A Sunday Currently

Outside my window...

Kansas has been in a deep, deep chill. But we have enjoyed a beautiful weekend with temps hovering around the 60*. Don't get too excited, though, Mother Nature says! Tomorrow we are looking for snow! That is just the way it is.

 
Pondering..

The only pondering I have been doing this past week (or two) is I am suffering through another bout of gout. (Love my rhyming here) It is about gone. Thank you Lord. But, yesterday I started with cold-like symptoms. Now, I am not sure where this came from (I am blaming Harley) since I haven't left the house in a week. She must have brought it home from school. We have a lot of flu here in town from the sounds of things. And I am happily staying away from all of that. 

Watching...

Since I have mostly been at home with my legs elevated I am watching a lot of TV. Politics!! I won't even get started on what I think of our President right now. Moving on.


Reading...

I've also done a good bit of reading and listening to books. So I have some reviews to do. I am finishing listening to Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Ed Tarkington. This is my book club's February read. I must say it isn't what I expected. But I am liking it. 

 
Drinking....

Enjoying my coffee every morning. And I like hot apple cider in the afternoon. 



What's in the kitchen...

Haven't any formal plans recently. We eat what we are hungry for and what I have in the kitchen. 



A quote to share...

A final thought...

I hope you are all well! I have stories and photos to share about what we have been doing in January. But I am headed back to my recliner for the rest of today.

Take care!!

Nothing but Books

It's no wonder I am not getting anything done around here when I look at what I have been doing. And, yes, even though all of these are books I listened to, mostly I listened while sitting on my big butt. That is just the way it is. Winter does that to me. What can I say? I do really hope to take down the Christmas tree today. (don't judge me, it's still up but the decorations are off it. Progress)

This first book Reason To Breathe by Rebecca Donovan was a good listen. The lead character is a high school girl who is living with her aunt and uncle. The uncle is the brother of her dead father. Her mother is unfit to take care of her so she was sent to live with the uncle. The aunt hates her and resents her. And is CRAZY! Emma just really wants to not be noticed and is counting down the days until she can get away from her aunt. But, like all good stories, along comes a boy! And she falls in love. And still tries to hide the fact her aunt is physically and mentally abusing her. The story does not have a neat little bow at the end.  But leaves it open for book 2. I don't know yet if I want to go there. I will give the book 3 ***. It drags some but for the most part is a good story.

Next, I listened to The Whiskey Sea by Ann Howard Creel. The leading lady of this story is Freida, along with her little sister Bea. The girls were left orphaned when their mother, the town prostitute, dies. They are taken in by  a kind fisherman, Silver. Silver raises them and teaches Frieda a love for the sea. But Frieda wants to be able to provide more for her little sister. She needs more money than she can earn fishing. So she takes up rum-running during the Prohibition years. It is a dangerous job but she loves the thrill of it. She, too, falls in love. And almost loses it all before she comes to her senses at the end of the book. I loved the story. I love the sea. And I love myself a feisty heroine. This books gets 4****. 

And lastly, I listened to The Dancing Girls by Kylie Brant. This book is a mystery thriller. It is good! I couldn't stop listening. The story starts with the disappearance of a young girl. It closely matches the disappearance of another girl, Kelsey, seven years earlier. The disappearance of Kelsey has ripped her family apart. Her dad is a work-aholic, mom is a drunk, and little sister is socially inept. Whitney, the latest girl who disappeared, is being kept by a monster and made to perform ballet dances for him. When she doesn't get it just right she is severely punished. She finds some papers written by Kelsey and plans her escape. But it is Mark Foster, a detective, who figures out who is taking these girls and manages to save her just in the nick of time. And the monster is caught. And not who you suspect throughout the book. I love these kinds of books. It is a solid *** book. 

Now I really need to get my butt up and put that darn tree away. But, I'll do it while listening to my next book...Allie and Bea by Katherine Ryan Hyde. Until next time..... 

December Favorites

I always have a good deal of things I find in the month of December that become a favorite. Probably because I got them as Christmas presents. And my family knows me well. They know what I like.

Papa's shirts

Remember when I told you Paige took all of Richard's shirts home with her to make a quilt? Well I got it for Christmas. It is big enough to cover my lap as I sit in my chair. The wonderful thing is before she wrapped it she sprayed it with his cologne ( After he died, I had given each of the girls a small bottle of it so they could always know what Papa's smell was like)Talk about memories and tears. This definitely brought it on for all of us. I love that she made it herself. She is very talented. The stitching is beautiful. Plus, all of the shirts she selected are the ones we bought for him when we made our trip to Disney World in 2011 (so we all wore matching colors). That gives the quilt some extra meaning. This will be a cherished piece for me. And when I am gone she can have it back!

I also discovered another new wine in the month of December. I think I must like Moscato because these are the ones I am

liking the most. This one is Marco Negri Moscato d'Asti. It is very smooth. And I think I could drink the entire bottle (small, of course) by myself. Have you ever tried this wine?

Next on my list of favorites is my blanket. It is a 
Newport Velvet Berber full size blanket. I have lived under this thing since Christmas day. We are having cold, cold, cold temperatures here in Kansas and I don't like to turn my furnace above 68-70 so this is 
keeping me toasty warm. It has a red/black Buffalo print on one side and the other side is a white Berber. I could stay under this for the rest of my life. And this little fellow here came for a day of dog-sitting and he liked it too. His name is Coco and he was a Christmas present to one of my 'adopted' granddaughters. Isn't he precious? And what about that glorious blanket?? 

my blanket

Coco

Now, last month I told you about my favorite stainless steel tumbler. Remember? For

Christmas I got a stainless steel wine glass. This can't be beat for keeping my wine cold. I like to sip my wine. But I don't like warm wine. So this is perfect! Not as pretty as the glass wine glasses I also got for Christmas. But a whole lot more practical for snuggling under my blanket and sipping wine while I read off my new Kindle. My Nook Color, which I got for Christmas years ago, is about to bite the bullet. And Barnes and Nobel no longer supports the model I have. So I got a Kindle Fire with some of my Christmas money. And when you are a Amazon Prime member you can do a lot of reading from their Prime  Reading or from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library. I've also found something about Audible books but I haven't checked into it yet. Maybe they are cheaper too. I am a new Amazon Prime member. If you have any tips or tricks for me I'd love to hear them.

I have discovered a couple of new K-cups for my Keurig to share with you. I am loving Gloria Jean's Butter Toffee coffee and Kahlua light roast coffee. Both of these with French Vanilla cream make for a delightful cup of Joe. Do you have a favorite flavor. 

This brings me to the end of my favorites for December. What did you dig on in December?

Happy New Year and 3 Book Reviews

Happy New Year to all! Wasn't it just yesterday we were wishing each other a Happy 2017? And now we are already at the New Year again. 2018!! Hard to believe. But it is what it is.

I have been listening to audio books lately. I listen as I work around the house. I listen as I sit and work on my 2018 Bullet Journal. I listen on my way to sleep (and sometimes am kept awake by the book I am listening to). So, therefore, I have three new books to review. And I liked them all. 

 The first book is Good Behavior by Blake
Crouch. This book is three short stories about Letty Dobesh. Letty is a thief. And a drug addict. The stories are quick and fascinating, to say the least. I , also learned, there is a TV series connected to this character. The TV show is on TNT and in season 2. There are 20 episodes so far. I am going to have to see if this in on Netflix and maybe see if I like the TV show as much as I liked the book. In the first story Letty is in the midst of robbing a man in a hotel room when he and another man return to the room. She hides in the closet and hears the man hire the other man to kill his wife. Letty feels the need to warn the wife. She might be a thief but she has some morals. LOL! In the second story Letty is paid to go to the mansion of a very rich man to steal something but finds that the real reason she is there is to provide some 'hunting' fun for the owner who is to report the next morning to prison. In the final story, Letty is going to help take-down a casino in Las Vegas. This was the best of the three, in my opinion. Between each story the author talks about his reason for writing each story and a little about the TV series. This is good! I give it a solid *** stars.

Next on my recent list of 'listen to's' is Good Me, Bad Me by Ali Land. This is a

psychological thriller and a good one. The main character, Milly, is the daughter of a serial killer mother. She is living in the home of her therapist and he is preparing her for the trial. Most of the people in her new life don't know her past. As the story develops Milly has to decide if she is going to follow her good side or her bad side. Another book with a solid *** stars.

Lastly, I listened to Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. This book is on the 100 BOOKS EVERYONE SHOULD READ  list that I occasionally pick books from. After all, if everyone should read them, why not? Right? This book was published in 1969 but it is about the end of World War 2 when the title character, Billy Pilgrim, is captured by the Germans and survives the intense air raids of Dresden by hiding in a slaughterhouse freezer. The book is really dealing with Billy's thoughts on the war and the mental illness it has created in what we would now call PTSD. In the book he 'time travels' between the war and his current and past lives. I can't believe I enjoyed this book so much. And "so it goes"...... A solid *** stars here too.

Have you read or listened to any of these. What is your thoughts?? And what are you doing to celebrate the New Year?