I'm reading....
Last week I was ruminating on what to read next, and having now just finished the book that I chose, I am back at the same point. I could start the RIP XVI readalong book which is The Sundial by Shirley Jackson. I could read a Netgalley book (several options but lets go with with The Vanished Days by Susanna Kearsley as one of many) or I could just read something fun.
The book that I did end up reading this week was The Last of the Apple Blossom by Mary-Lou Stephens. The new bookclub that my friend is starting meets for the second time on Saturday but this will be the first time that we will be talking about the specific books. I have mentioned before that we are trying to be a read-with-a-theme bookclub rather than choosing one specific book and all read it. The theme for this meeting is Spring, and I chose this book because I had it on my Netgalley list but more precisely for the word blossom. I enjoyed the book, and I am planning to post a review of it for Weekend Cooking over the next couple of weeks. Assuming that I sit down and write an actual review that is!
I did also start listening to The Winter Sea. This is one of my favourite books so I thought I would try to see if listening to an old favourite would help me with my audiobook listening issues! It's taken me a while to get used to the narrator. This book is also linked with the new book by Susanna Kearsley that I mentioned before so that is another reason for listening to it at the moment.
I'm watching....
I don't think it will come as much of a surprise to learn that we watched a few more episodes of Ted Lasso this week. I think we are only a couple of episodes behind now, so I will be happy when we catch up but also not looking forward to being at the point where there are no more new episodes.
We have also been watching the Australian version of Making It. We binge watched the US version last year. It's always a bit hit and miss when there is an Australian version of a show like this, but so far I think this one is a hit. The hosts are quite good, and I like the judges so we will definitely keep watching.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we are more Marvel than DC fans. This week we watched Black Widow and we have also caught up on the last few episodes of What If? I like some episodes more than others (I didn't really get the zombie one) but I like all of the episodes more than the whole series of Loki! The whole world (or maybe that should be multiple worlds) is pretty amazing. So much capacity for story telling.
We did watch the grand final of the AFL this weekend. Melbourne is my third football club (after Adelaide Crows and West Coast Eagles) so I was happy to see them win. Having said that we have literally not watched any AFL all year so I have not exactly been invested up until now.
Life
The big story here last week was the earthquake that we had on Wednesday. Earthquakes are very unusual here, especially ones that are that big. It's certainly the biggest one I have ever experienced. There was very little damage and no lives lost which is great news. A bonus was that it gave everyone here in Melbourne something to talk about other than Covid, anti lockdown protests and the weather!
It was my son's 23rd birthday on Saturday. When I started this blog he had just turned 7. Where has all that time gone? As a joke, I handed him the kid's birthday cake book I picked up recently and said pick a cake. He flicked through and chose a flamingo cake, but said he wanted it to be green. Voila! One green flamingo! I did choose to use a new technique to make the feathers. The book says to use lollies/candies to make the wings but instead I did chocolate feathers. I am no good at doing perfect icing but it turned out pretty well.
Posts from the last week
Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Spring TBR
Music A-Z: Q
Weekend Cooking: What I Baked in September
Glad you enjoyed The Last of the Apple Blossom. I binged on the available episodes of the Australian version of Making It this week too since I enjoyed the US version. I’m also excited that The Great British Bake Off is back!
ReplyDeleteLove the cake, happy birthday to your boy!
Looking forward to the new series of Bake Off Shelleyrae!
DeleteI have never experienced an earthquake. Living on the Laurentian Shield make them beyond rare. Happy birthday to your son! Why a green flamingo, though? Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why the flamingo had to be green Kathy! It just did.
DeleteI'm glad you enjoyed The Last of the Apple Blossom. I say read a book for fun this week! I am having fun listening to "fun" audiobooks! Have a great week. My link is here if you'd like to stop by: https://cindysbookcorner.blogspot.com/2021/09/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-4.html
ReplyDeleteI've ended up picking a review book and then a book that I didn't even have as an option here! And I am enjoying it!
DeleteThe Last of the Apple Blossom looks good. I'll have to check it out. I hope you have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI liked it Yvonne!
ReplyDeleteEarthquakes are something we have come to accept, although none have been that devastating here in the Central Valley. Except one in 1983, in a town 70 miles away, and that one demolished most of the town. We spent time helping put things back together.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, we feel them now and then, a little shake and a quake.
Enjoy your week, and here are my WEEKLY UPDATES
I'm glad we don't have earthquakes very often!
Delete