This week as so productive! I finished four books and I’m in the middle of three more. The above book, The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson, was such a fantastic YA mystery. Totally a 5 star read, couldn’t put it down. I recommend if you like Veronica Mars + the Truly Devious books. I found out the authors are planning a sequel and I’m delighted. Last Sunday I finished Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (4 stars), and it was mostly rage-inducing for me due to all the misogyny the main character dealt with as a scientist in the 50s.
Next I read Front Desk by Kelly Yang, a wonderful Middle Grade novel about a family of Chinese immigrants to the US who run a motel in the 90s (also recommend – absolutely 5 stars), and another YA book, Pest by Elizabeth Foscue. It’s about a girl who works for her dad’s pest control company before and after school. I thought it was pretty good but after reading The Agathas, I only gave it 3.75 stars. That puts me at 69 books read so far this year. Yeah!
So, on Monday…if you missed my previous mushroom garland blog post, you’re definitely missing out. My blog had a nice spike in traffic after I posted that sweet garland, so thanks if you shared the word! Lately only the spambots leave comments – nonsensical word garbage that I just delete, delete, delete. SAD.
Anyway, I’m so glad I started using up the FQ stash I picked up last fall. CUTE!! Definitely giving me the late summer/early fall vibes.

Continuing with the cute FQ stash, I decided to make a throw blanket. Below are all of the prints I auditioned. I had to pull some additional browns and creams from my stash (I had like two dark brown patterns, and I used both, haha) but this is the final picture, and I think it looks pretty good. I like to have a nice little stash that I shop for gradually, year-round, because quilt fabric is so expensive. This is about $90 – $100 of fabric, just for the quilt top. Not saying this to brag, because that would be a weird flex, but can you even believe it?

I like the butterflies on top and the second to the bottom pink and orange ditzy floral. Everything is currently cut into squares and next week I’ll web piece it if I feel so inclined. I have just a tiny bit of some of the fabrics left. Just enough for a few pumpkin coasters??
We’re still getting late afternoon/early evening thunderstorms. It’s mostly just a few rumbles of thunder and occasional rain. It’s getting brown and crispy outside, especially with the watering restrictions. Check out this great sky:

Also this week, I cut my neglected orchid out of its plastic cup. The sad plant had grown air roots out the top and through the tiny bottom holes, so it was like doing surgery getting it out. I’m going to try a new method of growth I learned on the clock app (TikTok) where just the tips of the roots are in water. The water line is about an inch from the bottom in this jar.

I feel like it has perked up already and I’ll be sure to watch it carefully for rot. It finished blooming mid summer.
Lastly, here’s some sunset beach vibes. Imagine lightning in the distance. Magical. You can’t tell from the picture because people were headed home in droves after the sunset, but Clearwater Beach was outrageously crowded. Sadly, they left abandoned toys, trash, and plastic garbage everywhere. Next time I’ll have to bring a trash bag, but ugh people.

Thanks for joining me for my little updates. <3, C
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