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.
Don’t forget to look at my giveaways on the right sidebar.
Sunday, where did June go? It’s a hot one this week but some rain in the afternoon or evenings. Russia – where despots and oligarchs decide they want more power, money, etc and don’t care who dies for them. I’m so glad Biden is helping Ukraine and standing strong for democracy, diplomacy and rule of law. It’s also great to see roads and bridges being repaired / built and more manufacturing of chips, batteries and technology here in the USA. I’m visiting blogs and writing reviews. I am up to 95% on Netgalley now.
So I decided to learn about installing the handles on my cabinets. I got out my sawhorses and a piece of wood from the old cabinets. I found the drill and the drill bits and figured out how to put in the drill bit. My idea was to test drilling to see the right size for the screws. Drilling was not easy, the first was too small. The second hole with a bigger bit ended with the drill bit smoking. I stopped. Apparently one should go in and out as there is sometimes nowhere for the wood to go. The friction means it can catch on fire. The hole was still too small but good I’m testing and figuring it out on scrap wood.
Monday, it’s hot out but cold inside. I made calls about home insurance options as it has doubled in 4 years. I also got things together for the HOA request to replace my windows. I got some posts set up and worked on some Series on Saturday ones. I trimmed the rosemary plant. It stormed after dinner. I updated my TBR spreadsheet and made my July plan.
Tuesday, we walked and it was hot but at least with a breeze. I finally went through all my review requests and have cleaned up email accounts a bit. I did more research on drawer pulls.
Wednesday, with a north wind today felt nice. My daughter felt ill so I walked Abby & Lulu and she walked Kayla who doesn’t go far. We have a chiro appt and then will pick up a few things at Aldi. I tried to get a different drawer pull at Home Depot but they have almost nothing in stock so then I had to go to Lowes. After putting away the groceries, I planted the impatien, salvia and some seeds someone gave me with wildflowers. Then I changed the two hoses to opposite sides of the house, and watered everything. I set all my library holds to come available this week thinking I might get to read more over the holiday weekend. I already try to only do errands / appts about one day a week but I still don’t seem to have enough time.
Thursday, the spaghetti squash are up and everything looks better after watering. Another day with north wind so walking was okay. My daughter was still not at her best, so I walked Abby & Lulu and she walked Kayla. I did a bunch of laundry. I decided to order different drawer pulls that fit the predrilled holes. I got some new ARCs and set up the posts. I picked carrots from the garden and roasted them for dinner. It’s our first time growing carrots.
Friday, I got going to run errands today. I wanted to get food for the holiday weekend. I went to Trader Joes, Wegmans, and then Sam’s Club. I’ve been feeling moody so I’m reading what I want. I had a library book in both ebook and audio and did something I haven’t done previously. I read on ebook last night, then picked up the audio book to finish it today during errands. Then I got the next audio in the series and listened until I did my bedtime reading where I finished with the ebook. This only worked because I could get them from the library and the narrators were average. We’ve been brushing Lulu’s teeth after dinner. We think the beef mint toothpaste smells disgusting but Lulu likes it. Anyway, I got the idea to use a flosser on some brown plaque on her canines and it works great. So now we will be flossing and brushing her teeth each night. She seems ok with it.
Saturday, I have an ARC for the third in that series and jumped right into it last night and this morning. It’s not out until November. Today I am working on my month end stats and linkups for this post. I also need to do a menu plan. It’s HOT. This week is going to be hot, with some thunderstorms. I don’t think I will like it.
Things I Learned This Week:
OK if I’m asking for help, I’m also going to share the cool things I learn. You may already know them but hopefully it will help someone.
Twitter won’t work from some apps including Netgalley to share. My Revive Old Posts hasn’t worked for a couple months now. Apparently since I don’t pay, Twitter won’t authenticate me in some places. I’ve been sharing from blogs again, since booktwitter is readable. For my personal Twitter, I used to filter what I saw by doing a coded search but that stopped working this weekend and I now can only see For You or Following. When I look at that there’s only a few tweets and the same ones the next day.
June Reading: I had another good reading month. I managed to read 29 books. Audiobooks continue to help me read more. Some count for more than one challenge. I listened to 16 audiobooks, read 5 library books, 29 COYER reads, and 8 books which I already own. I’m up from 94% to 95% on Netgalley.
All Library books (including ones not reviewed on the blog) 2023 Library Love Challenge
I did manage to read 8 books I own (goal is 3 per month):
- 🎧 Two Ravens and a Crow by Kevin Hearne
- 🎧 Concrete Evidence by Rachel Grant
- 🎧 Black List by Lynn Raye Harris
- Rich Blood by Robert Bailey
- A Nose for Mischief by KT Lee
- 🎧 Trapped by Kevin Hearne
- K-9 Rambo by Rada Jones
- The Boat Man by Dustin Stevens
Stacking the Shelves is hosted by 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):
My sincere thanks to Tantor Audio, Victory Editing Netgalley Coop,
(If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Goodreads entry)
I preordered the set releasing July 10, and I got my June Amazon First Reads choice.
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.
Anne
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
Friend or follow me at Goodreads.
Good for you to do you own pulls! I like to maintain my Netgalley ratio well above 90% too. I hope you enjoy the long weekend and the week ahead.
Thank you Jodie. I wouldn’t have had the tools before but I got a few now since I bought a house. It’s necessary to learn about things since sometimes there isn’t anyone to hire and then you know a bit about if they are doing a reasonable job too.
I love that you have your first batch of carrots to eat😁 Twitter seems to have taken a nosedive recently, everyone is talking about it, and I keep hearing about a new platform called Bluesky. I hope the heat isn’t too bad!
Thanks Tammy. Now that they are thinned out I hope we will get more carrots. I’ve learned a bit for next year. It’s going to be mid 90s this week and a bit humid. The humidity is the tough part. 90s with a north wind isn’t too bad.
I love carrots. I use discord as a platform a lot but it attracts a lot of gamers. We will see what the next popular social media is.
We also have found we love carrots, especially fresh ones. I don’t know what will work for social media. We will see. Twitter used to be so connected but now even if connected it doesn’t work often.
The heat and humidity this week really slowed me down energy and production-wise, but I did get my bare minimum done at least. Yay for 95% on your NetGalley numbers and for successful carrot harvest. I love how intrepid you are trying it with the drill and figuring out how to install your drawer handles.
Have a good 4th and week, Anne!
Thanks Sophia. My energy is lagging a bit with the heat I think. Well I have to figure things out, often no one else will do it.
Your dog looks so comfy it makes me want to go back to bed. Have a good week.
Harvee at https://bookdilettante.blogspot.com
Lulu is very comfy and she will just sit out on the concrete in the sun. Too hot for me.
I heard on the news about Twitter changes for people who don’t pay. I also saw on Netgalley today that I don’t have the choice to post to Twitter anymore. I rarely get on Twitter. It probably is time to just give it up at this point. You had a very busy week! Hope you get your reading done this weekend like you are hoping!
Thank you Lisa. yeah Twitter is toast. I have been having a great time reading what I want.
I also grabbed the Andrews Audiobook, Magic Tides & Magic Claims too. Sounds like a nice busy week. Twitter is twitter. I can’t do the tweet old posts anymore either. That plugin stopped working a long time ago and I haven’t found a new one that works. No way am I paying for twitter or a new plugin. I already spend enough on the blog. Hope you have a great week. Happy 4th of July and Happy Reading!
Thank you Angela. I agree 100%.
Sweet Lulu💜
I hope you’re coping okay with this hot weather. We are staying in because it’s dangerous for our breathing. Congrats on 29 books for June! That’s utterly amazing.
Have a wonderful week and holiday!
Thank you Jonetta. I am only able to read that much by mixing up the genres. Otherwise I get unhappy. The only thing I don’t seem to ever get enough is mysteries. I am worried about the week ahead for heat and air quality. I tired to get all the groceries for stuff Friday so we can just stay home except for my daughter’s appt at the specialist on Friday.
It is always exciting to see those NetGalley numbers move up! I have read so many books on the site that it takes a lot to move even one percent. I would definitely be nervous about drilling into my cabinets. I hope that you like the ones that you picked out. You had a great reading month in June. Have a wonderful week!
Thanks Carole. yes the more you read, the harder it is to change the percentage. I’ve been 94% for 5 years or something close. I always have right around 30 books from Netgalley but some are 6 months out. Well I am practicing on scraps of wood to hopefully be perfect when I do it for real on the cabinets. It’s still scary since I am not experienced.
Its awesome that you are attempting your own drawer pulls. I am not that handy. I probably would have just glued them on! Twitter seems not to work with just about anything anymore. It makes me wonder what Elon Musk’s plan is because it is going to die as a social media platform.
Thanks Samantha. Hopefully the drawer pulls won’t look wonky otherwise it will be awesome to have it completed. I am grieving over Twitter as it is so connected and so many have been there but it just doesn’t work well anymore. It is dying.
The heat here has really been picking up this week too. I’m only taking Falcor out for short walks during the day and doing the little longer walks after the sun goes down.
We’ve gotten terribly lax with the heat and need to pick up on our evening walking. We just do the backyard in the daytime. I weed the garden while she goes.
I agree, I don’t think Biden gets enough credit. All you hear is he’s old old old… and yeah he is- but what’s the alternative? I can only imagine if someone less experienced or with a worse team was managing things.
It’s been hot here too although the last few days have cooled some- maybe due to the wildfire smoke that’s been hanging around?
Twitter seems to be being dismantled. Almost as if someone running it doesn’t know what they’re doing 🙂
Thanks Greg. It’s nice to have someone with integrity who doesn’t spend all his time golfing and bullying people, not to mention committing crimes! I appreciate people not hating me for having an opinion. I’m so sad about Twitter and you’re funny. Funny but true. Most of the year here is gorgeous but July and August are not my favorite.
I think Twitter is on it’s last leg right now.
yes! It’s sad because Blogs seem most connected to Twitter and Facebook. But I don’t want to support Musk. Most don’t have connections to Insta but some do to Mastodon now.
Good for you for practicing with the drill and figuring it all out. Impressive!
Thank you Nicole. Well so far so good but I won’t progress much more until the 3-3/4 pulls arrive in about a week. The stores don’t carry much of anything in stock anymore.
It’s beginning to get hot here finally. I feel like summer has taken her time coming this way. I wonder if it will mean a longer summer for us. Insurance prices seem to have gone way up for everything. A couple of the major companies have pulled out of California and are no longer offering new home owner’s insurance. They say the fire risk is too high.
That is great that Lulu doesn’t give you any trouble when you brush her teeth. I can only imagine beef mint toothpaste wouldn’t smell too good. LOL
I still find myself going to Twitter now and then. It isn’t at all what it used to be and I rarely find it worthwhile. I wish there was a good substitute.
I hope you have a good week, Anne!
Thank you Wendy. I agree with you. Insurance is rapidly getting higher and less available. Lulu accepts the brushing for the beef mint, but is a little less stoic about the flossing. I don’t know why I go to Twitter because I don’t find anything good as I used to find. So I don’t know why I waste my time retweeting posts there as who could find or see anything tweeted? Facebook and Mastodon are connected to WordPress but not Insta. And only a few of us have Mastodon so far.
It’s super gross here too. I am hoping for cooler, drier weather for us both! Some rain though for the gardens, of course.
I hope your daughter is feeling better. 🙂
I tried growing carrots but I have invited too many butterflies into my garden – the carrot tops were all eaten by hungry caterpillars. Lol.
Thanks Erin. I have learned about carrots. I should have thinned them when they first came up, which is why ours are smaller. But I’ll do better next time. My daughter has an appt with the specialist this Friday so we will see.
I’ve had to give up completely on Twitter. I was still using it for SFR Station, but recently, all my posts were failing. So I just disabled it all together. What a shame. They have really bungled up that platform. Glad to hear you got some walks that weren’t too hot. Looking at the weather here in the States, everything is so hot!
yes it is too hot. July and August just are that way here but the other 10 months are so good. I am sad about Twitter because it was easily connected more than anything else. Mastodon could work well but isn’t widely used yet. For whatever reason, I wouldn’t use Facebook in the same way with quick posts to specific friends or resharing their reviews. Maybe that’s the way to go. Twitter seemed less burdensome than FB when it worked. Now it’s hard to believe anyone will see anything if one does post it.
Another busy week for you, Anne! I have carrots planted but they won’t be ready for some weeks. I hope my garden is okay since I’ve been out of town and of course it’s the hottest it’s been this year. My sister went over and watered twice, but still. I’ll be going home tomorrow, thankfully. I noticed you started an Instagram account! I’m looking forward to your posts.
I didn’t do a Sunday Post this week since I’m out of town and just too much is going on but I did just do up my Mid Year Check in for my reading challenges. One is your Library Love.
Thank you Rachel. I saw you followed me. I have posted nothing and have no idea what to post yet. But it seems widely used so I set up at least. I’m debating about all my socials and which ones will work and be useful and which won’t. To that end I will do a new poll hopefully next Sunday with a software that will show me all the posts with some better questions.
I’m learning about carrots. I should have thinned once they came up because then mine would be bigger. I do a light watering each night that it doesn’t rain, but it’s only a little. We are getting showers late afternoon or evening about half the time.
Carrots were the most difficult to cultivate when I lived with my parents!
They were hard for my parents too since I watered them into a garden pond!
Sorry to hear your daughter hasn’t been feeling well. I hope this week is better for her. I guess that heat wave from out west has made its way east. We’re certainly feeling it. On the drive home from the office today the outside temp gauge never dropped below 99. Ugh. We had a brief thunderstorm come thru a little bit ago and it dropped into the 80’s. A lot better than 99. But the rest of the week is supposed to be very hot with heat advisories. I hope your week is off to a good start, Anne!
Thank you Tanya. July and August are just rough here but it’s hard to complain when the other 10 months are fabulous. I’m staying inside and have the AC at 75 but still need a light sweater.
That’s smart working on a scrap piece of wood!
My June was so busy, but now things are evening out. Last week was my final regular week of work – now I’m on summer vacation. Not much summer here – it rains almost every day and the highs are upper 60s to low 70s. It’s become depressing. It was decent on Saturday when we went to see Ed Sheeran, so that was good and the concert was amazing.
Happy 4th!
I try to do things in the best way when learning, so a scrap seemed right. You go to all the concerts – Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran. I wish I lived closer to you for that. I like that weather, it’s cooler.
I need a Billionaire book
There are lots of freebies. I post deals every day to Twitter, Facebook, Mastodon and now even Instagram. Friday has a big listing from The Book Disciple which I repost.
It has definitely been grossly hot and humid. Ugh. You did a great job on your reading in June! Me, not so much. poo Drilling can be a tricky business. There are lots of variables to consider. Slow and easy is good to do as well as practicing on scrap wood. *thumbs up* We have planted nothing this year and now it’s so yuck out I don’t even want to try to do the raised beds. Oh, well. We’ll get there eventually. lol
Thank you Carol. yes it’s hot and I’m not interested in as much outdoor work. At least we are getting some rain. If you got the beds made early September you could get in a fall crop easy of cool veggies. Broccoli, lettuce, spinach, and others. We have a long fall here.
That’s an excellent idea!
I really hope it works for you. Those are our favorites which we also plant in the spring. In the summer it’s just green beans, green peppers, tomatoes and basil. Although I’m trying a squash this year kind of late in planting though.
My dog loves teeth brushing time! I also give him a Greenie every day to help keep his teeth healthy because teeth cleaning is so expensive. I’m impressed with your carrots! I’ve never had great luck with them though I do enjoy them. I hope you’re having a great week!
Thanks Katherine. We should have starting brushing when Lulu was younger. She is stoic but the only thing she loves is the flavor of the toothpaste! We also give her Oravet chews every night for years now which the vet says he issue is primarily her two big canine teeth so that is where we have focused the brushing and flossing.
Sounds like a busy week. Hope your daughter is feeling better. Yeah, the whole Twitter thing, I don’t use it so extensively, but I know it’s frustrating when something stops working and now you have to figure out a different way of doing it.
yes Twitter is a pain. It’s just the one I know best and have used longest. But a lot of things in it don’t work anymore.
The friction means it can catch on fire. — New DIY fear unlocked!!!!
Exactly! I saw that plume of smoke and thought what?!?! That wasn’t mentioned in the video. They assume you have experience drilling I guess.