Caoimhe

So many foods I miss and Branston Pickle is definitely on that list! There is no substitute.

I remember heavy carry on bags with several books for my frequent air travel, I couldn’t be sure what I’d feel like reading so I needed options. Between the convenience and the lack of storage space needed (not to mention a large number of moves) digital content just suits my life better. My husband has a small bookshelf of paperbacks but I find them difficult to hold these days. The other advantage was that I could read at night in bed without waking my husband. I’ve never been a good sleeper and having a book to distract me is how I would get through the night. Now I have earbuds and Audible!

I’ve typically had friends who were older than me. Part of it, from my mid-30s on, is that their children were grown and independent so they had time to get together and do things. People my own age mainly had children at home so they were incredibly busy. As a former Catholic I wish the best for Pope Francis, whatever that outcome may be. He’s always struck me as a good man who cares about people.

I believe you’ll be fine. I am a control freak, own ebooks from many sources other than Amazon, and want the option to move my huge ebook library to a Kobo device with page turn buttons when my last Kindle Oasis dies. Much of my library is side loaded from my old files, Amazon wants me to upload them to their cloud instead which I won’t do. But most people will not see any changes to what they do now and how they use their Kindles.

I’ve been purchasing ebooks for decades from defunct sites like Fictionwise and BooksOnBoard plus others like Baen (who have always been DRM-free). Because of that I began using Calibre many years ago to store my purchases so I wouldn’t lose them. I still lost some very old MSLit format ebooks that I didn’t decrypt in time but my Kindle ebooks up to now are saved on my computer. I’ve just cancelled two Kindle books I had pre-ordered for later this spring and will start buying from Kobo or other places that will allow me that control. I’m just happy I wasn’t in a mad panic like so many others I’ve seen trying to download years of purchases in just a week!

While it's not quite the same thing I had one of the infamous 2019 16" MacBooks that only stayed running if it was plugged in and never allowed to "hibernate". Even then it would have GPU panics and restart for no good reason at random times. I lived with it for over five years (I also have a Dell desktop running Windows) . I didn't feel sad sending it off for trade in even though I got next to nothing for it!

My husband was on the train home from work years ago and overheard a speakerphone conversation that shouldn't have been happening in public. He rang his counterpart in that company the next day and told them this transaction was being discussed in public. So yes, you never know who can overhear you OR who they know!

My peeve is that I’m no longer on the list of Amazon customers who get deals on Kindle Unlimited membership.

Biden’s Presidential Medal of Freedom list included that awful pox known as “Bono”. I like some of U2’s music, but can’t stand Mr Hewson.

I will buy Sir Stephen Fry’s Odyssey when it comes out in May plus whatever else is in my wishlist IF it goes on sale at a decent discount. Unfortunately too often I see a book and think I’d like to read it only to find it’s already on my Kindle (with its 2,621 compatriots)! I am hoping for an online-order-free month of January (except for essentials) so I’ve been busy up to last night ordering supplies for my current projects! Most years I can manage but have a few shopping carts ready to go on February 1. Last night was a normal quiet evening at home, today we invited some extended family to join us for a New Years Day dinner which was a nice change. Happy New Year!

If you line them up just right between two pieces of fabric you can run it all the way down the seam and it’s done! If you line it up wrong you just ruin stuff and I’ve done that too. I have one Havel, one Tula Pink, and one Kai like that plus two Gingher equivalents (that are just NOT sharp enough to skim down a seam). I also have a pair of Superior Snippers that are helpful when I can’t use the scalpel ones. I somehow managed to lose TWO pairs of those (I no longer allow the trash bin to be within reach of my machine) so I’m on my third pair of those. Then I have the old-style “normal” seam rippers but I don’t even know where they are. Obviously my sewing is very far from perfect! 🤣

I have at least five I can think of right now, my favourites are the scalpel-type ones since I can just replace the blades. I recall reading somewhere that some tailors will use a razor blade to cut stitches, I don’t trust myself that far!

I did know that. One recent year my Christmas cards were square BUT I went out and bought rectangular envelopes to post them in. I made them myself so at least I didn’t have envelopes I couldn’t use and they went through with normal postage. The odd thing is that square cards are everywhere in Ireland and they’re about all we get from the family, An Post doesn’t care but for whatever reason USPS does. My toothpaste just went from “3 stops away” to “delivered”. The little sleigh is so cute! Yes, my toothpaste has to come from Amazon because I didn’t buy enough when I was last in Ireland and the stuff I want isn’t in shops here. Amazon and eBay are my saviours when I run out of things the US decides we can’t be trusted to use properly.

I used to belong to one in Dublin and most people DID read the book. The choices were varied, from classics and Booker Prize nominees (Life of Pi, which I read and did NOT get at all!!) to chick lit, mysteries, and thrillers. While I enjoyed reading most of the chosen books I never had much to say about most of them, so as much as I miss the social outlet I wouldn’t join one now. My sister in law belongs to one of the nighttime wine drinking and gossip groups with the occasional book mention. She likes it for what it is but reads a lot outside of it too.

I got a Christmas tree photo from my cousin. Last year I gave them (she lives with my aunt) a 7.5’ artificial tree I was getting too old to deal with (my husband doesn’t help) and a big bag of handmade ornaments I hadn’t used since I last put that tree up five years ago. Looking at her photo brought back so many memories of when I made those ornaments! There were some my mother had made in there too. It made me feel a bit unsettled, but I’m happy they are being used and enjoyed. For my small 4’ tree I have lovely ornaments that my husband’s family gave us over the years and I hadn’t used the ones I gave away in quite a while so it’s not like I actually wanted them back!! I’m laughing about it today but the power of nostalgia can be surprisingly strong!