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

Hello November

Hi friends,

It's been raining heavily for much of the past week so I continue with my decluttering. Actually I haven't been decluttering so much as I've been posting my decluttered things for giveaway and arranging for people to pick things up. I took the photo of the sky and trees a few days before Halloween just before the heavy rains started. I love the colour of the leaves and the blue of the sky peeking out above the clouds.

I've been busy making my crocheted afghans and trying to finish the ones I'm gifting. My hope is to find time to make a few others for possible sale but we shall see how things go.  The berry coloured afghan is finished but I must still weave in the loose ends before it will be ready for gifting.  I tried hard to get a photo without shadows but it is difficult getting indoor shots at this time of year.

I also finished the other afghan I shared in my last post (the gray and gold one below) but didn't take a photo of the finished project yet.  The third afghan I am currently making is the same colour way as the gray and gold. I must  have been getting too tired as I ended up ripping out almost one third of it today. Actually it is the 3rd rip out I've done in 2 days due to mistakes I didn't like.  I don't usually make a lot of crochet errors but lately haven't been getting enough sleep.  I really love to crochet. I find it very relaxing and gives my hands something to do during long, dark, rainy nights.

Last week I was decluttering and this week I was posting stuff for giveaway and communicating with people to arrange pick up times.  The big balls of yarn I gave to a missionary ladies group that I've donated to before. they have a large group of industrious woman who are always making things and sending them abroad to Asia and Africa.  I love knowing that things will be put to good use and benefit others.

In future I will not be buying so much yarn in advance of actually needing to use it.  I thought I was saving money by buying yarn on sale but it takes too much room to store and if I haven't used it in 3 years then it's not likely going to be used soon.  My new approach is to buy one or two skeins at a time for projects I am currently working on though I also still have a stash of smaller skeins in a few colour ways. You will likely see some of them on this blog in a future project/s.

 

The photos below show other things I was able to give to others. After buying velvet hangers for my closet I had 70+ plastic hangers in a variety of colours to give away. Someone gladly took them off of my hands. I also had various tops and jeans, shower curtain and bath mat and an artificial Christmas tree (not in the photo) to give away.  I'm still waiting for someone to arrange to pick up a few smaller items at a mutually convenient time.

I meant to share the next photo long ago. I took it a year ago in October down at the English Bay sea wall on one of my walks. I stopped to buy a coffee and saw this gentle, old dog quietly waiting for his master.  He was very sweet.

 

I took a photo of the ducks down at the same beach. I like the way the sun is shining on the water.

A week ago Friday I went to dinner with two friends, one is a missionary to Taiwan.   It was really nice to chat with Cindy and find out more about her life and work in Taiwan. She has already worked in Uganda, the Philippines and Canada's far north. She's spent the majority of her time in Taiwan and it is her home now. She loves the people. I still remember the day we prayed for her at my former church as she was preparing to leave for Taiwan. I haven't seen her in many years and we had a good catch up.

Here is a photo of what the day looked like early evening Thursday on the first day of November.  We have a rain warning starting around dinner time tonight and ending Saturday morning.  As you can see by the photo, my plans to clean the garden up at the end of September never came to fruition. It's still a job I have to do and will try to do in the next little while in preparation for the winter months.

Good weather for one of my other main hobbies, reading.
Here are my current reads.

I found this November inspirational verse on line.

 

It will be  a good reminder for me to remain positive as we head into my least favourite time of year weather wise.


Here's to November.
May you have a blessed and adventurous one.

Thank you for visiting :-)

Joining in with

Friday Foto Friends

Skywatch Friday

and

Saturday's Critters