We loved the You Can Draw section of Nature Friend Magazine. https://www.naturefriendmagazine.com/index.pl?linkid=4;class=gen In each issue a lesson is taught and there is a contest where you can submit the drawings. In a following month some of the drawings are published. We did this for years and they actually became quite proficient. The bonus is they publish other things done by kids too. Photography, poetry, stories........great magazine for a Christian homeschool family. This lesson was great. First time Dd got published. Dh scanned her drawing and so many of her friends and family had copies. https://www.naturefriendmagazine.com/useruploads/files/Jan2007page15.pdf I just realized that you live overseas. I am going to go ahead and post this for others because I already spent time on the links. We actually continued Nature Friend contests after we moved to England because my mom loved them! She subscribed and sent my kids copies of that month’s contests. We scanned the entries. Still won occasionally......she sent results too.😉. So it can work. Draw Write Now curriculum was also great. https://www.rainbowresource.com/category/2014/Draw-Write-Now.html We used these all the time in unit studies. My kids did the drawings on blank cards for birthday card etc. great stuff.

I finished my “Set in Scotland” 10x10 and don’t think I ever post my “Last Book in the Series ”list so...... The Last Book.......in a series (currently released) 1. Wild Country by Anne Bishop 2. Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch 3. Deadly Assesments by Drew Hayes 4. The Last Time I Saw Her by Karen Robards 5. Not Quite Over You by Susan Mallory 6. The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley 7. An Artless Demise by Anna Lee Huber 8. Tiamet’s Wrath by James Corey 9. A Better Man by Louise Penny 10. Rise of the Magicks by Nora Roberts 8. Set in Scotland........originally planned as all mysteries/ crime novels but ended up adding some Scottish Sci Fi (Voyage to Arcturus) and a historical romance (To Wed a Wild Scot) because I thought the discussions of highland clearings were well done. 1. The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith (3 Books) 2. A Small Death in the Great Glynn by AD Scott (2 books) 3. Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin 4. The Distant Echo by Val McDermid 5. The 39 Steps by John Buchan 6. A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay 7. Hand for a Hand by Frank Muir 8. To Wed a Wild Scot by Anna Badle...the Highland Clearances 9. Hooked on Ewe by Hannah Reed 10. Still Midnight by Denise Mina

Since I know you are on Goodreads I will share how I set up my shelves. I made a shelf for each of 10 categories along with Bingo and whatever else I was doing challenge wise. I tried to put every single book in every category it was appropriate for. Sometimes I forget but I try. I also keep a set of notes with each book assigned to one category. Those bookshelves have been so handy now that I am trying to finish the year.......if I need to overlap I can. I can also move books around a bit.

I would like another Linesman too! I think I am going to have to try and remember to listen to both of these books because I have much more patience with audio books!

I just looked to make sure I knew which book it was because one of the books on the list I have also already had once and quit after a few pages (Time After Time ). I added to the list because I know where to find it and it was abandoned into a stack where 4 or 5 books went that day so I was feeling particular. 😎 All I know Here and Now and Then is really popular in terms of lists.......I have seen that cover many times over the past few days!😂 Maybe I will try that one first! eta. This is How to Lose a Time War is another one on multiple lists!

Congratulations on 52! The 10 x 10 which was new last year technically means 100 but crossovers are totally allowed......so reading one book might fit several categories. The thing I personally loved about it is we all set our own definitions (rules) for our own categories and that means I changed mine a whole lot as the year progressed.😉 I liked the 10 x 10 and am a pretty high volume reader when you count all my romances/cozies. These lists are my way of forcing myself into some new things. Last year I read more science fiction than I have in 30 plus years. Loved it but my list is now a bit depleted so I am going to read time travel books for the challenge.......I have an ambitious list but I also have a physical stack of time travel romances from the 90’s that might be enjoyed again. I try to give myself some leeway....... I am not sure at all about my Alfred Hitchcock books behind the movies idea........that may very well decrease to 1........I know I like the 39 Steps. 🤣. I made that list when exploring ideas for 2019 and decided to try them this year. The list I posted is filled sort of with ramblings of me brainstorming to see if 10 potential books even existed for each category even existed that I might like and had access to. It’s my starting point. I know Robin is contemplating 4x5 or 5x4 to equal 20 for this next year so you might want to consider one of those. So 4 categories with 5 books........I believe VC is carrying some of last year’s challenge forward. I may very well finish a book or two in the new year.

Gotta edit.....Greenland! Dh has been sitting beside me playing interesting political YouTube’s while I type. It was on a list of books set in Greenland btw.

So I have been busy planning on next year when I still have 9 none overlapping books to read to finish all my challenges for this year.....planning is so much more fun! @Robin M may I ask what the category All about Eve will contain.....my mind flashed to a few different ideas which means it’s probably a great one! Currently reading Smilla’s Sense of Snow to fulfill “my Greenland requirement” for Nordic Noir. It’s different, I have spent way too much time reading about people’s reactions to this book which is perhaps the first Nordic Noir that gained international popularity. From what I can see people love it or hate it which makes it interesting.....so far I like not love it. There are a couple of suspected things by me that might have me pretty upset during the second half of the book......which is physically set in Denmark so far, btw. Greenland is flash backs and research. I have two more on audio book that I need to listen to in order to finish the category without overlap. We shall see if I manage to. I have two Scotland books almost complete. Denise Mina’s Still Midnight which is a fairly good police procedural set in Glasgow and a cozy titled Hooked on Ewe set in the highlands. The Cozy is just incredibly unbelievable and so inaccurate.........I thought I would like it for the knitting background but as I read I doubt that some of the wool dying info is even vaguely accurate much less the rest of the book. The main character, an American romance author on a tourist visitor is appointed to a citizen police position because she has a good head on her shoulders.......I won’t go on.

I haven’t had much time at my sewing machine but did finish a couple of quick presents.

I have spent a lot of time today with lists........my categories are sort of planned for the 10 x10 which at this point I will stick with. Hopefully think of better names for the categories.😉 I am going to post my list in case someone finds it helpful. Please excuse typos etc.....cutting and pasting notes. This is so just planning.....in most cases if I list a title I was able to source the book from a library. Hitchcock Movies The thirty nine steps by John Buchan Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes The secret agent by Joseph Conrad (s) Ashenden by w. Somerset Maugham (n) Trouble with Harry by jack trevor story The birds by Daphne du Maurer Psycho by Robert Bloch Vertigo bypierre Boileau Before the Facts by Frances Isles Time Travel An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway What the Wind Knows byAmy Harmon Timekeeper by Tara Sim Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald Version Control by Dexter Palmer The Future of Another Time by Annalee Newitz Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar All Our Wrong Today’s by Elan Mattel The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes Agatha Christie........my next 10 Dragons The Hobbit.......LoR Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison Dragon Bones by Patricia Briggs Eragan Series His Magisty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik Tea with a Black Dragon by RA MacAvoy Suldruns Garden by Jack Vance The Briar King by Greg Keyes Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lacky Daggerspell by Katherine Kerr Wizards of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin Dragons Autumn Twilight by Wes Hickman British Historical Brother Cadefel Abbess of Meaux by Cassandra Clarke Ariana Franklin Poison Bed Tudor Vendetta The Queens Head Patricia Wentworth.............next 10 in order New to me Cozies......or I read the first ones decades ago Series Reads and rereads and finishes Truthseeker by CE Murphy Magic to the Bone by Devon monk Half resurrection blues by Daniel Jose older A local habitation...October daye......Seanan McGuire Ghost of a Chance by Simon green Unshapely things by Mark del Franco Reread negotiator series ce Murphy....heat of stone Finish Benedict Jacks series Reread Libriomancer by Jim Hines Finish Faith Hunter reread Finish Kate Daniels Magic seres Series from Brit Tripping that need to be finished (or least be continued) Frances Brody Catherine Lloyd Dorothy Sayers Fiona Buckley Carola Dunn Deborah Crombie Jacqueline Winspear Charles Finch Rennie Airth Robin Paige Susan Wittig Albert Elly Griffiths......magician series Worldwide Detectives The Golden Scales by Parker Bilal.....Cairo The Tomb of Zeus by Barbara Cleverly........Crete Death of an Englishman by magdalen nabb.....Italy Andean Express by Juan de recacoechea.....Chile Slow Horses by mick Herron .....London The widows of malabar hill by sujata massy.......India Shadow of the rock by Thomas mogford.......Gibraltar Bruno chief of police by Martin walker ...France The Turkish gambit by Boris akunin......Russia Black run by Antonio manzini....Italian mountains Kaleidoscope by j. Robert janes ......France

I had forgotten about that one! It is part of my Overdrive so I put a hold on it. I knew someone here had read Tea with a Black Dragon! I haven’t read Dragon Bound either so I put a hold on that too. I did read her Lionheart series and enjoyed it.

I think @tuesdayschild is either in the process of/ or planning to read LoR. Happy to do a read along. I will start looking a bit more seriously for dragon ideas..........Feel free to chime in.........currently my list is sort of familiar ones from the master wish list.......I have had His Majesty’s Dragon on my lists for years and never seem to read them, I check them out but never have a chance to read. Dd went through a dragon fantasy stage and has a few series I never read .....Patricia McKillop, I think, for one. I owned Gormingast and abandoned it because it was huge and heavy with itty bitty print. It’s now on Kindle. I want to finish the Eragon series. Finally, Tea with a Black Dragon is one I really want to read https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/435415.Tea_with_the_Black_Dragon?ac=1&from_search=true. I don’t think it was on any of our lists but it is on my list. 😉

Tell him it’s not as good as The Three Body Problem......more of a very interesting.😂 Since your Dh likes Sci Fi a couple other thought provoking ones were Murderbot (think there are 4 short books) and Medusa Uploaded........sentient AI basically. Fun brain candy that have discussion potential.

Perhaps Supernova Era https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43263225-supernova-era would be of interest. I recently read it and lots of discussion in this recently translated Chinese dystopian science fiction book. It’s a slightly different Lord of the Flies........might even be interesting to compare them.

@Penguin Beautiful pictures! Your trip sounds wonderful. Like others I have started planning.......spent quite a bit of time with the Largehearted Boy while watching the election returns last night. I am looking forward to the Bingo because I think many of the categories will work with my series reading quite well. For 10’s I am struggling....... Last year I started planning a category for the books behind the Alfred Hitchcock movies. I think I found 7 in terms of both easily sourced and appealing to me and may see where that takes me in terms of vintage mysteries. I read 39 Steps from the list this year and really enjoyed it. I also have a list of various detectives located in places I couldn’t easily group into my Nordic, Asian and Brexit country reads of this year. Maybe just 10 detectives, all from different countries.........one from each continent except Antarctica. I have done some rereading this year and want to do more next year. I had forgotten how much I enjoy it. Books with Dragons is another thought........I want to reread The Lord of the Rings so loved Robin’s list which led me to this list https://bookriot.com/2017/10/20/best-epic-fantasy-series/. Some of those series are ones I have been considering for years but wasn’t in the mood for that many huge books. I have never wanted to commit to Wheel of Time which is another thought.

She might want to take a look at the Management Information class at Saylor University. Totally free can convert it to ACE credits if she pays the fee for the exam. https://www.saylor.org/2013/03/management-information-systems-mobile-apps-aka-bus206-appified/ My kids have used a few of the computer classes at Saylor to explore additional areas and have been impresses. Neither has done this one.

The pup in the middle of the first picture has the brown over the eyes too, that’s actually the one i’m partial too. Fwiw, I don’t think the dad has the look of pit bull either as an adult or a pup, and I have been around a lot of pit bulls. A long ago neighbor raised them. That said that dad looks well muscled and strong so need to think about how much pulling you want to deal with on walks etc. My friend has a largish springer that I can’t handle for long although I can happily walk with a Newf for hours. Personality plays a huge role not just size.

They are so cute! I love the little white one with brown over both eyes! Do you think you want one?

Years ago I commented to a repairman who was there for a different problem about the funky stuff around my dishwasher seal and he took canned air and cleaned it. He acted like it was pretty normal. I just wipe with a Lysol wipe every couple of weeks now. I am positive I have it because I put my dishes directly into the dishwasher without rinsing.......it smells bad because it’s rotten fat.

After going through “the 20 must read Time Travel books” I think I have my first 10x10 (or whatever we decide on) topic for next year. Kareni, I just looked at that list and don’t even know where to start!

Before I explore Robin’s links I am going to share my nature read........Wesley the Owl by Stacey O’Brien https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3001512-wesley-the-owl was a wonderful audiobook. Read by the author, I sort of feel like I had a 7 or so hour conversation with her learning all about Wesley. Stacey is a biologist who was working at an avian behavior lab at the time of Wesley’s hatching. When she accepted her 4day old baby owl she knew she was making a commitment for the rest of Wesley’s life because he had a wing injured and would never be strong enough to live wild. I learned so much.........and birds are a huge interest of mine. This is one of those books that I really wish I had used for science with my kids. Overall fine for all audiences......possibly might be better suited for older kids because of the fact that Wesley loved Stacey so much he mated with her, so studied in depth. She also mentions how one of her friend’s researched a male birth control pill.......and gives a bit more detail regarding sperm in friend’s study than I probably would have enjoyed when they were young......So a warning is given, the pill part happens shortly after Wesley’s first mating behavior I believe.

@Robin M the Ladies of Fiction Bookology looks great!😀. I just had a good time looking for books for January.......... @Kareni Space Opera didn’t work for me either. I ended up abandoning it ...... if I remember right it started out sort of reminiscent of Hitchikers. I have now completed both my A to Z by Author and A to Z by Book Title. Woot! I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish this year. For Z I read a new to me fantasy author Roger Zelazny. Trumps of Doom was the sixth in the series but was interesting. I might want to read the Chronicles of Amber series in the future.......

Because my dc’s were doing college classes online........we had to prove they had a high school diploma to get an official degree from the University. I know I carried both my high school and College diplomas with me when I moved to the U.K. for entrance purposes. For the type of Leave(think green card) I had they had the right to make me prove I spoke English fluently and the diplomas were the easiest way.

I skipped the church’s Women’s Christmas Party this year. Everyone loves the ornament exchange and several attended with pretty, shall I call them active, colds last year because they did not want to miss it. I brought the ick home even though I purpled several times and we were all varying degrees of sick for Christmas. My family was pretty relieved when I said I was skipping the party this year. Actually had an honest to goodness conflict so skipping was easy but I have to say I no longer trust the group in regards to that event. It was a germ minefield! I have also stopped drinking tea and coffee out of real cups at churches and community centers unless I know the washing up standards are super high. I keep my Yeti filled with hot tea that I either bring with me if appropriate or leave in the car for the ride home. We have been so much healthier since I/we stopped drinking out of those cups. I started this when a dear friend was dying and I was doing everything I could think of to stay heathy so I could visit and it worked.

I like the beige. Actually pretty sure I own that color. We have had it roughly five years and it’s still unstained although it’s had things happen to it several times. Plus since some of the other furniture is brown it will blend it better.