books

my week: May 12-18, 2025

I always feel like spring days need to be 30 hours long to even have a chance at getting everything done, but especially this year. Errands, appointments, the installation of a new router and cable box with a steep learning curve, our wedding anniversary (#28), the gardens in their springtime frenzy, and, most importantly, Anna’s nerve-wracking push to complete the conditions required to finalize her house offer, which is now officially completed. Exciting times, but I miss the slow, quiet days of winter.

I’ve been starting seeds (cucumber, zucchini, various beans, melons, winter squash) and weeding and transplanting seedlings (lettuce, beans, strawflowers, calendula) and harvesting kale, chives, chard and lots of asparagus, in addition to many vases’ worth of tulips and daffodils. I don’t enjoy planting bulbs in November, but boy am I glad come spring.

This is also a great time for bird-watching and -listening. Merlin is hearing so many species that are just passing through or are here for the summer: American Redstart; Least Flycatcher; Wilson’s, Magnolia, Yellow, Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers; Dickcissel; Chimney Swift; Ovenbird; Willet; Bank, Tree and Northern Rough-winged Swallows; American Pipit; Killdeer; Grey Catbird; Least Sandpiper; Rose-breasted Grosbeak; and, in great abundance this year, Baltimore Oriole.

There must be other nests, but here’s one they’re building in the copper beech tree:

Anna and I sat on the deck for a bit on a couple of afternoons and watched Orioles fly back and forth across the yard dozens of times, yelling their heads off the whole way.

I haven’t had a lot of photo opportunities, but I did nab a Yellow Warbler (albeit a bit blurry, like all my Yellow Warbler shots) and a less exciting, but still beautiful European starling:

I also captured Evie mulling over her ability to leap 20 feet into the air to catch one of these noisy things in her mouth:

At night, I’ve been reading Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood and The World According to Cunk by Philomena Cunk. With an empty cable box, I’ve had time to get back to watching library DVDs of The Brokenwood Mysteries, an enjoyable series from New Zealand.  

my week: May 5-11, 2025

Just this past week, all the trees have fully leafed out and the serviceberries are blooming and the gardens are taking off. Spring has sproinged. I’ve been picking lots of asparagus, daffodils and tulips:

Anna’s house-buying preparations continue and wow, is there a lot to keep track of. Mortgage brokers, insurance brokers, house inspectors, septic inspectors, appraisers, lawyers, real estate agents – emailing people and attending appointments has been almost a full-time job for her for more than a week now. It has completely cured me of any desire to move. What a hassle.

Buying a house has also been instructive for her (and me and our immediate family) when it comes to what we all thought were reasonably good relationships. There’s nothing like taking a big, scary step to show you which people in your life are supportive and excited for you and which people can only criticize or, almost worse, can’t be bothered to say a thing. It will never fail to amaze me how certain people who are more than old enough to know better do not in fact know better. 

On a less infuriating note, it was a pretty good week for wildlife:

While I’m always watching the trees, Charlotte spotted this handsome devil in the grass:

Evie was a capable assistant in the garden on Friday afternoon, shredding weeds for the compost and breaking down old corn stalks and trying to eat bumblebees and barking at birds and following along behind me to remove little twigs I inserted to help identify where I’d sown seeds.

Sunday was Mother’s Day and we had a nice lunch here with the kids and my mother. I spent the afternoon on the couch with my feet up, watching the ball game and taking no responsibility for meal plans and it was great.

With so much to discuss in the evenings, I still haven’t been reading or watching as much as usual, but that’s okay because there will be more than enough time for that all too soon. In the few minutes before bed each night, I’ve been enjoying Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood. On Saturday and Sunday, Anna and I binged on several episodes of Stath Lets Flats, which I adore. It’s brilliant.

my favourite reads of April 2025

April was such a crazy busy month around here that my reading routine really took a hit. I got bogged down in a few books that I should have given up on – when I ask myself if I should keep reading to see if it gets better, the answer should almost always be NO – but I did read a few worth mentioning:

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams (2025)

A memoir of her time as Director of Public Policy at Facebook and wow, does it sound absolutely miserable. Eventually fired for complaining about the unrelenting sexual overtures and innuendo from her male boss, Wynn-Williams decided to go public about the toxic people and attitudes at FB HQ and I don’t blame her. 

Interesting, appalling, and infuriating.

Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh (1935)

An actor is killed on stage during a performance, but the amusing and appealing Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn just so happens to be in the audience and solves the crime.

Good fun. I liked it a lot

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Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz (2014)

Shortly after Sherlock Holmes and super-villain Professor James Moriarty have apparently battled to the death at Reichenbach Falls, a Pinkerton’s agent and Scotland Yard detective team up to hunt down an American super-villain quickly taking over where Moriarty’s evil-doing left off.

It took me a while to get into it, but that’s probably because I was rushed and distracted. It grew on me, though, and I enjoyed it.

The Twat Files by Dawn French (2023)

A memoir of stupid, insensitive, reckless, silly, selfish, hurtful, short-sighted things she has done – the kinds of things you lie awake at night torturing yourself over.

Funny, relatable and perfectly human.

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman (2024)

Elite bodyguard Amy is being framed for a series of murders and enlists her father-in-law Steve and current client Rosie to help her figure out who is trying to destroy her and why.

Fun, quick-paced, humorous. I seem to enjoy everything Osman writes.

my week: Apr 21-27, 2025

Busy, busy week of cooking and cleaning and gardening and baking and errands and trying (and failing) to deal with the chaos created by adding another household to one that was already over-full.

Luckily, there were birds:

And not birds:

The weather was perfect for walking:

But not for much longer because things are definitely heating up. Boo hiss.

I’ve been reading The Nursing Home Murder by Ngaio Marsh and The Tempest by Shakespeare, and watching Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. So good.

my week: Apr 14-20, 2025

The big excitement of the week was, of course, the arrival of Anna, Cam and Evie (and all their stuff) so Anna can begin her new job. This is a very busy and stressful time for them so my job has been to keep the treats coming. Treats are my love language. So are flowers.

The spring bird migrants are beginning to arrive. This past week, Merlin heard the Red Crossbill a few times, as well as Purple Finches and Eastern Phoebes in addition to all our usual suspects. I didn’t get any photos of the visitors, but I did take these:

One of these things is not like the others…

My entertainment time has taken a bit of a hit lately, but I did watch another Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries and read The Twat Files by Dawn French and Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth and Twelfth Night.

my week: Apr 7-13, 2025

Spring is slow to get going this year and I LOVE it. It’s been grey and cool and wet and gloomy and we even had snow not one morning, but two.

A few brave bulbs are starting to bloom:

These are possibly ‘Tête-à-tête’ daffodils (which my gardening journal says I planted under the horse chestnut last November 4), but I could be wrong.

I had a really busy week trying to get my office/studio/personal disaster zone prepared for Cam to use as a workspace when he and Anna move back on Easter weekend. I moved all the gift wrapping supplies (paper and fabric bags, ribbon, tags, cards) into the laundry room cupboards, inventoried my ridiculously extensive yarn stash (which is in one of the room’s closets), pulled apart and completely reorganised the bedlinens and blankets (which is in the second of the room’s closets), gathered together a huge pile of loose papers and magazines to sort through, and discovered a box of receipts from 2014 to toss out. What a mess. The years 2010 – 2016 were an extremely hectic time for me for a variety of reasons and this, I have accepted, is my time to do all the things I couldn’t get around to doing then.

Grateful to sit down every evening, I worked on the blue alpaca seed stitch cowl and started and mostly finished another toque for the stash while watching baseball. Before bed, I’ve been reading Careless People by Sarah Wynn Williams and Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood.

my favourite reads of March 2025

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (1942)

Audiobook narrated by Stephanie Cole.

When the body of an unknown woman is found in her library, Dolly Bantry calls in her old friend Miss Marple for assistance. A classic.

Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie (1942)

Audiobook narrated by Hugh Fraser.

Poirot solves a 16-year-old murder case, exonerating the woman who died in prison after being found guilty of the crime. I thought the ‘five little pigs’ conceit was a bit forced, but I enjoyed it.

Marple: Expert on Wickedness by Mark Aldridge (2024)

A thorough examination of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple stories as well as tv and radio dramatizations and adaptations. A+ work. I looked forward to getting back to it every night.

Miss Marple and the Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie (1932)

aka The Thirteen Problems, aka The Tuesday Club Murders

The first 13 Miss Marple stories: The Tuesday Night Club, The Idol House of Astarte, Ingots of Gold, The Blood-Stained Pavement, Motive v. Opportunity, The Thumb Mark of St Peter, The Blue Geranium, The Companion, The Four Suspects, A Christmas Tragedy, The Herb of Death, The Affair at the Bungalow, Death by Drowning.

Very entertaining.

Three Blind Mice and Other Stories by Agatha Christie (1950)

The other stories are Strange Jest, Tape-Measure Murder, The Case of the Perfect Maid, The Case of the Caretaker, The Third-Floor Flat, The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly, Four and Twenty Blackbirds, and The Love Detectives.

Lots of fun.

Undoctored by Adam Kay (2022)

I loved his This is Going to Hurt in November 2018 and I liked this one, too. Funny, horrifying, painfully honest.

Wild by Amy Jeffs (2022)

Poetic re-tellings of Old English, Welsh and Irish tales. Fewer wood engravings than her previous book, Storyland (which I liked a lot in June 2024), but I think I liked these texts even more.

my week: Mar 24-30, 2025

We had one final little blast of winter last Wednesday and it was great.

By midday the snow was almost gone and I’m sad to think that might be it for another eight months. I live in the wrong place.

The yard was filled with birds all whooping it up and I watched a Blue Jay repeatedly dive face-first into the snow and wriggle and flap around in it, like Glen does on the couch when he’s hyped up.

These birds were more dignified:

Gardening activities are ramping up with every passing day. I sowed more peas, lettuce, chard, basil, tomatoes, calendula and strawflowers. I cut back raspberry canes, pulled weeds and started clearing away last year’s dead stalks. The bulbs are making progress, with tulip and daffodil leaves poking through and crocuses getting started:

Foster and I did our usual round of errands (farm market, Little Free Libraries, regular library, mail collection) and he scored two first edition Stephen King hardcovers from the early 90s. It isn’t every young man who’s willing to hang out with his mother when he could be doing something more exciting and I’m always grateful for his company. 

MLB season started on Thursday and I’m ready for another few months of frustration and disappointment. Thanks to all the extra tv time, I finished the baby blanket for the gift stash and am three-quarters of the way through a toque, also destined to be packed away until someone needs a hat. My goal is to create a cache of items so that if I drop dead tomorrow, my survivors won’t have to worry about their source of knitted accessories for a long time. I have no fortune to leave, sadly, but I do have lots and lots of wool. 

Aside from baseball, I watched a very good three-part series called Julius Caesar: The Making of a Dictator on PBS. The parallels to another orange-hued dictator-in-the-making were depressing. Will his peers stand up to him the way the Roman senators did? Doesn’t seem likely. 

I’ve been reading Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood, Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz, Don’t Believe Everything You Think by Joseph Nguyen and The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell.