Whew busy couple of weeks! Plus Kindle Fire review.

This month was stock up month for us. When I fill in things we use that are in general non perishable. I also stock the freezer. Buy things for the home, like mini blinds... shelves... furniture... The last couple weeks have been busy.

This week also heralded in the 5th anniversary of my cancer diagnosis. I was diagnosed on Feb 24th. I had surgery on March 2nd and was pronounced cancer free a few days later.

Well yesterday I had my 5th year check up. The doc says I am all clear! He also said that the type of cancer I had is unlikely to recur after the 5 year mark. He says I am free! Woot! True the test results take 2 weeks but he says there is nothing to suggest they will not be clear. WHEW!

OK so now I want to do a product review. As you know, my Beloved surprised me with a Kindle Fire for Christmas. I have had an used for the last 3 months.

What I love:

The graphics are fantastic! The graphics are better than on my pc. Granted my pc is now 3 years old and advances have been made.

It is easy to use and transport. I love being able to read anywhere.

It fits in my purse. This is neat, I can use it to take notes or read and study.

The games. I am not a big gamer but the uno, yatzhee , mahjong and words with friends are addicting!

Free programs. Everyday Amazon offers a free Android ap, and they all work on the kindle!

Now the down sides.

The power plug is inconveniently located at the bottom. It is a pain to use when plugged in. Plus the plug wiggles around and feels like it will fall apart any minute.

The fonts for the web and email functions can not be enlarged and are set at 8 or 10 pt. I need 12 to read easy for long periods. So I do not do much web browsing which, truth be told was part of the reason for the purchase.

It is hard to read in sunlight.

It has sensitivity issues... Some programs, and this may be the fault of the programs, but some react too quickly when touched some too slowly if at all.

It takes a long time to boot up and for web pages to load. Plus the wifi eats power way too fast.

I also do not like that some programs are so web based you HAVE to be connected to use them. A big one I had issues with was youversion Bible software. It MUST have internet access to function at all. I wanted it to be able to study and compare different Bible versions and verses, but some places I go do not have wifi access and so it would not work. Again this may be a program function but since the BIG reason I wanted it was easy Bible study with out lugging my laptop pc around, it is a neg.

Basically I found myself using it to play games. While that is fun, it is also a big time waster.

My solution, I traded it with my Beloved for his netbook. It does everything I want, runs the kindle ap, gives me access to the many Bible programs that are really downloaded and installed, whether I am online or not.

So over all was the Kindle Fire worth it for me? No. A regular kindle would have done me just fine. That was my fear when Beloved got me the Fire. However he is having fun with it so for that I am glad we got it!

hugs y'all

Fun weather in Texas!

I must say I love Texas weather.  Yesterday it was cold, the high only hit 33. Even where I am from, Missouri, that is cold.
I was home from church about 30 minutes when it began snowing. With in an hour, this is what we had. 

I love snow. You know, in the soon to be 19 years I have been here, that ground hog has never predicted an early spring. February is a hard weather month. It is usually colder for us than December. Though one year we did get a big snow storm on easter weekend. In April...

Oh yes, today's high is supposed to be 63...

Have an awesome Monday y'all, stay warm!

hugs y'all!

An introduction to my kitty children.

I now have 4 kitties. Well ok 4 cats but to me they will always be babies.

Each is distinct in looks and personality.

First up we have Spazz, aka Spazzy, Spazzy Girl or Pazz. Spazz is a grey tabby with lots of orange tossed in. She is pretty mellow, unless one has the laser pointer in their hands... then she runs full tilt into things to get that green dot. She is more Beloved's cat than mine. She loves to snuggle in his lap, mine will do if he is not available. Now when my son Chris is around, she is HIS cat. She allows herself to be picked up and carried and cuddled. Her purr is not loud but is a deep comfy rumble when she chooses to employ it.

Next is Munchkin aka Munchie. Her face is distinct and shows her displeasure when she is unhappy. She is a black grey and white tabby. She does NOT like to be held or picked up. She will nap in laps as long as there is no attempt to hold her. Beloved and I have finally convinced her that picking her up and hugging her is not going to kill her but l about 30 seconds is her limit!

Next is Mouse. Mouse is MY baby. She enjoys attention. She is a light grey tabby. She is soft and fuzzy and the smallest of our kitties. She often follows me around like a puppy. My goodness she cries when i leave or heaven forbid try to go in a room with out her. She loves stuff mice and will often spend time playing fetch with me. To be honest she is my favorite kitty. She even likes to share my honey nut cheerios with me, dry with no milk no less.

Lastly we have Mousse aka buddy boy. Mousse is a foundling. He appeared on our porch last week and was so gorgeous and unafraid we fed him. He is mostly Siamese. Dark brown, like dark chocolate, hence the name. His eyes are a very light blue but sometimes appear green. He is the most laid back kitty I have ever seen. Does not care what you do as long as you love him. We took him to the vet Tuesday to make sure he was healthy and would not infect the tribe with an illness. Dr. Allen declared him healthy, mostly Siamese, neutered and about 6 years old! He is so small for full grown!

The girls are not real happy about their new brother. Though things are settling down. If they see him they growl or hiss. He just looks at them and goes on about his business. Yesterday he sat on one side of my lap and Spazz on the other, and she stared him down but made no move to attack. Today there is less hissing going on so I think things will settle down soon.

So there you have it, my kitty family.

Hugs Y'all

Do NOT play twister with cats...

As you all know, I have 3 adorable kitties.
My favorite is Mouse. Yes I know a mom is not supposed to pick favorites but Mouse acts like she is my baby. Plus she is smaller and fuzzy and cuter than the other 2.

I mean just look at that cute fuzzy mug. Her sisters, Munchkin and Spaz are tubby grey tabbies as well, with a bit of orange tossed in. Mouse is grey, darker grey and white. 

Now Friday I was asking my helper Judy a question and when I turned to leave her room all 3 kitties swarmed me, once I had my foot up to leave. In trying to step over kitties my foot landed on the case holding doll clothes... and I hit the floor in a spectacular face plant. 

 I laid sprawled on the floor for a bit taking stock. Everything hurt, my hands and knees stung, you know that burning scrape feeling. My toe really hurt and my shoulders throbbed. Slowly I sat up. Nothing seemed to be horridly wrong so I slowly rose to my feet. Other than achy pains I was ok. Nothing seemed out of place or broken there were no cuts just areas feeling stung and bruised. 

Over the course of the last few days the pain increased in my right shoulder. Today it seems a dull roar instead of an echoing crescendo. My foot seems fine too, I did pop my toe last night and after a resounding crack the pain almost instantly dissipated. WHEW! I was tired of limping! I did end up laughing at what my fall must have looked like. If I can't laugh at myself, what is the point of being a klutz?? And to think, my name means Graceful Honey Bee... ummmm yeah that's me....

I am back to doing my normal duties today. Being Monday that means laundry. 

Well the dryer is buzzing so time to go reboot the machines!

hugs y'all

A month???? Really????

Wow, almost a month has passed since I last posted! I really can not imagine why!

This month I read two more JoHannah Reardon books. Gathering Bittersweet and Redbud Corner.

First I will tell you about Gathering Bittersweet. Anyone who knows me knows I am big on pioneer and early Americana works. This book takes place about the time of the railroads so while not pioneer, it still fits in the eras of my interest.

Fay and Rachel are heading to Montana after their father dies, by way of their uncles farm in Illinois. A short stop for the summer ends up having life changing effects on both young women. The book was a very interesting read and I finished it quickly. the characters are engaging. She gives villains to grapple with as well as heroic acts. Always things are rooted firmly in God's hands and prayer is a common act, not just a way out of dire circumstances. I really like that. I also like that her women have senses of humor. All too often Christian women are portrayed as dour and correct. Granted some Christians are that way. However looking at some things on this earth indicates our creator has a sense of humor, and so should we! Mrs. Reardon captures that very well. The plot is also realistic for the time period. 

The next book I read was Redbud Corner. This follows the tale of AH Ni or "Annie" as her American friends come to call her. Ah Ni is Chinese and here just for study. She has no time for anything other than her books and her work, especially not the "American" God her friend love so much.

This book was a departure for me. I have not read anything involving other cultures as a main theme. I have come across them as a sub plot in various stories but not as the main thing. For example Jane Kirkpatrick's series, Kinship and Courage, speaks a touch about Chinese ideals in the 1800s. This was a first though in modern ideas.

My favorite part I think was seeing Ah Ni's relationship with her mother. Mother's are important to me and I like that Ah Ni was devoted to her's. I also enjoyed watching her growth in social and other areas. 

Please give Mrs. Reardon's books a read and let me know what you think! She has made my top 5 lists of favorite authors.

hugs y'all!

Changing things again...

With Judy having become my live in helper, I have decided to as much as possible turn the sewing room over to her.

I have taken back the breakfast room now that the old stove and gazelle unit are gone. The flooring pile will go back to its previous owner (we have had it for 4 years give or take and not used it... now he needs flooring so we are returning it to him!) The large Raggedy was my gift for Christmas from my friend with the 3 darling little girls. I adore her! She had a big silky ribbon, but I put that ways as it was inviting tug of wars with my kitties...

This is a nice sunny room and my rocker fits just perfectly!

I got this old rocker about 20 years ago. The lady that gave it to me had an oral history of it that went back 90 or so years. So if her history is true, and from the reactions I have seen on the faces of knowledgeable furniture restorers it is, this chair is over 100 years old. This rocker is so comfy. I love to sit in it and read! It is the perfect height for my short legs!

What do you think of my new office??

hugs y'all!

Crispens Point by JoHannah Reardon

I had the blessing of getting this book on my kindle. I love my kindle though honestly I still prefer hard copy books.

This story follows Charlotte Fyne as she begins her life in a new town. I loved how real the different peoples reactions to her came across. I also loved how she responded to her across the street neighbor. We all have people in our lives like the town folks.

As Charlotte lives out Christ before them they begin to glimpse that she is not what they thought.

Take the pastor of her church for example. Charlotte is a Christian romance writer. She stands by her career choice because "God created romance". The pastor envisions all romances as bad influences on women and is determined to show Charlotte, from the pulpit the error of her ways.

However Charlotte is oblivious to the barbs being showered on her and agrees with the sermons much to the pastor's chagrin.

Another totally awesome plot is Charlotte's ability to reach out to tween and teen girls. This is an ability I wish I had. Charlotte admits to having been wild as a teen and uses her abilities to help the young girls learn the true meaning of romantic love.

Charlotte also have an exceptional relationship with her mother. I love the camaraderie between them, even when faced with devastating news.

In then end the world rights itself and Charlotte find the man God has planned for her.

I loved this book and intend to find more by this author. This one will be on my read again shelf. I see JoHannah Reardon becoming one of my favorite authors.

Check out her books, both in hard copy and on kindle!

Hugs Y'all