The brown-eyed susans are hanging in there, as is the phlox. The phlox that was chomped on repeatedly by the deer – down at the bottom of the big garden bed –  has finally bloomed. Take that, deer! That David phlox doesn’t give up!

Another hot day today. Tomorrow will be cooler, thank goodness. We have to go grocery shopping this morning as we’re out of nearly everything. Usually Don does that because he likes shopping, but when we will have a big haul, I usually join him. Today is one of those ‘big haul’ days. After we get back home, I have to water everything outside because of the high temps.

I returned some books to the library yesterday. I’m currently going back and forth between two authors, John Sandford, who I’ve mentioned before, and Gregg Hurwitz, who has written a series I really like. The thing about books is that no matter how old you are and how much you’ve read in your lifetime, you can always discover a new-to-you author. And it’s even better when that author has written a series or two! Oh, goodness, I love that!

And of course, we have the newest Louise Penny, which will be published on October 29th. Since we’re almost in September, that’s not all that far away. I haven’t been buying any books, but I will make an exception for Louise (I can call her that because I’ve met her, right?) I suppose Michael Connelly will have a new book coming out in November because that’s been his pattern. I’ll have to check into that. And I’m on the reserve list for Richard Power’s newest, Playground, which comes out in September, I may end up buying it after reading it because he a special author to me; he writes books that are profound and beautiful. We’ll see.

Maybe you’ve already sensed this, but it’s time for our favorite question: What are you reading?

Please share!

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

A portion of the living room on this gray morning. It might rain within the next hour, but it will be brief.

It’s been a lovely and quiet morning with coffee and a good book. As I’ve said before, I am reading The Mirror and the Light, but it’s not the kind of book that I will drop everything to read. Historical fiction is usually not my thing, but these beautifully written books by Hilary Mantel are the exception. Anyway, when reading Mantel, I need another book to read that I find gripping – usually a mystery or thriller. I didn’t have one on hand, so I finally googled ‘writers like Daniel Silva’ to see what came up. I got a few good suggestions, so I searched the library system’s website to see if any of them were on the shelves at my tiny local library. Hurrah, they were! So I drove on over and checked out 4 books. I’ve started one, Orphan X   by Gregg Hurwitz, and I’m really enjoying it.

Thanks for all the great comments yesterday. It’s comforting to know there are other adult children of alcoholics out there who have control issues. The bottom line for me: I need to feel safe. Having control does that for me. And it’s perfectly okay. I offer no apologies for something that helped me get through my childhood and still helps me to this day. I mentioned that Don is also an adult child of an alcoholic. He’s not only that, he’s been sober for 46 years. I rarely speak about this because it’s his story. He works his program every day, goes to meetings every day, and sponsors fellow alcoholics. I admire him more than I can say. And because he’s sober, ‘we’ can be. If he wasn’t, our relationship wouldn’t have started. I would have stopped it from ever happening. I’m grateful for his wisdom and guidance every day of my life and he helped me come to terms with my dad’s struggle. He is the answer to a prayer.

Anyway.

A bit more cleaning to do today and some reading, of course, and almost certainly, some shared laughter with my husband.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.