December

Another month gone by. Thanksgiving was a nice quiet holiday having dinner with my son, mom, brother, sister in law and husband. And two dogs. We then drove to RI to spend the rest of the holiday weekend. It was a cold weekend but so pretty.

Had a couple of nice walks. Read quite a bit.Three of the books I finished in November.

. We had put out our bird feeder but in one night a bear destroyed it. So I guess I'll have to wait to feed the birds until it is so cold there isn't a bear threat. We did have two bucks, big boys in the backyard. Pretty impressive set of antlers.

Our book club is meeting to make chocolate candy houses for the holiday. We are supposed to discuss Fun Home (graphic novel) but I think we may push that discussion to January as we will more likely be focused on making the houses.

Sunny skies

Beautiful day today- bright, sunny, clear, crisp. Last week I attempted a new bread recipe. After feeding my sourdough starter a couple of times (it had been neglected in the back of the refrigerator for weeks) I saw on the King Arthur site a recipe using the starter, rye flour and stout. I had several cans of Guiness stout from baking chocolate cupcakes for St Patrick's Day. (best chocolate cake ever!). I made the preferment, letting it rest overnight and then proceded to knead and rise the next day. This is a two day recipe and makes one HUGE loaf baked on a pizza stone. Next time I would make two smaller loaves. Very tasty.

Definitely worth making again. On the reading front I have read Have You Seen Luis Velez? our next book club selection. I really liked it. It was not the happiest story but on the other hand it was hopeful and showed the compassionate side of people. I hope it generates a good discussion. I finished Arsenic with Austen yesterday. This is a cozy mystery and I was taken with the premise of combining a classic with modern day. Sadly it was only okay. Predicable (I am okay with that as long as it is reasonable), unrealistic and I found the love story plot a bit silly.I don't ofter give a 2 star rating but this got it.I have the second book but am debating as to whether I will read it. My current read is November 9 by Colleen Hoover.

That's all for now!

Starting to feel like Fall

A bit chilly this morning. In the past two weeks the leaves have turned and there is so much color! My favorite season. Last weekend my husband and I took a walk/hike in Champlin Glacier Park in RI. It was an easy hike and very peaceful. Took a few pictures along the way.

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. It was a really pleasant way to spend the afternoon. The weekend before my sister in law and her family came to brunch. They were in the area for a wedding. I was given crazy patch squares that my husband's great aunt had made. My husband and his sister found them in their mom's house as they were cleaning and getting it ready to sell. I squared them and made them all the same size and assembled a baby quilt. My husband's nephew and his wife were also at the brunch and I presented them with the baby quilt for their daughter.

. It was pretty special and my sister in law recognized many of the fabrics from clothing that her great aunt and mother had worn. Book group met two weeks ago. We discussed The Biggest Bluff. Not sure how many of us actually finished the book (I didn't) but it did generate quite the discussion. We thought is would be fun to have a game night and actually learn to play Texas Hold 'Em. Currently we are reading Have You Seen Luis Velez? I am really enjoying the book and am about halfway through it.

Of course three books on hold came into the library this week and while I was in the library on the shelf was Stacy Abrams book which I just had to pick up.

Goes in the TBR pile by my bed. Trying a new bread recipe. Should be interesting. Baker wanted to creat a bread that you baked on a pizza stone, free form......

Fall Days

September flew by. My book club's annual gathering in Rhode Island was the weekend after Labor Day. Picture perfect weather. We had a wonderful lunch on the screened porch looking out at the water. After we went to the beach. Several of us swam, a few took a walk, and some just sat and enjoyed the sun. Perfect. Afer returning to the house, showers were taken and then we sat on the deck with some apps and drinks. And talked. Dinner was grilled salmon and everyone contributed to the meal. Lots of food and talk. We selected our books for the year and really arrived at a great diversity. Our October book is The Biggest Bluff (biography of sorts). Hoping we can meet in person this year and not do any Zoom meetings. No one was really happy about doing them but we made it work.

Had a great turnout-only missing two members!

August

August has arrived. The weather has been all over the place- cool mornings, reduced humidity, not quite so hot, some showers. I have been playing some golf, some pickleball, even played badminton one afternoon. Done some baking. Make cinnamon rolls using Biscoft

recommended by @ILOC a food blog that I follow. Biscoft is a cookie crumb spread so instead of using cinnamon sugar I used that inside the rolls. Yummy!

The rolls after final rise. I also tried to make naan. It was fairly easy and I was able to freeze some.

Making zucchini bread and blueberry lemon bread for Sunday. I have read several really good books. Mexican Gothic- not my usual genre- eerie, paranormal, interesting. Firekeeper's Daughter- YA selection which was very good. Held my attention. Dealt with some tough topics- drug addiction, harassment, racial discrimnation. Still working on the Bridgerton series. I think I am on book 7. Currently reading The Bookshop of Lost and Found (Wiggs). Pretty good so far.

Getting ready for my annual book club weekend in September. I discovered Book Junkie Bingo and ordered ( after a group survey) A Fall of Marigolds to read and play bingo. Should be fun

a book that has been on my TBR for awhile. Always a fun time as my group plans for the upcoming year. We are hopeful that we won't have to do any Zoom meetings. Fingers crossed.

Dog days of summer

Wow this week has been so HOT and HUMID. Unbelievable. It is as if you are in a sauna.

Here are the dogs trying to stay cool. Have so many books lined up to read. I keep adding books on hold at the library and then they all come in at the same time! I recently read Tammy Duckworth's Every Day A Gift. Excellent. Remarkable woman. A very worthwhile read. She is exactly the type of person I want leading this country.

I also finished last night Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. I am a huge fan of historical fiction and this book fits the bill. Set in Spain after the Civil War when Franco was firmly establishing his control over the country, it centers on a wealthy young American and a young Spanish woman and their families. I know nothing about Spain , its Civil War etc and this book opened my eyes to the country, its people, and their struggles during this dictator's reign. I can't decide if my next book is Mexican Gothic or Firekeepers Daughter. Both have gotten a lot of press and good reviews. I have the opportunity to attend a luncheon next week to hear Neil Sanders, author of Gardening is Murder. I always enjoy hearing authors speak and learning about their inspiration for a story and how they write. Should be fun. Here is my pile fo TBR books from the library.

, I am continuing my journey reading the Bridgerton series. I am so curious to see how the next adaptations for the TV series are made.

Have not been baking too much. Banana bread with chocolate chips (mini loaves) and zucchini chocolate chip muffins. Just trying to use the bananas and zucchini before they rot! It's been a great year for our flowering plants. Our hydrangeas are so beautiful!

. My husband has been working so hard on getting the gardens into shape. I just want to read!

Summertime

Nice day to start the summer. Beautiful warm and sunny. Lovely 4.5 mile walk before the heat. Sitting on the screened porch catching up on email. The spring was relatively uneventful but somehow the days were full and sped by. My husband and I made a quick trip to Sarasota FL to clean out our condo and put it on the market. Having not used it for 6 years ourselves it was time. While in Sarasota we 1. ate in a restuarant for the first time since March 2020 2. went to a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game (Yankees vs Tampa) 3. drove around looking at different styles of living- condos, gated communities, etc. Our book group finally met in person in June to discuss Songs of America

. I had not finished the book but find it very interesting. A little slow in the beginning (too much like a historical text book) but after the first couple of chapters it became an easier read. At least it wasn't about the pandemic or racism. Those seemed to be our themes this year. We all agreed that next year we needed to have more diversity in our selections. It was so nice to get together and actually see one another without masks (all of us are vaccinated). Sadly our discussion was not as long as we spent more time "catching up".Did do a little bit of baking. This bread is a recipe from the NYT - delicious.

. Have started playing golf and pickleball (outside) again. This has been a fabulous year for the flowering shrubs. Our rhodies and azaleas were spectacular!

Currenlty reading The End of Men- fictional story of a virus that kills only men. Very interesting and riverting.

About halfway with my Goodreads challenge this year.

April showers

I dear friend surprised me Sunday with these beautiful tulips. Gorgeous deep pink color. Usually on Wednesdays I play golf. Today we tried to play but got rained out. Book club is meeting tonight. Again on Zoom. I was really hoping we could meet in person, even if we had to bundle up. But alas Mother Nature has other ideas. Next month. Fingers crossed. Did have a fun, lively discussion about our book. Great seeing everyone.

April!

This week is National Library Week. My town library is expanding its hours so we can now browse and use the computers (usage is by appointment). The grab and go option will continue. This was wonderful as one could request a book and then when it bacame available you could pick it up. The Easter weekend was pretty quiet for me. As our church is still doing the services via Zoom but husband and I headed to RI for the long weekend. The weather was beautiful although a bit cool. I participated in a neighborhood cleanup Saturday morning. In the afternoon I baked an orange flavored Easter braided bread. Smelled great, tasted delicious.

My husband cut some daffodils and found some pussywillow that we brought inside. Hoping the pussywillow will root.

I finished The Vanishing Half- really good. So interesting. Held my attention right to the last page.

Just started To Ride A White Horse.... our book club seems to have three themes this year- horses, pandemics and racism.....

March

Book club met last week. I am not sure about the others in the group but I find having a Zoom meeting, better than not gathering, is very frustrating and an unsatisfying experience. The discussion can be fragmented with people interrupting, background noise (dogs barking, spouses talking etc). And, unlike some in the group, I don't Zoom very often but am tired of not gathering in person. I miss the comraderie. Our book was Heavy and it was. I found it interesting but so depressing. Our next book is Pale Rider, a history of the Spanish influenza. Another depressing subject. Seems to be a theme this year. I think at our September planning meeting I will push encourage more diversity in our selections. I am hoping we can meet in Rhode Island and continue our annual meeting. Everyone seems to have gotten or is scheduled to get the Covid vaccine. YAY! I have been reading Say Nothing (again, another depressing but very interesting read) about The Troubles in Ireland. I know nothing about this part of Irish history but whoa, so disturbing. I also started Allie Bosh's Hyperbole and a Half as a more light read. Love the bits of Simple dog and Helper dog. Some good laughs. I have been baking quite a bit- trying different bread recipes mostly from King Arthur flour. The recipes are well written and often have pictures and videos to assist. Today's recipe is the Lemon Braided bread. Not having lemon curd I used apricot jam.

Looks like the picture! Finished braid

I also made pizza for dinner the other night. Again a KAF recipe using a cast iron skillet. The only thing you have to remember is to start the day before you want to make it because it requires an overnight rise in the refrigerator.

. So good!!

A couple of pictures

Top picture is cinnamon rolls (from King Arthur Flour) and a sunset view in RI

New post!

One would think I would be able to keep up with this little blog due to the pandemic and not going anywhere, or socializing. But for some reason it has been hard. My reading has been slow but steady. I try to exercise every day either by taking a Zoom class and or taking a long walk, even in the cold. Our book club zoomed in January to discuss Wild Horses in the Summer Sun, a memoir set in Iceland. We were able to have the author zoom with us. A local person who is also friends with three of the members. It was a really good discussion and interesting to learn how Tory wrote her story of riding Icelandic horses (who knew they had 5 gaits?) and her love of Iceland. Our next book is Heavy, another memoir. I started this yesterday and it is indeed heavy. It deals with growing up in a dysfuntional family unit and dealing with racism, drugs, violence, abuse. Not a long book. It will be interesting to see how many read it and how the discussion unfolds. January is my month for all things healthy- doctor appointments, medical tests (blood work, mammogram, colonscopy this year - ugh etc). Despite the pandemic we have continued to go to RI. As we go house to house we are in our own little bubble. It is cold and wintry and quite lovely this time of year. The sunsets have been spectacular. I have been baking although my doctor told me to not do quite so much. I enjoy the process. Sadly it is my husband and I that eat almost all that I bake. I have a couple of pictures to post but will need to figure how to do it as Google tells me it can't find that page (I have them on my desktop). Sigh. Technology. Not my friend.