Memorial Day

Honor and Remembrance 

to those who gave the 

ultimate sacrifice for our country

Mini-ManCat Monday will return.

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

Up to January of this year, 2022. These first few batches are mostly fiction from my usual group of authors. 

The Gift by Edith Eger who is a Holocaust survivor and psychologist. She has an earlier book, The Choice, where she outlines her story in Auschwitz. Both are very interesting.

Code Breaker is the story of Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna. Fascinating story of her life and career. She and her team developed the CRISPR gene to edit DNA. Author Walter Isaacson has also written books on Steve Jobs and others. 

Hooked is how the food industry gets us hooked on processed foods and why we eat them, even when we know better.

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain. It took me a while to get into the story, but once I did it was a good book. I didn't finish Good Company.

I have a nice stack of books to work through during the holiday weekend. The library is closed for the weekend. So reading, watching race cars and probably a bit of yard work as well.

Mini-ManCat Monday

It's the cat's house. We just pay the mortgage.

Ha! Mum says we don't have a mortgage anymore. Mum paid it off, and she has lived here for 20 years! I don't have enuf paws and such to count that high. Happy to have a roof over our heads and foods to eat. 

Mum wasn't doing her crow-shay for a bit. Taking a break, doing other stuff outside, racy weekends and all. But she started up again doing the hats. Here are her first few she did. Nice and colorful.

It has been cool here so mum might open the windows for a bit so we get fresh air in the house. Mum closes them when it feels a bit cool. She has been wearing long sleeves too. When it gets cool I like to sleep with mum. We keep each other warm. 

Mum says she has to use the grass eater today. She used it on Caturday in the back yard as the grass is growing quickly. Mum says she will have to cut it more often but she wishes it would grow slower. 

Have a good week everyone.

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

Last few bunches of 2021 books. My typical group of mystery fiction. American Baby is an interesting look at the adoption practices, homes for unwed mothers etc. When Women Invented Television was on four women who were instrumental in the early years of the medium, including Betty White. Book is worth it just for the Betty White stuff.

I never got into The Rose Code. Not sure why, too wordy or something. I don't like books that take 500 pages to convey a story that could be done in less. Plus I didn't like the understory premise of the supposed wild bachelor days of Prince Philip. The basic story involved women who worked at Bletchley Park.

The weather has finally decided to be spring. The trees have leaves, my crab apple is blooming as well. Lilacs are blooming. I have had to start mowing the lawn.

Mini-ManCat Monday

As I am delivering seven plates of breakfast to the two dogs and five cats at their various eating stations all over our three-storey house, I usually just say, quite honestly, "Hi, my name is Melissa and I will be your waitress for the day. - Melissa McIvor

I get all my foods at the same spot every day. In the kitch-hen. Mum will give me treats in the living room, but no gooshy foods go into the living room. 

We had lots of warms this past week. So much so much even used the air chiller for a couple of days. Today it is more back to normal. But while we could have open windows I took advantage of it and just chilled on my perch in the window. 

 Mum thought this pose looked familiar. Well, yes. Derby used to hang out here too!

Mum went to play with racy cars this weekend, but at a track close to where we live so she could leave late and get home early. 

Look at all those places to sit, but they weren't allowed spectators In the pic below 25 is mum's furiend and on Sunday he won his class! Yay!

Plus the warms have brought the flowers out. The crabby apple tree, the lilac and bleeding heart are all in bloom!

Mum says they smell really nice

Anyway, that is all. Have a good week everyone.

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

 Operation Moonglow was a hard read, it was all of the political stuff behind the race to the moon. I don't think I got through it. The Wife Upstairs was a surprising modern twist on a classic book. 

The two bottom books in each pile are about General Electric. I worked for GE for about 13 years in the healthcare business. Interesting to read some of this, but so much happened after I left the company. One book by the former CEO, the other by reporters who worked at The Wall Street Journal. Two very different viewpoints on the same topics.

My shelves are not that full. I have always made good use of my local libraries over my life from being a kid to an adult. As a kid my local library was one of the original Carnegie libraries. The picture below was from the 1960's when I was using it. The children's area was in the wing on the left front. We probably lived a mile away. I would either walk or ride my bike there, crossing two main highways. On my own! How much different things were many years ago, kids out and about without adult supervision.

The community outgrew the building and a new one was built and put into use in 1968. Then after that the city built third building which is still in use today in 1992. Certain features of the Carnegie building were salvaged and stored. They are now used in the current library. Some of the history can be found at this link.

The replacement library was a modern building, very different. Very modern and stark. Building is now part of a bank. Thanks Google maps!

Kid books on the main level at the rear of this picture. Fiction and non-fiction to the left. I can't remember which was on the main floor or second. The third building I have never been inside. Maybe the next time I am there I should stop in!

 I showed you pictures of my current library a few weeks ago on March 9th. Another replacement building when the old space was out grown. I found some history of all the places the library was locally. It moved a lot over the years, needing more room.

Mini-ManCat Monday

A cat isn't fussy, just so long as you remember that he likes his milk from the shallow, rose-patterned saucer and his fish on the plate, from which he will take it and eat it off the floor.

 Mum is good at having nice dishes for me to eat from. They even get washed inside the machine that cleans dishes so they are super clean. No icky stuff remaining to make me sick!

Spring is here, and the girls are back and out of hibernation. Now Virginger isn't outside anymore, she leaves it up to the other three. 

Fleur is back by the fevver feeders, mum put lots of meal worms down cuz we have lots of robins around who need to eat. They will have babies soon. Glimmer and Trooper are on the table so they can see more of the back yard.

They must have done OK, cuz mum got lots of pruning done and all piled up for the village people to take it away. 

The two-lips have started to bloom. The white ones are mixed in with the hiya-cinths which mum says they smell really pretty.

Oh, and we have Mrs Robin making her home on our downspout. We will see babies in a few weeks. 

So things are pretty much normal here. Me and mum had a nice weekend. Caturday we cellybrated Derby Day, cuz that was Angel Derby's Gotcha Day and how he got his name. So we watched lots of horsie races and mum was so pleased to see the long shot win. Only wish she had money on him!

Have a wonderful week everyone.

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

Lots of lighter reads or favorite authors. Always good to just have some fun reads, good stories. Books that you don't need to think too hard with.

I don't do much baking but I have watched the British Baking Show and especially remember the series where Nadiya Hussain won. So it was fun to page through her book to see her creations. Not sure if they are still on Netflix but she did have some shows that were there.

I totaled up all the books I had read from 2014 to 2021. I got 881. Eight years so 110 average per year. A few of those first years I was still working, but after I stopped working it has always been over 100 per years.

According to the weather guessers it is supposed to be getting warmer and sunnier. Which means more working outside and less time for reading. Well, maybe not. I will read the same and give up on TV since most of the TV shows I watch are about done for the season.  
 

Mini-ManCat Monday

If we could talk to the animals, the longest waiting line would be for the cat.

Yeah, mum talks to me lots. Tells me her problems, tells me jokes and just what is happening around the area. 

Mum didn't talk to me much this weekend, yep she went off to play with racy cars. That and freeze her tushy off on Sunday. Caturday they had rain, even some Tee-storms. 

Her view from the metal monster while they had to stop what they were doing becuz of lightning. Plus mum all bundled up inside the metal monster keeping warm.

Plus mum took videos of the cars taking off and then the start of the actual race.

Me happy mum is home so I can sit on her. Plus thanks to Miss Kellie who came over on Sunday to feed me and play with me too. Thanks Miss K.