Strawberry Season….

OMG…..I wish you could smell these strawberries.  My sister picked these yesterday and they smell like they just came right out of the fields.  Thank you, Jan, for sending these over with Christy for me.  Yummy!!  For sure!  (And almost all gone, I might add…..just in case you're reading this and might want to bless me with more???)

Just thought I'd show you a pic of our precious, Toby, lounging on the pool deck.  So often he rings the bells to go out lately, just to lay in the sun and survey his domain, I think.  He really does make me nervous though, being so close to the pool.  My friend had a dog that drowned this year falling in her pool, and she just thought it had strayed out of the yard.  Not good, so I have to keep my eye on Toby constantly when he's outside now (although he's never fallen in the pool before…..thankfully!) 

I must admit that I'm much happier when I can hear him barking at the gate probably at people or cars driving by……or, perhaps at a flower swaying the wrong way in the breeze.  lol  The boy isn't too bright in the brain department sometimes!  (But, we love him anyway!)

I sent out three envelopes this week, but two were duplicates of ones you've already seen, so I decided not to post them.  This little guy is new though, I think.  It's getting to where I have to check now, there have been so many.

As usual, I've been reading.  (A Lot!)  Now, it seems, I read to find that special book that will rock my world…..but not yet.  I did find two really good ones this week though and they did come close…the 2nd and 4th ones on this list.  Both were different, but really good!  And both were debuts and you KNOW how I love those!!!

"God-Shaped Hole"                                    by                    Tiffany Debartolo
"We Are Called to Rise"    debut                by                    Laura McBride
"Still Life with Bread Crumbs"                   by                     Anna Quindlen
"The Girl who Came Home"                      by                    Hazel Gaynor
"Burial Rites"          debut                           by                    Hannah Kent
"Tell me You're Sorry"                               by                    Kevin O'Brien

That last one I started yesterday, but still have 1/2 to go and it's an okay thriller type book.  Kind of too many killings in it for me, but I will finish it.  Incidentally, I do review all the books I read on Goodreads.com, so if you belong to that site, look me up and "friend" me (Carol Turznik).  I would love to know what you've been reading too!  My reading tastes are all over the board…..except haunted…….I can't seem to handle haunted!  Eikes!

So, until next week, my friends….enjoy yourselves and make sure to have some fun of some sort (even if for a little while!) AND….do enjoy the summer in the USA.  We finally are "hitting" the 70s.  Whooppee!

Repeat…repeat….repeat!

E-gads…..I feel as though I'm repeating everything from last weeks post including (I'm sorry to say) the temp of 55 degrees right now.  We have had nothing but rain, rain, and more rain lately with humidity in the 90s.  Ugh!  It hardly feels like summer, in fact, once this week I even turned on the furnace to get the chill out of the house.  My hubby almost had a fit, but I was freezing and I was even wearing my hoodie.  lol  No swimming here for awhile, I guess, huh?

Naturally, I sent off envelopes.  (At least I have something to show you!)

And then, I did visit my friend with the Havanese puppies…….and didn't take a single picture, I'm sorry to say, BUT I did find photos on the internet of some adults which I stole and I would GRAB any one of these precious babies in an instant if I got the chance.  I love the colors!

Oh, that last one just melts my heart!!  Why can't I find a playmate that looks like that for Toby?  I wonder what he'd do?

I am still reading like a mad woman and finished 5 books this week.  One I won in the Goodreads First Reads program and that was fun.  The name of it, is "Dear Daughter" and it won't be released until August 2014 so I feel special being able to review that new debut mystery before many other people.

"I am Having So Much Fun Here without You"             by             Courtney Maum
"Elizabeth is Missing"         (debut)                                 by              Emma Healy
"The New Me"                                                                by              Mary Marcus
"Eleanor and Park"  (YA book)                                      by              Rainbow Rowell
"Dear Daughter"             (debut)                                     by              Elizabeth Little

So, that was my week!  Whooppee!  Nothing like tons of fun here, folks!  lol  I still haven't packed away the sewing stuff from the dining room so who knows if I'll be pulling fabric out or not one of these days?  You never know!  I just might surprise you with a new creation!!  Wouldn't that be something???  Oh well…..in any case, you all have a super week and enjoy what sun you might have for me since it doesn't look too good here for a sunny week for us next week either.  Take care!

Happy Father's Day!

Yup, today is Father's Day and I have our whole gang coming this morning for breakfast, so this post will be shorter than normal.  (I'm thinking I really don't have "FATHER" fans anyway, so who knows why I even captioned this post this way???)  Oh well!  

Here are the envelopes I sent off this week:

And……..these are the books I read this week.  The first 3 were debut books, (if you can believe)?  The first one was an old debut though since the author has since written 3 more books.  I think I told you about him before…….Daniel Palmer.  Now I have only the middle 2 of his books to read and one is better than the next.  Really……good!  His twists and turns are amazing!  The last book on this list was really good too, but Jospeh Finder is GOOD.  I've read him in the past.  The only one all week that wasn't a mystery/thriller was "A Paris Apartment" and I liked that one the least.  I'd rate that in the historical fiction department.  Wouldn't you know it, it was the only one I actually purchased.  Duh!  Good thing my sister is a historical fiction lover!

"Delirious"                                         by                             Daniel Palmer
"A Paris Apartment"                          by                             Michelle Gable
"Bone Dust White"                            by                             Karin Salvalaggio
"Suspicion"                                        by                             Joseph Finder

So, that's it!  Next week I have to visit my friend who raises Havanese puppies.  She has a litter or two almost ready to leave so I go there to get my puppy fix so that I'm not inclined to buy another dog.  Once I see her trailing those puppies with her paper towel in hand for all the "accidents", I'm ready to come home to my perfectly house broken 3 year old Toby with a smile on my face!  Seriously, that's all it takes!  lol  (Although, I must admit, I still….at times…..think about buying him a pal.)

Have a good week, my friends!  Enjoy your summer (even though it's 55 degrees here right now with rain predicted for the next 5 days out of 6.  Ugh!)  My pool water will never heat up this way…….solar cover or not!  Ugh!

More of the same…..

Pretty soon I'm going to be so boring, you won't even be stopping in to visit anymore and that bothers me.  Yet, for some reason, my sewing creativity has gotten up and left me lately.  In fact, after one more mini quilt, I think I will pack up my dining room table for awhile and live like a regular person without a constant mess staring at me every time I look that way.  At least for the summer!  

I did finish the mug rug swap though having gotten a beauty from my partner.  The first one is the one I made and the next is the one I received.  

Then, naturally, I sent out some envelopes this week and guess who has a loose tooth?  Yup…my darling little Audrey!  She loved this envelope!

I've been running low on envelopes so I had to draw and color to build up my supply this week. I was surprised at how long it took.  I did 20 in 2 days………2 whole days!!  Plus I had to put in a stamp order to USPS for (don't fall over) $71.50.  Needless to say, I think I'll have enough for awhile.

And then, I got my Amazon order.  I'm still into reading like a mad woman and enjoying every minute! The top two are children's books for the older child.  Since my niece reads to Audrey every night before bed, I thought she might enjoy a story that continues.  Both are good.  I read them first this week because they were short and sweet.

And then I read two others with one OUTSTANDING one that you all must read!!!  I loved it and it's in this stack.  "Goodnight June" by Sarah Jio.  I didn't want it to end!  It was one of those happy, and delightful reads with just a twist or two to make it interesting and best of all, it only comes in softcover!  This is the 2nd book I've read by Sarah Jio and I've liked them both.  Then, yesterday, I finished "That Summer" by Lauren Willig.  It's a hardcover recent release that seemed to drag on and on for me.  It's gotten great reviews on Goodreads.com. but I wonder how?  Thankfully, I took that one out from the library.  lol

So, that's the news of the day.  It's 55 degrees outside here this morning at 9:30 am and overcast.  Happy summer, huh?  I'm sitting in the house with my hoodie over a short sleeved shirt with all the doors and windows closed wondering if I need to turn on the furnace.  Eikes!  Hope you are enjoying the sunshine!!!  Until next week………happy reading, sewing, or whatever your pleasure!

Spring planting plus more…...

Yay!  The weather has finally gotten nice here in southeastern Wisconsin….nice enough to plant and replace shrubs lost by our awful winter.  I must show you our newest purchase.  A little bitty tree….only about 4 feet tall right now, but I have great hopes!  In a few weeks it should be filled with double white blossoms and gorgeous (I hope.)  It's replacing a shrub that did the same thing:  "Rose of Sharon" is the formal name and they come in all sorts of colors.  Hardy in zones 5-9.

Then, I had hubby plant some herbs, flowers, pepper plants and two tomato bushes under the kitchen windows.  These too should fill in nicely in a few weeks.

The QT swap is over for another two months and I received this beauty from my partner, Staci, (theconfusedquilter). If you can believe, this little mini is only 9 1/2" square and each tiny square inside measures only 1.5 inches.  Yikes!  The theme was log cabins, Chinese coins or pinwheels.  She really outdid herself!  I can't imagine how difficult this was????

I made two for her because I couldn't decide which one to send.  Both reflected my take on log cabins.  The first one measured 8.5 x 9.5" and the next 8 x 10.5".  I love making the smaller quilts.  Too bad the QT swap changed its perimeters now to a minimum of 9 x 9" to 18 x 18' now from the  6 x 6" to 12 x 12" it used to be.  When I look back, many of mine have had one side that was only 7.5" so we'll see if I will continue to play with them.  lol

Of course, I sent out some envelopes this week.  In fact, I might have to set aside a few days this coming week to make some more.  I'm getting low…….

And, of course, the week wouldn't be complete without a few books.  Lately, it seems, I haven't been reading anything super good even though the Goodread.com reviews thinks they are.  lol  It's probably about time I break out some of the softcover ones I bought months ago instead of running to the library for the latest releases, huh?

"The Three"                                            by                      Sarah Lotz
"All the Light We Cannot See"              by                      Anthony Doerr
"Before We Met"                                    by                      Lucie Whitehouse
"The Keeper"                                          by                     John Lescroart

By far, the best one was "Before We Met" by Lucy Whitehouse and surprisingly enough it was the one with the fewest pages at only 276.  It's a psychological thriller that had me reading way long into the night.  I'm only half done with the last one, so who knows?  I've read John Lescroart before and his stuff is usually good, so time will tell.  Funny how we all go back to the tried and true when disappointed in what we're reading.

Until next week then……….enjoy what you're doing!  I plan on it!