I love to do jigsaw puzzles. Originally I only did puzzles for Christmas. You know, cozy at home, hot cocoa, puzzle, Hallmark Christmas movies playing in the background. But last year I expanded to Halloween. Since this is a special year I decided to do a July 4th puzzle. One of my favorite puzzle brand (Galiston) had just what I wanted.

This puzzle by Galiston is a Michael Storring design which I believe the same artist from the Halloween puzzle last year.

Halfway thru, so far very easy to find the pieces.

Completed in time. 500 piece puzzles are pretty easy and quick to put together.

Now onto the new exciting series. For a long time I have seen these companies that send you letters via snail mail for a whole year. You become involved with the characters and events. I decided to sign up for the American Revolutionary series.

Here is a sample of some content that I will receive. So for 12 months I will receive snail mail. I look forward to my first letter. This should be fun and exciting and if all goes well, maybe I can do another series.

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I love doing cross stitch projects and have many finished pieces (but rarely fully finished). I have been doing this craft since my late teens. I love how the industry has grown and there are so many great patterns and designers. Not like when I was young which was only white or beige Aida and DMC threads. Although I still love Aida and DMC there are so many other threads and fabric to choose from.

Being the 250th anniversary I wanted to do something special to commemorate the event. I have several in the pipeline which I know will not be done this year.

The one I am currently working on is from Lori Holt called Scrappy Americana Flag. Because this almost a full coverage piece it is taking me much longer to finish.

A lot of stichers are working on this one and I have seen many finishes. In fact my sister finished and framed this piece.

I only have the red stripes, the words and the border to finish.

Another stitch I have seen many people work on is Teresa Kogut’s 250th Celebration piece.

Other patterns I am interested in stitching are as follows:

I suspect none of these will be stitched before July 4th but some of them are easier so I may get them done shortly thereafter.

The Holiday Sampling from Primrose Cottage is part of a series that originally were the seasons. They now have branched out to holidays. I strongly suspect that a Halloween Sampler is coming soon.

I know my eyes are bigger than my stitching fingers but time will tell on which of these get stitched.

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I enjoy drinking tea, both hot and iced. I am always intrigued when one of my favorite tea companies comes out with a special blend during the holidays.

Smith Tea is a newer tea company to me but I have been eyeing their website ever so often. Well when I saw their patriotic red, white and blue tea for summer I could not resist.

Their three tea blends are Hibiscus Mango (red), White Peach (white) and Blackberry Jasmine (blue).

• 4 1-Quart Sachets of Hibiscus Mango Iced Tea: A bright mango forward infusion of juicy hibiscus flowers, orange peel and smooth rooibos. Caffeine-free for enjoyment any time of day. One sip and everything’s rosy.
• 4 1-Quart Sachets of White Peach Iced Tea: Delicate yet full-bodied white tea is rounded out with juicy peach, pineapple, orange peel and vanilla. A shimmering golden tea you’ll want in your glass all summer long, preferably poolside.
• 4 1-Quart Sachets of Blackberry Jasmine Iced Tea: A dazzling sapphire blend of premium Jasmine Silver Tip tea, sweet blackberry, orange peel, and mango. The beauty of butterfly pea flower naturally makes it a brilliant blue.

So far I have really enjoyed the flavor of the tea, very refreshing and tasty. The only thing I am missing is the fresh fruit to garnish the teas.

You should check out their teas.

So here is to sipping a cold drink during summer!

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Each holiday I like to decorate the porch and July 4th is no exception. Halloween by far is the most extensive decorations but a few patriotic pieces has spiced up my porch. I had this red, white and blue flower wreath that I added a few flags to make it more festive.

Then in the giant urn that is currently holding some summer flowers I have added a few more flags.

And not to be forgotten, I have added two garden flags.

I actually do not have a physical flag. On my roof facia I can see where a flag holder was put up but the previous owners probably removed it. After all these years I probably won’t buy a flag but I do remember growing up getting out the flag to hang in the front of the house.

I am not sure if my family felt any particular national pride per se but it was something you did in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Perhaps they felt more connected to previous wars and lost loved ones.

My maternal Uncle died in World War Two. He was aboard the U.S.S. Pringle that was attacked by a Kamikaze Pilot on April 16, 1945. The ship sank and my uncle perished.

If you want to learn more about the event and see photos of both crew and the ship, please check out this link. https://www.usspringle.org/uss-pringle–home.html

There is a copy of the final letter my Uncle sent home before his death please a few photos.

Ray Arvel England Aug 28, 1924 – April 16, 1945

So many have given their lives for our freedom. Don’t forget this important sacrifice, especially on the 4th.

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I have a clear memory of me, as a 15 years old girl, walking home and thinking that we are about to celebrate the 200th anniversary of our country’s independence. I also remember thinking if I am still around in 2026 I will have the opportunity to celebrate the 250th anniversary. Well here are in 2026. The time is here and the celebration is next month.

Now I don’t remember what I did the celebrate the 200th. I assume I saw fireworks or did a BBQ. Life was simpler back then. No streaming services, no internet, no social media, no Pinterest to tempt you to celebrate big. Back then we probably still had TV without cable. Limited channels and limited shows. Education was restricted to PBS stations and was rather dry. But now we have the opportunity to learn and educate ourselves now with endless resources. I plan to immerse myself in the American Revolution and learn a little bit more about the start of our country. If time allows I will post my genealogy of the American Patriots in my family tree.

I don’t plan on celebrating big. I have a dog that will probably be scared by all the booms and bangs that happen on the 4th. So I will be home with the doggie doing my own thing. I will do simple things that give me pleasure and have this blog as a reminder of what I did. Below is my plan for patriotic celebration.

I know it is not a lot and is not involving other family and friends, but a quiet celebration is what I am looking forward to.

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I tend to read fiction that is tied to the season I am in. Christmas, Halloween, Autumn, summer, you name it. Helps me enjoy the season. This started many years ago when I would buy a Christmas book and read it in December. It has morphed into every season. Do you do the same thing?

This year I had the intention to read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but decided to read a Grady Hendrix book. I am a fan of Grady Hendrix after reading the Exorcism of my Best Friend. Amazon Prime has the movie, which I don’t recommend. The book is much better.

Here is a synopsis of the book.

Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.

One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor’s handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in. 

Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I love the Southern Women’s choice on how to rid their problem. Makes me wonder what if. A good read, you should check it out.

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As you know I love Halloween, so I like to do the front porch and walkway to look spooky or fun each year. This year I took a tumble and fell on my arm and head. My fault, I tripped over a water spigot when chasing a runaway pumpkin. Scabs are all healed and head is hard enough to sustain the injury. LOL. I must say I am getting a tad bit old for this stuff. But every year I get excited and want to display my Halloween stuff. Can’t blame this girl.

This years theme is my crypt and the spooky spiders that guard it. The spider web was a bit weak but those spiders have been in a box a long time, maybe they forgot how to make a good web.

Enjoy the video and thank you for checking out my blog.

When I saw the lineup for the autumn movies this year I actually complained to Hallmark. Believe it or not, they actually said they would pass on my concerns to production management. We will see. I told them that although I love a good Hallmark movie, watching wedding movies is a summer thing. I want haystacks and pumpkins. I want hot apple cider and a hayride. I want autumn leaves, not the Bahamas. Enough said. Onto the autumn Fall in Love movies for 2025.

All the Groomsmen movies (The Groomsmen First Look/The Groomsmen Second Chances/The Groomsmen Last Dance) were nice movies but not appropriate for autumn. I guess these three guys are a “thing” as they also seem to have Christmas movies out there. They must be popular with the viewing audience, but not really my interest. It was entertaining and the three guys had good chemistry. Giving these movie 3 pumpkins out of 5.

The next movie is Mystery Island: House Rules. I assume this is a series also. To be honest they should give it up. The acting was bad, the plot was weak, generally I did not like this one at all. We did not have a good start with this years line up. I give it 1 pumpkin out of 5.

The next movie, Adventures in Love & Birding was a cute movie. I liked the actors and thought the plot was good. I enjoyed the adventure of the birding contest and the conflict with the ex wife. I would give this a 4 out of 5 pumpkins.

This next movie was my favorite out of the group. I thought I would dislike it because it was about football but it was charming. Home Turf was about the school President having to share her home with the football team. Her peaceful quiet life is turned upside down. And the coach is a hottie, so that made it even more pleasant. This movie gets the coveted 5 out of 5 pumpkins.

The next movie seems to be a series also called The Jane Mysteries: Too Much to Lose starring Jodie Sweetin. This was a nice little film but to be honest, I am not that thrilled with Jodie Sweetin as an actress. But more power to her. This movie overall was not bad, just not my favorite. This movie gets a 3 pumpkin out of 5.

The next movie is clearly a Halloween movie which thrilled me. Haul out the Halloween starred Lacey Chabert and Wes Brown. They team up again in their neighborhood embracing Halloween. There were a lot of neighborhood antics and chaos but it kept true to the Halloween theme. However I am only give it a 3 pumpkin out of 4.

The final movie is Haunted Harmony Mysteries – Buried at C. To be honest, I remember nothing about this film. I grew bored quickly with the movie. So by default they get 2 pumpkins out of 5.

I usually watch my Hallmark movies off my Friendly TV subscription since it has all the Hallmark Channels. However I noticed this year that it was limited and required you to go to the Hallmark+ streaming service. I do have the Hallmark+ service but find it generally does not have the new movies on it. Perhaps they are now driving people to the streaming service now but I was confused on where the movies are located. Part of the problem with having only streaming services is finding where things are located so it may be a user issue.

Thanks for hanging with me as I rated the Hallmark movies this year. Just be glad I don’t rate the Christmas movies as there is sooooo many.

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Educating myself about random things is just so me. I am known to “squirrel” random comments to learn about them. We were always doing that at work. Someone would say something interesting and I would drop everything and Google the heck out of it. Like a dog that sees a squirrel I am off and running.

I decided to watch the National Geographic documentary about witch trials. It was a six part series that covered various areas (and time periods) in Europe and in America.

Some of the most interesting things I learned was that most of the accusations were from children. If a child fell ill they would blame female elders for inflicting them with illness. Or they would blame neighbors especially if there was petty fights or jealously. Back in those days, most people believed in fairies and believe that their children were snatched and replaced with an “odd” replacement called a Changeling. So if a child acted strange, grew ravished with hunger, or grew ill the parents would think a witch interceded for a fairy. Also when failure of crops or bad weather occurred they would blame witches versus just a bad season.

Women were more likely to be accused versus men. Many believed that women were easily influenced by the dark forces. The women accused during the Salem witch trials were mostly poor, disadvantaged women on the edges of society. If they confessed, they were jailed. If they refused they were killed. Basically a no win situation. The young girls who accused people of being witches were at the trial and when the accused entered the room they would display fits and claim that the specters of the accused were torturing them. Eventually some of the elders felt that the young girls were lying and finally deemed that spectral evidence was denounced. Slowly the trials waned down and the accused were found not guilty. More than 200 people were accused, and 19 were hanged, one was pressed to death, and others died in jail. 

It was a dark period in our history. This is what happens when accusations, hysteria and belief in supernatural events run amuck. There is so much more to this story that I could go on forever about the politics and beliefs in this time period. To this day, this part of history is explored when tourists go to Salem to learn about the trials.

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Happy Halloween Readers! While waiting for the little ghouls and goblins to ring my doorbell, I took on a murder mystery from Cryptic Killers. The case I solved was called Murder of a Millionaire.

Poor Chloe Whittler, a recent lottery winner was killed in a park in Redmond UK. (Fictional of course)

I sorted thru the police file and read the documents. Let me tell you it was not that easy.

There was quite a lot of documents to sort and compare. The only thing I could not figure out was how to get the email open from the police department. But even with not figuring out the email I was able to guess the killer.

Well sort of. I had two suspects that had a strong motive and the disposition to kill, I took a guess with the first person and was wrong. But my second person was correct.

This was challenging but not impossible to solve. I was a bit thrown off with the military time and the train stations. The pictures from the surveillance cameras were really had to decipher but life (or should I say death) is not always easy.

I would definitely do another crime mystery game next year.

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