Monday, October 5, 2020

Week-in-Review: Fall Hikes!

Fall colors are here! The fam and I headed off for our yearly Fall hike near us called Stewart Falls. We usually hit this one at least two or three times throughout the year but definitely in the Fall! All the colors are out and on display. And it's just breathtaking. My favorite time of year is here.

Then I went for another hike on Sunday with a good friend. I had never been there before and it was also gorgeous. Huge valleys and peaks and lovely fall colors everywhere. People were very respectful while we passed or they passed. Almost everyone had a mask close when coming into contact with others. 

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Things I'm Grateful For this week:

1. The fall colors! (see above)

2. That I felt well enough to get out and hike twice this week despite not feeling great earlier in the week.

3. I am reading some fun horror books and it's perfect for this time of year.

4. We found some fun wine at the liquor store over the weekend:


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Isn't it adorably wicked? 

Reading:


I finished up Through the Woods by Emily Carroll and Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi. Reviews should be out this week!


We had our first book club discussion on the first section of Stamped from the Beginning: the Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi. We talked a lot about the various meanings of racism and what being a racist means for many people and how it's changing with more reckoning of America's racist history. I am looking forward to our next section on Thomas Jefferson!

I'm over halfway through The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. It's good and bloody and I'm loving it. I also picked up Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab. It's the second book in the series and it's fun so far. I got The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett from the library; my holds all came in at once! Yikes. I started it. I need to get it read before it's due. There's no way I can renew this one.

Classics I'm reading Emma by Jane Austen. 

I'm still reading The Magnus Chase series Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan.

Philosophy: At the Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails with Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir,  Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Others by Sarah Bakewell.


Listening to:

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. I'm getting close to finishing Cemetery Boys but I've gotta make time to listen in-house since I don't drive as much as I used to!

New Books Acquired:






Watching:


Movies:


The Vast of Night (2019) was an interesting old-timey Twilight Zone-type movie-episode with a bit of X-Files thrown in! Ha. It was slow and weird. Not my favorite but I watched with a friend using Amazon's watch party so that was what made it fun! We made fun of it and had a good laugh.


Z (2019) started of pretty creepy...an imaginary friend and a child's creepy drawing turns sinister...but it loses its scares and plot really quickly. And the ending...wow, I don't even know what that was about. So definitely NOT my favorite horror this year.

TV:                           


Hulu dropped Monsterland this weekend so I binged through those over the weekend. They had some interesting commentary overall but most were a bit too heavy-handed to be truly thought-provoking material. Though, there were a few that I thought were particularly well done: Port Forchoun, Louisiana; New Orleans; Plainfield, Illinois; and Newark, New Jersey were my favorites.

Making: 

The Thai Chicken Wild Rice Soup was amazing. I cooked that one up last night and we all had second helpings. I also mulled some cider with a new recipe I found and it was delicious.

I'm planning on finishing up my Halloween blanket and start my DIY crochet Christmas gifts. I'm hoping to finish them off by the end of the month to stay on top of my to-do list!

I found what looks to be an excellent apple cider Bundt cake recipe. So I'm really hoping to try that out this week or next weekend. Fingers crossed.

I'll probably plan another soup or chili type recipe later this week. Tis the season!

Looking forward to the Fall Fair on Friday. We've got free tickets! I'm looking forward to some fall fun outdoors with the family and getting some fun pumpkins to carve in a few weeks.

I'm also getting my hair cut tomorrow and G has picture day on Wednesday. His hair is getting so long. I don't really notice it until I see pictures with his hair flowing in the wind!

My best friend who no longer lives here :( has her birthday on Friday. Actually her whole family has their birthdays this month. We make up a big box and wrap everything and then send it out. I can't wait til they get the box and can open up the fun surprises. I miss her like crazy and wish we could spend our birthdays celebrating like we used to but this will have to do! 

I just gotta get that box sent off soon!

Joining in with Readerbuzz's Sunday Salon


10 comments:

  1. What a wonderful time you had hiking. We are planning a trip in November to hike. I hope people are respectful as they were during your hike.

    Oh my goodness! I had to send my friend a link to your blog so she could see your Vampire wine. So much fun!

    I hope to read How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor soon. Maybe I will read it during Nonfiction November.

    I hope you have a great week!

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    1. It was a much-needed weekend of hiking!

      The dressed up Vampire wine was too cute not to grab.

      That's right. I love Nonfiction November. I need to get my ducks in a row for that one soon! Thanks for the reminder. I need to find some that I can read relatively fast. And I need to go over what I've read this year and find my faves! Yes!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Fall is a beautiful time of the year. I won't see that in Florida (last year I lived in New York), but I do love seeing pictures and yours are wonderful! Have a great week!

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    1. You too! And stay safe out there in Florida! Thanks for stopping by.

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  3. Happy Fall - it is a wonderful season. Emma should be a calming experience in the midst of the horror fest! I enjoy hiking too and really appreciate the masks on the trail--we go to RMNP a lot and it's about 50% non-masked, which is frustrating but at least the trails aren't too crowded this year.

    Happy spooky reading...

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    1. I haven't read Emma since high school when the Gwyneth Paltrow adaptation came out. I felt it was due another read!

      Glad you can get out for a little bit on some pretty hikes. It feels a lot safer when people have masks ready to go.

      Thanks! I'm reading some really fun ones right now. Happy reading to you too!

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  4. The Vampire Wine looks like a lot of fun! Your hiking pictures are beautiful. We're hoping to get out for some hiking this weekend. We've been in Oregon for 6 months and we're thinking of moving on soon. People have been really good about masking up when we meet them on trails here. I think we're going to be in culture shock when we get to other states. But I know I can't tolerate the rainy season here!

    Emma is not my favorite Austen read. She's such a bossy meddler! But I guess that's the point. Magnus Chase is a fun read. I just finished The Hammer of Thor a few months ago as well.

    The apple cider bundt cake sounds delicious!

    Enjoy your week!

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    1. I'm jealous you've been in Oregon. That's my second home. We want to make it back there one day permanently!

      Emma is definitely down at the bottom. It's above Mansfield Park but that's it.

      I'm about halfway through Hammer of Thor. My son and I just love the humor and the fantasy. It's a good mix.

      I hope it turns out well this weekend. I need to remember to take a pic if it does!

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  5. What a wonderful fall tradition! Thank you for sharing photos from your hike with us. Vampire wine! How funny! :-) I am sorry to hear you weren't feeling well for a bit there. I need to read Stamped from the Beginning. Your book club discussion on the first section sounds like it was interesting. I imagine that's a great book to talk about with others. I read his How to Be An Antiracist and really liked it. I hope you are enjoying the weekend! Take care.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed How to Be an Antiracist. I'm about halfway through. Have a great week as well. Thanks for stopping by!

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