This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl asks us to share the ten most recent books we’ve added to our collections:

1. Miss Moriarty, I Presume? by Sherry Thomas
2. Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
3. Once Upon a Camel by Kathi Appelt
4. Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool by Clara Parkes
5. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
6. His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
7. Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
8. Black Powder War by Naomi Novik
9. No. 91/92: A Diary of a Year on the Bus by Lauren Elkin
10. An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten

How about you? What have been some recent additions to your bookshelves?

Rudi got some time off to clear his head yesterday morning, and I got some this afternoon, when I spent a couple hours at a cafe reading and luxuriating in the sunshine.

This is the view behind me of the Uintas:

And this is off toward the west and the Oquirrhs (pronounced like ochres):

We’re out in Salt Lake dealing with some family stuff that is taking a lot of mental and emotional energy — but it’s not my story to share. For the next little while, I’m probably going to go light on content, so my apologies for that.

Three beautiful things from today:

1. When I arrived to see Rudi’s mom, she was eating with gusto the dumplings that the aide had made especially for her.

2. Salt Lake has put a mask mandate into place, which makes me much happier about being indoors.

3. I got to walk in the sun a bit today.

Someday, someone’s going to write on my gravestone, “Really liked sleeping on couches.”

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Lovely sunsets in Florida and Utah (we caught the first part while we were walking in a park and then I made Rudi pull into a cemetery so he could see what it became after that).

2. A kind Moldovan tech who speaks Russian to Rudi’s mom and who offered to make her some varenyky (Russian pierogi-like dumplings)

3. Pizza outdoors on New Year’s Eve with Sarah and Rudi

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

Greetings! It’s been a few weeks since you’ve seen any knitting in these here parts, since I went dark before the holidays as I was working on a Christmas present for my mom, who reads this blog. (Hi, Mum!)

As you can see here, I am still working on her Christmas present, despite this being the project (work or otherwise) that I most wanted to finish by year’s end. But the great thing about knitting is that it will be a great shawl when I do hand it over, hopefully the next time I see her — maybe next month? After all, it’s bigger than a babushka now!

I started a new book this evening, another Christmas romance. It’s overdue back at the Virginia library from which I borrowed it, but the 8 inches of snow we started the week with made it impossible to return it on Monday when I’d planned to, and then I had to get on a plane on Tuesday afternoon. So I figured if it was going to sit unread on my coffee table until I got back to town, it might as come with me and get read. Plus, I suppose I can always mail it back if need be.

Head over to As Kat Knits to see what others are reading and crafting this first week of the new year!