Good Sunday morning to you, or Monday afternoon, or
Wednesday evening, or whenever you may happen to be
dropping by for a visit. Welcome.
It's time to updated my progress for this week on My
Needle's Work, and to confess another mental lapse
on my part. I've carried the border to the top and
now know the exact height of this piece. I know it
tells us on the package what size the finished piece
is suppose to be, but there's always that nagging little
voice of doubt at the back of my mind that worries
that they might have made a mistake, and it'll be half
again as long/wide as they claim and I'll run out of
fabric. So, we're good there. All is as it should be
for border size.
Unfortunately, not so much for the girl's clothes.
I picked up needle and thread one day at work
and merrily began to stitch an arm. Got to the
chest area and was stitching that when I suddenly
awoke to the fact that I was stitching with Wild
Berries, when I should have been using Almost
Auburn. Nuts!!! As you can see from the above
picture I didn't rip it out. At least her under
skirt has stripes of this same colour running
through it which, I'm arguing, allows the
blouse (not dress now, but blouse and skirt)
to be the same colour. What can I say??? I
happen to love burgundy and rose and pink
and red. So my fingers tend to just gravitate
to those colours when stitching.
Meanwhile, I'm a bit worried that I'm running
low on the thread for the border and the girl's
hair which is called Hickory Sticks. Can anyone
out there who's already stitched this design tell
me if you came close to running out of this
colour too?? I think I have more in my stash
so that's okay, but I was just wondering if any-
one else ran short too.
I don't do rotations. I'm not that disciplined. But when
a project starts yelling (see previous posts on that subject)
I tend to listen. Last week November Window decided
that it had been ignored long enough and deserved some
of my time. I haven't stitched on this since I started it
during my holiday week in November (appropriately
enough) when I spent that whole week stitching on it.
So a few evenings this week I spent some time finishing
the bottom border and getting started on framing out the
top. I love the size of this, and the colours are rich and
warming to look at. We'll see if I stick with it this week
as well.
Killing two birds with one stone (Ewww! What an awful
expression!) here is a progress picture of Wayward Garden
plus my latest bundle of Bits, eleven more Crescent Colours
to add to my collection.
The final book in my renewal order from the Folio
Society arrived this week. It's Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Beautiful cover, fine pen and ink sketches inside, and
that wonderful new book smell. What do you think
Michelle?? I love it! Book pretty. Nice book.
I finished reading Inkspell on Thursday and am now well
into Inkdeath, the final book in the trilogy. I really loved
this one. Where the first book takes place in the "real"
world, the second book takes place almost entirely in the
Inkworld. That and the fact that my favourite character,
Dustfinger, has a much larger role in this chapter of the
story may be the reason why I really enjoyed this book
more then the first one. Which isn't to say I didn't enjoy
the first book mind you.
Just a note to add, nothing in this book looks anything
like what's in the preview for the Inkheart movie. Did
they just take the premise of the books and make up
more or less their own story??? Still haven't found time
to get to the theatre to see the movie. Since the reviews
weren't overwhelming in their praise for the movie, and
it hasn't been drawing in the crowds at the threatres, I
don't imagine that it'll be available on the big screen for
long. I will get the DVD, whether I see it in the theatre
or not, so I will see the movie, eventually.
****************************************************
Mom is doing great being back home at the retirement
residence. Everyday people are coming up to her and
welcoming her back and exclaiming about how wonderful
she looks, even better then before she left. Residents,
staff and volunteers are all making her feel better each
and every day about being back. She's gone back to
Bingo (and won four games on the first day), Yarn and
Yack and morning peach juice breaks with a friend in the
cafe. She's doing well, and is beyond thrilled with being
home again.
*****************************************************
Yesterday DH and I did a bit of running around. The
basement library is full to overflowing and needed to be
cleaned up, re-arranged, thinned out (!!) and dusted.
First step, thinning. I filled a half dozen boxes with
books and yesterday we took them to the Humane
Society thrift store down the road from us to donate.
In the afternoon we went back with an old desk that
I've had since I was in my early teens (only a few years
ago...cough! cough!!!). That freed up space for a few
more bookcases. So we then drove to Ikea and picked
out three large and one small bookcase, plus extenders
for three small Ikea bookcases. Next step will be
putting those bookcases together, putting them in
place and then rearranging the books. I'm on a weeks
vacation starting next weekend so hopefully DH will
be able to put the bookcases together for me and I can
start messing around down there. Pictures to follow
when it's all done. I'll probably be getting rid of other
"stuff" down there too since I've got the bug to declutter.
****************************************************
Getting the desk in the car (a Jetta) to drive it the short
distance to the thrift store was a bit dicey. DH perched
it in the trunk, more sticking out then in, and then tied
it all down with rope. We got it to it's destination
safely but it was a good thing we only drove a block and
a half that way. Then the boxes from Ikea also didn't
quite fit completely in the car, even with the back seats
folded down. So the trunk was open a bit all the way
home from the Ikea in Burlington, and the rope was
once again put to use holding the lid down.
Fortunately we lucked out with the weather yesterday.
After -20 celsius temperatures last week, yesterday
the temperature rose to + 9 which was incredible.
It seemed to threaten rain for much of the day, but
in the end we didn't get any, which was great because
of the open trunk when we were transporting stuff.
It looks as though it'll remain unusually warm for
much of next week so alot of the snow we've had will
melt away. But it's only the beginning of February
so much as it may seem like the start of Spring the
reality is that we will in all likelyhood get more snow
and more frigid temperatures before the end of this
month.
I don't suppose I need to mention to any of you that
this is Nashville weekend once again. I know we're all
waiting with baited breath for the new releases.
We'll wish, we'll sigh, we'll hesitate, and then we'll
either turn off the computer and firm up our resolve
to be good, or we'll blow the wad and consequences
be damned.
Well, I should be off to do chores and stuff. My
desk top here is buried in clutter and needs to be
cleaned up and sorted. So I have more room to
clutter up again. Hope all of you are well and
have a great week.
And to any readers from Australia who visit...
hope you and your families are all well and safe.
It is heartbreaking to see the devistation that those
fires have caused, and the lives lost. Hope it ends
soon.
Cheers!
14 comments:
Hey there! I have got to get the Inkheart series. And now I can do it and rest assured that I've got a good read coming to me! :D
I'm so glad your Mom is doing so well. Love the name of the Yarn and Yak group!
And wow, your stitching looks great! I haven't stitched that design so I can't say how much floss it goes through. Good luck!
Hi Judy,
Thank you so much for your concerns regarding our welfare over this horrible weekend.
I live in Katoomba in The Blue Mountains of New South Wales. It is the state above Victoria where the terrible fires are and where the count is now up to 108 poor people who have sadly passed away. They expect the number to rise as there are a lot of communities where they haven't been able to get into. So terrible. I feel so terrible every time it rises.
We have had fires in our State over the weekend but not like they have had down in Victoria.
Where I lived is also in a bush fire prone area and we have had some terrible fires over the years. The last one we had was a couple of years ago. I tell you though that when they come they are quite terrifying. My husband and one of my sons is in the Rural Fire Service (Volunteers as are those who are in the Victorian CFS). My son has on his phone the sound of the fire approaching when he was out fighting the last one we had. It is such a terrible sound. You hear them say that when it approaches that it sounds like a freight train coming and it really does.
We live high up in the mountains and the mountains are surrounded by 3 different valleys that are completely surrounded by bush, which is a National Park. There are millions and millions of gum trees etc there and that is why they are called the Blue Mountains as when the day warms up the gum trees emit a I suppose you could call it a gas that from the distance looks blue.
The fires are so scary that when they come you have just seconds to decide whether to go or stay. I always have a bag which contains family photos and one thing that is extremely precious to me packed. I take it with me everywhere I go when there is a fire around.
I have decided that if ever one comes that I will grab this bag, my son and the dog and go. If I can though I would try and grab a few of my most recent samplers as I know I would never be able to do them again.
Most of the fires are started by lightening strikes from dry storms, although I think the ones in Victoria were started by idiots. Yesterday I was listening to my husbands scanner and I heard that there was a call out down at Faulconbridge which is further down the mountain. They arrested a 15 year old boy for lighting that one. Silly boy.
On the stitching front your work is looking lovely. I find with some designs that they just eat up the floss. I have framed my last 2 samplers and they look lovely. Elizabeth continues to be a challenge. But she is looking beautiful. I find that she is slow going.
I am so glad that your Mum is doing so well. I am sure that it is a huge relief to you.
Your new books look lovely. I have always wondered are the folio books expensive. They always look beautiful in a book case.
Anyway, today is a lot cooler here thank goodness. - Sandra.
Good afternoon hon - Sunday afternoon. I love that stitch you are working on. I can just see the poor little Jetta struggling under the stress. Thank goodness it was all for a good cause. I have been looking at the Inkheart series. it is that good a read?
Take care girl!!!
Me again. I was on the computer updating my DH. The number who have passed away in the fire has been revised and is now 107. There are currently 80 in hospital, 20 in the burns unit and 8 on life support.
Another fire has just broken out in the Mornington Peninsula where 200 campers were told to leave. There are a couple of more towns in danger.
In NSW 2 people have been arrested - 31 and 15 yo.
Currently there are fires in NSW, Western Australia and the really serious one in Victoria plus in Northern Queensland there is a huge flood that covers a huge area. Its a crazy country.
Yes The Blue Mountains is a really beautiful place. It is on the World Heritage List and we have a huge number of tourists that come up all the time.
I have lived here for over 22 years. I used to come up a lot when I was little and always loved it. My DH is a country boy from Northern NSW who doesn't like living in Sydney. So we compromised. He works in Sydney and spends 3 hours a day travelling by train.
With your Folio books thats not to bad price wise as they are beautiful books.
With Sarah Moon I did put her in my Sons room but on another wall. I had another couple of Quakers and they look good all together. = Sandra.
Since I haven't been stitching as much as usual (insert "not at all" here) I've been reading more...I always enjoy your book reviews as they sometimes contain books I wouldn't necessarily look at ;)
When you're done with the decluttering bug, can you send him my way??? I need to do some of that!
I'm so glad that your mom is doing well! How wonderful for everyone that she is feeling great and getting right back into the swing of things!!! {{hugs}}
I read Inkheart some time ago, but haven't seen the movie. I didn't realize there were two more books after Inkheart, I will have to check them out - the first one was fantastic. Your Dracula book is just lovely! What a find. Yes, I really enjoyed the book and couldn't believe I'd put it off for so many years! So glad to hear your mom is doing well - that's wonderful!
Needles work is looking great. Like you I try to work outward to judge the distance earlier in the piece too as there is always that little thought maybe I misjudged the fabric size. All you have to do is do it once and you're forever paranoid. :)
November window is looking lovely too, great colors. I didn't remember you had this one in your rotation.
Love the cover on Dracula, too cool. That is one of my favorite books, almost be worth joining just for that. In an earlier post you asked if others hugged books, yup, that would be a hugger. I haven't started reading Inkheart yet, but I'm eager to. I went to the movie this past weekend and loved it. Made me want to go right home and read the book to get more details that I knew they must have needed to omit to fit the movie length. While not the same as the book, I'd recommend seeing it. BTW, totally agree Alan Rickman stole Robin Hood, he was fantastic in that. Did you ever see him in the BBC version of Sense and Sensibility?
So glad to hear your mom is doing so well, that must be a huge relief to you both. Hope you've been able to track down some of the sugar and cream yarn. Since is cotton not wool or acrylic I think that is why it has the softer feel. My local yarn shop doesn't carry it, but all the discount stores do. Have fun rearranging your library area. Playing in the books and organizing for the new bookcases sounds like a blast.
Sue
Hey Judy! Hope you and dh are having a nice week:) So glad to hear your mom is doing so well!
Great progress on your wips! I, too, worry til I know my border is good! Imagine how I'm worrying with the HAED piece I'm working on!! It doesn't look like the LNS cut it straight, so I started in the middle of a 28 page design! Just can't stitch fast enough! ..lol... Have fun de-cluttering:)
What fun de-cluttering. So much more space to fill up again! Your WIPs look great. Sorry can't help with the thread issue, I haven't stitched it myself.
Hi Judy,
thank you so much for your concern about the bushfires here in Victoria. We live about 30 kl. from the worst affected area, and we have been smelling the smoke for days.
Glad to hear your Mom is happy. My MIL is 96 next week, and has been living with us for 3 weeks now. She is so happy, and we are happy to have her with us to look after.
Isn't it a difficult decision to cull your books! I've had to do that sometimes, to make way for new bookcases - IKEA like yours! They are great!
DH and I are going to have to do something about the books around here someday, the four big bookcases are double-booked! He can't imagine getting rid of any one of them, but surely there are some that he's outgrown. He'd like to get more bookcases, but we're going to have to get rid of some more kids first, lol!
Hi there ,
It's Friday afternoon in sunny Carrying place. Boy is it nice to see the sun!
I'm not a big fan if rain but it did get rid of a lot of snow.
The piece you are working on it lovely. Boy you are so smart to be doing the seasonal things way a head of time. Good for you. No stress as the season rolls around.
Keep up the good work,
Has your Mom settled in nicely being back home?
Take care and have a good weekend!
wow! Three fantastic WIP's!
LOL! She's look pretty funny without her head ;o) I think her outfit is rather well co-ordinated, even if it was a mistake.
Ummmm....what project is this now???? And look at all those yummy skeins of floss!
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