Autumn Busy

It's Walkin' and Readin' Wednesday!

Truth!

The weather is autumn in the shade, but still summertime in the hot sun around here.

Niko has no shame.

A twofer!

Nice white jabot, kitty!

🐾 👣 🐾

Audiobook recommendations:

The Hurricane Wars Trilogy by Thea Guanzon

Narrated by Jeanne Syquia and Kaleo Griffith

Book #1: The Hurricane Wars

Book #2: A Monsoon Rising

Book #3: The Shattered Tempest

My two cents: War, magic, technology, found family, and imperial politics, with a helping of enemies-to-lovers-but-still-enemies.  

Action packed, based on Southeast Asian mythology, so it differs from other authors who use Norse or Greek/Roman mythology.

As I type this, I'm 50% through Book #3, and I will do nothing else but listen to this spellbinding story.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

Narrated by Bernadette Dunne

My two cents: An older audiobook, which was made into a decent film, details the authors determination to pull her life together after her mother's death, and her divorce.

Walking the Pacific Crest Trail for 1,100 miles in 94 days mostly alone isn't my idea of getting my head on straight, but that's the beauty of this story: being in charge of yourself is the best remedy, despite a blisters, lost boots, hinkey hikers, and snowfall when you are in shorts.

Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss

Narrated by Christine Hewitt

My two cents: A novella really, but what a journey in a short listen!  Silvie and her family are living as if they are ancient Britons, surviving by the tools and knowledge of the Iron Age, with an archeologist and his students.  This is harsh living, made worse by Silvie's violent father.  The back-and-forth between modern thinking against the backdrop of scrounging for food and living in nature, artfully written and performed, really made me think, and think, and think some more. 

📚 📚 📚 

Finding The Cool

It's time for a Walkin' and Readin' Wednesday!

Due to the high humidity and heat, I've been out really early (4:30 AMish), then again at sunset.

When it's still dark, or just getting dark, the scenery changes some:

Opossum, hiding under a parked car.

Friendly kitten with a nub for a tailio; have not seen this baby before.

Sunset clouds.

This cat travels; have seen it on different streets; not a human fan.

Interesting street light patterns on a tree.

📸

Recent audiobooks to recommend:

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States

Author: Sarah Vowell

Narrators: the author and many others

Audiobook published: October 20, 2015

Goodreads blurb:

"A humorous and insightful account of the Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette--the one Frenchman we could all agree on--and an insightful portrait of a nation's idealism and its reality."

My opinion:

This author brings out such fascinating bits of history that really brings her subjects to life, and rarely does any Revolution historian reveal that the French really won the war for us, but we never really paid back the gold that they loaned us.

Extra Factoid:

The Marquis de Lafayette is a direct ancestor of the current Belgian royal family through the maternal line; King Philippe of the Belgians is his fifth great-grandson.

A Deadly Inheritance

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Narrator: Veronica Hortiguela

Audiobook published: March 24, 2026

Goodreads blurb:

"After discovering she's an heiress to a billion-dollar corporation, seventeen-year-old Liliana finds herself at a new boarding school where she must navigate secret societies and a deadly competition. Not to mention two handsome boys."

My opinion:

Another crafty horror/mystery, when the main female character's life changes in a blink: rags to riches!  But, someone is trying to kill her.  I enjoyed this!

V for Vendetta

Author: Alan Moore

Audiobook published: January 14, 1990

Goodreads blurb:

"A powerful story about loss of freedom and individuality, V FOR VENDETTA takes place in a totalitarian England following a devastating war that changed the face of the planet. In a world without political freedom, personal freedom and precious little faith in anything comes a mysterious man in a white porcelain mask who fights political oppressors through terrorism and seemingly absurd acts. It's a gripping tale of the blurred lines between ideological good and evil."

My opinion:

Wow, just wow!  How did I NOT read this years ago?  Scarily prescient to today's political environment, at least here in The States.

More titles that I recommend:

The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

The Counting Game by Sinéad Nolan

📚

It's Hip to Have an Ear Tip!

October 16 is National Feral Cat Day.

The Eastside Cats has a deep love of outside strays, and with Henry living with us now, we just want to help as many as we can.

Learning to set up traps and capture wandering cats SEEMED so scary at first, and even though I am timid about many things, it turns out that it's pretty satisfying to trap a cat, get him neutered, and then take care of him with food, shelter, and companionship.

Henry is our first non-socialized cat, although we were sure Celestial Sweetie was pretty anti-human, yet she took to being an inside-only cat very well, and became a real lovebug.

Worldwide, we cannot adopt our way out of the crisis of too many cats.

Neuter every cat you can, and tell your family and friends too.

Have so much gratitude and thankfulness for the feral colony supporters, the low-cost spay/neuter clinics, and to any human who cares about cats.

Click on this to find out about research into injection neutering.

And just so you know, I too identify as being a stray:

I wear this sweatshirt with a smile, although people still tend to avoid eye contact...

😹

Let's Hop!

TNR the SFC*!

National Feral Cat Day® is October 16!

Alley Cat Allies created National Feral Cat Day in 2001 as a call to action to raise awareness about community cats (also called feral or stray cats), promote Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), and empower the millions of compassionate people around the United States who care about cats and kittens to drive change on their behalf.

*Stray or Feral or Community cats

We ❤️ feral cats!

Cuties

The following cuties were seen as I tramped 'round:

The first three cats are unknown to me.

The last image of the floofy black cat is Nightfury, and she seems to have snuck outside.

Love their faces, especially that ginger cutie.

They seem to be saying, "Oh!  You can see me?  I'm over here trying to blend into the garden, but you are talking to me, making smoochie noises, and taking pics...what's up with that?!?"

I tell every single one: "Come on over to my place, and you'll really get the royal treatment!"

❤️😻❤️