Caoimhe

I didn’t even know it was being filmed, started reading these a long time ago so I’m looking forward to this!

My smart watch finds my phone for me! One of its most used functions sad to say.

I’m the same. I have a number of watches including two really beautiful expensive ones but all I wear any more is my Apple Watch. Edited to add: I have a Swarovski crystal surround and bling-y strap on it but it’s still a big clunky smart watch

If Ireland had a half-decent climate we’d probably have moved back by now. At the moment most of our family members are in Spain, Italy, and Malta escaping to warmth and sunshine!

My husband had absolutely NO interest in the eclipse until his brother sent a WhatsApp message Sunday asking what percent of it we’d get over here. Of course the day before the eclipse, on a Sunday morning as well, there were no eclipse glasses to be found. A very kind person at an event we went to Sunday afternoon gave us two pairs so we sat out in the back garden and enjoyed our 95% of the eclipse!

Interestingly I think I read Acheron and a redemption arc for Styxx sounds like something she would do. If my memory isn’t gone she also wrote medieval stuff under another name and there was one book series that ended with the evil stepmonster immediately forgiven and redeemed because “she sewed him a banner with her own hands and she’s sorry now”. I understand the rage blackout.

Thank you for solving my dinner choice tonight, I will be having eggs fried in salted (Kerrygold) butter. No shame here! 😁

I *love* Discworld and reread them all the time, City Watch and the Witches are my favourites. There are just so many little things that I find amusing, I have some on Audible and listen to them when I can’t sleep at night. I wish I could “see” the eclipse but it’s more than two hours’ drive north of here and not worth braving the crowds so I need to look for glasses. There was one at home nine years ago but it wasn’t dark enough for me to even notice as totality was up in the northwest of the country. I expect this will be the same.

Right now I have my husband, but I’ve wondered if services like this existed if something happened to him. I don’t have anyone else who would notice a thing and when I see stories of people who died years before being found I sometimes think that could be me someday.

I used a toothpick and my sewing machine brush to clean out my husband’s charging ports but went out and bought some little plugs to protect them. Mine never have problems but I tend not to keep my phones as long as he does, plus they don’t fit in my pockets and my handbag doesn’t have linty stuff in it.

It’s been a few years since I was in one so things may have changed, but I buy my Apple devices online directly from Apple so if there’s an issue visiting the store is an option. Their insistence on “helping me” set up whatever device I’m purchasing is what I’m keen to avoid. I prefer trying things at Best Buy as the local Apple store employees are waiting to pounce the moment you approach the door. Plus if there’s a new device just released they have queues to let you in and I’ve better ways to spend my time. I’ll be in the market for new iPads as soon as they’re announced (our six year old devices are developing unwelcome quirks) and expect to preorder immediately so trying them isn’t an option. Apple do have a great return policy!

I spent my entire working life in the computer field and when people assume I need to be guided step by step to do things I get VERY annoyed. I also prefer not to set foot in the Apple Store but order online because I hate being treated as if I’m stupid based on my age. YouTube and online support pages are a wealth of information and I can usually solve things that way.

Tried to watch this week’s episode but left it on mute and ended up deleting it before it finished. I keep having to remind myself that I (a book reader and fan of the original series) am decidedly NOT the target market for this show. I think I’m only recording it for the beautiful scenery.

I’ve been saying this ever since we moved to the US. Take my money please and give me something decent to watch!!

I really needed a change of pace and saw someone mention that several of The Murderbot Diaries books are on Kindle Unlimited so I’m reading those right now and enjoying them. I love Anthony Trollope’s books, they’ve been my comfort reads for a very long time (especially the Barchester series). I enjoyed Edward Rutherfurd’s books so when Princes of Ireland was first published I bought it immediately. I never got past the second chapter. I knew the history from school, just wanted to be entertained, and (at least back then) that book wasn’t doing it for me. I never even bought Rebels which I might have related to better!

Yes, in Ireland you can buy apartments but it’s basically the same thing as buying a condominium in the US. I wish we’d known that too. We just sold our house in Ireland, it was our home until we emigrated. Irish CGT rules allow credit for all the years we lived in it so while there’s definitely tax due it’s not horrible. But for US tax purposes we’ve been gone more than five years and property prices went up a lot in the last 37 years so it’s not going to be good. We hoped to be left with enough to buy an apartment in our home village but that may not be an option once all the taxes are paid. It could be worse, but the US tax system is not easy to understand for things like this. Anyway, @Yeah No I hope you manage to sort your situation out without too much pain!

This is the reason I keep my card making software and supplies, I can easily print something appropriate on my home printer. If I’m feeling ambitious I can embellish it, or if I’m really in the mood to make things I can cut pieces to make 3D pop up cards. Luckily I don’t have to send many these days.

That was the traditional way I grew up with of defrosting the windscreen. Fill the kettle with lukewarm water, bring it out and pour it on the windows. But we never had New England level cold temps there!

I can relate, he’s bored in winter and up until his surgery was playing indoor golf once a week at the nearest golf course simulator. I had to laugh because he saw our cable bill two nights ago and was shocked that we have such an expensive tv package. I explained that the only reason we have it is for him to watch the golf, and if he wants to change it that it’s up to him. I don’t see that happening.

We have a family WhatsApp chat and that’s where photos are shared of my niece’s children (and the rest of us too). I use Facebook a lot but rarely post photos of people, it’s all my quilts or my garden. The only photos of me are where people at a quilt retreat tagged me in theirs!

I never minded that expression but find myself using it a lot these days in my quest to accept things I can’t change. That’s most things lately. I am currently dreading all the shoveling in sub-freezing temperatures tomorrow morning. The driveway will be plowed but I have a lot of stairs plus the vents and generator to clear while my husband continues to recover from surgery. It had to be scheduled in winter because one can NOT be recovering during golf season!

I’m not a fan of snow any more, if it could just snow to the north and west of me I’d be happy. That or if I was able to move somewhere that clearing it is not my responsibility *and* I’m not required to go outside until it’s gone. I’d love a warm, sunny, green holiday and look enviously at photos from friends who were able to move to warmer climates.

Count me among those waiting for it all to be over. I’m grateful for all the family back home who rang today to remind us how much they’ll miss us and would love us to join them next year. Logistically it isn’t easy to leave the house here in winter but it may be time to rethink a lot of things. An elderly relative died a few days ago and two more are seriously ill so it’s just not festive at all. I just watched the Festivus episode of Seinfeld again today, I really enjoy it this time of year. Sympathy to @Yeah No for the tree falling on your house. We’ve taken down several trees but know there are still some that could easily hit the house. We were lucky to have just a few limbs down from that storm but no trees.

I’m also very fond of “O Come All Ye Grateful Dead-Heads” and “We Wish You Weren’t Living With Us”. I have to add the late Shane MacGowan (Pogues) / Kirsty MacColl version of “Fairytale of New York” to my list as well!

I have a lot of “stuff” for sewing and crafts. I’ve made it clear to my husband that if I die first he has my blessing to chuck it all in a skip and have it hauled away. There is enough to deal with losing a spouse without suffering guilt over finding people / places willing to take all the crap and dealing with all the hassle of distributing it. I’m very lucky that he doesn’t collect things the way I do!