Hello everyone and welcome.  Hope you're

comfortably seated and have a nice cup of

tea or any other beverage which appeals to

you close to hand because there's lots here 

in this post to share.   

There's equal parts book news and stitching

news to report plus some reno updates so

I'd best get right into it.

I collect Folio Society books which is a

company in England who publishes

illustrated, beautifully bound editions

of classic books.   Modern classics as

well as those from the past.  Fiction,

history, poetry, short stories, biographies

and so on.   The Folio Society covers

it all.

Over the years I've collected a fair number

of these books but they are costly and so

it's not something I do often.  Perhaps 

once a year or so, especially when they

are offering good deals.

Last Tuesday I was walking home from the

train station on what turned out to be the

hottest day of the year ... thus far.  

It was brutal walking in that heat let me 

tell you!!   I got three quarters of the way

home and didn't think I was going to

make it any further.   So I popped into

a little thrift store that's a few blocks 

from my house to poke around in their

book section and to recover a little in

their air conditioning.

I wandered around and checked out the

main book section but didn't find anything

too earth shattering there.  So I headed 

back to the front of the shop to check a

couple of shelves where they keep the

more valuable or in demand books.

I was giving those two shelves a 

cursory look through when one

book caught my eye.  Life On The

Mississippi by Mark Twain ... a

Folio Society book!!  Then I 

realized that the book next to it 

was also a Folio book ... and so was

the one next to that!!

In all look what I found ....

The six books to the left of The Greek

Myths were in the thrift store.  All of 

them in mint condition in their boxes.

 for $10.00 each.   I started frantically

snatching books off that shelf, six of

them in all!!!   The total of those six 

books is what one of them would 

normally cost!!!  I had to haul 

them the rest of the way home in

the heat but somehow that didn't

seem like much of a hardship.

Friday night, on my way home from

working out at Curves I stopped at

The White Rabbit second hand book

store just to do a quick (yeah, right!!)

browse through to see what might 

be there.  Got chatting with the 

owner and mentioned my incredible

Folio haul from a few days previously.

Guess what!!   He mentioned that 

they had received a few Folio 

Society books to sell as well and would

I care to see them??   

They had three books or book sets

and I had a hard time deciding which

one to buy.   The folks at The White

Rabbit had a better idea of what the

books were worth so they'd priced 

theirs accordingly.   But still, the

Greek Myths by Robert Graves 

that I chose was still a third of the

price I would have paid from the

Folio Society themselves.  Plus

no shipping charges to add to that.

(Same for the books from the thrift

store for that matter!!)

I am a very happy camper today!!!!

I have bought a few newly published books 

recently too including the sequel to A

Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

which I am desperate to get into as soon as

I finish my currant read.  I've heard good

things about The Chaperone so am curious

to read that soon and Seraphina is a young

adult fantasy that sounds really, really good.

And then last Saturday I hit a couple of garage sales

during my morning walk and came home with this

lot.    I'm halfway through the Bob Hope book.

It's hilarious!!!

I have no idea where I'm going to put all these 

new books.   Well, the Folios will go on the

shelves of the new built in bookcase in the 

living room with the rest of my Folio collection

 but the others???    The library shelves 

downstairs are full to bursting ... again.   It 

might be time to do some culling ... again.

Last Sunday the last touch was added to our

main floor renovation.  The two area rugs

arrived.   We set them in place and were

then able to celebrate the official conclusion

to our reno!!    Started mid February and 

finished the beginning of July.   Not too bad.

And the best part???

Phil and I are still married!!

Above is a picture of the dining room all

decked out.

And here is the living room.  I think we'll

designate the single chair to the right of 

the photo (next to the book shelves) as

my downstairs stitching chair.

Speaking of stitching ... a few updates

are in order here.   Finished the square

and added a bit more border to my

P.S. Summer Sampler.

Close up!!!

I've put a few stitches into a project that

was abandoned for a year which I 

suppose makes it a UFO?   Drawn 

Thread's Game Sampler which I'm

suppose to be stitching with Maggie.

This thing is going to be huge (if I ever get

around to actually finishing it).  Every time

I work on it I wonder what the heck I'm

going to do with it when it's done.  It

would cost a fortune to frame and it's a

bit too big for a pin keep ....

I don't think that I've ever shared anything

about this project.   Another rather big design

which I pick up once in awhile to put a few

more stitches in.

Here's the chart.

Here's what it's suppose to look like when

(ever) it's done.   I love My Big Toe designs

and this one is gorgeous!!!   

Must not dwell on the guilt of not getting

these stitched up in a timely fashion.  Must

remember to just sit back and enjoy the 

process ... which is all that matters.

Another long post.   If Blogger ever puts

a limit on the size of the posts you can 

make I'll be in big trouble.

Thanks for dropping by.   

Cheers!

Big news people!!!   I've been stitching!!!

I know ... it's hard to believe but it's true.

Last Monday was the Canada Day holiday

and I plunked myself down in a chair on our

deck in the afternoon and stitched away on

my PS Summer sampler.   The square is

almost done.  Just some blue sky and border

to stitch.  I'm quite pleased with my 

choice out of the four possibilities offered

which is a relief.   I dithered and fretted over

which of the squares would suit me before

committing to the butterfly square.

A close up of the square.   It was so nice

to just sit outside with the birds chirping,

the sun shining ... and our neighbour's

air conditioner roaring in the background.

I haven't concentrated on a stitching

project for that length of time (an entire

afternoon) in ages.   I need to do it more

often.  

This week was a tough one at work.  It was

first of the month which is our busiest time

but this month's first was the busiest that we've

been in a long time.  Both Wednesday and

Thursday we worked late, although I don't

work as late as the others in my department

because it takes me too long to get home from

work.   

And it was stinkin' hot this week too which

made any time spent out of doors a real

ordeal.   Walking home from the train 

station was not pleasant in that heat and

especially so when it included a pretty

steep hill to hike up.   

So when I arrived home one night and found

a package waiting for me it gave me such an

energy boost.   Last month  I was the lucky

winner of a gift certificate to 123 Stitch

curtesy of the delightful and generous 

Mary Ann of Just Stitching to celebrate 

her birthday.   Now usually when it's your

birthday you're suppose to receive gifts

not give them out.  However, as I said,

Mary Ann is a generous soul and she

gave the readers of her blog the opportunity

to win a shopping spree at a fabulous

online store.   I still can't believe that I

won.

I decided on two charts from Silver Creek

Samplers, including Dandy Dreams which

I first saw on Maggie's blog a while ago.

Her's stitched up so beautifully and looked

so sweet when it was framed I just couldn't

get it out of my mind.   So now I can 

stitch my own pretty sampler whenever I

am ready to do so.   

I also ordered a few K&Co. scrap booking

embellishment packs since 123 Stitch also 

sells some scrap booking stuff.  So I

managed to cover my two crafting 

obsessions with one gift certificate!!  

Many thanks to Mary Ann for making

my week easier to bear!

I took a stroll around the deck and garden 

today and snapped some pictures of our

many pots to share with you.  And also

to keep as a record for reference when 

next Spring rolls around again and I'm

trying to remember what flowers worked

best in which pots or planters the previous

summer.

Martha Washington geraniums are so pretty, aren't

they???   

Chippy was hanging around last weekend when

DH and I sat out on the deck for dinner.  Guess

he was hoping for a handout or something.  Since

he's figured out how to   a) climb the pole to the

bird feeders to help himself to the seed there  plus

b) he's found a way to get into the shed where 

the seed bags are stored, even when the door is

shut and locked and he's helping himself to that

bounty as well.  Cheeky nuisance.   Good

thing he's cute!! 

More shots of the newly decorated living room.

The built in storage and display area with 

drawers for linens and cupboards for other

stuff plus nice deep shelves above for the

displaying of the nicer things.  

And of course there is now a built in bookcase

for my collection of Folio Society books and

my National Geographic books.  Storage 

below for CDs and photo albums.  I love

it so much!!   Note new hard wood floors.

No more carpet.   Which means the 

fur from our two cats has free range and 

tumbles across the floor like tumbleweeds

in the desert ...followed by an annoyed me 

 with the vacum cleaner hose!!!   

All that fur rolling across my floors.  I

keep checking the cats to see if they're 

cold because they surely must have lost all 

their fur and are lying around the house 

naked!!!

Nope,  just lying there ... growing 

more fur!!!!

Another view of the corner next to the

window.   Looky ... we have crown

molding!!!!    Nifty!!    

Hope all you folks down in the States

where the temperatures are much 

worse then they were here are keeping

cool as you can under the circumstances.

Take care!!

Thanks for visiting!!

Cheers!

 

Greetings everyone!   I've been sitting around here for

the past week since my last post waiting for something 

exciting to happen around here so that I might have 

something interesting to blog about ... but so far ...

nothing!!!  Nadda!!   Zilch!!   

So I went through my picture files to find something

pretty to feature at the beginning of my post and I

came across this lovely little lady.  I'd found her 

during one of my walks last summer, perched on 

her rock in someone's front garden and she was 

nice enough to pose for me while I took her 

picture ... and her little dog too!!

Ok, that takes care of my intro.  Now what??  

Well, how about another chapter of Wildlife in

Georgetown???   Specifically this tiny fellow

hiding in our garden underneath the flowering

dog wood bushes.   DH spotted him in the

yard from an upstairs window and I immediately

grabbed my camera and rushed out to take a 

picture.

Bunny was camera shy and as soon as he 

heard me clomping down the stairs of the

deck he ducked into the bushes and froze.

I went in after him ... well, kind of.

Didn't want to scare him any more then

he already was so I just knelt outside of

the bushes and put my hand holding the

camera in for a few quick pictures.  

I have no idea how one goes about judging

a rabbits age but this guy was pretty darn

small ... and stinkin' cute to boot.  Didn't

see any other bunnies around so he must 

be old enough to be on his own.   Hope so

anyways. 

 A sure sign that summer is here is the opening of

the local Farmer's Market.   Everything from 

locally grown produce to incredible baked 

goods and hand made crafts plus booths 

selling real maple syrup, soap, cheese, pottery

and kittens (!). 

Okay, the kittens were in the window of

the pet supply store Creature Comforts and

were from Cats Anonymous, a no kill shelter

but still ... there were kittens!  

Whenever I go out for my 10k walk on Saturday 

mornings while the market is running I 

always stop there on my way back home for

whatever tickles my fancy ... or for a treat

for DH to have with his morning tea.

Since last February we've been in renovation 

mode here in our humble little home.   It had

been many, many moons since we'd last done

any decorating or updating of the main floor

of our house,  and most of our furniture was

at least 25 years old and/or hand-me-downs.

We've been in this house for 20 years and 

my taste has changed in those years ... quite

a bit.   We've been dithering around for the 

past few years about doing some reno work

for this area and this year turned out to be the

year.   Finally!!!

Above is the living room as it was.  Ignore

the floor stand in the middle of the picture

please.    Flipping through my iPhotos this

was the best "before" picture of that section

of the living room that I could find.

And after ... everything new (or in the case of the

pictures on the walls ... reframed to suit the decor).

More pictures to come in future posts.  

P.S.  the picture over the couch is of my 

grandmother.  It was made in Belgium and is

 done in pastels.   My grandfather had it drawn 

from a picture that he had with him of my 

grandmother while he served there during 

the first world war.   A week after he picked

 up the finished picture the shop was bombed 

out!!

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

Let's see ... what else to write about??

DH was kind enough to take me to 

Michaels on Saturday to let me do a 

bit of shopping.  I had a gift certificate

from my birthday that I wanted to use.

I didn't buy any stitching supplies though.

Instead I bought stuff for my journaling

and paper crafting hobby ... my other

obsession.   

I gathered up a jumble of paints,

papers, embellishments, glue gun,

ink pad etc, etc.  while DH patiently

sat on a bench out side the store and

waited for me.  

My free time these days is split 

(not often evenly) between stitching

and scraping.  I've been making

Junk Journals / Junque Journals /

Scrapbooks / Smash books out of

all kinds of things.  And having a

blast doing it.

This was an existing book with lined

pages that I stuck fancy papers and

cards and stuff into.  I used glitter,

stickers and gems on the cover

which already had the flowers on it.

The pages fanned out (actually the book

won't close flat ... it stands by itself like

this all the time) so you can kind of

see inside.  It's very three dimensional

which I love!

A few of the pages.  I've put everything from

photos to movie tickets to magazine clippings

and all kinds of other stuff inside these books.  

Sometimes I put cards in whole, sometimes I 

just use pieces of the cards.  We've got lots of

cards for all kinds of occasions that we've

received over the years that have been 

sitting in boxes neglected and, well, 

forgotten.  So I decided to use them in my

paper crafting ... sort of recycling them.

Another page spread.  The book mark is a

treasure that I received from Barbara (Mainely 

Stitching).  The note that she sent with it is on

the next page over.

This is a page spread from a much larger scrap

book that I'm working on now.  My godson

Ian played Richard the Lion Heart in this

production last winter.  I stole the poster

on the left from my Curves workout centre

when the production was over.  Sshhhhh.

Don't tell!

I've got a huge .... no make that HUGE

.... bin full of all kinds of stuff that I've 

saved over the years and I'm now working

to put as much of it as I can into these 

large and small journals/scrapbooks. 

Long way to go ... but I'm having so 

much fun doing it.   I love making a 

mess in my craft room!!

And will you look at that!  I full blog post

after all.  Not bad for someone who had

little or nothing to say, eh?

Thanks for dropping by.  

Cheers!

P.S.   evidently Blogger made some

changes to their site and the way that

posts are created during the year

that I was away.   I don't like it!!

Now I've got to try and figure things

out again!!    

Once again ....

I'm always excited to have the opportunity to snap a few pictures

of the cardinals that hang around our neighbourhood.  They are

one of my most favourite of birds.  The males are quite vain and  

like to perch themselves somewhere conspicuous such as 

the top of a tree or a telephone pole or a TV antenna where

they proceed to sing their distinctive song to announce their

presence.   Fortunately Mrs Cardinal is usually somewhere

close by to keep an eye on her flamboyant mate and keep

him in line.

This guy was in our birch tree and was gracious enough

to stay there long enough for me to take a few pictures.

I took a picture of my currant stitching project

this evening so you can see where it stands

at the moment.   I am working on the square

in the upper right corner and have chosen to

stitch the butterfly ... after much dithering and

mind changing.

The blue bird on a pedestal had to be frogged

and restitched when I discovered that I'd 

stitched it in the wrong spot by one square.

I was tempted to leave it but it was causing

a chain reaction train wreck with the rest of

the design that would have been too 

noticeable ... and it would have bugged me

... so out it came!!

I've been sitting out in front of the house 

the past few nights stitching.  The 

portable magnifying glass (the kind that

loops around your neck) doesn't work

so well for me any longer so I just 

held my stitching frame up to my nose,

peered over my glasses and stitched ...

all whilst trying not to jab a needle 

into my nose!!!

  

Some recent book finishes to share with you ...

beginning with the first book in the Lady 

Emily series by Tasha Alexander.  

  The story: 

From gifted new writer Tasha Alexander comes a 

stunning novel of historical suspense set in Victorian 

England, meticulously researched and with a twisty 

plot that involves  stolen antiquities, betrayal, and 

murder. For Emily, accepting the proposal  of 

Philip, the Viscount Ashton, was an easy way to 

escape her overbearing mother, who was set on a 

grand society match. So when Emily's dashing 

husband died on safari soon after their wedding, 

she felt little grief. After all, she barely knew him.

Now, nearly two years later, she discovers that 

Philip was a far different man from the one 

she had married so cavalierly.  His journals reveal 

him to have been a gentleman scholar and antiquities 

collector who, to her surprise, was deeply in love with 

his wife. Emily becomes fascinated with this new 

image of her dead husband and she immerses 

herself in all things ancient and begins to study 

Greek. Emily's intellectual pursuits and her desire 

to learn more about Philip take her to the quiet 

corridors of the British Museum, one of her husband's 

favorite places. There, amid priceless ancient statues, 

she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret involving stolen 

artifacts from the Greco-Roman galleries. And to 

complicate matters, she's juggling two very prominent 

and wealthy suitors, one of whose intentions may go 

beyond the marrying kind. As she sets out to solve 

the crime, her search leads to more surprises about 

Philip and causes her to question the role in Victorian 

society to which she, as a woman, is relegated.

I love mysteries but don't care for the kind that

goes into gory, creepy detail.   And I love when

the mystery takes place in  time periods other

then  modern day.   Hence my love for authors

such as Tasha Alexander, Charles Todd and

Jacqueline Winspear.   I have the first four 

books in this series on my bookshelf and as

soon as I finished this one I picked up the

second book to read.  

Lady Emily is a wonderful character who

really begins to enjoy the freedom that

being a widow allows her in the restrictive

society of Victorian England.   It's quite

an eye opener to read about the confined,

suffocating lives genteel women were

relegated to during that time when 

England was ruled by a formidable 

woman.  A paradox indeed.

Adding at the last minute:  finished book

two and now into book three!!   Book two

(A Poisoned Season) was even better then 

the first.

Ellen Airgood and her husband own and run a diner in a small

Michigan town south of Superior.   Sounds like the beginning of

a book doesn't it??   But it's true.   The author and her DH run a

diner by day and whenever she has some spare time between 

shifts Ellen writes.   South of Superior is her first book and I quite

enjoyed it.   Saw it in the book section of our grocery store as I

was browsing through their tables of new releases and liked the

synopsis of the story on the cover ... so I bought it.

The story: 

When Madeline Stone walks away from Chicago 

and moves five hundred miles north to the

 coast of Lake Superior, in Michigan's Upper 

Peninsula, she isn't prepared for how much her 

life will change.

Charged with caring for an aging family friend, 

Madeline finds herself in the middle of beautiful 

nowhere with Gladys and Arbutus, two 

octogenarian sisters-one sharp and stubborn, 

the other sweeter  than sunshine. As Madeline 

begins to experience the ways of the small, 

tight-knit town, she is drawn into the lives and 

dramas of its residents.  

It's a place where times are tough and debts run 

deep, but friendship, community, and compassion 

run deeper. As the story hurtles along-

featuring a lost child, a dashed love, a car accident,

 a wedding, a fire, and a romantic reunion-Gladys, 

Arbutus,  and the rest of the town teach Madeline more 

about life, love, and goodwill than she's learned 

in a lifetime.

Had no trouble getting caught up in the story and 

read this book  pretty quickly.   I enjoy books with quirky 

characters and characters who are finding their way, their 

niche in the world and someone to share their lives with.   

This book has all of that in abundance.   I hope that 

there will be a sequel because I would like to hang out 

with these characters again and find out how things work 

out for them in the future.

Thanks to Goodreads for the above two book descriptions.

We get strange birds around here!!!

Phil couldn't figure out why one of our bird 

feeders was running out of bird seed so 

quickly these past few weeks.  It's one of

those feeders whose perch will only allow

the smaller birds to feed.  If a larger bird

lands on the perch it's weight pushes

the perch down and causes the holes where

the seed is to close.   Well, that's the

theory anyways.

Last weekend I happened to be looking

out the back door when I saw Chippy

literally running up the pole to the 

feeder and helping himself to the

contents, stuffing his cheeks with seed

before scurrying back down the pole

and heading off to home with his

ill gotten booty.   

Cheeky little devil!!!  It would appear

that Chippy's weight is slight enough

that it doesn't cause the perch to 

sag down and close the feeding holes.

Phil's going to try and adjust the 

thing (again) to try and fix this.

Spent much of Sunday working on a

new Smash journal ... my craft room

looked like a Michael's exploded in

it.   I'm a messy crafter.  Anybody

else out there do Smash journaling??

Have a great week and thanks for

visiting!!