Sad day

Last night I had to say goodbye to an old fishy friend.  I've had Shade, a convict cichlid for 8 years.  I have been noticing since the beginning of the year that his color was fading and I wondered if he was okay.  He seemed okay otherwise though.  That is until he started to act lethargic and just wasn't his normal ornery self.  He wasn't chasing the other fish around and trying to eat them.  I had to put in various hidey-holes for the little fish to go to escape him and he was like a football player and seemed to use shoulders he didn't have to push heavy things around.  He would get so angry when he couldn't get the little fish and threw actual fishy tantrums.  Lately though, they could swim right by him and he didn't react at all.  I've watched him get steadily worse until last night he seemed to be stuffering too much.  Something in his side was hurting and he was flicking his body to the side like he was trying to get it off of him but there's nothing he can get off.  There's no wound, parasite or fungus although I did treat the water just in case.  I tried everything I could to help him and it didn't work.  I finally just had to help him die and it feels horrible.  He was a menace in the tank but I will miss his eyes following me around.  Bye buddy.

New goals for crafting

Spring is finally coming and it's time to come out of hibernation.  It is so nice to see the sun shining again.  I can't wait to see green grass again and get some flowers planted in my yard.  

I took a big break from every kind of crafting for a while so I want to get back into that.  I did make a few things recently so that's a start.  My husband fixed up a better area for my yarn in the garage so now I need to get in there and organize it.  I have too much for the space though so I need to use some of it up.  I am going to look at what I have and see what patterns I can find to make with it.  I'm thinking about doing YOP (Year of Projects) again.  I wish a had a little space for a chair or something in there but there's just not much space.  We have two exercise machines in there close to where my yarn is.  I did just donate a bunch of stuff so I'm going to try to find a little room there.  It just won't be anything really cosy.  

I have been reading a lot.  I have started to read more new books and mainly using kindle unlimited and books from the digital library.  In years past I've been really focused on reading the oldest books on my shelves and moving them out.  I still have a lot of books that I need to read though.  I really need to focus on finishing some series that I've started and just keep dragging around.  

I also started watching Doctor Who again starting from the very beginning (1963).  I love watching those old shows.  I even watched (or listened to) the missing episodes.  I'm now up to season 12 with the 4th doctor.  He is who I remember from when I was a kid and I love him and the crazy things he says and does.  

D

Murder on Marble Row by Victoria Thompson

I enjoyed this book but parts of it were weird and I thought it could have been better.  Sarah's mother didn't seem like the same character from the previous books.  She started acting just like Sarah and I felt like Sarah's character was just copied for her.  I do realize they are mother and daughter so could be very similar but in all the other books she disapproved of all the things Sarah was doing.  Now, all of a sudden she is out running around in the seeder parts of town with her daughter and interrogating people.  It just seemed odd.  

I do like her helping her daughter though and loved the sneaky ways she helped too.  

I love the parts about Malloy's son and how he is improving.  I hope the relationship between him and Sarah will start to move a bit faster.  

I'm torn now about what to read next.  Should I read another book in this series or move on to something different?  I have so many books to read.  

Murder on Marble Row by Victoria Thompson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This story was very convoluted and hard to figure out, although I did guess the ending pretty early. I just didn't know how it would work out. What a messed up family! I kept thinking they could have gone on some crazy talk show if it were a different time. I could just see that family talking to Dr. Phil. I have to say it was weird how Sarah and her mother suddenly seemed like the same character in this book when they have always been very different. Suddenly, Mrs. Dekker is out running around brazenly interrogating people in the sketchier parts of town with Sarah. It was a weird shift. I know they are mother and daughter but suddenly they are acting like twins. I did like the ending after the conclusion of the mystery.

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Affirmation for today

My pain only has as much power as I allow it to have. So today, I am giving it no power.

Murder on Mulberry Bend (Gaslight Mystery) by Victoria Thompson

I just finished this book and I already want to read the next one.  I haven't been writing reviews on the books I've read lately since I haven't been feeling so hot.  I felt like writing one this time though.  I am really liking this series and I definitely recommend it.  I don't like to write a summary of the books when I post on goodreads.com since it is at the top of the page already.  You can just click the link below to read it and more reviews by others who have read it.  If you don't use goodreads you should check it out.  It is very useful.  You can use it different ways.  I use it to track all the books I read and I always make a yearly reading goal on there.  You can also just use it to look up books to read the summaries and reviews, see all the books in the series and see the recommendations for other books you might like.

I also use https://booksontrack.net to keep track of my series books.  It lets you see which book is next in all the series you are following on one page.  It is very handy.  They are very responsive too if you can't find a series or if a book is missing.  You can just contact them and tell them what the problem is and they get it taken care of pretty quickly.  

Murder on Mulberry Bend by Victoria Thompson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love these books even though some of it makes me sad. It's horrible just thinking of children on the streets fending for themselves while also having to protect themselves from predators. I always want to read more into this time period and see how much of the details are true. I know it would be hard to read about. This story was a bit different and it seemed Sarah did more investigating. She went to some pretty sketchy places by herself and I couldn't decide if she was brave or crazy. The ending was not what I expected. Malloy was not just twiddling his thumbs though. He was looking into another case that involved Sarah and what he found out is very sad. I really hope there is a twist there and that it isn't really what it sounds like.

I want to gather up all the homeless boys and girls and give them love and whatever else they need.

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Affirmation for today: 

I Choose Happiness

Back for fall

I haven't been writing here since so much was going on that was difficult to write about online.  Some stuff is just too personal to post to the world.  

It feels like fall here now and it is very wet and soggy.  I do enjoy the fall colors but it is early for that.  I have only seen a little bit of the fall colors in the leaves but it definitely feels like summer is over.  We started out having some nice summer days and then the forest fires started.  The smoke really ruins a beautiful day.  When the rain started we really didn't mind because it damped down the fires and it wasn't so smoky.  It just rained too much.  I am not ready for summer to be over and really thought I'd be able to get so much more accomplished around the house and yard.  Oh well, there will be next year.  We've had a lot going on here.

About a week ago I noticed some water on the kitchen floor.  I wiped it up and the next day I noticed more water in the same place.  I wiped it up and watched it come right back in the cracks of my new LVP floor.  The dishwasher has been leaking.  It wasn't a lot of water so we put a big fan on it and it seems to be dried up now.  I replaced the gasket on my dishwasher and that did not fix it.  I can see where it is leaking on one side of the dishwasher door at the bottom.  I don't think it is worth trying to fix a 20 year old dishwasher.  We moved into this house when it was new in September 2004.  I have fixed it a few times throughout the years by replacing parts myself and I think we were pretty fortunate with that one.  I hope we can get another one that doesn't require a lot of costly repairs.  

I can tell you it is very stressful looking at what is available.  The prices are so much higher and it seems like things are made so cheaply.  I see reviewers saying machines they just bought a year or two ago have broken already.  Why do they cost so much when they just make them such low quality?  

We just had to buy a new washing machine a few months back.  Sigh...

Anyway, I am working on a crochet project right now.  It's mosaic crochet and I'm enjoying it.  I've been feeling bad lately so progress has been slow but I sure do love how it is turning out.  

I'm reading a book in a series I am really enjoying - The Gaslight Mystery series by Victoria Thompson.  I'm reading Murder on Mulberry Bend (book #5).  I'm glad I finally read past the first book in that series.  I read the first book twice before this year and planned to keep reading.  I had to read it again this year to refresh my memory.  I shouldn't need to read it again lol  

Cancer sucks so much

 A good friend just died.  I will really miss her.  My heart is crushed.  

Spring has not quite sprung yet

I haven't written a post since late January.  I haven't been feeling great so I decided to wait until I was feeling better.  I don't want to post a bunch of whining.  

It was looking like spring here but cloudy and grey out.  I've got some tomatoes growing inside and they are getting kind of big.  I don't do much gardening and this is the first time I've planted seeds that I didn't kill before they got 5 inches.  These are huge now.  I have transplanted these a couple times already and they are now it large pots.  I don't know where they will go outside yet.  I'm not sure if my husband will build me a raised bed or if I will put them in the ground.  I'm not sure if I should put them in the front yard or the back yard.  My dog goes out in the back yard and might tromp on them, pee on them or eat them.  There is more sun in the front since our house is south facing but I'm not sure where to put them.  I need to get that worked out soon.  

Of course,  it snowed today.  I woke up this morning and looked out to see everything was totally white.  Now I see it is melting on the roads and driveway some.  It is only 31 deg but I bet it will melt.  

I really want to get some things done around the house today so I better get moving.  

-D