Never a Dull Moment

After mostly two months of being away from home I've been madly scrambling to catch up to life. Unfortunately I first had to contend with a flu bug which made me more tired than usual, amongst other things. I think the bug is largely gone now though I am still tired. I am not complaining too loudly though. I am just glad to be home for awhile.  Before too long, I will be away again.

In addition to getting to the doctor and a diabetes workshop where we discussed the importance of sleep and the things we can do to try and achieve a sleepy state on a sleepless night, I have also been busy at the dentist. Unfortunately, I needed a tooth extracted. My poor tooth had been loose for some time and it takes the brunt of my chewing processes since I have a loose tooth on the opposite side of my mouth. The dentist informed me that it should be pulled and so I agreed. Yikes, I haven't had a tooth pulled since I don't know when. I had to have extra freezing due to my pain threshold. So now I am recovering from that. Next week, I have to get a root canal on the opposite side of my mouth. Thank goodness for dental insurance, although I hope I am not speaking too soon. When I got into the dentist's chair the receptionist informed me that my insurer had no record of me! One more thing to follow up on.

Now on to more interesting ways I've been filling my time.

I picked up these three books by Alexander McCall Smith; an author who hails from Zimbabwe but who spent much of his life in Scotland. These books are all part of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.  I quickly read two of the books in the photo and am now reading the blue covered book "Blue Shoes and Happiness".  Reading these books is a satisfying past time. They are like spending time with a good friend and at the same time, learning about the customs and ways of Botswana where Mr. McCall Smith frequently spends time. If you haven't read any of these books, I invite you to pick one up but start with the first one, called "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency", before you commence reading the other 10 books in the series.

All of these books are wonderfully entertaining. Reading them gives me a sense of comfort and joy.

Next up are several books. The first one is The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. I won't begin to tell you about this sweeping book other than to say that I enjoyed it a lot and I recently discovered that it has been made into a television series, co-produced by Canada (click on the underlined title to find out more about the book itself). I haven't seen the mini-series but I have seen the trailers and I will for sure want to watch it if it comes back on my television listings. It looks like a superb cast and a thrilling tale.  The Shack is a book that seemed to have created a lot of controversy in Christian circles though having read it, I cannot fathom why. It is after all, just a novel. I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would though I would certainly recommend it to anyone as it does have a novel and profound way of explaining the trinity of Christ and the nature of Christ. For that reason alone I will probably read it again sometime though I'll have to buy my own copy as this one was loaned to me by a friend.

I've read the two books on either side of the photo.  The book on the left is almost a 1000 pages but I read it much more quickly than the relatively short book on the right. I have started the one in the  middle but haven't gotten too far yet.

The three books in the next photo were purchased at the goodwill today for 50 cents each. I've read a few of the late Frank McCourt's books though enjoyed his novel, Angela's Ashes most. This book entitled, Teacher Man is a memoir.  The other two books are classics and I try to ensure I am working my way through the classics whenever I can.

The goodwill is a wonderful place to purchase books. I hate to part with books and it is much easier if I've only paid 25 or 50 cents. I can still give them back to the goodwill after I've finished reading them or give them to a friend who'd like to read them too!

Besides going to appointments, libraries and the goodwill this week, I made some time for shopping for new towels and facecloths. Long ago, I'd mentioned in a blog post on decluttering that my towels were over 20+ years old. Some of them have been raggedy for a long time. I finally broke down and spent about $20.00 Canadian on 6 towels and 14 face cloths.  I thought that was an excellent buy. The towels are just great and not too thick. I got over my fondness for very thick, white towels quite some time ago and now look for thin, absorbent, white towels.

I love the texture and absorbency of all these towels and facecloths. Several of these new cloths are in the wash so didn't make it into the photo.

Last, but not least, my creative mood is still in swing. I made two more dishcloths. It seems I can't get enough of them. These are for my own use and are added to the four I'm already using. I can now get rid of my purchased cloths which have some kind of oily odor to them despite being washed and disinfected. Does anyone know what causes the odor and the oil stains?

I'm loving the colour of these cloths.

Now it is the weekend and I'm trying to catch up on household cleaning, laundry, post office errands and experimenting with a new dish today for dinner. I'll post about that tomorrow if it turns out. In the meantime, I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful weekend.