Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

Happy Last Wednesday of the year. I started these reading posts back in February. I went back to the books I was checking out back in 2020 as the pandemic started. So I don't run out of books. I am 3-4 months behind now with posting. So these books were checked out back in September. 

My comment on a couple of comments last week. Virginia, I think you are doing just fine with your celebrations. You have family and friends for dinners, you attend dinners with people. Our family is what we make it to be. My local "family" consists of good friends as my actual family is far away. 

TBT, I look at the titles of books behind those people too. Sometimes I find something good to read! 

Now to my own books from the library.

Doggone Deadly by Deborah Blake is the series I was thinking about when I checked out the Jennifer Hawkin's book a while back.  This is the second of the series about a woman who wins the lottery and rescues a whole shelter. 

Vampires, Bones and Treacle Scones, one of the Liss MacCrimmons mystery series.  

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli is about the novel and movie The Godfather. I think I need to get the DVD and watch the movie again. I never did read the book. I understand it is a bit more racier than the movie.

Death on the Downs by Simon Brett is the second of a series that I wanted to read. However as I got into the second book, the characters weren't compelling enough to keep going. I wasn't sure when I read the first book, but this one wasn't to my liking. The author has other series to try.

 James Burrows is a TV director and from the cover you can see he has been involved with many of the iconic shows over the past 40-50 years. Fun to read, but I skipped the parts of the shows that I rarely watched.


 My receipt for the last check out of 2022. Total value of books checked out is over $5500.00 for the year. I know I didn't read everything I checked out, but I could never afford to buy all the books I would want to read. That is why we have libraries! I'm close to have read 200 books this year, will let you know next week if I actually made it. 


Happy Reading and Happy New Year.

Monday, December 26, 2022

Mini-ManCat Monday

Cats can work out mathematically the exact place to sit that will cause the most inconvenience. - Michael Stevens

Yeah, I was driving mum a bit crazy while she was trying to crochet over the weekend. I wanna sit on your lap mum, can I help it that I end up on top of the blankie too? 

Hope you all had a good Christ-mouse! We did, nice and quiet. Mum cooked too, so some yummy roast beast for both of us. Also, it you were affected by the cold that you were safe.

We had a few crazy days of winter. Super cold and mum bundled up anytime she went outside. This was when she came in on Friday from less than 10 minutes outside. She added water to the birdy bath and put more seed our for them to eat. She skipped shoveling the driveway until Caturday when it was slightly warmer, but not much. Even then she only was outside for 20 minutes all bundled up.


It was so cold the birdy bath froze too! Mum says it was like -35 F outside on Friday, so it was better to just stay inside.



Mum caught me messing with the fake flower thing. Sheesh, I though she was watching the feetsball game!

Feetsball Report

Finally a game on Sunday with a noontime start against The Fish in Miami and The Pack managed to win it so they are still in the hunt for a playoff spot. But they gotta win their next two games. Both games are at Lambeau, out in the cold. Provided it is cold!

Mum started to watch the next game too and the announcers had fun with wearing funky sweaters!


 

Everyone have a good week.


Sunday, December 25, 2022

Merry Christ-mouse

 


For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 (KJV)


And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, (because he was of the house and lineage of David,) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. Luke 2: 1-20 (KJV)


Meow

Merry Christmas
God Bless You All.
 Ducky,
Angel Derby
Virginger, Glimmer, Trouper and Fleur
and 
Mum





Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

 A quick trip for more goodies. If I am lucky I will hit 200 books this year, but my current read is over 600 pages! However the book is due back to the library next Tuesday.

While not officially part of the Bruno, Chief of Police series, Bruno's Challenge is a series of short stories with that character. Perhaps stories that couldn't be worked into a longer novel.  

Spirits and Sourdough by Bailey Cates is the latest in the Magical Bakery series. 

The Long Goodbye by Patti Davis is a memoir of her relationship with her father, Ronald Reagan, as he developed Alzheimer's in his final years.

Hello, Transcriber is a police based mystery which didn't catch my interest, didn't finish the book. 

Life from Scratch by Vanessa Lachey, yes the actress. How she has created her own family traditions since she grew up in a broken family.  

Sometimes people just want to start a conversation. You would rather just read!



 Happy Reading.


Monday, December 19, 2022

Mini-ManCat Monday

The more people I meet, the more I like my cat.

Mum likes people, some peoples more than others. I too am picky on who I like. Guess me and mum are the same. 

First Happy Hanukkah to those who cellybrate for the Festival of Lights. At this time of year we need all the bright lights we can get! We haven't seen a nice sunny day for over two weeks. Mum turns our Christ-mouse trees on in the early afternoon!

Just a week until Christ-mouse day. Mum is getting her dinner plans all in place and ready to go shopping for the special foods she needs. She is done with making all her special candy and given most of it away. She went out to eat lots this past week. Less cooking for her, heck, even dinner last night got delivered!

 


Mum with me on her lap, working on the crow-shay. This blankie is just about done, she just needs time to work on it. She mainly does this during feetsball and little feetsball watching the past two weeks. 

She has been reading her books, lots of books, she has a big fat one now about the Queen!


Feetsball Report

None! Again! The Pack doesn't play until Monday night! Sheesh, people around here are going through feetsball withdrawal. Mum has watched tiny bits of other games, but not a whole game. She did watch the guy in khaki who said The Pack still has a furry small chance, 8%, to make the playoffs. Mum says it is likely closer to zero!

Have a wonderful week everyone.

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

 Just two books, one hold for a new book and some reference material to read about WordPress. I've had issues with blogger over the summer, so have a backup work press blog. Same posts, just a new site. 

To Kill A Troubadour is the latest in the Bruno, Chief of Police series. I knew it was coming out and had put a hold on it before it was published. So I got to be the first to check out the books.


Happy Reading

Monday, December 12, 2022

Mini-ManCat Monday

Cats come and go without ever leaving. - Martha Curtis

I'm always here! Well, unless mum hauls me off in the PTU to visit the stabby place. 

We got some snow which is already mostly melted. All the little fevvers were here to eat and Mr Hawk showed up too. Do you spot him in the tree? Upper right corner! He blended in well with the tree.

Mum finished her last batch of peanut brittle. She checked things out and used this special paper with butter spread all over it instead of the sheet thing. It worked well. She put it on top of the cooking thing which can take heat. She will do this going forward.

 Me, cuz, that is how quiet this past week has been. Mum didn't go anywhere as she got over her cold. Lots of sleeps for both of us. I napped, she readed, watched the moving picture box and crow-shayed.
 

Feetsball Report

There is none, the Pack took their week off. Mum didn't even watch any games! They don't play again until next Monday night!

Have a good week everyone.

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

A few more first books in series to check them out. 

The Body on the Beach by Simon Brett This book was OK but not great. Decided I needed another book to see if I liked the characters enough to continue. Stay tuned.

Crime and Poetry by Amanda Flower, first in a short series. Nice and will read the remaining four books in the series.  

The other two fiction books didn't mesh with me, so won't be reading more.

 Zero Fail by Carol Leonnig is about the Secret Service from the early 1960's to now. How it was, how it improved and now how it is declining again. Amazing to read that in the hours before the Kennedy assassination, that agents were out drinking and had very little sleep! An eye opener!



 Happy Reading

Monday, December 5, 2022

Mini-ManCat Monday

A cat may look at a king. - English Proverb

I'll look at anyone I may choose. King, queen, knave, mum, whomever!

Mum has been fighting off a cold for the past week. She tried not to take a cold pill Caturday, it wasn't pretty. Even to the point she came to sleep in the reading chair so her head wasn't as clogged. She tested, she dosen't have the pandemic thingy.

Not doing much but she did get the little sparkly trees up from the dungeon yesterday. Plus she got the wreath on the outside door.



She also was saying bad words in the kitch-hen, seems the peanut brittle doesn't want to break up and is sticking to the sheet. It wasn't bad for the first few batches but it is getting worse. Mum fixed it by dumping the stuff out onto a special kind of paper coated with lots and lots of butter. Mum felt she lost her touch!


Feetsball Report

The Pack - mum went and watched the game with her money man and a few others. She got foods and drinks included. She made sure she had taken her cold pill so she wasn't sneazy and leaking gooey stuff. She came home with cookies too!


The game, The Pack beat Da Bears! Again. ARodg still owns them.

Have a good week everyone.

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

Last week on Friday I finished my 181st book, which was the total of last year. So a new record coming up? Can I hit 200?

This batch I got a bunch of books that were on my list with authors or series that I wanted to try. Mixed success.

The only book I actually made it through was An Amateur Corpse by Simon Brett. I had liked his Mrs Pargeter series and decided to try another written by him. I made it through the book, but it seemed so dated. The book was originally published in the 1970's and I guess I couldn't relate. No plans to read more in the series.

The others I didn't care for and since they were the first books in a series, I won't be going any further. Lots of books so if one doesn't catch your interest, just move on to the next one. With my long list of books to try, I doubt I will run out of books to read.



 Happy Reading!


Monday, November 28, 2022

Mini-ManCat Monday

The ideal of calm exists in a sitting cat. - Jules Reynard

Just me sitting and doing a bit of bathing. Mum was watching the feetsball game, I ignored that and did my cleaning. 



 It was box weekend here. Three boxes showed up and two of them had stuff for me! Yep, mum now gets my food delivered. The other one had yarn for mum. Sheesh, she has a closet full of yarn but she always buys more. 




Feetsball Report

The Pack -  it was a crazy scoring game. The Eagles scored, we scored, kicks were missed. That was just the first half. Second half, ARodg finally admitted he was hurting enuf to get out of the game. The bad thumb, he finally admitted was broken. 

So the backup guy came in an promptly scored a touchdown with a throw. They got it close to one score but time ran out. Maybe it is time for some more Love!

Played much better in Prime Time this week, even if they did finally lose. 

Have a happy week. December starts later this week.


Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

 A trip to the library but no books, just movies. 


The Downton Abbey: A New Era was the new 2022 movie. I had seen it in the theater back in May, but wanted to see it again. I also like to see the extras that they usually have on most DVD's.

West Side Story I had seen at a friend's house earlier this year. The one thing I remembered was that it was hard to hear the dialog and I put that to the fact my friend doesn't really like higher volume. 

But no, even with my DVD player and TV sound turned up, and a sound bar, it still was hard to hear and understand the dialog. Music was fine. It got to the point I stopped the movie and turned on the sub-titles. 

Also, there were no extras on the DVD. No interview with cast, director etc. What a bummer!

My library has a nice selection of movies and TV shows on DVD, so I can catch up as needed.

Thursday is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. We all need to be thankful for what we have every day. 




Happy Reading!


Monday, November 21, 2022

Mini-ManCat Monday

Anything not nailed down is a cat toy.

 Yep, yarn, pens, stuff on the kitch-hen counter. I luvs it when mum forgets to put a ball of yarn away. She will wake up to yarn all over the house!







Pretty good huh? This was all from one night! MOL, that will teach her. 

The super cold is supposed to go away, maybe the snow will melt that we got on Tuesday. Mum didn't have to shovel, but she had to pull out the really warm jacket to wear outside and the heavy mittens too. 


Plus she has me and her latest blankie to keep her warm inside. 

Feetsball Report

The Pack -  they played last Thursday and the Not Ready for Prime Time Packers showed up. So they lost, mum wasn't even yelling at the moving picture box. She just kept working on the crow-shay. Mum didn't even watch any of the Sunday games, she didn't care! They are not a good team this year. 

Happy week every one. Happy Turkey Day to those here in Mericky!

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

Just a couple of books this time. One book I was on a wait list, the other was on the Lucky Day shelf.

The Sweetness of Forgetting is a story of a grandmother, her granddaughter and great granddaughter and their history. What they thought it was and what it was really. Takes a history trip to Paris during World War II and how the Holocaust affected lives. 

Midnight in Washington another Trump era book by Congressman Adam Schiff. The first part of the book was how he got to be in Congress, but after it got to the impeachment stuff I zoned out. Too much of the same topic and I didn't finish the book.

 I do read read deep subject matter books. History, biography especially. Some politics like the above.



 Happy Reading!