Saturday in the Garden | Who are you and what have you done with the real Winter?

OUTSIDE

It's in the mid-60s today, deceptively hinting at Spring. A friend even mentioned seeing her first red-winged blackbird which is one of my favorite harbingers that winter is coming to a close.  It is nice to get February out of the way, and March is usually kinder, but I am still cautious.   I did a little bit of yard clean up today, mostly cleaning up the accumulated Winter dog poo - Fun! Not my favorite chore but it was nice to do something productive outside.  Now I'm ready for a nap.  Obviously still in my Winter malaise!

LIFE

I'm counting down the days until things at work calm down.  I've got one more week of crazy and then it will still be pretty busy but not quite at the frenetic chaos levels which it is currently.


WATCHING, READING and BLOGGING

Watching 

Nothing much.  I've been comfort watching selected episodes of Stargate SG1.

Reading

Finished Last Week: 

• A World Without Princes (The School for Good and Evil #2) by Soman Chainani: This is a super fun middle-grade series and is one of the series I identified as one I'd like to put in the finished column.
• Still Life With Murder by P.B. Ryan (Nell Sweeney Mystery #1):  This is historical mystery series set in mid nineteenth century Boston with a female protagonist.  I picked it up because it was mentioned in a Book Riot list about favorite love declarations.

Currently Reading:

• One Magic Square by Lolo Houbein: A gardening book about maximize food production in a small space.  An ARC from Netgalley (though I think it's an older title).   
• Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones: A stand alone novel I ran across at the local used book store knowing nothing about it except that it was by Diana Wynne Jones:0).  It is taking its time to get going so I hope it picks up the pace soon, simply because that's what I'm in the mood for now. It has an awesome atmosphere, though, that is really sticking with me.
• American Rose by Karen Abbott:  A biography of Gypsy Rose Lee. 
• The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Song of the Lioness #3) by Tamora Pierce:  Finally getting back to this series - not sure why it took me so long!

Added to the TBR:

This is a list of books that I have added to my Goodreads TBR list this week.  It helps to burn the books I want to read a little more firmly into my mind, maybe get them on some other folks TBRs and gives me a chance to recognize a lot of the awesome bloggers that add stuff to my TBR!

• Grimspace (Sirantha Jax #1) by Ann Aguirre: A science fiction adventure which was recommended as having a great female protagonist.  Obviously I have been digging the Book Riot podcasts lately as this and the one below both got on my TBR from their Get Booked podcast. 
• Gemsigns (Evolution #1) by Stephanie Saulter:  Gems is a name for a genetically modified human in a post dystopian Earth.  This was also recommended on the Get Booked Podcast.

Blogging 

On the BLOG LAST WEEK:

• TUESDAY: Top Ten Tuesday | Books I loved even though they weren't my usual thing.
• WEDNESDAY: REVIEW | Steal the Sky by Megan O'Keefe.  3 out of 5 stars
• THURSDAY: Parent Of Virtues - Week 8.  I am experimenting with the 365 Grateful project to help me be more mindful and less of a crabby ass.  

On the BLOG NEXT WEEK:

I will be travelling for work so not much chance to post this week.  I'll see what I can get scheduled ahead of time.  The Top Ten Tuesday topic this week is interesting - "ten books to read when you are in the mood for X".