The base of the Margaret Tie-Top Tea Cosy is nearly finished, and I think once I get past the basic part of this, the rest of the cozy will go relatively quickly. I hope to have it finished by the end of next week. I want to have this ready for Rich to use with his coffee press at work, since he has to leave it so often. It would have been lovely to have it completed today, which is the 32nd anniversary of our first meeting, but alas, it will be my project with me when we get dinner.

Unfortunately, I had to back track a little on Keese, but it should be correct and on its way in a day or so.

I've been able to read a little more lately, and I think I can finish Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge within the week or by next week, at least. I've read two books since last week. First, I finished Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha, which was exactly what I needed, a light, fun, and silly story.

I also read The Jinn Daughter which is a fairy tale told in the style of the traditional hakawati stories. First, the negative, I wish the author had not chosen to use scatalogical language in the story at all. It was one word, repeated only four or five times in the entire book, but it was so out of place with the rest of the story that it drew you as the reader out from being a participant to being an outsider. She could have used the Arabic word, which would have gotten the point across without the vulgarity, as she did with many other words (not vulgar or crass, just words like nahr instead of river and mote instead of death, etc.). It's not even the word itself that bothers me, but its entire lack of necessity. It had no place in the story - it was just sprinkled in for some reason. Now, the wonderful, the author examines the question: What story would your life tell? This is not the same as what is your life story, and she shows this different question throughout the book and causes the reader to ask the question of herself, as well. I love the use of Arabic storytelling. I love her inclusion of Arabic words instead of trying to find a close approximation in English. I love that she eventually includes kan, كان ياما كان (ya ma kan), the once upon a time of all Arab fairy tales; It was, or it wasn't. Ultimately, this is a fairy tale about motherhood. Like all fairy tales, the monsters aren't real, but the fears are. Rania Hanna is a neuroscientist, and her story is intelligently written. I do not know if she plans to write more fiction, but I hope she does.

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Labels: Church Year, Faith and Morality, Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Romance and Relationship, Tales from the Kitchen

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:21 AM