Conversations with Kav – Summer Catch Up and a bit of Housekeeping + Giveaway

Can you believe we’re more than halfway through the summer already? Can’t say I’ll miss the heat when the autumn comes. We’re already getting back to school advertisements and the stores are stocking up with school supplies. I always get the itch to buy notebooks and pens etc. ’round about now. I might have succumbed at the Dollar Store recently, but, in my defence they had the cutest composition journals! And nifty eraser tape. Coloured pencils. Gel pens in a rainbow of colours. Oy. I may not be going back to school but I still can’t resist!

Ahem, but we’re not here to talk about all that. Today is going to be a smorgasbord of topics in random order. Feel free to join in the conversation in the comments and, if you do, I’ll enter you in a draw for a $10.00 Baker Book House gift card. Speaking of which…the perfect segue to our first topic:

Baker Book House Online Woes! I have been having issues logging on to the BBH site to place my orders for a while now. It used to be hit and miss and then I couldn’t log in on my laptop but I could log in on my computer only I haven’t been able to sign in at all this week. (Apologies to Connie and Cindy, last week’s winners who are still waiting for their wins. Well, Cindy has a long wait since her book doesn’t release until October so we have a bit of leeway there!)

I’ve sent two help emails to Baker Book House without any response. I’m not sure what else I can do. I have a MacBook Air laptop and an Apple computer – not sure if that could play into it? What’s happening: either I get nothing when I click on the ‘sign in/my account’ button OR I do get the log in box but nothing happens when I fill it out. Sooo frustrating. So, I thought I’d ask if anyone else has been having the same problem? And if so, did they find a solution? Any suggestions?

Funny AI Update: Literally the week after I posted my AI blog, my yahoo email suddenly decided to bestow an AI assistant upon me. Every time I opened an email, the helpful AI ass’t would summarize the body of the text for me, getting the simplest things all muddled up in the process. So ridiculously annoying, since emails are usually brief and to the point anyway, so really why would I need a summary of four or five lines?! And hilarious that it couldn’t grasp the important points of an email text.

On top of that this irritating AI ass’t ‘helpfully’ prioritized my emails so that when I signed on, I only got the emails the AI thought were important. It took me nearly a week to realize that I could click on an ‘all’ button and see all the emails and by then I had over fifty of them. So if I’ve missed an email somewhere along the way recently, that might be why. AI always defaulted to ‘priority’ email list and I’d have to manually select ‘all’ every single time I went into my email. Gah!

I finally discovered a cleverly hidden ‘opt out’ button and was able to go back to my plain old un AI email. Phew! Of course, then the email popped up a message box and wanted to know what it did wrong. I was very thorough in my reply and now I’m feeling kinda guilty lest I hurt it’s feelings. 🙂

Garden Woes: Those ripening, juicy red tomatoes? Yeah, the chipmunks enjoyed them. Well, they took a bite out of each one and tossed the rest. Sigh. Now I’m picking barely orange tomatoes and letting them ripen on my counter.

Best Reads Summer Book Bingo Update: We already have 7 Bingo Blackouts and a slew of line Bingos with more coming in every week. Woohoo! I finally found my holiday romance so I’m a Blackout too. Just a reminder that you have until midnight EST time on August 31 to get your Bingos in. So…just three more weeks of summer reading. If you need a refresher here’s the original post: https://kavsbestreads.ca/2025/06/01/conversations-with-kav-summer-reading-fun-giveaway/

Re Giveaways: just a reminder to always check the editions available in your country for the giveaways. I’ve tried to make it as clear as possible by adding ‘+Giveaway’ to the blog title if there will be a book giveaway that day and then listing the options in red under the ‘Giveaway Opportunity’ at the end of each blog. Not every review will necessarily include a giveaway, so do look for that ‘+ Giveaway’ after the title, as well as the giveaway options listed after the review.

But today there is a giveaway! Add to the conversation in the comments below (especially if you have solutions to my BBH woes) to be entered for a $10.00 Baker Book House gift card. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday August 16 2025.

59 thoughts on “Conversations with Kav – Summer Catch Up and a bit of Housekeeping + Giveaway”

  1. So it’s not just me! I tried to log into my Baker Book House account yesterday on a few different devices (iPhone and iPad) before it FINALLY worked on the computer I created the account. How odd! 

    Oh! Chipmunks and squirrels can be so frustrating! They’re cute, but they were chowing down on our blueberries this year. We also have a peach tree and this was the first year we were getting a harvest. We had about a dozen or so peaches and just as they were ripening a squirrel ate every single peach in one afternoon. There was nothing left. We’ve already bought a net to wrap around the tree for next year.

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    1. Ooooh, you too? Maybe we are all apart of an exclusive club?! Your peach tree horror story hurts my gardener’s heart. That’s so devastating. Peaches should be sacred! Now I’m craving fresh baked peach pie. Didn’t see them in the grocery store yet, our harvest is later up here, but it should be soon. Good luck, Bridget!

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  3. I’m sorry I have no help to offer you in the Baker House issue. But as for the tomatoes, I commiserate. Chipmunks are not my foe, the deer and rabbits are. We wrapped my peas and strawberries up in mesh to protect them, but the tomatoes are so large and we have so many of them, that it didn’t work out. It seems we have a late harvest this year anyway, so who knows if they will be ripe enough before the frost… Gardening woes.

    kathrynlvossATgmailDOTcom

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    1. I’m in the heart of the city so I don’t have deer issues, though I understand they can be quite devastating to a garden. I have mesh over some of plants, but, as you say, the tomatoes are just too sprawling. I’ve seen people start to build cages for their gardens around here. They look like chicken runs only for plants! Good luck, Kathryn!

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  5. I’m glad you figured out that AI email problem, that would be a pain! I haven’t ordered from BBH in a while, but it sounds like you aren’t the only one. Maybe they are doing some upgrades and it will resolve soon, we can only hope.

    Re tomatoes, we had critters biting ours and then leaving them a few years ago. My husband then read an article about just that and learned they are most likely looking for water more than the food. We keep 2 birdbaths filled and a water dish out now and that has really helped the problem. Maybe give it a try?

    I was just thinking about the bingo game the other day and how much fun it was. I wouldn’t mind doing another one sometime 🙂

    Have a great reading Sunday everyone!

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    1. I came back to comment on school supplies. I’ve been out of schools for a LONG time, but I still pick up spiral notebooks and pens every year. I use the spiral notebooks for recording the books I read, author book counts, stats and such. I’ve been using the same one for three years and it’s almost full. So, I’m excited to start a brand new book notebook for 2026. I’m just nerdy enough to get a thrill out of a new notebook, haha. And I must go checkout all those supplies you mentioned at the Dollar Store. I usually do this at Walmart, spiral notebooks are 3/$1.00, cheapest scratch pad ever.

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      1. My dollar store is a Dollarama, not sure if you have them around you or if it’s a Canadian company. Anyway, the composition books I got are soooo cute! They have wider line spacing which I love (stationary nerdy thing) but the covers are pretty pastel flowers and makes me so happy. 🙂 I use all kinds of books for my goal tracking and keeping track of giveaway entries and logging bookish quotes and tbr wish lists and recommended wish lists and…..Really, I’m just trying to justify my notebook purchases. Oh — and I got the cutes little one for tracking Bingo entries. It has woodland critters all over it. Okay, I’ll stop now before I start waxing poetic about my coloured pencil collection. Bwahaha!

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    2. The BBH thing is just so strange, especially now that I know I’m not the only one with the same issue. You think they’d be working on a solution or post an explanation or something? I will persevere. Bridget got through eventually, so hopefully I will too.

      Ohhh, that’s a good point about the tomatoes. Might explain why they just take a bite out of it. I did set up a makeshift water bowl from a terracotta tray in my front yard where all the flowers are, I’ll add some more around my tomato plants. Great idea. Thanks to your husband for the suggestion.

      Yeah, checking off those bingo squares got a bit addictive, didn’t it? Maybe another seasonal one…Christmas themed maybe? Good luck, Tracey!

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  6. While AI might have it’s place, I can see where it would also be a pain. I have enough problems with auto correct that think it knows better on what word I need. Oh my, the way it changes things can be quite embarrassing if not caught in time!

    Feel for you on the chipmunks antics. When we spot a tasted and tossed veggie, we are always yelling at them that we plant enough to share, but they need to learn what we did about cleaning your plate (eating it ALL) before going on to something else. We not only have chipmunks, but a LOT of squirrels, deer, birds that are notorious for pecking at ripe fruit and veggies and many other critters that all seem to have the same habit. And yes, we learned a long time ago, that if we wanted any to eat ourselves to pick them early. One year, years ago when we had more cleared land and the energy of youth, we had a huge garden supplies several families and even a Mexican restaurant tomatoes for their salsa, we had newspaper laying on just about every place on the floor inside our house. We had little paths to walk on. It was a big job to just keep up with what had ripened and keeping the tomatoes turned. After that year, I said NO MORE! We are happy with our 10X20′ raised bed that this year gives us enough tomatoes, okra and banana peppers for our needs in keeping us well fed in fresh veggies. At least now, I’m down to one large box lined with newspaper in the kitchen floor for ripening tomatoes.

    Working on the BINGO with each book I read. Slower than I’d wish it to be, but sometimes I have to forego one that would make off a square for a book that needs to be read in a timely manner. It’s fun to see where my X’s will go and if I can get line or a blackout in time.

    Have a sensational Sunday and a wonderful upcoming week!

    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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    1. whoa — epic tomato adventures, Kay! I can only hope to have a fraction of that harvest! One year I thought I’d outsmart the critters by growing them their own garden. They loved it, but then they invited their friends and, of course, the little critter garden couldn’t feed all of them so, like good hosts, they opened the party to my whole garden. 😦 Happy Bingoing, Kay and good luck!

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  8. I’m so sorry about your 🍅🍅🍅s. It’s a shame bc gardening isn’t an easy job. We gave up, but hubby CAN grow some healthy peppers. The hot ones, so no thanks. I recently tried orange & red bell peppers (I always used the green ones), and realized they’re much more sweet & flavorful. Who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? lol We’ve had so much rain our flowers are overflowing the bed & squeezing each other out. Our bunny is happy, I’m sure!

    Glad you got your AI woes fixed! I hope you did hurt his feelings so he’ll go away & stay away! I never have any trouble with my AOL acc’t except a few emails land in my spam occasionally. I know only people who are older than dirt still have AOL, so there ya go. hahaha Actually it’s the email address for so many things like my Amazon acc’t, booksellers, medical records MyChart, etc, & authors get a hold of me through my AOL email, so I just never wanted to switch it.

    I very recently ordered Gelato at the Villa from Baker & had no issues. It must’ve been a glitch. I really enjoyed Bingo & it helped me read more books & certain ones I may not have considered but really enjoyed! I set a goal to read 100 books this yr & according to GRs stats, I’m 15 books ahead of the game. So I’m sure bingo played a part in that.

    Have a blessed Sunday & thanks for the giveaway opportunity! dianalflowers at aol dot com

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    1. Just tried to sign in to Baker and no go. 😦 Why doesn’t it like me?

      Ohhhh — positive gardening news — I cut back my daisies and they are blooming again. Shorter stems, but just as pretty. I’m happy dancing over that garden victory. We are having a drought this month and crazy high temps again for the next five days. Boohoo! Guess that means more hours sitting in front of the fan reading. Such a sacrifice! Bwahahaha!

      The AI email issue was just about the last straw. I really wanted to switch my email service but, as you said, it’s connected to so many things, it would be a real pain to change it now. Luckily I could boot that little AI interloper to the curb. 🙂

      I’m glad you enjoyed playing Bingo this summer. I always enjoy participating in reading challenges – they are fun to track and push me to try different genres and authors too. Good luck, Diane!

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      1. I just tried to sign in to Baker & you’re right! It won’t let me. 😲 I’m glad I hurried up & pre-ordered that book or I might’ve not been able to! I was going to wait & pre-order it this week but didn’t bc maybe I’d forget & miss out on the pre-order goodies. Whew! I wonder what the problem is?

        Yay, about your daisies!! I will gladly share our rain with you. The cooler weather from the rain is a perk, but it’s been dreary outside for over a week & I miss the sun. And the weather report is promising the same for the next 10 days. The sun may pop out for an hour & then disappear behind the clouds the rest of the day. Ugh!

        So sorry about your tremendous sacrifice. I mean what a dilemma to have to sit & read to cool off. And it’s such a loooong day. You poor dear. 😉

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      2. Okay, that’s officially weird. I wonder if BBH realizes there’s a problem? It’s so erratic maybe most people are just trying again later? I see they have a toll free number but it says it’s for the store and the cafe. I wonder if the online orders would be a different contact. Can’t find anything else though. Might have to try giving them a call tomorrow.

        Mother Nature is just messing with us all in different ways. She needs to get a hobby…oh, maybe we should recommend a book for her to read to distract her from messing with the weather so much! 🙂

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      3. Too funny about getting Mother Nature a book, except when she finishes reading we’d have to get her another. The Bible would be the best choice since it has a lot of pgs & perhaps might help her behave, too! Hubby says the weather is erratic bc they’re spraying our skies. Oh, don’t get him started on that. He’ll talk to anyone who will listen about that subject. 🙄

        I wonder if Baker is aware. Maybe if you call & tell them their online store isn’t working & peeps can’t sign in they could at least report it. IDK 🤔

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  9. Thank you for bringing up the most interesting topics to discuss. I appreciated the one about NetGalley. I learned a lot. Thanks for talking about the AI assistant. I do not appreciate them giving me a summary of my email. before I’ve even had a chance to open and read it for myself. I feel like they are opening my mail before I even get a chance to see it.

    I do not like the summary before I open the email because it creates more business on my screen. It gets overwhelming when you throw in the ads in the mix.

    Thanks for all you do and for the topics we discuss.

    nora finding hope at yahoo

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    1. I feel like I’ve barely skimmed the surface of Net Galley. So much to learn, but I’d rather be reading which is why it is so much fun to have bookish friends in the know. 🙂 Good luck, Nora!

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    1. I’ve sent two emails — Baker Book House, not Barnes and Nobles — and no replies. First one was a month or so ago. I’m going to try calling the store tomorrow. Good luck, Paula!

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  11. I’ve been filling out my bingo board and only have a recommendation from my sister to tackle and add before I turn mine in. I have a question though. I was adding my titles/authors to the squares on the board and wondered if it’s okay to send mine in as a photo?

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  12. I tried to send you an email about the Bingo but my email provider will not send it to you!
    Can you send me another email- because I can usually send you one back if you give me one first. Or I can send it in reply to the one you just sent me about Baker.

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    1. Gah — we can’t even blame my AI assistant since I gave him the books. 🙂 I’ll send you an email. My address ends in .ca, not .com, because I’m in Canada. People often make that mistake but that’s the only reason I can think why your email wouldn’t send it. I’ll send you an email.

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  13. Kav, I’ve been hearing that people are having trouble with ordering on Baker Book House, but I haven’t had that trouble yet — and I just signed in to my account and all but completed a purchase just to see if it is working for me today and it is. Now I’ve probably just complicated the issue since it’s working fine for me 🙂 Knock on wood! 🙂 And that’s odd that they haven’t answered your emails, but perhaps they’ve been flooded with emails about the issue. Good luck finding out something when you call! Btw, that AI issue would’ve driven me bonkers! 🙂

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  14. Oh no, I am so sorry you are having trouble with Baker House! I hope it is resolved soon, you don’t need the stress. I love hearing about your notebooks/pens etc. It’s so hard to resist, isn’t it?! My niece and nephew started back to school the first of August, and kids here in Ohio will be back in soon. We have not been able to garden at this house, the deer eat everything. I am hoping in our next house we will have more luck. I am enjoying the Bingo board, it has had me be more intentional on some of my book picks (still trying to read the ones I own, though). No need to enter me, I just wanted to join the chat 🙂

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    1. Yikes! Back to school already? All your schools must have air conditioning! I can’t imagine trying to learn in the heat of the summer. Our kids are still hitting the wading pools and day camps and beaches here.

      I always thought it would be so romantic to have deer strolling through my garden, but I see now that’s just a Bambi fantasy. I’m glad I just have to contend with chipmunks and squirrels and the occasional raccoon. Glad you are enjoying playing Bingo! Happy Summer Reading!

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      1. Yes, the schools here do have A/C and heat. But each state goes back at different times, which I think is weird, LOL! Yeah, I love seeing the deer, but they are not conducive to gardening, neither are the groundhogs, chipmunks, coyotes, squirrels, and other critters that come through.

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  15. I just signed into my Baker Book account without a problem. Hopefully you’ll be able to also.

    The bingo was fun to do. I got mine done early since I’ll be returning to work at school this week and my reading time will be reduced, sadly.

    I feel for you about your tomatoes. I haven’t had much luck with mine but I don’t think it’s the fault of squirrels. Our weather has been hot and humid so maybe that’s one of the problems. I hope you can enjoy some of yours.

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    1. humph! I’m beginning to feel slighted. I wonder if it’s an Apple?Mac vs a PC. I have Mac and I think one other person I know who has been having trouble has a Mac as well.

      Yikes, Pam, you are back to work at school this week? That’s brutal! I’m assuming you got off for summer vacation earlier then we did. Our kids go right to the end of June and then we go back the day after Labour Day. Good luck, Pam!

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  16. Oh no! I’m sorry about your tomatoes! I’m always amazed, but not usually pleased, at all the places AI assistants are popping up. Internet searches, websites to answer questions, etc. but inside your email?! That’s crazy! I’m glad you found a way to opt out!

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  17. I’m definitely tech-challenged, so I’m probably no help at all. The only thing I can think of is to use a different server and see if that works. I usually use Firefox and sometimes I need to switch to Chrome to make things work. I can only leave reviews on Barnes & Nobel and Books-a-Million if I use Chrome. My son put some blocks on Firefox, so I’m thinking that might be the reason. ? ?

    I’ve been picking my tomatoes early and ripening them indoors. They ripen fairly fast. We don’t have chipmunks or squirrels (so far), but we do have deer that occasionally snack in our garden.

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    1. Hadn’t thought about switching servers. Haven’t tried that yet. Though why it would work sometimes and not others is just strange. I just made a foray into my garden before the heat hit and picked all the ripening tomatoes I could find plus I left water out for the chipmunks so maybe that will work! Good luck, Winnie!

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  18. Hi Kav,

    Apparently, they updated their firewalls. I was able to to log in once on my iPhone after clearing all the cookies and browser history. I also tried to email them with no success. I was able to log onto their website on my PC this morning using Chrome, but you may need to change the browser you’re using. You can follow them on Facebook and send a private message–I don’t know if that would get you results. When I mentioned to Chris Jager, the book buyer for BBH, that I was having problems, she commented that “if you are on Safari or Chrome the new firewalls they put up are causing issues. If you use the contact us button at the bottom of the page, they will help you with a workaround.” Hope this is helpful. It can take them awhile to respond, because they don’t have a lot of staff there, and they may be taking vacation off and on through the summer. Keep trying! They’ve been helpful to me in the past.

    Karen Rhoades (kcrhoadesATroadrunnerDOTcom)

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    1. I’m using Safari so that makes sense. I dread doing the whole clearing of cookies and browsing history for fear I don’t have all my passwords to various sites saved or updated. Ugh. Good point about people being on vacation. Still, you’d think an online store would want to be sure their products are accessible for multiple browsers….just plain good business sense. It’s the contact us button that I’ve been using to email them but haven’t had any luck yet. I’ll look into it some more today. Thanks for the info, Karen. Good luck!

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  19. I just sent a Facebook Messenger message to Baker Book House. I got a response in about a 1/2 hour. (E-mails are ignored and a phone call mentioning the problem does no good) They recommend using Chrome (which I did) which supposably works better. It doesn’t…I’ve tried my IPhone, IPad and pc with Chrome. They can call you, or in my case I called them because my phone is locked down to unknown callers. Even though I have been told in the past that you could NOT order a book over the phone, you definitely can! Their number is on the website. So, please flood their Messenger with the woes of not being able to order online! The squeaky wheel gets the oil. The nice young lady on the phone did say that they were working on the website. It’s been that way for months, so I wonder…..but I try really hard because I want to support a Christian book store. I’m pretty sure we don’t have one here anymore. I also wonder if they’ve noticed a drastic drop in online orders. Most people would just move on and order from Amazon.

    perrianne (DOT) askew (AT) me (DOT) com

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    1. And the plot thickens. The problem with Chrome is that it doesn’t work well with a Mac or Apple PC which is what I have. This is so frustrating. It’s been so hot and yucky my brain has been too fried to try work at this today. I don’t have Facebook but I will call them and email them again. Maybe once a day until they notice. I mean, I would think they rely on their online sales more than local in person shopping, right? They’re losing a lot of business. Thanks for sharing what you have learned so far. Good luck, Perrianne!

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      1. Technical Note: Hubby (retired software engineer) says I did NOT use Chrome because it’s not as secure……I guess he took it off of my pc???

        I’m working on the Bingo Card!

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  20. I haven’t tried to log into BBH in a month or two. Just tried on my Iphone and couldn’t get logged in, but could on my desktop computer which uses Google Chrome. I didn’t try to place an order…

    We just got a new computer about a week ago, and I was seeing the same issues in my Yahoo e-mail. I got rid of the very ‘helpful’ synopsis, but same as you have to remember to select the ‘All’ email tab at the top!

    I’m hoping to get at least one more BINGO, hopefully!

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    1. No worries, Lucy, I’ve been getting some interesting info from other people who’ve experienced the same issues I have which makes me feel like part of an elite group now. 🙂 Good luck!

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  22. Memories of Big Chief tablets looking for the red cover and the soft, lined paper inside; crayons!!; and freshly sharpened pencils were my go to. I still like Mead college ruled 5×8”notebooks with colored pocket tabs dividing class subjects (detailed description too, ha). On the subject of having to re-read what I write because AI thinks a replaced word that makes no sense is somehow better meaning? Irritating and then have to send a clarification from M.E. to fix it. I am running this altogether or all together

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      1. I am a sucker for notebooks – College rule 100 page with sturdy covers for writing my book reviews. and black click pens from Dollar tree. I also like 5×7 notebooks for keeping track of everything bookish.

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  23. Then the above froze on me. Chipmunks ~ query why they take one sample from each 🙃. I have found munching is true there, and getting a drink. I love cherry tomatoes and one year planted them too close to fence ~ when they spread, required harvesting between fence wires. So, I liked this hodgepodge 😊of subjects all together! Kathleen lanehillhouse(at)gmail(dot)com and didn’t mention Baker House….

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  24. Just now reading about your troubles with Baker, so hopefully, your problem has been resolved this week. I’m also a person who can’t resist grabbing notebooks this time of year. For several years, our church had Back-to-School Sunday. Each person could donate materials from a suggested supply list. I loved looking at the notebooks, glue sticks, and colored pens, and always grabbed some to keep! Now, we just offer the children a gift card, in case they need something else more.

    Connie

    cps1950ATgmailDOTcom

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    1. Still not resolved. Grrrr. I love the idea go giving back to school gift cards. We do a fill a backpack drive but I like the idea of maybe adding a gift card to that as well. So much fun for the child to pick out personal preference items, plus, as you say, there might be a greater need elsewhere. Good luck, Connie!

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