Some new books and a Sri Lankan dish cloth.

After reading this post http://lifeasmom.com/features/booking-it-in-2011I had a little spend up on books online and then had the pleasure of parcels arriving in the mail...all for me! I have so far read 'A Sane Women's Guide to Raising A Large Family', which I enjoyed reading I wish I had taken notes so I could tell you more about it but I mostly read while getting the little one to sleep and taking notes then is not possible. Sometimes it felt like I may have written the book myself as the author sound very like me and sometimes I thought "yes that is an area I need to work on". I'll have another flick through with a pen and paper when I finish the other books that are inviting me in. A lot of this book was written for people deciding if a large family was for them or not, so really didn't apply to me.

I'm currently reading Organized Simplicity. Again it's an easy enjoyable book to read. I wondered at first if there would be anything in it for me, at first it seemed to me the author was saying growing your own food and using cloth nappies are extreme and that prickled me a bit but as my reading progresses I can see she isn't saying that at all. She is catering for a wide audience is all, and these things are not essential, though to me they may seem to be. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the book and will attempt to take notes this time.

Cooking for Celiacs, Colitis, Crohn's and IBS, arrived this week and has been a real winner. It's pretty much a GAPS cookbook. Last night I made Sri Lankan feast which was great though as usual I was a little heavy handed with the spices and our 'eyes bled' a little! Still we all enjoyed it and I will make it many more times. There are so many great recipes in there, the children have been drooling over them so I'm using many in my latest menu plan.

I still haven't finished Gut and Psychology Syndrome, partly because I do need to take notes with that one and partly because I have picked up much of the content on the internet already. It's a book I will refer to often and lend out regularly.

Down To Earth recently held a Dishcloth Swap (my first swap)  and my swap partner Dhilma send me this lovely dish cloth and locally made coasters. The dish cloth was quickly put to work and only rests while in the wash or on the line. I really like using it. All of my past handmade ones ended up with holes from washing knives carelessly and I'd forgotten how much nicer hay are to have around than the squares of blue cleaning cloth I have been using. I wasn't a very good swap partner, my cloth was a very plainly knitted bamboo one and it was posted late but still I enjoyed knitting for a new friend and I do like knitting with bamboo, it's so soft and lovely.