Harlequin Kradam

What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Something Whiskered (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery) by Miranda James. (Just the one book because I was reading a lot of fanfic.)


What I am Currently Reading: Garden of Lamentations (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) by Deborah Crombie.


What I Plan to Read Next: One of my other library books, possibly Key Lime Sky by Al Hess.

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Book 99 of 2025: Something Whiskered (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery) (Miranda James)

I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy this book, but I really liked it. ( spoilers )

I enjoyed this book, and it had the benefit of not having any obvious continuity errors! I'm giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

First I have to say that the weather was fantastic! High 80s both days and I loved it. (Of course, I didn’t do as much walking as Pip did. o_O)


Saturday: I got up at 5:45am and we were out of the house by 6:45am. Our first stop was Cracker Barrel for breakfast as we headed out of the state. There was about 20 minutes of traffic back-up that was annoying. We reached Martinsburg, WV around 1:30pm and had lunch at Logan’s Roadhouse. (We like this place and get lunch there whenever we’re in the area.)

( more back here, including mom update )

I scheduled an appointment with Spectrum for today to check out something on Pip’s phone. Since I had to be in that area anyway (it’s the closest store to our house at a 45 min drive away; for you city folk, that's 45 min without traffic, not 45 min to go ten miles, which I still can't wrap my head around), I decided to do some other things while I was there.

First I had breakfast at Panera and used their wifi. (They were already out of my fave Panera breakfast, the souffles, when I arrived at 7:10 – they open at 7am. The woman who waited on me said that they opened to an order that took every one of the souffles. Which is fine, if they make more for their regular customers, which they didn’t do. That’s the part that annoyed me.) Anyway.

I made a quick trip to Walmart because I forgot to pick up more tomato soup for mom yesterday, and since that’s something that she can easily eat AND we used the last can she had at home, I wanted to make sure she had more.

I then visited an RV dealer. I have been looking at RV floorplans for years and wanting to visit this dealership to check out actual RVs in person. (If you don’t know, I have this dream of getting an RV (Class C) and driving Route 20 from the East Coast to the West Coast. Slowly. Taking time to see the sights (and maybe visiting people along the way) and just enjoying the ride, with no specific destination in mind. Aside from the West Coast. *g*)

I went to a local restaurant to get GCs for both of my sisters for their anniversaries (one I will be on time for, the other I am very late for). I was originally just going to get this specific GC for sister A, but I found out that Sister S also liked the place, so I figured, two birds, one stone. *g* They’ll both be surprised they got a GC that wasn’t available at the grocery store! (I may have also had lunch there. I had to check it out, right?!!)

Finally I got to Spectrum. I was 45 min early for my appointment, but there was no one else there so they took me immediately. Also, since there was no one else there, more than one service person weighed in on my issue. The fix is easy, but the whole explanation made my head spin. Phones, gah!

Back home, I did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, swept and mopped the kitchen; mopped the bathroom, wiped down the bathroom sink, took the dogs for a short walk (and then went on a couple other walks with both Pip and the dogs), cut up chicken for the dogs’ meals, scooped kitty litter, and shaved. Whew! That was a long ass busy day!

In fun stuff, I read more fanfic.

Temps started out at 45.3(F) and reached 77.6. It was a really lovely day out.


The Upcoming Weekend – Another Civil War Battlefield, Yay!: I’m not sure if I mentioned it, but we’re going away for the weekend. Another trip to Antietam Battlefield with a side trip to Shepherdstown, WV, where our motel is. It’s a lovely place, if in the middle of nowhere, and I would be looking forward to it if the timing wasn’t so bad, with mom getting so sick from her third chemo treatment and ending up in the hospital. I’d suggest canceling, but we already canceled our planned weekend in June because it was on the same weekend as mom’s surgery (we’d have been driving back on the Monday of her surgery and I wanted to be there). It will probably do me good to get away, but the planning for just a weekend away is stressful for me. I have two (counting today) days to get things done before we leave. o_O


Mom Update:

I did not get to visit mom today, but I called her a couple of times to check in. The first time (late morning) she sounded quite perky, the second time (late afternoon) she sounded like her energy was starting to fade. I know my sister visited her, so she did have some company during the day. ETA: I have learned that my other sister also visited, so she wasn't alone all day as I feared she might be.

What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: Copper Script by KJ Charles and True Gretch: What I've Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between by Gretchen Whitmer.


What I am Currently Reading: I’m not currently reading a published book; I’ve been reading fanfic. (I had started Hid From Our Eyes (Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries) by Julia Spencer-Fleming but it’s not speaking to me right now (possibly because it’s the last book in the series until a new one is released in November) and I need to return it to the library, so I’m putting it off for another time when I’m in a better head space for it.)


What I Plan to Read Next: Another library book I have out or a book I just purchased. Depends on if I want to start a book now or wait until the weekend, tbh. I might just keep reading fanfic for now.

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Book 97 of 2025: Copper Script (KJ Charles)

I enjoyed this book a lot! ( spoilers )

This was a good book and I hope the author writes a sequel. I'm giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

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Book 98 of 2025: True Gretch: What I've Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between (Gretchen Whitmer)

This book was really good! She talks about things from her childhood to present time. There are funny moments and very serious moments. Overall, the book feels very hopeful. It was a very easy read; sounded just like she was talking to you.

I enjoyed this book a lot and am giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

I hit Walmart and the bottle redemption center while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park. I hit the bank drive-thru on the way to mom’s and stopped to fill my gas tank on the way home.

I did a load of laundry (washed, dried AND folded), hand-washed dishes, vacuumed the bedroom rug, went on a couple of walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, placed an online order, and scooped kitty litter.

I visited mom, read another long fanfic, and watched some HGTV programs.

Temps started out at 48.9(F) and reached 65.5, that I saw. It was mostly sunny, but for a day we weren’t supposed to have any rain, the clouds made some unexpected appearances.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing okay today. ( more back here )


In other ‘not great’ news ( this time it’s about Sister A )

I hit Price Chopper, the Bakery, and Agway while I was downtown and got in a walk around the park. I hit Stewart’s on the way home and stopped at the library on the way to mom's to pick up books.

I did a load of laundry (washed, dried AND folded), hand-washed dishes, stirred up egg salad, went on a couple of walks with the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered.

I made a one-pot meal of kielbasa, potatoes and baby carrots for supper.

I visited mom, finished True Gretch and watched some HGTV programs.

Temps started out at 64.5(F), went down to 59.9 that I saw and topped back off at 64. It was cloudy for most of the day (a brief sighting of the sun later on) and rained several times.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing good today. ( more back here )

I hit the Feed Bag while I was downtown (because Pip forgot something he’d purchased yesterday) and got in a walk around the park.

I hand-washed dishes, went on a couple walks with Pip and the dogs (including one in the rain), cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and scooped kitty litter.

We had burgers and Gus’s potatoes for supper.

I finished the KJ Charles book and started True Gretch, an autobiography, and watched some HGTV programs.

Temps started out at 61.3(F) and reached 82.4 that I saw when I got home a little after 3pm. (It had already hit 70.0 by 9am, before I left to visit mom, so I knew it was going to be hot.) It got really windy (there are trees outside mom’s room and they were blowing like crazy); it looked cool, but it was not. We got rain later, but not the forecasted thunderstorms, thankfully, as they drive our dogs nuts.


Mom Update:

Mom was doing better today. Especially after they told her she might be discharged. ( more back here )

I didn't have time to write up my comments on the latest finished book, which led to me completely forgetting that yesterday was Wednesday. o_O


What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I have read/finished reading: The Golden One (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) by Elizabeth Peters and To Dwell in Darkness (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) by Deborah Crombie.


What I am Currently Reading: Copper Script by KJ Charles. I keep forgetting about An Archer's Awakening (Of Crowns & Quills) by Casey Morales because I’d rather read a physical book while visiting mom; if I read on Kindle it eats up my battery.


What I Plan to Read Next: I did start something off my own shelf! But I still have a library book out, so probably that so I can return it instead of having to renew it.

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Book 95 of 2025: The Golden One (An Amelia Peabody Mystery) (Elizabeth Peters)

I enjoyed this book so much!! ( spoilers )

This book was really good; I'm giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

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Book 95 of 2025: To Dwell in Darkness (A Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James Mystery) (Deborah Crombie)

This book was really good. ( spoilers )

I enjoyed this book and am giving it five hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥