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, the neighbor brought over Abby and then I drove her to the airport. Lulu and Abby are very comfortable with each other. I’m doing the Sunday blog visiting, but also trying to write a few reviews and update linkys for challenges. I was having issues with how slow Pasteboard was. I uninstalled both Clipboard Master (which I have used for 5+ years and Pasteboard and am just using regular old Clipboard from Microsoft. It seems to work well and took only a couple minutes to set up. I did get some reviews written and some reviews setup. My daughter and I walked Abby and Lulu; the weather was pretty nice.
Monday, I took the dogs out and made their breakfasts. I went on to work on reviews, blog visiting, the HoHoHoRAT mini challenges. I’m happy to be getting a bit ahead on reviews since then I can read more holiday stories. It’s 70F / 21C today but it’s only going downhill from here. It’s nice today. There have been some odd computer things lately. On days when I have more than one post, which is always true on Sunday, the second post doesn’t send an email. Then there’s Feedly, it marks ones I have read, but doesn’t refresh the screen like it usually does.
Tuesday, I tried to update Jetpack yesterday for auto-sharing, when people told me they were using it with WordPress. I used to use only Jetpack to share to Facebook and Twitter, but that changed when things changed at Twitter. I set up for Facebook and Mastodon, which both worked. Someone told me they used it for Bluesky but I didn’t see that option. Maybe I have an older version. The Mastodon connection is shaky. It was hard to connect and bombed out the first day, requiring a reconnect. I made our holiday dessert and a batch of Lulu food with dinner.
Wednesday, I did some online shopping . I found deals on streaming for Hulu and Britbox and Acorn. We had our holiday meal as a late lunch. We had big lettuce salads with fresh lettuce from the garden. The weather is nice but feels chilly. I’m trying to work ahead a bit on the blog. We walked Abby and Lulu. Then I went out as it got dark and blew the leaves out of the front yard, and did minor cleanup on the backyard which I did previously. My daughter signed up for the 99¢ deal for Hulu for a year. So we will be able to watch Betty! (Will Trent).
Thursday, Abby barked during the night and I was awake for a few hours. I figured out the morning food problem without barking. I fixed my food and Lulu’s food. Then I gave Abby her food and took Lulu upstairs with me and our food. I closed the office door and we ate. When Lulu finished, I opened the office door and Abby was just coming up. So they both got to eat their own food and no barking. The gate makes Abby bark which is ok at dinner but in the morning it wakes my daughter. I analyzed the options again for a smart TV and ordered one. It’s our first smart tv. I used the very last garden tomato along with garden lettuce to have a BLT for lunch. It’s rainy off and on today. I worked on setting up posts and my Top 10 lists. It was sunny and pleasant when we walked Abby and Lulu.
Friday, well I got an early start with Abby barking at 5:30am. I let the dogs out into the chilly morning, right around freezing. I checked to see if any deals or prices had changed on items of interest but things were pretty much the same. My new TV arrived at 10am. I had meant it to be a surprise for my daughter but my ex blabbed. I wrote 2 reviews. We walked and it was chilly but not too cold. I’ve gone wild making lists of books to read the next month and checking out some from the library since I’ve finished nearly all of my December ARCs. I got a couple of other online gifts and the deal for Britbox. I watched the first episode of Sherlock which was funny.
Saturday, today was better. The barking didn’t start until 7:30 when I was in the shower. The ground was a hard frost and the morning temperatures this week will be around 25F/ -4C. I had covered the lettuce. I’m loving my wool or alpaca socks. We had to wear 3 layers for the walk with Abby and Lulu. I’m making another batch of Lulu food.
November Reading: I had another good reading month. I managed to read 27 books. Audiobooks continue to help me read more. Some count for more than one challenge. I listened to 17 audiobooks, read 1 library books, 19 COYER reads, and 7 books which I already own.
All Library books (including ones not reviewed on the blog) 2024 Library Love Challenge
I did manage to read 7 books I own (goal is 3 per month):
- To Make Them Pay by MA Comley
- Wrong Place by MA Comley
- No Hiding Place by MA Comley
- Cold Case by MA Comley
- 🎧 A Question of Navigation by Kevin Hearne
- 🎧 How Chefs Holiday by Dana Cowin
- 🎧 Crash & Burn by Allison Brennan, Linda Griffin
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 thanks to Tantor Audio.
(If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Goodreads entry)
NONE
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.
- Read-along & #Giveaway:On the Edge by Ilona Andrews @ilonaandrews @ilonaandrews.bsky.social @reneeraudman @AceBooksPub @acebookspub.bsky.social @TantorAudio @tantoraudio.bsky.social #Read-along #GIVEAWAY @victoria7401.bsky.social - January 17, 2025
- Thrifty Thursday: Jodi Burnett edition @Jodi_writes #JodiBurnett #ThriftyThursday #KindleUnlimited - January 16, 2025
- 🎧 Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney @alicewriterland @RCArmitage @Tuppence @MacmillanAudio #LoveAudiobooks - January 14, 2025
Oh, gosh, that’s too cold for me to be outside. Even with lots of layers. You had a great reading month! As usual you have some great freebies.
Thank you Carla. It is going to be a cold week. I always try to selective about freebies.
You read quite a bit last month! I only have three ARCs for December and I plan to get ahead with January books. Both dogs are so cute, and Lulu looks adorable in her sweater😁
Lulu is a southern girl and likes a sweater or coat in this weather. Abby is in her bed but that’s ok, Lulu is often in Abby’s bed. In our office we have 3 beds right now so they have choices. I’ve read nearly all my December ARCs with only one audio I am waiting to receive. I’ll read some January ARCs later in the month but after the HOHOHORAT I’m going to read what I want for a bit. Some library, some I own including freebies.
It’s getting colder here as well! And I admire you for making lists of books to read! I am a big mood reader.
My lists are HUGE so there are plenty of genre / mood options. lol
There’s an auto share button for Bluesky on WordPress. Go to Tools then Connections.
You had a great reading month and that’s a great deal on Hulu. I pulled out my winter coat last week it’s been cold here too.
yes I have the Bluesky share button on my posts. I could manually use that to send my post to Bluesky, but I meant an autoshare that happens from the post occuring on WordPress. I get that from IFTTT to Buffer to Bluesky, and the Mastodon Bluesky crossposter for now. I hope FS Poster includes it. Or I get the new version of Jetpack which has it. We got out warmer coats but not the big winter coat (Minnesota style) yet.
That’s where you set up WordPress to automatically put your posts on Bluesky. In tools then connections. I had it auto sharing then I went in and disabled it.
Either it’s because I have Ultimate Book Blogger or not the current version of Jetpack. It’s there for sharing (from the post) but not as one for auto-sharing.
Darling Lulu💜 Glad she and Abby are getting along.
I know we’re on different platforms but I’m auto sharing BlueSky, too. Have a wonderful reading week!
It is great that they are so comfortable with each other.
Yep, the cold weather is here! Along with snow for us. Although the snow is melting off of roads and paved areas. Not quite as much the grass though. My two usually wake me up at 1 am for breakfast. But when it’s cold, they sleep better thankfully. You got so many books read! I actually got more with the holiday break too. I’ll post my monthly wrap-up later, either tonight or tomorrow.
Thank Lisa. It was a quiet month on the things broken or needing repair, or med appts so the reading went better. Although I did spend a lot of time on the phone setting up our healthcare for the next year.
Congrats on a great reading month!
Thank you! I’m glad to have fit so many things in so I can just read what I want in December.
Microsoft’s own Clipboard isn’t so bad these days! I was surprised when I ended up using it a lot.
Sounds like a great month for reading for you – hope it keeps up!
Thank you Nicky. I was surprised how functional Clipboard is and could do what I want.
Whew, you’ve had some cold temps.
And it’s supposed to be a warmer than average winter! I think it’s just this week because it goes up after next Sunday by about 10 degrees.
Your life is never dull with barking and feisty dogs, super cold walks, computer glitches, and surprise gifts coming. 🙂 Way to go getting ahead on your posts and reviews to get that relaxing December of reading and shows. I managed to read all my holiday review books which is my priority goal and then I’m happy with whatever other new releasing books I get read, too. This year, I really overdid it with November releases so I’m catching up on those while trying to stay on top of December ones.
Enjoy your week, Anne!
Thank you Sophia. I started making a list and I might have to watch Britbox 20 hours a day or more to get in all the things I want to see before the 2 months at a lower price ends.
I certainly feel like I know every thing that happened in your life each week. Enjoy your new TV!
Thanks Jodie. It’s our first smart TV so we will see how it goes.
I am using WordPress 6.7.1 with TweakMe v2 and JetPack 14.0. I don’t know if the theme matters for sharing, but that’s something you can ask Ashley. I select Jetpack socials and “connect an account.” I found Bluesky there. It’s working great for me. I hope you can figure it out!
It’s gotten cold here and there may even be snow later this week (it snowed north of us on Thanksgiving). My kids were both home since Tuesday evening – went back today. My daughter is done in just over a week and then will be home until mid-January! We can’t wait for Will Trent to start.
Thanks. I’m not sure of the version of WordPress but the Jetpack is 13.9 and I also use TweakMe 2. I’ve emailed Ashley. I go to the place in Jetpack and Bluesky is not there. The others are there like Threads and Mastodon which were new since I last looked at it about the time Twitter went off Jetpack.
I’m not enjoying the cold but it’s just this week. I’m sure you will enjoy your holidays with the children home.
It is getting colder for you! We have had several nights of 25-30 lows and all the outside is white with frost when we wake up. The lettuces have been doing well even so. We’re getting some warmer weather this week with highs in the mid 60s so that’s kind of nice for getting out for runs/walks. My feet have been warm enough when I get out but I should think of getting warmer socks, like you, for when it cools down more. We’re going to Montana for New Year’s so maybe I should get those socks sooner rather than later. I need to start compiling my “best of 2024” lists. I’ve been so out of everything this last week I haven’t had time to think of it. Have they introduced Sara yet in the Will Trent TV series? I honestly don’t know what else I’d watch on Hulu besides that.
I highly recommend the wool socks. I have several pair I handknit myself too. That’s the MN experience. We went on the train to Montana for skiing when we lived there. Sara is not in the TV series yet. Angie isn’t as bad as in the books either. My daughter would know what’s on Hulu more than me. But Only Murders in the Building is another one people like. We watched a few episodes of it but weren’t grabbed at that point. I don’t like the colder but it won’t last.
oh I’m excited you will do some Top 10 lists!
You had a great month of reading in November. Your freebies look good, too. It does sound really cold.
I hope you have a great week!
Thanks Yvonne. It will warm up some after this week to more normal 50s/30s
Enjoy your new smart TV, as you know we replaced our old one this week. I love Will Trent – it’s on Disney+ here. Sadly we still don’t get Hulu in Australia.
What sort of lettuce do you grow? I prefer iceberg but it’s not been good here lately so I’ve been buying butter lettuce and have considered trying to grow some.
Wishing you a happy reading week
Thank you Shelleyrae. I have both buttercrunch and romaine, which are my favorites. I have not been successful growing from seed only from transplants. I am going to try some new seeding in little pots earlier and not seeds in the ground this year.
I need to refresh my winter gear wardrobe. I love being outside in the cold but I need some new socks, etc. And Wyatt definitely needs something warm. Those alpaca socks sound perfect!
I love my wool and alpaca socks, including my handknit ones.
I’m sorry I missed the HoHoHoRAT. I came back a little too late to catch up on a few things. 99 cents for Hulu is a pretty good deal. Hope you had a nice holiday weekend…
Thank you Greg. You can still read some holiday books.
Urg! 70 down to 25 in the space of a week!!! How does your wildlife cope? I suppose living so close to the sea evens out our temperatures – we have been having a lot of rain and wind, or gloom but at least it’s been reasonably mild. I hope you’re enjoying the new TV – I know we couldn’t get over the quality of the picture when we upgraded ours a couple of years ago. I hope this week is turning out to be a good one:)).
Thanks Sarah. Lulu wears sweaters, does her business and comes right back into the house. I wear wool or alpaca socks. It will warm back to more normal next week but this week is kind of brutal. We are only 2 hours from the ocean so we typically have more moderate temperatures. We definitely have a much narrower range of temperatures on both highs and lows than in Minnesota. We haven’t set up the TV at all yet. Maybe today. We plan to mount it over the fireplace but not until after Christmas.
I’m so far behind in commenting. Turkey Week was busier than I thought. D:
I hate getting behind so I try to do some every day but I can’t always manage it.
I placed holds on several holiday reads last year and kept postponing them until I was ready for them this week. Now I hopefully have enough to get me through the season. By the time I usually start looking for them, the wait list is months long.
I just talked to my mom in Asheville today and she was complaining about the cold while I was enjoying 75 degrees and sun in Arizona. It feels so nice!
Enjoy your week!
75 is nice! It will be upper 60s here next week though.
We are just a touch warmer here and I have not been enjoying dog walks though my dog thinks this weather is great! I hope you’re having a great week!
Thank you Katherine. Next week, even by Sunday, it will be warmer.
I loved the strategizing of the no-bark breakfasts.
What brand / style wool or alpaca socks do you have? Everyone’s telling me I need wool socks for my ice cold feet.
I like the ones which are mostly pure wool or alpaca, maybe a little bit of nylon. I bought some at an alpaca farm in Virginia. But I did buy some wool socks I really love on Amazon. They are thick and so so soft. The rest I knitted myself. Here’s the ones on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GGY48C8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title (softest)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0734H3M2Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title
Thank you so much! I appreciate the wool sock links!