Monthly Archives: September 2020

friday five

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  1. Getting the majority of the griping out of the way up front (although I can’t guarantee there won’t be more), I’ve been super tired and unmotivated this week. I didn’t run, I barely accomplished the most critical items on my ‘to-do’ list, and I felt like I was in a state of torpor until midway through Thursday. It may be the weather (much cooler at night) but I just feel like I could sleep for hours.
Pot Roast

2. Brandon, however, has NOT been feeling tired – he’s still furloughed but he is up every day a bit before seven, watching the Tour de France on his streaming subscription, then hitting up the local skateboard park for a couple of hours with the old thrashers. He’s also been repainting our hallway, foyer, and stairwell, which is leading to a complete revamp of that area. We are swapping out some older pieces of furniture for a bench to go next to the door and I ordered a new foyer light fixture from Pottery Barn. I’m looking at new rugs. And we made the decision to paint our stairs, which is no small undertaking. We’re going for this kind of vibe.

But of course on a much smaller scale because I only have a few feet of exposed stairway rail and no wainscoting. I’ll keep you posted as to how it goes!

3. I read a super inspiring book this week (YAY for our libraries being open!) and although I should wait to share this for SUYB, I have to mention it because if you’re a maker, it’s worth checking out. It celebrates all different kinds of artists who work with their hands, on everything from dyeing to stencilling to metalwork to fiber arts to glass to ceramics to fashion – EVERYTHING. I liked it so much I put the picture on IG and, in a bit of a fangirl moment, the AUTHOR HERSELF Melanie Falick commented on it. So cool. Every time I opened it to read another essay, I found new inspiration and new IG accounts to follow. Highly recommend!

4. I tried out a new recipe last week and it got two major thumbs up from Brandon. This chicken caprese skillet from Skinnytaste was definitely a hit. It reminded me of my favorite summer salad, with tomatoes and basil and balsamic and fresh mozzarella, didn’t take very long in my cast iron skillet, and I served it with orzo and garlic bread.

5. This is worth more than a friday five mention, but the passing of RBG hit me hard, and this subsequent week in politics has been particularly arduous. I have tried to simply keep gratitude for the amazing work she did for equal rights and not get overly emotionally embroiled (any more so than I am right now) in the repugnant response from the right, but it’s hard. Don’t even get me started on what a completely unredeemable and non-value-added human being Mitch McConnell is. And to top it off with Donald Trump giving the impression that he would be the first American president not to respect the peaceful transfer of power and throw our country into a violent, unsettled constitutional crisis is beyond egregious. And should be considered sedition. I cannot believe that even the most ardent Republican could be unaware of what this represents and the absolute Pandora’s box of true anarchy (TRUE anarchy – not the fascist, racist conservativism complaints about BLM and other protesters exercising their CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS to assembly that Trumpsters CLAIM to be anarchy – I guess they only care about the parts of the Constitution that THEY want to defend, such as the right to bear arms, hypocrites) they would allow to be opened if they do not speak out against this. Do they really want a Dictator for Life?

On that dismayed and sour note, I apologize and wish you a happy weekend. I may be curating my social media, I will be exploring my “maker” side, I will be eating a big messy burger from the Rolling Stoves, drinking some wine, and I will hopefully be getting my running mojo back a bit. Be well and enjoy. xoxo

friday five

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  1. The mailman has been so good to me this week. I received my copy of Nomadic Knits issue 7, featuring our beautiful Mitten State. I haven’t read it thoroughly yet but just browsing through it, it’s full of beautiful patterns and stunning photographs. I think my next sweater project (after Pink Memories) may be in there.

But first, I need to pick a pattern on cast on for my very first pair of Halloween socks – using one of my other bits of happy mail this week. Two preordered colorways from Traveling Yarn came – Turning Leaves (the pink tones) and Slutty Pumpkin (who can resist that name???)

2. Miss L was very disappointed not to get placed into an art class at her middle school this semester, so I signed her up for a small, socially distant weekly community ceramics class. It’s held at a local park which is the site of an historic homestead, a beautiful old house, stables, barn, a forest with several trails, orchard, a nature center, etc. The art studio is in the old stables and while Miss L threw some clay, I rambled around the trails, admiring the hazy sunshine, thickly overlaid with high altitude smoke from the West Coast, and did some knitting. It was a very peaceful way to spend an hour, watching the archery class and martial arts class meet outside, six feet apart. I can’t wait to see these trails in a few weeks, when darkness rises and fall color blazes.

3. For someone who very rarely paints her nails, I sure love nail polish and look of a beautiful, shiny manicure. It’s one of the first things I notice and admire in women. I ordered a Cookies & Creme polish set from Olive & June and did my nails this week. The colors seemed to go on a bit thin, but I’ve been overall pleased with them, and they’ve lasted 4 days without chipping so far, just using the Olive & June topcoat (usually I use Orly topcoat, which is the only thing I’ve tried that can preserve my manicure). I’d love to get back into the swing of having painted nails.

4. This week’s only real spot of bad news is the water heater. See last week. Sure enough, the diagnosis was imminent death. So Monday was essentially spent with a plumber. I’m out a nice wad of cash, but it is undeniably pleasant to have hot water whenever I turn on the tap without having to run down to the basement to relight the pilot.

5. I went into the office yesterday. I’ve gone in about once a month since the pandemic hit, but the mood yesterday was different. I’ve had some tough moments working from home this summer, even though I prefer it overall to being in the office. But this time the sun was shining and the leaves turning, and I had a feeling of wistful nostalgia walking up the stairs, unlocking my door, smelling the office smell, turning the calendar another month. Will we ever be back? The office is comfortable; it makes me remember that I’ve got this. Things that feel like a huge deal sitting alone in my home office slash spare bedroom are shrugworthy in the office. Being there reminds me that I have a pretty good track record of handling shit and a pretty strong emotional bandwidth, even when I am not sure that I can take one more thing when I’m on my own during a pandemic. I feel alone sometimes but in truth, I’m not. Two of my colleagues were also in, and we chatted behind our masks. They reinforced that they’d had the same moments of self-doubt, malaise, isolation, and loneliness. It was so nice to see them, to laugh about the fact that we couldn’t hug after six months, share our stories, catch up, and then go our separate ways with best wishes until we meet again. I needed that boost because, as my colleague said, it will be dark soon. Winter will bring the darkness, the days of grey will come, the cold will come, and it will be hard again, here; short days and long nights and a second wave. He’s worried about how we will all deal with that. But somehow, yesterday, being in the office reminded me that we are all in this together and will get through this and although our politicians and our bad actors will continually try to point out how different we are, how much we should hate and fear, in my experience, the people in my circle, work and personal, even with ideological differences, want to come together and find a middle ground and do right by each other as best they can. I hope you have those people in your circle as well and I hope wherever you are this weekend, you have a moment of remembering them, not just in your mind but in your heart and your soul. xoxo

five things friday

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Happy Friday friends. Just a few thoughts to round out this week.

1. Why do short weeks almost always feel long? A four day work week is usually no bargain for me as I end up feeling like I have to fit five days of tasks in.

2. Fall feels like it has settled here in SE Michigan. The weather has been damp and dreary and downright cool at night. No leaf change yet, though. The birds are all over the feeders and I’m still seeing my very territorial female hummingbird at her feeder. But for how much longer?

3. This article- we need crime fiction – was an interesting read and will be my new go-to when someone asks me why I like to read / watch true crime and horror.

4. The water heater has been on the fritz and one of my joys in life is a blazing hot shower or bath so the plumbers will be here later today. If I’m lucky (extreme sarcasm) then 2020 will be the year of a new furnace and a new water heater! So much for expendable income when you are a homeowner.

5. Cooler days have me already decorating the mantle for autumn and stocking up on multiple fall candles in pumpkin, vanilla, and apple cider scents. Our local Fresh Thyme grocery store also stocks pine cones scented with maple pecan and pumpkin which you can literally smell as you are walking across the parking lot. I had to buy them too. Usually I stick with Bath & Bodyworks or whatever brand they stock at Target but this year I also found som cute yummy ones at Michael’s when Miss L & I went to restock her art supplies. My house smells like a boutique but the dessert smells make me hungry – which is probably why I pressured Miss L to make chocolate chip cookies last night after dinner.

Today of course is the anniversary of 9/11 and it’s not right to let it go without a mention. I remember where I was on this day as I am sure most of us in the US do. On this day I remember and honor all those who lost their lives in the attacks and those who showed the best of themselves to come to the aid of others in a time of great darkness.

I hope you have a great weekend! xoxo

show us your books! august reads.

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Linking up with hosts Steph and Jana for another month of bookish show and tell.

It was a doozy of a month so I’d better just jump right in.

The First Mrs Rothschild by Sara Aharoni was a Kindle Unlimited rec for me – not my fave, it dragged in parts but provided an eye-opening look at life as a Jewish woman in the Frankfurt ghetto. This was more interesting to me than the financial machinations of the Rothschild family.

A Cold Trail, Robert Dugoni (Tracy Crosswhite #7) brings me up to date with the Crosswhite series and I am eagerly awaiting #8. In this offering, Tracy, her husband Dan and baby Dani are back in the small town where they grew up. Tracy is dealing with being a new mom and making decisions about her career and in the meantime, investigating the unsolved murder of a teenage girl years before. I love Tracy.

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton – A murder / suicide at a grand old decrepit British mansion during a weekend party? Yes please. But not straightforward, as this story unfolds in a Groundhog Day sort of way, with the protagonist being placed in different characters as the day repeats. I liked this, and I liked the characters and the mystery, but the plot grew increasingly outlandish. Extra points for an ominous Plague Doctor making creepy appearances.

Abandon by Blake Crouch was also hard for me to put down. A journalist attaches herself to a group of hikers (including her long-distant father) striking out to explore the ruins of a gold mining ghost town in the mountains. What caused all the inhabitants of this town to disappear without a trace? The supernatural elements build with questions and atmosphere. I liked where this story was going and was totally hooked when Crouch did the bait-and-switch. (No spoilers.) I didn’t love where the story went as much as I could have if it had continued to develop a more supernatural / ghostly explanation but I tore through it, on the edge of my seat throughout.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata was a quick read and a good breather from more tense books. Keiko is an outsider in her Tokyo culture, and can only find a place for herself, a sense of self-esteem and purpose through her job at a convenience store. Her family and friends do not understand her lack of interest in marriage and children and her contentment in what is considered to be a lowly, dead-end job (not a “career”). This is a bit sad but also funny and daring for a Japanese female writer who shrugs her shoulders at traditional expectations & expressions of female sexuality and independence. Interesting to me as I have been to Japan and work in a Japanese company, so have seen some elements of the culture that are described here.

Verity by Colleen Hoover was another suspenseful read. An introverted writer takes the seemingly-golden opportunity to step in for a very successful author and finish her popular series after she is badly injured. She quickly becomes embroiled with the author’s sexy husband and with the author’s hidden journal, full of horrifying secrets. I didn’t like the ending, which felt like a ripoff, and although I was fully absorbed, it loses points when I don’t like any of the characters and can’t find a sympathetic viewpoint.

Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol – Miss L likes graphic novels so I bought her a handful of them for her birthday. I picked this up after she was done with it and thought it was well-done – a teenage girl from an immigrant family struggling to find her place in her private school becomes involved with a ghost who seems pathetic and eager to please, but quickly turns Anya’s life upside down. I liked the overall messages in this book (being true to yourself, the traps of popularity, loyalty to friends, etc) and enjoyed discussing it with Miss L when we were done.

Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang was recommended by a bestie and it was my favorite read of the month (saying a lot in a month of overall great reads). In turn-of-the-century New York society, Tillie Pembroke’s older sister has wealth, beauty, heart, and an excellent match – and then she turns up dead with two puncture wounds in her neck. Tillie – younger, more headstrong, always in her sister’s shadow – sets out to find the killer, using Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” as a guidebook. Along the way, she develops addictions to heroin and morphine, and, at a cost, breaks all the molds that her family and society have set for her, finds love and a purpose in life. I liked this book so much – the characters, the atmosphere, the mystery, the setting, and definitely plan on reading much more of Kang’s work.

The Sound of Rain by Gregg Olson is Nicole Foster Thriller #1 and another absorbing, suspenseful read. Nicole Foster is a former homicide detective who’s hit bottom – thanks to her terrible taste in men and a rampant gambling addiction, she’s lost her home, her dog, and her job on the force. She’s also haunted by the case of a murdered child and a terrible family life, starring a vicious and narcissistic younger sister. Nicole has to go all the way down (which is hard to read) in order to fight her way back and work through the case – which has crazy ties to her problematic personal life. It’s always hard to read a book where none of the characters are appealing and Nicole is certainly a very ambivalent protagonist. It’s hard to root for her until about 3/4 through and even then, her choices are really not good. But she claws her way out and it’s quite a ride with an absolutely bananas ending (that seemed a little “huh” to me). But I’ll read the second Nicole Foster and hope she’s in a better place.

I hope your reading month was as excellent as mine was!

five things friday

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  • I get a lot of “standard bird” visitors to my feeders – sparrows, downy woodpeckers, chickadees, cardinals, finches, etc. – but this week I’ve been excited to note a “newbie”. I get white-breasted nuthatches but I’ve been seeing many red-breasted nuthatches this week too! Apparently, they are going to be a more common sighting in the Midwest due to poor cone crops on spruce and fir trees in the boreal forests of Canada.
  • I’ve been watching Sandy by the Lakeside’s vlog for awhile now and was thrilled to snap up one of her large project knitting bags during her last shop update. They sell out fast and I am so happy with it – super fast shipping and beautiful workmanship. I can’t wait to cast on some new socks to put in it.
  • I finally got library books after almost six months without. I’ve been solely relying on Kindle reads and old paperbacks and finally had a couple of “must-reads”. My library will return to a limited in-person service next week but in the meantime, the curbside pickup was very convenient.
  • I’ve had a hormone headache all week and since it was also the first week of remote learning school, the timing was not ideal. Miss L is very independent and very efficiently navigated all the new technology – I was only called on to offer tech support a couple of times. I feel very thankful for all of the hard work that our teachers and school staff have done to start the kids off with new platforms, build relationships, and manage stress levels. I also feel enormous gratitude for a kid who loves to do things on her own. The tech has had some issues and glitches this week, and we’re still trying to manage our wi-fi connections here – we currently have all 3 of us at home and trying to juggle bandwidth for work, school, and Tour de France streaming (ahem BRANDON ;)) But all in all, a solid start and now thankfully the kids get 4 days off over Labor Day to recharge.
  • I think I finally have a day planner that’s going to work for me. I started out the year with Hobonichi and they just didn’t work. Too small. Not enough space. I’ve learned that an electronic calendar paired with a simple notebook works best for my work organization and I got a big discount on a Commit30 planner for the remainder of 2020 and a new one for 2021. I love the construction, the layout, and the size of the days even in the compact version (although I did get a full-size for 2021). And yes, fun stickers and colored markers do motivate me.

Very happy now to have a holiday weekend to try to shake this headache and enjoy my birds, library books, and knitting. Wherever you are I hope you also have a peaceful and recuperative weekend! xoxo