The Weekend

In a word drenched. 

But Friday was beautiful. Sometimes the day before a storm has some of the best weather. Actually let's back up to Thursday since that's the weekend on my blog. 

The whole week was busy but it's a month for ticking things off the to-do list I suppose. On Monday (because I guess I'm backing all the way up to Monday now) I had labs done in preparation for my yearly physical. Since I was in the city I made a stop at Costco and picked up a few essentials. It was crowded and I made a mental note to avoid shopping there whenever possible until after the holidays. 

Hubs sent me this picture he snapped on the way to a friend's house Monday evening. October has the best skies. 

Tuesday I did the regular grocery shopping and played mah jong that evening. Then on Wednesday hubs and I both had appointments with the eye doctor. I'd like to go somewhere else, but options are limited. I don't mind the care, but they book far too many appointments at the same time and I spent more time there than I should have.  

Thursday I spent a fair chunk of the day taking care of some paperwork and then booking lodging for the third leg of our trip west next year. It's not happening until later in 2027, but we have all our accommodations booked and getting that done has me feeling a little bit excited for the trip. Hubs and I are doing a week on our own, then meeting up with two more couples for the second half of the holiday. 

Thursday night I went with a few women from my bookclub to hear an author talk about her new book. The author's name is Katherine Reay and she's written quite a few books, half on the lighter side, and then several more recent books that would fall under the genre of historical fiction/spy novels. 

Her debut novel was called  Dear Mr. Knightley, and came out about ten years ago or so, but I haven't read anything else by her since. Her newest book is The Undercover Bookshop and is set in a Cotswold village in 1950. 

She had me at Cotswold Village. 

I enjoy hearing an author discuss their writing and she was a wonderful speaker. We all felt like we'd had a little history lesson as she talked about what was going on in the world and particularly the UK at the end of the war.  I'm looking forward to reading this one soon. 

Another pretty sky on the ride home-

There might not be many faces on my blog these days, but there are still plenty of sky shots. 

Friday was a nice day. My next door neighbor has a granddaughter the same age as our Little Miss, although Little Miss lives here and my neighbor's grand lives about two hours away. She was in town visiting this week so my daughter1 invited everyone to lunch and a playdate. 

They were positively adorable playing together and the moms and grandmoms all had a nice time chatting. 

I'd made a meatloaf that morning so we had that for dinner. Hubs and I pulled all the porch cushions inside since nasty rain and windy weather were predicted, and we watched a movie before calling it a night. 

Saturday we woke up to gray skies and all day rain. We had plans to go into the city to a Fall Festival, where they close off the streets and there are lots of bands and food trucks, and it's just a fun day out. The event ended up getting cancelled due to weather so we had a Saturday to fill. 

We decided to go to breakfast somewhere because we wanted to get out of the house for a bit. Afterwards we stopped in a newish little market near the house and they have so many yummy things to buy. Snacks, sandwiches, coffee, ice cream, meat from a local farm, homemade bread and more. And it's close! When you live out of town having something like this nearby is such a treat. 

Once home hubs spent the rest of the morning on a project he has going on in the lower level and I worked out then washed my hair which takes a couple of hours,  so it was a good day for it. Our treadmill is in the lower level garage and even though it was pouring down rain I opened up the door and enjoyed the breeze and the view, even on this dismal day. 

I did some prep for my book club meeting happening this week (we read The Calamity Club) and then made a big pot of Ina Garten's Minestrone to have for dinner and leftovers this week. Her recipe is excellent. 

Even though I declared it a no laundry day hubs had a pile of towels from his project so I ended up doing a load of wash. It's just the two of us here but I feel like I am always doing laundry. 

After that it was football time in Tennessee so we watched the game. A win~yay! 

Sunday morning we had coffee on the screened porch and watched the sunrise for a quick spectacular minute. 

We went to church then pretty much lounged the rest of the afternoon. We have a lot going on in this second half of October and a day of r and r is probably necessary. 

So how was your weekend? If you blogged about it hop over to our host blogs - Holly (Pink Lady) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books)-and add your link to their Hello Monday hop. 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 675

Yay! I remembered. Here are this week's questions for the Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then hop back here on Wednesday (October 14) to share answers with all your friends and a few strangers too. See you there!

1. Do you think you're driven more by curiosity or comfort? Explain. 

2. What non-food item is in your refrigerator or freezer? 

3. Are you comfortable with silence? If you're home alone, do you like silence or do you need regular background noise? Do you seek out times and places to be silent? What's your favorite place to find silence/be silent? 

4. Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, landscaping...which skill would you most like to possess and how would you put that skill to use today?

5. Do you lean more towards being too needy or too independent? Which do you find harder to deal with in others? 

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Fall Things On A Friday

Sharing a few favorites and some miscellaneous bits and bobs on this second Friday in October. 77 days til Christmas for anyone who might be counting. 

For the record I'm not counting. I feel like we're just now finally getting in to fall and fall is my favorite. 

Linking with Erika and Andrea today for their Friday Favorites link party. Here we go-

The air this time of year is so nice. We have so much heavy humidity all summer long, but late afternoons in autumn are cool and clear and perfect. Hubs and I like to sit on the lower patio with a glass of wine and music playing and this bottle in particular is so pretty. It's Spanish and the bottle itself is a soft shade of blue.

Matches the lake and sky both.

I don't do a lot of seasonal decorating other than Christmas, but I love the colors of fall and they fit with the style of my home and my personal taste really well so I do add a few things come Autumn.  

Outdoor cushions for the upper deck furniture-

A basket of assorted acorns, pumpkins, and pinecones made with different fabrics and lots of texture sits on the kitchen island-

Fall chargers and napkin rings in the dining room-

I like my velvet pumpkin sitting on a velvet runner  in the middle of the table. My dining room window treatments are still my favorite and have a fall feel to them. I normally have them open but the sun was too bright for a picture so I pulled them closed. 

On the keeping room side of the fireplace I set my glass pumpkins and then I prop the spidey hands my oldest grandsons made when they were very small.  

Too sweet to part with so I don't. 

I put a glass pumpkin on the bar downstairs filled with hubs favorites in the mini size-Reeses and Kit Kats. I had it upstairs but decided it was healthier for me to have it downstairs. 

I also bought some new pillows for my family room couch and love the muted colors. I especially love the green plaid and will change out the pumpkin pillows for something more Christmasy when December rolls around.

In 54 days, except remember we're not counting. 

I bought a new candle for my coffee table. It's so pretty and the scent is similar to the Volcano candles most people are familiar with-

My front porch...

I resisted buying mums for as long as I could, because our front porch gets so much sun and mums don't seem to last, but I love them. They're the epitome of fall to me and I had to have some. I added a few pumpkins too and have the big bow my daughter made me last year on my front door wreath. 

The autumn moon is something pretty spectacular...

As is an October sunrise outside my bedroom window...

Happy fall y'all...have a nice weekend! 

Let's Not Forget The Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. Better late than never, right? Thanks for your patience and for playing along today. If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger there before you. Here we go-

1. Let's embrace it shall we? What's something you recently forgot to do? Is your memory these days more like a sieve or an elephant? 

The obvious answer is this week's Hodgepodge questions. And when I say I forgot I mean I totally completely 100% forgot. I didn't think about it for one single second until Myra sent the first message sometime Monday morning asking if she'd missed me cancelling this week.

I wouldn't say my memory is a sieve, but it's no longer an elephant either. 

2. Share a trick/strategy you have to help you remember things you need to remember. 

I play a lot of word games, work crossword puzzles, play mah jong, and read hard books, all of which are supposed to be good for keeping your brain active, engaged, and working. 

I also write everything down. If it's not written down it might. not happen. I use Notes on my phone and sometimes send myself a message or screenshot. 

A long time ago I read a book about memory and the author shared one trick I still use.  If you're a person who leaves the house and can't remember if you unplugged the iron/curling iron/coffeepot, etc here's what you do-as you unplug the item you picture your face in the outlet. Then when you later find yourself trying to remember whether or not you unplugged said appliance the picture of your face in the outlet comes to mind. It sounds a little crazy but I've found it to be effective. 

3. What's your favorite fall vegetable to cook with? Do you prefer your fall veggies roasted, blended into a warm soup, or fresh in a crisp autumn salad? 

I love all fall vegetables so it would be hard to choose a favorite. If pressed I'll say sweet potatoes. I like my fall vegetables in all the forms listed. I most often have them roasted.  

4. October 5th is/was National Do Something Nice Day. Did you? If so tell us about it. Or maybe someone did something nice for you, and if that's the case please share. 

I was at Costco on Monday trying to free a cart from a mess of carts and a man walked over and managed to separate them for me. I was grateful.  It was a small act of kindness but little things mean a lot. 

5.  Nathaniel Hawthorne is credited with the quote "I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."  

Do you tend to spend more time outside this time of year? 

We pretty much live on our porches year round, but autumn is my absolute favorite time to be outdoors. 

Do you actively pause to soak in fleeting moments of beauty in your daily routine? Elaborate. 

Do I actively pause. Yes I think so, and I think blogging helps with this. You begin to notice ordinary moments, conversations, and what's happening around you, and consider how you would frame those things if you were writing abut them. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Here's something new and kind of fun for me. I participate almost every April in the A-Z Blog Challenge.  This year I was notified I'd been awarded a guest spot on their blog. Have you ever done a guest post? I think there were five participants given a slot and my post published on their site yesterday (Tuesday). 

You'll find my entry here-The ABCs of Why I Still Blog. I'd love for you to hop over and read, then comment there with an answer to the question I asked at the end of my post. 

Happy Wednesday everyone! 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 674

Oops! I forgot to post this week's Hodgepodge questions like I normally do on Sunday. Actually I forgot to write them so winging it a bit here today. Winging it and hodgepodging go together so it's fine. Hop back here on Wednesday (October 7) to add your link to the party. I'll be there! Promise! 

1. Let's embrace it shall we? What's something you recently forgot to do? Is your memory these days more like a sieve or an elephant? 

2. Share a trick/strategy you have to help you remember things you need to remember. 

3. What's your favorite fall vegetable to cook with? Do you prefer your fall veggies roasted, blended into a warm soup, or fresh in a crisp autumn salad? 

4. October 5th is/was National Do Something Nice Day. Did you? If so tell us about it. Or maybe someone did something nice for you, and if that's the case please share. 

5.  Nathaniel Hawthorne is credited with the quote "I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."  

Do you tend to spend more time outside this time of year? 

Do you actively pause to soak in fleeting moments of beauty in your daily routine? Elaborate. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The Weekend Rundown

Note:  oops. Forgot to post this week’s Hodgepodge questions. They will be up later today. 

Someday I'll get back to blogging and reading my favorites but today week month is not that day. Whew we have a busy month on tap. On the bright side though, we had a lovely low key weekend with nothing we absolutely had to take care of. We were overdue for one of those and it was much appreciated. 

Friday night we went with neighbors to a small local farm that had a BBQ truck and a favorite local musician playing on the property. 

We brought lawn chairs and ate pulled pork and watched the goats play and the guitarist too. 

The sunset was pretty in pink which is always a favorite. 

We dropped the neighbors off at their house when the show ended, and as we came around the corner from their street to ours two black bears ran in front of our car. Always a bit thrilling to see them up close. 

Saturday we drank coffee on the back deck, then made a second pot and drank more. We spent an inordinate amount of time sorting out our Halloween costumes for a neighborhood party and needed caffeine. We love a good costume and like to try and come up with something original. We think we have but I guess we'll see. 

Saturday afternoon we watched our Vols beat Auburn and that was exciting. I get super nervous so had my laptop out the entire time and worked on trying to figure out the where and the when and the route and accommodations we'll need for a trip we're taking in 2027. Accommodations are the tricky part because even though the trip isn't happening for a whole year lots of places are already fully booked. 

I also loaded a bunch of photos into a site my siblings and I have as we're putting together a slide show for a luncheon we're hosting in honor of my mom later this month. We've received our date from Arlington so will be trekking that way in a few weeks. Looking through decades of pictures is a rabbit hole like no other but it's been fun to see some I haven't seen in a long long time. 

I'd planned to cook Saturday night but changed my mind, so we had a frozen pizza. I did manage to make a salad to go with, then we watched Clemson get their clock cleaned by Miami. Painful. 

Sunday was church and I sent a spur of the moment message to our next door neighbors asking if they wanted to come for chili and cards that evening. They said it sounded like fun so that's what we did. Sometimes spontaneous invites work best. 

I made chili, cornbread in the iron skillet which is the only way in my opinion, and a pan of brownies. I wiped down bathrooms and hubs vacuumed so the house was put in order. It wasn't exactly cool outside, but it was a gray rainy day and chili felt right.  We had a nice time catching up and playing cards. 

I'm linking with Holly (Pink Lady) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books) today for this not that interesting but really nice weekend. Hope you had a good one too. 

Share Your Shelf-September

Hello October. 

"I'm glad I live in a world where there are Octobers"~L.M. Montgomery

That quote is from my favorite book and feels appropriate to post here today. It's October and I'm talking books. 

Anne of Green Gables for those not in the know. 

Since it's the first Thursday of the month it's time to share what we've read the month prior. Here's what my bookshelf looked like-

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark

The novel follows Olivia Dumont, a memoir ghostwriter who has spent most of her adult life distancing herself from her father,  the celebrated horror novelist Vincent Taylor. When Vincent asks Olivia to write his memoir, circumstances force her to reconnect with the father she has worked so hard to leave behind. 

She soon realizes the memoir centers on the 1975 murders of Vincent's two siblings, a decades old cold case in which Vincent was once the prime suspect. As Olivia digs deeper into the conflicting evidence surrounding the murders, she must confront not only a 50 year old mystery, but also the complicated and fractured relationship she has with her father.  

I enjoyed this one very much. Four stars for me. 

The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier

This was my book club's September read and I found it a little disappointing. Not bad, but not great either. There's a very strange timeline presented, and I found it distracting and unnecessary. The author wanted to show the changes to the glass making trade over the course of centuries, while keeping the characters constant.  Centuries pass in the real world, but the characters age much more slowly. Once you get the rhythm of this unusual timing the book improves.  

The novel is set on the island of Murano off the coast of Venice and I've been there so was eager to read. I have a beautiful piece of Murano glass (a vase) and thought I'd love this story. It's a work of historical fiction and the plot follows a fictional female glassmaker named Orsola Rosso. We follow her life and work in different eras ranging from 1486 to the Covid pandemic, and read about key events in the history of Venice along the way. 

The Names by Florence Knapp

I really enjoyed this one, and thought the idea behind the story was clever. Cora Atkin is a young mother trapped in an abusive marriage, and the story begins with Cora preparing to register her son's birth. Feeling pressured to name him after his domineering father Gordon, Cora considers calling her son Julian or Bear as these are names that reflect her hopes for her newborn son. The story is told in three alternate narratives, each one based on the name Cora chooses. 

The tale spans 35 years and examines the profound impact of that single pivotal moment, the naming of her son, and how that single decision can alter the course of many lives. 

Please note the abuse is written in a way that makes you feel something visceral, or at least it did me. 

This Side of the Sky: 101 Poems for the Hungry, Hopeful, and Homesick by Laura Wifler 

There's more than one book with this title, so if you're googling be sure you have the correct author. I've followed Laura Wifler on Instagram for a long while now and love her voice. My daughter gave me her book for my birthday and it's one I'm savoring. Five stars for me. 

I'm posting the Goodreads summary here because I think it captures the essence of her writing and this book in particular. 

"Known for giving language to what many women feel but struggle to name, Laura Wifler's debut poetry collection is as riveting as it is relatable.

Written with her signature timbre of startling honesty and unfaltering hope, Laura offers listeners a new way to witness life in This Side of The Sky. Through poetry that is remarkably specific yet wildly universal, Laura explores what it means to grow older in a fallen body, tangles with complicated feelings about grief and suffering this side of Heaven and examines the aches of living in a world that feels both heavy and holy.

In these poems and Scriptures, you'll find

permission to be honest about the pain of life, without losing faith;

a tender awareness of God's nearness, even when life feels chaotic;

encouragement, joy, and comfort in your pursuit of Christ, fortifying your faith even in trials;

a reminder that Heaven is real, and it holds hope for you today.

A trusted and authentic voice for modern Christian women, Laura's poems grapple with the parts of us that know God is real but need reminders that He is moving in our lives, even now. Her compassionate words are ones to tape onto mirrors, tuck into Bibles, send to friends in crisis, and save for days when everyday life feels like too much. Like a hand beckoning, these poems invite us to notice the holy mystery woven through our ordinary days and trust that, even here on this side of the sky, we are held by a God who is both tender and present." 

You might think you don't like poetry (and in fact the book's intro has Laura informing the readers of her reluctance to call herself a poet),  but her poems read like stories and she has a genuine gift for the written word.  Five stars for me. 

If you've shared your recent reads hop over to our host blogs (Joanne at Slices Of Life and Dara at Not In Jersey) and add your link there.