7.25.2026 - Guilty Creatures

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books | One Signal Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of this true crime book by Mikita Brottman.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Denise & Mike Williams had been best couple friends with Brian & Kathy Winchester forever, all growing up in the same Southern Baptist community.   Then Mike disappeared while duck hunting and his body never found.  Things got complicated when Brian divorced Kathy and married Denise.  Just what happened decades earlier?

I knew of this story from various documentaries, and I recently read that it will be a new streaming series on Apple TV.  All of that reminded me that I had somehow missed reading this book and it was languishing in my TBR pile.  Even though I knew most of this story, I felt the research and writing of the book was top-notch and I appreciated the sensitivity given to the victim and his mother.  Anxious to watch the series now!

7.24.2026

Yesterday, we spent all afternoon down near Albany for an eye appointment.  The cornea specialist couldn't see Jim until September and recommended we go to a walk-in urgent eye care center.  The doctor we saw there was wonderful - did a lot of different tests and spent a lot of time with us going over everything.  While she agrees that Jim has issues with the tear film layer in that eye, she doesn't think it's the primary reason he's seeing ghost images, and she agreed with seeing the cornea specialist next.  She did prescribe a new eye drop that's supposed to really help with the dry eye issue.  We felt good after the visit and actually canceled his appointment with the other ophthalmologist for this coming week.  We'll go see the cornea specialist as soon as we can.

This afternoon, Jim went to Northern Hardwoods to pick up more soft maple, along with a piece of white oak that he wanted to experiment with.  Unloading...

Stacked up for now in the shop...

Jim thinks the owl is helping keep the birds out of the pavilion; the floor didn't show any big messes like before.  So he decided to hang it up from the peak...

Now it moves around and looks more realistic - it would scare me for sure!

7.23 - High 76.8/Low 51.1
7.24 - High 81.4/Low 51.2

7.22.2026

Jim met our insurance agent for lunch in Saratoga today.  It was a social visit as well as a time to go over a list of questions that Jim had for him.  Jim and I went over everything before he left and he was pleased with the result of their discussion.  Bob has things to investigate and get back to him about.  But we're still amazed to have this kind of relationship with an insurance agent!  Jim said the city was busy with lots of tourists in town.

Once he got home, he wanted to check a few things off his to-do list.  One was to clean the outside dryer vent, so he brought the ladder over to take it off... 

He was happy with the condition - not too much lint.  He cleaned it all out with the air compressor...

Then putting it back in place...

Checking on the septic system again was the next item.  Check out how the varmints have chewed through the handles on the caps!

Taking the cap off...  Everything seemed good - we still plan on having it pumped before winter.

High 74.5/Low 66.8

7.21.2026

 It was an on/off rainy day today - Jim was working on the blasting cabinet.  He bought the pan that goes at the bottom to empty out the cabinet of its material...

His order of soda came today - this is for more delicate operations...

I'll have to dig through my pictures to find the before picture of the hand plane that Jim is going to restore.  He got all the old paint off...

High 72.8/Low 60.7 - light spotty rain

7.20.2026

Jim was working on the wine rack rings again this afternoon... 

They look so good!

The engine of the 4Runner looks almost new!  If Jim decides to rebuild it, all the cleaning work will make it easier to work on.

Jim knocked off and did more grass cutting before calling it a day and coming in to exercise.

High 76.6/Low 59.9

7.19.2026

 

Hopefully this is a day that everyone will be celebrating!  Jim & I will ice cream for dessert later on!  

But before that, Jim decided to clean the engine of the 4Runner again, now that the power washer is working well.  First some degreaser...

He put the 4Runner up on the car lift earlier and took off the bottom engine shields to give them a good cleaning...

Then hosing everything off...

Hosing off the shields...

After he got all the tools and equipment put away, he did some grass cutting.

7.18 - High 69.8/Low 61.1
7.19 - High 75.6/Low 59.8

7.17.2026

Jim decided to clean the front of the house where the runoff from the copper flashing has caused a scaly buildup on the siding.  He still plans on painting this year, but not until the temperatures are cooler.  He got the Bobcat in place and bucket in the air to work from...

Spraying cleaner...

Giving it a scrub...

Hosing it off...

Starting on the siding...

Hosing...

WOW!  What a difference!  I'm so thrilled with the way it looks!

Jim then had to move the Bobcat over to the stairwell to do the other side.  You can easily see the before here as he sets up...

Scrubbing the fascia board...

Working his way down - off the ladder and just using the bucket...

Final hose off...

I feel like we have a new house!  It looks amazing!

Once Jim got the ladders and Bobcat put away, it was time to walk up to the pavilion to put our new scare owl in place.  We're hoping to prevent birds from hanging around inside and making a mess - they have a whole forest to go into!

It would scare me!  Jim is probably going to hang it up, but for now, he's just sitting and guarding.

High 80.3/Low 56