Sunday Snippets 11.12.23
It’s been hot this week, and it’s been cold. Sometimes we seem to skip fall altogether.
Let’s see…this week I cooked shredded chicken in the crock pot. Peg, Lisa, and I shared burritos that first night.
For several days I ate shredded chicken in various meals. And then I froze the rest, and there was quite a bit left.
And I made a chocolate cake. My old standby. I love chocolate cake.
Ivy:
And of course I’ve got a recent photo of Ivy. Ivy may well be the most photographed cat in the world.
A Compulsion:
I have this compulsion. Whenever I’m looking for photos online to put together a series or something for you, I’ve gotten pickier and pickier.
The photos have to be near perfect if I’m going to use them. Like, for instance, in yesterday’s post.
I can’t begin to tell you how many photos I put on here, looked at, and then discarded.
If there’s a crooked lampshade in the photo, I move on. If it was taken and a door jamb isn’t straight, I’m off to search for another. Sometimes I cave in, but not often.
I look and I look. Discard and discard. It has to be the right size so that all the photos will line up at the side just so. Crazy. I know.
Of course this takes me hours and hours.
And I don’t have to do things this way. Like I said, it’s a kind of compulsion.
Family:
I was so lucky this week because I got to see both my girls. Plus my granddaughter.
Kendra was here with Marley Wednesday night and brought supper.
It’s just the two of them now with Riley off to college. He’s a sophomore now.
My granddaughter will be 15 next month. And she’s one lucky girl.
Her dad’s parents have ordered her dream car, because it takes about a year to get it. It’s a baby blue Bronco.
My son-in-law ordered one and it took several years to get his.
My grandson got his dream car from the grandparents as well when he was nearly 16. It was a black Mustang.
Kasi came and brought lunch on Thursday. She brought enough Chinese food so that I’d have supper too.
So nice to see them all in one week!
What I’m Reading:
I’m almost finished reading Jodi Picoult’s “A Spark Of Light.”
The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors.
Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.
Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.
What I’m Watching:
I’m watching “Payback” on Britbox.
When the six-part story begins, Lexie Noble (Morven Christie) is just a stay-at-home mom raising her two children.
Lexie is a partner in husband Jared’s accountancy firm. Jared is managing the firm while she stays home with the kids.
Lexie is outside when she sees her husband murdered by a group of young men near their home.
Soon she learns that Jared was laundering money through their firm for a very dangerous man, Cal Morris.
Soon she is approached by notorious crime lord, Morris, played by Peter Mullan.
While Jared was being murdered, a huge sale he’d help set up did not go through for Morris, and he’s seeking his money back. He thinks Lexie has it, whether she knows it or not.
Lexie finds herself wedged between Morris and the police who are trying to take him down.
Morven Christis is famed for roles such as “The Bay” and The “A Word.”
If you recognize Peter Mullan, you might have seen him playing Jacob Snell on “Ozarks.”
Payback was filmed in Glasgow, Scotland and the surrounding areas.
So nice you got to visit with both daughters and granddaughter. We had ours here in this area for dinner…they brought food too…there were 9 of us to seat. It was fun for a couple hours they were here! Ivy is a hilarious cat…looks like she is always thinking…
How wonderful you got to see both of your daughters this week.
We just finished Payback and we really liked it. I’m hoping for more shows that are similar. We’re kind of running out of stuff to watch on Acorn/BritBox but Shetland is coming back towards the end of the month so that’s something to look forward to. It’s without Douglas James Henshall so I’m hoping it’s as good as it was.
I finished watching Payback last night. However I have a few Unforgotten episodes to watch that are new.
Hi Brenda. I’m so glad you got to visit with your family this week. It always makes my day to spend time with my family too. I don’t think it’s possible to see too many pictures of Ivy, lol! I always love reading your posts about her.
Ivy is much loved.
Saw a funny reel the other day, it mentioned that turkey will taste the same with the tree up or not. This will be a first for me. I’m hoping to start Christmas this week. Also scaling back not only on decor but certainly on the spending.
Brenda, I surely appreciate all you do for this blog. Your photos are always fabulous.
True! Turkey will still taste the same.
Brenda, you are picky about the photos you post because you are a photographer and that is an artistic endeavor. I know because I am one myself. Therefore, I really appreciate your care with the photos you post. It’s not just being picky.
I have read a few of Jodi Picoult’s books but think I will sidestep the one you describe. Given the frequency of mass shootings in real life I don’t know if it would be good for my psyche to read about one!
So glad you got some time with your family last week. Amazing how those grandchildren grow up, off to college already. They sure are lucky ducks getting cars bought for them. Hope they are appreciative.
They are truly lucky. I could never afford to buy them new cars.
It is getting very cold in Milwaukee late overnight into the early mornings. We are in a temporary “warm” streak right now where we may get into the upper 50s by mid-week – at mid-day. There are still many trees in the neighborhood that have yet to shed their leaves. I cleaned my lawn yesterday and this morning it looked like I had not touched it. A wind from the south/southwest rose over night and seems to form mini tornadoes on my front lawn. The result is that leaves that blow off of trees or down the street from further south or across the street end up on my front lawn and up my driveway. Sigh. So, I got rid of a pile of leaves that the city finally came through and plowed away on Friday night/early Saturday morning, and I’ve got a ton more of leaves to clean up. Will the city come through again on or before November 15th (the usual deadline for clean-up) and scrape up new piles of leaves? They’re already growing up and down the blocks here, including my own. Made the first move toward Christmas today – I removed the sun-blocking curtains from the front picture window to let more sunlight in this time of year. Tomorrow a deep living room clean is on the menu, UGH. Time to get ready for Christmas.
Jan, you are always one busy girl!
I don’t care how many pictures you take of Ivy. I always like to see her. Like your mailbox with the plant in it. I have a cream one just like it! I am still thinking about what to do about decorating for Xmas too.
I just don’t know if I have it in me to dig the Christmas tree out. Greg helped me with it last year.
I appreciate your effort with your posts. I can tell you spend a lot of time choosing pictures to showcase the links. I found a few new sites to follow. It sounds like you had a very enjoyable week with family and friends! I don’t know if you have Hulu, but a new series is streaming called Black Cake. It’s really good if anyone is looking for something new to watch. Lots of links on Google describing it
I read a book called Black Cake I think.
Last night I went to a quarter auction with my neighbors. The driver went to pick up her granddaughter and swung by to get another neighbor and myself. On the way to pick up her granddaughter she got rear ended by someone who took his eyes off the road for a minute. The granddaughter 16 and just got her license 2 weeks ago has been rear ended 3 times in 2 weeks. She did a nice job driving us to the auction. In the middle of the auction someone on the phone crashed into my neighbors car. Can you imagine getting hit twice in the span of 4 hours? Luckily no one was hurt. Christmas music is on the radio and in the stores. My 3 closest neighbors have their trees up! I feel like I am behind and better get started!
I haven’t even figured out what I’m really going to do for Christmas yet. But I may not put up a tree. I’ve got other ideas.