilarious! I have finished book 1 and am halfway through book 2. Thank you to Connie and her book club at  https://farsideoffifty.blogspot.com/

No idea where I saw this book. It could have even been on Facebook.  I read the first ten pages when I opened the package and it is very very good.  

This nonfiction memoir is a recommendation came from  Doug, who likes to read about old television series actors and actresses and his blog at https://apachedugs.blogspot.com/  I watched the television show starring Dominique Dunne. I remember the day that Griffin's sister was murdered.  I remember his father at the trial. I assumed justice had been served.  It was not. 

I can't remember who recommended this. It was during the past week . . .  Anyway - the title is too cute!  I read that it has been made into a series.  I don't want to watch it.  I am disappointed in 90% of the series made from a book that I see.  I have not started this book yet. 

I guess the question is: to which pile should I add the new books?

Miss Merry, please stop buying more books!!! And you don't need anymore new tote bags either! This one, I am embarassed to say, is from Temu. 

Monday Morning

Good morning. Today I am going to talk about the football game and the cheerleaders and the fact that I am a couch potato and my kids and grandkids are all athletes. But first I am going to talk about tariffs and that idiot in the White House.  

Oh, is that another counter full of green peppers for the food bank? (They are all sweet peppers, just a fancy shape). 

I will start at the end. My oldest daughter completed the marathon and came back to my house to take a shower before heading home. She was very impressed by my shower head and asked me to send her the link.  Imagine my surprise when I sent her the link and it is currently priced at $649.

In November of 2024, after the election, we quickly ordered the remaining materials to complete our bathroom remodel. I was able to find the price we paid for this unit two years ago. $301.86

Yeah.  Don't tell me American is winning. The prices of the products we purchased have doubled and tripled.  And by tripled I mean the acrylic walls of my handicapped accessible shower which came from Canada.  It would now cost three times as much for those shower walls. When I pointed this out to my husband he pointed out to me that his pension has not increased. 

Okay. Rant over. (not really but I will move on). 

We made it to the football game on Friday night with no problems. We were there to watch the cheerleaders and the mini cheerleaders and they were wonderful. Unfortunately a player was injured horribly, he was screaming while a limb was splinted. I have not hear how he is doing. 

This morning I was up at the crack of dawn for a marathon.  I was the cheerleader.  We watching one of my grandsons run by in the 5K, he led for most of the race but lost to 4 adults who passed him at the end. 

My oldest daughter competed in the actual half marathon which means she ran for 13.1 miles which is just not even part of my comprehension.

My youngest daughter was "cheering" with us, we do cheer for all the runners, and brought a special beverage for the second time she passed us. 

 

She places 5th in her age group which somehow is the age group I think that I should be in. 

I can't skip the person who crosses the finish line first each year. My youngest son the cop serves as the "rabbit" leading the racers.  He laughingly complains that he never gets a medal. 

I took the cheering section plus those who spent the morning in Sunday School out for breakfast.  

I contacted my farm family to see what date in October I should expect my beef quarter. Somehow I got lost in the shuffle but she can provide a quarter in December. This is actually going to work out better for us since I have lots of odds and ends in the freezer and we won't have to eat tomato sauce and squash every day from all the tomatoes and squash I froze. I can space them out.  I might even do one of those freezer challenges (where you cook from your freezer instead of shopping) that I have seen around. 

And speaking of tomatoes, how did I just learn about tomato flights? I will be planting beef steak tomatoes this spring! 

Not my photo

And I guess that is my weekend. 

And we got our final pictures from the Witches Wander. This store had a photographer that edited the photos so this is as good as we get, lol. 

Doing My Part!

We have had a busy week. Early voting started here on Monday and we didn't make it in until Wednesday, but we have voted!

The postcards I signed up for finally arrived.  I wrote them all in one night and signed my name and my daughters names to all of them. I thought their names sounded more youthful than my old lady name. They went in the mail last night! 

I also sat through two hours and forty five minutes of poll worker training. I think it is an endurance test. 

Now I am off to a football game about two hours away. One granddaughter is a cheerleader and the youngest granddaughter is joining her as a mini cheerleader.  I don't mind the drive there but the drive home will need coffee. 

Happy Weekend. 

Witchy Women

It was the third year for my town's Witches Wander event, but our first time attending. It was so much fun!  We were among the first 200 registered which qualified us for a "swag bag".  I bet around 250 total attended.

Our bags were filled with gift cards and coupon cards, a decorative purse scarf, a gift box with perfume and nail polish, a skull shot glass which could be used for a free shot of alcohol at a participating bar (we did not take advantage of this), a recyclable dishcloth, candy and a pen shaped like a witch's broom.  My daughter won a $10 gift card on her scratch off. I was a "loser" but won a $20 gift card to a salon on a chance to spin the wheel. 

We set off on the scavenger hunt. We visited all kinds of tiny boutiques that we have driven by but never stopped in to see what they offer.  All were decorated and offered snacks, many had photo booth walls. 

We stopped in for a refreshing Apple Cider Mimosa and a Drunk Witch Sangria.

Every participating business had a letter hidden in the store to help solve our word scramble. This business offers environmentally friendly projects and you can refill the containers too. 

The places serving adult beverages had their own word scramble. Purchase was not required (thank goodness). We would not have been able to complete either puzzle if we imbibed at every opportunity. 

A line at a carryout window for another bar. 

We stopped here because the previous place was having problems with their Stumbling Witch slushie machine. We tried the Boo Levandar and the Witching Hour Cosmopolitan, despite the price. They were so strong we dumped them in the bushes, lol. 

Another shop. 

There were street musicians. These are very talented high school boys. The witches were very supportive and they had lots of donations in their case. 

Characters

Hanging out with a few friends. 

There were two photographers offering photos at sidewalk setups.  Here is one of them. The other hasn't posted the photos yet. 

I have lived in this town all my life and I was in places I have never been before! 

Below is a fun one. A dive bar that was hosting a letter but had no themed specials. The group sitting here had designed a drink they called Enchanted and the bartender was game. They told me it was very weak but he would make it stronger. I said, thank you - I would love it very weak! 

The Enchanted drink is on the right, an Octoberfest beer on the left.  We solved our word scrambles "Enchantment" and  "Bats". I think I know where they got the name for the drink they designed, lol. 

We turned in the sheets for a raffle (we did not win) and headed over for the group photo. 

We texted my daughter in laws to see if anyone would like to join us for something to eat. My daughter in-law Amber joined us.

I went all out with Bloody Mary's Last Meal with 4 quarters of a grilled cheese sandwich, pickles, cheese, tomatoes, olives and summer sausage. (and 99% tomato juice). It was fabulous.

My partner in crime chose the Spellarilla Spooky Margarita and crab cakes. 

And my daughter in-law got an Apple Cider Mimosa since she wasn't there for the first round. 

We didn't enter the costume contest - I will share pictures of the winners if they post them. There were some pretty outstanding costumes. We visited so many clothing boutiques, I bought one sweater but can't wait to go back. It turns out there is a second hand clothing store that I never knew moved in.  

The stores had invited other small businesses and crafters to sit in at their stores so there were bakers and jewelry makers and face painters and more. Everyone was having so much fun and laughing. 

I did get my steps in! (I strive for 2 miles).

I dont' even remember where this was, lol. 

I introduced my daughter to my cancer thrift store. I will be going back with my 20% off coupon. I didn't want to carry anything delicate or too large.  I did photograph price tags (as usual) so that I could see.  She is off school on Friday so I will check the date on the coupon to see if we can wait that long. 

If God wants me to have this set of 4 sandwich plates with matching tea cups, they will still be there on Friday - along with some beautiful lamps. 

We can't wait to join them all again next year!