Weekly Roll

first dahlia from a dahlia seeding

Linky Love

Kinkajou found at Washington Rest Stop - I had no idea what a Kinkajou was.

Street Librarian Quest to bring books to Everyone - TED talk I have been following Story Book Maze on Instagram for a while now - Instagram

Camino De Santiago - I have a fascination with long walks. 

20 Nonfiction Books That NPR staffers Have Loved - well my library only has Slow Productivity but there looks to be a lot of good ones on this list

Inappropriate Thoughts - 

One of my dogs is very dramatic.  This was a protest or hint from this dog that her bowl is empty.  This dog literally dances when you yell. "Dinner, dinner." As you can tell she is literally starving to death.

Deep Thoughts

There are a lot of things on my bingo card this summer that I wasn't expecting.  None of them are exceptionally positive.  I feel quiet here and real life because I am processing all the things.  There is a quote in the article linked about Camino De Santiago that resonates with me.

The more fear we have, the greater out load, whether alluding to the gear in a backpack or the fear and anxieties we hold as we move through life.

I feel that. I have anxiety about things you wouldn't think a person should have. My backpack is completely overflowing.  I am working on managing it.  I think I am a naturally anxious person generally and then throw in some complicated people in my life and them having a bit of crisis.  Things get messy.

Trash Talk

Can you spot the trash snake?

There was a party in the parking lot.  It was a 3-bag pickup.  We gave up after we cleared the skate bowl and the parking lot. Yes, there was the required Allsup taco sauce packet. I almost thought I spotted a snake in the parking lot but it was a trash snake. 

Wordy Wednesday

 

The book club I belong to had Kirsten Hannah for an author talk. It was such a privilege to hear her discuss the book The Women.  

Kirsten Hannah and Sharon McMahon

Weekly Roll

 

Bouquet of the week

dahlia, coneflower, zinnia

Linky Love

Nation Wide Coffee Recall - Oh Dear

Walk of Peace - Intrigued by this hiking experience

Inappropriate Thoughts

photo by CF

My parents are hosting a celebrity cat. My nephew is staying with my parents, and he brought his hairless cat. This thing has generated an enormous buzz at Casa de Carol. The celebrity cat's name is Poppy. Isn't she magnificent. LOL 

photo by CEL

Trash Talk

We were back at the skate park. There was definitely a party in the parking lot. So many alcohol cans. It was an astonishing number.  There was also construction going on. They are replacing the splash pad. We also found the required Allsup's Taco Sauce packet.

Wordy Wednesday

 

What I Read June

 I am linking up to Modern Mrs Darcy. Check out what everyone else is reading. 

Everything I read this month made me cry.  Maybe I just cry easily.

Class by Stephanie Land

This is a follow up to her book Maid.  I think I have a bias. No, I know I have a bias. I would choose work over schooling especially if I had a young child.  I think Stephanie makes a point that most people have that bias.  I understand her choice from this book.  Should low-income people have to make that choice especially if we keep saying that higher paying jobs are made with higher education? Is higher education a right or a privilege? This was a thought-provoking book and Stephanie's story is amazing. I thought her professor said something interesting - quote below.

The Women by Kirsten Hannah

This was a book I was reading for book club. I don't think I have ever read any of her books without a box of Kleenex.  I have several personal connections to this book.  I served in the Army during Desert Storm, but I never saw combat.  One unit I belonged all the male soldiers went into the danger zones and the women were the administrative people who stayed behind.  I would get a lot of you couldn't have possibly served with them etc. A lot of my generation our dad's served in Vietnam.  My Dad served during the Vietnam era. I thought it was a good read.

Some of the comments from our book club discussion included how one person could endure so much trauma and was it exaggeration of the amount of trauma they incurred? We concluded from our discussion it wasn't. It is an eye-opening introduction to PTSD among women servicemembers and to just PTSD in general. A lot of people didn't like all the people coming back from the dead. Maybe that was all a little too convenient.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

I read this book a while back and after watching the movie again on Netflix I decided to re-read.  It is a really fascinating book. However, there are a lot of characters.  I think watching the movie first is helpful while it isn't quite exactly true to the book it is close enough. The wedding scene in the movie is very magical. This is the first book in the trilogy.  You can't help but fall in love with Rachel and Nick.

old review

Weekly Roll - Father's Day Edition

 Happy Father's Day Dad. Love You

Petite Bouquet - Floret Victorian Wedding Zinnas and Dahlias

linky love

NPR Article on how veteran border patrol agent sees agency 

Bear Caught Swimming in Colorado Reservoir 

Rare White Bison Calf born in Yellowstone

Deep Thoughts

Have you ever been found out?  What I mean is you think you are playing along or holding yourself together and someone exposes you. They call you out. That happened to me this week. I didn't really like it.  I felt seen but also like I was naked.  The person's motives were to help me. However, it increased my anxiety and also my imposter syndrome. I think I have said this many times I don't have it together. I think that can clearly been seen. I am not hiding. 

52 Ancestors - Family Gathering

I have been participating in 52 ancestors in 52 weeks. One of the prompts for the month of June is Family Gathering. I think this loosely fits into that category.

 

As a child I usually spent a week or so in Arizona every other year.  My Aunt and Uncle lived in Phoenix. A lot of the trips including bringing my grandparents.  One trip, we visited Agua Verde Castle.  It is located in Vail AZ which is outside of Tucson. It was built by Duane Durham.  The back of the picture says May 1976.  

Duane Durham is my Grandfather D.D. Hoyt's nephew. So, his mother Irma was my grandfather's sister. Most of the online stuff I have read was that Agua Verde was built in the 70's.  I only have a small memory of the castle which in this picture doesn't look complete.  We went with my Grandparents Dee and Marvel. I remember a possible fountain inside and my mother being freaked out there wasn't a railing on the second floor where there might have been a bedroom and possibly an indoor fountain.  I was literally probably 5 years old, so my memories are vague at best. I don't recognize the people in the picture.  

I asked my mom more information about the castle and she recalled a secret passage that went to the kitchen. She also mentioned a stunning carved angel out of a tree root.

Wordy Wednesday

 

The Good Quote can be found on Instagram.

Sourdough Summer the New Hot Girl Summer

 Just kidding but I was at the sourdough discard again. I made pizza dough, and it turned out delicious.

I used this King Arthur Recipe. 

Yes, I have a problem. The more the merrier with Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread. Emergency bread is a need right.

Finally, a baked Sourdough Round.  My son made this one. It lasted a few hours. Recipe is found in the book below.

Artisan Sourdough Made Simple

Weekly Roll

 

Zinnas and Dahlias

Interesting Instagrammers You Should Follow

SB Mowing - I won't lie I have watched way too many mowing videos. He goes around and mows lawns for free. It is strangely addicting

Brandi Kincaid -She has a business that mails out extravagant hope from my old stomping grounds of Washington

The Shabby Cottage - I just like Gina. She has a lot of positive energy, and she has lost a lot of weight

Ali Bradley -The voice of the border - Journalist. Fair and Balanced reporting. Ali is a rockstar.

Inappropriate Thoughts

I was watching an influencer that was on vacation and he decided based on someone recognized him to drive from Massachusetts to Texas instead of flying home on the flights he had booked. He said it was sign. Just so you know I am going to need a much bigger sign than that. Such as Wednesday, I couldn't get my toilet unclogged and I flooded my patio because I left hose on for a couple hours. By the way I live in a high desert. That was a sign to not do anything for the rest of the day. I like big signs. Of course, my husband had it unclogged in minutes. I hate that.

Trash Chronicles

Well, I did indeed find bullets while picking up trash at the skate park. It is a first. I don't know if it is disturbing or not. I have mixed feelings about it. I also found one single Allsup's Taco Sauce Pack.  My pickup is not complete without finding one. There were zero alcohol cans.  I found plenty of water bottles and one single use metal water bottle. That would make a good thing to launch when the mower ran over it.

Wordy Wednesday

 

I am a fan of Adam Grant. I read his book Hidden Potential.  He has a lot of thought-provoking ideas. It still a book that I think about.

Sourdough Summer

 My best friend gifted me with some dried sourdough starter. I finally got around to waking it up.  So I feel like I need to declare this a sourdough summer.  It can be a thing, right.

The first thing I made with it was waffles. We have a weekend waffle tradition when we have sourdough discard.

Then I made Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread my friend passed on this recipe. It came out a bit darker than I like but yum.

If you notice a theme around discard recipes.  Well I seem to be more successful at those than sourdough bread. 

Previous Posts about Sourdough

I am not a Sourdough Quitter

Sourdough Flop Edition

Diary of a Medicore Homemaker - Sourdough

Weekly Roll

 

first bouquet of the Summer

Linky Love

What Happened to Flaco The Owl Remains - You know I can't help but link a Flaco Story. I like the proposed Flaco Laws for Rat Contraception

It is time for Summer Reading Challenges I thought I would share a few different ones. I have to say usually I have less time in the Summer to Read but I get a lot of inspiration from these

Summer Reading Bingo 2024 - This is from Beyond the Bookends

Summer Reading Challenge - I like the approach from The Literary Lifestyle

The Modern Mrs Darcy Summer 2024 Minimalist Reading List

Everyday Reading Summer Reading for Adults 2024 - Everyday Reading also has a good Instagram to follow

Inappropriate Thoughts

Pictured above is my microphone. I was influenced to get it a few years back. I used it at my house to speak to my son on the 2nd floor while I was on the first. My kid should have of really answered when I called him the first time. I get a lot of flak about it. If you are going to have a microphone for personal use, make sure it has reverb and rose gold. I just consider it a mom tool. I showed my niece, and she thought it was obnoxious. I was reminded that I needed to practice with it for my upcoming officiating. I couldn't find it, so I automatically thought my son had done something with it. He reminded me I hid it. This is why we have kids.

Deep Thoughts

I have been working on two different writing projects. I have been working on a 52-ancestor research/project about a crime that was committed, and I have been working on a wedding script. These are two vastly different things.  I enjoy writing.  I don't usually share what I write so this is a stretch for me. These are also two things I feel I need to get really right. 

Trash Talk

This past week was literally the cleanest this park has ever been. I don't know if there has been an increase in policing but whatever they are doing is working. We picked up a lot of small stuff and a piece of a motorcycle panel. We even expanded the area we picked up.  We did find 3 socks.  Some mom somewhere is wondering where some socks are.