Sunday, September 13, 2015

It's Sunday/Monday: Check-In Time



Linking up with The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer and It's Monday! What are You Reading? hosted by Sheila from Book JourneyIn Sheila's absence, share your Monday post on twitter #IMWAYR.

On the home front:
Slowly, slowly working my way through the review backlog. 

A bit of gardening this week. Garlic and leeks growing well, abundant supply of limes and happy to finally have a win over the bugs and get a crop of sweet tomatoes.


Watching:
Part way through season 3 of Hannibal, devastated this is the final season but I'll get over it, HA ... Scandal returns in just under 2 weeks!


Melanoma Clinic this week for 6 month skin check, a necessary evil, and another chance to poke and prod my friends that say thanks for the reminder each time I post. I hope you've had your skin checks and not just talked about it!! 


Check out the Melanoma Research Foundation and their #GetNaked campaign ... it may save your life.

And finally a few scrapbook layouts I did at retreat almost a month ago. They all happen to be photos of my beautiful granddaughter using kits from the talented Sue Tonga (with just a few adaptations) 






#FitReaders Weekly Check-In


 
#FitReaders co-hosted by Felicia @ Geeky Bloggers Book Blog and Jen @ That’s What I’m Talking AboutFitReaders is a great way to stay motivated, accountable and it's more fun having bloggy friends to check in with. If you also have a fitbit and want to add me, let me know :)  

20% over target again this week ... yay me! Walking is still proving a distraction from my hands and since it works about as well as pain medication (not very well) I may as well walk lol 

Fitbit Steps: 
Mon: 8319 steps
Tue: 15,680 steps ~ walk
Wed: 7568 steps
Thurs: 16,110 steps ~ walk & gardening
Fri: 7347 steps 
Sat: 7329 steps ~ walk to park with Mia 
Sun: 8100 steps ~ neighbourhood walk with Bella

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Giveaway: 


Win the eBook Forever boxed set which includes the three full-length novels leading up to Forever Bound. International. Enter here

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Reviews & Posts: (click on title)

THE PRECIOUS ONE by Marisa de los Santos (audiobook) ~ messy family stuff at its best!

IF YOU ONLY KNEW by Kristan Higgins ~ I loved it! See my joint review with Karen

THE PARIS KEY by Juliet Blackwell ~ a just-because favourite read this year!

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Finished last week: 

PRETENDING TO DANCE by Diane Chamberlain ~ excellent

THE COINCIDENCE OF COCONUT CAKE by Amy E. Reichert ~ another fave this year

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This Week's Reading List: 


UNDER THE MOON by Gabriele Wills (Muskoka Trilogy #3) ~ finally finishing this fab trilogy. Page 50

HAPPY GO PALEO by Irena Macri 

LONE STAR by Paullina Simons (audibook) ~ not quite half way through. Good narration

THE OUTBACK MIDWIFE by (audiobook) ~ hoping to get to it this week.

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Reviews Coming: 

THE LITTLE FLOWER SHOP BY THE SEA by Ali McNamara (audiobook) ~ good listen

ALMOST FRENCH by Sarah Turnball (audiobook) ~ loved it

ON RUE TATIN: LIVING AND COOKING IN A FRENCH TOWN by Susan Herrmann Loomis ~ wonderful for anyone dreaming of living in France

THE WATER DIVINER by Andrew Anastasios and Meaghan Wilson-Anastasios (audiobook) ~ I bawled my eyes out! 





38 comments:

  1. Wonderful scrap booking photos. I'm on board now with skin checkups. Your tomatoes look great! I enjoyed The Precious One and have seen it lately on a few blogs. Have a great week!

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    1. Yay, happy to hear you get skin checkups Pat. Will pop over to check out your review of The Precious One.

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  2. What stunning tomatoes! I've been meaning to monitor Hannibal on free-to-air TV to check when the latest season started. I've never watched it but just want to see Richard Armitage who I gather is great!

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    1. Oh yes he is, the Great Red Dragon, he doesn't come into play until mid season 3. Cast is great but I love watching Mads Mikkelsen, bloody brilliant.

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  3. I love your scrap booking! Look at that tomatoes..tackling bugs is never fun but so exciting to see those kind of results. Enjoy your week Teddyree!

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    1. thanks Kimberly, the last couple of years we've had little success with tomatoes but I love home grown. Decided to give it another go ... 3rd times the charm lol

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  4. The scrapbook pages are beautiful. Lovely looking tomatoes. And I'm a big proponent of the skin check. I've had several skin cancers removed. Yes, you have to continue to have the skin checks. Good luck with the walking and I love the idea that it is as good as the pills. Amazing and likely so much better for you. Have a good week!

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    1. Thanks Kay. Yeah the walking takes my mind off the pain, not too many options when conventional medicine offers so little. You have a good week too :)

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  5. I am jealous that you have limes! And the tomatoes look great. I usually go to the farm market instead of growing my own, but I always wish I had the time.

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    1. our lime tree seems to be some sort of freak of nature ... it fruits almost all year round and tends to thrive on neglect lol. I love farm markets too.

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  6. Your pages are GORGEOUS!! LOVING the colors and the designs (and the photos TOO!!!!)

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    1. aww thanks so much Julie, means a lot from you ... scrapbooker extraordinaire xx

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  7. Those are such cute scrapbook layouts! Nice job!

    I'm glad you enjoyed The Coincidence of Coconut Cake. I really liked that one. I am not familiar with Happy Go Paleo but Paleo cookbooks are incredibly popular at my library. My sister is really into Paleo eating and I've tried some of her meals and they are really good (and good for you).

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    1. Thanks Christina. I like this author's 80/20 take on Paleo, not so rigid. I love clean eating but I like my 'regular' treats so it works for me. I'd love to make the Coconut Cake lol

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  8. Your scrapbooking pages are gorgeous and it doesn't hurt that you have such a beautiful subject! My tomatoes didn't come to much this year - we got too hot too fast - so I'm having a bit of tomato envy. Have a great week!

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    1. You are so right Katherine lol. I think that's been the problem with our tomatoes the last couple of years but I was happy to have a win this year ... nothing beats the taste of home grown :)

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  9. So glad you got your melanoma check-up and are encouraging others to go do it. Until my husband was diagnosed, we were woefully ignorant and thought it was only for those leather-skinned folks who lie out on the sand all day :(

    Anyway, what a great garden outcome. I love that you can grow limes where you are. I probably could here too, but we rent and have a sandy mess of a yard so no gardening while we live here.

    Your scrapbooking came out really pretty! Of course, it's mainly because Mia is so photogenic :) I used to scrap, but we don't print out our photos anymore, I know... a waste, so I don't do it anymore. Maybe I should think about getting back into it, though I gave all my supplies away years ago.

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    1. Yes I guess we were too Rita, until my mother died so dreadfully. early detection is so important to give you the best chance of survival.

      Having a pool we don't have a lot of garden space so most of our fruit and veges we grown in container/pots. Surprisingly the lime seems to thrive on neglect lol. I don't scrapbook anywhere near as much as I used to, time poor and hands don't function like they used to but I'm not ready to give it up just yet. You take such lovely photos too ...

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  10. Tomatoes look delicious. I threw a handful into the skillet this week along with mushrooms and scallions to make a topping for grilled chicken breasts. They added such a "zing" to the dish.

    The Water Diviner looks very appealing. I think it's interesting that the book is a novelization of the movie. That's the reverse of the usual adaptation.

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    1. I love the zing they add to sauteed vegetables Elsi. And yes unusual to get a movie to book adaptation. Both movie and book were great and I bawled my eyes out in both.

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  11. I could not get through hannibal 3 :/

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    1. Mads Mikkelsen is bloody brilliant and I love the guy who plays Will, 6 episodes to go, I'm sad it will be over.

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  12. The difference in our climates! I would not even be thinking tomato plants yet. They look amazing. Scrapbooking weekend looks like it was a great success. Beautiful. The Outback Midwife sounds interesting, I had a look at it on Goodreads when you marked it to read. Sounds like Pretending to Dance is going to be a winning read. Yay. I didn't like the journey book that Paullina Simons wrote for some reason and am now reluctant to pick up another. Will see what you say about Lone Star.
    Fantastic walking, just wish you hadn't to put up with those hands, our bodies are so complex.

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    1. hmm maybe that's why the tomatoes have done much better this year, I planted earlier. The bugs tend to have a field day when the plants are stressed with our summer heat.

      Which Paullina Simons is that? Her Bronze Horseman trilogy is one of my all time favourite series. I loved Girl in Times Square and I liked Tully and I think there's a few more but can't remember the names. Still quite a few I haven't read though.

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    2. Yay! I remembered to tick that darned box! The one I didn't like was Road to Paradise. Girl in Times Square - one of my top fav reads ever. Want to do a reread. Loved Bronze Horseman trilogy too. Could have just been my mood with Road to Paradise.

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    3. I haven't read that one Kathryn, it's on my to-read list but I don't think I'll stress about getting to it lol I just checked GoodReads and it hasn't rated very well.

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  13. Love tomatoes from the garden, they spruce any meal up!

    Happy Go Paleo looks good, I'm curious about that one. I'll bet there's some good recipes in there...

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    1. I'm trying a few recipes from it Greg. I love the author's 80/20 take on Paleo, since I'm a fan of clean eating but I also love my treats!

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  14. I loved If You Only Knew too. The tomatoes look so yummy. Ours are just about done. Glad walking helps somewhat. The week got away from me and I did not purposely take a walk at all last week. Love layouts featuring beautiful Mia.

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  15. Great scrapbook pages! Enjoy your week, and thanks for visiting my blog. I hope to read Pretending to Dance soon.

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  16. Wow! You had a busy, busy week. Love all the scrapbooking. Such fun. And what wonderful books you have. Enjoy!

    Here's my It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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  17. I hear you on the review backlog... maybe this will be the week we both catch up? Lots of people seem to love that coconut cake book.

    I've had a post-it note to myself to call the dermatologist on my counter for two weeks - today is the day!! Thank you for the reminder :)

    The tomatoes look delicious. Hope you have a great week.

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  18. Awww... thanks for keeping up on It's Monday! Love that you used the twitter hashtag and now I need to go on twitter and look at it :) I have not been on twitter for months.You are busy as always :)

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  19. I love your photo - the colors are so vibrant! And your granddaughter is adorable!!

    I looked up the Muskoka Trilogy and it sounds so good!! I am going to have to request it from the library today! :)

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  20. I wish I had a green thumb, I'm useless when it comes to growing things! Lovely pages and some great reading :)

    Have a wonderful week
    Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out

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  21. I wish I were crafty like that! I have no creativity in my bones. Nor do I have a gardening bone, either. Lol.

    Yay for beating your step goals!

    I know I need to get a body scan. My good friend just had melanoma spots removed and reminds me all the time how important it is. I will be making an appointment asap!

    I hope you enjoy your books this week and have a great one!

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  22. Nice assortment of books. I've been seeing The Paris Key on lots of blogs today. Your tomato crop looks good too. I got some at the farmers market last week. Here is my Monday Report. Happy reading!

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  23. Great job on the step counts! Glad to see you are up and about.

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