A Month in Summary - April 2025

Sisters, Oregon

April 2025

April felt like a whirlwind of travel, what with four events for Rod's latest book. We came home on the 1st (from a book talk in Seattle), headed out on the 4th for the first event of the month in Seaside, OR. We were home for a week after that, then back out again to Sisters and Bend for three more events. It was fun to get back out in the RV for this "book tour" and the weather couldn't have been nicer. 

With all of our travels, April seemed like a slower month of reading, but looking back on my numbers, I read as much as in March and just one less than February. Two of my April books were super short, so maybe that's why I feel like I wasn't reading a lot. Interestingly, my favorite books in April were those two short novels. They're keepers and I hope to read them again someday. 

Books Read (click on the title for my review):

The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell (3.5/5)

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler (4.5/5)

We Spread by Iain Reid (4.5/5)

I've Tried Being Nice by Ann Leary (3.5/5)

The Song of Hartgrove Hall by Natasha Solomons (4/5)

Movies & TV Series:

Becoming Katharine Graham - We thought this was an excellent and timely documentary. I found the following on the Internet: "For some Americans, the right to free speech and a free press are almost synonymous. However, in recent years, Trump has tried to use the courts to punish nearly every major U.S. TV news network in reaction to interview questions or coverage he doesn’t like." Watching the documentary The Making of Katherine Graham, there are significant parallels between Nixon's treatment (specifically of The Washington Post) of the press and Trump's. "A federal judge yesterday [4/9/2025] ordered the Trump administration to immediately allow Associated Press journalists back into the Oval Office and other spaces to cover the news. The judge ruled that blocking the agency's access over disagreements about its word choices was unlawful."

Ludwig - Cute and entertaining. We'll watch the second season once it's released.

Severance (Season 2) -  Whoa. This is such a creative, but mind-boggling show! Loved it.

Churchill at War - Quite good, but we didn't care for Christian McKay as Churchill. Gary Oldman was much better in Darkest Hour.

Number 24 - This was a tough movie to watch during these troubling times. It hit too close to home. 

Travels: 

As I mentioned above, we spent some time traveling around Oregon for Rod's book talks. It was great to meet up with Robin (a fellow book blogger and longtime friend) at the Seaside event. We also enjoyed time relaxing at the RV park and exploring a newer part of Bend with our travel buddies, Dave & Molly.

Me and Robin (A Fondness For Reading)

Cheers to spring weather!

Hard Knox Brewery

Disclaimer: I am finally posting about our trip to Canada, while we are currently on a trip to Wyoming. Many of these photos were shared on Instagram & Facebook, so they may look familiar to you. Sorry for any confusion!

Canada Road Trip (Summer 2023)

June 8, 2023

Waterton National Park to Black Diamond, Alberta, Canada

Daily Mileage: 130

Hard Knox Brewery

Site: Parking Lot

Duration: 1 night

Cost: Free (Harvest Host)

Weather: Sunny (80s)

Cell Coverage: 3 bars Verizon & TMobile

The drive north from Waterton was beautiful, but very windy, so we were happy to make it to the brewery and relax with our travel buddies, and one of my blogging friends and her husband (Susan Wright and Robert Mahood). Black Diamond (since renamed Diamond Valley) is a small town about an hour from Calgary. We enjoyed the brewery, and tried poutine for the first time. Delicious!

Our "site" was at the edge of the brewery parking lot, but the road noise wasn't terrible. We'd probably return if we were in the area.

Blogging friend, Susan (The Cue Card)

A Month in Summary - July 2018

Purple Haze Lavender Farm

Sequim, Washington

July 2018

July was another fun-filled month in the Pacific Northwest. We celebrated the 4th a few days early at our annual neighborhood picnic, which was a lot of fun. Later in the week, I got to spend time with two blogging friends, Kay (of Kay's Reading Life) and Robin (of A Fondness For Reading). Another friend and her husband came to visit from Wyoming while Kay and her husband were in town and I had a great time catching up with them, as well as showing them around our neighborhood. It wasn't long before Rod and I were back on the road for a 11-day road trip to Washington. We returned to some of our favorite places to camp, in addition to discovering a few new spots. I'm still not reading nearly as much as I used to, but I'm very happy that I managed to finish three books!

Books Read in July:

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

My Life in France by Julia Child

Travels With Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck

First Lines:

On the night of October 4th, 1966, Val and I, both in late middle age, attended the opening of Many Are Called at the Museum of Modern Art--the first exhibit of the portraits taken by Walker Evans in the late 1930s on the New York City subways with a hidden camera. (Rules of Civility)

This is a book about some of the things I have loved most in life: my husband, Paul Child; la belle France; and the many pleasures of cooking and eating. It is also something new for me. Rather than a collection of recipes, I've put together a series of linked autobiographical stories, mostly focused on the years 1948 through 1954, when we lived in Paris and Marseille, and also a few of our later adventures in Provence. Those early years in France were among the best of my life. They marked a crucial period of transformation in which I found my true calling, experienced an awakening of the senses, and had such fun that I hardly stopped moving long enough to catch my breath. (My Life In France)

When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked. Four hoarse blasts of a ship's whistle still raise the hair on my neck and set my feet to tapping. The sound of a jet, an engine warming up, even the clopping of shod hooves on pavement brings on the ancient shudder, the dry mouth and vacant eye, the hot palms and the churn of stomach high up under the rib case. In other words, I don't improve; in further words, once a bum always a bum. I fear the disease is incurable. I set this matter down not to instruct others but to inform myself. (Travels With Charley in Search of America)

Movies & TV Series:

Jessica Jones - Season Two - I really enjoyed the first season of Jessica Jones and couldn't wait to watch the new season. It was good, but not nearly as good (or tense) as the first. As much as I hated David Tennant's character, the show really needs both Jessica and Kilgrave.

Luke Cage - Season One - Just one episode and that was enough for me to say no more.

The Bridge - Season Three - Not as good as the first two seasons, but I won't explain why due to spoilers.

The Greatest Showman - After hearing so many great comments about this movie, I couldn't wait to see it. Sadly, I'm in the minority. I really didn't care for it at all. La La Land is a much better modern musical.

A Wrinkle In Time - So disappointing! I read the book many years ago and was eager to see the movie, but it was far too sappy. I watched it with my mom and husband and none of us liked it.

Outings & Trips:

Boondocking in Tillamook, Oregon

Blue Heron French Cheese Company

Dosewallips State Park

Brinnon, Washington

Boondocking in Sequim, Washington

Purple Haze Lavender Farm

Lunch break.

Lake Crescent, Washington

Visitors:

 Kay and Teri

Internet friends since 1996

Kay and Robin

Blogging Friends

You can read more about this visit with these great friends here. 

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Our weather continues to be mild, but we do get a few days of sunshine in between the overcast and drizzle. We're busy planning a big (two-month-long!) adventure for September and are hoping to bring some of our cooler weather to California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas!

Click on images for larger view.

Blogger Meet-Up!

Blogmates! Last week I had a great time spending an afternoon with two of my favorite bloggers. Robin and I have met for lunch on a few occasions (she lives a couple of hours away from me), but this was my first visit with Kay since moving to Oregon. Our online/blogging friendship dates back to 1997 and we met (face-to-face) for the first time in Austin a few years later. What fun to spend the day with both of these intelligent, well-read and fun women! My only regret is that we don't all live near one another. Not only do we all love to read, but we're also avid walkers! We managed to get a few steps in as we walked through the quaint town of McMinnville, in after our delicious lunch at Valley Commissary.

Robin (A Fondness For Reading), me and Kay (Kay's Reading Life) 

Valley Commissary

McMinnville, Oregon

July 2018

Third Street Books

Of course, we had to visit the local bookshop!

(None of us walked out empty-handed.)

 Robin's photo of the three of us.

Kay's photo of me and Robin.

I also got the chance to meet another online friend (who is not a blogger), while she and her husband were out on the Oregon coast for a family wedding. Teri and I met in the same online book group that Kay and I were in. So the three of us have been friends 21 years! Nan (Letters From a Hill Farm) is also a part of this great group of friends, but sadly she wasn't able to join us. Hopefully, next time!

The Gang!

Rod, Hayden, Kay, Teri and Charlie

Little Whale Cove - Depoe Bay, Oregon
July 2017

The six of us enjoyed lunch at a local Depoe Bay restaurant and then headed back to our house for a walk along the bluff. We spotted several spouting whales, which was fun for our visitors!

Kay has written about her visit here and Robin mentioned our lunch date here. 

A Month in Summary - March 2018

Depoe Bay, Oregon

March 2018

Other than a couple of duds, I had a very good month of reading. I loved This Is How It Always Is, The Soul of an Octopus, and The Woman in the Window. I can't wait to read more by these great authors! We watched several movies and TV series, but only worked on one puzzle, which we gave up on before finishing - it was terrible because so many of the pieces fit where they didn't belong! The weather is beginning to feel more like spring and we were able to get out for a bike ride at South Beach (south of Newport, OR) and I was also able to meet up with a blogmate (Robin of A Fondness for Reading) for lunch, which was great fun! With all the preparations for our 3-week road trip to Northern California and a few social events (including book club, where we discussed The Soul of an Octopus, which everyone enjoyed), the month flew by far too quickly.

Books read in March:

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

First Lines:

I am death cleaning, or, as we call it in Swedish, döstädning. Dö is "death" and städning is "cleaning." In Swedish it is a term that means that you remove unnecessary things and make your home nice and orderly when you think the time is coming closer for you to leave the planet. (The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning)

But first, Roo was born. Roosevelt Walsh-Adams. They had decided to hyphenate because— and in spite—of all the usual reasons but mostly so their firstborn could have his grandfather's name without sounding too presidential, which seemed to his parents like a lot of pressure for a six-pound, two-ounce, brand-new tiny human. (This Is How It Always Is)

On a rare, warm day in mid-March, when the snow was melting into mud in New Hampshire, I traveled to Boston, where everyone was strolling along the harbor or sitting on benches licking ice cream cones. But I quit the blessed sunlight for the moist, dim sanctuary of the New England Aquarium. I had a date with a giant Pacific octopus. (The Soul of an Octopus)

They were young, educated, and both virgins on this, their wedding night, and they lived in a time when a conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible. But it is never easy. (On Chesil Beach)

Her husband's almost home. He'll catch her this time. (The Woman in the Window)

Movies & TV Series:

Mark Felt - I wasn't expecting to like this movie, but Liam Neeson was outstanding (he was the "Deep Throat" of the Watergate scandal) and I quickly became engrossed.

Endeavour - Still enjoying this series! I think we have one more episode in season four and then we'll have to wait for the release of season five, which hopefully won't be too much longer.

The Man Who Invented Christmas - Clever, sweet, nice glimpse into Charles Dickens' life as an emerging author. Dan Stevens and Christopher Plummer were thoroughly entertaining!

The Bridge - We're trying out a new Scandinavian series, which is gritty yet compelling. The lead characters are both flawed and I'm curious to learn more about their backgrounds. We watched episodes 1-3 of the first season. 

Love and Mercy - I didn't have high hopes for this biographical drama about Brian Wilson, but I grew up on The Beach Boys and loved their music, so I decided to give it a try. It didn't disappoint. John Cusack does a great job of portraying Brian Wilson as an adult.

Outings:

Robin (of A Fondness for Reading) lives a few hours away from me, so we decided to meet up for lunch in McMinnville. We found a great restaurant (new to both of us) and had a lovely time visiting over our delicious salads.  After lunch, we strolled up and down the main street of McMinville, stopping for a little while in a yarn store and Third Street Books. (Too bad it isn't a little closer to home -- I would love to work there!) The weather couldn't have been any nicer and the spring flowers were gorgeous. We hope to make this a regular outing since we both enjoy each other's company so well. 

 

I am so happy to have found a place to ride our bikes that is not only close by, but near the beautiful Yaquina Bay Bridge, Yaquina Bay and the Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center. The weather was cool, but sunny and there were a lot of people out crabbing from the docks and digging for clams along the bay. As we rode along the path that took us out to the wetlands, we saw several great blue heron which were probably fishing, as well. We also got to try out our awesome new bike rack (1Up), which came highly recommend by a bunch of Escape owners. I love how easy it is to load and secure the bikes and don't worry about them falling off behind us with every little bump in the road. 

Coming Soon! - I just learned about these new books by the authors of two of my all-time favorite books. I plan to buy these in hardcover. Whoohoo!

We are now four days into our road trip through Northern California, camping at the Benbow KOA for one last night. Tomorrow we head to Santa Rosa, followed by Bodega Bay, Carmichael, Red Bluff, then back up Hwy 101 to Benbow and Brookings. We're having a great time!

Click on images to enlarge them.