A Month in Summary - September 2026

 

Cape Blanco, Oregon

September 2026

Well, I suppose summer is now officially over. I'll try not to whine. We've been very fortunate this year. It actually felt like we had a summer. We didn't have the terrible heat that others suffered through, but we had a lot of sunshine and comfortable temps (60s). 

We got away for another camping trip right after Labor Day, spending a week near Coos Bay, and several other days at Cape Blanco. We had very nice weather, which was good for long walks and sitting by the campfire.

After our return, we enjoyed a nice visit with both of mom's siblings and their spouses. Lots of reminiscing, good meals, and a little Dodger baseball.

I didn't get much reading in during September, especially toward the end of the month. I had hoped to read a lot of mysteries, but couldn't get interested in several that I tried. I wound up filling two bags to donate to our community library. After that, I started looking at the books on my "keeper" shelves and filled another bag with books I know I'll never read again. Nice to see some space on those shelves.

As far as what I did read, I enjoyed two and the other two were just so-so. One was a re-read that dropped in my rating since my first reading. I'm hoping October will be a bit better with regard to quantity and quality.

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

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (Volume 2) by Beth Brower (4/5)

Faithful Place by Tana French - reread (3/5)

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell (4/5)

Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel (3.5/5)

Gave Up On:

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf 

Since She Went Away by David Bell

The Unforgotten by Laura Powell

Movies & TV Series:

Downton Abbey - I enjoyed all three movies, although the third wasn't as good as the other two. I miss Dame Maggie Smith!

Bergerac - Well. This was ok, but an awful lot of angst on Bergerac's part. 

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare - This was a fun movie. A bit violent, but not gory.

Trips:

I plan to post about our trip, but here are a few favorites:

Eel Lake

William Tugman State Park, Oregon

Port Orford, Oregon

Cape Blanco State Park, Oregon

We're off on another camping trip in the van in a couple of weeks. Heading up to Washington to a lake near Mount Saint Helens, Whidbey Island, Port Townsend, and then back down into Oregon to Cannon Beach. Fingers crossed for beautiful fall weather!

A Month in Summary - August 2026

August 2026

Blue Heron French Cheese Company

Tillamook, Oregon

I don't know about everyone else, but I am not ready for summer to end. Of course, it's really not over until September 22nd, so I won't break out my sweaters or plaid flannel shirts until then. We've been so lucky to have such a remarkably warm summer here on the coast. Warm to us, that is. I don't think we've hit 70 more than once or twice, but it's been very dry and we've had a lot of sunshine, so it's felt like we've actually had a summer for a change. Not sure what that means for the remainder of the year... we really need rain, but there's some in the forecast, so maybe we'll get a good soaking this week. {Edit: We got rain and there's more to come!}

Other than a 6-day camping trip, it's been a fairly quiet month. We had family visiting this past weekend, and tried out a new restaurant in town, but the rest of the month has been the usual errands and appointments. I'm wrapping up my summer reading challenge and will post about that in the next week or so. My reading has been going quite well. I finished my year-long read (The Winds of War), reread a favorite for book club, enjoyed a couple of novels by my favorite authors, and tried two new authors. My ratings were a mixed bag (there were a couple of disappointments), but none that were awful. I'm looking forward to putting together my fall reading list, still focusing on the books on my shelves. I might spend the next month reading nothing but mysteries since those have been stacking up.

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

The Gulf of Lions by Caitlin Shetterly (3/5)

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (5/5)

The Winds of War by Herman Wouk (3/5)

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout (4/5)

More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen (4.5/5)

The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson (4/5)

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (Vol. 1) by Beth Brower (3/5)

Movies & TV Series:

Exile - Good mystery series. Loved seeing Olivia Coleman in this one!

A Private Life - Enjoyable, although we had to rely on the subtitles since it's mostly in French.

The Sheep Detectives - Cute. Fans of Babe will enjoy this one.

Lucky - Loved this one. Fairly violent, but Anya Taylor-Joy and Annette Bening are outstanding. Timothy Olyphant is also good, but I didn't care for his character.

Downton Abbey - Wah. I finally finished all 6 seasons of this series. I loved it, and am sad that there won't be more. However, I do plan to watch the two movies. 

Fun Meme - 

Trips:

We took our new camper van out for a short trip to test out everything. Had a wonderful time and LOVE our new RV! I'll put together a separate post with interior shots at a later date.

Tillamook, Oregon

Happy Campers!

Friends Landing

Montesano, WA

Have a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend. We're off on another camping trip after the holiday weekend!

A Month in Summary - July 2026

Little Whale Cove

Depoe Bay, Oregon

July 2026

Well, another month has come and gone. Many are already feeling as if summer is coming to a close, but I always think the end of summer falls after Labor Day. Plus, August temps along the Oregon Coast are usually very nice, and we may get above 70 degrees for a few days! This summer has actually been quite nice in our area, with lots of sunny days and moderate temps. The flipside to that, though, is that we are in desperate need of rain. We are currently 18" below normal, and our rainy season ended much sooner than usual. Today, as I look at my office window, I see a smoky haze from the fires that are burning in central Oregon. The fire situation this year is heartbreaking, and it feels as if we're living in apocalyptic times. It's time, once again, to make sure our "Go Bags" are in order.

Enough with the doom and gloom. 

We had family visiting for a few days in the middle of the month, but I didn't get any photos. Shocking, I know! I was probably distracted with all the attention I was giving to a big change in our lives. We decided to trade in our Class C motorhome for a Class B camper van! We (I should say Rod) did a lot of research on which would suit us best, searched dealerships near and far for the model we liked (and could afford), and set up negotiations for the purchase. We had our RV detailed and prepped for the trade-in, booked a campground near the dealership, unloaded the RV of 99% of the items we'd accumulated in the past 8 years of ownership, and headed out to Medford, Oregon to pickup our new rig! We're very happy with the van, which handles much better than our tank of an RV. We've gone from 26 to 21 feet, so we're definitely downsizing, but we'll be able to travel longer distances in a day, get better gas mileage, and fit into smaller campsites. It's a new adventure! We spent a couple of days on a "shakedown" trip, and we're still speaking to each other, so that's a win. :)

Meanwhile, I had a very good month of reading. I read five novels and re-read one memoir, winding up with very good ratings. Most were 4-star reads, but two were exceptional, earning 4.5 and 5 stars. No complaints here!

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

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (4/5)

The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth (4/5)

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn (4/5)

I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O'Farrell (4/5)

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan (4.5/5)

Whistler by Ann Patchett (5/5)

Gave Up On:

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

Movies & TV Series:

Dead of Winter - Good, but not great. Emma Thompson is worth watching, though.

The Fabelmans - This has been on our TBW list for quite sometime. We enjoyed it.

Golda - Helen Mirren is exceptional in this film.

The Good Shepherd - Great cast. Good film.

Hamnet - Probably an outlier, but I was disappointed with the film. The book is definitely better.

One Life - Very good, and not quite as horrific as Schindler's List.

Red Joan - I enjoyed this one, but didn't care for the younger Joan. Either the actress was not very good, or the characterization of Joan was too immature.

Ride or Die - We gave up after 4 episodes. Too silly.

Visitors:

Our neighborhood deer

The New RV/Van:

2026 Entegra Ethos

I hope you all are staying safe during this terrible fire season. 

A Month in Summary - June 2026

Little Whale Cove

June 2026

We rarely see hot temps on the coast, but the above photo was taken on June 14th when we hit 80 degrees. We grabbed some cold drinks and headed out to the back deck before the sun disappeared behind the trees. It was wonderful to sit outside, soaking up the warmth of the sun, listening to the birds sing. Fortunately, the sunny weather stuck around for a family gathering later that week. My three brothers and some of their family members, as well as our granddaughter, came to visit over the course of a week. Good times!

My reading didn't seem to suffer from the busy month, and there were a few winners in the bunch. I'm eager to read more by Sally Hepworth and Liz Moore. I have one more of John Boyne's in my stacks for this summer's reading challenge, but I'll wait until August to start that one.

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

The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne (4/5)

Long Bright River by Liz Moore (4.5/5)

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth (4.5/5)

Upgrade by Blake Crouch (4/5)

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (4/5)

Gave up on:

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Mink River by Brian Doyle

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Within Arm's Reach by Ann Napolitano

I'm sure these books have their merits, but I've grown too impatient to stick with a book that doesn't grab me early on.

Movies & TV Series:

Unfamiliar - We enjoyed this series about two former spies living in Berlin with their teenage daughter.

Sherlock - We decided to re-watch this series, but stopped after a few episodes because they were so familiar.

Project Hail Mary - Watched this with my husband and my mom. We all read the book and agreed it was so much better than the movie. I liked how Rocky was portrayed, but overall this was a disappointment.

Oppenheimer - Very, very good.

Lee - Also very, very good. I wasn't prepared to be so moved by the story. Kate Winslet is outstanding as Lee Miller.

 

Visitors:

My heart is full!