Sunday Post – 13 December 2020 @kimbacaffeinate @readingreality @Tynga

Posted December 13, 2020 by Anne - Books of My Heart in Sunday Post / 44 Comments

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.

Sunday was sunny so not as cold as it looked.  I mostly visited blogs.  I went to the COYER 2021 Live preview.  I really like how it is more organized in advance which makes it easier to plan. For lunch I had taco salad with tomatoes and lettuce from my garden.   My daughter and I took Lulu for a walk in the late afternoon. Lulu was beside herself with excitement.  The impatiens might finally be dying.

Monday was kind of cold and rainy but I ended up going out to mail all the blogaversary winner prizes and to get a Christmas tree.  The place I wanted to go was closed because it was sold out but I found another place.  I made clam chowder for dinner and it’s the best batch I ever made.  I think it might be because I used more onion and carmelized them as the base while I was chopping other veggies.   It was snowing when I got a package off the front porch!  My daughter had a paper due for one class. Now all she has left is studying and taking her finals over the next week.

Tuesday,  I did more reading than expected finishing both a book and an audiobook.  I started reviewing information the consultant sent about places for Mom.  And I went down the rabbit hole looking at recipes to make your own dog food.  The food part isn’t a problem but getting all the vitamins could be.

Wednesday, I did a Walmart and pharmacy pickup.  I hope I’m done leaving the house.  I ended up calling the vet and asking what they recommend for vitamins if we go with homemade food.  They referred me to a website called balanceit.com.  It lets you calculate recipes with different ingredients.  So I ordered some supplements and I’m going to give it a try.  For now I will do one meal of dog food and one meal of homemade food each day.  I made the first batch with ground turkey, brown rice, broccoli and carrots. Lulu ate it down very quickly, so definitely she liked it. My daughter asked me if I would make packets of it for her! lol  I put it in baggies keeping out enough for a couple days and freezing the rest.

Thursday, I got a Sam’s Club Instacart order with more supplies to make Lulu food, and some food for us.    The weather has warmed up to 60s for the next few days.  I started painfully trying to get my Top 10 lists down to 10.   I made Lulu a second dish with tuna, rice and mixed veggies.   My daughter narrowed down the classes she will be taking online in the spring and I paid the tuition. I also bought the books online for one of the classes.

Friday was more confirming medical appointments, and contacting family care homes. I managed to talk for about an hour with the heads of two family care homes which were top choices.  I found out some new routes in the neighborhood that were 1.5 or 1.7 miles.  So after I planted the pansies in the planters where the impatiens were, I took Lulu on our walk.   It was a good route with sidewalks.

Neighborhood lights:

                   

 

Saturday, my daughter got up by 4 so we were able to do the things I had been waiting for her to help me on a nice day.  It was 65 F (18C)  and sunny.  We did Lulu’s nail torture session,  then we cleaned off and stacked the window screens on a high shelf in the garage and lastly, brought in our Charlie Brown tree.

I had another walking route which went by the park (where she can catch Pokemon) so we went out at dusk. It let us see the Christmas lights.  And roses are still blooming.  We also saw the swans in the one of the ponds. Our solar lights had started on our tree by the time we got home.  Last year we had an evergreen but we cut that out this summer, as it was hanging over the driveway and sidewalk. First the lights are blue/green, then red/yellow, and then blue/green/red/yellow.

 

       

 


 

This Thursday is Thrifty Thursday, Dec 17.  I am doing a holiday edition.

In January,  Thrifty Thursday is January 14.  I am doing some mystery thrillers I have been wanting to read.

 


I am taking a low-key approach to COYER and most challenges this year.  COYER is my favorite though.  COYER is being divided into 4 seasons (of unequal length)  and different rules for each season.  COYER Winter is two months and strict rules, so I’m going to go for 2 books a week or 16 books.

If you want to join COYER Seasons (Winter) or COYER Community (this is where the Read-along facebook chats will be)   check out all the details HERE.

 


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 so much to Harper 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.

                 

                   

                   

                     

 

I really meant to cut back on freebies BUT  they are free so I guess that won’t be happening.

 

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.

What are you doing to prepare for the holidays?   We’ll be able to decorate our tree now and enjoy the decorations in our neighborhood.

Anne

 

 

Anne - Books of My Heart
Follow me
Please follow and like us:
Follow by Email
Instagram
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
RSS

Posted December 13, 2020 by Anne - Books of My Heart in Sunday Post / 44 Comments


44 responses to “Sunday Post – 13 December 2020

  1. I love that people are still catching Pokemon and that you found your tree. We kept a low profile this week, but did get the shopping for the holidays taken care of.

  2. I love pokemon hunting… Keeps walks interesting! ? That picture of Lulu is adorable! One happy, contented doggie!
    I haven’t even begun thinking about my 2020 “best of” lists… I keep waiting for inspiration, motivation or desperation to kick in and push me onward but so far nothing!
    Hope this week is another good one! Good luck with settling on a new place for your mum.

    Nicci @ Sunny Buzzy Books recently posted: Sunday Post #131
  3. That tree is so cute and you had a great productive week. You also need to send me your Pokemon go codes!
    I used to bag my own veggies all the time but I am not sure why I stopped, I need to start doing that again. It saved money and the veggies tasted so much better.

    I hope you have a great week, Anne! I will see you later at book Club! 🙂

  4. You finished a book and an audiobook in one day??? You are a machine Anne! And as usual sucha busy bee 😉 Have a great week!

  5. Around here you don´t see much Christmas decoration yet. And I am not sure if that will happen this year. Glad you are as busy as usual and that you got your tree and were able to make your own dog food. And that Lulu likes it *yay* Stay safe and well and have a good new week.

    Vi @Inkvotary recently posted: Weekly Book Wrap-Up #143– Third Advent
  6. I love seeing all of the Christmas lights, they are so fun and joyful and it fills your heart to see people getting into the spirit of the season especially after the rough year we have all had right? That cover to Pretty Little Wife is kinda creepy but really neat.

  7. Yay for discovering new walks. I love the lights and scenery! I don’t join many challenges, only GRs and the audio book challenge. COYER sounds fun but a little complicated and time consuming and being that I barely have time to read and blog with work and home life, I just don’t think it’s for me. Good luck with your new challenges!

    • Thank Rachel. I don’t really do a lot of Challenges either. They did split COYER into the challenges part (in seasons) and the community. I do both but just the community is the facebook group with book club and book chats. You don’t have to do anything for it so if I didn’t feel like challenges I would still belong to the facebook group for the connection with a fabulous group of people. But I know one must make choices and do what is best for themselves, including narrowing things down so you can get to your priorities.

      Anne - Books of My Heart recently posted: Audio: Unwind by Neal Shusterman
  8. Busy, busy bustle with the Christmas season. Looks like you both have the lights and tree festive. Neat that you’re making Lulu dog food now. I’ve considered that for my cats. Good that you got to talk to a few homes for your mom. I’m signed up for COYER, too. I like planning ahead, too, and that reminds me, I appreciate you post the Thrifty Thursday date so I’m motivated to get one read so I can link it. 🙂

    Have a good week, Anne!

    Sophia recently posted: Sunday Post - 13 December 2020
    • Thanks Sophia! I hope you are having a lovely holiday season. I’m really enjoying this phase where I do lots of planning and get things ready ahead. In December I always try to just read what I want and don’t take as many ARCS. I still take some though. Well I MUST do the Thrifty Thursday as you can see I often get 10 books a week and then TT is only reviewing ONE a month. lol. I am choosing themes for myself to do even more than one if I can manage but you do not have to do any theme for TT.

      Anne - Books of My Heart recently posted: Like It’s 1999 by Karen Grey
  9. Homemade dog food! I am impressed! I love looking at the Christmas decorations. I don’t decorate much myself but the lights are pretty. My daughter is finishing up her semester and I spent a couple of nights proofreading papers for her. I hope you have a great week!

    • Yes I really went down the rabbit hole and spent a lot of time on researching making my own dog food last week. I have to say she loves it. I keep it pretty simple. I just rotate the meats and frozen veggies. It has more variety than the same kibble every day forever. My daughter has a final today and one Wednesday and she’s done. We can do more fun things then. I only did the one string of lights on the tree outside but the neighbors really do it up so it’s a great walk around the hood.

      Anne - Books of My Heart recently posted: Series on Saturday: Minnesota
  10. I love that you are making food for Lulu! We considered it for Calleigh and Yoda, but they are big dogs and it was a LOT to cook. However, it did make us MUCH more aware of what to look for in commercial foods and we always make sure they meet our expectations!

    Samantha recently posted: #SundayPost: December 13th
    • I read a lot last week and found it fascinating. I use half and half right now until we get the vitamins to make the homemade food nutritionally complete. She loves it and since I vary the meats and veggies in each batch, she gets a lot more variety. At 20lbs she is a little overweight (15 is better) and should only have about 450 calories per day.

      Anne - Books of My Heart recently posted: Audio: The Wicked Hour by Alice Blanchard
  11. Great freebie pick ups this week. I went and graded Bark! The Herald Angels Sing ^_^. Thanks!
    Pokemon Go is a nice way to keep the walks going and interesting. I put on my phone this summer to try and interest my son in going for walks. It worked for a month… LOLO. Have a great week.

    • My daughter goes in phases with Pokemon Go and she’s into it right now. Lulu loves the walks and right now all the decorations make it interesting. Our hood does a LOT. The Halloween ones were over the top too. I was so thrilled to get another dogfather book. I’ve bought some of them but not the novellas.

      Anne - Books of My Heart recently posted: Like It’s 1999 by Karen Grey
    • COYER is a great community. It fits right in with my Thrifty Thursday meme and ARCs. They have made it so easy this year with having 4 Season challenges instead of 2 and then the separate community to connect with people even if you don’t want to do challenges. I am doing it all. I don’t really do other challenges as much because I don’t need to win prizes, although it’s fun to win. I can easily run up huge numbers on Audio, New release and even library challenges but I would rather read than spend the time meeting the rules and linking up my reads. I link up for Library Love as a host but don’t enter the rafflecopter for prizes, and I do the COYER ones. I am trying to read more books I own this year which is working. I know there is a challenge for it but I just made a simple goal of 3/month and worked on it. The clam chowder is yummy. I promised to make it again later this week.

      Anne - Books of My Heart recently posted: Series on Saturday: Minnesota
    • Yes it’s very weird but I really want to make her food even when I don’t always feel like cooking for us. But I make batches so I don’t have to make hers every day. I freeze part of it. My daughter loves soup. I never used to like it or only in the winter but I’m getting more on board with it.

      Anne - Books of My Heart recently posted: Audio: Unwind by Neal Shusterman
  12. A book plus an audio book in one day? Color me envious. There’s so much I want to read but not nearly enough time to read it. The neighborhood lights are so pretty. I’ve got out of the habit of taking walks and I really need to find the time to get started again.

  13. Jen

    I adore your little tree! And what lovely, festive lights around your neighborhood! Thanks for sharing.

  14. Your neighborhood looks beautiful for the holidays! My aunt who lives in Raleigh sent me pictures of the camellias she has in her backyard. They’re blooming happily! She said they bloomed most of the winter last year. I’ve started vaguely thinking about my Top Ten books of the year too. It’s always so hard to narrow them down.

    Enjoy your week!

  15. Iza

    Love all the Christmas lights. Your Lulu is a happy dog at your home, with homemade food and the cosy naps ! I too saw some roses left when I was walking outside, but winter is definitely setting and they won’t last long. Fingers crossed for your daughter’s finals 🙂

  16. Sounds like you had another productive week. I love the sound of doing the homemade food for your dog. Good luck 😉
    And Pretty Little Wife sounds like a good one.
    Have a great week and happy reading.

  17. I was sad I missed the COYER 2021 preview, but we were recording my daughter’s parts for her musical theater recital. I am planning to take part in COYER this next year. It’s been awhile since I last did. I love the community. Lovely photos from your walk, Anne! Thank you for sharing. I hope you enjoy your reading and have a great week!

  18. I love your neighbourhood Christmas lights – there are some around here, but we keep all our lights for indoors. I think your tree is really cute. We have a small one as we simply don’t have the floor space for a larger tree, so it drips with decorations:)). I’m so impressed that you are making your own dog food – it has to be so much better than some of the things they put in commercially produced feeds! I hope the coming week is a good one and that you don’t find yourself having to go out too much.