Saturday, August 30, 2025

The Sunday Salon: Visiting My Sister in Waco

 



Welcome! I am delighted that you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. 

What is the Sunday Salon? 

The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 





My sister and I in Waco, in 2024.

I'm just returning home after spending this week with my sister and her husband in Waco.




What I Read Last Week:





What I'm Reading Now:

An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi






What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

Good Things!







I finished up two of my summer challenges:




When Cathy of 746 books announced last year that she would not host 20 Books of Summer this year after ten successful years, Emma of Words and Peace and Annabel of AnnaBookBel both volunteered to take it on. Summer reading IS the 20, 15 or 10 Books challenge to all of us.

  • The #20BooksofSummer2025 challenge runs from Sunday June 1st to Sunday August 31st
  • The first rule of 20 Books is that there are no real rules, other than signing up for 10, 15, or 20 books and trying to read from your TBR.
  • Just enjoy a summer of great reading and make a bit of space on your shelves!

Here are my 20 Books of Summer:

James by Percival Everett.     The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. 
Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson.    The Love Haters by Katherine Center.
The Mirror Crack'd by Agatha Christie.    Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt.    A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor.    The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves.
Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton.    Aflame: Learning from Silence by Pico Iyer.
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.     The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger.
A Bakery in Paris by Aimee K. Runyan.     The Swish of the Curtain by Pamela Brown.
The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison.   Sanditon by Jane Austen.
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang.     Pigeon Post by Arthur Ransome.

20/20



The idea behind this reading challenge is simple: Use the ease of summer to tackle a Big Book (400+ pages) or two or ... however many you want! You set your own goals. And if it is the start of winter where you live, then it's your Big Book Winter Challenge. Everyone is welcome to participate.

The Details:

  • Anything 400 pages or more qualifies as a big book.
  • The challenge runs from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend (May 23 this year) through Labor Day (September 1 this year).

What kind of books "count"? All kinds! Middle-grade, YA, graphic novels, classics, all genres, all types--as long as they are at least 400 pages. Yes, e-books and audio books count, too--just check online for the number of pages in the print edition.  

My big book reads this summer:


Ten books for a total of 6,757 pages!

It is unusual for me to read so many big books.





I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things...all memories...

My sister and I, with our husbands, have been on many adventures together.


Good Thing #1:
The four of us on a Colorado trip (1983)



Good Thing #2:

Hiking together in Utah (2021)



Good Thing #3:

Together in Paris (2023).



Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.


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Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Good Things!

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is open-ended, even suggesting we make a list that is not book-related. Hmmm...So here goes...

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things now. 

Here are my favorite Good Things from this year (so far)...


Jan. 3 - My dad turns 98.


Jan. 25 - It snows here along the Gulf Coast of Texas.


Feb. 15 - Granddaughter Annie plays basketball.


Feb. 22 - I take my first watercolor class.


March 8 - Inprint Houston presents two poets, Jennifer Chang and Naomi Shihab Nye.


March 15 - Poetry Night at my friend's bookstore.


March 29 - Guided bird outings in Galveston.


April 5 - I repair my 50-year-old guitar.



April 16 - G-granddaughter Lucy carefully examines a butterfly.


April 26 - A green tree frog on my plumeria.



May 3 - First harvest from our garden this year



May 3 - Meeting up with blogger Mae in Galveston.



May 14 - Houston Bookstore Crawl.


May 17 - Staying at the Library Hotel on a trip to NYC.

May 24 - I raise my first Painted Lady butterfly.



May 31 - My husband cuts his 2,500th gemstone.



June 7 - Our yard is certified as a wildlife habitat.



June 28 - I make a quilt at a sewing retreat with my aunt and sister-in-law.



July 5 - I love our Aqua Zumba class.



July 12 - My summer writing class/


August 9 - A reminder for me.



August 16 - At the waterpark with g-son Wyatt.


Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.    
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Saturday, August 23, 2025

The Sunday Salon: Hackberry Emperors and Pipevine Swallowtails and Limpkins and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

  




Welcome! I am happy that you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. 

What is the Sunday Salon? 

The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great place to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

I encourage you to link up, and to visit other blogs and leave some comments. 







We visited Cullinan Park, a huge nature preserve right in the middle of one of the biggest Houston suburbs, this week, and took a leisurely six-mile walk. We saw these Limpkins, a new-to-me bird, plus lots of other birds near the lake in the middle of the park and in the forested areas all around the park.

I also swam several days and went to my book club discussion of James (a wonderful experience) and talked with friends and ate hamburgers with my dad and heard the amazing Robert Reich speak in Houston. 

Next week we are headed to Waco to spend time with my sister and her husband. Yay!






What I Read Last Week:

The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey






What I'm Reading Now:


I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:




Good Thing #1:

Hackberry Emperor at Cullinan Park.



Good Thing #2:

Pipevine Swallowtail at Cullinan Park.




Good Thing #3:

 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks
at Cullinan Park.



Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.


Posted by at 42 comments:
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