I hit Price Chopper and the Bakery while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park.

Morning chores included mixing up egg salad, tossing a load of laundry into the washer, baking chicken for the dogs' meals, hand-washing some dishes, scooping kitty litter, and taking the dogs for a walk during which I also picked more berries.

I visited mom ~11:15am to ~2:30pm. After I got home I dried and folded the morning load of laundry, washed and dried another, and hand-washed more dishes. The reason I left earlier than usual was that I found out that there was a ‘pig roast’ happening, so I stopped there on the way home and got some pulled pork. I didn’t know what time they stopped serving as there were no times on the signs, so I wanted to play it safe. I also husked corn for supper because someone had given Pip a half dozen ears.

I watched last week’s ep of Resident Alien and an HGTV program, and read more in Rivers of London.

Temps started out at 50.0(F) (it was freaking cold!) and reached 87.4. It felt so cold I wore a scarf and light gloves with my hoodie when I left the house (and brought along a jacket just in case). By the time I went for a walk at 8:30am it was much warmer. And then it got surprisingly warm for a day that started out at 50.

(Today is my brother’s birthday! He’s seven years younger than me. I think I’ve mentioned, but I’m the oldest of the bunch.)


Mom Update:

Mom was feeling kind of meh today. Expandmore back here )
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
([personal profile] spikedluv Jul. 19th, 2025 07:09 am)
I had a pedicure this morning; I went with a periwinkle again and she gave me a nice design. I got in a walk around the park and hit the farm stand on the way home. While I was downtown I remembered to stop by the bank to deposit money in Baby A’s account (I give her money for her birthday and Christmas, since she gets a ton of stuff from everyone else. And a book, naturally.).

I visited mom from 11am to 3pm. I also hand-washed dishes and scooped kitty litter. I grilled chicken legs for Pip’s supper, cut up chicken for the dogs, and hard-boiled eggs.

I read more in Rivers of London, started and finished another Kindle cozy, and watched the first new ep of Strange New Worlds.

Temps started out at 59.7(F) (I wore a sweatshirt and was still chilled during the walk from the house to the garage) and reached 77.7 with sun and a breeze. It was cool enough this morning that I wore a scarf and pair of light gloves on my walk around the park, but by afternoon the temps were perfect. That’s pretty much my ideal.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing well today. Expandmore back here )
I hit Price Chopper and the Pharmacy while I was downtown. I hit the bank drive-thru on my way to visit my aunt. I stopped at mom’s on the way home and spent about four hours with her; some of that time we talked, and some we just did our own thing.

I did a load of mom’s laundry, hand-washed dishes, and scooped kitty litter. We had spaghetti for supper.

I read two more Kindle cozies and started the new Rivers of London.

Temps started out at 74.8(F) and reached 92.4.


Mom Update:

Mom had a busy morning before I arrived. Expandmore back here )
Five years ago today Representative John Lewis -- an icon of civil rights -- died, but his message lives on and we declare it today all across America with this Good Trouble Lives On National Day of Action. As Representative John Lewis said: "Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America".

Click here to find today's event details including a map that shows where a "Good Trouble" event is taking place near you today.
Tags:
I had a chiropractic appointment this morning and got in a walk around the park.

I hand-washed dishes and emptied the dishwasher before I headed downtown. When I got home I tossed a load of laundry into the washer and changed kitty litter.

I got to mom’s ~10:30am and stayed until ~3pm. I stopped at the library on the way home to pick-up and return books and hit the bank drive-thru for mom. At home I grilled Kielbasa for Pip's supper (I had more tomato sandwiches), hand-washed more dishes, and tossed the laundry in the dryer.

I finished the Amelia Peabody book, DNF'd a Kindle cozy, and started and finished another Kindle cozy.

Temps started out at 61.5(F) and reached 93.6.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing pretty well today. Expandmore back here )

ETA: I forgot to mention, mom reminded me yesterday that it was the one year anniversary of the huge storm that took out all six of the large trees in her back yard. (The main reason her porch is so hot now is because there is zero shade when all she used to have was shade.)
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
([personal profile] spikedluv Jul. 16th, 2025 07:01 am)
I hit CVS and Price Chopper while I was downtown (both in order to pick up things for mom), got in a walk around the park, and hit the farm stand on the way home. I’ve been thinking about tomato sandwiches with fresh tomatoes.

I folded last night’s load of laundry, got another washed, and hand-washed some dishes before I left the house this morning. When I got home from downtown I baked a berry cobbler to use some of those berries we’d picked (and put the rest in the freezer), tossed the laundry into the dryer and another load into the washer, hand-washed more dishes, and mixed up some tuna with a nice fresh cucumber (and mayo) for my lunch.

I got to mom’s ~11am and left ~3pm. On the way home I filled my gas tank. At home I put away a load of laundry and tossed the other into the dryer, scooped kitty litter, made an easy supper (Pip had leftover meatloaf I pulled out of the freezer and I made myself open-faced tomato and melted cheese sandwiches with the fresh tomatoes I purchased today), and showered.

I read more in Amelia Peabody and also started and finished another Kindle cozy.

Temps started out at 70.0(F) and reached 92.4.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay today. Expandmore back here )
What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Necessary as Blood (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) by Deborah Crombie, Lantern in the Lighthouse & Hint in the Hashtag & Pawn in the Pumpkin Patch & Secret in the Santa (The Inn at Holiday Bay) by Kathi Daley, A Bitter Pill (The Bookshop Mysteries) by S.A. Reeves, and Grounds For Murder (Perfect Blend Mysteries) by Emily Brewster.


What I am Currently Reading: He Shall Thunder in the Sky (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) by Elizabeth Peters.


What I Plan to Read Next: The new Rivers of London.




Book 62 of 2025: Necessary as Blood (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) (Deborah Crombie)

I enjoyed this book a lot! Expandspoilers )

This book was really good and I can't wait to read the next. I'm giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥



Book 63 of 2025: Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy (The Murderbot Diaries) (Martha Wells)

I enjoyed this! Expandspoilers )

I really liked this novelette and am giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

Repeating this info in case you missed it previously: If you haven't had a chance to read the new Murderbot novelette Rapport (which is one of those ‘takes place in the Murderbot Diaries ‘verse' stories) you can find it for free at Reactor Magazine or purchase it from Amazon (on Kindle for $1.99). Or both.



Book 64 of 2025: A Bitter Pill (The Bookshop Mysteries) (S.A. Reeves)

This book was just okay, which was disappointing because I really wanted to like it. Expandspoilers )

This book was alright and I don't think I'll read more in the series. I'm giving this one three hearts.

♥♥♥



Book 65 of 2025: Grounds For Murder (Perfect Blend Mysteries) (Emily Brewster)

Another book that was just okay. I liked the main characters well enough, but seeming inconsistencies drove me nuts. Expandspoilers )

This book was enjoyable enough, but I probably won't read more in the series. I'm giving it four hearts.

♥♥♥♥
hannah: (Travel - fooish_icons)
([personal profile] hannah Jul. 15th, 2025 09:15 pm)
I went across town to gather the last of my pay this morning; I'd gotten a text a couple hours earlier telling me that the main receptionist was doing fine and didn't need additional support, so all I had left to do was get paid. I ended up deciding to take that vacation opportunity, with plans to come back fairly early Friday to make the evening showtime.

Worth noting is packing's not nearly the stressor it used to be. Especially not for just a couple of days. Not even music for the trip or what to bring in my backpack. There's no getting around the nervousness that comes from waiting for a train - especially with the downpour earlier this week, which tends to mess with schedules - or trying to fall asleep the night before. But there's a predictability to that, which makes accepting it easier.
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
([personal profile] spikedluv Jul. 15th, 2025 07:26 am)
I went downtown as usual today and hit Walmart, Price Chopper and the Feedbag. (The first time I’ve been to the Feed Bag since before mom’s surgery! Pip has been having to do the bird seed run.) I also got in a walk around the park and picked up Chinese for lunch.

I was up an hour before Pip, so before I left the house I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, and scooped kitty litter. After I got home I did another load of laundry (both loads got washed and dried, one got folded), hand-washed more dishes, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals, grilled country style pork ribs for Pip’s supper, ran a load in the dishwasher, and shaved.

I finished the Kindle cozy and read more in Amelia Peabody. Hold onto your hats, folks, because I also managed to write ~500 words on a new fic for [community profile] smallfandomfest!!

Temps started out at 70.7(F) and reached 93. We didn’t get the forecasted rain last night, so I didn’t mow the lawn today. It was hot. Hot. Pip wanted to show me where he’d found more berry bushes, so I went for a walk with him and the dogs after lunch. He hadn’t exaggerated, the bramble was huge! So many berries. We picked about two cups, but could’ve been there much longer just to get the ones we could reach. I was ready to die when we got back from that short walk. I had to splash my face with cold water and sit in the AC’d bedroom for a while to cool back down. So HOT. And that was just a short walk, including a bit through the shaded orchard.


Expand4 photos I took on that walk )


Mom Update:

Mom had the appointment with her oncologist today. Expandmore back here )
happy bastille day, flist! it's also apparently national mac&cheese day in the us. chop off some heads, enjoy some delicious pasta and cheese sauce.

still hot, also.

so on wednesday one of my groups at work (technically one of my groups and a larger group that it belongs to) is hosting a summit through friday and so far it has been a massive pain in our butts. the project manager keeps saying this is the last year and she is not kidding. we still haven't printed the name badges yet because people keep registering. it starts wednesday! we're fully booked! registration is closed! and yet one of the pi's organizing it (or more accurately, one of the pi's who's going to get credit for it but who isn't actually doing anything) keeps telling people they can come. we can't feed them. there's nowhere for them to sit. we're full! but no. on the plus side, we weren't expecting to do better than last year (about 350 people) and until a couple weeks ago we thought we'd be lucky to break even. i mean, no one wants to come to the us and can you blame them? and then suddenly we were fully booked. wtf.

(this morning a woman in another group involved in the summit basically gave me a heart attack by saying "so does the minister [one of the keynote speakers] have transportation from the airport to the hotel?" implication being that the minister was already here - i pictured this poor woman stranded at the airport - even tho the ticket that i booked for her got her in at 7:40 tonight. she did not have a car booked to take her from the airport to the hotel because a. that's not a thing we offer to do for anyone at the summit, and more importantly b. no one told me i needed to do it. turns out she didn't arrive ten hours early. her assistant panicked. and then this other woman involved in the summit panicked. and then she made me and another admin panic. and suddenly the minister's not even here yet and we're all panicking for no reason. the other admin booked her a car and i haven't heard anything so i assume she got here in one piece and got to the hotel in one piece and to be honest i'm glad it came up this morning and not tonight because i sign off at 5:30 and would not have been checking my email if the minister got here and everyone freaked out because she didn't have a car to take her to the hotel because no one told me i needed to book her one.)

booking travel is legitimately part of my job but summit travel is A Lot. the summit is just A Lot. at least i get overtime, and they'll feed me.

last thursday i met some folks from writing group for pizza. it's nice to see them in person since we're still virtual. pizza was good - i split an onion and sausage with writer g who moved to california but comes back for like a month every year - company was fun, getting home was a trial because a bunch of t stations were closed because they were doing work on the line and when i got to an open station... it was closed. whut. even the t employees didn't know what was going on. it took me like two hours and twenty minutes to get home which is absurd. glad i went tho.

saturday unpacked some, dicked around some, met my sister for dinner and superman which i have mixed feelings about. Expandspoilers! )

and sunday i bought a suitcase! i need a big one since my other one broke when i went to italy. it has oranges on it. :D

h-e-b is a texas grocery store chain and one girl went viral on tiktok for taking 200 h-e-b tortillas through airport security in her backpack. the store totally leaned into it. apparently it's a thing and lots of people have taken h-e-b tortillas onto planes in their carryons. i find that incredibly adorable and also delicious.
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
([personal profile] spikedluv Jul. 14th, 2025 09:19 am)
I just saw this show mentioned and the poster alone reminded me of another show I'd watched so I checked out the summary on IMDb. Are they just doing a remake of The Pretender, or what?
Tags:
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
([personal profile] spikedluv Jul. 14th, 2025 06:40 am)
I left for mom’s a little before 10am; but before I left I did a load of laundry (Pip’s uniforms; washed, dried and hung in the closet), hand-washed dishes, cut up chicken for the dogs’ meals, and scooped kitty litter.

I stayed until my new usual time of 3pm and stopped at Stewart's on the way home. I didn’t have to make supper because, again, Pip didn’t want anything hot, so he had leftover steak, cold. I hand-washed more dishes and showered.

I watched the current ep of Countdown, read more in Amelia Peabody, and started a different cozy on my Kindle app.

Temps started out at 70.0(F) and reached 93. It was hot. Thankfully I didn’t have to deal with it because I was inside at mom’s the hottest part of the day, until I got home.


Mom Update:

I left for mom’s a little early to help her stir up cookies for my brother’s birthday because I didn’t think she could do it on her own. Spoiler alert: she did it on her own. Expandmore )
I'm pulling these out and posting them separately (out of order of when they were actually read) or my Wednesday post will be Very Long.


Book 58 of 2025: Lantern in the Lighthouse (The Inn at Holiday Bay) (Kathi Daley)

Enjoyable story. Expandspoilers )

Marshmallow fluff, but that’s all I was expecting, so I’m giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥



Book 59 of 2025: Hint in the Hashtag (The Inn at Holiday Bay) (Kathi Daley)

Pretty good. Expandspoilers )

I mostly enjoyed this story; I’m giving it four hearts.

♥♥♥♥



Book 60 of 2025: Pawn in the Pumpkin Patch (The Inn at Holiday Bay) (Kathi Daley)

Good book. Expandspoilers )

I enjoyed this story and am giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥



Book 61 of 2025: Secret in the Santa (The Inn at Holiday Bay) (Kathi Daley)

Good story. Expandspoilers )

This story was enjoyable enough that I’m giving it five hearts despite the inconsistency.

♥♥♥♥♥
I got in a walk around the park and a walk with the dogs at home, during which I picked some black raspberries! There were a ton on this one bush, but I didn’t feel like getting all scratched up, so I just picked what I could reach easily. (About a cup and a half, I’m guessing.)

I also did two loads of laundry (both washed, dried AND folded), hand-washed some dishes, made egg salad, and scooped kitty litter before I left for mom’s a little before 11am. I picked up some books at the library on the way there. I left at 3pm as has become the norm and did another load of laundry (mom’s, washed, dried and folded since I have to return it today) and hand-washed more dishes. I didn’t have to make Pip’s supper because it was too hot for him to have anything hot, so he snacked on an egg salad sandwich (open-faced) and hard salami.

I read fanfic, the new Murderbot novella and another Holiday Bay cozy, and watched two eps of Smoke.

If you haven’t had a chance to read the new Murderbot novelette Rapport (which is one of those ‘takes place in the Murderbot Diaries ‘verse’ stories) you can find it for free at Reactor Magazine or purchase it from Amazon (on Kindle for $1.99). Or both.

Temps started out at 71.8(F) and reached 92. We had two rounds of thunderstorms during which it rained very heavily and ended up with an inch of rain.


Mom Update:

Mom is finding it easier to get going in the morning, but then she gets tuckered out. Expandmore back here )
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
([personal profile] spikedluv Jul. 12th, 2025 07:23 am)
I went downtown like ‘usual’ and hit CVS (I needed one item that I have gotten there in the past and they didn’t have it!), Price Chopper (for a couple of veggie items to go with meals), and the Bakery (for Pip’s deli meat). I also got in a walk around the park and stopped at the veterinarian on the way home for Ti's special dog food.

After unloading the car and putting everything away, I got to mom’s ~10am and stayed until ~3pm. Today’s chores, before and after I went to mom’s, included: two loads of laundry (both washed AND dried, one folded), hand-washed dishes, hard-boiled eggs, grilled steak for Pip's supper, scooped kitty litter, and shaved.

I started and finished the next two Inn at Holiday Bay cozies and watched the current ep of Murderbot.

Temps started out at 65.7(F) and reached 93.7. It was hot. Thankfully I didn't need to spend much time outside.


Mom Update:

Mom had just finished cleaning the bathroom when I arrived! Expandmore back here )
June postal mail from fen brought me a beautiful card from [personal profile] elayna. It's colored by hand and she indicated that it was done in pencil -- must be some very special kind of pencil -- there's a depth of color and a shine to it that doesn't look like other pencil-work I've seen. And she pointed out that with one of the images being a compass and one of the images being a wolf or wolf-dog it made her think of due South. Also, she put a wolf sticker on it and used a maple-leaf postage stamp. I <3 everything about this card very much!
spikedluv: murderbot forehead against wall (murderbot: head*wall by tarlan)
([personal profile] spikedluv Jul. 11th, 2025 03:41 pm)
Good season finale! Expandspoilers )

As it says on the tin: Good news, stupid humans: Murderbot has been renewed (avclub.com) [The big question is, who is going to play ART?!!]
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
([personal profile] spikedluv Jul. 11th, 2025 07:41 am)
I might have asked this before, but I don't recall. Is there anyway to create folders in the Library?

I would like to separate books I've purchased from those I'm reading for free and will need to/be able to return. I'd also like to separate books I've read from books I haven't read, because going through the entire library every time I want to pick a book to read is a pain in the butt.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!
Mom suggested I not get to her house super early so I can get some stuff done, and we agreed that I’d stop in after my visit to my aunt. I returned home after I dropped Grant off at the garage and did two loads of laundry (even got one dried and folded!), hand-washed dishes, baked chicken for the dogs’ meals, vacuumed the bedroom rug, and changed kitty litter. Whew! That’s a full days worth of work for me!

I visited my aunt (she was awake! I showed her some pics of Midnight and Baby A – who is not a baby anymore! She starts pre-K this fall!) and hit the Price Chopper down there because the one I went to yesterday had zero bananas and none of the red grapes I like. I have them now. I got to mom’s about 10:15am and left at 3pm.

I stopped at the library on the way home to return a book (and talked to the librarian about it and the other series she recommended) and hit the bank drive-thru. I baked salmon for Pip’s supper, dried and folded the second load of laundry, hand-washed more dishes, and showered.

I finished the Duncan Kincaid book and read the next Inn at Holiday Bay cozy. (They’re very easy reads and kind of short.)

Temps started out at 62.6(F) and reached 86.4. It was warm out, but not as horrible as when the temps hit the 90s. We were originally supposed to have scattered thunderstorms but they never materialized.


Mom Update:

Mom was sitting on the porch for the second time when I got there. Expandmore back here )
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
([personal profile] spikedluv Jul. 10th, 2025 08:14 am)
Murderbot: Good ep! Expandspoilers )


Resident Alien: Good ep! Expandspoilers )
.