In the age of electronics

Books vs. e-readers.

In my life, I am very guilty of collecting or acquiring things. Books are no different than the fabric, yarn and craft supplies I keep.

Until last summer, I honestly don't know how many books I owned. Boxes and boxes, for sure. I had a living estate sale and sold or donated many of my books, I kept my absolute favorites and the others, if I thought I would one day read it, or if a craft book use it, I put them on my wish list for Kindle, or bought them if free.

I had to make a decision to reduce stuff, and unfortunately books are stuff, and take up space.

I can get just as much enjoyment reading on my Kindle as holding a "real life" book, and it helps me by reducing the amount of *stuff* I have around. me.

Kindle Paperwhite

I love my Kindle and the number of free books that Amazon offers sometimes is just crazy! I love sharing the free e-books here when I come across them, so be sure to take a look often!


Happy Monday and welcome back to my blog!

DIY Projects for the Self-Sufficient Homeowner: 25 Ways to Build a Self-Reliant Lifestyle

I purchased DIY Projects for the Self-Sufficient Homeowner: 25 Ways to Build a Self-Reliant Lifestyle this past weekend. It has been on my wish list for several weeks, but I could resist no longer.

 

WOW! Is all I can say! So many interesting ideas! Most of which are quite easy to make and expense range varies by project.

The first project that drew me into this book is the strawberry planter made from a plastic barrel. Guess what?! There were two of these barrels here when we moved in last year...now I know what to do with them.

I also plan to build a compost bin, cold frame and chicken tractor using the instructions in this wonderful book.

More projects include a cold frame, outdoor food dehydrator and many, many more.

I am so glad I went ahead and purchased it before some of the others on my wish list. You'll so enjoy this book, I am sure.

Yarn along and where I've been

I've been wanting to join in on Ginny's yarn along and finally got out my camera, took a photo and joined in!

I am so in love with this afghan with which I am nearly done! I found out about it from Heather/The Good Life in her post here. I just love the colors she is using and decided to do one in similar colors. The pattern came from Bella Dia. I am not including the link because it isn't working to directly link to it. Instead, I have to go to Swagbucks and enter the words "vintage vertical stripe crochet afghan" and it is one of the first entries to come up. I don't know why her direct link won't work.

I had lots of difficulty doing the ends of the rows as the pattern stated. So I finally started doing them the way I know how to do ends of rows. I do double crochet in each space across to the end, chain 2 then turn. I then begin dc in the very first space. My ends are straight and this is a much easier way to do it. I just love how this pattern makes the afghan almost look like it is woven. Once I am done, I will post photos of the completed project.

I got the new issue of Crochet World the other day. The adorable little sheep on the front had me from the minute I saw it! There's many projects in this issue that I'd like to make, as well.

I've been eying the "Love Finds You In" series of books for quite a while. I couldn't decide which one I should start with, though. Lettie, at Colletta's Kitchen Sink, reads A LOT! She posted a review on LFYI Revenge, Ohio so I decided I would start the series with that one. I just got it from the library the other day and have only read a few pages. I'll share my review when I am done.

Now. Where I've been. As I posted back in January, we finally found a little farm to purchase. We close in 2 weeks!!! We have enjoyed having a stress free packing spree, since we had so long to get it done. Now we're down to the wire and just have to finish up. I can't wait to get moved!

My posts for the next month or so may be sporadic because of the move, but rest assured, I'll be back into the swing of things as soon as possible.