It's Monday! What Are You Reading? June 13th

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?  is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. Share what you are reading, what you read recently or what you hope to get to in the coming week and then link up with Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great place to see what is going on in the blogosphere and to add to your reading lists.

 Still working on this collection, the first in the group is Ghostly Paws by Leighann Dobbs. 

I will like it I am sure, if I can just pick up my Kindle and get to it. 

I am enjoying this one too. Although it is the 10th in the Dixie Hemingway series, it doesn't feel as though I have missed anything. Dixie tells her back story, or least parts of it, well enough that I do not feel lost at all. I am pretty sure I will gladly pick up the first several in this series. ( This one was won in a Giveaway at Cathy's blog, Kittling: Books.Thanks again Cathy)


Next I will select either:  Broad Influence by Jay Newton-Small,  one of my book club's summer selections

2016 will be one of the most historic years in politics: It marks the potential for the first female President of the United States, and the 100th anniversary of the first woman elected to Congress. Additionally, in 2016, single women will be one of the most pivotal voting groups heading into the general election, being courted by both Democrats and Republicans.

or The Quilter's Homecoming by Jennifer Chiaverini, a series I started years ago and then let fall away. 

  

Hope your week is productive on the reading front and enjoyable too. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Saturday Snapshots June 11 2016

To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on Melinda's blog, West Metro Mommy Reads .  Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online

Today I am sharing some photos taken by friends and family. A collection of summer scenes. 

This one was taken by my sister on a morning walk. She is lucky enough to have a wilderness area close to her home. She calls it Double Ducks. 

My sister-in-law and my brother are new retirees and are very good at finding fun things to do and places to go, just because.  My home town of Rapid City SD, has developed a Downtown Plaza in recent years. There is a celebration every Thursday night. Music, food, and events. Last Thursday it was very warm, finally and the fountain was turned on. They allow kids to play in the fountain.

And a friend discovered this beauty among the flowers on display at Walmart. I think it is stunning!

Hope everyone has or is having a great weekend.

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Review: Chesapeake Song by Brenda Lane Richardson

Her thirteen-year marriage troubled by hurt and doubts, Tamra Lane embarks on a spiritual journey into her past and draws strength from the experiences of her mother and grandmother.

Although I felt this book started slowly, I grew more and more drawn into the story. It is a love story that explores the paths our lives take based on our childhood, or heritage, or experiences. Tamra loves her husband. She loves her children. How then can she walk away in search for herself. Ms. Richardson uses flashbacks to explore Tamra's life in Nanticoke Maryland, her family relationships and the consequences of her life and her relationships. The story involves love, marriage, family obligations, careers, substance abuse, life and death. It is a story worth exploring and I was happy with the ending. It's just life after all. 

Although I purchased this book a long while ago, so it doesn't meet the criteria for Read The Books  You Buy Challenge 2016 hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, it does meet the guidelines for the 2016 Women's Fiction Reading Challenge.  

This book is out of print, but you may be able to find it at your library or used book store. When I looked today, Amazon has it on sale for $5.60 and only 1 left!!  Just FYI!

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Wondrous Words Wednesday 6-8-16

Kathy at Bermuda Onion hosts Wondrous Words Wednesday. A chance to highlight words you find while reading or occasionally by listening. Share your words then link up with Kathy's blog so we can all learn a new wondrous word.

This week I was neglectful in taking note of words while reading. I was so focused on finally finishing a book that I just soldiered on.  So I will check out my Word of the Day email from Miriam Webster. 

ululate - verb    

: howl or wail 

I remember seeing this word and even looking it up in the past. But I did not remember it. So I guess a refresher is in order. 

Two examples from the email. 

"Millions of pop culture devotees weep and ululate over the death of David Bowie. His passing is noteworthy, given his significant celebrity profile, but I shall miss [journalist] George Jonas' contributions more." — Randall Bell, letter in The National Post (Canada), 13 Jan. 2016   "They talked loud in their language, and together they sounded like mourners ululating." — Sefi Atta, Everything Good Will Come, 2005 (2008)

foozle - verb   

to manage or play akwardly,  bungle

Examples from the email:

After the receiver foozled the catch, the kicking team recovered the ball at the opponent's 10-yard line.   "He foozled a short putt on the 72nd green at Southern Hills in Tulsa that would've won him the 2001 Open, then played solidly in a Monday playoff and defeated Mark Brooks for the title." — Gary Van Sickle, Golf.com, 30 July 2015

I am going to have to remember this one. I am sure I will have ample opportunity to use it in the upcoming football season. Hopefully, not when my favorite team has the ball!

Did you find any wondrous words this week?

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Cat Sitter's Wiskers

Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea hosts this Tuesday meme. It is a place to share the first paragraph in the first chapter of a book you are reading or hope to get to soon. It is a great place to see what others are reading and add to your ever growing list of title to explore. So let's share. Write a post and then go link up at Diane's blog.

The Cat Sitter's Whiskers
Blaize & John Clement
2015
A Dixie Hemingway Mystery #10



1

It was a little after 5:00 on Monday morning when I pulled my bike out and brushed off the dewy cobwebs that had appeared between the spokes overnight. The sky was coal-black except for the vaguest hint of pale pink breaking at the horizon to the east. I knew once the sun got herself situated it would be hot as blue blazes, but for now there was a cool breeze riding in on the waves from the ocean, so I zipped up my hoodie before I rolled across the courtyard. 



Are you a cozy mystery fan?  Would you read on?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? June 6, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?  is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. Share what you are reading, what you read recently or what you hope to get to in the coming week and then link up with Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great place to see what is going on in the blogosphere and to add to your reading lists.


I feel like I should just copy and paste from last week, because although progress has been made, I still have not finished the two books that I have in progress. Goodreads is taunting me with "7 books behind schedule" and I am berating myself too. 

I am nearly done with Chesapeake Song and about 1/3 the way through Ghostly Paws. Both are good, just can't stay with them. Sigh!

This morning I will go with Mr Busy to the dentist. He will be on a relaxing drug so he can't drive.  The appointment is scheduled for four hours, so I should get a book finished, I hope. 

Next up is: 

A Zen for Murder by Leighann Dobbs :

And I am looking forward to receiving a book I won in a drawing at Kittling Books. I think it too is a cozy. 

I have not read this author, so I am looking forward to it. If the cover reveals the setting, it will be tropical!

Until then, 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy 

Saturday Snapshots 6-4-16

To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on Melinda's blog, West Metro Mommy Reads .  Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online


This week has been a bit busy as well. Some of you who visit here occasionally know that last Saturday we had family here, for a baby shower. I shared some photos here. I decided to share some more and a couple from the rest of the week.

 I asked Mr Busy to take pics with my phone, while I tried to write down who the gifts were from.

The content show lots of foreground of messy tables etc. ugh!  And bits of others getting photographs. She opened tons of clothes and a few other things like, diapers, wipes and an extra car seat base for the infant carrier. This being their second baby, most of the other "necessary" items they already have.

I need to try to crop and edit some of the shots. Mr Busy put my phone on video, so I have a great many. 

It is finally summer here in NE Wyoming. 70 and even 80 degrees on one day. 

Brats and beer were enjoyed one evening. Paper plates are our norm in the summer. 

I finished the binding on a small lap quilt that had been in my pile of UFO's ( unfinished objects) for far too long. 

And I got a quilt back from a friend who has a longarm machine so that will get binding in the next week or so. 

Before you get too excited, the center of the quilt is a panel, not appliqued. I bought this kit at a quilt shop in downtown Chandler AZ.  Wish I could remember the name of the shop. 

Here is a closeup of the quilting that Linnie did on her longarm machine. 

And I bought a few potted things, so I can get my outside pots ready to set out, now that it is finally warm enough that I don't have to worry about frost. 

Thursday was our wedding anniversary and Mr. Busy bought me a pot already planted with red,  white, and purple petunias. I love it. 

Thanks for sticking with me on this photo heavy post. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy