Lisa R. Howeler's Blog, page 62

Saturday Afternoon Chat: Nice, cool weather visits us for the summer

Welcome to the Saturday Afternoon Chat where I  . . . um . . . . chat. Ha!

Anyhow, I can’t offer you tea today because I am out of tea! I can offer you some lemonade, water, coffee, chocolate milk or plain, whole, lactose-free milk.

(I do have one tea that my blogging friend Bettie sent me but the cinnamon is a bit overpowering, just to give you a heads up. I’ll still make you some if you want it, though. *wink*)

We had fall temperatures this week and I loved it!

I just wanted to share that with all of you.

On Tuesday it was so nice and cool that I made ham and bean soup and it was seriously so comforting. On Monday Little Miss had some sort of allergy attack or brief illness, but I am guessing it was simply sinus issues because she gets these off and on and allergies have been high in our area. By Wednesday I had the same thing but no fever at all. I’m pretty certain we were all dealing with issues from the weather change, which was from very hot to nice and cool.

On Friday the humidity came back and we have some of that today but the temperature is still in the high 70s, which I am fine with.

Our little allergy attack or whatever, threw our week off a bit but that’s okay because we didn’t have a ton scheduled anyhow. Sadly we didn’t get to go swimming but we hope to later today and also tomorrow.

On Thursday we went to my parents to have lunch with my mom for her birthday. It had to be a quick lunch because I had to take my son back to the town we live in (seven minutes away) for him to get to work and Little Miss back for gymnastics.

Yesterday, The Husband, me, and the kids had lunch out together and then The Husband went grocery shopping while the kids and I sat in the new truck like a bunch of slugs. We didn’t help because The Husband moves fast and we can’t keep up. He’s very efficient and we tend to distract him.

Right now I am sitting on my daughter’s bed writing this blog post because it is one of the coolest rooms upstairs once the air conditioning and fan are on. I really wish the humidity would go away again.

Our cat, Scout, is sitting next to me which is very unusual because she’s normally outside exploring. This is the second day she’s chosen to stay inside and nap so I hope she is okay. She’s a hunter and loves to take down mice, moles, birds, and snakes. Her not doing that has me a little worried, but maybe she’s just catching up on some sleep.

Little Miss says maybe she just wants to hang out with me and I suppose that is a possibility.

This week was a lot slower than other weeks and we needed that.

I was supposed to start a new job next week but found out some very disturbing things about the owners of the magazine I was going to work for so I backed out.

What’s odd is that when I searched up the name of the potential employers at first all I saw were their own sites and anything positive but when I did the same on my phone (to see if there were any former employees who commented on sites about the fairness of their compensation offer) the name of the company with the word scandal came up. It was almost like God wanted me to see the posts and information about the scandal that happened about 9 years ago.

That sent me off down rabbit holes I did not want to go down and eventually led me to someone who had been involved in a very sick situation involving the owners and their family. Once I confirmed the stories were true, I sent an email and withdrew my acceptance of the offer.

It is very sad and sick how people in leadership roles take advantage of others and then act like dark things that happened never happened simply because the individuals don’t want to give up their power and money.

It was disappointing that I wouldn’t have an opportunity to make some extra money as our family really needs it right now, but I could not, in good conscience, work for people who covered up very serious crimes and in some cases perpetrated those crimes.

I’m not really sure I would have made money in the job anyhow with the way the payment structure was set up. Plus, the company was very legalistic in their Christian views and that’s a bit scary for me considering some of my background.

This upcoming week we don’t have anything scheduled but I have planning to do for homeschool and my parents’ 60th anniversary party in September.

How was your week last week? Anything exciting coming up this week? Let me know in the comments!

Looking back at July and ahead to August

In some ways, August came fast. In other ways, it felt like it might never get here and I would have been okay with that.

July was a whirlwind of activities. It kicked off with a fantastic private fireworks display near us.

If you are a regular reader here, you might remember that was the night I thought I was going to die.

I’m hoping August will be less so and at least this week it should be less crazy.

In July we had a lot of activities – summer reading, camps, swimming, appointments, new trucks to pick up, and friends of Little Miss and The Boy coming over. It was all a bit crazy at times.

We tried to go swimming at my parents at least once a week in July to take advantage of the pool my dad had worked so hard on throughout May and part of June.

I wrote a little bit about Little Miss and me and how we play in the pool in a post last week. She, of course, is very creative and likes me to rate her jumps from the ladder into the pool in the voices of the characters from the books we’ve read together over the last couple of years.

Most of the events we had weren’t the entire day but they were in the middle of the day so it would make traveling or attending other events a challenge. It was okay, though, because it gave us something fun to do without draining a ton of our time and energy – or at least it shouldn’t have drained our energy but there were some weeks where we felt a bit drained from all the running around.

There were a couple 45-minute trips, up and back, to either drop cars off places and pick them up or pick up the new truck (last week).

Being so busy didn’t give me a lot of time to blog or read blogs. I did have some time to read and work on book two of my cozy mystery series, however. I’m really enjoying writing this series. It’s a ton of fun.

This week I need to shift into homeschool planning mode, even though it doesn’t start for another couple of weeks.

Usually, we start school after Labor Day, but this year The Boy will be attending a career center near us and school starts August 24th for him so I decided Little Miss and I will start the same day, but with a reduced schedule. We will probably read a few books, or watch some educational videos each day to ease our way back into the school year. Math, which neither of my children enjoys, even though they are both good at it, will wait until sometime in September.

I won’t give The Boy any assignments after school those first days when he starts at the career center and instead will start adding his homeschool lessons in very slowly as we get closer to September. The career center classes are from 8:30 to 11:30 each day and then he will have homeschool lessons in the afternoon throughout the school year.

This should probably be in a separate homeschool post and most likely will be put in a separate one too, but I am truly looking forward to our homeschool year this year. By the end of last year, I had found a groove for homeschooling that works much better for us as a family. A more laid-back groove that will allow us to learn in a more relaxed and free way. There will be more emphasis on reading, exploring, hands-on activities, music and art and less focus on strictly following a curriculum, worksheets, busy work, and anything else that public schools focus on and call a real education. I don’t want my kids to have to prove they know something by filling out worksheets, taking tests, writing essays or regurgitating to me what they’ve learned.

We will, of course, have to do some of those things to help me know what areas we might need more work on and because those are the kinds of things I need to show a little bit of at the end of the school year to our evaluator, but it will not be our main focus this year and I’m so excited.

We have a few more summer activities for August – including a local firemen’s carnival, trips to local state parks, and a vacation Bible school at the local Catholic Church, which is held by all the churches in town – Catholic and Protestant.

We also are planning at least one or two more trips to a local state park and maybe to an amusement park a couple hours away. It’s hard to get too far away because of The Husband’s schedule. A lot of the events he covers during the summer are on the weekends.

How about you? How was your July and what’s on your schedule for August?

Here are a few photos from the month of July. With all the activities we took part in, I am surprised I didn’t take more photographs. This isn’t all of the photographs I took. I have some on my phone as well but in August I hope to take even more on the Nikon.

The inspiration behind my cozy mystery book character Gladwynn Grant

This is my grandmother, the namesake of the main character in Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing.

My grandmother’s middle name was actually Gladwyn or Gladwin, we aren’t exactly sure of the spelling because it is spelled different ways on different documents. I like how Gladwynn looked when I wrote it, though, so that’s what I named my character.

Also, after she got married, Grandma was a Robinson, not a Grant, but I liked the name Gladwynn Grant more. Alliteration and all that.

Why did I base the main character of my cozy mystery series on my grandmother?

One, I love the name. Two, my grandmother had spunk.

My grandmother didn’t often show her emotions outwardly.

She wasn’t super affectionate.

She wasn’t necessarily sentimental.

She wasn’t a jokester and I don’t know that I’d call her vivacious.

These are all things I could use to describe my Gladwynn.

I could use other words to describe Gladwynn that I have also used to describe Grandma: determined, bold, and resilient.

My grandmother was born in 1909. She lived through the Great Depression, two world wars, and many other wars and tragedies. Her only sister, her only sibling, ended up in a mental hospital late in life after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. She lost her husband thirty-four years before she passed away.

She developed macular degeneration in her 80s and almost completely lost her eyesight, but didn’t let that stop her. She found ways to help her see better, and found a machine to enlarge the print for her so she could read the newspaper or write checks. She went out to dinner with family and she loved her family in her own special way.

She was quiet, reserved, and subtle, but also never backed down, never gave up, and never stopped living life to the fullest.

She passed away two weeks before her 94th birthday from a heart condition that doctors were amazed she’d lived with for so long.

That condition didn’t show up until her 90s, despite years of battling high blood pressure. She was tiny and spry and right up until a few weeks (maybe a few days?) before she passed away she was able to squat down to look at her TV and bounce right back up again like she had the legs and knees of a 20-year-old.

When I took this photo she was out in her backyard, cleaning out a ditch with some kind of gardening tool. She was wearing a pair of gardening gloves and sitting on her bottom, a position she’d gotten into all by herself. I can’t remember her age here. Maybe 88?

All I know is that this is the version of Ula Gladwynn Grant Robinson that I love to remember. Even though she wasn’t always open with her feelings, she did enjoy laughing, she smiled and she, on occasion, even told me she loved me.

I miss her, and my maternal grandmother, terribly, but I will do my best to keep them alive in my memories, my heart, and my stories.

Sunday Bookends: Recovering from a busy week, not my favorite cozy mystery book, and hopefully a slower week next week

Sunday Bookends July 30

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer and Kathyrn at The Book Date.

What I/we’ve been Reading

I will be finishing up Elementary She Read by Vicki Delany tonight and I have to be honest that I did not enjoy the second half as much as the first half. The second hash seemed like a rehashing of the first half. I don’t know how to explain that other than the author repeating themselves a lot about the characters and points of the story like she herself forgot some of those points and wanted to be sure the reader didn’t as well. I will probably try another Delany book but maybe not in this series. The main character of this series sort of grates on my nerves but maybe she will grow on me if I try book two.

The only reason I kept reading the book was because it was due back on Libby yesterday. As soon as it was returned for me, however, before I finished it mind you, I asked to have it put on hold again. At first it said there were two people ahead of me. Then it said that I could have the book back again. So I took it back to finish it.

This week I plan to focus on The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz.

I also plan to read a chapter or two of Anne of Ingleside, which I believe is the last book in the series that focuses on Anne, Gilbert, and her family exclusively.

Next week I hope to finish Nicole Deese’s book All That Really Matters which I started at the beginning of the summer and got distracted from. It was a pretty good book, even though I can tell it’s going to be a typical romance of he doesn’t like her but he’s going to fall for her, blah, blah. Oh, wait. I write that stuff too sometimes. Ha.

The Husband is reading a Joe Pickett novel.

Little Miss and I read a stack of picture books yesterday and she started a book called Saving Winslow that she picked out on the last day of summer reading.

The Boy isn’t really reading right now as he tries to enjoy the last bits of summer before school starts the 24th.

What’s Been Occurring

I talked about what has been occurring in yesterday’s post. After our crazy busy week, Little Miss had some sort of allergy attack or brief illness (which would be the second in two weeks) and had a runny nose and dry cough all day yesterday. She slept hard last night and into this afternoon and now she’s a little bit better. Because of her not feeling good yesterday we are staying home today instead of visiting my parents but will probably see my parents later in the week. We will definitely see them on Thursday, which is my mom’s birthday. Also, she’s going to be 79, not 80. I aged her a year (again) in a post last week.

This next week we do not have a ton to do, luckily. I might ride with my dad to his physical therapy 45 minutes south on Tuesday and Thursday, but otherwise, it should be a relaxed week. You know how it goes when I say that in my posts, though. The week usually doesn’t end up being relaxed at all.

I will start my job as a sales representative for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine as an independent contractor around August 7.

Photos from Last Week

What We watched/are Watching

Last week The Husband and I watched a lot of Newhart and it was nice and relaxing.

I watched half of Monkey Business with Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe and will watch the rest today. I also hope to watch some All Creatures Great and Small, even though I’ve seen all the episodes.

I also have had to watch a ton of Snake Discovery, which is a YouTube channel about snakes that Little Miss loves.

What I’m Writing

I worked on Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage this week and I am having a lot of fun writing it. I also wrote at least one blog post I’ll be sharing tomorrow and started a couple more.
On the blog, I shared:

Saturday Afternoon (Evening) Chat: Another busy week before a hopefully less busy weekSummer of Marilyn: The Seven Year ItchSwimming with Little Miss is not relaxing

What I’m Listening To

This week I will be listening to Elevation Worship. When I drive anywhere I will be listening to Death Beside the Seaside by T.E. Kinsey as an audiobook.

Now it’s your turn

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

Saturday Afternoon (Evening) Chat: Another busy week before a hopefully less busy week

Good afternoon! Oh, right. By the time I got this done, it was evening.

Sit! Let me make you a cup of something – well, probably not warm for most of us because it has been ridiculously hot out there for most of us.

Yuck!

So let me pour you a glass of lemonade instead. Or iced tea. Or a cold soda. Anything to cool you off.

After another long week, I am very excited to announce that next week we do not have any activities scheduled. I am so excited I can’t stand it!

Summer finally hit us for a few days this past week and it can go away for all I care. I am not a summer fan at all. The heat and humidity make me feel zoned out and sick.

I would have preferred to sit inside all day long in front of the air conditioner, but there were a few activities we had to attend and a few errands to run this week.

On Monday we were supposed to go to a day camp but ran out of energy from our busy week and pool visits the week before. We went to the day camp the next day instead. It was being held every day last week but it was a half an hour from our house and during the hottest week of the summer and we had other responsibilities or plans on the other days so we only attended the camp one day.

It was a Christian camp and Little Miss loved it. It was a camp for her age group so The Boy stayed home and then worked the next day with my dad at his house.

Wednesday sent us to the last day of the summer reading program where Little Miss picked out a book of her own but didn’t realize until that night that it was her book to keep.

“This is my first novel!” she cried. “And it’s mine! Now I can read it and shove it under my pillow and not feel guilty if I bend a page.”

Poor child. She’s inherited my fear of damaging a library book, which is a fear I’ve mentioned on here before.

After summer reading we took The Boy to work with his grandfather and then I headed to the local high school to fill out paperwork for The Boy to attend a career center this school year. He will attend the career center in the mornings and have homeschool lessons in the afternoon. It starts in two weeks and he is not really ready for it at all. I’m not sure I am either. He’s growing up so fast and I really need a brake lever to pull and slow it all down.

A couple of weeks ago we had to buy him a new phone because his was dying. We bought a refurbished one, actually. For the last five or six years his phone has been connected to my AppleID and my phone. His photos and memes, music, etc., all showed up in my phone and vice versa.

We both decided it would be easier on both of us if he got his own AppleID with this new phone. That way he doesn’t have to swipe past all my memes and ads for my books and I don’t have to swipe by his Gen Z humor-based memes and weird photographs. I also don’t have to weed through his heavy metal to get to my Christian music and jazz.

Once we made that move, though, we both agreed it felt weird for us to have our own phones.

In fact, he said it felt “lonely.”

He was right. It felt lonely not to see the photographs he takes of frogs he finds when weed whacking at the pond at my parents or the weird photos he takes of his one friend crossing his eyes at the camera or the random photos of what he’s cooking in the middle of the night. He also takes some really nice photographs of storms or scenery, such as these two last week when a nasty storm was headed our way:

Speaking of him cooking in the middle of the night, last night he was cooking garlic to add to his pasta and the smell upstairs was overwhelming. I texted him to tell him the smell was so overwhelming that it woke me up. He insisted the smell wasn’t that strong. I’m very sensitive to smells, sometimes to the point it triggers anxiety for me if I can’t get the smell out of my nose. After I complained to him I could smell an air freshener that The Husband picked up about a month ago and that bothered me too.

He texted that there was no way I could smell the air freshener as he had barely sprayed it by the stove downstairs.

I texted back a realization.

I could smell the garlic and it smelled like garlic. For almost two years I have not been able to smell garlic correctly. My smell has been distorted since I had a severe case of Covid in late November 2021. Garlic, onions, peppers, and several other things had a very distinct smell that I could only describe as “the Covid smell.” It was like a cross between burnt rubber and sweaty feet. I don’t know how to describe it at all.

Garlic, onions, and peppers also tasted horrid and for the most part still do.

My smell has also been reduced since even before Covid so the fact that I could smell that garlic so distinctly was actually a good thing in some ways. Smelling that much at one time wasn’t really fun, however.

Thursday was a lighter day last week. At least for me. The Husband had a lot going on and then he took Little Miss to gymnastics so he could sit in the parent area and read a book.

On Friday, Little Miss had two friends over for swimming at my parents’ pool.

She and her one friend proceeded to argue almost the entire time and I was ready to ground them both before their time together was over. They both have very strong, determined personalities and neither likes to back down when they want their way. They argue constantly yet still call each other their best friends. It’s a bit strange.

In some ways it was good that we didn’t have a ton of time for swimming because of the arguing. Little Miss and I had a talk about her behavior specifically later in the day. She is learning how to communicate with others and, like adults, she sometimes slips up. I hope her bullheadedness and tendency to be rude when she doesn’t get her way is something we can continue to work on and improve as she grows.

We didn’t have a lot of time for swimming because I had to ride with The Husband 45 minutes South to pick up our – okay, his – new-to-him truck. The truck is a 2004 Chevy Avalanche and is much bigger than any other vehicle we’ve owned before. It will be nice for The Husband to have this winter when he has to come home on very slippery, narrow roads to get home from work.

The whole family took a ride in the truck earlier today and it is nice, even though it is louder than our other cars, other than the van when the exhaust system needed to be replaced.

I truly hope this next week is a bit less crazy. We don’t have any events scheduled.

I have taken a job with a company that I will talk about in a later post, but it is a work-from-home job for 15 or so hours a week and doesn’t being until August 7 or later.

As I mentioned above, school starts August 24 and we will be home a lot more after that.

How about you?

Have you been having busy summer days or nice and relaxed ones?

Summer of Marilyn: The Seven Year Itch

So here I am, behind yet again on my Marilyn movie-watching.

That’s okay, though. Summer is meant to be easy going and relaxed so I will take my time on these and if summer busyness gets in the way, I’ll just have to push my posts off.

If you are new here, I am watching Marilyn Monroe movies this summer and I have called the The Summer of Marilyn.

This week I watched The Seven Year Itch, which was nothing like I expected it to be.

I thought this movie was a drama until I started it and realized it was definitely not a movie to be taken seriously. This is the movie with the famous scene of Marilyn’s dress being blown upward by her standing over the subway grate.

This is a movie made in 1955 that jokingly explores the idea that middle-aged men who have been married seven years feel like they need to break out of the mundane and sow some more wild oats. I, personally, did not find it that funny that the movie makers thought it was funny to make fun of men in New York City sending their wives and children to the country for the summer so they can go meet other women and have parties, therefore feeling free and easy again.

We start the movie with Richard Sherman, a man working in book design, who sends his wife and son off to the country for the summer. Richard is determined he won’t be like other men who drink, smoke, and chase after women while their wives are gone.

Not long after he decides this, though, he heads home to a house that’s been made into apartments and starts complaining as he unlocks the door about how his wife wants to live in a house and not an apartment. Their apartment is nice, he decides, especially with nice neighbors upstairs and – he turns around and someone needs help being buzzed in through the main door.

That someone is Marilyn Monroe who is looking, of course, drop-dead gorgeous.

Richard has to renew his resolve not to forget himself and go crazy while his wife and son are gone with Marilyn acting all clueless and walking around upstairs either naked or half naked. When she almost drops a tomato pot on his head his resolve cracks and he invites her down for a drink.

It’s then he realizes she’s gorgeous but not too bright and that is totally fine with him.

He’s already been daydreaming a lot and Marilyn kicks his daydreams into high gear.

He enjoys daydreaming about how Marilyn will fall for him but, truly, Marilyn is just absolutely clueless to his advances and his more interested in getting into his apartment to take advantage of his air conditioning, which she does not have in her apartment.

Marilyn, incidentally, does not have a name in this movie. Her name is just The Girl.

This is another Billy Wilder film with Marilyn – like Some Like It Hot.

The movie is based on a play written by George Axelrod.

In addition to Marilyn it stars Tom Ewell who played Richard Sherman in the play as well.

Many lines from the play had to be cut because they were deemed indecent by the Hayes office, which determined what was and wasn’t allowed in movies at that time.

There has long been rumors that during the filming of the famous scene with Marilyn, there was too much noise to use the final footage and it had to be shot again on a sound stage. While it is true that the scene was shot twice, footage was used from both shoots, according to an article on Wikipedia. Marilyn really did stand over a grate outside the Trans-Lux 52nd Street Theater, then located at 586 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. She also did get a lot of attention from the press and onlookers when this happened because Wilder invited them to drum up attention for the film.

This left Marilyn’s then-husband Joe DiMaggio pretty ticked off, but, alas, the scene became one of the most iconic ever in a movie.

Overall I enjoyed this movie, even if I didn’t like some of the messages underlying the plot. In the end, the craziness was drawn to a close before it got too crazy but the in-between stuff that seemed to suggest that men running around on their wives was okay wasn’t a great message for me. I do know that most of it was being said as a joke and that part of the message really was that it wasn’t actually okay to be done.
And, yes, I really liked Marilyn in this movie. She was so free and joyful. Yes, she was sexualized, just like in her other movies, but she also held her own as an actress, playing the comedic parts with ease and pure entertainment.

Next up for me for Marilyn Movies is Monkey Business.

After that, I only have two more movies:

All About Eve and The Misfits.

Both are dramas.

If all goes to plan, I’ll be writing about Monkey Business next week, on August 3, All About Eve on August 10 and The Misfits on August 17th.

(Monkey Business is available for free on YouTube, for those who might like to watch along.)

Swimming with Little Miss is not relaxing

Swimming is supposed to be a relaxing activity for some, but it is not relaxing for the parents of creative children. It is not relaxing for me, in other words.

Little Miss and I have been trying to go to the pool at my parents’ at least twice a week.

The rest of the family isn’t as into swimming as we are.

My dad did a lot to make the pool look nice and also feel nice so we want to make sure that we are using it as much as we can.

The last few times we’ve gone, Little Miss has made up a game where she jumps from the ladder and then I have to rate her jump. I don’t rate her jump as myself. Oh no. I have to rate it as a character from one of the books we’ve read and I have to speak in the voice of said character.

Little Miss just started to be able to reach the bottom of the pool this year and isn’t super confident with swimming so she wears an inflatable tube for her higher jumps. When she jumps, she expects me to give her a rating and a critique from a character from either the Paddington books, the Chronicles of Narnia, or Anne of Green Gables.

I think I’ve mentioned before that when I read to Little Miss I do all the accents and voices for the characters. I had no idea that she was going to urge me to carry on this tradition when not reading as well, but, alas, she first started asking me to use the accents or mannerisms of the characters while jumping on our neighbor’s trampoline.

I have to rate her not only in their voices, but also their personalities, so Edmund from the Chronicles of Narnia might say, “That was horrid. Now give me some Turkish Delight!”

Paddington might say, “Oh, that was lovely. Would you like a marmalade sandwich?”

Marilla from Anne of Green Gables says things like, “Jumping in pools is not ladylike. You should pray to ask God to forgive you.”

We go on like that for a while and then Little Miss decides we should do swim competitions across the pool, which is how I ended up in agony Saturday night into Sunday. I attempted moves that I should not have been attempting without a bit more stretching and preparation.

There isn’t a lot of downtime for me to simply float or move around gingerly when I’m in the pool with Little Miss, but I still have a lot of fun with her. It reminds me of the days I did the same with The Boy and I know one day I will miss those fun times in the pool with her, the same way I miss those times with The Boy.

Sunday Bookends: cozy mysteries, regular mysteries, and swimming

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer and Kathyrn at The Book Date.

What I/we’ve been Reading

I finished Secrets of the Amish Letter by Rachael Phillips last week, staying up until 1 a.m. so I could take it back to the library the next morning when we went there for the Summer reading program. In the end, we didn’t actually go to the library that morning but I was able to return the book later in the day.

I enjoyed the book overall, but actually enjoyed book two in the series – Murder Simply Played — more.

I am still reading The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz and also started Elementary She Read by Vicki Delaney. 

I shared the description of The Word is Murder last week, but I thought I’d share the plot of Elementary She Read today:

When murder pays a visit to Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, Gemma Doyle must use the powers of deduction to find the killer—and clear her own name.

Gemma Doyle, a transplanted Englishwoman, has returned to the quaint town of West London on Cape Cod to manage her Great Uncle Arthur’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium. The shop—located at 222 Baker Street—specializes in the Holmes canon and pastiche, and is also home to Moriarty the cat. When Gemma finds a rare and potentially valuable magazine containing the first Sherlock Homes story hidden in the bookshop, she and her friend Jayne (who runs the adjoining Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room) set off to find the owner, only to stumble upon a dead body.
 
Gemma is the police’s first suspect, so she puts her consummate powers of deduction to work to clear her name, investigating a handsome rare books expert, the dead woman’s suspiciously unmoved son, and a whole family of greedy characters desperate to cash in on their inheritance. But when Gemma and Jayne accidentally place themselves at a second murder scene, it’s a race to uncover the truth before the detectives lock them up for good.

From what I’ve seen on her social media sites, Vicki is also Eva Gates, if you have ever read any of her books. That seems to be a common theme in cozy mysteries – authors who write under a few different names.

Little Miss and are reading the second book in the Boxcar Children series and Paddington Abroad right now and we have a stack of picture books from the library to read this week as well.

The Husband is reading Patriot Games by Tom Clancy.

What’s Been Occurring

Little Miss and I went swimming at my parents yesterday and I may have overdone it a bit.  I was in so much pain last night from actually using my arms to do something other than writing that I had trouble sleeping. It didn’t help that we were in the pool for almost two and a half hours. It felt good to exercise and to have fun with Little Miss, though, so it was sort of a good pain. I don’t know how to explain that. My muscles might suffer after I go swimming (thanks to whatever auto-immune ridiculousness I have going on) but my brain is more alert an hour or so after I get out and after I’ve had some food.

My mom, who will be 79 August 3, made us bacon for dinner and we added that to lettuce and tomato for me and bread, lettuce, tomato, and dressing for everyone else. When we came home, The Husband had also made us steaks so we had two meals, which was totally fine after all those calories we burned.

I wrote about our activities last week in my Saturday Afternoon Chat post yesterday. Bottom line? It was a busy week in many ways and there is another busy week coming up. You can read all about our busy summer so far HERE.

What We watched/are Watching

This past week we watched Newhart, which is a comfort watch for me, and I watched The Seven Year Itch with Marilyn Monroe, which I will be writing more about later in the week.

I didn’t watch as much as some weeks because I messed around with social media and how to promote my books and also with the new job stuff.

Yesterday and today I am watching some of my favorite YouTubers, including Just A Few Acres and Forgotten Way Farms.

What I’m Writing

I’m working on book two of the Gladwynn Grant Mystery series and this week I will also be writing more blog posts. In September I will be working on Cassie from the Apron Strings book series. That book comes out in August of 2024. If you are interested in knowing more about this series, you can join our readers group on Facebook, which you can find HERE.

Now it’s your turn

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

Saturday Afternoon Chat: This summer is too busy

Hello, blog friends!

I have missed you all so much.

I’m not even kidding!

I didn’t take the time I should have last week to sit and read blog posts but I am going to make up for that this week.

I miss finding out what is going on with all of you.

What can I get you today for our Saturday afternoon chat? A cup of tea? A glass of lemonade?

The lemonade or something else cold might be in order, especially as I see how high the temperatures are going to be this upcoming week in our area.

I hate that it is going to be so hot this next week because there is an all-day church camp that I might take Little Miss to next week and neither of us do very well in the heat.

I definitely needed tea as I wrote this post. I thought summer was supposed to be nice and relaxing.

In some ways, it has been but last week it felt like I was in constant motion – if not physically then mentally. Last night The Husband put Newhart on the TV and my cortisol started to drop as soon as I heard the music. I needed that down time.

There was a two-hour church camp at a church in town in the afternoons this past week, which I took Little Miss to. She turned out to be the only child who showed up. I don’t think the organization that hosted the camps will be trying a camp again in this town because this is the second year they’ve only had one or two children. Two years ago, Little Miss and one of her friends attended four days. Last year they didn’t hold it.

I’m beginning to think there are no other children in this town at this point.

Little Miss had a lot of fun playing with the young people who lead the Bible lessons and they will be the same young people helping at the camp next week. The difference with next week’s camp is it will be for six and a half hours. I don’t think Little Miss will want to stay that long but we will go for at least part of the day.

We didn’t attend the summer reading events at the library this week, but we did visit the library and Little Miss chose a stack of books to read. She enjoys picking out books more than interacting with the other children anyhow so it worked out well.

Our last summer reading events will be this upcoming week, which is another reason we won’t be attending the other camp every day.

I want to say that August will be less busy, but I’m afraid to say that and jinx it.

I felt very overwhelmed this week because I was offered the sales job I interviewed for on Monday and had to fill out paperwork in the following days and then begin to watch the training manuals. This will be a job that I will do from home for a small amount of hours each week, but I am nervous. I’ve never worked in sales. Still, this seems like it will be a good opportunity for me to earn some new experiences and hopefully some income down the road.

I’ll share who I’ll be working with once I complete the training and begin the actual job. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to say it yet. I can say it is not Young Living, Amway, DoTerra, or Tupperware *wink*.

I can say it is related to homeschooling.

Speaking of homeschooling, I can’t believe how fast summer is going by. Before I know it I will be planning out homeschooling days again. I’m excited and nervous for this year, mainly because The Boy is going to be a junior and I know we need to start planning for his life after high school.

We have or had an opportunity for him to attend a local trade school for at least his junior year, if not both, but at the last minute the state made some changes to the homeschool law and now it sounds as if that won’t be a possibility. I find this very frustrating since this is a taxpayer-funded school and we pay taxes but even more frustrating has been the lack of communication from our local school district which seems clueless about how to go about the new law change. That’s what is “great” (sarcasm alert) about our state: they like to make law changes and not explain what they really mean and then feel proud of themselves for making rather stupid changes.

Today Little Miss and I plan to head to the pool at my parents’ and then tomorrow we will probably go there again, since I don’t know if we will be there again next week or not with all the events we have going on.

I have to be honest; I don’t like going to a bunch of events in the summer. I like my days to be chilled and relaxed so I don’t feel like summer has rushed me by. That’s why this month hasn’t seemed as fun to me, but we still have August to save it luckily. The ideal summer for me is hanging out at home with a few trips to the pool and evenings in the AC with a good book. For the most part that has happened for us this summer but not last week.

Last weekend Little Miss and I went to the pool and my dad even joined in with us. That’s something he doesn’t do very often so it was a lot of fun for Little Miss to be able to play Marco Polo with Grandpa and show him all her jumps and funny moves.

So as I mentioned above, this upcoming week will be full of events, including a church camp, summer reading, and gymnastics and I’m really hoping for a couple of days of doing nothing, but it doesn’t look like that will happen until maybe Saturday of next week.

How about you? How has your summer been? Super busy? Super relaxed? A mix of both? Let me know in the comments and also let me know what you’re drinking today as you go about your business!

The Fourth of July I Thought I Was Going To Die and other writing updates, an interview with Danielle Grandinetti, and two giveaways!

Note: This is my monthly author newsletter because Substack kept freezing my posts and not letting me edit them after I had them completely written and ready to go. I am not sure what I am going to do for a newsletter right now, but for now I’ll place my updates on my blog. If you don’t care a bit about my writing, interviews with other authors or book and bookish things giveaways, please just ignore this post and return for my other mundane ramblings *wink*

I almost died on the Fourth of July.

This might not be completely true, but it’s how it felt to me. My family and I went to a local fireworks display, put on by professionals, but not a public show. It was fantastic but toward the end, my 16-year-old son and I realized we were way too close as several explosions and flash bangs went off while they lit the fireworks for the finale. My daughter and husband had already gone back to our van, but the problem was, I never heard them say that because the explosions at the end were so loud.

As the flashing and explosions continued, I looked for them frantically.

I started to worry that pieces of fireworks were going to fall on me and my family so I tried to stand, but now there was a strobe effect going on and the ground was moving and shaking for me. I tried to stand up, but couldn’t tell where the ground was part of the time so I kept falling back down to a kneeling position, all the while yelling at my son to stop looking at the lights because I was certain it was going to blind him.

Looking over my shoulder I caught him laughing at me but the lights were still moving all over and I was sure something was going to fall on us so I just sat and put my hands over my head and prayed. We finally managed to stand and make our way back to our van and later my son said he was watching me and wondering if I was eventually going to stop trying to stand up after the second time I fell over.

By the time we were walking to the van I was laughing pretty hard and even harder when he told me how silly I had looked trying to stand up over and over. For your amusement, I am attaching the video where you can hear me telling him not to look at the lights.

Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing Released

Luckily, I survived our fireworks display because last week, July 11th to be exact, I released Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing a week early. This is the first book in my Gladwynn Grant Mysteries series, which is a series of cozy mysteries.

Not sure what a cozy mystery is? Read on.

Cozy mysteries are usually fun reads with an amateur sleuth as the main character. That sleuth usually has no connection to law enforcement other than trying to tell the police about what she (or he, but it is often she) has discovered about a crime.

Cozy mysteries are not hard-hitting thrillers or mysteries. They are free of graphic descriptions of murder or death or sex. There is almost never sex, but if there is, it is always “closed door”, which means there may be suggestions that sex happened, but the reader doesn’t see it. My books won’t even discuss main characters having sex, just an FYI.

These types of mysteries usually take place in a small town or village, have lots of quirky characters, and are sometimes slowly-paced and sometimes fast-paced. It all depends on the author.

Here is what readers are saying about Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing:

“If you like mysteries with a slower pace, you’ll enjoy the small-town adventures awaiting Gladwynn, amateur journalist-sleuth.” – Alicia G.

“The characters are rich and full, just like in her other series. The small-town antics reminded me of the several small towns I’ve lived in. And her plot line kept me guessing all the way to the very end.” – Bettie G.

“Intrigue, mystery, cold case, attempted murder all with a side of humor, new relationships and letting go of the past…..this author has a way with words, literally!! I love her style, her creativity in not just writing an incredible story but in the depiction of each wonderfully devised character so easily brought to life! A treasure for the TBR list for any and every reader!” – Evelyn F.
 
In case you’d like to know what you can expect from Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing, here is a small list:

A slightly introverted, sometimes extroverted main characterCozy momentsQuirky charactersGrandmothers who go to spinning classHandsome pastorsFlirty prison guardsBubbly homeschooling momsTownspeople with unwavering faithNewspaper editors with hangoversA modern mystery with a vintage feel

You can find a copy of the book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1KSQJXP

For a little change of pace for this newsletter, I’m featuring an interview with an author I am familiar with and whose work I have read and enjoyed.

An interview with Danielle Grandinetti, Christian Historical Romance Author

Read on to learn more about Danielle and for a chance to win a copy of her latest book!

1.      When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I wrote my first story in third grade and never looked back. I love telling stories as much as I love reading them, and it is a delight to share mine with such amazing readers. 

2.      Tell us a little about your already completed/published projects.

Refuge for the Archaeologist is my fifth historical romance, second in the Harbored in Crow’s Nest series. My first series, Strike to the Heart, centers around the 1930 Wisconsin Dairy strikes. In August, my debut Love Inspired contemporary sweet romance releases. I’m thrilled!

3.      What are the main themes of your novels or stories?

I love telling stories about finding home in hard times. Whether historical or contemporary, with or without suspense, life can be hard … but there is hope and home to be found.  

4.      What advice would you give to other writers who hope to someday write and publish a book?

Keep reading in your genre, especially new releases. Learn all you can from those who’ve been there. Keep learning by studying books on writing to find the system that works for you. And most of all, keep writing. The more you apply what you read and learn, the better your writing will become.

5.      What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Read! But I also love to tinker in my veggie/herb garden or take nature pictures, especially of Lake Michigan. Being a mom of young boys, I don’t have all that much free time, but I love the opportunity to introduce my boys to the joys of creativity – whether through my writing, reading, or God’s creation.

6.      What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

Surprised isn’t quite the right word, but I’m not sure I was fully prepared for how blessed I’d feel by my readers. Their encouragement, kindness, and excitement over my books is both humbling and inestimable. 

7.      As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I wanted to be a missionary, or a better way to say it was that I wanted to share the story of hope with those who desired to hear it. And guess what? I may not travel to other countries anymore to do so, but I still get to share that hope within the pages of my stories. And I pray they are a blessing to those who read them.

8.      For fun, what’s your favorite snack when you’re writing?

 There’s nothing like writing beside a big teapot filled with Chai.

9.      Share a little more about yourself outside of your writing.

Though originally from the Chicagoland area, I now live along Lake Michigan’s Wisconsin shoreline with my husband and our two young sons (and Penny our Labrador). I have a Master of Arts degree in Communication and Culture, and spent twenty years in various educational fields, including as a middle school writing coach and an adjunct professor, teaching intercultural communication. I love learning about other people and their cultures and am privileged to have visited a handful of countries on four different continents.

10.   Where can people learn more about your work and connect with you?

Find me online at daniellegrandinetti.com. All my social media links are listed here.

I’d love to keep in touch! The best way is to join my Fireside News email community. I send out weekly emails with all sorts of bookish fun. New subscribers receive a complimentary ebook. Sign up here.

Thank you for visiting with me today!     

Giveaways

Danielle has graciously agreed to give one commenter here one paperback copy of her latest book, Refuge for the Archaeologist. Simply subscribe to my newsletter and leave a comment about one thing you remember about Danielle’s answers above and you’re entered.

Here is a description of the book:

Will uncovering the truth set them free or destroy what they hold most dear?

Wisconsin, 1930—With her health in shambles and her archaeological career on the line, Cora Davis retreats to Crow’s Nest and the home of her great aunt to heal. She doesn’t think much of the missing memories from between the earthquake that caused her dizzy spells and her trip home. Until she begins remembering the danger that sent her fleeing her last dig and the person responsible.

After a decade as a ranch hand, Silas Ward returned to Crow’s Nest to provide for the women in his life. That same protective instinct propels him to Cora’s aid. But when finances dwindle, the lies and greed of others threaten to ruin his family. Unless Silas can walk the thin line of compromise. A choice that might cost him Cora’s affection.

As winter’s chill threatens, will Crow’s Nest prove a refuge, or will both Cora and Silas have no choice but to sacrifice their chance at happiness to save those they love?

Welcome to Crow’s Nest, where danger and romance meet at the water’s edge.

Bookmark Giveaway

This month I am also giving away a bookmark designed by Sara The Book Lady who is @her.novel.opinion on Instagram.

She offers up very honest, but polite book reviews on Instagram, and, obviously, also designs bookmarks.

To win a bookmark comment that you are interested in the bookmark and please subscribe to my blog for more writing updates (or just sometimes silly posts!).

Learn about a contemporary author’s new book series and get a free novella.

I recently read a book by author Maryanne Landers that I will be endorsing. Maryanne has a Kickstarter for the book that you can learn about HERE.

Here is a quick description of the book:

“She’s detached in a stormy marriage because of both of their unfaithfulness. Now she faces the aftermath of her compromise with an unwanted pregnancy. Will fleeing bring her the freedom she yearns for?

Emily Corentin wants to escape the jagged edges of her brokenness. She believes the only option she has is to take her young daughter, leave her husband, and end the unintended pregnancy with an abortion. But her plans take an unexpected turn when the homeless shelter she finds is not the type of help she wanted. She’d buried religion years ago with the death of her Gran. Any God-fearing place will only confirm how much God abandoned her.  

An offer from a shelter volunteer may be the lifeline she and her daughter need, but Emily only sees it as a means to an end. The unlikely friendship that follows, draws her closer to the answers she may have carried with her all along. But rash decisions bring new challenges that drag her further into a sea of helplessness.

When all hope is lost in despair will she be washed away by the patterns of her past? Or will she answer the call to embrace the mercy of the cross and in turn bring reconciliation to her marriage?”

If you would like to receive a free short story that kicks off the series you can scroll down to the bottom of the above linked page.

And finally, Thank You!

Thank you to all of you who keep up with my writing adventures and for anyone who subscribed to my newsletter on substack. I hope you will look around my blog and hang out and then subscribe so you will receive my monthly writing updates here.

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