reflection, examination, harvest, and the right to roam
a little collection of handy items, resources, and bits of advice that have made my life better
forest shuffle is, possibly, the perfect game. incredibly replayable, simple enough for your mother-in-law to grasp immediately, just strategic enough to keep everyone interested but not so much that normal people find it miserable. the small size of the box (and simple contents - just a board and large deck of cards) has a twofold benefit: it's portable AND minimally intimidating to newbies. rare game that's equally fun with any number of players, so you have something to enjoy during the inevitable times when you can't get a full 4-6 player group together on a regular basis. — other games that fill this niche a little less perfectly are red dragon inn and love letter. we also recently got fellowship of the ring: the trick-taking game and after taking it out for a spin I'm thinking it's going to be up there with forest shuffle if not even better.
organizing solutions for people with attention deficit disorder - you don't need to have ADHD to benefit from this book but if you find that it changes your life you might want to look into getting assessed. top takeaways: if you use it in two places and it's never where you need it, buy two. if all your socks are the same you can just jumble them in a drawer. if your clothes are always in a pile on the living room floor you can just put your hamper in the corner of the living room.
keep a small block of beeswax in your sewing kit for easy threading.
most sock knitting patterns are a scam. custom socks knit to fit your feet will teach you everything you need to know about how to build a sock "recipe" that works for your size & gauge and you'll never need to buy a sock pattern again.
a rice cooker really does make dinner that much easier. like that much. even if you already make perfect stovetop rice every time. I can't explain it. it just does.
everyone should be reading more short fiction. start with stories of your life and others by ted chiang. short story collections are perfect for gifting, too, btw - it puts less of a commitment on the recipient than a novel, they're usually punchy and fun, and if they finish it you can talk about which one was your favorite.
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