A Friday to End November

The sky as seen from the patio on Thursday, November 29th, 2018.

It has been raining for much of the last 2 weeks and most days it has been quite heavy rain.

It was nice to have a clearer day today. 

The sun was out a bit earlier but I wasn't able to take a photo of it.

I've had a different kind of week.

I've been feeling very tired and my neck is very tight causing me to feel nauseous. I get like this from time to time.

So mostly I've been resting and reading and doing a little tidying here and there.

I finished my berry and pink coloured afghan but I still have to tie off all the loose ends in the back.

This is time consuming but I am pleased with how it looks. Very pleased.

I haven't started on the last afghan of the year but hopefully next week.

My little tree is up and all my presents are wrapped except for one more I must buy for my niece.

I'm so glad the job of wrapping is finished as that is the most time consuming part of everything

I never did get around to completing the task of putting up my curtain rod.

I just was not up to it.
Perhaps I'll feel up to it in a few days. I also need to finish the Christmas decorating but the decorations are in storage downstairs.

~~~

I've also kept a bit pre-occupied with technical issues this week.
I don't know how many of you try to watch DVDs on your computer.
Since I downloaded Windows 10 long ago it has messed up my usage of the CD/DVD feature on my desktop.
It also makes my scanner more troublesome to use.

I got my brother to try to adjust things but he had no more success than I did.
In the end I purchased an inexpensive DVD player so I can watch DVDs from the comfort of my sofa.
 Mostly I borrow DVDs from the library but from time to time I also watch one from my small DVD collection.

I also had an issue trying to sync my Kobo reader (Canada's version of Kindle).
It's been a long time since I charged it up. In the meantime it no longer recognized it's Wi-Fi connection at home.
Despite inputting the correct Wi-Fi address it just would not connect to the internet.
My brother is more tech savvy than I am.
 He got it working again by deleting some public Wi-Fi addresses I'd used in the past.
I was very happy since I've recently purchased the book
Shadows Along the Zambezi as recommended by blogger friend, Diane at Photo Diary.

I also have many other novels on it which I would like to read.
Now my library is up to date and I can start carrying the little reader with me. 


~~~~~~

The following books are in various stages of completion.

I want to return them to the library this weekend or at latest by Monday.

Half finished. I'm not enjoying the stories as much as I'd hoped.  Most are quite bleak.

A complex piece written by a Vancouverite. I'm enjoying it but the story doesn't quite flow easily for me.

Half finished. My completion was hampered by the fact I do not intend to begin the meal plan although I guess that could change.

An easy read but an odd and only slightly satisfying story.

A satisfying read which kept me engaged until the last page. My enjoyment was enhanced by learning the author is Canadian.

A nice documentary about a wonderful human being. I cried at the end.

 ~~~~~~

I found this cute little children's poem about the end of November.

I hope you enjoy it.

It's the end of the month.

The glory of Fall has passed us by and in some cases barely arrived this year.

I started the month by wishing you a month of adventure.

I hope you found it despite the inclement weather in most of the northern hemisphere.

As we move into December and wind down 2018 

I wish each of you peace and time to reflect upon and enjoy the month ahead.

Thank you for your visit.

Joining in with 

Skywatch Friday

and

Friday Foto Friends

Kobo Quote

The average person reads fewer than 100 books in their lifetime.

How many have you read?
(Kobo quote)

I've read far more than 100 books but not nearly as many books as I'd like to read. That is one of the reasons I now set reading goals every year.  Though my goals are modest in comparison to other readers I find that goals do help me focus and remind me that I need to pick up and read a new book every now and then.  I've also found that reading goals have helped get me into a rhythm and practice of reading and so I've easily met and surpassed my goals both last year and this year.  I can either increase my reading goals or have time for other goals. I like to try and have a balance. Reading goals are also helping me focus more on  Bible studies and other studies.

Many people say that they read a lot more on their e-readers. I have a device that I can read books on but I still read paper books. I don't yet get the same enjoyment from reading on a device but that may change.

Some things I do like about an e-reader is that you can download lots of free books onto it. The other nice thing is you can have many books going at the same time and dog ear the pages. I don't like putting dog ears on paper books so I usually use a book mark or a piece of paper. Often they fall out and I lose my place. Sometimes it takes me awhile to find my place again, lol. Do you have that problem too? I also like the fact that if you go on vacation you can take an e-reader along and it holds far more books than you can carry or read on a holiday.

My e-reader only holds a charge for perhaps just over 2 weeks. I often forget to turn the wi-fi off and so that takes a lot of power. It is actually much more than an -reader. I can check email, play games, take photos and videos, check the news, etc. I have many books on their now but seldom use it for reading.

I've just ordered a mini-reader and I'm waiting for it to come it. It holds a charge for up to a month. That is long enough for most holidays. It also allows me to borrow books from the library. I can do that now with Adobe Digital Edition but I haven't set it up to sync with all my "gadgets".  With my new mini reader it will already be set up to allow me to borrow books.  I  think this is going to be a great feature and I've been adding books to my library "read later" list so I am reader to borrow them when the mini reader arrives.

I bought the mini reader at $20. off the regular price and they are giving me 5 free books($15.00 value) though not exactly books in my favourite genre. I cancelled a book order from Amazon which has been on back order for some time. I found out I can borrow the book I cancelled from the library on my e-reader. Altogether these savings  have virtually paid for my mini-reader and I haven't even started using it yet.

I purchased a black case to go around this mini-reader which is small enough to fit into a man's shirt pocket. It also has different size fonts so you can enlarge to your heart's content.

If you have a mini-reader I'd love to hear how you are enjoying it.