Leave, follow, I am moving.

I have been thinking about what Google is doing with linking all of my information into one site. I understand why they are doing that, I am just not thrilled with the idea. I do a lot of searching of things that I learn about at work. That is for work, just work. I do not want to get on YouTube and have videos pop up on Necrotizing fascitis, or hemorrhoid cream, or deep suctioning of the lungs. Nor, do I want adds popping up on these things.

I could be wrong but from what I understand, every time I log in with a google account key items are going to be filed away to be saved for a later usage. I have products I buy, I think most advertising is stupid, and that is one reason I got rid of television. (Say what  you will about Netflix but no commercials). I do not want to have to deal with an advert for something I was looking up for my brother, when I go to look up something else.

Google has every right to run their business the way they like. I will still use the search engine as sometimes that is the only way to find what I am looking for.

Why, am I going on about this? It is to explain why I am moving my blog. It might be more right to say I am starting my blog over. Katznjammer is moving to wordpress. I have spent the last few days getting to know the way the program runs. I am still not sure of how everything works, but I am ready to start posting over there. The new link is Katznjammer. Or www.nulaanne.wordpress.com feel free to follow me there.

Thank you for reading.
Po

Not Wordless Wednesday



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full view



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There is an amazing artest out there by the name of Sheila Wolk. Ms Wolk created a painting titled "Day Surrendering to Night." I love the painting how it looks and feels. When Honey saw the picture she just fell in love with it. I don't blame her one little bit. So, I called up Ana-Cross Stitch and orderd the pattern, and the fabric. They then shipped it all to me. I could have gone up there to get the items, however it was cheaper to have them shipped to me.

Once the package got here I got started. Matching the colors, enlarging the patten, and then starting the thing. It took two years. Two long years of stitching. If I had just worked on this project alone, it might have taken a few months. That is without sleeping, working, eating, or going to take a shower. I also did some minor projects, a birthday present, worked on some crocheting when I did not want to stitch. In the end it took two years and now I am done. I am happy that it is done, and gone onto Honey. She is going to get it matted and framed. I cannot wait to see it all done.

The Limit of Things to Come

Gas, gas, gas. Gas here is $4 a gallon. That means planing each trip to the store, each trip shopping. This might not be a bad thing it would mean planing ALL my meals and all other shopping. It means making sure that I have all the ingreadients for each thing that I want to make. If I am just going to go to the library or out for a cup of coffee, I can get walk or ride my bike. Good for me, my wallet, and the envoroment.

I had in my wild dreams planed on writing about my favorite places here in Washington. Not only places that I go on a weekly basis like the library, and my favorite coffee shop, but places like the hidden waterfalls in the mountain's. Go to Mima Mounds and hunt for the Great Blue Gopher. The beach to watch the kite flyer's, dogs run free, and kids play in the mud.

With the price of gas it is not going to be something I can do on a weekend basis. It might only be once every few months. For me this is a great disappointment, I was looking forward to getting out of the house and enjoying the sunshine. I know I could go with other people car pool as it will however, while I enjoy being with people I also enjoy the silence of nature without chatter. I do not know if this is just because of my age, or because I enjoy my own company.

It is not as if I want to do everything alone, or even be alone. I would love to take Honey to all the places that I want to go to. We talk, we are OK in the silence of being together. I know people who for whatever reason cannot stand silence, or the thought of being alone.

So until gas prices are a bit more reasonable, I will not be making all the trips that I had planed.

Oh, and Ugli Fruit is in the stores now. I love Ugli fruit.

Wordless Wednesday

Lame

I know I said that every Monday, I would put up something about Oly that I like and why I live here. I was all set to go out and get pictures of one of my most favorite places in the world. Then it started to rain. This was not our typical rain, this was the rain where going outside and looking up would result in a near death experience. So given weather like that what did I do? I went out and played. I love the rain, I love rain like that.  I came home cold wet and in the mood for a nap. It was a wonderful day. However, my camera does not like getting wet. Not at all. That means this weekend I get to get picture of my most favorite place to put up, that is if the camera will go outside.

Last week I ended up getting an unexpected roommate. Now, the help with the rent will be great as I can play catch up on some bills that need worked on. There are downsides to this roommate thing, so I think I am going to hang on for a few months then tell him he needs to get his own place. We are two very different people. I do not have cable, refuse to have cable that is driving him nuts. He comes in turns the TV on, and it is on until he goes to sleep. I only have the the thing on if I want to watch something, and then I have to make myself turn it on. (Except for Hoarders). Then I like things neat and tidy, his dishes from three days ago are still in the sink, the dishwasher is empty. I am not mommy, if by Friday they are still there I am going to have to start putting them in the trash.

The worst thing about having a roommate is that my Honey Love can no longer come up here and see me. That just makes me cry. When she came up here, my house felt complete. There were times we would do the tourist thing, others we would just stay home (gutter mind here is OK). Now we are going to have to travel to get time alone. I do not mind the travel, OK I hate to fly, but I do not mind the different locations that we go to. What I will miss is having a home base, a place to cook dinner, or pack a lunch.

I keep telling myself that change is good, and it is good. However, if it comes to roommate or Honey Love. Roommate is out on his ass.

Wordless Wednesday

Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

Hawk

Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is one of my favorite places to go and walk. The views are amazing, the paths are well maintained, and the people in the shop are very knowledgeable about the wildlife that is seen there. The paths are wide enough for strollers or wheelchairs, there are boardwalks, and gravel paths.



Olympic Mountains Looking Southwest

Each time I go there and walk something changes, the animals that I see, the view. Just the plant life as the seasons circle about. 



American Bittern

The last time I went there I had a bald eagle scare me. He flew right at me, I could see the color of his eyes. At the last minute, he shot in the air I could have reached up and grabbed a fist full of tail feathers. I did not get a picture of this, I thought I was going to have to eat dirt. 



Tide coming in looking east

The refuge is only open during daylight hours. So, depending on what time you are there the tide is in or out. When I got there it was out, when I left it was coming in. Take water to drink. 

Great Blue Heron looking for fish

Lots of people go out there to walk and just enjoy the sun. I have learned to look for the photographers they are looking for interesting things to photograph. With the Bittern I did not know what kind of bird it was, so I showed the picture to a few bird watchers. They told me. At one place on the Estuary path there is a hide to view the water.Shhhh.



Mt. Rainer from Estuary Boardwalk Trail

 The day I went it was almost 50F and sunny. I was able to get great shots of the mountains and the blue sky. For February that is not a bad picture.  It is not a quiet place, oh there are people talking, kids running. Most of the noise was from the birds chattering. When it got quiet I learned to look up something was hunting. Every once and a while the lone cry of a hawk or eagle could be heard.



Heron catches a snake

The neat thing is to walk the path it is only $3.00 for an all day use. There are NO pets allowed big no no, and even though it is outdoors the people who are there frown on smoking. Not because it is bad and smelly, but because even though it is a wetland fire can still happen.

FYI there are deer as well, they just hide until the sun starts to set. 

My Little Happy Geek Brain

I had heard lots about Ready Player One before I got it from the library. With all of the hype, I am not sure that I would like the book. Having said that when in the first three paragraphs the author talks about Gygax and then in the next five chapters Gygax is brought up at least once in a chapter I had to read the thing.

This book is full of 1980's pop culture references movies, music, and games. So that if there are bits in it for everyone. As a gamer and a movie buff I was in heaven. Many of the games that Cline talked about I played, all of the movies I saw, and much of the music I listened to. There were also TV shows that he talked about but I am not a big TV watcher so for me that was just OK.

The ending I have read that some call it a bit of a moral ending. However, knowing how games end the book to me ended a lot like a game. I borrowed this book from the library, and this is going to be one that I add to my collection.

I do not have a quote out of this book, as there are lines from games, movies, and music that I love in there.

Wordless Wednesday

An Idea

I think that I live in one of the greatest places in the world, so I came up with an idea to show everyone how right I think I am. So staring next Monday I am going to do weekly post about my favorite places and why they are that way. Many will be places outside, that are free or low cost. A few will be locally owned and run business.

Yes, there will be photos. I went out today and got some great ones of the first place that I plan to highlight. OMG, it was so cool out there today. There was one pic that I wish I had gotten but I was so startled that I did not have time to get the camera up and ready. What happened was that fast.

Motel of the Mysteries

I chose to read Motel of the Mysteries for the TBR challenge. I wanted for a short month a short book, and that is what I got. At 95 pages it is the shortest of the books that I have on my list. I did not flip through the pages of the book before I read it so I did not realize that most of the book is take up with illustrations. Without the illustrations, the book would loose half its meaning.

The book is written somewhat like an article and somewhat like a book of history. I know that the main character is Howard Carson, however I thought that the room in the motel was more of the main character.

This is a book is an archaeological discovery of a burial chamber that has not been disturbed. When the book was written in the late 1970's the treasures of King Tuts tomb were making the rounds of the country. This book is a satire on the exploration, and publications of the tombs of Egypt.

It is one of the funniest books that I have read in a while. Carson is so wrong on the majority of his theories that I could not help but laugh. I did think that his description of the Great Alter was spot on, but them I am not a big on for worshiping at that alter.

There was not really a quote out of this book for me.

Wordless Wednesday

Storm Aftermath

Can you see the car?

How about now?

Just snow.

See the shiny? That is ice over the snow.

Now can you see the car?

Smooshed Car port.

Can you see the car from my bedroom window?

That was such a pretty tree.

Smooshed car port with tree.

About 20 min after I took these picture we lost power. It was out for just a few days not bad really. I do keep things on hand for power outages. Lights, camp stove, extra blankets, two warm cats, and if the water is lost I have 5 gallon jugs of water that I keep filled. The only thing I missed was a hot shower. There are still places in the county without power, and they think it might be the middle of the week before it is all on.

We did get about 14 inches in abuot 5 hours. That is a  lot of snow. These picture were taken the day after the storm.

Ursula, Under and Snow

Snow, snow, we have gotten a few inches of snow in the past few days. Not bad really, that is usually all we get in a year. It is here for a day or two, then gone. A wonderful thing. I got a few great pictures of a few inches of snow. Having said that, I really really hope that the weather forecasters are wrong. I really hope that they are wrong. It is now Tuesday morning at 3am by Wednesday night we are to have 14 inches. FOURTEEN INCHES, the papers are saying that the roads should be impassable by tonight. I don't know what that means, does that mean at 4pm or sometime toward midnight?

Oh, well will find that out tonight.

This weekend, I finished Ursula, Under by Ingrid Hill. I do not often read fiction that is not fantasy, so the Orange Reading Challenge IS a real challenge for me. What makes it a challenge is that I deal with real life problems at work, and in my free time, I would rather deal with giant bugs eating people, unicorns, dragons, and knights. I did like Ursula, Under.

The book was written in the now, and in the past. Sometime centuries in the past. Each chapter could have been its own short story that led to the outcome of little Ursula. Ursula, running after a deer, falls in a hole and needs to be rescued. Each chapter tells the tale of the ancestors who came before her and the actions that led to her being alive. It is an interesting way to look at what it takes to create a person.

I would recommend this book, to any who are interested in family history, and the possibilities of the past leading to the now.

Quote from page 237..
"It becomes more and more apparent that she is not merely neurotic, eccentric, unpleasantly quirky: it is clear that the queen has gone over the falls in a fragile bark, left the river of sanity, and gone adrift in the open sea."

What Are the Little Things...

What are the little things that get you excited? Get your mind out of the gutter. For some people it is shoes, and I don't get that one but whatever. 

For me it is the first of the new month. It is not that the past month is gone, it is not the changing of time, seasons. It is the library. Each  month on the first or soon after the library gets a paper called the Book Page. I love the Book Page. Each month, it reviews new books, adds for books, and questions from readers/writers.

Each month I pick up my copy of the Book Page and I read every page. There are times that I am not interested in anything that they talk about. More often than not there are at least one or two items that I want to read or look into. Sometime there is a book on every page. There are books listed for everyone, audio books, fiction, non-fiction, kids, and young adult.

If your library offers the Book Page check it out.

First one Done

Duma Key by Steven King. This book is for two reading challenges the TBR and the Whats in a Name 5. For the Whats in a Name challenge a Key is something that is kept in a purse, pocket or backpack.

This is the first King book that I have read in a very long time. When I was a teenager I read him like there was no tomorrow. I read everything he wrote. Then one day I picked up his new and latest release and just could not finish it. I do not know if I had changed, his writing had changed or what. The magic was lost to me.

Last year one of my co-workers gave me Duma Key she wanted to talk to me about the book. Having had lost the magic, I put the book on the shelf and left it there. This is the best Steven King I have read in a long time.

The main character Edgar Freemantle has a accident that almost kills him. To recover he moves to Duam Key. There he meets Wireman, and Elizabeth Eastlake. As he heals he paints, his paintings have the power to heal, kill, and destroy.

I read all 770 pages in about 12 hours. The book had an interesting affect on me. I should explain that when I read the words are not just words. I can see, hear, smell what is on the pages. Each character has a voice, a look, or a little quirk that fits each person. So, when I read a few lines about a picnic basket I could hear the panic in his voice.

This is what I read that freaked me out so much. Italics the authors:
"That basket.
Elizabeth's dammed picnic basket.
It was red."

Wordless Wednesday NOT

Looking through my pictures I realized that I did not have any that I want to share. Guess that means this weekend I get to go out with my camera. WOOHOO a date!

Reading Challenges

So this is the reading challenge post. I signed up to do two this year one I posted about here, this one is the TBR challenge. The other is posted about here.

I have thought about signing up for a few more challenges but then realized that there are some that come up on a monthly basis. The one for January is the Orange Challenge it is hosted by The Magic Lasso. For the Orange Challenge I am going to read Ursula, Under by Ingrid Hill.

I am also going to be doing the Support Your Local Library challenge hosted by Eclectic Bookshelf. The rules are linked here. That is a lot of reading. Woohoo. I had better get started on something.