I LIKE Thursday #280

 

Another favorite from Sweatpants and Coffee!  You can stay, I’ve had my coffee!🥰☕️

Joining LeeAnna and friends, sharing likes and learning about each other. 

May 14 2026

mini skirts? Not really mini. But I did wear short above the knee skirts. Maybe a palm’s length!  My knees were slimmer way back then. 

fishnet hose?  Never! In the 50’s I was an adolescent. Then in the 70-80’s when they were in vogue again, I was  a young mother with small children. I always thought they were sort of “slutty”. 

halter tops? Yes. It was a way to be sort of cool (literally and fashionably), without being too “slutty”. I have small bosoms, no chance of fallout!🤣

Other likes this week.   I cut blue squares for the 4th Blue January block, and cut more orange 2 1/2” squares for May’s week 2. 

I’m doing some regular embroidery. Working on initials for Pincushions. 

Here are 4 I have finished. Some will be gifted tomorrow. 

One for Sherry, one for Cheryl, one for Marva and one for Eileen.  Next is Glenda, then Connie, then MaryJean. 

I hope to get going on this cross stitch. 

It will complement my Summer stitch from 2025. Both of these are from Primrose Cottage.

Not much else except we are still staying really busy supervising the puppy. Whew! I’d forgotten how tiring raising a toddler is! The silver lining is my kitchen and dining room floors are getting mopped much more frequently. Shiny!!   LOL

We watched Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix last Thursday night. Mr. Busy enjoyed it, I did too. But definitely will say the book was better. It will be one of my favorite books of all time . 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful!

I LIKE Thursday

 LeeAnna chose these for our questions today. Go to Not Afraid of Color and check out how others answered. goodyou remember dying easter eggs? did you do it with your mom, or the other kids,

Do you remember dying Easter Eggs?   We did dye eggs. I was the oldest so l helped my mom get ready. The thing I remember most is the dye was added to hot water and vinegar. Ooh the smell!

Did you have the crayon to premark them? I  remember having the marking crayon that acted as a resist to the dye, but I remember this when I was a young mother and my daughter loved making the words or designs show up like magic. 

What did you do with them? As a child, and the oldest, I always hid the eggs and my sister and brother hunted for them. As parents, the dad hid the eggs so the kid could look for them. I often had to remind him not to put them too high. There was frequently snow on the ground so the egg hunt happened in the house. 

Do  your mom, or the other kids,

We have had a nice couple of days this week. The trees are budding out in the yard. I still haven’t seen flowers, but to be truthful,  my yard doesn’t have perennials. But my Holiday Cactus decided to make one bloom!

I have been reading about mushrooms coffee. Mostly the Ryze brand is what I have noticed in commercials and ads on Facebook.  But there is a product called Mud/Wtr, that my granddaughter had mentioned. I read up on that one. Seemed like it would have more flavor with the chai spices and the cocoa. The jury is still out. I tried it yesterday. But I got a frother in my intro pkg. ❤️

Got the SAHRR back from my quilter Aggie. It’s gorgeous. I’ll be hand stitching the binding to the back today at my stitching group. The quilting is gorgeous. Holly leaves, berries and swirls. 

We/I started watching  Virgin River , Season 6.  It’s a Chick Flick, based on books by Robyn Carr. Mr Busy sits and plays on his iPad, at the kitchen table like me or on your lap in front of the tv? at an actual desk? Do you use a computer or do it from your phone or ipad?  show us a pic if you can, of your set

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and  Healthy and Hopeful!

( not to be political, but our retirement fund took a huge hit this week! I’m frightened!)

I LIKE Thursday ~ Remembering Dad!

For June 15 2023
in recognition of father's day, do you have any particular memories to
share? This could be, and will be for me, a man who filled the role of
father for you in any way...  I have fond memories of my step father.
What about any likes about your own children if you have any, and a way
they honored your husband? Or if lacking any father like men in your

life, what would you like in a father?  We're looking for things we
liked about kind men in our lives.


My dad was a positive, can-do kind of guy! I rarely remember him being a disciplinarian! At least not a stern one.  He wrote love poems to my mom on any occasion. He was always building or fixing something. He was a game hunter. He insisted my siblings and I take the hunter safety course offered by the Game and Fish Department. He loved the two grandchildren he got to meet-my two children. He liked to cook, especially on the charcoal grill. He suffered from psoriasis, he was a smoker ( unfiltered Camels, then switched to Kents.). 

If it sounds like I’m reminiscing, I am. I lost my Dad in October 1969, he was 49, I was 23! I only have good memories of him now. 

This picture was taken Christmas 1968

My kids barely or don’t remember him. Our oldest was almost 5 and the youngest was just a year old. Both of them have always treated their dad , Mr Busy, with love and respect. I think they learned that from their dad by the way he treated his own father and grandfather. 

Typing this made me melancholy! I wish I had had him in my life longer. 

Other things to like this week!

We’ve been watching old seasons of S.W.A.T. That has allowed me to stitch several nights and I’m nearly done with Spring Stamp Sampler. 

And we’ve also watched some old Jesse Stone movies, with a much younger Tom Selleck..

I’ve been sewing mainly on my house blocks. The flimsy is done. You can check out my post here and on Instagram.   Ps: I can’t figure out how to link my Instagram post. But if you want to follow me , I’m on IG as “@gmaquilts4me”. 

 I’ve been successfully tracking my food on the WW( formerly Weight Watchers). And there has been a 10 lb loss on the scale! 

It’s been raining regularly, so I haven’t had to water the tomatoes much! 

Yesterday was Flag Day here in the US. We put out our flag! 

A dreary morning, cooler today! Spending the day stitching with the Thursday Stitchers! 

Be sure and go to LeeAnna’s post Not Afraid of Color  and check in with others on her list. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy and Healthy and Hopeful!

Deep Down Dark by Hector Tobar

Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free
Hector Tobar
2014  Picador Movie Tie-In  Ebook


On August 5, 2010, 33 of the men that make up the A shift, enter the San Jose Mine in Copiapo, Chile. One man, Mario Sepulveda is late. He is hoping that maybe he will be fired, and that will make it easier for a friend to get him a job at another mine. Most of the miners live in the Copiapo area. Mario commutes from Santiago. As he walks toward the mine, a friend gives him a life and he arrives in time to report for his shift, only the supervisor Luis Urzua notices but makes no mention. Now all 34 men are beginning their work day.

Raul Villegas, driving a dump truck of ore to the surface, passes all the other miners on his way out of the mine. He is the only one to escape as the blast and collapse happen behind him. It is 1:40 pm.
At first, the rumble and the dust catch everyone by surprise and then they realize what has happened. The next few minutes they try desperately to determine where their companions are and if they are all safe. As the dust settles and they start a head count, all are accounted for except for Raul, the driver of the dump truck. All are uninjured.

What happens in the next few hours, and the days and weeks that follow is nothing short of miraculous. As luck would have it they are trapped near the Refuge. A sort of break room, with reinforced walls and a small kitchen. They are able to move up and down several levels but their escape routes are all blocked or the chimneys have no ladders. Several vehicles are operable, have gas, batteries and there is a large tank of water used for servicing the equipment.

Hector Tobar continues to tell the story and intricately weaves the personal stories of the miners and their families, the townspeople of Copiapo and the government officials of Chili with the details of the mine and what happens when "the mine pancakes." I found the story impossible to put out of my mind and it caused me to wonder if I would have been able to deal with the hardship that occurred. I'm not sure that I would have.

I would suggest reading this book if you like non-fiction and even if you don't. I have a few friends that normally do not pick non-fictions, but because this was a book club selection, they read it and enjoyed it. It is well written with wonderful descriptions of the surrounding area and the time inside the mine. I am also anxious to see the movie   THE 33.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? Book Club Selections Feb & March

I am linking up with Kathryn at Book Date for It's Monday!  What Are You Reading?  




On My Kindle:  Still but almost finished

Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Fee
Hector Tobar

This week on Tuesday, my face to face book club meets to discuss this book. I am really enjoying it. It is from the title a basically feel good story. They do get rescued.  The author is a Pulitzer prize winning journalist, so the writing is good.


Print Book:
Our next read is The Liar's Club by  Mary Karr.

 I am looking forward to reading this one too. One of the members of our book club told me she found the book in the YA section at our library. I purchased mine at Amazon and haven't really researched it. Have you read it?  My friend says it is a dark book.


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Review: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail by Cheryl Strayed

Title:   Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail
Author: Cheryl Strayed
Publisher :  Alfred Knopf   2012



Goodreads:

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State — and she would do it alone.
Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.



My thoughts:

I found this story to be an honest, raw telling of a remarkable memoir. Some others have said they hated it!  I have no idea why. I am not a literary critic, I am an old lady who likes to read books. Books that share someone's life, books that tell stories I have never heard, books that take me places that I will never visit. Who am I to judge someone else's journey. I have not walked their walk.

I found Cheryl's story to be well told. I have never seen much of California, San Diego for a weekend and a step over the border near Reno NV.  I could see the landscape as she described it. I could smell the desert and the forest. I could share her fear of the unknown, the dark shadows. I could not have continued as long as she did with feet that blistered and bled and shed their toenails. I am in awe of her courage, her tenacity, her honesty. Maybe we didn't need to hear of her "before" lifestyle. But I think it is what drove her to this journey. Maybe we didn't need to hear about her "sex on the beach" so to speak, but it was honest. We are all human, with desires and wants, needs and fears.

I loved this book. I will recommend it to others. I now want to see the movie and I will read other books by this author, as well as the books she read on her quest.



Stay Busy and Stay Happy







This book is : TBR Triple Dog Dare
                                                       Read What You Buy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday - Wild -1-11-16

Every Tuesday I join First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros where Diane shares the first paragraph sometimes two from a book she is reading or plans to read soon. Join us at Bibliophile By the Sea and see what others are reading. 


I have wanted to read this book and see the movie since I first downloaded onto my Kindle. I am a fan of Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern. Guess I will read the book first, then watch the movie. 

Title: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail
Author: Cheryl Strayed
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House

PROLOGUE

   The trees were tall, but I was taller, standing above them on a steep mountain slope in northern California. Moments before, I'd removed my hiking boots and the left one had fallen into those trees, first catapulting into the air when my enormous backpack toppled onto it, then skittering across the gravelly trail and flying over the edge, It bounced off of a rocky outcropping several feet beneath me before disappearing into the forest canopy below, impossible to retrieve. I let out a stunned gasp, though I'd been in the wilderness thirty-eight days and by then I'd come to know that anything could happen and that everything would. But that doesn't mean I wasn't shocked when it did. My boot was gone. Actually gone.
   I clutched its mate to my chest like a baby, though of course it was futile. What is one boot without the other boot? It is nothing. It is useless, an orphan forevermore, and I could take no mercy on it. It was a big lug of a thing, of genuine heft, a brown leather Raichle boot with a red lace and silver metal fasts. I lifted it high and threw it with all my might and watched it fall into the lush trees and out of my life.

What do you think? Would you continue?  Or have you already read this one?

I started this one last night and although I am only on page 26, I am already loving it.  Cheryl is one tough cookie. I think she gets her tenacity from her mother.


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? Jan 10, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you are and about to be reading over the week.  It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever-growing TBR pile!  This meme started with J Kaye's Blog   and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. So share what you are reading this week and link up with Book Date. 

On my Kindle:

Goodreads Synopsis:

     Emily's life has reached an impasse so large that she has decided that she needs to make some big changes. When she makes her decision, she dives in with her whole being to make changes so that she stops disappearing from her own life. Will all the miles help or hurt her? Will things be different in a new place or will she bring all her emotional baggage with her? Can she be independent and learn to trust again?

This one has been on my Kindle since 2013. I don't know what took me so long to decide to read it.



Print Book:

I am still working on this one.  I did not get it finished for the read along in December. Last year I wanted to read more classics, but I did not get any read. So this year I will again work on reading more classics. 

Next on my Kindle:

Everyone else has probably already read this, but I have been holding out. Why, I do not know. But I am about to dig in. 

What are you reading?

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - If I Stay 7-28

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea hosts this place to share a bit of the book you are currently reading or on you hope to read soon. It is fun to read about what others are reading and test the waters a bet to see if you might be interested in that particular title. Share the first paragraph or two of the first paragraph of the book you are reading and then link up at Diane's Blog. 



If I Stay
Gayle Forman
Penguin Goup 2009

7:09 AM
Everyone thinks it was because of the snow. And in a way, I suppose that is true.

I wake up this morning to a thin blanket of white covering our front lawn. It isn't even an inch,  but in this part of Oregon a slight dusting brings everything to a standstill as the one snowplow in the county get busy clearing the roads. It is wet water that drops from the sky - and drops and drops and drops - not the frozen kind. 

These first two paragraphs don't really give you an idea of the subject of the book. Maybe most of you have read this one or have seen the movie.

                       

When I purchased this book at a local store the clerk asked me if I had seen the movie. I said I hadn't and that I usually liked to read the book first. The lady behind me, with a walker (so she wasn't young), said "Definitely read the book first, but see the movie too."   I am finally finding time to read the book and it is so engrossing, I am having a hard time putting it down to go to sleep. I will rent the movie too.


Stay Busy and Stay Happy
Judy