Little Whale Cove
Depoe Bay, Oregon
September 2020
It's hard to believe that summer is over, especially since we finally have some warm weather here on the coast. We saw temps in the 80s last week and it actually felt hot while walking on the ocean path. Crazy weather, but I'm not complaining, especially since we had several days of rain earlier in the week.
Every month in 2020 seems especially long and September was no exception. We started the month off with a terrible windstorm on Labor Day, which caused a power outage and downed trees in our neighborhood, in addition to terrible air quality due to local forest fires. It was very unsettling for several days, but we had luck on our side and didn't have to evacuate our home.
The big news of the month was Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death. Such a loss for our country. I still have Notorious RBG on my nightstand, but won't get to it for a few more weeks. I'm sure it will be a bittersweet read.
My husband is still recovering from his broken arm. He had a CT scan a couple of weeks ago and has since been referred to an orthopedic surgeon. We're trying to stay optimistic, but he may be facing surgery in the coming weeks. Sigh.
With all that's been going on in our lives and the world at large, I managed to have a pretty good month of reading; only one dud and a couple of books that I couldn't get interested in.
Books Read (click on the title for my review):
The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin (4/5)
Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough (4/5) for RIP XV
Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica (2/5) for RIP XV
When My Time Comes by Diane Rehm (4/5)
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (4/5)
Elevation by Stephen King (2/5) for RIP XV
Abandoned:
Sycamore by Bryn Chancellor
The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier
First Lines:
North of Boston they followed the sea. (The Summer Guest)
Pinch myself and say I AM AWAKE once an hour. (Behind Her Eyes)
They say that death comes in threes. (Every Last Lie)
Death was a part of my life at an early age. (When My Time Comes)
The first time our father brought Andrea to the Dutch House, Sandy, our housekeeper, came to my sister's room and told us to come downstairs. "Your father has a friend he wants you to meet," she said. (The Dutch House)
Scott Carey knocked on the door of the Ellis condo unit, and Bob Ellis (everyone in Highland Acres still called him Doctor Bob, although he was five years retired) let him in. (Elevation)
Movies and TV Series:
Bosch - We finished the series and thought it was excellent. I'm going to miss those characters!
Goliath - We watched one episode and decided not to continue.Van der Valk - Not as good as Bosch, but still pretty good. (Only 3 episodes.)
Enola Holmes - I know I'm in the minority, but I wasn't impressed. I'm not a big fan of breaking the fourth wall.
Can You Ever Forgive Me - OK, but not great.
Mystery Road - Watched a couple of episodes and decided not to continue.
New Recipes:
Puzzlemania:
I love Pomegranate puzzles and I especially enjoy those of Charley Harper's artwork. This one was so much fun!
Outings:
We've been getting takeout from a couple of our favorite restaurants during the pandemic, but last week we decided to go out to lunch! We ate outside on the patio and felt relatively safe, but it sure felt strange. We wore our masks until it was time to eat and were careful to sanitize before handling our food and drinks. We agreed that the tables could have been spaced a little further apart, but all in all it was nice to have a meal out while sitting in the sun. The food was exceptionally good, so we plan to go back before it gets too chilly to eat outside.
Stay well and please wear your masks!
I hope your husband's arm heals quickly without surgery!
ReplyDeleteThe only book you listed that I've read is The Dutch House, which I enjoyed. I have Elevation on my list to read.
I haven't seen any of those tv shows but I want to watch Can You Ever Forgive Me?. I love McCarthy!
I haven't put a puzzle together in a few years. That pizza looks yummy!
Vicki, we're hopeful about Rod's arm, but his range of motion isn't improving the way it should, so it's highly likely that surgery is inevitable.
DeleteI'll be interested to hear your opinion of Elevation. Odd book!
McCarthy does a fine job in Can You Ever Forgive Me. Quite a departure from her humorous roles.
We always have a puzzle going and our current 1,000 piece from Pomegranate is very challenging, but we're having fun with it.
Ah, Les, I hope that Rod gets good news from the surgeon. So tiresome to have to possibly think about surgery, but if his arm isn't working right I guess it's the next step. Sigh. Love the fall leaf. I have a few, a very few, reddish colored leaves on my crepe myrtle in front of the house. It's odd to see 'autumn' leaves anywhere here. Glad you guys were able to eat lunch out on the patio at the restaurant and feel mostly comfortable. The food looks good. We loved Bosch and it made me want to read the books, but I've only read the last few that included Renee Ballard. I probably won't go back and read the rest - might listen to them though is Titus Welliver did the narration - I love his voice. We watched Van Der Valk too and wish there were more episodes. We also watched Enola Holmes and I think liked it better than you did. It was fun at least. We're doing well, wearing our masks, staying home mostly, same old, same old. Ha! Take care!
ReplyDeleteKay, well, we'll see what the doctor has to say, but it's looking more and more like surgery will be necessary. Bummer, right?! We have very few reddish leaves here, but I love the yellow & golds in the one in the photo. I want to read the Bosch series, too, but will wait until the details from the show aren't so vivid. Have you watched DCI Banks? We've watched a few episodes and are now hooked. Glad you guys are doing well. Nothing wrong with the same old, same old, if it keeps us healthy!
DeleteBlogger seems to hate me since I moved to Wordpress. It just ate my comment. Apologies if this posts twice.
ReplyDeleteI hope your husband's arm heals quickly!
I didn't know there was a Bosch series on Amazon. I've only read one book from the series and it was one that overlapped with the Mickey Haller series. I've enjoyed the Connelly books I've read though.
I enjoyed Enola Holmes. It wasn't perfect but I found it entertaining. My biggest problem was with Henry Cavill as Sherlock. I like Cavill but I couldn't picture him in that role. I'm probably just too used to Cumberbatch as Sherlock.
Enjoy your week!
Jen, glad your comment came through! It did not post twice, so no worries. I'm hoping Rod's arm heals quickly, too, but we'll learn more next week. Oooh, you should watch Bosch. It's very good. We're watching DCI Banks right now and it's just as good. Yep, I prefer Cumberbatch as Sherlock. Might be time to re-watch that series. Take care and stay safe!
DeleteIt was (another) difficult month, I think. I've been thinking about your husband and hoping that his arm is healing up nicely. I'm just terrified now of falling and breaking something.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly did have a good month of reading.
My husband and I are thinking about Enola Holmes and maybe Bosch. My husband loves mysteries.
I would love to eat out. There are two restaurants in our town with outdoor spaces, but the people in my town are too casual for my taste about remaining masked and distanced.
Have a great week!
Deb, ugh. This whole year. Honestly. Enough already, right? Yeah, falling and breaking something is much more worrisome as we age, isn't it? One of the women who used to be in my yoga class (back when we were doing yoga face-to-face) fell on the ocean path and broke her arm. She was looking at the water and tripped on an uneven spot in the path. That was all it took. Her break wasn't as bad as Rod's, but still very painful and a nuisance. I highly recommend Bosch and DCI Banks, which we started watching this past week. Can you get takeout from your favorite restaurants? We probably won't do much eating out on patios as the weather starts to cool off and the rainy season arrives, although by then the tourists should be gone. I'm surprised we still have so many visitors, but I suppose with a lot of folks working remotely (and kids doing online school), they can continue to travel. Stay safe!
DeleteWe do some takeout. But we had a bad experience with one of our favorites (no social distancing, no masks on staff) and that was disappointing. We won't return there, maybe even after normality returns.
DeleteDeb, that's a shame that one of your favorite restaurants isn't following the guidelines. I'm not sure I'd want to go even after the pandemic is over. Who knows what other health regulations they're ignoring!
DeleteYou had an amazing month considering all that's happened with your husband and in the world in general. My niece fractured her arm in August and ended up having to have the surgery afterward but, she's now on the mend. Hope all goes well for Rod.
ReplyDeleteThose puzzles look amazing; I have a few but, with the 2 cats, I'm sure the pieces would get scattered. Happy reading this month.
Diane, this month is a bit slower with regard to my reading since I've been caught up in all the recent news, reading far too much online rather than my books. I'm sorry to hear about your niece, but am glad she is doing better. We enjoy our puzzles, but I can imagine the frustration if a cat got up on the table! Maybe you could cover the area with a towel, although I suppose a cat would be curious and try to crawl underneath. ;)
DeleteI'm so sorry to hear that Rod is continuing to have troubles with his arm. Sending good thoughts for his healing! I've missed his Music Mondays. I love your Charlie Harper puzzle...he's one of our favorite artists. We need to give Bosch a try since you liked it so much! We really enjoyed Goliath—Billy Bob Thornton is just perfect in the role of a down-and-out lawyer who redeems himself. Maybe give it another try if you run out of things to do, lol.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Laurel. I'll let Rod know that you've missed his Music Mondays. He really misses being able to play his guitar!! Yes, give Bosch a try. We loved it! We're watching DCI Banks right now and I think it's just as good. Maybe we'll give Goliath another try. :)
DeleteThe Summer Guests is one of my favorite books, I like Justin Cronin's writing.
ReplyDeleteDiane, I thoroughly enjoyed The Summer Guest. I hope he continues writing stand-alones. I enjoyed The Passage series, but would like to read more like The Summer Guest. He is due!
DeleteSo sorry about your husband's arm; I must have missed this news -- how terrible for him., ugh You two sure have had a crazy year with weather & fires in Oregon ... I'm glad you are all right -- that wind storm (& fire) you wrote about -- was darn right scary. On the brighter side that is a Neat puzzle! Very cool. & Like you I can't wait till Bosch returns for a new season, ha. Love Jerry. Very addictive show. Now we finished Away (space series) and are watching Tehran (spy series) and Good Fight (law series). I might look for the Judy Davis / Aussie show you mention Mystery Road ... hadn't heard about that. But it didn't sound like you liked it. Hope you are enjoying your RIP reads & month. I have 2 pumpkins out front of house & trying to get into the spirit. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan. (Do you prefer Susan or Sue?) Yeah, it's a bummer about Rod's arm. He sees an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. We're hoping he doesn't have to have surgery and continue with PT, but who knows. Yes, it's been a crazy year for a lot of folks. Maybe November will bring us all back to some normalcy. A new season of Bosch will be wonderful. I love the entire cast! We plan to watch Away, but hadn't heard anything about Tehran or Good Fight, so we'll look into those, too. Mystery Road is ok, but my husband and mom weren't crazy about it, so we moved on to DCI Banks, which is excellent. Take care!
Deletethat pizza looks delicious! We have not gone out to any restaurants since the pandemic started and I do miss them. Glad you were able to enjoy! Thank you for the recommendation on Van der Valk. I'm going to have to look into that. Wasn't Bosch great. Now to wait for whenever there's a new season out. Sending prayers that Rod doesn't have to have surgery. Really miss his music Mondays so he needs to get well soon!
ReplyDeleteIliana, I didn't have any of Rod's pizza since I was thoroughly enjoying my fish tacos. :) Turns out he'll have to have surgery, after all. He'll have shoulder replacement surgery and be in a sling for 6 weeks and PT for quite a while afterwards. It may be spring before he's back to playing his guitar. :(
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