show us your books – november 2020 reads

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Happy December my friends and welcome to my first SUYB in months. It really seemed like I’d kept up better with this but blog archives prove me wrong so here I am with increased vim.

As always I am joining our hosts Steph and Jana… you can find the link to join up at the bottom of this post.

It wasn’t a super productive reading month – I only finished 4 books and one of them was quite fluffy. However, these were mostly new or more recent books as our library was open for a millisecond (before shutting back down again during the recent spike). Honestly I doubt December will be much better but here’s hoping!

1. Cosy – the British Art of Comfort by Laura Weir – apparently “cosy” is the British answer to “hygge” and this book goes to great lengths to prove its superiority. This is a charming and very quick read and has a lot of hot beverages and blankets and other creature comforts. A good read if you’re drowsing by the fire with that second (or third) glass of wine and can’t focus on anything with a plot (also might make a good stocking stuffer for that Anglophile in your life).

2. The Sun Down Motel by Simone St James – I read a previous book by St James – The Broken Girls – which was a thriller set in a 1950s girl’s boarding school – and enjoyed it. But this one fell flat for me. A young woman sets out to uncover the mystery of her runaway aunt, who went missing while working as a night clerk at a creepy motel. There are ghosts and a serial killer and a twist at the end but I just could not get engaged or interested.

3. Katheryn Howard, The Scandalous Queen – I’ve read many of Alison Weir’s nonfiction accounts of the British monarchy and also enjoy her fictional accounts of the six wives of Henry VIII. I’m a sucker for good Tudor historical fiction and this one, about perhaps the most naive and careless of his wives, didn’t disappoint. Howard, the monarch’s fifth wife, is young, beautiful, and not particularly shrewd. She doesn’t protect her chastity or good reputation when it comes to men either before or during her marriage to the King Hypocrite and as such is the second of his wives to lose their heads.

4. The Tenant by Katrine Engberg – I recently started following a new IG account called Crime By the Book (she has a blog as well) with some fantastic “Nordic noir” selections. I love Scandinavian mysteries and now my “to be read” list is full. The Tenant was one of her suggestions and I really enjoyed it. A pair of Copenhagen police detectives investigate the grisly murder of a young woman in her own apartment. The mystery begins to coalesce around the landlady of the apartment building and a dinner party which brought an ill-fated cast of characters together. There’s a newish follow up featuring the same pair of detectives called “The Butterfly House” and I immediately put it on my library request list.

So that’s all for this month – I hope you have a wonderful month of good books and cozy (cosy) times leading up to the holiday season!

Life According to Steph

thanksgiving 2020

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visitor to our backyard the day before thanksgiving

I had a five day long weekend for the US Thanksgiving holiday and it was delightful. I can’t deny that my morale and productivity in my home office was at a low point in the days leading up to it. Five days off and now it’s Monday morning and I have the glad feeling that I’m ready to be back at my desk. I have to-do lists to make, emails to read, documents to review, and meetings to schedule, and I’m ready for the push through to the end of the year, where I’ve scheduled even more time off.

Miss L was at her dad’s for the holiday so it was just me and Brandon. We’d originally planned our family holiday celebration for the weekend, and invited Brandon’s cousin and girlfriend over for Wednesday night drinks, but with the three-week “pause” instituted by our governor, in the end, no one really wanted to meet up. This was fine with me as it gave me the ideal sort of holiday for an introvert and just what I needed, really. Hopefully Covid cases go down in upcoming days and if not then at least I’ll have the feeling that I’ve properly isolated to see my family over Christmas.

sarge says “hey man”

So Brandon and I were in our own little holiday world. We cooked our turkey and had a candlelight dinner and he made his special family dressing. Unfortunately the only photograph I got was of the pumpkin pie I made. I was very proud of this as I love pumpkin pie and I feel now like the true embodiment of “teach a man to fish” (although my mom’s pie is still the best).

We went for runs and long walks and bought nothing on Black Friday.

wood ducks among the mallards!

I had spectacular afternoon naps with the cats every day, and read and knitted a bit. We drank lots of Malbec and stayed up late watching the latest season of “The Crown” as well as “The Miniaturist” and “Vienna Blood” from PBS (all ‘recommends’). I didn’t worry at all about what I ate or drank but tried to temper it by getting outside daily for fresh air and steps.

I’ve explored some new and fun ways to present turkey leftovers since we had a 14-lb bird and despite our best efforts we did not eat our required 7 lbs each on Thursday. We tried these recipes and all received thumbs-up from Brandon.

Cranberry Turkey Crescent Ring (from Pillsbury)

Pot pie (from Two Peas and their Pod – it’s written for chicken but is great for turkey, too. I’ve made this many times with both chicken and turkey and always a crowd-pleaser.)

Turkey Monte Cristo (from Martha Stewart. We actually got lazy and skipped the French toast step here and just grilled it on the stovetop like a classic grilled cheese, with some good bread, and it turned out absolutely yummy.)

I hope everyone had an equally relaxing weekend and we’re all ready for the push to the end of the year. What’s on tap for this week? We will get our Christmas tree up, and I have to go into the office one day, and I have to meet up at the bank with some of the Girl Scout moms as I’m taking over the role of troop treasurer for this cookie season (whyyyyyyyy do I do this to myself argh). I also have a late work call with Japan one night. I’m still looking forward to being back on a more normal schedule. Oh – and we’re supposed to get SNOW later today and tomorrow!

As Garrison Keillor used to say, be well, do good work, and keep in touch. xo

friday five – where’s the turkey, chuck

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  1. All I can say is thank goodness Apple TV loosened their capitalistic stranglehold on the Peanuts holiday specials and are allowing them to be shown on PBS after all. I bitterly railed against the loss of the Halloween special and can’t imagine getting through the holidays without seeing Snoopy fight with a lawn chair and Linus bring us to tears with his simple reminder of what the holidays are all about, Charlie Brown. At the age of 47 I will still be sitting in front of the TV at 7.30 EST Sunday night November 22 with Miss L and my snacks (maybe popcorn, pretzels, jelly beans and toast?) to bring back a taste of my childhood.

2. Some weekends, all I want to do is sit and knit with something soothing to watch. I love vlogs and am so excited about Vlogmas coming up. Some of my favorite crafting vlogs include Ina Knits, Sandy by the Lakeside, Birch and Lily, and Mandarine’s (all available on YouTube). I also love Christine McConnell although that’s less crafting and more aesthetic (achievable crafting, anyway), Talasbuan, and Northern Heart, and I recently found a new one that I love called Simple Swedish Life. This is a very quiet, peaceful vlog about a young Korean man married to a Swedish woman living in Sweden with their toddler. It’s very aesthetic, full of poignant musings and images, not much (if any) spoken word, and some great cooking and recipes. If you’re looking for an excellent accompaniment to an afternoon of working quietly with your hands with a cup of your favorite beverage, I would highly recommend any of the above.

3. I don’t think I’ve shared yet, but I cast on my holiday socks in the post-election trauma and have been busting away on them ever since. They are the Summer Camp pattern by Jill Zielinski (which is not seasonally appropriate, I know, but looks great with the yarn I chose and a contrast heel / toe) in two colorways from West Yorkshire Spinners. I can’t remember them offhand and the ball bands are downstairs so I will just say the socks are Raveled and I’ll add the colorways later on. Whilst I was taking the inaugural picture for Ravelry, Emmett decided he wanted to help display their attributes and I let him. He’s a handsome model, don’t you think?

4. For the first time perhaps ever, I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping before Black Friday. Making a budget and lists in advance helped. My biggest project left to finish is Brandon’s Advent calendar. I don’t want to reveal it here, but I found the base idea on Etsy and have to buy the supplies for each day. I have 6 days done but need to hit up some shops over the weekend to finish it up. I didn’t quite realize that the month was going so fast. All three of us are getting Advent calendars this year and I look forward to sharing them here on the blog and also over on my Instagram (link in the side column).

5. For the past two weeks I’ve been scheduling my workouts in advance and blocking off time on my calendar. Over the summer, it got light early enough that I could be up and out and get back and shower and not have to delay the opening of my home office, but with the shorter days and darker, cold mornings, I find I have to make accommodations. Setting aside a few mornings a week where I don’t schedule meetings too early has been great and I’ve stuck to my scheduled workouts every time – either getting out for a walk or run or, if the weather is inclement, going into the basement for a strength workout. It’s not always going to be possible this winter to do this, based on my work schedule, but anything is better than the nothing active I did last spring during early work-from-home times (and the corresponding weight gain). Could it be that I’m getting the hang of this “adulting” thing? (Questionable.)

Anyway, I hope you are all well and safe and your families, too. What’s on tap for this weekend? I will be finishing up the Advent calendar for Brandon, picking up the last bits and bobs for our Thanksgiving dinner next week, knitting and enjoying my books and vlogs. Take care and enjoy. xoxo

chock full of swimming metaphors

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I’ve been pretty quiet in this space – missing Show Us Your Books and Friday Five check-ins like it’s my job – so wanted to surface momentarily. I am, in fact, alive and kicking and mostly keeping head above water.

(Lots of swimming metaphors there.)

Michigan is experiencing a massive surge in Covid cases so our governor – much hated by the militia and TRUMPERS – is inching us slowly closer to a second lockdown. For the next three weeks we’re on a “pause” to try to get the situation in hand. No indoor dining, schools all at remote, work from home, limited gatherings. It throws our Thanksgiving plans into uncertainty but they were small to begin with – if you were doing a massive gathering during a pandemic maybe you needed to think twice anyway. It is what it is. Maybe if we’d all nut up and wear our masks and quit acting like this GLOBAL pandemic is a liberal hoax to control your toilet paper we could see numbers going down instead of up.

post-election conservative ‘feels’

We also had high winds yesterday- the legendary ‘gales of November’ – and we lost a huge chunk of our aged behemoth willow tree. It fell in the neighboring yard and impaled itself about six inches into their immaculate sod but blessedly missed power lines by a whisper. With much effort Brandon and I and the neighbor managed to wrestle it back over the lot line and we’ll just figure out what to do with it from here. And figure out how much I will have to spend in the unlikely event that I can coax some hapless tree service out to prune or remove the standing remainder of the death trap.

Brandon and the neighbor on the left-hand side for scale.

One more full week of work and then a short holiday week. I am planning to be back here for Friday Five unless something untoward transpires or I get too tired. In the meantime let’s all swim for shore. (Ugh with the metaphors but I had to bring it home.)

Happy Monday!

friday five – post election trauma edition

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If I tried to identify five things this week, they would all be the same. Like many of you, I’m sure, I have been entirely subsumed by election coverage and am waiting not-so-patiently for the outcome. Every vote has to be counted. To state or imply otherwise no matter who your candidate is is indefensible.

I feel optimistic but cautious. Trump is like that character in a horror film that you can stab with a knitting needle twelve times, think is well and truly gone, and then comes crashing in through the plate glass window in the last five minutes.

I am bitterly disappointed that this election is so close. There is no defense that such a number of our fellow Americans could vote for Trump. It is infuriating to watch him on television in these days of uncertainty, lying about votes, undermining the credibility of our electoral process, sowing seeds of violence and civil unrest. In short, laying groundwork for a coup. We are the United States. We are a stable, developed democracy. How can this happen? Global conflict watchers now warn that the US faces unprecedented risk levels for political instability and election-related violence. They lay that blame at the feet of Donald Trump for his baseless and inflammatory rhetoric and his willingness to court conflict to advance his personal interests. It has no precedent in modern U.S. history and we have been brought to this place in a period of four short years of his presidency. It is terrifying to think what he would do to this country with another four.

But on the other side, hope is not lost.

Mr. Biden received more votes in history than any other presidential candidate and still counting. He has a thin but steady lead in important states. No matter what happens in the electoral college, we will likely see him win the popular vote by over 4 million. He is counseling patience and faith in our democracy. The press is no longer afraid to cut away from Trump when he lies and fact-check him on air. And people that I know that used to be Trump supporters – people who have worked elections and believe in the sanctity of our democratic process – are viewing him now with complete disgust, seeing now what they didn’t or couldn’t see before. These things have restored my faith in humanity a bit.

As did Anderson Cooper calling him an ‘obese turtle’.

It’s the little things, you know?

graphic from the oatmeal’s insta

No matter what we’ll get through it. Find your tribe and keep fighting the good fight and doing the next right thing.

finished object

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I hope everyone had a great Halloween weekend. We set up our firepit, a Halloween playlist on a radio in the garage, and our table of individually bagged candy at the end of the driveway, and the weather cooperated! We bundled up and enjoyed the fire and said hello to the intrepid folks who came by. We had a lot of trick or treaters, parents wore masks and respected social distancing, and all in all it was a very enjoyable evening.

I had been doggedly working on my Halloween socks and squeaked in under the wire, weaving in the ends at 2pm on Halloween. And they were on my feet for the festivities!

As a reminder, these are ‘Minecraft’ pattern by Heather Cox, knit on the Less Traveled 757 sock yarn in the ‘Slutty Pumpkin’ colorway. I did modify somewhat, replacing the pattern heel with a simple slip-stitch. I’m really happy with how they turned out – the pattern is squishy and comfortable and fun to knit, and the yarn is a perfect weight and not in the least bit itchy.

They are Raveled here.

Now the Halloween decorations are put away, the yard is buttoned up for the season of long darkness, and things feel oddly empty and barren. The clocks are turned and I find myself without a pair of socks on the needles or a horror film to watch! The first will be rectified soon. I need to start on my Christmas socks and in the meantime, I’m just going to catch up on my vlogs and knit another careless stripe of garter on my never-ending Log Cabin blanket.

As a footnote, if I’m honest I’m dreading the week to come. I am prepared for the worst of Trump gaslighting and trying to steal the election, but hoping for the best that the results are so clear that they simply can’t be lied about or obfuscated. I hope that 4 years of the worst president in US history will soon be over and whatever we have to suffer this week will be the last of his poison.

I can’t wait to line up at the ballot box on Tuesday and vote him down.

Be well, be safe, and find the light. xoxo

‘halloween is upon us’ – hubie

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Happy Halloween!

It’s become a bit of a tradition for us to spend the month of October engaging in a horror movie marathon that’s become known as our ’21 Days of Halloween’. There’s no real logic behind that number except that shooting for 31 horror movies felt waaaay too much and 21 seemed challenging yet achievable. We rarely ever actually hit 21 (last year I think we made it to 17) and this year we are coming in with a somewhat lackluster showing of 15. But it’s all in good fun and without further ado, here is our complete listing. Our starred reviews follow the list and if you can stick around until the end of the post you can see my lovely daughter in her Halloween costume.

  • Alice Sweet Alice (1976)
  • Prom Night (1980)
  • Asylum (1972)
  • Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
  • Weekend Murders (1970)
  • Hubie Halloween (2020)
  • Final Exam (1981)
  • Last House on Massacre Street (also released as The Bride and The House That Cried Murder) (1973)
  • Night of the Demons (1988)*
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000 watches Boggy Creek II (1984)
  • The Boy (2016)*
  • Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
  • The Birds (1963)
  • The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

NIGHT OF THE DEMONS STARRED REVIEW (by Sara) – This raunchfest came out of nowhere to be my favorite film of the season. It’s a great example of the 1980’s horror movie genre, complete with an exceptionally lame party at an abandoned funeral parlor / mansion, an Indian burial ground, bad girls doing spine-bending interpretive dance to a truly awful 1980’s power ballad soundtrack, lots of gratuitous boobs and butt cheeks, early death to the sexually promiscuous, demons, and the virtuous Final Girl. There’s also a side plot featuring a crotchety old man and the urban legend of razor blades in Halloween offerings which has a very satisfactory ending. It has it all!

THE BOY STARRED REVIEW (by Brandon) – An outrageous concept so sure, why not? Lets see where the hell this goes. Well executed, well paced, and with a nice little twist to boot. The sleeper hit of our little marathon.

Miss L – Plague Doctor – that’s my girl!

I hope you all enjoy your Halloween weekend! xoxo

friday five – i’d like to meet his tailor

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  1. Although Covid has definitely taken its toll on Halloween fun, our town has gone over and above to make the best of the situation. They’ve hosted a “Grand Raven” decorating contest in our town square, with local merchants decorating scarecrow-sized ravens, and done Zoom readings of Edgar Allan Poe works, and Wednesday night they hosted a free drive-in movie showing of ‘The Birds’. Our local 1920’s movie house popped popcorn and Brandon, Miss L & I brought our own goodie bags of Halloween treats and enjoyed the festivities. I’d forgotten how long it takes this movie to get going – at least an hour of Mitch / Melanie schlock before the pecking starts. But the playground scene was entirely worth it.

2. With the weather turning colder and the leaves falling, Brandon has been requesting some “comfort food” for dinner. Last week, he had a yen for red beans and rice. I’ve never made it before (not being a huge fan of sausage) but this recipe from Damn Delicious made me a convert! It was economical, quick, and absolutely yummy. Miss L was at her dad’s for the night so I made it extra spicy and got Cajun andouille sausage. Served with hot rice and cornbread and we devoured it and had a fire in the woodstove and split a bottle of Malbec and it was perfection!

3. This from a bestie made me ridiculously happy.

Gratuitous picture of the boy cats in full hibernation mode

4. I’m getting into (more of) the Halloween spirit listening to Phoebe Reads a Mystery tackle ‘Dracula’. Is ‘Lucy Westenra’ pronounced the way it looks or is it pronounced ‘Wes-TERN-a’? Anyone? ….Bueller?…

5. Yesterday was a doozie. A few minutes before Miss L needed to join her online classes for the day, and before I needed to dial into the first of 4 hours of work-related Zoom and Skype calls, we managed to blow the fuse for JUST MY STUDY (and her bedroom) where the router is located. The fuse seemed completely gone so I used a series of completely unsafe extension cords to construct a fragile web to plug the router into an entirely different part of the house. I got up and running, joined my call, got booted off twice and then spilled coffee all over myself and my workspace just as I was reconnecting. Good times…

Suffice it to say, I’m glad there’s a festive weekend ahead. Join me here this weekend for a peek at Miss L’s costume and the complete listing of our 21 Days of Horror viewing (along with my starred review)! I hope you have a deliriously atmospheric Devil’s Night or Angel’s Night – whichever one you prefer. And don’t forget to change your clocks this weekend and VOTE ON TUESDAY!

Not my sign but I wish it was! Seen in my neighborhood.

friday five: last night i dreamt i went to manderley again

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  1. We went up north last weekend and had a wonderful autumn weekend in my happy place with many of the people I love best. Brandon & I had a nice hike at the Treat Homestead in the Sleeping Bear, we ate like kings thanks to my mom, we laughed endlessly with my dad, and it was just what I needed to fill up my bucket til the holidays.

2. I have to make a couple of conspicuous consumer-type recommendations. Firstly, I recently splurged on a very well-reviewed brush-hairdryer combo that I love. I wash my hair every day, but usually just blow-dry and put it into a messy pony or bun, or if I have to go into the office or somewhere public I will actually use my ceramic straightener. This dryer gives me the option of a nice blow-out without the damage of the straightener and I’m pleased with it!

3. Not for the fellas – I shied away from the recent “bralette” craze because I usually – [ahem] – require a bit more support. But at $14.99, I decided to try one of these from Target and I ended up going back for 2 more. I can’t see myself wearing anything else (as long as they hold up in the wash) – well, at least until the days of “return to office” when an underwire will be required. They are super comfortable and flattering.

4. Although Brandon & I are halfway through our 21 Days of Horror binge, I took a break to watch Netflix’s Rebecca. This book holds a lot of sentiment for me – in high school, I was placed in an Honors English class during freshman year, and we spent 4 years together with different teachers exploring all types of literature. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier was one of the first novels we read together as a class and as such, I have vivid associations with it. We later went on to read things like ‘Julius Caesar’, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, and ‘Lord of the Flies’ together but I will always think of ‘Rebecca’ fondly. And this interpretation by Netflix – well, it blew me away. Lily James and Kristin Scott Thomas are EXACTLY how I envisioned the second Mrs. de Winters and Mrs Danvers – to the letter, to the note, to the hairstyle and the lipstick. So perfect. And Armie Hammer – who has never really done anything for me – is wonderful as Maxim de Winter (and might I add – RRROWRRRR!!). Spectacular all around.

5. Bringing things down to reality. Our school board voted this week on a proposal to bring secondary students back to face to face classes as early as November 30. This comes on the heels of a vote approving elementary kids to return on November 9. We were a bit on tenterhooks about this, and as you can imagine, everyone had differing viewpoints on the wisdom (or lack thereof) of returning to f2f, even a hybrid model. Miss L’s dad & I had basically agreed that there was no point in sending her back – assuming we would have a choice – until after the holidays, but the district and parents were thrown into chaos by the vote and the debates. Ultimately, our district has voted to keep secondary kids remote until at least January 25 – while sending elementary kids back – which is a relief as it takes the decision out of our hands. And Miss L – being a strong-minded and self-driven kid- has done well with the remote model. But the application of different sciences & logics for elementary and secondary remains a bit mysterious to everyone so I really do feel for parents of younger kids who are in a quandary with decisions about health of kids and their family, quality of education, socialization, safety, etc.

Lastly – my typical reminder to vote and if you are on the fence as an undecided voter, please consider that Mr Biden has put together an excellent, high quality plan for economic stabilization while the orange disaster continues to churn vitriol, hate, fear, and bile with no plans whatsoever. Think about who will leave a better future for your children and grandchildren. But most importantly, VOTE on Nov. 3.

Have a lovely weekend, all. xo