Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

WooHoo, it pays to read! I got notified yesterday that I won one of the gift cards from my local library system. They had an online trivia contest based upon the websites of all of the local libraries. Four different quizzes with the area libraries divided into four groups. 

Last summer they had a contest but there you had to actually visit the library. This was so much easier. I could do it from the comfort of my living room. 

We got snow over the past week and now cold. So great weather for staying inside and reading!

The Heiress has lots of twists and turns. A dysfunctional extended family, suspicious family deaths, adopted offspring, abduction. Just a few of the plot twists that I did not see coming and didn't expect it to end how it did.

How to Solve Your Own Murder, this was a fun book. In 1965 Frances has her fortune told at a fun fair and she believes it. The fact that she will be murdered. Sixty plus years later she dies and yes, she was murdered. Her library is a murder diagram, pictures of people and yarn between people. Multiple books on anyone who might be a suspect. Her two main heirs have one week to figure out who did it and if they do, they inherit her estate. Book alternates to events of the past with the current time.

The Furies: Women, Vengeance and Justice the author examines three real cases in which women reacted to defend themselves and others against men.  Also how the legal system, society and other institutions that should help protect them, actually work against them in cases of domestic violence.

The Making of the King covers the period of just before Queen Elizabeth's death through the following year. Interesting to read all of the decisions that surrounded both her funeral and then the coronation. What if any changes would come. As the book stated, doing the same things, but differently. 

Happy Reading. 

Mini-ManCat Monday - Auf Wiedersehen

It decided to be like a real winter this past week. We got snow! Enuf snow mum had to use the snow eater and make sure the fevvers had foods. It snowed twice in one week too. So everything is all white, instead of all brown.

Before and after pics of the driveway. Good to go, streets are good too, so no issues to get around. 

Mum cellybrated her purrthday yesterday. Another trip around the sun for her and she is an old lady. Again, she says, or still. She had a nice day and will continue to cellybrate with furiends this week. She got regular cards, ecards, purrs from me, texts too. 

Now if you noticed that today is more than just Mini-ManCat Monday. It is the day I have decided to retire from being a blogging cat. I don't have much to say. I sleep, eat, pee, poop and bug mum. Not much to blog about. 

Back in 2005, long before I was even born, Derby got really brave and with mum's help started blogging. He got inspired by Max the Psycokitty. His first post was on November 3, 2005.

After all of this time between Derby and me it is time to say farewell. Heck, I have been at this for 15 years! My 15th Gotcha Day was last week. And gee, I am an old guy at 16, going on 17!

Now while I won't be posting regular on Monday, I do reserve the right to stop in on Wednesday and say hi if I have something to let you know about.

Mum will continue with her reading stuff. Seems all you guys like books!

Last week on Thursday was my 15th Gotcha-versary. Wow, me and mum have been together for a long time. Although sometimes she looks at me and gets leaky eyes. I think she knows that someday I won't be here. Never know how long I will be here. 

Don't worry! At least not yet. I am just going to take it easy. Nothing is wrong, at least nothing we know about. Well, if you don't count the aging kidney issues all of us kits get! Special foods are keeping me good for now.

A selfie with me and mum and then just me in the sunny window.
 

Until we meet again! Auf Wiedersehen.

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

Just finished watching the Westminster Dog show. Back in Madison Square Garden after being either outside or at the Ashe tennis facility. These past few years it has been held later in the year, back in February and I almost missed it. My favorite name was an English Springer Spaniel, official name was Bohemian Rhapsody, his daily name is Freddie! The winner was a giant schnauzer.

Ducky did join me to watch some of it, but I think he was just looking for warms! Going to be cool and snow on Wednesday, may be our biggest snowfall of the season. Plus I have to go out in it too, haircut! Hope it isn't too bad when I have to go out. 

When we have sunny days you can really tell that the days are longer. Sunrise is before 7 AM now and sunset after 5 PM. Less than a month until daylight saving starts. 

 

Two Dead Wives I deferred reading this until later when I found out it was a second book in a series. I added in the first book to my list and added this one back in. Then I read the first one, or tried to read it and decided not to read this anyway. The story really didn't jive with me.

The Demon of Unrest is a work on non-fiction by one of my favorite non-fiction authors. It covers the period of late 1860 into 1861; the election of Abraham Lincoln to the fall of Fort Sumter in the Charleston harbor. Deemed the seminal act that started the actual conflict of the American Civil War. 

On a side note a pet peeve of mine. Libraries that put stickers on books that block the cover. Title, art or whatever. In this case the art. It isn't even the barcode to check out the book, that is inside the front cover, but a sticker of the library itself.  In this case it covers a depiction of what the Fort looked like while it was under attack.

The Princess of Las Vegas two sisters, Chrissy and Betsy, plus Betsy's adopted daughter Marisa. Chrissy works in Vegas as a Princess Diana impersonator. Add in the mob, crypto, murder so you get one heck of a page turner. 

 

Happy Reading!

Mini-ManCat Monday

 Civilization is defined by the presence of cats. - Unknown 

Hi everyone, it is Ducky here on this Monday. This is how I spent lots of Sunday. Napping in the sunshine, then I would go sit on mum. She said I was furry warm. She liked that.

We had a little bit of snow this past week, but it was so little mum didn't even try to shovel. She just let the sunshine make it go away. She is getting lazy! MOL. 

Stouper Bowl Report

Those high flying Eagles stomped on the Chiefs. Heck, the Eagles were pitching a shut out for nearly 75% of the game. Mum really didn't care who won, she just watched for the game and the ads. Plus she worked on her crow-shay as usual. 

One thing is that our Pack is still the only team who has won three consecutive years of championships. They have even done it twice, way back when in 1929-1931, then again 1965-1967. Those last two years was when they won the first two Stouper Bowls. 

So that is the it from here. Have a good week.

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

I checked back and I started these Wonderful Wordy Wednesday posts on Feb 2, 2022. That means three years worth of books I've shared. 

Yes, Ducky has three litter boxes. When I had two cats I had three boxes and never downsized! Part of it is that I have knees and ankles that make doing stairs less than fun, so I don't want to do that every day. Extra boxes means I don't have to do the stairs every day!

I looked at the sunrise and sunset times, our daylight length is now more than 10 hours. Also the sun has come far enough north that it shines in the back windows of my house. 

Weather is cold, so not outside time, so that means time to read!

Does This Taste Funny? is a collection of family, friends and traditional recipes from South Carolina. Or in Evie's family, they are called receipts. The two grew up near each other in Charleston, SC but didn't meet until they were adults. The recipes are "introduced" by them with stories of the food. Why they included it. I enjoy it when she is on The Late Show, fun banter between the two and you see some of that in print. 

Lots of pictures, both of the food and their family. 

I love my library, heck I love all libraries. I hope you have a good one in your area to patronize. I wouldn't be able to read the number of books that I do if I had to purchase them all. 

Be dangerous!

Happy Reading.

Mini-ManCat Monday

A cat is a puzzle for which there is no solution.- Hazel Nicholson 

 Mum catching me napping in the sun the other day. It has been cloudy since. The local rodent has been replaced by goats, but they didn't see their shadows. Neither did mum when she was outside. 

We got a little bit of snow on Caturday night.This is the back after mum pushed the snow off the back. Plus she filled the fevver feeders.

Mum got me a couple of new litter boxes. Not bad, high sides as mum says I push too much litter out of the box!

No feetsball this weekend, the Stouper Bowl is next weekend. Mum did watch a bit of a crashcar race, but not much. 

See you next week.

 

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

While we came out of the deep freeze in terms of temperature, the winds the past few days have been wild. Gusts in the 40-50 mph range and steady winds 15-20 mph. Hopefully a little less windy today. 

Nearly at the end of January, no snow on the ground either. Strange looking at brown grass. Ground hog day is Sunday!

Did trivia night on Monday, added a forth friend. We do ok but it is just nice to get out with friends and have a good laugh or two. Plus we won for team name again, we change it up every time we play. That wins us gift cards to help pay for our refreshments the next visit.

Yes Megan, I sometimes sneak a peak towards the end of the book. As I mentioned last week I wanted to make sure the main character survived. Killing someone off is a way to end a series and I don't want this series to end, at least not yet. 

 

Notting Hill, a movie but one of my favorites that I hadn't seen in ages. It came to mind when it was an answer at one of our trivia nights. Category was 90s movie themes. This was the only one we knew and I immediately knew the answer. Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant fall in love.

The Cold Light of Day Verity and Sydney are in Dublin in 1920. They are trying to find her former colleague Alec. Is he still searching for the phosgene gas or has he joined the Irish Republican Army?

Mrs Pargeter's Patio- I didn't think there was going to be another Mrs Pargeter book but here it is. Mrs P discovers a dead body under her patio. Who is it, who killed him and why and when?. All the usual characters help her figure it out.

A Beautiful Rival is the story of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden, fierce competitors in the early days of the cosmetic and beauty business. The time period of the book covers from 1915 to the late 1940s. The spying, poaching of employees to try to stay one step ahead of each other. Both brands still exist, but the Rubinstein products, now owned by L'Oreal, are only available in Europe. The Arden brand has gone through several ownership and is currently a subsidiary of Revlon.

Grabbing books? Maybe cookbooks, good reference and there are lots of them to choose from.

Happy Reading.

Mini-ManCat Monday

 The little furry buggers are just deep, deep wells you throw all your emotions into. - Bruce Schimmel 

Woot, made it to the last Monday in January. The month that seems to go on forever! It is staying lighter a little bit later which is nice.  

The really nasty cold weather is gone. Mum actually went outside on Sunday to feed the fevvers and didn't have a hat on her ears or mitten on her fingers. When it is so cold we see lots and lots of fevvers coming to our feeders. Mum says she is gonna have to go buy more seeds!

Me hanging out with mum in her chair, reading or crow-shay. Here we are during the feetsball game.

Feetsball Report

The teams for the Stouper Bowl are set. The early game the Eagle birds won, mum says she didn't really care which team won. 

The later game mum sorta wanted both teams to win! MOL, that can't happen mum. The Bill guys have played well and mum though they deserved to go. Then again the Chief guys have a chance to win the Stouper Bowl three times in a row. It will be the Chief guys going for the three-peat. 

Mum says cuz it isn't our team there the next two weeks won't be crazy on sports here. 

Stay warm and happy this next week.

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

 Hello and welcome to winter! Past three days have been the coldest in over a year, sub-zero and dangerous wind chills. I've had things to do that were arranged weeks ago, so have been out and about. Good news is that the car starts right up even after sitting outside in the cold. Bad news is that I need to check air in the tires, the sensor went off yesterday.

Our local baseball legend Bob Uecker passed away last week. He was the radio announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers for the past 54 seasons. His wit and wisdom will be missed by fans. He actually lived in the same town I do and probably less than 5 miles away. Although he was in the higher rent district!

The cold weather has meant lots of time to read, at least in between watching lots of football. Lots of football also means crochet time!

 

 

Nine Lives and Alibis it is Halloween in Daybreak Island. Complete with having a native islander who is a medium to do readings. People hope the medium can shed some light on two forty year old issues. One murder and one missing person. Unfortunately the medium is killed and the locals have to figure it out.

A Troubling Tail Minnie is on the move with the bookmobile. While on a run she finds out that the local candy shop owner has died in suspicious circumstances. Also one of her patrons faints when she hears the news. Are these events related? Can Minnie help figure out what the connections are? Will Minnie and Rafe get their wedding organized?

That Others May Live an installment of the FBI-K9 Series. A luxury condo building in Washington DC collapses. The building has some important tenants. The K9 teams is brought in to help search for survivors. Question is, did the building collapse due to design error, poor construction or did someone deliberately cause the collapse. Page turner and I had to sneak a peek at the last chapter to make sure about the main characters.

The Air Raid Book Club tells the story of Gertie and her London bookstore over the period of World War II. Characters are Gertie; Hedy, a teenage Jewish refugee plus many other assorted friends. The bookstore becomes an air raid shelter and while they are together they read and discuss books. 

Happy Reading

Mini-ManCat Monday

 Cats were put into the world to disprove the dogma that all things were created to serve man.- Paul Gray 

DOGMA! No way, I don't do DOG anything!

Me and mum discovered a cam from the frozen north that shows a kitty condo for some feral cats. If you want to watch, go here. Nice set up for these kits, they get foods, water and a warm place to hang. 

We got lots of cold here too, but mum has to go out for stuff she arranged afore she knew is was going to be so cold! Lunch with Aunty Kellie on Monday and then another friend on Tuesay. 

Sitting by mum yesterday, she was getting all settled in to crow-shay and watch feetsball. I am going to sit on you while you crow-shay, I deserve your lap!
 

Feetsball Report

Our team is out of the playoffs but mum is still watching. 

Caturday games, the KC gang did good and sent the Texas guys home for the season. Then later in the day the Lion kits played and it wasn't a good outcome for them. This was mum's hope for a win in the Stouper Bowl. 

Sunday the flying Eagles moved on after beating the LA team. This was a fun game as it played in the snow, like being in a snow globe. They will play the Commander guys. Later the Buffalo team won over the birds from Baltimore. They had a bit of snow too but not as much. 

More games next Sunday. 

Stay warm everyone and have a good week.

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

BRRRRR, cold out and lots of indoor things to do. The latest batch of books was a bust, will pick up a new batch today. The batch is not the books in this post.

Lots of TV watching with the football playoffs so that also means lots of crochet time. I think it took me a little over four days to do a lap robe, but I watched six football games too between Saturday to Monday!

Ministry of Truth title is based on the George Orwell book 1984 in which the hero Winston Smith works. That agency was responsible for the party propaganda. In this case this is a tell of the revisionist policies of the Republican Party under Donald Trump. If you tell it often enough and loud enough it must be true. Beating the truth into submission with a combination of bluster, bluff and lies.

Blood on Their Hands a memoir by a reporter who helped to expose the crimes of of the Murdaugh family in South Carolina. The family, part of the wealthy, white, good old boys network, who manipulated people and the law to their advantage. Author started as a reporter at small newspapers and ended up with a large podcast audience while she pursued this story. The main focus of the story, Alex Murdaugh, was convicted of murdering his wife and son in 2023. He was also found guilty of financial fraud and other crimes. Interesting, I remember following this story on the news.

George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle a biography of one quarter of the Beatles. I found that the author used most of the book on his early years and his Beatle years which really was only half of his life. I had wished for more information on the later portion of his life. It was interesting to read about the dynamics of George and his fellow band mates, fellow other musicians and the women in his life too.

Happy Reading.