Number 4
Lots and lots of words in this one as well as lots of photos! If you’re new to the blog, this is my monthly recap with a few opinions thrown in. Those opinions are the “for what it’s worth” part of this! I’m also throwing a link party so please link up your favorite posts. Don’t have a blog? Don’t worry! You might find a new blog or two!
What I’ve been reading…
I read so many good books this month! At least two of them, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches and The House in the Cerulean Sea were recommendations by Erin at Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs. If you like to read blogs that aren’t fashion related and more life related, Erin’s is the one for you, I promise! Both of these books are YA, but I loved them. Both deal with supernatural beings and are just so joyfully good. You will buzz right through them, I promise. This Time Tomorrow is a touching novel of trying to understand our parents and our lives…another good one. Lucy by the Sea is the first and only book I’ve read that’s written about/during the Covid pandemic. I enjoyed it sort of. Olive Kitteridge and Olive, Again are by the same author as the Lucy book. Characters from all three appear, at times, briefly in each. If you like strong character-driven books, these are for you. The Olive books remind me of A Man Called Ove only with a female lead. The Inheritance Games and its sequel, The Hawthorne Legacy, may have also been recommended by Erin. They were a little twisty in that I frequently got confused about the different story lines. I still enjoyed both. Which brings me to Daisy Darker. I’m not sure if I liked this book or not. It’s definitely dark, no pun intended, and full of twists and turns.
What I’ve been watching…
We have been watching a varied selection of series and movies! I think Nigel liked “Red Notice” the best. It stars Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot (on Netflix). It’s a fun action movie. He loves anything Dwayne Johnson is in, and I love Ryan Reynolds’ weird sense of humor. At this time, there are a couple of sequels in the works. We also watched all three of the “Grindewald” movies (HBO Max). We had seen the first two a few years ago but rewatched them to get up to speed. The last one replaces Johnny Depp with Mads Mikkelsen. He does a good job, but I just keep seeing him from that Hannibal Lector series a few years ago.
We began the PBS series, “Marie Antoinette” but ran into some technical problems. It’s gorgeous, but according to all I read, it’s not particularly historically accurate. I couldn’t find any discussion of what that exactly meant, though. And, of course, we had to finish the series, “Star Trek: Picard” because Nigel loves Jean Luc Picard (Paramount). I’ll admit the only thing I really liked about it was seeing all of the old cast members reuniting and saving the world from destruction! We have just begun “Yellowjackets.” Wowza! It is a wild ride (Showtime). Nigel has no clue where it’s going, but I knew from almost the first scene! We’ve just started the second season.
Oh, my word! I forgot the best show we watched! “Lupin” is a French thriller which has been dubbed in English (Netflix). I didn’t even realize until the second or third episode it was not originally in English. But, I also knit while watching tv, so there’s that! It stars Omar Sy who is fabulous! He’s just a master of all trades! This show is done in parts which I find weird. Each part had five episodes. A third part will be released in October.
What I’ve been working on…
Well, the Allegro sweater by Martin Storey is still languishing away in a pile while I work up my courage to figure out my next steps! I always try Ravelry to see if there are any notes. There are three completed projects…none of which had any problems. The German knitter apparently had some problems with the standup collar. I hate to think of tearing it apart, but I probably will need to tink at least a portion of both front and back to make them match. Any hints? Anyone?
A little more…
So, I started a new sweater with some different yarn. I absolutely love Malabrigo Rios yarn. It comes in gorgeous colors and is so bouncy. The only problem is it gets shipped out in groupings of ten which means you may or may not get yarn that matches. It doesn’t have a dye lot, but I’ve learned, the hard way, there can still be differences in the colors. This is Lotus. I’m knitting the “Maybe Forever” pullover by Veronika Lindberg aka Kutovakika. It’s knit from the top down and in brioche stitch. I thought I had a handle on the brioche stitch, but the increases messed me up! I think I tore that thing down to the ribbed neck at least a dozen times before abandoning brioche and doing it in broken fisherman’s rib. I’m loving what’s coming, but I’m going to guess something will go wrong somewhere!
More…
I’ve been working in my closet/laundry room. At first, I thought it was a good idea to have the laundry room in the master my closet. Now, I wish I’d left the floorplan alone and had a separate laundry room. I don’t like walking in there and seeing the washer and dryer. I’d love to paint it some kind of bold color, but I’m thinking about buying some of these peel and stick florals…something like this. Nigel really doesn’t want to paint the room. I still think that area of the closet needs to be painted, but where to stop! Suggestions gladly accepted! Anyone? I also finally organized my belts. Granted that’s just an overly large shoe box, but they’re now easily seen and accessible.
Still more…
While we haven’t done anything inside the house, we have been busy outside. We may have started a bit early because there have been plenty of nights we’ve scrambled to cover things up because of frost/freeze warnings! One of my favorite things to do is check out the clearance section at Lowe’s garden center. When you’re buying perennials (the kind that come up every year), it doesn’t matter if they’re all wilty and looking down on their luck! Give them a good soak in a bucket, and they’ll almost always revive. Then, just pop them in the ground! I also bought several daffodils and hyacinths. These were ready to bloom, but they didn’t ever make it that far. I’m not concerned about that, either, because the bulbs are the important part. We got these cute puffy purple flowers, but I can’t remember what they’re called. They’ve gone on the south side of the house which gets so much sun as well as some purple/blue columbine. The neighborhood was mulched this year so everything looks so good!
A teensy bit more…
I always wanted to be one of those people who had a gardening bench. We bought this baker’s rack years ago. For the first few years, it lived outside in our backyard up north. I never used it as a gardening bench because I had plenty of room to spread out. When we moved down here, I cleaned it up. It lived in the basement as a bookcase. The books I had collected for years while teaching were on it. When we moved this past summer, I finally moved those books on to a new teacher (thanks, Steph!). Now, I’m going to do some kind of mosaic tile on the shelves because they’re just lauan boards and will warp and just disintegrate. Then, I’ll finally have a gardening bench! I can’t wait. For now, it’s just a meeting place for my many pots and containers. The wine bottle tree is still lacking seven bottles. We have an event coming up at church where I’m sure I can source some! And, I threw in some photos of the back porch. It will be better once I can get my containers planted and fill it with flowers!
The final bit…
You may remember me whining writing about the birch clumps (here). This is the one we ended up buying. Down the way a bit is the red maple our son also planted. Our ground is clay so he was really working hard to dig those holes! Unfortunately, our three trees are almost in a line which bugs me to no end. I like my trees to be rather whimsically planted! But, when your yard is so small, you do what you have to, right? Nigel had asked the landscaping guys if they could do some winding around the house as they cleaned up the edges. Well, guess what I now have? I swear it looks like three boobs! I knew I should have been there or at least spray painted the edging I wanted! I think I’ll have to live with it for a couple of years until we get new mulch.
What I’m buying…
I may have gone a bit overboard this month! I bought both skirts in the gallery below as well as a dress or two that have yet to be on the blog. Honestly, I don’t keep track so I don’t know if I bought anything else. While this seems like a lot, I have definitely slowed down from the early days of blogging! I also indulged in another Forever Young BBL (broadband light) treatment. I am only a day or so out from the treatment and can’t wait to see how my skin looks!
Before…
Love the hair accessory, don’t you?
Next day…
Those dark spots will continue to get darker and will eventually flake off.
Where I’m going…
We are planning a trip to a botanical place in Kentucky in order to buy some jumbo upright elephant ears and see what other goodies this guy has. I’m not sure where we’re going from there. We have a couple of ideas in mind.
What I’ve worn…
Wrap it up, Marsha!
I really didn’t think I did much this month. I probably didn’t. I just “talk” too much! Lots more planting to be done here at Haus der Mitte! I do wonder what May holds for Nigel and me. So, can we talk? Have you watched any interesting shows? Do you have a special way to store your belts? How about your laundry room? Love it or hate it? Please leave a comment or two, and we can talk! I promise to respond soon.
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Thank you!
As always, I am greatly appreciative of all of you who read, comment, subscribe, or email. I honestly cannot tell you how much it means to me. If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.
Where you can find me:
Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style, My Bijou LIfe, Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, The Grey Brunette, and Away from the Blue. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, I do deClaire, Mummabstylish, and Style Splash. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I co-host Traffic Jam Weekend with Michelle every Thursday. I also host Final Fridays on the last Friday of the month as well as 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!
And, now, it’s your turn!
Please link up your favorite posts, DIY, baking, gardening, fashion…you name it…as long as it’s family friendly! Link up with me, visit a couple of others, and leave a comment or two! No worries if you don’t have a blog, just look around! You may find a new blog just waiting for you!
You have a lovely back porch! And a huge garden don’t you? In a beautiful area. I hope you like to show some more of what you see when you look out of your window. And you have a lot of white tees, lol. Enjoy your weekend!
Thanks, Nancy! We have a very small garden now. I will definitely be sharing more as the summer goes on. I just bought lots and lots of flowers to plant in containers. Have a fabulous weekend, Nancy!
Ooo your back porch is so inviting! I could imagine sipping something there and saying something like, I am out on the veranda, darling.. Lol.
Thank you so much for the shout out! I am so happy you enjoyed the books! I agree, they are just so fun and you can fly through them. They are just so happy. 🙂
I like the peonies! And they are removable right? So if you put them up and live with them a while and decide you don’t love them anymore, easy peasy! I had one of those type of sticker-y doos for Wyatt’s nursery and I loved it for a few years. 🙂 I say go for it!
Oh, thanks, Erin! It’s a nice porch though I wish it faced east so we didn’t get the western sun in the afternoon. I am looking forward to having all kinds of plants on it.
You are very welcome for the shout out! I love reading your blog and seeing what your family is up to! You read the best books, too
The peonies are removable. I’m thinking of getting a set for the bathroom first and then going from there.
Thanks for the tip about Red Notice. We love all of those actors. Lupin is good! We watched the first season of Yellow Jackets. It definitely keep you on your toes. As for your closet / laundry room – which I think is a really cool idea myself – maybe just paint an accent wall behind the washer and dryer. After all, you don’t really see the wall behind your clothes all that much. Your patio is amazing. And you’re making good strides with your plants. All of your outfits are amazing! I really love your slacks in the last photo.
Michelle
https://funkyfashionstyle.com
Thanks, Michelle! I’m considering doing a really dark dramatic color behind the washer & dryer. Mike isn’t keen on it because he doesn’t want to move them, but the boys can do that! And, I love to paint. It would take an hour or so, tops!
Red Notice was just such fun, and Lupin kept me guessing all the time. Yellow Jackets is something else!!!
I love my laundry room; it’s up here on the 2nd floor with all our bedrooms and laundry but it’s in its own separate space at the end of the hall and I painted it one of my favorite periwinkle blue colors. I really enjoyed House/Cerulean sea & just recently read This Time Tomorrow which I thought was pretty good. We really enjoyed Red Notice too but I’m a pretty big fan of both The Rock and Ryan Reynolds.
I loved having our laundry room on the second floor of our last house. We had actually done quite the remodel on it. I wish I could remember the name of the color I painted it. Mike’s not keen on painting behind the appliances because they’d have to be moved. But, I have two sons who can help with that!
I think it’s so convenient to have your washer and dryer in the closet. All of the high-end houses we tour have that. Have you thought about a curtain across the front so you don’t see them? Then you don’t have to paint or wallpaper?? It will close it in more, but it could work??
We did that in our last townhouse because I hated the bifold doors and it worked fabulously.
I can’t believe those are all of the belts you have. I need to send you some of mine, haha. I don’t think mine would fit in 4 shoe boxes.
OXOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Thanks, Jodie! I actually thought about a curtain (I have gobs of them from the old house), but the placement of the washer & dryer and the door doesn’t work. I am really thinking about painting the wall behind the washer & dryer a dark dramatic color. I don’t know!
I just never got into wearing belts. Most of the ones I have are from my Brighton period…I do have a couple chain ones hanging with my necklaces.
If you want to use t
A curtain,don’t give up. I bet there’s a way to make it work. We had to add piece of wood on the ceiling to create a stop for the shower curtain rod but I love the idea of painting the wall too!!
Xoox
Jodie
If I put up a curtain, it would be on a diagonal. I think it would also impede the use of it. I really think I’m going to paint that back wall a dramatic color.
I did a light treatment a few years ago and was really pleased. I’m thinking about doing another one soon. I need to check out those books you recommended. They sound good!
Thanks, Laura! I am not seeing the results I did with the first one, but it’s still early days. Oh, so many good books this month!
You have so much going on Marsha! I enjoyed reading your post, seeing your garden and hearing of your plans. Thanks for joining us for WBOYC this month 🙂
Thank you so much, Debbie! I’ve taken to jotting things down in my calendar or taking photos to remind me of what I’m doing! Thanks for the party!
What a lovely monthly roundup! When it comes to the Fantastic Beasts movies, I really have to say that “The secrets of Dumbledore” was super underwhelming in my opinion, I feel like they could have done it with much more substance and that it fell flat compared to the prequels, which is too bad because I loved the first two.
http://www.couture-case.com/
Thanks so much, Jelena! I agree with you. I wonder if the controversy over Johnny Depp’s trial created even more problems, and they decided to play it safe? It just seemed to jump here and there, didn’t it?
We really need to build out a laundry room. Ours is upstairs in my daughter’s bedroom closet and it’s not a walk-in so it makes no sense. I think you should paint your closet a fun color or try the peel and stick wallpaper to spruce it up!
Jill – Doused in Pink
Thanks, Jill. I’d really love to go with Tricorn Black or Urbane Bronze, but I worry that would be too dark. I’m going to do something to make it prettier…that’s for sure.
How odd your laundry would be in a bedroom closet? Is it extra big and allows for clothes, too? For almost 30 years, mine was in our basement, and I loved it there. I didn’t have to have things all nice and neat because I was the only one who ever saw it!
Hi Marsha lots happening in your world and thanks for taking the time to link up and share with us at #WBOYC?. I just finished Olive Kitteridge and I have to say it was a hard slog for me. Perhaps I wasn’t in the right mood as I have read some good reviews about the book. Did you know we also have a monthly What’s On Your Bookshelf? link up? You might like to join us for that. it is the third Thurs/Friday(Brisbanetime) of each month. x
I did see the Bookshelf post. I will try to remember…I’ll put it on my calendar. I also have the worldwide global writing challenge and Ageless Style on the third Thursday.
I think Olive is an acquired taste. I did have to slog a bit through the first, and then I just wanted to know all about her!
Thanks, Sue, for coming by!
Lots of goodness with this post! Yay for spring planting! I’m going to start working on my planters this Thursday. Thanks for sharing all that you are reaching and watching. Would love to know your thoughts on that treatment you just started.
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
Thanks, Kathrine! We bought several plants that have yet to be planted because it’s been so doggone cold and rainy. This is my second round of BBL. I’m not doing the Moxi or Halo version. I don’t seem to have had the same results this time which kinda disappoints me. I have a large brown spot on the side of my face I really wanted to disappear. But, the texture of my skin is definitely better.
Love the variety in your outfit recap. I enjoyed seeing your outdoor space. Fun to see where others live. I love spending time on the porch in the spring. Thinking of you today as I am wearing my April Cornell pants that you are wearing in your IG profile pic. I have been meaning to read the Inheritance Games books. Going to put them back on my list!
wwww.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
Thanks, Mireille! I always think of you when I see those pants in my closet. I felt like such a somebody when you said you’d bought them because of my blog post! You made my day! I did like the Inheritance Games books…lots of tricks and turns. Your outdoor area is gorgeous so I’d spend lots of time out there, too!
Wow Marsha 6you have been busy! The boarders will look super when the flowers are grow and bloom. Have a super week lovely and thanks for hosting the linkup xx Jacqui
Thanks, Jacqui! I can’t wait for the flowers to fill in though that will take a year or two! I do hope your weekend is extra special. Will you be watching the Coronation?
What a comprehensive round up! Yes I rely on perennials heavily at this time of year, I bought a few this week to fill gaps. I’ll buy the tender annuals when we’re back from our holiday next week. Some interesting books and TV. Haven’t seen any of the TV shows except Lupin, and we’re struggling to find stuff at the moment. Have a great weekend and thanks for linking.
Thanks, Gail! We did lots of the planting today. We are starting from scratch so I’m having lots of fun finding new perennials! Have a wonderful holiday!
You have certainly been busy Marsha. I am a slow reader. Can read only 20-30 pages in a day. I am reading Inferno now and seeing 3% on Netflix.
Thanks, Nathan! I love The Inferno and have read it several times!
Such a fun post, Marsha! I have been so busy with projects and kids that I can’t seem to get around to reading blogs these days. I enjoyed reading about all your things! I cracked up laughing at the first photo and story of your Christmas flowers. My tall dining room sister vases both have Christmas/winter arrangements in them, too! Not because I’m claustrophobic though (which I am!) but because I haven’t yet bought the stuff for a spring/summer arrangement. Maybe I will get that done before the holiday season next year! Ha. Also, you must let Nigel know that I went to high school with Dwayne Johnson and that he was an amazingly cool kid. He once encouraged these 3 snarky little bully kids to apologize to me under threat of his fist because they kept teasing me about my shaved head…which I did for my sport and Dwayne respected that big time. It was one of the moments of a human kindness that I will always remember. He was not having the nastiness that was being thrown at me and he made sure everyone knew that he wasn’t having it. Of course, every girl and probably most of the boys had a crush on him!
Shelbee
Shelbee…my husband will be in total and utter awe of you! He simply adores Dwayne Johnson! I’m so glad to find out he’s just as nice a guy as I thought!
Yes, I have several different sets of “pitcher flowers,” and they were in a cardboard box clearly marked “Pitcher Flowers”. Someone…not naming names…put them in a plastic tub so they could go in the “basement.”
Thanks for coming by, Shelbee!