A special posting because Monique tagged me to tell 7 things
about myself. Please try to stay awake for this....and I'll try
to keep it short (ha!!) and sweet.

1) I have a rare blood type - AB RH negative.

2) I don't know how to drive a car - I've never wanted to
learn to drive a car.

3) I'm an only child.

4) My DH has one sister who never had
kids. So I have no nieces or nephews either. Bummer.

5) I'm a loner. I love being by myself. (See only child
reference above)

6) I find it hard to talk to people, especially people I
don't know.

7) I've been to England 4 times.....with my parents in 1978,
by myself in 1980 and 1982, and on my honeymoon with
DH in 1990. I would love to go again. And to Scotland
(Hi Karen), Wales and Ireland too.

There. Hope I haven't bored you all to tears. I'm not that
interesting a person I'm afraid.

I hope to write a stitchie post sometime this weekend, but
it's going to be one of those weekends where we'll be running
constantly, and be home rarely, so I'm not sure how that'll
work out. So maybe I should just keep going here, instead
of balancing my cheque book, which is what I'm suppose to be
doing.
I don't think that I've ever posted a picture of this piece . I stitched
it back in my first cross stitch period, 10 years ago. It is a Dimensions
design, the designer being Barbara Mock. The only thing left to do on it
(I think) is put french knots (here we go again Dani) around the little
boys head, and that will be his hair. I stitched this on white Aida,
which I don't like anymore. I'm a linen/evenweave snob now. Anyways
I have a companion to this piece which is about 3/4 stitched and I
suppose should be acknowledged as one of my UFO's. It's also on Aida.
It's called Sarah's Friends, also designed by Barbara Mock. Perhaps
someday.....
And what I read this week. This book I admit being attracted
to initially because of the beautiful cover.

"Constance was adopted into the Thorne family. But she feels
herself to be an outsider, even before discovering that she
was adopted. She is a gifted musician, her sister is deaf.
She is dark, while her sister Jeannette is sunny. Her mother
and her sister share a closeness that Constance cannot feel a
part of. But she and her sister fall in love with the same man.

Constance runs from her family problems, forges a
successful career, and finds a refuge in Bali for a number of
years. Then she gets a call from her estranged sister, who
is dying, and suddenly they must both face the bitterness
between them over the past, and find forgiveness."

I'm paraphrasing the description from the back of the book
here. There's also a secondary story running through the
book involving Constance's nephew and a girl he meets in
the streets of London, who's visiting England but wants to
settle there and make herself into an "English girl" rejecting
her life in her homeland of Uzbekistan.

This was an enjoyable book, although at first I thought that
the secondary story was a bit jarring, and wasn't sure I
wanted it intruding into the main story. But eventually
everything fit together, and melded into one cohesive
unit. The characters are well written, and three
dimensional. The background story of the sister's
lives growing up is told in flashbacks, including how they
both fell in love with Jeannette's fiance Bill, and the
inevitable heartache which followed.

I will be checking out more books by this author.

Must go.....Moonlight starts in a few minutes.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Cheers.

Catching up with my stitching...here is the project that I've been
working on for the past three weeks now. This is a Linda Myers
design from leaflet #80 ~ Favourite Quilt Blocks. I am thinking
this might make a nice companion to the red snowflake patterned
piece that I stitched at the beginning of this year. It's not the most
stimulating pattern I've ever stitched, but I have to be on my toes
because I've found 3 errors in the pattern so far. Not hard to spot
them thank goodness, but it makes you worry about what errors
might be there that aren't easy to spot.

I'm going to visit with my Mom and have lunch with her tomorrow
and I'll be taking something to stitch on, plus all my new stash, to
show her. May take Spot of Tea 1 and work to finish that off. I've
missed working on it and the hole with the missing motif is taunting
me.

I've placed an order for fabric from MaryKathryn's on line site,
which is the first time that I've ordered from her. I've ordered the
fabric that she's offering to stitch all the Country Cottage/Crescent
colours design collaborations on together. And fabric to stitch the
Sampler Game Board on, plus other neutral fabrics.

I was cleaning up my craft cupboard last weekend and came across
some stitching projects that have been laying in my finishing drawer
4-ever!! This piece was stitched by my Mom, and I have got to get
this framed. It's so pretty, and I love the colours. Becky, this would
make a nice companion to Bird Bath, that you stitched for your Mom,
don't you think??? We do get all these birds at our feeders by the
way.

I haven't posted about my reading hobby for quite awhile
now, and am shocked about that. So here are two recent
finishes to tell you about...starting with the above by Gail
Tsukiyama. I enjoyed reading this book very much. It
takes place over a span of about 30 years, and follows the
lives of two brothers, raised by their grandparents. One
wishes to train and become a Sumo wrestler, the other a
designer and maker of the traditional masks used in the
Japanese theatre. Part of the story takes place during the
second world war and that alone is an interesting and at
times harrowing period to read about. I will be reading
more of this authors books in the future.

This is only the second book by Pauline Gedge that I've read.
I really need to get the rest of her books because she really is
an excellent writer, especially her books that take place in
Egypt. This book tells of the early life of Huy, a young peasant
boy who's wealthy uncle arranges for him to go to a prestiges
temple school in a large city, away from his home and family.
Huy does well in school, and makes friends with the son of a
wealthy family who treat him like one of their own. Then,
when he's about 12 years old the jealous actions of another
classmate result in a life changing and transforming experience.
As much as this is a story based on Egyptian history, I would
also venture to classify this as a fantasy of sorts as well. I
expect there to be a sequel to this book, since it ends when
Huy is 19 and you just know that there is much more of
his story to be told.

I have to thank Lelia, and Beatrice for nominating my blog for
a "You make me smile" award. I was flabbergasted when I
read your comments and checked out your blogs. It made
me feel quite pleased, although I have to acknowledge that
a lot of the smile inducing credit probably should be shared
with the cats, and Rupert the ham in particular. Thank you
ladies.

Monique, Sandra, Karen and Glenda ~ all new commenters.
Welcome to you and thank you for stopping by and leaving
your comments. It was so exciting to come home from long
days at work, open my computer and read all the comments
that had been left. Then to travel to your blogs and gaze at
the pictures and read the posts. Very relaxing. And very
inspiring.

The first week of driving his new Jetta kept DH on his toes
as he practiced his standard driving skills, and got use to the
quirks and challenges and differences from his old Impala.
The car has endured it's first rain since we got it, it's first
run on the highway, it's first 650 km's, and it's first bird
pooping on the hood. DH has also been kept busy picking
tiny leaves out of the car's nooks and crevices, which fell on
it when it was parked where he works.

We had an Octoberfest barbecue at work on Thursday.
Hot dogs cooked on multiple, extra long barbecues. Quite
yummy. No beer though. I don't drink, but isn't the beer
the whole point of Octoberfest???

We're off to a party this evening to celebrate our friends
Ron and Charlene 20th wedding anniversary. The party
is in the town of Sutton, near Keswick and on the shores
of Lake Simcoe. It'll be a bit of a trip, taking about two
hours. I wish that I could stitch in the car, but find that
there is too much movement. It's subtle, but I do notice
it. Are any of you able to stitch in the car???

I have a day off on Monday...guess what I'm planning on
spending the day doing???? No, go on....guess! :)


Taken on Thanksgiving. After a pile of turkey and trimmings what
do we all do?? My Mom is going to kill me when she sees this.....
(grins wickedly). Cheers all. Have a great week.

You All Make Me Smile.......

The rules are that you must pass this award on to ten other
people.

Oh, this is not going to be easy.....or rather, this is an easy list
to make up....as long as it can be 25 or 50 names long. Limiting
to 10 names is going to be hard, and painful. I read the blogs on
my sidebar because they are fascinating and inspiring to me. I
also read, at least once a month, about 30 other blogs. I also
browse through the blog lists on other blogger's sites to read
blogs that I might never have come across before. The
majority of blogs that I read are x-stitch blogs, but I also read
book lovers blogs, crafters (in general) blogs, and cozy, homey
blogs. So I'll list 10 blogs below, in no particular order, but
please know all of you that your blogs are all amazing!!!

Becky ~ http://beckysc.blogspot.com/
Den mother to all the x-stitch bloggers.

MaryKathryn ~ http://marykathryn.wordpress.com/

Nicole ~ http://nevillen.blogspot.com/

Ann ~ http://tempusfugit.over-blog.com/

Jane ~ http://yarnstorm.blogs.com/knitblog/

Shannon ~ http://shanel.blogspot.com/

Andrea ~ http://thecraftroom.blogspot.com/

Linda ~ http://litlaskvis.wordpress.com/

Sandra ~ http://samplerloversblog.blogspot.com/

Michelle ~ http://cozyegg.blogspot.com/


Thanks for sharing your blogs and being such great
new friends.......

Stash!!!!!!!!

Well, my two orders from Stitching Bits n Bobs arrived last week, which
made four long, busy days at work a bit easier to bear. Above is the
group of LHN and CCN charts that I chose to get. I'm adding the CCN
flower packs to my stash as they come out, and when I have them all I
think I'll stitch them on one piece of fabric, altogether. They are so
sweet, but I have to say that Peony is my favourite so far. I now have
LHN's Little Blue and Little White Houses charts, and I'll get the Little
Red Houses chart next. I love all of them and they'll make a great
grouping, someday.
A mix in this group. I didn't realize when I ordered the chart for Debbie
Draper's Lacy Pinks that the thread to stitch it with was included. It's
Carrie's Creation Magenta, and boy is it Pink!! I love the silhouette
part of this PS chart and will probably stitch this before the larger
design. The Just Nan chart is a project that I've seen several people do
and I love the colours of it. There's specialty stitches in this one that
will be a challenge for me to do.


I also ordered two fat quarters of hand dyed Jobelan, in 28 count Sand
Castle and Bittersweet. I love these hand dyed fabrics, and the many
beautiful colours that they come in. And of course I got the new
Christmas Ornament issue of Just Cross Stitch. There are about half
a dozen design in there that I'd like to do, although I don't think some
of them are really Christmasy. I also received a pile of hand dyed
threads in a multitude of colours for various projects that I want to do.
And most importantly, I now have the thread needed to finish Spot of
Tea 1. WooHoo!!


Why is this man smiling??? Well, here's DH in his equivalent of stash
shopping....I guess. He bought himself a new car and brought it home
today. There have been a few sleepless nights for him as he fretted
and considered his options before deciding on what car to get. He had
been driving an Chevy Impala for the past 5 years, and he's always been
fairly loyal to GM when buying cars. But this time was different. He
went elsewhere to test drive a few cars, and in the end he chose to break
with tradition!
So here she is. A 2007 VW Jetta. Pretty, isn't she?? DH was looking
for a more fuel efficient car, and even test drove the Diesel powered
version of the Jetta. But that proved to be beyond his budget, so he
ended up with the gas powered version instead. We also weren't sure
that he'd be able to fit into a VW car, since he's 6'5 and very long in the
legs, but he was pleasantly surprised at how roomy this car turned out
to be. He also chose to get the standard model instead of the automatic,
so now he's getting use to driving with a stick, which he hasn't done for
a few years. We spent the morning driving around the area, running
errands and allowing him time to settle into driving the new car.

And one of the stops this morning was the Needle Gnome in Acton,
because I needed some DMC thread for my current project. I left DH
sitting in his new car, reading his drivers manual and poking at buttons
and turning knobs, and went into the shop for some....er....thread. I'm
not sure, but I think I was in the shop for about half an hour. I came
out with the two charts, some 28 count Jobelan in a nice beigy colour,
some DMC threads, and extenders for my largest Q-snaps, to allow
me to do some of the bigger projects that I have in my stash.

Thank you everyone for your comments on Faith. They mean a lot
to me.

And yes, it was hard to come home from the cat shelter without an
armload of furry felines. But two is our limit here, and so I forced
myself to behave. My friend Nolle, who is the one who volunteers
there every week, has developed a love for many of the cats there,
as many of the volunteers do, and that's why she's got four cats at
home! And each of her siblings, and her parents have cats too! And
her in-laws! Lol!

After the balmy, humid weather on Monday we waved a fond
farewell to Summer and embraced Autumn with open arms, and a
heavy sweater. Monday it was 33 Celsius here, today it's 11. But
I'm not complaining. The furnace is on, much to the delight of
Phoebe, who lies on the vents and toasts her tummy while the
rest of the household freezes!! It's dark when we leave for work,
and because of my long days working, it's also dark when I come
home. I'm beginning to feel like a Vampire.

Which reminds me....is anybody else watching the new show
Moonlight??? The writing is nothing special but the guy who
plays the Vamp hero (Alex O'Loughlin) is quite yummy. Be
warned, since I'm watching this show, and liking it, it'll
probably be canceled before too long.

For some time we were wondering why the clock hanging on
the wall in our living room was often hanging crooked. We
don't get earthquakes very often in this part of the world, and
no heavy traffic or anything else that we could think of that
would shake the house. Then one day we came home from
somewhere and saw this.....

That's our boy!! Honestly, you've got to wonder what goes on in
their heads sometimes.

Happy stitching everyone.

A happy dance. Finished Faith by Little House Needleworks last
weekend. Made a few alterations to accommodate the colours of
the fabric that I stitched it on. The boarder was Magnolia, but I
changed it to Rosy Glow. The flower and butterfly that were
stitched in Magnolia I backstitched with Clay Pot to make them
more visible. Thanks to Dani who suggested back stitching to
make these two motifs more visible. I'd been considering doing
just that myself, but having you also suggest it gave me the
little bit of added confidence to go ahead with that solution. The
small butterfly in the upper left corner I also changed the colours
on, skipping Magnolia there.

Linda (stitcherw) the Queen Anne's Lace fabric is from Stitching
Bit's n Bobs site, and is listed as their hand dyed Jobelan. There
is no other info on the site for this fabric, so I'm wondering if they
dye these fabrics themselves. I haven't ordered any other type
of hand dyed fabric so I can't offer a comparison to others for
sale out there, but I really like the way the colours are layered
on these fabrics. And the colour choices offered are beautiful.

It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, and the weather has
been unbelievable. Today the temperature is in the high 20's Celsius
with the humidity making it feel even warmer. Saturday we had rain
for much of the day, and several thunderstorms. Since I love the rain,
and thunderstorms, I enjoyed that day very much. It was also hot
and muggy that day as well. Yesterday it rained a bit, and was cooler
with the temperatures in the low 20's, and by evening there was a
heavy fog covering. Today we are expecting rain and probably more
thunderstorms in the evening, and this will be the final hot day we'll
have this year. By Thursday the temperature will be around 15
Celsius, which is normal for this time of year.

My Mom, and SIL came for the traditional Turkey dinner with
all the trimmings yesterday, and SIL stayed overnight. She
made the pumpkin pie and the stuffing and the cranberry sauce.
We did the turkey, mashed potato's, acorn squash and niblets
corn. Oh, and the whipped creme for the pie. It was a delicious
feast, and we'll be having the left overs this evening. And probably
for lunches this week too.

Here is Rupert and my Mom sharing lunch yesterday.

A week ago I joined a friend to drive up to a small, privately
run cat shelter which is located about half an hour north of us.
This is a no kill shelter, run by volunteers, with a feline
population of around 40 - 50 cats at any given time. My
friend goes there every Sunday, usually with a partner, to
clean the rooms and feed the cats. Her partner was doing
the Run for the Cure (breast cancer run) that day so I went
up instead to help as much as I could. Probably spent most
of my time petting the cats, and grooming them, and having
a ball playing with them. Below are photos of two of the
residents. Don't you just love the eyes on the white cat???
Most of the cats have free run in the main room, but the
kitty in the cage in the bottom picture wasn't fussy on other
cats and so had to be kept separate.




Thanks for the info re: missing bloggers Michelle. I found a link to
Tempus Fugit's blog and am pleased to be able to read her again.
Sorry to hear that Karen V. is no longer blogging.

Hello and welcome to Lynda at Hedgerow Hallow, a fellow Ontarian
and a lady with impeccable taste in decorating, former costumer,
gardener, crafter and fellow fan of Victoria magazine. Lynda, I had
no idea that Hearst publishing was publishing Victoria again, starting
in November, until you left your first comment on my blog. I was
stunned...even more so then usual! I went to the magazine's site
right away and put in a subscription request. Oh boy. I can't wait
to get that first issue. And this time I'm hanging on to every issue.
I'll find someplace to put them. Somewhere.

Do any of you folks collect a magazine?? One you wait for eagerly
every month, or bi-monthly. That you can't bear to pass on to
someone else after you've read it, or to cut up or whatever.
I have been collecting Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion for
years, have kept every issue and reread them over and over again.
I have also subscribed to Entertainment Weekly and have done so
for almost 10 years. I don't keep those, except for the Oscar issue.

I took out a subscription to Cross Country Stitching last January
because I loved the designs that they showed from previous issues
in their catalog's. Typically, since getting the magazine every
other month I have not found one design in any of the issues that
even remotely appeals to me. Sigh. Wonder if any one out there
would like to take them off of my hands, since I'll never use them?
No charge. They're just taking up space anyways.

I'm expecting two parcels from Stitching Bits n Bobs this week.
Threads, charts and fabric. Oh my!!! Can't wait. I've also
started a new project, which I'll show on my next post. It's a
Linda Myers design.

Cheers all, and Happy Thanksgiving!