Sunday Post – 8/11/2024

August 11, 2024 Sunday Post 10

The Sunday Post is hosted by the wonderful Kimberly, the Caffeinated 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.

The Past Week

The deck crew started work on our deck on Monday. They took down the old, rotting deck in a day. Two days later, they had mostly installed a new Trex deck with a slightly larger footprint—about a foot and a half wider along the side of the house, but the same depth. The new deck has stairs, which will be really nice. It’s not quite finished; they had to take Thursday and Friday off due to the rains from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Debby, but they will be back this coming week to finish up.

Two painters (not always the same ones) were here each day from Wednesday through Saturday, painting about half the house: living room, hall, primary bedroom, and the hall bathroom. They have some drywall work to do in our en-suite bathroom before they can paint in there, but the contractor, who does that work himself, got sick, so they’ll come back to finish up when they can. Unfortunately, what he has is Covid, and one of the painters got sick Friday evening and didn’t come Saturday, so I assume he’s got Covid too.

I came home from my fiber guild meeting yesterday, exhausted and headachy, to receive that news. I spent the rest of yesterday and most of today wiped out and sleeping a lot…and developing a mildly scratchy throat. As of this afternoon, though, I’m testing negative, and so is Mr. Bookwyrm. Fingers crossed that all I have is a cold and the aftermath of a week of not sleeping well. (I will continue testing until I feel better.)

Writing accountability: Given how busy we have been, I haven’t had the time or energy to write all month.

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Looking Ahead

  • reviews TBD
  • Sunday Post – 8/11/2024

What I’ve Been Reading/Listening To/Watching

Reading and listening: I read one new release and started another: Facets of the Bench by Celia Lake (which I finished) and A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience by Stephanie Burgis (which I’m still reading.) I also reread Nora Roberts’s Circle Trilogy: Morrigan’s Cross, Dance of the Gods, and Valley of Silence. After that I tried to start An Inquiry into Love and Death, but I didn’t have the energy for something new, so I’m rereading Four Walls and a Heart by Celia Lake. Do Me a Favor by Cathy Yardley

Listening to: On my 1.5–hour drive to see one of my specialists on Monday, I listened to Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them, by Nancy Marie Brown, read by Tony Ward. It’s interesting, and jam-packed with Viking/Norse/Icelandic/early-medieval history. I’m not an auditory learner, so I know I’m not remembering everything, but I am enjoying it. I also listened to podcast episodes from Science Friday.

Watching: Nothing; we haven’t had the time.

Playing: A little Pokemon Go, and my usual NYT word games: Wordle, Connections, Strands, and the Spelling Bee.

Added to the Hoard

Purchased or Free (Kindle, print, or audio)

(Click title for Goodreads page.)

Kindle: A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience; Witch of Wild Things; Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle; Lady Avely’s Guide to Truth and Magic; The Bookseller of Inverness; The Saturdays; An Inquiry into Love and Death; The Agathas.

The Simone St. James book went on sale just in time; I was considering reading it for the COYER “Recommended by a Friend” readathon currently underway, but I didn’t have a copy. It was recommended to me by my blogger friend Sophia Rose, who wrote a 5-star review. I’m looking forward to reading it when I have more mental energy.

Stay kind and hopeful… and may your books bring you joy this week!

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10 Responses to “Sunday Post – 8/11/2024”

  1. Haze @ The Book Haze

    I’m so sorry to hear you haven’t been well and I’m crossing my fingers for you that it’s not Covid. I hope you get well soon! On another note, I’m excited for you about your new deck! It sounds like there will be many wonderful hangouts out there once it’s done!
    Haze @ The Book Haze recently posted…Sunday Post | Is This How It FeelsMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Thank you, Haze! I’m trying to rest and sleep. I’m not getting any worse, so hopefully I’ll start feeling better soon.

      It’s going to be great to enjoy the new deck… although it’s pretty hot and humid in the summer. It will get more use in spring and fall, I expect. I’m looking forward to sitting out there with tea and a book, or my knitting or even my spinning wheel.

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Well, I did have something, but either it wasn’t Covid, or it was a really mild case, because I didn’t test positive all week (3 tests, 48 hours apart.) Thankfully, I seem to be mostly over it, whatever it was. The work still isn’t completed, though—the painting contractor was still testing positive on Friday, so now we’re looking at the week of 8/18-22 to get things finished. Oh, well, it will get done eventually!

  3. Katherine

    I hope the contractor and painter didn’t share their germs and you and Mr. Bookwyrm stay covid free How great to have the new deck! We’ve been talking about replacing our deck – I’d love to add a screened in portion. I hope you’re having a great week, staying healthy, and enjoying your books.

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Thank you, Katherine! Hopefully, you were right. I’ve tested negative all week, and Mr. Bookwyrm had no symptoms, so it may just have been a cold or some other virus. I’m doing better now.

      A screened-in deck or porch sounds lovely. We considered it, because it gets so buggy here, but the house gets very little natural light because of the trees, and putting a roof over the deck would have made the kitchen much too dark. I hope you are able to screen in part of your deck when you replace it, though!

  4. Jorie

    Hallo, Hallo,…

    It has been many moons since I’ve been able to visit properly. Like you, I’ve had reasons not to be actively blogging as well. I am starting to find my new pace and rhythm with reading though and that is something that has been morphing onto my blog the past several months. Although I had a few setbacks recently, I’m continuing where I left off. Sometimes we can all only do what we can do and then, resume when things calm down again. I hope you only have a Summer cold, anything else just wouldn’t be fair.

    Sounds like a lovely new place to chill into a craft or a story. So happy for you in that regard. I don’t have an outdoor space myself and ache to have one at some point in future. I’m just grateful to be indoors with all the severity of heat, humidity and temperatures lately which just make you feel like your own skin is burning off as soon as you step outside. 🙁

    Here’s to better days ahead for us both.
    Jorie recently posted…#TheSundayPost | XIX | The STORIES are calling to me!My Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      (Written on Sunday, 8/18, because I’m still catching up.) Thank you for your good wishes, Jorie! Fortunately, it does seem to have just been a cold (or a really, really mild case of Covid) because I tested negative 3 times with a home antigen test (Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.) And I’m feeling more like myself, although I still tire more quickly than usual. But much better than earlier in the week!

      I’m glad you’re finding your rhythm with reading again, and coming back to your blog at your own pace. That’s very wise, and very caring toward yourself.

      I am looking forward to time on the deck when it cools down a bit. It has been hot and humid here, although thankfully (and surprisingly) not as searingly hot as it was in June. The remnants of the hurricane cooled things off a little for last week, and there’s a “cold front” coming through that will cool us down into the high 70s and low 80s until next weekend, when temperatures climb again.

      • Jorie

        Ooh that is absolutely wicked news, Lark! I’m so happy for you it wasn’t Covid (or at least a milder case as you said) – the fatigue I can relate to myself, as I’ve been battling through some of that myself recently. Sleeping in this morning was a luxury and I took full advantage of it! I’ve been reading and listening to music all morning and afternoon – until I go into my night job of course. At least I had a relaxing half day off which is what renews me as it was a hard week in some respects and these quieter moments help me regroup.

        Oh, I definitely knew I had to change the pace of returning to my blog. I think regular visitors, friends and readers alike have noticed the pacing of posts and things are different which is why I’m grateful some have stayed with me and waited for me to share new content. We all can only do what we can do in that regard. I knew I had to make changes not just due to circumstances and life but because I didn’t want to overexert and tire myself out on my days off, too. A slower pace just works for me right now.

        Goodness, the weather here is abdominal still – I’m not sure we’ll have a proper cool down until into October or November, as our Summer heat tends to lengthen into Autumn. Searingly hot is the best way to describe it this year all round. I’ll be thankful when that kind of temperature take a stark decline! Smiles.
        Jorie recently posted…A NEW #MiddleGrade Heroine to Celebrate | Introducing “The Legendary Mo Seto” by A.Y. ChanMy Profile