Saturday, August 15, 2026

Sunday Post 145

Hi everyone!

Through Monday, I am linking with the following: 

First, I have a question. On which device do you typically read my blog or any blog? Mobile phone, desktop computer, or something else? I ask because I noticed last week that my Sunday Post looked different on my desktop computer than it did on my phone. So I'm curious where most people read it.

Except for technicians who were here for what seemed like all afternoon on Thursday, it was a fairly quiet week. The HVAC company who has been servicing the HVAC now has a plumbing department and the contract covers both of them. So first the plumber came and then the HVAC techs came.

By the time the plumber came, the cats had already been fed. They were working hard on their afternoon naps when the plumber arrived. They were sleeping in the library, so I closed the door and left them in there. At one point I briefly came back to get my Kindle. Fiona was discreetly hiding on the floor between two chairs and Bell was nowhere to be seen. The library is a very small room, so I couldn't imagine where she was. I finally found her on my computer desk behind the monitor.

Shortly after the plumber left, the HVAC techs came. At this point, the girls were all over the condo and I could not lock them in a room. I reassured the techs they would be hiding and they likely wouldn't even see them. I was right. When the girls realized all the "chaos" for the day was finally done, they were happy little campers. They were playing Tom and Jerry and Bell had her purrometer on full blast.

As far as how everything went, all is well. The techs offered some suggestions, but nothing pressing. It was basically just a checkup that they do periodically.

On the puzzle board, I finished a 500-piece puzzle, that I really love. Readers would appreciate it. I'm planning to post my review next week, so stay tuned!

IN THE BOOKS

RECENTLY FINISHED
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I listened to Spellbound, Scones, and Secrets (Southern Magical Bakery 1), by Tonya Kappes. This is a fun and whimsical start to the series and I will definitely continue it. If you like any other Tonya Kappes books and you enjoy a bit of magic, you'll want to read or listen to this one.

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I read Shifting and Shenanigans (Magical Mystery Book Club 1), by Elizabeth Pantley. This has been on my TBR ever since it was published a few years ago. I loved it! My review is set to publish on Tuesday morning. In the meantime, you can read some excerpts here.

IN PROGRESS
I read the chapter titled "Reverse Nesting" in The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year, written by Margaret Renkl and illustrated by Billy Renkl. The author compares nature to her own experience with her children growing up and moving out. I do love how nature can relate to our own lives.
I'm listening to Peppermint Cookie Murder (Christmas Catastrophe 1), by Trixie Silvertale. The main character is Cindy Claus, Santa's daughter. She moves to the mortal world and tries to get used to how different things are. With this being a cozy mystery, there's a murder to solve. It's a fun start to the series.
UP NEXT
Bakeries and Buffoonery (Magical Mystery Book Club 4), by Elizabeth Pantley, is still up next. I'll start it later today. Yes, I'm skipping the second and third books for now because book 4 is the one I'm most excited about. I will eventually get to all of them.
ON THE SCREEN
  • Growing Up Brady - This movie was filmed in the 1990's and it's based on the book that Barry Williams ("Greg") wrote. I read that book a while ago, but I don't remember much about it and I think I donated it. The movie mostly focused on Barry's relationship with Maureen McCormick ("Marcia"). There was some focus on how much Robert Reed ("Mike") disliked the silliness of the show. Other characters' stories were touched on, but not much. I wasn't crazy about this movie. I would have liked to have seen more about the show and not so much of Barry and Maureen.
  • The Food That Built America - I'm almost halfway through the current (7th) season and I'm enjoying it as much as I have the previous seasons. Some episodes are a bit repetitive, but it mostly builds on what they've already discussed. This season has covered chocolate, cereal, cheesecake, rice, and more.
  • Absolutely Devoted to You - This was a Hallmark premiere last weekend. It starred Kimberly Sustad, who is one of my favorite Hallmark actresses. The premise was a little unbelievable (which Hallmark movie isn't), but overall I enjoyed it. The leads elevated it.
  • Garage Sale Mysteries - I watched the next two movies - All That Glitters and A Deadly Room. I enjoyed both of these more than the pilot. They made some changes, which I think were for the better. I noticed especially in the first two movies, the camera shakes a lot. There was some improvement in the third one. I guess they were going for a certain vibe, but I found it distracting. I'm excited to continue watching the series.
  • The Way to You - This Hallmark movie was released in February. It's one of my favorites of the year so far and I enjoyed watching it again.
ON THE BLOG
Have a great week!
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Puzzle 146 - Blooms and Butterflies

I love the colors in this puzzle. It took me 3:14 using 35 non-rotating pieces.

Enjoy!

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Friday, August 14, 2026

Friday Features 39

Happy Friday!

It's been almost two months, but today I'm back participating in five blog hops!  (Usually there are six on Fridays, but I didn't see the usual link-up for one of them.) You can click on the host links below to find the blogs of others who are participating in each blog hop. If you're a blogger, feel free to join through the host links.

Question: Is there a book you keep coming back to, reading it more than once?
My response:  Not really. I rarely re-read books unless it's to refresh my memory for a book club. There are so many books on my TBR that I'd rather just keep moving forward. I do, however, read series. Because of that, I frequently revisit the same characters and cozy towns.

Today's excerpts are from the e-book format of Shifting and Shenanigans (Magical Mystery Book Club 1), by Elizabeth Pantley.

Here's the beginning:
"Hello! Paige? Where are you?"
"In the living room," I called out, then mumbled to myself, "Marinating on the sofa and contemplating my crumbling life."

And here's an excerpt from 56%:
We were baffled at Zell's actions, and a minute later we heard what sounded like a big splash, and Zell saying, "Woops!" then Daisy saying, "It's okay, Zell. I'll go get a mop."

I finished this book today and my review will be published next week, so I hope you'll come back to read it. (Spoiler alert: I loved it!)

The girls had their annual vet visits in July. They received clean bills of health.  As usual, Fiona was the calmer one. The vet was able to examine Bell's mouth when she opened it wide to hiss. Hey, whatever works! Also as usual, Bell hissed at Fiona periodically at home for the next 24 hours or so. When she wasn't hissing or growling at her, she was giving her "the look" as if to say going to the vet was all Fiona's fault. Fiona smacked Bell across the face, which put her in a place for a while. After a couple more hisses from Bell later, they were back to their usual selves. It's always a process...

This is a throwback photo of when they were kittens. I used this picture to create the image of the cats on my blog's logo, which is on the upper left sidebar.




I'm so happy we have Black-eyed Susans in my condo community. It's the Maryland State Flower.
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Saturday, August 8, 2026

Sunday Post 144

Hi everyone!

Through Monday, I am linking with the following: 

Long time no see! The last time I published a Sunday Post was Fourth of July weekend, so it's been a little more than a month! I have been busy on the weekends and often during the week, so I decided to let this go for a while. I have posted a few reviews and puzzles, but that's about it. My weekends are slowing down now (for the most part), so I'm going to try to get back on track with my regularly scheduled programming.

Over the past month, I participated in two speed puzzling events, one of which my team of four came in second place! We had to complete a 300-piece puzzle, which we did in about thirty minutes. The team who came in first place completed it in about 15 minutes. There was no prize for second place, but we had fun. My next speed puzzling event will be in September.

A couple of weeks ago, on July 25th, was my 4-year blogoversary. Thank you to all of my readers and commenters over the past several years! I'm really enjoying this journey and although there are times when I have to take a break from it, I have no plans to completely stop doing this. I love sharing everything I do here and connecting with all of you.

Since it was my blogoversary, I decided to give my blog a minor makeover. I changed some of the colors and I moved the sidebar to the left. I also, with the help of a dear friend, created a logo. If you click on the logo on the left sidebar, it will take you back to the homepage where you'll always see my most recent post.

Over the past month, I have been consistently reading and listening to audiobooks. Instead of listing all of them like I usually do, I'm just going to share a graphic of all the books I finished in July. Then I'll list, as usual, my August update.

IN THE BOOKS

RECENTLY FINISHED



Most of these are cozy mysteries. The Masala Chai Mystery Club is a mystery that isn't too cozy. Something New at the Borrow a Bookshop and Hope for the Holidays (read for Christmas in July) are women's fiction/romance. The Twisted Lip is a short story in the Sleuthing Whiskers series based on Sherlock Holmes, except the detectives are cats.

And now for my August update:

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I read an ARC of Get a Candle on Crime (Glenmyre Whim Mystery 4), by Sarah E. Burr, and I loved it! I really enjoy everything she writes, but this series is my favorite of hers. You can read my full review here.
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I listened to Motorhomes, Maps, and Muder (Camper and Criminals Mystery 5), written by Tonya Kappes and narrated by Johanna Parker. I had listened to Santa Claus Surprise for a book club hosted by Tonya Kappes, and when I borrowed it from Hoopla, I was able to borrow books 4-6 as a set and count it as one borrow. 
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I read The Case of the Crooked Terrier, by A.J. Chaudhury. This is a short story and it's the second installment in the Sleuthing Whiskers series. Like the first one, I loved it. 
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I listened to Canyons, Caravans, and Cadavers (Camper and Criminals Mystery 6), written by Tonya Kappes and narrated by Johanna Parker. I also loved this one! This series is fantastic on audiobook. They are very quick listens too, as I don't think any I've listened to so far exceed five hours. 
IN PROGRESS
I have been reading one chapter each week in The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year, written by Margaret Renkl and illustrated by Billy Renkl. I don't think this book would have held my interest if I read it all at once, but I like reading it each week as we go through the seasons.
I'm currently reading Shifting and Shenanigans (Magical Mystery Book Club 1), by Elizabeth Pantley, and I'm loving it! I'm so excited to finally dive into this series. It's been on my TBR for a long time. Since she just started a spinoff series, I figured it's time to finally read these books. Did I mention that I'm loving it?!
UP NEXT
The next book I'm going to read is Bakeries and Buffoonery (Magical Mystery Book Club 4), by Elizabeth Pantley. Yes, I'm skipping the second and third books for now because book 4 is the one I'm most excited about. I will eventually get to all of them.
The next book I'll listen to is Spellbound, Scones, and Secrets (Southern Magical Bakery 1), by Tonya Kappes. I really want to read or listen to every book written by Tonya Kappes. I love her writing style and I'm never disappointed when I read them. So I'm starting on this series.
ON THE SCREEN
  • The Brady Bunch - I finished watching the entire series, at least all episodes that have aired on television. That's most of them. I've also been listening to The Real Brady Bros podcast as they talk about each episode. They also have some Q&A podcast episodes. I've also re-watched all three parody movies, so I'm done with this series for a while.
  • The Food That Built America - Last year I binged the first six seasons and I've been eagerly awaiting the seventh season. It finally started airing on the History Channel in the spring. I've been recording all the episodes and I started watching them last week. I like how they're building on what they've already talked about. They have the same great hosts, along with some new ones.
  • New Hallmark movies - I've been watching all the new weekly Hallmark movies. As usual, there are some hits and some misses. I've also watched a few older romcoms for the first time.
  • Garage Sale Mystery - I watched the pilot episode and I plan to watch the entire series this month in preparation for the new one that will premiere next month on Hallmark. I like the premise and the characters, but the first episode was predictable. I identified the culprit as soon as that character was on screen. I hope the mysteries improve over the course of the series. I have not read the books this series is based on and I probably won't because I've heard the vibe is very different.
  • Ainsley McGregor: A Case for the Watchmaker - While I didn't think this was as good as the previous television installment, I still enjoyed it. It's a great mystery series on GAF. I want to read the books at some point.
ON THE BLOG
Have a great week!
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