Author name: Sayling@@Away

I am back from my sojourn in Germany, where I didn’t learn the language (other than bitte, danke shön, and guten tag) but had a great time visiting places I hadn’t been before.  I’ll post some pictures soon. Elijah Moon gave a huge sigh of relief when he saw me. He told me he needs a break from blogging – it took a lot out of him. I’ve acquired a few new followers in the past month. Visiting their sites impressed me all over again with the variety of people, views, and talents in the world! You might want to check some of them out! ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Susan Edgerton who posts as msbooknerd at https://willwriteforcoffeeandbooks.wordpress.com is a writer, mother, wife, student, future librarian, and she loves to read. She blogs about things she is passionate about – writing, books, feminism, equality, literacy, and surviving polycystic ovary syndrome, to name a few. 2. 神人 Nerdy Asian Alice at http://xdrink.org who writes for escape, choice and freedom 3. Holly at https://bloggityramblings.wordpress.com  Holly grew up as super shy and is a mother now, having survived marriage, divorce, depression, and is still a responsible adult who gets joy from reading, looking at art and doodling. From time to time, she steals her son’s rock and roll t- shirts. 4. Manpreet, a scientist, who blogs at https://mysyntheticscientificworld.wordpress.com.  I read her blog on what is a mole (no, not the burrowing creature) and gravitational wave detection. Pretty interesting stuff, especially if you have any science in your background. 5. Linus K. Letting at https://lettinglk.wordpress.com.  He just started blogging and writes on anything – social, economic, emotional – but likes sarcasm. Looking forward to what he posts. 6. Gary Matthews or garym6059 at http://skipahsrealm.com/.  He posts on cooking, dating, humor, life along the Eastern Seaboard and recently on a Key West Kind of Weekend, which covered a lot of ground – a walk, food, drink, all fun. 7. Plotless 1 who posts at http://plotlessone.com  Check out his ‘About’: Somewhere amongst all that nothingness I roam and wander. I live this plotless life. This will be the haven of my thoughts and actions as I stroll through all this (shit). Feel free to journey with me through my plotless life. He posts advice, blog promotions, what people are reading. He recently promoted Porter Girl (if you haven’t acquainted yourself with Lucy, you are missing a LOT). 8. A Musing Teen at https://musinguponmylife.wordpress.com. She’s thirteen and has the cutest dog for a gravatar.  She likes books, music and random musings – plus she’s a good writer. 9. Martina Ramseur who posts at Rivella49’s Blog – https://rivella49.wordpress.com.  Martina is originally from Switzerland and has been living in Ticino for 30 years and has become a linguist. She believes knowledge of languages is important so we can get to know each other’s cultures. She is an official translator and is available to translate your work for you. 10. Karen at http://donotgetsickinthesinkplease.com  She lives in Philadelphia with a patient husband and a lovesick cat and writes about humor and sex! She recently rates mattresses for sex – now there’s a unique post! 11. Steve Tanham at https://stevetanham.wordpress.com/. Steve is one of the three directors of the Silent Eye School of Consciousness, along with Stuart France and Sue Vincent, a couple of people I have followed with delight for several years.  He lives with his wife, a cat and a dog in a restored bungalow on the edge of the English Lake District (oh, beautiful!) where it rains a lot and is thus VERY green. He is driven by a love of good teaching. He enjoys humor and is learning to live with an opened heart in a less-controlled world. 12. Emily Sama at Fantage Chatter – https://fantagechatter.wordpress.com, where she welcomes you to her upside down, crappy blog with recycled inspirations and cardboard dreams with delightful cartoons. She does a variety of posts and pages – advertises blogs, an anime sharing site, guides, a shop for exclusive drawing and headers. This is a one stop shop for help with your blog’s visual, plus she has her own illustrated stuff.     0 0

By now you know a lot about me, Elijah Moon, a cat nonpareil. I am looking forward to having my humans home again, but figured I could sneak in one last post. There are lots of things I like to do, if only to get Hubs to say, “Look! See what the cat’s doing now!” I’m very clever. For example, when Noelle is working at editing on the dining room table, I hold her papers down in case there’s a breeze, and I like to play with her pen.           As you know, I’m a major napper, usually in the sun, but occasionally in the dryer, right after the clothes have come out and it’s still nice and warm.           My humans’ coats are especially nice on a cold winter night.       I also have a shoe fetish. Any shoe will do.       Christmas is my favorite time of year. One time, I decided to climb the Christmas tree. It’s always a big tree, usually about 11 feet tall and set in the living room. I actually wanted to play with the baubles on the tree, but a visiting cat challenged me to climb it. Noelle caught it just as it started to fall and screamed for Hubs to come help her. Later, he wired it to the wall so it didn’t fall over when I tried it again. Hubs walloped me with a newspaper, so my climbing days are over. Nevertheless, I did give them a huge scare last Christmas when they couldn’t find me anywhere and called and called for an hour. I don’t know what they were worried about — I was sleeping in the wrapping paper under the tree. I still don’t understand why my humans call me Mr. Waddles, Fur Butt, and the Beef Master. I’m a very a very handsome, if elderly, fur-coated gentleman. My life. It’s not bad, and it’s been nice talking to you.             0 0

I’m Elijah Moon, and I’m back to post while my humans are otherwise occupied. I do have some trouble with the computer keys have been told I have very expressive paws. Today I’m going to give you an idea of my schedule. Noelle manages to adhere to it fairly well, Hubs not so much. I sleep with my humans, but usually get up the minute Hubs goes downstairs. Since this can be any time between 1 and 6 AM, and sometimes more than once, I have a busy night. Hubs is usually back in bed by 6:30, and Angel (did I mention there’s an animal in this house?) gets Noelle up around 7. Angel thinks she’s the boss, but in reality she’s an impertinent, butt-snuffing terrier (I heard she’s a mixed breed – part rat terrier and part Jack Russell). That’s probably why she is not normal. I allow her to share the couch with me at night, though. She’s learned to keep her distance.         Anyway, when Angel gets Noelle up, I come downstairs and have to remind her to let me out immediately. She’s gotten better understanding at cat-speak.  After I go out, and she takes Angel out, I come back inside with them and have my morning whipped cream cheese. Not much, just a taste. And maybe some crunchy treats. And maybe some tuna fish if there’s any in the fridge. Then I got to the door and this time, I don’t have to ask.           I love wandering around the yard. Sometimes I just sit on the deck and ponder the bushes. After a while I come in, and my breakfast is always there waiting for me.  Then I nap, usually all morning. Did you know that cats sleep from 16-18 hours a day? Why do you think we’re so beautiful? In the afternoon, I go out again. If it’s cold, not for long, but in the summer I like to go to the pool with Noelle and ride on a mat in the water. If it’s really hot, I take a swim. Honestly, it feels good and if I lick fast enough, I’m dry by the time we have to go in. I always have to be inside by dusk. There are coyotes in the neighborhood (so I’ve been told) and they do have a taste for cat flesh. My two leggeds saw a pair of them walking in broad daylight through the neighbor’s yard. I do know there aren’t cat visitors at our door any more. Or dogs. Or raccoons. Or possums.    They look mean!   One night, we did have a visitor at the glass door to the porch. He was rather large and was banging on the door at me. Noelle came down to see what the noise was. When she put on the porch light, he ran away, but I heard her say it was a wildcat. He was rather handsome, but his growl was very, very loud.   Next time I have a chance to post, I’ll tell you what I do for fun. 0 0

My name is Elijah Moon. This is the first time I’ve posted myself, but I know one of my humans has written about some of my past adventures.They are out of the country for a few days, so I told them I would post on Noelle’s blog once or twice, just to keep things interesting. My two humans are Noelle and Hubs (at least that’s what she calls him), and I must say I do have a rather good life. It didn’t start out very well, though. My brother Ezekiel and I were sent to an animal shelter when we were little because no one wanted us. A student at Brown University adopted us though, and we lived with her for a while. It was a long time ago, and my recollection of that time is a little fuzzy. At some point she brought us her mother’s home in what I heard is called North Carolina. Then she left. The mother was a nice woman, but let’s face it, Zeke and I had long claws and we did like her furniture – isn’t that what it’s there for? – so she put us outside to live. We had food and water left out for us, but we’d never lived outside before, and it was really scary at night. We could hear animals in the woods. Then Zeke had a bright idea; he was always the leader and the explorer. I just like to hang around. He had been battling through the glass door with some cats living inside a nearby house and he found the door to the crawl space of the house was left open. So we moved in there at night. The son of Noelle and Hubs discovered us, and he fed us. Eventually we were sort of adopted. We’d grown since being left outside and our plastic flea collars hardened and tightened around our necks! Our humans didn’t know where we’d come from, so they cut off the flea collars and took us to a place where we were prodded and poked and stuck with needles. After that, we came back to what is now home, and our humans put out houses and a cat tree for us on their deck.  We still had to stay outside. Those inside cats really didn’t like us, and I heard Noelle talk about a third cat that lived in their bedroom. Time passed and we got used to our humans. I never wandered far from my forever home, but Zeke was a hunter and he would roam far into the forest. I heard friends of our humans tell them about running into him on the trails. I know the inside cats went somewhere, one by one, and then one day they took Zeke away and I didn’t see him again. Noelle cried a lot with each disappearance, but especially Zeke. I’m still not sure if I miss him. Finally, I was allowed inside. I’d been inside before with Zeke on really cold nights or horribly hot days, but always in the garage. Now I have the run of the house, and I’ve trained my humans to keep to my schedule. In my next post, I will tell you all about my schedule. Right now I need a nap (yawn!). 0 0

This review is for Rosie’s #Bookreview team. The book was purchased by the reviewer. This is the third in the historical series Britannia, which explores the time of Roman rule in what is now Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). Authored by Richard Denham and M.J. Trow, The Warlords is a fitting conclusion to a compelling trilogy. I have read the previous two books, and while I recommend them all, I strongly suggest they be read in sequence. The series is built around four so-called Heroes of the Wall, who are young men in the first volume (see my reviews of both the first and second books on this blog site). Only two now survive and they are well past their prime, their weakening with age mirroring that of Roman Britannia. The time frame of the series is compressed somewhat in order to follow them into the waning era of Roman rule in its far-flung province. Elsewhere in Europe, Rome is also in its death throes, following the bloody end of Magnus Maximus, the Roman Emperor who began his reign in Britannia. One of two remaining Heroes, Justinus Coelius, is now the General of the Roman forces in Britannia, and he and the depleted and increasingly seditious Roman army face a myriad of threats from the wild tribes of the north and others from across the German Sea. The other Hero is Vitalis Celatius, who has become a Christian convert and a weaver of baskets with reeds from the Thames. His goal is to live a quiet life away from conflict, but his religion and reputation draw him back into political events. In addition to Justinus and Vitalis, this book is richly populated by an array of conniving and greedy characters, some real and some fictional, better drawn and even more interesting than those in the previous two volumes. Stilicho, a historical figure, is a ruthless and loyal toady of the Emperor Theodosius and is tasked with taking the head of Magnus Maximus to Londinium (London) to teach the barbarians a lesson in Roman strength and superiority. Stilicho runs into two immoveable objects on his arrival: the unscrupulous but competent Vicarius, who oversees Rome’s business in the city, and Scipio of the Black Knives, a gang of thieves and murderers. His mother Honoria is Vicarius’ mistress. Another historical character is Pelagius, a roving Christian evangelist, whose religion is tolerant of traditional gods and emphasizes free will. He has an enemy in the Bishop Londinium and a reluctant follower in Vitalis. When Stilicho is recalled upon Theodosius’ death, a sequence of men declare themselves Caesar and rally various of the Army’s legions to rule the province and beyond, only to be overthrown one by one. In the meantime, Niall of the Nine Hostages, High King of Tara, is raising and plundering the western and southwestern coasts of the province. To the north, the Voltadini, a barbarian tribe and allies of the Romans who have for centuries repelled attacks from the Picts, the Scots, the Irish and the Saxons, face a deathly threat. The son of their Queen, who is the lover of Justinus, seeks to overthrow both her and the Romans by secret pacts with these same tribes. Who can contain Niall? Can the Queen rally the Voltadini to maintain the northern regions from invasion? Who will ultimately control the legions? The book’s characters are wound within these gradually unravelling story threads and despite my knowledge of what really happened historically, the complex story kept me reading with enthusiasm. The authors have clearly taken some liberties with the history of Britannia in spinning this saga, but then again, there is much of that history that is unknown. I recommend this third book and indeed, the whole series, and hope to visit some of the sites mentioned in the book when I next travel to England. About the authors: Richard Denham was born in the military town of Aldershot, the son of a sergeant in the British Army. He is a self-taught Roman historian with an exhaustive knowledge of this period. Ever since studying the Romans at school, he has taken a keen interest in them, specifically Romans in Britain. As a boy growing up with swords, knights, tanks and all things military he also developed an interest in the legends of King Arthur. He then discovered that Roman Britain was much more interesting. The inspiration for the Britannia series was the cold, impassive footnote Richard would constantly come across “Romans leave Britain”. This would have been, for those who lived it, an apocalyptic time never known before; with the Romans having lived, fought, laughed, married and raised children on our island, “leaving” could never be as simple as that. He has a young son named Tristan, and struggles to deny that he is named after one of King Arthur’s knights. Richard has also co-authored ‘The Citizen Survivor’s Handbook’ with Steve Hart, who is one of Britain’s top survivalists. M.J. Trow was born in Wales and attended King’s College in London, where he read history. He has worked at Ryde High School as a well-known teacher of history and politics and is known in some circles for his work in theater and dramas. He is the prolific writer of three mystery series: 16 Inspector Lastrade books, 17 Peter Maxwell books, and six in the Kit Marlowe series. 0 0

I will be away from my blog for the next week or so and won’t be able to read posts and comment. I dread the thought of opening my email when I return! However, I think I’ve found a guest blogger who will entertain you.  Let me know how that works out. 0 0

This piece is from a guy whose posts I treasure. It should tickle your funny bone… 0 0

Murder on the Levels is the second in a series of short tales of murder by Frances Evesham. I was looking forward to reading this after I reviewed Murder at the Lighthouse, and I was not disappointed. This is a perfect short, cozy mystery. Libby Forest was trapped for years in an abusive marriage, and after her husband Trevor dies, she takes some of the money from the sale of their house and buys a cottage in Exham on Sea, a small inbred coastal town. She currently works in a local bakery and hopes to have her own patisserie and chocolate shop eventually. In the meantime, she makes samples of her sweets available at the bakery. At the beginning of this tale, Libby brings sandwiches and sweets from the bakery to the local cycling club, to the spot where they stop for lunch on one of their outings. Shortly after, everyone becomes sick and two of the bikers die. Libby, who is walking a friend’s dog, runs into the mysterious Max Ramshore, who Libby suspects is a government spy. He is also walking a dog – Bear, his enormous Carpathian sheepdog – and gets a phone call telling him his son, Joe, a detective sergeant in the local police force and one of the cyclists, has become seriously ill and has been taken to the hospital. He and Libby drive out to the wildlife reserve and what is now being treated as a crime scene. On her way home, Libby herself becomes sick. The only thing she ate that the cyclists would have eaten is an Eccles cake. Libby made it, and she knows she didn’t do anything wrong. A poison, digitalis, is determined to be the source of the sickness. Naturally, suspicion falls on the bakery and its boss, Frank, and of course, Libby. The book reintroduces the reader to some of the town’s colorful characters: Mandy, the young Goth who rents a room from Libby; Joe Ramshore, who resented Libby’s sleuthing in the previous mystery; Frank the baker; and Fuzzy, Libby’s marmalade cat who has an unusual liking for Bear. New are Steve, Mandy’s boyfriend, and Ali, Libby’s daughter, who comes to take care of her. Ali shocks Libby when she reveals she’s left her studies at the university and is going to build schools in a rain forest with a young man she’s met. When Ali leaves, she deliberately places an envelope where Libby will find it; in it is a deed to a house in Leeds that Trevor left to Ali. He also deeded a house to their son, Michael. Libby is perplexed as to why her late husband would do this and becomes suspicious, since Trevor emptied all their bank accounts when he left her. Now Libby has two things to investigate, and this becomes three when, for no apparent reason, Steve is run off the road while riding his motorcycle. The author does a great job believably weaving together the disparate threads of this story, sending Libby hither and yon through West Country scenery and keeping the reader guessing until the very end. This is an engaging and easy read, and heralds the continuation of a wonderful mystery series. I strongly highly recommend Murder on the Levels, a great cozy to curl up with! About the author: In addition to historical mystery romances, Frances Evesham has written books on speech and language, and parenting and communication, which she can practice with her growing collection of grandsons. She’s been a speech therapist, a professional communication expert as well as road sweeper. She has also worked in the criminal courts. Now, she walks in the country and breathes sea air in Somerset. For fun, she collects Victorian ancestors and historical trivia, likes to smell the roses, lavender and rosemary, and cooks with a glass of wine in one hand and a bunch of chilies in the other.   You can find Frances at: http://francesevesham.com/ and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frances.evesham.writer You can find Murder on the Levels on Amazon: And on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28934226-murder-on-the-levels?from_search=true&search_version=service     0 0

Dear Readers: I was up in Virginia this weekend and made a trip to the Walmart in Rocky Mount. I was surprised to see a flock of sea gulls basking in the sun in the parking lot, since Rocky Mount is roughly 200miles from the coast.   Well, color me somewhat ignorant. I’ve discovered there are more than 50 species of gulls worldwide, with many found hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean. Some actually live primarily inland, including the ring billed gull, which thrives in suburban settings around the United States. Gulls are opportunistic omnivores and will eat all sorts of things: insects, earthworms, rodents, grains and even French fries and other fast food. Mall parking lots offer the chance of a handout and Dumpsters filled with scraps  Gulls also prefer open areas where they can spot predators and take off easily, which this group did as soon as I got any closer for another picture. Along with this picture, I also picked up a head cold and now feel like a blivet, which is an old family term for 10 lbs of crap in a 5 lb paper bag. Snufflingly yours… 0 0

                                                         THE Ohio State University I took a trip on Sunday to Ohio State University to give a lecture on Leonardo da Vinci and his place in the history of anatomical dissection. I had been invited by my last Ph.D. student, who is now an Assistant Professor there, and her first Ph.D. student who just graduated. So I have my first grand Ph.D.! In contrast to actually getting to Columbus, the lecture was a breeze. It began when I asked my husband to print out my boarding passes on Saturday night. It was then that he noticed the reservation through Orbitz had been made in my maiden name. Now I have been married for many decades, and Hubs made those reservations. No way he would have used my maiden name. I water-boarded him asked him repeatedly to make sure. We still can’t figure out how it happened. Hubs got on the phone with Orbitz and I could hear him for the next hour trying to reason arguing with them to re-issue the tickets in my married name. Several supervisors later, no dice. Next he went to American (my first flight to LaGuardia) and then United (my second flight to Columbus). More reasoning arguing, more supervisors. Then the suggestion that we just go to the bank and get my birth and marriage certificates. This was such an intelligent stupid idea: it was Saturday night and my flight left on Sunday. In the meantime, I was trying to work through the lecture to make sure the visuals co-ordinated and that at least one of my thumb drives would accept the power point presentation (a big one). We were both listening to TV in the background, and the Tar Heels were getting beaten by Virginia which was not improving either of our tempers. The best hubs could do by reasoning arguing was to get a note put in the airlines’ computers, somewhere, that I am who I say I am. Sunday morning, I arrived at the airport early and tried to get my ticket reissued in my married name at the American counter. No dice. But the ticket agent assured me there would be no problem with TSA. I had brought a Mass booklet from our wedding Mass (the only thing we could find with my maiden name on it)) and that would certainly do the trick. Not. The TSA agent looked at my un-matching ticket and passport while I tried to explain what happened.Two agents later, the supervisor arrived. By now, Hubs was jumping up and down outside the screening area, trying to explain in a loud voice, to great no effect. I yelled at him to calm down.The supervisor disappeared and came back with a form, which I filled out.Then she made a phone call to somewhere in Washington where all of our past and present names are stored, and after some back and forth with lots of notations of their names and some numbers, I was cleared to go. Hubs left, and I was escorted through the X-ray machine after removing all some of my clothes under close supervision, then I was wanded and given a very thorough pat-down. Most of the stuff in my carry-on was removed and tested for explosives and my toothpaste was thrown out. I slept all the way to LaGuardia, but since I didn’t leave the boarding area, was spared having to repeat that process. My travails were not over, because I had to repeat the whole thing at the Columbus airport the next day for my trip home.This time I knew what to expect, and Mr. Higgins, the TSA supervisor, was so kind and nice about the whole thing that it was lengthy but not onerous. Plus I got patted down by a pretty blond agent named Summer Flowers. I’m saving that one for a book! Mr. Higgins may get in one, too. The morals of this story: Always check your flight confirmation as soon as you get it. Consider bringing your passport with you– my driver’s license wouldn’t have cut it. If you’re a married woman and do not use your maiden name, have something handy with your maiden name on it. Don’t use Orbitz. One of their poltergeists may change your name.     0 0