karenmarie: a new normal with lots of books - XII

Welcome to my twelfth thread of Twenty Twenty-one.

The Good: Family, friends, kitties, books, in constantly-rotating order. Chocolate, too. More proof, if any is needed, that vaccines work, with most states reporting reduced cases and deaths.

The Bad and the Sad: Delta and the un-vaccinated ruining it for everybody who’s a responsible person and citizen. I’ve got a terrible feeling that Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be spent without family again. The first death of a close friend, a woman who had not gotten vaccinated in time – she had the first dose of vaccine the week she started experiencing symptoms and died a month later. Shocking and senseless. A general feeling of anomie.

The Ugly: The Gang of Psychos. The polarization of the United States politically and emotionally, an absolute disconnect. t***** not going gentle into that good night.

I am so glad I’m retired, and am beyond grateful that I don’t have to venture out to work to earn a living ever again. I’ve paid my dues. Every day I don’t have to get up to an alarm is a cause for celebration.

I read and am a charter member of the Redbud and Beyond Book Club, started in 1997. We haven’t met since March of last year, met July 11th and decided to ramp back up in September. However, that’s now off. I am President for our local Friends of the Library (henceforth abbreviated FoL). The Board met in person in June and July and we'll meet via video in November. Our September book sale has been cancelled. We’ve now cancelled 4 large sales and one small sale. The book sale team will meet, probably via video, in late October to see if we can re-try the children’s and audiovisual sale sometime in early December.

I have been married to Bill for 30 years and am mother to Jenna, 28, who lives in Asheville now. Bill and I live in our own little corner of paradise on 8 acres in central North Carolina USA.

We have three kitties. Current pictures of all three. L to R: Inara - 14, Zoe - 3, Wash – almost 2.



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No theme for pictures although I do like posting ones of family members. Maternal great-grandaunt Dorothy Cuhel and her sister, my great-grandmother Anna Cuhel Holets.



My goal last year was 100 books and I exceeded it by 24. This year’s goal will be 100 again. It’s a good goal, not too stressful and not too comfortable. No page goal, just tracking. I seem to read around 30000 pages per year and surpassed that too, last year, by 3,869 pages.

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I’ve started my personal Miss Marple challenge – all books by Agatha Christie featuring Miss Marple. I’ve already read two.

New this year: With Julia’s blessing, I’ve taken over the Dick Francis Shared Read, now in its 3rd year. Here’s the link: Third Race at the LT Racetrack: a Dick Francis SHARED Read. I’m hoping 3 years is good and everybody’s content with it gracefully ending or someone else willing to take over for 2022.

Every year I buy a new Lett’s Week to View Desk Diary. The first thing I do when I get it is to put in my name, address, phone number, and email address in case it needs to be returned to me, although it hasn’t gone out of the house since a meeting at the Library in February. Next, I transfer my voter registration card from last year’s to this year’s diary. I then write “God does not make bargains, but She does dispense grace.” across the top of the left inside front cover. Finally, I print out and tape in the two following quotes. The first I think I found in an old Ann Landers column and I don’t remember where I found the second one. But I’ve had both for decades and read them often.

On This Day

Mend a quarrel.
Search out a forgotten friend.
Dismiss a suspicion and replace it with trust.
Write a letter to someone who misses you.
Encourage a youth who has lost faith.
Keep a promise.
Forget an old grudge.
Examine your demands on others and vow to reduce them.
Fight for a principle.
Express your gratitude.
Overcome an old fear.
Take two minutes to appreciate the beauty of nature.
Tell someone you love them.
Tell them again,
And again,
And again.

**********

Whatever you do, death occurs. But if you have lived with a sense of reality and gratitude towards life, then you can leave the dignity of your life behind you, so that your relatives, your friends, and your children can appreciate who you were.

**********
2021 – a new normal with lots of books.

books read

January
1. Washington's Farewell Address and Webster's Bunker Hill Orations, Introduction and Notes by William T. Peck 1/8/21 1/9/21 172 pages hardcover
2. Banker by Dick Francis 1/3/21 1/12/21 303 pages mass market paperback
3. Christmas Beau by Mary Balogh 1/16/21 1/18/21 224 pages mass market paperback
4. If Death Ever Slept by Rex Stout 1/22/21 1/25/21186 pages hardcover
5. The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths 1/25/21 1/28/21 342 pages hardcover
6. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn 1/29/21 1/30/21 438 pages trade paperback
7. The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths 1/28/21 2/2/21 352 pages hardcover, Kindle

February
8. The Distant Echo by Val McDermid 2/5/21 2/10/21 450 pages mass market paperback
9. Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo 2/11/21 2/12/21 353 pages trade paperback
10. Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn 1/15/21 2/15/21 373 pages hardcover
11. And Four to Go by Rex Stout 2/13/21 2/16/21 150 pages mass market paperback
12. A Promised Land by Barack Obama 11/20/20 2/17/2021 701 pages hardcover
13. Pray for Silence by Linda Castillo 2/17/21 2/19/21 322 pages trade paperback
14. We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper 2/19/21 2/23/21 433 pages trade paperback
15. The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths 2/23/21 2/26/21 359 pages hardcover
16. A Wealth of Pigeons by Harry Bliss and Steve Martin 11/25/20 2/28/21 272 pages hardcover

March
17. A Darker Domain by Val McDermid 2/26/21 3/4/21 404 pages mass market paperback
18. Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz 3/4/21 3/7/21 417 pages hardcover
19. The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly 3/7/2021 3/9/21 421 pages hardcover
20. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman 3/9/21 3/9/21 59 pages hardcover
21. Little Black Sambo and the Baby Elephant by Frank Ver Beck 3/9/21 3/9/21 57 pages hardcover
22. Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo 3/9/21 3/12/21 302 pages trade paperback
23. The Skeleton Road 3/12/21 3/17/21 404 pages hardcover
24. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 3/18/21 3/21/21 351 pages hardcover
25. Bootlegger's Daughter by Margaret Maron 3/22/21 3/23/21 261 pages hardcover
26. Southern Discomfort 3/23/21 3/27/21 241 pages hardcover
27. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 10/18/20 3/29/21 audiobook 20 hours
28. Win by Harlan Coben 3/28/21 3/29/21 371 pages hardcover
**abandoned Murder At the 42nd Street Library by Con Lehane 65 pages
29. Odds Against by Dick Francis Francis 3/30/31 3/31/21309 pages mass market paperback

April
30. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E.Schwab 3/30/21 4/5/21 444 pages hardcover
31. Fup by Jim Dodge 4/5/21 4/6/21 51 pages trade paperback 1983
**abandoned Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas 56 pages
32. Champagne for One by Rex Stout 4/9/21 4/10/21 205 pages mass market paperback
33. Plot it Yourself by Rex Stout 4/11/21 4/12/21 132 pages hardcover
34. Life of Pi by Yann Martel 4/12/21 4/15/21 325 pages trade paperback
35. Never Caught by Erica Armstrong Dunbar 4/16/21 201 pages hardcover
36. Three at Wolfe's Door by Rex Stout 4/18/21 4/19/21 184 pages hardcover
37. Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman 4/19/21 4/20/21 355 pages trade paperback
38. Too Many Clients by Rex Stout 4/20/21 4/22/21 188 pages mass market paperback
39. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell 4/22/21 4/24/21 340 pages hardcover
**abandoned What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris 186 pages read
**abandoned North Carolina as a Civil War Battleground 1861-1865 by John Gilchrist Barrett 71 pages read, rest missing

May
40. An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine 4/29/21 5/2/21 291 pages trade paperback
41. The Final Deduction by Rex Stout 5/3/21 5/5/21 188 pages mass market paperback
42. Out of Bounds by Val McDermid 5/5/21 5/7/21 421 pages trade paperback
43. The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks 5/8/21 5/13/21 418 pages hardcover
44. Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller 5/13/21 5/17/21 350 pages hardcover
45. Homicide Trinity by Rex Stout 5/18/21 5/19/21 205 pages mass market paperback
46. North Carolina as a Civil War Battleground 1861-1865 by John Gilchrist Barrett 4/30/21 5/20/21 99 pages trade paperback
47. Out of Bounds by Val McDermid 5/21/21 5/24/21 419 pages trade paperback
**abandoned yet again - sigh - Emma by Jane Austen 69 pages
48. Gambit by Rex Stout 5/25/21 5/26/21 206 pages Kindle
49. Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard 5/24/21 5/29/21 295 pages hardcover

June
50. Don't Let Go by Harlan Coben 6/1/21 6/2/21 347 pages hardcover
51. The Mother Hunt by Rex Stout 6/2/21 6/4/21 213 pages mass market paperback
**abandoned Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots 150 pages
52. Still Life by Val McDermid 6/4/21 6/7/21 434 pages hardcover
53. Last Seen Wearing by Hillary Waugh 6/7/21 6/9/21 214 pages trade paperback
54. Case Pending by Dell Shannon 6/9/21 6/12/21 215 pages trade paperback
**abandoned Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell 39 pages
**abandoned Archaeology From Space by Sarak Parcak 25 pages
**abandoned Moby Dick by Herman Melville 93 pages
55. Trio for Blunt Instruments by Rex Stout 6/12/21 6/13/21 200 pages mass market paperback
56. A Right to Die by Rex Stout 6/13/21 6/15/21 194 pages mass market paperback
57. The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout 6/16/21 6/17/21 207 pages hardcover
58. Death of a Doxy by Rex Stout 6/18/21 6/19/21 155 pages mass market paperback
59. The Father Hunt by Rex Stout 6/19/21 6/20/21 182 pages hardcover 1968
60. Bonecrack by Dick Francis 6/14/21 6/20/21 240 pages mass market paperback
61. Death of a Dude by Rex Stout 6/20/21 6/26/21 200 pages mass market paperback
62. Please Pass the Guilt by Rex Stout 6/26/21 6/27/21 168 pages mass market paperback
63. A Family Affair by Rex Stout 6/27/21 6/29/21 167 pages mass market paperback
64. Death Times Three by Rex Stout 6/29/21 6/30/21 243 pages trade paperback
**abandoned The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich 58 pages

July
65. The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers 7/2/21 7/7/21 307 pages hardcover
66. Archie Meets Nero Wolfe by Robert Goldsborough 7/7/21 7/9/21 223 pages trade paperback
67. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 7/9/21 7/11/21 304 pages hardcover
68. Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit 7/2/21 7/11/21 154 pages trade paperback
69. A Promise of Spring by Mary Balogh 7/13/21 7/15/21 183 pages mass market paperback
70. Night Film by Marisha Pessl 7/17/21 7/24/21 599 pages hardcover
**abandoned The River Between Us by Liz Fenwick 103 pages
71. Ties That Bound: Founding First Ladies and Slaves by Mary Jenkins Schwartz 7/11/21 7/30/21 356 pages hardcover

August
72. Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley 7/25/21 8/1/21 301 pages trade paperback
73. The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell 8/2/21 8/6/21
74. Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz 8/6/21 8/15/21 603 pages hardcover
75. Three Doors to Death by Rex Stout 8/16/21 8/17/21 136 pages hardcover
76. Hot Money by Dick Francis 8/17/21 8/18/21 423 pages mass market paperback
77. Topper by Thorne Smith 8/19/21 8/22/21 218 pages trade paperback Kindle
78. The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi 8/15/21 8/25/21 2020 289 pages hardcover
79. Feral Creatures by Kira Jane Buxton 8/25/21 8/29/21 349 pages hardcover
80. The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie 8/29/21 8/31/21 231 pages hardcover

September
81. The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz 9/1/21 9/3/21 320 pages hardcover
82. The Tuesday Club Murders by Agatha Christie 9/4/21 9/7/21 197 pages hardcover
83. Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard 8/26/21 9/9/21 304 pages hardcover
84. Murder, Culture, and Injustice 9/11/21 9/16/21 262 pages hardcover
85. The Game of Thirty by William Kotzwinkle 271 pages trade paperback
86. The Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 9/17/21 9/22/21 Kindle 629 pages mass market paperback
87. Still Life with Crows by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 9/22/21 9/26/21 Kindle 640 pages mass market paperback
88. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling 3/30/21 9/27/21 audiobook 27 hours
89. Gone Missing by Linda Castillo 9/26/21 9/28/21 319 pages mass market paperback

October
90. The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman 9/29/21 10/3/21 355 pages hardcover
91. Dance of Death by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child 10/3/21 10/6/21 Kindle 451 pages hardcover
92. The Book of the Dead by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 10/6/21 10/10/21 597 pages mass market paperback
93. The Mandibles: 2027 - 2049 by Lionel Shriver 10/11/21 10/17/21 402 pages hardcover
94. The Merchant's House by Kate Ellis 10/17/21 10/23/21 Kindle 256 pages mass market paperback
95. Decider by Dick Francis 10/24/21 10/26/21 327 pages mass market paperback
96. Death at Whitewater Church by Andrea Carter 10/26/21 10/28/21 Kindle 352 pages hardcover
97. Japanese Proverbs & Traditional Phrases by Peter Pauper Press 10/29/21 10/29/21 57 pages hardcover
**abandoned The Barrakee Mystery:The Lure of the Bush by Arthur W. Upfield 13 pages
**abandoned The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child 34 pages
**abandoned American Indians by William T. Hagan 34 pages
**abandoned Cumin, Camels, and Caravans by Gary Paul Nabhan 59 pages
**abandoned White Trash by Nancy Isenberg 42 pages
**abandoned The Source by James Michener 96 pages
**abandoned Religious Literacy by Stephen Prothero 49 pages

Currently Reading:

A Perfectly Good Family by Lionel Shriver 10/29/21 277 pages trade paperback 2007
Run with the Horsemen by Ferrol Sams 1/23/21 422 pages trade paperback 1982
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson 10/16/21 489 pages hardcover 2021
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling 9/29/21 audiobook 19 hours 2005

books added - 2020 was the great conjunction of adds and culls, both at 128. Keeping the adds down will probably be as easy as it was last year because of the pandemic - no Friends of the Library book sales and no trips to used book stores and thrift shops.

**I spoke too soon - a FoL book donation with me getting first dibs has put me in the hole already.**

00. Friend Jessica - Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein. Given in December, but it offsets the first cull, below, so they're in the 00. black hole.
1. Amazon - Twice Shy by Dick Francis
2. ER - Sergeant Salinger by Jerone Charyn
3. Amazon - The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer
4. Amazon - A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders
5. FoL member Marian - In the Morning I'll Be Gone by Adrian McKinty
6. FoL member Marian - The Cold Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty
7. FoL member Marian - I Hear the Sirens in the Street by Adrian McKinty
8. FoL member Marian - Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty
9. FoL member Marian - Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty
10. FoL member Marian - Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty
11. FoL member Marian - The Death of a Joyce Scholar by Bartholomew Gill
12. FoL member Marian - Counterparts by Gonzalo Lira
13. FoL member Marian - The Hellfire Club by Jake Tapper
14. FoL member Marian - Lost Light by Michael Connelly
15. FoL member Marian - Echo Park by Michael Connelly
16. FoL member Marian - The Overlook by Michael Connelly
17. FoL member Marian - The Reversal by Michael Connelly
18. FoL member Marian - Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelly
19. FoL member Marian - City of Bones by Michael Connelly
20. FoL member Marian - All Saints by Karen Palmer
21. FoL member Marian - Ripley Under Water by Patricia Highsmith
22. FoL member Marian - The Drop by Michael Connelly
23. FoL member Marian - The Dark Winter by David Mark
24. FoL member Marian - The Last Four Days of Paddy Buckley by Jeremy Massey
25. FoL member Marian - Fair Warning by Michael Connelly
26. FoL member Marian - Reversible Errors by Scott Turow
27. FoL member Marian - Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly
28. FoL member Marian - The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly
29. FoL member Marian - Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane
30. FoL member Marian - Death Descends on Saturn Villa by M.R.C. Kasasian
31. FoL member Marian - The naive & Sentimental Lover by John Le Carre
32. FoL member Marian - The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen
33. FoL member Marian - The Widow by Fiona Barton
34. FoL member Marian - The Looking Glass War by John Le Carre
35. FoL member Marian - The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John Le Carre
36. FoL member Marian - Dead I Well May Be by Adrian McKinty
37. FoL member Marian - The Chain by Adrian McKinty
38. FoL member Marian - The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais
39. Amazon - The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
40. Kindle - The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
41. Kindle - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
42. Kindle - Legion by Brandon Sanderson
43. Mark - We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper
44. Kindle - Medieval People by Eileen Edna Power - saw it on Mamie's thread
45. Amazon - Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz
46. Kindle - The Chronicles of Barsetshire by Anthony Trollope - recommended by lauralkeet
47. Amazon - The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
48. Kindle - Theresa Marchmont or, the Maid of Honour by Mrs. Gore9
February
49. Amazon - Deacon King Kong by James McBride
50. friend Karen - the President's Shadow by Brad Meltzer
51. friend Louise - Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo
52. FoL member Marian - Pray for Silence by Linda Castillo
53. FoL member Marian - Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo
54. FoL member Marian - Gone Missing by Linda Castillo
55. FoL member Marian - Her Last Breath by Linda Castillo
56. FoL member Marian - The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo
57. FoL member Marian - After the Storm by Linda Castillo
58. FoL member Marian - Among the Wicked by Linda Castillo
59. FoL member Marian - Down a Dark Road by Linda Castillo
60. FoL member Marian - Shamed by Linda Castillo
61. Amazon - Cumin, Camels, and Carabans by Gary Paul Nabhan
62. Amazon - Drive Your Plows Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
63. Amazon - A Darker Domain by Val McDermid
64. Kindle - My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due

March
65. friend Jan - Remains of Innocence by J.A. Jance
66. friend Jan - Dead Wrong by J.A. Jance
67. Kindle - The Decameron by Giovanni Boccacio
68. Circle City Books - Bootlegger's Daughter by Margaret Maron
69. Amazon - The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid
70. Amazon - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
71. Amazon - The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
72. Amazon - Win by Harlan Coben
73. Kindle - Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth
74. Sanford book store - Shooting at Loons by Margaret Maron
75. Sanford book store - Death's Half Acre by Margaret Maron
76. friend Pam Dennis - A Very English Scandal by John Preston
77. friend Pam Dennis - The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell

April
78. Amazon - Too Many Clients by Rex Stout
79. Amazon - Refusal by Felix Felix Francis
80. Amazon - The Survivors - Jane Harper
81. Amazon - Blue Nights by Joan Didion
82. Amazon - e.e. cumming: the Growth of a Writer by Norman Friedman
83. found on my shelves - don't know how I acquired it - Defending Jacob by William Landay
84. Kindle - Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham
85. Amazon - What Angels Fear by C. S. Harris
86. Amazon - The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman
87. Amazon - Out of Bounds by Val McDermid
88. Thrift Shop - The Golem of Hollywood by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman
89. Thrift Shop - Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart
90. Thrift Shop - Beneath the Skin by Nicci French
91. Thrift Shop - Land of the Living by Nicci French
92. Thrift Shop - The Crocodile Bird by Ruth Rendell
93. Thrift Shop - A Visit from the Good Squad by Jennifer Egan
94. Thrift Shop - Wait Wait... I'm Not Done Yet! by Carl Kasell
95. Amazon - The Final Deduction by Rex Stout

May
96. Amazon - Homicide Trinity by Rex Stout
97. Amazon - Blind Justice by Bruce Alexander
98. Amazon - Nomadland by Jessica Bruder
99. Amazon - The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson
100. Amazon - Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
101. Thrift Shop - The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel
102. Thrift Shop - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
103. Thrift Shop - The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
104. Thrift Shop - Frederica by Georgette Heyer
105. Library of Congress Shop - Last Seen Wearing by Hillary Waugh
106. Library of Congress Shop - The Silent Bullet by Arthur B. Reeve

rather than renumbering from January and February,

107. Amazon - Archaeology From Space by Sarah Parcak
108. friend Roni - Dangerous Visions by Harlan Ellison

109. Kindle - A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby: A Multi-Cultural Historical Regency Romance by Vanessa Riley
110. Amazon - Train by Pete Dexter
111. Amazon - Broken Ground by Val McDermid
112. Amazon - North Carolina as a Civil War Battleground 1861-1865 by John Gilchrist Barrett - replacement for copy that mysteriously stopped at page 71 and culled
113. Kindle - The Jungle by Sinclair Lewis - Mark
114. Thrift Shop - Crisis by Felix Francis
115. Thrift Shop - Later by Stephen King
116. Friends donations reject - The Beat Book: Writings from the Beat Generation edited by Anne Waldman
117. Friends donations reject - Adventures in American Literature 1952
118. Kindle - Gambit by Rex Stout
119. Amazon - The Children of Pride by Robert Manson Myers
120. Thrift Shop - Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford
121. Thrift Shop - More Letters from Pemberly by Jane Dawkins
122. Thrift Shop - Rituals of the Season by Margaret Maron
123. Thrift Shop - Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
124. Thrift Shop - Theodore Roosevelt by Nathan Miller
125. Amazon - Still Life by Val McDermid
126. Kindle - Virginia Woolf: The Complete Works

June
127. Friend Jessica - The Love Girl and the Innocent: Victory Celebrations. Prisoners by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
128. Thrift Shop - Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
129. Thrift Shop - The Parrots by Filippo Bologna
130. Amazon - A Right to Die by Rex Stout
131. Amazon - Death Times Three by Rex Stout
132. ER - The Hawaiian Romance of Laieikawai by S.N. Hale'ole
133. Amazon - The Dead Letter by Seeley Regester
134. Amazon - I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O'Farrell
135 - 137. Kindle - first three Miss Silver mysteries by Patricia Wentworth - Grey Mask, The Case is Closed, Lonesome Road
138. Univ of Chicago Press - The Daily Jane Austen: A Year of Quotes by Jane Austen
139. Univ of Chicago Press - Socrates and the Fat Rabbis by Daniel Boyarin
140. Amazon - 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated by Eric H. Cline
141. Univ of Chicago Press - Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism by Cathy Gere
142. Univ of Chicago Press - American Indians: Fourth Edition (The Chicago History of American Civilization) by William T. Hagan
143. Univ of Chicago Press - Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio Hearn
144. Amazon - The Royal Wulff Murders by Keith McCafferty
145. Univ of Chicago Press - Rattling Spears: A History of Indigenous Australian Art by Ian McLean
146. Univ of Chicago Press - Who Freed the Slaves?: The Fight over the Thirteenth Amendment by Leonard L. Richards
147. Univ of Chicago Press - Ties That Bound: Founding First Ladies and Slaves by Marie Jenkins Schwartz
148. Univ of Chicago Press - A Village with My Name: A Family History of China's Opening to the World by Scott Tong
149. Univ of Chicago Press - The Thousand-Year Flood: The Ohio-Mississippi Disaster of 1937 by David Welky
150. Amazon - The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness by Simon Wiesenthal
151. Amazon - Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
152. Friend Tamsie - The Elements of a Home by Amy Azzarito
153. Friend Tamsie - Midland Club by Mark Spano
154. Friend Tamsie - Cats Cats Cats edited by S. Gross
155. Friend Tamsie - Dead Feminists: Historic Heroines in Living Color by Chandler O'Leary and Jessica Spring
156. friend Tamsie - White Fragility by Robin Diangelo
157. book sale room reject - Unger's Bible Dictionary by Merrill F. Unger

July
158. friend Louise - American Sherlock by Kate Winkler Dawson
159. Ann Sanders - The American Heritage Cookbook and illustrated History of American Eating & Drinking by editors, American Heritage
160. Ann Sanders - Trinity Treats: A Collection of Recipes by The Woman's Society of Christian Service
161. Ann Sanders - Aunt Bee's Delightful Desserts by Ken Beck and Jim clark
162. Ann Sanders - Eating with Etta Cookbook Holiday Recipes by Etta L. Broaddus, R.D.
163. Ann Sanders - The Williamsburg Art of Cookery or, Accomplish'd Gentlewoman's Companion by Mrs. Helen Bullock
164. Ann Sanders - Birds of North Carolina by Thomas Gilbert Pearson
165. Ann Sanders - Marcus Aurelius by Marcus Aurelius
166. Ann Sanders - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife of Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee by Warren Parker and Laura Dixon
167. Ann Sanders - Japanese Proverbs and traditional phrases by Jeff Hill
168. Ann Sanders - Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer
169. Ann Sanders - Guide To Ecclesiastical Birdwatching by LeRoy Koopman
170. Ann Sanders - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking by editors, Favorite Recipes Press
171. sister Laura - The Harbinger by Jonathan Kahn
172. Amazon - Archie meets Nero Wolfe by Robert Goldsborough
173. Amazon - The Midnight Diary by Matt Haig
174. Amazon - The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker
175. Amazon - Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
176. Kindle - The Plague by Albert Camus
177. Kindle - The River Between US by Liz Fenwick
178. Kindle - Summary and Key Points of What Really Happened In Wuhan: The cover-ups, the conspiracies and the classified research by Sharri Markson - by Laurie Bunger
179. Kindle - Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

August
180. Kindle - The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell - jackie_k
181. Friend Karen - The Winner Stands Alone by Paulo Coelho
182. Friend Karen - Chocolate Every Day: 85 Plant-based Recipes for Cacao Treats that Support Your Health and Well-being by Bennett Coffey
183. Friend Karen - The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook
184. Friend Karen - Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt
185. Friend Karen - The Old Contemptibles by Martha Grimes
186. Friend Karen - Stories in the Stars: An Atlas of Constellations by Susanna Hislop
187. Friend Karen - The Male Brain: A Breakthrough Understanding of How Men and Boys Think by Louann Brizendine, M.D.
188. Friend Karen - The Dangerous Ladies Affair by Marcia Muller
189. Friend Karen - Four Spirits by Sena Jeter Naslund
190. Friend Karen - Seeking the South: Finding Inspired Regional Cuisines by Bob Newton
191. Friend Karen - I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider
192. Friend Karen - MAD About the Trump Era by Various
193. Friend Karen - The Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House by Bob Woodward
194. Amazon - How the South Won the War by Heather Cox Richardson
195. Amazon - The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi
196. Kindle - Topper by Thorne Smith
197. Friend Mark - The Orphan Mother by Robert Hicks
198. Kindle - The Barrakkee Mystery by Arthur Upfield
199. Kindle - This Girl for Hire by G.G. Fickling - mentioned by magicians_nephew
200. Amazon - Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caulwell - friend Karen
201. Amazon - Feral Creatures by Kira Jane Buxton
202. Kindle - Divine Lola: A True Story of Scandal and Celebrity by Cristina Morató

September
203. Amazon - If You Exist by Lillian Moats
204. Kachergis donation - FDR's Unfinished Portrait by Elizabeth Shoumatoff
205. Kachergis donation - Five Black Lives editor Arna Bontemps
206. Kachergis donation - Gertrude Bell: The Arabian Diaries, 1913-1914 editor Rosemary O'Brien
207. Kachergis donation - Murder, Culture, and Injustice by Walter L. Hixson
208. Kachergis donation - Plain Folk and Gentry in a Slave Society by J. William Harris
209. Kachergis donation - Rose O'Neale Greenhow and the Blockade Runners by George Johnson, Jr.
210. Kachergis donation - Sally Hemings & Thomas Jefferson editors Jan Ellen Lewis & Peter S. Onuf
211. Kachergis donation - The Clerihews of Paul Horgan by Paul Horgan
212. Kachergis donation - The Man Who Wanted Seven Wives by Katie Letcher Lyle
213. Kachergis donation - Virginia Landmarks of Black History editor Calder Loth
214. FoL member Marian - Consequences by E.M. Delafield
215. FoL member Marian - The Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor Graham
216. FoL member Marian - The Young Pretenders by Edith Henrietta Fowler
217. FoL member Marian - The Fortnight in September by RC Sherriff
218. Friend Karen - The Round House by Louise Erdrich
219. Friend Karen - Merry Meet by Isobel Bird
220. Friend Karen - Second Sight by Isobel Bird
221. Friend Karen - So Mote It Be by Isobel Bird
222. Friend Karen - Poems, 1923-1954 by E.E. Cummings
223. Friend Karen - The Drunken Forest by Gerald Durrell
224. Friend Karen - Great Beginnings and Endings: Opening and Closing Lines of Great Novels by Georgianne Ensign
225. Friend Karen - A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
226. Friend Karen - Love in a Green Shade: Idyllic Romances Ancient to Modern by Richard F. Hardin
227. Friend Karen - An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks
228. Friend Karen - The Basque Kitchen: Tempting Food from the Pyrenees by Gerald Hirigoyen
229. Friend Karen - Hateship, friendship, courtship, loveship, marriage : stories by Alice Munroe
230. Friend Karen - Einstein for Beginners by Joseph Schwartz
231. Friend Karen - Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
232. Friend Karen - Hillbilly Elegy : A Memoir of a Family and a Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
233. Kindle - Welcome to Cooper by Tariq Ashkanani
234. Kindle - Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
235. Amazon - The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe:Parodies and Pastiches Featuring the Great Detective of West 35th Street by Josh Pachter
236. Amazon - The Best of Me by David Sedaris
237. Thrift Shop - The Chameleon's Shadow by Minette Walters
238. Thrift Shop - Oxymoronica by Dr. Mardy Grothe
239. Thrift Shop - Think Like a Freak by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
240. Amazon - The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

October
241. Amazon - Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie
242. Thrift Shop - A Regency Christmas 6 by Mary Balogh
243. Thrift Shop - Stay Close by Harlan Coben
244. Thrift Shop - The Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
245. Kindle - The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
246. Kindle - Agatha Christie: Premium Collection by Agatha Christie
247. Kindle - Speedy Death by Gladys Mitchell
248. Kindle - The Saltmarsh Murders by Gladys Mitchell
249. Amazon - The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047 by Lionel Shriver
250. Kindle - The Merchant's House by Kate Ellis
251. Amazon - The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and a Selection of Entrees by Agatha Christie
252. Amazon - The Book of William: How Shakespeare's First Folio Conquered the World by Paul Collins
253. Amazon - State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny
254. Peggy - Run With the Horsemen by Ferrol Sams
255. Amazon - A Perfectly Good Family by Lionel Shriver
256. Amazon - A Terrible, Horrible, No Good Year edited by Larry Smith
257. Kindle - Death at Whitewater Church by Andrea Carter
258. Amazon - Better Off Dead by Lee Child and Andrew Child
259. Preacher in Pittsboro - Lost Scriptures by Bart Ehrman
260. Preacher in Pittsboro - Archaeology Study Bible: ESV by editors at Crossway
261. Kindle - Politics and the English Language by George Orwell
262. Kindle - 11/22/63 by Stephen King
00. Lev in Glasgow by Harry Bingham - acquired in 2015 but just realized I hadn't added it to my catalog
263. Kindle - Ending by Hilma Wolitzer
264. Kindle - 30+ Classic Philosophy Book Collection: The Art of War, Poetics, The Republic, The Meditations, The Prince and others
265. Amazon - Wait Til Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin

November

books culled - there are still quite a few books on my shelves, lurking in corners and 3 deep on the shelves, that need new homes.

00. Mi's Day by Mira Vest. Cousin Mira, published in 1947. I had two copies and gave one to my sister. I actually culled this one in December but won't go back and update 2020 statistics.

1. Lost Light by Michael Connelly - upgraded to hardcover
2. The Overlook by Michael Connelly - upgraded to hardcover
3. Echo Park by Michael Connelly - upgraded to hardcover
4. Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelly - upgraded to hardcover
5. City of Bones by Michael Connelly - upgraded to hardcover
6. The Drop by Michael Connelly - upgraded to hardcover
7. The Reversal by Michael Connelly - upgraded to hardcover
8. The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly - upgraded to hardcover
9. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn - won't read any more of the series
10. Field Gray by Philip Kerr - won't read the series - for Peggy
11. For the Time Being by Annie Dillard - for Richard
12. I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming
13. The Brass Go-Between by Ross Thomas
14. Voss by Patrick White
15. The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais
16. Straight On Till Morning by Mary S. Lovell
17. Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas
18. Field Gray by Philip Kerr
10. Champagne for One by Rex Stout
20. The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H. G. Parry
21. What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris blech
22. North Carolina as Civil War Battleground 1861-1865 by John Gilchrist Barrett - missing pages

bye-bye J.A. Vance!

23. Betrayal of Trust by J. A. Jance
24. Cold Betrayal by J. A. Jance
25. Cruel Intent by J. A. Jance
26. Day of the Dead by J. A. Jance
27. Dead Wrong by J. A. Jance
28. Deadly Stakes by J. A. Jance
29. Deadly Stakes by J. A. Jance I do not know why I had two copies. bad inventory control. *smile*
30. Failure to Appear by J. A. Jance
31. Injustice for All by J. A. Jance
32. Left for Dead by J. A. Jance
33. Partner in Crime by J. A. Jance
34. Remains of Innocence by J. A. Jance
35. Second Watch by J. A. Jance
36. Taking the Fifth by J. A. Jance
37. Trial by Fury by J. A. Jance
38. Until Proven Guilty by J. A. Jance
39. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - will never, ever read this trilogy
40. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel - ditto
41. The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel - ditto
42. Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots - nope. Not my cuppa.
43. Forgiveness by Simon Wiesenthal - duplicate
44. The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich - urp. Boring.
45. We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
46. Sheer Abandon by Penny Vincenzi
47. The Civil War: A Narrative, Vol. 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote, audiobook missing disc 7
48. The Civil War: A Narrative, Vol. 2: Fredericksburg to Meridian by Shelby Foote - don't like narrator, and because disc 8 is missing can't continue with vol 1 anyway

bye-bye Judith McNaught and Anne Rice!

49. A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught
50. Almost Heaven by Judith McNaught
51. Every Breath You Take by Judith McNaught
52. Once and Always by Judith McNaught
53. Someone to Watch Over Me by Judith McNaught
54. Something Wonderful by Judith McNaught
55. Until You by Judith McNaught
56. Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught
57. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
58. Servant of the Bones by Anne Rice
59. The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
60. The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice
61. The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
62. Violin by Anne Rice
63. The Capture o the Earl of Glencrae by Stephanie Laurens
64. Chocolate Every Day: 85 Plant-based Recipes for Cacao Treats that Support Your Health and Well-being by Bennett Coffey - will never use and my sister is vegan
65. The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi - I don't have an overwhelming need to keep it
66. Almost a Crime by Penny Vincenzi
67. The Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - too ratty to read, borrowed e-copy from Library
68. For the second time: Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
69. Swann's Way by Marcel Proust - lovely old copy, just too hard to read
70. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim
71. Forget Me Not and Beautiful Dreamer by Elizabeth Lowell
72. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking - I was only keeping it to find disgusting recipes

Statistics Through October 31

97 books read
26 of them on my shelves before 01/01/2021 and not rereads
18 books abandoned, 1301 pages abandoned
29950 pages read
47 audiobook hours
Avg pages read per day, YTD = 99
Avg pages read per book, YTD = 309

Book of the month: The Mandibles: A Family 2029-2047 by Lionel Shriver

Books By Month
January 6 books, 1665 pages
February 10 books, 3790 pages
March 13 books, 3609 pages
April 10 books, 2426 pages
May 10 books, 2894 pages
June 15 books, 3379 pages
July 7 books, 2165 pages
August 9 books, 2982 pages
September 9 books, 2942 pages
October 8 books, 2797 pages - 7 books recorded as abandoned, 327 pages

Author
Male 60%
Female 40%

Living 61%
Dead 39%

US Born 65%
Foreign Born 35%

Platform
Hardcover 45%
Trade Pback 20%
Mass Market 23%
Audiobook 2%
e-Book 10%

Source
My Library 85%
Library 11%
Other 4%

Misc
ARC/ER 1%
Re-read 19%
Series 59%

Fiction 90%
NonFiction 10%

New to Me Authors 36

Author Birth Country
England 21%
Germany 1%
Ireland 2%
Jordan 1%
Scotland 7%
Spain 1%
US 65%
Wales 2%

Original Decade Published
1890s 1%
1910s 1%
1920s 2%
1930s 2%
1950s 6%
1960s 18%
1970s 3%
1980s 4%
1990s 7%
2000s 14%
2010s 22%
2020s 20%

Category
Adventure 2%
Biography 0%
Chrestomathy 0%
Contemporary Fiction 7%
Fantasy 10%
Historical Fiction 4%
Humor 1%
Informational Nonfiction 9%
Memoir 1%
Mystery 37%
Poetry 1%
Science Fiction 0%
Suspense 0%
Thriller 27%


Book Acquisition Date
2007 - Joined LT, added 1853 books 15
2008 1
2009 1
2010 1
2012 2
2016 4
2017 2
2018 8
2019 2
2020 6
2021 41
borrowed from friends 3
Library 11

Rating
2.5 - Average 1
3 - Good 6
3.5 - Very Good 25
4 - Excellent 48
4.5 - Stunning 17

3.88 - YTD Average

October’s Lightning Round

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman 9/29/21 10/3/21

Such a fun book. All the accolades are true, it is in turn a story about our intrepid Thursday Murder Club – Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim – and two separate crimes that must be solved, bad guys dealt with, and justice done. Pretty much flawless, with consistent characters, witty dialog, and deep truths about love, aging, and life in general screaming off each page.

Dance of Death by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child 10/3/21 10/6/21

This is a solid entry in the series with strong action, intricate and tight plotlines, and good characterization.

The Book of the Dead by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 10/6/21 10/10/21

The third in the Diogenes trilogy. Diogenes is Pendergast’s brother, who has sworn to destroy him for reasons unknown. Pendergast is in a high security prison awaiting trial, his allies work on breaking him out – excellent action there – and the story ends shockingly, thousands of miles away from New York.

The Mandibles: 2027 - 2049 by Lionel Shriver 10/11/21 10/17/22

Shriver identifies this as ‘acid satire’. I consider contemporary fiction to be plausible, and since this presents such a horrific future I originally thought it science fiction. Being incurably optimistic, I don’t want to consider the future Shriver writes so convincingly about - that everything Bill and I ever worked for would be wiped out in an instant and we’d probably become homeless to a band of marauding house thieves. This is an amazingly scary and marvelous book, full of loving and vicious characterizations, with unflinching takes on truth and human nature. If even one-tenth of what happens to the Mandibles happens here in the US in my lifetime… well, I shudder to think about that kind of future.

The Merchant's House by Kate Ellis 10/17/21 10/23/21 img src=http://static.librarything.com/pics/s8.gif>

Excellent start to a promising series. An archaeological dig’s discoveries reveal a murder that helps solve a present day crime. Well-wrought and vivid characters, a finely paced plot, and a great police procedural.

Death at Whitewater Church by Andrea Carter 10/26/21 10/28/21 img src=http://static.librarything.com/pics/s7.gif>

A very good start to a new series for me, with Benedicta “Ben” O’Keefe living in a very small town in Ireland after fleeing a family tragedy 6 years earlier. She’s a solicitor and the surveying of a property for sale leads to the discovery of a skeleton. A local family’s eldest son’s disappearance on his wedding years earlier, the erratic behavior of his younger brother, and various and sundry interesting characters and small town situations make this quite enjoyable. Thank goodness I like P.D. James – Amazon tells me Perfect for fans of Louise Penny, PD James, and Donna Leon, otherwise I’d have to boycott it.

124 books read

1 Masterpiece
19 Stunning
67 Excellent
20 Very Good
12 Good
4 Average
1 Bad
0 Very Bad
0 Don't Bother
0 Anathema

Best Fiction
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Beastly Tales From Here and There by Vikram Seth
The Standing Chandelier by Lionel Shriver
Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls

Best Nonfiction
Abraham Lincoln: Mystic Chords of Memory edited by Larry Shapiro
Dr. Seuss Goes to War by Richard H. Minear
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Top five overall for the LT Top Five Books of 2020 list:

Mrs. Caliban
How to Be an Antiracist
In the Heart of the Sea
The Standing Chandelier
Dr. Seuss Goes to War

…

Welcome to my shiny new thread!

Hello, shiny new thread! *smooch*

Hi RD! Rather than a gold star for being first:

Nice. I know you'll keep it that way. Good place to visit. And LEARN.

>11 karenmarie: Oooh, perfect choice...a Golden Tentacled American!

Morning, Karen! Happy new one! Your latest photo share of Wash speaks to me - I feel like we could hang out together. He looks like he has a dry sense of humor and would be excellent with the snark.

Happy new one, Karen!

Happy new thread, Karen. Hope you have a lovely day.

Happy new thread, Karen. I wish you a lovely day.

Happy new thread, Karen.

Happy new thread!

>11 karenmarie: Heh heh!

Happy new thread, Karen. Happy Wednesday too!

Happy new thread, Karen. Nice new pics of the *kids* and lovely grand pics, too

Happy number 12, Karen. xx

Happy New Thread, Karen. See you in the AM...

Happy new one!

>12 weird_O: Hi Bill! Shiny, aye. Thanks.

>13 richardderus: I thought you’d like it…

>14 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! Thank you. I’m glad you like the newest Wash photo. He’s sweet and snarky. He loves to steal water bottle caps.

Thanks Katie, Reba, Barbara, Beth, and Susan.

>19 quondame: I was inspired.

>20 alcottacre: Hi Stasia, and thank you. Wednesday’s been good so far.

>21 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley. I have fun taking pics of the kids, forwarding them to my email, snipping them into a word document, then snipping the combined effort and saving it as a jpeg. And thanks re the grands. I never met either of them, although Dorothy lived until I was 38 and Anna lived until I was 23. We just never spent any time with that side of the family on the rare times we visited in Iowa. These women were on my maternal grandfather’s side, and my maternal grandmother made sure we spent most of the time with her and her side of the family.

>2 karenmarie: Thanks, Paul!

>23 msf59: Thanks, Mark! Yes, I always look forward to saying hi to you in the a.m.

>24 drneutron: Thanks, Jim!

Morning, Karen. Happy Friday! No walks for me yesterday but I do have Trail Watch duties today. Books in the PM. Seeing some activity at the feeders but other than a blue jay feeding on the ground, not much different.

Morning, Karen! Just getting to my first cup of coffee, and it is full of fabulous. Whatcha up to today?

>26 msf59: 'Morning, Mark, and happy Friday to you, too. Outdoors in the a.m. and books in the p.m. sounds great to me! I've got a female Cardinal on the feeder right now but that's all. Yesterday a female Cardinal and a finch were taking baths in the birdbath.

>27 Crazymamie: 'Morning, Mamie! I just had my first sip of coffee. I really slept in this morning - woke up at 9. Today will be some Friends Treasury stuff and reading.

I had my annual exam yesterday and except for my weight and knees/hips/back everything's great. Got my senior flu shot, which I think is what wiped me out from about 7 - 8:30 last night. I'm not awake enough yet to know if it's wake-up fog or flu shot side effects that have me a bit zoned.

I'm reading the most fabulous book - The Mandibles: A Family, 2029 - 2047 by Lionel Shriver and am looking forward to great chunks of that today.

'Morning, Karen. Happy New Thread and Happy Friday! Let the good times roll!

Enjoy your most fabulous book; I'm having a good time with Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Happy Friday, Karen. Hope that fog lifts and you enjoy your reading today!

>29 jnwelch: Hi Joe. Thank you twice. It's a good Friday so far. Yay for good times with books.

>30 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie. The fog's lifted, I'm almost done with my coffee, and have eaten breakfast and taken my vitamins/meds. I've moved the printer a bit to free up more space close to the lamp and computer, which makes me happy. Simple pleasures for simple minds...

Happy new thread, Karen. Interesting family photos up above. You're lucky to have a collection of old photos like that!

Weekend hooooo-oooooooooooo!!

*smooch*

>28 karenmarie: I looked at the reviews of The Mandibles: A Family, 2029 - 2047 and I'm afraid the one labeling it libertarian cooled my interest.

Happy new one!

Happy Friday, Karen!

>32 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg, and thank you. I like having family photos, too. My uncle has a treasure trove and mentioned to his sister, my aunt, that he doesn’t know of anybody in the family who wants them. I wrote to him and said that I’d be honored to take them, but he said there’s another cousin who does genealogical research on the family – but she’s on the paternal side and if I couldn’t have them then I’d at least like the maternal side.

>33 richardderus: By George, RD, it is the weekend. Yay. *smooch*

>34 quondame: I never look at reviews before reading booksIf I know I'm going to read a book, I don't read reviews. I’m over halfway through and so far don’t see anything remotely resembling libertarianism. I’ll have to think about this when I’ve finished it.

>35 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Figs!

>36 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia. I hope you have had a good Friday so far. Mine’s been good, and since I decided to take some pain killers during the day I’m a bit more chipper than I’ve been recently.

>37 karenmarie: By Martha, so it is!

I'm in! Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Karen!

>1 karenmarie: Love;y pictures of the kitties, you woke Zoe?
Ending the Dick Francis shared read threads after three years is okay by me. I will continue to read some of them once in a while.

Morning, Karen. Happy Saturday. We are attending our nephew's football game this AM and then we are thinking about going to see the new James Bond film. We have not been to the movie theater in over a year and a half. We will see how it goes. Hoping on Jackson-time tomorrow.

>38 richardderus: Hiya, RD!

>39 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hi Larry! Thank you.

>40 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita. I didn’t wake Zoe up, although it looks like I did. Thanks for your thoughts about ending the Dick Francis Shared Reads.

>41 msf59: ‘Morning to you, too, Mark, and happy Saturday. Sounds like a busy and fun day.

…
Won’t be nearly as exciting over here, but that’s okay with me. Coffee, reading, hanging out, errands for Bill, take out lunch for us both.

Morning, Karen! Your plans for today sound just like mine except for the takeout lunch. We did takeaway Mexican yesterday, so today it's Get Your Own.

Mmmm take-out...in the mood for something very bad-for-me today so will probably make chili and cheese on rice with pickled jalapeños. No need for fries. No. None at all.

Saturday *smooch*

>43 Crazymamie: 'Morning, Mamie! Yum to Mexican takeout. It's not Bill's favorite, and our favorite Mexican restaurant in town just closed permanently. At a bare minimum, I need to get some Taco Bell Monday after my chiropractic appointment for a late lunch.

>44 richardderus: Hiya, RD! Ooh, chili. I have some leftover chili - I'll make some elbow macaroni and have it for supper with some shredded medium cheddar. Thanks for the reminder. *smooch*

Taco Bell! Those still exist?! Wow. I used to cook pinto beans and one always had to sort them...bean, bean, bean, rock!, bean...but I've always been leery of beans made in industrial pressure cookers because how many rocks get left in 'em....

Oh yes, Taco Bell is still around. There's one about 10 miles from my house in Pittsboro and one about 12 miles from my house in Siler City. I guess I should be more careful of the bean burritos, eh?

I'll be unpacking this weekend, fun. Next week is my neighborhood's bulk trash pickup week, so tomorrow I'm going to be moving a bunch of broken down boxes and a beat up old chair out to the curb. Brother Fluffy's going to be locked up for a couple hours while that happens. He always makes me pay somehow.

Have you ever sold anything online? I only used half of the Farrow & Ball paint I bought in January and I'm going to try and sell it on Facebook marketplace or craigslist. I hope it's not a nightmare and I don't wind up on a baker's dozen of scammer lists. I've bought things on both Craigslist and Facebook marketplace and that wasn't a problem.

You're lucky you've got bulk trash pick up - we always have to go to the recycling centers. Heh. Brother Fluffy.

I've never sold anything online. I've never bought anything from Craiglist or FB or Ebay or Etsy or etc. Good luck!

Since I left Texas, it's been impossible to get good Tex-Mex (real Mexican in abundance but sometimes I just want Tex-MEx, dammit!) - what I can throw together at home is better than most of the offerings here. And just no to Taco Hell... *shudder*

ETA: I'm afraid that TH comment sounds judgmental and I didn't mean it to be. I love lots of fast food that other people would likely find questionable :) I just can't do TH.

To each her own, Katie! You don't have to like Taco Bell. What I call Mexican is most likely Tex-Mex from what I was just reading online, and I love it. Unfortunately the only (Tex)Mexican restaurant in town just closed and the newer one up by the high school isn't as good.

Even under non-pandemic circumstances Bill and I rarely travel more than 10-15 miles for a meal, and now with pandemic circumstances we are back to take out only.

I make my own Tex-Mex (albeit of a vegetarian variety) and could not live without it!

Happy Saturday, Karen!

Hi Karen my dear, happy new thread. Sending love and hugs to you, Bill, Jenna, Inara, Wash and Zoe from both of us dear friend.

Wow! Yet another new thread!!!! Please don't tell me that you're getting rid of The Enchanted April without reading it. It is, truly, truly enchanting; or at least, I was truly, truly enchanted!

Lovely kitties and also lovely women ancestors! I do love your old family pictures. We have plenty from DH's family, but many fewer from mine.

Anyway, I look forward to your reading and reporting.

>50 katiekrug: Taco Hell? DH says "Taco Smell." He's not a fan either. I'm shameless.

Happy Sunday, Karen.

Morning, Karen. Happy Sunday. We enjoyed our "date" day yesterday. The movie was good and there was plenty of room to spread out in the theater. We had a row to our self. We had an early dinner and then hit a brewery for a nightcap. Some chores here this AM, along with some reading and then heading to Bree's to watch football with Sean and hang out with Jackson. Go Bears! Go Carolina!

>52 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! Happy Sunday to you. I did have a happy Saturday.

Vegetarian Tex-Mex still has lots of things I’d like because... cheese. Vegan Tex-Mex is an oxymoron, IMO.

>53 johnsimpson: Hi John, and thank you. Sending love and hugs to you and Karen, and lots of kitty skritches to dear Felix.

>54 LizzieD: I know, Peggy, I seem to be in overdrive these last two years and about one thread up this year over last year.

I’ll go through my bags of donated books and pull The Enchanted April back out since you recommend it so highly. And yesterday, while putting bags of books back into the Library (and getting them all back in AND leaving walking room in the Library) I found the 6th Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne, I Shall Not Want, and it’s set aside for you.

So next year, when I can finally come visit again, let’s be shameless together at Taco Bell/Hell/Smell!

>55 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara!

>56 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark, and a very happy Sunday to you, too. I didn’t get up ‘til 9 again this morning, and am just now working on my first cup of coffee. I’m glad you had a good date day. Fun times with football today! Go Bears! Go Carolina! Go Jackson!

Happy Sunday, Horrible! I'm glad you're going to read The Enchanted April. Why should I be the only one who was bored comatose by it?

*smooch*

Morning, Karen! Two cups of coffee in, and a very good thing because our power has already cut out twice. While the washer was running. *sigh* But there is football and lovely weather, so it's only a slight annoyance.

I have The Enchanted April in the stacks - hoping to get ti it next year if I don't make it there this year.

>58 richardderus: Hiya RD! Permaybehaps there's a book that might appeal to a straight woman that wouldn't appeal to a gay man. My friend Louise didn't like it, but Peggy did, so that's enough for me to bring it back from the CULL pile. *smooch*

>59 Crazymamie: 'Afternoon, Mamie! Panthers time! I'm also making chex mix. Good luck to your teams. Sorry about the power cutting off.

>58 richardderus: and >60 karenmarie: Ah well. Mama didn't like *EA* either, but I absolutely love it, and most of the Viragos do! (Mama couldn't stand *Gentleman in Moscow* either. Oh well.) I loved the movie too, which is a different enchanted experience. Check YouTube for Italy in the spring as you read!

Many thanks for finding Clare/Russ 6, Karen! I won't be ready for it any time soon, but someday!

Ordinary Sunday here --- I need to finish the breakfast dishes before we eat lunch. DH did a grocery run and we've walked. Maybe I'll get to the sofa and *Hands/Emperor* before we walk again.

Keep Pounding!

>61 LizzieD:, >60 karenmarie: Mama and I appear to be taste twins, Peggy! I very much didn't like A Gentleman in Moscow either. I haven't liked anything I've read by Amor Towles.

*smooches* all round

>61 LizzieD: >62 richardderus: Glad not to be alone in my dislike of A Gentleman in Moscow, I mostly see raving reviews. I better skip The Enchanted April too, on Peggy's mama's & Richards disrecommendation, athough it wasn't on my list yet ;-)

Happy sort of new thread! Love Bill's new car on the previous thread.

The flu shot knocked me out a bit yesterday, too.

I liked A Gentleman in Moscow, but I haven't read anything else by Towles.

I'm currently reading The Book of Lost Names for Wednesday book club with lunch. It's one of my few social outings since Montana is leading the nation in per capita Covid right now.

Delurking to say Hi! I loved A Gentleman in Moscow and I think my dad might want to read The Lincoln Highway for our next bookclub....we'll see!

>61 LizzieD: Thank goodness that there are enough different books to please all of us!

Clare/Russ #6 is on the little yellow table, safe and sound. It won’t accidentally get sent to the Friends. *smile*

Ordinary Sunday here, too. Panthers lost after getting to overtime, and don’t get me started on how unfair the overtime rules have become. Grrrr. I made chex mix for football snackies and chicken parmesan (thanks, Amber!) for dinner. Kitchen is all cleaned up, which doesn’t always happen on Sunday evenings. Wash is crying for some reason but ran in here when I called his name but doesn't really want me to hold him. Sure wish I could read his tiny little mind. I’m on the last bits of The Mandibles.

>62 richardderus: See above, Thank goodness that there are enough different books to please all of us! *smooch*

>63 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! It's almost as nice to be able to eliminate books as well as it is to get BBs.

>64 streamsong: Hi Janet! Thanks re Bill’s EcoSport.

Sorry the flu shot knocked you out a bit, and I hope you’re fully recovered today. I had absolutely no symptoms or sore shoulder or anything. Bill had a bruise and a sore shoulder for several days.

I’ve read Towle’s Rules of Civility and Eve in Hollywood. His newest, The Lincoln Highway, doesn’t interest me at all. I think it’s probably because it takes place in the 1950s.

I hope you have a good discussion for book club. Sorry about Montana. Stay safe! Karen’s starting to work again, cast and all, and I hope she’s masking and distancing and hand sanitizing. She’s fully vaccinated, but still.

>65 Berly: Hi Kim! Nice to see you. I’m charmed that you and your dad have your own book club.

Yes, my family bookclub includes my Dad, my sister, me and one of my kids. Choosing books has been interesting!! LOL

I loved A Gentleman in Moscow, Rules of Civility less so. I've been curious about Towles' newest novel.

Morning, Karen. I had a great time with Jackson yesterday. He was so good the whole time. The Bears lost but I thought they made it interesting. The Packers are unbeatable. Sorry, about your Panthers. They had such a promising start to the season.

I am taking my FIL to a doctor's appointment. He is not doing good and can barely walk. No birding for me today but I hope to get some reading in.

I completely agree with Ellen on Towles.

>67 Berly: Wonderful.

>68 EBT1002: Hi Ellen! I'm curious about it too, and even though I say now that I won't read it, depending on what kind of reviews it gets here on LT, I may change my mind. As I always tell my husband, "I reserve the right to be inconsistent."

>69 msf59: 'Morning, Mark! Sorry for both of our teams - the Panthers lost in overtime, as did Bill's Cowboys. I'm glad you had a good time with Jackson yesterday.

...
After a few rounds here on LT this morning I'm going to work on the Friends Treasurer budget/expenses like I've been saying for a week. Harrumph. I did get a lovely handwritten note from our Treasurer thanking me for what I've been doing and saying that she thinks she'll be up for taking the reins back in November.

Brrr. It was 37F first thing this morning according to Bill, and now it's 45F. I put the propane on in the Sunroom because 63F's too cold to hang out in for me.

The Cowboys won in overtime, much to my annoyance. Not because I'm a Bucs fan, but because I loathe the Cowboys :)

My Giants also lost again, as did TW's Dolphins, so yesterday was a 'Football is stooopid" day at Casa Krug...

Aargh. I misheard my husband yesterday - he yelled from the front room and I thought he said lost. Thanks for helping me get it straight!

I'm sure Monday has something to do with your desire to get right into the treasurer stuff, Horrible. It's already a crap day, can't ruin it, so whatthehell.

Anyway, enjoy it. Because I know you really do. *smooch*

Hiya, RD!

I like to get things off my to-do-list, and this one has been irritating me for a while. Yes, I do like the actual work but would rather be reading.

I didn't start living for the weekends for a very long time in my very long business career and feel fortunate that I mostly liked the work I did and the people I worked for and with.

I've already gotten the bank file download for July - September and detail about the 2 checks Weezie wrote and all the ones I wrote. That should be enough to create the actuals go to against the budget. We only report quarterly, and the first quarter would have been reported at today's Board meeting that I cancelled. Fiscal year is July - June. I'll send the budget/actuals out today as a PDF and we can discuss it at the November meeting, which will NOT be cancelled. We are required by the by-laws to meet 6 times a year and we are now already at 1 meeting and 3 cancelled meetings. We need to have a bit of reserve for the rest of the fiscal year.

*smooch*

Okay.

Off I go.

I can do this.

*smile*

You already have. AND you liked it.

I thought you were one of the My Name is Lucy Barton lovers but I don't see it in your liberry...I was kinda lukewarm about it, but the new one Oh William! is a solid hit. It's okay to read as a stand-alone, and I think you might like it. (Review Wednesday if'n y'all's wantin' to wait.)

It's mostly done. I have outstanding questions for the Treasurer about one check and the Membership chair about the breakdown between membership dues and donations. I can continue working on this tomorrow.

I love the Olive Kitteridge series but haven't read any of the Lucy Barton series.

In the meantime, reading and hanging out are the order of the day.

>69 msf59: Thinking of you in the hope is all well with your beloved pet.

>69 msf59: I completely missed your FiL not doing well. I hope you get some answers at the doctor's office today.

>57 karenmarie: I hate to break it to you, but I do not do cheese either. I cannot do dairy, so if I do have cheese on something, it is vegan cheese.

Happy Monday, Karen!

>75 richardderus: I’m waiting on that one from my library. It’s being released tomorrow but I’m #2 or 3 in line so it’s just a matter of them getting copies into circulation.

>80 lauralkeet: That will be a LOOONNNGGG wait, won't it. But the good news is you'll be immersed so deep when you get it, you won't remember!

Enjoy it...I know I did, and didn't expect to.

>76 karenmarie: I can't think you won't like it...the storytelling voice is different but it's not like she suddenly started channeling James Joyce or something.

>81 richardderus: Our library is pretty good about getting hold of the new releases so I don't think it will be too long. And I have (counts the stack) three books checked out, one of those almost finished but two more to go. If all goes well the new Strout will get added to the stack at just the right time.

Hi Karen!

I busted my butt this weekend getting the house in order and taking old boxes and broken furniture to the curb for bulk trash pickup, and today I'm so sore I can hardly wiggle.

I liked The Rules of Civility, but I was hoping for Cheever and I got John P. Marquand. And I agree with you, his new book doesn't sound interesting at all. I do have a copy of A Gentleman in Moscow and I am looking forward to reading that sometime.

I got my haircut today, and when the barber asked what I wanted done I said that I want a haircut from 1955. And that's what I got, the Richie Cunningham 'do. Huzzah!

>83 SomeGuyInVirginia: Ah yes, the hairstyles of one's middle years do hold a certain appeal, don't they.

Oh look! A relatively new and short thread! Hi, Karen. Sorry I've been gone so long, but looking forward to hanging around now.

>77 Whisper1: Hi Linda.

>79 alcottacre: Okay, I’m chastened. Your dietary restrictions do not fall into any standard classification. And, I have had a productive and happy Monday, thank you!

>80 lauralkeet: and L82 Hi Laura. I’ve added all three in the Lucy Barton series to my wish list.

>81 richardderus: As long as she isn’t channeling Virginia Woolf…

>83 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hi Larry! Good for you, getting all that stuff out. At least you’re sore for a good cause. I think you’ll love AGiM, and can envision you reading it during the bleak Virginia midwinter days with you and Parker curled up on the couch.

Yay for your Richie Cunningham ‘do. My last haircut was March 17, 2020. I kinda like the long hair, to tell the truth, with all the Shirley Temple curls. It’s also thicker than it’s ever been for some strange reason. All I have to do is make sure I comb it out and put it in a scrunchie for overnight or it’s hopelessly tangled in the morning.

>84 richardderus: Hmm. Middle years. So for me, 1987 or so. Nope, way too short

Morning, Karen. They ended up admitting my FIL into the hospital yesterday. Hopefully, they can get the infections under control. His feet look terrible. I did not like spending time in the ER, even if I had my book with me. Going out with my birding buddies this AM. Looks to be another gorgeous fall day.

Way to suck it up and get the Library finances done!! You deserve a book. : )

>85 ronincats: Hi Roni! Nice to see you. You've had soooo much going on in the last year, and I'm glad things are settling down for you.

>87 msf59: 'Morning Mark. Ah, I'm sorry about your FiL being in the hospital and hope they get him all fixed up. I completely understand your not wanting to hang out in the ER. Have a wonderful birding buddy morning.

It's gorgeous out here with clear Carolina blue skies and a nice crisp 46F. I've got the propane heater on in the Sunroom 'cuz it was 63F when I came in here again this morning. Ah, first sip of coffee taken!

>88 Berly: Thanks, Kim! Ooooh, a book. Let's see. I've got four due to be delivered within a week or so:

Oct 18: A Perfectly Good Family by Lionel Shriver (it’s actually in the mailbox at the entrance to our teensy subdivision, will get it today)

Oct 26: Better Off Dead by Lee and Andrew Child

Oct 29: How to be Champion: My Autobiography by Sarah Millican

Nov 03: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good Year: Hundreds of Stories on the Pandemic edited by Larry Smith

...
I'm waiting on a bit of info from the Membership Chair about how to split the $3940.00 received this fiscal year between membership and donations. Then I'll check everything again one more time and publish and check it off my list.

Morning, Karen! I arrived late to Tuesday as I actually fell back asleep this morning. That hardly ever happens, so it was a nice surprise, although now it feels like noon and it is only 10am. Weird. Griffin is here today, and he is suddenly HUGE. How did this happen?

'Morning, Mamie! Nice that you didn't have to get up and got lulled by Morpheus into a few more zzz's. I got up about 8:30 and only the siren call of coffee kept me from closing my eyes again.

Big dogs are like kids, I think - you blink and they've grown more than it seems possible.

Our own dear Wash was 11.4 lbs when he went to the vet last year for his annual checkup/shots. We thought he was fat but the vet said he's the perfect weight. I'm absolutely convinced he's 13-14 lbs now, and he sure does love to eat. My friend Karen in Montana says that he was traumatized as a kitten, probably was hungry way too much of the time, and is making up for it.

Our Mayhem was 13.4 lbs at his last vet check - he is also not at all fat. He is just a BIG boy - very long and lean and muscular.

Mayhem and Wash are both BIG boys then - Wash's paws are huge and I think he's still growing into them. He also has tufts on his ears and his mother doesn't. I just did a bit of duckduckgo-ing and it looks like the larger breeds of cats have ear tufts. And although our kitties do not have them, I now know what ear furnishings are - hair sprouting out of their ears.

>89 karenmarie: I'll be interested to hear what you think of A Terrible, Horrible, No Good Year: Hundreds of Stories on the Pandemic, but have fun with all of them!

Richard gave me that BB, Kim. I've only reviewed half as many books this year at this time as I did last year for some strange reason, but will endeavour to review, rather than put in my Lightning Rounds, A Terrible, Horrible, No Good Year: Hundreds of Stories of the Pandemic.

>95 karenmarie: *smooch*

>93 karenmarie: I saw that and immediately texted it to Rob (he makes fun of my Old Man Hair...it fell off my head and stuck to my ears, nose, and shoulders, apparently, to avoid going down the drain) & got about sixty LOL emojis.

Different ones. Kid's inventive.

>86 karenmarie: 1987. Of course, dear. Mm hm.

'Morning, RDear! *smooch* back 'atcha.

I wasn't even thinking of human ear furnishings. *smile* Glad I was able to provide Rob with amusement today.

2021 - 1953 = 68. /2 = 34. 1953 + 34 = 1987. ?

I think my mouse needs new batteries, as it's been playing havoc with spreadsheets in the last day or so and is now duplicating posts.

Batteries are easy! Get 'em on in there.

Oh, we're claiming your immortal self was born in 1953! Okay. Far be it from me....

After first going into the kitchen because of muscle memory, sigh, I backtracked and went to the garage to get 2 AA batteries. They're installed.

Hmmm. Not immortal, although I'm seriously convinced that I was tortured with water in a previous life because the sound of trickling or dripping water gives me the heebie-jeebies. Actually, heebie-jeebies doesn't describe the total revulsion and upset I feel. Waterfalls and streams/rivers/brooks excepted. There's a dratted Pepsi ad now that is a closeup of icky cola being poured into a glass with all the disgusting sounds that go with it. Bill tries to mute it if he can for me.

>100 karenmarie: That's one powerful aversion! I'm that way about sharks, but I know where it came from...22 August 1975. JAWS.

I wonder what the aversion reflex does for us now. Evolutionarily, I see the point, but now? Why does violence not trigger that reflex with the density of human habitation?

>92 Crazymamie:, >93 karenmarie: - I am not sure how much Theo weighs (around 13 pounds or so, I'd guess) but he is also a big boy. He won't be 2 years old until January. I keep telling him he is going to be a lion when he grows up! But he is also long and lean and muscular and he often stretches to his full length when he sleeps. On his back.

Good day, Karen! I can look out the window and see how we know that God is a Tar Heel! I hate that it's heating up again, but surely, the 80s can't last too much longer.

>101 richardderus: Oh, it absolutely is, RD. I never let anything glug as I'm pouring it. I'm sorry you have the same kind of aversion to sharks. Asking about human nature used to be a relatively comfortable exercise. Now, there are too many crazies and nutjobs to make anything predictable. Sad, isn't it?

>102 jessibud2: Yay for Theo, another Big Boy. That's a riot that he sleeps on his back.

>103 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! Shhh! Don't tell anybody that God is a Tar Heel. Then more people would want to move here. Still going to be warmish, but the nights are getting to be marvelous. It's just that much warmer south of me, of course, but you'll get there eventually.

...
I'm really enjoying The Code Breaker. Isaacson does a pretty good job of explaining the injustices done to Rosalind Franklin, whose photographs were used without her permission and were a direct cause of Watson and Crick developing the double helix theory of DNA. However, she was apparently not close to discerning the double helix theory itself. Without her work, though, a key component of the theory would have taken many more years to develop.

The Nobel Prize of 1962 was awarded according to the rules - the recipient had to be living and Franklin had died in 1958 of ovarian cancer, likely caused by the radiation she was using in her research. However, had she been living, my guess is that the award would still have been given as it was - to Watson, Crick, and Wilkins. Men, of course.

>100 karenmarie: I feel the same way about honeycombs, or any naturally occurring, tightly structured, pattern. Honeycombs give me the heebie-jeebies, ditto frog skin with the bumps and rolly pollies with their articulated outer shell. I wonder if there's a word that encompasses the sense of something being both unnatural and dreadmaking. I mean, besides 'junior year.'. I know it's a rational as hell and I don't care. It just weirds me out.

And guess what?! I now have a coffee machine, a coffee grinder, and filters! The locksmith was here today to figure out what needs to be done and I asked him to dismantle the deadbolt on the kitchen door that leads to the sunroom and coffee Nirvana. I told him that I hadn't been able to get out there since about April and that my coffee machine and Peet's Major Dickinson blend whole bean have been sitting on that damn table mocking me the whole time. So tomorrow, coffee! I may even have a cup tonight.

>84 richardderus: oh it's on, punky Brewster! When you hear the squeaky wheel of my walker it will be too late!

>105 SomeGuyInVirginia: Ha! I quake in terror, Great-Grandpa' Great-Grandpa.

Besides, you've got your coffee back now. The ill humour will recede.

The regular-holes-phobia is very common, I've discovered, after never knowing suchlike existed.

>104 karenmarie: People. SMH

Morning, Karen. Happy Wednesday! Waterfowl are migrating through, so we were able to see a few yesterday. My birding buddies Mike & Karen (yep, lots of Karens but the good kind, of course) are leading a guided walk today so I will be joining them. It might be the last of the mild days for awhile. I am really enjoying Once There Were Wolves.

p.s. My FIL is having a procedure on his legs this afternoon. Either the balloon or stints. Lets hope this does the trick. Sue is taking the afternoon off.

>105 SomeGuyInVirginia: Oh, trypophobia! Which is not completely accurately named, I think, because it's general not an actual fear, but more an aversion or a distaste. I've got it, too. Honeycombs and the like are very ew.

Morning, Karen!

>105 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hi Larry! Wow, another set of strong and unusual adversions. See >108 scaifea: - you have trypophobia.

I’m glad that after six months you are reunited with your coffee machine, coffee grinder, filters, and coffee. It boggles the mind that you were without that long.

Squeaky wheel of your walker… I love the image of you toddling along, giving yourself away as you try to sneak up on RD.

>106 richardderus: Hi RD.

>107 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark! Happy Wednesday to you, too. Yay for migrating waterfowl and a guided walk today. 🤞 that your FiL’s procedure goes well today.

There are quite a few Karens here on LT, of course. One of my best friends is Karen in Montana, and RL book club Karen just moved to Wyoming. There were 4 Karens in my grade growing up – Horn, Harrison, Zaccaglin, and me. Yes, we are the good kind.

>108 scaifea: Wow, Amber, I’m impressed. Trypophobia is often described as "the fear of holes," but it is important to note that it may also apply to bumps or other patterns that are closely clustered together. When people see trigger objects, they experience symptoms such as severe fear, nausea, itching, sweating, shaking, and even panic attacks .

I have some of those symptoms with dripping/trickling/glugging liquids, too.

…
…
Coffee, a bit of Friends work to finalize and publish the first quarter’s budget/actuals, reading. And today's the official switching to winter bedclothes and last wash up of summer sheets and bedspread.

>109 karenmarie: It definitely applies to bumps and such for me, too. This time of year, I cringe to see pumpkins and gourds with those awful warty-looking bumps on them. EWEWEW.

Oooh, woot for winter sheets! Flannel? We changed Charlie's over to flannel this last weekend.

I'd never heard of trypophobia before, sorry you and Larry have it.

Fleece sheets and the heavy bedspread.

Morning, Karen! I had not heard of trypophobia before, either. I am learning so much on LT.

I miss flannel sheets. And needing them.

>111 karenmarie: ...suddenly this makes sense...bumps/holes/textural irregularities are not signs of good things in human beings. Diseases like smallpox and measles are very, very contagious and a lot more lethal in Days of Yore. Imagine what acne sufferers would've gone through in the times before disease was understood as anything but the Wrath.

So of course over the past million-plus years we'd've gotten that plugged into our "avoidavoidavoid" systems.

An interesting hypothesis at the least. Fun Wednesday to you, too!

>113 richardderus: I know what caused my phobia, or at least I know the first time that I was aware of it. I was maybe 9? and living in New Jersey at Fort Monmouth. I went fishing with my family somewhere, very probably salt water, and every fish that we started clean we found these parasites in their gills, that looked like enormous roly polies. I remember that it struck me as being so wrong, and nature being so unaccommodating, that those sorts of parasites were allowed to exist. Ugh, thinking about it still makes my stomach flutter. We had to throw all the fish away because they were uneatable.

In other news, Lynchburg has had a strength of gloriously beautiful fall days. The leaves have not really started to change color but they are noticeably more brittle, I imagine in higher elevations that it's beginning to look very beautiful.

Karen, have you ever read anything by George Baxt? You may like him. He can be very campy without being gay, if that's a thing. He wrote a series of mysteries that revolved around movie stars or literary celebrities that I absolutely cherish. Those often have camp elements but are written more as straightforward mysteries and geared to a much wider audience. I've just started his Process of Elimination, which is campy and shows off his screenwriting skills.

Again, sorry about the touchstones but they don't work on my phone and the last time I accessed LT on a computer was probably 2019?

>86 karenmarie: Sorry, Karen, I did not mean to chasten you and hope it did not come off that way. I have a lot of food allergies and have to watch what I eat. Dairy has long been a thing for me as have eggs. I pay dearly when I eat things I am not supposed to eat.

Happy Wednesday!

'Morning to you too, Mamie. Yes, I love learning esoteric and unusual things, and LT's a great source of that kind of info.

Georgia is definitely not a flannel-sheet state, and I'm sorry for that. Whether it's NC or somewhere else, just make sure that the state you move to for retirement is a flannel-sheet state.

>113 richardderus: Your hypothesis make sense. Today is fun, so far. I've decided to make brioche hamburger buns since I can't find the sesame seed bulkie rolls at the grocery store and I want hamburgers for dinner. I'm using a stand-mixer recipe to save wear and tear on my hands, and it's got about 3 minutes more before the first rising.

>114 SomeGuyInVirginia: Ewww, that would do it, Larry. I’d be tryptophobic if that happened to me, too. I’m glad for the glorious fall days in Lynchburg. I’m not sure we’re going to get much fall color this year - I’m already seeing dull brown leaves and bare branches.

I have not read anything by George Baxt, but just found a ‘Very Good’ copy of A Queer Kind of Death on biblio.com and ordered it. What the heck, right?

I can’t imagine using LT on a cell phone – that’s probably due to a lack of imagination on my part and isn’t meant as a criticism. I don’t even use email on my cell phone, which Bill absolutely does not understand.

>115 alcottacre: Chastened was the wrong word, Stasia. I needed to stop trying to categorize you and should have come up with a better word. I was frustrated at myself, not you.

I'm glad you are enjoying The Code Breaker! Isaacson is one of my favorite non-friction writers - he really has a gift for clearly explaining the complicated in many different subjects that he has written about.

Giant ole Bob Cat who I adopted this summer, is doing really well. Unfortunately, though he has decided the outdoors is his territory - he defends it from the other cats I used to see occasionally, and Cree has had to become a strictly indoor cat. I haven't got Bob's winter digs figured out yet as he doesn't seem to have a preferred sleeping place where I can set up a warm spot. Bob would like to come inside, but I think step 2 (step 1: get inside) of his plan would be removing Cree from the premises.

>116 karenmarie:, >114 SomeGuyInVirginia: Oh, George Baxt! Pharoah Love was always my preference among his creations. A Queer Kind of Death was my delight in the 1970s.

>116 karenmarie: Enjoy the newly made baps! I think the stand mixer is one of my all-time favorite kitchen appliances. So much easier to make doughs, to make meringues, to make whippèd creames...*drool*

>117 karenmarie: Ah, OK. Being frustrated at oneself I can understand since that seems to be the perpetual state of my being :)

>118 streamsong: Hi Janet! Short, well-written chapters, each providing a piece of the story.

Ah, Bob Cat. Too bad he's intimidated Cree. It does sound like inside would be problematic for Cree if he became a winter-indoor kitty. I've never acquired a new kitty and just have them blend in nicely with the other kitties.

>120 alcottacre: We're square. 🤗

I'm usually frustrated at myself for something or another, but today's coming along nicely - Friends budget/actuals published, baps, as RD calls them, just coming out of the oven.

>121 karenmarie: Good! I would hate to think that we weren't.

Hi Karen. Interesting discussion there, tryptophobia, never heard the word or the concept. Aversion, yes, I get that.

Have a nice, frustration-free day!

>122 alcottacre: There's only one person on LT who I'm not square with, and for the life of me I can't think what I did to deserve ghosting. Ah well, water under the bridge and I blocked them this year. Obviously, it's nobody who visits my threads!

>123 EllaTim: Hi Ella. People do bring up the most amazing things here, and in the 75ers in general. It's lots of fun, isn't it?

>124 karenmarie: In general LT is a very nice place, Karen, I only once blocked an other member.
The variety of amazing things I learn here is part of the attraction of this group :-)

Morning, Karen. Sweet Thursday! We had a very nice guided walk yesterday on a beautiful fall AM. I think there were 18 of us. Highlights were a hermit thrush & a winter wren, first of the FOS, (first of the season) for me. My FIL's procedure was postponed until this afternoon. Sue is taking the day off. Fingers crossed.

*Someone mentioned flannel sheets? We plan on putting on ours this weekend. It is time and I love the feel of them.

I'm in the minority, but I don't really like flannel sheets. They make me too hot. The Wayne is a human furnace, and he really hates them. We just use regular sheets year-round. Cold weather is heralded with the addition of a blanket to the bed :)

Happy Thursday, Karen! Hope it's a good one for you.

>125 FAMeulstee: It is a very nice place, Anita, and it's the only place I have an active presence online. If I'd given it thought and asked for the perfect place to be online, I couldn't have created a better website.

>126 msf59: 'Morning, Mark, and sweet Thursday to you. Glad you had an excellent walk and 2 FOS. Fingers crossed for today's attempt for your FiL's surgery.

I mentioned winter sheets, got asked if they were flannel, and said that mine were fleece. I got the bed put back together last night, with Inara helping me every step of the way - i.e., she got on the bed when I was flipping the topper, rested on the in-place topper, lay on the mattress pad, lay on the bottom sheet, top sheet, blanket, and bedspread as I was getting it twitched into place. Each time I gently put her on the blanket-covered hope chest. She ended up sleeping with me most of the night.

>127 katiekrug: You're lucky you have TW The Human Furnace. Extra blankets work, too. And I heat up a corn bag for my feet when I first get into bed even with the fleece sheets.

...
I'll be visiting Louise this morning to take over her birthday card and some Pecan Puffs. Yesterday was her birthday, but she was busy with doctor's appointments, PT, and lunch out with daughter/SiL and son.

Then I have an appointment with the Spine Clinic this afternoon. We'll see what they say about my poor back.

In the meantime, coffee and a bit of reading.

Morning, Karen! Mayhem also likes to help make the bed. He especially likes to be made into the bed.

Hoping that your visit to the Spine Clinic proves helpful.

'Morning, Mamie! Sweet Mayhem, and thanks re the Spine Clinic.

¡Suerte! Let's hope they have some life-altering insights to offer you.

Pecan Puffs...*drool*

A delicious Thursday, me deario.

Looking forward to hearing something helpful from the spine clinic, Karen!

Yes, I hope it's good news!

I remember the pleasant shock I got the first time I tried decent sheets and I've never looked back. And yes, we are now officially in flannel sheet weather.

>131 richardderus: Thank you, RD! Oh yes, Pecan Puffs are a family and Louise favorite.

>132 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! I'm not sure how helpful it was today - see below.

>133 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hi Larry! Decent sheets and flannel sheets and fleece sheets - all quite wonderful.

...
They were running late and my back was feeling particularly painful today. He poked around, moved various bits of me here and there and thought it might be my sacroiliac joints - but needed xrays. I also told him how difficult the nights had become and he suggested gabapentin at night. He said it would take up to 2 weeks to 'kick in' and I could take tramadol with it for a week or so but not longer than that as the sedative effect would be cumulative (My words, not his). I don't think I'll even risk taking them together. Haven't picked up the gabapentin yet so took a tramadol when I came home and will take another about 10:30.

I don't know if I'm disappointed or pleased. I was definitely pleased with the clinic set up and glad to get the xrays right then and there.

Hi Karen. May I add Theo io the bed-making team? He is an expert and if I miss a spot, he will make sure he lets me know.

Ouch to sacro-iliac. I have had that problem and the first time, I was unable to get up and out of bed. Funny story. When my physio first told me what it was, I laughed because I thought it was a made-up word. When I was young, my dad used to tell me I was a pain in the sacro-iliac and I just assumed it meant pain in the ass and that he made that up to be a smart-ass (no pun intended). Imagine my surprise when I found out the truth! By the way, my physio (or was it the chiropractor, even years before that?) gave me stretches to do, on my back, in bed before I even attempt to get up. Stretches to strengthen those lower back muscles and I swear by them. I have done them every morning since that attack and haven't had another bad attack since. And just so you know, I am not a person who likes to work out, not a gym person at all. But I don't get out of bed without doing these stretches.

>127 katiekrug: No flannel sheets for us either. Too warm and not easy enough to turn over in.

>134 karenmarie: On balance, it sounds like a pleasing visit, though as yet inconclusive.

So muted Yay.

Morning, Karen. Happy Friday. My FIL did have his surgery. I think it was 4 plus hours and they couldn't even get everything done. Sue was exhausted when she got home. This should do the trick though and he might be home this weekend.

I have Trail Watch this AM and then Jackson time in the afternoon. Of course, I will squeeze in reading whenever possible. I saw my first backyard dark-eyed junco of the fall season. Precursor to winter.

>135 jessibud2: Hi Shelley! Of course Theo can be a member of the bed-making team! And thanks for sharing the sacroiliac stories and info.

>136 RebaRelishesReading: You and Katie, so far, Reba. I never thought about the turning over aspect.

>137 richardderus: Yes, RD, not bad at all. So far, and yes, muted yay.

>138 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark! I’m glad the surgery’s over. Poor Sue. I hope he does get to come home this weekend.

Yay for Trail Watch this a.m. and Jackson time this p.m. And congrats on the Junco.

…
My feeders are pretty empty right now. Still haven’t gotten the suet I know the birds like, sigh. I need to fill the sunflower seed feeder today.

…
I’ll be visiting Aunt Ann today, taking lunch. We’ll have tuna salad – arranged on greens or as sandwiches, whatever Aunt Ann wants – fruit, and I saved some Pecan Puffs for her.

Morning, Karen! Our sweet Bella was on gabapentin for years, and it was life changing for her. I do hope you give it a try.

Hoping your visit with Aunt Ann is a good one. What are pecan puffs?

When do you start the gabapentin? My brother took that for a while and it seems like it did provide him relief. Mom was prescribed tramadol by the barrelful.

Gabapentin is marvelous for inflammatory pain. Tramadol is, too.

Please come kill me. This third-shot nastiness is BAD. You're practical enough to know when an animal needs to be put down, and I need to be put down.

Or send our local CIA agent, Larry. I don't care. Ow.

>140 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! I’ll probably pick up the gabapentin tomorrow. I had a good visit with Aunt Ann, who’s still not doing well. Her doctor thinks she has fractures in 5 lower-back vertebrae. She’s had kyphoplasty in 3 vertebrae. She was scheduled for the last two, but her doctor wanted her to see a different doctor because he thought something else might be going on, she cancelled the kyphoplasty on the last 2.That visit was a bust, as she put it, and she now has to get back on the schedule for the kyphoplasty on the last two. She’s still on oxy 24/7 but trying to cut back. We had a nice visit. I brought lunch. Her very shy kitty came out for a visit at the end, which was gratifying.

Pecan Puffs are like Mexican Wedding Cookies are like Russian Tea Cakes.

Pecan Puffs
from Joy of Cooking

“Rich and devastating.”
Preheat oven to 300F.

Beat until soft:
½ cup butter
Add and blend until creamy:
2 T sugar (yes, only two tablespoons)
Add:
1 t vanilla
Measure, then grind in a nut grinder:
1 cup pecan meats
Sift before measuring:
A cup cake flour
Stir the pecans and the flour into the butter mixture. Roll the dough into small balls. Place balls on a greased cookie sheet and bake about 30 minutes. Roll while hot in:
Confectioners’ sugar
To glaze, put the sheet back into the oven for a minute. Cool and serve.

What I do differently:

I use non-stick cookie sheets, don’t need to grease.
I use all purpose-unbleached flour, don’t sift before measuring.
Roll the balls in confectioners’ sugar while still hot, but leave on counter to cool. When cool, roll again in confectioners’ sugar.

>141 SomeGuyInVirginia: Probably tomorrow night if we pick up the prescription tomorrow. Glad to hear that it worked for Eric. Tramadol hasn’t been an unqualified success, but I haven’t taken it every 6 hours.

>142 richardderus: Hi RD! Oh, I am so sorry the third dose nastiness is BAD. I do hope you are better soonest. Larry – visit Richard and take contraband goodies.

>143 karenmarie: Those sound a lot like the yummies we called snowballs.

Morning, Karen. Happy Saturday. We ended up walking 6 miles on the Trial Watch yesterday. Whew! At least it was a cool day for it. Jackson had his first shots yesterday, so he was crankier than usual, while I was over there. Poor kid. He at least was pretty good, while I was watching him myself.

Cardinals always seem to be my first and last visitors of the day. I just could make out a pair of them earlier, through the gloomy shadows. Have you noticed this too?

'Morning, Mark, and happy Saturday to you, too.

I have not noticed the cardinal effect, but will try to pay attention. I'm not usually in the Sunroom when the sun goes down though.

...
Coffee. Joy.

Morning, Karen! Sorry to hear about Aunt Ann - that sounds kind of miserable. Hoping they can find her a better solution then just pain management.

Thanks for this! And for including your own tips. I will definitely try it. I love Mexican Wedding Cookies - my mom made really excellent ones, but I don't have her recipe.

>143 karenmarie: Oh. My my my. Those sound so good! I love pecans best among the nut family.

However else my day may be stuffèd with wretchedness, that recipe will polish a gleam in my eye!

>143 karenmarie: I've been "sorta" starting to think about what cookies/candies I will make for Christmas boxes. Those sound really good, but also sound like a lot of work...hmm. What is a nut grinder? Can you use a blender or food processor instead?

>147 Crazymamie: It’s very sad, because I’m not sure how much she will be able to recover. If she can get the kyphoplasty procedure done on the last two vertebrae, she may have a chance. However this has been so debilitating for 9 weeks how. She's quite weakened and defeated.

You’re welcome, Mamie. I saw a recipe for Mexican Wedding Cookies that says to roll them immediately in powdered sugar, let them cool, then roll them again – I just sort of figured it out on my own against what the recipe said.

>148 richardderus: Hiya, RD! I’m not sure I have a favorite nut – as soon as I say pecans, I think almonds, as soon as I say almonds I think walnuts, etc. Brazil nuts, hazelnuts… the only ones I don’t really like are pistachios. I do hope your wretchedness is decreasing.

>149 RebaRelishesReading: Hi Reba! This is the Pampered Chef nut grinder I use. It is 3 parts - soft rubber bottom, hard plastic side that unscrews from the blade/spring mechanism. All dishwasher safe. I don't remember how long ago I got this, but looks like there's a newer version on their website.



I have been known to use my food processor if I’m doubling or tripling the batch. Pulse only – you don’t want to make pecan butter!

>150 karenmarie: Walnuts are probably my least favorites since they taste sour, spoiled, to me. Why do you dislike pistachios?

I can understand walnuts being your least favorite. Pistachios - hmmm. I don't like their shape or size and their flavor is negligible. But that's just me...

>152 karenmarie: Interesting! Negligible flavor isn't what I'd've guessed as a reason to dislike them. If anything I'd've thought their extremely frustrating opening qualities would've been on the list!

Hazelnuts *drool* are delicious but, again, the faff of opening and skinning and roasting...! Chestnuts are like that, too. As long as someone else does the irritating bits I'm happy to eat 'em.

I can't remember the last time I bought nuts-in-the-shell except for the raw peanuts in the shell that I roast for snack consumption. Having to work to get them out of the shells keeps me from eating too many of them.

I buy shelled everything else. Once the bag is opened, the nuts go into a plastic container and are put in the freezer. I can then pull out what's needed for an individual recipe. I only keep bulk walnuts, pecans, and almonds, buying hazelnuts or whatever, when needed for a specific recipe.

About nuts - it's the season for fresh pistachios, which are available at middle eastern markets. They are a rare treat but getting to them leaves the fingers black from digging into the fruit.

Nut balls! The women in my DH's family have made them by the bushel for years at Christmas. Because they make so many, I've never done it. May I ought to.

I'm hoping that you get good results from your meds - and that you got the gabby stuff today AND that it gives you improving sleep. I really hope that the x-rays show something easy to adjust. Take care of yourself!!

It's hardly ever cold enough here to need flannel sheets. We have an under-us bed warmer that is almost as good a thing as the coffee press.

Morning, Karen. Happy Sunday. Hooray for "coffee joy"! Still working on my first cup. Sue got a lot of deep cleaning done yesterday and I helped when I could. She likes things a certain way. House looks great. Rain moves in later this AM and it will stick around for the next couple of days. Of course, this will limit my birding but not my reading. Books and football on tap for today. Go Bears! They are going to need all the help they can get, playing the mighty Bucs. The Panthers should have a much easier day.

>155 quondame: Hi Susan. I remember you mentioning fresh pistachios somewhere on another thread, perhaps last year. I've never had them. Can you describe how they taste compared to dried(?) pistachios?

>156 LizzieD: 'Morning, Peggy! Nut balls, snowballs, tea cakes, wedding cookies. All the same thing. I always make several batches at Christmas and once I started giving them to Louise and she swooned over them, I have started giving them to her for her birthday. And friend Karen in Montana put in a request for a box for her birthday. I'll have to make more today or tomorrow because I want to mail her birthday box out on Monday. her family calls them Russian Tea Cakes. I seem to remember making Mexican Wedding Cookies in 7th grade Home Economics, now that I think about it.

I forgot to ask Bill to pick up my prescription yesterday. I might go grocery shopping today, and if I do, I'll pick the prescription. Otherwise tomorrow. Thank you for your good wishes.

>157 msf59: 'Morning, Mark, and happy Sunday to you. I just started my first cup.

I cannot do any deep cleaning these days and keep promising myself that I'll call someone to at least come do the floors and bathrooms. Nothing's disgusting - but it's just been a lick and a promise since the end of August. Good for Sue.

Books and Bears are a good thing. I absolutely need for your Bears to beat the Bucs since the Bucs are in our division. *smile* Go Bears! Go Panthers! And Go Washington Football Team to beat the Packers.

...
It's a nice, bright 45F, clear Carolina blue skies. Bill did a mulch mow of the back yesterday, so things are looking pretty good around the house.

How pretty! It's always nice to get the work done in fall that makes winter so much less stressful. A solid mulch-mow = grass next year.

*smooch*

Morning, Karen! Love the nut discussion - I have a weird nut allergy. I am allergic to some tree nuts but not all of them. I think it has something to do with their oils. SO no walnuts, Brazil nuts, or pistachios for me. But I adore pecans, hazelnuts, and almonds. For some reason, hazelnuts have been impossible to get in these parts this past year, which is sad making.

Beautiful photo!

>150 karenmarie: LOL I have that very thing in my kitchen only I think of it as a nut chopper rather than a nut grinder, which I assumed would make a finer product than the chopper.

>159 richardderus: Thanks, RD! *smooch*

>160 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! Very odd to be allergic to some but not all. Last year when I needed hazelnuts for a recipe I ordered raw shelled on Amazon. They worked beautifully. Thanks re the photo.

>161 RebaRelishesReading: Ah, Reba, great minds. It works well for Pecan Puffs.

...
Well, I got a bee in my bonnet and decided that I wanted an air fryer for Christmas, and since Bill got his car floor/trunk mats early, I got a Cosori 5 qt air fryer early. I ordered it yesterday and it came today, and I'm testing frozen french fries in it. We'll see. I refuse to be intimidated by a machine. Update: The fries came out beautifully.

>158 karenmarie: They come with a layer of skin which is the fruit part, like an anorexic olive, and the meat is sort of earth sweet, between a fruit and a nut, moist but not wet. They show up 1 week a year at a stand in our Wed. farmers' market and it's been years since I've been there at the right time, but they also show up for a bit longer at the local Persian markets.

Woo Hoooo for early Christmas!!!! Happy french fries and other goodies to you both!

>158 karenmarie: You have such a beautiful house, Karen! A wrap-around porch has long been on my wishlist.

Morning, Karen. Well, it turned out to be a BAD football day, with both of our teams getting stomped. I hope they both can recover from that thrashing. At least I got plenty of reading in. Waking up to more thunderstorms, so it will be another indoor day, although I do need to slip out for food shopping.

BTW- The FIL will have another procedure today, to finish up and then he should be able to go home either later today or tomorrow. Yah!

*I LOVE the photo of your house too. Beautiful. And all those trees are amazing.

Happy Monday!

Hoorah for the air fryer. Enjoy!

Morning, Karen! I am excited to read all about your air frying adventures. We have one, well, Craig has one - he is the only one to have used it so far, but he loves it.

>163 quondame: Hi Susan. I’d probably like them. Good luck getting them this season.

>164 LizzieD: 'Morning, Peggy. Of course we’ll probably get something else for each other. I know that Bill already got the 2021 Lladro Christmas Bell for me – it’s probably tucked in his closet – and I’m sure there’s something not major that he’ll want or need. I’m doing to do something with chicken thighs tonight. I pulled a recipe off the internet that uses paprika, Italian seasoning, brown sugar, S&P, and 2 T of olive oil that sounds good. Maybe some Church rice with it.

>165 scaifea: Hi Amber! Alas, not wrap around, it’s about 30’ x 7’, but there’s also a porch on the other side of the house that’s about 30’ x 10’.

>166 msf59: ‘Morning Mark. Oh yes, it was a Very Bad Football Day. I don’t know what Carolina’s going to do. They couldn’t do anything right and only scored one field goal. And your Bears also scored only one field goal. And the blasted Packers won too.

I hope your FiL’s second procedure goes well. 🤞

Thank you re our house. We’re tucked in down at the end of the cul-de-sac and love it here.

>167 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita, and thanks! I’ll be experimenting with Real Food tonight – chicken – instead of yesterday’s successful French fry test.

…
Whew. I didn’t get up until 9, with 8 hours of sleep. I’m a tad groggy, although I don’t really know why. I picked up the gabapentin last night but didn’t take it last night.

I find my Air Fryer less intimidating than the InstantPot (well, less inimidating than I used to find the IP - it's not intimidating at all now...). Sorry that your pain re: the Panthers conflicts with my Giants joy. Ah, football....

>168 Crazymamie: 'Morning, Mamie! You snuck in there while I was composing my replies. I've already got the chicken thighs out on the counter defrosting. I'm rather excited about it, to tell the truth.

>170 katiekrug: Good to know, Katie! I don't find the IP intimidating any more, but after an initial flurry of activity, have settled down to about once a month. It's best for chicken and risotto recipes for us. I've only tried beef once, actually, and my crock pot does a better job with it. Although, the IP makes a killer rice pudding. I've only made it twice because Bill won't eat it.

I was thinking about you yesterday as my Panthers were getting ground into dust. Sigh. Football...

...
I don't usually pay attention to the weather report unless I'm going out, and today have no plans on going out, but was surprised when it started raining just now. I love the sound of the rain. And as quick as it started, it seems to be ending, at least for a bit.

Morning, Karen. I find it a lovely thing to be cruising at the moment as you seem to be if your pain lets up. We could really, really, really use some rain, but unless we get a real storm this afternoon, I think we'll still be dry.

After we were in escrow with this house I realized there was no built-in microwave. I used the built-in microwave/convection oven we had in San Diego all of the time so went to buy a counter-top version of that when I saw a microwave/convection/air fryer combo and grabbed it. Turns out to be a rather weak microwave. I haven't used the convection yet (usually used that for holiday meals) and have only made Brussels Sprouts in the air fryer (which came out very nicely). The problem likely is that it just asks too much of one machine but before I run out and replace it with a convection/microwave I would like to see if I can get more good air fryer recipes which will make the short-comings of the thing worth while. So...please keep sharing as you find good ones.

>172 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! I took a tramadol and a Tylenol at 8 a.m. My doctor said the combination was not bad at all, and that there's even a prescription combo for the two, but I don't mind taking two pills, and sometimes only take one or the other. I haven't even thought about my back/knees/hips for pretty much all of the morning - *happy dance*

I've spent the last hour and half cleaning my desk. It had gotten unmanageable AND super dusty. I've been meaning to clean it for weeks now but the impetus of Lowes installers seeing it and judging me was inspiration to get it done. It's amazing what silly pride will do for one's motivation.

Next up is cleaning out the closet with the hot water heater. It's not in terrible shape, fortunately, but this will be a good opportunity to only put back what's required there after the new hot water heater gets installed tomorrow.

>173 RebaRelishesReading: I agree that one machine can't do everything well, sorry about the microwave being the least functional. We use our microwave many times daily. Our original built-in microwave failed about 10 years ago and Bill and friend Larry built a shelf and we put in a stand-alone microwave in instead of spending 4 or 5 times more to get the Jenn-Air microwave insert. We have a really heavy duty one and love it. From a distance you can't tell that it's not built in.

For a while I was going to get the air fryer lid for the Instant Pot but really figured that two separate products for two separate tasks made more sense. If the Air Fryer works the way I think it will, I have several recipes I'll try in it - salmon croquettes and chicken parmesan being the two that come to mind. Anything to eliminate stovetop frying will make me happy.

Irritating Monday. Standing around in corridors, people not where they said they'd be, etc etc.

Business accomplished, though, so conditional yay (deliverables not delivered until tomorrow). The Inishowen mysteries are good, the voted-upon Under Color of Law read like the guy *had* to write it, the Aickmans for Friday...well, it's Aickman, one knows what's coming.

So yeah. Like that.

Not trying to catch up, Karen, just swinging by to say "Happy Monday" as I go through the threads after days with no Internet :)

>175 richardderus: Hiya RDear! I'm sorry about your Monday and people not being where they said they'd be. Yay for business getting accomplished. *smooch*

>176 alcottacre: I understand, Stasia. I'm about to that point with some threads - catching up would take too long but it's been too long since i said hi.

...
Closet cleaned out, ready for the installers. Now, if they arrive at 8 a.m. I don't have to be up. Bill will be up and if I just happen to sleep in, I can. No alarm. Just watch - they won't get here til the outer limit of when they said they would - 1 p.m.

Morning, Karen. Good luck with the installers today. I hope it goes smoothly. I got my flu shot yesterday. Yah! I am finally getting out on a walk this AM, with a birding buddy but I will be on call to go pick up my FIL, so it may be cut short. Another long procedure yesterday, so I hope he is doing good.

'Morning, Mark, and thanks re the installers. They could come as soon as 8 a.m. or as late as 1 p.m. Fortunately, Bill's working from home today, and so can answer any electrical or other questions.

Yay for your flu shot, yay for getting out with a birding buddy. I'll check back on your thread to hear news of your FiL.

Hi Karen! What are you having installed today? I scrolled up, saw references to the IP and air fryer and thought nope, that's not it, and then decided I'd just ask ...

Whatever it is, I hope it goes smoothly!

Hi Laura! A new hot water heater - it was embedded in the verbose >174 karenmarie: above. Thanks for the good wishes.

Bill commented on the scalding hot water coming out of the kitchen sink on Sunday. I mentioned that I'd noticed it on Saturday. So on Sunday he did some online research, looked at our actual brand/model, and decided that one of the two heating elements is stuck in the 'on' position. He turned off power to it, so we haven't had hot water for the kitchen or laundry for 2 days. This is an electric hot water heater so it's in a closet downstairs. Looks like there's some kind of venting, but it doesn't need the same kind of venting as a gas hot water heater needs. We have gas hot water heater, in the storage space behind the guest bedroom upstairs with proper venting, for all 3 bathrooms at the other end of the house.

So anyway, Bill called Lowe's yesterday, telling them exactly which model we wanted, and they're coming out to install it this morning. Bill's 10% military discount will come in handy.

Morning, Karen! Adding my good wished that your installation goes well. We are still waiting to have our new HVAC installed...

Hi Katie!

They aren't here yet, and I am dressed and breakfasted and everything! Thanks for the good wishes.

I'm sorry about your new HVAC taking so long. I've said it a bit on your thread, but will say it here that you and TW are champion for the way you have dealt with the flooding and recovery so far. Tears and angst are allowed, but you're persistent and are coming along as best you can with the additional stress of the pandemic and shortages. Keep up the good work, and here's hoping that you're back to normal by Christmas!

Aww, thanks, Karen! I hope we at least have the new HVAC by Christmas, or it will be very chilly ;-)

Morning, Karen! Hoping your hot water heater arrives sooner rather than later. I hate waiting.

>184 katiekrug: What Karen said, Katie.

>184 katiekrug: You're welcome. Positive energy and vibes headed to NJ to you and TW. (although I just saw on your thread that you didn't pass the mold inspection and am So Sorry!)

>185 Crazymamie: 'Morning, Mamie! Well, getting up early means that I ate another donut, so won't have one for tomorrow. *smile*

Looks like we'll have a new hot water heater by this afternoon, barring any unforseen difficulties. It's not cheap even with Bill's discounts of 10% on the heater and 5% on the labor, but I shouldn't complain after this one did such a good job for 23 years. Bill and the installation guy have driven to Lowe's to pick up the hot water heater and should be back in about 45 minutes or so.

>174 karenmarie: Unfortunately there is no place to install a microwave on a shelf in our kitchen. It has to be countertop which takes up a lot of space...hence my unfortunate decision to buy a three-in-one. If I don't start using the air fryer more it may go and be replaced by a microwave/convection like we've had before. We also use the microwave many times a day and I do love the convection for an extra oven on holidays. The G/E version of that combo has worked well for us in the past.

Hope the Hot Water Heater is there by now.

Thanks for bringing me up to speed, Karen! Hope you're back in business soon.

>186 karenmarie: I'm glad the new one's coming soon. No hot water is unpleasant. I'm hopeful you'll get the full benefit from the paprikas soon...nothing beats smoked paprika, sweet or hot, for introducing a warm bass note to your wintertime dishes.

Try using it in dressing this Turkey Day. Oooo

>187 RebaRelishesReading: If all you've made in the air fryer are brussel sprouts, then I'd say ditch the 3-in one. The hot water heater is here and installed and has already provided warm-soon-to-be-hot water.



>188 lauralkeet: You're welcome, Laura. Yes, we're back in business. Now all I have to do is put back SOME of the stuff that we keep in that closet - this is a very good time to not put back most of it. The installer said that technically nothing should be in that closet at all, but *wink* it's our house.

>189 richardderus: New hot water heater here and sweet paprika arriving Sunday and hot paprika arriving next Wednesday. I don't use it often enough to stress not having any paprika for 5 more days. Good thought about wintertime dishes. Dressing on T-Day. Hmmm. I don't know if I'm that adventurous.

>190 karenmarie: It's in! Yay! Glad for you that no cold scrubbing of pots need occur.

Heh. Make some dressing when the sweet stuff arrives and see how it goes before The Day.

Yes, nice hot water for the dishwasher and the air fryer basket/tray waiting since yesterday.

I'm still trying to figure out what to do about Thanksgiving. Part of the family will be going to Utah, and our friends Diane and Geoff don't know if they'll be going to her mother's or not. It just might be Bill and me on the Day, but we'll definitely have Thanksgiving dinner with Jenna sometime this fall or early winter.

Dressing trial with paprika. Perhaps. *smile*

95. Decider by Dick Francis 10/24/21 10/26/21





From Dick Francis’s Website

Free choice? According to architect, engineer, and jobbing builder Lee Morris, there's no such thing. Choice is preordained by personality, of that the young entrepreneur is sure. Then he becomes involved with Stratton Park racecourse, which faces ruin at the hands of the combative clan that wholly owns it. Connected with but not related to any of the family's warring factions, he nonetheless is drawn into the fray - reluctant, yet attracted by compulsions he does not fully comprehend. But when the infighting turns violent, Lee finds he is a major player in a supremely dangerous fame. With multi-millions on the line and menace edging closer, he wrestles with the most critical decision of his life. One path leads to safety, the other to disaster, even death. Which is which? And does he really have a choice at all?

Why I wanted to read it: Book 5 of 6 in this year’s Dick Francis SHARED Read.

I do like Lee Morris, father of six boys, husband to a woman he fell out of love with long before. He owns 8 shares of the above-mentioned race course and on a whim decides to go to this year’s Board meeting after never attending one before. He’s not expected or wanted and his showing up brings up things long buried and dangerous.

As we learn about the dysfunctional, dangerous, and greedy family members, we also learn about Lee’s charming way of managing his brood of the five eldest boys, brought in “the bus” to look for ruins and stop for the meeting. They end up staying at the racecourse through racing accidents, arson, death threats, and long-buried explosive secrets.

Dick Francis was a master at portraying characters and moving plots along. There is a much more serious side to this one with the children involved, showing Lee’s vulnerability and love.

Six word review: Builder saves racecourse, understands himself better.

>193 karenmarie: Terrific review, Horrible! I think that one was one of Mama's all-time favorites, too. I know one was that had a man married to a woman he didn't love...though come to think on it, that doesn't narrow the field much.

>190 karenmarie: but *wink* it's our house.

Absolutely! We've never had a dedicated closet for the hot water heater; it's always been in the basement near other stuff. We didn't give it much thought until one day our unit went ka-blam. We were away when it happened, returned home to the sound of rushing water, and found that everything surrounding the hot water heater was soaked. Not like Katie's floods or anything, but enough for an insurance claim. Bah.

However, you have a NEW hot water heater so you should be okay for a good long time.

>190 karenmarie: Yay for the new water heater. May it last even longer than the last!

>193 karenmarie: This is one of my favorite Dick Francis mystery. Lee is likeable, but in some ways as dysfunctional as his disjoint non family. But he doesn't take it out on others.

>194 richardderus: Thanks, RD. I really liked it, too. Heh. Men married to women they don’t love anymore is a pretty big demographic.

>195 lauralkeet: I only keep cleaning implements in there, and if we lost an electric broom or my favorite dustpan and brush, it wouldn’t be a disaster.

>196 quondame: Thank you, Susan!

>197 quondame: I think Lee’s dysfunctional, but in a self-aware way that keeps himself, his six boys, and his wife happy. He’s chosen his path and seems to get more joy of his life than unhappiness.

>181 karenmarie: Got to love those military discounts! Kerry uses his at Lowe's quite a bit.

>190 karenmarie: Yay for the new hot water heater!

Hi Stasia!

The discount's nice because I can use it too, just put in the phone number associated with his account. He's sneaky - he recently changed it to his cell phone number, but this came up yesterday so I'm ready to go for the next Lowe's visit.

Thanks re the hot water heater - it's one of those things that gets you back to neutral, unfortunately, not ahead. New shingles and gutters, ditto. We haven't spent any money on vacations or major fun things in quite a while.

...
I wonder if this will be my new routine with the gabapentin? Take it nine-ish, go to bed 10:30-ish, then up 6-ish. It will make the morning enjoyable watching the sunrise, for sure.

I'm not sure I can stick State of Terror, the Clinton-Penny concoction. I see the heavy hand of Penny and am Not Amused.

Morning, Karen. Happy Wednesday. Hooray for the new hot water heater. We just got our furnace cleaned for the season. I had a good but quiet walk with my birding buddies yesterday. There was also just a touch of winter in the air. I will meet them again today.
Sadly, my FIL will have to have his toe removed this afternoon. He is bummed and frustrated and of course Sue is too. Hopefully, he can go home tomorrow but things are not going as smoothly as expected. I did visit with him briefly yesterday.

'Morning, Mark, and happy Wednesday for you, too. House stuff is never-ending, but the pleasure of living in our own homes (we share custody with the bank!) is satisfying. Glad you got the furnace cleaned out. Yay for birding buddy adventures, and I'm sorry your FiL is going to have a toe removed today. I hope the procedure goes well and he can go home tomorrow. Poor Sue, such worry about her father.

Thank you, Karen. He may stay here for a day or two but the only problem is we have stairs on each level and we hope he can navigate them.

Good luck for your father in law, Mark. It must be frustrating and even frightening, for sure, but looking at the larger picture (and trying to stay positive), if the removal of one toe can stop the problem and hopefully prevent further issues, better a toe than the whole foot. Still, a scary time. Is there one level in your house he could stay and not have to navigate stairs? Would he have help at his own home? Community nursing to look in on him, for example?

Sending wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.

>203 msf59: Give my regards to Sue. Stairs after to removal... hmmm. I hope he can navigate them, too.

>204 jessibud2: Hi Shelley!

Hi, Karen. I thought I was on Mark's thread, in >204 jessibud2:. Oops!

Congrats on the new water heater. I got my new one a few years back when I got a new furnace.

Funny, I had never heard the name Gabapentin until I got a prescription for it for one of my cats. I had no idea it was for people, too. It was meant to calm Lexi (and later, Owen) before a vet visit. Didn't work... I hope it works for you, for the purpose intended!

I sorta figured that out, Shelley. No problem! Mark will see it tomorrow if he doesn't check back here today.

Thanks re the hot water heater. Back to neutral...

There are apparently quite a few medications that work for humans AND kitties. Turns out that the relaxation medication that the vet gave me for Zoe and Wash for their first-ever exams is Gabapentin, and I have a few left. And Inara is on Melixocam every 3 days for her arthritis.

The last two mornings I've felt a tad groggy, but my sleep is much, much better. We'll see.

>206 jessibud2:, >207 karenmarie: The first time Karen mentioned gabapentin I assumed it was for one of the kitties and had to carefully re-read the post. Our dog Woody takes Gabapentin for pain relief. For regulatory reasons we have to get the Rx filled at our local pharmacy instead of through the vet, which should have been a clue that it might also be a people medicine.

Anyway, hope it's working some magic on you, Karen.

Hi Laura! I literally finished posting on your thread and came back and here you are!

I've taken meloxicam, which Inara takes, and now take gabapentin, which the gingers get when we got to the vet. The prescription may run out before the next time we need to take them, though.

Thanks for your good wishes.

>207 karenmarie: Fun Fact: You're feeling groggy is a sign that your sleep was better. You don't recognize the toll not sleeping well was exacting, and the "well-rested" feeling reads as groggy until it's normalized.

The sleep doc told me this. I think it's fascinating.

Yay, RD, good to know! I had decided to take it for 2 weeks for sure, but that makes me feel better.

Thanks, RD!

RD's right, the grogginess after sleep deprivation is normal and it should get much better. Gabapentin may cause drowsiness but, even if it did, that will also get better.

ETA

Oh! Guess Who finally got back on their sun porch and now has a functioning coffee brewer? Yes, me is the correct answer.

Wrapping up the last few chapters of George Baxt's 'Process of Elimination'. Lots of fun, the second quarter was way too talky.

Well back to neutral is better than further behind.

>212 SomeGuyInVirginia: I'm glad to have it confirmed by two of my besties.

Yay for sun porch, functioning coffee brewer, and Major Dickason's Blend.

>213 quondame: Sometimes that's as good as it gets, I'm afraid.

I stopped taking my gabapentin 1) when I felt like it was not doing me any good and 2) when I read the suicide rates of the patients on it. Since it did not feel effective any more, why increase my chances of suicide over it? I already struggle with depression and do not need any more help!

I hope it works for you, Karen!

Sorry, that has 'bad science' written and over it. I tried to let it go, I really did, but I think part of me would have either festered or exploded if I did.

So here's how we're going to work it. Karen, do not commit suicide while taking gabapentin. Should you begin to contemplate the idea of suicide, or investing in cryptocurrency, after taking gabapentin, please immediately rush to your local middle school and discuss the situation with any available hamster. Scientific studies have shown that hamsters, within any proximity to glitter or tiny chairs, are incredibly adept at managing crisises.

I'm not a bad person. It's just some things make me crazy.

There's zero credible scientific evidence connecting gabapentin prescription use with increased risk of suicide. Correlation does not equal causation, still less contribution.

>215 alcottacre: Hi Stasia. Two good reasons to stop, especially the second with your depression. Thank you.

>216 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hi Larry. So far in my 68 years of life on this earth, I have never, ever, considered suicide. I promise that if the specter of suicide rears its ugly head, I will seek help IMMEDIATELY. My goal is to keep my child from being an orphan as long as I possibly can, and it would be bad enough if I died of COVID in a pandemic, much less total rejection of her father, her, and my life by suicide. Nope, nope, nope. We had hamsters at one point – Scout and Puffer. Puffer murdered Scout, which traumatized Jenna, and damned if Puffer didn’t live a very long life. Sad, not sad, to see him go. Should I buy a hamster as an in-house psychologist? I think we still have Puffer’s hamster habitat upstairs somewhere. *smile* I could name him Freddie Mercury even though I had a Betta Fish named Freddie Mercury.

I won’t invest in cryptocurrency either, especially as I do not understand it at all.

You are not a bad person in any way, shape or form. You should already know this, my dear one.

>217 richardderus: Whew! Now I don’t have to get the hamster.

…
I sure felt like crap this afternoon – achy and sneezing and itchy eyes and exhausted and cold. Of course the first thing I thought of was Covid, silly me, and the second thing I thought of was the flu, but I had my flu shot and if this was flu then the shot did the job of knocking it out about an hour ago. If it’s a cold I still have it with some congestion. Thank goodness for 2 naps and using the corn bag. I even had enough energy just now to empty the dishwasher (oh, how I hate to empty the dishwasher!), put up the clean dishes in the dish drainer, and wash 3 pans. Now, when I come downstairs tomorrow morning, it will be to a clean kitchen. Bill frequently cleans the kitchen at night or even in the morning while his coffee is brewing before I get up, but I had the energy and motivation, so points for me.

>216 SomeGuyInVirginia: >217 richardderus: You are right, of course, but given my propensity for depression already, why take chances?

Sorry to hear that you did not feel well this afternoon, Karen. I hope you are back up to snuff tomorrow!

>217 richardderus: Thankyah. I now hope to be able to sleep tonight.

>219 alcottacre: Sugar, I know and I apologize. I did not mean to belittle your struggle or make fun of it at all. And I totally get the effect that medications have on people and I respect people who stop taking medications that may be harmful to them.
My mom did that.

Let's be friends. I'm southern so I do understand any struggle you may currently have, and there's nothing you can tell me that would shock me, promise!

Dear Karen. Hooray for the hot water heater! Hooray for the corn bag! Feel a LOT better in the morning! We are all allowed some fuss and down time.

I think I answered all your questions posed on my thread. Here's the link to the meatloaf recipe I followed: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/bas-best-beef-bacon-meatloaf
Two pounds, gone in a couple of days. It was more-ish.

Last time we had a water heater was in the early '70s. In '75 we moved into a house with hot-water baseboard heat and its furnace heated the domestic hot water year round. When we built the present house in 1989-90, the kids were still at home and all had some allergies to dust and molds and such. The allergist advised us (we asked him to) to avoid any forced-air system, wall-to-wall carpeting, etc. Our 31-year-old furnace keeps on ticking.

>218 karenmarie: I hope you had a good night of sleep, Karen, knowing you would wake up with a clean kitchen.

Morning, Karen. Sweet Thursday. I had a good outing with my birding buddies yesterday, taking advantage of a beautiful fall day. I am on call today, to pick up my FIL. He is expected to be released. It looks like the toe surgery went well. He will probably be coming here for a day or two. I will sacrifice the Man Cave, (sad face) but it is for a good cause.

>219 alcottacre: I am not groggy this morning, Stasia! I even had one burst of sleeping 6 hours straight last night. Probably got 9 hours total. It still might be a cold – congestion and slightly itchy eyes – but on the whole I’m back up to snuff. Thank you.

>220 SomeGuyInVirginia: and >221 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hiya Larry.

>222 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! I am feeling a lot better this morning, thank you.

Yesterday I was thinking back to all the times I went to work with major headaches and backaches and non-contagious sinus infections and upset stomachs and plantar fasciitis. I came back to work in 2006 before I was supposed to after carpal tunnel surgery. I worked through all sorts of things. And so yesterday I was so glad to just get the jammies on and crawl into bed for a while. During The Day. I love being retired.

>223 weird_O: ‘Morning, Bill! Thank you re my questions. That recipe looks wonderful and I actually have every single ingredient on it in the house. I have a turkey meatloaf recipe that we love and it also calls for free-forming the loaf on a baking sheet, so that was interesting to read. Thank you.

If we had the option of a furnace I didn’t know about it, so good for you for insisting on having one for your second house. My friend Karen in Montana just got her furnace …something or another’d… for the winter.

>224 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita. The clean kitchen was nice. I’m sitting here with my first cup of coffee.

>225 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark, and a very sweet Thursday to you, too. Glad your FiL’s toe surgery went well, and I do hope he’s able to come to your house today. Sacrifice of the Man Cave is a small price to pay, for sure. Sue will be able to pamper him and get calmer knowing things are getting back to normal.

…
Well, as I told Stasia above, I am not groggy today. Some congestion and itchy eyes, so I might have a slight cold. No plans on leaving the house today since I got everything done yesterday, hooray!

Morning, Karen! Glad you are feeling better this morning and hoping it continues. Good for you for just putting the jammies back on and crawling into bed yesterday - almost always the best medicine.

I plan to make Bill's meatloaf for sinner this evening - I am very excited about it.

I was just visiting your thread, Mamie! Great minds.

Thank you. Jammies and cinnamon toast and sugared tea and a heated corn bag and a nap - all worked very well.

I've cut and pasted Bill's recipe into a word document and am toying with the idea of making it. However, I am not sure about the bacon - I never put bacon in or on things (except for Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon). What do you think about leaving it bacon-less? And I only have thick bacon anyway. And six slices doesn't sound like enough IF I were to put bacon on it. What'cha think? *smile*

I have never bacon wrapped anything, either. I am going to go for it, so I will report back - I do have thin sliced center cut bacon on hand because I purchased it for the meatloaf making. Usually we only have thick sliced, which I don't think would work very well. I think leaving it baconless would be just fine - I have never done the bacon wrapping because I have been served bacon wrapped stuff where the bacon was undercooked, and that is a major turnoff for me. I am picky about the bacon cooking - I want it crisp.

My mother used to put strips of bacon over her Thanksgiving turkey before roasting it - she swore the rendered fat helped keep the bird moist. I imagine it's supposed to do something similar for the meatloaf? I haven't looked at the recipe, so I don't know how it's cooked or anything, so I might be totally off base.

Oh, ladies, ladies. That bacon is essential. It's the linchpin of the meal. Not.

>229 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie! I'll wait on your report and consider making it tomorrow night. I've also never had garlic in meatloaf - basically I didn't know there was such a thing as garlic growing up. Bohemian Iowa farm family influence.

The once or twice in my life that I've ordered filet mignon out I've asked them to leave off the bacon. I love the flavor of beef by itself, just a dash of salt perhaps. I want crisp bacon, too!

>230 katiekrug: I think you're right, Katie about the bacon, but 80% beef should be fatty enough, I think. In this recipe, which calls for forming a loaf on a flat baking sheet with parchment paper, the fat doesn't collect in a loaf pan, so perhaps that's the reason.

Larding a turkey with bacon is a good way to make a roast turkey - so is basting it frequently with butter/pan juices. I, however, do what my mother did. She found a recipe called Hot Oven Turkey. So I make my Thanksgiving turkey with S&P and butter slathered on, no dressing inside, completely foil covered, and baked in a 450F oven. Foil peeled back for the last 30 minutes. You can imagine how quickly it cooks - I can make a super-moist and flavorful 20-lb turkey in 3.25 - 3.5 hours.

>231 weird_O: Well, Bill, we'll just have to see. I'll wait on Mamie's results.

...or y'all could cook the loafmeat inside the bacon, turn the loafmeat out and unpeel the said bacon in schnibble-strips, and give those a fast fry...

>234 richardderus: Yep - I thought about that, too. I'm gonna see what it looks like when it comes out. If I remember, I'll take a photo.

>232 karenmarie: We are kind of garlic and onion crazy here. Spiceworld makes a good bottled version (our market stocks it in the produce section next to the raw garlic) that takes all the work out of it - this is what I use because currently my CT just cannot take the work involved with the raw stuff:

>221 SomeGuyInVirginia: I never thought we weren't friends and am sorry if I gave that impression. I am originally from Pennsylvania but have lived in Texas since 1974. Not sure if that qualifies me as Southern these days or not :) I still think of myself as a northerner though.

>226 karenmarie: Yay for 6 straight hours of sleep, Karen! I am sure it will do wonders for you today.

Shuddering at all the bacon mentions. Sorry, but even when I ate meat - which was well over 30 years ago now - I did not like bacon. Lol.

>235 Crazymamie: - I use the same jarred garlic, not because I have CT but because I'm lazy 🙂

>234 richardderus: Way too much work, my dear. Since I don’t like the flavor of bacon on or in anything, I’ll just pass.

>235 Crazymamie: Too many cooked onions make me unattractive to be around, to be blunt. And I don’t like raw onions, excepting scallions and green onions, on ANYTHING. Even the smell of raw onion near a plate of Karen food makes me twitchy. I've been known to send a hamburger back because after telling them to not put onion on the plate and make up fresh lettuce/tomato garnish and NOT remove onion, they only removed the onion. I could still smell it.

Jarred garlic is a good idea with your CT. I have a wonderful Pampered Chef garlic press and I use garlic infrequently enough that I am happy with what I’m doing. I also have a way-cool garlic press from the 1940s (I think) from Bill’s Aunt Eloise, but it only holds one clove of garlic at a time.

>236 alcottacre: I’m not sure Texas is ‘southern’ per se. I think of it, when I’m thinking of it favorably, as Western. When I’m thinking of it unfavorably, which is, quite frankly, most of the time in these polarizing days, I think of it as stupidity and braggadocio and a menace to the rest of the US. One set of my paternal great-grandparents lived in Emory from the 1890s 'til their deaths in 1916 and 1919, but that's as close to Texas as I come.

Yes, the sleep was quite wonderful. I’m still not groggy, have made Instant Pot hard boiled eggs, cooked grilled cheese sandwiches for us for lunch, and have added two books to my catalog and put other books up. And read, of course.

I went about 25 years without eating bacon, Stasia, and only started eating it again when Bill and Jenna clamored for it. I started off making it for them, then taking a slice for myself, and all of a sudden I was eating bacon again. It's highly addictive and highly satisfactory to those of us who eat meat, always excepting those whose religion prohibits it.

>237 katiekrug: Laziness works, Katie. 😊

I also don't do raw onion - it's too harsh for me. Except on top of chili cheese dogs, and then it is required. Usually if something calls for onion, I sauté it first and then add it. So, chicken salad, tuna salad, meatloaf...pretty much everything except for chili, and that's because I can throw it into the pan to cook while I'm growing the meat. I also use only white or Vidalia onions. Or red onions. But no yellow onions.

And I love me some bacon!

>237 katiekrug: *fist bump*

I'm the opposite - I usually use yellow onions - only use white, red, or vidalias when yellow aren't available. Yes to bacon!

YAY for 6 uninterrupted hours of sleep, Karen! Keep working on it!
Many thanks for Bill's recipe. I have everything but the Parmesan (but I've never had good Parm), which I don't like almost with the intensity that some of you don't like raw onions. (When I was little, I'd join my daddy in an onion sandwich - raw onion, yellow mustard, on white bread. I guess that's sort of the epitome of working class South.) (Sorry) And yet, no onions in chicken or tuna salad but plenty soaking in oil and vinegar dressing with the cooked potatoes for potato salad, please.
I hate the idea of bacon, but I love the stuff. I didn't eat it for a long time, but now I figure I'm old enough to eat it if I want it. I do.

All members of clade Allium may be sent to my attention. They will, with great celerity, be consumed cooked, raw, candied, marmaladed, or simply out of my hand (vidalias, 10-15s).

...funny how much hate I get for loathing corn on the cob around here...

>238 karenmarie: When I’m thinking of it unfavorably, which is, quite frankly, most of the time in these polarizing days, I think of it as stupidity and braggadocio and a menace to the rest of the US.

Oh, I completely understand and agree with that. Some of the stupidity around these parts just makes me shake my head in resignation.

>240 karenmarie: I grew up with yellow onions being the only onions used, but they really irritate my eyes, so now I avoid them.

>242 richardderus: *belly laugh* I will eat them raw upon occasion. It's just not my favored approach. Except for on chili cheese dogs, and then they must be raw and in a large rough dice.

>243 alcottacre: Stasia, you are not alone, and it's not just Texas. Plenty of that in these here parts of Georgia, too. My computer keeps trying to correct my Southern speak, which is cracking me up!

Morning, Karen. Happy Friday. My FIL is staying here for a couple of days, until he feels confident to move around on his own. He is doing good, though. I am going to run him around a bit this AM and then I am sitting with Jackson for a couple of hours this afternoon. Yah!

My feeders have been crazy busy this past week. Even with the rain. Must be storing and fattening up.

>241 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! I was pleased with 6 hours. Last night not quite so good, perhaps 5 without interruption, but I’m not groggy again, so there is that.

That’s weird_o’s recipe, and I hope you make it, too. I’m waiting on Mamie’s results from last night, if she was able to make it last night.

Two out of three aren’t my thing – onion and mustard, but I used to love Wonder Bread. Now, Bill gets ‘lite’ wheat bread and I get Arnold’s Healthy Grain bread. I like my potato salad with miracle whip and mayonnaise, s&p, sliced black olives, and hard boiled eggs. I got that recipe from a friend in California in the early 1980s and I'll eat other potato salads, but always think of mine when I do.

>242 richardderus: Hi RD! I use onions, just infrequently and only cooked, excepting the scallions and green onions mentioned above. I don’t hate you for loathing corn on the cob, my dear. Don’t understand it, but don’t judge you. *smooch*

>243 alcottacre: We’ve got some of the same out here, too, Stasia, just not so whole-state-ish. We have the balance of a Democratic governor AND, the Gang of Psychos lost their legislative supermajority in 2018, thank GOD.

>244 Crazymamie: If it’s more than half an onion, I usually use the food processor to chop onions, especially the ‘finely chopped’ large amounts required for most of the Instant Pot recipes I use.

Georgia, too, has some balance in Stacey Abrams, 2 Democratic Senators, (although I'm pessimistic and bet a dime that Warnock is defeated in 2022), and 6 of 14 Democratic Representatives (was surprised to discover that fact). Unfortunately, you’ve got the total wackjob Marjorie Taylor Greene.

>245 msf59: 'Morning, Mark! Happy Friday to you. Glad your FiL came through well, glad he's there to get your and Sue's care for a few days. Yay for the busy feeders. I put out fresh sunflower seed yesterday and right now have two finches. I also bought and put out a suet I know the birds like - bought the wrong kind last time but bought some of the good stuff on Wednesday. Yay for having a few hours with Jackson.

…
Coffee is starting off my morning right. Bill’s at work, I baked Pecan Puffs yesterday afternoon and can probably take friend Karen’s birthday box to the post office today. It will be late ‘cuz her birthday is next Wednesday, but oh well. Bacon and a toasted bagel with cream cheese and Simply Fruit Raspberry in a while to look forward to.

Morning, Karen! That is some crazy bipartisan potato salad you got going on - I have never known anyone to mix mayo and Miracle Whip.

I love chopping things up, so I usually do it by hand if I can, but sometimes I have to use the food processor.

Georgia does have some balance, but it doesn't feel that way if you are living here.

I did make the meatloaf last night - I posted about it on my thread. There is even a photo!

Hi Mamie! I just posted on your thread, thanking you for the meatloaf review and pic. I'm going to make it tonight, barring unforseen circumstances. Looks like I'll have to do the prep in phases.

I have no idea why Gloria used mayo and Miracle Whip, but it works for me. I rarely make potato salad because I'm the only one in the house who likes it. However, I did make 9 Instant Pot hard boiled eggs yesterday with no exact plan for them, and have 2 russets sitting on the counter looking like they need some attention, so perhaps today's the day in addition to the meatloaf. Black olives, check. Enough mayo and MW, check.

I like chopping things up by hand - I love my knives - but onions in the food processor are da bomb.

NC doesn't feel very balanced either, frankly. My county is an example of Major Purple - south and west are staunch Republicans, north and east are staunch Democrats. The Democrats are winning more often because of the influx to the north and east parts of the county and the loss of family farms, which is sad, but inevitable.

I've actually got to hand it to you...the *gag* Miracle Whip-with-mayo thing is what my Grandma Derus used in her killer-diller potato salad and I had blocked it out! You do seem to reach into the dusty corners of my memory on frequent occasions.

>246 karenmarie: No no no, sweetiedarling, not YOU but the general LT populace do a bit of hatin' when I come out as a cobbèd-corn despiser. I can't recall a single occasion where you've said a cross word to me.

There was that one time you sicced Interpol onto me, but we can safely ignore that.

I'm flattered to reach into the 'dusty corners' of your memory sometimes.

That Interpol thing was a mistake, I meant to sic them on my BiL. *smile*

...
I was pretty sure I was going to make the meatloaf tonight, but I just remembered that Bill's boss is taking them out to lunch today, meaning that he'll be eating more than a sandwich for lunch and won't be hungry enough to appreciate cooking efforts properly.

So the partly-fried thick-cut bacon and the defrosting hamburger meat just went back into the refrigerator. Probably will be Sunday before I get back to them, as we usually have takeout for lunch on Saturdays and I never cook when we do that.

"...he'll be eating more than a sandwich for lunch and won't be hungry enough to appreciate cooking efforts properly. Good thinking.

No Miracle Whip at all, please, especially not in potato salad - which is one thing I think I make well but not for you. My DH, otoh, eats MW on everything that I need Dukes for.
I also like my deviled eggs, which like my mom's include a bit of vinegar. Just saying.

Off to Mamie's to see the meatloaf!

Hi Peggy! Ah, a two dressing family. Miracle Whip and Dukes. *smile*

I love deviled eggs. Jenna and I were just talking about them, since it's the only thing I know of that she'll eat with MW in it. I put a bit of tabasco in mine, along with a teensy bit of yellow mustard, S&P. I think the vinegar and Tabasco may do a similar thing, not quite sure.

The meatloaf is pretty.

97. Japanese Proverbs & traditional phrases 10/29/21 10/29/21





A note from the book:

You can tell a people’s character from that people’s proverbs. Therefore any friend of the Japanese will know already what he will find here: a sentimentality about flowers and a cynicism about people; a confidence in the eternal and a distrust of the immediate, a seriousness about shrines and a jocularity about priests.

This combination of spirituality and worldliness is not unique to the Japanese, but they show it perhaps more sharply than any other people.

In any collection of proverbs you can always find another kind of contradiction; a yes to each no on any question, and black to every white. This collection is no exception. National traits are not involved by such contradictions: they are simply mirrors of human pessimism and optimism, bad experience and good. We hope your experience here will be all good!

Why I wanted to read it: Aunt Ann gave this to me recently in her efforts to pare down prior to moving down to Florida early next year.

Some are silly, some are thought provoking. Most of the ones I've quoted here are thought provoking and/or I agree with.

In wealth, many friends: in poverty not even relatives
One madman makes a hundred sane men flee
The defeated ones become the rebels
You can see another’s arse but not your own
No medicine cures stupidity
Even the welcome guest is a nuisance after three days
We do well what we like well
Careful how you handle scissors and fools
Eating sweets gives you no strength
When you grow old obey your children
Wine is lunatic water
Money is fruit of the perseverance tree
May you live to be a hundred: may I live to be ninety-nine
We can see seven faults in another: not one of our own ten
Always condemn the crime not always the criminal
Disease and death recognize no face

Six word review: Alas, proverbs are not always true.

Happy Friday, Karen! Have a wonderful weekend!

Morning, Karen. Happy Saturday! Our nephew recently graduated from the Marines and is home on leave before leaving for Japan. His folks had a party for him last night. My FIL was able to make it too but you could telli it was difficult for him but he definitely wanted to see his strapping grandson. The FIL will probably stay here one more day.

Bree is dropping off Jackson here later this morning, while she takes care of a few things. Yah! And we will see him again tomorrow at Bree's for a birthday brunch for Sue. Double Yah!

>255 alcottacre: Hi and thanks, Stasia! It's going to be a pretty boring weekend, just same-old same-old. But that's okay, too. I've got a new book going, A Perfectly Good Family by Lionel Shriver, and even though I'm only on chapter two, I know I'm going to like it.

>256 msf59: 'Morning, Mark, and happy Saturday to you. My, my, what a social butterfly you are! Everything sounds wonderful. Congrats on the nephew graduating ... boot camp, right? (My fingers wrote book camp, but I had to correct them...) Glad your FiL was able to make it. Yay for the Jackson sightings.

...
Just got up, have literally just taken my first sip of coffee. I finally put more sunflower seed out the other day, and have seen the regulars - Titmice, Cardinals, and Carolina Chickadees. Had a Downy Woodpecker on the cherry crunch suet. I think there's still too much natural food out for them to flock to the feeders.

Oh! Oh!!! I want to go to BOOK CAMP!!!!!

That was my thought, too, Peggy.

edited to add: While out running errands and getting take out today, Bill passed by a car show and was absolutely staggered to see a booth sponsored by Kool Klassic Kars. "Join the KKK!" Idiots in camo, guns on hips, Confederate flags. And there were so many children there. Sad and very, VERY scary.

Has to be an intentional supposedly positive reverence, however. We live in KKK country - Saxapahaw and Sanford.

>259 karenmarie: OMG!! Totally agree -- sad and scary. I worry for this country, seriously worry. What will my grandchildren have to deal with?

Well, Reba, I have to stand corrected - Bill just walked over to tell me that it was Kool Klassic Kars - think Dukes of Hazard.

I'm sorry to have gone off half-cocked.

>261 karenmarie: Even so...why would a group find it a good idea to name themselves like that? And the camo and guns?!? Just NOPE!

On purpose, of course. Absolutely "Just NOPE!"

All the nope there is. Ick.

*smooch*

Karen, I put a note on my thread, but just in case you do not see it there thought I better post it here too: If you would like a reading partner for Girl Waits with Gun November, let me know. I can fit it into one of the TIOLO challenges for November.

>264 richardderus: *smooch*

>265 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia, just put a note in my desk calendar. I think I'm going to clean up my "currently reading" books, take the pages already read and put them back on the shelves (except for A Perfectly Good Family, The Code Breaker, and Run with the Horsemen, and start Girl Waits with Gun. I've also got a penciled note to read Swann's Way this month with Mark. Lots of good stuff to look forward to!

>266 karenmarie: Let me know when you get started on Girl Waits with Gun. Generally speaking, I allow my reading partners set the pace and then I just catch up.

>158 karenmarie: wow, your place is incredible! It looks huge to me (is it? it sure seems massive).

>254 karenmarie: that seems like a great incidental read...what I mean by that is that you could pick it up and put it down heaps of times without messing out on too much flow.

>267 alcottacre: 👍

>268 LovingLit: Hi Megan! We have 8 acres - don't know how that translates into whatever land measurements are used in NZ. The house isn't teensy either. It's much more house than we need these days, but downsizing doesn't make sense for us right now.

The Japanese Proverbs book was one that I've been meaning to read for a while simply so I could say I'd red it and get it upstairs into the books read shelves. Although I could have spread it across several days, I just read it straight through and picked out the proverbs I loved best.

Next year I've already got an incidental read, as you put it, all planned out - The Daily Jane Austen: A Year of Quotes edited by Devoney Looser. Two years I did the same with G.K. Chesterton, who I start disliking in about June (but finished the entire book); however, I love Jane Austen so anticipate enjoying the book the entire year.

Morning, Karen. Happy Halloween. We had Jackson all afternoon yesterday, which of course we loved but I have been getting very little reading in. We then joined friends for a backyard fire. A perfect night for it. My FIL is planning on going back to his place later this afternoon. It will be nice to get back into my own routine.

Sean is sick, so we won't be going over to Bree's for the birthday brunch. It will have to be postponed. Poor Sue.

Happy Sunday, Karen!

>270 msf59: 'Morning, Mark, and ... Happy Halloween to you, too! I forgot today was Halloween, although Jenna tells me that, having gotten permission, she's going to wear her Flying Squirrel Onesie to work today.

Sorry about the temporary lack of reading time. Yay for a backyard fire, glad your FiL is well enough to return to his own place.

Sorry Sean's sick - I hope he gets better soon. Sue must have done a lot of prep for the brunch, right? And will there be trick-or-treaters at your house tonight?

>271 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia, and the very same to you, too. Do you get trick-or-treaters at your house?
...
First sip of coffee taken, wispy white clouds in a beautiful Carolina blue sky. No birds at the feeders at all right now.

I'll be posting my October stats later today since I won't finish A Perfectly Good Family today. No trick-or-treaters here - too rural, at the end of a low-density cul-de-sac.

>5 karenmarie: Updated to ytd statistics through October.

>6 karenmarie: Updated to October's Lightning Round.

>272 karenmarie: Good reminder...I'll finish but will not review another book, which is my criterion for monthly stats.

Boo.

Different criterion, but same results - stats out today!

Boo back'atcha, and *smooch*

Morning, Karen! I have already downed two cups of coffee, and am ready to go for today. We're going head to head today if football. I'll be thinking about you watching while we're watching. Hope today is a good one.

Hi Mamie, and good morning, to you, too! Yes, Panthers vs. Falcons.

I'm down to the last half-cup of coffee from my thermos. I just finished eggs over easy on toast for Bill and eggs over easy NEXT TO toast for me. Quick, easy brekkie, with protein, carbs, and fat. God bless Kerrigold butter.

...
I've just finished chapter 9 of 56 plus an epilogue in The Code Breaker. Silly me - I didn't realize that CRISPR is not the technology of gene splicing, but "clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats", a family of DNA sequences. This book is very well written. Isaacson doesn't dumb it down, but it's still mostly understandable to this laywoman.

Oh - I'm going to prepare the meatloaf ketchup sauce, dice the onion and press the garlic clove, make the breadcrumbs in the food processor, and prepare the baking sheet here in a bit. Normally I'd just start everything about 3:30 or 4, but I don't know when the game will end. Priorities, right?

" Priorities, right?" Exactly.

Didn't make the breadcrumbs yet, but did prepare the broth/paprsley/ketchup mixture and grated the parmesan cheese.

This reminds me of when my mother and I went to visit my grandmother many years ago. We had an invite to the family farm and my mother got the days confused - we showed up on the wrong day, but Great-Aunt Lillian had everything ready - and I mean everything. Table was set, all the food was prepped and in the refrigerator waiting to be put on the table or heated up. Iced tea and other drinks already chilling.

The point being, that I'm getting to the point now where I have to stage things in phases in order to not exhaust myself, like Aunt Lillian.

I actually love to do things in stages. I get in the mood to cook, and I just go for it as long as my wrists hold up. I did that with my menu planning this week - picked things where I can prep once and then use the stuff for more than one meal.

>272 karenmarie: Flying Squirrel Onesie
I can only imagine what that would look like, but I can imagine one would want to seek permission for wearing it to work! haha.

We use acres here for land as well, the old 1.25 (although it was always spoken as 'one and a quarter') acre block was the 'kiwi dream' back in the day, but now most city sections are very small. Our (city) house is 1/5 of an acre and is bigger than all but one out of the houses around us.

>279 Crazymamie: Today was the shuffle between football and cooking, and I got it done without missing hardly any football. And my Panthers won, and I'm sorry your team lost, but not that the Falcons lost, because well... division standings and all. *smile*

You have such a crowd to cook for that you are pretty much cooking every day. I cook when I'm in the mood, and Bill's appreciative and only rarely whiny about it. He always thanks me, too. We usually have 2 days of leftovers when I cook except for hamburgers or steaks.

>280 LovingLit: Well, here's Jenna in her onesie on Christmas Day, 2016. Too bad she didn't like it, eh? She looks bulky because I remember that she immediately just threw it on over her winter jammies.



I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles, and we had a lot that was 5,000 square feet. Your fifth of an acre is about 8,712 square feet, so, much bigger than what we had. The house was 1,215 square feet. 3 bedrooms, 1 3/4 baths. I know the lot and house dimensions because I just looked it up on Zillow. My mom and dad bought it for about $13,500 in 1955, and its estimated value is $1,196,700. Can you believe it?!?

>281 karenmarie: Right. Football is football. Of course you are not sad that we lost. No worries.

I actually don't cook every day - just when I feel like it. But I do love to cook, so I like to if my wrists are up to it. We usually end up with 2-3 meals per week that I provide, but Birdy helps with that. I do try to make enough for leftovers when we make something that I know people like leftover - like chili or stew. This week, I actually have four meals on tap, but that is because I want to try a new recipe.

And the Saints beat the Bucs. One of the only times I've ever cheered for the Saints.

I'd love to have Birdy as a helper - when Jenna come to visit she cooks with me but that's been a while again. I didn't realize you only usually cook 2-3 times per week, but that makes sense if you cook with the idea of leftovers in mind. Bill and I now have leftovers.

So here's the story - I only have thick-cut bacon in the house, so cut the strips in half and cooked them about halfway. When I assembled the meatloaf, they only went over the top, not down the sides and curled up as they baked. Next time I'll get a bigger pan out and fry them partway without cutting them in half so they can wrap around like your did so beautifully. We have curly bacon meatloaf, and I couldn't resist making mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn, too. *smile* It was fun to make the meatloaf and to emulate your meal.



Next time I'll use half the cayenne. That's the only thing I'll do differently. Otherwise it was tasty and moist and quite wonderful.

weird_o - thank you! Crazymamie - thank you!

>282 Crazymamie: - What four meals are on tap, Mamie? I shared, so you have to, too!

Hi Karen! Your meatloaf looks excellent, curly bacon and all. I think I need to try this recipe, but I'll do the meatloaf mix blend my mom always did (beef, pork, veal).

>282 Crazymamie: Chili, stews, soups and curries are all much better on the second day, aren't they?

>283 karenmarie: I don't eat bacon, Karen, but that does look moist and tasty.

>283 karenmarie: And the Saints beat the Bucs. One of the only times I've ever cheered for the Saints.

After the Cowboys, the Saints are my husband's favorite team. I loved Drew Brees, so I would cheer for them. I do not like Jameis Winston though and could care less about them now.

Happy new week, Karen!

>283 karenmarie: Oh that looks lovely. And I know how it smelled and tasted. GREAT. Is there any left?

I went to Son the Elder's home for the observance of trick-or-treating. Came home with a jar of homemade chicken noodle soup, a half a round of freshly baked sourdough bread, four Twix bars, and a peanut butter cup. Monday's breakfast and lunch are set.

>281 karenmarie: Rocket J. Squirrel! In person. I recall My Grand Helen bopping around her house in those droopy-drawers 'jammies a few Christmases back. I think Helen's had a hoodie with some ears, but definitely not a cape.

-Northern Cardinal. From a recent outing.

Morning, Karen. Go Panthers! Boo to the Bears. Another ugly performance. Sue had a nice birthday. I watched some football and got some reading in. My FIL is staying one more day. I guess we are making him very comfortable but he is getting better. I do miss my Man Cave. I am joining my bird buddies this AM. Only in the 40s here this week.

> I love Jenna's costume.

Aaahhh...the crisp, clean air of a "who-cares-what-day-it-is" morning! *smooch*

>284 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! My mom never used anything but beef, but I’ve already got ground pork on the shopping list for the next one. And yes to Mamie sharing her recipes.

>285 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. That’s what my husband says, and I agree with both of you. Although for some reason I love chili best on the first day with the not-so-thick broth…sauce…soup? Thanks re the meatloaf. It had to be moist, smothered in what the recipe calls ketchup sauce and covered in bacon. *smile*

>286 alcottacre: Hi Stasia. Even though the Saints are always ABT to me - Anybody But the Saints - Brees was always a joy to watch as he wrecked other teams chances. Brady is the same, I'm afraid, only, fortunately, not yesterday. We watched him get sacked and intercepted many times. I believe Winston is out, injured. We only watched from the 3rd quarter on, and he got injured in the first half. Happy week back to you!

>287 weird_O: Hiya, Bill, thanks. I had the end piece and Bill had a piece about 1 ½” wide. So, yes, lots of leftovers. Bill recommended only one side next time, as he was too full for seconds. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe. Nice Halloween haul, especially the sourdough bread, IMO. Yum.

>288 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark! Lovely Cardinal pic. Yes, I’m sorry your Bears lost. My Panthers won, of course, but Sam Darnold is out with concussion. PJ Walker stepped in and when we were up 12-10 threw a touchdown pass. I’m glad Sue had a nice birthday – I didn’t realize that was the reason for the brunch and therefore misunderstood why she was so sad about not being able to go over to Bree and Sean’s. One more day’s sacrifice for your FiL is a good thing for him. It may not be as nice, but at least you can read in other rooms. Brrr, enjoy your outing.

Thanks re the Flying Squirrel Onesie.

>289 richardderus: Monday, I believe – it was only the very last year or so in my entire working life that I started living for the weekends. I’m fortunate that my working career was mostly trauma- and stress-free!

*smooch*

…
Got up late. I’m barely into my first cup. I see beautiful blue Carolina skies and a male and female Cardinal at the feeders.

I’ve got a chiropractic appointment today, will mail a birthday box to friend Karen in Montana who turns 70 on Wednesday (yes, it will be late), take a box to the pharmacy’s UPS drop off to return the wrong style Christmas cards, and go grocery shopping.

Morning, Karen! Here we go again - another week, another month...

>283 karenmarie: Love the photo! Your meatloaf and I have the same haircut, I think. I am honored that you emulated my meal - how awesome! And your potatoes made me laugh. They are so tidy, and your pans are so pretty lined up like that - I have to make mashed potatoes with a five pound bag of red potatoes. Too funny about the bacon - I always cut the slices in half before frying, too. Makes it so much easier to work with, and I feel like it cooks more evenly.

Abby was thrilled that her Saints beat the Bucs.

I used to cook most every day when the kids were little, but they are all grown now and each of them is a very good cook. This year I started just cooking 2-3 meals/week. But this week, I am doing 4, so I can try that new recipe.

>284 katiekrug: I will post them over on my thread, Katie - thanks for asking!

>285 PaulCranswick: Agreed, Paul.

>290 karenmarie: "Bill recommended only one side next time, as he was too full for seconds." Does. Not. Compute. Craig would never ask me to make less, so this cracked me up.

'Morning, Mamie! Happy day-after-Sunday! Yes, another week, another month. Only two of the suckers left in 2021. I don't know whether to be happy or sad about that. I'm already wondering what 2022 holds in store.

Thanks re my photo, and curly-haired Mamie! Great visual. I don't have a crowd to cook for so just opened a can of corn, used a jar of gravy, and made Ore-Ida instant potatoes. I do have real potatoes sitting on the counter - both russets (2) and red (1/3 of a 5-lb bag) - but got lazy after expending such an effort on the meatloaf. Now if any of your girls had been here helping or Jenna was at home helping, real mashed potatoes may have gotten made! No matter what the ads say about the quality of instant mashed potatoes, real is infinitely better.

Cut-in-half bacon sisters. I'll take it. *smile*

We were with Abby on this one, division-wise, of course. It's usually ABT.

When Bill sees a prepared meal prior to consumption like he did last night when I was explaining the staging for the photo, he always says "And what are you going to eat?" He eats less at meals these days but snacks more. It's necessary to help with his blood sugars, but I sometimes forget and pile his plate high.

I must be heavy-handed lately, since regardless of which wireless mouse I'm using, I've been double posting. I might go looking for a fun photo to put here.

Took a pic of Wash out, and am adding a pic of Jenna at work yesterday, on a break in the bar from her front desk job. Halloween, of course.



And, a marvelous quote from A Perfectly Good Family by Lionel Shriver:

I am sometimes disconcerted why anyone has children voluntarily when I consider what it must have been like to raise myself. If wilful pregnancy is not the result of a convenient poor memory, it must be to atone, to drive yourself to the same wit's end to which you once drove your own parents. It was an ugly cycle of penance.

>293 karenmarie: What a great photo of Jenna! And I love the quote.

Hi Karen!

Oh, great pictures of Jenna! How fun!

I need to work on cooking in stages, too. I've been planning to do an easy curried pumpkin lentil soup for several days, now, but when push comes to shove, chopping onions sounds too time-consuming by late afternoon, and I make a sandwich instead. Silly, huh! I just need to chop the onions which I can use for vegetable barley soup which is also on the 'to make' list for later this week.

>290 karenmarie: I was halfway rooting for the Bucs yesterday because I am a Tom Brady fan, but my husband hates him, lol.

>294 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie times two!

>295 streamsong: Hi Janet. Thanks. I have lots of little tupperwares that work out great for meal prep - chopped onions, chopped garlic, breadcrumbs, , etc. Yum to pumpkin lentil soup and vegetable barley soup.

>296 alcottacre: Were you quietly rooting for the Bucs or out-loud rooting? Bill just started watching the Chiefs/Giants game and I like Mahomes. However, the Giants bulled through with a nice running play for a first down, I said something like "well done" and Bill asked why I was rooting for the wrong team. Not wrong team, but good play. Either team can win as far as I'm concerned, but for Katie's sake I'll cheer for the Giants.

I popped in just to let you know I haven't forgotten you... good to see you on my thread around our Canadian thanksgiving time.
We've been back a week or so and it has been crazy busy. I'll look for BB's in the above looong thread when I am more settled into a routine.

>293 karenmarie: LOVE the photo. I take it Jenna meets and greets the public in her job. That must have been a hoot. Good for her and the boss who allowed the costume.

>281 karenmarie: interesting! The house dimensions and the land acreage.

Love the onsie :)

Morning, Karen. Sue has a later start on Tuesday, so she will take her FIL back to his apartment today. He is doing much better, thanks to our loving care. Grins...He has a doctor's appointment in the afternoon, so I hope that goes well. He was no problem, but it will be nice to get my Man Cave back.

*I just peeked out at the feeders, in the dusky light and there were 5 doves and a cardinal. Early bird...

^As a reminder, we did have plans to read Swann's Way in November. I was thinking of starting around the 15th. I have a Kindle copy of the book but I would really like to track down the Lydia Davis translated one. I hope you are still up for it.

Morning, Mark! I have my copy of Swann's Way all ready to go. I miss my mind. Sorry. Morning, Karen! First cup of coffee is gone, and obviously I need another.

>298 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Sandy! Nice to see you here. I hope your family visit was good and that the crazy busy is good crazy busy.

>299 weird_O: Yes, Bill, Jenna works the front desk for a Hampton Inn and Suites in Asheville. She asked for and got permission.

>300 LovingLit: Houses are ridiculous in LA, absolutely ridiculous. Thanks re the onesie, Megan.

>301 msf59: ‘Morning, Mark! Happy Tuesday to you. Glad your FiL is doing much better, glad you have your Man Cave back. Now all you have to do is find the time to read in it, what with all the socializing and Jackson visits. My feeders are empty. Nary a visitor right now. *smile*

>302 msf59: I do have it on my calendar as a note yesterday, and got a Kindle version on September 30 (for $0.00), since my hardcover is lovely but would be very hard to read, I think. About the 15th sounds like a good idea, and I’ve put it on my calendar to actually start it on the 15th.

…
off to start a new thread!

What a time to duplicate a post - my first message of thread thirteen! Anita has put the correct link in the incorrect thirteenth thread, but here's the correct link, too:

Karen's 13th thread