😂. OK, I just googled and I get two Belton’s but there could be more. I wouldn’t worry about it. When I turn on the sat nav and am just going by village name things get messy pretty often. There is always something by each in parenthesis but I frequently don’t know where that is either! Our first sat nav could not do postal codes and my newer one is wonderful because it does.

I finished my A to Z by Book Title this week............ A.......The Affair of the Blood Stained Egg Cosy by James Anderso B......Bednob and Broomstick by Mary Norton C......The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves D......Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami E......Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear F.......Folly by Stella Cameron G......A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo H......The Highwayman’s Bite by Ann Brooklyn I........It Devours! By Joseph Fink J.......Justice Hall by Laurie R. King K.......Kissed a Sad Goodbye by Deborah Crombie L........Lake Silence by Anne Bishop M.......Moonshadow by Thea Harrison N.......A NorfolkMystery byIan Sansom O.......Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper P........The Primrose Convention by Jo Bannister Q........Queen of Ambition by Fiona Buckley R........The Red Velvet Turnshoe by Cassandra Clark S.........Silence of the Grave by Arnalder Indridoason T..........A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson U.........The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan V.........The Virgin Queen’s Daughter by Ella March Chase W........A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami X........XO by Jeffery Deaver Y.........Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin Z.........Zero Hour by Megan Erickson

I am going to start with the easy bit first........Currently reading/just finished...... Man Card by Sarina Bowen was a quick read that I finished very late last night. As I said before this series seems to be pretty outrageous with bad language and adult scenes but it’s fun. Waiting for the third. I have several books on hold by another romance/chic lit author who I am curious about, Jackie Lau. These also appear to be humorous romances....Recently cozy mysteries have been my comfort reads but I seem to be regaining my love for romances. The Cross......Kristin Lavransdatter......The last book for my official Bingo. I actually like this section better than the second book. Treacherous is the Night by Anna Lee Huber.....This is the second Verity Kent and it is really good so far, actually addictive and I don’t want to abandon all other books for this book. I want to read it when I am sitting in the middle of noise and confusion because it is the type of book that is easy to follow and my main books just aren’t. Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami which is very good. According to the reviews it has many of the typical Murakami traits, cats, magical realism etc. I guess I am finishing the year with Murakami as opposed to starting mainly because my hold appeared in my account. 😂 For my audiobook I just started Lamentation by CJ Sansom.......I love these! 🙂 Now for the hard question.....Share my reading goals for the new year. I am intrigued by the 10 chains and plan to sit down with my various wish lists and try to pre-plan some of these chains. I also plan to complete my usual A to Z’s and Bingo. The spelling challenge which has me really excited because of the added bonus of new to me mystery authors. More Sci Fi and Fantasy exploration. Continue my Agatha Christie rereads. I will continue keeping track of Brit Tripping but only as a side result of finishing some series. Beyond that it probably depends hugely on where Robin and rabbit trails lead..... Now crafting.....I would love to get my Lucy Boston quilt assembled and done! Beyond that I plan to play with my sewing and not get so caught up in the need to complete things for the fall quilt show.

No trick that I know of. Princess Mommy is right about the wrapped edge, Guterman has that. I take a pin and pull it out enough to grab. With the basic spools I generally get in good light with a strong needle and a pair of scissors and tease the outer thread nearest to both ends. Frequently locate it this way and gently slip needle under, pull and snip if needed. If I can’t find it I pick one and pull, snip, and try and save the majority.

All projects are welcome! I fully admit to being an over enthusiastic crafter this year.... I am experiencing a mid life crafting crisis.....otherwords I am entertaining myself with my sewing machine. 😉 I like pine cones, are they going on the tree or in a bowl? Or someplace else?

A friend bought a fabric panel and did some embellishment (I know she stitched around each figure) and added a coordinating border for her granddaughter a couple of years ago. It was really pretty. I also think I have seen Frozen fabric books. You could see if you could cut them apart, add borders, and sew them back together. Something like this......http://cluckclucksew.com/2017/06/a-pokey-puppy-quilt.html

Thanks for the recommendation, my library has The Book of Fires. I put in on the wish list while I tackle what I already have checked out! Chistmas in London.......my current audiobook actually is Christmas in London. Totally accidental! Ben Aaronovitch’s Whispers Under Ground, Book 3 in the Peter Grant series is set during the Christmas season. Thanks Robin, looking forward to the 10 book chains! 🙂

Not crochet but Scandinavian Fabric Stars are a fun ornament to make. I seem to need to review every year and have this tutorial bookmarked from last year https://craftingarainbow.wordpress.com/2015/12/06/scandinavian-fabric-stars/

@Robin M These challenges look great! I am definitely looking forward to all of them! Ten Chain Book Train - Each book must connect to the other either by a word in the title or author name. For example An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire leads to The Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier which leads to The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and so on. Have to be read chronologically, no skipping around and linking them up later and can only read the same author in succession twice................I just want to make sure these don’t need to be consecutive reads because I am always waiting for holds to arrive and well, rabbit trails............For instance I can read Artifical Night, a Christie book for instance, then Train to Lisbon, a couple of none related book, then a Train book. I just need to read the ten in order right? Tuesday, just sending some hugs your way! 😉

She is beautiful! The quilt is wonderful, I love hand quilting.

So cute! Congratulations!!!

Looks great to me! Your list is made up of series already on my read/reread list and a few that are new to me. So great mixture imo. I probably will try to read a book in each series as we spell. Personally I like the idea of choices because it’s easy to get completely stuck on a letter, recently N and R have been difficult and I have no idea why. 😀. Your book purchases look like fun and very useful for next year! 🤣I guarantee you didn’t want to start reading quotes from Man Hands to James. The very first sentence has an F bomb. I did finish and am planning to let the rest of the series arrive from my holds list. They are light and funny, I also liked the two friends which must be the main characters in the other books. Oddly, one of my goals for next year is to read a bit more in the romance/chic lit genre. I actually read Animal Magnatism a few years ago and enjoyed it, I remember the holds list being huge for the second or third in the series so I stopped reading. Maybe I will read some of those....... I finished listening to the second book in James Corey’s Expanse series and loved it. The first book is stand alone but the second book requires knowledge from the first. The holds line for the audio for the third book is huge. I checked the book out and hope to read it in book form soon. It ended on a cliffhanger. I really like the characters.........bad language is a character trait for one of the new characters, btw. I am almost done with A Morbid Taste for Bones the first Cadefel for Shropshire. I am listening to a Christmas themed book called Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths. It takes place in Brighton and centers around a Christmas Pantomime. A pantomime is not simply a children’s theatre production that you take your kids to at Christmastime. They are a whole separate category of theatre requiring tons of audience interaction, this is the one tradition that my family can’t seem to get real excited about. @tuesdayschild Do you have Panto’s where you are?

I’m not ready for one either but I seem to find myself lugging a friend’s around occasionally! They are suprisingly easy to deal with. She can fit a whole LOT in hers. The one I linked is pretty fancy comparedly and no designs so more my style.

I decided to update one more time. Please feel free to post any crafty projects you are working on. I just started a new Christmas themed quilt for the table. My kids actually decided that it should be fun again so we are having moose, gnomes, and trees. I was planning something a bit less busy. 😉 After that’s finished I need to finish up my Christmas present lapquilts for friends. My reindeer are done and waiting for a Christmas Tree to sit under. The mama reindeer is my favorite!

How about a shopping trolly for the library books etc when you are exploring on your own? They are far easier to handle getting on and off buses than I ever imagined and can hold a whole lot. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KX49GHK

We bought a full size standard length for my son at about that age partly to reduce the chances of falling out of bed because he was a super active sleeper and rolled onto the floor constantly. When we took the mattress off the floor we bought a larger matress in hopes that we could keep him on the bed. It worked pretty well. Now he is 6’4” and glad we bought it because of his length. He doesn’t fall out of bed any longer. 😉 I think both options work well.....upgrade dd to a queen and give him her twin xl for a couple years to see how it works out is a perfectly acceptable plan. If you want him to have the dog and more stuffed friends in bed then get the full. I think this is a situation where the decision is yours.

That is the set my dd uses. She was given it as a hand me down roughly 8 years ago and other than replacing the blues it is still going strong. Good paper that is made for purpose is a gift my daughter loves. So nice water color paper to go with. She also has enjoyed water color pencils......no idea what brand to recommend as she has a basic set but borrows from her art teacher frequently.

🤣. I am only forcing table quilts upon my family. Technically when I am done I will have two for each holiday so one for each child, if they want. My friends are just receiving normal lap quilts to read good books under....

You aren’t the only one. Last year I spent a great deal of time watching video from when they were little and feeling bad. My young adults actually still live at home and I still feel bad. The total excitement is gone. They don’t need loads of presents......I bought our traditional chocolate advent calendars and have a few supplemental gifts to wrap to go with the calendar. I used to have something fun for every single day leading up to Christmas all figured out. Many of those gifts were activities, cookie baking.....build a snowman and I changed them around depending on what Dh and I felt like doing that day. So I am bored! I am channeling my frustration into a crafting frenzy to decorate. I am currently busy making another table quilt (my son’s name for them) with a Christmas theme........my family is letting me express myself but find it .......... odd. My son finally asked if table quilts were a fashion trend he had missed.....no dear, they are my fashion trend. We don’t need anymore bed quilts although I thought about a Christmas quilt for everyone’s bed and decided there wasn’t time, plus storage space. I am already giving a couple of quilts to friends for Christmas....so it’s table quilts! 😉 They are also terrified of ruining the quilt on the table! I keep saying I want to use it (currently have the fall themed one on the table) and could care less if it gets stained. It is designed to be washed!

I have read several Philippa Gregory books and they always seem to be riveting with some really memorable brutal bits thrown in! I haven’t read The Kingmaker’s Daughter yet, although I had it on hold for several months but it arrived at the wrong moment so I didn’t check it out. I hope you enjoy The Raphael Affair. I read several in that series a few years ago......started them for a BaW challenge! 🙂 Never think my reading a book on infertility was brave, it was unintentional. I have a bad habit of adding myself to lengthy hold lines for books by author’s I think I like.......I get a few surprises and this was one, normally I abandon. I have sooooo many issues tied up with infertility and pregnancy. Not sure that I will ever even attend another baby shower, certainly not if I can avoid it. I never would have continued reading that book except the person in the middle of her own infertility crisis is oddly the little girl who was one of my bright lights back when I was suffering, so since I had started that book I decided to continue. That is way different than intentionally reading a book about infertility. As Kareni pointed out Colleen Hoover writes books about really hard topics (wish I had remembered that! ) because I read a book by her that centered on domestic abuse a few years ago....it was a hard read but not filled with triggers. I plan to avoid her books in the future. Thanks for the recommendation! I will look for it. Speaking of Murakami, I actually have the new Murakami waiting for me in my stack! 😉

I am caught up on my Flower Challenge finally..... M. Murder flies the Coop by Jessica Ellicott A. One Red Apple by Sheila Connolly R. Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart I If Ever I Should Love You by Cathy Maxwell G. Competence by Gail Carriger O. Once a Scoundrel by Mary Jo Putney L. Leverage in Death by JD Robb D. Dracul by Dacre Stoker D. Death at Rottinden by Robin Paige A. Bloody Acquisitions by Drew Hayes I. The Ionia Sanction by Gary Corby S Vicious by VE Schwab Y. Meet Me at the Museum by Ann Youngson

I have moved on to listening to the second book in The Expanse series that started with Leviathan Wakes and it is really good. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12591698-caliban-s-war btw, Levathon Wakes is stand alone, I would have been satisfied with stopping there. I have made progress on The Monopolists for my microhistory Bingo Square. For fun I started a Chic Lit book by Sarina Bowen complete with a sort of blush worthy cover ( it is on my kindle) and a whole lot of bad language and adult scenes. That being said it is advertised as laugh out loud funny and it is certainly riveting. I already have the rest in the series on hold because the wait time is huge....I put them all on hold 3 months ago. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36535656-man-hands

She is so cute!

Not that this will surprise you but I have been reading Lee Child in order! 😂 The Peace Hill shop is so neat and the wool is lovely. I had no idea she had a farm shop. In case anyone else is wondering what Bildungsroman is https://literarydevices.net/bildungsroman/. I can do that, now that I know what it is! The creative, less specific, Bingo topics sound fun to me, please note I have totally enjoyed the detective extension to the bingo card which were a bit on the creative side. I am pretty sure I have finished the whole card as soon as I finish the Monopolists book.....microhistory. I have learned a whole lot about board games, I never imagined there was so much history behind Monopoly. Spelling, I just enjoy the spelling challenge. So any of your ideas are great for me......Detectives might be fun, maybe a bonus challenge if you read a book with the detective of that month.......I might be the only one who would enjoy that. 🙃 I am not feeling overly creative at the moment but I will let you know if I think of any new ideas.

@tuesdayschild Regarding the fine print😉 I am assuming canned pumpkin is hard to get in your part of the world. When we first moved to England I could only buy it for about a month in the fall from the one grocery chain store that is not in my area. I worked hard to get a supply! It’s a bit more common now. I used to grow my own pumpkins and the results in pies can be a be uneven, hard to get the purée thick enough...... People do used sweet potatoes and squash in order to make similar pies. I like the sweet potatoe version https://www.eaglebrand.com/recipe-detail/eaglebrandsweetpotatopie-3932 and consider it to be similar if you get the urge to try making one. I just finished the second book in KL so on to The Cross. I am so happy to be back to reading it on my Kindle. I have also been listening to my very cozy mysteries by Diane Valerie with the Doris Day connection while I sew. The first one ended with a cliff hanger and I rolled into the second one. Entertained but I can’t wait to finish this one and set the series aside for a few months!