A Visit from the Folks

Mom and Dad stopped on their way home from Michigan for a two night visit. While Dad and Bob worked in the shop with the lathe I showed Mom how I bake the artisan bread. She is excited about trying the method. Tuesday afternoon I went to Dixon's for fresh tilapia and stopped at the store for groceries. We made a trip to town and then ran home to cook dinner. We had invited a friend over and it was a great evening. We fixed pan-fried tilapia, a big salad, roasted vegetables and my special roasted sweet potatoes. I was so busy I didn't have time to take many photos but I did remember my camera this morning when we went out to breakfast at a local diner before Mom and Dad left for home.

While Mom and Dad were here we (mainly Mom) had some ideas to rearrange furniture. We brought a table up from the basement and took the one that was in the sunroom downstairs. I like the new look and we can now seat 6 on the porch instead of a crowded 4 at the little round table. I also ordered some new bedding from West Elm, which will update our bedroom a bit.

Mom and Dad are pretty spiffy lookin' for 80 and 83, don't you think?

I am currently reading the fourth book in the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. I've never been a fan of sci-fi, fantasy, or anything of the kind. Several reviews indicated that the first book was the best but I am enjoying Breaking Dawn at least as much. That I like these books at all is still somewhat of a shock. Vampires? Not me!

In the realm of knitting I started a new small project, against my better judgement as I have 3 currently in the works. (It may be a gift so it is under wraps for the moment.) Usually I have one brainless project and one more challenging in progress--no more but they are all getting too unwieldly to tote around. Saturday we have an all day piping gig in the Quad Cities so I'll need something to keep me busy in the car and during the day when we are not piping. I always overplan these things and never get as much knitting in as I hope.

I Have a Kindle!

I am so happy that I finally ordered a Kindle. I've been thinking of getting one ever since I read about them on Amazon. Carol got one when the Kindle2 came out. Once I saw hers I

knew it was just a matter of time. At the encouragement of my husband, bless his heart, I finally took the plunge and boy-oh-boy am I glad!

It seems the folks at Amazon have thought of everything in making this device convenient, practical, and even addictive. The packaging wooed me from the onset with tumbling alphabet letters and a little message on the pull tab that read: "Once upon a time...". Call me crazy but I even get excited each time I turn off my Kindle and see a new screensaver. It seems there are about 25 beautiful designs that cycle. The images are very crisp, just like the font.

One reason I wanted a Kindle is that I read in bed and don't have good lighting. While the screen is not backlighted, you can easily changed the size of the font. So when reading in bed, I just enlarge the font. The "next page" button is on both sides of the Kindle, for easy page turning. Once in a while I forget I am reading an electronic book and I reach up to turn a paper book page. Silly me!

The first book I read was Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. In case there was a learning curve with this device, it seemed that a simple read was a good way to begin. As it turned out I readily transitioned to the electronic format. Last night I finished Twilight (which I enjoyed more than I thought I would) and downloaded the next book in the series. How easy is that? Maybe too easy. You don't even need a computer to browse the selections. The purchasing and browsing is done wirelessly through Sprint (no monthly charge.)Not sure if you want to buy it? Download a sample of the book first. Most titles are $9.99 or under. The Twilight books are about $6.00.

I also bought the leather Amazon cover for $39.99. It protects the Kindle and I can hold it like a book if I want.

Although I haven't needed it yet, there is a built in Oxford English Dictionary. Highlight the word and a definition appears at the bottom of the screen. Wow. I am going to be on the look-out for books with difficult vocabularies.

Conventional books will always have a place in our home. I would not want to buy my knitting books electronically or books that I intend to read again (that is rare). I will still visit the local library, although I won't be so disappointed at the offerings there since I have more OPTIONS.

When I first heard about e-books I predicted that this would be the future for college students. Books are so expensive and often too big to carry around. The new Kindle DX is designed with this in mind.

If you have a Kindle I would love to hear about books you have enjoyed reading.