I Like Thursday #208

 Welcome to my 208th I Like Thursday post.  Weekly a group of bloggers hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color post things that we have found, seen, heard, read, or done that we like/love during the previous week.

Wanting Wisteria-- I never liked Wisteria but a few years ago I saw one and I fell in love.  It was called a Blue Moon and I was a goner.  I searched and searched and finally found one 3 years ago.  I planted it, it didn't bloom, but last year it started to get buds, then we had a severe freeze, snowstorm.  Then nothing.  So I bought another one, thinking the one was dead.  Then got too busy to plant it.  It sat on my porch for months.  I finally planted it, and boom, the older one took off growing too.  This year---the older one has grown to about 5 foot tall, but no blooms.  The tiny one I planted last year is barely 1 foot tall, the cats are always rubbing against it, and it has 5 separate blooms.

I did manage to get a wee bit of sewing done this past week.  I fixed the maple leaf block for Moda Blockheads 4.  I then made the Moda BH 4 Berry Block.

Moda BH 4 Block 11 9 inch block

Moda BH 4 Block 11 4.5 inch Block

Moda BH 4 Block 11 Berry 

 

I started to assemble my On Grassy Creek blocks.  I need to make a bunch of Ohio Star blocks to begin with.

I have been working very slowly on downsizing.  The kids have a house which they are working through the buying process.  Part of downsizing is trying to figure out how to live in a much smaller space in the immediate future for me.  I decided to buy a Keurig.

When I priced the pods I could not believe the difference in price so I bought a refillable pod.  Obviously there is a learning curve to using the machine, and filling a pod.  

 

I like this style of Keurig because I can brew up to a 12 oz cup, even though most of my cups are about 16 oz.  I can also make the maker brew a strong cup of coffee.  I found some coffee on sale and tried the dark, but when I made the coffee as strong as possible, you know the term strong enough to stand a spoon in it?  Yep it was that strong, and I like strong coffee.  

While I listen to a lot of books, I do read actual physical books too.  I saw this and thought it was interesting.

I have had some fun reads the past few weeks. 

The Lucy Lawrence Mysteries by Pam Lecky.

No Stone Unturned introduces Lucy Lawrence, in an unhappy marriage, and shut off from her family because of her choices.  Lucy meets Phineas Stone over the body of her husband in the morgue.  Secrets spill while Lucy learns more and more of her husband, who can she trust?

Footprints in the Sand--wealthy widow Lucy Lawrence touring France during an very wet summer, meets a charming Egyptologist and agrees to sponsor his dig.  When the Egyptian Museum is burgled Lucy is determined to discover the thieves. 

The Art of Deception--Lucy is back in London and her relationship with Phineas Stone is progressing.  They are trying to track down an art theft ring, and everything seems to be going well until Phineas' ex fiancee is brutally murdered at a house party and he is the number one suspect. 

I read another Irina Shapiro book--Haunted Ground.  Lexie Maxwell is drawn to England, and after she purchases an old manor house to convert to a hotel, as she helps refurbish with her sexy Scottish contractor.  Nightly Lexie spies a mysterious man at the ruins, and spies a light in an upper story window, which is impossible since there is no upper floors to the ruin.  Lucy discovers many secrets, some even apply to her.  

I also read the latest installment of the the Lady Darby Mysteries by Anna Lee Huber.  In the 10th book of the series A Perilous Perspective, Kiera and Sebastian are in the Scottish Highlands visiting the estate of the Marquess of Barbreck waiting for the upcoming nuptials of her cousin Rye, and former detractor, now friend Charlotte.  When Kiera notices that several of the paintings in the long gallery appear to be forgeries, she is tasked to discover what happened to the real ones, and unearth some decades old secrets.  

Thanks for stopping by, please go visit the other I Like Thursday posts at LeeAnna's.