Covid-19 Life: Jitters, TBR shelf, The Fur-grandkids

It's been a tense few days in our home as it has been across America. Our local and state candidates all won reelection, but there is that long wait for the presidential winner to be announced. Our two-mile square town had an amazing turnout in all the precincts, including ours.

We sent a few dollars to candidates across the country, and got some nice thank yous, including this postcard from Mark Kelly!

The weather in Southeast Michigan has warmed up to 70 degrees! The quilter met in the park in the morning when it was in the lower 50s out, so we were bundled up.

I struggled to find some basic supplies. I tried every local grocery store and the drug store. Finally I found them at Target and within hours was there for a pick-up.

I have only been doing drive up pick up. I have not been inside a store since our quick trip into CVS early summer. Everyone wore masks as mandated by our county, and the social distancing marks were on the floor. Still, I was nervous while I waited for my bags, trying to find a place out of the way.

When this pandemic is over, it will take me a long time to get used to being around crowds.

I was thrilled to get the ARC Life Among the Terranauts from Caitlin Horrocks, whose novel The Vexations I loved. Horrocks was our son's writing professor at Grand Valley State University!

Another ARC on my TBR pile is The Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington from Algonquin Books. I love all the books I have read from Algonquin. But read this blurb and you'll see what attracted me:

“The Fortunate Ones feels like a fresh and remarkably sure-footed take on The Great Gatsby, examining the complex costs of attempting to transcend or exchange your given class for a more gilded one. Tarkington’s understanding of the human heart and mind is deep, wise, and uncommonly empathetic. As a novelist, he is the real deal. I can’t wait to see this story reach a wide audience, and to see what he does next.” —Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

Other ARCs I am waiting for include:

• The next American Novel by Norman Locks coming from Bellevue Literary Press, Tooth of the Covenant. I have read four books in this series.
• From LibraryThing, All that We Carried by Erin Bartels, a Michigan author whose previous books I have reviewed

New on my NetGalley shelf 

• The Bookseller of Florence:The Story of the Manuscripts That Illuminated the Renaissance by Ross King

This month the library book club is reading The Bear by Anthony Krivak--and he is going to Zoom meet with us! We are so excited!

I read the novel as an ARC and revisited it for another library book club so it will be my third time to delve into this novel.

I have been noodling around in the quilt room. I layered a quilt for machine quilting. I played with some things but lost interest. I plan on layering the Hospital Sketches quilt top for hand quilting this winter. I have fabric for new quilts. I can't bring myself to work in the basement quilt room as long as the sun is shining. Those gloomy, Michigan winter days are coming too soon and I can hole away and sew then.

With Covid rampaging throughout the country, and in our small town, we are self-isolating. Except...tomorrow it will be over 70 degrees and we will visit our son and his girl and the fur-grandkids while we can sit outdoors with masks.

Gus the kitten and Sunny, who is a year old, have bonded very quickly. They both like to play. Ellie loves to chase with dogs, but hasn't figured out what to do with a kitten.

When Gus took over Sunny's bed she wasn't sure what to do. She decided just to join him. Now they are snuggle buddies.

Stay safe out there.