Kindle Love

I've been experiencing Kindle Love since I received my birthday Kindle last spring. Yes, in a perfect world, i.e. unlimited space, unlimited money, and quick, reliable overseas shipping (ha!), I would prefer a traditional paper book over a Kindle. However, since I have none of the above, I am very, very thankful for Kindle technology. This Christmas the rest of the family received Kindles, so now we are a six-Kindle family, the maximum number of devices which can be registered on one account, meaning we can share all our books amongst ourselves. And since I've purchased and read more than few books on my Kindle since last spring, everyone received Kindles loaded with a small library ready to go! All the kids have commented that they are reading more now that they own Kindles.

The Christmas Kindles in their felted wool sleeves

Reading on our Kindles:
(I've read some of these, thus the book notes)

Dear Husband:


Fresh Vision for the Muslim World
Great book by American Mike Kuhn who lived and worked in the Middle East for many ; readable, balanced, and insightful. Providing helpful historical and theological perspective, Kuhn lovingly challenges his readers' moral imagination and does not neglect or side-step the issues and problems with which many western Christians are concerned.

Oldest Daughter:


Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy
The most helpful book I've read on the Israeli-Arab conflict so far, written by ex-Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, an honest scholar and an honest Zionist. Highly recommended.


Weight of Glory (Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis)
This one is nice for dipping into now and then, as Oldest Daughter was able to do on her way back to school.

Active Son:


Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption Laura Hillenbrand
Active son plowed through all 500 pages in less than a few days and recommended it to Artist Son--if he has time to take on another book.


The Everlasting Man
Highly quotable, which is no surprise since the author is G.K. Chesterton. Active Son was reading me a quote every half hour or so while reading this book. I think he's back to this one now that he's finished Unbroken.

Artist Son:


The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, Nicholas Carr
This was a life changing book for me but I just haven't had time to write about it. Artist Son is enjoying it as well and recommends it.


The Picture of Dorian Gray
Artist Son was assigned this for his Rhetoric Class: "Do we have The Picture of Dorian Gray, Mom?"
"No, but lets check the Kindle Store. Why yes it's here, and it's free!"

Tayta:


Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit
With Amazon Prime, Tayta was able to borrow this book by Francis Chan until the end of the month--free!

Me:

(recently finished)

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
A provocative book only because of the subject matter, but not because of the way in which the authors, both political scientists, handle it. This is about the 10th (or 11th? or 12th? I've lost count) book I've read regarding the Israeli/Arab/Palestinian conflict since June. I'm taking a break. If you are intrigued by GOP hopeful Ron Paul's take on foreign policy and blowback, you may enjoy this book, written by University of Chicago professor J. Mearsheimer and Harvard professor Stephen M. Walt. Recommended.



Home: A Novel
My tendency is to gorge myself on ideas ala non-fiction and neglect the nurture of my imagination. I'm forcing myself to read a work of fiction before I begin another book. I really do enjoy it once I get going but I'll have to shun a few other books that are vying for my attention until I finish this one. Marilynne Robinson is an author whose essays I've enjoyed and I've long wanted to try her fiction.

This is an unsolicited twelve thumbs up for our Kindles!

Gathering Up a Few Holiday Memories

No matter how much I simplify and/or prepare in advance, the days approaching Christmas are always busy but once when we sit down to Christmas dinner I breath an inner (and sometimes outer) sigh of relief, looking forward to the celebratory feast and the week of casual celebrating and relaxing with family and friends. The week between Christmas and New Years is my favorite week of the year.

We celebrated our first Christmas in our new home in Mafraq by joining the Christmas morning celebration at Annoor Sanatorium for Chest Illnesses. While the staff and some others received guests, mostly ex-patients and their families, the kids and I helped with crowd control for the children, as over one hundred children listened (well, mostly) to a presentation of the Christmas story.


After the morning festivities we scurried home to prepare for Christmas dinner, which we were delighted to share with friends from five different countries: Korea, England, Belgium, Egypt, and Sweden. As we enjoyed our dinner together, each shared Christmas traditions from our home countries. Did you know that cranberries are part of the traditional British Christmas dinner? Our hegemony is complete!


The day after Christmas was for sleeping in, staying in pajamas until noon, cleaning up, and receiving a few visitors come to wish us a blessed Christmas. Holiday visits are an important part tradition in both the Christan and Muslim community in Jordan.

Holiday treats served to guests

On Tuesday we took advantage of the nice weather and took a day trip to one of our favorite sites in Jordan: Um Qais, the ancient decapolis city of Gadara, where Jesus cast the swine out of the Gadarene. The ancient city overlooks the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberius) and the Golan Heights.

The Golan Heights are seen on the right, in the distance, and the Sea of Galilee, faintly, right in the center of the photo.




We attempted our annual family photo while in Um Qais, however we forgot the tripod, so the picture isn't the greatest and capturing the moment was a little stressful. Can you hear the commands we are muttering to each other through our smiles? I hope not!


I like this one of the kids:

My last cyclamen sighting of 2011, and my first of the new wildflower season:

Cyclamen persicum
Um Qais

After a long day outside, we spent too long searching for a good restaurant at which to enjoy a good Arab meal together.

Utopia, with it's retro-modern decor, way too many items on the menu, and few customers was a dubious choice for a good Arab meal, but the kabaab and shish-tawouk were delicious--the perfect end to a lovely day.

The rest of the week was spent lolling around, working on some felted wool items for the college kids, visiting friends, having friends up from Amman, reading books on all the new Christmas Kindles, eating too much sugar, and constructing the annual gingerbread house, made after Christmas for the first time.

Dear Husband and I welcomed the new year quietly, at home, while our kids celebrated with friends well past midnight. Our final celebration of the week was enjoying sweet fellowship and delicious salmon chowder for New Year's lunch with dear friends in Amman. Happy New Year and !كل عام وأنتم بخير God's richest blessings on you in the coming year!

Our Humble Estate

So often at this time of year I meditate on the humble circumstances of my Lord Jesus's incarnation: born in a manger to a young virgin who was betrothed to a simple carpenter. This year it is the humble estate of our humanness that is coming into focus; my prayer card seems too long this advent season, as I remember family and friends who have recently been touched by death, illness, hospitalization, financial stresses, relationship difficulties, hurting children, political turmoil, and unstable living situations. My initial thought was that this is such a hard time of year to face such affliction. Then, I was reminded that this is why Jesus came to earth--and, oh, do we ever need a Savior right now! We can bear the heartaches and affliction because, Immanuel, God with us.

This advent season I had the privilege of beholding the beauty of this painting on a serendipitous visit to England's National Gallery with Artist Son, and as a family we have memorized The Magnificat:

Adoration of the Shepherds
by a pupil of Rembrandt
The National Gallery, London

And Mary said,
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the might from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever."

Luke 1: 45-55

That Only Took About Fifteen Years ~or~ Felted Wool Christmas Stockings for the Artist Son and Tayta

I'm guessing I'm not the only mom who has followed this (downhill) trajectory when it comes to handmade gifts for her children:

Oldest Daughter: cross-stitched Beatrix Potter alphabet quilt (that one only took about 500 hours to complete), cross-stitched birth sampler (done by friend), cross-stitched Christmas stocking
Active Son: no quilt, but he received a smaller birth sampler and a less complicated cross-stitched Christmas stocking.
Artist Son and Tayta: lots of good intentions--I still have the patterns and fabric to prove it.

Artist Son and Tayta have been making due with inexpensive store-bought Christmas stockings for many years now, but thanks to my new-ish felting hobby, they now have handmade Christmas stockings.

The reds and greens are a little hard to capture with the camera, but I'm very happy with the color combinations--the kids said they reminded them of the Jordanian flag, so these will carry more than one memory.

My inspiration and pattern supplier came from this post on Moda Bake Shop blog. I cut my strips to the same dimensions minus the seam allowances on the width: 18 inches by 2 inches narrowing to one inch.

A few variations for making these with felted wool:

My stockings aren't quilted--they are just a front and back, sewn, right sides together, turned and pressed. To piece the felted wool I butted the edge of two pieces of felted wool together and zig-zagged them.

I attached the front of the stocking to the back (cut from a solid piece of felted wool) by placing right sides together and sewing a very narrow seam (about 1/8 inch). After turning the stocking, I steam/pressed it.

The top band was made with a band of felted wool cut to 3 inches by 15 inches. I sewed the short edges together to make a continuous band, then pinned the band on the inside of the stocking, right side of band next to wrong side of stocking, sewed a very narrow seam (about 1/8 inch), turned and pressed.

I also made these a little longer by using 12 strips instead of 10. Finished dimensions: 7.5 inches across the top band, by 19 inches, measuring to the lowest point of the toe.

I plan to personalize these stockings for Artist Son and Tayta, but that requires a trip into Amman for just the right wool yarn. Hopefully that won't take me another 15 years.

Winter Beauty

Winter Crocus, Colchium Genus

Wildflower Spotting: Ajloun Nature Reserve

The New Sweet Potato Casserole

First of all, the New Sweet Potato Casserole is not a casserole at all, but it does replace our longstanding, well-loved, yea even passed down from my dear mother-in-law, traditional holiday sweet potato casserole. I felt a twinge of sentimentality and disloyalty giving up this recipe, but since one serving probably has more sugar and fat in it than a piece (or two) of sweet potato pie, the twinge quickly passed. We are moving on to healthier menus, as is my mother-in-law so I'm sure she wouldn't begrudge the new recipe.

Besides being healthier, this new recipe is so easy to make and can be adjusted to any amount of sweet potatoes you decided to roast. I have only this measly portion of roasted sweet potatoes to offer in my picture as I forgot to photograph them right away, and this is all that was left.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Olive Oil and Brown Sugar/Chipotle

Peel and cube as many sweet potatoes as you wish to roast. I make my cubes approximately 1-1.5 inches square. Place sweet potatoes in large bowl and toss with some olive oil. Sprinkle with spice mixture, tossing well to coat all the potatoes.

Below is the recipe for the spice mix and you can use as much or as little as you want, depending on the amount of potatoes you are roasting. I confess, I haven't really measured how much I've used as I've roasted disparate quantities. While the chipotle adds a pleasing, distinctive flavor, this spice mixture is great without it. Confession: on Thanksgiving I accidentally added taco seasoning instead of chipotle and everyone loved it.

Place prepared sweet potatoes on a backing sheet (or two) and roast for about 45-60 minutes about 375 degrees F. This is an estimate--I check mine and when they look like they are browning on one side I turn them carefully with a large spatula, so not to mush the soft potatoes so that they will roast/crisp evenly. Don't worry about making too many--these will disappear quickly and make great leftovers.

Spice Mix
(inspired from Donalyn's Ketchum's blog for a different recipe)
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

A Few Felting Tips

Since a couple of friends commenting on my last post indicated that they may be heading to the thrift stores for some wool sweater treasure hunting of their own, I thought I'd post a few things I've learned about felting sweaters in case it may be of some help. Some of this wool wisdom I've gleaned from books or websites here and there, some of it I've learned from experience. I honestly can't remember which is which--except the pillowcases, which is a great idea, just not mine.

Choosing a sweater to felt:
Not all wool felts (shrinks) to the same degree so paying attention to wool labels is the first thing that will aid you in choosing good sweaters for felting:

Machine washable wool, in my experience, will not felt. Makes sense.

A sweater doesn't necessarily have to be 100% wool to felt. I believe a minimum of 70-80% is the rule of thumb.

Favorite wools to felt: lambswool, merino wool, some angora blend sweaters are very nice if they don't shed too much. Shetland usually felts well the first time but sometimes needs the encouragement of a second wash. Some cashmere felts better than others but all cashmere is wonderful and can be used as linings, for scarfs, baby blankets, etc.

A felted sweater is one in which you can no longer discern the knit of the wool--it all blends together.

I have felted a couple of woven wool skirts (vs knitted wool sweaters) with varying degrees of success. I plan to use this wool for craft accents.

Felting wool is part science, part art. I have purchased just a few 100% wool sweaters which didn't felt well, for no apparent reason, even if I washed them twice in boiling water. Maybe a dryer would have helped at this point--I'm not sure, but I've read that a dryer can help if a sweater isn't felting well. I've also felted sweaters, a large fisherman wool sweater from Ireland comes to mind, which I wasn't sure would felt well as the weave was loose. It felted so well that it was the thickness of a paperback book! I look forward to the felted surprises I find when I open my pillowcases. I've had a few disappointments but have been able to make things even with some of those--like a sleeping pad for our cat. Confession: I have thrown a couple felting disappointments in the garbage can.

Preparing the sweater for felting: I cut off the arms of the sweater and cut down the seam of the arm so that it lays flat. If you don't do this, the wool of the sweater arm may crease in the wash. I leave the bodice intact as I haven't experienced the same creasing problem here and sometimes Tayta likes the bodice intact for particular purse patterns.

As I mentioned before, I do a batch of like colors (especially with reds which tend to bleed like crazy) and each is enclosed in an old pillowcase so that fibers don't mix. Rubber bands will have to be replaced periodically and someday when I have time I will make zippered pillowcases.

Cleaning tip: Since I am drying my sweaters outside, I take the sweaters out of the pillowcases outside, give them a few good shakes, and the pillowcases as well. Some sweaters shed a little, some a lot. Maybe a dryer would take care of all this lintiness.

I also run a bleach load with the empty pillowcases periodically, to keep my washer clean. I read that somewhere out there on the world wide web.

And just because I like doing it, I steam/press all my wool and make lovely color coordinated stacks.

A couple more sources of wool felting inspiration:

Warm Fuzzies, by Betz White

This is the other book on felting that I own and it contains a lot of fun, do-able ideas. The projects are more finished/less artsy than the ones in the Sweater Chop Shop--equally inspiring, but in a slightly different direction.

Kris, who blogs at RESWEATER is one of those artisans who has expanded my repertoire of ideas of what can be made from felted wool. Check out her blog for lots of inspiration. She also sells sweaters for felting.

Edit: Here are a few great tips from Kris: A post which discusses working with wool blends and couple more comments:

Washable wool is treated, so that it will not felt. For felting, avoid the wording "machine washable", "washable wool" or "superwash". They should say "dry clean only" or "hand wash cold". Merino wool is the most common wool that is treated to not felt.

You do not need to felt a sweater until the knit disappears to be able to cut without unraveling. I like to "lightly felt" chunky knits, so they do not get so thick that you can't work with them.
hth!

And since I've been too sick this week study much or bake, I finished my intended Christmas ornaments this weekend. One thing we do have in Mafraq is pine-cones, so all my Christmas trimmings are focused on using that beautiful element to the utmost. The head, cap and scarf are made from wool scraps--the head from a sweater that didn't felt! Inspiration was found, where else. Oh, and I modified the hat template from Martha Stewart's site, here.

Pine Cone and Wool Elf (I've added eyes with a black maker since taking this picture)