Saturday Surprise — the Drums of August Wrap-Up in Lorelei’s life and a contest!
September 5, 2020
First off, I cannot believe it is September. It definitely felt like fall a couple of mornings this week. We’re currently in Denver for the long weekend and it is 97…and snow is forecast for Wednesday 😲
Things were less hectic in August. Except for the release of this book 😍 — this is me at a local TV station plugging my latest release WANT YOU TO WANT ME -do you have your copy?
Thankfully we got to spend some time on the boat at the lake. Sadly, Copper pulled a muscle in his leg and the poor dog would hardly walk so with him being on IR, we didn’t get any walking in either. Been a rough summer for trying to keep up our 3 mile walks 4-5 days a week. Hopefully now that Copper is on the mend we can resume.
WHAT I WATCHED
Hockey. Lots and lots of hockey, since the Colorado Avalanche were in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was a heartbreaking loss yesterday, in game 7, in overtime, to the Dallas Stars. In my heart of hearts I believe had the team been healthy – SIX key players were injured — they would’ve been able to defend better. But the series was outstanding, some really great hockey games, some super comebacks and even though my team isn’t in the Western Conference finals, I’ll keep watching the rest of the series.
The Assistant, Netflix movie — I hated this movie. It was billed as a thriller, and there wasn’t a thrilling thing about it. It was a thinly veiled day in the life of an assistant to Harvey Weinstein, which I didn’t know until after I wasted 2 hours of my life on this garbage that basically had zero plot with all characters sycophants. HARD PASS if I were you.
Banksy Documentary, Netflix — my husband is a big fan of the artist known as Banksy and I’d never heard of him until we went to Paris a few years ago and we actually saw a Banksy on a building and he explained the type of art the man was known for. If you’re interested in off-the-wall art and artists and an entire “outlaw art” movement this is a great one to see.
The Princess Bride Home Stories, Quibi original (phone app)– I let my Quibi subscription expire the day after I watched this super cool adaptation of The Princess Bride, done by actors and actresses from Hugh Jackman to Joe Jonas to Jennifer Garner, performing parts in their own homes. It is one of the best things I’ve seen all year! Hilarious, on point, and another reminder of why The Princess Bride is in my Top Five movies of all time.
WHAT I COOKED
Last week, I already shared all the stuff I dehydrated throughout the month. And for some reason I didn’t take pics of anything besides this one recipe I was dying to try — Roasted Tomato and Garlic pie, from Bon Appetit magazine. I’ve been a subscriber to the mag for years, and some of their recipes are so ridiculous and over the top it tends to be entertainment for me to read about ingredients I’d NEVER find in my local grocery store. But some of their recipes are out of this world amazing. So when I saw the “too many tomatoes?” headline, I decided to try a couple of the recipes. The Burst Cherry Tomato pasta will go into rotation at our house even in the winter when we have cherry tomatoes that need to get used up. That recipe was so successful, I decided to try this one — this is the pic from the magazine of the dish:
Looks delicious, right? The recipe was a bit more involved that I normally want to do in the summer, with having the oven on, but I sallied forth. And this is what mine turned out like:
Yeah, doesn’t look the same, does it? The flavor was good, but I did have to make a cheese substitution that made it a little salty. I had two take aways from this recipe — roasting sliced tomatoes with olive oil and sea salt gives them a different flavor that is all kinds of good. And roasting garlic is super easy and I will always roast my own from here on out.
I’m into making quiche lately, tossing soon to be over-ripe veggies in and calling it good. But I did put a little effort into this one, and managed to snap a pic of before and after:
WHAT MY GARDEN LOOKS LIKE
My flowers did bounce back from the 5 hail storms we’ve had this summer, and I realized that I only have one picture on my phone and it’s of how crazy my succulents have grown.
WHAT I CRAFTED
I finished up 2 big projects in August–both gifts. The first one was a kit I ordered from the Ukraine. It is a beaded project done on wood. Yes, the beads are sewn just like cross stitch fabric through the holes in the thin wood. It took me a switch in mindset when I started, but it was really fun to do. A LOT of work though. My only complaint is the pattern and the actual wooden cut-out were off by 2 rows, so I had 2 extra rows I had to improvise how to bead. The pictures are of the kit with a mall amount of beading done, the entire surface beaded and how the backside is finished since it is 3D!
The other project I literally worked on until my fingers bled was for my bestie Kim’s birthday. I was able to do this one while I watched hockey, since here’s the little set-up I created for myself. With the beads on a sticky mat on a lap desk with a spotlight. Clever, huh?
Here’s a close up of the finished flower:
And here’s how I framed it for her:
WHAT I READ
I gravitated toward mystery/thriller/psychological suspense again. I read a set of mystery short pieces, written by individual authors, and they fell flat for me, so I won’t mention them. One thing I really really HATE is books that are touted as being THRILLERS when they’re NOT. NOT EVEN CLOSE. To me, a thriller is an urgent book. Get those kids off the bus before the bomb explodes! kind of a fast-paced story. I’m always a little pissy when I finish a book that should’ve been marked psychological suspense.
Take Me Apart, Sara Sligar — one of the reviews called this “A West Coast art-world satire, an erotic romance and a descent into madness [with a] gratifying conclusion.”
Umm. NO. Not an erotic thing about this book. It’d gotten some buzz so I bought it. While I didn’t hate it…I didn’t love it either, and I hate feeling meh about a book after spending $13.99 digitally on it. I guess I didn’t see the “crime” aspect of it when the crime had been committed years earlier.
He Started It, Samantha Downing — another psychological suspense. A family road trip, taken as adults, where the siblings are following a road trip they’d taken as children. None of the characters are likeable. And the ending sort of pissed me off because it really made no sense. That said, I will admit as a mystery writer, I don’t like when characters break that 4th wall, and the head-hopping is something I taught myself not to do early on in my writing journey, but now that seems perfectly acceptable. Again, normally I wouldn’t share the books that struck me as wrong, but parts of this were a compelling read…
Blacktop Wasteland, S.A. Cosby — I LOVED THIS BOOK. Complete southern noir, #ownvoices, with a black male protagonist who isn’t a hero, or a villain, but lands somewhere in between. The writing was fantastic, the storyline clipped along at a superb pace. I highly recommend this one if you like noir-ish reads.
Winter Counts, David Heska Wanbli Weiden — I waited months to read this book, I ordered it immediately after it went up for preorder. It is a mystery set on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, which immediately piqued my interest, since this is also a #ownvoices novel, written by an enrolled member of the tribe who lives in Denver. It was a good read, not necessarily fast-paced. As someone who’s written in the POV of a Native American character, and has books set on real and imagined Indian Reservations in South Dakota, I was hoping for a fresh take. Maybe it’s because I do live where there’s a large native population that it did feel like there wasn’t any new ground broken. But I did enjoy it.
Deal With the Devil, Kit Rocha — LOVED this book. It had the perfect balance of action and sexy times and great characterization! The plot made sense and the world building was vivid. I am looking forward to more in this series and I whole-heartedly recommend this book!
That’s pretty much it for me for the month of August! Leave a comment about how your month went and I will pick a winner for a signed copy of SILVER-TONGUED DEVIL! And If I get enough comments? I’ll also give away a copy of WANT YOU TO WANT ME! So share the post 🙂
Thanks for listening,
XOXO
L~
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Patty said:
Cute crafty projects. 🙂
Shaelee said:
August flew by too quickly. There was a lot of working. A lot of taking care of dogs and some small celebrations. I turned 32. My husband and I celebrated 6 years of marriage together. August flew by just like the rest of the year so far and I can only hope it gets better. Hope you’re staying safe! Happy September!
Jenny said:
My daughter started school, its hybrid for the time being. Got a few basic supplies but since she was starting middle school we didn’t have specifics until the first couple of days. I dislike school supply shopping.
A few months ago I lost interest in working on my winter cardinal cross stitch. And I wanted to get back to cross stitch but not necessarily that one yet. So I managed to get another cardinal cross stitch that is smaller and I’ve been working on that, just a few days work and I’ve made significant progress. I’ll post a picture in the reader group when its done 😊
Michelle D Holden said:
Cool Craft projects, Kimber’s gift is beautiful 😀
I hope Copper is feeling better.
I have been looking forward to this long weekend, I work 4 10’s and have Tuesdays off, so I added Wednesday as a vacation day, ahhh 5 days off in a row. I hope to get some reading in and maybe do a puzzle or two.
Our week here in Las Vegas is going to be hot, 110-115 and then drop down to like 87 by mid week (I’m gonna freeze! – LOL anything under 90 to me is cold as I love the hot weather, probably because I work in an air conditioned office that is freezing and I have a space heater at my desk!)
Mary C said:
The library opened for curbside pick up and some retail stores also opened. Enjoyed my trip to Barnes and Noble.
Stacia said:
Wow! Both of your projects are gorgeous!!! And I was bummed about the Avs!!
Megan said:
We started back to school this month after over five months off of in person learning. I’m continuing to figure out how to teach both in person and remote students in the middle of a global pandemic. I’m trying to take time to do self care and not become too overwhelmed the weight of all my responsibilities. I read and bake to relax and recover. I love my students and my job and I need to take care of myself to be my best in the classroom.
Marina Marinova said:
August has been all kinds of craxy for me. I moved to a new flat, and though the move was only accross the street, it was still a pain. And of course I am still living in boxes. Plus half of the furniture I ordered hasn’t arrived yet because of limited stock, and so on, and so on.
On the work front, things have been super busy. We have a huge demostration scheduled for next week, and August was spent preparing for it. Which meant a lot of late nights fixing things and putting out fires. But I love my job, so I enjoyed every minute of it.
I do hope it will get much easier to travel again soon as I miss it a lot. Plus I hope I get to see you next year again. Even if I can’t give you a hug due to restrictions or who knows what 😉
Jacqueline Ingram said:
That pie looks great. I just ordered the paperback of Want you to Want me. Have a wonderful weekend!!
Sherri Atwood said:
The best part of August was “Want You to Want Me” coming out (I absolutely loved it)…I did a reread of the Need You Series and Jax’s book right before it came out…I love all of their stories. I celebrated my 59th birthday on the 11th and went out to eat with my sisters. I started back to school on the 19th, hoping to be teaching my kids in person starting on September 8th and right now it’s not looking good for in person instruction in my county in West Virginia. Finally, I was surprised and saddened by your blog post on the 22nd, because I love all of your books and I think you are the best author writing romances and mysteries!!!
Dar said:
August was a packing month, as I sold my house and had to sort through 20 years of stuff! I moved into my new place August 31, and realize there is still more stuff that can go 🙂
Kathy P said:
Kids home from college and it was great having them here. My daughter took over the cooking – yay! The garden did pretty well – lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini. Read/listened to books regularly.
Tambra Byrne said:
I love hearing about your exploits. Anything that is set in South Dakota piques my interest. My great-grandmother was born in Presho. She used to tell me about the good looking “Indian” boys from the reservation. 😉
My August was about the same as the previous 5 months. Work and home, work and home. Did have a sleepover with the grandkids before they started school.
Chrissy said:
August was busy with trying to get ready for back to school. I’m a teacher and the plan changed half a dozen times throughout the month. It’s still not confirmed and the kids are in on Tuesday. As a result, we stuck pretty close to home. Although, that’s pretty much what we’ve done for the whole summer (my daughter falls into the high risk category).
I love the beading projects!
Debra Bard said:
August started off good, but went down hill. My nephew and his friends were supposed to visit but….COVID-19 canceled that. My birthday was the 14th. Ordered in the birthday dinner.
Tested for COVID 19, mandatory before surgery. Quanitined before surgery.
Had the surgery on Friday. Recovering from surgery. feeling good!
Elisa said:
August for me was all about the garden and finishing up a photobook. I had purchased an online coupon for an 80-page photobook back in February with a 6 month expiry. Six months is plenty of time, right? Wrong! There’s nothing like a looming deadline to get me motivated. So I finished it on the day it expired, and I think it looks great!
This summer has been so dry in my little town, the rain clouds develop all around us, but don’t grace us with any moisture. And since the town charges for water usage, plus a an automatic sewer surcharge / tax on water ‘consumed’, it gets pretty expensive. That’s right, so even if we use a bunch to water the garden, we get charged twice for it, because they assume it’s going down the drain.
To counter that fee, we have an underground tank into which we run our rain gutters. We’re still using all that lovely rain from April and May! We’re in the process of installing a pump system. So in the meantime, we’re bailing with a 5 gallon pail and pouring into our watering cans. Yes, archaic, but will be much better once we get that pump installed! We’re down to the last 18 inches! So, long story just to say, I spent the rest of my Aug watering the vegetable garden, trying to keep everything alive!
Thanks for your share, Lorelei! Take care!
Loretta said:
I’ve canned tomatoes, made pickles, harvested leeks and shallots, and have zucchini that just won’t quit ! My garden is going like gangbusters and probably have another 10-12 quarts of tomatoes to can. My apples have set nicely and will be harvesting this month. This is just a hobby but still had enough time set aside to revisit the McKay. I started from the beginning and Im working my way through again. Love me some hot hot hot cowboys
bn100 said:
watched some movies
Jennifer Beyer said:
August was college move in and starting to look for a job. I honestly can’t remember everything that we did because it was a blur. I’m hoping September is a little more sedate. Oh, I read Want You To Want Me and I loved it.
Amanda R said:
My August went the same as the month before. My oldest got his first job, now he doesn’t have to ask us for spending money. My youngest is doing distance learning and neither one of us likes it.
Diane Amato said:
My August was partly about going back into the office. No more working from home 5 days a week. We are now home 3 days. Not hard going back to work but a pain to actually have to think about what to wear. I did read want you to want me but I cannot find Silver tongue devil at my local Walmart or Barnes and Noble. I’ll have to keep looking.
Most importantly in August my first grandchild was born so I am really loving that.
Mary Preston said:
I had a calm month – got to love that. Lots of knitting and reading.
Tessie Tavares said:
August went by quick! I work at a middle school in Nevada and we started on the 24th as a hybrid school. Im a Paraprofessional so we went back on the 13th to get chromebooks ready for pickup and getting our rooms ready. Its been hectic but I’m glad to see mt students again!
Judy Maylott said:
Love your writing. Yes, I purchased and loved WYTWM. My husband was a hockey coach who coached male and female teams. Writing is true to life.
Cale Makar played at UMass , where my husband played hockey. Got to watch him play. Great player , nice guy!
Elaine Lee said:
August…It started with my second trip to the hairdressers since they were allowed to open. That being said..it was the month of harvesting the garden…about 1/2 acre. Froze beans, swiss chard, tomatoes, beets and corn not only for my husband and me but for my father-in-law(93) and his sister(81). I had to do portion control for them!!! Then we were off to the hay field when the weather permitted (always said a ‘possible’ chance of rain – never got any rain when they said that but when they said it was going to be clear…well that is when we got the rain!)Again, we were making hay on two different farms. We should be finished with the hay within the next 2 weeks. Taking care of rabbits, laying hens and ducks daily. Early mornings and late nights. On my down time I read!!! Not much else is going on…ha ha
Love reading your blog and your books…Enjoy
Leslie Smith said:
August went ok. I’m a teacher and our start date kept being pushed back. We start Tuesday. Spent time with family on the boat. Read both Want books. Al in all… an okay month. Say a prayer for your teachers or leave some wine on our doorsteps. We’re in for a wild ride.
Shaun Brinkhurst said:
We had a cool month out here in Alberta, but got some nice weather at the end of August… the best part of the whole month was finding out that we’re going to be “Grandparents”!!! Can’t wait for March!!
We also had our middle son find work out of province but he is really excited about it and on his way to a new adventure.
The personal best thing for me was to get back riding my gelding “Tux” who’s now 21 and missed out riding as I was having chemo – but now we’re back in the saddle again!!
A great month all in all!! <3
Kristie Galindo said:
My month went well! Lots of floating in the pool, my son got his first post-college job, we flew to Florida to visit family and we are currently in Minnesota visiting our daughter! Hope you are well! Xoxo
Tiss Johnson said:
My Month was spent in the hay field. CRP haying opened on Aug 2 and we had some help and went after it, with 2 solid weeks of haying. Then we went into hauling and still have a ways to go. But here and there we will take an afternoon off, if it’s too hot. Don’t need to start a fire…..
No reading for me. Just early morning and late nights most of the time.
Amy Perrault said:
My August was exciting!! My 13th married Anniversary was on the 2nd & we did our family photos. We spent time out & enjoyed ourselves while our kids were watched. I spent alot of time camping & visiting my parents there cause they were on there 3 weeks holidays. We only see most of our parents in the summer except a few times in the winter for holidays. It was a great month
Sylvain Perrault said:
I enjoyed my month & had my married Anniversary with family pictures & friends. My daughter had a friend over alot to have sleepovers. We visited both our families camping.
Anne Stevens said:
My August was crazy. Started a new job and getting my homeschool set up to start next week.
Lisa Rounsley said:
My August went super fast. A bit warm in my neck of South Dakota.
Samantha Henning said:
I spent the month moving from Virginia to Tennessee and celebrated mine and my son’s birthday. Very hectic month.
Moran said:
I read an Arc Want You to Want Me back in July and I loved it! I’m still waiting for my print copy to arrive from The Book Depository.
I love your craft projects, they look like a lot of fun and they turn out really pretty.
I was so happy August ended because I thought the weather would cool down but instead I got the hottest week since summer started during the first week of September.
I Watched 10 seasons of Modern Family ( I need to find a way to watch season 11 since it’s not on Netflix Israel ).
I started watching The Big Bang Theory and I’m on season 11 already, it was so hard to find something to watch. I kept trying shows on Netflix but nothing was interesting .
Anne Fortunato said:
Facetime is wonderful! I facetimed with my 100 year old aunt in VA, her daughter in VA and granddaughter in Seattle every week this month. I also had two baking sessions with my 5 year old granddaughter…she is a great decorator!
Caroline said:
August was 95° and humid pretty much all month, so I did a lot of sweating!
Baylee Hollar said:
I have been thinking about trying Quibi, if I do I’ll definitely want to watch that! I just keep seeing commercials for this show the mapleworth mysteries, looks funny
kc said:
August felt pretty much like June & July, and May, and April…very little happening socially. Yardwork, housework, reading, stitching (some needlepoint, some counted cross-stitch). But mid-August got very busy for a week: the painter called, you’re next on the list, can we start tomorrow? So for 3 days I was up & ready by 8:00 AM (felt like I was back at work!) as they painted all the outside trim, screens, porch rails & posts, & the garage door. Then on the 4th morning, still up & ready by 8 because another company was finally able to install 4 new windows (glass block) and an outside door in the basement. Hooray! Just having the asphalt driveway re-sealed in the next couple weeks & all the special projects will be done for the summer! Next year…maybe the electric & the kitchen… Shoot, just trying to get somethings organized! That’s an ongoing job in this house!
Aly P said:
That quiche *swoon*
I really loved Mercenary Librarians book 1, I can’t wait to see how the plot develops.
Stacey C said:
I’m going to have to see if Quibi has a free trial period. I love the Princess Bride!
August was good for me. I got a bonus 4 days off from work with pay due to corona testing. I’m negative, and I enjoyed every moment of my time off.
I started doing 10 min of yoga every day. It’s part of a 30 day morning yoga challenge with Kassandra. I’m in love with it!!
Ruth Smithson said:
I hope I am not to late to enter the contest. It has been a weekend. I also wanted to let you know I love your books!
Ruth 🙂
Travel safe
LaKesha said:
August was pretty uneventful for me but September is and will continue to be spectacular!!! ITS MY BIRTHDAY MONTH! WOOHOO!! 🎉🎈🎁🎂👑🥂🍾
Judy Cohen said:
I had a total knee replacement on July 20, so my August has been learning to walk again. In addition, I turned 70 at the end of August and had a lovely dinner with my family. Havent done anything really exciting, but I’ve read a lot of books.
Pamela Gomes said:
Looks like you had a full month. We were curious about your raisins. Did you put anything on the grapes before you dried them?
Here’s to hoping you have a great September. I have my first grandbaby coming any day now!
Kellie M Rossow said:
August was quite a month! Since I am a budget coordinator for a school district, I was able to see kids returning to school the beginning of August with masks, learning to adjust to remote vs. in class learning, and finally, me turning “59 years old”. Overall, it was a terrific month!
I purchased “Want You to Want Me”, read it and then returned to the first of the series to reread all of them. Can you tell that I love the series? 😉
Have a spectacular September!!!!!
April Pawless said:
August has been a weird month, my kid should have started school on the 10th, but they pushed it back to the 24th, Football still hasn’t really started yet and since i have cheerleader it just seems off.