Summer Thrifting

 I love thrifting! We love being environmentally friendly! I love the thrill of not knowing what you’re going to find. It’s basically the only way I buy books now. I like to support my library used book sales and used bookstores/thrift stores. You would not believe the books I have found while thrifting. Brand new new releases, classics and everything in between. I’m trying to acquire all of the classics and have a really great start. I also would love to find all of Stephen King’s books and I have a good collection started there too. Something else that I’ve been enjoying looking for are paintings/art. I’m trying to go for a more rustic, cottage type look in my home and the thrift t store is a great place to look for decor. I know thrifting and flea markets are all the rage now and for a good reason. Don’t be afraid of picking up pieces that are a little worn or need a little love. Especially if they are inexpensive and well made. Good quality pieces are worth a little extra effort. Also, not to be woo woo here but I totally believe in manifesting what you’re looking for. I can not tell you how many times I’ve thought of a book I wanted to find or a piece of decor and that same day I will find exactly what I wanted! No joke! It works! Remember your thrift stores when its time to decorate for the holidays. They always have a fun selection of holiday decor and its a budget friendly way to decorate for the holidays. You can find so many good deals but make sure to watch out for overpriced items. Just because you found something you are looking for doesn’t mean anything if its crazy overpriced. Know what something is worth and how much it’s worth to you. What are your favorite things to thrift? Are you anti-thrift store? How come? I’ll share a few pictures of some hauls from this Summer.

Garden 2023

 I started gardening last year after watching a few YouTubers, mainly Gary Pilarchik and Becky from Acre Homestead. It turned into something that I am very passionate about and love doing. I love seeing something I grew from a tiny seed into something I can then eat and feed to my family. Last year we had 3 raised beds and some flowers and herbs in pots. This year we decided to try two in ground beds along with our 3 raised beds. Not everything in those in ground beds have been a huge success but I’m still learning and we weren’t sure how soil would do. So of course I did start some things from seed indoors weeks before we were able to get stuff in the ground. I think I started the last week in March. What I start indoors are tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, kale, and some herbs and flowers. My flowers did horrible this year unfortunately, along with a lot of my herbs. 3 things that did do well were my Coleus, Celosia and lemon balm. Oh my goodness plant some lemon balm just for the smell! I will be planting way more of those next year. Lettuce does not need to be started indoors necessarily but I like to give them a head start and stagger the planting so that we have lettuce all summer long. So, in our 3 raised beds we have peppers, lettuce, kale, and onion in one bed. I also have a small container just of onions. Next bed has snap peas, carrots and green beans which I think are garden staples and very easy to grow. The last raised bed is all tomatoes. I planted Roma, San Marzano, cherry, Wisconsin 55 and I think a couple others. We will have plenty of tomatoes! In one of the in ground beds I have more peppers, summer squash, cucumbers and pumpkins. I tried planting strawberry plants but I don’t think they did anything. The other in ground bed has corn (major fail) cantaloupe, watermelon, zucchini and more pumpkins. I absolutely love growing pumpkins and squash. The plants get so big and beautiful with their bright flowers. Just make sure they are able to grow and trellis/cascade where they need to. I recommend putting them on the edges of wherever you plan on planting them. There is nothing better than going out tot the gardens and seeing that something has grown. We would love to expand the garden in the backyard and basically make our whole backyard a garden. I’m also hoping to plant some garlic this Fall. I’ve never done that before so we’ll see how it goes. Things I would do different next year. No corn or get it in the ground way earlier. Way more flowers!! I miss having so many pretty flowers all over. Way more peas and beans. Like at least double. Maybe no kale although I’ve been giving a lot to my sister for her bearded dragon Gordon. Way more onions. I am having way more success with onions this year and I’ve loved having the scallions. They are so good! I honestly feel like I could double everything. I know that my soil probably needs some work too. I’m always learning and experimenting so that the next year can be bigger and better. Hopefully I will be able to do some preserving and canning this year. Our apple tree is also producing like crazy so I see more apple pies in my future. How are your gardens doing? What has been your favorite thing that you’ve grown this year? What are you doing differently next year if anything? I’ll include a few pics of the season and hopefully it continues to give us lots of goodies! Happy gardening :)

My Favorite Books Of The Year…So Far

 Somehow we are more than halfway done with this year and I have managed to read a little over 50 books. There have been some flops but there have also been some major hits. I’m going to give a few of my favorites in different categories just got make it easier. I have to save the best for last so let’s start with just general fiction. I’ve read a couple of really great historical fiction/general fiction books but by far my favorite is Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau. I just finished this last week an absolutely loved it! It is a coming of age story but so much more. Mary Jane is 14 years old, very shy and quiet. Her parents are very by the book and they keep her on a tight leash for lack of a better word. Mary Jane decides to take a nanny position for a sweet girl in her neighborhood. She soon learns that not every parent parents the way that hers do. The Cone family is much more boisterous and free spirited. There is lots of yelling and chaos going on but there is also a lot of love. Throw in a rockstar who is also staying with the family for the Summer to help with a drug addiction, and his famous wife and you have a very interesting book. I cannot emphasize enough how much I loved the characters and the relationships in this book. I laughed, I cried, I didn’t want it to end. It was so beautiful. Please check it out.

Ok next is Sci-Fi and I have a couple but 1 that takes the top. I’m not sure if you would call this sci-fi or horror or both but I’m adding it here. The Deep by Nick Cutter. I don’t even know how to explain this except that it takes place deep in the ocean and it’s freakin terrifying! I think you should go in knowing nothing and enjoy the ride. The ending could’ve been better. Next is Kindred by Octavia E. Butler which I would definitely say is sci-fi because it involves time travel. Even though this book was written what 40 some years ago, it felt so current. Not outdated at all. A black woman finds herself being taken back in time to the Antebellum South. She finds herself in a very dangerous position but ends up saving a white boy and that ultimately saves her. She gets transported back to the present but it doesn’t last long before she’s back in the past. Every time she get transported back its for longer and longer periods of time. She is a subjected to being a slave and endures absolute horrors. It’s a terrifying look into racism and slavery and a must read! My number one sci-fi read has to be Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Wow this book got me out of a huge reading slump and brought me back to life. It was fast paced and exciting and really kept you guessing. Our main character wakes up to find that this life is not his life. His wife is not his wife and his son was never born.This is a mind bending, time bending book and it will leave you on the edge of your seat! 

Fantasy/Cozy Fantasy is next and I have 2. First is Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. Yes the hype is real. This is not at all my genre but I had to see what the hype was about and I am so glad I did. This is about Viv who is an orc. She is tired of battling and fighting and she wants to settle down and open her own coffee shop. It might sound kind of dull but it is charming and you will fall in love with the characters. Next is The House In The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. This started out a little rough for me. It was a little slow and I was nervous I wasn’t vibing with the writing but I stuck with it and ended up loving it. This is essentially about a social worker who works with magical children. It is beautiful and heartbreaking and has such a wonderful message. Yes I cried.

Ok romance is next. I think I’ve read like 2 romances lol. They just aren’t my favorite. But, I read The Happy Ever After Playlist but Abby Jimmenz. This is book two in a series but I don’t see any reason they cant’t be read as stand-alones. It did have my least favorite trope in it which I won’t say because it could be a spoiler but dang it if I didn’t end up loving the characters. If you enjoy books about musicians and trying to move on after a spouse death then give this a try.

Next up is mystery/thriller/suspense. I actually have a few but I will keep it short. The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz. What a fun, ridiculous book! Keep an open mind with this one and enjoy the ride. A writing retreat with an eccentric author turns into a competition that is a little more than they bargained for. Another crazy but fun book is the newest by my guy Riley Sager. The Only One Left is a modern day (set in the 80’s) Lizzie Borden. There are so many twists your head will spin! I’m serious. It is so ridiculous and fun. I loved it. Next is the second book in the Finlay Donovan series. Gosh I loved this on. I think I loved it more than the first even. Finlay gives me so much anxiety but I always fond myself laughing along. I’ve heard the third book isn’t that great but I’m still looking forward to reading it. Look Closer by David Ellis was another one that will make your head spin. The most morally gray characters. You don’t know who’s lying, who’s telling the truth and who you should be rooting for. Another one that will keep you guessing until the end. Behind Closed Doors by B.A Paris was a a lot more suspenseful than I was expecting. Grace’s new husband seems like the perfect man. He’s handsome, attentive and kind. Things change quickly after the wedding and what seems like the perfect marriage is anything but. Read this book! It will have you so frustrated but it’s still worth it. My favorite thriller by far was Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier. Wow! This was incredible. Amusement park, the shadiest characters imaginable, corruption, lies and creepy clowns and dolls. Need I say more?This was a lot grittier and darker than I was expecting and I’m really happy it went in that direction. I just loved the story and all of the seriously messed up characters. Slight trigger warnings and honestly check them before most of these books. Highly recommend this one. I can’t wait to read more from her.

Ok we’ve come to my favorite category, horror! I’ve read some fantastic horror books with year so I’ll try to be quick. First, Grady Hendrix, my king! Minus his new book which was a major miss for me but let’s not go there. I’ve read like 3 or 4 of his nooks this year but my stand outs were My Best Friend’s Exorcism and The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires. My Best Friend’s Exorcism is basically exactly what it sounds like lol. It’s set in the 80’s and I loved the friend group and their relationship. His writing is so fantastic. Hilarious and ridiculousness one second and then serious and disgusting the next. Genius. The Southern Book Club was even better than I was expecting. I did not think it was going to make me so emotional and give such important social commentary on housewives/moms and even racial injustices. Not what you expect from a vampire book. That’s Grady for you though. Don’t get me wrong this book is disgusting and horrifying too. It really has it all and I highly recommend. Moving to more extreme horror we’ve got Maeve Fly by CJ Leede. Again, this is extreme horror! Major trigger warnings. Proceed with caution. Maeve Fly is giving psycho Elsa from Frozen, she’s giving female Patrick Bateman. She is an absolute psycho but you somehow feel sorry for her and kind of like her. Maybe that’s just me lol. I did feel so conflicted reading this because she is nuts but heck if I didn’t love her. The ending had me heartbroken. I can not wait for her next book! Ok my favorite book of 2023 so far is….. Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine. This comes out August 1st and is the inspiration behind the newest season of American Horror Story. Think of it as a feminist Rosemary’s Baby. I know this isn’t going tot be for everyone. I know some people are going to find it silly and weird but I dont know it resonated with me on a deep level. I might make a whole post just dedicated to this book. I could write a thesis on this book lol. Major trigger warnings of pregnancy, miscarriage, infertility, IFV etc. It’s really hard to read at times. It felt so real at times it felt like I was reading a memoir or something. I just bawled my eyes out reading it and I can’t wait to get my own physical copy to annotate. Does it get a little kooky, crazy? Sure, but I even enjoyed that. As someone who has gone through infertility and other hormonal things it was just a big hug like “you’re not alone.” It was so comforting and beautiful even though its horror. The authors note at the end was wonderful! How many times have you heard that? She wrote more about the issues that women face as far as not being taken seriously especially with doctors (also a theme in the book) being talked down to or completely ignored if their male partners are with them. She also wrote about the maternal mortality rate of Black women in the U.S which if you don’t know about you should! It is worth getting the book just for the authors note honestly. I thank her so much for this book and I will be reading it again. Again, I could write a whole post on this book and I just might. I have more books that I really loved but this is long enough. This was the best of the best but stay tuned for more reviews and bookish content.