The I've Been Dumped Weekly Link Round-Up

 

For quite awhile, someone at the agency responsible for sending a home health nurse to my house twice weekly to clean and bandage my leg has been wanting to get rid of me. I'm not quite sure why, other than having a leg that just does not want to heal completely, but that person had quite the bee in her bonnet. My home health nurse fought the good fight, but for every point he raised, she had a comeback. What kind of comeback? Let me tell you, she had some doozies. "She can either change the bandages herself [not limber enough] or she can pay someone to do it for her [when did I win the lottery?]." "She can sell her house and move into assisted living [not with a reverse mortgage, I can't]." 

See what I mean about doozies? Full of the milk of human kindness, she is. Of course, she's probably just trying to save the agency a penny or two, but...! Now I'm scrambling to find a replacement because she insisted on my discharge. Never fear, I shall persist and overcome. 😊

While this has been going on, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, and I've been working on my Vitamin D levels... plus continuing my clear-out a shelf at a time. My mood is lighter, and I even have a bit of zip in my doodah. Nice, eh?

Now that I've got more zip, I'm thinking about how I want to decorate my house for the holidays. It's not going to be anything like the years when I had a forest of Christmas trees, but I'm finding that it can be fun to think small. And while I'm plotting, clearing out, knitting, and searching for a new home health nurse, I hope you're all doing well. Virtual hugs to you all!

Enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• The surprising endurance of Martha Stewart's Entertaining.
• The new Harry Potter audiobook has launched on Audible.
• In praise of librarians in dangerous times.
• Authors' class action lawsuit against OpenAI is moving ahead.
• What's with all the sheep on book covers?
• Grokipedia is the antithesis of everything that makes Wikipedia good.
• The election that defined what "real Americans" ate and drank.
• The forgotten medieval habit of "two sleeps."

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• French archaeologists have uncovered a "vast Roman burial area" with cremation graves "fed" by liquid offerings.
• Thieves stole more than 1,000 artifacts from a California museum's storage facility.
• A 5,000-year-old "cultic space" discovered in Iraq dates to the time of the world's first cities.
• Decapitator nose ornament: 1,500-year-old gold jewelry depicting a bloodthirsty South American god.
• This Inca building-- the only surviving structure of its kind-- might have been designed to amplify sound and music.
• Archaeologists in Pompeii discovered an ancient bench where hopeful clients waited to be seen by an elite Roman.
• An ancient Egyptian statue of "Messi" found at the Saqqara necropolis is the only known example of its kind from the Old Kingdom.
• Archaeologists found a 300-year-old shipwreck in what used to be "one of the baddest pirate lairs on Earth."

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• How El Jefe, the lone Arizona jaguar who captivated a nation in 2016, became a rock star.
• Chimpanzees "think about thinking" in order to weigh evidence and plan their actions.
• A rare, out-of-place cuckoo sends birders flocking to Long Island in hopes of a once-in-a-lifetime sighting.
• These bats glow green under UV light, joining a growing list of photoluminescent mammals.
• Bowhead whales live long lives. Do they hold the key to human longevity?
• From playful otters to pint-size owls, these eight awesome animals call the Chesapeake Bay home.
• Celebrate man's best friend with these 15 photographs of good dogs.
• Aye-ayes: the strange nocturnal lemurs with long, creepy fingers.

►The Wanderer◄

• Crime and the City: the Falkland Islands.
• The skyline of Paris is filled with zinc rooftops, but can they survive climate change?
• New York, the city of 700 languages.
• Why Oklahoma's Route 66 is the ultimate American road trip for 2026. (I think any part of Route 66 is the ultimate road trip.)
• These 15 photographs illustrate the ancient beauty of Japan.
• An object in a satellite image defies explanation. Could it solve one of aviation's greatest mysteries?
• Aruba: black gold and boas.
• What it takes to tend the world's deadliest garden.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Artist Marco Grassi crates hyperrealistic paintings teeming with microscopic details.
• Designer Vera West created iconic costumes for Bride of Frankenstein and other classic monster movies. Her mysterious life ended tragically.
• It's almost impossible for Tristan Gooley to get lost. That's one reason he has millions of followers.
• Sixteen-year-old Isaque Carvalho Borges invented an A.I. tool to help cool down the world's hottest cities.
• Jen Pawol became the first female umpire in major league baseball history.
• Maria Mitchell, America's first woman astronomer and mentor to women in science.
• See hundreds of garments that Elizabeth II wore throughout her seven-decade reign.
• Jim Lovell, the Apollo 13 commander who thrived under pressure, died in August at the age of 97.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• The Jewish cozy mystery series that will keep you turning pages.
• 20 non-fiction reads your book club will love.
• 21 twisty new thrillers.
• These atmospheric historical novels are spellbinding.
• Cozy mysteries featuring animals other than cats.
• 13 nature books perfect for Sy Montgomery readers.
• 7 intriguing mysteries set in British institutions.
• Librarians recommend 8 books that changed the shape of politics and reading in America.

That's all for this week! No matter how busy you may be, don't forget that quality Me Time curled up with a good book!  

October 2025 at the Desert Botanical Garden

I took a trip to one of my favorite places, the Desert Botanical Garden, the week before Halloween. The weather was glorious, and for once the place wasn't heaving with people. In many of my favorite spots, I felt as though I had the place all to myself, which was quite nice. 

Here are some of the photos I took. I hope you enjoy your virtual visit.

Purple was the color of choice, with Texas sage, Mexican petunias, asters, lavender, and other beauties blooming like crazy. No place else on earth shows its appreciation for rain faster than the desert.

I love how light often gives the cactus a halo.

It's been years since I've seen these cardon cacti (which have been here at the Garden since 1938) so happy and swollen with water. Those storms we got at the end of September were badly needed.

The honeysuckle was blooming like mad.

Two women standing in front of one of the installations of the latest "draw" to the Garden: Desert Pulse. I wasn't that impressed, but I do think this would be much more impressive at night.

A male and female Gambel's quail.

I had almost three dozen quail surrounding me at the Patio Cafe. I always bring raw sunflower kernels to feed them, but this time I had a new treat: dried mealy worms, and they were quite the hit. I'll be bringing them more in the future.

This lizard was basking in the sun in a spot where it thought no one would see it. It didn't anticipate ole Eagle Eye here with my zoom lens!

Part of the Garden's Halloween display.

The Butterfly Pavilion has become so popular that it now has a nursery.

Monarch butterfly

This feeder was very popular.

The Butterfly Pavilion will be closing in a few days, but it will return in the spring.

It was nice to be outside in glorious weather and at one of my very favorite places, but I have to admit that I did miss Denis. Very much.

Return to Sender by Craig Johnson

 

First Line: "Nobody smiles anymore."

The longest postal route in the country is in the Red Desert of Wyoming, and it covers over three hundred miles a day. When Blair McGowan, the person responsible for that route, goes missing, there's a lot of territory to cover to try to find her. Who does the Postal Inspector for the State of Wyoming turn to? Sheriff Walt Longmire, who poses as a mail carrier to follow her trail. 

The trail eventually leads to a cult living out in the Red Desert, and Walt finds himself right up to his neck in intrigue.

~

I always enjoy any time that I spend with Walt Longmire, and Return to Sender is no exception-- especially since every time I picked up the book and looked at the cover, my favorite Elvis Presley song began playing in my mind.

Once again, author Craig Johnson brings another section of Wyoming to life. This time, the Red Desert, the largest living dune system in the United States. Walt is pretty much solo as he goes undercover as a mail carrier. Only Dog accompanies him in a rather unique mode of transport: an old Travelall.

Return to Sender is filled with Johnson's trademark humor ("Benny, the walking skid mark"), and Walt is carrying something with him that may shock longtime fans. As he works to find the missing Blair McGowan, he meets several characters that I wish I could see again, like World War II Polish Resistance fighter, Mrs. Wasserstein. The story is filled with twists and turns that kept me smiling.

Walt is still debating whether or not he should retire, and he's not helped any when he's put right in the middle of someone else's choice. What's he going to decide to do? I'm looking forward to finding out in the next book.

Return to Sender by Craig Johnson

ISBN:  9780593830703

Viking © 2025

Hardcover, 336 pages

Police Procedural, #21 Walt Longmire

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from The Poisoned Pen.