Weather in the Tries: The nights are still gonna be snuggly cold, the days look like they will all be in the 40s with Wednesday being only 38. Most days will be partly sunny with Monday and Saturday being Sunny. Unless, of course, everything changes. It’s been known to happen.

Some funny things happened on the way to this blog…

Public Service Announcement: A friend wrote me that she couldn’t find the Bookstore tab on my blog, and she assured me she was reading it on her computer. I asked her to send a screen shot if possible, and I forwarded it my Computer Guru. She said my friend was reading it in mail, and to either click on the hotlink/title of the blog (which isn’t underlined), or to type coffeebreakescapes.com in the browser bar. So, if any of you are having problems finding tabs I tell you exist, but they don’t exist in your copy, now you know  (possibly) why. There are all sorts of good things in the tabs. Check out the Spoken Word as well as the Bookstore.

…now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

As you may have guessed, Auntie Lenora signs up for way too many electronic letters/notifications. Want a free Kindle book? Auntie Lenora gets two or three lists a day. Want some good bargains on books? Auntie Lenora gets two or three of those announcements a day. Want audio books but not at the full price? Auntie Lenora gets one a day. We won’t go into the news feeds Auntie Lenora gets, and doesn’t read all of, but it’s there if she wants to read them. She does read them, just not all of them.

So, the other day Auntie Lenora was reading one of the book lists that came through, and was caught by “Karma takes too long. I’d rather beat the shit out of you right now.” Unfortunately she wrote down the author, and was still chuckling and inadvertently erased it, so she cannot give proper attribution. But it was a Fantasy novel, of that she is fairly sure. Now, when Auntie Lenora was in the WAC, she had a nickname, The Fist. Because someone at some point taught her how to make a proper fist so when she hit someone a) she would not break her thumb and b) the receiver would know they’d be hit! She must have been pretty scary because any time someone bothered her, she’d make a fist and shake it at them, and they would cease and desist. Of course, mostly they were doubled up on the floor laughing, but since that hurt Auntie Lenora’s delicate feelings…

Auntie Lenora subscribes to Fast Forward, a newsletter out of the Boston Globe. The young lady who writes it, Teresa M. Hanafin has a sense of humor that strikes a chord in Auntie Lenora. This is a quote from Friday, January 28 paper. 

“In New York City, the unvaccinated who contract COVID-19 are 36 times more likely to end up in the hospital than those with a brain.” By now, I’m sure you know Auntie Lenora’s take on getting vaccinated. She is a firm believer that the only ones who should not be jabbed are those whose doctor says not to for health reasons. Like my girlfriend’s daughter who has a medical condition that could kill her if she gets the vaccination. Actually, it could kill her if she doesn’t, but they are doing everything in their power to see that doesn’t happen.

Auntie Lenora has turned into a pacifist in her dotage, and though she does occasionally think of beating the crap out of someone, for the precise reason mentioned above, she doesn’t. But she can dream. And write about warrior women who also don’t have time for Karma to show up.

Auntie Lenora purchases a lot of stuff from Uncle Jeff. You’d think he’d cut her some slack and give her a family discount, but no, he doesn’t. A lot of people dislike him because he saw an opening in the market and filled it. She’s just happy he filled it with, among other things, jobs and that each of her children work for him and make living wages. During Covid (she almost typed Corvid, but this is not a time of Crows. Fortunately, she caught it before publishing) when joining the madding crowds is not a good idea, she has bought much of what she needs from Uncle Jeff’s Emporium, aka, Amazon. Anyhow, the other day, she saw something online she really, really wanted. It was at Etsy. It was a kit for sashiko. She felt the lust build, and she ordered it. A few minutes later, she received confirmation her order had been received and was being processed and she could expect on or about 31 March. Yes, you read the date correctly. Auntie Lenora forgot that Etsy is a worldwide marketplace. She should have been suspicious when she saw the note that it was free shipping in the US. Did it say TO the US? It may have. Anyhow, Auntie Lenora has learned a few things during the decades in which she has been breathing, and she found a few sashiko patterns, etc. where else? Uncle Jeff’s Emporium.

And there you have it. Three funnies that brought outright laughs and chuckles to Auntie Lenora as she was sitting at her computer to write her blog.

Photo of the Week:

I took this several years ago, probably in the winter because it was colder than a Well-Digger’s bottom!

Books: Remember, if I finish a book, I review it at Rainy Day Reads

Finished three books this week. Waking the Merrow —by Heather Rigney. This is book one of a trilogy. I now have all three books. This is Fantasy at its best as far as Auntie Lenora is concerned. It brings in Celtic Mythology and an element of horror. You thought you knew merpeople? The sweet mermaids that sit on rocks and sing to passing sailors. Oh, you ain’t met a mermaid until you meet the merrow of Narragansett Bay. And the only way you want to meet them is in a book! Honest. Trust Auntie Lenora on that one.

Also finished Murder at the Mission, A Frontier Killing, its Legacy of Lies, and the Taking of the American West —by Blaine Harden. Where Waking the Merrow got 5 stars, this one got only 3. I so wanted to like it, but I could only give it 3 because I did finish it.

Allegro To Life —by Earl Vincent de Berge is a 5 star book of poetry. I sent one of my reviews to my publisher and they now send me books to read and review. It’s wonderful to get free books to read/review AND get paid 😉

Quotes this week are from https://everydaypower.com/karma-quotes/

“Sin makes its own hell, and goodness its own heaven.” Mary Baker Eddy

“Don’t waste time on revenge. The people who hurt you will eventually face their own karma.” —Author Unknown

“You are free to choose, but you are not free from the consequence of your choice.” —Author Unknown

 Sammy the Brave Dog says he’s had his fill of cold. He does not like wearing a sweater outside, and especially not inside. He does have a fur coat, but it isn’t very thick. Auntie Lenora just grumbles in whatever language no one else will understand. She hopes. They both wish you a marvelous week.