What I’m Currently Reading & Watching
This morning when I got up the French doors were covered in a filmy cloud of humidity. I thought maybe it had rained, but the concrete appeared dry. Charlie will have a harder time breathing in this thick mess.
We won’t be going out of course. This will be no different than other holidays where we stay home. In that way my life hasn’t changed much since the pandemic was announced.
I heard firecrackers last night, but I just turn up Charlie’s air purifier and it covers the sound.
Last night for supper I wanted a BLT sandwich, but I had no lettuce. So I cooked up a couple of pieces of turkey bacon, sliced a cucumber and some of the little cherry tomatoes from my garden, and had a BCT instead of a BLT. Bacon, cucumber, tomatoes.
It was delicious.
What I’m Watching:
I took my shower and tidied up and Charlie and I went back to the bedroom. I’m now watching “Keeping Faith” on Acorn TV. I just finished watching “Hidden”.
I usually watch 1-2 episodes and then read for awhile before bed.
What I’m Reading:
Currently I am reading Minrose Gwin’s book “The Accidentals.”
Book Summary:
Following the death of their mother from a botched backwoods abortion, the McAlister daughters have to cope with the ripple effect of this tragedy as they come of age in 1950s Mississippi and then grow up to face their own impossible choices.
An unforgettable, beautiful novel that is threaded throughout with the stories of mothers and daughters in pre-Roe versus Wade America.
“Life heads down back alleys, takes sharp left turns. Then, one fine day it jumps the track and crashes.”
In the fall of 1957, Olivia McAlister is living in Opelika, Mississippi, caring for her two girls, June and Grace, and her husband, Holly. She dreams of living a much larger life–seeing the world and returning to her wartime job at a landing boat factory in New Orleans.
As she watches over the birds in her yard, Olivia feels like an“accidental” — a migratory bird blown off course.
I love this author’s books. They are so descriptive and the words just slide along like a perfectly smoothed path in the road.
Free of pebbles, laid with sand, Minrose Gwin’s winding road of deft writing makes you feel as though you are there with her characters. Feeling their pain. Celebrating their successes.
Promise:
I also read her book “Promise” and I swear it was one of the best books I’ve ever read. Set in 1936 Mississippi, it chronicled in fiction an actual occurrence. A tornado that leveled a town. I can still remember elements of that book because it has stayed with me.
Stay home and be safe. It’s not looking good out there and if you happen to live in Texas, earlier this morning I read that some Texas hospitals are already at capacity.
We saw in the Sunday newspaper today that it is incredibly hot and humid over much of the US. Here in IL, too. We’re in the 90’s and humid (heat index over 100) for as far as the eye can see. I don’t mind temps in the 80’s, but when it’s like it is now, I’m just pretty much housebound except for watering plants and running necessary errands. It may as well be winter.
Those two books you featured sound really good. I’m going to see if my library has them.
Your purple petunias are beautiful ! I have some blue/ black salvia blooming like crazy. Every afternoon about four, I am delighted by the hummingbirds that come looking for the salvia’s nectar. They are emerald beauties as they dart about. I’ve nicknamed this side of my garden Hummingbird Alley as they seem to be very territorial and act as if I am intruding in their space. It’s been very hot and humid here in S.C. 93 degrees today and even now late at night it’s taken all this time to have cooled off a bit. I love to sit outdoors in the evenings and listen to the crickets and other insects as they sing their evening melodies. Beautiful moon tonight. As you can see my July 4th has been pretty quiet but it’s what I like best. Have you tried the show “ Outlander” on Netflix ? It has several seasons of shows and I’ve been fascinated with it. I tried reading the book but just could not get into it but watching the show is all together different It’s about a time traveller and that concept has never appealed to me but I have to say the author tells a pretty interesting story about the history of the Scottish Highlands. Well, off to bed. Be safe & stay well.
Try watching Shetland (same author as Vera), Call the Midwives, Midsomer Murders, My Life is Murder, or Line of Duty.
We’ve been having fireworks go off at all hours. One went off at 4:30 this morning and was heard near and far. I’ve already given my dogs some CBD and they will get it for dinner. The one poor little guy is terrified. He was so upset the other night daughter had to take him in her bathroom w her as he wouldn’t leave her side.
Brenda, we have a butterfly bush that is beautiful now. A very deep purple. My question is once it has a bloom get dry do you need to cut it off?
I try to keep mine cut back to next leaf.
Shrub looks prettier & keeps it blooming too
I loved Keeping Faith!! Please say what you think of it at the finish!!
Quiet day here.. too hot and not mixing in any groups!
We are having a quiet Fourth here also. It is 11:30 am, and the temp out on our deck reads 100 degrees. The husband is going to grill steaks for dinner tonight, so hope by then it cools down a little, our grill is on the deck. (In the sun)..We are staying safe, and staying at home. One of our sons and his family are spending the weekend at their cabin up North, and our other son and his wife are celebrating their anniversary in the Wisconsin Dells. We are good, just being here together and relaxing. Have a happy Fourth with Charlie and Ivy. Stay COOL!!! Hugs from WI
Happy 4th of July! I laughed when you said your life style hasn’t changed during the virus. Mine either! Hot here too. I have Eastern blue birds nesting in a decorative bird house. I have had them in my nesting boxes many times. This is a first for that bird house and I’ve had it outside for many years! We have foxes in the neighborhood again and the sounds they make are scary. We are used to them but it will still wake you up in the night for sure. Last night I enjoyed 2 bats flying in the yard. I used to carry my grandson out in his pjs to watch them when he was little. The hummingbirds are another joy to watch. Seems like yesterday I started watching Ozzie and Harriet and their amazing, beautiful family from Fort Meyers, Florida. How time flies, it has been years! So grateful for the Pritchett family for running the cameras for us to enjoy the magnificent symbol of our great country. You might enjoy checking them out! Stay safe and God bless America!
The BCT sounds delicious, I will try that ! The Accidentals sounds very interesting, I think I will add that to my list of books to read! The weather here in WV has been in the mid 90’s all week and I guess will be next week too. You have to do your outside chores early in the morning and then get back into the house until it cools down in the evening! Enjoy the 4TH and stay safe!
I heard a weather report yesterday that said most of the country is going to be blanketed with smothering high heat and high dew points for the next several days. Pop up thunderstorms may occur with little to no advance warning, the air is very unstable. I have been working out in my yards in the early morning, back in the house no later than 10 a.m. and not venturing out again except to do quick dashes to refill the bird-baths that are like grand central stations during this hot and dry streak. The air is thick, hot, heavy and difficult for many even folks younger and with healthier hearts than mine to breathe. I’m grateful for having central air conditioning. I’ll pull out my mini-grill this evening and make a steak for my 4th of July meal and see if one of my favorite sci-fi movies “Independence Day,” is on my streaming service this evening. Happy 4th of July to everybody.
The books sound so good. I am going to see if I can get Promise. Have a good 4th. It is so hot here already almost 90 and it is 9:30 am. Lots of heat little rain. Good day to be in doors.
Kris
Happy Fourth Of July Brenda Charlie and Ivy.Every year after Canada Day I would wait for your celebrations on t v. The book your reading sounds interesting .I’ll have to look for it hear.Have a great day Brenda.
I thought Keeping Faith was interesting. I enjoy trivia and behind-the-scenes stuff, so I always check out the IMDB trivia section of a show or movie. Two of my favorite pieces of trivia for this show are: the actors playing Faith & Evan are married in real life, and the series was filmed entirely in Welsh and then entirely in English.
A BCT sandwich sounds quite tasty!