Visitations

 

2021 Project 365 – Week Seventeen

All this week I thought, man we are not taking pictures like last week! It’s going to be a boring P365 post. Darn. I just finished editing, and well, it might be boring, but I guess I just forgot about all these pictures. There was only one day without one, but I took a screenshot that I thought was worth sharing.
 
Sunday, April 18^th  
Our little azalea bushes decided to get in on all the splashy fun.
 

I did some “knitting” & then cleansed my palate with something that I knew how to do.
 

My book was getting intense, so I decided to work a jigsaw puzzle WHILE I WAS READING IT. This is similar to how I often have to leave the room during movies.
 

Monday, April 19^th   
No photo – just this screenshot.
 

Tuesday, April 20^th  
First time eating in a restaurant in over a year and I got a burrito as big as my head! I only ate half. It was REALLY good!
 

Wednesday, April 21^st       
Freeze warning, so Mandy the Mandevilla & Sir Basil, Duke of Pesto came inside for a couple of nights.
 

Thursday, April 22^nd    
This is apparently a problem with these Fitbit bands. This is the second one that has come loose like this. I took it to a jeweler, but since this is considered “fast fashion” it’s not something they handle. So in addition to knitting I shall now start trying to figure out jewelry making. Fun!
 

Friday, April 23^rd   
Dr. M got a new Hurricane’s t-shirt. This thing is huge! I should do a photo shoot – I could wear it with leggings & be very fashionable. Or maybe not.

Saturday, April 24^th   
Dr. M looked out the window & saw a flash of blue. We’ve been getting blue jays & bluebirds, but this time it was an Indigo Blue Bunting! They come through around this time every year.
 

I was watching my Bicrafty Bootcamp video where the instructor was teaching me how to knit, but I was behind on my temperature blanket so I crocheted that while I was watching. That’s bicrafty, right?
 

Weekly blanket update – indoors because it was pouring rain all day. Things definitely took a cold turn at the end of the week – brrr!
 

Today has been gorgeous – a nice break after the cold and the rain. Unfortunately the rain didn’t really take all the pollen away so I can’t sit out on the deck. Good thing we have windows! How are you doing with spring allergies? Or are you one of those lucky folks who aren’t affected?
 
 

2021 Project 365 – Week Sixteen

Oh my goodness – spring has truly sprung this past week. The azaleas are out of control (yes, there is photographic evidence below), and things are green and growing. Our world is still sad and hard, but Mother Nature is helping us cope a little better. I shall blame her for the fact that we have a TON of pictures.
 
Sunday, April 11^th  
I played hooky from church and went mall walking with this handsome gentleman.
 

Dr. M’s mother’s azaleas – gorgeous!
 

Monday, April 12^th   
No, I wasn’t cold in my office. Why do you ask?
 

Dr. M found us a couple of new flowers for the front, and took some photos of how pretty everything is.
 

I’ve decided to become bicrafty & ordered some knitting needles. But I had these (size 11 for folks who know) and thought I’d get a head start. Um. Not so much.
 

Tuesday, April 13^th  
Sir Basil got a new pot and got to go live on the deck.
 

Wednesday, April 14^th      
Dr. M’s dad’s neighbor’s azaleas – also gorgeous!
 

Thursday, April 15^th   
Here is what I posted on Instagram today: People who only see these squares (& don’t see my stories) might not know that I’m a bleeding heart left leaning liberal Christian who denounces white supremacy in all its forms & who is trying to be a better ally to all the marginalized people around me (sadly a small number because I live in a very white cisgender world right now). I’m appalled at violence against Black folks and Asian folks and transgender folks. And this violence is NOT NEW. I helped my historian husband research “outrages” against freed people in post Civil War Kentucky. I dream of a world where a traffic stop doesn’t have to be deadly. Or where a person who doesn’t look like me can just walk home safely. Or where people can be the people that they want to be, love who they want to love, and have the same rights as everyone else. I also dream of a day when I can actually knit. Things are not looking good. (Thanks to @deidrariggs for encouraging me to write this out.)
  

Friday, April 16^th   
Mammogram selfie, and a book from waiting area. I had a bit of a scare because they took me back for an ultrasound after reviewing my first set of images. Fortunately it was just another cyst – and I don’t have to go back again for another year. Woot!
 

Oh my goodness – such excellent news! The prayer shawl made it to its recipient! It had NOT been delivered – apparently it just went on a long journey (or fell into a crevice in the mail truck). This was such a lovely surprise during a hard news week.
 

Saturday, April 17^th   
A ridiculous number of photos today. First up, my temperature blanket photo shoot has moved outdoors (that’s a pink sheet in case you’re concerned about your eyes). I had the bonus of getting to see this cutie while I was out there.  
 

Our neighbor’s azaleas – also gorgeous. They’re practically neon.
 

I finally took my hair down from the top knot I wore to bed the night before. My hair is ridiculous – although as I told someone, all that volume is 50% dry shampoo (I haven’t washed my hair since Tuesday).
 

I went out to the swing to read my book (the latest Walt Longmire) and ended up with a very furry visitor. He makes me laugh. He was a very good boy, so we walked up to the house so Dr. M could give him a treat.
 

I feel like we’ve entered the season of Too Many Pictures. Feel free to just scroll through them without paying too much attention. Are you guys enjoying spring where you are?

2021 Project 365 – Week Fifteen

I’ve been tired most of the week – mostly because I WILL NOT GO TO BED IN A TIMELY MANNER. And although it was after midnight before I got to bed last night, I slept until 10:30 this morning. I felt positively perky all day. Will I learn anything from this? No I will not.
 
Sunday, April 4^th  
Easter! We had church in person (outside). I thought it was going to be cold so I wore a blazer & packed a blanket, but by the time the service started it was actually really warm. It was a gorgeous day and a lovely service.
 

Meanwhile, Dr. M had an angelic visitation of another sort.
 

Monday, April 5^th   
I was texting with my brother and he asked if I’d read the latest book in one of the series that we like (Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire series) & I said that I didn’t know there was a new one! So I went to Goodreads to get it added to my “to read” list & saw this. In my defense, I added it a week before the book was released, so I knew it would be a while before I could get it from the library. But really, to forget it even existed? Very sad. But I’m reading it now, so all’s well that ends well.
 

Tuesday, April 6^th  
Dr. M got the Bugly inspected today. The service station had a very cool mural. 
 

Wednesday, April 7^th      
You’ve already seen these flowers, but it’s the only picture from today. I finally packaged them up to send to the recipient.
 

Thursday, April 8^th   
My usual spatula was dirty, so I had to pull ole Egghead out of retirement for my breakfast. She was not amused.
 

Our yard sure is pretty right now.
 

Friday, April 9^th   
Dr. M got his first jab today! Very grateful that both of us are mostly vaccinated now.
 

Saturday, April 10^th   
Temperature blanket update.
 

I made another of my flower teas today. It was pretty tasty, but I mostly enjoy the show. Fun!    
 

Dr. M & I are switching back & forth between the hockey game and the baseball game. We are living the good life. How are things going for you?

Book Reviews – the March Edition

I only read three and a half books in March (I’m counting the novella as one half of a book).   
 
1. The Switch, by Beth O’Leary. ★★★★★ Eileen is sick of being 79. Leena's tired of life in her twenties. Maybe it's time they swapped places...
 
The Bug Says: Eileen lives in a small village in Yorkshire and Leena lives in London. When they switch places shenanigans ensue. I enjoyed this book quite a lot – it was a nice light foil to all the murder books I read.
 
2. The Once and Future Witches, by Alix Harrow. ★★★★ In 1893, there's no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.

But when the Eastwood sisters--James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna--join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women's movement into the witch's movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote-and perhaps not even to live-the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.

There's no such thing as witches. But there will be. 
 
The Bug Says: Oh my goodness – what a good book! You can see in my picture above that I had a nice satisfying cry when it was over. I really like how this author builds worlds and the characters she creates (she also wrote The Ten Thousand Doors of January). I highly recommend this one!
 
3. Fractured (Will Trent #2), by Karin Slaughter. ★★★★ Ansley Park is one of Atlanta’s most upscale neighborhoods—but in one gleaming mansion, in a teenager’s lavish bedroom, a girl has been savagely murdered. And in the hallway, her mother stands amid shattered glass, having killed her daughter’s attacker with her bare hands. Detective Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is one of the first on the scene. Trent soon sees something that the Atlanta cops are missing, something in the trail of blood, in a matrix of forensic evidence, and in the eyes of the stunned mother. When another teenage girl goes missing, Trent knows that this case, which started in the best of homes, is about to cut quick and deep through the ruins of perfect lives broken wide-open: where human demons emerge with a vengeance.
 
The Bug Says: You might recall that I read the first book in this series last month (Triptych). This one was also really good. I usually enjoy a good police detective book & this one did not disappoint.
 

4. Normal, by Warren Ellis. ★★★ Some people call it "abyss gaze." Gaze into the abyss all day and the abyss will gaze into you. There are two types of people who think professionally about the future: foresight strategists are civil futurists who think about geo-engineering and smart cities and ways to evade Our Coming Doom; strategic forecasters are spook futurists, who think about geopolitical upheaval and drone warfare and ways to prepare clients for Our Coming Doom. The former are paid by nonprofits and charities, the latter by global security groups and corporate think tanks.

For both types, if you're good at it, and you spend your days and nights doing it, then it's something you can't do for long. Depression sets in. Mental illness festers. And if the "abyss gaze" takes hold there's only one place to recover: Normal Head, in the wilds of Oregon, within the secure perimeter of an experimental forest.

 
The Bug Says: Someone gave this book to Dr. M to read and I decided that I might enjoy it. It sort of  has a spy novel flavor to it. The main character has a nervous breakdown and goes to Normal Head to recover, but then someone goes missing and he rouses all the patients to solve the mystery. It’s really more of a novella, but even at that there is a LOT of theoretical language from all the characters about their particular brand of strategy & their particular mental illness. I started skimming it because I frankly didn’t understand about half of what they were saying. I will say that the mystery was actually pretty interesting – I was surprised by whodunit.
 
I’m already almost finished with the 3^rd Will Trent book – it’s pretty good too. After that, who knows? I might have to reread some old favorites until my next library book is available. Are you reading anything good these days?

2021 Project 365 – Week Fourteen

I got nothing. Talk amongst yourselves while I sort out these pictures…
 
Sunday, March 28^th  
No picture. Which is crazypants because I went to church & everything. What the heck.
 
Monday, March 29^th   
The ancestral phlox is just going to take over that circle one of these days.
 

The moon!
 

Tuesday, March 30^th  
I had the second part of my root canal today (they took out the “medicine” that was helping with the infection & then put a filling in the crown). After I got to work I was checking to see if I looked weird (since my face was still numb). Nope – I looked the same as usual. 
 

Wednesday, March 31^st      
Dr. M made me get out of my recliner to look at the sunset, and I’m glad he did. It reminded me of the color scheme for the International Transgender Day of Awareness. Lovely!
 

Thursday, April 1^st  
Baseball Opening Day! I had to work, but Dr. M got to watch the game.
 

Friday, April 2^nd  
I made a chicken!
 

Saturday, April 3^rd   
Lots of pictures today. First up, this gorgeous Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.
 

Next, our Blue Phlox is blooming (yes, it’s purple. I don’t know.). And every year I think that the peonies will never come back & every year they just do. Is it just me, or does the peony look a little obscene?
 

I made some more flowers – these are bigger than the other ones I’ve been making.
 

Temperature blanket update. It was a lot cooler this week. I have about another month & then I’ll quit increasing. Then it will look very weird for a few months until it’s time to start decreasing. I know, it sounds confusing. You’ll see!
 

Finally, I had put my phone down on the futon while I arranged the blanket & somehow turned it onto selfie mode. When I turned around to pick the phone up it was very alarming! Then I had to take a “normal” picture to cleanse my palette.           
 

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday! It’s going to be a nice celebration – we might even get to sing since we’ll be outside and not close to each other. Will you do anything to celebrate?