Monday, October 26, 2026

Last Day Being 45

45 was a good year for me, and an important one. The most significant thing that happened was that I married David. My life changed in such good ways because of it!

I spent my last day being 45—my birthday eve—at the Cape with David, Sam, and Veronica. It was a cloudy, rainy day. We got a new dishwasher that David installed. It was a nice Bosch one that I decided to invest in because there's a decent chance that we could live at the Cape house full-time in the future. I also consider it the first step in the planned kitchen remodel that I'd like to do there.

Out with the old...

😆

In with the new!

I love having a handy hubby! It makes my life easier!

I did some shopping and got a pretty pedicure at my favorite place.

In the evening after a delicious burger and fries dinner from The Knack, we walked down to the beach.

I like seagulls.

And I like hydrangeas. They were still in bloom at the end of July.

Farewell, 45! Thanks for being so good to me!

Sunday, October 25, 2026

Book Review: Portrait of a Witch Undone

Portrait of a Witch Undone by K.S. Shay
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I like to read a book about witches every October, and I picked this one because it had a cool title and cover and a creative plot that involved the stolen works of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Unfortunately, those were pretty much the only things I liked about it. I found the story to be rather confusing, repetitive, depressing, gritty, and unengaging; the characters all behaved like annoying teenagers; and various other irritations.

View all my reviews

Thursday, October 22, 2026

July 2026 Randoms

The Boston Temple

The summer flowers were so pretty. The temple gardeners do a great job.

John on his mission (last full month!)

😆

Food

I treated myself to this delicious (and expensive 😑) lobster roll on my way off the Cape one day after cleaning the house between renters.

I went to a program at a nearby library about colonial-era cooking and brought home some recipes. I made this 1750s bread—the recipe is from the 1750s with all the same ingredients. It turned out a little funny-looking (like a clamshell), but it tasted good!

Really good orange juice

Nutritious avocado toast

Actual Randoms

I participated in this.

Please do!

A path into the woods that I regularly use on my woods walks

Sam took a selfie at church

This guy is so funny. He's a nonpartisan(ish) Trump impersonator, and he gets him just right. In this one, he was pretending to be "Donna Trump," a female version of Trump running for president in 2028. 😆 I of course appreciated the name.

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

July Books and Library Things

Summertime, and the reading is easy...
(Do you sense a theme to the opening line of my blog posts lately? 😄)

I saw this book at the library and thought it was really cute: There's an Owl in the Shower.
That's my kind of shower!

There was a giant inflatable whale at the library one afternoon that you could go in. The guy who did it took it down quickly after his program, so I didn't get to go through it.

😍

I read these two books with amusingly coordinating titles at around the same time.

It Could Have Been Her was good; It's Not Her had an unrealistic and stupid ending.

Seeing this book brought back all kinds of pleasant childhood memories.

My endcap display for July was "All Aboard! Books Set on a Boat."

A local bookstore does different literary-themed wraps and seasonal drinks throughout the year. I got "The Old Man and the Sea-sar Wrap" (delicious) and the Simply Lemonade Smoothie (also delicious).

One of the best places to do summertime reading is in the hammock at the Cape house!

The House in the Pines wasn't nearly as good as I thought it would be. I was disappointed by a mystery again!

Around the Apartment in July 2026

Summertime, and the living was easy!

I really like this screen we got for the balcony door. It allows the door to the outside to be open with the fresh air coming in, minus the bugs (for the most part).