My goal is simple - share a love of reading, nature and animals. I read and talk about a wide variety of genres both fiction and non fiction, rarely new releases. Horror, Sci-fi, Paranormal, Self-Help and every now and again a romance.
Looking for something specific? My titles tell you what the video is about, I also have playlists for books, nature and my silly kids. Love to read, make connections and chat about books ? - be sure to subscribe and let me know what you think about the books/topics I discuss.
Are you able to help and support my book habit? Amazon links for books and supplies I use to keep up my bookish content are in my description box under the videos. A big thank you to supporters as it all helps with projects and plans which keep the channel going.
Be safe, be well and big hugs
Elaine
Cobaltdragon
Good morning/afternoon/evening
Although still a bit chilly, thankfully we have had a fair bit of sun this week. Hope, Goldie and Lily were all in the backyard enjoying the sunshine. Lovely to see them all doing well and relaxed. Panther on the other hand was enjoying the sun inside but thinks I need to make a bigger dent in the books to finish and get them off his table.
The clouds were interesting yesterday. Not sure why just this one small patch was so shiny. Made for a fun capture.
I am almost to the halfway point of Blackwood Farm. Live stream at the end of November with Stuart @stuartgriffin1001 and Leslie @booksgurrsandpurrs to chat about what we thought about the read and characters. I need to finish, Dracula and start recording some more vampire videos. Drood may end up waiting to get finished as I want to finish the 2 books I have to complete the Dune box set that has been waiting a few years. I have finished Dune and enjoyed - so figure best to read soon while I remember all the characters and groups.
Off to do some editing, planning and recording. Plus of course reading.
Be safe, be well and big hugs
Elaine
1 day ago | [YT] | 6
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Cobaltdragon
Good morning/afternoon/evening
Well Panther is feeling much better - not only did he enjoy a weekend of snuggles and cuddles, but he is now over 880 views on his short. LOL so he made sure to let Tiki know. Plus they had catnip Saturday so lol YouTube numbers didn't matter. Some days I think being a cat would be so much easier, but would have to be careful about my owners as I would want a cozy home like these two.
Big thank you to Jessica @OnastackofBooks who joined me on Sat for a chat about Jurassic Park - book and movie along with a number of other books and movies. Thank you to everyone who could join us and team re-watch - lovely to hear from other folks about their thoughts and what they are reading as well.
Videos are up - today - Paulo Coelho comparison of The Alchemist - Ven's favourite book @Vens_Book_Corner and The Pilgrimage which he won't read with me.
Wed - The Relic vs Holly - 2 different investigators and villains.
I didn't get the living room rearranged as, well my lumbar decided to seize up and go into a spasm on Sat, lol but that didn't stop me from chatting for hours. It eased up a bit on Sunday and today I am wearing my not so lovely back brace. So no furniture moving or yard work today - but plenty of books waiting for me to finish so one more day of taking it easy and hopefully all good again tomorrow.
Hope everyone is doing well. Plus after catching up on some current world news - hoping everyone is safe - wild times in so many countries these days.
Big hugs
Elaine
4 days ago | [YT] | 18
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Cobaltdragon
Good morning/afternoon/evening
Another sunny, chilly day. Still waiting for many of the leaves to change colour - just weird for this time of year. Nice to see some plants still blooming as the bees are still buzzing around - but lol that is a bit weird as well. Such a strange year.
Yesterday start, Reliquary - the sequel to Relic and enjoying the read. Amazing that I picked up both for under $2 at different sales. Yeah me. I also started Dracula a couple of days ago so will be finishing both before the end of the month.
Today at 2:30 pm EST livestream with Jessica @OnastackofBooks to chat about our buddy read of Jurassic Park and The Lost World.
Panther is pouting as his cute short only got 23 views. Tiki of course being the bratty sister reminds him that hers usually get into the hundreds. I can relate to Panther as I try not to look at numbers when I pop into the studio - boogles my brain how I have dropped 100 viewing hours with videos up and shorts - youtube math just confuses me.
Off to either rearrange the living room before the live stream, do some reading or get some other planning done for videos.
Be safe, be well and big hugs
Elaine
6 days ago | [YT] | 26
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Cobaltdragon
Good morning/afternoon/evening
Weather here still on the cool side. But at least sunny and no rain - good thing as so much moisture around the mushrooms are growing and being weird in the stumps.
The second picture lol isn't Dracula, it is my grandfather. But after reading Dracula he definitely freaked me out. My grandmother and I were very close and I got along with my grandfather, but warm and fuzzy he was not.
Flowers still blooming here even with the cold temperatures. The third pic was me just having fun with a grain and moonflower without the bloom. LOL I could probably convince some I found a new type of plant. The mallow is a pretty splash of purple in the front. Good thing as I have seen bees still buzzing around, bit odd with these temperatures but everything has been mixed up this year.
Reading - today finishing Carmilla for the third time and then on to Dracula. Sadly I still can't figure out who the woman is with Carmilla????? Either I am missing something or Le Fanu never tells us.
Tiki and I are off to get some more organizing and planning done. LOL not that she is super helpful, but she is a hilarious distraction.
Be safe, be well and big hugs
Elaine
1 week ago | [YT] | 16
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Cobaltdragon
Good morning/afternoon/evening
Flashback several years with Cousin It and lol a student who also had some fun. Another year, fun keeping people on their toes as well bit of Sith and Jedi going on. At least that year I remembered to take them out of my pony tail before leaving work. LOL unlike the time I had an eyeball pen and forgot - wondered why people looking at me oddly and then realized I had a giant eyeball staring at them from my pony tail, hehehehe
Massive score on the weekend. Library final sale day - $5 a bag - and I managed to get 30 plus books in the bag. Of that 22 were Alfred Hitchcock - so excited as I loved reading his collections as a kid and grew up watching - Hitchcock presents. Next stop was the thrift store because well I still had cash - so made some more great finds for an additional $30. Woo hoo 42 books for $35 dollars definitely too good a deal to pass up. Probably good I again found the Evelyn Wood speed reading book as I unhauled it years ago (yup another rebuy now well into the 60's) LOL my January book audit stats are going to be brutal for the percentage I own versus read, but I have 2 months to make a bit of a dent especially since some are smaller and quick reads.
Several videos to put up today or tomorrow - which nicely keeps me a week ahead with content. Live stream this Saturday. More recording and reading this week and maybe even some craft time.
Be safe, be well and big hugs
Elaine
1 week ago | [YT] | 11
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Cobaltdragon
Good morning/afternoon/evening
If you haven't seen the shorts - yes turns out Julie was right and Lily has returned. She was hanging out next door, partly because another cat has come into the area not part of the colony. Not uncommon for her to wander between the two places but Lily typically hangs out here the most and comes to greet me when I take out the food, so very odd to not see her for a month. We had a great visit, short I put up today, she followed me to the back, short yesterday - had a few kibbles, checked out her condo - lol that Goldie also uses.
During my yard walk about also noticed, sweet peas are blooming again - pretty but bizarre for this time of year. Still no frost here although temps have been cold. Bumper crop of grapes for the birds to enjoy. So one bonus to the crazy weather.
Lovely virtual tea with a pal yesterday - nice to chat and catch up.
Today some editing, reading and pulling some information together.
Sunday - public library sale - $5 a bag so yes my numbers likely going up again. Lots of reading to do in the next couple of months as I will be updating my book audit numbers in January.
Videos next week
Monday - Meditations to Heal your Life by Louise Hay
Wednesday - The Amityville Curse - novella by Hans Holzer
Saturday - live stream with Jessica @OnastackofBooks to chat about our Jurassic Park buddy read.
Have a great weekend. Be safe, be well and big hugs.
Elaine
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 11
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Cobaltdragon
Good morning/afternoon/evening
It was a typical long weekend here in SW Ontario - cold with rain. Perfect for doing stuff indoors and a visit. We also enjoyed watching - Sleepy Hollow, Queen of the Damned and Hocus Pocus - not many spooky reads yet as I am still finishing Dune - just over 100 pages to go and then back to the vampire reads - Dracula, Carmilla and starting, Blackwood Farms.
Tiki and Panther did their kind of helping as I rearranged books and sorted various files and papers. Of course later Tiki did her, look how adorable I am, pose on my bookshelf. Such a character.
As for the meltdown well it seemed to fit with weather up and down hot to cold back to cold, trying to figure out how to arrange my books and projects. Plus it seems the youtube math is seriously broken - in under a week I went from 150 watch hours to just over 90 😮😮😮bit of a shock as lol there has been content but here we are. Seems the bots have also been doing a major unsub and numbers dropping. Just wow no wonder people just give up and move on to other things. Very frustrating but we shall see what the future holds, hoping things turn around just have to wait and see. I have noticed that I am definitely not the only one having challenges with the platform - no pattern that I can see and that is the extra frustrating part - how do you improve a situation when you don't know the rules???????
Hope everyone is doing well. I am off to catch up on comments, continue to try and get things more organized, may do some adulting. As much as I do enjoy sitting outside and watching nature, sadly at the moment is a big reminder that Lily is gone. I will at some point do a memories of Lily video - bit hard at the moment so not sure when that will be up.
Elaine
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 13
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Cobaltdragon
Good morning/afternoon/evening
Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to everyone in Canada. Bit chilly here in SW Ontario but am hoping to get outside and play in the yard for awhile. Leaves are finally starting to change but some plants still have new growth and are blooming, bit odd and definitely means we have not yet had a killer frost. Not sure what that means for the rest of the winter.
Videos are up
Mon Oct 12 - Lunar Oracle Deck by Liberty Phi- update
Wed Oct 14 - Dark Dimensions by Colin Wilson- skinny dip
Mon Oct 19 - Meditations to Heal Your Life by Louise Hay
Wed Oct. 21 - The Amityville Curse by Hans Holzer
Coming up, recorded just need to edit and post.
The Martian vs Project Hail Mary
Series vs Standalone
Nightshift vs Skeleton Crew
The Alchemist vs The Pilgrimage
Holly vs The Relic
The Crystal Cave trilogy - skinny dip
Reading - several books finished and now well into Dune - may pace it out as several other books I want to get to this month like Dracula.
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend, remember to spend some time relaxing, being thankful and making some great memories and sharing some laughter.
Elaine
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 11
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Cobaltdragon
Good morning/afternoon/evening
Temperatures here are still bouncing a bit, but mostly cold. While Tiki and Panther are of course cozy indoors, outdoors nature is busy. The little chipmunks have been more regular over the past week and this cutie was busy while I sat outside the other day. The cardinal was outside the kitchen window and the squirrel was busy outside the living room window.
Even in these temperatures the moonflowers are still blooming and lol look like they are trying to take over the deck. Half the burning bush is now red, the other half is still green, such a weird year.
Sadly still no Lily and it is now almost 3 weeks. Although I am hoping to see her again, another part of me knows that is unlikely. Needless to say it has been a bit of a roller coaster unproductive week. Wish she had stayed indoors last winter, but she always wanted to head back outdoors.
Last night was interesting as it seems Tiki has learned how to use the remote for the TV. LOL suddenly voices from the basement and when Bob went down, there was Tiki comfy on the fouton watching TV 😮🤭🤭🤭 Guess not much happening on cat tv so she decided to watch something else.
Today catching up on comments, big thank you to viewers and commenters.
Be safe, be well and big hugs
Elaine
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 16
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Cobaltdragon
Good morning/afternoon/evening
Saturday was 39 years and yes we did look quite different back then. LOL and yes that is my natural hair colour which has of course changed dramatically over the years. Also missing my best friend who sadly did not beat her battle with cancer and crazy that she has been gone for over a decade. We went out to a local family owned restaurant where we enjoyed a lovely meal. Always nice when the owners come out and chat with customers and the staff are all wonderful.
Tiki of course was all about catnapping. LOL she doesn't seem concerned that she is hanging over the edge, she has gotten bigger since she first arrived 3 years ago.
Temps here are definitely cold and furnace would have been on all weekend but we turned the temperature down and had windows open. Way too early for this nonsense but here we are. Trees just starting to change colour because like everything else all mixed up.
20 pages away from finishing, The Crystal Cave trilogy by Mary Stewart. Then on to finish, Dune and will be going on to read the next two in the series. Will also be starting some spooky reads for the season.
Be safe, be well and big hugs
Elaine
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 19
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