Book Board Chat

Lynne I run into this a lot since I have so many series. I've asked myself the same question each time a new book comes out in a series. Some I still buy, others I try to find just to read. So, ask yourself, are you a collector or a reader of that series? If a collector buy it. If just a reader, find another way to read it. That's saved me a bit of money this last year.

Thank you for the birthday greetings. Yes, it was on the 3rd. Had a fun day. Sunshine Boy, who is now 15, at one point looked at me and said, "You're ___ years old." I paused and then told him, yes, I'm still young up here (pointing to my head) but it's the rest of me that's old! He laughed.

It sure has been a busy summer. We're going camping next week and to a family reunion in the Wisconsin Northwoods. Haven't had the camper out for quite a while and I'm looking forward to it.

Hope everyone else is well. This board has been quiet this summer!

We seem to be in that rainy period also, over 1 inch on Friday and will get more this week. Our backyard hill looks like a jungle.

Frankly, I wish more would post. I enjoy hearing from all of you.

I haven't been posting much lately, 2 funerals and this week a wedding with everyone descending on us. Plus I had cataract surgery and couldn't see very well up close for quite a while. Now I'm having back trouble - spinal stenosis is causing some problems with my legs and feet. I had injections last week and still can't spend much time on my computer.

I'll quit complaining now. We have had some absolutely gorgeous weather. All our annual flowers are planted and they are starting to look nice already. The lettuce is coming up. Looking forward to seeing the family at the wedding of my niece this weekend.

Hope you all are well.

Good morning. Spring is finally arriving here too. After being in the 30s last night we're supposed to have 70s all week. The leaves are just starting here, but our pear tree is in full bloom.

I am recovering from cataract surgery. Had both eyes done and for the first time in 60 years I can see decently without glasses! However, now I can't see anything close up so will probably have to get glasses for that once my eyes settle down. This recovery is long than I expected but it needed to be done.

Hope you all are well.

Happy Birthday Jim!

My sister, brother and I all had measles. And chicken pox.

Thank you Curt for continuing this page. It's been quiet lately but I do appreciate hearing from people.

June If that's the only issue afterwards I'll be quite happy.

Jude51 70 here yesterday, 30s and rain, ice and snow today and tomorrow. This has been a very strange year so far weatherwise.

I'm having cataract surgery on Wednesday (one eye now, the other 2 weeks later). I'm hoping I won't be off my computer very long.

Happy Birthday Lynne!

75 degrees here today, a new record for this date. Tomorrow it drops and will be 20. A 25 degree drop in 24 hours. I have to admit I enjoyed sitting on our deck today!

Diane Hope you're feeling better!

Diane Plants? I would LOVE that! However, we're getting snow tonight and the temp is dropping.

Just got back from a trip to Milwaukee for a few days. DH's brother died and we attended the funeral. DH is the youngest of 9, he has 3 sisters and 1 brother left, so it was nice seeing them since some live far away. Took an extra day to see my sister, nephew, aunt and some cousins as well. We were exhausted when we got home.

Lynne My favorite Girl Scout cookies are the thin mints.

The weather sure is strange! The south etc is reeling from snow, and we don't have any and need and want some! We're 17 inches behind for the season and only have maybe 2 inches on the ground. We had negative temps of minus 20s last week with minus 10 for a high. This is nuts!

Around here we'll be happy to get to 19 today!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

It's 1 degree here, feels like January. But no snow! We need snow!

I would hate to see this site disappear. Things have been happening in life but I check here every day. I plan on posting more often after the holidays.

Meanwhile, Merry Christmas to all of you! May you have a joyful holiday.

June I still get a lot of my boxes at the grocery store. Whenever we go shopping I check out the employees that are stocking the shelves. If I see any boxes that will work for me I ask and they are happy to let me take them.

Jim LOL

We'll be alone for TG as well so I won't be cooking (yea!). We're going to a local restaurant which has an enormous buffet which is really good.

Have fun in Spokane Jim!.

June Glad everything is fixed now on your house. Nothing ever goes smoothly, does it.

Ditto on NO MORE ADS! We live in Wisconsin but are in the Minnesota TV coverage area so we get all their ads and we can't even vote for any of them. Argh!

Hi <Beth. Welcome back.

I've been MIA for a while also because of my mother's health. She had a stroke and finally passed away a week ago on her 98th birthday. She made it by 13 minutes! I think that was her goal. Meanwhile we have been very busy and still are settling everything.

Will try to get back here by the end of the week.

Thank you. Yes, today is my actual birthday, I see that leap year still has us one day off. Hope everyone is well.

Thank you!

Brian LOL thanks for supporting him. I really think he's going to win some more races this year, I'll keep you posted. 🙂 And, yes, he DID win the Preakness!

So glad the cicadas haven't come this far north!

Jim Yes, a sandwich or burger is about $15 here too, sometimes higher. This price increase has happened in the past couple of years. I don't go to McDonalds very often but did a couple of weeks ago when the kids were here and I was shocked at the total.

Brian I like the cave in Wisconsin idea, sometimes it sounds terrific! Our Preakness winner, Seize the Grey, has 2570 owners. After everything else was paid each share did receive $156 this time. We got $50 each for his Pat Day win on Derby day. If he keeps winning it will be nice. However, his stud value has increased dramatically and each of our shares is probably worth at least $3000 or more right now even if he never wins another race. If he does.......this is one time a microshare has actually paid off. Usually they are just for fun. BTW he is entered in the Belmont which is on June 8th.

Well. What can I say but......my horse just won the Preakness! Yes! I am one of the microshare owners in Seize the Grey. I'm speechless!

Wow! Long time no see Brian! Glad to hear all is going well.

Lots happening in my life right now which is why I haven't been posting. Will try to explain some of that next week but a lot of it involves my 97 year old mother. More later.

It's that time of year again! The winners of the Peeps contest:

Relaxing, creative and perilous: Here are the winners of the 2024 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest

Ha! So happy birthday today! 🙂

Happy late birthday Diane!

Maybe leap year goofed up the calendar?

Happy Birthday June!

No newspapers here for me anymore either. I was down to the local paper and realized the only thing they covered was the local sports and people complaining about everything in the letters to the editor. I now just check the obits online.

Jim You can check Gardfield every day here for free: https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2024/02/29

14 of the Most Charming Old-Fashioned Soda Fountains Across America:

https://www.countryliving.com/life/travel/g3441/best-old-fashioned-ice-cream-parlors/

I know we have some in Wisconsin

Happy New Year from Wisconsin! We had a nice dinner out (some of the best ribs I've had in a while) at our favorite supper club (yes, they still do exist). We didn't stay up late but some fireworks woke me up at midnight. Unusual for here since we're outside the city.

We have a lack of snow this year, only a dusting on the ground. It's been a very strange year weatherwise. Hoping this next year is more normal.

Finished "undecorating" today, inside and out, so it's all put away until next year. We weeded out some more stuff which helps with storage.

It is hard to believe so many years have passed since the bookboard began. I used to post pictures of the little Sunshine Kids and now they're both teenagers!
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Will have a houseful here tomorrow, should be lots of fun. I've really scaled back all the work I used to do so it's more fun than stressful.

Wishing all of you a wonderful holiday!

Sometimes feedback can make one smile.

Seller sold two oversized paperbacks which appear to be UNREAD. Like shopping in a quality bookstore. Highly recommend this friendly seller who makes eBaying FUN! Seller provided such fabulous protection for our book, there was no danger of damage in transit. Looking forward to shopping with you again.

Nice seeing you again Beth. Sorry to hear of your health issues. DH and I have started just throwing some things out too, there's just too much stuff around here.

I belong to a group on Facebook called ebay thrifters and it's really kind of fun. Some of the stories they tell! Also, I've learned about some things that sell well that I never even considered listing. One thing was the original plastic empty baby wipes containers. For some reason they are in demand. I have a couple that store some of my Christmas decorations, I think I'll put that stuff in a regular box and sell the containers!

Diane Too bad they don't light. I haven't seen any like this before.

Gail I hope you're feeling better soon.

Ann We have only had a dusting of snow and then it melts. Looks like a no snow Christmas here.

Jim Reminds me of the "olden days" when someone would ask how to spell a word and they were told to look it up in the dictionary.

Christmas will be different for us this year. Usually everyone would come here for at least 3 days and we would do all sorts of things. That hasn't happened since 2021. My sister has had a really rough year, first an infection in her spine that took 3 months to diagnose, then she's had 3 surgeries since then. One of them removed the bone in her spine that was destroyed by the infection. She already had her spine basically replaced a couple of years ago, and a hip replacement. This fall, as she was recovering, the hip went out so they had to redo that in November. Then a screw connecting her spine to her pelvis bent and now they will have to redo that in February. If it doesn't work this time she will be in a wheelchair forever. At least she isn't in pain - when she had the infection the pain was unbearable for 3 months before they figured it out. So....we are going to go visit her before Christmas and take Christmas to her. My DD and the Sunshine Kids decided they were going too, and my nephew already lives there so we'll have some fun.

We'll still be here for Christmas but with a smaller group at our house.

Some good things with my horse, Wiz, this fall. He was reserve champion at the state fair, and then won the Thoroughbred High Point Jumper at the big Harvest Horse Show in October. That even came with a trophy, a cooler (blanket) and a monetary reward. This show has been one of my goals since I got him so I was on cloud nine.

Jim So many scams nowadays look totally legit. I don't believe most of what I receive anymore without checking it first, even then it's hard to tell sometimes. Glad you were able to avoid any problems.

Gail Sorry to hear about your hospital stay - hope you recover quickly.

Patsy Glad you had a fun cruise.

Patsy I hope you have a great trip!

Happy Birthday Patsy

I know I've been missing for a while, lots going on but I'll update within a few days. Right now I'm sitting in a camper in the woods in Wisconsin.

It's hot! We had a high of 98 today, with a dewpoint of 77 so the feels like temp was 114. Tomorrow is more of the same.

Ugh!

Gail You actually reserved the pink house? Did I read that correctly? 🙂 Thanks for the birthday wishes. The Sunshine Kids are doing great. SG did very well in her first horse show since last October (including a 3rd in the classic) and SB is thoroughly enjoying basketball camp. He grew so much in the last year that he's taller than all of us! He'll be in 8th grade this fall, they sure are growing up fast.

Check this out. People are objecting to this house being pink. There are now 2 houses that are pink.

https://www.vrbo.com/9400411ha

I did have a really nice birthday, thanks!

Thank you! I will be seeing them tonight so I will.

Jim I keep telling my husband that our whole house will come back into style if we stay here long enough. 🙂

Jim I totally agree. It looks dumb! Makes it obvious that the people aren't readers.

We had a fairly quiet weekend as well. Took a day trip on Sunday and checked out several campgrounds within two hours of here, thinking that we may take our camper someplace for a few days to get away from it all.

Yesterday we had our first "block" party in many years. We live out in the country in one of those developments where everyone has 2 - 3 acres, we're on a deadend and surrounded by big hills (our backyards are mostly wooded hills). When we built here 25 years ago the neighbors used to get together outside and have cookouts and games. As the kids all grew up that changed and now we don't even know a lot of the neighbors. Many couples with kids have moved in so the neighborhood is turning over. It was really nice meeting those we didn't know and catching up with some we haven't seen in quite a while.

We used to have huge family reunions when I was a kid. Didn't know a lot of the people then. Now our reunions are smaller with my sister and her kids, us and our kids and grandchildren, and assorted cousins. We had an extended one last summer at my aunt's lake place with 50 relatives which was really nice. This summer our immediate family is meeting back there for a few days. Really enjoy them.

Too cute! I love kittens! I am SO allergic to them though!

Hi Gail, thanks for thinking of me. Yes, the snow is gone 🙂 and we actually have hit 80 degrees! I've been busy with the usual stuff, unfortunately some of it is due to my knee and back pain. Just have to keep plugging along. SG and Wiz are getting ready for the summer shows.

Diane I have my lab work this week, hope mine is good also.

Beth Did you get your kitty yet?

June I read a lot of cozy mysteries also. I have too many and should probably sell them in lots. I did sell some this past winter and they went right away.

We planted lots of flowers this year, they always make me smile. We have hanging plants and pots on our deck and I like spending time out there reading and watching the birds and wildlife in the woods. So far the mosquitoes have left us alone but I think that's probably about to change.

Beth Hope you get your kitty today.

Hello? Anyone home?

Beth That's exciting! I'm glad you found a new kitten.

Karen Tell me about your profile picture please?

Hi Karen! Glad you stopped by, hope you will continue to do so.

Beth So sorry to hear that. Thoughts are with you.

Here are this year's peeps diorama winners!

Here are the winners of the 2023 Pioneer Press Peeps Diorama Contest

Last weekend we got a foot of snow and then the winds hit here too. There are trees actually uprooted and branches down all over. Once this snow finally all melts (should happen this next week with temps in the 60s) we will be playing pickup sticks for quite a while. Our neighbors had a big tree uproot so they have a lot to do yet.

We'll be having a quiet Easter. Decided to stay home and just go out for brunch. (I love brunch!) The kids are up at the lake but we were just there.

Kathleen You can always delete your post and redo it. I often copy a post when I've made a mistake, delete it, and then repost it with corrections.

Hi Kathleen! So nice hearing from you! Your "boys" sound as if they are doing great -- you have reason to be proud.

Happy Birthday Diane!

Diane Sorry to hear about your brother. Hope it goes well.

Happy belated birthday June! Glad you had a nice day.

Happy Birthday Gail!

What an exciting day for the Sunshine Boy! He is now in 7th grade and plays on a basketball team in the Cities. His team played today for the championship. They lost their first game (missing one of their top players who was hurt) and then played in the consolation game for 3rd place. DH and I drove over for that game. These games have 8 5 minute periods and in the 7th period SB's team (The Panthers) were behind by 12 points.

They made a huge run in the last period and were tied with only 7 seconds left. They had the ball at the far end line, made two passes, and SB caught the second pass. Everyone was hollering hold it (they were hoping for overtime) but SB decided to shoot from a distance. The ball hit the rim, popped up, came down, rolled a little around the rim and went in for the win with 4 seconds left! SB was so excited he actually had tears at the end of the game. They didn't get a trophy but did get a medal and all were quite happy. Needless to say, it was pretty exciting!

The regular season is over but SB was picked a couple of weeks ago to be on an allstar team which will be playing in a tournament in a couple of weeks. He is really happy.

Beth The same thing happened to me recently. I accidentally listed a book at BIN when it should have been an auction. 10 minutes later it sold. Oops!

We're back from my brother-in-law's funeral. All went well and it was nice seeing people we don't get to see very often.

Still have lots of snow on the ground here but at least it has warmed up some. We did get 19 more inches last week in the latest storm. That was on top of the 12 we already had so it's been a very white winter around here.

Gail I hope your damage was too bad.

Can you say BLIZZARD! That's us!

I heard they shot down another over Canada and one over Lake Huron. One starts to wonder........

Patsy I watch the bird migration maps and a few robins have been sighted in southern Wisconsin. Sometimes we see them here during the winter but we have so much snow this year they aren't around.

Gail We're stuck with that same ice/snow issue. We had 20 inches on our roof and had to have it removed before ice dams built up. What's on the ground is solid, it takes an ice pick to move any of it. We're supposed to get into the 30s this week, hopefully some will melt.

Diane Sorry about your eggs. I do love omelets though. And bacon. 🙂

Patsy We get the sandhill cranes up here in the summer. Fun to see!

I just have to share this picture. Our trainer gave all her clients a framed picture of their horse for Christmas. This is Wiz...

Patsy We started watching Will Trent also. Agree - OK so far.

Thank you Gail. She's now in the waiting period, waiting for the results.

Patsy No A/C here! We have 20 inches of snow on our roof after two storms since Christmas. We are looking into having it shoveled off - expensive! This is the most we've had since we built the house 25 years ago.

For those of you who pray please pray for my sister. She had a biopsy today and is not doing very well.

Happy New Year!

I didn't hear any fireworks because I was asleep by 10:30! We did go out for a nice dinner (I had prime rib and DH had a filet and shrimp), plus a chocolatey dessert which was great. We were hoping to stay for the music but it was a lot later than they originally had said so we came home since we were tired.

Patsy So glad you posted! I've been wondering how you're doing. Hope to see you more often here.

Ann A train show at Olbrich? That sounds like something I would really, really like. It must have been beautiful.

jude51 I hadn't listed anything new for a week and sure enough, as soon as the storm hit, two people on two different days bought something. Both had been BIN since July. Frankly, I was glad to see them go but getting to the PO was not pleasant.

Our Christmas will be a bit quieter than we originally thought. Our downstate crew can't travel due to the conditions so we'll be missing them. One other fairly local had to go out of town for work. So we're down to 9 of us. At least we'll all fit around one table for a change. 🙂

The snow was wet and heavy last week. It is still sticking to the trees and it looks like a Hallmark Christmas movie outside. Absolutely stunning!

Quiet in here this week.

We have been running around today like everyone else in this area before the "big storm" hits. We're supposed to get more snow tomorrow (already have 12 inches) and then it will turn into a 2 day blizzard with wind gusts up to 50mph and temperatures maybe in the single digits, hopefully above zero. Wind chills expected to be -30 to -40.

This storm has totally changed all our Christmas plans. We had to cancel all our pre-Christmas activities. Half the people who were coming won't be able to because of the roads etc. Hopefully Christmas day those of us who are local will be here. I hope so, or else DH and I will have a lot of roast beef left over!

Beth I had to laugh when I read that. We just went through the same thing. First rain, then snow, then a combination, then an inch, then none, now it's up to 6 inches tomorrow. I guess that's better than the 20+ inches farther north!

Diane Rent prices around here are totally ridiculous. For a 2 bedroom apartment it will run over $2000 per month. We are staying in our home as long as we can.

jude Africa? That's a new one. When I clicked on your link it wanted me to log into something called pirate ship. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that.

And Sally was Salmegal I believe. I followed her journey to her hotel in Panama, found it quite interesting.

Diane Took me almost a day to remember (LOL) but I think Ann in Florida was Antsy?

Has it really been that long since someone posted? How is everyone?

We had a quiet Thanksgiving but enjoyed it. Had a wonderful buffet and then visited my mother. The kids had invited us to their cabin but we didn't want my mother to be alone so we stayed home. We actually got about 7 inches of snow this past week and it's still there since it got really cold right after it. I'd rather look at the snow than the brown ground we so often have this time of year.

Jim Glad you had a nice trip.

DD took the annual "horse Christmas pictures" this past week. Wiz was super well behaved and didn't complain at all about wearing a wreath and hat.

He even found his own stocking at the barn...

The Sunshine Kids came over Sunday to help decorate our tree. I have a lot of horse ornaments (surprise) including the Breyer horse racing series. They are the Breyer series of famous horses like Secretariat, Man o War, etc. SG decided to create a "race" around the bottom of the tree with them. I love it!

Ann I saw that new Christmas horse and had trouble stopping myself from ordering it. I am getting rid of things, not supposed to be getting more (books don't count 🙂 ). I miss all those discussions in the early days of ebay, I learned so much from them.

We didn't have any trick or treaters here again this year. Everyone goes into town (5 miles) for that. It doesn't bother me, I always buy a little candy just in case, and my DH likes having it around.

The barn did have a Halloween party and the kids played games on horseback.

Sunshine Kids sure are growing up!

June We're getting that same goofy weather. Freezing and into the 20s at night but supposed to be 74 by Sunday. I'll take the nicer weather for a while longer!

JoAnne Thanks. She said she had a good day. What's really interesting is that her sister, who is 100, called me to wish her a happy birthday. Mom can't hear on a phone so that's why she called me. Then she talked my ear off for an hour!