Whisker Wednesday

Goodness - I have to say that a year ago, I would have told you I wasn't sure I was a cat person, but now that I have three little furballs racing around our house, I am 100% on the cat lady train, ha-ha! I am so in love with each of my cats and their wonderfully unique personalities! 

Spook is 100% the big brother; watching out for Maverick and Bagheera! I will find him gently grooming them from time to time and he is always the most chill of the three; just casually watching things as they happen around him. Maverick is the middle child - classic - because somehow he's pictured least here, but he is always in the thick of things, playing with both older and younger brother and still being his happy, snuggly self. And Bagheera - the classic baby who gets all the spoiling and carrying around because he's little and teeny and he'll only be that way for a short while, ha-ha!

Truly - they are so fun, funny and wonderful and I can't imagine our lives without them!

 

July Fourth Weekend

What a good long weekend it was - even if it did pass too quickly! It seems the weekends always pass too quickly, so we have to cram as much good into them as we can, right? Happily, my long weekend started on Thursday the 3rd at 1:00 because the city offices closed early, which was delightful! 

We have thoroughly enjoyed our backyard since we got our paver patio in place and that's how we started our Fourth - with some sunshine and sunscreen! We have two Adirondack chairs, a huge umbrella, a little pool, a hammock and a sun chair, everything we need to sit outside, soak up the sun and have a grand time! I love to lay across the pool, reading my book and soaking up the sun. I have to say - I am much more tan than I was this time last year, ha-ha! 

I did a little googling and discovered that the city of Martinsburg was doing a fireworks show and a couple locations that were great for watching had also been shared, so after watching Independence Day (I'd never seen it), we put on our festive gear and headed out - stopping at Panda Express - before finding our seats on the grassy lawn of Martinsburg High School. Soon we were joined by plenty of people - all eager to see some fireworks! 

If you can't tell - my shirt says "Feral & Free" and Ryan's shirt says "It's only treason if you lose."

The fireworks lasted about twenty minutes and I have to say; I thought they were really good! It was pretty funny to listen to the little kiddos being awed and amazed; I'm always awed and amazed by fireworks, even if I am forty. I thoroughly enjoyed them and I also thoroughly enjoyed that Ryan got us right out of the parking lot without any major traffic hold ups - way to go hubs! 

If I haven't mentioned it here yet - we are growing pumpkins! Not by choice, purely by accident but I must say I am delighted and every time I check the vine, I am more and more tickled! We placed our old pumpkins out back last Autumn and I really didn't think anything of it, but of course they rotted and melted into the grass... and of course, they ended up creating a pumpkin plant that now has 6-7 teeny beginnings of pumpkins and an additional 20-25 blooms that will turn into pumpkins! Look out Fall! 

The rest of the weekend passed pretty much without incident. Saturday morning, I met some friends for coffee while Ryan was out hiking and then I went and grabbed our groceries for the week(s) ahead. We spent a ton more time out back, soaking up the sunshine and I was able to read an entire book over the Fourth of July holiday, which was great! We did some furniture reorganization and general tidying up, played with the cats and honestly just had a relaxing long weekend - which I think we both needed!

And on Sunday evening, my parents came over for dinner... and lo and behold, Ryan and my Dad decided to try to attempt to hang one of our ceiling fans, and they got it done! Who knew they had it in them? Now we just need to get the other two hung and we'll be good to go, ha-ha! 

Whisker Wednesday

A happy Wednesday to all - and a very happy Whisker Wednesday especially! Our new trio are getting along splendidly; Bagheera has now been with us for right around a week and he's doing wonderful!

Spook and Maverick were very unsure about him for about the first 48 hours, but by Friday afternoon/Saturday morning, they'd all become friends and were tearing up and down the stairs, from room to room, pouncing and playing and grooming one another. They happily have treaties every morning together and all three sit side by side each evening to eat dinner! 

 We are so glad we added Bagheera to our little family - he has been the perfect addition and he has the most joy-filled personality! We have our stoic oldest brother, Spook... our goofy and sweet middle brother, Maverick... and our wild card baby brother, Bagheera. They are our Three Whisketeers! 

June Book Review

I cannot believe I read six books in June! I don't know why I can't believe that, but here we are! Just flipping through the pages and adding stories and characters to my memories!  

Spells, Strings & Forgotten Things by Breanne Randall - In the small town of Gold Springs, Calliope Petridi and her two sisters carefully guard the secret of their magic & the price they must pay to practice it: memories. The more powerful the magic, the greater the magic required. Luckily, all Calliope wants to do is forget...

Forget the mother who left them without a trace. Forget the cracks in her relationship with her judgmental older sister, Thalia, & her distant middle sister, Eurydice. Forget about the very cost of her magic. And most of all, forget the love of her life shattered her heart two years ago. But when an ancient evil awakens in their town, the fragile thread that holds the sisters together breaks.

As their magic slowly beings to fade, Calliope accidentally binds herself to an annoyingly handsome leader of a rival coven infamous for their ruthless pursuit of power. Battling a sizzling chemistry to a man she can't trust, Calliope needs to confront her sisters & the painful memories of her past, dark family secrets, & ancient magic to keep the town and all she loves safe! 

Rating: ⭐⭐of five - Oh goodness me. I just really couldn't get into this book! It felt like it rushed along at times... and then plodded in other places. Certain relationships seemed rushed and I felt like so many strands of the story were left frayed and incomplete. I really wanted to like this, but I have to admit I was relieved when I finished it. *sigh*

Shadow of the Titanic: The Extraordinary Stories of Those Who Survived by Andrew Wilson - Shadow of the Titanic tells the extraordinary stories of some of those 705 who survived. How did the loss of the ship shape the lives of the people who survived? How did those who were saved feel about those who perished? And how did they remember that terrible night?

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐of five - This was a really interesting read! Certainly we hear stories about people who survived the sinking of the Titanic, but we don't know much about how surviving the sinking continued to affect their lives. Through reading this, I learned that many survivors suffered from incredible survivors guilt; some so much so that they committed suicide. Some survivors gloried in overcoming the catastrophe, while many just lived life to the fullest after the blessing of survival. This book was fascinating! 

Home of the American Circus by Allison Larkin - After an emergency leaves her short on rent, thirty-year-old Freya Arnalds bails on her lackluster life as a bartender in Maine & returns to her suburban hometown of Somers, New York, to live in the house she inherited from her estranged parents. Despite attempts to lay low, Freya encounters childhood friends, familial enemies, & old flames - as well as her fifteen-year-old niece, Aubrey, who is secretly living in the derelict home. 

As they reconnect, Freya & Aubrey lean on each other, working to restore the house & come to terms with devastating events that pulled them apart years ago. Set in the birthplace of the American circus, this deeply moving novel is an exploration of broken families, the weight of the past, & the complicated journey of finding home. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐of five - I devoured all 400 pages of this book in four days! I absolutely loved it and loved the poignant story it told of the aunt and niece; and the quirky little NY town they lived in. This story was one of my favorite reads so far this year and I cannot recommend it enough! So wonderful! 

The Summer We Ran by Audrey Ingram - In the summer of 1996, teenage Tess Murphy's mom gave her two rules to abide: keep quiet & stay our of trouble. Her mother landed a new job as a cook at an affluent Virginia estate & didn't want anything to risk the opportunity, least of all her outspoken daughter. What no one saw coming was Tess falling deeply in love with the boy next door, high-society Grant Alexander.

Over a few wondrous & heat-filled months, Tess & Grant's love blooms, so ferociously it feels utterly impossible that anything can keep them apart, until tragedy strikes & the teenagers find themselves pained by betrayal with little hope to repair the damage that's been done. 

Now, two decades after their epic teenage romance abruptly ended in heartbreak, Tess & Grant are both running for Governor of Virginia, where secrets from that summer threaten to shatter their families, futures & the love they once shared. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐of five - This was a quick and delightful read! I loved the relationships between each group of characters; the main love interests as well as the people orbiting around them! I also really loved the setting; it was in the Charlottesville, Virginia area and I am decently familiar with this area and could see the setting so clearly! This was a great book and I really enjoyed it! 

Enchantra by Kaylie Smith - Genevieve Grimm has felt adrift ever since her sister became the head of the family. So when a mysterious friend of their mother's invites her to Italy, she accepts. She arrives at his grand palace, expecting passion & magic, decadence & luxury... perhaps even a midnight ball. She doesn't expect the owner's ruthlessly handsome son to slam the door in her face.

Rowin Silver is tall, dark & exceptionally rude, & invitation or not, he demands Genevieve leave & never come back. But Genevieve follows nobody's orders, especially those of arrogant rich boys. She slips inside - & immediately discovers her mistake. Rowin & his family are caught in an insidious game of hide & seek, where only one can win. The rest will be trapped in Hell - until the competition begins again. 

Genevieve must either join the hunt or forfeit any hope of escaping. But to her dismay, her best chance of survival lies with Rowin. Since lovers may play as a pair, Rowin & Genevieve agree to form an alliance under the guise of a fake courtship. However, as they race through the game's elaborate labyrinth, trapped among gleaming gold & shining marble, their loathing gives way to irresistible attraction. Only Rowin is keeping secrets, especially when it comes to his ruthless family, & Genevieve can't help but wonder if she's trapped in two treacherous games: Enchantra & the one Rowin is playing with her heart.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ of five - Another great dark romance; I really enjoyed this book and I definitely think I enjoyed it a bit more than it's predecessor, Phantasma! The idea of a family locked in an eternal battle was fascinating to me and I really enjoyed the storylines, twists and turns - and especially loved the final outcome! 

Endless Summer by Erin Hilderbrand - In Endless Summer, Erin Hilderbrand offers nine delectable stories - prequels, sequels and "missing chapters" from her cherished books. Some of which have never been published until now.

Inside the collection you'll find: three years after Mallory Blessing's death, her friends gather for another eventful Labor Day celebration in Nantucket in The Sixth Wedding... The marriage at the heart of Beautiful Day enters uncertain territory when Margot Carmichael encourages her husband to reunite with his ex-girlfriend in the surfing lesson... In the tailgate, the weekend of the Harvard/Yale football game recharts the course of Dabney Kimball's first - and abiding - true love... and in the Summer of 69, the three Levin sisters reunite a decade after the summer that changed everything... and more.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐of five - *sigh* This one is kind of on me! I found this in a bargain book bin for $4 and I love reading Erin Hilderbrand's books; especially the ones set in Nantucket! However, I didn't realize this was a group of short stories that added to already established stories; many of which I haven't had a chance to read yet! So while the stories were great - I was a little confused, ha-ha! Oh well!

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I can't believe that we have reached the halfway point of the year - can you? I set the goal for myself to read 65 books this year and as of the end of June, I am so close the halfway there! I've read 32 of 65 books and Good Reads shows I'm at 49% there - ha-ha! I'm looking forward to some summer weekend chilling in my backyard, reading books and enjoying even more wonderful stories! How about you?

Whisker Wednesday

Happy Whisker Wednesday! I'm not sure if Ryan and I are adventurous or just insane, but this afternoon we are adding another member to our whiskery crew! Sunday afternoon, Ryan and I went to Pet Smart after church to pick up some food for Spook and Maverick - and while we were there, we found another family member!

Freedom Heart Animal Rescue was doing a foster adoption event - and in the midst of all the kittens and cats hanging out, hoping to find their forever home, there was a little black kitten - and I've wanted a little black kitten for as long as I can remember. They scooped him out of the kennel and passed him over to us and I was in love immediately! His current name is Ravioli - but Ryan and I agreed that a little black cat just isn't a ravioli... so please allow me to introduce you to....

Bagheera Baloo Lapp

I look forward to sharing more adventures of Spook, Maverick and Bagheera here on my blog. My Dad has already coined the name "The Three Whisketeers" and I think that is perfect for these three boys! 

The Heat is Rising

It's Monday the 23rd - and while the weather so far has been mostly pleasant, a heat wave is currently rolling through and that joke about frying an egg on the pavement? I'm pretty sure you could accomplish that with ease. It's 93 but feels like 103 outside - so I am staying indoors as much as I can!

I was lucky enough to get a four day weekend this last weekend - and while the earlier portion of Thursday was filled with appointments, the afternoon involved a thunderstorm, a pedicure and then some really delicious Mexican food! Spook loves all things water-related, so he was fascinated by the raindrops battering against the windows and sat in the windowsill enjoying the storm! 

The Mexican restaurant was a new one to us - located about five minutes from our house - but I definitely think we will be back! The food was great and the service was also excellent. And I thoroughly enjoyed going home, lying in my hammock and finishing up a book in the balmy summer evening. Thankfully, the heat wave hadn't fully arrived by Thursday or Friday!

Friday morning, I joined my Mom for a visit to a lavender farm in Northern Virginia - and goodness, it smelled incredible! The Seven Oaks Lavender farm is a family run business and the rows of lavender were both beautiful and so delightfully fragrant! My Mom had purchased two tickets and with those tickets, we were able to cut twenty stalks of lavender to take home; you could cut additional stalks or other flowers for $.15 a stem, so I added a few daisies to my bundle! 

The lavender farm didn't just have lavender - it also had rabbits, and a shop selling all things lavender-related, and a snack shack that had lavender lemonade, lavender ice cream and lavender cupcakes, just to name a few things! After we wandered the rows of lavender and snipped our stems, we popped into the store and purchased a few lavender things (of course) and sampled the ice cream, lemonade and cupcakes! And then we headed to find some lunch...

Our lunch was at a place called Covert Cafe; which had a tagline that said "hard to find, easy to love" and I have to say that while it was a hole in the wall, it also had delicious food! I had a Philly Cheesesteak that was so flavorful, with the most lovely bread and cheese - so divine! It's a perfect little spot located right near Vint Hill Vineyards and it's definitely worth a stop if you're in the area! We had our lavender cupcakes as our dessert! 

After coming home on Friday afternoon, I chilled with the cats for a little while before heading to the Alamo Drafthouse to meet Ryan and see How to Train Your Dragon! Y'all, it was such a good movie and I think we both really enjoyed it... I know I absolutely did! 

Saturday was the most wonderful lazy day and I enjoyed every minute of it. *sigh* We recently got our back patio in place and we added a giant umbrella and a small pool. Well - we put our backyard space to good use on both Saturday and Sunday. As the heat wave began to arrive, we filled our swimming pool, put on our bathing suits and then camped out in our backyard for most of the morning and into the afternoon! 

I spent most of my time outdoors reading and soaking in the sunshine - perhaps a little too much sunshine since the backs of my legs got a little red, eek! I just didn't quite get sunscreen everywhere! Ryan always seems completely unphased by the heat - as evidenced by him sound asleep in the pool; that man was even snoring! I guess he was also very much enjoying the backyard, ha-ha!

As you can see - the pumpkin plant continues to flourish; we gave it some water on Sunday afternoon since it's been hot and dry! Ryan and my Dad went to a men's conference at our church on Saturday afternoon and so my Mom and I went on a little spree, ha-ha! We popped into A Lot O'Gelato in Martinsburg and had a gelato flight; we also popped into Bank Books and I found several new reads that I was able to get for a steal - seriously four books for the price of one! 

Sunday was another day of relaxation! Ryan and I went to church, grabbed some lunch and groceries and then parked ourselves in our backyard again, soaking up the sun! We spent a few hours soaking up sun and shade before coming inside to do laundry and cook dinner. I closed out the night with a new episode of Somebody Feed Phil and some more work on my cross stitch pattern of the moment - a cat!

And now that the work week has started again - I will be doing my best to stay indoors - since we are under a severe heat warning for most of this week. Whoosh!