Sunday, January 24, 2010

I thought that I'd check in and show off a weeks worth
of stitching on Winter Wind. Don't know if I have much
else to write about though so we'll just have to see how
we go and I'll try not to prattle on about nothing for too
long.


I've just about finished the main part of the house,
although the window panes have yet to be filled in,
and there's still a bit of roof to stitch in and then the
two chimneys. I couldn't resist stitching in the two
trees this week otherwise I would have probably
finished the house. The more that I add to this
design the more I love it. But that's Prairie
Schooler designs for you.


I ordered a few things from Anita's Little Stitches for the first
time a few weeks ago and was thrilled with her service. I swear
that the day I placed my order was the day that she mailed it
out to me. My main reason for ordering was to get a selection
of mesh bags for kitting up and transporting projects so I ordered
a variety of sizes and colors and am quite pleased with them.


I also ordered a couple of cuts of fabric, just because. The
one on the left is Bone Lugana, which is a favorite color of
mine for fabric, in 28 count and the other piece is Vintage
Marble Lugana in 25 count. This has a really nice marbling
effect on it (hence the name) and I'm eager to try my first
stitching project on it. Wonder what it'll be. Anita threw
in a package of needles with my order which was incredibly
nice of her.

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

Yesterday I spent practically the entire day at a gathering
to celebrate the birthday of a friend. We do this every
year and it's become something fun to look forward to at the
end of January. There were nine of us gals there for lunch
and it was a great afternoon of good food and talk and catching
up. Lots of talk. It was 9:30 in the evening before I got home.
As I said...lots of talk.


Today I spent the day in my pajamas. Outside it was dreary,
dark and, in the afternoon, it pelted with rain off and on. I
puttered around the house a bit, doing a few necessary chores
and then I sat down and stitched for a couple of hours and
also blogged a bit. It was great fun and so very relaxing.

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


Weight Watchers update. I dropped another pound as of
last Tuesday. I'm baffled. I'm eating so much and trying
to follow my facilitator's advice to eat lots of protein, but
still I loose. I should have eaten more of those chocolate
biscuits I guess. Note about those biscuits: I went to have
a few tonight and discovered that someone had beaten me
to it and polished them off!!! Now they're all gone until
next Christmas when, hopefully, Loblaws will carry them
again. It's probably for the best, but I wasn't too impressed
at the time I realized that there were none left.


This week is my sixth week on maintenance and I'm
suppose to be within two pounds, below or above, my
goal weight of 146. I was 141.6 last Tuesday. We'll see
if I managed to gain anything this week. I've never
thought to ask what happens if you're not within those
boundaries at the end of the six week period. Do you
start another six week period? Gackkk!!!!


I finished reading The Book of Illumination this week. I
just left it lying on the kitchen table and whenever I had
a few minutes I picked it up and read a few pages, or
chapters. And I loved every page of it. This is a first
time novel for these two writers and I sincerely hope
that there will be lots more to look forward to in this
series.

It's about the theft of a fabled and priceless illuminated
manuscript from the 12th century called The Book of
Kildare, a treasure that many scholars have doubted
ever existed. Helping to search for the manuscript and
the person responsible for it's theft is Anza O'Malley, a
single mother who is a bookbinder by trade, and who
is also able to see and speak to ghosts. The manuscript
has been accompanied over the centuries by the ghosts
of two monks and Anza must deal with them when the
book is stolen. Anza also meets the ghost of a butler in
the home of the owner of the manuscript who also
requires her help to retrieve a missing document from
his past. All this while she must also spend time
looking after the needs and demands of her five year old
son Henry.

Anza is a wonderful heroine with a great
sense of humor and a caring heart who gamely tackles
the problems that she encounters, whether it be the
chauvinistic abbot and his refusal to deal with anyone
other then an Bishop or Cardinal of the church, or her
son's participation in his school play, with compassion,
determination and a great deal of forbearance. I loved
her.

One of the authors of this book is the person upon whom
the Ghost Whisperer series is based and she is a
consultant for that show, which I've never watched I
should add. I really loved this book because of Anza
and I recommend it for anyone who loves a mystery
with great characters and no gore or excessive violence.


I'll end this weeks post with a photo of Phoebe, trying
to take a nap in the bathroom. Hope everyone has a
great week and thanks for visiting.

Cheers!

13 comments:

Rowyn said...

Hi Judy

Yes thanks, the move went well and we are all settling in.

I like the colours in your PS piece, they are very warm and striking looking.

What a pain that you can't put the weight on, but what a good excuse to eat more for a while and not feel guilty. LOL

My sister and I were both a bit horrified that after two months at the gym we had put weight on, but we had both lost 2% body fat - so it wasn't all bad.

What a cute photo of Phoebe. Have you seen the website www.catsinsinks.com? One of my cats - Meg - used to especially like the sink after I had cleaned it with bleach. I don't know what the attraction was there. :-) Cats are funny creatures.

staci said...

I'm still loving Winter Wind :) Fantastic new stash Judy! Anita is one of my fave online stores, her service is so fast!

Look at how cute Phoebe is. We had a cat once who really liked the bathroom sink too ;)

Best of luck with your maintenance...I need to do whatever it is you're doing, lol!

Judy S. said...

That's going to be a really pretty stitchery, Judy. My sister's cat prefers to sleep in the sink. Both of our kitties avoid water at all costs!

Jennifer said...

Hi Judy,
Love your progress on Winter Wind. Your cat is adorable.I have never ordered from Anitas, will have to check out her site. enjoy your week.

Maggie said...

Judy, sorry those extra pounds didn't reach you, i haven't weighed myself yet so i hope i haven't still got them!! Strange that you are eating lots and not gaining, perhaps it's just that your metobolic rate is working overtime, i'm sure it'll work out.

I'm going to check out that site you bought the mesh bags from, i've been looking for some of those, my LNS dosen't sell them.

Your WIP is just lovely and Pheobe so cute in the sink, my Molly used to do that too, her favourite place at the moment though is on top of the kitchen units.

Have a great week :-)

BrendaS said...

Nice Progress on the PS piece.

Love the mesh bags and fabric you ordered. Do you have any special projects in mind to use the fabric for?

Hope you gain some weight this week! (That sounds weird to tell someone that)

Thanks for the nice comments on my blog.

Have a great week!

BrendaS

mainely stitching said...

Sounds like there's a book I'll have to ask about at the library! :) Thanks for the tip.

Wow, extra weight loss. Hard for me to imagine. LOL.

I totally agree with what you said about loving a PS design the more you put in on it. :D

Beatrice said...

Oh yippee blogger picked you today.

I was so pleased to hear from you this week..Yes I know the stocking will have to get a lot of attention to be finished by Christmas I only have 10 months I want to have it hanging for at least 3 weeks before Christmas so It can get filled....by ME with stitching stuff or maybe Terry will put in a gift certificate from Ann's store..lol.

Your little PS house is adorable.
And your new stash is terrific. Those bags look so handy, I like the different colours. And oooo the fabric. Are you going to stitch the 25ct over 1 ?

So far my Maintenance has been within the 2 lbs..I'm not sure it is a problem to go below but if you go over 2 you have to pay for that meeting for that month and then you go beck to maintenance as far as I know...
You are doing soooo good. For 6 months now I'm at 135 which suits me fine.

Your cat looks pretty sweet in the sink...aren't they amazing creatures?
Have a good week, talk again soon!
Beatrice

Kathy A. said...

Nice job on your PS girl. Love the color of that house.
Sorry to hear about the weight loss again. You will find your balance I am sure.
Phoebe in the sink is a riot.
Thanks hon for always stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. I always look forward to it.

Siobhán said...

Judy, your PS design is coming along nicely! Great job. Thanks for the info on the book, I will definitely have to get this! I can honestly say that I have never had a problem with losing weight, it finds me wherever I am, whatever I am doing, so I can't help you there. ;) Oh, what a problem to have!! LOL Love the pic of the kitty in the sink, too cute!

Lynn said...

I haven't ordered from Anita's yet but I love the look of that Vintage marbled lugana so I just might be ordering in the near future.
Winter Wind is really coming along nicely. It's time I did a PS design again. It's been awhile since I've done one and I love them all.
I love the pic of Phoebe in the sink! Clarisse hasn't discovered that spot yet but I'm sure it won't be long. She's all over the place!

Carolien said...

Hello Judy,

Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving such a sweet comment. That was a pleasant surprise! I just visited your blog and will surely come back at your 'place': stitching, reading, cats etc. are my favourite too and I really like to read about your life in Canada as well. So I will have to catch up and I will the coming time!

Have a nice day & greetings from Holland,
Carolien

Brigitte said...

I'm still completely fascinated by your success in losing weight. It's terrific! Have you found out what happens when you are not within the boundaries of your goal weight? Is it bad for your health?
Those mesh bags look perfect for projects being kitted up or carried around. I use just plain ziplock bags and must admit that the mesh bags look neater. A lot.
This book series sounds very promising. Have to put it onto my wisg list ...