Monday 9 December 2013

It's a long story

I picked up 2 Stitch kits from Bangalore when I went for vacation last August. When Nikita saw it she also expressed interest. So everyday after lunch we both sat together and worked on it for an hour or so.


If it was just me I would have listened to music while stitching. But since my offspring’s taste in music didn’t match mine I had to give way to audiobooks. Audiobooks are recordings of books being read aloud. Nikita is a big fan of audiobooks. Other than when she is studying, having her meals or sleeping, audiobooks is ALWAYS on. She listens to audiobooks when she is art/crafting, she listens to audio-books when she is cleaning her room…the list goes on. I don't put up too much of a fuss because she gets to catch up with the old classics in Literature something she'd never get to do otherwise.


We were half-way thru a book by Eleanor Porter when Nikita lost her needle. It fell through the narrow gap on the side of the sofa & could not be retrieved. Then we decided I would work on my piece in the morning and she would use the same needle to work on hers after lunch.


After a week or so she lost my needle the same way she lost hers. Since no other needle could be used[the needle eye is large as the thread is thick] we lost 2-3 weeks until I hunted around and found almost the same kind of needles from the super-market. Back we went to our old routine & finished the book[22 chapters] we were listening to.


Then Nikita lost her needle again. The same way. She got a nice shelling from me this time;-/. And I forbade her to touch my needle until I finished my piece.But it was no fun doing it alone. And I had to finish it soon. By now Audiobooks kind of grew on me and I started listening to ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ by Alexandre Dumas which I last read during my school days and had forgotten much of. Somehow listening to a story being read does not give me the kind of satisfaction I get when I hold a book, turn pages and follow the plot with my eyes. But all the same I continued listening and am hooked to the story now. 

The above is Nikita's unfinished work. She is planning to frame hers as soon as it's finished and hang it in her room. I'm planning to frame mine and gift it to my sister when she comes to spend her Christmas with me:-)).


I completed my picture today[yaayyy] but I still have around 40-45 chapters[there were 119 altogether] of the book to go. I want to complete the story but cant see myself listening to audiobooks just like that. Any suggestions???

30 comments:

  1. Aww how cute ! Splendid pic! And cant imagine audio books.. even i much prefer reading and unravelling thru my eyes rather than being redirected by some one's voice. But good going for the kiddo to have much a great hobby. EOD if she finishes books its amazing. (I hope my kid reads literature rather than comics :S) Anyhoo.. you could sneakily help the little girl while listening ;) I am sure she would appreciate it err.. i hope she would :P Kids now a days are different from us lazy bones :)
    How about taking a walk Nance ;) You did express a keen interest in it :P ;)

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    1. I dont think Nikita wants my help in completing it so no point thinking in tht direction. Yeah audiobooks is not my cup of tea either. Sometimes the people reading the story change in the middle of the story and we have to get used to another voice, another accent & the worst is when the person reads without any expression;-/. I'm halfway thru TCOM and its quite interesting so I just want to finish it off somehow.
      The walk, the walk, dont remind me....no chance as of now Amrita, I fell horribly sick last week with fever and cold & still havent recovered from the cough. So until it clears I cannot think abt it. Just when the weather was so good all this had to happen:-(.

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  2. N Jrmost and you have to now start on another one ..........

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    1. N Jrmost has been hinting but I'm not ready to give a needle in her hand yet;-P.

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  3. You are such a cool mom...! Audiobooks... knitting... you engage your kids in such productive ways and wait and see such sensible, level headed and beautiful girls they will grow up to be ! Touch wood!

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    1. Aiyooo Anita I wd have gotten carried away by ur comment if only u hadn't mentioned cool and knitting in the same breath;-P.
      For many reasons we dont have tv...I mean we have tv[to watch dvds & stuff] but no channels. So time used to watch tv is being managed like this. Simble, no ;-D

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    2. Knitting and any kids activity is productive and cool if there is no tv..and I mean it !

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    3. Hehe I got what u meant Anita...just pulling ur leg;-D.
      We kind of got used to not having tv tho everything is on the net if we want to watch;-/. The children crib sometimes saying tht they dont understand what their friends are talking abt...and I wonder whether we are doing the right thing;-(

      Sorry, missed replying to the comment earlier...

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  4. Vow Nance, it seems so good, I had tried my hand at this long back and realised that this is not my cup of tea as I do not have the patience. As Anita rightly says above you are such an ideal Mom, making your kids read, craft, stitch what not.. way to go..Nance, I wish I could be like you.. let me try and give one kit to to my daughter and see.. well I hope she doesn't turn out like me !

    take care
    Rekha

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    1. Yeah I knw wht u mean...towards the end I too was just waiting to finish it off somehow. My eldest is interested in anything arty & comes to me on her own with questions & doubts which I have no clue about but try to sort it out for her, thats all;-).
      Try it Rekha I feel u'll be pleasantly surprised:-)).

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  5. Excellent work - I accept that your patience is slightly higher than mine :P

    People love to listen to audio books while exercising or walking. Why don't you walk for 10 KM, daily, so that you can listen to many audio books?? All the best :)

    Destination Infinity

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    1. Actually I got a bit impatient towards the end and just wanted to finish it somehow. And dont want to look at another one for atleast 6 months;-P.
      Ur idea is really good DI...it never occurred to me mainly bcoz audiobooks is on the ipad. If I download the app on my phone it will be useful haan. But 10kms...;-o

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  6. Both the pictures are so beautiful.

    I could never wrap my head around audiobooks. Sometimes I like to reread some paragraphs when I am reading a book, I dont think audiobooks will work for me :P and yes, I am a slow reader.

    How about audioreading while cooking?

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    1. Exactly...sometimes I go back and reread and not only that I need to see the words. And also, when we read we probably take just 10-15mins for each chapter but somebody reading each word aloud takes a lot of time;-/. Only the fact that I cant get my hands on the book is keeping me tied to audiobooks;-).
      I tried that but its not working. There is just too much noise with all the cutting, chopping, spluttering, hissing and water based sounds;-P.

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  7. Audio Books..sounds interesting.. Do you really get to listen properly while doing other work... Btw hows Christmas celebs coming along... and Thanks for checking my existence...

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    1. It was difficult for me in the beginning & used to wonder how Nikita cd so easily give attention to 2 things equally. But gradually have got the hang of it:-).

      Been thinking of you on and off and so thought I'll check what u've been upto;-D

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  8. both the needleworks look good. i had always wanted to do one. good job nance & nikita! i know my girl would love to do this with me but not sure i have the patience. audiobook is a great idea! count of monte cristo is a memorable book.... you have to finish it regardless.how abt going for a walk while listening?

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    1. Thanks Lan...and me too, I had been eyeing these things for a long time now;-D. Now that I've finished with it I can afford to sound satisfied but it did take me 3 months to complete it;-o.
      A walk is a very good idea...next step, I'm going to load audiobooks on my phone, then I'm up and ready;-)).

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  9. Ok, here is the deal, I'll send you some audio books and you make a picture for me, :P :P

    (let me run off before getting poked with a huge needle :D )

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    1. U dont have to bribe me with audio books for tht. I'll willingly make the picture for u. Since we dont get the same in Dubai, how about u courier it to me...that way u'll get to choose the picture too;-P

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    2. Did I ever tell you that you are a darling?

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    3. Nope, I neva hrd ya say that. Say it again...again....and again;-D. I promise I'll never get tired of hearing it;-D

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  10. Lovely, I have always wanted to do one of these, but never got around to do it. Give a hug to Nikita for me, will you? I cant imagine my offspring to take a look at something like that. :-)

    you should try listening to audio books on management / motivation etc, like a Robin Sharma, you may like it. I am so much like you - need to touch and feel and smell the book. so old fashioned, and I hate the ebooks.

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    1. It's called the Anchor Stitch Kit from Madhura coats....ask for it in those big fancy stores[selling bangles, ribbons, etc]. And finally post a picture of the completed picture on your blog so tht we can all oooh and aaah over it;-D.

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  11. oh god... you are not going to believe this... i typed a big comment... mostly saying how fb has made us youngsters lazy... where you prefer to give a like and walk away... instead of commenting... n see the universal conspiracy... i was not able to submit my comment in chrome... i did a ctl+c to copy in mozilla... however, i forgot i already copied my comment n copied your url again to paste it here.... n this is what i end up with "http://konnotation.blogspot.in/2013/12/its-long-story.html#comment-form" grrr...

    yeah, like bloggers, like sisters - hence the rant in comment section... anyhow, i had said that as much as i was lazy to comment - i did read both of your posts and they are funny (as always)...

    ps. have no doubts, i think you are really doing a good job with the knitting n audio books... i wish my nephew didnt have to watch tv too... it does no good chech, so dont fret :) hugs

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    1. Totally get ur point Sulo. Nikita has been asking me for an account in fb....seems like all her classmates are on it and some of them are on twitter too;-o.
      As of now all controls are in my hands but I also know it's not going to be forever:-P. So till I can i'll keep them away from it:-).

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  12. My god... FB at this age... I created mine few years after graduation... ;P This is totally one helleva tech era :D

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  13. Hey Nance, Wishing you a very very Happy , Prosperous and Peaceful New Year. Take care.

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