Small Changes Big Impact

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I like it when I can make small changes and get a big impact. This hanging wall basket, found at the hoarder’s house, gives me more vertical storage space in the kitchen.

This little basket came in handy for storing kitchen stuff, thanks to the magnetized hook on the side of my refrigerator.

Porch Rails Painted & Storm Door Added:

The porch rails are finally painted white, about a week after the white storm door was installed. (The white storm door was an early Mother’s Day present from Kendra.)

Now I see how much the porch floor needs painting!

I’ve added two bright green pots between the blue ones on the porch, which I will be planting seeds in this week.

I have my twice-yearly doctor’s appointment tomorrow. I’m planning to plant seeds on Friday in the pots on the porch and the containers in the flower beds below.

The perennials in the garden containers in the flower beds have come up nicely. And the galvanized Lamb’s Ear container is really pretty. It has filled that container.

Living Room + Bookshelves:

Above are photos of before the white bookshelves were added. And the one next to it is after the couch was moved up, and the bookshelves lined the wall behind it.

I’ve really enjoyed this change in my living room.

What I’m Watching on TV:

I started watching Chicago PD. There are about 13 seasons, so it will keep me busy for a while.

What Book I’m Reading:

I’m reading Crooks by Lou Berney, an Oklahoma City author.

Book Summary:

You’ve never met a family like the Mercurios.

They say the American dream is going farther in life than your parents ever did. But how does that work if your parents are criminals?

For Buddy, a low-level mob wiseguy, and Lillian, a charming pickpocket, the criminal underworld is the only life they’ve ever known. When they’re forced to flee the glittering Babylon of Las Vegas, they end up opening a club in Oklahoma City—a town that quickly feels like a gold mine of fresh marks and easy new money.

The Five Mercurio Children:

Along for the ride are their five children, all of them raised into the family business of crime—until the day comes when they each have a chance to make their own way in the world, even if they can never completely escape the family’s long, dark shadow.

Jeremy, the family’s Golden Boy, will throw himself into the glittering excesses of a drug-fueled Hollywood in the roaring 1980s.

Tallulah, the daredevil, will find herself in the deadly Wild West of post-communist Moscow.

Ray, the dope, the family muscle since he was a kid, wants nothing more than to put down his gun, but following orders is all he’s ever known.

Alice, the genius who renounced her life of crime long ago, now sees her white-shoe law firm being blackmailed and must tap into old skills to save both the company and her own life.

And Piggy, a civilian always on the outside looking in on his crime family, desperate to be part of the gang.

Crooks is an epic novel about a truly unforgettable family– each Mercurio has to grapple, in their own way, with the family’s powerful criminal legacy.

Series Being Filmed:

The second season of “The Lowdown” is currently being filmed several blocks from where I live. They blocked off the street to accommodate filming the other day when I was out and about.

This season brings in Tommy Lee Jones as another character to round out the others. They include Ethan Hawke, Kyle MacLachlan, Scott Shepherd, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Keith David.

Premise:

The series is set in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It features a man “who knows too much” and is loosely inspired by historian Lee Roy Chapman. Chapman died by suicide in his Tulsa residence at age 46.

Outdoor Cat News:

The stray cat named Tuna has not yet been caught to get neutered. We caught him on my porch in the trap last week, but somehow he got out.

Then yesterday I was sitting here and heard cats fighting. It was Tuna and one of the orange stray cats. That boy, Tuna, needs to be caught and neutered. I’m so glad that Glen, the black cat, is fixed now.

Glen, who was neutered and had his wounds from a fight stitched up, is doing well. Smitty has been petting him up on his porch while he was still in that cage, to keep him from pulling out the stitches.

Smitty says he’s friendly and wants to be petted now.