Cozy Mysteries and Chilly Fall Days

nebula with the text "November"

November seemed to rush by. Perhaps that’s because I was hyper-focused on getting some projects completed, perhaps it was wanting 2020 to just be over already, or perhaps it was that the days seemed to just blend into each other.

antique needlework sampler with threads laying scattered on the glass of the frame to match colors

I spent a good bit of the month working on finalizing a project that I’d spent basically all of 2020 working on. For my guild‘s twentieth anniversary, I was given the opportunity to reproduce an antique sampler owned by our previous guild president. We were going to reveal the sampler to the members at the December meeting, so my Thanksgiving vacation was spent finalizing threads and having Eric help take photos for the cover of the chart.

man laying on the floor with a camera on a tripod taking a photo of a framed needlework sampler

So grateful for his help!

stack of two books - Louise Penny's Still Life laying on top of Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

I did some more reading in November too. After finishing Midnight Sun, it felt like I couldn’t read books fast enough. I think I read the equivalent of five books this month. I was really feeling the pain of the library still being closed because of Covid, but then I remembered that I had an ebook that Eric bought for me awhile back. A cozy mystery seemed like the perfect choice for these chilly fall days.

manicure with a rusty orange polish and a sparkly gold orange on the ring finger and the hand holding a desert jasper palm stone in shades of blue, brown, and orange

Still focusing on some self-care by keeping up with my manicures. This combo is always a favorite for this time of year. And my Desert Jasper palm stone matches perfectly, doesn’t it? Desert Jasper is for being true to yourself, embracing life enthusiastically, and the fiery energy of action and courage.

two bottles of nail polish - a rusty orange and a gold orange glitter

My mani is a combo of OPI’s Live from NY…It’s OPI with an accent nail of China Glaze I Herd That.

stone church with adjoining old cemetery and fall leaves on all the surrounding trees

Thanksgiving always seems a little strange since we no longer celebrate it with our families. But of course, being 2020, this year seemed extra strange. We watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as we normally do, and I’m glad they did one even though it was a scaled back version.

plate with turkey and gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and a Hawaiian roll

Eric made a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. We had turkey and gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and Hawaiian rolls. So so good.

plate with slice (pile) of apple pie and a fork

For dessert we had apple pie with a streusel topping that ended up more like apple crisp than apple pie. It was still delicious though.

This Thanksgiving for sure, I was feeling a lot of gratitude for making it to this point in an unprecedented year of WTF, gratitude for my little family, and gratitude that after eight months of self-isolation at home Eric and I have actually grown closer.

man and woman standing in front of a view of Rome skyline
Honeymoon in Rome 2006

Even the boys pretended to get along with each other more than usual – while I’m on Zoom with my stitching friends…

two black cats snuggled up together

… and while I’m working from home.

two black cats sleeping, one on a pillow and one on a sweatshirt

They really are the most spoiled cats.

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