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Welcome to my weekly update for January 21, 2024!
My great-uncle passed away on Monday. He had been sick for a while so it wasn’t unexpected but somehow death is still a shock, isn’t it? I rented a little place from him back when I was a single girl and the first couple of years my husband and I were married. The rent he charged me was almost laughably low, even at the time, so he indirectly helped us save a good down payment for the house we eventually bought. I worked night shift when I lived there and he would always mow the yard around me on my days off so he didn’t disturb my sleep during the day. He loved to tease everyone and be teased in return. Every time he spoke to one of his nieces or grandnieces, he would ask, “How’s my favorite niece?” and laugh. We knew we were all equally his favorites. He was a good, honest, hard-working man of a type that seems to be getting rare. I was able to attend the funeral and catch up with family members that I haven’t seen in years. So it was a sad occasion but also had happy moments, as so many things do.
We had a couple of cold spells this week and I don’t like it one bit! My husband and I have gotten spoiled by choosing relatively warm states for the winter as we’ve been traveling with his job over the past five years. As I write this on Saturday afternoon, our expected high is 23° F and the low should be 10° F (-5° C and -12° C). I know that’s almost warm for some of you but this is about as cold as it gets in the mountains of North Carolina and that is more than cold enough for me!
Posted:
Nothing this week but I have been working hard to review books on GoodReads and schedule them to post here starting in February.
Read:
All links in this section go to my reviews on GoodReads
The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd–4 Stars
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree–4.5 Stars
“Pages to Fill” (Legends & Lattes #0.5) by Travis Baldree–3 Stars
Currently Reading:
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery, read by Kate Burton (A re-re-re-re-re-re-read, but my first time on audio)
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from A Secret World by Peter Wohlleben, translated by Jane Billinghurst
What did your week look like?
Hosts:
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
20 Comments
I’m glad your family had a chance to gather and share memories of your great-uncle! My parents were both only children, so we had a very small extended family, and didn’t really know our two great-uncles growing up. My husband had a bunch of aunts, uncles, and cousins, but everyone seemed to have too many kids of their own to get close with their nieces and nephews!
I listened to Legends & Lattes, and am looking forward to getting the next one on audio from the library, too.
It sounds like you had lots of good experiences with your great-uncle, and I’m glad you were able to celebrate his life with family.
And there’s a reason I live in California. While I would learn to deal with the cold if I needed to, I’m perfectly happy to not need to. 😉
Your great uncle sounds like a wonderful man. I hope the good memories comfort you. Nice assortment of books too. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
Sorry to hear about your great-uncle but sounds like you had such great memories of him. We’ve had a cold snap as well here in WV. Not as bad as last year but I’m a year older and have a puppy and he has to go out so often and I’m not adjusting well!
Sorry to hear about your great-uncle. You have such lovely memories of him.
I read Circe years ago and loved it, but I still haven’t read Song of Achilles.
Sorry about your uncle’s passing. He sounds like a great guy.
It’s been so cold. Even though I’m used to it living in the Northeast, I can’t stand it. I’ll be glad when spring arrives.
Came across The Song of Achilles this weekend as I was organizing my books. Still need to read it.
Hope you have a nice week.
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2024/01/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-and_22.html
Your great uncle sounds like a really lovely person and so good the way he helped you out. Great you were with family to celebrate him and mourn him. Thanks for putting in the centigrade temps. That’s cold to me, we rarely go below zero centigrade in winter.
That is cold! And I’m sorry to hear about your great- uncle. Great memories though! All the best to your family.
Everyone seems to be loving Legends & Lattes!
I’m sorry to hear about your great-uncle. I’m glad he’s no longer suffering and I know it’s still hard to lose someone you love. He sounded like a great person. Hugs!
I’m sorry about your uncle but glad you had him in your life, and got to spend some time with family. yes this weekend has been cold, but there’s a warm up this week!
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
I am so sorry to hear about your great uncle. I agree that funerals are sad, but getting together with family and reminiscing about the good times with the deceased is always a good thing.
I am so sorry for your loss!! Yes, that is wickedly cold for NC. I hope things warm up this week.
Your uncle sounds like a wonderful man. Isn’t it wonderful when extended family offers to help younger generations, as he did? We lost one of my uncles a little over a year ago. He and my husband got along so well (both former teachers, love music, old cars, photography, etc.) and we miss him terribly.
I hope your temps start to rise pretty soon. I’m looking forward to a few rain-free days. Not sure when that will happen, though. Sigh.
I’ve had Song of Achilles in my stacks ever since I read Circe. What am I waiting for? Are you enjoying it?
I’m sorry for your loss, it’s lovely that you have such nice memories of him.
Wishing you a great reading week
Sorry about your great-uncle. He sounds like an awesome person.
I am so sorry to hear about your great-uncle. He sounds like he was a really good man.
My uncle died this year, and he was to me what your great-uncle was to you. It was poignant to hear his grandchildren talking about how much they loved spending time with him. I’m sorry for your loss, but I’m glad he was a powerful and positive influence on the world.
It’s so cold here. I couldn’t bear it if I had to go days without the temperatures going above freezing.
Your great-uncle must have been a wonderful man, and I’m sure it’s hard to lose him — my condolences.
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I’m sorry about your great uncle–what a lovely tribute you wrote. Indigo Girl sounds fascinating and I’ve added it to my TBR.
I’m sorry to hear about your great-uncle. Even when you know it is coming, it is still hard. Sounds like he was a great guy.
Just so you know, I am my mom’s favorite. As is my dad, brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew. 🙂