Taking a break

Prospect House in London

Hello Friends!  At the beginning of the year my husband retired from his career as a mail carrier.  It was an early retirement and one that we weren't actually planning for quite yet.  For several years, we have been maintaining a small online resale business and have been growing that business in the last several months as well.  These two things combined have led to quite a bit of change in our home and in my schedule.  All that to say, I am struggling to find time to write book reviews.  When I do have some time, I would much rather read a book or visit one of your blogs 😊.  So, I will be taking a blogging break for a while to get settled in to this new routine.  I'm sure you will see me around as I love visiting your blogs.  

~ Gretchen

   

Taking a break...

 

Hello Friends!  I will be taking a blogging break for a couple of weeks.  My husband and I will be doing some traveling and I will be away from the computer most of the time.  

The above picture is from a road trip we took last year.  We were in Colorado and needed to pull over for some reason and chose to pull into this driveway.  Once we did, the house caught our eye and we decided to take a picture of it.

You can bet I will be doing some reading while we are gone and I look forward to telling you about when we get back.  

~ Gretchen

Merry Christmas

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this."  Isaiah 9:6-7

 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!" I Chronicles 16:34

Happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating!

I will be hosting Thanksgiving this year and have been busy preparing food.  I like to prepare my mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and turkey ahead of time.  This makes for a much more relaxed day for me.  

Here's what I will be reading over the weekend:

 A Seaside Wonder (Muir Harbor #2) by Melissa Tagg

Isn't that a beautiful cover?

We are hoping to watch this over the weekend:

See How They Run

I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving weekend!

~ Gretchen

What I've Been Reading Lately

I finally finished reading The Chronicles of Narnia.  The Last Battle was a great ending to the series.  It was fun to see some of our favorite characters from other books make an appearance.  One of my favorite scenes in the book involves some talking mice feeding a human small bits of food and tiny drinks of water until he is satisfied.

Quotes:  

"And peace, Eustace.  Do not scold, like a kitchen-girl.  No warrior scolds.  Courteous words or else hard knocks are his only language."

"He knew why they were laughing and joined in the laugh himself.  But very quickly they all became grave again: for, as you know, there is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious.  It is too good to waste on jokes."

I have been continuing to read through Stillmeadow Calendar by Gladys Taber month-by-month.  Each month she writes about the things going on in her community, the world and at Stillmeadow.  It is a joy to read.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from November:

"When the air is blue with haze and smells of woodsmoke and the sun is gentle and dreamy; I sit on the terrace by the old well house and read, turning the pages slowly and most of the time just sitting."

"There isn't really any such thing as summer reading, I think, or winter reading; there is just reading."

"I cannot understand women who 'adore shopping'. I have a friend who can spend a whole day looking for a hat.  I never wear hats.  I gave away the ones I had a long time ago.  When it snows, I tie one of those slippery things on my head.  And I never go to a formal affair, so I only need casual clothes, easy to work in, easy to run in and out in."

Next I started reading Anne of Windy Poplars.  I have been meaning to get to this for over a year.  I only got a few chapters in when some books I requested from the library came in.  I put it aside so I could read my library books.  I was enjoying it and will pick it up again.

I am currently reading Castle Deadly, Castle Deep by Victoria Bond.  It is the second book in the Dinner and a Murder Mystery series.  I should finish it this weekend.

I hope you are all well and cozy this weekend!

~ Gretchen

What I've Been Reading Lately

 

Summer has finally arrived!  We went from very cool temperatures to hot and humid.  We have been fortunate to not have many storms with these drastic changes in the weather.  My flowers were not growing much while the weather was cool, but now that it has warmed up they are blooming like crazy.  We planted a vegetable garden this year and it is finally taking off, but so are the weeds!

We will be doing some traveling this week to attend a wedding in the St. Louis area.  After we return, we have some relatives coming to visit us.  It is so good to gather with friends and family.  Things will be quiet around my blog for a few weeks, so I thought I would share some things I have been reading.

This is the third book in the Quantico Files series.  Alex Donovan and Logan Hart are behavioral analysts working for the FBI at Quantico.  They are working on writing up a profile for a missing woman.  After a little investigation, they discover that several women matching this woman's physical description have gone missing.  With very little information to go on and a race against the clock, Alex and Logan try to put the pieces together and rescue the missing women.  

As is often the case when a criminal has committed multiple crimes, the subject matter is dark.  However, Nancy Mehl does a great job of not letting the darkness overwhelm the story.  Throughout the story several of the characters grow in their faith as they try to make sense of what is going on.  The suspense kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen.  

Most of Gladys Taber's books are written by the month and this one is no exception.  Stillmeadow is her country home in Connecticut.  She writes about nature, cooking, gardening, homemaking and enjoying time with friends and family.  I am reading this month by month, so I am reading the June chapter currently.  I always enjoy her books. 

"Of course summer officially begins on June 21, at 3:57 a.m., but somehow the seasons seldom go according to the calendar.  Nature follows her own plan as the earth turns.  Now, as she casts her spell, daisies open their innocent eyes and gaze out across the fields at the roses cascading over fences."

In other news, the Blue Angels visited our town recently and I was able to catch their performance.  Our community hosts an air show every other year.  It has been several years since the last one was held due to COVID.  We live a mile or two from the local airport and get the opportunity to see the jets flying over our house as they practice for two days leading up to the show.  It is so much fun and I always stop what I am doing to watch them.  Here are a few pictures:

I hope you are all having a great summer and finding lots of time for reading.  I will still be visiting your blogs, but won't be posting much here for a little while.  See you soon!

~ Gretchen

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

SCACCIAMOSCHE/GETTY IMAGES

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I can't say that I have much Irish in me, but I have always enjoyed celebrating the day.  Most years I make Corned Beef and Cabbage and Irish Soda Bread.  This year, however, my husband and I are traveling.  We are visiting my mom in Arizona and will be spectators at a St. Patrick's Day Parade.  Later today we will begin a drive to Utah to visit our son.  

I thought I would share a few St. Patrick's Day themed books:

I will leave you with a link to an article titled 5 Lucky Shamrock Facts for St. Patrick's Day from Birds and Bloom. 

Have a great day!

~ Gretchen

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise!  Give thanks to Him; bless His name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 100: 4-5

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who are celebrating this week!  

I don't think I will get much reading done as I will have company for several days.  If I get a chance, I will be working on this:

Here are some things I will be making:

Make-Ahead Turkey

Refrigerator Mashed Potatoes - the recipe I use is similar to this, but replaces the cheese with an 8 oz package of cream cheese.

Stuffing

Gravy

Our guests will be bringing lots of things to share.

Enjoy this day however you celebrate!

~ Gretchen

The Sunday Salon

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

It truly feels like November.  The days have been rather dark.  Not only does the sun set before 5:00 pm, but we have had several dreary, gray days.  By the time this posts, we will most likely have several inches of snow on the ground.  The forecast says to expect 2 to 4 inches.  Fortunately, it is expected to warm up midweek, so the snow should melt.

Here's what I have been up to this week:

Seeing ~ 

Lots of birds at the bird bath -

*Tufted Titmice

*Black-capped Chickadees

*Juncos

Smelling ~ 

The acrid smell of burning leaves.

Snow. (Did you know you can smell snow?  Just like you can smell rain coming, snow has a distinctive smell in the air.)

In the kitchen ~  

Sausage Pie

Roasted Green Beans

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

What I read ~

Currently reading ~

Watching ~

We recently watched 11-22-63, based on the book by Stephen King.  It is an eight part series.  It's a good story.

What have you been up to this week? I hope it's been a good one!

~ Gretchen

 

The Sunday Salon

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Autumn has truly arrived as we started the week with above average temperatures and are ending the week with below average temperatures.  Right in the middle of it all, we had some rain.  The colors seem to have brightened up since the rain and it is glorious!

Here's what I have been up to this week:

Seeing ~ 

The beautiful, brilliant colors of fall - oranges, reds, yellows and so many shades of brown from russet to cinnamon to burnt sienna to chestnut.

Smelling ~ 

Smoke from a wood fire.  

Pumpkin pie spice.

In the kitchen ~  

Pork Chops with Sauerkraut and Apples

Pumpkin muffins

Pumpkin Spice Latte

What I read ~

Currently reading ~

I also started Christmas by the Book by Anne Marie Ryan.  It just wasn't grabbing me, so I put it aside for now.

Watching ~

We are still watching NYPD Blue, but one evening it just wouldn't play.  So we ended up watching La Brea.  It was intense, but it hooked me right away. 

What have you been up to this week? I hope it's been a good one!

~ Gretchen

 

Horsetooth Mountain & Our Road Trip

 

My husband and I recently returned from a nine day road trip from Wisconsin to Utah and back again.  We went to visit our youngest son who lives in the Ogden area.  The weather was great for driving both ways. Unfortunately, the weather in Ogden was not ideal.  It rained for three straight days!  They have had a dry summer, so it was needed.  We had a good visit with our son, but didn't get to see much of Ogden.  On the way out to Utah, we spent a few days in Fort Collins, CO and were able to hike at Horsetooth Mountain.

Horsetooth Mountain is a mountain summit in the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 7,259-foot peak is located in the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, 7.0 miles west of downtown Fort Collins in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Wikipedia

From visitftcollins.com:

Knowing the water from the Poudre River was inconsistent, sometimes providing too much and at other times not enough, Horsetooth Reservoir was developed to solve the problem. The reservoir acquired its name from the unique rock formation that sits above the large body of water.

There is an old Native American legend regarding this famous stone. The Valley of Contentment (today’s Horsetooth Reservoir) was once guarded by a giant so that no buffalo, deer, or antelope were hunted in the valley. Chief Maunamoku led Indians to slay the giant. In killing the giant, the Chief slashed at his heart, first in the center, then on the right and then on the left with a tomahawk from the heavens. The next day the giant turned to stone and is now known as Horsetooth Rock.

We hiked a 6 mile loop that passed by a waterfall.  Unfortunately, there was no water right now, so no waterfall. But the scenery was beautiful.

If you look carefully, you can see the path we hiked.

This is from the highest point of the hike, looking toward the reservoir.

The rock formations were amazing, as were the views.  Of course, the pictures don't do it justice.  I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse of the Rocky Mountains.

~ Gretchen

All Around the Blogosphere Tag

I've been tagged!  Kathy at katiescottagebooks tagged me for the All Around the Blogosphere Tag.  The Tag came from Jana's blog:  https://reviewsfromthestacks.wordpress.com/2021/10/15/all-around-the-blogosphere-tag

1.  What's your favorite book or book series and why?

I can't choose just one book or series as my favorite, but here are some series I have been enjoying:

The Seaside Cafe Mystery series by Bree Baker 

The Bronte Sisters Mystery series by Bella Ellis

The Amara Alvarez series by Tom Threadgill

The Commissario Brunetti series by Donna Leon

2.  Who is your favorite author?

Again, I can't choose just one, but here are a few authors that I always enjoy:

Robert Whitlow

Vanetta Chapman

C.S. Lewis

Bree Baker/Julianne Lindsey/Jacqueline Frost

3. What is your favorite food?

I think I have a hard time choosing favorites 🙂.  Pizza would be near the top.  Chips and salsa, chips with melted cheese, anything with melted cheese.  Toast with peanut butter.

4. What gives you inspiration for your books?

This might be intended for writers, but I am going to interpret it as what are some things you look for in a good book.  I love books that take me somewhere I have never been and might not ever go.  I also loves books that take place somewhere I am familiar with.  I love books that teach me something in the context of a good story.  I love characters that are flawed, but growing.  I also love quirky characters.  And, of course, I love a good mystery.

5. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

Near my sons and their families.

6. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Introvert.

7. If you had a warning label, what would yours say?

Caution - May become grumpy in the early morning or late evening.

That's the end of the tag.  Thanks, Kathy!

~ Gretchen

The Sunday Salon; Devil's Punchbowl

We have had a stretch of gorgeous, fall days.  Temperatures have been in the low to mid 70's with low humidity and lots of sun.  Leaves are beginning to change color and the sun is setting before 8:00 pm.  Chipmunks and squirrels are busy gathering acorns and seeds.  

What I read:

Death in Castle Dark by Veronica Bond

 The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson

Reading now:

Fatal Fried Rice by Vivien Chien

Watching:

We are watching the fourth season of NYPD Blue.  

Devil's Punchbowl

The sign says: "This unique and fragile rock feature was created by glacial forces and allows us to look back over 500 million years of geologic time.  Please enjoy and respect one of our community's natural treasures."

This is located in Dunn County, Wisconsin.  There is a much larger one in Oregon.  

In order to enter the Devil's Punchbowl, you have to descend this set of stairs.

It was incredible to see trees growing out of the rock formation with their roots hanging over the side.

Waterfalls

Have a good weekend!

~ Gretchen

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb @ Readerbuzz.