It's a Wrap- Up...Bakingmania, Fallout, the Tourist

Hello, Hello! I broke my streak of regular posting but the weather has been nice and I've been so busy (& happy!) working in the yard/on the house. I'm completely exhausted by the end of the day. Honestly, it's been great and the best I've slept in awhile. We also have a mini vacation coming up. 

And I celebrated my 59th birthday yesterday. I was never one to care about age/aging but the past few years have been kind of hard to wrap my brain around. Probably because I feel older. We had a lot of big life changes, health scares plus other stressful things going on. Things finally seem to be headed in a better direction, both with health and drama so 🤞

Other than that, there hasn't been much going on. I did some baking 2 weeks ago - 3 things in ONE DAY lol

I made a loaf of whole wheat, 7 grain bread in my machine, scones (from a mix) for a breakfast meeting Kevin was having at work the next day & decided - what the hell - and made a batch of Irish Cream cupcakes - converted from a coffee cake recipe I had made. 

Reading:

I'm still barely reading. I started the audio of Annie bot by Sierra Greer ~ Goodreads . I thought it was a different book so I'm a little thrown by it. It's about a female robot - purchased by a man named Doug and her growing interest in humanity and autonomy. These books are always kind of about sex and servitude (for obvious reasons) but it's just really squicky to listen to at the moment. 

Watching:

I have never played Fallout but we watched the series version on Amazon and loved it. It's kind of wacky, super violent, darkly funny. 

We're watching S2 of The Tourist on Netflix right now. It's pretty good, although I enjoyed S1 more. I highly recommend S1 - it has a Memento vibe in the Australian Outback. 

That's it for me!

I'll leave you with this video by Tenacious D (love them!). They did a cover of Britney Spears Baby One More Time that I meant to post when it came out a few weeks ago. It's a cover for the Kung Fu Panda 4 movie.

Happy weekend to you all! What have you been up to? Watching, reading, listening to?

Tell Me Something Tuesday: I'll be watching you...(lame, I know lol)

 

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. 

It is co-hosted by (Linda from Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell, Roberta from Offbeat YA, Jen from That’s What I’m Talking About, Berl's from Because Reading is Better than Real Life  and me) 

Join in by answering this weeks question in the comments or on your own blog.

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Question: What have you been watching? Share your TV show or movie picks

Answer: I've been sharing this in my weekly posts lately so I don't have a ton of rec's but we did watch a few fun things last week.

Renegade Nell ~ Disney: This show was so much fun! Renegade Nell is a historical, fantasy/magical realism mash-up about Nell jackson - a Highway woman, framed for her fathers murder during 16th century England.

She takes to the road, with her two younger sisters and a Tinkerbell like sprite named Billy Blind - who infuses her, when in danger, with the strength to defeat anyone who dares to fight her - to clear her name and get her sisters to safety. 

There's a bit of non comformity, gender bending roles, and exploration of class issues - lots of (Disney-esqe) fighting. It can get a little silly at times but the show moves at a really brisque pace so you just roll with it. Nell is flawed but snarky as hell and despite her protests - has a soft heart. All of the characters are great - from her sisters, the rag tag team she picks up on the way to the villains.

The Night Agent ~ Netflix: "While monitoring an emergency line, an FBI agent answers a call that plunges him into a deadly conspiracy involving a mole at the White House"

I don't usually watch thrillers/suspense or crime shows but Netflix kept pushing this one and we figured we'd give one episode a try and ended up enjoying. It has scathinng reviews but is one of Netflix's most popular shows. 

There's nothing groundbreaking here but I liked the whole cast, the suspense was pretty good with enough intrigue and twists to keep us hooked.

Both shows have been renewed for a second season so no worries there.

What have you all been watching?

It's a Wrap-up...

 Another week - another 2 post for me! This has got to be a record lol

Slow week here. Lots of heavy rains, high winds - even some lightning and hail - which are rare for these parts. We are supposed to have 4 days of nice weather coming up so I'm excited. 

Inspired by last weeks TMST post about vacations - I booked one for Kevin and I. It's still within the state, but the chance to just get away and, hopefully, be outdoors will be great. 

So what did I do this week? 

PLANTS!

My first plant shopping of the year. I've been wanting to go to this very small, locally owned nursery -  Birds and Bees PDX for years but it's a bit out of the way and opens later than when I'm typically out and about. I made a point to go this weekend - in the rain - because that's when it's toughest on these businesses. They had a small, but excellent, assortment of native and house plants. I bought a few herbs, plants for my rock wall and a hosta. Plus, a book about vegetable gardening out here.

BAKING

I baked whole wheat bread with 7 grain cereal and that was a huge hit at Kevin's work place. His co-worker said it's a gift to be able to bake so well. I died laughing because I basically used my bread machine on the dough setting to mix/knead and then finished it off in the oven. 

Ellie is 1 year old this month! Not only was I able to make a sourdough starter - but I kept her alive for one whole year. If you've been following my baking adventures - I killed Ryan - the other (rye) starter that I made at the same time as Ellie. 

It's SO much easier than most people make it sound like, once you learn a few tricks (& NOT get crazy obsessed over it). I do not feed my starter daily or have discard (unless I want some for another purpose). I keep about 1 tablespoon in the fridge and just feed as needed for whatever I'm baking. I've gone months without feeding her.

This is a new recipe I found from Easy Everyday Sourdough Bread Baking by Elaine Boddy. It made a smaller than usual loaf - only about 6 inches wide, so cute! - and helped me practice a few steaming techniques I saw on YouTube.

READING

The Summer She Went Missing by Chelsea Ichaso - Mind you, I am not the targeted age group for this YA thriller, but I'm not enjoying it at all and will most likely DNF unless things turn around soon. I had thought it was a dark, small town secrets, rich kids vs townies murder vibe but it feels more Nancy Drew-ish. Nothing wrong with that, but the audio narration makes the MC come off as naive, whiny and boy obsessed & cliche instead of the dark thriller I was expecting. 

WATCHING

Wonka - MAX - couldn't finish, we were bored

John Wick 4 - meh So unnecessarily convoluted

The 3 Body Problem - Netflix - Made it to episode 4. Pretty good and we liked it but not hooked. 

Faraway - Netflix - This was our virtual movie date pick for the week. I gave it 4 stars (out of 5) It got a little silly at times but I loved the idea of an older (50's??) woman leaving her horrendous family that take advantage of her going off to an beautiful island to find herself, love and happiness. My friend gave it 3.5/3.75. 

AND FINALLY

I saw this on IG and it cracked me up. Dolls scare the sh*! out of me. I love how the *May Be Haunted Dolls cost more lol 

Have a lovely Easter weekend everyone!