June Review

Read:
Death of a Liar- M.C. Beaton
When You Reach Me- Rebecca Stead
Warcraft: Durotan- Christie Golden
Uprooted
In a Dark Dark Wood- Ruth Ware


Watched:
Warcraft
Party Wire (1935)
The Whisperers (1967)
Ladies in Retirement (1941)
One Rainy Afternoon (1936)
Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955)


Made:
-Sleepy Owl cross-stitch ornament
-Monkey with Beads ornament


Highlights:
(I didn't do a very good job with recording the highlights this month)
-finished painting/re-decorating bedroom
-bought a new laptop
-kayaks!

(very, very late and possibly incomplete) February Review

I have gotten so bad at blogging.  I have the best of intentions, but I always forget. 

Read:
Agatha Raisin & the Murderous Marriage
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Interrupted Tale
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place:  The Hidden Gallery
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unseen Guest

Watched:
Tobacco Road (1941)
The Big Bang Theory (season 1)

Made:
finished knitting chevron scarf

Highlights:
* my oldest son's 19th birthday

and here are the "lowlights"
`was followed by a weirdo in a white van until I drove to the police station
` saw a horrible wreck, the car was crushed and on fire.... it was HUGE fire.  We  could feel the heat inside our car when we passed it (20-30 feet away)
`asthma flare-up

January Review

Read:
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place- Maryrose Wood
Driving Blind- Ray Bradbury
Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust (Flavia deLuce series)- Alan Bradley
The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe (No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series)-      Alexander McCall Smith
We Have Always Lived in the Castle- Shirley Jackson
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Watched:

Poirot (season 1-2)

Rosemary & Thyme (season 1)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)
The Power of the Whistler (1945)
The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
I Lived With You (1933)

The Fly (1958)

The War of the Worlds (1953)

Made:

a knitted scarf for my mom (the silver and black on in a previous post)

Highlights:

-not much happened this month- just the usual stuff

-one of L's guinea pigs died (not a "high"light, but I had to mention it). RIP Geogie.

-our dog, Henry, had a bad allergic reaction to his vaccines, but thank God he's fine now

- I was sick with an asthma flare-up for about a week (blegh)

December Highlights

Watched
Night at the Museum 3
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
Penguins of Madagascar
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (in the doctor's office- yes, the whole thing!)
Elf
I Love Lucy Christmas special
Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe
Narnia: Prince Caspian
A Charlie Brown Christmas

Read
The Uncanny Valley- Gregory Miller
The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse- Alan Bradley
Shadow & Bone- Leigh Bardugo
Seige & Storm- Leigh Bardugo
Ruin & Rising- Leigh Bardugo
A Trick of the Light- Louise Penny
Silent Night 2- Richard Pike
Sins & Needles- Monica Ferris

Highlights
L & I went to the Christmas ice skating show
We were all sick for over a week (that's more like a low-light. lol)
Fireworks & Christmas parade
Christmas (of course)
L planned a surprise birthday party for me :)
New Year's Eve Wii U marathon

November Review

Watched
misc. Christmas episodes of tv shows on YouTube
Mockingjay, Part 1
Parks & Recreation (seasons 5 & 6)
Holiday Affair (1949)

Read
The Year of Living Biblically- AJ Jacobs
INFJ: A Look Inside a Rare Mind

Made
3 painted xmas ornaments (melted snowmen)
finished x-stitch ornaments

Highlights
ornament-making day
Thanksgiving
ornament exchange

October Review

Watched
Lark Rise to Candleford (season 1)

Read
The Day it Rained Forever- Ray Bradbury
The October Country- Ray Bradbury
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hangman- Louise Penny

Made
finished Bird Poste cross-stitch
one crocheted angel ornament

Highlights
*C built a wood-shed
* my brother from Fl came visit
* Halloween

September Review

Watched
The Maze Runner
Once Upon a Time (season 3)
Lark Rise to Candleford (season 1)

Read
Beyond Lies the Wub- Philip K. Dick
Bury Your Dead- Louise Penny
A Season of Gifts- Richard Peck
The Brutal Telling- Louise Penny
Neverwhere- Neil Gaiman

Made
no finishes this month


Highlights
* J. got to meet his online friend
* J's 10th birthday
* my nephew's birth :)
* the return of fall allergies (Ugh!)

August Review

Watched
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (8/13)-not really my cup of tea, but the kids liked it
Guardians of the Galaxy (8/5)- it was ok. I love Groot.
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (all episodes on YouTube)
The Twilight Zone, season 4 (on YouTube)
Boris Karloff's Thriller (series on YouTube)
and, as always, The Andy Griffith Show with my daughter

Read
Time Out of Joint- Philip K. Dick
Death of a Policeman (and with this book, I've finally finished reading the entire Hamish Macbeth series!)
Death of Yesterday
Death of a Kingfisher
Dark Legacy- Nancy Duplechain

Made
I didn't finish anything this month, but I've been working on my Bird Poste cross-stitch and my blue birds paint-by-number

Highlights
* back to school
* C started school
* L's 15th birthday- she got a Wii, and we went out to eat

July Review

Watched
The Ghost & the Guest (7/24)- really bad movie 
Meet Boston Blackie (7/24)
Topper (7/24)
Another Man's Poison (Bette Davis) (7/23)- much poetic justice
House by the River (7/22)- meh
Invisible Invaders (7/17)- really bad- MST3K worthy- bad
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (7/17)- an old favorite
Doctor Who (season 7) (finished 7/15)- LOVE Doctor Who!
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (7/12)- liked it; Apes on horses, using machine guns and riding through flames- lol
Twilight Zone marathon (7/4-5)
Village of the Damned (1960) (7/3)

read
Death of a Bore (7/21)
Death of a Village (7/17)
Death of a Celebrity (7/13)
Death of a Dustman (7/11)
Death of a Scriptwriter (7/6)

made
* finished Tuscan Village paint-by-number

highlights
* Twentieth wedding anniversary
* trip to Branson

June Review

Watched
Downton Abbey (ssn 4)
Prison Break (ssn 3)
Call Northside 777 (6/28)
Notorious (6/24)
Now, Voyager (6/23)
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (6/13)
The Uninvited (6/11) 1944 version
Sleeping Beauty (6/4)

Read
Death of a Dentist- M.C. Beaton
Death of a Nag- M.C. Beaton
Death of a Travelling Man- M.C. Beaton
J.S. LeFanu's Ghostly Tales, vol. 1
Murder on a Bad Hair Day- Anne George
Erasing Hell- Francis Chan

Made
* finished MST3K cross stitch
* lots of index card art

Highlights
* the wood bees are gone, but the mosquitos have arrived :-/
* bluebirds spotted again
* carnival night
* Father's Day
* L. had 3 teeth pulled (prior to getting braces)
* rain, rain, and more rain

May Review

*now with thoughts & opinions! ;)

watched
Maleficient (5/30) Loved it!
Archie's Weird Mysteries (a little each night with the kids)
Total Riff Off (RiffTrax Nat Geo) (episode 1) (5/26) Love MST3K & RiffTrax!
Phone Call from a Stranger (5/20) meh
The Return of the Whistler (5/20) I love "The Whistler" old time radio program, and this movie was ok, but not great.
Godzilla (5/19) Loved it! It was awesome.
Frozen (5/9) I really don't get the hype. I didn't like it.
The Amazing Spider-man 2 (5/7)  Liked it.
Walking with Dinosaurs (5/4) Meh. Watched with Jd. He didn't really like it either.
Night of Dark Shadows (5/3) Sort of like a summary of the first few storylines...but with a different outcome.
Prison Break (season 2) I like this series, but it's very violent.  I can't take it in big doses.
The Lady in the Lake- old movie; the filming style was slightly unnerving.  I didn't like it so much.
Night Tide- a really bad film Noir 

read
The Ocean at the End of the Lane-  Beautifully written. It really transports you to another world. 
The Best of Archie comics (book 1)
Empath (short story)

made
reindeer ornament for C.
index card art

highlights
*baby bluebirds in our birdhouse
*family trip to the zoo, go-kart racing, and bowling

April Review

Watched
* Rio 2
* Captain America: The Winter Soldier

* Coldplay Live 2012
* Sister Wives (1/2 of season 4)
* Prison Break (season 1)

Read
* Death of a Glutton- M.C. Beaton
* Aristotle & Dante

Made
* Santa ornament for M.

Highlights
*started painting our house

* the date 4-1-14 (4114- palindrome)
* Easter

March Review

Watched:
The Walking Dead (season 3 & 4)
Dark Shadows (1186-226)
Scarlet Street (Joan Bennett & Edward G. Robinson)
The House Across the Bay (Joan Bennett)
The Simpsons (season 1)
Pretty Little Liars (season 1 & 2)
Lilo & Stitch (we had a Lilo marathon while we were sick)
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch
Stitch: The Movie
Leroy & Stitch
Muppets Most Wanted (in theater)

Read:
The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon- Alexander McCall Smith
The Cosmic Puppets- Philip K. Dick

Made:
Monarchs cross-stitch

Highlights:
* new computer!
* John Michael Montgomery concert
* M's 17th birthday
* tornado at C's job

February review

Watched
* The Lego Movie
* Dark Shadows (ep. 1186-1226)
* Jeeves & Wooster (2 eps)
* The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (4 eps)
* Sherlock (season 3, last episode)
* MST3K: Boggy Creek-and the Legend Continues
* MST3K: Price of Space
* The Walking Dead (season 1 & 2)

Read
*The Dead in their Vaulted Arches- Alan Bradley
*Hollow City- Ransom Riggs
*I Don't Want to be Crazy- Samantha Schutz
* Beyond the Wall of Sleep- H.P. Lovecraft

Made
*finished Autumn Sampler
*assembled L's ornament
* stitched Jd's Gunter ornament

Highlights
* C's 18th birthday
* another "winter weather event"- no power for 14 hours
* C's first job

January Review

Watched
* New Year's Twilight Zone marathon
* nightly I Love Lucy marathons with L.
* Seinfeld (finished season 3)
* Community (season 5, eps 1-5)
* Jeeves & Wooster (2 eps)
* Dark Shadows (eps 1136-1185)
* Sherlock (season 3, 2 eps)
* The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (first 9 episodes on YouTube)

Read
* First Shift- Hugh Howey
* Second Shift- Hugh Howey
* Below Stairs- Margaret Powell

Made 
* xmas ornament for L

Highlights
Southern SNOWPOCALYPSE 2014
* SNOW! (23rd-24th)
* Snow AGAIN! (28th-29th)

December Highlights

Watched:
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Polar Express
Elf
Dark Shadows (episodes 1125-1135)
Seinfeld (season 1-2)
Criminal Minds (season 8)
Jeeves & Wooster (2 episodes)
Disney's Once Upon a Christmas
Disney's Twice upon a Christmas
How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Read:
Allegient- Veronica Roth
Plum Pudding Murder- Joanne Fluke
The Eyes Have It- Philip K. Dick
The Defenders- Philip K. Dick
The Seven Dials Murder- Agatha Christie

Made:
2013 snowman ornament
Charlie poodle ornament

Highlights:
all of us were sick with the flu all month
spent xmas at home
M's bike stolen
Christmas fireworks & parade

November Review

Read
Angels & Demons- Dan Brown

Watched
Are You Being Served? (finished all on Youtube)
Law & Order (season 11 & 12)
Dark Shadows (ep. 1114-1124)
Thor 2
Catching Fire (Hunger Games)

Created
cross stitched Xmas tree
worked on Autumn sampler


November Highlights
* 11-12-13
* first cold front of the year
* C's graduation party
* Thanksgiving
* Jm's 40th birthday
* Henry's first grooming

October Review

Read:
Piper in the Woods - Philip K. Dick
The Hanging Stranger - Philip K. Dick
The Book of Awesome
Agatha Raisin & the Vicious Vet
Embroidered Truths- Monica Ferris

Watched:
Route 66 (on YouTube)
Gravity
Sleepy Hollow (episodes 1-3)
Are You Being Served? (random episodes on YouTube)
The Andy Griffith Show (lots of late night marathons w/ L)
Law & Order (season 10)
The Da Vinci Code
The Old Dark House (1933 movie)
The Ghosts of Hanley House (really bad old movie)
Horror Hotel or City of the Dead (1960)
The Mummy (w/ Boris Karloff)
The Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr)
The Tingler (Vincent Price)
The Haunting (1960s version)

Created:
finished Pumpkin Hollow cross stitch
worked on Autumn sampler
added 5 rows to ugly afghan

Oct. Highlights:
* 10/5/13- our dog, Jack, passed away (not exactly a highlight, but the most memorable thing about this month)
* sick with allergies almost the whole month
*  10/29/13- brought Henry home!
* brought Jd & L trick-or-treating around the track in a neighboring town; Halloween in our town got rained out the next day

September Review

Books Read:
*about 200 pages of Angels & Demons

TV & Movies Watched:
* Community (caught up on season 4)
* Downton Abbey (season 2 & 3)
* Abandon Ship!
* Lifeboat
* The Birds
* Marnie
* Shadow of a Doubt
* Riff Trax: Magneto
* Dark Shadows (episodes 1055-1109)

Crafts Completed:
*Christmas fleur de lis cross stitch


September Highlights:
(This wasn't a very eventful month)
* got stung by wasps
* Jd's 9th birthday
* got C's high school diploma
* lots of trips to the vet

August Review

Books Read:
* Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror- Chris Priestly
* Hold Tight- Harlan Corben

Televison & Movies Watched:
* Disney's Planes
* Downton Abbey (season one)
*  Riff Trax: House on Haunted Hill
* Riff Trax: Birdemic
* Dark Shadows

Crafts Completed:
* Nevermore x-stitch
* Poppy Pair x-stitch

August  Highlights:
*back-to-school
* L's 14th birthday
* someone stole our trashcan (grr)
* had a mole removed (sorry if tmi)
* Jack's first heartworm treatment
*  bought a Keurig
*  hair cut