Christian Sci-Fi Book Review

Last night, I finished this book

I read it in less than 2 days. It was very difficult to put down. I attribute that to the story line and my personal interest in it, as I must confess I did not think it was very well-written as a novel.

 The premise of the story is that there are dinosaurs still living hidden in the Congo basin of Africa. Two separate groups begin hunting for 2 different species at around the same time. One group is made up of Game Reserve Rangers looking for whatever is killing elephants and Cape Buffalo. The other group consists of a millionaire backer and creation scientists looking for a specimen to study. Both groups find what they are looking for in their own very different ways.

 On a star scale, I give this book 3 out of 5. I liked it, I did, but it just had some issues.
The dialogue was more a series of monologues than actual conversation.
The romance. Ouch. The romance really should have just been left out. It seemed so contrived, under-developed, and quite unrealistic.

 The good points? I loved the story-line. Loved it. Although I do think it is very much for a specific audience. I fully expect this book to get very poor reviews from a non-Christian/Creationist audience. The author did a great job of explaining the evidence for a creationist viewpoint (in all those monologues), and as a creationist, I quite enjoyed it. His points were valid, and this is a very well-researched book with scientific terms, laws, and evidence explained in very clear terms for the average, non-scientific mind. In that respect, I loved it. I recommend it. I'm going to have my kids read it.

I received a copy of this book from BookSneeze in exchange for my honest review.

When there is time...

I finally seem to have gotten at least some of my knitting mojo back. It'a a good thing too. I seem to have a lot on knitting deadlines coming up quickly.

Or maybe it's just because I've had more time to sit and knit lately. So far this year, sitting time has been at a premium. But when you're sick, suddenly there's lots of time to knit.
Of course, that means that other things get neglected- like the floors, the dust, the dishes, the laundry....
But I do have something to show for it:

Swatches and flower (although, I discovered upon making the flower that the shirt I made if for really does look better without it. It was fun and easy and a good learning experience for me though.). I also have 2 nice long I-cords, and 5 inches worth of a man's summer shirt.

I'm starting to feel better today (I can tell because I can't handle the housework pile-up anymore and have the cleaning bug.), so the knitting is not going as quickly anymore; but I have a good start!

Tidbits

There used to be a little newspaper type publication in Eastern Oregon that was called Tidbits. I'd see it in restaurants.  It was a fun little read- just little bits of news, fun historical facts and jokes. I don't know if it's still around, but times like this I'm reminded of it.

There's not really a lot happening here that is newsworthy. Oh, there's always something going on, but at the end of the day, I can't really remember what it was that kept me so very busy. It's just life, you know?  But here and there are little tidbits that stand out. Just little bits of news or fun facts and the occasional joke.

Remember last year we were a bit concerned that Roo wasn't talking or even trying to talk? Well, I was a little, Joel wasn't at all, and the Dr. was concerned enough to send him to a speech therapist.  Anyway, none of us are the least bit concerned about his talking anymore. To those of you who were praying for him, thank you so much. He has crossed over and become an absolute little chatterbox. It's awesome. He gets new words every single day. Occasionally, they are words I have no idea where he heard them.
    Like last week, when it was lovely outside so I sent  him and his brothers out with a snack. Roo wanders back in, and I tell him that he needs to go outside with his snack and his boots.  He put his head down, turned around, muttered, "Whatebber" and went back out.
    I have noticed that he seems a bit dyslexic with his talking.  He calls coats "toacs", and to get is to "tec", things like that. But he's trying, we can understand him, and he's getting better every day. It is wonderful to hear.

Last night I completed the latest secret project for The Unique Sheep. That will be blocked today. I love finishing things. Not just because of the satisfaction of a finished product, although that is fantastic- but also because it means I get to start the next thing. I have 3 projects I need get to swatch for today, as well as a small project I should be able to start and finish within 2 days. I have to get cracking on it all- I have yarn coming next week for a new secret project....

Yesterday I finished reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I've heard a lot about the series for a long time. I was a bit leery of it because of the synopsis. It just sounded so violent and horrific. I'm not big on horror. In fact, I very much dislike it. But friends kept saying what a good book it was, and that it wasn't as bad as the synopsis made it sound. So I finally jumped in.
  I have to say, I was surprised. I get what they were saying; but the premise was still awful. It was tastefully done- but the ending was completely unsatisfactory to me. Of course I know it was done that way on purpose as a cliff hanger, but still.  I have hopes as to how I want things to resolve in the next couple books of the trilogy. Yes, I'm hooked. I will read them. Although I have heard that the others in the trilogy are not as well done as the first. I'll let you know what I think.

A Deep Breath

It feels so very very good to complete something.

That sigh of relief when you accomplish a difficult task seems to make your body feel lighter.

I feel lighter now.

Last night, I bound off the last stitch and weaved (wove?) in the last loose end of a project. A medium-sized project that took a lot of calculations. Then I tried it on.

And took a big sigh of relief.

It was a bit of a gamble. I knit designed this top from side to side in one piece, and I had never done that before. I also had to add a bit of bust shaping in a different way- and I really was not at all sure I had figured it all correctly. But it turns out, I did!! I'm very pleased with this pattern.

Today, the deep breath and big sigh of relief was completing the pattern writing and grading for that pattern. I had to write it a bit creatively in order to get the shaping, the stripes, the lace edging all in there without it seeming like an impossible pattern. I think I managed to accomplish it though!! I think the way the pattern is written will make it much easier to knit than the way I did it, actually. The math and pattern writing took me 2 hours on my own last night, and about 6 interrupted hours today. Believe me, that was a big sigh.

Now, it just needs a test knitter. Any takers?

The First Monday of March

Last night, it finally sunk into my brain that it is March. I'm not sure why it was such a revelation to me, but apparently it was.  Maybe it was the knowledge that I really do need to get busy on teaching the kids about gardening.

This year, I'm starting Daisy on a new curriculum that will go alongside her regular schooling. The boys will be involved too- but on a somewhat limited basis. The curriculum is called Training Our Daughters to be Keepers at Home. It's really just a curriculum for teaching my daughter all the things I wish I'd known before I left home.

Things like gardening (which, I have to admit, my mom tried to teach me, but between my allergies and my obsession with animals, I didn't care to learn. Thanks for trying anyway, Mom.), budgeting, caring for infants and the elderly, cooking, baking, quilting, and lots more.

This year, we're starting gardening, sewing, knitting, and cooking/baking lunches. And all of a sudden, it's time to really turn our attention to the gardening!  Hopefully, we'll get some dirt in the garden boxes in the next couple weeks. ;)

Yesterday, the sun was shining and it was absolutely a perfect, beautiful, almost Spring day. The sky stayed clear all afternoon and evening. It was so clear and lovely, the kids were able to see a close-up of the moon. It was amazing.

I'm not sure Roo actually saw what the rest of us were looking at, but he enjoyed being a part of it. :)

To report on the Rose City Yarn Crawl, things didn't go as I had hoped- but for a good reason. Joel wound up having to work on Friday (yay!), so I didn't get out until Saturday. On Saturday, I only had time for one store, as Joel got some work that day too (double yay!).

So I made the most of my limited time and went to Close Knit, which is a lovely little store with very friendly people. I got my very first skeins of MadelineTosh yarn- and I am very much looking forward to trying it out. I've heard a lot of good things about this yarn, so have very high expectations.

Colorways, Saffron and Thyme.

I haven't decided yet just what to turn this lovely yarn into, any ideas? Socks? Gloves? Hat? Cowl? I can't decide yet, so it's sitting in a basket next to my chair waiting for it to talk to me some more.

Have you used MadTosh before? Your opinions?