Polishing off my Spring To-Do List

Memorial Day has come and gone, and my kids have finished off their school year, so I'm declaring springtime over and summertime upon us.  I maaaaaay have delayed writing this post for a couple of days just so I could finish checking off one item from my spring to-do list, but since the technical first day of summer is weeks away yet, I don't feel even a smidgen of guilt over that.

All book and movie titles are linked to my reviews if I have reviewed those already :-)

Here we go!

(All photos are mine, many from my Instagram.)

~ Finish the major revisions of My Rock and My Refuge CHECK!!!!!!!!!  I have sent it back to my editor, plus I also sent it to my cover artist.  I am so, so happy to have these revisions done!  A rather large chunk had to get completely rewritten, and lots of other things changed here and there because of that, but I rather think it's turned out quite lovely.  Right now, I am hoping for an August or September release, but that does depend on whether the editor thinks it needs more overhauling, or just fine-tuning.  We shall see!

~ Start a street team for my Once Upon a Western series Check!  We call ourselves the Outlaws, and we have been having a rollicking good time getting to know each other.  I haven't had much for them to do yet, but that will change sooooooon :-D

~ Read 3 books for my latest Classics Club list Check!  I read eight:

• Bed-Knob and Broomstick by Mary Norton
• The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
• Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Vera by Elizabeth von Arnim
• Rupert of Hentzau by Anthony Hope
• In the Heat of the Night by John Dudley Ball
• What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
• Swallowdale by Arthur Ransome (review to come)

~ Read 10 books off my TBR shelves Check!  I had a great spring for reading and read twenty books off my TBR shelves :-o  They were:

• Unbetrothed
• The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
• Bridge to Trouble by Elisabeth Grace Foley
• Twice Freed by Patricia St. John
• In the Glorious Fields by Emily Hayse
• Remember Me, Irene by Jan Burke
• The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue by Karina Yan Glaser
• Fluff with a Side of Treason, Vol. 1 by Jenni Sauer
• The Continental Op by Dashiell Hammett
• Vera by Elizabeth von Arnim
• The Silent Gondoliers by William Goldman
• Hocus by Jan Burke
• The London House by Katherine Reay
• Rupert of Hentzau by Anthony Hope
• In the Heat of the Night by John Dudley Ball
• What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
• Anne of Green Gables Manga Classics edition
• Isabella's Daughter by Charity Bishop
• Vengeance Valley by Luke Short (review to come)
• Swallowdale by Arthur Ransome (review to come)

~ Watch 4 movies off my TBW shelves Check!  I watched six:

• Without a Clue (1988)
• The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
• Calamity Jane (1953)
• Henry V (1944)
• The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
• The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)
  
  

~ Go see Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore Check!  It was okay, but I have no desire to see it again.  Parts of it really bugged me, parts offended me, and parts of it just fell flat.  But I did enjoy hanging out with the core characters from the first movie again, so there's that.

~ Go see The Quiet Man on the big screen thanks to TCM and Fathom Events Check!  I took my ten-year-old along, and she very much enjoyed it.  I have now seen a John Wayne movie on the big screen -- AT LAST!!!  It was absolutely marvelous.

~ Make a hobbit-themed wreath Check!  I think it turned out really cute:

~ Make a fairy garden outside Check!  Well, we're in the process, as you can see.  we haven't got anything flowering yet, and we haven't had time to make cute little twig furnishings for the park in the center, but we're getting there.

My three kids and I each have a little ceramic fairy house that we bought, and succulents around the houses to look like trees.  We have little flat black pebbles making paths between the houses to lead to a little park in the center where we planted some tiny plants.  We also scattered seeds in the open areas, some of which came up.  

This is a close-up of my fairy house, which I love.  The garden is definitely still a work in progress, though!

~ Visit Disney World and Legoland for the first time! Check!  We had a very jolly time :-D  Here's a picture of me in my favorite spot in the Magic Kingdom:

Will you look at that?  I checked EVERYTHING off!  Oh my goodness.  No wonder I'm a bit tired -- it's been a busy spring, hasn't it?

Look for my summer to-do list soon!