The Past Week

Happy Sunday everyone,

I hope you are all doing well.

I've been busy this week; mostly with reading, running errands and grocery shopping, dealing with financial stuff, dealing with family needs, connecting with friends from far and administration concerning the community garden plot for summer 2023. 

Recently completed; all equally good.

In progress, a quirky but well written book.

Cooking always takes time as most of you know but I limit my cooking to one main meal a day and something lighter to start the day. Due to high food costs I'm trying to shop less and use what I have. In the past, I really did buy far too much and I need to use it up or give it away.

Saturday dinner was roast beef, broccoli and roasted potatoes and onions.

Sunday dinner was Chicken Cordon Bleu but covered in flour rather than bread crumbs. It was good but next time I'll try it with bread crumbs and use toothpicks since most of the cheese melted into the baking pan. Looking at the photos I see the dinners were too carb heavy so I need try and correct that but as I mentioned I'm trying to use up what I have and vegetables and fruits are always first to be used up.

I've got a lot of paperwork and tidying to do. So last night I decided to get started on some cleaning in my office area and get everything set up again but after I started reconnecting everything I discovered the modem wasn't working and that meant no television or internet services.

So today was an unexpected day of dealing with technology issues. I don't deal well with them at the best of times but since I had no communication services or television whatsoever I had no choice.  The only thing working was my landline.  I was fretting a bit because I have a very busy week ahead.  I was also anxious about how much time it was all going to take because the telecommunications company I deal with is notoriously slow to connect you with a live human being. They always want to direct you to online services and it is usually the online services that are giving me an issue. 

Thankfully once I connected to technical support I was able to get everything up and running again. I also asked to speak to someone about a new service plan. I had been trying off and on for a few months to do it myself but their system only let me see a deal that was not suitable for my needs. Again, I was able to get great customer service and get a deal for a much better price. My monthly bill will be $55 per month less ( for the exact same services ($660 savings for the year).  Plus they gave me a theme pack of news channels (3 channels) completely free for one year (savings of $95 Canadian).  Total savings is $756 Canadian in Year 1 and $ 660 in Year 2.  I only wanted one news channel for my DH but the channels come in packages so we now have 3 additional news channels.  I feel very blessed by the outcomes.

Altogether the time it took for getting things working and looking for monthly cost savings took about 2.5 hours of my time. Not too bad because I've sometimes waited that long just to talk to a live human being about an issue.  Overall I find it very frustrating dealing with the company when I need them so today was a nice surprise and a real blessing. The bonus is that I don't need to have a technician come to my home or wait for new equipment to be delivered because both of these scenarios would have resulted in loss of services for as long as it took to get help.

In related technology matters I'd been having problems in trying to access a Kenyan missionary's blog for some months. Try as we might we could not seem to find a way to give me access to read and comment on her blog.  Today we gave it one more try and thankfully it worked! That is another blessing because I love reading about her family's work and ministry in Kenya.  I've been reading about their work in Kenya for about 10 years.

My good day was topped off by my being able to connect my wireless printer and get it working.  I had been postponing the job due to internet and wi-fi issues which started a few weeks ago and culminated in lack of internet service last night.  Today was the right time and everything is now in working order. Whew!

I do have a few more outstanding technology issues.  My brother had installed extra drives in my old computer and instead of wiping them clean he will remove them and save them for me in a special case. I also backed everything up on a new external hard drive I bought late last year.  Fortunately I culled a lot of my old documents and photos before backing them up. A second issue is figuring out how to wipe the old printer clean. I didn't realize that I needed to do that otherwise I would have done so before disconnecting the old computer. Actually I hadn't even given the printer any thought as I was most concerned about the computer because the former one had been on it's 'last legs' for so long. Anyway it will all get done.  These things tend to take me time especially when I've got many projects on the go.   Everything moves at a snail's pace because my brain can only deal with one big thing at a time.  But there is a saying 'Strive for progress, not perfection' so I try to remember that.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm expecting delivery of an artificial tree for a spot in my living room. I hope it isn't too big. I did read the dimensions of the tree but it's a little hard to know how it looks and 'fits' until I put it in place. It will prevent me from wasting funds every year in buying a tropical plant that doesn't do well in my draughty home if it fits into the space I have for it. I have several appointments this week but I'm most looking forward to a visit from two cousins of mine, both of whom live out of town.

I hope you have some great plans for your week! Thank you for stopping by.

Status of my Reading Challenge for 2023

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope you are all doing great and ready for the weekend.

I've been plodding along over the past week or so. I've not been too busy but I have a lot to do and I haven't been very organized about it so am feeling a bit disorganized. Whenever I'm in that space of not being able to focus on other things, I always turn to reading.  It's one of my favourite things.

In 2022 I purposed to read less but still read a lot for pleasure. I read 46 books and just over 16,000 pages. I'm not sure I'll have a lot of time for reading later in 2023 so I'm reading a fair bit right now.  My reading is 50 books.  Of course I will always have some works of fiction to read but I'm hoping to make more time for both sewing and baking in 2023 so there will be a lot of books on these subjects.  So far in 2023 I've read 8 books as below. I don't tend to write long reviews of books I've read. I only give them stars according to how much I've enjoyed them and I might add a line or two so I remember them later. (You may need a Goodreads account to be able to read the links).

Cherop 's bookshelf: read

The Girl Next Door

by Phoebe Morgan

A psychological murder mystery set in small town England. A few twists and turns with a surprising and disturbing ending.

tagged: fiction and mystery-thriller

Little Wishes

by Michelle Adams

I thoroughly enjoyed this book about young love lost and found again when it is almost too late. A sad and poignant book.

Happy Homemade: Sew Chic: 20 Simple Everyday Designs

by Yoshiko Tsukiori

The layout and presentation of this book is very well thought out. I enjoyed the tips provided for the sewing projects too. But I wasn't a fan of the designs and I have no idea about how easy it is to use the patterns at the back though ...

tagged: contemporary and sewing

Lotta Jansdotter's Everyday Style: Key Pieces to Sew + Accessories, Styling, and Inspiration

by Lotta Jansdotter

A short book with uncomplicated clothing. It's the patterns at the back that might take some time to figure out. I'm hoping to make 2-3 items in future but have so many other projects right now.

tagged: crafts and sewing

PlantYou: 140+ Ridiculously Easy, Amazingly Delicious Plant-Based Oil-Free Recipes

by Carleigh Bodrug

This book has lots of 'doable' and unfussy plant based recipes. The recipes are all laid out clearly and simply.

A Russian Sister

by Caroline Adderson

This book is a book of fiction based on historical facts. It took awhile to get into this book but once I started enjoying it I enjoyed it a lot. I had no idea how it might end but was a bit disappointed in it. It seems the women in Russ...

tagged: fiction and historical-fiction

Dear Emma

by Katie Heaney

This book was written for several generations younger than I so I couldn't relate much to the themes in it. I think those in early years of college or university might like it better.

tagged: contemporary, fiction, romance, and young-adult

Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War between the Windsors

by Tom Bower

tagged: biography, contemporary, and non-fiction