Snatching a bit of sunlight to show off the progress on my
redwork sampler. I'm over 1/4 done with this piece and
have a bit more alphabet to do before moving on to the
rest of the design. The colour of the fabric shows up a
bit better in this picture. It compliments the red very
well.

This picture was not taken in full sunlight, but might
show off the stitching better. I've used up one full
skein of DMC 150 to get this far, and had to get DH
to take me to Michael's yesterday to get more.
Annoyingly, they only had two skeins of this colour
left. Ideally I would have prefered to get three. Oh
well, it just means that in about a months time DH
will have to take me back again.

-----------------------------------------------------

We picked up my Mom and took her with us to do
a bit of shopping, and to allow her to get some fresh
air. It's been a long winter for those living at the
retirement residence as all the snow has forced them
to remain indoors pretty much since November.
Needless to say they're all suffering from cabin
fever, even the ones who don't usually care whether
they go out or not.

Mom was wanting to check out Michael's wool
selection, looking for wool and needles for knitting
a scarf. Since she's unsteady on her feet, and
severely bent from Osteoarthritis in her back, she
uses a walker, and she tires easily so we didn't want
to be too long in the store. Once we'd made our
purchases there we took Mom to Shoppers Drug
Mart in the Georgetown Mall to pick up some of
the makeup that she uses before taking her home.

It's kind of funny that my Mom, at 86 years, won't
go without her makeup. But I haven't worn makeup for
many years, although I do use it for special occasions.
Is it a generational thing??? Do you wear makeup
all the time???

------------------------------------------------------

Last night DH and I observed Earth Hour from 8 to
9 o'clock, when we turned out all the lights and lit
candles. (Hurray for Partylite!!!) We had all kinds
of scented candles lined up on the dinning room
table where we sat and played Cribbage for the
duration of the hour. And actually we went passed
the hour since we were in the middle of a game and
wanted to finish it. We played two games, and I won
both!! A quick look around the immediate neighbour-
hood from our front and back windows showed that
about half of our neighbours were observing the occasion.
Did you turn off your lights last night???

I finished reading this historical fiction novel last week.
It was recommended to me by a friend when we were
at the bookstore together during my holiday in Feb.

I've been fascinated by the story of the "Princes in the
Tower" since high school, and then I discovered Josephine
Tey's book "Daughter of Time" which argued that
Richard III wasn't necessarily the monster that Shakespeare
painted in his play. I've read a few books on Richard since
then and I guess I'm also a believer that it's possible,
if not probable, that he didn't murder his nephews, and
has been much maligned by history in general, and the
Tudors in particular....for obvious reasons.

A Rose for the Crown is about Kate, who became
Richard's mistress when he was a young man, before he
married Anne Neville. Richard's devotion and love for
Anne is well documented in history, so the story is
careful to follow that lead, and have Richard give up
his first love Kate to be faithful to Anne as his
conscience and religion demands.

The story begins when Kate is a child of nine, and
it follows her through her life until middle age. Born
of a humble farming family, Kate is sent to live with
her mother's more well off cousin's family, to be a
companion to his young daughter. Kate is a
strong minded, intelligent girl, quite beautiful
and a talented singer/musician as well. In spite
of her low birth she catches the eye of a wealthy
older man to whom she is married at 15. Widowed
a few years later she then marries a young man
closer to her own age with whom she has fallen
in love. But that marriage proves to be a huge
disappointment for her and it is around this time
that she meets Richard, two years younger then
herself, and they fall immediately in love.

The book is well over 200 pages along before the
two young lovers meet and consummate their love
and I would imagine that they probably have less
then a month in total together during the course of
their lives. Kate bears Richard three children before
their affair ends when Richard marries Anne, and
even though widowed once again she chooses to
remain unmarried and relatively independent for
the rest of her life. Richard's fate of course we all
know and it's a sad, tragic waste. I've often
wondered how history would have unfolded if
Richard had defeated Henry Tudor that day at
Bosworth field. There's another book right there.

This is one of those thick, richly detailed books that
I love most because I can really loose myself in them.
Lots of period detail, historical fact, and secondary
characters both real and imagined make the story
come alive. There is a section at the end of the book
with questions for book clubs to use if they've chosen
to read it, which is kind of neat. The author Anne
Easter Smith has a second book out called Daughter
of York and I've ordered it to read as well.

------------------------------------------------------

Barbara, according to Wikipidia Maundy Thursday
is:

"In the Christian liturgical calendar, Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday is the feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. It is the fifth day of Holy Week, and is preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday."

This is only a partial explanation, but you get the idea.

----------------------------------------------------

Thanks to everyone for their encouragement
regarding my start of the redwork piece and
the (temporary) abandonment of Cottage
Garden. It seems that we've all been there.

And belated thanks for all the advice and
encouragement regarding my tentative attempts
at framing. I've got a lot of excellent information
to take into consideration for my next framing
project.

Cathey, I would like very much to see your
instructions for framing if it's not a problem.
My e mail address is: crazee4books@hotmail.com
if you need it.

I've ordered a pile of books from Barnes and
Noble, all hardcovers and all on sale for a pittance.
Even with shipping costs it's a good deal.
Michelle, included is the book on Marie Antoinette
by Sena Jeter Naslund....have you read it???
I read her novel Ahab's Wife a number of years
ago and enjoyed it. I'm also expecting books from
Indigo/Chapters. And stuff from Mary Kathryn.
My DH is going to kill me!! And the postman too.

Cheers all.