The Sunday Post is hosted by the wonderful Kimberly, the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week, take a look ahead, and showcase our new treasures—I mean books!
This week I’m also participating in The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz, and Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.
Last Week
In real life: Mr. Bookwyrm and I are planning to visit family later this summer, so I bought the tickets for our flights. Hopefully we can avoid getting Covid in the airports or on the plane. (We’ll be masked, and there’s less of it around, but “less” isn’t “zero,” so I’m still a little nervous.)
On Wednesday night, I spilled almost-boiling tea on my lap, scalding my inner thighs. Luckily, I was able to get out of my leggings and into a cold shower immediately, so I wasn’t badly burned. After that, I applied cold packs on and off for a little while. The redness had faded by the next morning, but the skin was tender and sensitive for a few more days. It could have been a lot worse!
Apparently, I’m just having a hard time hanging on to my mug, because Friday night, I spilled lukewarm herbal tea all over my lap, chair, and sneakers. Now my shoes and chair smell like maple and ginger. (My best guess as to how I did this twice in a week? The mug is oversize, my hands are small, and my skin is dry, making my grip slippery. And my hands are tired and a little achy from some of the crafting I’ve been doing, so I guess I just didn’t hold on tightly enough.)
I was able to watch one of the recordings of the classes I missed a couple of weeks ago, from MAFA (MidAtlantic Fiber Association) Virtual Mini-Conference. I learned a few basic stitches of Tunisian crochet. It’s interesting, but I’m not hooked yet (pun intended.) I really prefer knitting. I have a couple more weeks to watch the other classes: one on spinning with a drop spindle, and one on “intentional spinning” – spinning with a specific yarn or project in mind, so you get the outcome you want.
Tour de Fleece: I spun pretty much every day this week. We had two virtual spinning meet-ups, one on Tuesday and one yesterday, plus the in-person meet-up last Sunday. The last in-person meet-up is this afternoon, the final day of Tour de Fleece 2023. We will celebrate our 3 weeks of TdF spinning together, share what we spun, and distribute the (randomly drawn) prizes.
Writing: I’m trying to get back to writing. My writing goal for now is 250 words of fiction or fanfic per day. On Friday, I signed up for a writing app that gamifies your writing goals, 4theWords.
Recent Posts
- Sunday Post – 7/16/2023
- Trapped, by Kevin Hearne – audiobook review
- Sunday Post – 7/23/2023 – this post
Looking Ahead
- Ten Most Recent Books I Did Not Finish (Yet) – Top Ten Tuesday
- Sunday Post – 7/30/2023
What I’ve Been Reading/Watching
Reading: I continued my binge-reread of Robin D. Owens’s “Celta’s Heartmates” series with Heart Journey, Heart Search, Heart Secret, Heart Fortune, and Heart Fire, and just started Heart Legacy. I am also still reading Claws and Contrivances by Stephanie Burgis (an ARC from the author.) All the rereading has bumped up my Goodreads numbers: I am now 22 books ahead of schedule.
Listening to: Season 5 of the Writing Excuses podcast. I should have listened to Hunted by Kevin Hearne, but for some reason, I wasn’t in the right mood this past week. Hopefully I can get back to it in the coming week.
Playing (occasionally): Wordle, the NYT Spelling Bee, and Pokemon Go. I made it to Queen Bee twice this week (in other words, I found all the words in Spelling Bee… though it did require a few hints.)
Watching: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and the Ready Room episodes associated with it.
Added to the Hoard
I have really been trying to buy fewer books (even e-books!) so this week, I bought only two: one for professional development, and one to finish off a series.
Purchased or Free (Kindle, print, or audio)
Print: Indexing Specialties: Cookbooks
Kindle: Ship Wrecked;
(Click title for Goodreads page or my review.)
Lydia
I’m glad your burn was pretty mild.
Hope you have a nice vacation.
Lark_Bookwyrm
Me too! We’re not headed out on vacation until later, but we’re looking forward to it.
Anne - Books of My Heart
I can have that happen when I ride the Harley a lot where my hands get crampy and tired from controlling the throttle and using the brake. I have to take more care. I had trouble when I was younger when I was playing the piano and sax a lot too (many hours a day). So take care. I hope to get to some of my crafting projects again soon.
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
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Lark_Bookwyrm
I think (I hope!) that it’s just my hands being tired, and also slippery because my skin is usually so dry. Since it happened twice, I’ll be more alert in future. A couple of people have recommended that if I find myself dropping things again, I should get it checked out to make sure there’s not something else going on, and that’s a good idea. I’m also going to get a stress ball to work on my hand strength a bit.
I hope you’re able to get to some of your craft projects soon!
AJ @bookbabenails
Happy to hear you weren’t too badly burned by your tea! I had the same issue before with a very oversized hot cocoa mug. It also had a super small handle so it was hard to keep a good grip on.
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Lark_Bookwyrm
The burn was pretty minor, thank goodness. It hurt a lot at first, but was down to merely sensitive and tender 24 hours later, and completely fine by the next night. I was really lucky. I hope you weren’t too badly burned when you spilled your cocoa!
Greg
Oh no, glad that wasn’t worse! And good luck with writing! I hear you on traveling. It’s nice that things are better but I still worry a little too…
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Lark_Bookwyrm
Thanks, Greg! If I can just push past whatever stands in my way of sitting down to write each day… I’m hopeful that 4theWords will help with that.
Rachel @Waves of Fiction
Burns hurt so much! Sounds like you need a different mug. I hope it heals quickly and you’re not in any pain! I’ve always crocheted, but it’s been years. I’d love to learn how to knit as I think it turns out prettier, but it’s just one of the many things I’d like to do, lol. Plus, I’m not sure where’d I’d learn. Maybe a class? I’m not close to anyone who knits to show me. I need to read Hunted for the read-along as well. Hope you have a great week!
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Lark_Bookwyrm
It’s a big mug, so it’s heavy when it’s full. And my skin is usually very dry, so my fingers are slippery. Plus, my hands have been tired from crafting. But I need to make sure I’m gripping my mug more tightly!
There are lots of good video tutorials on YouTube to help you learn to knit. There are also video classes through Craftsy and other sources. And if there is a fiber guild in your area, they may have someone who teaches knitting. Best of luck!
Cheryl Malandrinos
Sorry to hear of the burn. Glad to hear it wasn’t more serious, but I’m sure it was painful. Praying for healing for that and for your dry hands.
Hope you enjoy your books.
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2023/07/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-and_0938842206.html
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Deb Nance at Readerbuzz
Gracious! I’m sorry to hear about your burn. That’s awful.
Good luck with your writing. I hope that goes smoothly.
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Lark_Bookwyrm
Thank goodness, it was a minor burn. It could have been much worse. And thank you for the good wishes. I’m still having a hard time pushing past my fears of not being any good to actually write—although once I start, I usually enjoy it.
Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits
It sounds like you took all the right steps regarding the burn. I hope you can find a way to hold your mug more securely! That’s one reason I like rotating mug shapes, but I know that won’t work for everyone either.
That’s a lot of pending reviews! Great job on getting those ready to go!
I finally bit the bullet and signed up for Pokemon Go. The final straw was my nephew coming over to my house and being awed by the amount of activity near my house (I’m in major suburbs, while they’re more rural). I need to have an account so that I can play with him next time he visits. And they’re only a half hour drive away, so that will likely be sooner than later.
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Lark_Bookwyrm
[facepalm] Those are reviews I need to write, and I forgot to delete them from this week’s post. I usually carry the list from week to week, knocking things off it as I write the reviews. I can’t believe I forgot to delete them. Well, I’ll get to them eventually; meanwhile, I’ll edit the post to remove them for now.
I enjoy Pokemon Go, though I’m not a deeply committed player. I’d be happy to be friends with you on Pokemon Go, if you’re interested. (Friends are helpful for a number of reasons.) I can DM you my player code and an invitation, if you like.
Katherine
Oh no about the tea! I spilled boiling water down my legs one time when I was draining pasta and the red marks lasted for weeks. I should’ve had thought to get in the shower and cool the skin off faster. I think I just froze. My husband and a lot of my friends have been back to regular business travel which requires a lot of airport time. It’s kind of funny because I don’t know anyone who has contracted covid while traveling but probably at least half of the people have picked up some kind other bug so covid or not masking is a pretty good idea. I hope you’re having a great week!
Lark_Bookwyrm
Oh, that sounds incredibly painful! Re masking on the plane, I agree. And it’s especially a good idea since we both have risk factors, and we will be visiting family members in their 80s and 90s.