Our January had some really good stuff. And a whole lot of not good stuff. Now it’s February. Praise be.
Also, Sticker charts are good if you’re three, 13, or 43.
On to things:
Knitting: Hearts. They are the fiddliest things I’ve ever knit and drive me bonkers, but they’re also addictive. I also have a pair of socks on the needles for Abram.
Reading: In the process of trying to entice a child into more reading, I’ve been setting an (almost) every night tradition where we set a timer and all curl up together to read our own books for 30 minutes. Those forced 30 minutes have been a gateway to me picking up books again. I’ve managed to finish The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls, and The Heir Affair. I’m currently reading All American Boys.
Watching: Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix. I’m doling episodes one per day and finding them absolutely charming. I signed up for Showtime to catch up on Billions after the kids go to bed. It is not charming. I used to like the characters (even if they were horrid) but now I like exactly one and am not feeling the show either. (I’ve already scheduled the cancellation.) Violet and I have also been watching episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine which makes us laugh.
So that’s me. What are you watching, reading, working on, looking forward to?
Also: I have so many links to share. I’m putting this here to hold me accountable for a Friday Finds post this week.
I love seeing the photos of all your books–and also all the crafty things, which makes me envious because I want so much to be a craftier person than I am. I might like the idea of it more than the doing of it. I’m happy to live vicariously through your lovely images. I am also a bit envious of your snow. We are in the season of rainrainrain. Try as I might to love January, I don’t. I am not sorry to close the door on it. (I suspect the same is true for you.)
Reading–I just finished listening to The (something) Life of Addie LaRue. The premise was intriguing, but the writing ended up being a little too bodice-ripper for me. So many shades of green in that devil’s eyes. It reminded me of a Nancy Myers film (which isn’t a bad thing–I’ll never tire of The Holiday). This weekend I indulged in a fancy coffeetable(ish) book called The Creative Cottage, which is filled with photos of impractical cottages with an aesthetic I love and I’m doling chapters out to myself like episodes of a favorite TV show.
TV is in a rut. Every night Cane is here we watch an episode of British Baking (just finished 2017 season last night), followed by one of Atypical. Being the younger sister of an autistic brother, I love the show’s depiction of the sibling relationship between Casey and Sam. My own brother is much less functional than Sam, but at our core we were siblings as I imagine most to be. We bickered, we irritated, and sometimes we were allies against our parents. When Cane isn’t here I watch Schitt’s Creek (because he didn’t like it).
Working on: A HUGE project. I have a shed that is really the shell of a little house. It is the Cadillac of sheds–but not for much longer. So that this house will work for Cane and me together and have space for fledgling young adults who need to return to the nest from time to time, we are renovating it into a “detached bedroom” (not an ADU, which comes with all kinds of tax implications we don’t want to take on). This will not be a DIY endeavor. Or not entirely, anyway. It’s been fun to begin working on this and designing it in our heads/on paper. Feels like old times in a good way.
As always, so happy to see a post from you, and cannot wait for your Friday Finds. They are always so good. Hope you have a good week (which is almost half-done!). 🙂
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue definitely had a bit of the bodice ripper in it. Violet read it before I got a chance to and I don’t know if I would have let her read it had I gotten to it first. (Then I think about how all the girls in my class were reading Flowers in the Attic in middle school which is so much worse.)
The coffee table book sounds absolutely wonderful. I love all things cottage. I had to google ADU. My girlfriend made herself a she-shed this summer. COVID has kept me from being in it, but she’s sent pictures and I adore it. The idea of having a little place like that sounds lovely. I hope you’ll share pictures on your blog when you’re done!
I’m so glad to hear that you like Atypical. I really enjoyed it but wondered if people who have been directly impacted by autism would feel the same way.
Finally, I’m glad we have some snow but it hardly feels enough to be jealous of this year!! We are supposed to get some more this week and next week and I really hope we do. I love outdoor snow activities and we haven’t had enough to do much of them!! (Also, I don’t know that I could live somewhere with a seasons of rainrainrain. I need my SAD lamp as it is!!)
OMG Flowers in the Attic! That was big when *I* was in middle school. I hate to think that it was still going strong by the time you hit those years. What a horrible, horrible book–and we all devoured it. Addie is terribly tame in comparison.
I have a brother with autism, and Cane’s daughter is on the spectrum. We both enjoy it. There is humor in every situation. Sam is a great character, and fully human. I know I like that he and his family are not depicted as perfect or saint-like. (Because no one is, disabled or not!)
I wish I knew how to knit. You make it look so magical, but I am not good at things such as this.
Your aloe plant looks so good! Mine isn’t thriving, and I need to do some research to see what I can do to help it along.
I see your crystals! If you know how to use them, maybe share with all of us how to as well? Selfishly I would love a post like that. 😉
I love that reading idea for kids. Ella will read things online for hours, but reading a book is less enticing. For homeschool, she will pick literature first only because it is the easiest out of all the subjects to choose from. But reading a book for fun isn’t her idea of “fun”.
I am currently reading a book titled Shift Into Freedom about meditation and it is deep, man. Like, I can only read two-three pages a day to let my brain absorb it.
Mike and I binge-watched Night Stalker on Netflix last Friday, and it was gory. I had nightmares for days, Zero stars, do not recommend.
I can’t wait for Friday Finds!
Thank you for the comments on the knitting, Kari. I enjoy it and the fact that I there are always new things to learn and ways to get better at it.
My aloe plant is thriving now, but it had three years of being really unhappy and me almost giving up. I think I figured out its secrets this year. Mine likes to be in our sunny window in late fall/winter, but when the days get longer, it needs less direct light. (I just moved it to the coffee table after I took that picture as I’m starting to see the tips turn). I only water when the soil is DRY DRY DRY all the way down (every 2 to 3 weeks) and then it takes a good drink. I always thought they needed lots and lots of sunlight, but this one doesn’t like that at all.
As for crystals, I recommend the book called The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall (because that’s the book that was recommended to me). I am not an expert AT ALL. I buy ones that feel good when I hold them or look pretty and I put them wherever. Interestingly, I recently put one on my bedside table and later found out is used to attract good dreams and repel bad ones. I think our intuitions know what’s up.
Thanks for the notice on Night Stalker. Yikes!
Your crafty projects are colorful and encouraging to see. I don’t knit but I can enjoy seeing what someone makes. That yarn is cool.
I like your shot of the aloe plant. I have one in the kitchen but have never looked down on it, either figuratively or literally. 21 days of 10:30 p.m. bedtime is fun. Thanks for the glimpse into your ever-changing world. Mine seems to be stuck in first gear.
Thanks, Ally. It’s amazing to me how dyers put together their colors. It’s such eye candy for me.
I’m sorry to hear things feel stuck in your world. I don’t think (in fact I know) you aren’t alone in that, though I don’t know how much help that is! Sending good thoughts.