To Read in February 2024

Challenging myself to track what I plan to read and what I ended up reading each month. My goal is to start with 4 books. Maybe I will end up reading more or might end up with less. I have an account on Goodreads to help track, and will be writing my thoughts about the book on my blog.

The genres I read the most often are Cozy Mystery, Fantasy, and Romance. I am hoping to expand by looking at book reviews on social media, book clubs, and challenge prompts. Oh, and I hope to read some from the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list.

My FEBRUARY TBR List:

1. Pride, Prejudice and Poison by Elizabeth Blake
2. The Guncle by Steven Rowley
3. A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic by J. Penner
4. A Streetcar Named Desire By Tennessee Williams
5. Bonus (1001+ List) Book to Read: Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

What are you currently reading?

Do you keep a TBR list? How do you decide what book to read next?

Bonus TBR List:

• Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
• The List That Changed My Life: the uplifting bestseller that will make you weep with laughter! by Olivia Berne
• Mousse and Murder by Elizabeth Logan (Cozy Mystery Cooking Club 1^st 2024 selection)
• First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (Reese Book Club January selection)
• Death by Bubble Tea by Jennifer J. Chow (Cozy Mystery Book Club February selection)
• Bonus (1001+ List) Book to Read: Look at list of classic options being created on the Friday Addition posts.

2024 Read List:

1. The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston – cute romance
2. The List That Changed My Life: the uplifting bestseller that will make you weep with laughter! by Olivia Berne (didn’t get to this one, putting it back in my bonus TBR list.)
3. The Secret, Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams – pretty predictable, but I enjoy all the characters and wouldn’t mind reading more in this series
4. A Streetcar Named Desire By Tennessee Williams (didn’t get to it, will keep it on the monthly TBR until I read it)
5. Bonus (1001+ List) Book to Read: Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (didn’t get to it, I’ll keep it as my monthly classic TBR until I read it.)

February 2024

FEBRUARY 2024: Celebrate Every Day

Several websites, calendars, and books lists the celebrations for each day. It can be an anniversary of an event, a major holiday, get people aware of the subject, food and drinks, or just strange & random ones.

Here’s a list of ones I picked to try celebrating every day this month. These were found at Nationaltoday.com. I also like to go to National Day Calendar’s website. I might post what I do for some here, but it will be mostly recorded on my Instagram page.

1. Hula in the Coola Day / National Freedom Day
2. Groundhog Day / Author: Ayn Rand Day
3. Carrot Cake Day
4. Sweater Day
5. World Nutella Day
6. National Frozen Yogurt Day / National Chopsticks Day
7. Send a Card to a Friend Day / Rose Day
8. National Kite-Flying Day
9. Pizza Day
10. Teddy Day / Chinese Lunar New Year’s Day
11. Super Bowl Sunday
12. Darwin Day
13. Mardi Gras
14. Valentine’s Day
15. Susan B. Anthony Day
16. National Almond Day
17. Random Acts of Kindness Day
18. National Drink Wine Day
19. President’s Day
20. National Comfy Day
21. Language Day
22. National Margarita Day / National California Day
23. Banana Nut Bread Day / Curling is Cool Day
24. Floating Lantern Day / Whooping Crane Day
25. Let’s All Eat Right Day
26. National Pistachio Day
27. National Retro Day / International Polar Bear Day
28. National Snow Shoe Day / National Essay Day
29. Leap Day

What days will you be celebrating? Are there other days not on this list you will be participating in?

February 2024

Seasonal Bingo: Winter 2024 Edition

I had posted this Winter Activity Bingo card in December, but I wanted to post again. It is a reminder to myself about the more general winter activities I hope to do these next couple of months.

You are welcome to play along and see how many spaces you can cross off by the end of the season.

What are some winter activities (big or small) that you are looking forward to doing?

What other activities would be good for future winter bingo cards?

January 2024

Brewery Visit #8 – Amador Brewing Company

I have a Sacramento Beer Passport (get one here), and challenging myself to visit as many of the breweries as I can. Some changes are bound to happen as places close or new ones pop up.

I decided that I would get a photo of the front, inside, and beer with the passport to be able to mark it done on the list.

Visited Amador Brewing Company on December 17, 2023

Location: 9659 Main St, Plymouth, CA 95669 (their webpage)

Brewery highlights (in my opinion):

food trucks, some inside seating, nice outside seating, friendly

February Wrap Up / March Plans 2023

FEBRUARY WRAP UP

I realized today that I forgot to write up a monthly recap post. What did I do this last month?

I didn’t really celebrate any of the every day holidays. Other then making a list. Trying to figure out what to do each day became overwhelming. Maybe I should try picking one or two a week to ease into daily celebrations.

I got out of the house and went to a new place with friends. Oh, I did celebrate National Pizza Day (there seems to be several days to celebrate pizza, which I don’t mind at all). And National Margarita Day with friends. One of them had gotten a new place, so we met up there to check it out and visit.

I saw a friend cook an egg in a mini waffle maker. I had one, so I decided to try it. A bit of it oozed out, but not too bad a way to create a egg patty for a breakfast sandwich.

Lastly, I was able to go on a couple of hikes. We missed a couple of weeks due to not wanting to be soaked in the rain. But we also got in the couple we did in-between storms.

MARCH PLANS

Looking forward to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and the Spring Equinox. The plants and flowers are blooming, but we are having a crazy amount of rain and snow this year. Which is great because it’s filling our lakes back up. Hoping to do more hikes. And looking forward to going to a music concert this month.

What’s something you are looking forward to doing in March?

I’m always open to suggestions for adding to my list of things to do.

MARCH 2023: Celebrate Every Day

Several websites, calendars, and books lists the celebrations for each day. It can be an anniversary of an event, a major holiday, get people aware of the subject, food and drinks, or just strange & random ones.

Here’s a list of ones I picked to try celebrating every day this month. These were found at Nationaltoday.com. I also like to go to National Day Calendar’s website. I might post what I do for some here, but it will be mostly recorded on my Instagram page.

1. National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day and World Compliment Day
2. National Banana Cream Pie Day
3. Peach Blossom Day and Talk in Third Person Day
4. Marching Music Day
5. Namesake Day
6. National Oreo Cookie Day
7. National Cereal Day
8. National Retro Video Game
9. Popcorn Lover’s Day
10. Harriet Tubman Day
11. Genealogy Day and National Johnny Appleseed Day
12. National Alfred Hitchcock Day and National Girl Scout Day (Daylight Savings Time Starts)
13. National Earmuffs Day
14. National Pi Day
15. The Ides of March
16. National Panda Day and National Artichoke Day
17. St Patrick’s Day
18. National Sloppy Joe Day
19. National Backyard Day (Red Nose Day)
20. Spring Equinox
21. World Poetry Day and National California Strawberry day
22. International Goof Off Day
23. National Chip and Dip Day
24. National Chocolate-covered Raisins Day and National Cheesesteak Day and National Cocktail Day
25. Waffle Day and Tolkien Reading Day
26. National Spinach Day and Make up Your Own Holiday Day and Wear a Hat Day
27. Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day
28. Something on a Stick Day
29. Manatee Appreciation Day and Mermaid Day
30. National Take a Walk in the Park Day
31. Coloring Crayon Day and Cesar Chavez Day

What days will you be celebrating? Are there other days not on this list you will be participating in?

FEBRUARY 2023: Celebrate Every Day

Several websites, calendars, and books lists the celebrations for each day. It can be an anniversary of an event, a major holiday, get people aware of the subject, food and drinks, or just strange & random ones.

Here’s a list of ones I picked to try celebrating every day this month. These were found at Nationaltoday.com. I also like to go to National Day Calendar’s website. I might post what I do for some here, but it will be mostly recorded on my Instagram page.

1. National Girls and Women in Sports Day / Hula in the Coola Day
2. Groundhog Day / Author: Ayn Rand Day
3. Carrot Cake Day / Wear Red Day
4. Sweater Day / National Stuffed Mushroom Day
5. World Nutella Day
6. Oatmeal Monday
7. Send a Card to a Friend Day
8. National Kite-Flying Day / Opera Day
9. Pizza Day
10. Teddy Day / National Flannel Day
11. International Day of Women and Girls in Science / Be Electrific Day
12. Super Bowl Sunday / Darwin Day
13. Galentine’s Day / Tortellini Day
14. Valentine’s Day
15. Susan B. Anthony Day
16. National Almond Day
17. Random Acts of Kindness Day
18. National Drink Wine Day
19. National Chocolate Mint Day
20. President’s Day / National Comfy Day
21. Mardi Gras
22. National Margarita Day / National California Day
23. Chili Day / Curling is Cool Day
24. Tortilla Chip Day
25. Let’s All Eat Right Day
26. National Pistachio Day
27. National Retro Day / International Polar Bear Day
28. National Snow Shoe Day / National Essay Day

What days will you be celebrating? Are there other days not on this list you will be participating in?

January Wrap Up / February Plans 2023

JANUARY WRAP UP

New year eve brunch with friends.

Power went out that night, strong winds. But only lasted a hour for us.

Celebrated midnight with champagne and snacks and then went to bed

1^st hike of the year on the 2^nd. Tried to find an eagle nest by a lake. Trees down everywhere

Worked on celebrating something and posting about it every day. Got 9 out of 31 days. Will keep trying.

Attended a crab feed fundraiser. It was so nice to see some people that I haven’t in a while. And yummy crab and shrimp. Getting close to being out of my price range, as crab prices have gone up, so has crab feed tickets. I usually go to two or three to support nonprofits, but probably only going to just the one this year.

After a couple of weeks of much needed rain, it stopped. Went out to try to find the eagles again. Found the tree with their nest, but still didn’t see the birds. Luckily there is a sign on a fence pointing out the area they nest. Will keep trying.

This last weekend, went to find a waterfall up near Orville, California. It’s called phantom falls. By the time we had planned to go last year, it had disappeared. It’s supposed to be really pretty when flowers bloom in the spring, and hopefully we can go see. We decided to go right now after these storms had to increase the water flowing. As we drove to it, it was raining and we were not looking forward to hiking in rain, but luckily it stopped during our hike. It definitely is a pretty area and pretty falls, I’ll do separate post repeating this, and include photos.

FEBRUARY PLANS

Looking forward to more every day celebrations. Got to enjoy little moments as well as the big ones right? And more hikes and hopefully go snowshoeing at the end of the month.

What’s something you are looking forward to doing in February?

I’m always open to suggestions for adding to my list of things to do.

Brewery Visit #7 – River City Brewing

Last year I got a Sacramento Beer Passport (get one here) to take on the challenge of visiting as many of the breweries as I can. Some changes are bound to happen as places close or new ones pop up.

I decided that I would get a photo of the front, inside, and beer with the passport to be able to mark it done on the list.

Visited River City Brewing on February 27, 2022

Location: 6241 Fair Oaks Blvd, Carmichael (their webpage)

Brewery highlights (in my opinion):

restaurant, inside & small outside area

Brewery Visit #6 – Ruhstaller Farm

Last year I got a Sacramento Beer Passport (get one here) to take on the challenge of visiting as many of the breweries as I can. Some changes are bound to happen as places close or new ones pop up.

I decided that I would get a photo of the front, inside, and beer with the passport to be able to mark it done on the list.

Visited Ruhstaller Farm on February 20, 2022

Location: 6686 Sievers Road, Dixon (their webpage)

Brewery highlights (in my opinion):

food & soft ice cream, nice outdoor area for families & friends to visit, they have made Kolsch beer

February Check-In / March Plans 2022

February went by WAY to fast. I am not even sure that I did all that much this past month. Particpated in a drive thru Crabfeed and won an Air Fryer from the silent auction. My mom and I are very excited to start making, or reheating, food. I went on a few hikes and visited breweries to get my stamp.

I came across someone talking about answering daily questions in a book that you would do for 5 years. I thought this could be fun to do, and see any different answers each year.

You will have seen, I have been good about posting my things to do list every Friday, but I’m definitely lagging behind on doing or writing about the things that have popped up. whoops. Well, here’s to a new week, and tomorrow, a new month, with new adventures to try. Very excited for St. Patrick’s Day and daylight savings for longer sunlight.

What’s something you are looking forward to doing in March?

General Things Done this Past Month:

• Went on hikes
• Started answering the questions in the daily Q&A journal.

Food & Drinks:

• Celebrated National Pizza day on 2/9
• Got an Air Fryer and started trying out some recipes.

Breweries & Wineries:

• Went to a couple of breweries to get my passport stamp. And tried their beer.

I’m always open to suggestions for adding to my list of things to do.

February 2022 Days to Celebrate

Found on Days of the Year, National Day Calendar, national_calendar365, and Susan Boynton’s wall calendar. I may not celebrate all, but I like to be aware and at least honor these everyday holidays. (There are a lot more daily ones out there, not to mention the different weekly or monthly ones, those listed below are just the ones I am most interested in).

You can see what days I celebrate over on my Instagram page.

1. Chinese New Year / Hula in the Coola Day
2. Groundhog Day / National Girls & Women in Sports day
3. National Carrot Cake Day / Radio Day
4. National Wear Red Day
5. National Play Outside Day / World Hippo Day
6. National Frozen Yogurt Day / National Chopsticks Day
7. National Periodic Table Day / Send a Card to a Friend Day
8. National Kite Flying Day
9. National Pizza Day
10. National Flannel Day / International Cribbage Day
11. National Make a Friend Day / National Peppermint Patty Day / National White Shirt Day
12. Lost Penny Day
13. World Radio Day
14. Valentine’s Day / Ferris Wheel Day
15. World Hippo Day
16. National Almond Day
17. National Random Acts of Kindness Day
18. Drink Wine Day
19. National Mint Chocolate Day
20. National Comfy Day / National Muffin Day / Love Your Pet Day / World Whale Day
21. President’s Day / National Sticky Bun Day
22. National Margarita Day / National California Day
23. National Banana Bread Day / Curling is Cool Day
24. National Tortilla Chip Day / National Chili Day
25. Wine and Cheese Day
26. For Pete’s Sake Day / National Pistachio Day / National Tell a Fairy Tale Day
27. National Retro Day / National Kahlua Day / National Strawberry Day
28. National Chocolate Soufflé Day / National Public Sleeping Day

What days will you be celebrating? Are there other days not on this list you will be participating in?

January Check-In / February Plans 2022

January was a slow start for me. I had hurt my back the last week of 2021 and was laying around for a week. After feeling better, I was still laying around some. I guess you could say I was doing a little hibernating. The second half of the month, I sat down to figure out some goals for the year. That’s when I came up with the deck of cards idea. (read about it here).

My mom and I had recently watched a cooking competition show where they were having to cook with different peppers. One choice being the Carolina reaper pepper. “Also known as HP22B, Carolina Reaper chile peppers were created by crossing a Pakistani naga viper with a sweet, red habanero pepper and were initially developed to create a sweet variety with spicy attributes. While Carolina Reaper chile peppers did develop a very sweet flavor, they also became one of the hottest varieties of pepper in the world, averaging 1,569,300 SHU on the Scoville scale. The pungent peppers have even been recorded to peak to 2,200,000 SHU, which is comparable and sometimes slightly higher to the strength of pepper spray.” (This description taken from Specialty Produce webpage).

This reminded me of the chip challenge that was trending a year or so ago. People would order a chip that was coated with the Carolina reaper and would video eating it. In December, I got a food sampler box with lots of different goodies. One item was beef jerky that was coated with the pepper. Okay, so we’ll give a small bite a try. HECK NO!! Ran for the milk. And it took a while to get the flavor out of the mouth. That was quite the experience and don’t need to repeat it again.

What’s something you are looking forward to doing in February?

General Things Done this Past Month:

• Went on hikes
• Tried a small bite of Carolina reaper beef jerky (did not eat the whole bag)

Food & Drinks:

• Made Cafe Frappe Glace Irandais as my first drink from the Drinking French book

Breweries & Wineries:

• Went to a couple of breweries to get my passport stamp. And tried their beer.

Current Movie Challenge: “1001 Movies to Watch Before you Die”

• The Greatest Showman

I’m always open to suggestions for adding to my list of things to do.

February 2021 Days to Celebrate

Most of these were found on National Day Calendar and Susan Boynton’s wall calendar. I’m not going to celebrate everyday, but if I were, these were the ones I’ve picked from the list.

1. National Get Up Day (and: Hula in the Coola Day)
2. Groundhog Day
3. National Carrot Cake Day
4. National Sweater Day
5. National Wear Red Day (and: World Nutella day & National Girls and Women in Sports Day)
6. Ice Cream for Breakfast Day (and: National Frozen Yogurt Day)
7. Superbowl Sunday (and: National Send a Card to a Friend Day)
8. National Kite Flying Day (and: International Scotch Day)
9. National Pizza Day
10. National Umbrella Day
11. National Make a Friend Day (and: National Peppermint Patty Day & National White Shirt Day)
12. Lost Penny Day
13. Radio Day
14. Valentine’s Day (and: Ferris Wheel Day)
15. President’s Day (and: World Hippo Day)
16. Mardi Gras
17. National Random Acts of Kindness Day
18. Drink Wine Day
19. National Mint Chocolate Day
20. Love Your Pet Day (and: World Whale Day & National Muffin Day)
21. National Sticky Bun Day
22. National Margarita day (and: National California Day)
23. National Banana Bread Day (and: Curling is Cool Day)
24. National Tortilla Chip Day
25. Wine and Cheese Day
26. For Pete’s Sake Day (and: National Pistachio Day & National Tell a Fairy Tale Day)
27. National Retro Day (and: National Kahlua day & National Strawberry Day & National Polar Bear Day)
28. National Chocolate Soufflé Day

What days will you be celebrating? Are there other days not on this list you will be participating in? 

February Check-In / March Plans 2020

It’s not quite the end of February, but I still seem to be in a “doing nothing” rut, so I have decided to do this recap/planning for next month early. I did go to a crab feed and to a play, but other than going to work and home, zip. Now is a good time to take a look again at the 12 items lists here and start planning for March. I think I will also print it out and put it by my door so I am always seeing my goals. Hopefully that, and the sun shining for longer hours each day will be the inspiration kick I need.

General Things to Do:

1. 30 day challenge of yoga & working on the core of the body
2. Boil and eat a lobster
3. Eat a raw oyster
4. Get a professional massage
5. go check out the new Hard Rock Casino
6. Go on a art walk and check out the wide open murals
7. gun range – get lessons in shooting
8. Museum exhibits – Movie cars at the Auto Museum, Crocker Art Museum, Hall of Fame gallery & the Chinese gallery at California Museum,
9. Play bingo
10. Send a friend a gift, just because (something I made)
11. Walk on the beach in winter
12. Write a letter

note to self: Go back through photos and find memories to post 

Music: current music challenge: “1001 Songs to Hear Before You Die”.
Trying to post on Mondays and listen to 20 songs each week.

Breweries, Cocktails, & Wineries: See posts over at “My Drinktopia”

• didn’t go to any new ones in February

Movies: current movie challenge: “1001 Movies to Watch Before you Die”
(Picking ones I am finding on Netflix streaming. At least for right now)

1. 13th
2. Avengers: Infinity War
3. Babel
4. Dark Knight (I own this one)
5. Hell or High Water
6. I, Daniel Blake
7. Kings Speech
8. Life of Brian
9. Moonlight
10. Once Upon a Time in the West (C’era una Volta il West)
11. Pan’s Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno)
12. Raging Bull

Books: current book challenge: “1001 Books to Read Before you Die”
These are the dozen I want to get through reading right now

1. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (- currently reading)
2. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
3. Divine Comedy by Dante
4. Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald
5. Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
6. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison or H.G. Wells
7. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
8. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
9. Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke
10. Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
11. Paradise Lost by John Milton
12. Ulysses by James Joyce

I’m always open to suggestions for any of these categories.