I started this series out of order, listening to Christmas at the Grange, first during the holidays. I enjoyed it so much; I immediately began book 1 in the series. The characters, back story and plot are so refreshingly different, I absolutely loved it! A new favorite cozy series! (And I am very picky when it comes to cozies)
The narration is also perfectly suited.

Unique premise - gentleman to footman to house guest to detective. I enjoyed the lighthearted banter, but for some reason this book just didn‘t fully click with me. Still recommended. 😊

Thank you for giving it to me @Gissy !

This was a fun installment! Meg‘s dad has a Christmas surprise - an outdoor ice rink! In Virginia! Meg is housing, as usual, a crowd. This time it includes Canadians collaborating with Mutant Wizards on a consumer DNA project. Unfortunately a few people don‘t like what the DNA results turned up…

#2022 for #192025

Thank you so much for my lovely Christmas card, bookmarks and ornaments, Gisela! I will enjoy using them! You were so sweet to send those! Merry Christmas, friend! 🎄❤️🎄 (For us the season lasts and lasts 😄)

Well this was delightful! I have had this in my downloads for years, and just decided to give it a go. What fun protagonists, and unique premise for the series! (A lady spy/detective with her maid who is an expert in martial arts) Their repartee and friendship is so refreshing, and they are terrific sleuths. I‘m going back to start listening to the whole series!

I enjoyed this one, but it wasn‘t a stand-out in the series. Helma‘s longtime (and unlikely) best friend Ruth is at the center with the uproar caused by her new series of paintings “Ruth Revealed.” Someone thought she revealed too much - and destroyed two of the pieces.
#2008 for #192025

A fitting end to the series! This was the first mystery series I‘ve read that had an ending - well I guess Marple and Poirot did?

#2011 for #192025

@Gissy so many lovely things! What a thoughtful, generous package! Ted is super excited about his light-up ball (he and Soph are working out how to share it!) And Soph is so excited for new books - she is a reader! The turrón looks really yummy! I love the journal and the books you chose! And the mushrooms are all so cool! I have a mushroom matching game that I had just gotten out the same day we got your package! Great timing!

What a fun birthday surprise, @Gissy ! I loved the wrapping paper, and Soph‘s own gift bag - she clearly is enthralled with it! 😂 And hugging her reindeer 🥰 And my gifts!!! (See next post 😄)

1. Cranberries (bread, cake, jam, sugared - everything!)
2. My friends ❤️
3. Fall candles
4. Early morning latte and picture books
5. Crisp outdoor lunch at a nursery

#5joysfriday

Thank you for the tag last week @CoffeeK8 ! And thank you for doing this @DebinHawaii ! I love reading everyone‘s joys each week 💛

A rare snowstorm in Washington (the town doesn‘t even own a snowplow), an explosion, and the dubious status of the new library site causes a situation only Miss Zukas can remedy!
#2007 for #192025

Thank you for such a fun package for the two girls, Chrissy! I‘m looking forward to luxuriating with the European bath goodies 🛁 And Soph is delighted with the Halloween book and duck (giving it the smell test), and she already tucked it the cute finger puppets in Ted‘s slow feeder bowl - where all of her prized possessions are stored (temporarily). The coffee smells yummy! Chris and I will have that this weekend! I love it! ❤️❤️❤️

Who would have thought there are boats A to Z, and that sea dogs would make them even more interesting? Every page is magic in this truly unique alphabet book!

More sea dogs, please! 😍

Walter comes from a long line of sea dogs, but he isn‘t a sailor - he‘s a baker, making his Aunt Fanny‘s secret recipes. But he dreams of the type of adventures the other sea dogs speak of. One day, after a baking mishap, he gets his wish!

I am very picky about children‘s books. I love the classic style with great illustrations and an imaginative story. I found these when I was on Martha‘s Vineyard, and they are so perfect it makes me happy to just to see them! Canine protagonists - I mean what else could be better?? 😂 The illustrations are just lovely.

Happy Birthday, @Gissy ! I hope you have a lovely cozy day! (After the bowling 😂)

Our Autumn shelves! 🍂🍁

We have tons of Halloween books, but not many just fall-themed.

I just started reading the next installment in the Miss Zukas series … my forty-second birthday is tomorrow 🤯

Isn‘t it crazy how those coincidences happen??

This was wonderful! I loved the humorous picture of a Provençal village in the 1930s. Ex-Pat Lady Winifred was someone who (self-portrayed) loved a good time and enjoyed the wild ride of remodeling a home in a new land, with a different language and culture. A few descriptions are a little cringey, but overall I really enjoyed it and will absolutely put this in the reread pile.

Who would have thought Meg‘s easy-going, carefree brother, Rob, would create a million dollar computer game?? Turns out he did! (With help from savvy advisors and employees) But there is something sinister simmering at his new company, and he asks Meg to see if she can figure out what the trouble is and how to fix it.
#2003 for #192025

Between Michael‘s production of Macbeth, the “historic” Scottish re-enactors, the real life witchcraft in the woods - this one is creepy!

This one was difficult to put down! I read it during lunch, and there was never a good stopping point!
Helma meets Chief Gallant‘s children (is it the “next step”?), and that night he ends up in the hospital. Between worrying about whether he would recover, about how to protect the name of the borrower of a book found with the Chief (in opposition to the her library director & the police detective), about what to do with his two visiting teens ⬇️

After years of hoping and planning, my mom and I (and Chris, Soph and my brother) finally got to see beautiful Martha‘s Vineyard - and Susan Branch‘s house! (2 months after she moved to California, she only lived on the island for 40 years… 😆)

I started reading her book set on the island while I was there, and I‘m enjoying it very much! I set it aside after being disappointed by Fairy Tale Girl, but this one we know has a happy ending. 🥰

A re-re-reread (with a few more re‘s) of this Heyer mystery set in a small British village. I love the small cast of unique characters. Mrs. M with her “U” named pekes, the rascally, aged ex-poacher, the whole enthusiastic Ditchling brood, so many that make this a humorous read - and the mystery is good too! Who shot Sampson Warrenby in his garden? No one has an alibi…
#1953 for #192025

This is such a great series! I read the first six then set it aside for a couple of years, and just picked up #7 - I‘m so glad I did! Miss Zukas is such a unique individual, and quirky Ruth (her antithesis) is the perfect friend for her! A murder at a homeless mission and 2 love interests, along with an announced audit at her library, Helma‘s life is getting complicated!

I highly recommend this series & it is one to start from the beginning 😊

I couldn‘t remember which Wodehouse featured Bertie on a millionaire‘s yacht - turns out it‘s this one! Not one I particularly enjoy. Bertie and Jeeves part ways due to Bertie‘s banjolele playing. Bertie is also evicted for the same reason, so he heads to a cottage in the country where he may play in peace. Unfortunately, the country also holds a former fiancée, her steamroller father, Sir Roderick Glossup, and a crazy replacement valet. ⬇️

Classic Claire Malloy! One of my favorites, I‘d say. Claire is roped into assisting at the Miss Thurberfest pageant when her best friend Luanne sprains an ankle - due to an errant nail on the stage. Next, a sandbag narrowly misses the reigning Queen. Old building or sabotage? Lots of fun!

Happy Birthday to my sweet friend! I hope you have a lovely day filled with things you enjoy! 🥰❤️🎉

It‘s been years since I read this one, and it was interesting to reread and see what I remembered. (I did forget whodunit) I enjoyed having all the super sleuths in one book!

#1953 for #192025

It arrived! Thank you so much, Chrissy! The package smelled so nice from the lavender sachet! And what a cool set of books! We‘ll enjoy reading (and playing!) with these! ❤️ Once we‘re finished with the tea pouch, which really intrigued us 😂 What a thoughtful gift!

I am rereading the older books in the series alongside continuing with the new ones I haven‘t read yet. Meg is a blacksmith, and her craft features heavily (ha!) in both of these that are incredibly similar in setting and I just happened to read back to back! Falcon takes place at a Ren Faire and Flamingos at a Revolutionary Reenactment. In both you have Faulk (her mentor) & Tad, and Meg‘s dad as enthusiastic temporally-appropriate medical ⬇️

Fairytales, Godmothering, and foreign travel - a fun mix, and rife with possibilities for classic Pratchett wit and nonsense! Nanny Ogg is fabulous, as always. Her postcards home are hilarious, as are her foreign language abilities. 😂

After Soph did her research, we spent a couple of weeks along the Mediterranean! She was a great traveler, and now we‘re almost home sweet home!

Well this was a cute surprise! I didn‘t realize I was adding a summer version to my Night Before Christmas collection. 😄 A great story to read before a summer trip. Ending lines - “ I heard Jimmy ask as we drove out of sight, “Mommy, are we there yet?” She said, “With luck, by tonight.” 😂
#TwastheNight

First grilled pizza attempt from Pizza Night! Surprisingly easy! The tricky part is getting the top nice and done. We used the Hatch Chile and Corn recipe (meant to be on a Neapolitan in a pizza oven - we‘ll try it that way later), and instead topped the grilled thin crust. #mtcookbook

Love the rainy, hurricane-blustery setting on a remote Maine island! It makes me want to build a fire and be cozy. ☕️🪵 Meg and Michael took off for a bit to have some time to relax at her Aunt‘s cottage - unfortunately it turns out they did not leave Meg‘s lovable, but kooky relatives back in Yorktown. Including Spike.
I‘m on the lookout for the hardcovers of Peacocks and Puffins - the only two I don‘t have!
#2000 for #192025

It‘s been years since I read the early books in the series, so I thought I would mix in a few with the newer ones I‘m still getting caught up on. I just love Meg, Michael and Meg‘s whole goofy family! Things start off pretty differently from what they become in later books, but the wackiness is there! It was also written 25 years ago, so it reads a little differently too. This one was quite a story with A LOT going on!

Many of the recipes sound and look delicious! The author includes personal notes for each recipe, which I really enjoy. This is the first recipe I tried (#mtcookbook success!), but I have it on display, tempting me to try others!

This is the Brown Sugar Almond Pound Cake that I served at Mother‘s Day brunch with macerated berries and whipped yogurt.

Loved it! Such a fun installment with the whole Langslow crew on a cruise. Including, poor Rose Noire, who only went to try to protect them from the dangers of the Bermuda Triangle. Of course the cruise deteriorates quickly, and Meg must step in to help keep things on an even keel. 😉

I didn‘t realize when I started this that it was a Christmas mystery, and briefly wished I put it back to save for the holidays. Once I got into it, I was heartily glad I did not! It was a dismal story, with group of unhappy people. The solution to the mystery was clever, however!

Cook - #bookmail !

My preorder is here for Ali Stafford‘s new book! I LOVED Bread Toast Crumbs, and her blog is great! I am very excited to see what she put together in this ❤️

And yes, adding to #mtcookbook I‘m not making a dent on 🤣

The introduction to Inspector Charlton and John Rutherford, bookseller. Enjoyable, as the other Wittings I have read. I can‘t quite pinpoint why, as the humor is there and the mysteries are good, but they don‘t rank in my favorites. Still, a good time was had by all 😄

Thank you for sending it, @Gissy !

Loved it. Absolutely perfect ❤️

#1951 for #192025

I speak highly enough of this cookbook! In the overwhelming world of homemade baby food, ATK created an easy, straightforward path! It begins with the basics of starting solid foods, then kicks off with single ingredient purées, then multi-ingredient “stews” (cod, potato, leek was a favorite), onto finger foods and family meals. Each recipe is clear with extras such as age appropriateness & storage
? The happy eater of mini frittatas
#mtcookbook

I‘ve had such a wonderful time here! Lovely friends - sharing our lives and reading - and discovering books! So many I‘ve loved, but would never have known about, if not for Litsy. ❤️

Well, this was fun! Professor Peter Shandy is down to earth (literally as a botanist 😆) and clever. Set in Maine, Peter is visiting a small town to collect lupine seeds from mysteriously fabulous specimens. While supping at his hotel, the diner at the next table drops face first into the chicken pot pie. Charlotte Macleod has a terrific way with words and a great sense of humor. I will definitely be seeking out more of these!
#1994 for #192025

Isn‘t it fun to have bedtime reading that makes you extra excited to go to bed?

I‘m enjoying this immensely! And how different it would progress in the age of cellphones and internet. Instead of slowing ruminating on King Richard III, getting details bit by bit, all the information would be at Grant‘s fingers with a little googling. I‘m so glad that isn‘t the case 😄

What do a 30 year old jewelry heist, a murder in a columbarium (crypt) and a toucan have in common? More than you would think, as it turns out!

Also, I learned that toucans cannot not talk (I never thought about this before), and they are incredibly messy eaters that adore fruit.

Our Easter book shelves! 🐇🌸🌷

I read the book not long after it came out, so I don‘t remember much about the story. However, I did remember there was a fabulous lemon bar recipe! It is a “cockaigne” recipe from Joy of Cooking, so you know it is extra delicious. We made lemon bars recently, so I tried it again. Different from the traditional style in that they are lemon curd bars - the filling sets soft and creamy like it was topped with lemon curd. Very lemon-y! #mtcookbook