Welcome, back Substack friends, to the first weekend in October, where your favorite spooky holiday is upon us. Case in point this ALDI Chocolate Haunted House Cookie Kit.
Raise your hand if you love Red Lobster’s biscuits. Isn’t it great that you can buy them in the grocery and not having to eat at a Red Lobster to get them? Of course going to the source, an actual Red Lobster is where the biscuits taste amazing. You can’t replicate that goodness in a grocery store.
Ever heard of a pharmacy that gives out poems to cure what ails you? Over at Positive News they’re reporting about the Poetry Pharmacy in London, UK where “peddling literary first aid to a new generation from the most famous shopping street in the world, founder Deb Alma explains why poetry is in motion.”
“For those visiting the Poetry Pharmacy – customers or patients, depending how you see them – it’s these questions that are on their minds. The company’s new London bookshop, on Oxford Street, offers tonics to those sorts of emotional ailments. Calm, comfort, inspiration: whatever you’re searching for, there’s a book of poetry, philosophy or psychology to help you find it.
From the metaphysical poets to the romantics, poetry has long had the ability to speak to parts of our soul. When prose fails, often only verse has the answer, says Poetry Pharmacy founder Deb Alma. “At weddings and funerals, it’s a poem that’s read,” she points out. “It’s the art that people in states of heightened emotion turn to.”
With its expansive library of brightly coloured books, the Poetry Pharmacy is every poetry fan’s dream. Alma knows that lyrical writing alone won’t cure anyone of life’s greatest traumas. Instead, the London branch – situated above Lush’s heavily scented flagship store – serves as a pastiche of the idea that words cure all.”
Cute animal news alert from AP News in the form of a two-year-old rescue beaver named Nibi.
“The question of whether a 2-year-old beaver named Nibi can stay with the rescuers she has known since she was a baby or must be released into the wild was resolved Thursday when the Massachusetts governor stepped in to protect Nibi.
The state issued a permit to Newhouse Wildlife Rescue for Nibi to remain at the rehabilitation facility and serve as an educational animal.
“Nibi has captured the hearts of many of our residents, mine included,” Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said Thursday. “We’re excited to share that we have issued a permit for Nibi to remain in Newhouse’s care, continuing to educate the public about this important species.”
Nibi has been a hit on the rescue group’s social media since she was a baby, and posts about her impending release garnered thousands of comments.
An online petition to save Nibi from being released into the wild has received over 25,000 signatures, lawmakers have weighed in, and earlier this week Healey pledged to make sure Nibi is protected.”
Tis the season for everything pumpkin, so how about these Pumpkin Pancakes Muffins recipe at Skinny Taste?
Ingredients Needed:
Baking spray with flour, Such as Bakers Joy or Pam
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoon monk fruit sweetener or granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, or more to taste
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs, room temperature is best
2 cups fat free milk, unsweetened almond milk, or milk of choice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
Maple syrup, for serving
Your book recommendation this week is from 1983, and one of my all time favorite category romances- Lightning That Lingers by Sharon and Tom Curtis.
Philip Brooks is a man with a passion for biology, wildlife, and restoring his old family home—all of which add up to a pile of bills that require attention. Moonlighting as the Cougar Club's hottest dancer is a job, nothing more, nothing less—until lovely Jennifer Hamilton nearly faints during one of his shows. Her sweet innocence tugs at his heart and makes him painfully aware of his longing for the kind of love a woman as perfect and real as Jennifer can offer.
Watching her most secret fantasy come to life on the dance floor is almost more than Jennifer can bear. Now, the sexiest man she's ever met is near enough to hold. For a shy, bookish lady with little experience in the romance department, life feels as if it's spinning out of control—and not in the direction, or with the kind of man, she ever imagined. Can she believe in the passion Philip ignites and take a chance on a dance that could last a lifetime?
Why I’m recommending this book- Lightning That Lingers could possibly be the best book to ever come out as a single category romance. This books is very sweet and telling of human nature and what we see is not necessarily what we get.
Jennifer is a very shy librarian who has just started out on her own. One night her co-workers go out for a night on the town. They go to a strip club where they salivate over stripper Philip. Jenny is just plain embarrassed by the whole situation, which Philip senses, but tries to help her enjoy herself by offering her a little kiss.
Philip is not only a stripper. He is from a very old school family upbringing, has a love for animals and is very very lonely. He needs money and the only way he knows how is to strip for it. He sees Jenny again in town and knows there is something special about her. Perhaps she can help erase his loneliness?
The Curtis duo have written Jenny and Philip in a beautiful way. Philip is described as drop dead gorgeous whereas Jenny is a little plain but also cute. Philip handles her like one of his baby owls. Jenny in turn allows herself to accept what Philip is offering.
These are just two people trying to find their place in life. Hopefully Jenny can get past Philip's job so they can build a life together.
Philip is a true gentleman in every sense and Jenny maybe a little naive but when she is with Philip, she shines.
For adults and teens alike, this book will "Linger" long after you have finished.
Try to retain the positive and not the negative…