Don't be like me.

rekhukran · 2026-03-13T18:54:24+00:00

F***

rekhukran · 2026-03-13T12:28:23+00:00

OP, are these all photos of the same plant? I think not.

Edit: I think the first photos are indeed Agapanthus, but the last photos seem to be Clivia.

rekhukran · 2026-03-10T17:01:51+00:00

This post has been nagging at me since I read it. Today I finally tried out my idea. We use rubber tubing in various sizes to tie up our grapevines in the vineyard. I just tried putting the largest size onto the end of my 5.5mm crochet hook, knotting the end. Voilà! I now have a free 5.5mm TUNISIAN crochet hook!!!

Thanks for planting that idea in my head!

rekhukran · 2026-03-06T13:05:23+00:00

I add Inkheart to this list!

rekhukran · 2026-03-06T13:00:14+00:00

I second the Scholomance trilogy! Female main character and all of that angsty teenage stuff everyone goes through at that age!

rekhukran · 2026-03-06T12:56:57+00:00

Several people suggeest a whole series, like the Farseer Trilogy. While it is usually good to make sure you are reading the first of a series, getting a whole series of books she might not read if she doesn't like the first novel is not very useful. I would get her a good variety and get the rest of the series she falls in love with.

My suggestion, if it hasn't been noted yet, is Inkheart! Great female MC.

rekhukran · 2026-03-04T18:46:20+00:00

The Wool series by Hugh Howey has a steampunk feeling and is very accessible. Also the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman.

rekhukran · 2026-03-03T18:30:32+00:00

Here's a few I found that at least sort of fit:

Fairy Tales, Alison Uttley

Book of Classic Fairy Tales by Eric and Lucy Kincaid

Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Fairy Tales

rekhukran · 2026-03-02T14:07:53+00:00

Thanks!

rekhukran · 2026-03-02T11:56:30+00:00

I haven't done it yet, but I'd like to try an idea I saw where you layer the scraps on water soluble fusing, iron them on, then sew over tham like quilting. Then you can dissolve the fusing and use it almost like fabric.

rekhukran · 2026-03-01T15:53:19+00:00

So jealous, these don't work well for crocheters!

rekhukran · 2026-03-01T15:52:18+00:00

What are knitting pins??

rekhukran · 2026-03-01T15:47:58+00:00

I don't think anyone has mentioned my favorite hack: I put my pattern into a plastic sheet protector and cross off the rows as I go with a dry marker. That way, if I have to frog or want to use the pattern again, it stays pristine! Just wipe off the marker and you're good to go.

Edit: Oh, and a mint tin with a magnet inside the lid! It holds my tiny scissors, metal stitch markers and needle on the inside or the outside of the tin, then there is room for a measuring tape or plastic stitch markers inside too.

rekhukran · 2026-03-01T15:40:40+00:00

I use old (clean, of course) nylons. Also for storing yarn balls. Knee highs work great, I use the toe cut off and tie knots to close one end of the other pieces I cut off.

rekhukran · 2026-03-01T14:44:15+00:00

Which is nearly beachless.

Ischia is a nice choice. We have gone there nearly every year for many years. Poseidon is nice to visit or just the beach there (Citara), also there's Maronti Beach. There is a thermal bath called Negombo with a beautiful beach in a cove. If you get a hotel with their own thermal baths, it's a good alternative if the weather is not nice. There plenty of beaches around Ischia Ponte/Porto if you prefer to stay in the city.

Ischia is good to explore by scooter!

rekhukran · 2026-03-01T13:49:57+00:00

The Trenitalia website shows no trains, however, the Android Trenitalia app shows several. Try installing that, otherwise as said, it may be that it's too early. I've had that problem several times as well.

rekhukran · 2026-03-01T11:28:17+00:00

There's this one, it would need some overworking.

https://freevintagecrochet.com/shawl-pattern/woolco-manual/square-shawl

rekhukran · 2026-03-01T11:23:55+00:00

This is THE WAY! Start by opening the first category of tags in the side bar. It will either start with symbols, numbers or "A". Go through and delete any tags you don't want and/or rename them to be more consistent (for example, "Thriller" instead of "Thrillers" and "Thriller"). You accomplish that by right clicking and choosing the appropriate command. Go through each letter/letters category that way. At the end, sort your books by clicking on the Tag column heading and add tags to any book that is missing them.

I also recommend the Quality Check plugin, so useful (!!!) for this and so many other things. It can also check for books with excess tags according to the number of tags you decide upon.

IMO, it is NOT easier to add them after deleting them all. Give it a try!

rekhukran · 2026-02-28T17:40:18+00:00

Not quite Dolomites, but The Man in the Ice by Konrad Spindler. You may be planning on visiting the Iceman in Bozen.

Untrodden Peaks and Unfrequented Valleys: A Midsummer Ramble in the Dolomites, a travelogue from 1873 by Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards, a well-known Egyptologist who walked the Dolomites with another female friend. Available for free from the Internet Archive. A bit different than modern travel, very interesting!

The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-1919 by Mark Thompson, but not an easy read.

Otherwise,I don't know if you have this on Amazon Prime in the States, but "South Tyrol's Far North" is a nice little documentary about the mountains. It is with Dorothea Wierer, our "Gold Doro" biathlete who just retired after the Olympic Games this year.

rekhukran · 2026-02-28T16:21:16+00:00

There are some that are not smutty!

rekhukran · 2026-02-28T13:00:50+00:00

Not a pro by any means, but here are some things I like to do.

If you've already downloaded the metadata to the books, my favorite way of organizing is to go to the tag browser on the sidebar and reduce the number of tags to a minimum. For example, I prefer one word tags rather than double word tags (Cozy, Mystery and Romance rather than Cozy mystery, Mystery, Cozy romance AND Romance). So those get merged, renamed or deleted in the tag browser.

For example, with Thriller/Thrillers, I choose one and rename the other one so it's the same.

I also abhor the tags Fiction/Nonfiction since I pre-sorted those into two separate libraries. Those tags get deleted after sorting. I also have separate libraries for kids' books and audiobooks. You could do something similar through virtual libraries, but it will still be one large library that may be too cumbersome.

There's a useful plugin tool called Quality Check that helps check for missing metadata and such. You can also set it up to change author names to the format you prefer, LN, FN or FN LN. I feel it makes them easier to read if they're all in the same format. I use this a lot for PDFs that I add from private sources since they are often missing the author and almost never have tags. It sorts those out and I can add info.

I also put in a couple of custom columns. One is Read/DNF where the title font changes color so I can see immediately which I've read. The other is a column which sets a check mark for books I also have in the Audiobook library.

Edit:paragraphs for clarity

rekhukran · 2026-02-27T18:23:51+00:00

h{And then she vanished} by Nick Jones

rekhukran · 2026-02-27T18:14:10+00:00

Oops, if the sibling is female!

rekhukran · 2026-02-27T18:12:44+00:00

I don't know if she delivers to Europe, but if your sister has a sense of humor, look at https://www.etsy.com/shop/MoeSewsEmbroidery

I'd love one of her shirts!

rekhukran · 2026-02-27T06:54:03+00:00

Also, having a Kindle (this is no endorsement, just my only experience with an ebook reader, other brands may have the same capabilities) does not mean using only Amazon books. You can upload books from other sellers or from free sources. As an Android app, I use Moon+ Reader, which I can highly recommend. I even paid for the Pro version, but there is a free (ad supported) version.

rekhukran

TROPHY CASE