Every time I sit down to write you, I start trying to explain what life looks like here and I can’t, so I stop. And then try again later. This has happened multiple times over the course of multiple weeks so I’ve decided I’m just going to share some things even though it isn’t Tuesday.
Reading – Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter, Trust by Domenico Starnone, Morgan is My Name by Sophie Keetch*, Blue Hour by Tiffany Clarke Harrison*, Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer*, Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo*, Land of Milk and Honey by C. Pam Zhang (pre-print), Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree*, Women Talking by Miriam Toews, Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt*, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles*, and The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life’s Final Moments by Hadley Vlahos. I especially enjoyed these.* My TBR is obnoxious so I’ve started making a stack of books, asking on social media what other people recommend I should read next and then grabbing whatever calls to me. Sometimes it’s what someone recommends, sometimes it’s not even something in the pile. They’ve become my favorite posts.
Watching: The Bear (Hulu), past seasons of Real Housewives of Orange County, the most recent season of New. York (Peacock). I could use some recommendations.
Making: These popsicles (and they are so easy and good), and BLT’s because we have so many tomatoes. So. Many.
Knitting: Not a thing. Just haven’t been feeling it lately.
Listening: I am not usually a podcast person, but Normal Gossip was recently recommended to me, I listened to an episode while traveling, and now I’m hooked.
So that’s things here. What about you? What are you -ing lately? Enjoying these last weeks of summer?
Hello, Kate! I’m so happy to see a post from you! I have to admit I find myself thinking to myself, whenever I finish reading or watching something, “I must remember this, so I can tell Kate.” I’ve read a lot so far this August: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, which I really enjoyed, and Fight Night by Miriam Toews, which was a quick and quirky read. I’m not sure I’d be able to read Women Talking due to the subject matter. Did you find that aspect of it difficult to take in? Right now I’m on the fourth book (of five) in the Borrowers series, and am loving revisiting this story. I gifted A Gentleman in Moscow to my daughter’s partner a couple of years ago—fully planning on asking him if I can one day borrow it to read, so this post is a good reminder to me to do that. Your list of books read floors me, Kate—what an asset you must be to the bookstore where you work. 🙂
Watching: I *finally* watched Ted Lasso, just barely managing to squeeze in all three seasons before our free trial of Apple+ came to an end earlier this week. I loved it. Now I’m back to Star Trek Voyager, which at this point is like a security blanket for me (it’s feeling increasingly necessary as an antidote to my doom scrolling—I am reading WAY too much news these days). I’m also catching weekly episodes of the latest season of the British Baking show as they air. We only have Netflix and CBC, so unfortunately I have no recommendations.
Gardening: Our tomatoes are starting to get going too. My youngest son and his GF, who have taken over a whole section of the garden to grow strawberries (technically so far it’s just strawberry *plants* that they’re growing), have gotten into the habit of checking over the whole veggie garden, so they’re the ones who are doing all the harvesting. (Tomatoes, the occasional handful of raspberries, and several cucumbers.) We’ve also got a few butternut squashes that are growing nicely.
I think I saw on IG that V’s had a campus tour, which I’m imagining is perhaps what’s at least partly to blame for the difficulty in writing here. I know that whenever I swirl with emotions, coherence goes out the window, and I know how hard it is to be facing the reality of kids growing up and leaving home. Sending you love, Kate. Our youngest moves into his dorm on August 26th, which is coming up way too fast. I suppose my last -ings are helping, preparing, and shopping, as we work to get him ready for university.
Have a good week, Kate!
It’s always so good to hear from you, Marian!! I hope you’ll borrow A Gentleman in Moscow. I found the story and characters to be so endearing and exactly what I needed!
I do think the subject matter made Women Talking a difficult book but I also didn’t love the narrator. I’m glad I read it and I definitely want to read more of Toews, but I picked a hard entry point!
How amazing that your son and girlfriend are doing the harvesting! We’ve had a bumper year for cukes and tomatoes and little decorative pumpkins but my beans haven’t done nearly as well as I had hoped. We finally just gave up and pulled them out last night. And by we, I mean Jesse. I have been a horrible gardener this summer.
I’m so glad you got to see Ted Lasso. I think my first season was my favorite but I loved all the characters so much.
August 26 is coming up so quickly! I can’t imagine how busy and hard that must be! I’m sending YOU love and peaceful thoughts because I imagine that is a lot!
I’ve been thinking about you! I love when I think about someone and their blog pops into my Feedly.
How is the new season of NYC Housewives? My friend says she likes it, but I don’t think she has seen the older seasons, so I feel like I need someone else to tell me. I used to watch old seasons of Housewives to cheer myself up, but I can’t seem to find a season that will do the trick.
The picture of cotton candy reminds me that I haven’t had cotton candy in a very long time. 😒💕
I hadn’t either so when I dropped my son off at the fair, I wandered the livestock barns (my favorite) and bought myself a small bag which I ate in the car. It was a delight.
I have only watched the first two episodes but I really like it so far. I mean, I have a LOT of love for the original franchise, but I think the shake up was a good idea. Do you have a favorite franchise? There are so many I haven’t watched because I was very late to the game.
And I’ve been silent stalking blogs lately. I need to get back to commenting!
Hi Kate,
Boy, can I relate to “Every time I sit down to write you, I start trying to explain what life looks like here and I can’t, so I stop.” I gave up trying back in June, I think. 🙂
I know your TBR is full, but I’ll share one book from this summer that was so, so good: Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. Big, sprawling, full of heart and wisdom. Oh, also, just (this morning) finished The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane (author of Ask Again, Yes–which I also really liked). Both seem like your kind of books.
I have no TV recs, as I haven’t watched any since leaving Portland in June, other than a few episodes of Restored with Brett Waterman (on Magnolia TV). As I just saw in an article I found about it: ““Restored” is the antidote to all of the flipping shows that contribute to rabid consumerism, the McMansionization of historic neighborhoods, and gentrification…” It’s really the only home reno show I can stand to watch any more. So, I guess that is a rec. There are a lot of seasons of it.
From your photos, I’m inferring that your life is flavorful and abundant; I sure hope that is true (in good ways). I was supposed to be home today, but I’m stuck in a hotel in Baton Rouge, hoping my next scheduled flight won’t be canceled (I’m on 2 and counting…). It’s been a summer like no other for me. Maybe I’ll be able to write about it soon. So glad to hear from. you (as always).
Thank you so much for the book recommendations! I loved Ask Again, Yes so I’m especially excited by The Half Moon.
I look forward to hearing about your summer if/when you find the words and am hoping you are on a flight home soon. Air travel seems particularly challenging these days. V and I had a twice delayed flight that had us sprinting (I was not wearing the right shoes OR bra for that kind of endeavor) from one end of the Detroit airport to the other so sending better travel juju your way!
Always pleased to see you’ve posted to your blog. Your photo of cherry tomatoes could have been taken here. I didn’t grow ours, but we went to a farmers’ market and bought too many.
I’ve been into watermelon more this summer, too. Nice picture.
As for what I’m doing… not much. It’s August which is one of the slowest times of year for me. Everyone is on vacation or getting kids ready to go back to school or just as wiped out by the heat as I am, so no one to play with.
That watermelon was very good! My parents gave us a HUGE container (about half a large melon) and Abram and I ate the whole thing on the 4 hour drive back. I don’t know that I would consider watermelon a car snack, but it was wonderful that day!
I think one of my favorite things about August is that there isn’t anyone to play with – lots of time to laze around and entertain myself. I feel like you might be the same. ◡̈