During the week, I put things off. I focus mostly on professional tasks and chores that must be done, like cooking or cleaning. I make my tea, then I make my water. If I am up before Gordon, I will make his coffee. I drink my tea, tackling the little things that have to be done, like minor kitchen clean up. I feed Salem who has to has her special food first thing in the morning, and I feed Tuna, who doesn’t need special food but gets it anyway, because she is a glutton. Once the tea is gone, I get my water and go to work.
Since I put things off, today I got up at 8:00 am, and I just now got done. I made coffee, fed the cats, cleaned up the laundry room, gave Baby her 2 medications hidden in pill pockets, put the other 2 medications into her eyes, rinsed her ears, and told her she was good girl.
My grocery store delivered some fruit to me yesterday, so today I washed the grapes, pulled them off the vine, and separated them into glass prep containers. Funny fact, when fruit is stored in attractive glass containers, people are much more likely to eat it. It’s clean, so all you have to do is grab it. I stored the dragon fruit Kid 1 wanted, then I made my water.
I’ve noticed that in summer I drink gallons of iced tea with Equal sweetener in it. One day Kid 1 came back from a yard sale with a big glass jug that sits on a wire stand and has a little faucet in front. Every morning, I wash a lemon, cucumber or a couple of strawberries, whatever I have handy that’s in danger of getting spoiled, and I toss it in there with 2 gallons of filtered water. It goes bad after 24 hours, but meanwhile Kid 1, her boyfriend, and I drink it all day. Gordon sticks to his iced tea and lots of coffee.
Today’s water is lemon strawberry. Courtesy of HEB that delivered a half pint of rapidly expiring strawberries to me. Supply shortages what they are, I am used to it.
Then I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, discovered that Kid 1 was right and we are out of dishwasher tablets, so I put in an order to Costco with some other stuff, which I have been putting off. I repotted my orchid into hydroponic clay pebbles – it wasn’t doing too hot, so we’ll see if that will fix things. Then I cleaned the kitchen. And now I finally came to talk to you because I haven’t posted all week.
Sorry, Mod R. Normally I make an effort to schedule nothing on the weekends, because everyone deserves a weekend, but Monday the work carousel will start again, so this is my chance.
This week was heavy on admin tasks. This has been the case lately, and it is annoying but inescapable. The release for Ruby Fever is coming up, and there is publicity associated with it.
We received a nice review from Kirkus to share. It’s starred so they really liked it. Whenever a review like this lands, the publicity department picks it up for quotable bits.
I liked this one.
The action-packed and imaginative second trilogy of the Hidden Legacy series ends with a spectacular, satisfying finish.
Our editor, however, ignored all that. This is the one she highlighted.
All the beloved characters from earlier in the Hidden Legacy series reappear, which gives the thrilling final showdown with Arkan a gratifying “Avengers Assemble” feeling.
Ruby Fever, just like Avengers. You read it here first. Heh.
We have a few appearances coming up, the PR planned some fun events like recipes for a Hidden Legacy dinner. This is how you know I’ve spent too long in Texas. Jeaniene Frost and I were discussing it, and I was like, “I can put that together. Fajitas, some good queso for an appetizer…” And she said, “Oh queso is easy. Take a block of Velveeta, melt it, and dump a jar of salsa into it.”
At a minimum, at least use Queso Blanco. Don’t use regular Velveeta.
The other promo focuses on using Zillow for the Texas mansion research. In the spirit of that, I bring you a Zillow listing. I call it Boulder Potty. You will see why. Hint: it starts at photo #26.
What if you slip? I am just saying.
We have a renovation coming up. We are considering selling the house. We may end up staying a bit longer, simply because we don’t know where we are going and because the house prices are hella expensive. Gordon watches these videos hosted by a real estate professional, and she asked a very astute question. If you put your house on the market, could you afford to buy it? I am not sure, to be honest. Austin area’s prices are insane. Companies keep moving here, and they are breaking ground on a movies studio in Bastrop.
Whether or not we are moving, we have to fix things. The rail on the 2nd floor catwalk is unsafe and must be replaced. The house walls must be textured and painted. We are boarding everyone – dogs, cats, etc., and leaving for 2 weeks. Except everything is expensive and we can’t take the 2 weeks off, so we are loading computers into the car and bringing them with us on vacation. Oy. I’d buy a laptop, but I would never use it.
This will be a fun trip.
No worries, the innkeeper installments will continue as scheduled. Thank you for all of your supportive comments. We are so glad you’re enjoying this book so much. We hoped it would be fun for you.
Well, this concludes my long rambling post. My timer is done – I made some croutons out of some light wheat bread I made in the bread machine. It didn’t get eaten and I didn’t want it to go to waste. I’ve got to pull them out of the oven. See you next week!
You are a busy woman! I’m impressed with how much you do, besides writing such great stories. I enjoy the humor in them. It was fun listening to House Andrews video talk. Thanks again for all House Andrew’s stories.
Was I first?
Thank you for the books. Thank you in advance for any more coming our way.
Thank you for being so easy to enjoy, blog-posts or novels.
Thanks for all your fabulous stories, the fictional and the personal. Good luck with all the housework, admin, and promotional things you must do.
Maybe some non-mayo sushi recipes for the PR event. I get a kick out of Arabella’s sushi addiction. Also oyster nachos?
Thanks for the update, you are one busy lady! I am hoping you have a wonderful, relaxing and fun vacation!
I am thinking about sending everyone else away so that I can have a nice vacation at home.
Of course Ruby will be spectacular.
Boulder potty hahahaha!! I love stones and stone work, but that house is even too much for me. Happy Saturday and can you take off on Monday? Cuz holiday?
We have the Innkeeper intergalactic bachelor vote on Monday!
Come make your voices heard ????
(I’m in England so it’s not a holiday for me, I can set it up)
Seems like you should get US holidays too! Best wishes for the Jubilee ???? from all of us on this side of the pond.
???? I have a very relaxed schedule, no complaints! Plus the BDH is always a party, I kind of get itchy when there are no comments- I really love my job ????
<3
Gah! How could I forget!! Well I hope you all are having a relaxing weekend, nonetheless.
What were they thinking? I guess you’d have to bring in a crew with a jackhammer to break up the boulders but…WTF?
Really hope that’s on the ground floor – I’d hate to have all that weight over my head…
WTF. Why? Whywhywhywhy? Were the boulders too big to move and they built the house around them? If they were in the master bedroom, you could at least tell jokes about getting your rocks off.
I love the layout, but bathroom aside, it was too much stone. I liked some, but not that much. Loved the waterfalls.
Interesting to hear if the orchid plan works. Mine is just sitting there, hasn’t bloomed in over a year but refuses to die.
I ignore my orchids. Water once a week and leave them by a window. They sprout runners and has bloomed twice already since started doing this. Otherwise I overwater them and they die.
In the middle of a remodel. Just shoot me now.
We started remodeling 1 room. That turned into a closet and a bathroom. Then they started the siding. Added a new window. Now a deck. And the room I originally started is not fully done. The bathroom was out on hold. But my closet. Ooooo. It’s so pretty.
Have a great time, everyone.
FYI – My botanist husband swears by only using distilled water on orchids – once a week with an occasional misting. Some of ours are in dirt, others in the chunky orchid mix. Both bloom once or twice a year. Your mileage may vary.
I enjoy reading these random slice of life posts. Thank you for keeping us updated. I was already excited for Ruby Fever, but with the “Avengers Assemble” quote, now I can barely contain my excitement. After the awesome battle scenes in the last book, I really can’t imagine what might top that epic ending.
That Endgame scene really has the vibes of the final battle https://youtu.be/aXgoJs7_HDY
Speaking of movie references, I just got around to watching “Ghostbusters:Afterlife” in which they mention that Gozer is anchored to this plane by her two hounds. I immediately thought “Hey, that’s like Guyota”
You are pretty busy today! My plans were to have the kids clear out their closets clothing and toys. Then sell or donate whats still good. But they both got sick on Friday. I got called to the elementary school at 9am to get the 8yr, then as I pull into the drive way and the High School is calling me to come get my 15 yr old. Both left home fine at 7am.
I took them to their doctors, turns out 15 yr old has Strep she tearfully confessed, her throat has been hurting but she didnt want to miss building a physics project, and they were making Chicken, bacon, Alfredo in Culinary.
The 8 yr old has an ear infection and his lungs sound diminished. He is a Covid long hauler so he gets steriods and antibiotics. He swears nothing hurts but he has chills and a fever.
So now they are both in the living room sleepily watching movies under blankets.
The clean out will have to wait for next weekend. The good thing is there has been no arguing and they are being super nice to each other. Neither wants food so toast and yogurt for dinner.
Wishing a painless recovery to both!
Yeah, those ear infections are rotten. Spent twelve years of childhood on antibiotics for ear infections. Pink or yellow liquid medicine, it was still banana flavored.
And strep is miserable, too!
Sending good thoughts for quick recoveries for both kids! ????????????
No salsa with Velveeta. Only Ro-Tel with Velveeta. Even us Easterners know that. Meanwhile, Autocorrupt does not believe in Velveeta at all. It’s Velvet or nothing. Actually on this, I have to agree with Autocorrupt. Velveeta is kind of an abomination, and you can easily use actual cheese with your Ro-Tel.
I have to investigate what good alternatives we can have outside of the US…
Apologies in advance for the culinary crimes about to be committed ????
Almost any alternative to Velveeta is good, frankly.
I just looked for Mexican cheese (Velveeta is not really a thing at all) at the top supermarkets in the U.K. and this is pretty much the offering ????
It’s disgusting don’t eat it! I love cheddar and spicy things so assumed this would be delish. . . Texture ick, flavour like dry spice paprika. Big no.
Try some jack cheese, which won’t be the real thing but is probably better than that. You can get pepper jack with jalapeños in it. Or if you can find some Ro-Tel, melt and mix with maybe a little something else for texture. I’m thinking a dry-ish cheese like they mix fruit in with sometimes, only without the fruit.
This was a little ambiguous because I was multitasking. You would melt plain jack with Ro-Tel, and add a second cheese for texture. The chèvre suggested below would work. The one I was trying to think of was Wensleydale, which I have definitely not tried in this particular context, but I think would bring the texture closer to queso than jack cheese alone.
I should mention I’m also in the UK so it was pretty much a warning to all of us over here about that Mexicana cheese – avoid like plague! I’m not sure whether we could get any of those things here except maybe Monterery Jack in certain stores.
Also Wensleydale with apricots. . . nah, mate.
Now boursin on a slice of toast with green olives – yummy 😉
Cheese and olives on toast sounds yummy! I like chopped olives (ripe or green) mixed with a bit of mayonnaise on multi grain or wheat toast.
You could try using cream cheese, or goat cheese – ie, any soft, spreadable cheese, in addition to your regular cheese.
Maybe like a fondue cheese mix with randomly assembled ro-tel-like stuff mixed in?
Ironically, I can usually get ro-tel here at either the British import shop or the Asian one.
(I’m American in NL, so I’ve had to recreate favorite foods sort of randomly.)
That is just awesome.
I should specify that fresh or even some decent canned salsas are better than Ro-Tel. But Ro-Tel is one of those things that everyone should try, preferably when you’re young. You can even hold your own beer at the same time.
You have amazing cheddars. HEB here has a queso that is pico, 2 cheddar cheeses (jack which is a white mild and yellow that’s more sharp) and shredded brisket, equal parts of all. Add a bit of heavy cream, stick in the oven for 20 minutes (or micro for long enough for the cheeses to melt) and yum!!!
We opted to build our house..instead of buying a ready made one in a subdivision. Well, we planned to do that at first but then Covid happened and we stayed with my family during lockdown. We have a piece of land at the back of my family’s house. We thought to build a “tiny house” since we are only a family of 3. Now it’s 90% complete and ready for move in…and we realized that 10 years of renting and moving we accumulated a lot of things (stored) and cannot move everything inside the house. So now I’m decluttering ie. Selling, giving away most of our things so we can fit in the new house…Your post got me thinking what if after a few years we decide we don’t want the tiny house…gahhhhh.
I just looked at the house photos. Wow. It may just be a combination of decades spent in the humid Northeast combined with a near fatal gap between how clean I like my house to be compared with how much time I’m willing to spend cleaning, but the surfaces and -uh- water features? in that place combined with my vague notions of Texas heat are giving me mildew nightmares.
How the heck do you keep that bathroom from turning into a slime garden? Even if someone else is in charge of bleaching and scrubbing it every day-ugh.
And the little indoor creek? Why? Why would someone sign up for that much maintenance? Is this for when scrubbing solid walls and floors just isn’t providing enough of a challenge and nothing but boulders and creekbeds will do? Is it a house for some sort of newt or salamander shifter?
That part of the state (think Austin) is pretty dry compared to the Gulf coast (ie. Houston). Drought is a common problem. The added humidity is probably welcome and helps cool the place in summer.
All of those “water features” will turn off. That’s a good thing, since they will need cleaning. I’d be willing to bet that anyone actually living there will have them off most of the time and they will dry out and limit the algae and mold problems.
This another of the “it looks cool and I don’t have to live there” designs beloved of a certain subset of architects. (Take a look at Frank Lloyd Wright’s houses. I love them. They are beautiful, but often leak – even the ones he built for himself.)
When I contemplate a Big Move, I try to think of all the things I have learned about myself when I do Big Moves. I know that I require a certain level of civilization. I call this “Must have a Thai restaurant in town” because I find that’s a level of multi culturalism that surpasses Chinese restaurant and Sushi place and indicates a sort of… liberal mindset? Willingness to be adventurous? that Middle America doesn’t have everywhere. I also want access to a Best Buy for computer things, and a Target for shopping. I don’t really want to be more than 30 minutes from these things, but I most definitely do not want traffic that makes me insane. And, as I like to travel, I want to be no more than 2 hours from a real airport. Not the kind with the little puddle jumpers that fly out 2x a day to the real airport. The. Real. Airport. Good luck contemplating the move 🙂
I am so glad you explained about “making water”. Where I come from that is a euphemism for something else.
Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the post.
Well house work be it cleaning or repairing is a never ending chore. You fix A and B breaks or is broken.
Or in my case you remodel Mother’s bathroom because a new drainage line has to be run because no one could unclog bathroom sink line with new toilet, handicap shower, sink etc. We sign off on job and my senile dementia suffering 79 year old Mother promptly flushed a wash cloth down the new toilet she insisted on because old toilet never got clogged up and …..yes, plumber had to come unclog new drain line. Sigh sigh ????. Murphy’s law.
Thanks for listening. LOL. It’s life and living.
Oh Lynn, I’m so sorry! Hope no more drain tests for you!
I’m much more a tea than coffee drinker, too. Queso shouldn’t have velveeta when you can use good Mexican cheese :-). That Zillow house had enough rocks/stones to stop a tornado! It looked so nice and different from the outside.
I hope your 2 weeks give you enough down time and lots of yummy food! Slip a massage in there, too.
Quick question on the chapters. How much will the final book differ, as I have kept from reading them in case too much change? Although I am dying not reading it.
There will be edits before the book is published- House Andrews are aiming for minor ones, but sometimes the flow of the scenes does mean some things will be removed.
In short, it’s sort of unquantifiable!
Thanks for the update. The question about being able to buy your current house is a very astute one. I know some pretty well paid people who if they had to buy their current house with 30% down they could not do it. Maybe just buy something smaller and tell the kids which you cannot escape they can buy conjoining property. (Also not being able to escape them in a random FB video Q/A was hilarious)
Homemade croutons are life changing!
Have a fun trip!
Okay, I am a clumsy person. That bathroom kind of scares me. We have been Zillow dreaming again. The hard part becomes do we jump on something now or wait, since we are now thinking of staying in CA, it could happen before my husband retires. He doesn’t need to go into the office much so we could move out of the area.
Sounds like a busy Saturday, hope you get some relaxing into it!
This whole post made me smile. I’m completely amazed by that house though; boulders in a bathroom are for people who don’t know about towel racks? (You know, hanging their towels on a rock outside to dry kind of people?)
Good luck with the Big Move. At one point of my life, I figured that I didn’t need a large yard if there are nice parks nearby, but I do wish that my neighbors were better about parking their cars in their garages instead of blocking the street. But I live in suburbia and that’s the price one pays.
Have a wonderful weekend and a safe trip.
I’m pretty sure that we are the only ones in our subdivision to actually use the garage for our vehicles.
Thanks for sharing and good luck with everything.
Ruby Fever will be epic.
I worked at my regular job this Saturday. Sunday will be do laundry, clean the bathroom, convince mom to shower with my help and throw dinner in the crockpot. I have some thoughts about the rock house. First how do clean the windows? Next whoever lived there really likes stone and rocks. Shape shifting river otters? Claustrophobic dwarves? I’m leaning toward dwarves. Epically tall ceilings and stone in every room of the house including the bathroom. Also a lot of natural light and big windows.
Try to enjoy your vacation and thanks for the Innkeeper.
Good luck with everything! I am enjoying Innkeeper… I know we have to save Wilmos at some point but where we are now in the story is so good. I still love that space fish and his dance.
Best to House Andrews.
Thanks for the update, you are very productive on a Saturday morning! May you all have a relaxing vacation!
I haven’t tried the hydronic orchid balls yet but I have heard good things. They work especially well for the thick rooted orchids like your average grocery store Phalaenopsis. If your orchid was previously in an old wet soil like mix then you may need to water it extra for awhile while it adjusts to having all that air around it’s roots but after that they do much better. I keep telling people who think orchids are hard “(Most) orchids like to feel air between their roots not be entombed in dense soil like other plants.” Once you fix that part the rest is easy. Also never water them with ice cubes. How would you feel about having an ice cube slowly melt on your skin? One word- Frostbite.
Glad to hear everyone is loving RF! Sat sounds normal, tho.
Well sorry but that’s a horrible house. I like some of the stonework and the indoor stream is nice, plus they’ve got a crap load of nice land. Assuming I had the wherewithal to buy it – just a big fat nope. And wth is going on in that bathroom?!? Is there a hope in h..l of getting those stupid rocks out without tearing down a wall?
Hope you found someplace fun to temporarily move to. Maybe at a temp less than upper 90s?
Wow that is a lot of boulders!
Love all the books and blog. Thank you@
I do hope you get some rest. The lemon and strawberry water sounds so wonderful. I would buy the laptop and I have guilted myself out of one for five years because I primarily use Mac’s. I borrowed one from work this last year to work from home when we had illness in the family and I dread giving it back. If you hate setting up a second, computer, try Jump desktop. Try it now with your desktops. It’s how we manage to continue to allow people to work from home.
I hope that the two of you get wonderful letters every day, telling you how delightful your books are. Your books have it all, action, romance and just enough humor. No matter your work, kids and pets need to be fed, the laundry must be done and bills must be paid. So it goes.
That’s quite a house… in an HOA. And a huge yard to mow. ????????????
Oh that is great now I’m going to imagine them in spandex uniforms lol!!!
That house was gorgeous but umm yeah your dead if you slip in the shower at all, the shower just doesn’t make sense.
I love these snippets of your life. For me, they are the reason I read your blog.
I knew you are powerful, but I was really impressed when I read you make your own water. My first thought was “how does she manage to get precisely twice as many hydrogen atoms as oxygen ones?”
Nope. Nope. Nope. If you stumble to the bathroom half awake, you will definitely stubb and break a toe or three. ????????????????
Hi as I’m in New Zealand I can’t get that cheese plus lots of other things. But if I wanted to buy golden syrup or reduced cream I couldn’t. Bye
Lmao. We sold 2 rentals because the offers were ridiculous. We refused to sell our house because even though the offers were ridiculous we couldn’t buy a like/kind house without an unridiculous price.
It was lovely to hear from you on a Saturday. Thank you for posting.
I love reading these kinda posts from you. It feels like I’m talking to you face to face
I always enjoy hearing about life in Texas, which seems like an exotic place to me. I hope you and Gordon get some down time on your vacation!!
I’m ready for a new story. I’ve read them all and I know you can come up with exciting ideas. Witches??
???? There are new stories in the works.
Wow! Big house! Is it big enough to hold Ilona, Gordon, Kid 1, Kid 2, the boyfriends & all the critters?
Good luck on your trip!
They just said that brand of strawberries is being associated with an outbreak of Hepatitis A. Please throw any remaining out and be watchful for symptoms. My hubs is a huge strawberry fan. A bowl with sugar free cool whip every night, maybe with bananas. Thank goodness he isn’t ok with paying organic prices, as he has multiple myeloma. One disease is enough for anyone. Sigh. Love all your stories. The scorpions would give me nightmares. Just thinking about them being anywhere makes my skin crawl. Love Fridays. Highlight of my week. You almost beat grands-almost. ????
Here is the FDA link on it for everyone interested https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-hepatitis-virus-strawberries-may-2022
The strawberries in question are the ones specifically bought between March 5th and April 25th- however, if anyone has frozen strawberries to eat later, please discard them!
“The release for Ruby Fever is coming up”
Me: Wait, what? I thought it was ages until then. And then I checked the release schedule just to be sure. It´s still almost three months! I keep underestimating how early the publicity plans are made and how short three months are in the world of promoting and publishing books. Three months sure feel like ages to me right now, the anticipatory jitters are making me worse than Bug when he´s off Equizol!
They will FLY by! ????
Oh. My. Goodness! That house is fantasy-worthy!! I can see the Balors and Company there. And yes…that bathroom is quite stunning, and can be stunning if you slip…here in California, you couldn’t but that place for less than 4 million dollars…and that *might* even be without the acreage!
I have to ask how you clean the bathroom boulders? Is there a special section of cleaning products that only exists in US (or Texas) supermarkets for things like that?
Bemused!
Scrubbing Bubbles?
(sorry – couldn’t resist)
I hope you still have a restful holiday, everyone needs time off. Got to admit I’m an outlier with water, I drink loads but don’t care for flavour in it, rarely even have Ribena or anything and if I do then it’s apparently very weak (comments via brothers who insist I make their drinks stronger). I was in hospital once and they were forever putting cucumber or lemon in it and it was actually harder to get untouched water than fancy stuff!
Love the glimpses into Your life. It makes me feel a bit familiar with You as normal people without the usual awe for your brilliance as authors. Sorry, I meant as The Authors 🙂
With longer periods of silence between the posts I am wondering whether House Andrews is ok to the point at which I ‘d call my friends with the casual “what’s up” call. You’ ve managed to create somehow intimate relationship with your readers or should I say followers. Even if we are oceans apart ????
Thank You ❤
Ilona, I NEVER want to hear you say again that you are not multi-talented. Just OMG the things you can/know how to do! Individually they may not seem like much to you, but let me tell you, they add up into one amazing, incredibly talented and wonderful woman. Own it.
Oh my you are busy! I hope your 2 week “vacation” is not all work. And that the texturing and painting is completed quickly. Re the boulder house – the bathroom boulders would have to go. But the view and location is nice.
I am enjoying the Innkeeper installments very much but I just don’t like reading it on my computer. It just a quirk I have but you and Gordon are the only ones I would ever do it for! Are you planning on publishing it later or putting it is Amazon? Anything you write is worth paying for! As for real estate, my granddaughter is moving to Houston and she knows about the crazy house prices in Austin as well. Hopefully, it will eventually settle down to a somewhat normal buying environment. She is holding off buying as well. Thanks for all you do for the BDH!
Yes! ????
All the Innkeeper books start like as free serials on the blog, then they go through edits and get published as a novel (with ebook and audiobook and paper format).
I don’t have a release date for you, as it’s still being written, but it will be announced as soon as it’s known ????
That is wonderful news! Thank you so much Moderator R! You are the best and House Andrews is lucky to have you in the family.
Well, that house ticks all my NO boxes except natural light. I like cozy and functional. This isn’t it. But it did give me fond flashbacks to my mom and her sister, both eminently practical women.
The bolder potty – “Would you want to be in this bathroom with the flu?”
The stone walls – “Who dusts this place?”
The various pools – “Excellent way for my children to injure or kill each other.”
Multiple high places – “I’m picturing dead flies on the windowsills and ledges. Whose going to clean them off?”
And tangentially while picking out china, “Imagine it with blobs of salad dressing and spaghetti sauce on it. If you still like it, then that is the one.”
Thanks for that.
Hahahaha! I wonder if your mom and aunt knew my mom! I can hear those questions in her voice and her look of incomprehension as she expounded “what were they thinking!?” Also, my mom was old school and washed floors on her hands and knees. She would look at those floors and groan.
Bless you for thinking of us. It’s nice to have a catch-up.
Good luck with your orchids. I moved recently from north Austin to Cedar Park. My old house had a magic window. Orchids placed there would bloom over and over again. No such luck in the new house. Changing their pots/beds didn’t help either. I miss my magic window.
We lived in Cedar Park on Pebble Brook Road. It was a nice place but it grew so fast and the traffic is awful.
Awesome update! Thanks for the fascinating glimpse unto your life. Always great to hear how you juggle life tasks.
blessings on your mornings.. Mine include the chickens. grin. You might find you love a laptop. So light , so moveable, so very very easy. Just a thought.
May your “vacation” include some down time, something fun?
Don’t move to Colorado. The prices here are equally horrible. Also, as far as to be seen, everywhere livable is that monstrous. Not kidding. Unlesss you want to live in. oh like someplace where it rains all the time, and is cloudy and then you get 4 feet of snow… no? Yeah, me neither. Though we could have used 4 feet of snow. The drought is BAD.
And may you flourish forever. Love your work…all of it.
Looking at picture 26, all that comes to mind is that this is some serious neat-freak Human Sacrificer – they do the sacrifice in the midst of their ring of stones, and then rather than waiting for a convenient rain storm, they turn on the shower to wash away the blood….
And of course it’s indoors and out of sight!
Thanks for explaining what you meant by ‘make your water’ – I was getting mad scientist vibes for a bit!
Hope everyone has/had a great weekend and a good week to come!
I had so much to do this weekend, and did I do any of it? Nope. My family had too many other things that they ‘needed’ me to do for them instead. Sigh……..
In any case, congrats on accomplishing so much Ilona! You are my role model for next weekend. Maybe I will send my family off to visit in-laws…peace, quiet, and productive time for me! ????
Your Saturday is my today, the cats are shedding … strings and clumps and floating hairs, oh yuck!
More purifier filters puleez …
I like satisfying finish, best.
I heartily dislike comparisons, I’m looking for what you deliver, a new vision of a relatable existence that is exciting, relaxing, engaging and fun AND
with a satisfying finish, WHOOP ????
Chore’s are done, cat hair is vanquished, bagel consumed and the last drop of coffee is gone while enjoying your post … ah well off to groceries
Tah
… it’s almost June, ooh look I’m surviving!
August is almost here {oo} … two weeks ago, I broke down and read ch. 1- 13 of the ‘SERIAL’ …
I can do it, hold out, wait, maybe, probably … I got stashes BUT I’m saving those, still, cause if push comes to extremes
I’ll read Junkyard Bargain before I give in. AND this I’d rather not do
Enough with the angst, love the view, I’d want a double wide spiral, if you fell; you’d have room to curl and slide and less likely to hang ankles or necks in the openings. Joy to you.
Have a great trip! Hope you can relax some. Austin is a college town, maybe kid 1or 2 have trustworthy friends who would be willing to get out of student housing for a couple weeks and pet and house sit. Try master or PhD students better/more responsible than freshmen or sophomores. Again. Have a great trip!!
This house is strange. And newly rich. Love from Germany.
OMG! Just looked at the house. WHY would you want Stonehenge in your bathroom! This was probably a custom build house. Betcha Whoever buys it will be remodeling. This is not Rob and Laura Petry’s house with an unmovable rock in the basement. (Sorry I like to watch reruns of the Dick Van Dyke show.). Wowza!!
I get the worries about the boulders in that listing, but to be honest, the fixture that got my attention was the staircase.
How does one get large pieces of furniture up to the second floor? Imagine sweeping someone off their feet and having to climb up those stairs? And how does a girl make a grand entrance walking down that spiral while wearing a gloriously poufy wedding gown?
#onlyhalfjoking
I hope you have a relaxing vacation. Personally, I am all for you taking a hiatus from writing if you can. Everybody deserves some time off. Safe travels.????
Wow, built in loofahs. That was definitely a design mistake.
Boulder potty indeed. All this house needs is a large entry sign stating MOnolith Manor.
If the pebbles don’t work, try using coffee filters in the bottom of the pot. Since you are in Texas, I’m fairly sure that you have a County Extension Agent that shouldn’t be too hard to find. They can check the pH of your potting soil, and you can see what the desired pH for your type of orchid is. Sometimes the fix for an ailing plant is that easy to find. Other times its a serious pain. I’m currently trying to figure out why one (but only one) pot of my aloes is in such bad shape. I have 4 pots of aloes, and only this one isn’t doing well. But good luck with your orchid.
I totally agree with your comment about the house – too ‘stony’ and ‘boldery’ for me too but I love the sinuous staircase – I’m also thoroughly enjoying the new ‘Innkeeper’ series
It’s Stonehenge Potty! ???? That is so random and weird.
Nice that it’s about 10 acres. I hope that the really nice appliances, i saw at the nd of the photos, are going to in the kitchen.
But, the bathroom. Who was on WHAT when that decision was made.
Also, didn’t care for the downpour spouts for the soaking pool, whatever that was.
Interesting to say the least.
Enjoy your working-break! Orchid assist: https://www.dirtdoctor.com/garden/Orchid-Fertilizing-Newsletter_vq3717.htm
And recall, that Gordon can use leftover bread to entice his hand-feeding deer ‘need’, because we know that bread would be just what any creature desired.
The “boulder”s don’t quite look like real rocks – there are better looking (miniature) boulders on our beaches in the UK and full size ones on moors in Cornwall and Devon. I think they are Moomintroll’s Groke in disguise
It’s incredibly uplifting to imagine you going away, loading actual desktops into your car to take with you. Too funny.
Hafe a great vacation
July, August, September: there’s a new Faith Hunter, a new Nalini Singh and a new IA. Just have to get through June! Thank goodness for the Innkeeper???? And I just discovered and read the Jill Saintcrow series……
Safe to guess there will be no sex-against-the-wall scenes in that house. LOL.
Ouch!! Can you imagine?! ????????????
No sex in that house at all…I don’t think it had a single wall without multiple windows in it. And no doors…maybe if there were no kids, no family, no neighbors or household maintenance employees, or the owners are exhibitionists? What a security and privacy nightmare.
So I’ve started doing a slightly fancier version of Queso in the crockpot. I put in 16 oz of Velveeta, 10 oz of Oaxacan melting cheese, 2 cans of regular Rotel (you can use the Hot if preferred), and 8 oz of cooked spicy/ hot breakfast sausage (Owen’s or HEB brands are my go to choices). The Oaxacan cheese adds the most amazing flavor and you still get the pliability of the Velveeta.
OK, as a third generation Texan transplanted elsewhere, I immediately recognized the style as “newly rich Texan”. I deduced rural area around Austin. The river was the clincher. Ah, the horses, the stone (in the bathroom?!?) made the diagnosis complete. Man I’ll bet there were cowboy hats and boots in the closet(s).
How can anyone set themselves up for a limited resale value. Maybe the next couple wants to believe they really live in Tuscany (seen that), English country cottage writ large, or even wild urban loft. Maybe they want red, dark navy blue and chartreuse walls. Sigh. A guilty pleasure is browsing really expensive houses to criticize their very specific tastes.
Oh God Velveeta. Cheese from the devil I swear
I see that 4500 of us have now checked out Boulder Potty. Do you ever wonder if some random realtor is completely baffled by a sudden upsurge in popularity in one of their listings?
I imagine them nagging the IT dept. “Who is looking at this and then not calling me?”
Nope? Just me then.
Um, no thanks on the house. If I had $1,865,000. I wouldn’t spend it on THAT! But I did love the outside pool.
Regarding laptops – get a second, large monitor (or two if you prefer), and a separate keyboard and mouse. You really don’t need a desktop these days.
I’ve tried infused water but it never seems to have flavor. Maybe I don’t put enough in? So I drink a lot of plain water. *sigh*
So sorry your vacation will be a working one. Hope you can relax anyway!
Showed the boulder bathroom to my daughter, asking who puts that in a bathroom?! Her response was “a very eccentric geologist who is proud of their work”!
I have the same thing with water ????. In the U.K. we have these Cold Infuse bags (Twinnings do them and a few other brands), you get much more flavour, without it being tea as such or have any calories. The pina colada ones, with just a spritz of lemon maybe, absolutely gets me drinking more!
I like that first quote from the review better, too.
The house listing is….interesting. The bathroom with the rocks has a “channeling my inner Selkie” vibe to it. (Can’t say I’ve ever wanted to float among the shoreline rocks whilst bathing….)
Not my cup of tea, house-wise, but someone will find that it suits them.
May the renovations be on time, and your temporary lodging comfortable!!
Yes, we concluded we couldn’t buy our current house or anything similar to it, so we’re remodeling it. That doesn’t help if you want to live in a different city or state, of course.
The link is… something else. I feel like that house has no idea what it wants to be. Does it want to be a pile of rocks? Does it want to be stark and modern? Does it want to be a castle? Does it want to be a standard McMansion? I feel like you move from space to space without any sense of flow or unity. Even the blue against the brick/stone looks weird.
Interesting house. Why go outside when you can stay inside and pretend your outside?
NO NO NO Not Velveeta! At least get fresh salsa! Gah! Also a Texan. Think I live in your general area. Thanks for all the great stories.
I started off from Velveeta and Rotel to queso blanco and home roasted salsa. Gotta do things right or my neighbors would laugh me out of the city. I probably don’t live that far from you.
???? Not those stairs! Good grief.
Have a lovely “vacation”….
Oh my, what if you slipped indeed. How could you ever remodel? Lol
Lovely to hear from you on a Sunday. I hope “vacation” has relatively painless and some rest is achieved. Texas house: Look at me! Look at me! I have MONEY! ( but not much taste or common sense). Boulders= silly/dangerous, water features –
better not ever have a toddler in the house, uneven floors -mom/ grandmom will be isolated re unsteady on feet, spiral staircase gorgeous but remember the toddlers, microwave right at child height?
My mind started stuttering when I saw the horse(?) skeleton sculpture in photo 11 and totally froze at the sight of the bathroom. Why? Why??
What a great idea for the water!! I am sure I would drink more water if I had a set up like you describe. I know it would mean washing the glass container everyday, and setting up another every day, but I think it would be so worth it!! So, now I have to search for a container that will work for me. I am sure my husband is just going to be delighted about this, ???? but I can sell it by explaining how it will be healthy for me (us????) because I (we) will drink more water.
My goodness, you are a busy lady! You must be one of those super efficient people who can get 10 things accomplished first thing in the morning, in the same amount of time someone like myself is still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, having hit the snooze on the alarm 3 times, and is still sitting on the edge of the bed trying to figure out what day of the week it is, and if I really want to get up or just go back to sleep! I just bet you are a morning person who wakes up every morning at about the same time, without an alarm, and is instantly wide awake, in a good mood, full of energy, and ready to go. Admit it, you are a morning person, and have been all your life! My husband is like that, and definitely NOT being a morning person myself, he drives me crazy sometimes. But his cheerfulness and enthusiasm, though at a time when I am still trying to clear my head of morning fog, makes it as difficult to stay annoyed with him as it would be to kick an affectionate puppy who just wants your attention.
That was a gorgeous house in the listing, though I see what you mean about the master bathroom! Boulder room indeed!! I think that is the strangest master bathroom set up I have ever seen. I can’t imagine WHY anyone would want to have that set up, and would love to ask the person responsible how they even came up with the idea! Extraordinary, impractical, and quite odd!
I hope that although you are taking your computers with you on vacation, that you are still able to enjoy some time off and relax and rejuvenate! I am sure that the BDH, as ravenous as we always are for the next delightful installment of SOTH, would understand and be happy to wait a couple of weeks so you and Gordon can get a well earned vacation. Safe and happy travels!
For those of us who don’t understand what a proper queso entails, can you recommend a recipe?
Re: bathroom. Yes! My first thought was Aron Ralston’s Between a Rock and A Hard Place…
Well, can’t say it would be something I’d want to live in. I’m presuming the rock/water wall is real stone, not just a facsimile of stone product. Those boulders in the master bath, if real, have to weigh many tons. Plus I’m thinking the work to keep those boulders clean & would they possibly provide a place for Texas wildlife such as scorpions to hide under? What if the supporting floor structure isn’t up to the task of supporting that much weight?
I do like the waterfall element in the outdoor pool area, though I expect it too will be very attractive to local wildlife. The spiral staircase is pretty, though not exactly user friendly if one is on crutches for any reason. Which brings me back to the boulders. Would a wheelchair fit between? Plus what is with the photos of the appliances? I get they are high end, but if the potential purchaser doesn’t enjoy cooking might not be that much of a selling point. Just saying.
I think you can rent laptops…You can definitely rent camera parts…I suppose they aren’t *exactly* the same thing…
Hi. I wish I had been reading this book when you first posted the Quincy warning -first I want to comment that no one should go up to a dog with out owners permission. It’s just not smart and to a dog rude. Second I recommend “Once a Wolf”. Excellent book about how dogs came to be recommended- genetically all dogs with out exception are descended from wolves and will have”wolf” genes. Is 6 percent to much for a shepherd – I don’t know. What makes a breed what it is – is a complex mixture. It may be 6 percent is the right amount. As for Quincy’s behaviors. Our first Shepherd had them all. He was from a German line. The next two from American show lines had very few
The kitchen isn’t bad, but the horse/nightmare statue would be taken out with gleeful prejudice. The rocks in the bathroom are WTF on steroids and the stacked rock facades are impossible to keep clean. It looks like it was designed as a senior project for someone with more money than sense.
Thank you
i have this ongoing rant about people who design things that they have never used. i used to work in the bosch washer and dryer factory and our design guy had CLEARLY never done his own laundry. he chose the colors of the new machines based on bmw colors and ended up with polar ice (very light metallic blue) and what i called metallic cardboard (a truly horrible light baby poop brown, in matte metallic). weirdly, no one bought them and the factory closed.
my last vacuum cleaner advertised itself as being modeled after an aerodynamic race car, which meant no on-board tool storage and it went skittering away from me every time i tried to turn it on/off with my foot. that house strikes me the same way – designed by someone who has never had to clean or maintain their own space.
i really enjoy having routines like that – get up, feed the cat, make my coffee, etc. it grounds me for the day’s coming chaos.
this weekend was great – i got SO much done! of course, it was all outside, so the inside is a disaster but the outside looks great!
thank you for sharing your slices of life with us. i love hearing them.
I wonder if the ‘Bolder Potty’ house echos?
I never read book blogs, I never used to follow authors, but your posts are quickly becoming some of my favorite parts of my week.
Thank you for the characters I have fallen in love with and the little bits of your life as well.
Ilona, every time you post about your life I am struck by what an industrious person you are. Thanks particularly for your work with Gordon on the new Sweep novel. I’m really enjoying it. Maybe the best yet!
On another note, I do hope you get some kind of a break and are able to rest your hands etc.a bit, and that with a change of scenery you will get clarity on the way forward about the house.
Packing for your reno-cation has an updated “Beverly Hillbillies “ vibe…
Boulder Potty house….Oh. hell. no. Once again money beats out taste.
So what is the purpose of the boulders in the bathroom.
Looks dangerous to me
hahahahaha As a fellow Texas transplant, I can totally relate to this post in its entirety. We spent a whole day the other week smoking brisket and ribs in the pit with a mix of oak and mesquite. Have a great vacation!!!!I’m giggling at the imagery of y’all packing up the desktops into the trunk.
How do you guys do it, you are so busy and your writing is amazing. On renovations, we’re in a similar position where we live, so we’re sticking to keeping our home up to standard etc. So last week, we had the power board rebuilt. Two days later, the whole house power crashed (Friday afternoon at 4pm), and the upshot was the rebuild put in new switches that are now more sensitive then the old. We found 3 spots with faulty switches/points. The scariest bit – an old (37yrs) connection box, lots of connected wires enclosed, has been overheating and causing reactions with the wire coatings. So next job is to get this rebuilt.
All of that is to say that the power supply in the house has to be considered. Don’t know how it works in the States as you have 110volt power and Australia has 240volt. Good luck with everything.
I am a bit late but I am amused and puzzled by the house.
Imaging needing a walking aid and navigating all those stones in the bathroom. A nightmare.
I looked at some other houses as well: some had so many crosses on their walls that they might be fighting a Vampire infestation…
Some mansions were furnished in a bombastic pseudo-historical mix really made my european brain hurt.
Thank you for the entertainment!
Love the Ruby Fever quotes! Looking forward to the Prime “Avengers” 😀
Forget about Innkeeper while you are on vacation. Geez. Leave the computers at home!! Relax and come back refreshed.
I have so many questions about that bathroom. Are the Flintstones selling this house? I don’t get it. ???? Also, I’d kill myself on that twisty staircase. I know me, I’ve seen me do it!