Going in Circles

I can't seem to settle in and get stuff done today. I have been puttering around most or the day. My big accomplishment will be my laundry when I get it done. How exciting!? 

I did finish sorting out some things from my closet that don't fit now and probably never will again. The bag for donation is pretty big and heavy now and I am left with what I will and can actually wear. That feels good.

I even puttered around and let Bing Image Creator make a circles image for me. My circles today haven't been as pretty as this image. I like it! 

Back with more again soon.

Take care and stay cozy!

Football Sunday and Knitting Time

Photo by Dave Adamson on Unsplash

I hope to get lots of knitting done today while watching football games with Jim. We are into the last week of the regular season and then the playoffs start. Not really rooting for any team in particular just like watching good games. 

I don't have to cook dinner this evening so that's a win for me. We went to a local pizza place last night and brought home leftovers. I just need to warm them up later.

My shawl, scarf, travel blanket thingy in gray is getting near the end. I am well into the 3rd skein and that's the last one for this pattern. More stockinette and about an inch of 2 x 2 ribbing and bind off. I want time to get it blocked and pretty before we take off for our next adventure which is coming soon. I'll let you all know about that later.

I hope you are all looking forward to a pleasant day wherever you are. If you feel like sharing, say hello in the comments and let me know what you are up to.

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Take care and stay cozy!

Cas and Dylan

I admit it, we aren't the most up to date people. We watched an 8 year old movie that isn't even a classic or likely to have a cult following like the really cool movies do. However, this movie certainly entertained this old couple last night for awhile before going to bed.

Cas & Dylan is a road trip movie without a romance movie ending. A friendship did happen, and a young woman faced being at the end of a life while being pregnant and starting out life on her own. After going through that, the end of a life, myself earlier this year the story brought back some feelings to me. It was not the best told story but it didn't get stuck anywhere and turn boring either. 

So, have you watched anything on Netflix that you would like to share with me? As for me I will watch nearly anything, just not horror. Can't handle that in movies or books.

Back with more again soon.

Take care and stay cozy!

Play Nine Card Game

Not long ago on X I posted an affiliate link for the Play Nine Card Game. One of my followers wanted to know if the game was fun. I hadn't played it then, but I have now. Yesterday afternoon Jim and I played 4 games. He won 3 and I won 1. Even with my losing record the game was fun. I do wonder how it would go with more players but for yesterday we were the only ones around. The game has a bit of strategy and a bit of luck built into it. The idea is to get the lowest score which feels a bit strange at first but easy enough to understand. The game goes quickly and consists of nine rounds or keeping with the golf theme they are called holes. Beginning of a round is called teeing off.

My box came with all the things you see here including the pencil. The makers of the game have a website. If you visit it, you can download and print extra sets of rules and more score sheets. I thought that was a nice touch. The cards are thick and sturdy so I think they will last awhile. The number of cards is about the same as 2 decks of regular cards. That can make shuffling a bit difficult, but we managed. Overall, I think this is a great game and could be fun for groups of all ages from about 8 or so and up. 

You could use my link at the end of the post to shop on Amazon. Just search Play Nine Card Game and be ready for fun times.

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Take care and stay cozy!

Happy Birthday!

It's my husband's birthday today. I am from June to January older than he is but now that we are the same I won't hear so much about being the old lady. It doesn't bother me, it's reality. The picture I am sharing here of him was taken on a day at Jackson Lake. We both love that lake and owned 3 different boats while we lived there to enjoy it with. It was always a good day on the lake.

Dinner, one of his favorites, is on the slow cooker. I will begin cake making soon. He has gotten texts from some family members already this morning. I'll see what else he wants to do to have a great day.

Back with more again soon.

Take care and stay cozy!

Top 5 Viewed Posts Last Year

Getting back into the habit of blogging nearly every day since June has been fun, challenging, lonely but I think worth it. I wrote 184 posts in 2023 and that was more than any other year since I started blogging in 2006. The next highest years were 2008 and 2009 and a good part of that time I was a member of the Etsy Bloggers team. That was such a fun and active group. Sometimes I really miss those fellow shop owners. Some of them are still on Etsy I think.

For this year the top 5 most viewed posts were from highest to lowest...

1. A Cozy Life: Finished and Happy! (cozyatoz.blogspot.com) I wrote about a finished rag rug that was made from fabric strips twisted into a 2 ply yarn. I am still using that rug in my house. I also made 2 more of them and gave them to family members. 
   
   
   
2. A Cozy Life: Pearl Street, Boulder Colorado (cozyatoz.blogspot.com) This post talked about an afternoon on our summer road trip spent with my niece's family in Boulder Colorado. 

   

   
   
3. A Cozy Life: A Day of Travel (cozyatoz.blogspot.com) This post told of traveling to Williams Arizona to spend a few days there with my sisters. After dinner that evening, we watched groups of deer move through the neighborhood where our AirBNB was located.

   

   
   
4. A Cozy Life: Permanent Damage and No Apology (cozyatoz.blogspot.com) This post talked about what my brother let happen to coins my mother trusted him to safeguard for her. There has still been no explanation or apology, not that I expected one. Mom would have been so ashamed of his behavior.

   

   
   
5. The last post in the top 5 was A Cozy Life: So Silly, So Sad (cozyatoz.blogspot.com) It was a bad day on X and I was annoyed along with everyone else. Like me, many I think, are still wishing Mr. Musk had never bought the site and with the current value of it maybe he thinks so too.

   

That's it, the top 5 for 2023. If you are reading directly on the blog and not in a reader you will see the posts that would make up the top 10 for the year in the sidebar on the right. 

Hey! Yes you! If you have a blog leave a link to it in the comments. I will check out your writings and say hello back to you there, promise.

Back with more again soon.

Take care and stay cozy!

45 Books Loved and Read in 2023

The title says loved and read. I do love books but maybe I wouldn't say loved for all of them. Each book has something to offer though, in learning or a simple escape to another place and/or time. Last year, 2023, I had 45 pleasant times spent with someone else's work and words. Here's the list...

1. The Easy Life in Kamusari (Forest Book 1) by Shion Miura
2. The Candid Life of Meena Dave by Namrata Patel
3. Vanished: A Gripping Serial Killer Psychological Thriller (The Baudin and Dixon Series) by Victor Methos
4. Reluctantly Home by Imogen Clark
5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
6. Contents Under Pressure by Edna Buchanan
7. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
8. The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel
9. The Tracker (Sam Callahan Book 1) by Chad Zunker
10. She's Up to No Good by Sara Goodman Confino
11. No Ordinary Thursday by Anoop Judge
12. When I Found You by Catherine Ryan Hyde
13. The World Played Chess: A Novel by Robert Dugoni
14. Rich Blood (Jason Rich Book 1) by Robert Bailey
15. City Dark: A Thriller by Roger A Canaff
16. An Impossible Return: A Novel by Caroline Laurent
17. The Second Mrs. Astor: A Heartbreaking Historical Novel of the Titanic by Shana Abe
18. The Bookstore Sisters: A Short Story by Alice Hoffman
19. A Girl Called Samson: A Novel by Amy Harmon
20. My Evil Mother: A Short Story by Margaret Atwood
21. Shogun: A Novel of Japan Volume 1 by James Clavell
22. Wild, Beautiful and Free by Sophfronia Scott
23. The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken
24. Someone Else's Life: A Thriller by Lyn Liao Butler
25. Shogun: A Novel of Japan  Volume 2 by James Clavell
26. Lost Light by Michael Connelly
27. The Chemistry of Love by Sariah Wilson
28. Invasion by Robin Cook
29. Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen
30. The Dry Grass of August: A Moving Southern Coming of Age Novel by Anna Jean Mayhew
31. They Came to Bagdad by Agatha Christie
32. N or M by Agatha Christie
33. Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
34. The Undertaker's Assistant: a Captivating Post Civil War Novel of Southern Historical Fiction by Amanda Skenandore
35. The Road Towards Home by Corinne Demas
36. Vietnam-Culture Smart: The Essential Guide to Customs and Culture by Geoffrey Murray
37. Swan Light by Phoebe Rowe
38. Dutch Uncle by Marilyn Durham
39. Speak to Me of Love by Dorothy Eden
40. What the Wind Knows by Amy Harman
41. A Chance Inheritance by Carolyn Brown
42. Never Lie: An Addictive Psychological Thriller by Freida McFadden
43. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
44. Black River by Matthew Spencer
45. There's No Turning Back from This: A Novel by Ann Garvin

There it is. This is the list of books read during the day, typically at lunch time, or at night on my Kindle. I read from 4 different sources of books, some were Prime Reading books or First Read choices from Amazon, some were gift books from Connie given to me by her daughters after she passed away and some were books I already owned and had saved during all my moves. After I read any of the paper books, I am passing them on the thrift stores or friends. 

Have you read any of these? What outstanding books have you read this year? Feel free to leave a comment. If you want to make a blogger smile all day just leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you, any you, except spam, I delete those.

Back with more again soon.

Take care and stay cozy!