Happy Monday! I had a 4-day weekend that began with a run to the old homestead to pick up some planters we left behind, zip around town trying to get my address changed and bills paid (two did not arrive, this month), visit old neighbors and my former personal trainer and eat lunch with the husband. That was just Thursday! The rest of the "weekend" began on Friday with a trip to Oxford to visit Kiddo. We took the futon to his apartment because the poor fellow had only a rocking chair and a beanbag in his tiny living area. Visitors had to sprawl on the floor. He's very happy to have some decent seating.
Saturday, we ran to Memphis to meet up with Eldest for lunch (he was in town for a wedding) and do some critical shopping, including the search for a new, padded desk chair for Kiddo (success!). His other chair was a wreck and very uncomfortable. It didn't take much complaining to convince me that we needed to find a solution. I think we've got Kiddo's home away from home pretty well kitted out, now. We stayed with him both Friday and Saturday night and discovered you quickly figure out what your child needs when you spend the night at his place.
I think I forgot to mention that this book arrived for TLC Tour, last week:
On the other hand, maybe I did mention it. At any rate, we're excited about it and have already cooked one recipe, "Heavenly Salmon Salad". It was absolutely amazing.
Here are this week's arrivals and purchases (in front of a pile that I unfortunately misplaced for a month -- I have some serious ARC catch-up to do):
Top to bottom:
Ned Kelly & the City of the Bees by Thomas Keneally - purchased at Burke's Books in Memphis
The Girl Below by Bianca Zander - from Paperback Swap
Soldiers - Fighting Men's Lives: 1901-2001 by Philip Ziegler - purchased at Burke's Books
The Man Who Never Was by Ewen Montagu - Extremely exciting library sale discovery
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver - ARC for review from Harper
Sixties: Years of Hope, Years of Rage by Todd Gitlin - Library sale purchase
On Prejudice: A Global Perspective ed. by Daniela Gioseffi - Library sale purchase
Wildflower by Mark Seal - Library sale purchase
Not pictured:
Collected Ghost Stories by M. R. James - Another library sale find
Totally out of order:
A photo of moi driving past Sun Records in Memphis. Note the tourists snapping pics on the sidewalk.
The Monday Malarkey photo at the top of this post shows my new goat sculpture, which I purchased at our favorite produce stand -- to which we are now much closer in proximity (squee!) -- standing in one of our planters. Below, the same planter about a week later. Our broccoli is growing like crazy! We've also planted mums, an aster, salvia (to draw the hummingbirds), basil and cauliflower. Some pansies and a new gerbera daisy are waiting to be planted.
Some day I'll finish the whopper of a chunkster pictured below, but it's taking me so long that I set it aside to read two of my purchases, this weekend.
I read The Man Who Never Was (about WWII's Operation Mincemeat) and Ned Kelly & the City of the Bees (a children's book about a boy who goes into the hospital with appendicitis and ends up spending the summer in a bee hive -- apparently based on a hallucination the author had when he went into the hospital at the age of 10). Kiddo does not have a TV, which made for quiet evenings with plenty of reading time. Both books were quick reads and very, very enjoyable.
You can imagine how much I appreciated Vice President Joe Biden's use of the word "malarkey" in last week's televised debate. I think the word needs to be used as often as possible. I just do.
Since I didn't have time to load a Fiona Friday pic, here's your kitty fix:
How was your week?
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I love the goat!! It is made of awesome.
ReplyDeleteI knew you'd like my goat, Jill. He's currently nameless. Billy is already taken, you see.
DeleteI'm jealous of your broccoli! We can't grow broccoli and cauliflower here in Utah. :(
ReplyDeleteThis is our first attempt! Now that we're closer to some nicer garden centers, we've spent some time roaming around and broccoli and cauliflower were everywhere when we were in the mood to plant. So, we figured it would be fun to try -- and, boy, they do grow well, here!
DeleteSounds like you hada lvely weekend.
ReplyDeleteWe did! And, I returned to a postcard from Rhode Island. I would have gone with you to The Elms Kitchen, of course! Looks fun!
DeleteYou are a brave soul to stay with your son. Ours always had roomies when he was in school and once he graduated, I wasn't daring enough to stay with him.
ReplyDeleteKiddo is on his own in a tiny apartment because there was no room in the dorms and everyone he knew at Ole Miss had already made arrangements. I think it worked out well for him, although he has been a little lonely.
DeleteWe never stayed with eldest because he had roommates and no adequate place for visitors to sleep but he was very fortunate in his roommate choice. They had a nice apartment and they kept it very clean. Kiddo's chaos is pretty much all on the dining table and the rest of the apartment is fairly organized. It was not creepy/dirty at all. I was pleased. :)
I'm going to look up that salmon recipe this morning when I get to work. We eat a lot of salmon around here!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I LOVED The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus!!! I started it on Saturday night and easily could've finished it in one fell swoop, but I had to stop reading as I was afraid my laughter would wake up Rod. There are so many funny passages (as well as some very tender ones) that resonated with this 50-year-old mother & wife. Thanks so much for the recommendation! Next up, June Bug! :)
Oh, do! That salmon recipe is terrific! We're big fans of salmon, too.
DeleteYay, I'm glad you loved The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus! I did *exactly* the same thing. I was laughing so much I had to set it aside for fear I'd wake the spouse. LOL
I hope you like June Bug, too! Some people consider it a little preachy. I did not.
It sounds like you were one busy lady there for the weekend, and the latter part of the week! I love the goat and think that I should have one for my backyard. It would totally confuse the dogs, but I think it would be fun!
ReplyDeleteYes, we were very busy! I did all the driving and husband navigated, so I came home completely flattened and was pretty useless, yesterday. Back to chores, today. :)
DeleteThe goat is so cute! I'm sure your dogs would be startled, at first, but a little sniffing and it would be all over. They'd ignore the goat. You should drive up here. I'd be happy to take you to the produce stand!
Good stuff! Sounds like you got the kiddo all decked out. I loooove your goat. And I went to the Sun Records in Nashville several years ago. T-shirt, secured. :)
ReplyDeleteAll good stuff, Nancy! Enjoy!
Yep, got the kiddo pretty much set, Andiloo! He was especially happy to get a comfy desk chair. The one he had was a cheap dining table chair that's falling apart. It was hard and it rocked from side to side.
DeleteWe didn't actually go in Sun Records. We just happened to drive past! I'm surprised Huzzybuns managed to snap a photo in time. Since we've found some good outlet shopping in Memphis and it's such a quick hop from Kiddo's place, I'm sure we'll be going back. Maybe we can hit up Sun Records, next time. It was cool just to *see* it! :)