Saturday, October 04, 2008


I checked over my stitching last week and discovered that I'd
miscounted on the placement of the bone, and it was off by half
a stitch. I suppose that I could have left it, but it would have
tainted my pleasure in this piece when it was done, so I ripped
it out and re-stitched it. I am satisfied. My first Lizzie Kate
project. Love the colours in this one.


I started another project from the same Lizzie Kate leaflet
as Bone Appetit, this one called Bippity Boppity Boo!! I
only have the lettering and a fancy button to put on this
and it will be done. The same threads used for Bone were
used for this piece as well.

My first time stitching with Weeks Dye Works threads too.
Is it my imagination or do you find that these threads fray
at the ends and split the thread?? Threading the needle
with them is a real pain. I guess if I use them more often
I'll get use to them. But I think that I prefer Crescent
Colours.


I was naughty, and ventured into the world of Ebay a few
weeks ago. I bid on, and won, a pile of Shepherd's Bush
and Lizzie Kate charts. They arrived this week and I've
been enjoying just looking through them and dreaming.
I only have one other Shepherd's Bush chart, also won
on Ebay some time ago, and I'm looking forward to
stitching something of theirs.


The Lizzie Kate charts in the pictures above and below were
also a part of this Ebay win. Some of them I will keep to
stitch, and others will be passed on. I like that there are
designs here for both Easter and Christmas, as well as for
every day.


I also ordered some threads from Stitching Bits and Bobs
for various projects (not pictured) and I ordered a few
Threadworx threads as well, just because I love them so
much. Just look at these colours!! I think they are just
gorgeous.

The Dinky Dyes chart in the above picture was also a
part of this order, and came with the silks needed to
stitch the design. A very pretty design. Just hope I
can stretch the threads provided (not complete skeins)
to last through the whole design.


Mom is still in the hospital, and has been diagnosed with
C-Defacile (pardon spelling) which is an infection that
causes diarrhea and can be quite serious. She's responding
well to treatment, but will probably not be allowed to
move to the rehab centre until she is clear of the infection.
Since entering hospital at the end of August she has lost
14 pounds. The nurses have her out of bed for little
walks around her room (she's quarantined because of
the infection) and she sits up in a wheelchair for
awhile each day.

I've gotten very behind in my blog visits and commenting
this week because life has been getting in the way, as it
tends to do. I developed the cold that my DH passed on to
me, and although it hasn't been as bad as some I've had, it
has left me feeling very drained and tired when combined
with work and trips to the hospital.

And after five weeks of going to visit Mom at the hospital
every night, or day in the case of weekends, my DH has
suggested that it's time to cut back a bit, before I end up
in hospital with her. So reluctantly I've agreed to start
going every other night during the week. We'll have to
start doing that anyways when she's moved to Rehab
because it'll be too far to go to every night.

This is the draw back of being an only child....or one of
them. There is no one else to share the visiting with. I
feel sick about Mom not having someone visiting her
every day, knowing how long and tedious those days
can be. And being sick I'm taking a chance visiting her
as it is, although I don't go near her, keep my face
covered, and use the hand sanitizer religiously.

Adding to the stress, I've applied for a job opening at
work which would make me officially full time. Right
now I'm working full time hours while being seconded
to a position while someone is on maternity leave. I
had an over the phone interview today. Was my
brain functioning enough to handle something like
that?? Ha! Do I really care?? Not so much.


Last week I chose to read a book based on Egyptian
history which was a wonderful, well written, well
researched read. I saw Michelle Moran's book Nefertiti
mentioned on several blogs this summer and it sounded
good, and received good reviews, so I added it to my
TBR pile. And it lived up to expectations.

Many of us know about Nefertiti because of the magnificent
bust that was found many years ago of her. She was the
consort of, and may have been crowned Pharaoh alongside
her husband Amunhotep. She was greatly beloved of the
Egyptian people and adored by her husband.

The book tells of the lives of both Nefertiti, and of her
younger half sister Mutnodjmet who are the daughters
of Ay, a powerful vizier in service to Pharaoh. Nefertiti
is married to the young, arrogant Amunhotep and soon
becomes adored by the Egyptian people for her beauty
and her charismatic style. As ambitious for power as
she is beautiful Nefertiti strives to hold her husbands
affection and his favour, while diverting his attention
from any and all rivals.

Mutnodjmet, by comparison, is not the great beauty
that her sister is, but is keenly observant and intelligent.
She does not desire power or wealth, but wishes only to
find a home and a life of her own, preferably away from
the increasingly dangerous and unstable rule of
Amunhotep.

Mutnodjmet falls in love with a general in Pharaoh's
army, but their union is opposed by Amunhotep who
fears and hates the army, and by Nefertiti who wishes
to keep her sister close by her side to help her stablize
and bolster her position. Torn, Mutnodjmet must
choose between the expectations and responsibilites
of loyalty to her family, or to fight for the life that she
desires and the man that she loves.

This is one juicy read. A fascinating time in Egypt's
history, when the obsessive dreams of one man
threatened to destroy a nation, and the intrigues and
power struggles within the court were as complex as
the moves in a deadly game of chess.

Michelle Moran has filled her book with richly
detailed descriptions of life during that time period,
which adds greatly to the narritive and she brings
that world to life on every page. I enjoyed this one
very much and look forward to reading her next book
which is called The Heritic Queen. Oh boy!!


My first mammogram experience turned out to be a positive
one. I had a great technition who explained everything to me
before we got started and who was thorough but quick as
possible during the procedure. I got a clean bill of health as
a result of the test, and don't have to go back for two years.

As Cathey might say, the girls got a bit of a workout, and there
were a few moments of discomfort but I gritted my teeth and
got through it. And the piece of mind is worth the price.

A shout out to Dani who did the Run for the Cure on
Sunday. She RAN the entire race and raised over $700.00
for Breast Cancer research. Congratulations Dani!!

Deb, L.J. Smith has written many books for Young Adults
and about 10 years ago I read a series that she wrote
about Vampires. I enjoyed them but they were fairly
light reading. The stories in the book that I just got
appear to be better written, judging by the quick flick
that I did through the book before putting it in the
TBR pile downstairs. We'll see if they live up to
first impressions when I do read them.


As you can see I've decorated for Autumn. These are
pictures from the livingroom. It's been cool around here
during the past few weeks, and we may see frost tonight.
But by the weekend it may warm up to almost 70 degrees.
That would be so nice. A bit of Indian Summer.

Thank you everyone for your kind remarks about
Cottage Garden. They are very much appreciated.

Hope you all have a wonderful week. Thanks for
stopping by. Take care.

11 comments:

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

That is a haul of stash there girlfriend :o)
But I just got done being naughty on Ebay...so I don't have any room to talk.

I love your new WIPS and I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE those sunflowers on your china cabinet...you've made me want to go buy some and put them on my cabinet....yikes...bad.bad.bad....

I hope your Mom recovers soon from C. Diff...it can be a horrible lasting infection on the elderly and easily passed....on among them. GOOD LUCK praying for her...

staci said...

I'm so sorry to hear that your mom is still in the hospital...I'm sending continued prayers and get well wishes.

Love your Halloween stitching. And all of your new Ebay stash, wow!!! You've got some great things there, congrats!

Hope you're feeling better soon too. Take care {{hugs}}

mainely stitching said...

Great stitching and wonderful new stash. But really, I wanted to leave a comment about what you're going through with your mom. Your DH is right about taking some time for yourself before you wind up in the hospital. My mom went through this with my Great Aunt Hattie, but she wouldn't listen to me about slowing time, resting, etc. She wound up not only with health problems of her own, but let her business slide into such a state of neglect that she's struggling to make ends meet now. Sadly, my aunt passed away ... but she never, ever would've wanted my mom to do so much damage to herself. Sometimes being "selfish" by taking care of yourself is actually just another way of taking care of the people who love you (and who want you to be well). So please, remember to take care of yourself.

Unknown said...

Golly, you've certainly been all kinds of busy, haven't you! I agree with your DH about your needing to slow down a bit, before you end up sick too, you won't be of much good to anyone then~so slow down!!! I'm sure your mom will understand the every other day visit's now. The day's must be horribly long for her, but the rest she get's is so important for her recovery too.

Loved "drooling" over your Ebay winnings~two of my favorite designer's to boot. And your LK WIPS are fabulous! What wonderful color's to be working with this time of year when everything outside is changing now with the season~I adore Halloween and Fall.

Your home looks so beautiful all dressed for the Fall Season. I especially love your Sunflower Swag~if it turn's up missing, I know NOTHING. LOL

Much "Good Luck" to you, on perhap's getting the job you interviewed for. DD of the Triplet's missed working and applied for a job~went for the interview and they called the next day to say she had the job. Wow! She started on Monday~she's going to be running herself in circles now. LOL Taking care of the babies would of been enough.

Have a wonderful day~will be thinking of your mom and hoping for the best.

Leeland said...

My best friend is an only girl like you and her mother has a poor health. She has exhausted herself lately with daily trips to the hospital, then doing her mother's house chores when she has three children herself. You cannot go on like that, your DH is absolutely right. You can't make up for everyone or everything. You have to accept that you can't be a perfect daughter, worker, wife... If you turn out to be quite good in every important aspect of your life (and there are lots), just sit down and enjoy that feeling. You can do it. Now. You deserve it.

The WDW threads are very poor quality IMO. I have found that cutting the ends of the threads helps prevent knots. But they do fray and don't think you can frog them and use them afterwards...

Lovely stitching on the L*K: your sense of perfection also shows in your stitching as you won't leave an off stitch... I'm like you most of the time so wouldn't dare laughing...

Lovely stash: good for the soul!

Take good care of yourself,

Lili

Andrea said...

Great bit...sorry...load of stash.:) Love those thread colours. Lovely LK WIPs. I think your DH is right too. It's bound to affect you physically and mentally going to the hospital night after night. Take care.

Beatrice said...

Please Please take care of yourself as well!!!!
I hope the job goes the way you want it to. Good luck with the interview.
Your photos of the decor are so nice. Don"t you just love the fall?
We are going to have a good weekend by the sounds of things...20*
That is some haul you got for your stash collection. WOW niiiice!

I like the sounds of the Book Nefertiti I'm going to see if I can get it from the Library! I love reading those types of historical novels.

Once again take care and my prayers go out for your Mom.
p/s Love the Bone Appetit!

Anonymous said...

All of your decorations look so lovely and what nice stash.

Thank you for your in depth and so very encouraging comment on my post. If your ever in Phoenix, feel free to stop by for a visit.

samplerlover said...

Hi Judy,
I'm sorry to hear that your Mum is still ill in hospital. I don't know Parents and Children are quite a worry sometimes. Her C.Diff... sounds a bit like what my youngest had when he was in hospital but it was called Roto virus. Very contagious in small children. He picked it up from the Drs. surgery while we were there with his brother who had to have some stitches removed from his high after having a series of operations to remove a dangerous birth mark.
The youngest ended up in hospital for nearly a week. This is the same one who has just had pneumonia.
No he has never had it before, but I had to laugh this morning. He has gone off to school this morning for the start of a new term wearing a jacket. Something he usually won't wear.
What a great collection of Shepherds Bush. I have a lot of their earlier designs and have done a few of them. They are beautiful aren't they. My favorites that I have are in my bedroom and I think they are on my blog from last year. I think one of them is called French ABC sampler or something like that.
My you get around with your reading. Russia in one book, Egypt in another. I think that is what is so fascinating with reading. All the different places you end up and the interesting people you meet along the way.
I haven't had much bliss time over the last couple of weeks. I ended up with everyone at home. But today, DH has gone to work, youngest DS has gone to school, and 2nd DS is getting ready to go to work. So maybe this is my bliss for the day. Yay she says. A day on my own.
Have a lovely long week end and I hope Mum is feeling a bit better soon. - Sandra.
ps I got my September/October Victoria last week. Enjoyed reading it. Was thinking of getting sent to me via subscription, but the way our dollar has gone down, I think I will forget that idea.

stitcherw said...

Bone appetit turned out very cute and Bippity Boppity Boo looks like it will be a fun one as well, great colors. Great stash you got, you're going to be set for a bit with all those fun designs. I've used both Crescent Colours and Weeks, and prefer CC's too. They seem to have a nicer hand feel to me as well as being easier to work with.

Sorry to hear your mom hasn't improved more, and that you've been sick with the cold as well. That would be so hard not to be able to see her every day. However, your DH is right, if you end up sicker you'll be able to see her even less and that won't do either of you any good. Hopefully she improves quickly and can move to the Rehab soon so she'll be on her way to getting back home.

Nefertiti sounds like a really interesting book. I haven't read much on her, but I've read different ones on Cleopatra and really enjoyed the Egyptian culture. I think I need to track this one down.
Sue

Pumpkin said...

That LK is SO cute! How are you going to finish them?

Boy, you have been busy on EBay ;o) LOL! Great stash. You're really increasing your collection.

Like you, I prefer CCs. The new Threadworx are gorgeous too and such a good deal for the price.

I'm behind in my Blog reading too :oS I'm sorry to hear that your Mom is still in the hospital but that's the best place for her. How long does this take to treat? I can empathize as I'm an only child too. That's a lot of pressure and I think your DH is right. It's no good if you get sick too.

Woohoo! Congrats on a clear mammogram :o) Makes you wonder why men don't have to go through something as excrutiating as that. LOL!

Take care of yourself. ((((HUGS))))