Filling in the gaps - 52 books challenge

After some helpful suggestions in the prior post comments and some thought on my part I’ve got the following ideas for completing most of the remaining prompts. That leaves just one prompt needing ideas and for September to arrive (see #10!).

 As I quickly stop reading if not interested in a book we will see if these stick! 

1. Title starts with the letter “N” - Not Who We Expected by Lisa Black

2. Set in Autumn

3. Has a moon on the cover - Before She was Harriett by Lesa Cline-Ransome

4. Author has won an Edgar award - Norte-Dame: A Short History of the Meaning of Cathedrals by Ken Follett

5. In the public domain - Any of the Miss Read books

6. Audiobook has multiple narrators - Terminal Alliance by Jim Hines (I have never listened to an audiobook so I may try it that way)

7. Directions in the title - Leave the Gun; Take the Cannoli: The Epic Story of the Making of the Godfather by Mark Seal

8. Written in the third person - Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner

9. Genre chosen for you by someone else - Catstronauts book 1: Mission Moon by Ken Brockington (series is a current favorite of 8 year old granddaughter)

10. Read in a “ber” month - something I read in September lol

And, oops, I missed one - 

 11. Non-Human Antagonist - Eavesdropping on Elephants by Patricia Newman (although I suspect the Elephants are the protagonists!) - I wanted to find the new book The Secret Life of a Cemetery, but it is not available in my library lending universe yet.

Monday musings & the week ahead

This week's scheduled stuff: Pilates session, dog to vet for routine booster shot, art show and lunch with neighbor, granddaughter’s first swim meet, and Mother’s Day brunch at local son and DIL’s

Unscheduled stuff: Get myself to the Tuesday farmer's market (& then stop at CVS if needed), return too large dress & necklace, finish checking off to do's for wedding attendance, take a stab at more items on my ongoing to do list, do a little yard & house work including setting up our patio after cleaning it, exercise at home, take some long walks, write/call long distance family and friends...and read of course.

What does your week look like?

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Dinner/Recipe of the Week

I went through my recipe file and the one cookbook I have kept to get ideas and decided to make Mushroom Rice to go with sautéed salmon and peas. Motivation was using up most of the rest of an open box of fresh mushrooms. We enjoyed it and there is enough left over for another meal. I no longer remember where I got this recipe. I do know I haven't made it for quit some time.

Mushroom Rice (4 servings)

1T oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 or less small onion, diced

1/2 box mushrooms

2 t Worcestershire sauce

1/2 t dried thyme 

Salt & pepper to taste

3/4 c brown rice

1 1/2 c  broth - I used chicken broth

Sauté garlic and onion in oil. Add mushrooms, Worcestershire and thyme. Add salt and pepper. Stir in rice and broth. Cover and cook for usual time for rice using.

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We live on a cut-de-sac that is half a block long and has 8 houses facing the street. Everyone has been really kind, considerate and friendly to us. One couple has retired and put their house on the market last week as they are moving back to the NE. I suspect we will get another younger couple buying the house as happened with the one next to us that was vacant when we moved in. The young couple next door just had a baby and another is due shortly on the adjoining cul-de-sac. I like living in a varied age neighborhood again. Between the 2 cul-de-sacs we have an age range from newborns to me at 75 including 6 school age kids and at least 6 other retirees.

Five plus on Friday

UPDATE: The pup rallied and seems fine - Must have been a dietary indiscretion on his part! I however am wiped out so we postponed our lunch outing until next week.

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Well the dog threw up in the bed at 2:30 this morning (poor little guy) so I started a load of laundry then. Other than that and our plans to go out for Chinese food for lunch today I’m not sure what else I will get done beyond a nap! 

At the moment the dog is sound asleep back on the bed so hopefully he is not sick. He got to do 2 of his favorite things yesterday- ride in the car and go to the groomer - but otherwise an ordinary day.

May has caught me with a lot of things on my April hope to do list still not done. Oh well! Here are some things that did happen last week though.

1. Yeah! Our replacement no cord cellular shade is up so we can open it and get more natural light into the living area during the day. Hubby also repositioned the pulls on some others so they are easier to operate. In the process we noticed that we have two different makes of blinds although they are very similar and the same color. Just took us 2 years to notice that! Hubby also replaced some caulk around that kitchen sink that was moldy when we moved in and got worse.

2. The dining room table is basically cleared of ongoing paperwork as I near the end of procrastinated paperwork and I would like to keep it that way. My desk is upstairs near the file cabinet and printer, but now with a laptop I tend to work downstairs and the papers do migrate.

3. Sunday evening we heard the sound of drumming and walked down the street to a block party featuring a performance of Oh-In Taiko Japanese drumming by 8 women. Turns out a church in the neighborhood offers classes. It was an amazing performance. Then I learned my Pilates trainer's BIL is a master of this type of drumming. She told me the history of how it came first to California and spread throughout the US. Love those type of unexpected connections.

4. Decided on a pair of rose gold sandals for the upcoming niece's wedding. Very comfortable and they were only $65 plus tax which is a great price for Clarks. Some varieties of their shoes fit me well and last for a good while. I have returned all the others I ordered. It usually takes me 6 to 10 pairs of shoes ordered to find one to keep. 

5. The smaller size of the dress I ordered for the wedding finally arrived and it fits! I’m not sure it is summer formal but I’m going with it. Now to drive to Walnut Creek to return the larger one and the necklace I bought impulsively.

Frugal and minimalist things:

Neighbors who are moving across the country had a big yard sale followed by giving away things. I looked and came home with nothing except for free partially used consumables - moisturizing lotion and toilet bowl cleaner. Moving ourselves twice in six years is a good reminder not to add “just in case” or “maybe I will use it” stuff into the house. 

I’m also questioning a few home decor and furnishing upgrade items I have on my would like list as there are more important expensive things to deal with short term in the house such as a safer stair railing, new carpeting, and replacing the aging water heater with an on demand one.

The sandals I bought for the upcoming wedding will be a good replacement for a well worn pair in my closet. One in - one out. I can conceive of wearing the dress again too so perhaps it won’t be a one wear wedding guest dress. I’ll see if my DIL has a dressy purse I can use but if not I’ll use a smallish one I have along with already owned necklace and cardigan.

Once I started thinking of the sweet potato chili we didn’t like as spicy veggie stew the leftovers became more palatable. I added the last of white rice bought when the pup had to be on a bland diet briefly and served some of the “stew” I had frozen for dinner. I added apple slices and walnut bread as side while hubby had a dinner salad. Just a little is left and lunches will take care of that. Time to make more soup our better chili.

I have been watching episodes of an older show, The Librarians, that is now on YouTube. So outlandish and sometimes silly but ok for free entertainment. I can't see watching all four seasons but we will see. 

52 Books Challenge - Suggestions?

I have 10 prompts left and am looking for suggestions for 9 of them as Read in a “ber” month simply has to wait for September to come around. Ideas?

1. Title starts with the letter “N”

2. Set in Autumn

3. Has a moon on the cover

4. Author has won an Edgar award (for any other their books not necessarily the one you recommend)

5. In the public domain

6. Audiobook has multiple narrators

7. Directions in the title (could be something that starts with “Go to …”, “Keep …” etc. as well as compass directions)

8. Written in the third person

9. Genre chosen for you by someone else (I might read a graphic novel in the Catstronauts series as my 8 year old granddaughter is consuming them right now lol)

Monday musings & the week ahead

All that is scheduled for this week is my Pilates session and dog grooming. I intend to focus on finishing the last procrastinated to dos, starting to get the backyard ready for outdoor enjoyment, continuing to ramp up exercising, and hopefully finalizing my clothing for the June 1st wedding.

I realized recently that I was very bored with my at home exercise routine and avoiding it. I found a YouTube channel with short doable Pilates mat exercises some using weights. For right now I am trying a 7 day beginner program with weights but doing them every other day. Once I can breeze through it in 7 days I’ll ramp up. That combined with my weekly session with a Pilates trainer and long walks without the dog a few times a week is where I am right now. I am considering adding/substituting swimming this summer.

Mentally I’ve put any costly or involved home improvement projects on hold for a while so it will probably just be small things for the rest of the year. That should check off a few more things on the aging to do list. We will see what happens.

I’m thinking of focusing on things like touch up paint for the three metal outdoor benches, thrifting paintings/prints for the large bedroom and our office, redoing a large outdoor pot, and maybe finding a small table and chairs for the family room for puzzles, art projects, sewing, etc.

I was asked at the Easter gathering if I had any desire to travel internationally and had to honestly answer not at this time. Between the pandemic, our move and the political situation not to mention disarray in air traffic control and safety, I just don’t have the desire. We have a standing invitation to visit a nephew’s family in Taiwan, family on the East Coast and I have a long held interest in seeing more of Europe but not right now. I want to put down roots and find my tribe.

I’ve also decided that listing our dinners for the week is getting repetitive so will only talk about interesting new recipes going forward.

Five on Friday - family time edition

1. Lots of family time this week. 

• Saturday morning with grandgirls & DIL at Fairyland for "choo-choo train rides", egg hunt and more. 
• Sunday with family at DIL's mother's house for Easter egg hunt and dinner - 3 kids, 8 adults & 2 dogs including our pup. As we were leaving our dog fell asleep in the car back seat before I was even able to get in the front seat so you know he partied hard 🐶
• Tuesday saw a couple of late afternoon hours babysitting the toddler who was cheerful, fun, very busy and cooperative. Then we had pizza and salad at their house. 
• Took our son out for a belated birthday lunch on Wednesday to his choice of the same brewery where we enjoyed our anniversary lunch. Always a treat to have adult time with him.
• Tonight is date night so going to our sons house to be there when older girl gets back from her evening at a friends. Get her ready for bed and have a short visit.

2. Bought 2 jars of our favorite Bon Mamam jams from the corner store's pre-tariff stock. I don't have the room or inclination to really stock up, but am getting ahead on a few things we use regularly that won't spoil. I may end up shopping for produce at our local farmer's markets if things jump in price as much as I expect. Seasonal eating for the win.

3. Sent my son home Wednesday with various bags (not purses) for older granddaughter to look at to see if she wants to use one for today's "anything but a backpack" theme day at school. She was asking Tuesday evening what bags they had that she could use so I dug out the ones I have to add as more options.

4. The dress I ordered for the wedding arrived and is too large! I could alter it but ordered a smaller size before deciding which to keep. I will return one dress and the necklace I bought as one I have works well. My sweater works too but all the shoes and sandals went back. More sandals were ordered. Sigh.

5. Set up the sewing machine and altered 3 tops so they fit my shoulders better. Pulled some weeds. Did some more procrastinated on paperwork. Life admin never ends.

FRUGAL ONE OFFS - Found a penny for a grand total of 13 cents so far this year. Used my Extrabucks before they expired for a B1G1 50% off on the eye drops I use daily. Saved $20.04 on a 120 day supply of an item I have to use the rest of my life.

Dinners & the week ahead

Happy 42nd birthday to our younger son on this Monday. We will celebrate at the Easter gathering Sunday but we will take him out for a birthday lunch on the day of his choosing this week.

We are babysitting the toddle Tuesday afternoon. I may go to a talk at the city rec center on Wednesday.

Hoping to get the replacement cellular shade up this week and some more paperwork done!

What we ate for dinner -

Monday - Dinner out with cousins @ Five Tacos and Beer. I had a shrimp taco that was delicious plus plenty of chips and guacamole and a good beer. Then we went back to our house and had gelato bars that I had picked up at the little neighborhood market.

Tuesday - Turkey burgers, boiled small red potatoes, large salads

Wednesday - Trader Joe's potstickers, large salads

Thursday - Leftover turkey burgers & potatoes, green beans

Friday - Vegetarian sweet potato chili (https://cookieandkate.com/sweet-potato-chili-recipe/) with leftover beef broth and half a beer subbed for veggie broth. It was good but will not go in rotation. Lots of leftovers frozen.

Saturday - Leftover rice and green beans, potstickers and half a pear for me. Hubby out with a friend.

Sunday - Easter dinner at DIL's mother's house. We took hearty nibbles for earlier in the afternoon.