I am very pleased with my progress on Winter Wind this
week. I have mentioned before that I am not a fast
stitcher and finding time to stitch can be difficult at
times. But this week I took every opportunity, including
a nice chunk of Saturday afternoon and evening, to work
on this piece and the results show it. I am now ready to
stitch the verse in the center of the design.

This week will be more hectic because it's the first of the
month, our most busiest time at work and we're also
very short staffed. So I may have some late nights
that will curtail my stitching and blogging time. But
in one weeks time I'll be on vacation for a week and then
I'll be able to stitch a lot more. Which means that I'll
probably start another project. Maybe. We'll see.
I can't wait!!!


I mentioned in an earlier post that I'd ordered some new
stash, and to my delight the package arrived from Stitching
Bits and Bobs on Friday. In this order I chose charts from
designers that I don't usually collect, with a couple of
exceptions.

Since being on Weight Watcher's I've found that I've
been drawn to Casey Buonaugurio's sweet designs,
more so then usual though I can't imagine why, and
so I ordered three of them to add to my collection.
The design by Plum Pudding NeedleArt which
celebrates the many varieties of apples also appealed
to me since I've been eating a lot more apples during
the past year. Hmmmm.... Another food related chart.
Then there's The Cafe by CCN. A cafe is where they
serve food. Oh dear!!! Ummm...

Lizzie Kate's Life's a Stitch bucks the trend and deals
with my other obsession. I love this design, but not
in the colors chosen by the designer. I recently saw
a blog post with this piece stitched in colors picked by
the stitcher and loved it. Wish I could remember who
it was now.


The rest of the order. My first designs from My Big Toe,
the four sweet little girls from Imaginating's Joan Elliott,
and the wonderful Midnight Watch from Blackbird Designs.
See. No food connections to these designs whatsoever!!!

And stash of another sort. More books from my ever
growing wish list at Indigo/Chapters. Laurie R. King
writes fabulous mysteries, including her own take on
Sherlock Holmes, although this book is not one of
those. It was on sale when I checked my wish list items
and so I was obliged to pounce on it. Hotel on the
Corner of Bitter and Sweet has been featured on Book
Browse and other book blogs and comes highly
recommended. Hiroshima will be a difficult read
because of the subject matter (survivors of the
bombing of that city tell their stories) but I've read
other books by this author and this is a story that
should never be forgotten. And finally the two
paperbacks are by Karen White and are light reads, one
the sequel to the other, and there are ghosts involved
in each book. Lots of great reading to look forward to.


I finished Girl in a Blue Dress this week. It is the story
of a hugely famous, beloved author from 19th century
England, who wrote about the poverty stricken world
that he grew up in, and his relationship with his wife.
Yes, this book is a fictionalized account of the life of
Charles Dickens, with the names changed but many of
the infamous facts of Dickens life woven into the story.

It begins with the death of the author and is told by his
widow Dorothea, who has not seen her husband for ten
years and is not invited to be a part of his funeral. A
virtual recluse for those ten years, separated from her
children, her place in the home taken over by her own
younger sister, Dorothea takes the reader through the
events leading up to the estrangement from her husband
and follows her as she ventures out into the world and
confronts the sister who took her place, as well as the
mistress who turned her husband from her.

I knew a little about the strange relationship that Charles
Dickens had with one of his wife's younger sisters who
died young, and I knew that he and his wife had parted
after some years of marriage and eight (!!) children, so
I was curious to read this book and see what the author
would have to say about this very well known man who's
books are still read and loved today. It was a well written,
fascinating story which has received a lot of acclaim for
it's first time author. It reveals the era, it's people, it's
principals and it's flaws with well researched precision
and detail. I enjoyed it very much and am now on the
lookout for a Dickens biography to see how much truth
was written into the novel. It'll be interesting to compare.

******************************************************

Weight Watchers this week: I gained 1.4 pounds. My
facilitator was pleased. My DH was pleased. My Mom
was pleased. Me??? The phobia about gaining weight
and falling back into the old me look had me muttering a
halfhearted "Yippee!!". But if I can gain another pound
by this Tuesday I can become Lifetime and that's my goal.
I've not been actively trying to eat more this week though.
I just plan on wearing my jeans and a heavy sweater when
I weigh in. So there!!

The January thaw in this part of Ontario came to a crashing
halt last week as the temperatures plunged and we were
treated to temperatures in the -17 Celsius range. Brrrr!!!
It's going to be warming up to a more clement temperature
of -2 now that the weekend is over which will be much more
bearable. Tuesday is Ground Hog day. If the rapacious
rodent is hauled out of his den on that day and sees his
shadow we're in for six more weeks of winter. Oh fun!!


Rupert will join Phoebe and I in the computer/craft
room at night. His preferred place to sleep at the
moment is behind the door of the room. Why??

I can't think of anything else that needs reporting
here at the moment so I'll finish off with a thank
you to all my visitors for dropping by, and I hope
that you all have a wonderful week. Take care!

Cheers!