Saturday, October 23, 2010

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.

15 comments:

Inger said...

I hope you will continue to feel better. I love to read about books that other people enjoy. It was interesting to see how many of yours I truly liked. Pillars of the Earth is one of my absolute favorite books. Teacher Man is really great -- what a great guy he was. And I am almost running out of books here and you reminded me that I have a couple of Ladies Detective Agency books sitting in my bookcase that I never got around to reading. There were some more you listed, but I forgot by now. Isn't blogging so much fun? You can meet kindred spirits for sure.

Joyful said...

Hi CANYON GIRL, how fabulous that you and I enjoy so many of the same books. I've read a lot but forgotten way more than half of the titles I've read over the years. I joined up this group called Goodreads if you want to see some of the ones I do remember. If I had more time I could browse what other people have read and update my list,lol. I do love the things that people can share through blogging and making new friends that way. If you like to read, which it certainly seems you do, Goodreads would be a great place to connect up with like minds. You can find me there by checking the bottom right bar on my blog :-)

Inger said...

These are two things I forgot: Crime and Punishment is another one of my absolutely favorite books. But the most amazing thing: I have Type 1 diabetes and we have a great support group here in our small town. We met last Thursday. Guess what the discussion item was? Yep..it was all about sleep. How many hours we need, sleep apnea, insomnia and so on. Weird, isn't it? You know we also have the African blogs in common. I recommend you read, if you haven't already: Strength In What Remains, by Tracy Kidder. I covered it in my Wednesday's books a couple of weeks ago. I'll check out Goodreads too. Thanks!--Inger

Ginny Hartzler said...

You had a LOT of catching up to do, and I'm glad to hear what's been going on with you. Sorry to hear about your tooth, I have another blog friend who just had one pulled, too. I have had several root canals. I do love the colors of your dishtowels. I,too, do not like the huge, fluffy towels!! They may be just something young people like. I find them unweildy and hard to manage, and they always drag on the floor when I'm trying to use them. I much prefer the smaller ones that are easy to manage and absorbant, also take up much less space to store. They even have what they call bath sheets now! One would dry an elephant! Your books look good. I saw Angela's Ashes movie and loved it! There was a T.V. series here that was short lived about the women's detective agency, it may have been based on these books.

Kilauea Poetry said...

The books look intriguing- your crochet work is lovely and practical! I thought I saw Angela's Ashes?? Now here is what I have to say in regard to a dental experience, also was just having with another blogger (corresponding):
I went to my former dentist because my top back tooth was giving me trouble- (none underneath now)- besides that one, there was another too- for a very old filling (tooth hurt ect..) He told me I'd have to see this specialist and have all this work done to the top one and probably a root canal for the bottom? Ok, so just because I went to get a second opinion (a dentist my niece was working for at the time)- the new dentist acted as if I was being a traitor!! So, he essentially says this: you'll have to go to another specialist mind you "to get that old filling on the bottom replaced AND get a root canal" (cause he just could't do it)- he then made a so called phone call but told me he wasn' able to reach said specialist either!! Then, I'd have to got to an oral surgeon (like my regular dentist suggested) for that top one. I told him the same- what for?? just pull it!! (heck, there wasn't any tooth directly below it anyway!! Sooo, I had to look for another dentist for both me and hubby! Well, I found one (he gets his car done here too) but listen- he pulled the back top upper tooth (NO PROB) and simply took the old mercury filling out of the old cavity and promptly FILLED it- maybe seven years ago- no pain from either!!
Its your teeth..there was a prior experience with a dentist who told me I needed two root canals (don't worry- the x rays would be on him)..I went to an elderly dentist who was surprised- and told me "I've seen worse than this- you don't need any root canal- he filled them and that was it! (This was before the first incident I mentioned)))

Kilauea Poetry said...

Sorry about the flu bug. Achieving a sleepy state caught my attention! The books look intriguing-thanks for the review.. I thought I saw Angela's Ashes?? Hmm? Your crochet work looks practical and lovely as usual! You have been busy catching up!
I have two important stories regarding dentists you might be interested in (at least entertained by)..I e-mailed you a couple times before when I was having trouble with comments but never heard whether you got it? Let me know, k? I do care. Have a wonderful day-

Kilauea Poetry said...

Sorry Penny..got an error on my first comment (I painstakingly nipped and tucked) lol..because it was too long))
Well I wrote another figuring I'd just email the dental story as I thought it long too..but I went into the kitchen-came back -realized I had to do the word verification (added some more stuff) it goes through -THEN I see me original LONG comment that must of went through too (whew) I'm out of here (lol)-:))

Bossy Betty said...

Great to catch up with you! Hope you continue to feel better!! I am jealous of all that reading!

Joyful said...

CANYON GIRL, it really is neat when things happen to people like that. I have Type 2 Diabetes and imagine we were dealing with the same topic at our respective support group meetings (my meeting was on Wednesday). I will definitely check out that book by Tracy Kidder and add it to my reading list. I love getting book recommendations, especially from someone who seems to have some of the same reading tastes.

Joyful said...

Hi GINNY, thank you for dropping by. I really did have so much to catch up on. In fact, I still have a lot to catch up on with various appointments this coming week and a whole lot of paperwork related to a host of financial issues. I believe that television series you are mentioning was indeed based on the No. 2 Ladies' Detective Agency book series but I haven't actually seen it myself. I always find that books are better than the movies or mini-series on television. I think the one exception to that conclusion was the mini-series "East of Eden" which I really enjoyed on on tv.

Joyful said...

Hi KILAUEA POETRY, I love that you came back to my post several times dear friend. Please keep on coming. You are always welcome ;-)

Now about the dentist; don't even get me started, lol. I believe it was a dentist in my childhood who drilled so many holes in my teeth for "fillings" that got me on the path to nothing but tooth problems over my life time. I thank God I've mostly had dental insurance but there were times when I didn't and that was rough. I have had some poor dentists who when they did a root canal didn't do it properly and then I had to see an endodontist and those guys/gals cost a fortune. I also had to get every filling (a lot, don't know how many exactly) re-done many years go when mercury fillings were no longer allowed). I now go to a dentist who uses some kind of rubber fillings. Hopefully those won't be considered illegal in future.

I have been having a lot of problems now for a few years, actually more than a few years with these two teeth though so am glad to get them taken care of before I travel again.

Stop by tomorrow okay? I will have a new recipe for you ;-)

Joyful said...

BOSSY BETTY, I know why you are envious of all my reading, lol. I LOVE TO READ but sometimes, I can't concentrate long enough to read anything. I am thoroughly enjoying this phase of reading ;-)

Kilauea Poetry said...

Hi Penny. Ok, a fellow blogger and I got into this because she is having issues with her teeth..so you can see this is a current topic! What I didn't mention was the very thing you just said- my friend experienced. When she was young, her parents switched dental plans..the new dentist or who ever did just that- over drilled her teeth and basically set her up for a life time of problems! She is using that MMS and it took care of the infection that was coming from a crummy root canal! Anyway..sending a prayer and a hug-

Kilauea Poetry said...

Thanks for your warm welcome too-

Joyful said...

REGINA, I can completely understand how you and your friend got on the topic of dentists. I once took my nephew to a local dentist who wanted to do something like 9 fillings. When I took him to a 2nd dentist the only found 2 fillings required. So this problem is rather wide-spread. It's unfortunate there isn't a better way to keep dentists accountable.

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