@Don: Thank you and I am glad that your teeth are better now.
I also do some drawings sometimes. I painted T-Rexes for our drawers at work. And I crotcheted a T-Rex for a friend.

Our new mattresses are great. I can sleep better now. Micro's new bed was an adventure. We ordered it online. They put together several packages. I was at work and came home after 10 PM. The neighbour came at about with her sister to disassemble the old bed. The room was clear at around 5 pm. He went to fetch the packages, was home again at around 6. The 4 packages had numbers given in the order of assembly. So far so good.
Once he was finished with package 1 and 2, he noticed that there was no number 3. But number 4 he had twice. Yay. That was at 7:30 pm. The shop closes at 8. It takes about 20 minutes to get there. So recalled them, they prepared package 3 and he had to hurry to get there in time.
When I came home at 10 the bed was still just part of the frame. Poor Micro was already very tired but refused to sleep on the couch or in our bed.
At around 11 pm the bed was finally finished.

Hi, weird!

@Don
Sorry about your teeth. Has the other one been pulled out yet? Do you use some prosthetics to hide the gaps or are they not visible from the front?

@Dina
I hope you adapted well to your new medication for blood pressure.

I have to agree about getting old not being fun, though I am younger than you. I already feel that the floor is so deep down and once you got there, it is hard to get up again, lol. Also my eyes started to get worse. So far I noticed that I just need to take off my glasses when I want to read something small, but doing so too often causes me headaches, because my left eye has always been worse than the right one.
I might need some other glasses soon. So sorry for any typos escaping my notice. I literally can't see them as well as I used to, lol.

The cats are well, my mother is a bit better, my husband is still struggling with some virus which is not Covid. We like to give other diseases a chance, too.

Da Vinci just came in and demands some scratchy time and food.

Micro's bed will be gone on Saturday, so we'll have to replace it the same day. If there is no time, or it is not available, Micro will gave to sleep on her mattress until Monday.
She already chose her new one, we just have to drive to Ikea and hope they have it in store. I think, the bed won't be a problem but maybe the matress, because it is not the one that usually belongs to this bed.

I've read the new chapter, too. I am sooooo excited and also that he is progressing with Mirror Mirror.

I started to read the 3rd and last book of the Ever&After trilogy. The one I told you about with the descendants of fairy tale heroes. I am just a few chapter in and so far I've enjoyed all the books.

I also started to read the new Rivers of London book, but honestly, compared to a lot of the other books I read, it is kind of boring. Not bad, but I am used to a faster pace, if you know what I mean. I think, I might finish it, when I'm done with the current book.

I am grateful that my teeth are OK so far. And my hair is still full. I still sing with the choir and I can read my books. And I try to think positive.
Soon, the Christmas market will start in the city and I plan to go. I like the food and the atmosphere. Maybe I'll go with a friend, a colleague or the kids. Looking forward to it.

Today is Mother's Day in my country, so congratulations for all the mothers that are forumites and for the mothers of the forumites 

thank you 

It's Friday and I bought some fish at the market. Everything looked so tasty so that when I got home, I made myself a lot of fish and algae salad with fresh bread. Well, yeah, now I'm stuffed.

And wow, there suddenly are so many new books out, that I must admit, I'm a bit overwhelmed. First I've read the new one by Jim's son, now I am reading Stone & Sky, the new Rivers of London novel. Then there is already a new short story collection by Patricia Briggs featuring Asil the werewolf trying to get a date.
In November, there will be the third novel of An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka, and there is already the next Fairytale book on my kindle, you know, the one with the descendants of fairytale "heroes" and the prophesy that the Dark Prince will return. Well, the Prince did return and now everything looks kind of apocalyptic. It's in German and is called Ever&After by Stella Tack. This is the third book and it is called Die letzte Stunde (the last hour).

Parallel I have relistened to Brief Cases and Side Jobs. Currently I am trying out the new Graphic Audio of Storm Front. I like it.

And maybe, if there is still time, I will register or reread Peace Talks and Battle Ground before Twelve Months.

Then I found out that there will be a new book from Drew Hayes of Fred the Vampire Accountant. Cool.

So I would say that for now I am unlikely to run out of books soon.

Edit: typos, I really need some better glasses. I am getting old.

Oh, I've watched a Star Trek" Strange New Worlds episode and it has an Easter Egg! You can see the TARDIS. So fun 

Cool! For me, it is behind a pay wall. I think I saw it on prime video, but they have so many new and old titles you either have to pay now or are only available if you also subscribe for x and y, like Paramount or all the others. I won't do that, even if I do want to see it. I already have a subscription for Disney+, Netflix and Amazon Prime and additional subscriptions from Amazon: like amazon kids, kindle unlimited, audible and I am feeling scammed because I already pay for them and they still want more money for some movies and series.

I think, the apprentice will be somebody we already know. Like Fitz from Ghost Story or Aiden (?)the warlock from Zoo Day.

Edit: it was Austin, wasn't it? The warlock in Zoo Day.

So, hello!

How is everyone?
Here, we can feel autumn is getting nearer and nearer. The first leaves have been falling, the apples are ripe and the nights are beginning to get colder. And the sun goes down earlier.
The summer holidays will still last until mid September.
Next week, I'm going to have to buy some school supplies.

I am very excited about the new book in January. And there will be a new novella in may.
And I've read on Reddit that JB said that he is already writing Mirror Mirror. I didn't expect that. I thought he wanted to take turns with Cinder Spires. But actually, I am glad. I like Cinder Spires and I would enjoy another book in that universe, but honestly, I could also live without it. There is nothing that can compare to the DF in my opinion. If there will be another CS book, I will definitely read it, because I do like them. But I am not as hooked as I am with DF. Maybe because there are still only two books so far, maybe because of the change in point of view, maybe because it's all third person narration, maybe because of all of the above.

I am thinking about a reread of just all the short stories and microfictions. I am currently reading Butcher junior's new book and then there is a new Rivers of London book. And iirc there will be a new Mercy Thompson book out in November or so.
I am also listening to the last Dungeon Crawler Carl audio book. I like those a lot. At first I thought it was kind of funny on the surface but too gloomy and apocalyptic when you dig deeper, but I started to like the characters. He is adding more depth to them the further the books go.

@Dina: the big butted starfish! 🤣
Hilarious!

In November I will start learning something new at work. I am very excited. It will be an additional skill to what I am currently doing.

Also, I've been polishing up my French. The language! 😉
I was quite good at it in school but haven't used it for years. Most of it is still there. And I can understand about ¾ of what is written and about ½ of what is spoken depending on how fast they speak. But I mostly can't express myself except some basics.
As a child I've been in France a lot. It is not far away. We always knew some basics to get by there.

The expedition I talked you about ended a few minutes ago, and it was super fun and awesome. The ship and sub will be on Uruguay in a few weeks.

Very cool and interesting. I just watched some.


We are back home now. And even though being somewhere else is fun, I am always glad to come home. I missed the cats. ❤️
On our second to last day we were on the Isle on Wight and there we visited some beautiful landscapes and also the Dinosaur Coast, though I wasn't sure we were at the right one, lol. It was a warm day and there were people bathing. But we didn't have our bathing clothes with us. But we still went into the water up to our knees. The kids collected many stones and shells and had a lot of fun. It is said that one could maybe find some dinosaur footprints there, but either you can only find them during low tide or we were on the wrong beach or we would have to dig deep in the sand. I wouldn't think those would still be intact given the erosion due to the water. So there must be a place with hard rock which is not flooded.
I found something which looks like a fragment of a bone in stone, but I am no expert.
For the kids, just collecting stones was the most fun part. To be honest, I also still love collecting stones and shells, lol.
I also do that when I am at home at our river.

Hey, weird!
How are you all. I have been absent for a time. And I am terribly sorry. I remember wanting to write an answer in July, but then I forgot my password. As I was on the run, I thought ok do it later, then I forgot. Must be the age, lol. A lot going on in summer here. Almost every second day another event someone of the family has to go to or participate.

But now we are on vacation in England. More about that later. Have to see if the kids are finally ready for breakfast.

See you.