Seasonal greetings to those bookish friends who, despite my long blogging hiatus, still appear to be checking in to this sadly inactive site. (WordPress kindly updates me with viewing statistics, and people are always stopping by for a browse. Lovely to see, and I thank you all and hope you are finding things of interest.)
Well, another year has rolled on past, and with astonishing speed. It’s all a bit of a blur. We are all well and happy here. Ridiculously busy, all self inflicted, but it beats being bored, so no complaints.
I am hoping to be back on deck with some book posts this coming year, as I truly miss my interactions with all of you. I do receive a number of other people’s posts via email, so am not completely out of the loop, though my involvement has been very lurker-ish versus participatory. But one has high hopes for the near future…
Here comes 2020 – already! – and of course we are all making jokes about forward vision and the like. I personally am all set to roll forward, and my own vision is experiencing something of a renewal, as I recently splurged on a pair of prescription reading glasses, and have found them to be absolutely wonderful. What took me so long to do this???! Silly, silly me.
I am desperately short-sighted and have worn glasses from an early age, and for most of my life have managed to function quite nicely, but as my sixth decade trundles on I’ve found it harder and harder to read fine print on yellowing pages, which of course applies to a whole lot of my target literature. Well, with these new glasses, the words are jumping off the pages once again, opening up all sorts of possibilities in the way of reading material I had reluctantly been setting aside as “too hard to read” in a purely practical sense.
The only problem is that I now have TWO sets of specs to keep track of, but since my everyday glasses are more than adequate for everything else I do, I’ve been able to develop a new habit of keeping the readers with the current book. So far, so good. I find I am reading much more comfortably, no more squinting or stretching my arms way out to try to find the perfect distance for deciphering print. It has, in fact, been life changing, in a very good way. I highly recommend this! If you have been mulling over a similar decision, I would say “Do it!” Worth every penny.
I will close with warm wishes to you all for an optimistic turn-of-the-decade. Here’s hoping for good things to come, and a continued companionship of shared interests. Happy New Year to come!
Leaves & Pages 
Happy New Year Barb!
Glad to see another blog posting from you. I usually just read them in my email so I’m not sure if it shows up in your stats or not.
Anyway, hope you have a great year and I’m sure Ed can find your glasses for you, as is the fate of all spouses. 😉
Bye for now,
love Sarah Beck
Happy New Year to you and yours, Sarah! Hard to believe that the “new century” is already turning 20. Where did those years go?! Ed is my extra set of eyes, for sure – occasionally I drop my specs and they bounce away and I can’t find them and have to call for help – he is fortunate in being able to see without assistance. Though he is considering getting his own reading glasses now that I am raving about how easy things suddenly are. There are many books which he has given up on, too – those aging pages and small fonts – so there may soon be several sets of “assisters” residing in the living room on the lampstand between our two armchairs!
I always carry two pairs of reading glasses – I’m hopeless without them, and reading is essential!
Happy new year!
Two pairs is very tempting! Perhaps one on a chain so I can keep them with me when I’m in the house… 🙂 Isn’t it wonderful to live in an age where this is possible? Glasses and such, I mean. I often think of what it must have been like in times before these aids were so readily available. I guess one would just live in a blur…
Happy New Year!
I am fortunate that I take my glasses off to read. Having to knock about for reading specs would be irksome. Here’s to clear-sighted reading for the new year.
So far, so good! Though I am considering a second pair – one for the bedside table, one for beside the reading chair. Being prescription, they’re a bit costly, so I will have to think that one through. 🙂 Happy New Year!
I refuse Lasik just so I won’t lose my reading 👀.
I got varifocals a couple of years ago and they are great, no more juggling with two pairs of specs.
I might go for those next time round. For now I am so grateful for this second pair – it’s been quite wonderful to see again, as it were!
Looking forward to discovering lots more books with you in the New Year!
Happy New Year.
Lovely to hear from you! Happy New Year to you as well! Here’s hoping that 2020 is kind to all of us. 🙂
Lovely to hear from you! I’m one of those people who comes back regularly hoping to find new posts – though I really should just work my way through the years that I might not have read yet…
And it’s grand to hear from you, Simon. You’re one of the bloggers who shows up in my email inbox, and so you have helped to keep me in the loop during the long silence, as I’ve come to think of it. Thank you! And a wish for a very Happy New Year is winging its way right across Canada and over the Atlantic to to you and yours!
I was amazed to be able to read a book I’d just not been able to focus on when I trotted off and got new glasses last year! I have varifocals so fortunately just the one pair to worry about. Happy new year and hope to see more from you when you’re ready.
Such a difference these new glasses make! I was hoping that they would help, and it was such a joy when they exceeded my expectations. There are shelves and shelves of books now open to me once more! I was tempted to try the varifocals, but as I have a bit of a balance issue due to an issue with a damaged inner ear, we collectively decided (my optometrist and I) that we would keep things simple, at least this time round. I expected a problem getting used to switching glasses, but so far it’s been a non-issue. My standard glasses will do for everything in a pinch, but when I settle down for a proper book session, the readers are just right. (I still have to take them off to thread a needle, though, and I’d secretly hoped that this would be an easier task with the close-focus glasses. Maybe there’s no help for that?!)
Barb! I miss you and do often find myself combing through your archives for book ideas. I have finally tasked the library with tracking down an inter-library loan copy of Rhododendron Pie thanks to your enthusiasm for it.
Happy New Year!
Claire! So good to hear from you! I hope that you can get your hands on Rhododendron Pie, and that it fulfills your expectations. It was Margery Sharp’s very first novel, and it is so polished and so perfect. (In my opinion.) Happiest of New Years to you and yours.
Lovely to see you back. Good news about the glasses. Happy New year.
She’s back! She’s back! (Yes, I know, you were always somewhere…) I’m glad to know WordPress keeps you up to date on visitor stats, because I do come by once a week to check (my super-organized blog-reading process).
Now, about those glasses. Yes, a wonderful way to access what’s around you.
If you’re having trouble a) finding them and b) distinguishing them from each other until you put them on, here’s my suggestion: Colourful cases. Not black, brown, dark green, etc. Bright cases easily spotted at 20 paces or more. Easily found in your purse or backpack. And of course, the two kinds of glasses should have cases quite distinct from each other.
A pair for upstairs and downstairs? I’ve done that for years. Yes, a bit pricey, but go for basic plain frames. (as I point out to the oculist: they improve how I see when I’m reading, not how I look.) Unless, of course, you want to keep fit by running up and downstairs all the time. My downstairs glasses are also the pair that goes out and about with me, in my purse.
Blah blah blah. Sorry.
Meanwhile, I see there’s another post! Gotta go read that too.
I have truly missed seeing you post!! I am always coming back to check and see if you have added anything, and then i start at the top and go through your book reviews from top to bottom – it’s so comforting. So very happy to see you are still active and doing well, a very happy new year! Fiona x
This is a very belated visit to the blog! Happy New Year, and I hope you have tons of wonderful reading ahead. I’m so glad you’ve got the new reading glasses and that they’re treating you right — it’s always so good when you can make a relatively small change that gives you a relatively vast improvement in life quality.