Welcome to the June 2026 edition of the Ultimate Coffee Date link up Deborah and I host the first Friday of every month so we can catch up on all the little things we would discuss if we were having coffee.
You know how this works—grab the badge, link your post, and comment on the other blogs in the link-up.
Catching Up at the June 2026 Coffee Date
If we were having coffee, I would catch you up on our weather. After 10 rainy days in a row, it has been beautiful this week. While I was over the gloomy weather, it did wonders for Mrs. Toad!
She really makes me smile!
If we were having coffee, I would catch you up on my daughter’s move. She is literally on her way to Florida right now with the official real estate closings on her old and new houses set for next week! 🤞 I’m so excited for her and looking forward to seeing her new place in a few weeks.
If we were having coffee, I would catch you up on my puzzling. Can you believe I just completed my first puzzle of 2026? I just haven’t been in the mood, but when my husband got me a new puzzle table for Mother’s Day, I had to try it out and chose this lovely puzzle my Mom gave me for Christmas.
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimt
I’m surprised it only took me 2 weeks to finish, but I did have to look at the picture to figure out which gold piece went where!
If were having coffee, I would ask if you are using any AI tools regularly? We have an several powerful AI tools available to us at work, and I am getting hooked on some of them. I find that I naturally start my prompts with “Please ….” and wonder if that’s a good thing (I’m so polite!) or shows that I am being fooled by the system. 🤷♀️
If we were having coffee, I would make another PSA about heart disease and the unusual symptoms that may occur in women. A close friend went to her doctor last week because of persistent heartburn. Today she is having triple bypass surgery because the stress test they ordered “to rule out” any cardiac issues led to imaging to “look into things further” which found severe blockages in three main vessels. This article has a good explanation why what feels like “heartburn” might be more serious, but the bottom line is to get checked out if you have any doubt—and even if you don’t!
What would you catch me up on?
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That puzzle looks really challenging!! So many similar shades of brown, gold, and yellow, and not many obvious clues to work with. 😄
I’m curious about your new puzzle table. What does it look like? Does it have any clever features, like a stand for the puzzle box so you can see the picture while you work, or trays for sorting pieces by colour?
Thanks.
The puzzle table has a smooth surface and a piece of plastic you can use to cover the work in process, and 4 drawers for sorting that were just large enough to sort the 1000 pieces.
Wow, how scary about your friend but so glad they caught it and are doing surgery. It is a good reminder to listen to your body! Get checked out!
That puzzle looks incredible and intense. Congrats!
That’s so scary about your friend. I’ve had that stress/echo your friend had. I’m glad they caught it. What a lovely puzzle. Looks difficult!
I hope your friend’s bypass surgery goes well today and that she has a speedy and complete recovery. Thank you for continuing to advocate for heart health. You just never know who you might help by getting the word out on the symptoms of heart disease.
How exciting for your daughter and her move! I bet you can’t wait to see her new place!
Your friend’s situation is really eye-opening! I hope all goes well with her surgery.
Love that puzzle – Looks very challenging!
Good grief, that puzzle looks HARD!!! The finished product is pretty though. What do you do with them when you’re finished?
Your daughter is a hardy soul, moving to Florida in June. It would be like moving to Alaska in January- she’ll have to wait about five months but then we’ll have lovely weather.
Thanks for the PSA! Hope your friend’s surgery goes well.
I hope your friend’s bypass surgery goes well. That’s a scary story. I’ve become more aware of my own risks recently and have put in some time to look up what changes I should and need do when it comes to food choices especially.
I’m not big on AI but not anti either. I use privacy-focused LLMs now and then for brain storming or search queries that I don’t expect search engines to be able to handle. But recently I’ve become so tired of how it just echoes what I say and I don’t get much out of it anymore. However, I still love Claude for coding, I built my blogging app with it and still use it now and then to fix bugs, add new features or adjust something. I know I saw a headline on YouTube about why you should be polite to LLMs! I didn’t see the video but you might want to have a look!
It is definitely important to keep on top of any symptoms that feel off and get them checked out immediately. Being proactive about your health is never a bad idea. It has been so nice this week!
It’s so common for women to ignore symptoms that seem “normal” to us as women. I hope your friend’s procedure goes well.
I’ve only done one puzzle this year so far but also enjoyed it!
I don’t use AI too much because I feel bad wasting energy on my social posts (and don’t need it for much else – except maybe vacation planning!)
I’ve been thinking of your friend. I hope all goes for her today, and that her recovery is a success. I love that puzzle!
That puzzle is stunning! My husband had a custom puzzle made for me of the pugs on the couch and it is taking me forever. The dogs and the couch are the same color, and it’s just so much lol!
The PSA is an important one. Thanks for the reminder!
Gorgeous flowers!
Love the coffee date idea! One thing I have been enjoying lately is using pictro.ai to enhance some of my coffee shop photos before posting them – it is an AI image enhancer that works great for food and lifestyle shots. Makes my monthly coffee date pics look a lot more Instagram-worthy. Thanks for hosting this link up!
Ahh, those flowers are so pretty! :]
That puzzle looks like it’d be suuuper difficult — definitely would’ve taken me way more than just 2 weeks!
Such an important PSA! So sorry to hear that about your friend but I’m really glad that they were able to find/treat the blockages. <3
Love the coffee date link up idea! It is such a great way to catch up on the little things that make life special. Those Memorial Day photos are beautiful — the Korean War Veterans Memorial always gives me chills too. And congratulations on the 10K, slowest race or not, every finish line counts! Happy June everyone!
Coffee dates are the best way to catch up! I love how you and Deborah keep this link-up going month after month — it really creates such a warm sense of community. I have been spending a lot of time editing and enhancing photos with pictro.ai lately and it has been such a game changer for my food photography and everyday snapshots. Your June goals sound great — here is to a wonderful summer!
Such a fun idea to do a virtual coffee date! I always enjoy reading what everyone has been up to. Your summer reading list sounds amazing — I need to add some of those titles to my queue. I have been using musicgpt.pro to create custom background music for my running playlists and it has really helped me stay motivated on longer runs. Thanks for hosting this wonderful link-up every month!
I hate the rain (it’s been sooooo rainy here) but I agree it makes the plants very happy!
love the puzzle. – Klimt is one of my faves! but that must have been a challenge!
hoping your friend will be all right! keeping good thoughts for her!