177 I Like Thursday Posts

Welcome to my 177th I Like Thursday post. Thank you LeeAnna for encouraging us to find things we like/love to share with others.  It is officially fall, we have had some beautiful days in the low 80's or mid 70's but lovely cool nights.  I noticed that the locust trees are starting to turn their beautiful yellow gold, the purple asters are blooming.  With those beautiful days comes a lot of work.

The last few heavy rainfalls I noticed that there was a drip sound.  I finally went and sought it out after we had one night that we received almost 4 inches of rain.  After taking down a partial wall in a closet I discovered the roof leak.  It was around an old wood stove pipe.  I put a bucket under it, cleaned up the water and was thankful that I didn't end up with a ceiling disaster in the living room, nor any mold.  Today I tackled caulking with silicone caulk around the stove pipe.  I know it is hard to tell looking at this very unflattering picture that one of my grandsons took of me, but the bottom of the lower windows are at least 8-10 feet up, so I am sitting about 30 feet above the ground.  

Now to wait for the next rainfall.  Hopefully my fix will work, we will see.  Keep my fingers crossed.  

We are taking the pool down this year and will be replacing the liner next spring.  While emptying and taking out screws I noticed this rather interesting aquatic pool denizen.  I think it is a dragonfly nymph. 

The boys wanted me to catch them so they could keep them.  Um I think not.  

A friend of mine in Sydney, Nova Scotia shared a picture of a plant in her yard.  I looked it up, and discovered it is called Red Turtlehead.  I went shopping and found a nursery so of course I had to add it to my yard.  Hopefully it will survive the winter.  

The Sedum is slowly getting planted, I love the lovely colors.

The Jerusalem Artichokes are blooming.  We laugh because they are very tall and the kitties play stalking lions, so walking near can be a scary proposition.  I will admit these spread like crazy, we are trying to decide should we dig some up and plant it in the field for next year.  Interestingly they are said to actually improve soil.  Maybe it would help the clay in the field.  

You can't tell but these are at least 5-8 feet tall.  They are actually a native sunflower, and are not really an artichoke.  

Then there are the frost asters.  We chuckle because some of the chickens actually hide in them. 

Some fun discoveries at the store.

These candles.  Dry Bones and Beetles, A Dash of Grave Dirt, and Feathers of Crow.  Hmmmm.

The the mummy fragrance melt warmer.  

Did you know they make sausage strips now?  Like bacon?  There is even Chorizo!  My daughter said they were OK. 

I love these pumpkins.

An Aqua glass pumpkin.

Blessed.

Count your Blessings.  

This is block 2.1 from the Stars over Bali Skies quilt.  I don't know what it was about this block, but I started out by cutting the star point blocks wrong, so went shopping in my stash.  I chose colors very close to what I had originally.  

I then discovered that all these strips which had been included in month 1 and month 2 needed to be cut into 2 1/2 inch squares.  It was a lot of strips, which kind of slowed me down.  I shared with my friend Dawn about how it took me hours to sew together the blocks into the rows.  Changing out fabrics, replaced some with others from my stash.  Then my sewing machine quit working, just needed a really good cleaning.  Went to replace the needle and could not locate my box of needles, anywhere, after tearing apart my sewing room, my travel case, my big sewing machine.  Finally I gave up and trudged upstairs to the sewing aerie and located a pack of needles.  

This is what 2 1/2 inches of 2 1/2 inch blocks look like.  

I got a couple of rows added to the Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds Afghan.

Thursday, September 30, 2021 is Orange Shirt Day, also known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.  It is a Canadian Statutory Holiday and National day of remembrance for the victims of the Canadian Indian Residential School System.  The US had residential schools also and the numbers are astounding.  

What happened at these schools has caused generations of trauma, but by acknowledgement the healing has began.  My great grandmother was part of the residential school system.  I like that the truth is finally coming out!

My books this week:

A Legacy of Murder by Connie Berry is the 2nd book in the Kate Hamilton series.  

Kate is visiting her daughter during the holidays in the village of Long Barston.  When visiting stately Finchley Hall, and learning about the Finchley Hoard, Kate is intrigued.  Later Kate discovers the body of one of the docents and Lady Barbara hired Kate to finish up the docents previous work. Kate discovers many things that do not seem to add up including an ancient painting and a missing ruby.  

The next 6 books are part of the Sweetfern Harbor Mystery series by Wendy Meadows.  I like the characters  of Brenda and Mac Rivers and their business Sheffield Bed and Breakfast.  There is a cast of supporting cast of characters also that play a big part in many of the books.

The next 3 books are part of the Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries which take place in London around 1811.  The author is CS Harris and I have enjoyed the intrigue so far.

Finally I reread Just Desserts by G. A McKevett a Savannah Reid Mystery.  Savannah is a detective on the San Carmelita police force.  When given a case regarding the death of a councilwoman's cheating spouse, Savannah finds herself soon without a job because she has stepped on some toes, but the written reason for her termination is because she is overweight. 

I found it interesting that this book that was originally written in 1995 seems to have been updated to reflect life currently with cell phones, the internet and google.  Perhaps that is why I don't remember this book from my previous reading in 2016.  

Finally I saw a video on Facebook and went searching on YouTube.  Meredith Woolnough is a fiber artist and her creations are very interesting. Using machine stitching embroidery and water soluble fabric.  

 

Thanks for stopping by, now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color and check out the other I Like Thursday posts! 

 

I LIke Thursday #176

 It counts as an I Like Thursday post even though I post late Thursday afternoon/early evening right?  I am not too sure how it seems life seem to keep getting busier and busier.  I always looked forward to fall as a time that life kind of slowed down.  There was routine.  But with COVID and everything else it seems to be getting more hectic.  

Welcome to Fall!  I am not thrilled so far.  You know usually March comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb, of course spring starts during that time also.  If the last few days are any indication of what fall and winter are going to be like....😲.  It has been pouring almost non stop.  A rubber bowl I use to give the chickens old milk, is full and running over.  It was raining so hard last night when I left for work, the water was actually pouring over the edge of the gutters, and we had cleaned the gutters this summer.  The temperature has went to needing the A/C on to I had to turn the heat on in a 48 hour time because my house was down below 60 degrees already.  

I am thankful that my dad finally got his kidney stone procedure done.  You can read a little about what occurred here.  My dad was in ICU for over 10 days and in the hospital for almost a month, in rehab for a week, and even though he came home, he just wasn't doing spectacular.  I didn't realize to control the pain they had him taking oxycodone...no wonder he just wasn't doing a whole lot.  He was taking the pain medication for 3 months because of COVID they had to keep canceling his procedure.  It finally happened and he has been weaned off of the Oxcodone and seems to be doing a 100% better!

I know I have a friend that her mother has been diagnosed with tumors in her colon (yes it is cancer) but they have had to postpone the surgeries to remove the tumors many times since March of this year.  My great aunt had a brain tumor and her procedure had been cancelled many times until last week.  The doctors removed the tumor except it had some "tentacles" they could not cut out, they are hoping now that the main body of the tumor is removed that those "tentacles" will die.  

I love seeing fall and Halloween things filling the store. I especially like all of the kitchen stuff this year.  I truly can't imagine decorating my kitchen for a holiday, heck I barely get it really cleaned once a week lately. 

A fun cake/treat stand! 

A jack o' lantern dish scrubby holder.

Candy corn looking gnome spoon rest.

Fun hand towels!  Happy haunting.

Skulls! 

A fun spoon stand which is very fall with the pumpkins and sunflowers.  

Of course I have spied some more interesting packaging.  I am not a wine drinker, but these make the consider.

Apple pie.

A spiced red wine.

Witches Brew Apple wine.  

I have been doing a little sewing, but unfortunately for a girl who loves red, it is a color which is not very prevalent in my stash, so I have had to do some stash enhancement.  Of course while shopping have you ever seen a fabric that you "gotta have"?  Yep these were definitely it for me. 

I loved the flowers and the gray, and especially the old stoves!  I also added a few yards of this which I use as a neutral.  I love the rainbow stars and hearts scattered across the field of white.

I had an eclectic mix of books for the week.   

The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl is a mystery based upon Edgar Allan Poe's last few days of his life and the fact that he seems to have gone missing for 5 days before he was dropped at Baltimore's Washington Medical College on October 3, 1849.  A young Baltimore lawyer Quentin Clark is determined to unravel the mystery. 

Do you find yourself drawn to certain books?  I seem to love stories about bookstores, or libraries.  Reading up a Storm by Eva Gates is the 3rd installment of the Lighthouse Library Mysteries. 

Lighthouse Librarian Lucy Richardson is fortunate to live above the library.  During a cold stormy night, while Lucy is curled up in a window seat reading a book, she spies lights along the beach, then notices a boat drifting dangerously close to shore.  Even though the two aboard the wrecked boat survive, one is killed just a couple of days later.  Was the boat wreck truly an accident?  Or was someone trying to murder the boat captain and Lucy foiled the first murder attempt?

The Broken Spine by Dorothy St. James.  Librarian Trudell Beckett is at a loss when the library she works at has determined to become a state of the art bookless library.  In defiance Trudell has been secreting select books from the boxes which are being sent to booksellers or *gasp* the dump, and setting up a secret library in the basement of the library.  When early one morning after hearing a huge crash, Lucy discovers a body, crushed under a huge shelf of DVDs.  The body is of the councilman who came up with the idea of the new library format.  Instantly Lucy is their number one suspect. 

Trouble on the Books by Essie Lang.  Shelby Cox has returned to her hometown of Alexandria Bay in New York's Thousand Islands region, to help her aunt open a 2nd bookshop on Blye Island at a historic castle.  Shelby discovers the body of the Castle volunteer coordinator in the grotto on the island.  Shelby is convinced the death has something to do with the history of the island, and smuggling. 

 A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman.  American Heiress Frances Wynn former Countess of Harleigh has discovered as a widow she has much more freedom than she had as the wife of her husband the philandering Reggie.  Unfortunately Frances has not provided the necessary "heir and a spare" only a daughter and due to the Primogeniture the ancestral home and title revert to Reggie's younger sibling.  Fortunately Frances' father had set aside a significant bank account in Frances' name, but when Reggie's family sues for that account as being part of the estate, and suddenly Reggie's death is questioned and perhaps Frances had a hand in it.  It becomes imperative that Frances discovers who is trying to ruin her name and reputation, especially since Frances is hosting her younger sister Lily for the season,  hoping to find her a spouse. 

The Norse Directive by Ernest Dempsey.  Book 5 in the Sean Wyatt action adventure series.  When a British Officer discovers a clue to a much sought after relic in 1801 it sets off a series of events that Sean becomes entangled in with a close friend in the current day.  A globe hopping game of cat and mouse with the mysterious Gerald Dufort who will stop at nothing to find the relic. 

Finally I decided I needed some fun so I read Swamp Santa by Jana Deleon.  This is the 16th book in the Miss Fortune Mysteries.  When Santa is found dead at the annual Christmas Festival in Sinful, Louisiana--Ida Belle and Fortune fly into lifesaving mode attempting to revive him.  Later on it is discovered that he was poisoned and therefore Ida Belle is going to be hospitalized just in case.  Big and Little Hebert the local crime family hire Fortune and the crew to find the killer. 

Thank you LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color for encouraging us to weekly find things we like/love to share with others.  Thanks for visiting, even though it is a late post.  Now head back to LeeAnna's to check out the other I Like Thursday posts. 

175 I Like Thursday Posts

 Welcome to my 175th I Like Thursday post.   Ever have one of those days that you are like, "Heck yeah!   I am prepared!"  That is my day as I am preparing to write this post. I had so many cool things that I saw and found this week that I liked and wanted to share, so now I can shift through.  Thanks LeeAnna, of Not Afraid of Color for encouraging us for over 4 years to find and share things we like and love.  

I have shared about the app All Trails and I went for a couple of hikes at Lake Erie Metropark.  I chose to do what they term "nature trails" which are people only--no dogs, no bikes.  The first trail I took ran along the Detroit River and is called the Cherry Island Marsh Trail.  It is only a 1.4 mile long trail that winds through marshes along the river.

Coming from the west coast,  Oregon to be exact, I am always disappointed at all the homes on waterways.  This trail following the Detroit River, you look across to Grosse Ile which is an island full of very expensive homes, and every foot of shore is filled with docks, boat houses, boats, other watercraft or canal openings so those on the inner island have water access.  I chose to ignore that side of the trail and focused on the marshes.  The water is low, but what water that was there was full of ducks, Cormorants, Egrets, and Great Blue Herons.  

There was a neat tree with the roots exposed from when the water level gets high.  I thought the hole was interesting, and could see it causing some startled walkers in the twilight hours.  

Oh and there were lots of flowers!

Imatiens capensis also known as Orange Jewelweed.  Interesting fact is that they call it a "touch me not" because when the seed pods are mature, the lightest touch causes them to expel their seeds in a reaction called dehiscence.  

The trail turned away from the river and into the marsh.  It is full of American Lotus!

Unfortunately there were none that we close enough that I could get a good picture.  One year I made an art quilt from a picture which I pixilated.  The dark green represented the water as I was looking down. 

I love their seed pods.  They are so interesting. 

Along the raised trail through the marsh was this Sagittaria latifolia also known as Broadleaf arrowhead, Duck potato, Indian Potato, Wapato. 

A sweet pink flower Butomus umbellatus or Flowering Rush.  

Interestingly enough this is a very invasive plant which was introduced to North America as an ornamental garden plant.  It displaces native vegetation, and  the dense strands become an obstacle to water flow and boat traffic.  

After this trail I wandered over to Trapper's  Run which is a bit north of Cherry Island Marsh Trail.  It was a very easy 1.5 mile trail that wandered through a woodland.  

There were a few places that had boardwalks out into the marsh.  I spied a chipmunk, and several of these beauties.  

At the end of the trail was a building.  When I wandered up to it there was a gorgeous bald eagle.  This is Luc.

He was found many years ago with a broken wing that could not be repaired.  He was also blind in one eye.  He lives at the nature center, and local fisherman supplement his diet with donated fish.  

I have shared that I love advertising, especially for beers and wines.  I loved the packages for these beers.

I thought it was very cool that they wrap the packaging so if you stack one on top of the other it makes the full body.  

I have been doing a wee bit of sewing.  I finished another block from a quilt kit I purchased many years ago called Stars Over Bali Skies.

I finished all the sewing steps for part 5.  I did have to do some fabric acquisitions to finish the cutting for that step.  I also finished up my curvy log cabin blocks for the Boo quilt.  I also managed to get a few rows of the LSD afghan crocheted.

So many books, so little time to blog about the.  

Murder at the Breakers by Alyssa Maxwell--Newport, Rhode Island August 1895 Emma Cross is a 2nd cousin to Cornelius Vanderbilt.  Emma is given an assignment to report on a grand ball but Emma is witness to more, she witnesses the death of Cornelius Vanderbilt's financial secretary.  Emma's brother and black sheep Brody is accused of the murder, and it is up to Emma to prove his innocence.

Murder at Kensington Palace and Murder at Queen's Landing are book 3 and 4 of the Wrexford and Sloane mysteries.

Wrexford and Sloane must unravel secrets within secrets—including a few that entangle their own hearts—when they reunite to solve a string of shocking murders that have horrified Regency London...

Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens will be the final book in the series and is scheduled for release the end of September this year.  

A Batter of Life and Death by Ellie Alexander is the second book in the Bakeshop Mysteries.  I think LeeAnna had wrote about it at one time.  I was hooked when I discovered that the books take place in Ashland, Oregon--home to the world famous Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  

Jules Capshaw is a contestant in The Pastry Channel's show Take the Cake.  Jules discovers the body of a fellow contestant dead in a bowl of buttercream.  I really enjoy this series the characters are well developed and so far they have not disappointed.  

A Fresh Beginning & Murder by Miranda Brickett.  Claudia Porter inherits a rundown farmhouse in a small prairie town.  Claudia's first visit to her new home she discovers  body, and she is of course the 

most likely suspect.  A curmudgeon handyman, a found cat, and learning to live in a small town where everyone knows everyone's business.  

Dying to Sing by Margaret Chittenden.  Charlie Plato owns 1/6th of Chaps a country western bar.  During an earthquake a body is discovered in the flower bed, and Charlie is determined to discover who the victim is, and who murdered him.  

Grimm Up North by David J. Gatward.  DCI Harry Grimm is forced to leave the Bristol Major Investigations team and transferred to Wensleydale where he fears his major crime fighting tasks will be finding lost sheep and handing out speeding tickets.  Unfortunately upon his arrival a missing teen and then a body found in a local lake, perhaps living in the boonies isn't going to be all that bad.
 

The Crossing by Matt Brolly another Fish out of Water crime story.  In this story Detective Louise Blackwell has been sent to Weston-Super Mare a seaside town that she used to visit on holidays in her youth.  When the body of an elderly volunteer at the local church is discovered with a hole in one wrist Louise is tasked at discovering the murderer.  

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby.  Samantha Irby is a blogger and writer on Hulu's show Shrill.  This is a series of essays full of laughter, and truth.  You will find yourself laughing at her application to be the new Bachelorette (she is 35ish but could pass for 60 something) to crying at her truthful essay about growing up in a dysfunctional household of a mother with MS and a father who is an alcoholic/drug addict.  At times very gritty, at times hilarious.

Now head over to LeeAnna's and check out the other I Like Thursday posts!