2023*4 LizzieD: Still here. Still reading.

and

These October mushrooms are in our yard right now. The first is apparently the younger version of the second. I've never seen anything like them and don't have time to track them down. New and different for my page though!

READ IN OCTOBER
45. Double Share - Why is this so comforting? I don't know, but it is.
46. Captain's Share
47. The Running Grave
48. A Stranger in Town

Into the House in October
96. The Running Grave ✔
97. Companion Piece - PBS
98. Maid - PBS
99. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street ✔
100. A Stranger in Town ✔
101. The Deepest of Secrets

READ IN NOVEMBER
49. Owner's Share
50. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

Into the House in November
102. The Bookbinder - Kindle Deal through BookBub
103. Deacon King Kong - PBS
104. Bookshops & Bonedust - birthday
105. The Olympian Affair
106. Ravenwood - Kindle Daily Deal
107. A Haunting on the Hill
108. Obsession in Death - PBS
109. Devoted in Death - PBS
110. Thankless in Death - PBS
111. Concealed in Death - PBS
112. Apprentice in Death - PBS
113. Down Cemetery Road - PBS
114. Winds of the Steppe - Kindle Daily Deal
115. Festive in Death - PBS

READ IN DECEMBER
51. Hands of the Emperor (third reading)

Into the House in December
116. Warriorborn - Kindle

OPEN FOR READING IN NOVEMBER
>

(Just because they're open doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to get to them this month.)(I'm also silly to include the first four since I haven't looked at any of them in months, but I live in hope.)

It was past time to start a new thread, so I did.

Whew. At least I can get this done at my leisure!

Wordle 841 5/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟨🟨🟩
🟨🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unite, whine, niece, binge That 3rd guess inadvertently placed a yellow letter in the same wrong position.
My excuse is that I'm not myself quite yet. Before I opened the door, I could hear Mama's house alarm buzzing. I came flying in to find Mama safely in bed. She said that she had heard me call at the front door and tried to take the alarm off to let me in, but I wasn't there when she got there, and she couldn't make it stop buzzing. Yikes. Again, I don't know what we're going to do about Mama at night. Right now I'm going to make breakfast.

New 🧵 orisons, Peggy! And another Sunday *smooch*

Awww, while writing this Richard beat me out for first place.

Happy new thread, my dear Peggy.

I'm sorry things are getting dicey with your mama. Not a good wake up call for this morning, for sure.

Deep breaths, breakfast.

I frequently do the same with Wordle, putting a yellow in the same wrong position. And, once, famously and recently, using my first word twice. *eye roll*

>5 LizzieD: that sounds like a stressful start to your day, Peggy, and a new set of worries too I'm sure. Hang in there, friend.

Happy new thread, Peggy. I'll be back when your construction is finished.

I just got my flu shot and COVID booster as well and felt crappy for a couple of days.

Happy new one, dear Peggy.

>4 LizzieD: Agree! Your threads keep getting longer and longer. xx

Happy new thread, Peggy!

>5 LizzieD: Sorry for your rough start of the day, hope the rest of the day was easier on you.

Happy new thread Peggy!

I'll have to come back to see what you top this one with...

Happy new thread, Peggy! I'm sorry you had such a difficult start to the day. I commiserate, seeing as how we're about to head out of town to deal with an elderly parent. It's not easy growing old, or taking care of older parents.

Wishing you a great new week!

Happy new one!

Wait. What? I posted thankful greetings to all of you dear people last night. Where is it?????

I'm delighted to have the kind attention, Anita, Irene, Susan, Anita, Paul, Beth, Laura, Karen, and Richard. You are all very dear to me. I wish I were in better touch with you. I also wish that I were reading more to make this poor Wordle thread more interesting. Oh well. I'm grateful that you remember me.

Wordle 842 3/6

⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, truth It's been a long, long time since I saw a 3.

>15 LizzieD: *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

Happy new thread, Peggy!

Happy new one, Peggy!

'Morning, Peggy!

I got another 3 in Wordle today and am on page 841/945 of The Running Grave. It's a doozy.

Thank you, Jim and Stasia!

*smooch* Richard. I gave your first word a spin today, and look at the result!

We're 3 Sisters again, Karen! YAY!!! As to *RG*, I'm on it!

Wordle 843 3/6

🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 aeons, snack, snail

Just checking in on you this morning. I hope all is well there!

>20 LizzieD: Brava Peggy! It's just the best isn't it? *smooch*

Hi Peggy, Sorry to see life with Mama is so fraught. Eldercare is truly a challenge and so emotionally draining.
Glad to see you had the energy to start a new thread and wishing you a relaxing time with Wordle. Don't be hard on yourself if that's what you can do in a day for relaxing.

'Morning my dear. I wish you and yours a GOOD day.

I've got a busy one scheduled, Wordle took me 4.

I finished The Running Grave last night and have posted a no-spoilers review. There are a few details about how Robin goes undercover and how she stays in touch with Strike, but nothing to prevent complete, full, and not spoiled joy reading it.

Good morning, dear friends!

Tuesday was fine, Stasia. I wish us both an equally good Wednesday! No-shower days are good!

Thank you, Sandy. Most of the time I do OK, but sometimes I just lose it. You're right. It's hard. I do indulge myself though, so no worries on that score except maybe for my character.

Morning, Karen and Richard!
I'm getting into *RG*, Karen. I won't gobble it down as quickly as you did, but it's going to be a good one.

I'm back to my go-to word, Richard. Yours would have been better by one letter, and that one in the correct position. However, I pulled it out with my second word's help, so I'm chuffed. *smooch*

Wordle 844 3/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, skunk

Chuffed indeed, Peggy me lurve. Getting there is brilliant. My PT provider told me today she ran the NYC marathon in 2016 & felt bad because her time was twice the winning time...I smacked her with "YOU FINISHED A 26 mile run! Don't even with that silliness!"

Therapists need therapy, too, obvs. *smooch*

>25 LizzieD: I wish us both an equally good Wednesday! No-shower days are good!

I wish you the same!

Good morning, Stasia and Richard! I wish you both a rich Thursday. We're getting a little rain - YAY!!! *smooch* for Richard; (((((Stasia)))))

Wordle 845 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜
🟨🟩🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, enter, knelt I had to glance a a word list. I completely expected to lose my streak on this one.

'Morning, my dear.

Our concrete is damp, so we must have gotten a bit of rain overnight.

Wordle took me 5, and I had to glance at my spreadsheet a couple of times. Glad you got it in 4 and didn't break your streak. My streak's back up to 21 days...

You mentioned the Casey Duncan series on my thread - I forgot I bought the first in the series for Kindle in June, so have added it to my 2023 acquisitions list AND my catalog. As one of my mothers-in-law used to say, "I miss my mind."

I hope you have a GOOD day. (((((Peggy)))))

It is cool here this morning and I hope the day stays that way! I am loving the fall weather.

Have a thunderous Thursday, Peggy!

Happy new thread, Peggy.

Thank you, Arlie. Yay for fall, Stasia! I'm loving the not-summer weather! Morning, Karen. We got in the neighborhood of an inch of rain overnight Wednesday, and we needed every drop.

Wordle 846 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, uncle Happy Birthday to me!

And you answered my question about posting Happy Birthday to you here!



And congrats on getting Wordle in 3.

I hope you have a marvelous day.

Love,
Karen

Thank you, dear (((((Karen))))). So far I like being 79 just fine.

Peggy 🎉🎉🎉



All the very best wishes for a splendid day and year to come.

Thank you, Stasia and Sandy! My thread has never been prettier!

Happy birthday, Peggy!

Happy Birthday, Peggy! I hope you've enjoyed your day.

Thank you, Anita and Laura! It was a good day, and I've enjoyed being remembered!

Happy Birthday, Peggy! 🎂🥳And Happy New Thread!

Thank you, Deborah. I'm still celebrating with a lot of cake!

Wordle 847 3/6

🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, agent My subscription to the NYT from public radio has finally run out, so I don't know what the Bot says anymore. Since the Bot operates on the # of words eliminated with each guess, and I operate on the letters I've found, I'm not hurt to lose it.

'Morning, Peggy!

Congrats on Wordle in 3. Took me my usual 4. I started with a free subscription to the NYT then have continued it over the years. I did get rid of my WaPo subscription - two very expensive subscriptions was a bit much, considering that I'm in news avoidance mode recently.

Yum to the pound cake, congrats to your DH for making it.

Oh my gosh, I was so sick I missed your birthday! Many happy returns, dear lady! *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

'Morning, Peggy! Happy Sunday to you and yours.

All's quiet on the ... I was going to say Pittsboro front, but since you have another friend here in town, I can't... so Hwy 64 front.

Wordle in 5, yuck, but it certainly beats 6 or a skunk.

Good morning, Karen and Richard, you dears!

I beam at kind birthday wishes when they come, Richard. I"m sorry that you've been feeling so miserable, and I'm happy that you're better!

Karen, I don't read enough of the NYT to justify my extending my subscription. I'll miss it, but I didn't really use it, and as long as I can play Wordle and take the Friday news quiz, I'm good. I like Connections too, but if they pull it, my heart won't break.

I had a 50/50 chance on Wordle in 4 today and happily chose the right word. NO SKUNKS!!!
Wordle 848 4/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, mealy, leaky

'Morning, Peggy!

I infrequently use WordleBot, have only tried Connections a couple of times. Sometimes my brain works right for Connections sometimes it doesn't. *smile*

Wordle took me 5 today.

Good morning, Karen! I'm all over the place with Connections. I expect I have as many skunks as I have completions. It's sort of fun to me. You're on the same streak I was last month. Not fun, but you'll come roaring back.

Wordle 849 3/6

🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, graph I'm not sure how that happened, but I like it a lot.

Hi Peggy! VERY nice Wordle result, my friend. 5 for me today.

I am all over the place with Connections, too. I also admit that if I make a couple mistakes and just have no idea where I'm going wrong, I will throw in the towel rather than get officially skunked. Silly, I know, but there it is.

'Morning, Peggy! I hope your day is a Very Good One.

>48 LizzieD: Congrats on your three. I had a very unusual result, Wordle in 2 for me today!!!

Good morning, Laura and Karen...... Oh, Wordle.

CONGRATULATIONS on your 2 today, Karen. In my third guess I stupidly ignored a letter I had established, or I might possibly have gotten it in 3 since I like to try that 2nd consonant. I'm happy with 4 though.
Laura, I don't keep up with Connections, so I don't mind a skunk especially since I'm usually in a hurry. i had thought that the more I played, the better I'd get, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I don't know enough about pop culture to get a lot of them although I should have twigged to the Adams Family yesterday.

Wordle 850 4/6

🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟩⬜⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, awful, adult

Happy Day, Y'all!

Tuesday orisons, Peggy! I'm under the eville influence of a cold today, so feel stopped up and yucky. I would like to petition your god for a break, please...care to act on my behalf? She ignores me.

*schnerkle*

>51 LizzieD: I think Connections needs a bit of back-of-the-brain thinking time. So try not to rush it. I get it about half the time (I think - no stats available), although pop culture is my downfall as well.

>53 ffortsa: I expect you're right, Judy, and I'm happy to see you here. I can't bring myself to care much about Connections. I'm happy when I am Perfect and not surprised or sad when I am skunked.

I'm sorry that you have a cold, Richard. You are, in fact, in my prayers, but I don't think it works that way.

Off to bed!!!!!

>54 LizzieD: Hi Peggy. Still clogged but at least not quite as drippy. I think your credit balance with her upstairs got drawn down on my behalf. *smooch* for being so generous.

'Morning, Peggy! Happy Wednesday to you and yours.

Wordle was 5 for me today. I'm puttering around here on LT, then will do a bit of this and that before taking Louise to lunch at Longhorn Steak House in Apex. Then she wants to go to Target. I live to serve...

>54 LizzieD: You are, in fact, in my prayers, but I don't think it works that way. What? You don't use God like a supermarket? That's the first impression I took away from Bible studies at Pepperdine in 1971-1972, people asking for specific things, specific events, and I did not like that.

>56 karenmarie: Good for you, Karen! Nope. That's Prosperity Gospel, and that's not what the relationship with God and Humans is about. Prayer is another one of those mysteries for me. I do it in gratitude and faith, but I couldn't write a paragraph about it, much less a book - although I've read them. You remind me of my aunt who took great offense at a woman going on about how her refrigerator was not working well and she prayed that it would fix itself and it did --- all that in the presence of another woman whose son was in a coma following a car crash.
You are such a good, dear friend, Karen. I'm guessing you have very little idea how much Louise loves you and is thankful for you. (Me too)

>55 richardderus: I'm glad that you're feeling better, Richard, and hope today and tomorrow are better yet! My super-feminist friend (Bobbie, Karen) always refers to the goddess, but I don't supply God with gender myownself, which is to say that God doesn't have pronouns, or I don't know them.

Wordle 851 6/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩⬜🟨🟩
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, leery, perky, merry, mercy Whew indeed!

Whew! Yay for your 6. We'll take anything except a skunk with grace, right?

(Thank you for your kind words. I didn't know it was called Prosperity Gospel, will have to chat with friend Karen in Montana about it.)

'Morning, Peggy.

Karen and I chatted about Prosperity Gospel last night, and, not surprisingly, she's agin it. We also tried to solve the world's problems, but couldn't come up with a solution since people (mostly men) seem to keep wanting to fight for territory, power, influence, and riches.

Still barely paying attention to the news, although Karen told me last night that 4 students at Pepperdine Malibu (Pepperdine Los Angeles, now defunct, is our alma mater), were killed by a 22-year old and who is charged with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. They're gone, and I feel so sorry for their families and friends.

In better news, I squeeked by with Wordle in 6 today.

Peggy me lurve, I speak to you today miraculously raised from my sick-bed by a full night's sleep.

Hoping you and all yours are equally chipper and renewed on this beauteous fall day.

So happy to hear that you're rested and feeling better! *smooch* for your good and beauteous fall day!

I'm glad that you and Karen got to talk about Prosperity Gospel, Karen. I have a book to recommend, but I'm going to have to search a bit to find the title for you. You two Karens would read it with understanding and sensitivity, I think.
I'm sorry to hear about even more shooting. I missed that one although I haven't had MSNBC on yet this morning.

Wordle 852 5/6

🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟨🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟨🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, stalk, salty, splat Really???? Come on, Wordle. We'll hope for better tomorrow.

>59 karenmarie: My sister routinely refers to to the Prosperity Gospel as heretical. She and I particularly dislike the too often-expressed implication that because "God wants You to be Rich," at least if you are a decent Christian, anyone who isn't rich is neither a decent person nor a decent Christian. In practice much the same applies to any other misfortune - it's one of the the biggest excuses for "blame the victim", "kick people when they are down", and opposition to both charity and social safety nets. The only way that sect can possibly support aid to the needy is if it's part of a proselytization effort.

The best (doubtless inadequate) solution I can find to the problems caused by competition/fighting is to channel it into less harmful arenas. If more people would "fight" to be known as "most generous" rather than "most rich", etc etc they'd do less harm in the process. (That said, Gates' current philanthropy does not adequately atone for the scummy business practices that got him the fortune he's now distributing. But he'd have done even more harm if he hadn't at least tried to help some people other than himself.)

>62 ArlieS: Ah yes the (not really a) joke from my childhood:

Why did you kick the beggar?

Who am I to be better than God?

Good morning, Peggy!

I'm up early, but got 5 straight hours of sleep, a welcome number even if less than an optimal 8.

Wordle in 4, so I'm feeling pretty chipper.

>62 ArlieS: Interesting proposition, Arlie, to compete for honors as 'most generous' instead of 'most rich'. Most churches quietly go about the business of helping their parishioners, and many are able to step up during local natural disasters. The mega-churches seem to be the ones that become tempted by and tainted by seeking riches for their pastors. Having said that, my cousin's huge Pentacostal Temple in Raleigh NC does nothing but good for its families and possibly even the local community. (I don't like their brand of Christianity from the perspective of how they interpret a woman's role, but that's a separate conversation.)

Good morning, Arlie, Susan, and Karen! Agreement all around on the fiendish Prosperity Gospel. I recommend again Kate Bowler's Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved, which she wrote at 35 when she thought she was dying from cancer within the next year. She's on the Duke Divinity School faculty, and her specialization is the Prosperity Gospel, which she defines in much broader terms than feeling entitled to money. Getting money under control would be an awesome start though.

I'm sad this morning having learned last night of the death of a life-long friend, who developed dementia just as his father did. His face pops into my mind when I hear the word "integrity." We've missed him and will miss him more.

Speaking of image in mind's eye ---- What do you all see when you close your eyes? I see the inside of my eyelids, I guess, and that's all. Can you really bring up vivid images for yourself? I've just learned the term "aphantasia," and I'm wondering how widespread the condition is. I never would have expected that I'm lacking something that most other people have. I guess I'm still not convinced.

And to the mundane ----
Wordle 853 4/6

⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, furor, occur I used a list after #3.

>65 LizzieD: Oh, I don't think aphantasia means what you see on your eyelids. I think it's more like what your mind does when you're told to think of an elephant. A general description of an elephant usually pops into your mind, rather than a Wikipedia definition, doesn't it? Maybe even a memory of Dumbo. But some people might not visualize enough to be able to spontaneously describe that elephant. No reference picture is retrieved.

That said, I'm definitely no expert. Why did I even say any of this??

I sort of can't believe that's what it means either, Judy. However, this is confusing. When you have a chance, look at this website....

Aphantasia Test

Thinking back to other things I've read about aphantasia, I do remember seeing that being able to make a mental list of visual aspects of an object is not visualizing. I got the eyelid thing from somebody who supposedly had been confirmed as aphantasic (?). It's a mystery to me.

Wordle 854 4/6

⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, shirk, smirk Quick and easy today for a Fourder.

>67 LizzieD: That's fascinating. My sister has prosopagnosia, and I've suspected for a long time aphantasia as well. The condition seems odd to me as my visual imagination is a strong force in shaping my life. "Seeing" books as I read them is the norm for me. My mind's eye can be everyone from Chuck Jones and the Looney Tunes to Scorsese, Mervyn LeRoy, and Godard. It's just...there. Can't imagine it not being.

Yet we all have wildly different ways of experiencing the world, and simply never think to apply any standard but our own to the way others are doing so...and the differences explain a LOT about why things are the way they are.

‘Morning, Peggy! Gorgeous Carolina blue skies, nice early fall-like weather, a light breeze. I'm starting to see through the Crepe Myrtle to the trees on the creek line as it drops its leaves. I hope you, your mama and your DH have a lovely day.

My condolences on the death of a life-long friend of yours.

Hmm. Aphantasia. When I closed my eyes just now, for some reason I brought up the image of me sitting in my mother’s den, Jenna in a recliner to my left, Mom in her recliner on the right, sister Laura in the kitchen making turkey tacos. I don’t know why that image is the one of thousands that floated to the surface. I have very vivid mental imagery, which works well with the books I read, too.

When you read do you conjure up a visual interpretation of what you’re reading? It’s not the same as when your eyes are closed, granted, but I would think the way your mind works might be the same. Or, perhaps not.

I used lists yesterday – the list of 2,309 words and the list of words already used.

>68 LizzieD: I got it in 3 today, without the lists. That always makes me feel good.

Arsenal at 12:30, then errands because Bill's feeling puny after the Covid Pfizer booster on Thursday. He consistently has noticeable side effects after Covid boosters, I've only had a slightly sore arm since the first one, which gave me side effects for perhaps 6-8 hours.

>67 LizzieD: I found the description and test just as confusing as the original mention, alas. I can conjure up images of specific people and things, but I'm not sure if it's a form of list-making or an actual visual. Sometimes I remember a play because of a specific scene or visual aspect, many years after I've seen it. Is that a memory or a picture? Not sure.

Mostly I just imagine the idea of an image, a sort of iconized outline, but sometimes on the edge of exhaustion when I've had lots of visual stimulation in a narrow band - lots of pottery, reams of lithographs, a fashion line up, I will my mind will fill with a storm of images combining element and easily takes direction when I come up with combinations - this angle on that scene, these sleeves and neckline on that dress. The images are much more clear than anything that comes up in my normal state.

Joel Osteen is the first person that comes to mind when I think of the prosperity gospel, but looking on line, I see there are many others.

'Morning, Peggy. I hope you and yours have a good Sunday.

Wordle in 3, hours of sleep 3. Sigh.

Coffee, brekkie, fiddling around a bit here on LT then reading.

I'm more than interested in the visualization and prosperity gospel talk, but I'll have to have more time than now to respond. Thank you, Karen (twice) (only 3 hours??? That is just not right.), Deborah, Susan, Judy, and Richard. I wish all of you a happy day!

Wordle 855 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟨🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, vixen, given Back to my old self!

>69 richardderus: >70 karenmarie: I think I would have said that I visualize as I read if somebody had asked me years ago when I hadn't thought about it. I don't. I inhabit characters, I think, as an actor does, but I don't really see them or their surroundings no matter how vividly they're described. I do have vivid, colorful dreams, and I dream about a book if I'm engaged by it. I'm there myself with the characters, but I don't see their faces. In fact, I don't have any visualization of my own face unless I'm looking in a mirror. I'm generally good with facial recognition. I think that like Judy, what I do have a visual feeling for is memory. With me it comes as a flash and disappears. Curious!
I guess it's a good thing that I can't visualize. I'd never have gotten out of my head in that case.

What I do have and am very grateful for is mental hearing. (I wonder what the word is. Richard?) I don't know what other people hear, but a piano sounds like a piano, and so on.

>76 LizzieD: "Innerer Klang?" There ought to be a term for it, I agree, but if there is I don't know it. I'd like to. I hope someone we all hang out with will fill that hole in our collective knowledge.

New-week *smooch*

Good morning, Richard! Whatever the word is, the thing stood me in good stead in my teen years when I wasn't practicing enough but was hearing my pieces in my head.

Incidentally, my DH said something about the Banana Republicans in the House. Neither of us has heard anybody else use that obvious term, but it is obvious once you hear it.

*smooch* to Richard for the day and the week!

Wordle 856 5/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, voted, begot, tempo It took five, but I'm still alive.

Just in time to still say 'Morning, Peggy!

I got up late, chatted with Louise, and etc., then spent 50 minutes with Jenna in the garage cleaning out the drawers in the workbench. Trash, a box for Habitat, stuff for the house, including a cute little homemade squirrel handbook in Jenna's handwriting for the times she and her friend Julie hung out in a huge bush on their property after school when they were 10-11.

Congrats on 5, took me 6.

edited to add

Happy Tuesday, my dear Peggy.

Today's Wordle was 3, but I did use my spreadsheet. Book sorting, Virlie's, possibly treadmill, probably going up 15-501 to get some UHaul book boxes. The fun never stops.

Dear Karen, you are making the most of your retirement. GOOD for you!!!!!

We're 3 Sisters again. I love for that to happen!!!

Wordle 857 3/6

🟨⬜⬜🟩🟩
⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, phase, cause

>65 LizzieD: It's possible to be able to imagine things clearly that aren't images. It's easier for me to remember or imagine smell, touch, and even hearing than sight. I'm not sure if it counts as aphantasia if you just don't _see_ things that aren't there.

Interesting, Arlie! I can remember or imagine that I have touched or smelled, but I certainly can't recreate the feeling. I guess I'm not sure what you're suggesting. From the few things I've read online, aphantasia refers specifically to seeing. However, people with that lack may also not recognize faces well, not dream vividly, and may not hear in their mind's ear either. We're fascinating, aren't we?

Speaking of fascinating, I would never, ever have thought of this word had it not been the only possibility for my 4th try. My normal starters were lucky today!

Wordle 858 4/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩
🟨🟩🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, terry, retry

Oh my goodness! I'll finish The Running Grave tomorrow at the latest. What a great escape!!!

'Morning, Peggy! Glorious Wednesday to you.

Congrats on 4, it took me 5.

I'm so glad you've been powering through The Running Grave. I had a chance to talk about with friend Rhoda at Virlie's yesterday.

I really need to get dressed, get organized, and go use the treadmill and either go to the PO or find where the local copier has moved to - think they're south of the Traffic Circle now, but don't remember what they're called. 🙄

Hello again, Karen! I'm about to finish *TRG*, so I'll have something to say about it beyond touting its suspense level.

Wordle 859 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟨⬜🟨⬜🟩
🟨⬜⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unite, imbue (I've always wanted to use that word), pique I did check a list at the end. What a curious choice!

HATEFUL! HATEFUL!! HATEFUL!!! My connection with Wordle was bad this morning; my answers wouldn't enter. When I determined that nothing was wrong with my keyboard, I refreshed the puzzle and lost my 144 or 5 day winning streak. Boo. Also hiss.

THE RUNNING GRAVE by Robert Galbraith

You know that I completely enjoyed this Robin-undercover-in-a-horrific-cult novel. JKRRG has it down pat: the charming leader, the appeal to earnest people who want to fulfill themselves while they do good for others, the growing isolation, intimidation and deprivation, the jargon, the intensive indoctrination, the chanting and ritual combined with showy sleight of hand.

I did end with a slightly less engaged reading experience. Strike looks at their picture/note board, makes a connection, sends his operatives out, and eventually confronts the murderer - all without giving the reader a fair chance to solve the whole thing. Then he explains to various groups like Hercule Poirot. I am also reminded of Five Red Herrings where Wimsey looks at an artist's palette and realizes that a necessary item is missing, but doesn't tell anybody else or the reader. I want fair play!!!!

My other objection is a relatively small discrepancy which is left after I discovered the answer to a larger one that I have now satisfied. Kevin says that his mother brought him and his two sisters to the farm when he was 1. Robin says of his mother's suicide that she lost 2 sons to the cult, but I don't remember any mention of the second son although they may have taken a baby from her.

All in all this is one of the best of the series though. I'll jump right on the next one in hopes that Strike and Robin finally give romance a chance.

My dear Peggy, I am so sorry you lost your Wordle history. Boo and hiss indeed.

Excellent review of The Running Grave. I still can't answer your question about Kevin although I only finished the book on October 10th.

I have the same hopes for the next book.

Wordle took me 4 today with a lot of help from my spreadsheets.

Good morning + a day, Karen - another beautiful one in SE NC!

I do have my Wordle business back, but I still have to use the enter key and the mouse at the same time to enter my choices. Peculiar! I finally got yesterday in 5 and was happy to have gotten it at all. Today - Yippee!

Wordle 861 3/6

🟨⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, loans, mason

What will I read now that I'm free of *TRG*??? I'm happily finishing A Stranger in Town, the last of the Rockton series although Armstrong takes some characters to a new settlement in the next book. Casey has just had a bone-chilling encounter with a mama grizzly bear separated from her cubs. Everybody walked away unharmed, but reading it is as close as I want to come to bear of any kind. When my DH kept bees, he had have electrified fences around several yards deep in the swamps to keep out black bears. Yikes!
I think that Stasia and I are going to read The Warburgs in November. I've read about 100 pp, which means that Stasia and I will be reading it together for maybe 3 days. Early Chernow is good Chernow.
I have an ER ARC to finish, Like the Appearance of Horses. It is beautifully written but so sad that it's hard for me to read.
Then who knows? I'm flirting with several things!

'Morning, Peggy!

It's a gorgeous day here in central NC, too.

Looks like you've got a few good things going right now, although perhaps your ER read may not be the right choice for such a gorgeous day. A comfort reread? Fantasy? SciFi?

I'm on the Light chapter in An Immense World by Ed Yong, and after the dismal start with Bold Jumping Spiders, this arachnophobe was happy to see him talk about other animals.

Arsenal's up 1-0 at the half, for icing on the cake. Congrats on your Wordle in 3, I needed 5.

Belated happy birthday wishes, Peggy! I'm sorry I missed the big day. We're back in town and I am only very slowly getting back around to the threads on LT.

The discussion about the Prosperity Gospel was interesting. I'm glad everyone here rejects it. People who believe that don't seem to have read the Bible, or they completely skipped the story of the rich young man (which appears in 3 of the gospels), which Jesus ends by saying "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

I've never heard of aphantasia; I'll have to look it up when I've got some time.

Thank you, Irene, and glad to see you back!!!!

My thing about Prosperity Gospel is the ways beyond dealing with money that it creeps into Christian thought. I'm too tired and it's too late for me to say more, but I still recommend Kate Bowler's books.

'Morning, Peggy! I hope you have a wonderful Sunday.

Insomnia struck, and I'll probably take a nap later since 4 hours is probably not enough.

I got Wordle in 4, without help from my spreadsheets. *smile*

Uh oh. I'm sorry about the insomnia. I'll look forward to a nap too since I got only 6½, not enough for me.

Yay for Wordle without spreadsheets! My trusty first words got me there in 3.

Wordle 862 3/6

⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, phony

>67 LizzieD: >66 ffortsa: After looking at the aphantasia website (I just looked at the first page), it strikes me that they're talking about something along the lines of what you might visualize in a guided meditation-type thing. Where someone describes something and you visualize it in your mind. I don't think of it as just closing my eyes and just trying to bring up an image. If I just close my eyes and try to think of something, it's too artificial. But I've never had any problems seeing scenes when listening to someone describing them, or when they say to think of a relaxing place that you've been to or want to go to.

When I read, in my mind I don't see the words on the page, I see the scene that the writer is describing, as my mind interprets it. I've always wondered if people who are not readers are not able to make that same leap.

Wordle took me 5 today.

Good morning, Irene. I envy you your mental vision, but it doesn't happen in my head under any circumstances. I guess I would never get out of my head if I could do what you describe.

Wordle 863 4/6

🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, frail, grail Alpha order cost me a 3 today. Never mind.

'Morning, Peggy, and happy Monday to you. It's just gorgeous out, isn't it? Too hot, of course, getting to 85F here, but I still have short-sleeved shirts out, so there's that.

Congrats on your Wordle in 3 yesterday. I got it in 3 today, only using my spreadsheets to confirm that my guesses are actual Wordle words and haven't already been used, but thought of the words first.

Busy morning for us - Jenna and I are going to the PO then grocery shopping, then I'm going to chat with my almost-88 year old Aunt Joyce in the early afternoon.

>94 LizzieD: I did the same thing with my Wordle guess three. Bah!

Karen O

>82 LizzieD: Aphantasia may well refer specifically to sight. I don't *think* fantasy refers only to sight, but words from the same roots may well develop distinctions even stranger than this.

As for failing to recognize faces - that's called prosopagnosia, and I haven't heard of it as being correlated with lack of visual memory or visual imagination - at least, not from material about prosopagnosia rather than about aphantasia.

As for what I'm suggesting - I got sick of people telling me I was deficient in imagination, because I didn't generally imagine visual images, whereas they were not deficient, even though they were so poor at imagining touch, smell, etc. that they believed imagining such things was impossible. (Ye olde "if I can't do it, it's not important, but anyone who can't do what I can do is defective".)

And yes, some days I have a chip on my shoulder about past experiences of this kind. That chip is definitely not about you.

>94 LizzieD: Very interesting! I think it's cool how we are all so different and unique. This is one of those abilities that I never thought about much, and I certainly didn't know that some folks were not able to visualize well. It doesn't cause me to be in my head all the time, it's just something I've always taken for granted.

I got Wordle in 4 today as well, with the same last two guesses. I actually thought of the correct word on 2 but rejected it as unlikely, so I went with my usual second word. Oh well, 4 is my standard result.

I hope we all stay healthy with the coming sudden drop in temperature!

Hi Peggy.

Another early morning for me. Insult to injury, it's not even light out yet.

Wordle in 3, a busy day ahead with book sort, Virlie's for lunch, a visit to a printer for Friends business, bank for cash for house cleaners.

grouchy *smooch* to my favorite Artful Book-bullet Dodger

Good morning, Karen and Richard! I'm sorry you're awake so early, Karen. I wish that I could give you sleep lessons. Enjoy your busy day anyway and get in out of the cold soon so that you can cuddle up with a book. GOOD for you for Wordle in 3!
I'll take that gladly, Richard, and a happy *smooch* right back! I guarantee I don't dodge if I can help it.
Irene and Arlie, I want to respond, but I'll have to do it later.
Karen O, I hope you had better luck with Wordle today than I did. I was happy to get it at all because I now have a streak of 150. I hate that I wrote that - sort of inviting failure next time.

Wordle 864 5/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, cheap, gleam, bleak

'Morning, Peggy! Another glorious fall day. Brrr.

Wordle in 3, with a bit of help from my spreadsheets.

Gorgeous day, Karen! Windy!! Love Wordle in 3! I'll catch you later, but I had to come record my Wordle triumph:

Wordle 865 2/6

🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 snail, noise I've always thought that THE word would make a good first choice. I'm very happy to have tried a new starter word on this very day. Mama's up, and I'm off and away!

Morning, Peggy, and a happy All Saints' day to you. I'm looking forward to Day of the Dead tomorrow. I ordered some pan de muerto as a treat, so cinnamon-y anise-y goodness will arrive tomorrow. Extravagant of me but so worth it once a year.

*smooch*

Hiya Peggy! Happy Wednesday's Wordle-ing! *smooch* (which is what I meant to say back at 11am)

Nice Wordle today, Peggy. I got it in 5. I like your starter word. I don't use the same one every day, thinking I'll just choose a word out of the air, but after so many months of Wordling I know I'm cycling through a set of words I've used before. It's nice to add a new one to the rotation.

Wow, congrats on Wordle in 2 today with a new word. Brava.

Thank you kindly, Richard, Laura and Karen. Those 2s are rare birds.

Hope your annual extravagance was much-appreciated, Richard, and *smooch* back!

Oh my, the Warburgs! I'm just enjoying Felix, who was exuberant except at the bank. He married the daughter of Jacob Schiff, and they had more money than any of his brothers. He was the true philanthropist of the crowd. What I meant to say though, is that he and his children talked too softly at meals for his slightly deaf and straight-laced wife to hear such bons mots as "Children should be obscene and not absurd."

>108 LizzieD: My pan de muerto arrived at 7am and I couldn't make them last...they were gone by 8.15. Sooo yummy!

Spend Thursday happily, smoochling.

Good morning, Richard! I just looked at a recipe for pan de muerto, and it does look yummy - orange zest and orange blossom water.
Thank you for the Thursday wishes and feel them returned! I hope to make vegetable soup (since it was 32° at 8:00 this morning) and then read. *smooch*

Wordle 866 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟨🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, unlit, until An instance of having "un" means "not" so firmly in mind that I couldn't see around it to the much more common word. Streak continues though!

>81 ArlieS: >97 ArlieS: Getting back to you AT LAST, Arlie! I find "aphantasia" a problematic, silly term anyway. I've read about it only online and not much. The notion that aphantasiacs (?) are prone to other kinds of sensory impairments came from one website that I don't recall and won't look for now. I heard about it originally listening to *The People's Pharmacy". Terry said that Joe has a rare kind of blindness and spoke the word. I realized that I don't visualize except for maybe one quick flash when I remember a person or place.
As for people who don't value what they don't know or can't do, I taught teens. For a good number of them the attitude was, "If I don't know about it, it can't be worth knowing," and "If I can't pick up the idea immediately, it's either fake or unimportant because I'm smart and I can learn what's reasonable to know with no problem." That's certainly a cousin to your exprience.
Peace.

'Morning, Peggy!

Brrr! 24F here first thing, 45F now. Senior kitty Inara went out and was standing in the sun the last Jenna looked. Zoe Rose went out and is back inside. She had a stressful day yesterday, going to the vet for her every-three-year-for-shots-and-etc. visit.

Wordle in 3 for me, today.

>110 LizzieD: AND anise and cinnamon! I love this stuff. Unlike a lot of pan dulce, this sweet roll is actually very tasty. Conchas, the other major kind of pan dulce, are usually pretty dull to US tastes. I wish I could afford them more often, though out of this season it's called pan de anise. *smooch*

>108 LizzieD: The advantages of deafness. I've heard variations on "obscene and not absurd" and am happy to have a source to cite!

'Morning, Peggy and happy Friday to you.

Wordle in two, with help from my spreadsheets.

WOOO HAAAA!!! WOrdle in 2!!!! I fumbled around for 5. Should have used alpha order at guess 3 this time. Didn't.

Wordle 867 5/6

🟩🟩🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, argon, armor, arbor, ardor

>115 LizzieD: Yay for your TWOday, Wordlerincess! It's been an interesting day with my drunk of a roomie. Yuck. Well, life goes on.

*smooch*

>115 LizzieD: It took me 5 today too. Wishing you a great weekend!

Good Morning! It's a beautiful one here in SE NC!

Irene, 5 again for me today too. Does the Wordle Woman have a preference for nouns over adjectives, I wonder?

Hope today is less interesting in that particular way, Richard. "Read on, my friend, read on." (My request to my long-suffering Mama when I had measles and she kept me in the dark for several days. Book of choice was Hans Brinker.)
*smooch*

Lovely day to you, Karen! I'll trot over to see whether you made it in 2 again today.

Hi, Susan. Don't you think "obscene and not absurd" has a Wildean flavor?

Wordle 868 5/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨🟩⬜
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 route, snail, mavin, manic, mania My favored first two wouldn't have been any better.

>118 LizzieD: Hans Brinker! Mama had that book on her shelves and, at some point during the SUPERboring Watergate hearings summer, I read it. I can recall exactly nothing except thinking that if I ever met that noxious little prig I'd beat him up. I was, in my defense, a hormonal teen when I read it, which is far too late and way too early for its charms to be obvious.

'Morning, Peggy!

Today's effort was 4 in Wordle. Two 2s in a row would be amazing.

I never read Hans Brinker, but I distinctly remember "Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates" is a 1962 telefilm produced by Walt Disney Productions. It was originally broadcast on NBC as a two-part episode on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on January 7, and January 14, 1962. I was 8 1/2. I don't remember anything about it except that there was ice skating.

Ah, Richard and Karen! I'm laughing at your memory of *HB*, Richard. What I remember from being about 8½ was that Hans and his sister ? had to skate on wooden runners and how frustrating that was. (Did he let her have the first pair of metal skates because she was better than he was?) Incidentally, I got on the ice once when I was 19 or so. I have a vivid memory of what fun it was and how good I thought I was. I didn't fall once until some hilarious soul caught me at the end of a whip that whipped and threw me.

Age means no skates of any kind, no skateboards, no bicycles, no horses - nothing but two feet that have worked better than they do now.

>118 LizzieD: Wordle in 4 for me today. Since I got back from our trip it's been mostly 4's and 5's, while I was getting a lot of 3's before we left. I wonder what's gone wrong!

I remember reading Hans Brinker when I was young, and I enjoyed it, but I remember very little of the story. I got a pair of skates when I was high school age and tried skating once, but I couldn't stand up for long. I found out later that you need skates with lots of support in the ankles, and the pair I had lacked that, so no wonder I struggled.

>121 LizzieD: ... annoying little git, Hans... I skated one semester and got a C in the class because I showed up each day, always tried to get the skates on before the halfway point in the class, and never complained when I fell flat on my hiney. Hated every second of it.

>65 LizzieD: >66 ffortsa: >69 richardderus: Catching up on Peggy's thread and Wow! this aphantasia thing is fascinating!

I've never heard of it before, though I definitely know of synethesia, not that this is related to aphantasia. For me, with synethesia, I often, not always, hear music when I look at certain artwork; with certain music, live, not recorded, I see colours (in my mind's eye).

I didn't know that people's 'mind's eye' could be different. I asked Mr. SM to imagine an elephant and he had a very plain, unembellished image. So clearly, this is a neurological spectrum.

When I read >66 ffortsa:, I not only had the elephant image, but also it was pulling leaves off the tree to eat and gently waving his/her ears. This visual was instantaneous.

I think Richard nailed it when he said, "we all have wildly different ways of experiencing the world..."

It also explains why I "live the story" when I'm really engaged in a book. That goes a long way to understanding why I can't read certain genre, because I'm mentally pulled in to the situation (assuming the author has done their duty and written the story well). Books like The Younger Wife and The Wife Between Us were agonizing for me to read without taking long breaks.

Anyway, thanks, Peggy, for starting this discussion. I would guess you have a good "mind's eye" because of seeing your dear friend's face when you think intergrity (post 65).

Hi, Sandy! Thank you for responding to the aphantasia discussion. I had never heard of it either, a fact that goes a long way to explaining why I didn't know that I have it. My mental imagery is a flash, and it's gone; I'm not sure that it's more than a memory. I certainly can't "see" an elephant, much less an elephant pulling leaves. I'm a bit envious of your synesthesia. I used to think or pretend (I'm not sure whcih) to hear colors in people's voices, but I don't see the color when they speak. I believe that like you I live the story when I read. Anyway, we're a fascinating species, aren't we?

Wordle 869 3/6

🟨🟨⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, glare, flare I can almost never school myself to see whether there are other words that fit a particular pattern when I hit on the the first one.

>125 LizzieD: "we're a fascinating species, aren't we?"

Indeed. I think we as in humans, are naive to not realize that everything is on a biological continuum.
It still astounds me that varying degrees of where an individual sits on the range of traits such as skin colour, gender and sexuality, especially, creates so much prejudice and discrimination.

Sensory attributes are a fairly new thing for me to encounter as differing between folks. I grew up not realizing that it was somewhat (?) unusual to hear music when looking at pictures.

Then when I was at a symphony I innocently asked the friend I was with why do the red bands of colour appear in my mind when (especially) the cello solos are played. She looked at me like I was either making it up or was 'weird'. It was very awkward.

‘Morning, Peggy! Happy Sunday to you, your mama, and your DH.

>121 LizzieD: Age means no skates of any kind, no skateboards, no bicycles, no horses - nothing but two feet that have worked better than they do now. Yup. And holding on to ALL handrails that are offered EVERYWHERE.

I love the continuing discussion of synethesia and aphantasia. When I visualize an elephant, I see a mama elephant walking with two baby elephants.

Wordle in 5 today for me.

ALL HANDRAILS! Absolutely! In fact, Brownie the Doctor has told me to be in the habit of touching furniture, door jambs, anything I can as I walk through the house. I do find that just a touch adds stability when I remember to do it.

Cello sounds red??? Fascinating again, Sandy! I hear the cello as deep, dark chocolate, which I guess is pretty predictable. You and I would have had a good conversation had I been the friend at the symphony with you. *grin*
I saw segment on a kids' TV program yesterday (CBS at Mama's house, naturally) about glasses that are designed to correct color blindness. I was delighted. They recreated what a red green color blind person sees without the glasses and then with. It was the world come alive.

>127 karenmarie: I pretty much want the world to be handrailed for me these days, with frequent seats!

>128 LizzieD: I see cello music as balsam trees. Weird of me I suppose.

>124 SandyAMcPherson: >127 karenmarie: Interesting! When I try to think of an elephant, the image that immediately comes to mind--at least today--is an Indian elephant with one of those patterns painted on its face. Not sure why that's what pops up.

‘Morning, Peggy! Happy Monday to you.

>128 LizzieD: Handrails, furniture, the kitchen island, even touching the walls. Glasses that correct for color blindness – wonderful.

>129 quondame: Oh yes, seats, too.

Wordle in 3 today, my dear.

We are 3 sisters, (((((Karen))))) - a day when alpha order bit me. I'm happy.

Seats are good, Susan.

Good morning, Irene. The idea of elephant that comes to mind for me is one with a howdah, shades of *Raj Quartet* I guess or else those blind me patting one.

Good morning, Richard. I loved The Balsams, the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway until acid rain wiped those magnificent trees away. Since the deepest forest green is a favorite color, and I love cello music, I can enter that mindset easily. *smooch*

Wordle 870 3/6

🟨🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, trace, trade

Age means no skates of any kind, no skateboards, no bicycles, no horses - nothing but two feet that have worked better than they do now

And this is happening just when I finally want to exercise, ride bicycles, ride Razor-style thingies. It's not fair. Of course, if I'd kept in shape all these years, I would have less risk.

I'm sorry you're in my world, Judy. I did stay in pretty good shape through the years, but osteoporosis and losing centered balance make all these things impossible for me.

(((((Peggy)))))

Wordle in 3 for me today, with no assist from the spreadsheets beyond confirming that a word I thought of is one of the 2,309 word AND that it hasn't already been used.

Off to book sort and Virlie's. Wednesday is lunch with Bobbie... so looking forward to it.

(((((Karen)))))

Wordle in 3 for me too, but I looked at a list with that particular pattern...just no time to ponder.
I'm looking forward to your lunch tomorrow too! Having you to together is the next best thing to being there myself.
Shower day here. That will be about the sum of my doing except for vacuuming while Mama is seated in the shower. It's a good thing that this is a small house! Oh! I will be spending some $ from my birthday on books!

Wordle 871 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, limit

Hey there Wordlerincess of the Three-ite Sect! Hope you're healthy and happy and all those you love are, too.

*smooch*

Thank you, Richard, and the very same wish for you and yours! *smooch* right back!

'Morning, Peggy!

Spending birthday money is always a joy. I hope you report back on your acquisitions.

Wordle in 4 today. I got up early, but got a solid 6 hours in 2 shifts last night, plus I napped for 3 hours late yesterday. 🙄

GOOD FOR YOU, (((((Karen)))))!

I'm a fourder today too.

Wordle 872 4/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, final, ninja I took FOREVER to double the N.

Wordle 873 6/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Whew indeed! arose, unity, place, blame, glade, glaze

'Morning, Peggy!

My meet up with Bobbie's been posted - she's wonderful, as you already know. Two hours sped by.

Wordle in 4 for me today, glad you avoided a skunk.

>142 LizzieD: That looks just about like mine today, except that I had the second, third, and last letter on my first word. My usual second word eliminated several possibilities, but did not give me any additional letters. So it took me 6 to get to the right word as well, and we had the same last two words. Glad to avoid the skunk.

>1 LizzieD: I now have a crop of mushrooms growing in my yard too where the tree had to be taken out a few months ago. Catey checked into them and it looks as though they are edible, so I may give them a try :)

>145 alcottacre: YIKES!!!! I have always wanted to try mushrooms that show up here, but I'm way too chicken to try them. We had a few one year that looked like real morels, but no. Be careful!!!!!!!

Hi, Irene. I think Karen had our penultimate word too, but she managed in 4. There's always tomorrow!

Karen, Bobbie thanked me for persisting in efforts to get you two together. I knew it was going to be good.

Hello Dear One!

I'm sorry to be dealyed in posting to your thread. I'm thinking of you and hoping all is well.
Fall is funy this year. Rain shook the leaves from most of the trees. There is a smattering of yellow and gold with very little red.
The trees on both sides of the road that runs downhill toward my house are usually a very bright red, leaving me feel as though I am entering a tunnel of a rich land. Not so this year.

Temps are all over the place -- one day warm, the next a heavy jacket is needed.

I hope your mother is doing well, and life is good to all.

'Morning, Peggy! Happy Saturday to you and yours.

Wordle in 4.

We're leaving at 9, so I need to pack and get ready.

Weekend-ahead *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

It's lovely to see you here, Linda! I'm sorry that you're missing your red, but I can definitely identify with the roller coaster temperatures. That's what we expect here, but it's usually cooled down by this time. We're OK. Hope you are doing very well yourdearself!

Be safe, Karen! We'll miss you tomorrow.

Wordle 874 3/6

🟨⬜⬜🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, least, leash W00T! W00T! R00TY T00T T00T!

>146 LizzieD: "There's always tomorrow!" Yes, indeed! I got Wordle in 2 today. My first word was a big help this time, unlike yesterday when it left me with too many options.

W00T! W00T! R00TY T00T T00T! for you in 2, Irene!!!!

'Morning, Peggy!

I brought my laptop, as you can tell. Jenna's playing on her cell phone with earbuds in, I've already had two cups of weak coffee here in the room although I only made half cups to begin with.

A bit of LT, check out of the hotel, find brunch or early lunch, visitation, funeral, 2.5 hours drive home.

Wordle in 4. Congrats on your 3 for yesterday.

>151 atozgrl: Irene! Two. Look at you.

I'm tickled that you took your laptop with you, Karen. That makes my day start better, and I send a good wish - and a wish for much better coffee! - back to you.

Wordle 875 2/6

🟩🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, actorW00T!!! etc. That doesn't happen around here very often.

>154 LizzieD: TWO?! YOU GO ON, PEGGY!! What a great result. Bask in the glory while the basking's good. *smooch*

You're so right, Richard. Tomorrow is definitely another day.

>152 LizzieD: >153 karenmarie: Thank you both!

>154 LizzieD: Congrats, Peggy, good for you! I was back to 4 today.

'Morning, Peggy! Happy Sunday.

I squeaked by with 6 in Wordle today. Whew.

Good morning, Irene and Karen. I was just saying to Karen but will say it again here, that Josh Wardle and his partner for whom he created Wordle, were on NPR's Puzzle this morning. He's right. She's the quick, sharp one.

Wordle 876 4/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, leant, meantI had no idea that they would accept my 3rd guess; the first letter is the one I always like to eliminate next. I'll be grateful for 4, and WHEW indeed, Karen! (See 11-9)

Sunday *smooch*ings, Peggy. I'm deep into a struggle with tomorrow's review. *sigh*

>159 LizzieD: I'm annoyed with myself on Wordle today. After putting in my usual first word, the first word I thought of to try next turned out to be the correct word, but I decided to try something that started with a T first. I should have gone ahead with my first thought. Sometimes I just over-think it.

Richard, I have all faith in your reviewing ability. You make me think of my favorite Jerome Charyn, who tells of receiving the highest honors in his challenging high school writing program. He thought the award would go to a brilliantly gifted girl and said to his teacher, "---but I have to scratch for every word I write." The teacher said, "Yes, but she doesn't scratch at all." *smooch*

Oh, Irene. I almost always under-think it, like today, when another minute or two might give me a much more likely word. Good luck to us both tomorrow!

I seem to be in book acquisition mode these days. I have ordered the next 6 *In Death*s from PBS. I thought I'd boost my holding by 1 or 2, but I ordered from people who had the next ones and the next ones in the series. I'm going to have to read them at a faster pace than I am right now or I won't live long enough to finish the ones I have.
So what else is new?

'Morning, Peggy! I hope you have a lovely day.

Wordle for me in 5 today.

Yay for book acquisition mode. I'm always in it, too.

I have more books tagged 'tbr' than I'll ever read in this lifetime, but OF COURSE am using Kindle Unlimited and buying books whenever I want to.

Good morning, Karen! Exactly. Meanwhile, we're on the Wordle see-saw again.

Another lucky Wordle day for me. I was thinking yesterday that I would have done better using Richard's words, a thing I almost did. Today I think I would have wound up in the same place, a place I like.

Wordle 877 3/6

⬜🟩⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, green

PBS! I think I used to have an account there...wonder if it's still active.

Yay for three Wordles. Enjoy the In Deaths when they arrive!

*smooch*

Good morning, Peggy! Happy Tuesday to you.

Wordle was 4 for me today, my usual result.

Insomnia about 4:30 or so, but with 5 straight hours of sleep before that. Can't complain too much.

Good morning, Karen! I'm glad for your Wordle (see my 5 below; I thought of the word at 4 but didn't believe it) and sorry for your sleep even if you did get 5 straight. I couldn't function on that little. I hardly function on 7.

Wordle 878 5/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 aeons, mirth, scald, saucy, sassy

As you see, Richard, I tried channeling you, but my 2 starters would have been only minimally better.

OWNER'S SHARE by Nathan Lowell

Absolutely the last time I read Ishmael this year! I find more anomalies every time I read one of these, and they don't matter to me at all. The day-to-dayness is soothing, and this one has action besides. I'll be back.

Now. When is Lowell going to release *The Wizard's Cat*?????

>168 LizzieD: I will get around to Nathan Lowell one of these days, I swear!

Looks like I will be finishing The Warburgs on Thursday, Friday at the latest.

>167 LizzieD: We'll still call it a win, Peggy. X marks the fails, and you ain't there. I'm a six-is-enough boy, and seven bordeline too much. By 8 hours, I'm dragged out the entire next day!

*smooch*

Oh, I'm not really complaining, Richard. I'm proud of my longest streak ever, but I won't obsess when I fail...
I have always been a champion sleeper. I feel really good with 8 hours, and I'm a dynamo if I ever get 9.
Hope you're Murderbot-ing!

There you are, Stasia. I won't be more than 150 pp on Thursday, I don't suppose, and you'll have finished the book.
You know, you may not like N. Lowell at all. *sigh*

'Morning, Peggy! Give your ma a special hug from me today.

My Wordle result.

>171 LizzieD: Ha! A champion sleeper! I feel that way about my record there because I fall asleep when I decide to more than 95% of the time.

I'm saving up my Murderbot-tery. I need something to lure me on during the Booksgiving rush of reviews.

Good luck Wordleing! *smooch*

>171 LizzieD: Good for you, Richard. I now fall asleep when I sit down, so that's not even close to the same thing. I can almost always wake up when I plan to though; after a nap, I mean.
I confess I hoard Murderbot. I need to read Network Effect before I even think about acquiring the new one. Thanks for the wish. It worked.

>170 richardderus: I'm sorry about the skunk, Karen. I came close, not at all helped by repeating a letter in the wrong place at guess 4.
Actually, I was having a hard time reconciling the skunk with your birthday wish for my ma. Thank you! You've been really good to her!
I'll try to post a picture here later. She's 102, y'all. It's as different from the 90s (she drove into her 95th year, btw) as the 90s are from the 80s. Anyway, we are awash in gorgeous flowers and candy!

Wordle 879 5/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, licit, midst, sight

>171 LizzieD: Well, I inadvertently lied. I am finishing it tonight and thoughts will be on my thread shortly.

I hope I enjoy Lowell as I have 2 of his books on their way to me. . .

>175 alcottacre: I meant to read it tonight but started Little Lost Boy instead. Friend Liz has reminded me that I have a few Persephones, and this is her favorite. In fact, I've been dipping in and out of things but mostly sticking with The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. I am enjoying it!!!

I hope you enjoy Lowell too. What did you pick???? I was expecting *The Wizard's Cat*, a sequel to *W's Butler* (another favorite) this month, but I don't think it's going to happen. I don't know why, but I think he has been ill.

Mama had a very nice birthday, and I enjoyed it too!

Off to bed after I look at Stasia's thread.

>176 LizzieD: I picked Quarter Share and Half Share as they looked to be the first two books in a series.

It now looks as though I need to track down Lost Little Boy too. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street has been in the BlackHole for a good long while now. Maybe I will finally read it, spurred on by you!

Happy birthday to your Mama! Glad to hear she had a good one - and that you enjoyed it as well.

Hi Peggy, it looks like I missed your mama's birthday. I'm glad she had a nice day and that it was enjoyable for you, too.

'Morning, Peggy!

Wordle in 3 today, so I'm feeling rather chipper.

I hope you're all enjoying the flowers and candy and cards and good wishes for your mother.

3 Sisters, Karen! I really should have been 2 because I rejected the word in order to try i instead of u. I'm Not Complaining!

*¼* and *½* are the first two, Stasia. Released from Ishmael, I have so many things piled up started-but-unread. *Filigree* and *Lost Boy* will keep me busy right now, I think.

Thank you for birthday wishes for my sweet mama, Karen, Laura, and Stasia!

Wordle 880 3/6

⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, crisp, trust Sort of a handsome pattern there....

Author Lowell's latest blog post makes it sound like things are going well now, with an audio release coming up in December and a solid burst of work on the current book.

Here's hoping you can get your fix sooner than later. *smooch*

Hello, Peggy! It looks like I too missed your mother's birthday. 102 is absolutely amazing! Belated happy birthday wishes, and a hug from me as well.

I met karenmarie for lunch today, and we had a delightful conversation. I hope that someday I'll have the opportunity to meet you in person as well, although I know it can't be any time soon.

>180 LizzieD: Keeping busy with books sounds pretty good to me!

>181 richardderus: Thank you for checking the Lowell blog and giving me a link, Richard. If he works on *Cat* too long, I guess I'll have to reread *Butler*. I've read it only twice, so I suppose I could forgive myself.

>182 atozgrl: Very nice, Irene! I'm happy that you and Karen are able to get together. I'll look forward to the time when I can be third at the table! Meanwhile, thank you for birthday wishes for Mama!

>183 alcottacre: We manage, Stasia. All but one of my current crazed ordering of *In Death*s from PBS arrived today. I'm happy to have them even if I never get to them. This carries me through 43, I think.

Happy day! It took a bit of fiddling, but I'm happy with my Wordle self this morning. Hope it bodes well for the rest of the day.

Wordle 881 3/6

🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, tardy

'Morning, Peggy!

3 for both of us, Wordle Sister, and I hope the result is a good omen for the rest of both of our days.

Happy Friday, smoochling! Thanks for working whatever sorcery it was you worked to make it a good Friday morning over here.

'Morning, my dear, and happy Saturday to you.

Wordle in 4 for me.

Saturday-morning *smooch*

Good morning, faithful Richard and faithful Karen! You both make me smile.

>187 richardderus: If I sorcery, I promise that you wouldn't have bad mornings, Richard. *smooch*

>188 karenmarie: I can't quite believe that my "got it" streak continues!

Wordle 882 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, think

Our niece is bringing by fresh shrimp today. I've managed to live this long without cleaning shrimp, but I'm about to do it. I taste 'em pan-buttered at some point today.

Good Sunday, good people!

Wordle 883 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unite, plume, queue I never think to use those initial letters until way late.

No nieces, no shrimp, no word. I'm afraid that the sisters were not getting along, and we need to stay out of it if that's so.

(((((Peggy))))) and happy Sunday to you.

I was just getting ready to write that I'm whimpering with envy over shrimp, then read further down. Cruel teasing that is. I've cleaned shrimp before, along with squid and lobster. None of it fun, all of it worth it.

Congrats on your 4 - it took me 5.

I always stayed out of it when my mother and her sister were feuding. You're wise.

Happy Sunday, Peggy. I'm sorry you were denied fresh shrimp, but agree Karen that you are wise to stay out of any family drama! I hope you have a nice day despite the lack of shellfish in your life.

Thank you kindly, Laura. We're walking with the sister who is still here this afternoon. If she brings the shrimp, I'll have to freeze them. It will be all I can do to get the Thanksgiving cooking done by Thursday. (Part of osteoporosis, even successfully treated, is the inability to stand still, as in food prep, more than about a half hour at the time.) I hate sibling disaffection. Such a waste of time!

THE WATCHMAKER OF FILIGREE STREET by Natasha Pulley

Lovely writing in an imaginative fantasy! It's all about potential and relationships. What do we humans do to assure our heart's desire? Mori, the watchmaker, and Grace, the physicist, know that Thaniel is the one person with whom each can live happily and freely. Each has unique gifts to offer him and to receive. How much freedom is each willing to give Thaniel as he makes his choice?
I withheld a star because the central premise of Mori's ability is a bit sketchy for me, but after all, this is fantasy. I'd have been happier if Thaniel hadn't mentioned "alternate universes" once, but mostly I'm happy with the book. I should also add that a charming clockwork octopus, Irish terrorists, color/music synesthesia, and a cameo appearance of Sullivan working on The Mikado make this prime entertainment. Fans of historical fantasy should certainly hurry to read this one.

>191 LizzieD: I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get your shrimp, but I hope you had a nice walk this afternoon.

Today I'm Wordle sisters with you! Wordle in 4 for me today too. Given the answer, I thought 4 was a great result!

Hi, Irene. I have to agree about today's Wordle. I was pretty pleased.

Here's the end of the fugitive shrimp! One niece came with them COOKED this afternoon. No apparent problems between the sisters, I'm happy to say. I believe we just misunderstood what was going to happen. So, we have shrimp to eat now (and they are beautiful!) and shrimp to freeze. YAY!!!!! We did enjoy a nice walk this afternoon with said niece and her husband.

Wordle 884 4/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, fancy, candy I did have a fleeting thought that I might find a word closer to the beginning of the alphabet at guess 3, but it seemed like too much trouble. Oh well.

This will be a work day with little reading as I start cooking for Thanksgiving. So will tomorrow be. And Wednesday. Oh well.

>194 LizzieD: ...that clocktopus...!

Glad you found so much to enjoy in the read. I like her stuff a lot, that imaginitive use of future-and-past all blended works for me.

Have a lovely New Sunday, Peggy me lurve. *smooch*

>194 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, I'm not reading much these days and wasn't up for posting on Talk threads but trying to skim past a few to assuage my readerly addictions.

I read Natasha Pulley's Watchmaker in 2019 and was as charmed with it as you. I didn't care for the sequel, but naturally, YMMV.

I’m glad you finally got shrimp – cooked – with enough for now AND some for later.

I read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street in April of 2018, gave it 3 stars, gave my copy away. Loved the cover, but not enough to keep the book.

I do hope the Thanksgiving prep continues to go well. I'm grateful to have Miss J here. I'm much more of a last-minute-person anyway, although I suppose I could probably boil the sweet potatoes and stick them in the fridge for Thursday final prep. Hmmm. I might could prepare the struesel and put it in a container in the fridge, too. And perhaps even a few other teensy things. Now you've got me thinking.

Wordle in 3 for me today, but I did have to use the spreadsheet for my third and final guess.

Happy Thanksgiving, Peggy. I hope you don't tire yourself out with cooking and baking.

Greetings with thanks, Richard, Karen, and Sandy twice!!!! I'll come back to reply when I can.

Wordle 885 5/6

🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟨🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, woman, panic, piano How stupid am I????? I've been intimate with the word for 71+ years.

Morning, Peggy. Have the storms made it into your area? We got some news that there was a major Event brewing down there. *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

Hi Peggy.

We got lots of rain last night, with a distant rumble of thunder or two. Lots of prep today for you and for me/Jenna. We'll be pacing ourselves for sure.

Wordle in 4 for me.

Good morning, Karen, and Richard too from yesterday! I'm not sure how much rain we've gotten. We need every drop, and I'm sure that it hasn't been enough to move us from moderate drought. It's a good day to stay in and chop and mix and cook!

I'm also a Fourder as you see...

Wordle 886 4/6
Wordle 886 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟨🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, biped, pixel

Dear Peggy, While I haven't posted as often as I would have liked, I hope '24 will provide more occasions to keep in touch. You are a very important part of the 75 challenge group!

Dear Peggy,



Happy Thanksgiving from an appreciative non-celebrator.

(((((Peggy))))) Happy Thanksgiving to you, your dear mama, and your DH.

Wordle in 3 for me today, with a bit of intuition and luck on my second word.

Peggy me lurve, I hope it's a beautiful day to match your beautiful soul. *smooch*

Richard, you are the best! *smooch*

(((((Karen))))) You are the best too!!! 3 Sisters reign!

Thank you, Paul! Happy Day to you, then.

Linda, I love you. There.

Wordle 887 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, queen

I am thankful for LT because of all my dear friends here. We share a unique community.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! Do some of your best whether it's your day to celebrate or not!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Coming by to wish you, Graham, and your mother the happiest of all Thanksgivings!

Happy Thanksgiving, Peggy, to you and the entire family!

Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving, Peggy!

Many thanks for Thanksgiving wishes, Deborah, Irene, Stasia, and Arlie! Y'all are gracious and kind.

Back to normal. Whew! Aside from the Kindle Daily Deal that I just bought, I will not be shopping today. I wish I thought that meant I'd have time to visit threads. *sigh*

Wordle 888 4/6

⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟨🟨🟩🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, worth, throw Back to normal here too.

The very idea of shopping *ptooptoo* today makes all my fight-or-flight systems go on highest alert.

*smooch* for my fellow "Black Friday? Thank you NO" believer.

I suspect most of us here are NOs with the possible exception of grandparents and a few contrarians. That's why I find this place so refreshing. It's a great change to be one of the majority!

Wordle 889 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unite, guile, guide I should know by now that the woman almost never chooses words with negative connotations.

>218 LizzieD: Interesting...I think you're right, we've self-selected for majority-minority opinions on many subjects around here. It's a big part of the community identity, isn't it.

Saturday *smooch*

'Morning, Peggy! I do hope you, your mama, and your DH had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have a good day today.

I never officially shop Black Friday, but yesterday got an email from Avenue, and since I needed a pair of black jeans and 3 pieces of lingerie, went there. By the time I took advantage of the sale price and snagged a 25% off coupon, I paid $36. Made me happy.

I got Wordle in 2 today. Sheer luck. Guile, guise, and guide are all valid words on the list, none of them have been used yet except now for guide.

(((((Peggy)))))

Wordle in 3 today, with a little help from the spreadsheets.

>220 karenmarie: Good morning, Karen! I call that no-fault shopping. You took advantage of a sale to get something you needed for yourself. You didn't sit by the computer with lists waiting for midnight or set your alarm early to get in line at the mall. We have had 3 good days. Yesterday favorite/closest cousin Chip (he of UNC-CH athletic fame) and wife Susan came by for a short visit. Chip came in masked, and my DH walked with Susan and their dog. A treat!

Good morning, Richard! Happy us to find kindred spirits where we can! (Note the accusative of exclamation.) *smooch*

Wordle 890 4/6

⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟨🟨🟨⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, disco, solid I wish I had taken more time to find a word with my 11th choice letter, but I'm not complaining. (I'm Not Complaining by Ruth Adam: a good Virago offering!)

(Today I'm all about parentheses.)

Hi Peggy, thanks for dropping by my thread. It was nice to see I may even have provided you with some worthwhile reading!!

Indeed you may have, Sandy! Thank you for the return visit.

We're probably unusual even here in knowing about and using the "accusative" label, Peggy. Another reason you're irreplacable in my world. *smooch*

>225 richardderus: ....and you in mine, Richard. *smooch*

It is almost December, Peggy.

How is this allowed? Why aren't They (whoever They are) preventing this outrage?

Oh well. They aren't, so *smooch*

How right you are, and how sad this is, Richard! *smooch*

Wordle 891 5/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩
🟨🟩🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, natty (dumb guess), tangy, tawny No other comment.

'Morning, Peggy!

Your 5 beats my 6, and I'm thrilled I didn't get skunked.

It's a gorgeous day here in NC, that's for sure.

I join you in not shopping on Black Friday! I think it is nothing but a bunch of hype about nothing, lol.

Have a marvelous Monday, Peggy!

>228 LizzieD: Five for me today too, Peggy. This one was harder for me than "queue" a little while back.

I took advantage of Black Friday this year, although I did my shopping online on Thanksgiving Day, since I didn't have to cook on the day itself. I was waiting for Kindles to go on sale, and they were Thanksgiving Day, so I pounced. As long as I was ordering anyway, I got a few other things as well. I don't have a dedicated e-reader. The few e-books I have, I've been reading on the Kindle app on my laptop. I really need an e-reader for taking e-books on trips with me. So I needed to shop this year. I don't normally partake in Black Friday, but I might do it again in future because I saw so many things discounted to a really great price.

Hi Peggy!

Wordle took me 6 today. I agree with their Phew!

Cold here at 26F. I'll be out and about in a bit, then home for a bit, then out again.

Windy, cold, and sunny here today...only going up to 39° but feels colder because the wind is fierce off the ocean.

*smooch* for a lovely day ahead!

Good morning, Richard, Karen, Irene, and Stasia!

We're chilly - 39° (Richard's high!) at 8:00 and a bit overcast. It's shower day, so I won't be going out. I am enjoying a pair of knee-high socks with mild compression today, thanks to my DH.
I fully support getting a Kindle deal whenever it happens, Irene! I hope you enjoy it!!!

WHEW for me today too, Karen. I thought I was a goner.
Wordle 892 6/6

⬜⬜🟩🟨🟩
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, stone, smoke, shove, slope, scope I was trying it the hard way and almost lost it.

>234 LizzieD: Hello, Peggy. My Kindle Paperwhite arrived today. I'm charging it. It looks like it should be pretty easy to use, but I'm sure I've got plenty to learn about the functionality.

Wordle in 4 for me today. After my first word I decided there were so many options, I'd better go ahead and use my usual second word, to identify or eliminate possible letters. If I had gone with the first thing I thought of instead, I probably would have had it in 3. But in this case, I was thinking better safe than sorry.

Hi, Irene! I'd say that 4 is way better than 6 any way you look at it!

Enjoy that Paperwhite!!!!!

I'm happy enough with my 4 today although I consulted a word list to get it. I forgive myself because I need the time I saved.

Wordle 893 4/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, music, sushi

'Morning, Peggy! Happy Wednesday for you.

Brrr! 15F at 7 a.m. this morning. Fortunately, I was sleeping at the time, and we consulted Bill's weather station for the info.

I always trade things for time - money, spreadsheets, and etc. Wordle in 4 for me, too, today, Wordle Sister.

Good morning, Karen! Happy Thursday to you - another brilliant morning, in fact.

Wordle 894 3/6

⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟨🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, risen, resin I'm not going to mourn that I don't think longer when I latch onto a word at place 2. I'm happy with the 3.

It would be nice if I could finish my reread of The Hands of the Emperor today, but I don't know. Anyway, this will look like my worst reading month ever because I was 100+ pages into several books when I just had to reread this one. I do what I must.

'Morning, Peggy! Happy Thursday to you.

Congrats on 3, it took me 4. And, I did the exact same thing, although it was at place 4 today.

It's gorgeous out. I'm still waking up, and will be leaving in a while to go to the chiropractor and grocery shopping.

>234 LizzieD: It's -39 there? Lol

I hope you have a thunderous Thursday!

>239 LizzieD: It's so addictive!

'Morning, Peggy!

It's 32F here. I liked the hard freezes of this week and hope to have a serious reduction in any and all types of bugs.

I'm sorry you had 'the worst reading month ever', but it sounds like you got lots and lots of pages read, just not books finished. Reading what you want to is one of the perks of being retired, isn't it?

Wordle in 3. I guessed on a second word, then applied logic for the third. That always makes me happy, not having to look at available words first.

>243 karenmarie: Hard freezes are good for all us chronic allergy sufferers. Whenever we have a warm winter, spring is really hard to get through.

>244 ffortsa: Amen to that, Judy. I advocate strongly for breath without blockage or draining or sneezing or tears!

>242 quondame: It is, Susan! I am nearly finished and I could almost start over right now. I'm trying hard to read something else before my first reread of *Feet/Sun*.

>243 karenmarie: I think this is how it's supposed to be, Karen! I don't love really cold weather, but I don't hate it the way I used to. Good for you, Wordling in 3! We see-saw. I think I do better when I have fewer letters identified early; at least it feels that way.

Wordle 895 5/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟨🟨🟨
⬜🟩🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, meant, eaten, taken

>245 LizzieD: I'd suggest Martha Wells, Katherine Addison or Lois McMaster Bujold.

>246 quondame: As a matter of fact, Susan, Network Effect is one of the things I've started and will likely be the one I spend more time with immediately.

HANDS OF THE EMPEROR by Victoria Goddard

This has become one of my all-time favorite books. I love it. I expect that I'll read it every year.

I've had fun looking into several things since I finished it. Happy day!

'Morning, Peggy!

Wordle in 5 for me.

Same old same old planned for today in central NC.

Good morning, Karen! Without a word list, I would have failed today. As it is .....
Wordle 896 4/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
🟨🟩🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unite, nerve, genre

Let me ask y'all something. My dear friend who moved to the Asheville area says that she spent yesterday raking up the fallen leaves that the neighbor's yardman had blown into her yard because they came from her trees. Does this happen other places???? I'm appalled. She says that the yardmen are lazy. I say that the neighbors are creeps not to insist that the workers bag those leaves. ?????

I think I'm back to my reread of The Aeronaut's Windlass, and then Little Boy Lost, Network Effect, and The Debateable Land. We'll see. I have other books on my radar.

Morning, Peggy! I'm finally enough better from Thursday's painful yuck-ptui to come pay a visit to say *smooch* for a fun weekend.

>250 LizzieD: Wordle took me 5 today, without help from any word lists, but my last two were the same as yours.

If they're being paid to clean up the leaves, they should be bagging them or whatever the normal cleanup is, no matter what trees the leaves came from. I never heard of workers blowing the leaves onto a neighbor's yard. Do the neighbors know that their workmen are doing this?

Thank you, Richard. *smooch* right back!

Irene, that's what I think. My friend says that the neighbors say their workmen tell them that they are not legally responsible for leaves that come from trees not their own. They bag the neighbor's "own" leaves. Friend is consulting with her realtor to see what the law is. I don't see the problem with saying, "I am going to pay somebody to do what I ask. Are you that person?"

>250 LizzieD: I feel for your friend and the extra leaves she is getting from the neighbour. I live in the country and have a fence around my property but still have a neighbour that hires a landscape company to clean up. I noticed that the company blows the leaves directly to my fence and many go over. I happened to be home and so I went outside and pretended to do some work. The yardmen quickly turned the other way and blew the leaves into the forest.

Your friend is in a sticky situation because by going to her neighbour it may create animosity and can create more trouble for (potentially) other small issues down the road. For me, I just ignored the leaves and figured that soon there won't be any left to rake.

I'm glad that worked for you, Anita. My friend has been in her home for over ten years, and I think it's a pretty stable neighborhood. I hear you about antagonizing the neighbor. On a positive side, she removed the leaf layer from her native putty-root orchids which need sun through the winter.

Hee Hee Heeee!

Wordle 897 3/6

🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, adapt I fiddled until I found it.

‘Morning, Peggy.

>250 LizzieD: Our neighbors had three huge eucalyptus trees as I was growing up, and it made my parents furious that those leaves fell on our gorgeous dichondra lawn. I’m afraid that at least one time my dad used the hose to push them back to Johnnie’s lawn. Bad dad. Blowing the leaves back into your dear friend’s yard took the least amount of labor. The neighbors should be asked to insist that the workers bag the leaves, IMO. I agree with atozgrl that since they’re being paid to deal with the leaves, they should bag them.

>253 LizzieD: Not legally required? OMG. I think your friend should consult the county agent to see what, if any, legal requirements there are. If the workmen are right, then she has no recourse, obviously, except the escalation of the upset with the neighbors, otherwise, she has legal recourse if she wants to pursue it.

We live in such a rural environment that the leaves fall and get mulched into our yards/pastures when those activities occur. They do get blown off the concrete onto the grass, and thus mulched.

Yay for your three today, Wordle Sister!!!

edited to add: 3 on Monday for me, too. Hope you and yours are doing well.

Good morning, (((((Karen)))))! Hi, 3 Sister. Dichondra - so pretty! Would that be hard to rake?

Wordle 898 3/6

⬜🟨🟨🟩⬜
🟨🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, roust, worst

Off to get ready to take Mama to the doc for a scheduled check.

Wordle 899 3/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 arose, unity, young HA!

Tuesday drive-by *smooch*