July was indeed a record-setting month for temps around here and apparently for most of you as well. You can always tell a dip in temperatures by the number of people scampering outside to catch up on yard work. No exception here, with mowing, weeding, and harvesting ripening veggies. Apparently a banner year for cucumbers; they’ve overgrown the melons. A decent year for tomatoes though, they do like it hot.
My experiment with the lotus seeds pretty much got taken over with the other invasive water plant I put in the tub and the other one won. My best crop may still end up being mosquitoes. Still with the number of cucumbers ripening, there is no shortage of the stuff for making juice, which is actually quite tasty. And with the number of cherry tomatoes, perhaps we can try drying them again—little nuggets of tomato candy.
Still doing our Y classes three times a week. Those giant blue exercise balls are the new drums, and we are beating those drums to some great 50s-60s music. Fun classes and a great way to get out and move!
We reviewed fifteen books in July—still trying to catch up with audiobooks I’ve listened to. The source of our books is our library, NetGalley, author and publisher requests. As always, the links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase information.
Don’t Open the Door by Allison Brennan (audiobook)
Silent Creek by Tony Wirt (CE review)
Random Run: The Boston Clairvoyants by Annabelle Lewis
Red Shadows at Saugatuck by Randy Overbeck (CE review)
Beartown by Fredrik Backman (audiobook for book club)
Audiobooks Mini-Reviews
Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride by Will Leitch
Our Last Wild Days by Anna Bailey
Hell is Empty and Return to Sender by Craig Johnson
The Promise of Unbroken Straw by Ken Steele (CE review)
Good Days Bad Days by Emily Bleeker
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (audiobook)
Only Way Out by Tod Goldberg (CE review)
The River’s Daughter by Bridget Crocker
Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me by Whoopi Goldberg (audiobook)
Maybe it’s not fair, maybe she had help with writing, I don’t know. But it’s an emotional, heartfelt tribute to her mother. I enjoyed the whole thing.
Favorite for July – Bits and Pieces by Whoopi Goldberg
My Reading Challenges page…behind again. I need a day—one whole day just to work on the blog. Uninterrupted.
The Goodreads landing page shows 114 of a goal of 150 or 76%, but the book count widget is still way off. Any way to get that corrected?
I do appreciate your visits and I love your comments! Enjoy the last month of summer—soon the kiddies will be returning to school! (Yeah, already.)
©2025 V Williams
Suffice to say, we’ve settled into a “senior (exercise) circuit” (Tuesday), machine circuit and indoor cycling (for me), rowing (for the CE) on Wednesday, and Tai Chi on Thursday. (There are also yoga classes, but in studying the benefits of both, decided that the former was the better choice for our age and goals (balance, whole body). With traveling there and back and incurring ravenous appetites, the remaining available time on those days is limited.
One hundred gallons is a LOT of water and quickly overwhelmed the overflow at the top. So I reconfigured the base and siphoned the water out in anticipation of another gully washer. It’s going a long way to watering the veggie and flower bed as well as the potted plants on the deck and the deck plants are looking very happy. 
We used to have dry periods, not this year though. This year, we’ve not just had rain, we’ve had some serious major storms, and looking ahead, August is promising some douzies. We are still cleaning up a couple trees that came down in the fairy garden.
Update on Punkin the Pom: that little stinker is still a challenge now at almost ten months with us. Looks like progress with housetraining, then we regress. She continues to bond with the CE but must still equate me with the dragon that forced her to have another litter. Now she’ll occasionally initiate a walk, running outside then plopping butt down to have the leash attached. (That doesn’t mean a successful potty walk, however.) I have found a new treat she’ll accept (that’s two!) and she is beginning to spend some “social” time near the CE (play time, however, was apparently something she never had nor a clue how to jump up on a couch).
I managed to bake a successful loaf of bread from my third sourdough starter—long story there that includes an attack by a demon squirrel on the starter left on the deck to slow rising—and the separation of 20 grams I’d saved in the fridge for use later. Turned out, later was the next day, but it turned out wonderful, great texture, light and airy, flavorful. Thrilled but now wonder if I could have siphoned off ten grams to save and ten to use.
For those following Punkin the Pom, we are still one step forward, two back. This poor little thing…only Heaven (and the breeder) knows her history. Hoping she is gradually gaining a little trust in us while trying ever so subtly now to push her boundaries a bit as she still spends most of her days safely ensconced in her crate (almost seven months now). We took her to a groomer who cut all her guard hair off down to her undercoat. I told her I didn’t want it that short, but she now looks like a little puff ball.
Rosepoint Publishing 