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.

Just Some Good Books

For several years I have kept a log of books I read. Usually I am just a few books shy of 52. I don't count non-fiction books that are not read all the way through. Glancing at my list (and not pondering it too much) I recommend the following that I have read recently:

• Olive Kitteredge by Elizabeth Strout. Very well-written.
• Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
• The Fledgling by Octavia Butler and also Kindred by Octavia Butler, read earlier this year. These were both totally out of my usual reading tastes. Of the two I think Kindred a bit better.
• Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund. (Takes some persistence as it is a lengthy epic.)

Today is my Anti-procrastination Day. If you read Fly Lady, you will recognize Anti-Procrastination Day and if you don't, the name is self-explanatory. That was an idea I sent to FlyLady and although she didn't give me credit, she did write to me to tell me she was going to implement it.

I also made a quick trip to my LYS, Ewe-nique Yarns in Morton IL, to pick up two skeins of Noro Kureyon and the latest Debbie Bliss Magazine. There isn't anything in the Debbie Bliss magazine that I think I'll make but it is inspirational nonetheless. On the other side of the coin, the spring Interweave Knits arrived earlier this week, and there are several projects that grabbed my immediate attention, including the cardigan on the front cover. The Petal Tank is fascinating also. I doubt it would look good on me (2" of negative ease) but my son's girlfriend would look amazing in it.

My husband's valentine today will be a homeade cherry pie. (He says mine is the best which is a very smart thing for a husband to say.) Pie is his favorite dessert and it needs to be warm and with ice cream, lots of it, on top. In fact, when I travel and he is home, he always eats pie. I guess I turn into pie, which isn't a bad thing. It could be worse!

Welcome to Sammy Jay and Mother West Wind

I mentioned in a recent post that I am adding to my collection of Thornton W. Burgess books. I bid on several on Ebay and won two of them. Sometimes the prices go higher than I am willing to pay but these were both under $10 (plus shipping). I am trying to limit myself to the ones that match the 3 that I have from my dad's childhood. This version of Mother West Wind's Children is considerably earlier (1913) but I couldn't resist because it was in excellent shape. The bookplate inside the dust jacket reads: "This Book belongs to Jean Nicholson." One can't help wonder what sort of a little girl she was, although I doubt she was much of a reader since this book is in pristine condition. Goodness, it's 95 years old! Perhaps she did love reading but just not this particular book.

The Adventures of Sammy Jay is in excellent condition (just the torn frontispiece) and matches the rest of my collection--total of 5 now.

A cold front came through yesterday blessing us with temps in the 50's last night and cool today. It's wonderful to have the windows open in the house and a nice breeze flowing through. On Monday when we traveled back to Illinois from North Carolina we stepped out of the car at a rest stop about 1.5 hours from home and our glasses fogged up. The heat and humidity were oppressive and estimated at 110 degree index. So we are thoroughly enjoying this lovely cool summer weather. It is just perfect for knitting and other activities, both inside and out.

Tonight the ladies on my street are going out for a movie (Mama Mia) and a bite to eat. Living in a neighborhood where people actually do things together is a novelty for me. In our previous neighborhood we were friendly with some of the neighbors but it was strictly limited to the neighborhood chit chat whenever we happened to see one another. I feel a little bit like I'm stepping over the threshold into Desperate Housewives but that's ok. It's kind of fun.

Book and Buttons

Last night I finished reading Year of Wonders: A novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks. At times during the reading of this I had mixed feelings about the book but the more I read it the more the story drew me in. The subject is unpleasant and you know right from the get-go that the outcome isn't going to be great. A lot of people are going to die in a most unpleasant way. The story is based in fact. The people of Eyam, a village in Derbyshire, England voluntarily quarantined themselves from all surrounding towns in 1665 when they were beset with plague after an intinerant tailor brought in a tainted bolt of cloth. No one was allowed to leave or come into the town. At great personal sacrifice these people prevented plague from spreading to neighboring villages and kept the death toll down outside of their village. Provisions from the outside world were left at "the Boundary Stone" on the outskirts of the village. What happens to the villagers during this year of tragedy, mainly how they react to one another, death, and life is what draws one into the story. I highly recommend this book and thank Rowan for her posting on the real town. Comments from that posting led me to put this book on my reading list. Two weeks ago I went to a used book sale at our local nature center and picked it up for $1.

I absolutely love a Saturday when I have no place to be at a certain time. The phone is not ringing. My husband is at work, doing research at the university. I putter around in the house watering my African Violets and other plants, perusing a few catalogs and magazines, tidying up the house, and going into town on two errands. I needed to post a package at the post office and amazingly it was not crowded on this Saturday morning. My next stop was our town square which is surrounded by very interesting shops. My goal was to visit the antique shops to see if I could find old buttons to use on knitting projects. I hit the jackpot immediately by finding an antique Ball Jar filled with buttons for just $12. I am in the process of sorting by color and size. There are mother-of-pearl buttons and shirt buttons that will be perfect for baby sweaters. I don't think they would have to match completely on a sweater as long as the size works with the buttonhole.

The red corkscrew-like button is the most unusual I have found so far. I've only delved into the first 1/4 of the jar. There were actually two jars at the shop but this one had the button card with 11 mother of pearl buttons so I chose it.

It is about lunchtime now. I'm going to heat up the cauliflower soup I made for dinner last night. We ate it with freshly made whole wheat bread. It was delicious and the kind of soup that will taste even better today.

Passions

I've been reading a lot of fluff lately. Although I don't devour mysteries as some readers do, I do like the occasional light mystery with the backdrop of the English countryside. M.C. Beaton has a light-hearted series that takes place in the English Cotswolds. The detective is an eccentric middle-aged woman by the name of Agatha Raisin. Agatha is a self-made woman who has retired in middle-age from her public relations firm to move to a cottage in the Cotswolds. Agatha is a hopeless romantic, always dreaming of romantic encounters, while puffing away on a cigarette and eating microwave dinners. She is so hilarious in her own quirky way and can't seem to keep herself out of trouble. M.C. Beaton also has a series of novels with the Scottish detective, Hamish MacBeth, as the central character.

Going from a fluffy mystery to a novel about the bubonic plague does seem like an extreme jump. I am currently reading Geraldine Brooks A Year of Wonders, a novel of a small village in England in 1665, which is beset by the plague. I'm just about 20 pages into the book. The writing is excellent and the subject matter interesting.

The Newfoundland Mitts Revisted are finished. I highly recommend this pattern. Not only were they an easy, quick knit but they do promise to be one of the warmest pair of mittens ever! I did add a few stitches to the thumb as they seemed to be a bit tight, even on my small hands. It could be that my gauge was a bit tight.

I heard recently that one of the keys to keeping yourself young is having a passion in life. Oh my goodness....where do I begin? Saturday night I went to bed having finished my mittens and the Agatha Raisin book so I was plotting my next knitting project, next book, next piping tune to memorize, butterfly gazing soon in the spring...Uh, no problem with passions here! I think I'll live a long time.

2007 Reading

I've been thinking of reviewing my reading for the past year and have been inspired by Pfeiffer Booknotes to do so now. It's always hard to narrow down a list to favorites, isn't it? Some I can rule out completely. I don't list books that I started but did not finish. Usually I give a book about 50 pages before giving up on it unless I am absolutely sure after a few pages that the writing style is poor.



I logged 43 books for the year. Of those 9 were non-fiction/34 fiction. I keep my log in table format on my computer. I have been faithful for about 5 years now. Previously I kept a handwritten log and fizzled out because I made too many demands on myself (writing little book reviews, etc.) Now I use a star system and write a few words if I am so inclined.

Best Classic

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Sorry to be so cliche. Many consider this book to be the best American novel of the 20th century. I agree it has to be at the top.

Best Fiction

The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton. This was a difficult decision. There were probably several that ranked right up there with this one.

Best Non Fiction

The World I Live In by Helen Keller. Written by her at the tender age of 18.

Biggest Surprise

Kindred by Octavia Butler. I normally do not read science fiction. This is a time-travel book so some may not consider it sci-fi.

Best Memoir (I can't decide between these 2)

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Red Rowan and Wild Honey by Betsey Whyte. Sequel to Yellow on the Broom. Betsey Whyte grew up as a traveler (also known as gypsies) in Scotland.

Recommended Reading

I finished reading Love in the Driest Season by Neely Tucker and am giving it 5 stars. It is the story of Neely and his wife's struggle to adopt a child in Zimbabwe. It is well-written, poignant, informative (Africa and AIDS), and will surely move you and make you more aware of the tragedy that is happening in Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa. I am even more passionate about the Bears to Zimbabwe project. A friend loaned me the book but I am considering buying it just to get it into the hands of other people.

It is fall break at the university so a bit of a holiday for us. We have been working on some landscaping projects around the house. I would like to restore the part of the woods that was ruined when the excavation was done for our home. Also, our woods is largely maple trees with a few oak, ash, and elm thrown in there. We need to cut down some of the smaller maple trees and get some native trees to bring more balance to the woodland. The photo shows what the woods looked like about a year ago.

I have 2 new piping tunes to learn this week and I haven't worked on them enough.

Read or Knit or....Work?

It's great that there are so many interesting things to do. I am torn between reading Love in the Driest Season by Neely Tucker, which is already gripping me, and finishing my Hemlock Ring Shawl. Of course I need to spend some time working in my office, too. And in the piping world we received 3 new tunes last week and are supposed to have them memorized on pipes tomorrow. I have 2 of the 3 down. Fortunately they are easy tunes. Within the knitting realm I am planning my next project. I think it will take a while to knit the border of Hemlock. (Isn't Hemlock poisonous?) Anitcipating the next knitting project is as much fun as finishing one.