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,
after a 16-mile e-bike ride
around Waco
We came home from spending the week with my sister and her husband in Waco, and I got back to my at-home routine of swimming and doing nature volunteer work and reading and taking some classes. What am I taking this fall? I signed up for a four-week guitar class, an eight-week writing class, and a six-week happiness class.
What I Read Last Week:
An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi (Nonfiction)
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede (Children's Fantasy)
Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Fiction)
What I'm Reading Now:
Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami
Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
A New New Me by Helen Oyeyemi
What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:
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:
I joined friends
at the beach in Galveston
for the sunrise.
Good Thing #2:
Burrowing Owl
that has (apparently) settled into
life near a Galveston restaurant.
Good Thing #3:
Action for Happiness
online class to practice
happiness habits.
You and your sister look like you had a great time! Lots of classes coming up for you this fall. I hope you enjoy them. I added An African History of Africans to my TBR list.
ReplyDeleteI learned so much about Africa from that book.
DeleteHow wonderful to have the time to spend with your sister. A longer visit is always good. I'll be eager to hear about your happiness class.
ReplyDeleteBurrowing owls seem to have adapted amazingly to suburban life. We saw a lot of them in a town in Florida, where they burrow ritght in green lawns. What fun!
ReplyDeleteGood to see everyone at Sunday Salon.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
What a cute photo of you & your sister. Sounds like a fun bike ride. I'm glad you liked Dream Count -- I still plan to get to it and I hope you enjoy the talk with the author. I'd love to see a burrowing owl ... but mostly what we have here are Great Horned Owls. Thx for the link up.
ReplyDeleteI could really use a happiness class! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen a burrowing owl, that's a very cool photo. Glad you had such a good time iwth your sister on the visit. When I used to get together with my sis we could get laughing until tears came. Fun times.
ReplyDeleteI haven't checked in for a whole ad so fun to see you keeping at it! Biking!!!! I am so overdue to do that :)
ReplyDeleteI am shamed by the amount you do!! It is fall, I need to motivate myself.
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of you and your sister, Deb. Who would have thought years ago that there would be electric bikes? Ha! We just returned from a vacation to Yellowstone Park and enjoyed it very much. I'll be sharing some pictures and getting back to blogging soon. I've missed it. Take care!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful week, indeed! You are now the second person today who has mentioned a bike ride! I have been toying with the idea of beginning that endeavor again so I will have to give this some more thought. It's probably been 35 years since I've sat on two wheels, but you know what they say about riding bikes ;-) Hope you have a glorious weekend and wonderful week ahead! Thanks for sharing this link up for us all!
ReplyDeleteSuch a great picture of you and your sister. I love owls.
ReplyDeleteI love this post! I talked to my middle sister on the phone for 2 hours last weekend. She still lives in Ohio and I'm in Florida so we don't get to see each other as much as we use to. My favorite place to be is the beach and I collected owls for quite a few years, then I switched to lighthouses.
ReplyDeleteWow, impressive bike ride!! I will be curious to hear what you learn in your happiness class, I hope you will share with us!! Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteGood for you on the classes. That will make you happy - learning is so invigorating! I like Adichie. Will check out!
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine who lives in Houston is just getting into birding and drove to Galvaston to see the burrowing owl!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to see that you liked Dream Count and I look forward to seeing what you think of New New Me as I was just looking at it on the shelves of my indie bookstore.
Your friend might be interested in becoming a Texas Master Naturalist. There is a chapter that meets out of Houston.
DeleteGreat pic of you with your sister. Those classes sound wonderful. I hope you enjoy them. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI think we could all use classes in Happiness these days.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
I saw a news show about how Burrowing Owls move into neighborhoods and dig their homes in people's yards. Wouldn't that be something? Love the Galveston photo at sunrise.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that Burrowing Owls are starting to live closer to people now.
DeleteSounds very busy and exciting. How are you finding Katabasis? I bought it a week or so ago and am looking forward to reading it, although realistically that probably won't be until next year.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
I was worried because Mae bailed on it, but I'm enjoying it. I'm about fifty pages from the end.
DeleteIt’s been a long time since I saw a Burrowing Owl. As habitat loss continues apace they are more and more driven to close proximity with humans, where traffic, feral cats, spiteful yahoos and other hazards are legion.
ReplyDeleteLove that you spent some time with your sister. Hope you have a great week.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh!! I am just getting ready to do a unit study on Burrowing Owls with Wyatt because we are reading Hoot! I will have to show him that. I am also adding Dealing with Dragons to his list. Sigh. This kid loves dragons right now.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you had fun with your sister!
I will be curious to see what Wyatt thinks of it---I was considering recommending it to my niece's son.
Deleteso many projects, you are amazing!
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a burrowing owl. But yesterday, we watched a red tail hawk fr several hours, from our back yard. He was there during our breakfast, cleaning, digesting. He stayed several hours.
Then when we went outside for our supper, he was there, again on top of an electrical pole just at the corner of our yard, eating a squirrel! He ate ALL of it, including the tail!!
I took zillions of pictures and a few vvideos. He was really gorgeous.
Then he stayed there, digesting and resting.
He was still there when we went to bed a few hours later
What a great story, Emma!
DeleteA writing class sounds so fun! I've been trying to write more again. I failed the happiness training they were trying to require for us at work. LOL We were expected to be at our desk, on zoom, and sharing all of the group activities. No, thanks.
ReplyDeleteOh dear! lol
DeleteI'm intrigued by the happiness class! You are so inspiring with how many new things you try. And that picture with you and your sister is so stinkin' cute.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I need to give Katabasis a shot... though honestly I need to read Babel, first. Are you enjoying it?
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check out the Action for Happiness site, that looks interesting. I do stuff like gratitude journaling and so on, but it's easy to end up going through the motions.
I really, really loved Babel, and I like Katabasis a lot. I will be curious to see what you think of it!
DeleteAnd I know just what you mean about going through the motions...it loses something vital when I do that.
DeleteThose E-bikes are a lot of fun! Happy to hear you had a good time with your sister. 16 miles?! Wow! That owl is so cute and what a beautiful sunrise! I love your 3 good things every week.
ReplyDeleteYou and your sister look very proud of yourselves, as you should be!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a happy reading week.
Your classes sound so great! I am happy that you got to join once in our Sacred Reading Week sessions. Hope to see you again there at some point.
ReplyDeleteI definitely plan to join in.
DeleteThat's a lovely pic of you and your sister! How lovely to be able to cycle together:). Are you the one delivering the Happiness Class, Deb? Because you always seem such an upbeat, positive person. And I'm going to dig out my copy of Dealing With Dragons - because I don't think I've read it! I hope you have a lovely week.
ReplyDeleteSo sweet to say that, Sarah!
DeleteWhat a great photo of you and your sister! Glad you had such a nice time. Burrowing owls seem to be everywhere around Cape Coral, FL. I think they are protected, because a developer was on television last winter expressing frustration that they'd taken to burrowing on a large tract of land where he was about to build. The project was halted for a period of time.
ReplyDeleteI know the owners of the restaurant or the staff have put up a protective fence for the owl.
DeleteI always feel like I am lazy when I see everything you do. :-)
ReplyDeleteLol!
DeleteYou have certainly had a busy week! I really must try to get down to Galveston soon to see that Burrowing Owl. Let's hope he does decide to make that his permanent home and maybe others will join him.
ReplyDeleteThe owl is on a nice little field.
DeleteThe classes sound like such fun! Galveston is beautiful, I was there once.
ReplyDeleteSo many interesting classes - you're normal routine sounds pretty darn fun!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you'll be busy, Deb! What great photos of the beach and owl. I love me a morning stroll on the beach. Hope you enjoy your books.
ReplyDeletehttps://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2025/09/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-and_7.html
Your classes sound interesting and I'm glad you had a good visit with your sister! I have always loved the Dealing with Dragons books. I've read them several times.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking about reading on in the books. I wonder if I will like the rest of the series as much as I liked the first one.
DeleteHow lovely, spending a week with your sister and her husband. I'm not sure I could manage that with my sisters, even though I dearly love them.
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of your and your sister. What a nice sunset picture.. looks wonderful.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had fun with your sister. Your classes sound varied and interesting. I've seldom read what you read, but Dealing with Dragons is an old favorite of mine. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteI'm considering a drawing class later this fall. You're inspiring me to take the plunge!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a wonderful week! I'm so curious about the happiness class! I hope you have a fantastic week.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful ❤️ photo of you and your sister.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have some fun activities lined up for this fall! I took guitar lessons when I was a teenager. I wish I remembered how to play. An African History of Africa sounds interesting. I may have to add that to my nonfiction list of books to read. Such a beautiful photo of the owl! I love owls. I hope you have a great week, Deb. Take care.
ReplyDeleteWould be interested in hearing more about the happiness class.
ReplyDelete16 miles!!!! Wow! Was it a guided bike tour or you gals just rode up and down every street in the city?
ReplyDeleteMy sister guided us---she certainly knows her way around Waco!
DeleteWhat type of music do you like to play on your guitar? I love to listen to my husband play with friends. They usually play ballads, some country, and classic rock from the 60s & 70s. I have no musical talent, but I do like to sing quietly while they play. :)
ReplyDeleteI mostly play old folk music. The class I'm taking is 60s and 70s Guitar.
DeleteThat's our kind of music! Have fun.
Delete