BOOK REVIEW: A Brush with Darkness

by Lisa Fittipaldi

What happens when you lose your sight? How do you feel? What do you feel? How do you go on?

Lisa Fittipaldi lost her sight. It was unexpected, unplanned. She was thrust into a world without sight and suddenly everything was different. Even the simplest acts, like brushing her teeth, became an overwhelming ordeal, one event among countless others that had to be relearned and conquered. It was her husband who put paints and brushes in her hands and told her to go with it. I suspect she had painted before, or at least expressed an interest, but this was different. This was learning to paint when she did not even know how to walk.

Lisa Fittipaldi articulated so many of my experiences. I could relate to her trials and tribulations, her awarenesses, her triumphs and failures. Yet I was born that way, always having to learn to do things my way, all the while dealing with people who just do not get it.

This book is inspirational. A must-read for anyone who has lost their sight, or hearing, a finger, a leg, or anything else that others may label a disability. You just may find an inner strength that makes you even better.

“Being blind is like being blond. It just is.” (p. 125)

____________________________

Available through BARD and bookshare:

.BARD – https://nlsbard.loc.gov/
Bookshare – https://www.bookshare.org/

AUDIOBOOK: Girl, Stolen

Image result for girl, stolen cover — Pictured: Book cover showing a girl with her hands held up covering her face so that she cannot see.

By April Henry

A 16-year-old blind girl sick with fever, cough, and misery of pneumonia, lies curled up in the back seat of her stepmom’s car in a mall parking lot. Her stepmom Danielle has dashed into the mall to pick up new prescriptions to fight the pneumonia. The car keys dangle in the ignition, the door is unlocked. It has only been a few minutes at most.

The car door opens and soon the car is moving quickly out of the parking lot. Cheyenne Wilder, huddled in the back seat, realizes it is not Danielle at the wheel.

Kidnapped! That was not Griffin’s plan. His mission was to steal packages from vehicles in a busy parking lot. Spotting the key in the ignition changed his plan.

Cheyenne’s harrowing adventure had begun. Cheyenne is sick, she is blind, and now she is terrified.

Written for young adults and older, this book is carefully crafted and beautifully written. There are no loose ends. It is suspenseful, scary, and packs an emotional wallop. Blind and visually impaired people of all ages will identify with the protagonist while sighted people will gain insight into the challenges of blindness and ancillary acquired skills.

_______________________________________

Available through BARD and bookshare.

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You Must See This

Do you see what I see? Can you see what you can’t see? What is it, and how do you know?

Visual impairment is a spectrum. It is seeing something between all and nothing.

The following video gives first hand information about what some blind and visually impaired people see.

What do you see?

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Your message has been sent

GIVEAWAY: Braille Books

I have braille books to give away. All of the books I am offering are UEB (Unified English Braille), all used but in excellent condition.

I am restricting this round of giveaway books to US addresses only. I will be mailing them “Free Matter” and I am not sure how international mail works with Free Matter at this point. My apologies to my international friends.

So, to my US friends, all you need do is fill in the Request Form below with your name, your email address, and which book or books you would like. Your comments are also welcome. If you are first to request, I will contact you by email and ask for your mailing address privately. It is that simple. So, on to the list of braille books to give away:

The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution – in one volume
Club CSI: The Case of the Digital Deception – 2 volumes
Conundrum – a puzzle magazine (word search, Sudoku, etc.)

Update: These books have all found new homes.

Speak App for Android

This just in . . . A free app for android.

I received a message from a reader, Eyal, about the development of an app for android phones called Speak. Eyal states that this app is different because it is totally free, no purchase required, no subscription required.

I developed an app for Android only. There is currently no version for Apple.

It reads text caught on camera, identifies products by reading barcodes and detects objects and colors. It also reads pdf files and text from images stored on the device, and translates text.

The app is quite similar to Envision AI, if you know it, the main difference and my main incentive was to provide a free app. Envision AI costs 5$ a month, the subscription fee is completely justified since they use cloud services which are not free. I did the best I could with free technology for the benefit of those who cannot afford the cost.

Please take a look (if you have an Android phone) the link is below.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.toucan.speak

I do not have an android phone, so I cannot look at this app. For those of you who do, check it out. Your opinions are valuable to all of us.

Good luck, Eyal!

12 Kitchen Tips for VIPs

1. Good lighting. Everything starts with good lighting. Use room lighting, spot lighting, and even motion sensor lighting in dark areas, like inside cabinets.

Cabinet Light — Pictured: Motion sensor LED light. The light comes on when the door is opened and stays lit for about 60 seconds, longer if more motion is detected. Rechargeable, and requires charging about once a month with average use.

2. Food Prep Tray. Place cutting board, utensils, and foods on a food prep tray, a tray with a lip around it. You will spend less time searching the floor for things that bounced, rolled, or fell.

3. Stainless steel drinking cups. Instead of glasses that are easily tipped over and too often shatter, use stainless steel drinking cups. They are just a little more expensive up front but last and last without needing replacement, so quite cost effective in the long run. As an added bonus, they keep cold drinks naturally colder.

Stainless Steel Cups — Pictured: 4 stainless steel drinking cups – 2 12-ounce cups and 2 8-ounce cups.

4. Two-sided cutting board. A cutting board with a black side and a white side provides contrast. Use the side that has the most contrast with the food you are cutting or chopping or dicing or slicing.

5. Sauce pans. Sauce pans contain food and spatter better than fry pans. The end result will be the same, but less food will slip, slide, or spatter over the sides.

Sauce Pan Cooking — Pictured: Sauce pan on stovetop containing a large slotted spoon for stirring, and the ingredients for “Thunder & Lightning.”

6. Oven-cooked bacon. Lay strips of bacon in a single layer on the bottom of a roasting pan. Place in a 400-degree oven for 22 minutes. Perfect bacon every time – and without the hot grease spatter. Google will suggest you use a cookie sheet. No! That hot grease will splash about when you remove the tray from the oven. Use a roasting pan. It is deeper and will contain the grease better. Trust me on this one!

Bacon - Oven — Pictured: Cooked bacon on baking sheet fresh out of the oven.

7. Mandoline. Keep your fingers safe from sharp blades by slicing with a mandoline. Not only will your fingers and fingernails stay protected, but you will end up with uniform slices of fruits and vegetables, and more.

8. Spice jar labels. Index cards (cut to fit) with spice names written with bold markers can be wrapped around spice jars and secured with a rubber band. See blog post “Spice Things Up” for details.

3 Spice Jars labeled — Pictured: 3 spice jars boldly labeled for curry, cinnamon, and cumin. Rubber bands hold the labels in place.

9. Bump dots. Place bump dots on microwave and oven and other appliance buttons to easily identify the location of buttons you use frequently. This ensures that you will consistently press the desired button, and you will also do so in less time. Bump dots are available in many sizes, shapes, and colors. If you know any people who are blind or visually impaired, odds are they have bump dots to spare. You only need a few.

10. Spice ladles. Spice ladles can be dipped easily into spice jars and other condiments for removal of just the right amount. Avoid spills and waste. See blog post “4-Inch Ladles” for details.

Spice Ladles comparison — Pictured: A jar of paprika with 3 spice ladles, a soup ladle, and a teaspoon.

11. Double spatula. A double spatula makes turning pancakes, french toast, hamburgers, and more, an easy task.

Pictured: A double spatula – 2 spatulas with a nonstick finish that are connected in order to work together as tongs or flippers.

12. Silicone trivets. Multi-purpose silicone trivets, typically 8-inches in diameter, can be used as hot pads, potholders, coasters, and more. They can easily be trimmed, if desired. Because of their nonslip properties, I find them most beneficial as nonslip pads for mixing bowls, hot pots, serving bowls, cups, etc.

Bonus

Your personal assistant – Alexa, Cortana, Siri, etc. Ask your personal assistant to set a timer for you, read a recipe, or suggest substitute ingredients.

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Links of products and information related to the above blog post. Note that the links showing items for purchase are for information only and are not specifically endorsed.

Talk to me. I would love to hear from you!

– Renee

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Your message has been sent

Novel Characters

Confessions of a Guide Dog: The Blonde Leading the Blind — Pictured: Book cover – Confessions of a Guide Dog

Are you looking for a good book?

The following list of novels features characters who are blind or visually impaired. All of these books stand out as great reads and are recommended. This list is a work in progress. Additional books featuring characters who are blind or visually impaired will added to this list as they become known. This page can be accessed at any time under the BOOKS tab at the top of this and every page on this blog.

Click on a hyperlink if you are interested in reading my review.

All the Light We cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Blind Curve by Annie Solomon
Blindness by Jose Saramago
Confessions of a Guide Dog by Mark Carlson and Musket
Girl, Stolen by April Henry – young adult
Seeing by Jose Saramago (sequel to Blindness)
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

10 Knit-Crochet Tips for VIPs

Men do it, women do it, even dedicated blind do it. So grab your hooks or your needles and let’s look at some tips to make yarn crafts more accessible, organized, and fun.

Crochet Creations — Pictured: Crocheted items include hotpad, hat with pompom, scarf, and towel holders.

Tip #1
Good lighting. A task light can be the best tool of all.

img_0288-1 — Pictured: A desk lamp with soft-light fluorescent bulb is designed for task lighting. The head can be positioned and directed as needed. This lamp is directed on a cone of red cotton yarn and a crochet hook with beginning slip knot.

Tip #2
Use chunky yarn and larger hooks and needles. Larger gauge materials are easier to work with. With some experience, common 4-ply yarn can be doubled and even tripled for some projects.

Pictured: Two skeins of red yarn. On the left is worsted weight and on the right is super chunky. The super chunky yarn is much thicker and requires a much larger crochet hook, as shown.

Tip #3
Use large print or audio pattern instructions. (Duh!)

Pictured: YouTube icon. YouTube has many crochet tutorials and patterns in audio format.

Tip #4
Consider loom knitting. Loom knitting can be easier to work with, especially for newbies, with fewer dropped stitches.

Pictured: A pink knitting loom with a pink knitted hat in progress.

Tip #5
Use paper clips as stitch markers. The colorful vinyl-coated paper clips work well with little or no snagging. The paper clips are also great as a place holder at the end of your knit/crochet session. Slip a paper clip through the last stitch, and even the cat won’t be able to unravel your work overnight while you sleep.

Tip #6
Use plastic blunt-tipped needles for weaving in all those ends at project’s conclusion.

Plastic Needles — Pictured: Three blunt-tipped plastic sewing needles with large eyes for working with yarn.

Tip #7
Use a needle threader. Some needle threaders are better than others. The needle threader pictured below is my favorite. I have been using just one of them for years now. I have not needed to use any of the backup threaders.

Tip #8
Keep a magnet in a small sewing box with your needles. This will save you from crawling on your hands and knees hunting for that dropped needle or pin. A magnet holds onto my needle threaders too.

Magnetic Needle Tin — Pictured: A small metal box with two magnets inside, one on the inside lid and one on the inside bottom. Paper clips and needle threaders are held in place by the top magnet, and sewing and embroidery needles are held in place by the bottom magnet.

Tip #9
Store project – all yarn, hooks, instructions, etc. – in a plastic bag or box. Keep a written or voice recorded record of yarn type and color, hook/needle size, and any special instructions. You might add the date in case it becomes a time capsule.

Project Bag — Pictured: A clear plastic zippered bag with crochet project, working yarn, crochet hook and written instructions inside. The instructions card says: Hat, Caron Simply Soft white, hook H, scrap colors #4.

Tip #10
Keep your working yarn in a container to keep the yarn balls from rolling around and onto the floor. A colander works well for multiple balls of different colors. A coffee can can be repurposed to fit the need, as can a shoe box or almost any other container.

Bonus Tip
Replace your sewing straight pins with sewing clips. When you drop one without even knowing it, sewing clips are so much less painful to step on!

__________________________

The following products are presented for information only. They are not specifically endorsed.

Spice Things Up

Let’s spice things up!

: Pictured: 3 large filled spice jars – curry, cinnamon, and cumin – all labeled with bold black marker.

So for anyone who likes to cook and for those of us who do not cook at all, spices are essential to making things taste great. And spices are expensive, too, so we do want to use them with some care. We want to be able to use them with some inkling of knowing what we are doing, and without any waste.

: Pictured: There are four spice jars – curry, cinnamon, and cumin and paprika has joined the others. The paprika is being prepared to be labeled. The label for the paprika is on the table, ready to be applied to the jar.

I prefer a labeling system. I take 3 by 5-inch index cards and cut them in half horizontally so that I then have two 1-1/2 by 5-inch strips from each card. With a bold marker, I write the name of the spice across the strip and then wrap it around its spice jar. I secure it in place with a rubber band. With that system, I can keep my spices on the shelf above my food prep area and I can usually make out what each bottle contains. Braille can be added to each card, either alone or in addition to the big bold writing. The label can easily be removed when the jar is empty and that label can be placed on the new jar.

When you are working in the kitchen, add some pizzazz- with spices, and be comfortable with what you are doing and how you are doing it. And enjoy!

How do you find the spices you need?

It’s Me!

Time for a meet and greet!

Please Share

By April Henry

The car door opens and soon the car is moving quickly out of the parking lot. Cheyenne Wilder, huddled in the back seat, realizes it is not Danielle at the wheel.

Kidnapped! That was not Griffin’s plan. His mission was to steal packages from vehicles in a busy parking lot. Spotting the key in the ignition changed his plan.

Cheyenne’s harrowing adventure had begun. Cheyenne is sick, she is blind, and now she is terrified.

_______________________________________

________________________________________

Please Share

Do you see what I see? Can you see what you can’t see? What is it, and how do you know?

Visual impairment is a spectrum. It is seeing something between all and nothing.

The following video gives first hand information about what some blind and visually impaired people see.

What do you see?

Your message has been sent

Please Share

I have braille books to give away. All of the books I am offering are UEB (Unified English Braille), all used but in excellent condition.

I am restricting this round of giveaway books to US addresses only. I will be mailing them “Free Matter” and I am not sure how international mail works with Free Matter at this point. My apologies to my international friends.

The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution – in one volume

Club CSI: The Case of the Digital Deception – 2 volumes

Conundrum – a puzzle magazine (word search, Sudoku, etc.)

Update: These books have all found new homes.

Please Share

This just in . . . A free app for android.

I received a message from a reader, Eyal, about the development of an app for android phones called Speak. Eyal states that this app is different because it is totally free, no purchase required, no subscription required.

I do not have an android phone, so I cannot look at this app. For those of you who do, check it out. Your opinions are valuable to all of us.

Good luck, Eyal!

Please Share

1. Good lighting. Everything starts with good lighting. Use room lighting, spot lighting, and even motion sensor lighting in dark areas, like inside cabinets.

2. Food Prep Tray. Place cutting board, utensils, and foods on a food prep tray, a tray with a lip around it. You will spend less time searching the floor for things that bounced, rolled, or fell.

4. Two-sided cutting board. A cutting board with a black side and a white side provides contrast. Use the side that has the most contrast with the food you are cutting or chopping or dicing or slicing.

5. Sauce pans. Sauce pans contain food and spatter better than fry pans. The end result will be the same, but less food will slip, slide, or spatter over the sides.

7. Mandoline. Keep your fingers safe from sharp blades by slicing with a mandoline. Not only will your fingers and fingernails stay protected, but you will end up with uniform slices of fruits and vegetables, and more.

8. Spice jar labels. Index cards (cut to fit) with spice names written with bold markers can be wrapped around spice jars and secured with a rubber band. See blog post “Spice Things Up” for details.

10. Spice ladles. Spice ladles can be dipped easily into spice jars and other condiments for removal of just the right amount. Avoid spills and waste. See blog post “4-Inch Ladles” for details.

11. Double spatula. A double spatula makes turning pancakes, french toast, hamburgers, and more, an easy task.

Bonus

Your personal assistant – Alexa, Cortana, Siri, etc. Ask your personal assistant to set a timer for you, read a recipe, or suggest substitute ingredients.

Talk to me. I would love to hear from you!

Your message has been sent

Please Share

Are you looking for a good book?

Click on a hyperlink if you are interested in reading my review.

All the Light We cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Blind Curve by Annie Solomon

Blindness by Jose Saramago

Confessions of a Guide Dog by Mark Carlson and Musket

Girl, Stolen by April Henry – young adult

Seeing by Jose Saramago (sequel to Blindness)

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Please Share

Men do it, women do it, even dedicated blind do it. So grab your hooks or your needles and let’s look at some tips to make yarn crafts more accessible, organized, and fun.

Tip #1 Good lighting. A task light can be the best tool of all.

Tip #2 Use chunky yarn and larger hooks and needles. Larger gauge materials are easier to work with. With some experience, common 4-ply yarn can be doubled and even tripled for some projects.

Tip #3 Use large print or audio pattern instructions. (Duh!)

Tip #4 Consider loom knitting. Loom knitting can be easier to work with, especially for newbies, with fewer dropped stitches.

Tip #6 Use plastic blunt-tipped needles for weaving in all those ends at project’s conclusion.

Tip #7 Use a needle threader. Some needle threaders are better than others. The needle threader pictured below is my favorite. I have been using just one of them for years now. I have not needed to use any of the backup threaders.

Tip #8 Keep a magnet in a small sewing box with your needles. This will save you from crawling on your hands and knees hunting for that dropped needle or pin. A magnet holds onto my needle threaders too.

Tip #9 Store project – all yarn, hooks, instructions, etc. – in a plastic bag or box. Keep a written or voice recorded record of yarn type and color, hook/needle size, and any special instructions. You might add the date in case it becomes a time capsule.

Tip #10 Keep your working yarn in a container to keep the yarn balls from rolling around and onto the floor. A colander works well for multiple balls of different colors. A coffee can can be repurposed to fit the need, as can a shoe box or almost any other container.

Bonus Tip Replace your sewing straight pins with sewing clips. When you drop one without even knowing it, sewing clips are so much less painful to step on!

Please Share

Let’s spice things up!

When you are working in the kitchen, add some pizzazz- with spices, and be comfortable with what you are doing and how you are doing it. And enjoy!

How do you find the spices you need?

Please Share

Please Share

Tip #1
Good lighting. A task light can be the best tool of all.

Tip #2
Use chunky yarn and larger hooks and needles. Larger gauge materials are easier to work with. With some experience, common 4-ply yarn can be doubled and even tripled for some projects.

Tip #3
Use large print or audio pattern instructions. (Duh!)

Tip #4
Consider loom knitting. Loom knitting can be easier to work with, especially for newbies, with fewer dropped stitches.

Tip #6
Use plastic blunt-tipped needles for weaving in all those ends at project’s conclusion.

Tip #7
Use a needle threader. Some needle threaders are better than others. The needle threader pictured below is my favorite. I have been using just one of them for years now. I have not needed to use any of the backup threaders.

Tip #8
Keep a magnet in a small sewing box with your needles. This will save you from crawling on your hands and knees hunting for that dropped needle or pin. A magnet holds onto my needle threaders too.

Tip #9
Store project – all yarn, hooks, instructions, etc. – in a plastic bag or box. Keep a written or voice recorded record of yarn type and color, hook/needle size, and any special instructions. You might add the date in case it becomes a time capsule.

Tip #10
Keep your working yarn in a container to keep the yarn balls from rolling around and onto the floor. A colander works well for multiple balls of different colors. A coffee can can be repurposed to fit the need, as can a shoe box or almost any other container.

Bonus Tip
Replace your sewing straight pins with sewing clips. When you drop one without even knowing it, sewing clips are so much less painful to step on!