MarthaJeanne - Thoughts on books and other employments 2021 - third quarter

While out shopping yesterday I picked up a few plain tops and a cream skirt to embroider onto. I also bought my own copy of Mein großes Buch der Stickmotive mit über 300 Vorlagen. I rather think I will add a few small motifs to the skirt every time it gets washed.

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster is actually quite good even if most of us can't do as much as he can.

BTW I need to learn to copy the ISBN If I'm going to settle for Amazon as source.

I've read the first third of Small Fry. Am I interested in the other 2/3? No I am not.

Finished How to Find a Princess. Not a very good book, but it never gets boring. It remains unpredictable right to the end.

I got half way through Elefanten (Mumby).

In her Foreword she says her first attempt was too dry and impersonal. In my opinion she overcorrected. This book is much more about her than about the elephants. She also jumps around a lot both in time and in space, without making the changes clear. I was reading the German translation, but these faults seem to be by the author.

Inside the O'Briens

The author cheats. The rest of the book is fine, but the ending is a cheat.

Got my jab today. They finally figured out that there are still plenty of people willing to be vaccinated if you make it easy enough.

The whole thing was rather intimidating if you didn't know where you are going, but when they heard that I use a walker they called a wheelchair for me, and the young man who pushed me knew his way around.

I guess I didn’t realize you hadn’t gotten vaccinated yet. Celebrate!

I've said all along (maybe not here) that I would get vaccinated as soon as it was possible to get the Johnson & Johnson preferably without jumping through lots of hoops. We tried about 10 days ago, but the line was too long, (over 400 takers for 200 doses). Today they were prepared, more or less, for numbers. The wheelchair pusher said they were on the move without a break today and should have had more people, but we got helped right away.

Anyway, glad to have it behind me. In two weeks I count as 'safe' for restaurants and museums and such.

Am Anfang war das Korn : Eine andere Geschichte der Menschheit

This is a history of agriculture from a German point of view, ie much of it takes place in other parts of the world, but the interest is always on how the plants came to be grown in Germany, and/or why they are now imported into Germany.

The earlier chapters are quite interesting because they focus the early history of humankind on food production, not wars, architecture, general technology, or politics. As the book wears on, there is more and more detail that I found hard to process. How wonderful modern agribusiness is in the final chapters was even harder, These chapters have not aged well (the book is from 2013).

I borrowed Ich stamme aus Wien for the essay and interview of Hilde Zaloscer. They were very interesting, but I'm not interested in the rest of the book. The library has lost their copy of her autobiography, which really bothers me. But I look forward to reading Die Kunst im christlichen Ägypten which I recently bought.

I have started reading Shardik but so far have not seen anything worth 500 pages of tiny print.

No, I can't do this.

Watched Thelma and Louise this evening. Guess I'm glad I stuck it out, if only for the scene where they blow up the sexist driver's truck.

>14 MarthaJeanne: The only scene I remember is the last one. But, wow!

>13 MarthaJeanne: I tried reading Shardik after loving Watership Down, but didn't get very far either.

Hello there, I've just joined the Quiet Corner group. :) I couldn't help but notice you read a lot of books in German -- during the depths of lockdown, I somehow stumbled onto learning German from not having known even one word when I started, and I've been hooked ever since! (I am American and speak English natively) I'm nowhere near being able to read a book in German (ein totaler Anfänger you might say), but it's nice to see some German language books in this group!

I live in Vienna, Austria. It's easier to get books in German than in English. My reading speed is slower in German. There are lots of good children's and YA books in German. You will find them easier to read than books for adults. I suggest not trying to read translations into German.

It looks like you read a lot of classics. Try Erich Kästner. His children's books from the first half of the last century remain very popular. i remember travelling around Germany by train with Emil und die Detektive many years ago. I didn't get much read at the time - I learned to choose compartments with families, and the children would laugh when I pulled my book out. "Ich lerne Deutsch. Das kann ich verstehen." Then I would get lots of good language practice from the children and their parents.

I'm currently reading The Truths We Hold, and Kamala Harris describes making chicken with feta, lemon and fresh oregano for her family's Sunday dinner. It sounded good, so I found a recipe, and we're having that for supper tonight.

She's an amazing woman and a very good writer.

>18 MarthaJeanne: What a lovely way to work on your German -- chatting with families on the train. Thanks so much for the recommendation -- my German isn't yet good enough even to read a children's book I think, but I have a list of books to read in German once I'm able to, and I've added Emil und die Detektive so I remember to revisit it.

>20 ebeeb: I loved Emil and the Detectives as a child, and again as an adult.

When I was taking French and German many, many, many (you get it) years ago, I borrowed graphic novels, comic books like Asterix and Tintin. I found them easier to read than children's books, though I did miss the meaning of a few of the jokes.

My son had a collection of Tintin and Asterix. Well, it started as my collection of Asterix. Anyway, I was always happy to buy him new ones - in French or German, but not English.

I have to say, though, that I find such books hard to read. I prefer standard print.

However there is a comic/graphic series that I would buy more of. Let's see if this works: The Rabbi's Cat Aha! There is a third collected issue in German. It looks like my regular book store does not have it in stock. But they can order it for me.

BTW, I don't read graphic novels, I just don't. I am not a cat person. (Or a dog person for that matter.) Just not. But you have to make an exception or two somewhere. Like with this series. For what it's worth, this is another French series.

Jamie at Home

I must say that his 'voice' grates on my mental ears. 'Your mates will be so impressed when you say you made it yourself.' Yes, I do understand that he's trying to reach a different group of (non)readers and (non)cooks. but it grates on me. He's also too cheerful and enthusiastic about everything. 'It's so easy!' A lot of his recipes depend on having a lot of 'mates' to eat it all up. What is a reasonable amount of effort for 6 or 8 just isn't for 2.

The growing instructions are fairly standard, and would probably work fine for anyone having lots of space and time (and strength). Again, they aren't aimed at me.

On the other hand, every now and then you turn the page and see just what you need for supper in a day or two. Like Italian ham and spinach (or chard) tart.

>22 MarthaJeanne: I know that book, but it's not in my library...I think I must have seen a review of it somewhere, just not here.

I picked up The Plague last April, but didn't quite dare read it. It certainly is a lot less related to our current situation than I had feared. But a good book. Of course, that is once you get past a whole city in French Algeria with no Algerians, and very few women, most of those only in the minds of French men. Somehow I doubt that I will ever reread it.

Alles, was ich wollte, war Freiheit

This is one of those books you feel you ought to have read, ought to want to read, even, but in the end don't leave much impression. Each of the portrayed women fought against the patriarchy of her times, usually to have boon forgotten shortly after, if not before her death. This book is unlikely to change that.

The truths we hold

What an amazing woman!

Elizabeth I If you want me to commit to over 600 pages, you have got to grab me in the first 80. Margaret George didn't.

The secret life of Bletchley Park Jerry and I both enjoyed this.

I'm rereading Earth's Children I just finished Clan of the Cave Bear

Did you get through the entire series the first time?

I'm giving up on Gegen die Verharmlosung Jesu. It's very, very Roman Catholic and I get tired of having the positions my church holds ignored or given false twists. Obviously, some of what he says is valuable, but it's buried in a lot of undigested remnants of the past.

>30 MarthaJeanne: If you haven't read the last two, I highly recommend pretending like Ayla & Jondalar have a happily ever after life at the end of Plains of Passage. I found the last two books incredibly disappointing.

I've read and own all of them. And yes, I agree that the final two are less good than the early ones. How far I go will depend on whether or not I am enjoying it. Come to think about it, part of the problem with the later ones is that they start long and get longer as the series goes on. I have noticed that publishers have trouble telling bestseller authors that the book needs trimming. After all, we're going to buy NN's latest whether or not it's any good just on the basis of the name on the cover.

BTW The first one I read was number 2, so I'm looking forward to that coming up. In a few days; I alternate reading new (to me) fiction with my rereads.

Finished Sense and Sensibility : Screenplay and Diaries Sorry to have to say that in this case I prefer Emma Thompson to Jane Austen

Leafed through Am Herd meiner Oma. A fairly boring cookbook frequently lightened up with stories of how he and his siblings didn't like the dishes as children.

Jude ist kein Schimpfwort (Jew is not a cussword) can have 4 1/2 stars. This is a combination of (mostly short) essays on Jewish life in Austria today and interviews with various Jews on their experiences of modern Austrian Jewish life. I thought it was very well written. It pointed out many of the places where Jews are made uncomfortable in Vienna. It also pointed out that it is one of the safest cities for Jews in Europe.

I thought Hello Berries would be fun to read this time of year. It's a German language cookbook. However the person who designed the book thought that typewriter font in medium brown on ecru paper was a 'cool' look. I will not do that to my eyes. Back to the library it goes.

Site fidelity Well, I read most of it. See review.

We did the Afrika Tage today, which means that I had to be tested. It was fairly quiet, but I did manage to spend some money. A coaster sized tile for €5, Spice for €6, 2 pair of gourd rind earrings - butterflies and geckos, AND I found the stall where I bought 5 t-shirts that I love 2 years ago, and now they have the shirts in colours, so another 5. By then I was getting tired so we headed home.

After a nap, Jerry said 'It's almost 6, and getting dark, so if we're going out to dinner we should go.' (It would be a shame to waste the two evenings the test id good for. From Monday my jab is valid.) Sure enough, the sky was dark grey, and it was quite dark. We headed to a fish place we like outside the city, and got there just as it started to drip. The wait staff were busy getting customers to inside tables, and then grabbing anything possible off the outside tables. By the time we ordered, the skies had opened up, and the windows gave us a lovely view of the deluge. During the peak we heard the village fire siren. We hope it was cellars that need pumping. It stopped before we were done, and hardly seems to have rained here at all. We drove home around 8 to very dramatic skies, but much more light than earlier.

Anyway, we had a lovely meal. I'm really knocked out now, though. I should finish folding laundry before I let myself collapse.

Faszination Libellen If you want to see amazing photographs of dragonflies, this is the book for you.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't like The forever girl

>42 MarthaJeanne: Just the premise sounds unappealing.

>43 lesmel: I'm not sure I even read the back. I was picking a few of his books from the shelf at the library. And having spent part of my childhood in India, and all my adult years in Europe, I would have thought that the ex-pat environment would have appealed. But of course, there are ex-pats and then other ex-pats. Even in Geneva where you have both money ex-pats and UN ex-pats, I mostly knew the UN ones.

Also gave up on The Muse. This one others seem to have liked more than I did.

BTW, my current ebook is The Summer Seekers which has an average rating of 4.25, which might be on the low side.

Life with Picasso

No problem with the writing, just with the subject. After 100 pages I don't understand why she put up with him. Not finishing.

I recognize the season you’re having. Comes from relying on newer authors, I think. I’m rarely disappointed reading my tattered collection. Can’t wait till my eyes are repaired and I can get back to print books.

I'm not sure Auel counts as 'tattered'. The series started in the 1980's, but my copies of the first few books are certainly falling apart.

Add another to the 'can't get through' list:
Schwarzes Meer : ein Reise- und Kochbuch

Someone was so enthusiastic about Eden's newest that I borrowed the older book my library had. Is it the translation? Is it the different setting? Whatever. It just doesn't do it for me.

The library wants it back, so just as well to be finished with it.

Wachs zwischen Himmel und Erde should have been fascinating. The owner of a historical lebkuchen and candle maker researched his family's historical moulds for making wax models and the miracle books of a nearby pilgrimage church where the models were offered along with as many examples from other wax makers as he could find. However most of the print was too small for my eyes, so I mostly just admired the excellent photographs.

Note: One of the wedding gifts we received back decades ago was a set of wax models representing health, wealth and fertility. I'm not sure what happened to them. Wax has this tendency to melt if stored in an attic. Health was a leg, as I recall. There was also a train, because we lived in Deutsch Wagram where the first train line in Austria ended. This was a very thoughtful gift by one of our university lecturers. Over the years we have seen examples in various church collections, and we have felt extra interest because of the gift.

Decline and Renewal : The Anatomy of Canals

I started reading this series eight years ago, and with having to give up canal holidays, never got around to reading the final volume until now. Of course the 'up to the present' volume is almost 20 years old now, but I quite enjoyed it. I should reread some of my other canal books if I can do it without the pain they caused a few years back.

Hmmm. Don't know what happened to the other volumes. They are not with my canal books.

The Summer Seekers was a fun read, but it leaves a lot of loose ends when it stops.

The shortest history of England Interesting take on English history. Not sure I swallow it all, but at least the most understandable reason I've seen yet for the Brexit vote. Over the past several months I keep being amazed at the many complaints from the British that the EU isn't treating them 'fairly', ie as if they were still members. Well, what did you think you were voting about?

I only gave this 3 stars, partly because the ebook is so badly formatted.

We went out to dinner tonight. A weekend chicken grilling place in the Vienna Woods. As we were driving back in the twilight, Jerry had to stop. A Roe deer was standing in the road. They are small anyway, and this one had spots on its fur, so I think it wasn't full grown yet. The car was only a few meters away from the deer. It looked at us. We looked at it. Then the deer turned, and very slowly walked off the road into the woods and disappeared into the woods. It was just a magical moment.

Used up that shuttle. I have another one already wound, but it seemed like a good time for a break.

I was ironing this evening in the basement, and had to keep pausing the DVD to catch little frogs and take them outside. I think they are coming in the tipped window.

😄

Anne Frank remembered was very good. 4 1/2 stars.

Now I suppose I ought to read the diary again. I remember acting in a school production of the play in the 60s and reading the Diary in 1968 as we visited the museum in Amsterdam. Believe it or not, the details are very indistinct.

Got the weaving problem solved. Bit of a hassle keeping it from happening again. Moved to the next bit of warp, which is working better, but has its own issues. I'll be really glad to finish this! Only a small amount of warp left.

I need to point out that there are several reasons why I'm having difficulties.

1) I really needed to replace this loom anyway.

2) I'm using cotton, which isn't as easy to tension right as wool.

3) I warped this two years ago, never dreaming that I wouldn't finish it soon, or that I would do no weaving at all last summer.

I really want to buy some yarn from a friend of mine and try to warp up the new loom.



This is hand dyed with indigo and onion skins.

Her town also has an ostrich farm, and I wouldn't mind grilled ostrich one of these days. Also a nice area for walking.

>60 MarthaJeanne: Love that yarn!

Yes, me too. I just sent off an email asking if she is really in her shop on Saturday, and how much of this does she have on hand.

Finished. At least with the weaving. I have also cut it from the warp beam and fringed that end. I unrolled it from the cloth beam, and seem to have over 2 1/2 meters.

Where do old worn out looms go?

No idea yet. Probably just the garbage centre. It will not be a working loom, as all heddles etc. will be kept to use with the new one.

I broke some of the fittings - plastic that wasn't up to the job. They were replaced (with the newer metal version), but I didn't get them installed just right, and it sort of put me off somewhat.

Martina isn't there on Saturday. She is also in the middle of getting stock back in now that the various markets are beginning to happen again.

>63 MarthaJeanne: Still attached to the loom. We'll have to see how it looks after finishing (washing). But I'm pleased so far.

>66 MarthaJeanne: That is lovely! Elegant!

Ran out of time on That summer Don't think I'll ask for it again. More a three star read so far.

Based on a baptism blanket pattern in The Wheel (Ashford's customer magazine). I liked it in pure white, but I love how the different textures work with the variegated yarn.

Gave up on Moab is my washpot. Stephen Fry means nothing to me outside of the book, and I have read over 100 pages of his childhood to discover that he means nothing to me inside the book either. Apparently it's something wrong with me. The reviews are full of positive adjectives that I just don't see applying to this.

Plains of Passage I stand by my old review.

I'm about half way through Haschems Lasso. It says it's a novel, but it is really a series of incidents, some of which share some characters. Sometimes I even recognize that I have read about these people before. Most of it takes place in Vienna's Jewish communities. I'm reading it because the author's recent nonfiction book was so good. This book was published in 2009, and the library has moved it from the open stacks to the closed area. I'm not really surprised that it wasn't popular enough to stay easy to find.

Gurke is not brilliant, but lots of information and recipes about cucumbers.

>73 MarthaJeanne: This is the kitchen tool that comes to mind with mention of cucumbers:



I mention it because I just sorted four versions (!) in my kitchen. For some reason I have a collection of blades that don’t fit any of the machines.

But cukes, or gurkes, (which is cuter) are so versatile and refreshing.

No Nation for Women is a very well written book (2018) about rape in India. You probably don't want to read it.

>66 MarthaJeanne: It is now off the loom, has been washed, and is in the dryer. Then I still have to trim the fringe. I have over a full ball of the yarn left, so I am considering crocheting a trim on one long side.

>76 MarthaJeanne: It came out of the dryer so soft!

It measures 48 x 260 cm. The finishing seems to have made the different textures stand out more.

Weave Knit Wear has a pattern 'Liquid Gold', very different cloth, and somewhat shorter than my piece, (theirs is under 2m) that is cut into two uneven pieces and sewn together in a V shape. I think this would make a more wearable wrap, without losing any of my precious work. I should be able to wear it tomorrow, however I also have bread dough rising, so we'll see how far I get with the sewing.

I have measured the two pieces and marked the cutting line. I need to set up the sewing machine and zigzag either side of that. Not much work once I've got the machine back in place. Then the two pieces get hemmed - mostly to cover the zigzag. Finally, the end of the shorter piece gets sewn onto the side of the longer piece. I also still have to trim the fringe.

I can already say that it is soft and warm. Today didn't get above 23° and I lay outside for quite a while.

I want to go to the weaving/spinning store tomorrow after the library. I bought the yarn there, and got the 'Wheel' there, so I have to show off the result.

>78 MarthaJeanne: You never said what the fiber content is. Looks like it has some silk in it. Is that possible?

No, 100% cotton. An Austrian company: Ferner Wolle. This is called Karibik Cotton (Caribbean cotton) 100g is about 315m knitting needles recommended are 3 - 4 mm. I just found another almost full ball.

They really did a good job of the colour changes. There were other colour choices, of course, but I like the blue.

It is now after midnight. In the process of setting up the sewing machine I got sidetracked into cleaning the filters in air conditioners and dehumidifiers. Needed doing, but...

Zigzag done. Cutting done. Less painful than expected. Fringe trimmed. First hem done. The rest will have to wait until morning.

Also need to finish Haschems Lasso to take back to library. Slowly the chapters are beginning to mesh together. 40 pages to go.

>72 MarthaJeanne: Even if I finally managed to figure some of the story lines out, all of the threads were left loose. I'll give it three stars, because I did finish it.

Was at library and weaving store. Latter was unsatisfactory. I wanted

white cotton for zoom loom/card weaving project check

interesting wool for new loom project - probably should have bought a few balls of wool/hemp yarn to try out, but it didn't excite me.

Card Weaving because I need it and can't find my copy. Not there, although they normally have it.

Show off the new piece to the saleswoman. She was on holiday, and the replacement wasn't the same.

Of course, I did find 2 other books to buy, so not a total loss.
Easy Weaving With Little Looms 2020 was difficult to enter - manual, internet bottomed out on me just as I tried to save. Needed combining, needed creating a series. (Good news! the 2021 edition is out. At least someone has entered it.) I hope Woven Style for the 15" Rigid Heddle Loom will be easier.

I'm trying to slowly work my way through Die Heilsbringer. It attempts to be a global history of religion in the 20th century through short biographies of 'salvation bringers'. Religion is taken very broadly. I'm about a third of the way through, and have learned a lot more about late 19th and early 20th century esoteric than I ever wanted to know. The chapters tend to be just over 10 pages long, so I've been trying to read two at a time. The global bit needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. This is written for German readers. Most chapters include information on when the persons books were published in German, when they were on speaking tours of Germany, ...

For days I've been stuck because the next two were Jung and Hitler. I have now at least skimmed Jung. Yuck! Sorry. I knew I was uneasy about Jung. Now I have a better understanding of why.

Actually, I think the author really did have to include a lot of these characters, but I'm not enjoying it. Very few mainstream Christians are included. The only pope is John Paul II. I believe there were a 'few' more over the century. I would prefer to have a few more people I can identify with and admire included to lighten it up a bit. Non-western Christians seem to be represented by Mother Theresa, Bob Marley, and Paulo Coelho. But it is already nearly 800 pages (676 without notes, indices), so leaving out the obvious people that readers probably know about might be a question of length.

The author, btw, is Norwegian. This is published by a well known German academic publisher - C. H. Beck.

I borrowed the ebook of One pot, pan, planet. Well after a very short time of trying to skim through it I decided that if to be green I would have to eat corn and cauliflower chowder and similar things, I'll just have to keep wrecking the planet.

(If I were going make a chowder, I would base it on potatoes. Changing that to cauliflower is not an option. Neither of us can digest kernels of corn any more. Seems to me that the main reason to eat chowder is the clams. But that isn't vegetarian.)

I did not like the recipes I looked at. But I liked the comments around them even less. Quinoa is a great grain, well not really a grain, and now you can buy British quinoa in the shops so there is no excuse for buying imported. it wasn't quite that preachy, but came close. Note: We haven't had quinoa for a while, and I should make it again. I like quinoa.

Since for some reason I had already entered it, I added a review and a 1 star rating. Several others have entered it, but this is the first rating and review.

>85 MarthaJeanne: I think of cauliflower as a luxury food, not a basics. Certainly not a low-care field plant.

Now reading The war of the poor.

Love this sentence: The pope got angry, and when a pope gets angry, it rains bulls.

This is a very short retelling of the life of Thomas Müntzer. Besides that one sentence, there isn't much to it.

I decided to warp my smaller loom to play with new and old books on weaving.

I still had two almost complete balls from the sock wool I bought back in 2015-2016 for baby hats for the refugees. Early on they showed a father standing in the freezing rain, totally not dressed for the weather, clutching his baby to his chest inside what clothing he had. The baby's head was bare. Well I found a special on this sock yarn, bought up as much as I could find and started knitting little hats. I must have donated at least a dozen before they stopped collecting clothing - along with a lot of other stuff. We had a good clear out. Anyway, this is 75% wool, 25% polyester, not my favourite generally, but fine for playing around.

Warping took a lot of energy, even though I made a fairly short warp - only a few steps for each thread. I have two colours, blue and green (both in varying shades) so I made stripes of different widths. I got all the rest of the yarn onto two shuttles. But now I'm rather shot. Of course I took a break at one point, came in to drink and rest, and remembered that if we were going to have squash soup for supper, the squash had to go into the oven. I went down to get sausage out of the freezer for the soup, and realized that I needed to put the laundry into the dryer.

Tomorrow I will weave. The book that came today, Weaving patterned bands is not for the loom, so I may end up warping a band tomorrow, too. The other new one, CrazyShot, is a good bet for working from.

I think I've found the right crocheted border for my shawl in Häkelspitzen wie handgeklöppelt. I think I'm going to work it in doubled thread. Oh, yes, and much as it pains me to say it, I think I had better work a sample first.

Nope, I need a smaller hook, and to work it with a single strand.

Ausgespannt zwischen Himmel und Erde reads like one sermon after another. I got quite tired of being preached at. Not that they are bad sermons. I really liked Die vierzig Gleichnisse Jesu, but the other two books of his I read were not as good.

Shelters of Stone Yes, I will finish rereading the series, but I really do wish the publisher had talked her into cutting most of the sex and repetition.

We went to the hardware store, where I bought wood wax to use on the new loom before I put it together. I also bought brass rings meant for raising a door on its hinges to make buttons with. I would have preferred a bit bigger and also round profile rather than rectangular, but I'm quite happy with my first Dorset style button.

I have discovered that if I wear the point in front, I can pull the sides around and tuck them in my trousers for a warm, comfortable wrap that doesn't keep getting in my way. I will sew the button to one corner, and crochet a button loop to the opposite corner, and then I don't have to tuck. It should fit just right when buttoned. It was quite a search to find a workable ring, though. Hang on, I'm going to retake the picture. There, you now see the rings I found to use.

>92 MarthaJeanne: Clever! I hope you model it for us too.

Not until I have added the crocheted border.

I decided to give myself a break from all the long books I've been reading. I had borrowed two weaving books from the library.

Minis Weben mit dem Pin Loom did not impress me three years ago now I wish I could buy a copy (in English) but it seems to be out of print. It is certainly not worth the prices Amazon quotes for used copies.

Weaving within reach is a nice book, but not anything I would use.

They are both due next Wednesday. I might renew the pin loom one.

Found my crochet hook box. Made sample with single yarn. That should work.

Ooh! Even more elegant!

Girls with bright futures

I don't advise reading this if you have kids soon to apply to US colleges.

>97 MarthaJeanne: The pattern is 6 rows. I have now reached the point in the second row. I have also started marking the repeats. It is important to get this right so that the corner can be worked properly. So I am counting out from the corner. What I will do at the sides where there isn't space for a full repeat remains to be seen.

Just got around the point on the third row. No more tonight. I'm too tired, but did want to get to the corner.

Münsterschwarzacher Psalter
I actually borrowed this for the afterword by Norbert Lohfink! then decided it would be interesting to read a few Psalms morning and evening. Now that I have finished I think I'll keep it up, but not with this translation. It's out of print anyway, and is meant for singing in monasteries, so less suited for individual prayer. I often found the word order confusing.

Lohfink's essay was well worth reading, as he pointed out that the order of the Psalms is not random, but themes develop between the Psalms. It is worth noting that there is a lot of war and violence in the earlier Psalms, but the later ones are easier reading.

Now I need to decide what to use for my next read through. Maybe Alter A Book of Psalms for his notes. It's the closest I can get to reading the Hebrew. Yes, even better than my interlinear.

I also think I will borrow the other book the library has by Norbert Lohfink. I've rather gone off his brother Gerhard Lohfink for the time being.

Das Winterkarussell Actually a Christmas story. Two timelines - 1938 and 1990 in Frankfurt. It works well.

>101 MarthaJeanne: Finished the fourth row. Also finished the yarn I had on a shuttle. The new ball did not open cleanly, but I have managed to sort it out and have wound the insides around the ball and dealt with all the tangles.

The good book of human nature This attempt to explain the Bible and Christianity in anthropological terms is interesting.

The final claim is that while science may make trouble for certain forms of religion, science itself grew out of religion and cannot replace it.

The newcomer was a good book in spite of a few murdered bodies.

Someone else is waiting for Wer knabbert da an meinem Gemüse? so I looked to see whether or not I want to read it properly. Not.

Long section on why collecting the slugs is the best way of dealing with them. Other methods are cruelty to animals, only attract more slugs, cause fights with neighbours ... But nowhere do they say what to do with the collected critters. Not really very helpful.

In general very ecological, but the suggestions make a lot of work.

Sisi, Sex und Semmelknödel

A Syrian immigrant to Austria tells of his adventures in trying to fit into both cultures. Very funny.

My stats for August don't quite get me up to a book a day. However, if you count the really loooong books double, I made it. Three of those are from Earth's Children. I would also include The Good book of human nature. I'm still working on Die Heilsbringer, and the final book of the series.

Other than that, of course, I did get a fair amount of weaving done. (Getting close to the point on row five of the crocheted border.)

Right now I have a warp on my 25cm loom. This is just old yarn I'm trying things out on.

I need to wax the pieces of my new 60 cm loom and put it together.

I am planning pieces for both looms. For the small one it is a tunic that will have a striped cotton warp. I'll chose five colours from the cache I have for the side pieces. It will be three solids connected by two variables that include the colours on either side. Weft for these pieces is grey wool that I'm spinning now. The centre front and back pieces will be similar, but white weft. The pattern in Weave knit wear calls for knit sleeves. I'm not sure the wool is good for those. It's sort of itchy.

On the larger loom I want to try a 40cm wide houndstooth cowl using a neat technique I saw online. You leave a section of warp at the beginning, and later pull it around to use as weft at the end. 40 cm may be pushing it, as all the examples I saw were 25 cm. But I never make it easy for myself. The wool I bought for this is dark blue and cream.

There is a certain amount of time pressure, as I have to warp the looms outside. The smaller loom I can use indoors, but it is harder with the big one.

Excitement! Excitement! I finished the fifth row and have moved on to the sixth and final row! However this row is going to be very slow, as I have decided to insert a fringe into the picots of this row. I have done two repeats, and, as I thought, it looks wonderful, but is very slow to work.



I'll cut the fringe for one repeat at a time, because I need to keep the colour changes.

>111 MarthaJeanne: Oh, that is sweet!

I got the loom and stand waxed and put together. That is a lot of screwing! Of course now I want it warped. Right now! But considering that I am already very tired and hurting, and that I want a 3 meter warp of 160 ends - that means going back and forth the 3 meters 80 times - I guess I had better wait for tomorrow. The things I've watched online have pointed out that you need to hook the threads without bending over the heddle if you don't want warping to hurt. And that's for people without bad backs.

I've got laundry going and have promised home-made pizza for supper, besides the other loom, spinning for the tunic, and trying to get on with the crocheting, so it's not as if I don't have anything else to keep me away from my books.

>112 2wonderY: Might as well since I have the yarn. Yes, I really like this.

I started Should We Stay or Should We Go?. I have gotten to the point where the author is trying out various endings. No. Just, no. The author should make up his own mind.

Tried to read World Travel. Gave up very soon.

The land of painted caves Does not get better on rereading.

>116 MarthaJeanne: At least you’re done with the series. I quit halfway because Ayla was a one person technological revolution. Couldn’t stand her smarty-pants.

I really like the first few books. The last two don't match up, but when I start a reread every few years, I kind of want to finish it.

The Fabric of Civilization *****

And you thought that cloth was boring and unimportant.

This book follows the history of fibers and cloth from their beginnings, and then how they influenced other aspects of life, culture, and economics.

I got two more repeats done on the blue shawl. Slow work.

Got more spinning done. I'll be able to weave quite a bit once the new warp is ready. I also wove a bit more on the current warp. This is on the small loom, and is meant for trying a few things out. So far I have found the 'fancy' bits more trouble than they are worth.

I harvested a few large tomatoes.

I washed Jerry's good trousers. I'm so glad they are washable! They need it fairly often.

I fixed my purple harem trousers. The elastic is still in good shape, so I have to assume that my hips have gotten smaller. The trousers kept trying to fall down yesterday.

I finished two books.

Yes, in spite of everything, I did make progress today.

Didn't like Afterparties. According to all the reviews these are wonderful. Must be something wrong with me. Did not finish. Probably 2 stars if I had entered it.

Basically, So probably does a good job of describing the Cambodian-American experience. He doesn't make me care enough to want to read the rest of the stories.

I'm reading Kauf mich! a book about how we buy more than we need. There is a lot of quite horrendous stuff in here, but the anecdote that really gets to me is about a U-Tube video on how to achieve the perfect 'no makeup' look. It includes information on how to buy the $171 worth on cosmetic products you will need for this. Somehow I don't think spending money on cosmetics would help me look as if I had no make up on. I create my version of that look by not spending money on cosmetics. But again, must be something wrong with me.

>122 MarthaJeanne: Ha ha! Me too.

I've been playing on the sample warp. got a good piece done - maybe 20 cm. Today I was playing with supplemental weft. You work the background cloth as normal, adding in a fancy yarn now and then, but it isn't really part of the cloth. The background weft is always there, and the cloth would still exist if the extra weft were to be cut out. In fact, you shouldn't be able to tell the back from the sections without the extra weft.

I wanted a really big yarn for this, so I found an old left over, spun it more in the ply direction, then doubled it up and cabled it. That worked, thanks to my Turkish cross spindle. The weaving also worked just as it should. My goodness! More textile experiments should work like this!



This warp is almost gone. I'll be able to warp up for the tunic soon.

Finished the experimental warp. Now to 'wet finish' it and see what I did. (wool program in the wash machine)

Hmmm. That supplemental warp may shrink more than the rest. We'll see. The main yarn is superwash and 25% polyester. There are also some cotton threads, and a wool I don't have details on. Like I said, we'll see.

Tod an der Wien Maly is a good writer, but I don't need so many dead people.

>122 MarthaJeanne: Finished Kauf mich! Only three stars. Reviewed.

I started Love and Fury, but the whole thing seems to take place within the context of a bad birth scene and it's too much for me.

I'm rereading the Katze des Rabbiners series, building up to the third collection which I just bought.

Graphic novels are not my thing. Nor do I like cats. But sometimes you just have to make exceptions. This cat, in these graphic novels, is pure delight.

>113 MarthaJeanne: Finished the shawl. I am really pleased with it.

None of my libraries own these, so I bought samples from abebooks.

I suspect that the more you know about Jewish customs the more you will enjoy them. Obviously it was the Rabbi in the title that got me to pick up the first one.

We went to a favourite restaurant this afternoon. It's a grilled chicken place out in the Vienna Woods. With the glorious weather and the added problems getting around in Vienna on Marathon Sunday, they were even more crowded than ever. When we called for a reservation we were told 16:00. Not before. But somehow she forgot to write us down. We got there shortly before 4, and no table.

Rather luckily, another couple had just sat down. Their 3 or 4 dogs were not on leashes, and they objected when told the dogs had to be leashed. (A large number of guests bring dogs.) Then they were asked for their COVID documents, and she had forgotten her test results paper. So they were told to leave. They tried the "Oh, come on, we're here, just let us stay." bit. In the mean time the dogs are still loose. They were told that they could not be served, and that the restaurant would have to call the police to keep their license. So they reluctantly left the table.

It seems rather silly to me that they both 'forgot' the legal requirement to prove their status, and thought they could just let their dogs run free in an environment full of both other dogs and children. But we were able to take the table, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Hanta yo No. I am not going to read this. An 800 page book needs to convince me very early that it is going to be worth it. A quick Google shows many problems with the book. Discarded.

Finished My Remarkable Journey. It can have 5 stars.

Über die Schwalbe only gets 3.

Just started Das wilde Leben der Vögel (The wild life of birds). He is complaining about all the well-cared for gardens that are missing yarrow and shepherd's purse. I have both.

I'm being a good daughter and sister today. I just finished and got into addressed envelopes a Christmas label for Mom's walker and a birthday/get well card for my sister. Both were magazine cover kits, made mostly to break up longer projects, but they should enjoy them.

Mom's care home is in lockdown mode from a COVID cluster. So she's not getting the social life she is used to. (Yes, they are all vaccinated, but we're talking seniors with various ailments, and they got their jabs in January.)

My sister recently had a heart attack, and neither the local hospital nor the preferred regional hospital had the capacity to admit her. So she was taken over an hour south to another hospital for her treatment.

Jerry decided that he would take his walk to the post office rather than through the woods today, so they might even get there in the next week or two.

The houndstooth is going well. It's really easy to weave, because you do two picks of one colour, then two of the other. That means that you know which way to put the heddle without looking at the weave. For me, the first pick is always up heddle, the second down heddle.

I know, I should know which way it last was, but I don't always.

>137 MarthaJeanne: The book itself is a series of anecdotes, loosely connected by topic. While each anecdote for itself may be quite interesting, after a while this gets boring.

Annie Bell's vegetable book

A vegetarian vegetable book that does not hesitate to suggest animal accompaniments. We had the Tuscan Bread Salad last night with twice the added shrimp she suggested. It all went. I now have my eye on a leek and smoked cheese tart. There is a smoked cheese that I love, but the portion I have to buy is too large. This would use more of it.

Pin Loom weaving to go

This is great. I will be experimenting with bias squares and triangles tomorrow.

I have not used my zoom loom today. At least not yet.

But I did use my large loom, and finished the body of the cowl. After a false start, I did a first start on the complicated bit. It takes a lot of concentration, and the shed isn't very big. I expect this will get worse as I proceed, but I am still in high hopes that I can do this.

Also finished an ebook. Little pieces of me is quite good. It jumps between two times, but it works. Themes include genetic testing (with surprise results) and homosexuality.

>141 MarthaJeanne: We had the leek and smoked cheese tart tonight. Very good.

I made a bias square on the zoom loom. Not quick. It would work a lot better if my crochet hook did not have a nice comfy handle on it. I'll leave the triangle for another time.

By blood divided This book has a couple of strong female characters, which is what kept me reading.

Wann darf ich klatschen? I picked this up second hand recently, thinking that at least the title was good (When may I clap?). The violinist takes a few beginners through their first classical concerts, explaining the etiquette, but also what goes on behind the scenes, finally convincing his friends that they don't need to be afraid of live music.

4 1/2 stars for this one. Informative and lightly humorous.

I gave How to Mars two stars.

I actually did finish this, but I did not enjoy it.

It looks like the characters are balanced, half male, half female, but the female characters are all on the side lines, and the author has no idea what to do with them.

BTW, given that they are all bored to death, I can't understand why nobody thinks of unpicking the big logos that make the towels not very useful.

All caught up! I am behind on many threads, dating back from late July.

I love your weaving posts.

I warped the smaller loom yesterday. Outside of getting the maths wrong and having to undo the first bit, but letting the yarn get out of control resulting in an enormous unknot (ie. it was all loops that could be untangled, but some were a few meters long) it went well. The warp is a set of cotton yarns in both solids and changables. The weft is a grey wool that I found in a bag, and have been spinning. I like the way it looks. But as the books all tell you, it takes a lot of spinning to feed a weaver enough yarn, so I'm also spinning like crazy.

I have taken a few paper measuring tapes from the hardware store to keep track of the weaving. I've done over a meter today. I have to do two meters, leave 15-20 cm. then another 2 meters on this warp. Then I will make a similar warp (but shorter) using brighter wool weft. This warp will provide side panels for a tunic, shoulders get sewn a bit for the angle. Then the other warp is front and back. The pattern that I am using as inspiration then has knit sleeves. Not sure what I will do there. This wool would be too scratchy, plus I will be out of it. I think I will be running low on the cotton as well. I may just wear it over a turtleneck.

I also worked on the houndstooth cowl. I think I have figured out why the videos on line are all on 25cm looms. Mine is about 35 cm. It may just work.

It certainly wasn't working this afternoon. Not enough warp left. So I had to take out quite a bit. It is going faster now, and I have the join back to where I took it out. But this time there is space to finish it. The sun went in, and I got quite chilled. When Jerry came home we went to the hardware store and got more paper measuring tapes. I also bought spinach seed, Vogerlsalat seed, and various bulbs I also found a nice long bolt to hold the warp for a tablet weaving band I want to do. Another thing to try to get at least warped while weather more or less permits.

>149 fuzzi: I'm weaving a lot right now. Oh, yes, Jerry appreciated your comment on his butterfly. I pass on all the praise.

>152 MarthaJeanne: I probably should have taken even more out. The last few threads are going to be difficult, but at least it should fit now.

18° outside today. No wind, no sun. I came in before I got too chilled. Should also do some garden work.

Ok, now I have read the whole Die Katze des Rabbiner series that is available in German and I really like them except for finding graphic novels very hard to read.

>153 MarthaJeanne: I have learned a lot from this. Wet finishing can clear up some problems, but I think mine are beyond that. I'll still do it, I guess, before cutting the V section out. That will still leave me with almost 2 meters of very nice houndstooth.

Oh, and in spite of all the warnings, and I thought I was being careful, I will have to take the loom apart to get the cloth off, unless I cut first and then finish. Might be the best thing.

But I still want a houndstooth cowl.

Reise nach Jerusalem : ein Imam und ein Rabbiner unterwegs

A bit slow at the start, but once they actually get to Jerusalem, it was very interesting.

I wove one shuttle of weft on the smaller loom today. That went quickly. I have spun the singles for the next shuttle. That took a lot longer, and it still needs to be plied, washed and let dry. That will take all of tomorrow. I now have three full shuttles, and think I may need 6 or 7 to finish this warp. I think I had better limit myself to weaving one shuttle a day for now. This is normal. Spinning is a lot slower than weaving.

I ordered a blending board, and it is now waiting for me. That will help create the wefts for the central panels, but if spinning ready carded wool takes this long, creating the carded rolags before I can spin them will only add time to the process.

It's not as if I had anything better to do.

It was cold today. Yesterday I was chilled from working outside. Today I was chilled just sitting in the house. We turned the heat on. It makes a big difference.It is supposed to get warmer again.

I really do have weaving work to do outside before it gets too cold:
I would like to get these side panels done so I have the center warp on the loom.
I want to set up a tablet weaving band. That is the strap for a bag made of zoom loom squares. The squares are woven.
And another try at the houndstooth cowl. This time narrower, so it would really fit on the smaller loom, but that is taken right now.

Well, I got to the end of today's shuttle, and was so close to finishing the first side panel that I kept going. So I finished the panel, left the 20 cm of unwoven warp, and wove another 15 cm. That is about half of that shuttle. Feels like progress. I also watched my numbers, and I wove 42 cm with that first shuttle. This makes 5 shuttles for a 2 m panel. I currently have the started shuttle, one ready to go, and a third in the process of being plied. So I'll need to do two more. I'll still have some wool left over, I think. Not lots, but some. Got to keep spinning.

Großstadt Wildnis This is very specifically about German cities, so I lost interest fast.

Wild Silence had very good bits, but it also had quite a few not so good bits, and it just didn't hold together. If I hadn't read The Salt Path I wouldn't have made it past the first few chapters.

I read three pages of The happy ever after playlist and deleted it from my catalogue.

>162 MarthaJeanne: I have quit reading a book after one chapter, but never that quickly, whew!

Why?

The badly mentally damaged woman is on the way to the cemetery while talking on the phone. Something runs across the street and she brakes hard. It seems that the dog was not hit, but climbs up the car and jumps in the open (broken) roof window.

No. Just no.

>164 MarthaJeanne: I think I would probably have ditched it as well.

The nocturnal brain was quite interesting.

We went out to Illmitz today. As a birding trip it was pretty much a wipe out. I did get probably my best view of a Marsh Harrier yet, just as we entered Illmitz. Low, close to the car, light from the right direction. I could actually see the colours of the bottoms of the wings. Later we saw crows, geese, various ducks, and two waders. They had long legs and long, mostly straight bills, but Jerry tried to get his camera, and when the car door slamed, they flew off.

Most of the various 'Laken' - shallow, salt marshy areas are totally dry. Very depressing.

We did have a very good meal. We almost got through the fish plate for 2. Whether it was worth the hour drive each way is questionable. However, it felt good to be there. We were more or less pleased to see the number of visitors around. Our waiter said the summer was intensive, with lots of customers. Most Austrians vacationed in Austria this year, and we had heard that anywhere with water was sold out, so we never even tried to get a booking. (This is on Lake Neusiedl.)

The weather did what the predictions said, and we had blue skies with 26°. I think it did us good to get out of the city.

Else Bechteler was a German weaving artist. I found her work to be technically very interesting. I quite liked her vestments and paraments, but the secular pieces are too abstract for me. This is a general work about her art that I saw at the library, and thought I might as well borrow.

After 100 pages of The Mercies, I have had enough.

I am so close to finishing the tunic side panels. 17 cm to weave, and 9g on the spindle. So on to plying the wool. By tomorrow morning it should be dry and ready to weave.

I got most of one side of the houndstooth done yesterday. Only a few more fringe knots and it can be free of the loom. Of course, the second side of fringe will still need to be knotted. Today is cold and rainy, so I won't do more on that.

Tomorrow I plan on going to the library and the weaving store. They have a blending board for me, which will let me make more interesting weft threads for the central panels on the tunic. More spinning... I also need to buy more wool to try the cowl again. I'm thinking of making the body striped, just the point houndstooth. Also alternating red and blue for the dark threads.

The Missing Sister does not wrap up The Seven Sisters.

Any way, I have returned the ebook early. Over twenty people are on the hold list (for three copies).

>170 MarthaJeanne: Done, 3/4 of the fringes, too. It goes into the machine for wet finishing before I go to bed.

The two panels 200 cm each on the loom are 190 each off the loom. We'll see how much they lose in finishing. The warp is cotton, so I don't expect too much shrinkage.

Seven and a half lessons about the brain I really don't like being talked down at.

The panels ended up 170 cm long.

Today I picked up the blending board I had ordered. I now have two spindles going towards the centre pieces. One is another grey wool. The other is purple with different shades combined on the blending board.

I also finished Pegasus in Flight? Yes, I'm enjoying rereading the series, but it is quite amusing how McCaffrey imagined 'the future' back thirty years ago.

>174 MarthaJeanne: I like how Robert Heinlein predicted much that has come to pass.

Not going to finish Black and Blue : Louis Armstrong. Very well researched, very detailed work in German.

Weather's been good today. I not only got the houndstooth off the loom, I got a narrower warp back on, and started weaving. The new warp is as for houndstooth, this time the dark alternating between blue and red. I'm weaving the body with a white weft, and the stripes look good. The V section, if I can do it properly this time will be houndstooth.

The houndstooth scarf is in the wash machine for wet finishing.

It seems I have done more weaving, less reading this month. I'll continue in a new topic tomorrow.

Sweet is difficult to read. No sooner have I thought, "This one! This one is the recipe I should try!" than I turn the page and find another one that calls out to be baked.

BTW, Jerry put several more pictures on his website.

>177 MarthaJeanne: You’ll have to give us the link again for Jerry’s photos. I can’t find it on this thread.

>178 2wonderY: Sorry, it's probably on my garden thread.

https://www.jerrybarton.eu/Miscellaneous/DailyPicks/

Finished size of the houndstooth is 31 x 172 cm. I need to trim the fringe.

I have wound another shuttle for the new warp. My aim for tomorrow, weather and my condition after going downtown permitting, is to weave that shuttle and finish spinning the white spindle. I had assumed that the white wool would be similar to the grey to spin. It's not. It's much stickier and more dense. A whole different animal with different hair. Both in the same flock, but I know how different the hair is from my three boys, all with the same parents, so it shouldn't surprise me. Also, I think even more lanolin still in the wool. It is getting easier as I get used to it.

I should try to warp the smaller loom while the weather is nice. However, I need the white wool to start weaving. Also the purple wool I blended will be needed very quickly. (And then more blends, and probably more white wool eventually. Keep those spindles spinning.)

>180 MarthaJeanne: I think you need more hands!

>179 MarthaJeanne: The colors at Labau Park are wonderful. Your season progresses faster than mine.

>180 MarthaJeanne: Of course I need more hands. Even if two are enough for men, we women should have an extra one or two. If I need more now, how much more back when I had two preschoolers!

>182 2wonderY: The Lobau is the Vienna end of the Danube Wetlands National Park, and one of Jerry's favourite places to walk and take pictures. It is quite close to our home. His normal round takes about an hour. Probably half that is in the park.

>179 MarthaJeanne: thank you! I love his photos.

All comments copied into his Skype. He loves to be appreciated.