Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

Hello and happy to be home after my hospital stay. I took one book with me thinking it would amuse me if I had to sit in the waiting room. If you are a cardiac issue, no waiting! Plus when did try to start it it didn't grab me. I had a friend bring me one of my other books and I will see if I can get into it now that I am home.

From Saturday Night to Sunday Night, author is Dick Ebersol who worked for both ABC and NBC as a TV executive. Heavily involved with the Olympics, NFL football and many other sports. Along with Lorne Michaels he had a hand in developing Saturday Night Live.

The Forest of Vanishing Stars is a fictionalized account of the Jews who during World War II escaped from the ghettos and lived in the forests of eastern Europe. The main character Yona was stolen as a two year old from a Nazi and grows up to be a leader of those in hiding. She meets her father again during her life with deadly consequences.

Elizabeth: Queen and Crown a short bio of the late Queen. Lots of pictures but nothing new. I suppose it will be a few years before a definitive biography comes out on her life, once scholars are allowed to look at private papers that wouldn't have been released during her life. 

Happy Reading.

Mini-ManCat Monday on Tuesday

Yes, something went wrong on my post yesterday. Mum was not home to take care of the technical part. 

She abandoned me! She was working in the yard on Friday afternoon after being at furiends for Turkey Day. Then she threw a couple of things into  her carry bag and jumped in someone's car. 

She is back home but I found she wasn't far from home. She was in the human stabby place for four days. Seems her heart wanted to beat way too fast and wouldn't slow down!

So yesterday (Monday) they zapped her heart to make it work all good again and they let her come home to me. So I can work my purr therapy!

I was well cared for, Aunty Kellie was over to make sure I got my foods and loves every day. Plus she brought mum back home to me. 

Gotta to purr on mum. Later!

Mini-ManCat Monday

 If you are worthy of its affection, a cat will be your friend, but never your slave.- Theophile Gautier

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

 Happy Turkey Day Eve!

The weather is finally turning cooler and cloudy. I just need to do one final mowing of the grass before the outside fall chores are done. Then we wait for snow to shovel. 

If you are in the US, have a pleasant Thanksgiving. Count your blessings, not calories, carbs, sugar, fat etc. Have nice civil conversations, not fights. I will be spending the day and overnight with long time friends. Ducky gets to hang out by himself.

The Librarian Spy a story set in World War II. Ava is working at the Library of Congress when she is recruited to go to Lisbon, Portugal to help cull news from unofficial newspapers published by the French Resistance. Helene / Elaine is part of the Resistance who is putting out the news. Risking their lives to keep the real news out their and communicating in code about sensitive matters.

The Manhattan Girls is a historical novel with Dorothy Parker, Peggy Leech, Winifred Lenihan and Jane Grant. Set in the 1920s they are writers and an actress and has their careers, romances flourish and fade they remain friends. Not being aware of who these women were made this a harder book to get into, but entertaining nonetheless.

The Secrets She Keeps characters Agatha and Meghan are both pregnant and Agatha is wishing she had Meghan's life. Both have secrets and their paths cross in dramatic fashion. The secrets continue even after the book ends.

Killers of a Certain  - Age four women are recruited in their 20s to be part of a clandestine assassination crew. Now that they hit 60 they are being retired, but it just might be a matter of them being taken out themselves. Will they just take this sitting down? No and what they do keep themselves safe is a wonderful read.

The Murder Book is the latest of the Alex Delaware series. I hadn't read any of the previous books. Alex is a detective / psychologist with the LA PD. I normally like thrillers but I just couldn't get into this one, the writing style wasn't such that I felt the story really moved along. Seemed ponderous to me. Didn't finish. 

For all those in the United States have a Happy Thanksgiving and weekend. Everyone else have a good weekend too.

Happy Reading

Mini-ManCat Monday

 Way down deep, we're all motivated by the same urges. Cats have the courage to live by them. - Jim Davis 

Yeah and when I want my urges satisfied I want it NOW. I know Skeezix used to blog about his urges. Mine are not X rated! MOL. 

We have been having super nice weather. Sunny and warmer than usual. Mum has been a good person and got her outside work done. Well, almost done. She says she still needs to mow the lawn one last time. Our last tree gave up its last leaves so mum got them all pushed to the street for pickup. You can see mum's pile and this is the third pile, they picked up stuff two times already.

Mum got a nice video of me sitting in the front window soaking up the sunshine. Mum has said that November is usually colder and cloudy so happy things have been better. It is even supposed to be nice on Turkey Day, but mum says she will be eating duck at her furiends. I am not expecting leftovers. 

Feetsball Report

The Pack - they won! They played the Bolts from LaLa Land and had a pretty good game. JLove and company seem like they are getting the hang of playing together. Only problem, injuries, on both sides. Short time they get to play a game on Turkey Day with the Lions. 

Happy week and Turkey Day to my Meriky furiends.
 

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

 Hello and welcome. I am late getting a few notes in here. It has been a busy week but with sunshine and warmer than average temperatures. The outside Christmas lights are out, but not yet lit up. Still working on leaves as my one tree is being stubborn about letting go! So outside and not inside as much reading.

Death at the Chateau Bremont, new author and series to me. Set in Aix-in-Provance France. The two main characters are Antoine Verlaque, an examining magistrate for the police and Marine Bonnet a law professor. The two are also ex-lovers. A childhood friend of Marine has died and Antoine thinks it wasn't an accident. When a second death occurs, he is sure both were murders. Involving the Russian mafia and a few other unsavory characters the two manage to work out the killer.

A Taste for Poison is written by a Professor of Physiology and Biophysics, he goes through eleven deadly compounds, relates how they work and provides real live cases where they were used. Real life criminals, not just fictional characters and crimes.

Drawn in Blood, former FBI agent Sloan Burbank is called to help solve an attack against her father and his partners in the art world. Aspects involve possible forgery, Asian gangs and love interest for Sloan.

Rock Paper Scissors a couple, Mr and Mrs Wright, are on a winter weekend trip to Scotland to celebrate their anniversary. Both are keeping secrets from each other and this weekend will make or break their relationship. This one didn't end like I expected!

I got nine of the fifteen. I don't buy books much anymore but I have checked out the same book that I have read before. I'm always happy when I know I am the first person to get the new book at the library (after being on a wait list for months). I will check a book out without reading the description if it is the next book in a series.

Yeah, books stores and librarians have the same issue. It had a blue or red cover etc. My library does a display in the main lobby and one time they did it will books that all had a green cover!

And I keep laughing until the next yarn sale. Although now I am into prime crochet season so at least I am using up the yarn I have already purchased. Although I probably have a 2 year supply on hand!

Happy Reading. 

Mini-ManCat Monday

Most cats, when they are Out want to be In, and vice versa, and often simultaneously. - Louis F. Camuti, DVM 

So did I get to play in any of those boxes from last week? NO! Once mum got them empty she smooshed them down and took them out to the recycling bin. The bin went out for pickup on Thursday. 

She did save one, but then she promptly put something in it, cuz she has to send it to the nephew. ::Sigh:: Although I am not a huge box kittie, she didn't even give me a chance. 

Mum has been out playing in the leaves a lot lately. Plus she keeps looking at one tree and telling it to just drop your leaves already. The guy comes this week to clean out the gutters and roof and mum was hoping all the leaves would be down by then. Maybe not.

Mum also plans to put out the Christ-mouse lights this week. It is supposed to be warmish so mum won't freeze her hands while she does it. She won't like them up until after turkey day. 

Feetsball Report

The Pack - did better this week in terms of scoring early in the game but they still didn't win, but they tried. They played the Steel guys in the Steel City. The sporty guys said The Pack hasn't won there since 1970, Mum said she was still in high school back then. 

Everyone have a wondeful week.

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

 I survived the time change. I usually do OK, was nice to wake up early on Sunday, get the laundry done early and then spend some time at the Y before coming home to watch the Packer game.

My updated yarn stash after getting my two orders of yarn. The shelves are full and I had a one color I couldn't fit it. That one will be my next blanket. 

Here is the latest blanket, stripey yarn can be a pain to work with to make sure the color rotation stays like it should. I had one skein that had a break and it went from the lime yellow to the maroon. Had to switch things out but I have enough yarn to do that and still make a decent size blanket. 

On to the books!
 

Reading Up a Storm is an installment of the Lighthouse Mysteries. Lucy and Butch find a dead body on the beach. Who done it. The illegitimate child, the son or the younger girl friend or ???. Plus sparks start to fly between Lucy and her beau.

Slow Horses and the rest of the series tells the tales of MI5 agents who have been demoted from field work because of screw ups. This was made into a series that has aired on Apple TV for two seasons. I couldn't get into the book, so didn't read and won't read the rest of the books.

The Turn of the Key another Ruth Ware thriller. I liked the approach to this book, she writes it as the main character sending a letter to an attorney hoping they will take her case. Our main characters has taken the job of a nanny for a Scottish couple with four kids. She has taken the job under false pretenses and is then accused of murder.

Battle for the American Mind the authors take on the modern education system in saying it indoctrinates pupils into the left or progressive way of thinking. Since I don't have kids I can't respond to this. I know I was taught, reading, writing, math, history, social studies and religion. I went to a parochial school for grades 1-8, followed by public high school. Most importantly I was taught to think for myself. Although in terms of education, I was probably brought up in the dark ages compared to now.

Mini-ManCat Monday

One reason we admire cats is for their proficiency in one-upmanship. They always seem to come out on top, no matter what they are doing, or pretend they do. - Barbara Webster 

Yeah, we are the bestest at whatever! 

Over the weekend me and mum quietly celly-brated our blog-a-versary! Mum didn't even have to use fingers and toes to figure out we been doing this for 18 years! Wow. Yeah, Derby started it and I joined and continued. Plus I let mum show off her books and blankies. 

Speaking of which, I thinks I need an intervention for mum. First these two boxes showed up from JoAnn, whomever she is.

Then two more boxes and one of them was really big! Sheesh mum, even I can't play in four boxes at one time.

Should have known, mum got carried away cuz she saw not all of her shelves were filled with yarns. So she went crazy!

Now the shelves are all full and she even had one bit left over that wouldn't fit on the shelves. Plus it was a duplicate of a color she already had just got! Mum, you need to control yourself!

Yeah, this is good, just the two of us chilling and watching the outside. Mum also trying to read her book.
 

She is doing good on getting all the outside stuff done. Plants cut back, hauled off. Even the flowers that she planted were all deaded, so they went away too. 

Mum found the hour in all the clocks this weekend. She changed them early on Caturday morning and went to bed so she did get her extra hour of sleeps. She needed it after doing all of her chores.

Feetsball Report

 The Pack won on Sunday, WooHoo. Breaking their losing streak. They played another young team with a QB who hasn't played much either. Lots of penalties, mum said it was like anytime they did something good they had a penalty. Oh well. A W is a W. 

CrashCar is over for the season too. Mum's fav driver wasn't up to be the champion so she didn't care who won. 

Have a good week everyone.

 

Dona Nobis Pacem - Blog Blast for Peace

 

Blog for Peace today and every day.

 

Dona Nobis Pacem

 

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

 Happy November! 

Trick or treat here yesterday was cold and a bit snowy. The usual amount of kids is 20-25 but I think I had at best 18. Also a late arriving start, about 20 minutes after the official start at 5:30. Probably because the weather was bad and parents didn't get home from work as early. I didn't sit outside to distribute candy, I stayed inside and just answered the door. No need to get cold, although the heavy snow showers had stopped. 

I had lots of salt water taffy and got rid of 80% of it. One kid even said "cool taffy" when they saw what I was handing out. Something other than chocolate or candy bars. Most kids had full bags, except for the ones who were using pillow cases!

A Chateau Under Siege is the latest Bruno, Chief of Police book. During a historical re-enactment the main character is injured but then seems to disappear. His family doesn't seem to be too worried, but there are some underlying threats. Can Bruno figure them out before anything further happens? Book was just released, so another 12-18 months before the next installment!

The London Seance Society in Victorian London this secret men only society seems to not be totally on the up and up. Conducting seances to contact the dead, but then two female spiritualist are seeking out the truth, sometimes at their own peril.

 

 

 

I reorganized my yarn stash and then promptly ordered more! I have empty shelf space! Plus the first two new blankets of the season.

 

Happy Reading and crafting too!