Indigo Book Giveaway

 

For the third year in a row, Canada's biggest bookstore chain, Indigo was giving books away.  We went last year and I blogged about it here.

The store opened at 9am and we were there just after 8:30am and here was the line.  The weather was glorious, unlike last year when it was cold and drizzling.  A lady from the store went down the line and handed out slips of paper with what book you would like.  You were allowed one book per adult (age 18+).  I of course dragged hubby along with me.  It was very well organized.

By the time the lady got to us; they had no more copies of "Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon" left.    I was going to get that book, but luckily I had two others picked out.  I ended up with:

"Educated by Tara Westover"  I started to read this book on Saturday afternoon and kept thinking to myself, this all sounds familiar.  So decided to look at my Book review blog and sure enough I reviewed it there back in 2019.  You can read my review here.

"The Wager, by David Grann"

The two other books choices were, "Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi" and that is a graphic novel and just not my thing.  "Bear Town by Fredrik Backman" seemed a popular choice with people we were standing with.  I do not enjoy this author at all and its about hockey which again is not my thing.

I have added links to all the book titles, so you can see the synopsis on the books.  I will of course pass on my books when I had read them, like I always do.  As I have said before this is a wonderful thing this company does and it's a Canadian company which is an added bonus!

Well let's try this again........

I'm back, feeling a whole lot better (fingers, toes and everything crossed!) and hoping to stay that way!!

Just felt all out of sorts that's for sure, but onwards and upwards as they say.

Yesterday was 9/11 and was watching a lot of things on tv about it.  Can't believe it's been 25 years already?  I was at work, when my boss's wife called and told us to turn on the tv.  It was horrific just watching what was happening.  I remember it clearly.  

There are certain days in our lives we will never forget.  I remember Elvis dying, I was living at home at Clifford Street (UK).  John Lennon being shot, I was at work in the hotel I was working at.  Princess Diana's funeral, I remember talking to my mam on the phone and us comparing notes and marveling at all the details; we were in Canada, she was in the UK.  The Queen dying, we were on our way to the airport to go to the UK.  The day of her funeral, we were having afternoon tea in the Lake District, with our two kids and my mother.  Even Dolly Parton, will be one I will remember, and many more.

Are there certain things that happened in history you will never forget?

Spoke too soon........

 Not feeling well at all.  It is a sinus/head cold thing I have going on. (((SIGH)))  Will be back later on in the week, hopefully!  😰😩😩

Never had this happen to me before..........

I couldn't thread the needle on my sewing machine.  I struggled for ages.  In the end I replaced the needle and everything went smoothly.  The funny thing though, I could see daylight through the needle "hole," so have no idea whatsoever what was wrong?

Anyhow, I was sewing a zippered pouch to put some charging cables and other electronics that we use when we go away.

I found a couple pieces of "scrap" fabric.  A heavy weight cotton and some quilting backing fabric that was sort of "cushy."  I didn't want to use any batting, I was being lazy!!

I bought a waterproof cell phone holder, and I bought a foldable phone charger.

We have a couple of trips planned over the next couple of months, to Ottawa and Jamaica.  Looking forward to both of them.

Also thanks for the feel better wishes.  Still not 100%, but better than I was...........

Not feeling the best.........

 

Have a super weekend and will be back next week some time.............

Are you one?

 

I am!!

Practical Gill win's out every time!

Over the last couple of days the practical side of Gill (Gillian) has won over the "I don't care/fun side" of Gill!

Let me explain.  We went to look over some new homes; no we are not moving, it was more a research thing, for someone else.  I dragged hubby along with me and went in with "I know these aren't suitable for us" attitude.  How wrong I was there....LOL  I loved the homes, BUT and it's a very big BUT, they are townhomes/terraced homes, so not hugely fond of that aspect, but could live with it. Also, despite you actually owning the home, you don't actually own the land it is on.  We did that in our last house.  Here's the kicker though with this subdivision, unlike with our last house, where the water, all garden maintenance and house insurance and roof replacement (when needed) was covered by the monthly fees, this one NOTHING is covered and you still have to get board approval for any changes made outside.  Also for the lot's we liked (not backing onto another house) you were required to pay between $750 to $850 per month rental fee, for the land.  So practical Gill kicked in and said a firm no to this situation and I am glad about it!

Then yesterday it was a humid dreary day.  Hubby said lets go to the casino.  We can each spend $20 and see how we do.  Have a bit of fun.  So off we trot and I went through my first $20 pretty fast, so ended up putting in another $20 and here is what I won:

That is a 212.5% win on a 66 cent bet.  I did my three back up spins (as per Brian Christopher Slots!) and ended up winning some more.  I cashed out at $160.10, as practical Gill stepped in.  Between us we walked out with I think $135 in profit.  We could have stayed longer, we were there for an hour, but we knew there was a good chance we would end up losing it all..........as the casino always wins!!!

Passed a gas station on the way home and filled up the car with $50 worth of gas from our winnings.

So despite being annoyed that "Practical Gill" always wins, in both these cases it was the right thing to do.  It's been a few months since we have been to the casino, it's not a thing we do very often.  I was looking back to the last time we went to the casino and it was in March and I posted about it here.

Are you a very practical person?