It has finally started to feel a bit like fall this past weekend! I’ve been eagerly awaiting some cooler days so I can break out the crock-pot and enjoy some football. We’re doing more nesting these days but have our eye on a fun, new end-of-month outing as well. All the updates in today’s post!
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Watching: The Righteous Gemstones
We really struggle to find TV shows that we can get into but we recently stumbled across the new HBO series The Righteous Gemstones! It’s a quirky comedy about a multi-generational televangelist family with John Goodman in the role of Eli, the patriarch of this clan. Primarily a comedy, there’s also a bit of drama mixed in. WARNING: You will NOT be able to get the ear-worm below out of your head for days!
Hale Farm & Village Adult Trick or Treat
Hale Farm & Village is a Northeast Ohio outdoor living history museum that helps you recreate the life that settlers lived while pioneering the Western Reserve. I loved going there as a child! This year they are offering a new, over 21-themed event for Halloween – an adult trick-or-treat.
Participants will get to wander the spooky grounds of Hale Farm, stopping at six wine/beer/craft cocktail and treat pairing stations along the way! I’m guessing this event will sell out quickly and am hoping it will turn into an annual tradition.
Reading List
I’ve been on a roll with three pretty good books, read back-to-back. First up was The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant. It’s an engaging coming-of-age story about a young Jewish girl growing up in Boston during the early twentieth century. Really enjoyed getting to know Addie and discovering both the differences and similarities between life then and life today.
Next came Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty. This book details the complicated, life-long friendship between Erika and Clementine. The main plot point reveals itself in a deliciously slow series of flashbacks as told by the main characters. If it was still warm enough for the beach, I’d describe it as a great beach read!
This weekend I started Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. It’s currently #2 on the Amazon Charts and one of the highest ranked books on my Goodreads list. Hopefully my expectations won’t be set overly high! The only slight drawback I’ve noticed is that the book is written in dialect (something I typically find annoying). While I’m only about 20% into the book as I write this, the story line seems compelling enough to take my mind off that minor issue. In brief, it is a combination murder mystery, coming-of-age story and exploration of nature set in the marshlands of coastal North Carolina.
Puppy Update
As you may recall, we brought home Dolce in early August at the tender age of 8 weeks. Well, he turned 16 weeks this past Saturday and we are starting to see some bits of light at the end of the tunnel. The positives: he’s now making it through the night without needing to go outside, he’s bonding well with us and starting to establish a bit of a routine, he’s enjoying his puppy class and doing really well learning a lot of the basic commands: sit, down, leave it, loose leash walking, etc.
Stuff we still have to work on: the BITING, which at time seems relentless, house-breaking. While he primarily does his thing outside, the concern we have is that when we’re not attentive/slow to take him out, he gives no indication that he needs to go. Hopefully that will fall into place soon. Our Pucci used bells and seemed to pick that up quickly. We’re making sure we have Dolce tap the bells before each go-out but the connection isn’t getting made quite yet. 
It’s frustrating but I feel like I’m finally pulling out of the mild depression this new adventure triggered. First, the anxiety of knowing a new dog would be coming soon then the sleepless nights and petty annoyances that a new puppy creates. We’re in the downhill run and by 6 months are hoping things will be on auto-pilot. It feels great not to be in that hopeless place any more and to see him growing into the fluffy companion we’d hoped he be!
Until next time…keep cultivating a simple, stylish, and satisfying life!
Always enjoy your posts, Betsy. Lianne Moriarty is one of my favorite authors, so I’ll have to give her latest novel a go. Your puppy, Dolce is adorable! We’re closing on a property tomorrow and hopefully, after a little renovation work, on our new home, we’ll be able to get a puppy too. As you’ve reminded me, puppies are a lot of work, so we want to make sure we’re ready. Thanks for sharing about the interesting things going on in your life.
Thanks so much for your ongoing support! It is so appreciated! Best wishes on your closing, can’t wait to hear all about it. Yes, if you can find a trained rescue or older dog, it’s likely a much easier way to go. My husband is allergic and can only tolerate a few breeds. We looked at rescues but could find none that fit the bill so went the puppy route. Will be so happy when he’s finally a year or even at 6 months!