Book Talk, May 2026

 I dealt with a lot of books in May, as one does when one works in a library and is also an avid reader.

The library endcap display that I did for May was "Books About Mothers & Motherhood." Genius, I know.

The town's H.R. newsletter mentioned me! I got the job of senior library assistant after being a sub for three years. I was grateful to get it, and I can still do my two editing jobs with it (it's a part-time position). 

Here are two books I saw at the library that I thought looked interesting.

I'm now a Hill woman, too! 😄

I think life in Appalachia is both fascinating and sad. 

This book is set in Scotland!

Cocoa, candle, and the book I was reading. Perfect... 

...except that I didn't like The Astral Library very much. I like Kate Quinn's historical fiction, but this book was an aberration from her usual fare, and not a good one. At least not in my book. {Pun intended 😆}

David and I watched the movie of Remarkably Bright Creatures. I'd read the book a few years ago and really enjoyed it. The movie was also well-done and uplifting.

I saw this at the library, and it made me think of my hubby.

At the end of May, I put up my endcap display for June. It was a fun one: 

Go on a Trip to Europe! (Books Set in Europe)

I read The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes for book club. I liked it a lot. I too am the giver of stars: this book gets four out of five stars from me! 

A Productive Trip to the Cape + a Really Cool Bird

 David and I went to the Cape house for a couple of days in May to summer-ize it and get it ready for the Memorial Day weekend renters.

One of the things we did was to switch out the mattress on the downstairs queen bed with a better one that I'd had in storage since last December. Here's the mattress getting ready for its big trip to its new home on the Cape!

There's the old mattress. It's a nice addition to the backyard, right? 😄

David thought so...

We put out the patio table chairs and umbrella.

David fixed the lacing on the zero-gravity chairs.

I finally bought a new hammock (it was overdue), we strung it up, and it looked great!

I then tried out the hammock, and it was perfect!

Hammock view, looking up into the trees

Reading on a hammock on a lovely spring day is one of life's great pleasures. 😊

We used the grill to make sure it was working properly. David grilled us up some delicious pork chops for dinner. 

We went for a walk to the beach and encountered this messy madness at the end of our street. It had been like this since winter and still hadn't been fixed! I took pictures to send to the police department because it was a hazard, but it was fixed by the next time we were at the Cape.

So ghetto!

David examining the temporary fix someone had done with one of the wires.

The beach at low tide was a much better sight! 

Lovey-dovey selfies 😍

We got the fire pit working.

New hammock, repaired chairs, and parched grass—but at least it was clear of sticks, branches, and pine needles due to our big spring clean-up in the yard when we were there in April!

We saw a very unique bird in the backyard through the kitchen window. It had a hot pink stripe on its head and a multi-colored body (including polka dots!). It was really cool! 

Check out its long beak. It was a type of woodpecker. We had never seen one of these before.

This was a rustic mailbox holder that I saw on a walk through the neighborhood, complete with tree trunk and spiraling branch. Now that's using nature productively!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm so thankful for the Cape house! Even though it takes work, time, and money to maintain it, it's totally worth it for the joy it brings to our lives.

John's Mission Pics, May/Spring 2026

 A moose! This was in mountain country (obviously).

A girl in one of the wards John served in made this picture for him. I think everyone who got to know John knew about his love for Fortnite. 😆

Denver at night

With one of his former companions.

He got to know many good families in the various wards he served in.

This woman was a good friend to the missionaries. They'd visit with her often, and they would sometimes do their laundry at her house. She was a Church member who was a little alternative and different, and John liked her a lot.

Beekeeping Adventures with David, May 2026

 Now that it's mid-August, I'll blog about May! 😄

I'm learning more about beekeeping because it's one of David's hobbies, and he's been doing it this summer. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm enjoying learning by watching him work with the hives. I haven't done too much myself yet, but I have used the smoker a couple of times. I'm happy to mostly be the smokin', photo-taking sidekick for now. 😉

Feeding time

We visited the bees after church on Mother's Day to check on the hives' progress in their new spot.

Another visit, this one a little more invasive, with prying into the hives to see how they were doing on the inside.

They were doing great! Check out all those content worker bees! 

This one hung out on David's shirt sleeve for a while.

I went over and visited the nearby chickens for a few minutes. I like chickens, especially bantam chickens, and I like how they're descendants of dinosaurs. You can see it in their little faces!

It's the birds and the bees; what more can I say! 😆