Hotter than July — Monthly wrap-up and a contest!
August 14, 2021
The happiest part of my July? TWO daughters and their families were here! We had a lot of fun — playing games, going to the lake, cooking, hanging out. It went by much too fast and I HATE that I won’t see D3 until Thanksgiving 🙁 CONTEST INFO IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST
Here’s a pic of the grandbaby at her first fireworks show! She loved it. On the way home she kept saying.. More fireworks?
One of the fun things after a day on the boat is stopping at The Sugar Shack for a burger and a beer. Somehow beer just tastes…colder and better there 🙂
So after me girlies left, I was…a bit bereft, so I threw myself into the craft kits I’d been debating on. And with crafting comes audiobooks! I listened to a shit ton of them in July, which was mostly awesome.
Mostly.
Before I list them, I’ll confess that there are 2 books that I listened to that I HATED. I mean they were so damn ridiculous I couldn’t believe I’d fallen for the hype that the series was mind-blowing. BLECH. I’d bought the first 2 on sale so I forced myself to finish them hoping that they’d get better. They didn’t. And it didn’t have a freakin’ thing to do with the narrators who were top notch given the shit pile of material they had to work with. The plot was so unbelievably insipid and stupid that I’m still annoyed that anyone believes that it is considered good writing. WTF. Anyway, obviously I won’t share the titles, but these are the books I liked 🙂
AUDIOBOOKS I LISTENED TO
Skinwalker, Faith Hunter, Audible purchase — LOVED the world building in this one and the Native American elements of skinwalking. I know this is considered an Urban Fantasy series, so there are vampires and the like, but the main character of Jane Yellowrock was the real draw and the narrator did an excellent job voicing Jane and her inner beast separately. I’m so glad that I got a bunch of the rest of the series when audible had a sale. Highly recommend for UF fans.
Kushiel’s Dart, Jacqueline Carey, Audible sale purchase — this is one of those books that’s considered a classic and it’d been on my TBR forever, but the length always scared me. If you’ll notice it weighed in at 31 hours 😲so it was a very long listen. I enjoyed the characters a lot, but damn, there were way way too many of them, with tons of court type intrigue and massive world building. I like what the author did with the mix of religion and sex, because it was very unique. The narrator for this was good too. But to be honest, I wasn’t invested enough in this world to continue with other books in the series because they each weigh in about the same length.
Shadow in the Glass, JJA Harwood, Chirp sale purchase — this is more for a YA audience and I found myself speeding it up to get to the end. It’s a retelling of Cinderella, and the blurb made it sound…better than it actually was. I don’t know, maybe I’m over the YA Fantasy kick I’ve been on for the past 2 years since I find myself DNF lots of those types of books. I hated the ending because it was too ambiguous and the title makes no sense. YMMV.
Charming, Elliot James, Audible sale purchase — okay, first thing I want to point out is this author’s last name is James, the guy on the cover of this is the same model on the cover of Hillbilly Rockstar and Roger Wayne has narrated some of my books! Weird, huh? Anyway, I really liked this book a lot. The male protagonist, a werewolf who doesn’t shapeshift, was a super smart ass and that is so appealing to me. The secondary characters were fun and there was plenty of killing and sexual tension to keep my interest. The narrator did an excellent job with the various voices. I’ll definitely keep going with this series, but not until the books go on sale or I have extra credits because the books are super expensive (that’s my former publisher for you)
Lauren’s Barbaraian, Ruby Dixon, Chirp sale purchase — Sci-fi isn’t usually my go to, but I’ve heard a lot about these Barbarian books and the price was right so I tried it. Some of it was really funny. Parts were sexy. It was a fun romp.
The Wallflowers series Books 1-4, Lisa Kleypas — Chirp sale purchase — FULL DISCLOSURE — Devil in Winter is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOKS. I’ve read it a bunch of times and GAH, Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent is my ultimate hero. I LOVE HIM. And to hear the fabulous Mary Jane Wells voice him? True fantasy stuff. I cannot recommend these books, in any format, highly enough!!
Part of the reason I revisited this series in July was to prepare myself for THIS BOOK
Devil in Disguise, The Ravenels series, Lisa Kleypas, Audible purchase — BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR. I’ve been waiting for this book for over a year and as usual, Lisa Kleypas outdid herself. This story was everything! I wanted to listen to it again as soon as I finished it. Mary Jane Wells is one of the best narrators out there. Seriously. I couldn’t have been more happy with this book. I won’t spoil it, but I will say the heroine is one of the Wallflowers daughters and that’s what makes this such a fantastic book 🙂
BOOKS I READ
Exposed, Kristen Callihan, VIP series Book 4, Kindle purchase — I’ve been waiting a long time for this book to release and it did not disappoint. I loved everything about it. If you’re looking for a contemporary rockstar series that is a step above what’s out there and haven’t tried this series, I urge you to start it.
Bath Haus, P.J. Vernon, hardcover purchase — this is a psychological suspense that’s told from the POVs of gay male characters who’ve been in a longterm relationship. When one man decided to visit a bath house and is almost killed — that’s where the story starts. This book had a bunch of hype and I liked it (I reviewed another of Vernon’s books last year) and I will definitely pick up the next book this author releases.
WHAT I CRAFTED
When I compiled the pics of what I’ve been working on, I thought…WOW, you really are rockin’ the retro 70s vibe with these more “folk art” types of needlework. I bought a bunch of these kits mostly to hone my straight stitch practice with wool thread. I’m so happy that I got all of the ones in the series (like 15 of them?) but I have no idea what I’m gonna do with them once I complete them all. If I knew how to do macrame, maybe I could create a wall hanging or something? I’ll take suggestions — haha
See what I mean by folk arty? I’ll confess…I like how fast I can do them 🙂 These first 2, I pretty much stuck to the pattern and the thread included with the kits. The house and sunflower themed ones sort of go with the castles and flowers, but I could separate them into 2 different sets once I get them finished.
This one I didn’t like how the windows looked so I changed them as well as the doors on the castle
Same with these pansies. I liked the shapes but the colors wouldn’t go with the rest of this series so I used the thread I had leftover from the other kits to make it a better match and I’m much happier with my version
This one is closer to true crewel work and matches the flower I posted from last month with all the reds and oranges and greens. I switched out the thread for this (UGH, who put THOSE colors together? they were awful) and created a border because I felt like it needed one.
I have like 4 others that I started in July but aren’t finished….
WHAT I COOKED
We grill a bunch in the summer — and by that I mean Mr. James cooks way more than I do, so not anything new to share. Remember the hack I gave you last month about biscuits in the airfryer? Guess what? You can make crescent rolls the same way! Check out my jar of mango peach jam!
I also did these appetizer kabob things in the airfryer. I saw the recipe and since it contained some of my favorite foods (salami, goat cheese and fig jam, all of which I had on hand) I thought it’d be perfect. Ummm. No. These were messy, the cheese melted too much and I could only make half a batch at a time. And the fryer was a pain in the ass to clean up. Fail.
I bought these little creme brulee’ cups at Sam’s Club, but I’m including it because they were easy and SO GOOD!
I know I’ve shown the rhubarb pies I’ve made in the past, but this recipe? A GAME CHANGER. Instead of mixing the rhubarb with the sugar, half the sugar mixture goes in first, then layer the rhubarb, then sprinkle the remaining sugar mix and top with the second crust. It is shocking how much better the pie is.
D3 and her husband were on their belated Honeymoon trip and were in Washington visiting D2 and her husband and they stopped at a roadside stand and picked up this bag of Rainier cherries. These were the best cherries I’ve ever had in my life and that is saying something!
My girls all have a thing for Bloody Marys (not me) and so they set up this Bloody Mary bar for breakfast one morning. Lots of funky add-ins to choose from and even their dad, who doesn’t drink, got in on the fun 🙂 I had a mimosa instead.
I’m a coffee drinker. Black coffee and lots of it in the morning. But when it’s hot outside…not so much. So I switched to iced coffee. YUM! I make it at home with zero sugar creamer and splenda and it is to die for. OH, and our ice machine is currently in the repair shop awaiting parts so fingers crossed we can get it back home soon.
WHAT I WATCHED
As you can probably tell I crafted a bunch since Mr. James is currently working 7 days a week (oh the joys of being the owner) so we didn’t watch much. And I’m a winter Olympics chick so I didn’t even watch the summer games.
Gunpowder Milkshake, Netflix — a fun campy story about female assassins with a kick-ass cast. I loved it.
Thunder Force, Netflix — I love Melissa McCarthy and this looked funny. Sadly, it wasn’t that great. Watch Gunpowder Milkshake instead.
The Mitchells Vs the Machines — Netflix — this is my granddaughter’s new favorite show and it is hilarious. I probably never would’ve picked it, but I got sucked into it, watching it with her and it is really really good and not just for kids. Highly recommend this one!
GAMES WE PLAYED
I’ve mentioned my love of the Ticket to Ride games, and as weird as it sounds, I’ve made it a goal to collect all of the versions of the game because they’re all different. I bought Rails and Sails for D3 and her husband as their 1st Anniversary present and we ended up playing it before they went back to Houston. It was really fun, and adding boats and boat cards to the train cards made it a completely different game.
I purchased the Nordic Countries version of Ticket to Ride too, and found out it’s only for a max of 3 players. So to make things interesting, we played as couples against each other. And it was super fun! My strategy for the game is not the same as Mr. James’s and the same goes for D1 and her hubby and D3 and her hubby, so it gave a different dimension to the play and we’ve discussed playing it again next time.
That’s it! July all wrapped up. It went by super fast as it always does. I had a great birthday💕
Now tell me how your summer is going! Share something and I’ll pick a winner for a prize of their choosing — and I’ll keep the contest open for 2 weeks!
Thanks everyone for stopping by my blog. Stay cool 😎
XOXO
L~
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Mary Preston said:
I’ve been reading a lot of David Baldacci and Karin Slaughter. I should be knitting, but have not felt like it. I am re-watching POLDARK.
Debra said:
Summer is going almost fast enough. You see, we don’t take our vacation until the day after Labor Day. So we still have SOOOOOOO long to wait! LOL! I’ve spent some time rearranging things in my cedar chest (it used to be my mom’s). Took a couple things out and put some pictures in to keep them safe.
bn100 said:
it’s been relaxing
Alice said:
Sorry to say, but it doesn’t look like I will be taking a vacation this year. I am a caregiver to my mother and she has severe Alhizmers, and she is hard of hearing. I will make her as comfortable as I can, I almost quit last week. She changed her temper real quick once she saw how mad I was. This last month, she has lost her ability to drive. I had to take the keys from her, she hit the major post of the carport not once, but twice. And just yesterday she can’t cook anymore. She burnt the sausages not once but twice. I am just venting, my vacation will be in my dreams.
Tessie said:
I went to Tahoe with some friends mid July and it was amazing! I can’t wait to go back! I also went to LA and Santa Monica Pier with my brother and niece. I had a blast especially shopping at Daiso Japan. It was a great summer. Now I’m back at work though at pre k instead of middle school.
Jenny Black said:
We ended up making a last minute trip home to Utah on the last day of July. Just days before my reliable 8 year old Kindle Fire HD 8.9 decided to have fits. It said that it was low on storage, and while I was cleaning out ARCs it went apeshit on me. As I started to clear out the audiobooks it said that Audible was no longer supported, so that was fun. Then all of a sudden it deleted ALL the books, and won’t even access my library on the cloud. I had to go to Amazon and manually send the book I was reading. We were prepping for the trip and made a last minute stop at Target. I had initially wanted to wait to get a new Kindle, but since we were there…..Well, I got a Kindle Fire 8 and it’s just the right size. It made the trip a lot easier. I discovered that I can read well on the planes, but listening to audiobooks doesn’t work for me. I need to be doing something else while I’m listening.
joanna biggs said:
Coming to i and end but the girls got their trip to the beach which was their number one. Had a great summer but this momma is ready for school
K. A Bylsma said:
Summer in Alaska has been odd, to say the least…much cooler than usual except for a few record breaking heat days! 😬
The two camping trips were rainy and cool but still fun, just to get away.
I don’t watch things or listen to audio. The author’s words create the voices, nuances in my head so its very disconcerting to hear narratives.
Fish have been heavy, for the most part, so that’s great. Salmon! Halibut! It sounds as if you’ve had a good summer, for sure. I’ve told my DIL about your air fryer hacks because they have one and love it.
K. A Bylsma said:
Forgot to tell you I love Jane Yellowrock!!!!! Fabulous series..can’t imagine someone voicing it.😳
Have you tried Suzanne Johnson’s Sentinel series? So much fun! 😊
Bobbie Sue Kearse said:
How’s my summer going? Let’s see, I now know how the wicked witch of the west felt in wizard of OZ because I’m melting. It’s been a hot one but lots of lake days are helping. Lol
Jeanine Lesperance said:
Jane Yellowrock is one of my personal favorites. Love the whole series. I will also check out some of your other recommendations. I have mostly been working and trying to stay cool, since it has been so Hot and Humid here in Atlanta.
Dionne Dyer said:
Interestingly I also started Skinwalker this past month and have continued with the series, I am having fun with it. Haven’t gotten much in the way of crafting done, having a bit of summer blues which is a thing for me but I’ve done a bit of baking and that is a plus. And I’m rather excited about a big order of tea I put in
Nikki H said:
We just took a 4 day trip to Galveston to visit with my husband’s sister and her son’s family, who live in The Netherlands, and hadn’t seen in 2 years. We had such a great time and had some fantastic seafood. We stayed in the most charming Air Bnb, and will stay there again when we go back. It was pet friendly, near downtown, and very affordable.
Today we went to a martial arts tournament where the 4 oldest grandkids competed. It was the first for all of us so now we know what to expect. One of them performed outstandingly and the other 3 had a fun time, so winners all around. I think this next week I’ll be doing some fall cleaning, getting ready for my favorite season, and getting some sewing done that I’ve been putting off. Your needlework is so inspiring!
Judy said:
It’s so nice to see someone else who likes Lisa’s books. She got me back into reading with It Happened One Autumn. My July included vacation to Atlantic City and reading. And eating at some really good restaurants.
Michelle Holden said:
No trips for me this summer. It’s too damn hot here anyways (100+ average temps) 2 of my friends came out here to Las Vegas from Michigan, after a stop in Arizona to visit one of their moms than drove up her to Las Vegas since they were out West.
I have been enjoying time in the ac with my basset hound, Murphy.
Lois said:
So I’m a big fan of Faith Hunter, everything she writes is good. And I enjoyed the Kushiels series too.
Maritza said:
Been busy, went to N.Y. state to visit my parents, a week later to Texas for a funeral.
Nan said:
I don’t consider myself a crafty kind of person, though I do a sewing project once in a while. In July I finally finished the baby quilt I’ve been working on for over year. It turned out really well.
The first weekend of August I was able to go upstate to my granddaughter’s & her boyfriend’s house for the first time; my first road trip of any kind since Covid. So I was able to give her the quilt for her baby, my great grandson (who is adorable, BTW). I hope to go again in the near future, providing we don’t go into lockdown again.
Stay safe everyone. Please get vaccinated if you haven’t already done so. Do it for yourself AND others. Wear a mask for yourself and others as well.
Debbie Bales said:
I never used to be a fan of the Summer Olympics but then 2 things happened. 1) Michael Phelps (I had huge crush on him and loved to watch him swim) and 2) 9 years ago I had a chance to go to an Olympic event (women’s volleyball; saw Brazil who ended up with the gold) with my niece and my best friend in London while my niece and I were up a trip to England and France to celebrate my niece’s graduation from 8th grade.
Amy Perrault said:
We’ve been camping & spending time with family. We went to fireworks mid-August for a big event & loved it!!
Sylvain Perraul said:
Been relaxing & working but not as busy as usually. I’ve been camping with my family & did our family photos on our 14th married Anniversary!!
Erin Dixon said:
All was going a lot better but now this new wave of covid is starting to kick our butts. I’m a Radiologic Technologist in a rural hospital in South Georgia and all the upper level of care hospitals are full so it make us a lot stressed out because we have trouble getting sick people help that we have no capability of providing because we don’t have an ICU. So prayers for all of Healthcare.
Sherry Mason said:
My oldest daughter brought my 4 y/o granddaughter and the newest granddaughter born this past March that I had not seen yet to visit us in July. Her husband was stationed in Hawaii so they moved there. I had been working from home since March of last year but finally had to return to the office in July after my daughter’s visit.My other daughter moved out and is in her 2nd year of college. My son is in 8th grade. so this is his lasting year of middle school and he’s our last child at home. I have mostly been reading or crafting but recently finished the show Lucifer and now watching Yellowstone. That’s about it for me! Thanks for the chance to win.
Alina said:
🙂 working alot. I like work. And it’s very hot outside, I love the air in the evening and night. I’m on the audiobooks love now, mostly because I listen to them in the warm evenings and nights. 😀
Anne Fortunato said:
I had a great summer with Grammy CAmp for my 6 year old granddaughter and a long weekend for my 10 year old grandson. They are so much fun…it was great.
Kathleen O'Donnell said:
The beginning of the month was really busy. I was helping out a friend who had a fall, until her daughter could get here and then it was quiet until the last part of the month where I got to see my BFF’s all together for the 1st time since 2019. We call ourselves The Grp of 7 and one of us was having a big birthday, so we celebrated at our fav restaurant and at the same time got to see my Aunt’s new digs and stayed over at my cousins new Condo. The weather was great and that made my sitting in the backyard reading feel like heaven.
Juli Hall said:
My niece and her 2 little boys, ages 3 & 7, moved in with me and my husband so Its been a little crazy at my house. I also watch them while she works so that’s been challenging to say the least.
Also my family love Ticket to Ride, we play it all the time
Ruth S said:
I dropped Son 1 off at the air port and he is now in the UK for 3 years of military’s service and not sure when we will see him next. He has all ready totaled his car he bought over there, but he is adulting. My 2 son just got dropped off at TTU for his 1st year of college. That was hard on me as I drove him down and towed the ranger we are letting him drive. As we pulled into town my truck check engine light came on. I was told I can drive on it and make it back to CO but it stressed me out the entire time I drove by myself home. Now this week I will get Son 3 out the door for Middle School and football (and try to do that with out him crying because his brothers are not here).
Mary said:
I love Lisa Kleypas. St. Vincent is my favorite of all of her heroes. It’s like he’s the type of psychopath you want in your life. I have read the novel bunches and it never gets boring. Sigh!
Pamela Gomes said:
What an incredible birthday month you had!
Since we share that, my July was also great. I had frequent visits with the grandson who will be 1 in September, so that’s always a plus.
When the wind and smoke wasn’t bad, I spent time in the pool. Other times we prepped tomatoes and grating zucchini for the freezer and the man kept working on his pepper sauces.
Bonus surprise is the new wine bar in our little town. It’s really a winery tasting room but they also serve beer so it’s a wine bar. I was very happily surprised that the wines are wonderful and the place is within walking distance. It’s a great addition to our community.
I hope August is productive and with a bit of fun for you!
Wendy Stewart said:
In the month of July I went to Galveston Tx and just relaxed on the beach. The weather wasn’t too hot because there was a nice breeze blowing. My son who is in the Army was able to come home for a week to celebrate his 24th birthday and the Fourth of July. We cooked out hot dogs and made home made vanilla ice cream. It was so hard taking him to the airport to fly back to base. Started back to work with a three day workshop on how reading for younger students. We are officially back to the 2021-2022 school year. Fingers crossed it will be a good year.
Sam Nelson said:
No vacation this year hospital visit got in the way.
No reading on my Kindle because my eyes are a direct result of hospital stay.
Now about dessert my favorite is crepe burlee since my grandmother died and I can’t have a lemon meringue pie.
I learned about the cherries 3 years ago and they are my favorite but are only available for such a short time and they’re usually about $6.99 per pound.
I hope to move back to Virginia from Texas before the first of the year and that’s what’s keeping me going.
God Bless
SARAH TAYLOR said:
No Vacation for me this year Have been helping my daughter with my new granddaughter who is now 4 months old It seems like summer has went by so fast! The other grandchildren are getting ready to go back to school in a few days! Have a great week! God Bless You and Your Family!
Elisa A said:
Thanks Lorelei!
My summer is going great! In Ontario (Canada), things started to open up again in early July. My hubby and I play on 2 volleyball teams, so we were able to get back out on the sand, finally! The first couple of games were scary bad. But we’re in week 6 now, and things are so much better!
Other than that, I’m still busy as heck with my gardens. The daisies, hollyhocks and phlox were in full bloom and looking lovely. I started harvesting beans, beans and more beans! I planted 6 varieties of bush beans and 12 of poles beans. At the peak, we were eating them every night, plus I was giving away about 2 lbs / day to friends and neighbours! 7 of the 18 varieties are grown for the dried bean. I just love baked beans in the winter! It is such a great comfort food when it’s snowing outside! Mostly I select bean varieties based on their neat colour or cool names (Rattlesnake, Skunk, Silver Cloud, Dragon’s Tongue, Black Turtle, Blue Jay, etc)
I also harvested my garlic, and towards the end of July, started to harvest some potatoes. But the bulk of them will be in August.
My tomatoes have also started to harvest towards the end of July. It looks like it will be a banner year, so I will get to stew and can quite a bit again this year. Same as the beans, I choose varieties for colour and names (Muddy Mamba, Wessel’s Purple Pride, Chocolate Sprinkles, Yellow Ping Pong, Pineapple, Dick’s, etc)
But in the end, if they don’t taste good, I don’t care how colourful or how cool the name is, their seeds won’t get saved. 🙂
I started to read J.D. Robb’s (Nora Roberts) In Death Series. I’ve just finished the 2nd book… of 52! I have a long way to go. I like that the story line is not 100% predictable, and even though there are some sex scenes, it’s not all about the sex. The stories so far have been interesting to me.
I also read Thick As Thieves, Sandra Brown. I believe you reviewed this book a while ago! I loved it! A couple of times, the plot twist caught me by surprise. Sometimes, I just want to read a book that is unpredictable.
I haven’t seen my parents since fall 2019, so I’m planning to drive 6 hrs to see them next month. It will be a working visit (dad needs his balcony replaced, so hubby and I are going to do it for him), but it will be nice to see my mom and dad face to face, rather than on video chat!
Anita Mallari said:
How can it be August and halfway through??? My summer started out with a new position at work in June and really enjoying it. Little Charlotte came into the world June 25th my little sunshine I just love her! I bought a townhouse the first week of July so excited to move and out of apartment living. I’m over the moving of boxes and ready to be settled in.
Karen Hrdlicka said:
Summer went too fast, especially when I got a reaction to my covid vaccine and it took me three weeks to recover, so most of July was shot. Sadly back to school today for meetings and kids back on Wednesday.
Lisa Rounsley said:
No clue where July went. I know it sure was hot and very dry. So spent a lot of time inside. Traveled back and forth to Rapid a few times and did some shopping.
Now ready to settle into a school routine and cooler weather.
Kim B said:
My summer has been hard, my brother was diagnosed with cancer and passed away within weeks. It really sucks that I’ve lost 2 siblings before they reached 60. I finally went off a medication pump so I would be able to go swimming but weather didn’t permit until yesterday. It was an amazing day though – Lake Michigan was still cold but the view was beyond beautiful. My husband and I played in the water like we were teens which was much needed break. We also hit an outlet mall and I got a bunch of free truffle samples. Next week we have a mini vacation planned to celebrate my husbands birthday.
LISA DAVIS said:
This summer has been crazy, not in a good way. My mom who is 75 and my brother had Covid 19. They are doing better but my mom is not recovering like she should. Before Covid she drove her car and her mind was still Sharpe. Now she can’t drive at all, is on oxygen 24 /7 and walks with a walker. She can’t cook anymore because she can’t stand long enough. I’m very, very grateful for her no matter that she has to be taken care of now. This lady helped me through some dark times and has always been there for me. So, no vacation in the near future but I don’t mind. As long as she is here ill be by her side. I’m so happy everyone seems to of had a great summer. Take care of yourself.
Kris Lidinsky said:
How is my summer going? Well it is definitely a summer of big adjustments. First I retired in March, then my husband passed away after a very short bout of cancer. So.. I am adjusting to my new normal, taking over his insurance business, working hard to enjoy my children ,grandchildren and friends and reading alot. You just never know what life holds.
Kelly said:
Hi,
First I wanted to say I love your books! I spent July relaxing, cleaning out my closet and thinking about organizing my daughter’s room..lol. After going through my closet I needed a few weeks to recover. I’m glad you had a great Birthday, hope August is just as great!