Wednesday not Wordless

Taken on a day that we first got up close and personal with bison in Jackson in 2011. We were safely watching from inside a vehicle. I recently moved to this open air natural zoo and was in love and in awe. The animals, the mountains, the lakes and waterways, I love it all.

I was going to make this wordles and failed.

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Over the Weekend

I was given a couple dozen Reader's Digest books. I have lined the up on a shelf to be my bedtime reading for the next little or probably long while. I keep you informed here about progress and recording it for my own satisfaction.

When I was a kid these were some of the best books I ever read. That was at a time when I was moving from children's books to adult novels and biographies. A kind neighbor subscribed to receive the Reader's Digest volumes and let me borrow them. The first time I read "Roots" by Alex Haley it was the condensed version in one of these volumes. That was years before the miniseries came to television.

Anyway I recently posted about reading "Lake News" by Barbara Delinsky. Over the weekend on Sunday and then on Monday I read the other three books in this volume which is #6 from 1999.

Jeffery Deaver's "The Devil's Teardrop" keep surprising me with plot twists right up until the end. Nicholas Sparks wrote another tearjerker with "A Walk to Remember". The last story was "Thunderhead" by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It was a great story about a mysterious hidden city in the Southwest.

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Lake News by Barbara Delinsky

Compared to From Here to Eternity this was a quick and enjoyable read. The outcome of happily ever after was predictable but that is not always a bad thing, is it? I was interested in how the childish views of parents were changed as adult children interacted with their parents in difficult times.

The main story involved misinformation in print media. How fitting today. I read a lot of news and bias is easy to spot but does bias mean untruth? Sometimes yes and sometimes no.Facts are facts and digging down to them through all the noise on television and online is so hard. I say don't give up, just keep reading. Lily ( the character in the book ) didn't give up. She got to know her mother, she got an apology, she got the boy, she got happily ever after.

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From Here to Eternity by James Jones

I was given a copy of "From Here to Eternity" by a friend and have been reading it over the last month or so. At different times I read passages to Jim. He spent 20 years in the Navy and found parallels between shipboard life in the Navy and barracks life in the Army. I don't know about the movie, I've never seen it, but I am sure it doesn't come close to the in depth lives exposed in the story found in the pages of a ragged 60 year old copy. Alcohol, punishment, loneliness in a crowd, shallow relationships that are easily walked away from, living in the moment or rather living on paydays and then enduring the tedium until the next one.

The story takes place in peace time Hawaii and ends in the first days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. There are no happy endings here but life does go on.

The linked picture below is through Amazon and I get a little bit if you click and then make a purchase. Not much but you might help me knit a hat or two and I say thanks.




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Knitting This Week

This afghan was started the first week of June last year. At the time I needed something to do with my hands while I kept watch over a hospitalized husband. I found the pattern on the Clementine Knits blog and a run to Joann's for needles and yarn and I had my hospital survival kit all complete.

After Jim came home and summer went on, the afghan got put away for other projects. Let's not discuss WIPs (works in progress) in this post okay? With the Olympics starting last week I once again needed an easy to follow pattern for all the tv watching time. I admit I watch NBC in the afternoon and again each evening. I have enjoyed so much of it, skiing, snowboards, speed and figure skating and more. I only have an antenna right now so I don't get the cable channels but what I can see is enough.

The afghan is coming along very well. I may even get it finished before the closing ceremonies. We'll see.

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Happy Valentine's Day

Hope your day is a happy one. Mine will be quiet because I am in one place and Jim is in another. It is what it is. 

I am going to ask you a favor. Please, if you came here from a reader like Feedly or from a link on social media like Twitter leave a comment, say hello and let me know how you got here.

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Crocheted Viking Hat

Out and about, don't remember where my grandson saw a guy with a bearded Viking hat on. His immediate reaction was, "I want one of those. Can you make one Grandma?"

With those words a search was on for a pattern. I found a couple on Etsy and chose one to buy. The instructions were well written but had in my mind a major flaw. Nowhere could I find the amount of yarn required so I had to guess when I went to Joann's to get yarn. For the gray helmet part I ran short and had to improvise but I think it all worked out.

I texted this picture to the requesting grandson and he approved so the hat was put in the mail today. According to the Post Office he should have it by Wednesday.

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Olympics Watching

It, the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea started this week. I started watching last night. I have no idea how someone's knees withstand the pounding of mogul skiing. I also saw some figure skating and was very happy for how the US couple did with their routine. Tonight is the Opening Ceremony and I will be watching again. In fact I will be busy every night for the next couple of weeks during NBC's prime time show. Will you be watching too?

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Yellowstone National Park Around the Web

I have been lucky to live close to Yellowstone National Park for the last few years. I have visited the park a few times and driven through it on the way to Ennis, Montana or Cody, Wyoming a few times too. 

Of course I have tagged along on trips with grandkids to Old Faithful. A few minutes of walking along the boardwalks in that area let you see pools like the one below. Please if you ever go do stay on the walkways. Stepping off in this area can be dangerous or even deadly. Plan on having some patience too since around Old Faithful and the boardwalks are some of the biggest crowds in the park.

Another amazing site and certainly worth exploring is the Old Faithful Inn. There is a gift shop inside the lodge. Other things you may see in the lobby including the stunning 3 story stone chimney, are an author signing books or an artist working on their latest painting. If you want to stay at the lodge plan well ahead and know that the rooms do not have televisions or radios. You wouldn't be coming to the park to have that kind of noise anyway, right?

I told in a previous post about my pleasure at finding great podcasts to fill up my days with pleasant background sounds that amuse, entertain and inform me. Yellowstone has its own podcast. The podcast is named Telemetry and the web site for it includes this introduction.

"Telemetry" refers to the wireless transmission of information, often via radio waves, from one location to another. Our public radio-style audio series helps transmit some of Yellowstone's scientific investigations to listeners, wherever they are. Go on a sound safari in the world's first national park for surprising stories and in-depth reporting that highlight science and issues in the region.

 There are six episodes so far and I have thoroughly enjoyed every one. The first podcast episode "To Catch a Loon" is probably one of my favorites. I used to daydream about being a biologist for the park service in my youth and although I like my life it is a regret that I didn't follow through and do that kind of work.

You can subscribe to Telemetry with your favorite podcast app. Other places to get Yellowstone information are at the park's web site or Instagram or Twitter or YouTube or even a Flickr account where one of the most impressive pictures in the stream right now is this one.

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World Nutella Day

I didn't know today was World Nutella Day until I ran across a mention of it on my twitter feed. Being a curious sort I went to the National Day Calendar web site to find out a bit more about this day. The article I read there told of the history of this delicious product. The roots of the recipe go back to times when cocoa was a precious commodity and nuts were plentiful. True or not, I don't know.

It is often said that necessity is the mother of invention, and adding hazelnuts to chocolate was one of those inventions... #WorldNutellaDay https://t.co/G5ATQEGosC pic.twitter.com/zSjZYgbAzV

— NationalDayCalendar (@NationalDayCal) February 5, 2018

A quick search online will bring you to more recipes for using Nutella than most of us will ever make in a lifetime. What's your pleasure, pudding, quick breads, flavored coffee, or just toast?

World Nutella Day started in 2007 courtesy of Sara Rosso to spread the word about one of her favorite foods. Thank you, Sara!

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Use My Guy Services

I am in Arizona for a bit and Jim is working in Wyoming. I had a dripping bathtub faucet. I wouldn't even know how to start on a repair like that so I needed a handyman. As most of us do these days I started looking with a Google search. Use My Guy showed up in the results and have many very good reviews. 

My first contact with this company was pleasant and informative. I was set up with an appointment. Texts were sent by UMGS so I understood what would happen and when. John showed up at my door on time and solved the problem. He replaced the cartridge and the spout. The payment process was easy and I was emailed a receipt. 

The whole process was so easy and pleasant. Whenever I need another honey-do done, these will be the folks I call first. 5 stars to Use My Guys Services. If you are in the Phoenix area you may want to give them serious consideration too. You can call 602-316-9187 or contact them through the website http://usemyguyservices.com

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