The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week, and showcase books and things we have received.
Stacking The Shelves is also a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Marlene from Reading Reality. It’s all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
Don’t forget to look at my giveaways on the right sidebar.
What looked like a week with only 2 days of rain turned into a week with 5 days having some rain. Sunday was a nice day of blog visiting. Monday and Tuesday, I got things done but woke up early and went to bed late, so by Tuesday afternoon my eyes hurt and I had to nap. We got applications for absentee ballots from the county so we got those ready to mail back. I was glad to get them; I was going to request them. I want to cook more but without AC it’s hot so we are sticking to reheats, scrambled eggs, salads, and sandwiches.
So my daughter wanted to knit a new blanket. I have wool yarn I bought to make a large blanket in 2005. It is blue gray, dark gray and light gray. None of my color schemes included those colors at the time. Now we want this for our family room and they are exactly the colors there! Monday night I stayed up late because we were getting out the yarn, figuring out the pattern and I was getting her set up with needles and markers. I’m really excited to see how this turns out even though I meant to knit it myself. It’s sort of the same story with the flannel dog quilt. I bought the fabric and started it about 5 years ago in Minnesota and the dog on the main pattern looks just like Lulu but we only rescued her last July!
Wednesday I had a very hard time getting up, I just felt so tired. But I got lots of great new ARCs and got some things accomplished. I have been overwhelmed with all the emails for new ARC possibilities. I have about 10 emails of ones I really might want but couldn’t decide. I called again about the HVAC and they told me they would 24 hour escalate it. 8 days now.
Thursday I spent 4 hours researching grass seeds, grass starter and starter fertilizer. I verified my research with the same experts I confirmed the weed killer info last week. Due to a lifelong disinterest in grass lawns and severe grass pollen allergies, I have no experience. But now I will learn. I also got a bunch of ARCs.
Friday it finally cooled down and a good north breeze so it was time to mow the lawn. To prep for weed killer, I had to learn how to put the bag on the mower so I could catch the cuttings. I read the instructions which made more sense than the last time I tried it and watched a Youtube vidoe. It went pretty well after a few tries. The lawn looks great again, nice and short. What a gorgeous day.
Saturday was the time to kill the weeds. In a week or two, then I will try some “test” lawns to see what works best to grow grass better. Later, I made a quick run to pick up scripts from the pharmacy drive-thru and to get all the grass seed, starter fertilizer topsoil, turfbuilder, a sprinkler, a broadcast spreader and a garden rake from curbside pickup at Home Depot. I made my favorite chard dish for dinner which takes over 2 hours plus a steak on the grill. Lulu and I got in another round of watching fireflies in the backyard.
Sunday I will try to seed a small section of the front yard that the utility people dug up last fall. It should be another gorgeous day, then it will be back to 3-4 days of rain. I’m now making daily calls about the HVAC to the warranty company. (12 days now) At least the weather now is cooler. I am sleeping much better.
Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. These are the exciting ARCs I received this week (If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Goodreads entry):
Thanks to Elizabeth Hunter, PRH Audio, Recorded Books, MacMillan Audio, and Tantor Audio.
(If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Goodreads entry)
Nothing.
Now the really scary one. This is all the Kindle and Audible freebies I grabbed this past week. You can see why I need to do Thrifty Thursday to be sure I read a few at least one each month.
Nothing!!!!!
I’m not including things like reviews posted or upcoming as they are always in the right sidebar. And, my challenge status is also there.
If you like this and want to see me do the Sunday post, as often as I can manage, leave me a comment and let me know.
Anne
- 🎧 A Killing on the Hill by Robert Dugoni @robertdugoni #BrillianceAudio #LoveAudiobooks #KindleUnlimited🎧 - April 25, 2024
- Murder in Rose Hill by Victoria Thompson @gaslightvt @BerkleyPub - April 23, 2024
- Sunday Series: Joe Pickett by CJ Box @cjboxauthor #DavidChandler @RecordedBooks#SundaySeries #LoveAudiobooks - April 21, 2024
Lulu looks so cute! And as always you are busy as heck *smile* Happy reading and stay safe and well.
Thank you Vi! I am well into my yard projects this week and so glad the weather is not too hot.
Wow, planting grass sounds complicated. Here in California we’re encouraged to get rid of out grass and plant only drought tolerant plants. Sometimes the city even helps pay for you to do that! Hope you have a nice week, Anne?
Thank you! I never knew anything about grass but it’s more difficult where you have bad soil. In Iowa and Minnesota where I lived before, the soil is generally great so you don’t have to do much but here you have to put down soil because what is here is awful.
We crossed paths on a couple of books (Higgins, Kay) and I’m looking forward to listening to both. I hear you about being overwhelmed with ARCs. The candy store is so tempting?
Have a wonderful week, Anne?
So tempting! These are ones with widgets or links where I can get them. I have no space in my schedule until August. I need to let some of them go. I ignore almost all the blog tours and publicity ones. I read about them.
The lack of AC has to miserable. And the lack of response from the warranty people must be incredibly frustrating. I hope you get some action on it this week!
Thank you Tanya. It is. Right now it is great weather so it is easier but I still need to call every day. After the next 5 days of rain when the sun comes out it’s going to be 90 that first day and that will be miserable. Right now in the 70s with a north breeze it is gorgeous.
Oh, I can’t wait to see pictures of her finished knit blanket!
I may have to do some in progress ones. It is a queen sized blanket so it will probably take almost a year. And she’s doing 2 other projects right now – the slouch hat and a scarf. I’m excited to have her do it though.
The new Kristan Higgins book is on my list! Enjoy your week.
I really enjoy her books and usually on audio. Many of them have Xe Sands who is a favorite narrator.
My parents just did a whole weed and seed treatment on their lawn and it was a lot of work. I love the dog pattern! So cute! Hopefully you get some info from the warranty people. Our AC broke 1 year after we moved in and we decided that waiting for the warranty people to stop dragging their feet was futile. We just ended up paying for a replacement. Such a pain!
It is a lot of work. I did one little 3ft x 10 foot section this afternoon and it took forever plus a lot of supplies. Luckily we will have rain the next 5 days and cooler weather so I won’t have to water it twice a day if it is raining. I couldn’t believe how closely the fabric matches her. I hoe they get it together this week for the new HVAC.
I love how you have summarized the entire week. And those are crazy coincidences with the yarn. Good luck. Stay safe and elbow hugs.
Thanks. I can’t believe how the colors are going to work out. and how closely Lulu resembles the dog on the flannel.
Trouble with air conditioning when it’s hot is no fun! Hope you get yours sorted out. At least you’re getting some cooler temps for the moment. The colors for you knitting project sound pretty. You’ll have to share some pictures when you finish.
I have an e-copy of Kristan Higgins book. I need to read and post a review since it released this last week. Ack! I’m behind.
I like her work on audio. Some audio I’ve found I just can’t get for review until it is released, some publishers.
Thank you! So many projects I hope to move forward this week.
That’s funny how your wool blanket plan matches the current room and that your dog quilt from a few years back matches your current dog. 🙂 Ugh on the hold up for your AC work.
You are so cool researching your lawn and fertilizer needs. I know little about that side of landscaping so I would definitely have to research.
We’ve had some cooler days to get some work done to our old garage and paint in our laundry area of the basement, but the sweltering weather and thunderstorms are back this week so it will be less energetic projects for a while. 🙂
Way to go having a lean week of freebies and purchased books.
Have a good week, Anne!
Thanks Sophia! I know a lot more about lawn grasses and yet the disinterest continues. It’s a lot of work. Those coincidences are kind of freaky but it is working out well. Have a lovely week! Enjoy your reads and stay well!
No wonder you felt tired Anne! You work so hard all the time!
I think it was also the heat and no AC which made me sleep poorly too. But I will say the yard is a work in progress and it is work right now.
Oh I love the material of the flannel dog quilt! So cute!! That’s freaky that the quilt dog materialized into your real life!!!!
Isn’t it? Now that we have Lulu I would love to get more of the fabric but it’s not at Joann’s anymore and I haven’t found it on ebay, Amazon or Etsy yet. There’s enough for this quilt but I wouldn’t mind more. I could make pillow cases too, for example.
Dawn Caravan looks creepy (haven’t read the description), but interesting. Love firefly nights. Have a good week.
Thank you. Dawn Caravan is a vampire love story. The vampires are elemental and this is two wind (air) vampires.
Wow, no freebies this week?
I get tons of emails request to review that I just can’t keep up or even answer them all. I’m pickier and pickier about my books because I now work full-time and my reading time is precious.
Enjoy your new books. I like the look of The Art of Deception.
I feel fortunate I can get so many great things but overwhelmed because I would like to read them but have to make choices obviously. I’m talking about top 5 publishers, practically all audio publishers. Well also a few indie ones I like.
NO FREEBIES? Wow. I wish I could say the same, lol. It sounds like you had a busy week. Good luck with the a/c; summer is a bad time for it to be broken.
Like you, I got a lot of review requests and I don’t think we accepted a single one. I always feel a little guilty saying no.
Have a good week!
IKR?? I always have like 10 freebies. I already have some this week. It was shocking. Thanks for reminding me. It’s time for my daily call about the AC. It’s nice now 65 and rainy but it’s going to get back to the 90s late in the week.
Oh my goodness! It sounds really complicated that you have to prep the ground in order to lay a lawn… isn’t there a better option? You clearly had a really hectic week, so I hope during this coming one, you get a chance to put your feet up a bit…
Me too! I was just thinking about a “day off”. Today – Monday – was a hell of a mess. But it sounds like the HVAC is approved and may be installed later in the week. I hope so because it’s supposed to be 90s / 30C this weekend. I’m going to try to hold out to an early bedtime rather than taking a nap since it’s already 5. The schedule is open tomorrow so hopefully it will be more peaceful.
i have been having a losing battle with my lawn. seems the brown patches grow bigger every year. i have tried a lot of things and my brown thumb makes sit difficult. i will be trying again this fall but it’s way too hot to mess with now. wishing much luck and some happy reads.
Thank you Sherry. I seeded a small patch (3ft x 10ft) yesterday which was a LOT of work. At least it is raining all day for a couple days so I don’t have to run out to water it twice a day. I don’t see how I can possibly do that much to the whole lawn though. But if I kill the weeds, I may only have dirt. Sigh.
The project sounds like a lot of fun and that is hilarious you made the blanket before Lulu came along.
Lawn maintenance is serious business. Are you aerating twice a year? That really helps.
I know it’s weird. If I could get more of the fabric I would make her a blanket of her own. She LOVES blankets. She thinks they are all hers anyway.
Planting grass is always such a struggle for my family. Seems like every year we have a few spots in the yard that get overrun with crabgrass and we have to kill that off and replant. It’s a never ending battle to have a nice lawn. Love the photo of your dog. What a cutie!
Thank you. We think Lulu is the best. She knows because we tell her so. Yes, in ,my very limited experience of just a couple of weeks into this I can tell the grass lawn project will not be my favorite.
My lawn person is on vacation and we had some rain. The grass is growing so tall I hate to look at it right now. LOL I hope you get the AC fixed soon!
Thanks. It’s good this week with rain and 60s! But it’s back to 90 by the weekend. Yesterday they said it is approved and now there is some time for shipping parts and scheduling. So we will see. I hope the rain helps my just planted stuff but the grass and green beans may not be up for a week or so.
Sounds like you’ve been getting a lot done. I can’t wait to see your daughter’s project and that dog flannel is just too darn cute. We had such a nice weekend. I weeded our little flower garden/pet memorial Sunday and we trimmed some shrubs and bushes. It was a great day to work outside and Apollo was definitely in his element. He loves when we are all outside together. Cass is more chill and takes the role of “snooper-visor” seriously.
Thanks Barb. I’ve been so fortunate we have had such amazing weather while my HVAC is out. I’m actually cold today since I didn’t turn the heat on, it’s around 60.
I am glad the rain brought cooler weather your way to take the edge off the air conditoner not working. I feel for you. We were really lucky. We had a technician out yesterday, and he was able to fix the problem on our air conditioner–so hopefully we will be good to go for this summer. I hope you are able to get yourse fixed soon!
Your new books all sound really good, Anne, especially The Art of Deception. I hope you enjoy all of them.
Have a great week.
I hope to get the new on installed this week since the weekend is projected to be in the 90s. We will see. I am especially excited for The Art of Deception because it is my favorite narrator, Steve West!
Gosh I hope your AC gets fixed soon, Anne. That is so tough. We were without ours for a few days but it wasn’t 8. At least it’s been cooler this week. Totally unsolicited grass advice, but the best time to do it in NC is the early fall. It is definitely still worth trying in early summer though. The best grass I was able to grow in eastern NC was Carolina centipede. Bermuda also does well. When I built my house I had the hardest time growing anything but weeds in the sand, but eventually I had some luck with that.
Thanks for the tip! My grass, what isn’t weeds, is centipede. I think I will do more weed-killing than seeding and do more of the seeding in early fall when it is cooler. That makes sense. Especially in the backyard where the HOA is less picky. I have been thrilled with the cool weather this week. My calls today tell me I may not get the new one until next week. And by Sun-Mon we will be getting to 90 again. Ugh. I’m at 15 days now. If it is next week, it will be 3 weeks.
I’m sorry to hear your AC broke! Hopefully next Sunday Post (tomorrow, I guess!) you’re reporting it’s fixed. 🙂
I love the coincidence with the dog blanket and Lulu! She’s so sweet.